schnappi^^

Whales, Cape and Grape, Oh My!

2009-09-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

It looks like another half year has past already since my last post. Haha, I was just reading my friend Paula's blog, and she is definitely much better at keeping her blog updated. I'm so jealous that she and Carlos are zooming around the world on their two-wheelers right now, taking such great pictures of everything big and small:P

Let me rewind to my trip back to Boston. Of course I was pretending not to be sad that morning of my departure, but something cheered me up...

I GOT BOOTED UP TO BUSINESS CLASS.

Woohoo.

I feel like I've climbed up to the the princess status from a peasant. My legs could actually stretch out straight in front of me. And of course I enjoyed every second of being able to see my toes. The seat was awesome too, of course. It was like leaning back into a la-z-boy. The only flaw was I didn't get my first choice of the menu--a menu--but I can deal with it.

I went to attend our Simmons Children's Literature conference, of which the theme was "Crimes and Misdemeanors"--MY idea, thank you very much (no, really). Crime was my suggestion for the next theme that I put in on the survey for the conference before. And the professors mentioned several times that the theme this year was submitted by a surveyer, so who else could it be but awesome me? I never realized how much power I could have over poeple, after they put my idea into action, of course.

After that weekend, it's job searching of course. But who says I couldn't still enjoy life? So I went on a whale watch where I saw a mother whale and her calf (and where I puked a bit), and went to Cape Cod (this time I wore seabands, which miraculously worked on me) and visited a couple of beaches and Provincetown. And after my German roommate came back, we went camping for three days on Grape Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Aside from me loaded down with like 15 kilos of camping stuff I borrowed, almost getting lost and near tears as I tried to bicycle back to my place, and loaded down with the same stuff to return afterwards, it was plenty fun and relaxing. We got to do yoga in the morning with a ranger (I shall never do yoga in a crowded, musty room again, maybe), did rock painting, had a small campfire and smores, saw a lobster trap, and the best part, kayaked in the sea. Now I'm in love with kayaking. If I had nothing to do I would kayak 24/7, excluding nights.

Then it was back to reality and I did get a job, thanks so very much to a fellow classmate. So now I'm happily sorting/shelving books, doing cash reg, helping customers find books, etc. at The Harvard Bookstore. We are not affiliated with the university in any way...we're independent. And book people certainly are different from techy people. Pay is not so good, but I love running around the store so much more than dragging equipment around. And everyone is so friend;y and helpful. I really could stay in the store all day.
AND.... we just got a BOOK MACHINE! It can print and bind books (paperbacks) in less than 4 minutes! Gives authors another option who want to self-publish. It's so cool. I haven't really seen it in work it, but I've rung off a book from the machine, and it really is "hot off the press". The book physically feels warm when you touch it.

What made my day today was I got to talk to some Chinese people from Beijing University--possibly professors. They wanted to talk to someone who could speak Chinese, and I was the only one. So it was a nice change, even though I could hear myself chatting with a poor Beijing accent. Weird how that heppens. And one said I was pretty and looked like Lin ChiLing (hahaha), and another actually took a photo of me. A little later, I was on reg, and I turned my head once and was taken aback at this huge camera staring at me. Guess that guy was from some kind of media here for the book machine, and probably was the only bookseller behind the counters. Great timing they have. I happened to have a slight cold these days and definitely will not look good in those pictures. I also set up my first children's section display! I couldn't think of any other good themes for the season-we already have banned books, books made into movies, back to school books, etc. So guess what? I pulled in the theme of "crimes and misdemeanors":PP Hope it looks all right. I will have to remind myself to take pictures of it and the new theme sections.

Till next time.

Good things happen from good doings

2009-04-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

This happened a while ago that I keep wanting to jot down.

One day as I approached school, I saw a student ID lying on the ground in front of the library building. So I emailed this person and got it back to her. A short time later, I was heading toward the Brookline Library branch near me, and saw someone's driver's license lying in front of this library. I think the librarians managed to get it back to him since he is a patron. Between these two findings, I had dropped a new, beloved glove at Walgreens. I had purchased it on sale, as I had lost a glove to an older pair, and none of the other gloves I had were warm enough. I was carrying many bags and in chaos dropped that glove. Funny how on that day I found the driver's license, I went to Walgreens hoping that someone had found it and saved it. Otherwise I did know where else I could have dropped it and lament my loss in great grief, although giving me excuse to buy a new pair. THANKFULLY. I went in, asked, and there it was, lying patiently behind the counter. Good, good people.

Lost and all found.

Eventful week

2009-04-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Our new SOM (School of Management) building was just on fire. At least, the fire alarms were going off. People were milling outside, public safety was telling everyone to get away from the building, sirens are sounding, and I could see the alarm lights flashing. No smoke though, so not sure if it's a true or false alarm.

Yesterday I saw the oddest thing. This guy with a backpack was kneeling in front of the SOM, facing the Palace Road building, and kowtowing with his arms stretched out. He did that a while, then got onto his hands and toes, and proceeded to crawl forward. Then he started kowtowing and crawling. After a few minutes he stood up, and started running. Who knows where. I wonder what religion it is. I even thought maybe he was putting a curse on the campus:P Which actually might be true since the norovirus is going around, and now the SOM is on fire.

Speaking of norovirus, we got an email from Public Safety last week telling us a student had it, and made it sound like she was quarantined. This student turned out to be a fellow classmate in my YA class. And this morning we were notified that a few more students were infected too. Yesterday, someone was carried away in an ambulance from Bartol Hall.

Fun things have happened too. I finished my last class presentation on Tuesday, and totally enjoyed Avi's lecture afterwards at BU. The topic was religion and being an atheist, his son and wife laughed hysterically because they thought he was the most spiritually lacking in this sense.

Yesterday was April Fool's! I'm glad I was working because I got to witness some pretty awesome pranks. So first of all, a pro staff (Autumn) had hidden ALL the pens. I mean, everyone's, including the huge bundle at the front desk. Another pro staff (Amy) was searching high and low for them, because obviously we need pens! Autumn had left only a highlighter on Amy's desk. It's so funny. Finally Amy called Autumn, and found boxes and boxes of pens and markers and pencils all locked in the fines safe. Jim, another pro staff, in retaliation switched her mac keyboard with a dell one, taped a fork on her chair, and taped her water bottle to the ceiling. I think he did a few other things but I didn't catch on. Haha it was fun anticipating Autumn's reaction. And yup she yelled at him. She told us some of her other ideas, one which was taping a sign over the door saying everyone is laid off and to go home, and another which was unplugging everyone's keyboard and mouse.

Last night I babysitted Jessica for a couple of hours, and it was fun as always. She tricked me saying that I had something on my shirt, and I tricked her back telling her she dropped some popcorn. We played a few games, but I think she's getting tired of the Chinese game I invented just for her. I hadn't really intended to tutor Chinese last night, but I just randomly asked if she would like to learn how to write her name in Chinese, and she actually settled down for a few minutes copying my strokes. I was happy and impressed. That went over real quickly. While she was putting on her pj's and brushing her teeth, I drew some squares on a piece of scrap paper, and wrote the strokes for 'yang' on the side, doubting she'll really practice writing the character and maybe just write one and scribble or tear up the paper in no time. But SURPRISE! After she came back down, she started seriously writing that character in all of the squares, and wanted me to circle the one I thought was the best. Finally, some progress with this hyper kid in Chinese. I actually can't wait to draw more grids for her.

So this is my pretty eventful week, or half week, so far. Ok, I better get back to writing my novel that I need to turn in tomorrow and that I'm so far behind on. Saturday should be fun too, cuz I'll probably be having dim sum with a good friend, finally carrying out our plan that we had made almost a year and a half ago.

Gobble gobble

2009-03-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, I spotted 5 turkeys in a yard.
This woman named Betty saw them too, and she took out her phone and took pictures. Too bad for me, I did not have my camera with me nor did I have my phone (a lazy thought had passed through that morning, "I probably won't need it today." Pheesh=.= murphy's law at work). With envying eyes I glanced from her phone to the turkeys, and the turkeys back to her phone again. It's not everyday you get to see these legendary turkeys that are said to be spotted waddling around the streets in the Brookline area. I've only seen one toddling beside the road one early morning, but that was it. And the one day, the one day I don't have a photographic device with me I see five: five plump turkeys strolling in someone's backyard (which me and Betty trespassed to get a closer look), pecking at the grass. Betty gets a blurry photo of them, which she kindly offered to send to me and I of course accepted. Except that she didn't really know how to work it and I didn't really get the photo after all.

And nope the turkeys did not gobble.

Peak of the Week

2009-03-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

This totally made my day yesterday.

A girl walked into our office at around 2pm, all panicky.
She couldn't find her class, and demanded our help. Yes, demand.
I wasn't at the front desk, but a pro staff and a fellow worker were in charge. Instead I was huddled in the corner with a media assistant computer, my back facing the door, but on a swiveling chair which allowed me to observe as I pleased. A safe corner away from the tempest that was about to break out.

And break out it did.

When the pro staff did what little he could to help, excluding calling the professor (as we probably really can't do that), she was even more agitated.

"In England they would make the call for me," she exclaimed.
"Well this is America," my fellow worker replied.
That sparked it.

She took it as a racial attack, which she had experienced in England probably not too long ago. "Why are you looking at me like that??" she cried. She dropped her bookbag and stared down at my poor fellow worker.

All attempts from the pro staff failed to calm her down. I debated whether to try to help, but also worried that the girl might take it the wrong way, thinking we were ganging up on her. And then our manager stepped in. Whew.

Our awesome manager, the "Ultimate Supervisor", took her into her office, shut the door, and all screams let go. We could hear her muffled tantrum, and I was located two cubicles away (maybe like, 10 to 20 feet away). Quite an interesing display.

Not long after the screams quieted down, and from what I later learned during my conversation with our awesome supervisor, she helped her call the professor and found out where the class was. Apparrently this girl was extremely worried she would fail and get kicked out of school if she missed even one class. She was even calm enough to come back and extend an apology to my fellow worker, claiming she's a very nice person.

orz to our manager.

New Experiment Yum Yum~~

2009-03-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

Cucumber stuffed with ground pork, steamed.
Ground pork cake with an egg on top.

Yum yum . . . experiment successful!

Harvard Conference

2009-03-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

During our first pilates-turned-taibo meetup, my friend Ashley told me she was going to attend the Harvard Business School 2009 Social Enterprise Conference. I took a look at the website, at the schedule, and even though I had no idea what social enterprise is and what the conference was about, I was tempted to go because there were many sessions that sounded interesting. Plus, a HARVARD conference at $40 including breakfast and lunch + a career fair? Our Child Lit program's summer conference costs like $400 for three days! Not a bad deal. For Harvard, I mean. So I signed up too. My first official, professional conference that hundreds were to attend.

