DRIFT THRU

The Long Line

2011-09-14T20:38:00.002-04:00

The long line ahead. That's what you should be looking down, when you drive. Those seemingly big problems you have could just be small splatters of dust on a windshield.

They'll remain for a while. Occasionally, your eyes will wander, notice, and widen at the sight of them. As if you forgot they were there. Accept that they exist.

Keep your hands on the wheel.

Sure, sometimes there's a crack on your window. You should stop and get it fixed. Really though, cracks are rare.

It's a long road ahead. But keep seeing as far as you can see.

Trust me, it's gonna be an awesome ride.

On listening to Under the Cover of Darkness

2011-03-03T22:13:00.004-05:00

wacky. that's how i want to be. in the kick-a-trash-can kind of way.

but i'm not like that. i just end up being silly.

i know one thing for sure. every time you're around, i know i'm at the right place. but even more, i wish i could go places with you. set ourselves free.

of course, all this is foolish talk. unless you feel the same. do you? i doubt it.

"why such thoughts? it's all sentimental bull."

you're right. just wait. i'll see the moment when it comes up.

let's go

inTENSE

2011-01-25T23:09:00.004-05:00

As I type these words in the library, there's a man sitting a couple seats away. He types loudly, at an unnecessarily high volume. Sometimes it's like he's playing a note on the piano, in super forte. Every once in a while he sighs. Actually, he just exhales. Everyone can hear him. Well, everyone as in me and this other girl in the room. I mean, it is the second day of classes. What's my excuse? I'm typing applications for a research position. Cover letters are bitches, with resumes as their complementary pair of Uggs boots. But enough about those.

People probably find me rather odd, because I get so excited about things that seem anything but. Like this talk about mushrooms (link). Or a project (more commonly referred to as work).

I had a friend in high school who brought up to my attention one very important thing: I needed to chill. Sometimes he'd even get sick of me and shun me away. Then one time during class, I brought out an egg beef and lettuce sandwich. People turned, looked, and started asking a slew of questions. "What's in it?" "Where'd you get it?" "You gonna eat that?" And I responded "Guys, it's just a sandwich. Chill the fuck out." My friend then noted that if I of all people wanted people to chill, then people really needed to chill.

Since then, I haven't had a similar moment. It's usually the other way around. I'm frightened. I am damn well going to stay passionate. Life is awesome for me that way. But I don't want to end up like that guy, typing madly on the computer. I don't want to intimidate people with my behavior. And I definitely don't want to be the douche imposing their "passions" onto others. As much as I want other people to get excited, people should live at their own pace.

I guess I'll have to watch myself.

Fill the chuck out

Dear Miss Tiger Lady,

2011-01-19T00:55:00.003-05:00

I have just read your article on the Wall Street Journal. Beforehand, I’ve thought about parenting in some aspects. I sometimes imagine hypotheticals. “What if my parents did this when I was four? Seven?” Your article brought into question a lot that I’ve taken for granted. The story at the end was the kicker, bringing doubt to the way I view parents. For this, I thank you greatly.

Still, I’m left to wonder how justified some of your standards are, particularly with grades. You dictated at the very beginning that your children were not allowed to get less than an A nor be less than #1 in their class. You then proceeded to interpret why Chinese parents would think in such a way.

Fallacy of composition aside, I still disagree. For one, students could incorrectly interpret it by focusing purely on the grades and not on the effort they spend or the real lessons they learn. This could result in cheating and plagiarism. Of course, the iron grip of a tiger mom may prevent the very thought of cheating. But I digress. The thing is, such a rule seems to over emphasize the results over the process, when in fact attention to process produces great results.

The bigger fear I have with this standard originates from a situation I encountered in college. During my freshman year, many of my friends started off in an introductory calculus class. Anxiously smiling, they took the first exam of their college lives under that subject. Afterwards, I heard their general consensus. “It was a massive rape.” To state the statistics, the average score on the exam was a 38% and the highest score was an 80%. This would raise many questions about the students, professors, and the whole education system. But at the end of the day, the big question is: how will students react to this? It seems intuitive that the student’s self-esteem would drop to an abyss with such previous expectations.

