Jingy's Blog!

E-Commerce Adventure

2012-01-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to create an e-commerce site for awhile, but when I first started out, I couldn't fathom the difficulty of programming a website (even if made from a template). Thus, here is a running journal of my progress. Ahem...the journey of a programmer who doesn't really program:

December 2011:
Began working on osCommerce (newest build), but it was so buggy that I couldn't even get into the installation portion. I downloaded an older version and figured out how to fix the installation part, but there were admin panel errors that wouldn't go away. Frustrated, I trashed the entire project and vowed to begin anew in 2012.

January 2012:
Started to research other open source e-commerce sites in mid-January. I was mostly impressed with the amount of features within Prestashop, so I tried to download that. The program had over 5,000 files and took forever to unzip! Also, the store did not install properly. I tried an autoinstaller on my web server, but there were errors - also ended up trashing Prestashop. I tried Magento (super clean design, as I saw on their website) and it was the first program that worked. Funnily enough, I found out later that where I installed the site and where I thought I installed the site...did not coincide - which was probably one reason Prestashop did not work properly. Here are some updates:

1/24: Got familiar with the site and tested out the product page. Began refining the "Contact Us" link.
1/25: Completed the "Contact Us" form (for the time being)...and it works =D...but it took 1-2 hours to figure out. Designed a simple logo and favicon (HAAAA, awesome). Revised the header and footer.

2011-2012: Busy, Busy!

2012-01-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated lately because I've been so busy living life! Here's what I've been up to for the past 10 months:

Worked at three jobs in different fields. For the majority of 2011, I planned programs for Chinese business people, but I also took on positions that reflected my passions - graphic design/media and marketing. I am currently working at an online start-up and I've learned a lot about blogging, link-building, and SEO!
My friend and I started up a YouTube channel in March 2011. Our angle? Offering our unique viewpoints and commentary whilst vlogging at events and retail locations. We actually made several genres of video - stop animation, parodies, and...others that are more difficult to categorize. Well, what a ride it's been! I've gotten to know some awesome YouTubers/filmmakers/artists, as this is a tight-knit community. It's such an inspiration to be surrounded by so many talented individuals.
Some traveling was had, as I journeyed to the East Coast (a pimpin' business trip), Alaska, New Mexico, and Las Vegas. I'm looking forward to more adventures in the near future.
I began working with a talented group of Asian American filmmakers on a groundbreaking documentary - you'll hear about it very soon! I am on both the marketing and sponsorship teams - challenging, but extremely rewarding work! The project will be released in summer of 2012 - only a few months away...
I attended CES and met tons of wonderful, ambitious, passionate people! My favorite moments were: 1) joining a fun company's booth at a party when my group ran late and 2) finding out that I was invited to a party because of a silly YouTube video I made (said the CEO).
Recently, I gave a VP Public Relations training presentation to 83 club officers. Although I only slept four hours, I think the presentation went well!
It seems like I'm always busying myself with tasks, but they are all a means to an end (financial freedom). On my to-do list for this year:

Further enhancing my Internet marketing skills with quality job experience.
Business development for companies of friends and family.
Helping the Asian American documentary succeed.
Reaching the next level in Toastmasters and helping local clubs develop their public relations campaigns.
Starting a blog or two (!!) and making use of my Internet marketing knowledge.
Taking Tech Entrepreneurship classes through Stanford's free online courses.
Training my voice for...Carnegie Hall!!
Creating more videos. I have a couple that are in progress, but it's hard to allocate time to them when I have so much going on!

I'm currently working on an e-commerce website for a business and I'll keep all my updates within one post, so that I (and others) can understand how I've progressed in developing the site.

Dreams #0005 - Disaster, Violin, Gift

2011-03-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

1) I began this dream in an urban neighborhood. I walked between two buildings with a roof connecting them. There were random box-shaped steps at the end of one hallway. When I attempted to climb up the steps, I would turn around and there would be even more steps to climb. There was a break in the dream, but I finally walked out of the hallway onto a green patch of grass. I saw a tall building or steel tower (also boxy in shape). I looked up, and four men in orange hats attempted to coordinate some last-minute building infrastructure processes. However, at an inopportune moment, I looked up and saw a slab of concrete fall down. Luckily, it did not hit any of the construction workers. I was standing about a quarter mile away from the building, but in an instant, I saw a whole floor topple off of the building and yelled to the workers. Somehow, the entire building fell apart, but the workers neither reacted normally nor ran away. I turned away before I saw any more building pieces hitting the ground.

I guess this is a subconscious reaction to reading news about natural disasters before going to bed...

2) In my second dream, I was standing in a crowd in an artsy area, waiting for a concert. I stood for awhile, when a youngish Hispanic lady approached me and Bro. I spoke to her about music, but I spoke to her as if we were strangers. A bit later, she talked to me and revealed that we had actually met a year ago (dream-me had a lapse in memory, I suppose). I continued to talk to her and she invited us to another event for the next day.