The day before the conference I had planned to go shopping with Ashley because she wanted to get new clothes for the event. Never happened. My poor friend came down with the flu that week, and could not get better in time for the conference. We were both terribly disappointed because she had been looking forward to it for a long time, and it wouldn't be as much fun to go by myself. Of course I still went though. I dressed as professionally as I could, wearing the new shirt I my grandparents had bought me, a long vest that was my mom's, dark grey or black slacks (I couldn't tell), and Mary Jane's. For outerwear I wore the black coat that my aunt and uncle gave me last Christmas. Although, when I changed my shoes after the conference ended, I realized the metal plate at the bottom of one of my heels was missing. Which explains for the hollow sound I thought I heard when I walked. Thankfully I brought another pair of shoes . . . toddling around in heels for 12 hours is not my idea of comfort.

I got up before 6am, still debating whether to take the T or the bus. I finally decided to take the train when I go and take the bus when I come back. At the Harvard T stop I walked down JFK St., crossed a bridge, and the business school was at my left.

This is the walkway I randomly entered.

I only had the vaguest idea of where the Spangler Center was, and when I came upon an important-looking building, I went in, thinking maybe I would hit the spot. If not, maybe find someone I could ask.

It tunred out to be a library. It wasn't Spangler, but I was right that it was an important building. Lucky for me a woman came in from the other side and knew where Spangler was.

The other side of the library.

The Spangler Center.

Ah ha.

Nice, isn't it?

Where we register

and have breakfast!

Sure is professional. Totally worth it.

I was secretly hoping for scrambled eggs and sausage . . .

but I'll welcome pastries anytime.

This is the building where the keynotes are held.

In the auditorium.

Settling down.

Where the panels are held.

Burden Hall. It was starting to snow.

My first panel.

Nice bathroom. I feel like a bumpkin.

Talking about global health and the challenges of delivering to the needed.

Second panel.

A peep at the snowy scene. Sure feels different from Simmons.

Mid-morning snack! The banana bread was delicious, the other one I wasn't so fond of.

Second panel. Introductions. Talking about food as an agent for social change.

The restrooms are in the left hand corner.

Second keynote.

I calculated that there were probably around a thousand people sitting in the room.

We had a brown bag lunch, nothing fancy. I had a turkey sandwich, lay's, and a cookie.

I don't know whether it was the monotone of the speakers, tiredness, or food coma, or maybe all, I was nodding off, and noticed that I wasn't the only one. The woman sitting mext to me was definitely asleep. Haha.

There were two people that I met who left an impression in me. One is actually a Simmons alumn who studied economy, and the other is a Chinese girl who I happened to meet at the bus stop on our way back. She was very chatty and admitted so, and I was surprised that she shared about her experience on a ski trip and how this guy was interested in her. She even told me what her professor just told them about accepting students: apparently, one of their policies is to accept a balanced amount of fast learners and slow learners. (Hmm...I'm a slow learner, so how come I didn't get in?:P) Anyways. Cute woman. (By the way, the ride on the bus was half as long as that on the T @@)

Third panel. The influence of media.

I only stayed half an hour for this one, because I was anxious to get to the career fair which would end when the last keynote ended. Choices, choices, choices.

The career fair was held in the room where we had breakfast, and boy were there a lot of people. There was a snack table in the middle of the room, with fruit, cheese, crackers, bread, and most yummy of all, Newman's Own all-natural pizza. They sure know h0w to advertise. I forgot to take pictures though. My hands were full of my resumes and company brochures.

Third and last keynote. About Ebay's World of Goods.

Not a lot of people left. Many left I suppose, and the rest are definitely still at the fair.

LOOT!

They gave us each a bag full of goodies: a conference tote,

Whole Foods tote, a t-shirt, Newman's Own Almond cereal,

Good Mountain tumbler, tea and teabags, hand-made triple

chocolate, heart-shaped cookies with pink icing and sprinkles,

a balance cookie-dough bar, a Nature Valley honey and oats bar,

a book, and a magazine. I took a Harvard Business School napkin

and a white plastice plate for souvenirs. I also grabbed some candy,

pencils, and pens. I couldn't get another bag for my friend, so I grabbed what I could at the career fair for her.

Meals+snacks+connections+knowledge+treats+nice campus=40 bucks. Not a bad deal, huh?

Operation Goose Attack

2009-03-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

So. The new School of Management Building is up, and we can finally see patches of grass on our campus, which has been under construction ever since I came here. The green green grass is certainly a welcome change of scenery, but what do you know, it became prey to . . .

The Geese.

(don't know why the grass looks red in the picture)

They waddle in, in a very laidback manner: settle among the grass, bathe in the sun, peck at the green, quench their thirst in the melting snow. . . it's as if they own the place. The Simmons new campus has become Goose Villa. What a sweet life.

Except for their doo doo littering the pathways, I love seeing them around. Too bad they have to be chased away by a black-and-white dog our school employed. The dog does his job well by not harming them, but I will always welcome them back, even if it means sacrificing the little bit of green we have.

Wowee...

2009-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

My last day before I fly. I decided to go to "Bodies: The Exhibition." I was so looking forward to it, and I was not disappointed. However, it wasn't until I got there did I realize I had confused this with Body Worlds, which is the one I have been wanting to see forever. But this one was cool too. It features real human bodies from China that are preserved, and lets you explore the composition and workings of the human body. I learned a whole lot, which I will list below for my own reference. Part of it I copied on tissue paper, and a worker there gave me two pieces of blank paper to take notes. Wasn't that thoughtful of her?

-Deltoid
-the tongue has 16 muscles
-cramps are involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles that don't relax
-th body's smallest muscles are found in the ears
-there are three muscle tissues:
skeletal muscle: moves the bones
cardiac muscle: moves the heart
smooth muscle: moves blood, food, and fluids through your body
-the brain is 80% water
-girls' brains: 2.5% of body weight
boys': 2%
-depression is thought to be caused by a combination of brain chemistry, thinking
patterns, and traumatic experiences
-Eating breakfast can improve memory
-the size of eyes does not change between infancy and adulthood, so children's eyes
are large in comparison to their brains and skulls, giving them that wide-eyed look
-dura mater 硬膜
-the thumping sound of heartbeats is the sound of heart valves shutting
-pulse is the artery wall stretching with each heartbeat
-jejunum 空腸
-ileum 迴腸
-cecum 盲腸
-colon 結腸
-spleen 脾臟
-every drop of blood in the body passes through the heart once per minute
-there are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body
-the brain requires 20% of the body's total blood supply
-veins have valves to prevent blood from flowing backward
-"The heart is the king and the lungs are its ministers." Hwang Ti
-when a breast-feeding woman eats garlic, her baby will suckle longer
-people are born with innate preferences for sweet or salty
-tongue: 4 taste regions--sweet, sour, salty, bitter
a 5th region?--umami, a taste similar to MSG (味精)
-omentum 網膜
-your body is shortest at the end of the day and longest just after rising in the
morning
=> body weight and gravity act on the vertebral column, then the intervertebral discs
become compressed and flattened; during sleep, the discs spring back to their
original shape
-stomach growl is peristalsis in action (蠕動)
-Meckel's diverticulum 梅克耳氏憩室/ 迴腸憩室
-duodenum 十二指腸
-To digest:
Ingest
Chew: 10-30 times
Swallow: 4-8 seconds
Churn: 2-4 hours
Absorb: 3-5 hours
Compact: 10 hours to several days
Eliminate
-it takes about 24 hours to digest, from mouth to anus
-A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have
-A man continues to produce sperm throughout his life
-the male sperm is the smallest cell in the body, and the female egg is the largest
-transverse 橫向
-sagittal 矢狀切面
-uterine 子宮的
-fibroid 纖維瘤;子宮肌瘤
-placenta 胎盤
-By the 11th week, all major organs of a fetus have formed
-femur 股骨
-lymph 淋巴
-polymer preservation
-ectopic 異位,異常

This reminds me, there were babies and siamese twins in the exhibit too, from really tiny ones to ones several months old, and a few were abnormal.

It's really hard to believe that all the specimen are real because they don't look real to me, rather like they were molded from plastic or something, but they totally are. Except for the eyes. I learned that eyes are hard to preserve as they get gray or something (the lady who gave me the paper told me) and get disgusting.

All in all, although it was a bit pricey even with a discount, it was totally worth it.

More helpful people

2008-12-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note on more people who were helpful.
So there was a girl who helped me carry my heavy suitcase downstairs in the subway; a guy who helped me open my bottle that I had screwed on too tight; and another (fairly cute) guy who helped me carry my suitcase upstairs one flight in the hostel the first day we moved in.

Nice, nice people. So people in New York aren't too busy to help.

Hours for one second

2008-12-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

Whoo...today was my first, and very possibly last, time to count down to New Year's in Times Square. I arrived at 42nd st to meet my friend, but so many streets were barred by the police and I could only enter from 52nd st. I barreled my way to 51st st. and Broadway, and was stuck in the crowd. Little by little the crowd--impatient and getting mad about not being able to get through--managed to push their way through to 50th, 49th, and finally midway between 48th and 49th. And that's where we stood for several hours, until around 11:30pm when the police finally opened the gates and let us through to the next "bin". Yip, that's what the police called it. We are animals being controlled and herded from one pen to another, and you can't even return to the same bin if you want to go out and get coffee or go to the bathroom. I was at the front edge of our bin, and that's where all the goodies stopped. By goodies I mean those funny-looking blue Nevea hats, pom-poms, and even scarves. And I could only stand in the freezing cold, watching the people in the bin in front of ours grab for these free items. Then came the blue Nivea balloons with silver streamers. Thankfully, some people were nice enough to pass on some of those to us, and that's how I got mine.
It was exciting to feel the human pulse amidst the crowd, as it was like a rippling effect, both physically and spiritually. Spiritually because you can feel the mounting anger (when we were too far to see the ball), impatience, but also the people's excitement building up to a climax that effects you; physically because you're sandwiched between people and don't have total control over your body except try to maintain your balance. In both aspects it is easy to be affected by the crowd, and I finally have first-hand experience on how dangerous a mob, when turned angry, can be.
It was also sort of annoying how you really don't have total freedom and domination over your own body when you choose to stay and wait for that climactic moment. For the climax of the event you must choose to yield your desire for food, beverage, warmth, and the luxury of the restroom. The police keep you shut in an area like a pig penm, and you can't choose to move forward. Also because there are so many people behind you, you can't really move backward either. But if you choose to give up the strike of midnight, you can immediately leave the pen and have all of this freedom back.
Despite all of the above, it was fun and I would say it was worth it for the first time, but man I am never going to do this ever again. Once was enough.
Funny how I just went to the zoo during the day and was herded into the pens in the evening...