Let’s now put a Tiger Mother-raised student into this situation. All her life, she was told that the only acceptable grade was an “A.” A “B” would get her shouts of “Garbage!” from the phone. I won’t even try to imagine what would happen to the student who got the average score. But maybe you are suggesting that, under the expectations of a Tiger Mother, one would have the confidence to say “I can do better” and not sulk over such failures. Of course, now I am inserting words in your mouth. I would really like to know what you would say to your child, if she got a B (or dare I say it, a grade near 38%).

Best Regards,

Mr. Now Ashamed Piano Quitter

Relief

2010-12-07T22:29:00.002-05:00

That's strange. It's over, but that sigh of relief hasn't come up yet. Maybe it's really because I'm still not exactly done. There are still yet more final exams, more projects due. The work may never be done.

No.

It will get done. And then I'll breath a sigh of relief.

Eventually.

Too much

2010-09-12T22:03:00.004-04:00

You know you are busy as hell when you see "12:30am, September 12th" and think, "That's tonight...."

And now, back to work.

let's do this

Studio and Beyond

2010-08-10T12:55:00.006-04:00

Architecture studio has ended. I'm filled with mixed feelings actually. It was an awesome experience for sure. But there were times when I looked forward to the end, to a time when I could sit and think about absolutely nothing for a while. now it's over, and i can't stop thinking about architecture, reading blogs, and looking at pictures. it's odd.

I was stoked from the start of the session to make things. studio didn't disappoint. yet I never expected to feel a kind of anxiety when creating, this feeling of knowing what to do, but not how to do it. To add on to the confusion, the TA would often look at my models or drawings and essentially say that they sucked, sending me on a 180 degree turn. The results of these projects were not as good as I would have liked, but I learned a lot from the overall experience.

Which brings up the question, am I really cut out for this sort of thing? It's one thing to continually learn from past projects and failures in studio. But eventually I'd have to succeed in the real world, to win the bid, and build the building that people will enjoy. Am I creative "enough" for that? Not now...

I believe I have potential. I can definitely see myself improving my ability to come up with ideas and working on them. Needless to say, this will take a huge time commitment. Should I pursue a career in architecture, I’d be taking the high road.

So what am I willing to sacrifice? Would I have time for a family? How much money is this gonna cost me? the questions keep rolling in.

I’ll do what I can to plan things out. The future's uncertain, but I do need a general sense of where I want to be 10 years, maybe even 20 years from now.

If there's any certainty in all this, it's that whatever career I choose to pursue, engineering or architecture, I’ll have to pursue it with little hesitation and a ginormous amount of passion. The time I’ve spent in studio can certainly attest that architecture is a struggle that I’ve got to put all my energy in to overcome, a struggle that is both frustrating and attractive. after these six weeks, I can already tell that going into architecture would be one helluva road trip.

should i take it?

"The Architect"

2010-08-09T23:35:00.005-04:00

So one day in architecture studio, my friend's iPod is playing on the speakers. Billy Joel's "Piano Man" starts playing with the line "It's nine o' clock on a Saturday...The regular crowd shuffles in..." Eventually, the song sounds like it's about studio ("if I could get out of this place...") and the idea hits me. So in a few late nights, I modified the "Piano Man" lyrics to make them about summer studio. I didn't have to change various lines because they fit studio life so perfectly.

Here it is, "The Architect" sung in the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man"

It’s nine o’clock on a saturday

the Students are sitting on their stools

There’s a young teen sitting next to me

Gettin' really intimate with tools

He says, man, can you lend me those calipers

I can't get this thickness down

It's these lines

and these sections

They're so far from perfection

And then he left for the dorm lounge

La la la, de de da La la, de de da da da

Chorus:

Build us a cube, you’re the architect

Build us six more tonight

Well, I want them all to be exquisite

And you’ve got to go at it alright

Now Ethan across from me is a friend of mine

He sings me melodies for free

And he’s quick with a song but not for long

Till a TA comes in to see.