The next time we met her, we went to a nice garden outside of a place with an archaic air (may have been her house or a music conservatory). We spoke more about our love of music, when I asked her about buying violins. She replied, "Why do you have to buy one? I'll give you mine..." I was surprised and replied, "...But don't you need it?" Her answer was ambiguous, but I felt that she was giving up on music - she enjoyed playing violin and has done it for a long time, but she is going to pursue her other passions. She meant it to be a gift so that I could fulfill my/Bro's wish to hone our skills in violin. I was so touched by this gift, but I woke up with no violin, yet felt inspired by an example of human kindness created in my head.

Scary Health Ordeal

2011-02-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

At the risk of disseminating too much information...I had the worst monthly pain in my history. Let's skip over the womanly details and go straight to the strange, hurty stuff:

I had the the worst headache last week. It was the weirdest sensation I have ever experienced, outside of almost-fainting. I had been working, mostly walking around and looking at a piece of white paper with writing. After a bit of walking, I saw some squiggly wavy lines at the corner of my right eye. These wavy lines resembled the heat mirages that you might see when driving down a road in sunny California. I was a bit confused about why I was seeing things, when I started to notice that I couldn't read my paper. The numbers and letters were whited-out by some neurological light. It was most curious.
Ten minutes later, I was begging to lay down. I had a migraine with sharp, indescribable pain that prevented me from doing further work. I began to feel nauseous, a harbinger of wahness. About twenty minutes later, I felt a strong sensation of nausea overcome me and I hovered over the toilet four times. It was not good. My stomach was emptied.
After I laid down to rest, I researched my strange symptoms and found that I had experienced "migraine with auras," which is experienced by approximately 20% of the population. I was fine that night, except for the fact that I had slept too much...
However, the day after, I experienced overwhelming confusion. I was writing something and I became so confused about whether it made sense or not. I rarely get confused - I usually question how I can improve my writing.
I also had these strange tempers - I would feel empowered by something, but all of a sudden, I became the exact opposite - a crying mess.

I suppose this is an example of the ways that unaddressed stress may affect a person. It's important to take care of oneself and heed such symptoms. Have I done anything to address these symptoms or my invisible stress? Not really, but I'm going to start working out and doing things to lower my stress level.

MIA Here => Here I AM

2010-12-30T00:30:00.000-08:00

The last time I blogged on this account was about a month before I left for China. In the months between March and December, I have:

Completed 10 Toastmasters speeches and achieved the Competent Communicator Award,
Worked at Expo 2010 Shanghai as Student Ambassador; three months afterward, I was promoted to Finance Associate,
Traveled throughout China, visiting cities new to me - Xiamen, Qingdao, Tibet, and Tianjin - as well as some old favorites,
Arrived home to experience the monotony of funemployment and some side adventures,
And spent more money this holiday than during any other. I'm such a consumer @_@.

In blog posts thereafter, I hope to detail some of my adventures in Shanghai/at the Expo/after the Expo. Even if I can't verbally express the fun I had, I will no doubt be able to spam my blog with 80+ gb worth of photos. >:D

Turning - into +

2010-03-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

The months from autumn 2009 to winter 2010 were filled with catastrophe. Though I am still too scarred to openly share such experiences, I recognize some lessons learned from each event.

November 2009:
Life is the most significant entity to cherish.

December 2009:
Purging extraneous things and implementing minimalism facilitates simplicity in life.

January 2009:
Before taking any risky transactions, research, plan, and admonish (if you are not the direct party considering the transactions) for more favorable outcomes.

Additionally, I realized throughout these months that:
1) When one makes impulsive, last-minute decisions, he or she is more prone to making mistakes. Slowing down to properly understand the matter and to remember the importance of safety is conducive to good results.
2) We, as individuals, must place more trust in ourselves. Sometimes, other parties that are "sent" to help us will not do their best. We have the power to question their decisions and push them to continue their tasks, but in the end, if they cannot help us, we should not regret that we did all we could for the result we received.

Though I did not include anecdotes with these lessons, I hope everyone heeds such words and uses care in all endeavors.

Reunion with a Childhood Friend

2009-12-28T18:22:00.001-08:00

As many know, I moved from the midwest to the west coast during my teen years. It was a difficult time for me - I left my childhood friends and school to start anew. Even then, I never really forgot my old friends...

My oldest childhood friend (probably the first friend I made in America) and I shared many fun times growing up, from going over his place to hog his Nintendo, to collectively tolerating the Saturdays spent in Chinese school. Sometimes, his parents and my parents would visit each other; while the parents spoke of parently things, we children played.

Then, I moved away, just when communication technology started to develop. At this time, AOL was popular, CDs were expensive, Yahoo was the main search engine, and the internet had begun its proliferation. After I moved west, I used email (at the not-so-popular usa.net domain) to try to stay in touch with friends. However, because we were young, none of us really utilized email. From when I was a child to now, I always imagined the day I would have the opportunity to re-connect with old friends. Sadly, because of the absence of communication tools (and the lack of using the ones that existed), I lost touch with much of my previous childhood network...