Poor Goose

2008-12-30T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today was just a long, long walk. I went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which was a pretty nice break from the crazy and chaotic Manhattan. There weren't many people, and there was a lovely little lake. When I saw the patch of blue, I scurried down the hill to meet it. I came to its side, and what do you know among the flock of birds--geese, pigeons, ducks, etc.--a goose came waddling right up to me. It wasn't shy or afraid, and I guess it expected me to feed it. Too bad I only had a 6 inch sub, my dinner, so I couldn't give that up. I took a picture of it though, and when I looked at the photo closely, I realized that it was missing half of its top beak.

The poor little thing. I felt a little bad I didn't give it anything to eat.
Here's one view of the little lake:

Next I went to the Botanic Garden next to the park, and it was nice too but I bet it is much lovelier in the spring and summer when the flowers are all blooming. Then I rushed over to the Museum of Natural History, and for 2.5 hours I breezed through the galleries, allowing myself half an hour for each floor. I should've headed over earlier, but I couldn't help lingering in the park since it was such a nice day. Hopefully tomorrow will be too, cuz I plan to head for the zoo.

Fifth Ave

2008-12-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Today was not my first time up 5th ave., but I wanted to visit the Disney store again, so I rammed into the crowd and elbowed my way up the streets...5th ave. these days is certainly a tumultuous river of people streaming up and down. I passed the American Girl store, and I have to say as I was once an American Girl lover, it is much, much too commercialized now. A full store of dolls and merchandise is just too much for me. I miss the old days where there was just four of them, and probably just a limited amount of merchandise. They've generated too much commercial products for this series. I feel sad and I am gradually losing my sincere love for the American Girls.

I finally came to the Disney store, and here is my favorite figurine:

I wonder why I don't feel Disney is too commercialized. Maybe because it didn't start out as books and is much of a commodity.

By the way

2008-12-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Since I walked 4.5 hours in the Met Museum and made my way towards Times Square by foot today, my feet officially do not belong to me anymore.

My Feat/Feet

2008-12-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

Boy are my feet TIRED. I swear they are not mine anymore...

Yesterday I walked from 24th street all the way up Fifth Ave. to 60th street. 36 streets. Is that amazing or what. I sure think so. But my legs do ache. Oh well. It's worth it.

So to start our trip from the beginning. We hopped on a Chinatown bus to New York on the 21st, dropping off my friend's one-wheel-broken suitcase at the place she's staying later, then headed for DC. But let me talk about New York first. We arrived on the evening of Christmas day, and after we dropped off our things (a pretty huge hassle on my part cuz I was lugging around a 20kg suitcase with a bulging backpack up and down the stairs of the NY subway) we went to walk around Rockefeller. We saw the beautiful tree, and oh oh oh here's the best part. I heard people starting to cheer and woohoo at the skating rink, so of course I had to look too, and there was a guy getting down on his knees, PROPOSING to this other guy. He accepted, and they got up and kissed and hugged. I've never seen anything like it before, and it's a sort-of-weird but heartwarming scene. And someone beside me yelled "You're gonna be on Youtube!", while a woman on my other side tried to cover up her kid's eyes. Hold on, let me see if they really are up on the tube. Nope. At least I can't find it. Maybe it will turn up sometime.

Yesterday I chanced upon the Jewish community lighting up a huge menorah at the edge of Central Park. It was really touching, especially afterwards when a family started dancing around in a circle holding hands and singing their holiday song (I think). Then they all got into their cars and vans, each with a lit menorah (7 lights) on top, like a parade, and they leaned out their windows and wished everyone a Happy Hanukkah. It was really great.
I also went to the world's largest Macy's, and boy it really is HUGE. EIGHT floors, all huge. Huge huge huge. They had wooden elevators too, which I saw for the first time. My favorite part has gotte be the top floor, where the Toy Circus is.

Let me rewind now. On the morning (in the very wee hours) that we set out, Boston had many inches of deep snow and we were snail-speed slowly making our way towards the T stop. We had progressed about half a block before a car crawled by, then backed up. We were soooooooooooooooooooooooooo thankful! This man, Mark (or Mike) Coehn (or Cohen), who was in his sixties but did not look that old because he went swimming everyday, offered to drive us to the T stop, and after knowing we were headed to South Station, decided to drive us there. Isn't that awesome of him??? So very nice. He said he couldn't let himself pass by two girls dragging their suitcases in the deep snow, so he decided it would be a good deed. And indeed it was. What normally was a 7-minute walk to the T-stop would have been a 45-minute tow-and-drag-and-grunt-and-sweaty journey became a breeze. That was the first kindhearted person that helped us. There were others, but what I remember now is a girl who even helped me drag my suitcase to the NY subway and down the stairs as well when I asked her for directions. Nice, nice people in the big city.

I visited Toys R' Us in Times Square the day before, and boy oh boy was it a madhouse: kids everywhere, strollers everywhere, toys all over the floor. It was awesome to experience that craziness though. That reminds me, when I went to the KB Toys store in Manhattan Mall, they were having a 50% off everything sale because they were closing business. I rushed in to see if I could get anything, and my jaw dropped. It was WHITE. Practically all the shelves, white-colored, were cleaned off, and only some nonexciting-looking toys were in small piles here and there in like, two rows of shelves. And some were scattered all over the floor in front of the cashiers. I did get some Crayola art supplies and a sketchpad. I was so happy.

Now of course there are unhappy and challenging moments when you go out, especially when travelling with somebody else, and I've had my share. But, the most recent, most unfortunate event has left me aghast. Somehow, while I was washing my face last night, my soap--my lovely little piece of soap--had to desert me and slipped down the drain. Why don't they have a little thingy that blocks stuff from going down the drain here like all normal drains do?? Now I have to hope that its soapy remains in the bag will last me for the remainder of my trip, and wish that my soap has a lovely journey down the pipe and to who-knows-where while it slowly perishes. What a way for it to end its life. But then, maybe a mouse has found it and it will clean its fur, or it could become a slippery boat for a small creature. Hmm...maybe it has now travelled to Times Square. Maybe "The Cricket in Times Square" has left too much of an impact on my mind.

I keep trying to remember what I want to write down when I'm out, and I'm not doing very well. I believe that I have more to tell, but as of now, my puny brain needs some rest.

Snow!!

2008-12-20T20:14:00.000-08:00

Haha...we had a snowstorm yesterday and it kept snowing today, giving us a thick blanket of white fluff. In the evening I finally could resist no longer and went out to play in the snow. It's weird, somehow whenever I see a clean, thick and crunchy patch of snow I just want to jump in it and make my mark. I just love making crunches in the snow.

So I went to the park down the street, and started to build a snowman in the middle of the field. Only the snow was too fluffy, not the sticky kind, as I later learned, so it's not my fault if I can't build one today. I was in the middle of piling up snow, when I heard a child say "Can we help her?" Before I knew it two kids, one little girl and one little boy, came running towards me and asked me if they could help me. Of course I said "Yes Please Do!" I'm always ready to have playmates. So the three of us started concentrating on building up the snow mountain, which they decided what it should be. Then Kyle, the boy, suggested it should be a snow volcano, which of course is much more cool. Once it was high enough, Kyle went and stuck his fist into the tippy top, making a hole for the lava. After Kyle and Alexia and me piled up more snow and decided it was big enough, we counted "1,2,3!" and we all splashed into the mound of fluff, the beautiful snow volcano promptly destroyed.
Kyle then enticed me into a game of tag, where I was the wolf and he a snow fox. The wolf has to catch fox, which it did much to the fox's surprise, as he never anticipated that the wolf could run so fast in the snow. All the while Alexia diligently continued to work on that mountain of snow, smoothing it out nicely. Huffing and puffing, the wolf decided to help Alexia and the fox turned his attention to the playground.
A bit later me and Alexia decided to make a snow bed. We finally did, and I even made a snow pillow for her, which scattered into pieces the moment her head touched it. She was so cute. She even made a hole in the snow bed for her bum. While she was lying down, trying out her new bed, I lay down too and made my first snow angel, which I must say was quite impressive.
After a while their grandpa decided it was time to go home and order pizza, and we went our own way. I had only walked a few steps when I saw Kyle running towards me, his arms wide open, and thrust himself into me for a hug. Isn't that the sweetest? Man I love those kids already, and we've only known each other for like, an hour.

Yea~~

2008-10-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

She's here! My longtime friend in Taiwan arrived safely on Sunday night, and we've been having tons of fun.

After we lugged her stuff into her room-which, by the way, she can live in free of charge thanks to our wonderful landlord--she gave me a really pretty bag she got in Thailand. We also shared a yummy snack she bought when she stopped in Japan. They were round little balls made of sticky rice with some kind of sweet cream inside, and they came with chocolate powder that you mix with water and dip with the treat. It was REALLY good.

Monday, after I got off from work I took her to the post office to help her send off a package for her friend, and then we went to Trader Joe's, Walgreens-to look at Halloween stuff, and Stop and Shop. We had dumplings and mac and cheese, watched "The Bucket List", and crashed.

Yesterday we headed for the Garment District. There were so many people. We tried on different hats, and she tried on two different costumes. She looked so cute in them, but too bad they were so expensive. So while we saw people streaming out the store, each with a pink bag in hand, the two of us came out empty-handed. Then when we passed au bon pain, we bought a cinammon raisin bagel and a chocolate poundcake to share. For lunch we had food that I had made--rice, tofu with tomatoes and broccoli and soy sauce, stir-fired green beans, and stir-fried chicken with green peppers and onions. She liked it and even said I was ready to marry=.=, but then again, she's really easy to satisfy.

Today she's going to Chinatown with me and walk around while I'm at my writer's group and in kungfu class.

I Dreamed...

2008-10-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

That Mooncake can sing@@
I was playing some music on my player, and he would sing along--not just humming, but singing the words. He would bob his head and I could see his little mouth moving. And he would only sing to just one particular song.

I think Media is cursed this semester...

2008-10-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Last week, on a quiet morning, there was suddenly a tremendous crash in the hallway outside the office. Everybody rushed out, and there stood one of my coworkers, with a TV facedown on the floor and a cart beside her. Apparently the cart with the TV on it was broken, and when the poor girl maneuvered the cart the TV fell off.

I really think Media is cursed.

Ooops....

2008-10-20T11:24:00.001-07:00

So a few weeks back, on a Friday morning, I was instructed to go to Quadside to put away a microphone, and was given a set of keys for the closet. Not being familiar with the residence campus, I thought Quadside was Alumni Hall. I stuck one key in to try to open the hall door, but it got stuck, and I couldn't pull it out no matter how hard I tried.

Just goes to show why I need plenty of sleep to function well.....

At least it got taken out a few days after. Whew.

@@!!!

2008-10-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Somebody just returned a digital camera that was checked out last year, and the fine has accumulated to $11980.00...................................wow.

Wow...

2008-10-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

I started babysitting/tutoring a little girl, and her mother was in the same program as I was. She adopted a little girl from China who's 8 years old now. But I just found out that the Robert Sibert award given to nonfiction, was named after her father.