He says, Dan, I believe this is killing me.

As the smile ran away from his face

Well I’m sure I could be a great starchitect

If I could get out of this place

Oh, la la la, de de daLa la, de de da da da

Now Won is a true man of his craft

He cuts neatly with his Olfa knife

And he’s talkin’ with Gretchen who’s still tonin' and sketchin'

And probably will be for life

And rooms get filled from head to toe

As some insomniacs slowly get stoned

Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call studio

But it’s better than drinkin’ alone

Chorus

It’s a pretty good crowd for a saturday

And the professor gives me a smile

’cause he knows we're confused

on what the hell we should do

We forget about life for a while

And the studio, it sounds like a carnival

And the air smells pretty weird (It's the fixatif)

As we sit at our desks and put heads down for more rests

We say, man, what am I doin’ here?

Oh, la la la, de de daLa la, de de da da da

It is still a work in progress, so feel free to suggest changes.

Architecture

2010-06-07T16:26:00.003-04:00

I'll be leaving for summer school this Friday. A six week architecture studio awaits

What this summer will mean to me is two things:

one, to see if i have any continued interest and talent in architecture

and two, as an experience for me to look back on. to never say 10 years from now, "what if i did that summer studio. would i be an architect now?" to say instead, "that was awesome and rewarding" regardless of what i'll be doing 10 years from now.

i've taken other architecture courses before. the professors i've had are incredible characters. i get intimidated, which seems to blind me from seeing what's important. this time, regardless of how well i'm doing, i definitely need to have fun with it. ride the wave whether i'll wipe out or reach a paradise shore.

as to what my "architecture" style will be like in studio, i don't know. call me unsophisticated, but i've been skeptical and confused when i see some comtemporary architects' work. here are some designs that either won competitions or have been built

New Port House in Antwerp [wtfuzzy?!?!]

CCTV Building [nicknamed the "Boxer Shorts" building]

it seems like architects purposely go for something boldly remarkable. sure the buildings will become famous, even notorious. then again it's probably very hard to create something so balanced, something iconic and romantically inspiring, while at the same time sensible and cost effective.

but hey, it's just my first studio. i don't need to start solving the world's problems just yet. let's see what happens.

cowabunga

Book List

2010-05-17T19:24:00.009-04:00

Rather than inundate this post with long lists, I'll try to keep it short: 3 books I will read, and 3 books I will recommend for all you bibliophiles.

To-Read list:

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene:

Since I read an excerpt in high school, I have wanted to read the whole thing. It's a physicist's attempt to explain relativity with accessible metaphors and terminology.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain:

After watching No Reservations for a while, I now want to read what made Anthony Bourdain legendary: his outlook on the restaurant business as a dishwasher who rose to the rank of chef. Maybe his awesome writing style will rub off onto me...

iWoz by Steve Wozniak

The auto-biography of Apple's co-founder, the other Steve. I've already started reading and it's pretty interesting.

Recommendations:

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

First book I read by HM. Great story. Unlike his other novels, this one is short and relatively unsurreal, but equally awesome. If you want more surrealistic stuff, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is amazing as well.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

This book offers an interesting view on how traits like empathy and creativity are becoming more valuable in today's economy. Whether or not you will agree with this, this books does offer a good collection of other books to read, places to visit, and things to do.

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

It's part of a series set in a place called Discworld. You don't need to know much about the series to read these novels though. Unlike a lot of fantasy books I've read, the Discworld series is witty and funny. The best Pratchett book I've read so far.

Really though, I've written this post to give a general idea of my tastes. Now I'd like to hear what you would recommend. Suggest away.