...Until one day. In high school, I began to use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) to chat with friends. Around this time, Google began to infiltrate the online realm, and, in a moment of curiosity, I typed in my childhood friend's name and was surprised to find a few results. It was from this method that I found my friend's screen name. Not too long after, I IMed him and we began to re-establish contact. It was a shocking moment for me, as well as one of the first times I harnessed the power of the internet to find someone with whom I lost contact. From then on, my friend and I spoke sporadically on AIM, until Facebook emerged. I added him on Facebook and we've been in contact ever since.

However, I suppose good ol' telephone also helps friends to stay connected. Not-so-beknownst to me, my parents have been in contact, here and there, with my childhood friend's parents. On December 22, 2009, after hosting a visit from relatives, Mom received a call from my childhood friend's parents. Surprisingly, my childhood friend's entire family was in SoCal for a few days. I was so excited for the opportunity to see them and to catch up. My heart raced and my fleeting attention span made me unproductive for the night.

The parents called each other to arrange a visit for the next day. December 23 came. Mom told us the childhood friend and his family were in town and would stop by our house. I was so happy. Words could not express the richness of such emotions. The last few holiday months have been difficult, so having this sliver of happiness (and a childhood dream realized) was a welcome retreat from the real world.

As the hour between the confirmation call and the arrival elapsed, emotions abounded, some of trepidation, others of unspeakable excitement. I wish I could somehow bottle such a flurry of emotions and let a little out each time I need some inspiration. I was quite nervous; of course he and his family remember us, but what would I say to them? Pure befuddlement.

At last, the doorbell rang. We invited our guests in and conversed about our present life. I also shared my photo albums with them. There were a few awkward silences and some nervous laughter from me, but after the initial speechlessness, I felt our group warming up a bit. In the office, I sat next to my friend with a sense of wonder. Could it be - we childhood friends - are finally reunited after one so many years? I couldn't believe it; I suppose I was in a state of shock and I couldn't break away from it. I didn't know that our meeting would come so soon. With my emotions peaking to the point of total awe at the way life works, after 2.5+ hours of catching up, we bid my childhood friend and his family farewell.

Even though the meeting was short and is a commonality in any other person's life, I felt as though a huge revelation met me face-to-face. It wasn't as though I found the meaning of my life or had a life-changing epiphany. Rather, I discovered a complex emotion - one that could not be priced, though it was highly valued; one that lives in the moment and cannot be captured. I recognized it as a once-in-a-lifetime feeling (though I can have it more than once if I somehow get the chance to visit other old friends). I felt this the final time I performed in my percussion ensemble and each unique time I danced on stage. This emotion was deceptively simple, yet extraordinarily delicious, only described as an amalgam of gratitude, wonder, intrigue, surprise, apprehensiveness, and finality. I recognized the meeting as the first time I met my friend and his family in a decade, but one of the few times I would experience such an uplifting sense of amazement in human interaction.

This post redolent of sentimentality only expresses a fraction of emotions I felt at the time. I tried to relay my experience to a friend, but was unable to speak about it in the fullest extent. For lack of words...I had a "moment." I was extremely grateful for such an encounter - I hope that the longer I live, the more of these I will experience.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

I. Thanksgiving Festivities

This year, I had the most fulfilling Thanksgiving in a long time. It was the first time in YEARS that my entire immediate family was able to celebrate together. Because of the nature of my family's business, Baba has to travel frequently, so he is usually not in town during American holidays. From the years preceding 2009, my family (minus Baba) spent Thanksgiving on short road-trips.

Looking back two years, in...
...2008, I was in Hangzhou teaching English and had to stay on campus all day. I was a bit sad that I could not spend Thanksgiving with my fellow English teachers. However, I was extremely thankful because I ended up spending Thanksgiving with one of my colleagues/good friends from the university. We had a "dongbei" dinner with all the delicious foods of the northern region. 'Tis a warm memory that stays with me during this cool Californian winter.
...2007, my Mom, Bro, and I went on a road trip to Yosemite, King's Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. We explored some beautiful mountainous territory and indulged in views of tall trees and dams with deep blue waters. We experienced one notable dinner in an isolated area with shops and a restaurant (the only one open within a radius of about 30 miles). After waiting over 30 minutes to get seated, we ate some mouthwatering Mexican fare. *Shivers deliciously.*

As is the case with some immigrants, Chinese people usually do not "celebrate" Thanksgiving the American way, that is, with a giant marathon dinner (lasting from lunchtime until after dinnertime) consisting of "American" dishes (stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.). Regardless, many in recent years have used the holiday as a way for family and friends to congregate and share food and fond experiences. In my case, Thanksgiving this year was truly epic.

Pre-Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving (Wednesday and Thursday)

Earlier in the week, Mom asked me to be the Official Recipe Director for our Thanksgiving festivities. I was so excited to plan Thanksgiving, as I never did this when I was younger. From Monday to Wednesday, I looked on various websites for easy, delicious recipes and Bro or Mom gave the recipes a seal of approval. On Wednesday, Bro and I shopped for extra ingredients. At the last store, I had a humbling experience:

At the self-checkout, I was planning to use cash, but I was short two cents. Bro asked the cashier if she could spare two cents for our can of yams. I was so embarrassed to ask the store for money (I could have used my credit card), but I was thankful that cashiers gave a few pennies of assistance. I had no idea they could assist the customers with a few cents of change, ha.