So awesome.

Six Star Hotel

2008-10-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

This past Monday our kungfu school got to do a performance for the opening of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. They had very specific requirements as to what they wanted us to do, and I was very glad I only had to play the cymbals.

The day was chilly, and we were led into the "Bejing Room" on the 2nd floor where we could put our stuff and rest. Boy, the carpets were thick and comfy, the bathroom was amazing (the lady's room of course, I'm sure the men's room is equally beautiful)--a lot of mirrors, soft paper towels with their mark (I took one for a souvenier), and besides soas there was lotion too. There were also touch-screen panels on the walls, and the walls themselves were so comfy too. They were kind of soft, and during our break I fell asleep against one. There were refreshments in our room too: orange juice, apple juice (I drank a glass) , grapefruit juice, still water in pretty bottles, sprite, gingerale and diet coke in small glass bottles (I took two), coffee, hot water, white and brown sugar lumps, and in a pretty wooden box there were many vials filled with different types of tea leaves. They also had teapots with an instrument beside it, which we never figured out how to use. The lobby was kind of small, but beautiful as well: marble tiles, glass cabinets with Gucci purses, nice wooden chairs, etc. I love the carpet best though. There were lots of cameras and important people crowded inside when we performed. Our two lions had to present two scrolls to the important people, and they were supposed to take it, but they probably didn't know so my kungfu brothers were waiting and waiting for them to take it. Somebody should have told them beforehand. But even with that it all went really well. After our break we went through the offices with the lions to spread blessings.

It was a non-stop and very tiring weekend. I haven't fully recuperated yet, but fortunately, with Columbus Day I'll be able to get more rest.

Hanging Silently

2008-10-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was hectic, mainly because I helped out at the Simmons International Chinese Poetry Festival from Friday thru Sunday. I also got a free book from a poet from Taiwan (YEA!). What was scary though was that I almost lost my umbrella.

On Saturday, I had stuck my umbrella in the side pocket of my backpack and hadn't touched it the whole day. At night when I got home, I realized that it was MISSING.

I was baffled. I didn't take it out, so I supposed it might have fallen out on my way back even though it was tucked in pretty tight. The next morning I looked for it along my trodden path, but sadly, there was no sign of it at all. So I supposed somebody might have picked it up even if it did fall out. I was on my way to surrendering to a new umbrella, but still had the teeny hope it might still be in the conference room...It wasn't there either. I fully succumbed to the fact that I would have to spend money to buy a new one.

Yet, MIRACLES DO HAPPEN.

After the conferece was over I headed for the stairs with a new friend from Taiwan, and there it was, hanging silently on the doorhandle. I was ecstatic. The handle must have fished it from the pocket.

Good joke, doorhandle, good joke.

Good semester~~

2008-09-26T06:29:00.001-07:00

So...this semester is turning out to be pretty awesome. I've got two fantastic roommates--one's from Germany and one's a fellow Simmons student, I LOVE my professor--she's so witty and funny and knowledgeable and she somehow creates a really good atmosphere for discussion, and I'm working with a really good editor for my mentorship. Work is probably the only thing that sucks from time to time. There's so much to do and sometimes I can't even have a complete lunch break, plus there are some really crappy professors. I find that professors can be categorized into two types: really, really nice ones and those who think they're the center of the universe and expect everyone to wait hand-and-foot on them. Like this art professor. The other day I went in to help her fix the projector image, and I was waiting for a pause in her lecture to tell what she could do if it happened again. Finally she paused, looked at me and said, "I'll get to you later. I'm very busy teaching right now and I have no time for this. Students come first." Five seconds. That's all I needed. I pummeled her in my head infinite times. And apparently she lodged a complaint to the office later. But of course she's a crazy person and everyone told me I did well and was sorry I had to go through it. The manager told me this person has been wreaking havoc over here and at the Help Desk--another department under Technology. So. On to happier stuff.

I mentioned my roommates. They are so great. The German girl made soup ("pohi"--or something like that) with leeks, beef, milk, paprika, etc. and we had dinner together one Saturday night. It was really tasty. Then one night the Simmons girl told us she heard JP Licks--a really good ice-cream place--was giving out free ice-cream to college students. So we had FREE ice-cream together. And another Saturday we did laundry together. It was the first time I saw soap suds overflow out of a washing machine. And we shared a free bag of Doritos that day too. How did that happen? Well, the Simmons girl was getting a bag of chips from the vending machine, and there happened to be a bag Doritos that had fell and was stuck. So she pounded and shook the machine until it dropped to where she could reach it. Funny how things happen when you're with people. Nothing like this ever happens to me when I go there by myself. The Simmons girl is very generous too. She shares her coupons, and one day she gave me a chapstick she got for free at school. But then it's because she just bought a new one.

Kung fu is going well too. I'm starting to learn the new drum set, we're doing a bit of kungzi, I finished Northern Shaoling, and in the process of learning Monkey staff and LaoGar. Sifu also asked me to type out and translate a draft of a book he's working on. His handwriting is often hard to make out though.

Anyway. So life's pretty good for me this semester. Will try to write more on my blog.

Mooncake

2008-08-11T21:58:00.001-07:00

Wow I have been really lazy.

I just cleaned Mooncake and tried to feed him some lettuce. He spits it out, but if I wrap it around a pellet he usually eats he swallows them both. Haha, I tricked him. Hopefully he'll get used to it.

It's been a year since I got him, and he sure has grown a lot!

This was taken the day I brought him home.

This is him about a month ago.

Some pictures in between:

Sometimes he likes to pose for me~

Ahh....getting a tan...

One of my favorites. He likes to snuggle up in a corner to sleep.

Right now he's in his third tank since he's getting big, and I had to find him a bigger rock too. I put his tank on the window sill, and he seems to enjoy lying on his rock and gazing out. Or maybe he;s enjoying the sun.

I really wonder how long he can survive under my care.

What happens when you overheat a hotdog?

2007-12-02T20:46:00.001-08:00

It splits right in half and shows its insides. No kidding.

Gettin' more laaaaaaazzzy...

2007-11-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

Well, another month has passed...I'm sitting here, waiting for my shift to end, and about to doze off any second. So tons of things I need to catch up on.
Last night our folk and fairy tale class met up to watch Disney movies. We watched Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. Our professor ordered pizza, salad, and brought red wine. It was so much more fun than I expected. It was so amusing to hear everyone tear up the movies. Our professor had never seen a Disney movie before. Hard to imagine to go through half your life and never seeing a Disney movie.
So what else...oooh. Pam's colleague and his wife treated us to a Taiwanese breakfast sooo many Sundays ago. It was delicious~~ Never as good as Taiwan but good enough:P
I also went to a dessert party my classmate Whitney and her husband hosted. I brought funnel cake---well, funnel crisps because I couldn't get the dough to shape into a cake. It was a HIT. Ha. I made a box full and it was cleaned out! I was so happy. I will try to remember to post pictures later.
Mooncake lets me feed him now! I just hold his food between my fingers and wait until he grabs it with his mouth. Sometimes he bends back to much and flops right onto his back:P He is so cute. He knows how to ask me for food too. Whenever he sees me and is hungry he scrabbles at the scrabble wall of his cage until I feed him.
More recently. On Halloween I dressed up as Doraemon because the Technology Department held a costume contest and almost everyone was dressing up. I also made gingerbread cupcakes. I will upload some picture later. That evening I was debating whether to go trick-or-treating or to kunhgfu class. Of course trick-or-treating won. I'm so glad I went. It was sooo much fun! There were hundreds of kids and adults around the neighborhood, the most interesting costumes I saw were a guy dressed as an armchair and a kid dressed up as a toilet:P I went around for 2 hours. I even stumbled upon a classmate's apartment! That sure was sort of embarrassing. I actually got lost by the time I decided to head back. But of course I got back safely, or else I wouldn't be writing this now.:P My last stop was our next-door neighbor's. They were an elderly couple, and the woman waved me over saying they were about to close up. She had a big bowl still filled with Hershey and KitKat bars, and she dumped them right into my bag!! Haha! When I counted my loot later I had 192 pieces of candy.
Even though a good portion of my reading time was sacrificed, it sure was worth it.

Pssst...

2007-10-10T20:00:00.001-07:00

I just saw my little mooncake yawn:P

Make My Day Dunkin~~

2007-09-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was totally exhausted on Sunday after kungfu class, and decided to get a Dunkin glazed donut. I hadn't been in a while and it was a store I had never been to, so I asked if they had vanilla cream-filled donuts. The lady said no but they had Boston cream-filled ones, and since the last one was sort of mushed she said I could have it, and get this----

FREE OF CHARGE.

So that's how I walked out of that Dunkin with a free, yummy donut in hand-which, by the way, looked perfectly fine to me just not so much chocolate frosting--and savored it all the way home.

That lady just made my day.

Mooncake~~My New Companion

2007-08-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

I got a new pet! His name is Mooncake (月餅), and he's a turtle. There was an August moon festival going on in China Town and I just couldn't resist. There were many that were priced at 16 or 12 dollars including the cage, which I thought much too expensive. Then I found a stall that sold $5 each, so I grabbed one. The cage was $2, and I went to another stall to get a package of food for him for $2, which I learned would last quite a while. I didn't think it was a bad deal. Its literary translated as Brazilian turtle, but a lot of websites say its called a red-eared turtle. He's been trying to get out ever since I put him in--scrabbling fruiously at the plastic wall and trying to pull himself up. Poor thing. I'm gonna let him out once in a while.

Potter Palooza~

2007-08-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

It was the day before the last Harry Potter book came out, and I couldn't care less. But I saw this poster for this Potter event that was going to on in Coolidge Corner, so I went just out of plain curiosity. See how crazy people can get. This was a few weeks ago.
I got there, and there were tons of people milling around. I got a little poster thing, and before I knew it I followed along the scavenger hunt. You had to go to each participating store to look for a symbol or character in the series, and once you spotted it you get a sticker. You had to collect thirteen before 11 o'clock for a surprise gift, which I found intriguing. It was a yellow neon cup, with the words "mischief managed", that turned blue if you put ice or ice cold water into it. It was pretty fun actually. And it was cute to see all these people--teenagers and children especially--all dressed up for the occasion. There were witches, but mostly these people dressed up in the Potter school uniforms: white shirt, yellow and red tie, black cape. It was sort of uncanny to see little Hermiones and Harrys and Rons running around.

Computer Buster

2007-07-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yup that's me.

Today I went room testing, and when we finish each room we have to fill in a sign saying whether the room was fully functional or not. Now the whiteboard cleaner was missing its nozzle, so I had to unscrew the top and sort of pour some out. Well at one point I did not screw it on tight enough, and it spilled into the rest of the kit...sooooooo, everything else was ok, but the top right corner of the laptop screen was smudged. At least it still works.

I debated whether to confess or not....and as I am a very good girl, I did.