Wedding Dress

2010-04-26T17:55:00.008-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uthxUVMcYw

Not to say that you are "in" or "out," but I'm sure many have seen this music video. Taeyang's song Wedding Dress describes his longing to marry a friend, who is instead marrying another man. I've had two incidences involving this music video and I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about it.

The first moment started when a friend of mine came by my dorm room, where I was coincidentally watching the video. Not that I obsess over Taeyang or anything (<.<)

We end up watching the video, not understanding a single word of Korean, just looking at the scenes. And then at 4:10 into the video, it happens.

"What the hell?" my friend asks.

"What?"

"Just like that? She just accepts a proposal from this random guy who has been cockblocking Taeyang this entire time. I would just punch the guy's face."

Rewatching the video just now (again I am not obsessed), I can see how Taeyang is actually kind of a creeper. Shadily dragging the lady out of the bar. Fumbling in his pocket. The other guy appears. She smiles.

Still, we are lead to side with Taeyang, the main man. That other guy's a bastard. He doesn't deserve her. And that girl's a bitch. Can't she see Taeyang is the more talented guy? Has she even seen him dance? If only he had a partner...

But I digress.

Then today I discussed my friend's reaction with other Taeyang fans. Expert fans as they are (meaning they're girls), they offered this perspective: It seems reasonable to favor the more mysterious guy. Plus the other guy is tall and handsome. Taeyang is short.

Now, I don't remember the specific way things were said. Maybe my sources will read this and clarify. But it seems like there are two things that seem to matter for relationships: the quality time spent, and the overall sense of the person. What matters more? Or is this even reflective of reality?

What do you guys think?

Ready or Not

2010-03-28T00:11:00.004-04:00

I don't know. I'm just not where I thought I'd be. Things came up in my stupid moody little head.

But I did get some productivity out of it. And there were a few moments of relaxation. Playing piano and enjoying it for once. Reading David Sedaris' When You are Engulfed in Flames while drinking black coffee in the morning, or late afternoon.

I still won't say I'm satisfied with this week. But like my mom said, "When are you ever?"

In my defense, there were times I did like the way things turned out from breaks. But she still has a point. So whatever. What's happened has happened. All there is to do is face the music. Maybe then, I'll get to live a little and be happy.

Mini-Saga

2010-03-21T22:06:00.005-04:00

Despite the flaring heat, they trained section after section. The sound of shoe rubber hitting against sweaty palms echoed off the white walls. Afterwards, they horsestanced for what seemed like hours. “Jia yo!” they yelled. To end the day, they sat on the garage door ledges watching the sunset together.

note: a mini saga is a short story written in exactly 50 words. I know I could have written this better but I wanted to give things a try. more to come?

Dilemma

2010-03-06T12:30:00.006-05:00

Every so often, a college student faces a dilemma in the dorm laundry room. All the washers are full of clothes but one has finished washing. He waits a few minutes, if he's nice. But after that, the question remains: should he take out another person's clothes, boxers, thongs, and all?

Alas, I was in this situation. There are a few other stories like this, but none as traumatizing as this. Let's continue.

I open the washer. Great. It's a girl's. In my defense I waited a few minutes, filling another washer with clothes. I still had a shit load of clothes to wash.

Work fast!, my mind thought. My hands raced, trying not to think too much on the fact that I was touching various undergarments. Quick! She might be coming down at this very moment.

Right when I slammed the door, she arrives. Well, shit.

Then I did the worst possible thing: I tried to be smooth. Emphasis on tried.

I went to my other washer. She opens the door. Her washer coincidentally no longer holds her clothes. Wonder who made that happen? (hint: who else is in the laundry room?)

I left the room, as if it wasn't me. Then I had second thoughts. I went back, thinking it didn't really matter.

Or did it? Because my friend Steven was now in the laundry room. Girl #1 was now putting clothes away in the dryer. Then another girl came in.