After the shopping odyssey, I reviewed the recipes and started to assist in the preparation of vittles. For the turkey, we used Alton Brown's recipe for a flavorful turkey. I instructed Mom on mixing a fragrant brine and she placed the turkey in the pot to soak overnight. Next, we prepared a pie crust from scratch (using more butter and fattiness than I cared to know about :S). After the pie crust was mixed, we placed this in the refrigerator to set.

The next day, I awoke at 10 AM to help Mom prepare the food. We first prepared the turkey, stuffing it and baking it at 500 degrees for 30 minutes, then allowed the meat to cook through at 350 degrees with a breast "shield." The turkey cooked for about 2 hours, 30 minutes total.

Next, we mixed a pie filling. I was not able to find any pumpkin puree/filling from any stores, so I substituted yam for the filling (bought above). Mom placed the filling into the pie crust; the pie baked for over 50 minutes. For some reason, the pastry was extremely jiggly whenever I tested its readiness. Perhaps it had not fully set (cooled) yet and would not harden until after it was taken out of the oven...

In between the pie-checking, we peeled potatoes. Then, we mashed the starchy goodness, adding rosemary, salt, garlic, milk, and a few other simple flavors. The potatoes did not mash well (we do not possess a proper potato masher), so I suggested we use a hand mixer. What a silly thing to do! The potatoes formed a strange, gluey consistency. From the taste test, we determined that the flavor was good, though the potatoes lacked a starchy-break-in-your-mouth feeling. To add to this fiasco, I accidentally added too much water to a gravy mix. How can one fail at mixing water and powered gravy? ._.U The gravy was too thin, but we discovered the gravy was thin even if we added more powder.

During the potato-hand-mixing, Baba's side of the family arrived and marveled at our hard work. My cousins were amazed that I was in the kitchen preparing food (a first). Strangely enough, though, Baba's family admitted that they ate before coming over (they arrived around lunchtime). Who goes to a Thanksgiving meal pre-filled with food?...Probably only ultra-polite Asians?

By 1 PM, the scrumptious smells wafted around the first floor and my cousins were eager to sample our creations. By this time, I was stressed out and tired because I worried that the pie and potatoes would not work out. I thought that the effort put into the project might not be reflected by the results.

Finally, the ding of the oven signaled that the turkey was ready for consumption. We placed all the finished dishes in the center of our dining table and Baba carved the turkey for all. The other dishes were placed on the table and everyone was given a preliminary serving of turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, ham, and other dishes. To our delight, the turkey was PERFECT. We were so happy that the turkey breast was juicy and retained the right flavors. Later, we tried the homemade pastry, a yam-cheesecake-pie with the right amount of sweetness. The pie firmed enough in room temperature that it no longer jiggled; I was surprised that 'twas delectable at first taste! We all had several helpings of the dishes, then sat on our couches, defeated by the food. Photo albums came to life through narration and laughter echoed. A good time had by all. Later, everyone had a helping of pumpkin pie and some other dessert. Yummers. Baba's side of the family left around 8 PM, after my insistence at taking family photos.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the great results of our homemade dishes. The turkey was the best-tasting, most tender turkey I have ever helped to create. Many thanks to Alton Brown's Food Network video tutorial and other Food Network recipes. Mom also worked hard in the kitchen. We were able to make Thanksgiving a wonderful success this year!

Friday - Black Friday

Bro and I scanned some Black Friday ads on Thursday evening and made a list of desired items. On Friday morning, I was woken up by X's phone call at 4:30 AM...hahaha. I woke Bro and we headed out the door around 5 AM, the time most stores open...

I dropped Bro off at one of our target stores, while I went to another. I waited about 40 minutes to get into the store, found my desired items, and got into line within 5 minutes of entering. The checkout line wrapped around the store; after 40 minutes, I was able to leave the store, but waited another 30 seconds for a stampede of people to enter the store. There were two police vehicles here for maximum security.

I drove to meet Bro and walked into this other store, which had many walkways blocked by its lines of shoppers and their overweight shopping carts. Visualize the lines and amount of items in shoppers' carts at wholesale stores (i.e. Costco). Triple that and imagine several lines wrapping around a specific store. Bro and I did not find good deals, so I hunted around the store a few times, dismayed. Bro probably waited in line for 1.5 hours. We finished shopping and left to explore three more stores. At this time, it was almost 8 AM. We trudged around the stores, but after seeing the length of the lines, there was an unanimous decision to go home. We ended up not meeting with my friends that day, due to tiredness.

For the rest of that weekend, Bro and I were able to finish the Firefly series. I really enjoyed the characterization, witty dialogue, and unfortunate circumstances within the show. My favorite character on the show is probably Mal, as he has sort of an Indy-like love for adventure, with a foundation of leadership (y'all know how much I LOVE leaders ;P). The cast of mostly-Caucasians speaking Chinese is also an added bonus. I was able to teach Bro a few Chinese phrases, including "fei4 hua4" and "shuai4."