I am still living (whole) and didn't pay a dime.

Heart Stop

2007-07-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book. I then went to Walgreens, and when I dug in my bag, I couldn't find my debit card! Oh my gosh I was so frantic I rushed back to my apartment and called them, hoping I had left it on the counter and maybe someone had saved it and not lying around somewhere on the ground or stolen...it was a ball day so there was a pretty huge crowd and I was so worried. But it wouldn't make sense for someone to just take that one card if they wanted to steal, right? I checked my bank account and my money was still there, so that was a teeny relief. But who knows? I made the call.
Thank HEAVENS the lady at the counter had spotted it about 10 minutes after I left. I went to get it the next day.

WHEW!

Catching Up #5--Flight Back to Boston

2007-07-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

All was well until my connecting flight in Washington, Dulles...

I even took some pictures:

I'm very proud of this on. Doesn't it look cool?

I took them because the sky was divided into 3 different shades of blue, and so evenly.

So...(sigh).

On the way to Washington D.C., I fell asleep on the plane and thus slept through lunch time. Yes, a quick way to get thin, but I was starving, and hoping I could grab a snack before I got on the flight to Boston.

At 3:40 I deboarded the plane, walked through a long terminal to get to customs, spent some time filling out that card, got my luggage and waited in a loooooooooooong line to re-check my baggage in. Thankfully I had sat next to a very friendly and helpful tour guide from Thailand, not only did he teach me how to adjust the screen in front of my seat, but knowing I needed to catch a plane in a hurry directed me to an express line. It wasn't all that express. Still, a few people let me cut in front of them as I had to board the plane at 4:15. The official inspecting everyone, seeing how panicked I was, let me go through a special quick inspection on the other side so I didn't have to wait in line. I tossed my suitcases along with the other bags, and went on to the personal inspection. As I went through the archway beeped, so I had to take off my belt. And in my hurry, I forgot to take my notebook out and they had to take it out and re-inspect blah blah blah. By that time it was probably 4:30 but who's looking? I had no time to put my notebook back in or my belt on, so I clutched my NB and my belt and rushed to my D12 Gate, all the way hitching up my pants and almost crying and thinking what'll I do if I miss the plane? My best friend and her family would be waiting for me...

Unfortunately, before I reached my gate I had to run through a whole concourse of 20 C gates and another 11 D gates, all the way pulling my carry-on, a bag on my shoulder, belt and NB in hand and hitching up my pants (I needed my belt!!). By the time I got there it was 4:43..(please let me on please let me on)....whew! They let me in! But it turned out our plane was delayed anyway because some baggages were having trouble getting on. (Mine? Nope. Please continue reading.) And as you might have noticed I didn't get to buy a snack. AND, they had none on the plane because it was a short flight><" They should have them anyway! What if somebody was starving, like ME??

So my luggage was left behind in Washington while I flew to Boston, letting out many many sighs of relief and my poor little stomach rumbling on the whole trip. At Boston I had very strong suspicions that my luggage was left all alone in that confusing airport in D.C. And I was right. But this part wasn't too bad cuz I got it the next day at 2:30.

Lesson #1 I am very, very lucky.

Lesson #2 Always keep your body in good shape. You never know when you'll need a little

extra physical strength. Obviously I need to work out more. But then, I did get a

good workout with my carry-on weights and training in stamina.

Catching Up #4-Bro and Sis

2007-07-14T19:39:00.001-07:00

We were trying on our new outfits from grandma and grandpa...we looked away at the same time without meaning to.

He succeeded in making the egg stand on one end at noon on Dragon Boat Festival Day....=.=

Catching Up #3-High Speed Rail

2007-07-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

~First Ride~

Ha ha....my first ride was with my mom and dad. We went to Taipei, had yummy dumplings for lunch, and then I shopped a little while they had a Haegen Daz dessert. It was reeeaaalllly fast. I felt like I was about to take off on a plane, but only the speedy part before it leaves the ground.

And we went to a new Sogo department store with the nicest restroom...

Isn't this cute?

~Second Ride~

Was by myself to greet my grandparents from coming back from China. Mom dropped me off, and by the time I got to the station and got on the bus that went to the airport, mom wasn't even home yet! The ride to TaoYuan was only 10 mins~~

It's a bit costly to ride, but worth it.

Catching Up #2-4th of July

2007-07-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

FIREWORKS!! But it was such a long and, as my best friend describes it, 'miserable' wait. Two of her friends were already there, since 6 o'clock, by the time we got there around nine. It was drizzling and raining in bouts. When 10:00 rolled around, we thought it would start. But of course they made us wait until 10:30. Pretty much worth the wait. My favorite was the ones that look like jellyfish.

The JEELYFISH ones! I think..

Catching Up #1-Pam's B-Day

2007-07-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, July 3rd, was Pam's birthday and she invited her friends to a place called Match. They sell margaritas and the most delicious mini burgers ever(darn...I should've taken a picture). She had a table reserved for fifteen, but probably 25 people showed up. WOW. I was really impressed. I learned hot to do a dragon with my hands from one of her friends:P Afterwards we went to a bar and some friends bought her rounds of shots. Then a friend of hers drove us back home, which was really nice of him. So here's the picture I took of us (my part ugly and huge as usual):

Bubbles by the Breeze~~

2007-07-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

BEACH DAY!!
Today I went with Pamela and some of her friends to a beach called Nahant. The traffic was terrible, us crawling along slowly for an hour, both ways. It was a beautiful little beach though. We had a really good time: played baseball, tossed a football, played frisbee, and played in the waters of course. It was so awesome to feel the cool breeze when we got out of the stuffy car. And oh my gosh, the sand felt sooooo good between our toes. All soft and silky. The water was really cool, but I didn't want to wear my swimsuit so I couldn't wade too far.
I had brought my bubbles, and discovered two things about bubbles: one, you can never face the ocean when you're blowing (you can never get bubbles that way); and second, the breeze does a better job of blowing bubbles than I can.

Video~~

2007-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ha ha...thanks to Carlos I uploaded the video of that ride onto youtube.

Here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoaDug5aCPQ

Wisdom Flies Away~~~~

2007-06-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

I have never been in so much physical pain before.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled out on Tuesday afternoon, and it was theeeeee most painful experience in my life. The doctor suggested I pull two that are on the same side out first , but mom and I decided to pull all four out to be quick.

It was ok at first, even though the anesthesia injections were pretty painful. Three of the wisdom teeth came out pretty smoothly, but the fourth one, on the bottom, its body broke off with its root when it came out. It broke off because the body and the root was at a 90 degree angle. So the doctor had to dig the tiny tiny root out. The digging itself was ok too, but this part took more than an hour so, so halfway through my other side started to throb, and the doctor injected more anesthesia. Then there was a point where I had to go to the restroom really,really bad and pulled my legs up, but the doctor and the nurse told me to put them down><. So I started twisting my hands, and the doctor asked if I was in pain, and I said I needed to go. He's a really nice doctor, and of course he let me. He stuffed some cotton balls into my mouth, but I still dripped blood along the way. I got back into the seat and he continued. There was a point where there was a shock of pain it jolted tears out of me. But that's not all. The nurse was not very gentle nor thoughtful. They had a couple of instuments hanging out of the corner of my mouth---I think salt water came out to wash away the blood, and the nurse used it to pull my mouth wider to let the doctor see better. But she pulls REALLY hard. I felt like the corner of my lip was being torn. Plus the metal kept rubbing against me too. At times it was more painful than the surgery itself. But the doctor was nice all the way. He was very patient, and nice-looking too. :P The poor doctor had a serious cold, and he coughed a lot. In the end, he wiped away the caked blood on my face. The nurse handed me a cold pack---it was a surgery glove filled with iced water. :) It was so cute.

So I was in at 4 o'clock and out at 6. It took a lot longer than the doctor expected. But the worst was when the drug subsided, and both my cheeks were bursting with pain. It hurt to swallow, and I could barely talk. I cried for an hour. Weak weak weak. I managed to get a few bites of pudding then took the medicine.

Thank god for the medicine.:P

Once in a lifetime ride~

2007-06-15T01:18:00.000-07:00

Hehe....another 3 months has gone by^^" I've been pretty lazy....but some interesting things have finally happened.

One evening, on the second day of June, dad asked us if we wanted to go anywhere. I suggested Beipu. And so we went. It was 6 o'clock by the time we got there, and after strolling around we went to the parking lot to get our car. We got in the car at exactly 7 o'clock, and dad tried to unlock the gear.

It wouldn't.

Dad fiddled and faddled with it for more than an hour while mom called for help. After some twists and turns and waiting, a tow truck finally came. They hooked the hooks onto the wheels, and lifted the car onto the truck. And after a moment of hesitation, they said we could sit in our car while they drove us to the auto company, the one next to MacDonald's. Ha! Boy! I could hardly wait to get in. Imagine sitting in your car that's on a tow truck! According to their rules we're not supposed to, but we had no other way of getting home so they made an exception. And we had to pick up my brother too (he was at cram school--too bad he missed out on the ride). Anyway, it was such a fun ride: kind of bumpy, kind of afraid the car might fall off, and at the same time feeling very very pleased because you're on top of the world--well, at least higher than most of the cars. So there we were, riding in our car with our gear stuck and speeding along the highway~~ It was like a ride in the amusement park.

When we got there, we couldn't get off right away (which was perfectly fine with me:)). The truck parked besdie the road, and they had no way to lift it off there because of the height of the building. While the tow truck people and the auto people tried to figure out the best solution, a couple of the auto people looked at the gear lock. Finally, a middle-aged guy found a tool box and proceeded to unscrew the lock of our gear.

Whew! Saved our lives.

The tow truck backed into the auto garage and gently let our car roll off. We were still in the car, but mom had stepped out. She recorded this part, but I have no idea how to upload it onto my blog.

So ended our exciting ride, and dad drove home shifting gears with a metal stick, without a knob.

P.S. If anyone knows how to upload a video, please teach me:)

Pretty good week~

2007-03-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we gave our report on the books we did research on. I was disappointed that the audio of film clip I was showing did not work...but after my report, the professor said she was really pleased. She said that when I told her I wanted to do The Snowman she knew it wasn't an easy book to do research on@@ Anyway.

Today after a hectic shift at Media Services me and some other clasmmates in the Writing class went to the MFA to see the fashion show exhibition. Then we went to a coffee shop, had snacks, chatted, and started working on our own writing. It was pretty productive. Oh, and before we went to see the exhibition, we went to a cafe in the MFA and had lunch. I had clam chowder. It was really good too. It was just as good as Legal Seafood's~

Long time no see~~~

2007-03-09T08:45:00.001-08:00

Wow...it's been over a month since I've posted anything@@ Let me start with a Wednesday last month. I don't remember the date. :P

So Pam had a college friend who was here those few days to attend a meeting, and she and two other guys were having dinner together. She invited me and of course I said YES. I will not let any chance of going out slip through my fingers~~ What I wasn't told, until we almost got there, was that it was quite pricey. We went to a place called Legal Seafood. And it was GOOD. It was really delicious, especially their clam chowder. There was lots of stuff in it. Let's see...I had pasta (there was a name I can't remember now) with shrimp, someone had lobster, Pam and one guy had fish, and I forgot the dish the other guy ordered. Anyway. They all had fun talking a laughing, but it was hard for me to join in, cuz they were college buddies. But the food was good^___^ I really stuffed myself.