"Oh, are you in line?" Girl #2 asks Steven.
"Yeah, I'm just waiting a few minutes for some other people to get their stuff out," nice guy Steven replied
"Oh, people get my clothes out all the time." Girl #2 said as a matter of fact. Her words didn't seem to matter. Not when the owner of those removed clothes was in the same room.

The blood of Humiliation was rushing full blast into my skull. With a layer of sweat on my forehead, I ran to the elevator back to my dorm. As I got into the elevator, I heard the ominous footsteps. Please, I begged the elevator door, close faster.

Just as the door was about to shut tight, it reopened. And in walked Girl #1, the girl whose laundry I shamefully pulled out of the washer. It was a long and awkward 4 flights of an elevator ride. Why me?

Somewhere, a divine creator is ~~chuckling~~ rofling his ass off.

Should I feel guilty? Or is it not that big a deal? Thoughts?

Sanity

2010-02-26T02:13:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I forget that I'm in college. That most of the time I'm just a student

College. Student. Those two words seem to carry different connotations. "Student" makes me think of the tasks, the academics, the essays and the problem sets. I can't help but feel a slight tingling stress just thinking about it.

But college, that's something different. It's friends, the nights out, laughter, the moments. Cheers to that.

So are you a student? Or are you in college? Both?

???

2010-02-13T20:42:00.004-05:00

Overall, things are going well. There's the occasional feeling of loss, like something's hollow. Can't explain why really. It may have something to do with me losing focus on everything. I even stop caring sometimes. Is that a good thing?

Whatever.

It could just be the unusual high amounts of Kyle Landry/Yiruma I've been listening to. I actually like it. Used to be that I thought they played nice piano music. But now, I'm just....disgusted with myself. I blame my roommate.

=P

Stoked

2010-01-18T23:49:00.002-05:00

So another break passes. Time to go back. Once again, there's so much I want to do.

But I worry. Can I do this? Am I too unrealistic?

Suck it up.

Here goes. Here's to making new commitments, and quitting the ones that don't matter.

An End

2009-12-18T01:27:00.003-05:00

Finally

These three weeks have been chaotic as ever. It's all a blur now that it's over. Only thing I remember is this video of harold and kumar of all things. It gave me hope =D haha.

Looking back I am sorta disappointed in myself. I'm too easily distracted as always and I'm never exactly realistic. Going to sleep at 2 and expecting myself to wake up early on a weekend. My old roommate had the remarkable ability to go to sleep at 11pm no matter how much work he finished. Seeing as it's already 1am, I am far from mastering that ability.

It feels unbelievably better now. "A late night, a cup of coffee, music playing, no work at all..."

So before my mind wanders off

zZ

Before this dies

2009-11-28T01:01:00.006-05:00

Right. Before I give up on this thing for good. Gotta write something

Update on my life?

College is busy. Sophomore year is pretty much suffer-more year. I came in thinking I could do more than just school work and classes. Started to read books outside class. But eventually the entire attitude fell out. Too busy. Maybe one day I'll restart that...yeah

Right now I want to major in civil engineering with a minor in architecture. It's pretty interesting so far. One minute I'm in a studio where people are discussing transformations, fields, sites, and line weights and the next I'm in a engineering lab where people are dictating numbers, figures, deformations, and forces. It feels weird, but it's the awesome kind of weird.

Till then,

OM NOM NOM

2009-08-09T15:23:00.012-04:00

So my last post on China was very long, which made me hesitant about posting this, another post on China, this time on food.

But as a good Anthony Bourdain fan, I feel a need to promote awesome food that may not be in people's comfort zone. A lot of the stuff I liked best were very simple in preparation. Chop, boil/grill, and serve.

One time, my uncle took me to a fish farm near Beijing. Restaurants nearby use the fish in their dishes.

Holy shit. Best piece of grilled fish I have ever had, hands down. So good I couldn't help but eat half before taking a photo. The two yellow buns (I really can't find better words for those =D) on the side are corn meal filled with wild plants.