Overall, 'twas an eventful weekend.

II. On Gratitude

Through one incident in China, I learned the meaning of gratitude by experiencing its opposite. In Hangzhou, the city officials planned a fun-packed day where foreign teachers could experience the culture of the city. Because of busy teaching schedules, only moi and one other teacher represented our university. After having lunch and partaking in the splendor of Chinese calligraphy and stamp-carving, my colleague flatly told me that this tourism experience was fabricated and inauthentic. This person wanted to ditch the rest of the festivities and find some "real" culture. My colleague invited me to be a partner-in-crime, but I declined. Though I agree that the Chinese tend to embellish their historical achievements and culture for foreigners, I thought it was rude that this person would just take off in the middle of an event because of boredom, with the desire to see something more "real." It was as if the person felt no gratitude toward the city officials that planned a large-scale event for foreign teachers. This simple event created in me a desire to express my thankfulness and gratitude.

I have experienced so much in the past year, so I want to highlight some people/experiences/items I am grateful to know/have/possess:
- Family: Though I saw Baba very little in the year before 2008, I was grateful for the opportunity to spend extra time with him when I was in China. I am also thankful that Baba is doing well after an unfortunate incident. Mom, thank you for keeping in touch with me in China, being supportive of my endeavors, and cooking for me at home. Bro, thank you for your strange anecdotes, good recommendations, and overall guidance for any of my needs.
- Friends (through school): I won't mention individual names, but I am thankful to see and keep in contact with those awesome friends I know from high school and college. I am really lucky to have the chance to hang out with friends who live really close to me - thank you for making time for me! My Master's and Chinese friends - I was so humbled to be able to live in a different culture (as different as it gets when one is American) and to learn with/from you. Even rarer are those friends I know from childhood - though we do not talk much, I am glad to correspond with you.
- Toastmasters International: I have only been an official member for two months, but I feel the love. I am continually amazed by the caliber of awesomeness (enthusiasm, support) at my local club and I am always excited to learn new ideas about public speaking or life. I am tearfully glad to be part of such a high-quality club, one that pushes its members to become the best.
- China experience: I am happy to have the opportunity to live in a country where I could learn new things, investigate my heritage, spend more time with family members, travel freely, gain some worthy-to-tell-grandchildren stories (the ones they would hear one too many times), teach English and learn about the Chinese youth, earn my Master's, and become outwardly independent and fierce (though my knees may be shaking). I was also glad to have several professors' guidance in my coursework and thesis. As a whole, China 2008-2009 was truly a life-changing experience that opened my eyes to the cultures and mannerisms of the country and the adventures that lie beyond the U.S. borders.
- Work experience: I want to show gratitude for those colleagues who have given me support in my job endeavors and most recently, in my job hunt. I am also glad to have worked (or taken leadership positions) in my college days to build the experience I may need in the near future.
- My cameras throughout the years: Though one was stolen (>:/), I am glad that the others are in good condition and are working for my daily happiness. Though I can replace my cameras (and probably will in the future), the experiences my cameras have recorded will NEVER be replaced.
- This Sony laptop: Thank you for keeping me sane in China. Because of you, I was able to Skype with my family, make new friends, and complete homework. Though your battery life is low these days, I am glad that you are still alive.

Of course, there are more individuals and experiences I am thankful for - perhaps I will record some of these experiences as I get into the habit of blogging again.

In closing, according to a CNN article, those who keep a gratitude journal are happier with their lives. Such a tip could increase society's awareness of gratitude and their own role in influencing lifelong happiness.

Boxes for the Hungry

2009-11-22T00:48:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, and even though I am unemployed, I have plenty to be thankful for. While I won't get into the specifics of my gratitude yet, I want to relay a short, but meaningful experience I had today.

With my Toastmasters group, I volunteered to pack boxes of food for the needy in an assembly line. My experience included the adrenaline rush that comes from working under pressure - two straight hours of fast-paced can-placing, box-taping action. Hardcore, considering that the speed required one to think on his or her feet (when items required placement reorganization) and quick adaptability (when processes were modified). I worked at the end of the assembly line and strategically used my arms and hands to fold box tabs. With an average rate of one second per folded box, I worked cohesively with those wielding tape dispensers. In this experience, feelings can express my residual excitement, but only concepts can express a few of the ideas running through my head at the time.

During those 120 minutes, the spirit of volunteerism, along with blood, flowed through my body. In my 21+ years of existence, I must regretfully admit that I had never done a good deed that would benefit the needy, low-income, and homeless. However, today's event highly resonates with one event in my childhood. When I was young, my family was not so well off, as we were recent immigrants to the United States. My parents actually used a food bank service a few times and we were able to get some canned vittles, not unlike the ones packed at today's event. I remember feeling joy when my mom brought back random cans of meat and vegetables and wondering where such wonderful food originated. I suppose the mystery of food bank distribution was solved today.