Oh, I almost forgot! When I met up with Pam and her friend, we followed her to get to the restaurant, and we walked for miles, which was supposed to be a 5-10 minute walk. We got lost. That wasn't too bad, helped us exercise and work up an appetite. After dinner, we had planned to go to Prudential and have dessert on the top floor with a fantastic view, but when we got outside-------it was pouring. Man. I so wanted to go up there. But I'll get a chance in the future. :)

Long time no see~~~

2007-03-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

A Mouse?

2007-01-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

Sometime last week I heard some scurrying sounds in my room and thought it might be a mouse, or rat. A few days later my roommate Christina said she heard mouse sounds too. And this morning, when I got my bread from the pantry to make a yummy egg sandwich, I took out two slices and one of their corners were missing! Uh oh. I guessed a mouse had nibbled it off. I threw the rest of it away, not taking a chance. There were 3 slices left in that bag, so it's not a whole lot. Oh, when I lifted the bag up, there was a hole in it...

SNOW!!

2007-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

HAHAHA...REAL SNOW! It's covered the sidewalks and snowflakes are flying~~Well, more like rushing. CCC...

Cookies Cookies Cookies~~~~

2006-12-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ha ha...on Friday Christina popped through my door and gave me a big plate piled with cookies!! My Christmas present!

Friday night we had a cookie bake party at my friend Elaine's house....my god her house is so clean, and her lights and tree are all up~~ It was so pretty. She also had two cats called Harry and Hermione...hee hee. Katie made pumkin, cranberry, and...um...something cookies. We also tried strawberry Jello cookies. They actually turned out pretty good~~Here are the pictures:

DECORATING!! Aren't they pretty??

The candles are actually reindeer butts...

Katie and Elaine
Why is she holding a cookie in front of her beautiful smile? hee hee....

Nicole and Katie...

SNOW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2006-12-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

SNOW!! I opened my blinds and there's SNOW!! There's not a whole lot but still, SNOW~~~~~~~WEEEEEEE~~~~

Man...

2006-12-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

My measuring cup broke right in half.

I had specifically chosen a plastic one, not a glass one, so it wouldn't break so easily.

Thanksgiving~

2006-12-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

There's too much too tell, and I'm a bit too lazy:P

My lovely family in Connecticut...

With me....

And dessert..

Wish I had taken more pics.

Ok ok...here's a list of some things we did:

-I slept till noon everyday (a big nono but I couldn't get my eyes open..)
-watched Aamy and her bf's trip to Shanghai on DVD (saw my grandparents)
-helped my aunt make egg casserole
-stuffed myself with food--chips, dip, pies....
-had a breakfast at Windmill
-haha..."Yellow Brick Road" ed through the parking lot between Best Buy and the Loew Theater
-watched Deja vu and 007 (hahaha!)--had popcorn of course
-played Chinese checkers
-I brought my gingersnaps which were pretty well received...(yea!)

the success of the gingersnaps (the recipe I got from my professor) gave me the confidence to make some for my kungfu class, writing class, and cupcakes for another class. And it gave me a good excuse for a study break:P

Bowl cakes...

2006-12-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

Aafter the succes with gingersnaps, I decided to try gingerbread cupcakes which were also on the recipe. I tried some on Tuesday, and they tasted really good. To bad only the top-halves of the cupcakes would come out of the pan(the one where there are already holes). I made a mess trying to pry lose the bottom halves. So instead of 12 whole cupcakes, I had some perfect halves and lots of scraps.

No worry. I'll try the next day.

I bought more ingredients, and put them in cupcake paper holders. I filled each 2/3 full, like the recipe said. Well, I think I was pretty naive on that part.

I put the 12 mounds of batter in the oven, and Poof!---they had exploded into a BIG cupcake. Each. They were 3 times bigger than the cute little cupcakes I had imagined in my mind. They were still delicious, and even better with icing on them. I brought my bowlcakes to class and everyone thought it was good.

Success!!

2006-11-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

Ha ha...I tried my professor's gingersnap recipe tonight, and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself:P My roommates tried them and they said it was good. Ha ha ha~~~
Problem: too big of a batch. So next I'm gonna try gingerbread and gingerbread cupcakes and share them in some of my classes:)

Here are some from the first batch...

The Best Birthday Ever~

2006-11-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

I've had so many wonderful birthdays...and this is one of the best. I had got cards and presents from my family (my parents' card made me cry..), Christina my roommate made a yummy cake for me, and all my roommates signed a lovely card, my aunt and uncle sent me a card, my grandparents called, and my bf sent me an adorable stuffed cow. They didn't all happen on the day of my birthday, which is why I feel so good too. I felt I had a birthday week or something:P

On the day of my birthday, nothing particular happened during the day. In the evening my roommates presented me my cake^____^

Isn't it lovely? I don't think anyone (outside my famiy) ever made a cake for me....Actually, Crystal's birthday was 2 days before mine, and Christina made her a cake, so I could see this coming.
Then comes the fun part. My best friend Pamela had been asking what I wanted to do all week on Friday night (my b-day). I kinda had a hunch she was planning for my birthday, but then she made it sound like a usual weekend for us to hang around or do something. She didn't say anything at all. Anyway. When we got to her place...

Isn't that sweet? Her roomate had gone to pickup pizza like I had suggested, and a few of her Cornell classmates (all guys..) came over too. We had delicious pizza, watched a Cornell film thingy, and...

Isn't it cute?? And it's an ICE-CREAM CAKE. Which I sooooo love. And it's chocolate and vanilla ice-cream. Yum. Yum. Yum.

And then we played Catch-a-Phrase. It was gallons of fun! It was so hilarious. When someone--I'm not going to say who--tried to explain a phrase, he used words like "has antlers....seacow". Guess what the word was? "Matinee"! Hee hee....Some of the phrases were hard to understand.

Pam gave me a matching scarf and hat and these adorable, fluffy blue-and-white socks with a cute little deer on it.

It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Could anyone have a better birthday?

Lois Lowry!

2006-11-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

Whoooooweeee! We got to visit Lowry at her house last week! Nov. 1. We saw her dog Alfie, and he was just adorable. If I ever got a dog I'm gonna get a Tibetan Terrier too. He was so quiet and friendly. When we were sitting in her living room, drinking tea and asking her questions, he would jump up beside us sometimes. And once he even cuddled up in my lap and kept licking my face! I was sooo happy. No dog was ever that friendly to me before.

We even had dinner at her house. We got to use her dishes, but the teacher had prepared a vegetarian lasagna: squash and spinach. She had also brought homemade bread, and even a carrot cake for dessert! Yum yum. But too much would've been too sweet and made me sick. I brought some almond tofu and other people brought dessert too, but that cake just made the other snacks paled.

We even got to use her bathroom on her study! I never thought using a bathroom would feel so special. I saw a Chinese version of The Giver on her bookshelf too.

It was such a nice night. The teacher even drove me home afterwards--right up to my door:)

Halloween~

2006-11-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Okie....finally:) The last couple of weeks have been busy busy busy~~ I had a presentation and paper due this Monday, and another presentation and 8-12 page paper due this Wednesday--on top of all the usual work. Thank God the teacher gave an extension for those who were to present. So I took up the extension. I'm planning to finish--at least a draft--today so I can watch Wizard of Oz tonight! Even though I still have this paper, I am soooooooo relieved to have my crit class presentation done and over with, even though I did a terrible job on my part. My partner was great though. Anyway. To catch up on Halloween:P

So the week before Halloween I went to Pam's place for the first time to carve a pumpkin and make pumpkin pie and pancakes! We are so proud of our pumpkin^________________^

Ain't it COOL????? Pam made the sketch and we each carved out half. Then we went ahead for the pumpkin pie. She and Phil found the recipe online. We did the filling....not exactly according to the recipe....and the pie didn't turn out that satisfying.....but the filling made excellent pancakes! Pam and I did the first one, then their friend Jeffrey came over while Phil was doing the other pancakes. Mmmmm....it was sooo delicious. Wish we had recorded the process, cuz we don't remember how the batch came out exactly:p

On Halloween day I bought some candy and added them to the stash my roommates had bought. I even skipped my kungfu class--well, I had work too. I was excited to see kids in their costumes, but we only got 2 doorbells and 5 little girls in all. Darn.

That bowl of candy is still sitting on the table, waiting for us to finish it. Turned out we bought candy for ourselves:P

=.=

2006-10-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot to write an essay that was due in class today...how stupid can I get?

I went to confess to the porfessor, and she was pretty nice about it. I'm gonna try to finish it tonight.

One GOOD thing though^___________^
I am not trying to be conceited or anything, but I got a 3.6/4 on this week's paper in Crit class!! It's the highest I ever got--the last one was only 3.0, and the professor asked me to post it on our WebCT discussion section. She had talked in class about how three people wrote about the same topic but in totally different directions. I haven't seen theirs yet. Because of the poor score I got on my last paper, I was pretty proud of this one:P

Mooncakes~

2006-10-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

I got mooncakes from my mom on Tuesday~~

It's past the Moon Festival, but oh well.

Awards & Friends~~

2006-10-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

So tonight we attended the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards ceremony at the Boston Athenaum. It was impressive. When we went in there were these coat racks, and by the time the ceremony started the room was crammed with people. Many authors were pretty funny in their speeches. Afterwards they had a autograph session. I hadn't and didn't plan to buy the books, so I decided to use the back of the program. At first I was kind of embarrassed, but one author exclaimed that she liked to do had her programs signed and never knew anyone else who did so. I was really happy, but I couldn't come up with anything intelligent to say so I just grinned and nodded dumbly. I wanted to talk to these amazing people real bad, but I didn't know what to say. I marveled at how some of my classmates could chatter and joke around with them so easily. Then I went into this other room and found my classmates there....there were crackers and all sorts of cheese on the tables. I tried one. Blech.
Our next stop was to this bar called Fajitas and Ritas. This was such a great night. I tried out margarita (blech blech), and I ordered a cheese quesadillas for dinner. Oh my gosh it was soooooo good! I'm definitely ordering it again. We all laughed and talked and everyone thought this was great because we're making friends and found out we were all very much timid in doing so. And I learned so of them would be happy to form a study group^___^ One girl named Amy actually lives around my area. Ain't that cool?
After that one girl was going to Jake Ivory's to celebrate her friend's birthday and welcomed anyone to go. I struggled between having fun and my paper due Monday. What the heck. I went in a cab with them. But.....(sigh)....I DIDN'T HAVE AN ID. SO I COULDN'T GO IN. One girl had stayed outside, and she was willing to accompany me to the T. I told her it's ok I can find my way. "But I don't want to leave you alone outside by yourself." Isn't that sweet? She ended up going home too. Afterwards a girl named Nicole that had gone inside called back, and said they weren't having too much fun. So it's ok. I still had lots of fun. That feeling is too good for words. And I'm sure more is coming^___________________________________________^

Chinese books~

2006-10-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

My nearest public library actually has Chinese books! Well, not a whole lot, but still:)
One of the librarians said they have a whole lot over at Allston. M aybe I'll check it out sometime.