For a meat lover like myself, this was pretty damn good. And that's saying a lot since it had no cilantro.

Another weekend, my uncle took us out again, this time for Beijing street food.

Shredded cow stomach, no seasoning just boiled to well done. Sauce on the side. Think hot pot but done for you.

Chopped lamb head. Same preparation. Slightly different but equally awesome taste.

The more “normal” stuff that I had: lamb kabobs and beef noodles. Simple but hellz-yea-amazing

Looking back I have to say a lot of the stuff did not look too appetizing. But in the words of Bourdain, “You only live once.” Just go for it, you never know how it's gonna taste till it's in your mouth. It was all good for me the whole way through.

China 2009

2009-08-07T14:16:00.029-04:00

I'm writing this blog post on Word. It's July 7^th, 2009. But this post will probably be posted sometime in August. And that's because in China, Blogger is blocked. So instead of waiting till the end of my vacation to share what happened under serious amounts of jet lag, I write this now. This also means that I haven't been able to catch up on some of your interesting stories on blogger. Though I do get xanga subscription digests by email. And those have been somewhat interesting. You may know who you are. ;)

Overall, my stay in China was far more than what I expected. I'm pretty sure I'll feel great every time I look back at this trip.

Stuff I did:

Stayed inside my uncle's house for 7 days: As required by swine flu regulations. I also had to report my body temperature for that time. Kind of excessive actually. It's not like I could have crossed a street with the jet lag I had, a task that's the equivalent of playing Frogger with your life.
Civil Engineering Tour: Hells yeah, this was a good 10 day trip.
Internship at Beijing Institute of Architecture Design (BIAD): Worked there after the tour.
Food!: Had a lot of variety of good eats while I stayed. From KFC and Pizza Hut to Cow stomach and Sheep Head. Tasty q:

Here are the highlights of the tour. I'll go into the food later =D

First stop of the tour, Beijing.

Tian An Men Square. A place of controversy, but one thing's for sure: That's one big ass flag pole.

Forbidden City. It's size makes MTV cribs look like Barbie doll houses.

Commune by the Great Wall. Basically 10 Asian architects were invited to design their own villa. Pretty cool places.

The Great Wall. This section was intentionally left unmaintained. I kinda like the unkempt look of it all.

The Water Cube was surreal almost. The Bird's Nest was pretty big. Ritchie Kwan's reaction: “Of course you guys would visit a hunk of metal”

Next on our tour, we went Xian. On the train ride there...

Think beer pong except with a shoe and a pack of gum. Oh and you still get to drink beer.

Countryside. I actually did not expect that we'd go to a place like this. Pleasant surprise

LOUD NOISES aside, KTV twas fun.

Terra Cotta Warriors. Most of them are actually still covered, as this is the best preservation method. Otherwise they lose their paint and end up like the ones on the top.

As with all visits to foreign countries, a photo displaying perfect English grammar is required. Thanks the cooperation. (Lampoonery aside, most of the travel guides spoke great English)

We then flew to Yi chang. The place is sorta remote. And by sorta, I mean very. Not a lot of people or traffic, and absolutely no karaoke bars in sight.

The spectacular view outside the hotel.

The Three Gorges Dam

Mr. Wang, one of the chief engineers of the project. Pretty cool guy.

“Damn! That's one big dam...ok let's go to Shanghai”

Night skyline. We were here a little early, so some of the buildings didn't light up yet

Visited Tongji University. Had some interesting conversations with the CivE grad students.

TV Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Jin Mao Tower.

The glass balcony on the top. A great way to cure height phobia?

Here's the elevator to the top of the SWFC. Portal?

Maglev Train, which transported us to Pudong Airport in exactly 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

Awesome people to go on tour with. Good times.