As I attempted to focus on my work, my eyes barely adjusted to the momentum of the assembly line, but my hands were able to work fast. From moving on the assembly line runway to flying through the air on a wooden pallet, the boxes full of peanut butter, condensed milk, canned fruit and vegetables, cereal, rice, and juices traveled closer to their new homes. Packing boxes truly warmed my heart; I became enthused at the prospect of being able to put a little of myself into the resultant happiness of the satiated. I felt unified with the assembly line team because we worked for one goal - to organize final products that give the needy hope and resources to survive a frosty holiday. Our team of 50+ people (for the last shift) averaged about a pallet (30 boxes) every one to two minutes. I wonder the number of pallets our team contributed to the entire food bank project, though I saw a final number of about 20,000 boxes (three shifts, over five different organizations).

My ruminations led me to daydream about economics and leadership subjects of yore. Nerdy? Yes. First, I pondered about the efficient and inefficient amounts of people on a marginal product curve. If there are eight products to be placed in the box, with one person taping and another person stacking boxes on the pallet, only a minimum of ten people are needed for the assembly line (not counting the forklift drivers). With many sets of assembly lines, longer lines, and more products to pack, more people are needed, though the amount of efficiency reaches an apex when no more people can be added to the line without causing the line to slow down. For example, the line reaches the maximum number of people with too many double roles (people packing the same cans) or with a scarcity of tools or machinery (such as tape). Placing extra people and squeezing them into empty spots will only make the assembly line more crowded. Luckily, such inefficiency rarely happened today, though many volunteers dealt with tape-roll malfunction.

Next, I thought about intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a desire from within to accomplish a task. The opposite is extrinsic motivation, a desire to accomplish tasks coming from external sources, such as money or other material triggers. While I admit that getting free refreshments and an awesome green t-shirt (to match with my buddies) were good incentives to participate, I was also driven by two concepts of intrinsic motivation - camaraderie and the high that comes from doing a good deed. I felt the development of close-knit bonds when I worked with a team to accomplish a common goal that would positively affect many lives (as opposed to volunteering for a private company, where the work would only benefit the employees).

Finally, I contemplated the idea of piecework. Piecework usually refers to an assembly line, where the workers are paid per product that they help to create - the more products they put together, the higher their pay. The opposite of piecework has something to do with salaries or hourly work - you are paid one amount per time frame, no matter how little you do for an organization. There's some conflict between the two because the piecework model causes a person to work harder and take fewer breaks, which may not be a healthy practice, while giving an hourly rate or yearly salary does not encourage a worker to be productive at all times, as he does not receive more money for more effort for the time worked (excluding bonuses). Those effective in a piecework setting are probably more inspired by extrinsic motivation (money), while those effective in a salaried setting are probably more inspired by intrinsic motivation (the feeling of doing a good job).

In total, today's simple, but significant, experience gave me much to think about - not only did it inspire me to give back to my community, but it also allowed me to see the immense power of teamwork and to revisit some fascinating undergraduate concepts. The two hours captivated me with the idea of bringing happiness through a simple donation of my time. However, I did leave with a few battle wounds, including scratches on my fingers and hands. Other casualties experienced by friends included a dirty jacket, which resulted from many accidental footsteps, as well as minor finger cuts and impending soreness from box-lifting.

If helping the less fortunate sounds alien, give the idea a try. Like an exquisite piece of Godiva chocolate, such selfless experiences should be savored and its consumption repeated. We can all add richness and happiness to our lives when we help others.

My Eleven Months - Travel Summary

2009-08-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sadly, a combination of laziness and Great Firewall blockage from China diminished my chances of writing in blogger for the longest time. However, the abundance of digital and tangible reminders of my journey (ticket stubs, brochures, Webct posts, Microsoft Word documents, Facebook messages, chat transcripts, and pictures/videos - all 10+ DVDs of them), when pieced together like a puzzle, convey the extent of fun, hard work, and adventure within Hangzhou and other regions of China.

Where did I go during these 11 months? Not only did I live in Hangzhou, Zhejiang (杭州, 浙江省), known for West Lake and for being the capital of Southern Song Dynasty (BONUS: Visited the landscape on the current 1 Yuan bill!), but I also visited, in chronological order...*deep breath*...

- Shanghai (上海) - China's metropolis

- Shaoxing, Zhejiang (绍兴, 浙江省) - hometown of Cultural Revolution author Lu Xun (鲁迅）

- Chengdu, Sichuan (成都, 四川省) - known for its pandas pre-Sichuan quake

- Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan (九寨沟, 四川省) - a national park that corresponds with America's Yellowstone National Park

- Guilin, Guangxi (桂林, 广西) - famous for its parabolic (round) mountains and water landscape combination, as well as limestone caves lit in a rainbow of colors (BONUS: Visited the landscape on the current 20 Yuan bill!)