Amy!!

2006-10-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I almost forgot@@

She arrived on the 26th for a conference, and we had dinner together the next day. We were going to try out a new seafood restaurant around her hotel, but man, it was packed. And there was a line waiting. But since my cousin Amy was starving and I was pretty hungry too, we decided to head back to my place to TGIF. I prayed we could get a table. We did.

Ha. We really pigged out. We ordered potato skins, and she ordered a salad. I was torn between pot stickers and a cheeseburger. What the heck. I went for the cheeseburger. We exchanged stories and laughed a lot. It was bunches of fun~~But man, were we stuffed. I shouldn't have crammed the whole burger.

We went to JP Licks afterwards. I like their ice cream, but I had a hard time stuffing it down into my already about-to-burst poor-little belly. But what the heck. It's not everyday that a favorite cousin comes^____^

Ouch...

2006-10-04T21:37:00.001-07:00

Ok. So I went to class on Sunday~ It was pretty hard work but cool. There was a period when we were divided into 3 groups of 6 or 7, and we took turns jumping rope, did push-ups, and stomach crunches (at least I think that's what they're called). No rest between. Each of us counted to 10, not the jump rope though. Then we did a second round, but half as much. Shute. I don't quite remember what else we did. I only know I couldn't catch up with all the counts and my upper arm muscles started to sore real bad yesterday.
But the really cool part was, I watched them do their demos for a perfomance that's coming up. Oh my god. They played drums and gongs, and some other instruments. It's like the beats to a lion dance, and they did their forms in rhythm to it. Wow. I liked my previous kungfu class where we had kungfu music, but this was a whole different feeling. Too cool. I didn't recognize the forms at all, but the moves looked familiar individually.

The grandmaster didn't show up. (sigh) But I'll see him this Sunday.

Yesterday's class was more mild. We started off with jumping jacks. At the end of class me and this other guy--he's new too--we learned how to bow, do the horse stance, and 弓步. Very different.

Anyway, I have decided to sign up. I have to wear their shirt, but they don't have belts for beginners. We'll have to take tests to get it.

The instructor on Tuesday is from China. She's pretty nice so far. I can brush up on my Chinese
cuz we speak Chinese to each other most of the time:)

Oh my gosh...

2006-09-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Guess what I found at China Town? A Shaolin Hung Gar Martial Arts Aacademy!!!! I checked to see if they had a website, and they did! http://www.winchellpcwoo.com/index.html
It's too cool. If you click on the links, you can access a lot of film clips with people doing forms.

Aaaaannndd I went to see their class today! Well, the class had already ended...it said on the schedule it was an adult class, but the master there told me no adults came in the end (they want their holiday) so this kid's class started at noon and lasted for two hours. Too bad. But he chatted on and on telling me about their grandmaster and how his father was born in the states and worked in the marine but went back to China and so even though the grandmaster was born in China he was born a US citizen. He told me the grandmaster is world renowned and all that and was head or started up this big kungfu academy in Hong Kong. And guess what? He's met Bruce Lee before!!!!!!!

I was thinking that they only focused on Hung Gar and not like where I (and my siblings) went where we also practiced Long Fist. But this master told me they studied both the Northern and Southern styles. They have 5 masters in all: 2 women, 2 men, and the grandmaster who takes over on Sundays. So I'll very probably see him tomorrow. What's more intimidating is a lot of students here have Tae Kwon Dao, karate backgrounds, and some are policemen or judges and even some work undercover(?). Hmm.

I'll write more after class tomorrow. The master told me I can wear comfortable clothes and join them. Practically everybody's there on Sunday. It sounds pretty good, 'cause he keeps stressing that they aren't like other martial academies and don't care about advertising and they're like a family.

We'll see:)

Christopher Myers!

2006-09-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

He came to class!! It was great~ He's humble and down-to-earth and really funny sometimes. And TALL. I think the most interesting part was when he demonstrated working with acedate.

Our professor was really sweet. Guess what she made him?

It's a big cookie! Doesn't it look just like his book cover? Haha.
She even made ginger snaps for everyone! It was sooooooo delicious~~~ They were all gone in a snap.

Then we all went out to dinner together. We went to a Thai restaurant called Brown Sugar Cafe across from Simmons. They served really quick. Then we took a picture. I'm so glad I brought my camera^____^ (I got a ginger snap from the professor afterwards, heehee...)

Finally!

2006-09-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

Our internet broke down last Saturday....we called comcast, but they cancelled our appointment on Monday without calling beforehand. (ok, fine) They rescheduled to come on Wednesday afternoon. Me and my roommates scheduled around so that at least one of us could be here during the time they were supposed to come. They called my roommate for a confirmation, but since she was in class she missed by 5 or 10 minutes, and they skipped and won't come back!(aarrgghh) So they rescheduled again to come Thursday afternoon, and they finally did---about one and a half hour late---but left soon when the guy checked to make sure it wasn't their problem. It turned out that all along we were using the linksys from downstairs...we didn't even know it. And it turned out that theirs wasn't working, about the same time ours wasn't working. Anyway. Somehow we got the internet again, but we're going to cut off comcast, ha. We really really really really really don't appreciate their attitude. So we're changing to Verizon, which is much cheaper. It sure isn't convenient without the internet these days.
Now I gotta catch up on a lotta stuff!

T Token...

2006-09-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what it looks like:

More Packages~~~

2006-09-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I got two more textbooks and my checks came too!!! I just looooove getting packages.

Oh, I heard Stephanie say yesterday that ther was a fire on the residence campus yesterday morning around nine. Crystal saw the smoke too. I heard all the kids were standing outside in their pajamas, waiting to go back in. Good thing nobody was hurt. The fire started in the machinery room...it's not suspicious though.

We're going to meet Christopher Myers later~~ We might even have dinner with him^^

Ooooooeeeeeoooooeeeeee~~~

2006-09-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Me and my roommate Stephanie went to the Museum of Fine Arts this morning. We looked around the Greek and Roman exhibit, the Egyptian room, and then went to the bookstore. We weren't even in there for 5 minutes, and the fire alarm went off!!!!! Everyone was shooed out, the fire engines came--2, and two firemen got out and went inside. I'll bet it was a false alarm...somebody probably accidently triggered it. Anyway. I had had to put my backpack in the coatroom, and this guy wouldn't let me have it. He said I could get it afterwards. He did for the guy before me=.=

So we waited and waited outside under the hot sun, as it was around 11:40, and after 20 minutes we finally crowded in again.

Interesting.

P.S. I got 2 of my textbooks today! One just in time for my afternoon class.

Found 1 book~

2006-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

I went to Harvard Square~~ We took the T to Harvard Coop, Curious George, and Harvard Bookstore. None had the books I wanted=.= Anyway, Harvard Coop is HUGE. I only knew today that books are arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. Stupid.:p
We walked around in the warm sun, which was really nice. It was getting late, so I decided to go to Porter Square Bookstore to try my luck. My roommate went back to go to the Museum of Fine Arts for her homework. We were gonna go together, but it was getting late, so we went our own ways. Turned out the museum closed before 5. @@

Wwell, I'm really tired, but it was a pretty good day, considering I found "Lies and Other Tall Tales" and would get "Blues Journey" by Tuesday^^ (both are illustrated by Christopher Myers who's coming to class next Wednesday~~:))

Busted Blinds...

2006-09-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

One of the ropes broke. Now it's half way up and hanging slanted. Pfoosh.

Didn't waste the weather~

2006-09-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

The internet has been very unstable this week.....pfoosh.

I'm trying to remember what happened yesterday....oh yeah, I ran around returning and trying to check out books in the college and public library~ that's the most annoying thing: scrambling around just to get the materials that you need to read for class, in which most are reserved--some 24-hour reserved--and it's a big fight to get the books. I have to admit it keeps me moving and exercising though. That's good. But I really don't like getting 24-hour reserves....I feel like I have to finish in a rush, rush to the library to recheck it out (fortunately), rush back home to read it in a rush, then rush back to recheck or return it. Pfoosh. But I'm sure it'll get a little better when I get my own textbook.

After I got what I can, I walked further down to see if I can find Barns & Noble. I wanted to buy a couple of books--particularly "Lies and Other Tall Tales" and "Blues Journey"-- by Christpoher Myers, or at least illustrated by him. I have never heard of his name before, and I'm nor too fond of his art style, but some really intrigue me. He's coming to talk to us in class next week:) I found none in the store=.= But the lady at the desk was very nice and gave me instructions to Harvard Square, where I'll find Harvard Coop & Curious George. She even drew a simple map for me~ Very nice of her right? I wanted to rush over right away, but it would be quite a walk and it was already 6:30. I finally decided to head back and do some studying. I'll go on Sunday^^

Yesterday me and my roommate--seeing that the sun was out and very nice, since it was said to rain--went to Stop & Shop for some grocery shopping together. It was really fun. I bought a sweatshirt at Walgreen's (only 3.99!!), and we both bought a bunch of food at S&S. I wanted waffles, and she told the me the banana bread one was really good. I grabbed it to give it a try. Not so bad actually, but I would prefer other flavors:P Funny thing was, we spent about the same amount of money on food...I "thought" I could spare myself a long period of grocery shopping...ah hum.

Today we went to the Children's Book Festival~~ The weather--supposedly to rain--was reeeeeeeaaaalllly nice~~ It was even pretty hot. We grabbed some free stuff, squeezed with parents and children in the book"tent" where Target sold books, listened to a Clifford story read by the author's daughter, then headed to au bon pain for lunch. And then, we went Trader Joe's, where they sell cheaper stuff. Not all, but a lot. And guess what? Me and Stephanie-same roommate-carried full brown paper bags home. Yup. And now I'm sure I'm through with food shopping for quite..a....while.. My area in the freezer is crammed.

Tomorrow we're going to Harvard Square!! Hopefully I can, no, I will finish my reading and my paper due on Monday by tonight, or by tomorrow morning. I have two other papers, but they're not due until Thursday. Man...the hardest part is reading all the literary stuff. We have lots to read, but lots I just don't get it. Plus that book is a 24-hour reserve.....can't complain. I'll have to remember to ask if anyone wants to form a study group on Monday.