Though I wish we stayed in Shanghai a lot longer. Lots of interesting architecture. I shall return. With a tripod. And a local friend who would be willing to help me? Cause I can't speak Shanghainese. Let alone enough Mandarin. xD

College

2009-01-01T18:10:00.011-05:00

It's been a while since I've written in this blog. College has definitely kept me busy. Before going to college I didn't have many expectations on what it was going to be like. I definitely knew it was going to be fun. But I also expected that academics were going to be difficult.

During my previous summer of watching youtube videos, however, I came across this clip that gave me some great encouragement and useful advice. [link]

After watching this, I thought “Man. Bourdain is such a...such a rocker. He travels the world and dares to eat fermented tofu, cobra heart, pig intestines, anything that the local people consider food. Even when he works in the kitchen, he endures, fights it out, rocks on.” (insert electric guitar strum here) Right then I believed that that was how I was going to do things in college.

After about a month into college, I made many friends who felt the same, at least when they were out partying or sledding on stolen dining hall trays. They would eat things they've never eaten before. Drink till they start enjoying massages by strangers. Enjoy life like there's no tomorrow.

When it came to academics though, my friends often complained. About getting absolutely raped by tests, prelims, and midterms that were unbelievably difficult or curved to a B. Time and time again I would hear something along the lines of “Success is now defined as how well you do against others in the class.” I couldn't blame them. College is hard. But I had my own opinions back then.

I thought, “No worries. A true rocker never fears, even in academics. I'm not gonna stress over stupid grade curves or how difficult other people say the test is gonna be. I'm gonna rock on and not get intimidated.” So I studied hard, aimed for an A+, and yada yada I aced my first few tests. I thought to myself, “Yeah! Be a rocker, that's what I'm gonna do. It'll all work out just like it did just now.”

Besides these little bouts of arrogance, there was nothing else wrong with what happened. I “rocked on” and succeeded. But little did I know that I had yet to really prove myself as a rocker.

Then one midnight I found myself with two research papers due the next day, both of which were far from finished. I'm not here to brag about workload but this had me freaking out. I heard a voice saying “Be a rocker. Rock on!”

And then I thought “pffft. Fuck that. That whole bullshit about 'rocking out' is easier said than done. How the hell am I going to succeed. I'm fucked...and I'm going crazy too with all these voices.” I abandoned this whole idea of being a rocker. It didn't matter whether I was or wasn't one, I just started working. Eventually both papers were finished. I was muttering curses under my breath the entire time, exhausted, at my limits.

Looking back at this moment though, I have to say that even though I “abandoned” the idea, I was still a rocker. To quote again from Bourdain's clip, “You have to keep swimming and swimming and swimming upstream... It's kinda like any high stress situation. You're not aware of what you're doing, you're just doing it.”

What being a rocker really means is simply acting. When you're partying and enjoying yourself, this seems almost second nature. Have another shot. Don't think just take it. Granted it can lead to some mistakes...but those can be avoided if you're smart and lucky enough.

It's more difficult to see and do in academics. You're not exactly having the time of your life when you are studying. If you do have time of your life, then you need to get a life. The good news is, it's no different from when you are enjoying yourself. You just have to act.

If any of my friends ever had the patience to read this far into my post, I hope they at least take this lesson from it. Don't worry about the mountains of work. Don't worry about tomorrow. And certainly don't give a damn about that stupid curve. Already, I've seen my friends in situations like the one I had. 2 papers and a textbook review due the next day. 3 finals in 3 consecutive days.

I know I'll definitely be facing some worse situations throughout the rest of college. Three research papers? Four and a project? I can't tell what it will be. I'm probably going to be eating the very words I'm typing. But for now, I'll say it. I'm going to be ready and rock on. And I hope my friends will too.

At this point, though, some of them would probably be thinking, “Daniel....you need to get laid. This entire post is about working hard. You never said you went to a party.” OK OK, I probably should go to college parties for once, so that I'm not so hypocritical on the partying parts of this blog post. =D

Rock on

A Happy New Year to all. Please comment.