- Suzhou, Jiangsu (苏州, 江苏) - known for its beautiful garden landscapes

- Nanjing, Jiangsu (南京, 江苏) - capital of Jiangsu and site of the Nanjing Massacre

- Zhoushan, Zhejiang (舟山, 浙江省) - a city on the eastern side of Zhejiang, which encompasses the fishing ports of Shenjiamen/沈家门 and Dinghai/定海. The Shenjiamen area is near several famous islands, including Putuoshan/普陀山 (one of the four Buddhist mountains in China), Taohua Dao/桃花岛 (a smaller island with many beautiful rocky seascapes), and Zhujiajian/朱家尖 (an area known for its beaches and sand-sculpture competitions).

- Guangzhou, Guangdong (广州, 广东) - "Five Rams City" near the Pearl River

- Zhongshan, Guangdong (中山，广东) - site of artifacts from opium war, as well as the hometown of Sun Yat-sen

- Chongqing, Sichuan (重庆, 四川省) - home of Chongqing-styled spicy hotpot and take-off site of many Yangtse Three Gorges cruise ships

- Yangtse River (长江) - where China's great civilization thrived

- Yichang, Hubei (宜昌, 湖北省)- end of the Three Gorges tour, near the Xiling Gorge

- Wuhan, Hubei (武汉, 湖北省) - site of the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼), an inspiration to ancient and modern poets; also, the Battle of Red Cliffs was fought here

- Huangshan, Anhui (黄山, 安徽省) - area with many beautiful mountain-and-pine landscapes and "cloud seas" (BONUS: Visited the landscape on the current 5 Yuan bill!)

- Hong Kong (香港) - international city with a history of British colonization

Of course, one might ask, "Why didn't you go to Beijing?!" I have gone on many a China tour in the past, so I have already visited many other cities in China once before (Beijing, Xi'an, Lijiang...etc.). I also visited Thailand and Malaysia whilst overseas.

Ah...If I could relive these eleven months, I would. The time in China was precious, not only because of the new discoveries I made about myself and my new environment, but it was also time well-spent in visiting relatives and family. Not only did I teach English to university students, but I also spent much of my time studying - reading textbooks and composing documents for my Master's. It was a productive eleven months, the best 11-months of my life!

Existence of Chinese Morality?

2008-10-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I went to Shanghai and experienced some UNSCRUPULOUS activities. There are two main ones I want to mention.

1) Ripping off customers, leading to lower customer trust.

My friend and I went to a tourist area called "上海老街." This area features old-style architecture coupled with multiple vendors and restaurants that allow the tourist on a budget to easily overspend. Additionally, if a tourist is not aware of how much the vendor may raise prices to raise profit margins (with disregard for how much they overcharge) or the amount of fake or cheaply-made products out there, he or she will definitely be ripped off.

A) The salesgirls working at the technology store saw me glancing at a USB drive. I was thinking of buying one at Suning, a reputable technology store in China. However, since I saw USB sticks there in Shanghai, I was thinking of getting one. The list price the lady gave me was ¥630. The Sony flash drive allegedly had 120 gigabytes of free space. The packaging seemed legit, as there were no misspellings. My friend helped me to haggle. Finally, they lowered the price to about ¥260, so I bought it. I asked them to check the product before I bought it as a security measure - the lady plugged the drive into the computer and the flash drive showed there was 119 gigabytes of free space.

After I got home, I did some research about the USB stick. I was shocked to find that the actual Sony Memory Vault is only limited to 8 gigs. Also, I did a search on the same specifications to see if anyone had bought the same product. Apparently, at this stage of time in the world, there is no flash drive technology that surpasses 8 gigabytes. I tested this 'fake' flash drive and it cannot hold more than about 2.7 gigs. After uploads of over 3 gigs on the flash drive, the files seem to be on the drive, but if you unplug the USB from the computer and plug it again, you will find that the rest of the files are corrupt. Additionally, a person said that the flash drive was modified or hacked so that it would show 119 gigs of free space when there wasn't even 1/10 that amount of space.

To add to the ridiculousness, when I first plugged the flash drive into my computer, there was a pop-up message that warned me that "doc.exe" on the flash drive might be a virus/trojan. I was shocked (to even find a file) and deleted this file. Later, my friend was going to transfer some files via my new USB stick. When she plugged it in, there was a pop-up notice saying that the USB had some data-mining program or trojan on it. I was shocked, once again, because I thought my computer had already gotten rid of the problem. I was musing to myself aloud about why this did not even happen when the sale was being made, to which my friend countered, "The computer probably didn't have a virus scanner on it."

Some things I wonder are:
- Did these salesgirls know they were ripping off customers - did they know the original purchase price per item and did they set the final retail price (¥630)?
- Did these salesgirls know they were selling FAKE products that do not actually exist in the real market?
- If these salesgirls knew these things, what were the moral implications? Did any of them feel guilty or did they think it was right to take advantage of others, since perhaps the salesgirls did not have the best of backgrounds?