Well, good luck to me! Goin' back to my work....(this is a nice way for recess)

P.S. Why did I not waste the weather? Because it was said to rain these couple of days, but the
weather is sooo nice. So we went out~ Of course there will be guilt from going out when
there's still work to do, but there will be more guilt if we stayed in and studied in such
nice weather. I'm glad I bore the guilt of the former.

ChinaTown~

2006-09-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

We-me, Pam, Phil, and Pam's colleague Yaja(?)-went to Chinatown for dinner this evening. First we went to Happy Buddha 彌勒齋, cuz Yaja is a vegetarian. Me and Pam ordered dumplings, but....they just didn't taste too good. Then we went to Taiwan Cafe 海之味-Pam loves their 小籠湯包. She ordered noodles, I tried some and they were good. Then came the 小籠湯包.....actually,大籠湯包@@ They were BIG. The ones I had in Taiwan were much smaller...and tasted better. Sorry, but that's true:p There's not much to see at night, but we did see the words 禮義廉恥 and 天下為公. I also saw the word 財 on the ground.

As we were walking to the T station, we were talking about Chinese and Britain's history, and Phil brought up the idea that lots of trouble in history started with Britain.....hmm, interesting perspective eh?

How I got enrolled into my 3rd course...

2006-09-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

I originally planned to take 2 courses, cuz I'm not sure how much I can handle. Prof. Mercier encouraged me to take the writing course I to get started on my MFA. So I decided to try, and with determined steps I marched into the registrar----the class was full. DARN. I told the professor, and she said she could sign me up, so I went to the class last week. This professor said she had structured the class for 12 people and told me she would think about it. What if I don't get into the course? How should I schedule my classes for the next 1 1/2 year?

I talked to Prof. Mercier about this, and she said she will talk to that professor, no prob. But I said it was structured for 12 and......"You will be in that course. She has no choice. I'm the boss." She said it in a humorous way:P She is so cute.

What I love about Simmons...

2006-09-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, aside from the fact that tuition is very costly, we do get 350 free print-out pages, which I think is more than enough, we can sign up for lockers without charge, and we can check out 50 books at most. Or can all graduate students check out 50? Anyway. I'm pleased with that. Here is a picture--of two full shelves of children's books~~

Isn't lovely? I wish I could carry it all home with me^^

Stupid Stupid Stupid...

2006-09-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received my textbook for the class, and I was sooooo happy it came on time!
When I got to class, I flipped it open to the contents page, and...it.was.very.different. I ordered the wrong edition.

So. I immediately ordered another one, the right one, and mailed this one back. Hopefully it will arrive soon.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Whew...

2006-09-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I just came back from school....I got a locker! We have to get a lock and put it on a locker before registering, and I thought I would get one in my apartment. When I checked out the lockers though, there were only a few left@@ So I rushed to the bookstore and bought a lock....6.80 plus tax--is that expensive? then rushed to locker 388, then rushed to register, for free!! Ain't that great?

That done, I headed to the library to print out an article. Well it wouldn't print, so I had to go to the campus card office--turned out my card wasn't activated, but it happened to a lot of students--then go back to the library and print.

I sure got plenty of exercise today!!^^

I got a tennis racket~

2006-09-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I bought a tennis racket today!! And then me, Pam, her roommate Phil, and Marshal went to play tennis. It was good~~ Pam and especially Marshal are really good. I also got a cheaper heair dryer, so I'm gonna return the one I bought at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I didn't know they were more expensive when I went. Anyway, after our game of tennis it started to drizzle, and then we went to a BBQ~Me and Pam shared some chicken wings, celery and fries.

It was a really nice day~~^^

P.S. I received 2 textbooks this morning!!

Guess what I found?

2006-09-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I decided to go to Target to see if they had any cheap plastic drawers, and there was a Chinese supermarket around! I got all sorts of noodles, dumplings, thousand-year-old-eggs, tofu---forgot the soy sauce, but maybe they have it at Stop&Shop--and Cha! Hopefully it tastes the same as the ones we ate before.^^

First day of class~

2006-09-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

I had my first class yesterday, but I was so exhausted when I got back.
This is the Contemporary Considerations class, and the poor professor, she had poison ivy@@
By the 2nd hour she was starting to get red and dismissed class an hour early. It was pretty fun though. We discussed which authors we would like to have to come in to class, cuz apparently Russell Freedman-which I don't know about but those who did said he was goooood- had a bad throat and the professor had like 4 other syllabuses we could choose from.
Today was a writing class, but I'm not sure if I can enroll yet. We did an exercise on character--she gave us 5 minutes to write from a little piggy prospective. The little piggy poem?
You count on your fingers and say:
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went "wee wee wee" all the way home...

We each chose a little piggy and wrote a small story from that piggy's prospective.

Aint't that fun?

I also got my library card today! I went to the Boston Public Library. The people there are very nice, and I can also have them transfer books to this library if it's elsewhere. There's only one level with books though. I could choose my library card color! They had blue and orange. Definitely blue. I'm not too fond of orange:P

Orientation~

2006-09-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I got 5 Dunkin Donuts glazed donut holes....I couldn't resist it anymore:P They were 19cents each....not cheap but not that bad.

I got my new Student ID! We took our picture on the spot, but I don't like it:( Anyway, all went pretty well until I hit tuition...apparently they sent my bill all the way to Taiwan@@ But they printed a new one out for me, and I'll have to wait until the checks I ordered come in.

Textbooks are sooo expensive! My roommate Stephanie told me I could order some used ones through Amazon, which I did, cuz they're like 10 bucks cheaper! Even with the shipping I could save like 20 bucks.

We met Prof. Mercier today~~ She's really cute! She's very nice and very energetic and pretty funny....she's gonna work us hard though. I like my classmates--well, programmates?-too. They all seem very nice (so far). Here's the one thing I'm really happy about: Prof. Mercier told me I'm one of the younger students. HAHA.

Cream of Mushroom Eggs~~

2006-09-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

Haha...here it is! Cream of Mushroom Eggs with Cheese Sandwich!

My first cooked meal~

2006-09-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Haha...I tried out a Campbell recipe today. You're supposed to use cheddar cheese soup to make the scrambled eggs, but I forgot what kind at Stop&Shop, so I used Cream of Mushrooms....it wasn't too bad actually^^ I had turkey breast to go with it.

So here's my first cooked dinner~^^ I forgot to take a picture though. Darn.

Oultet shopping!!

2006-09-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sept.2, 2006

Pam and Bryan picked me up at noon, then we went to Framingham to pick up Marshall, a Cincinnati friend. We had lunch at 東漁屯, and the food came pretty slow. We couldn't tell whether the waiter was Cantonese or Chinese orTaiwanese. When he said "dimsum" it sounded pretty Cantonese, but then he said "打包" in Mandarin, and we couldn't understand most of his English. Hmm....

Then we got on the highway, and were stuck in a traffic jam for an hour before we reached the outlet in Wrenthom (?). The place was packed!! It's more crazy than an amusement park. Luckily we got a parking space, these Asians were backing out:P

Dinner was reeeaaallly yummy~~~ We went to Cracker Barrel's! I had eggs with sausage pattie and mashed potatoes with gravy~~~ yum yum yum. We also had a relay on the peg game:P At the checkout counter I couldn't resist it anymore--I picked up the cutest teddy bear^______^ It's always nice to have someone smile at you when you walk through the door:)

A new start~~

2006-09-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Sept.1, 2006

Today Aunt Sally and Uncle Ping helped me move in to my apartment. Besides a bed, shelf, desk, and a small table, the landlord also gave me a TV! Old of course, but still, a TV! Aunt Sally and Uncle Ping wanted to get me one but I felt I didn't need one. Anyway. We went down to the basement to check out the the washing and laundry machine, and I saw this small bookcase and asked the landlord for it. "Help yourself~" So then I also took a stand for my bedside table and Aunt Sally grabbed a pot of flowers:P

Pamela and her boyfriend bryan picked me up at night, we were supposed to go salsa dancing at MIT for his orientation party. We grabbed a late dinner at 狀元樓..Pu Pu Hotpot in English@@, then we just didn't go because we were really exhausted. It was still fun though. I ate my first fortune cookie (since coming here):) Here's my fortune: "When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out-because that's what's inside."

It cracked us up.

Candlewood Lake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Aug. 30,2006

So Aunt Sally showed me how to do stir-fry beans with 榨菜 and chicken breast. Then she showed me how to devil's eggs. I wonder why they're called "devil's"? It was neat~

Here comes the best part--we went to Candlewood Lake! (The biggest lake in CT) AND in their own boat!!!!! It's a searay. It was soooooooooooooo cool. They let me have the best seat, which is in front of the wheel. We brought Jordan too! He looks so funny and adorable with the wind in his face^^

Uncle Ping even let me drive the boat!!!!!!!!!!!! Ain't that the coolest thing ever??? You have to have a license to drive it. Too bad I didn't get a picture. But that's ok.

Here we are~

The sunset was just beautiful. At first it was kind of purplish, then it was all pink~

Then we had grilled steak, potato, and beans.

~A wonderful ending to a wonderful day~

Connecticut-4th day

2006-09-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~~I had Arby's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yummy yummy yummy...

AND I got my FIRST manicure today. I chose fiji-a pale pink, but it totally doesn't match my skin color. Blech. I look like I have bubble gum stuck to my fingernails @@

Connecticut Aug.28

2006-09-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

I finished reading all the Berenstain Bear books in Aunt Sally's library:) In the afternoon we went to Walmart--I had expected to come out with a couple of things in a bag, bbbbuuuuttt.....

I got the cart, and Aunt Sally would lead me down one lane after another, tossing item after item into the cart..."You need this.....take a couple of these...you should get this..." By the time we reached the check out counter the cart was overflowing--there was stuff beneath the cart too! Haha...it was fun.

Uncle Ping grilled pork ribs, and Amy was over for dinner and for the night^^ She helped me order a Cingular cell phone online, but it didn't work out. Oh well.

Ohohoh....I got icecream at McDonald's!! It sure tastes different from Taiwan's. :)

2nd day in Connecticut~

2006-09-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

We went up to see Sarah!! She looks great^^

First day in Connecticut~Aug. 26

2006-09-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

I saw Jordan~~~ He's the most adorable little thing! Aunt Sally showed me all his tricks: he could dance--jumping on his hind legs, roll around--both ways, speak(bark, actually), close the door with his front paws, and scratch at the door when he wants to come in from the yard. For dinner Aunt Sally made onions and beef, 麻婆豆腐(really spicy tofu), and chicken withe some broccoli and celery. Amy came for dinner, and she took me out to Coldstone for icecream. You can choose a flavor and add one thing on it--I put gummy bears into my vanilla ice cream:P

哈哈哈~~~

2006-09-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

終於給我找到了~~~