Alaska

2008-07-16T14:02:00.023-04:00

Looking back at my first cruise, I'd say there were a lot of things that went wrong. The cruise food was usually under seasoned, overcooked, or just didn't taste good. There were a lot of things to do on the cruise, if you were over age 21. But being the good kid that I am, no alcohol was involved. Nothing racy, dangerous, let alone exciting. The one time I tried to go "clubbing" on the cruise, no one was there, resulting in a pointless conversation with strangers, whom I sadly ditched.

Then again, I did watch a good number of movies on the ship from the comfort of my cabin. And I have to say, this was a relaxing trip. Sure the 8 hour tours of nothing but icy, snowy mountains, and lakes got very boring, but I never had a real chance to just sit, sleep, and take in the beauty of things....behind a dusty glass window of the bus. Yay happy thoughts.

But really, I did have a chance to enjoy some of the pleasant scenery.

A normal trip for my family means touring an entire country in one month. This tour usually consists of six cities, waking up very early in the morning, and literally running through tourist destinations. Shopping? No time. Enjoy life like a local? Impossible.

In this respect, a chance to relax and take a good look at nature was practically salvation. Sure, I didn't get a chance to eat at local Alaskan restaurants, but I get what I can get.

My journey started on a plane ride to Seattle. As for all plane rides, a sky picture is mandatory. So here it is.

Frank Gehry's EMP building and Seattle Space Needle

The clouds were really nice that day

Later, we went to Banff National Park in Canadia. I mean, Canada. Such funny names for both country and park.

Wildlife. Funny how the car is a Dodge. Man coexisting with Nature?

On an ice field/glacier. Hope my shoes' dirt doesn't end up in someone's Deer Park.

After Banf and a long, car-sickening ride, we meet up with family friends. Onto the cruise? Nope. First a tour of Butchart Garderns. Flower pics? Definitely.

Onto the cruise, the Sapphire Princess.

The Office!

Ziplining. Full Gear. Yea! Probably the most exciting part of my trip. Definitely doing this more often.

Putting macro lens to good use. Mosquitoes actually tolerate Alaskan climate. Where's OFF! when you really need it?

Formal cruise night. We didn't actually go into the room behind us. But there was that interesting looking sculpture at the entrance.

And finally, the scenery I came for.

World's smallest desert

Denali, the final attraction.

The next time I come to Alaska, I hope I'll get to hike more often. Yeah, it's comforting to sit in a tour bus and see it all passing by. But it feels too dull, too inactive. Sure, I won't get as far by walking. At least it would be a pleasantly different experience.

Then again, this was more relaxing than many past "adventures" and for that, I'm somewhat content.

The End?

Omei MD/NIU Martial Arts Academy

2008-05-28T21:48:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since those days when we would train at the warehouse, fighting the summer heat, or beating the winter cold. To be honest, I kind of liked those days better. At least the sickening heat made me grateful for rain. But I didn't mind the air conditioning at the new place.

Before Omei Wushu, I never knew there was such a thing as a family. Friends were just people you knew well. Somehow I found a deep sense of belonging whenever I came to practice. Wushu was no longer just about training your hardest. It became trying your hardest alongside others who were doing the same. Wushu just wouldn't be wushu without people to look upon, to watch grow, and of course, to laugh at their silly jokes (and dances ). The trips and parties were just icing on the cake. I definitely hope that the "end" of Omei Md will not affect the wushu family. Though I still haven't seen some people in ages, I know we will all have ways to keep in touch.

Yay for facebook.

But appreciating the wushu family would be insufficient without acknowledging the people who tied us all together. Niu Laoshi has been and always will be one of our great mentors and teachers. Sophia A-yi has offered friendly support whenever possible. Ethan and Jade may still remain cute little kids in our eyes, even when they grow to be our age. I wish them a happy and fulfilling continuation of life in LA. Laoshi zai jian!

Though I still haven't watched a movie in theaters with you guys yet...

And my birthday is coming up...

Suggestions?