B) I wanted to buy a name stamp. The salesgirl told me to look at the ones I'd like and she said she'd give me a good price. She took a look at the "retail" price posted on one really nice stamp and told me she'd give me 50% off. Retail was ¥560. I was looking at the left side of her display table and coincidentally noticed that there were prices posted for certain types of stone. She told me I didn't have to look at that, as she'd give me the price. I think I chose the ¥280 stone - was it true, then, that I bought it at the jacked-up retail price? The price percentage off that the salespeople give doesn't mean a thing - honestly, they probably just give jacked-up numbers to bring customers the sense that they are 'saving money,' when in fact they are being ripped off less. I asked if she could lower the price down to ¥200. She told me that she was already giving me 50% off because she knew I was a student and then said something about how she charges more for other people. Sigh, I bought the name stamp because I liked it, but when they carved it, the G was really strange. I'll keep the stamp as a souvenir to remind me to haggle next time, as well as use it to stamp some documents.

C) Before the Leehom concert, a man was grilling outside of the stadium. The food that he grilled looked like delicious barbequed meat. We had not eaten and decided to buy four sticks of "meat." Once we bit into the meat, most of us were aghast to find that these were not sticks of meat - they were sticks of FAT. One lucky friend actually had a few pieces of meat on her stick, but the rest of us had been tricked for ¥3 of our money!

The sense of injustice at being charged unfair prices or obtaining fake, expensive products empowers individuals. Why should a customer have to pay much more than needed? Not all tourists have money! It is especially sad to be tricked and taken advantage of by another human, but it seems that the stores that do not set prices (free market prices) are avenues for trickery, so one can just decide not to shop in those streets.

2) Petty thievery.

A) My friends and I headed to the Shanghai stadium for an awesome concert. We did not eat beforehand, leading to the above situation (1.C.). Then, I was hungry and I brought along some chestnuts. I was so hungry that I started to eat them. I had my camera hanging from my wrist and the two handles of the bags hanging from my wrist as well. I took one picture of a horned man and then within 2-3 minutes, I noticed that my camera was gone. I was freaking out and in disbelief. As some of you know how much I love photography and how much I love my camera...well, it will take me awhile to get over the disbelief and sadness. I showed my friends my wrist afterward and most agreed that it looks like the thief cut off the camera from my wrist.

It makes me wonder, what is the state of China today? With its majority of atheists, is it a wonder that some people have no morals and worry not about the emotional, financial, and LEGAL consequences of ripping people off or stealing?

What are preventative measures for these threats? Only with street smarts will a tourist survive. Here are some tips:

Shopping (in tourist zones):

- No questionable large purchases in tourist traps (unless you don't mind getting ripped off or discovering later that you bought a fake item). Make a purchase of an expensive item in a reputable store.

- If the price seems abnormally high, it is imperative for one to shop around (do not rush the buying process). Perhaps you will see what the actual prices are when you observe other people buying the same items that you want.

- Initially, give a low price that even you might think is extreme. Slowly go up, but not too far, for you don't want to pay too much.

- Do not show the salespeople how much you want the item - if you put on a face of "I don't want the item anyway," then of course you have no demand for the product. The salesperson would be more desperate to make a sale, even if it means he or she would make less profit.

- Start low, end low. Start your bid at 1/4 or 1/3 of the price. Sometimes, this upsets shopkeepers, though they may be pretending.

- Set maximum prices you'd pay for items. Do this by researching the fair market prices for each item.

Remember, most Chinese salespeople in tourist zones will bid the price up so high that one would fall off one's seat reading about people's negative experiences. In another example, my friend wanted to buy a fan and the saleslady said ¥68 initially. Later, we acted like we didn't want it and then the lady gave us fans for ¥10 each. If these prices are correct, the lady dared to drive up the price 680%. Thus, one must be cautious when buying products in the tourist zones, but one should also take a risk and bid prices down lower. Saving money in one place means there's more money to do more.

Avoiding theft

- Do not show that you have expensive items. Keep these out of sight of property predators OR if you do need to use the item, remember to keep it close to you. Hold the item in your hand - dangling it on your wrist will not keep thieves from stealing it from your body.

- Do not eat and take pictures. If your hand is busy eating and you have things on your wrist, thieves will take note and take advantage of the situation.

- Be wary of high-traffic situations and stay away from large crowds. Keep belongings close.

Hopefully, with more caution and experience (vicarious or real), one will be able to save money in tourist spots and keep valuables away from thieves.

Monkey Disease?!

2008-10-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

Right now, I think I WOULD jump on the opportunity to be entertained, but it's difficult to want to move at all. My nose was stuffy this morning and I was suffering a little bit through my classes because I chose to read the text, instead of having the audio player do it. Now that, my readers, is what you call teacherly sacrifice.

So I have been lacking appetite for 6 days now. Since last Tuesday, I felt that every time I were to take a bite, I could not breathe and my stomach would be bloated. I did a bunch of research on monkey bites (see my teachjinglish blog) and I think I psyched myself out quite a bit. I'm going to get it checked again on Wednesday or Thursday.

Anyway...because I psyched myself out, I probably caused myself some anxiety...in actuality, a LOT of anxiety. I couldn't eat much, let alone enjoy what I ate. In fact, right now, I feel as though I am in purgatory - no reason to do anything and destined for temporary boredom. I don't want to initiate contact with friends nor talk to anyone. However, I don't really want to be alone. I really want to go to bed early, which is what I'll end up doing...I took some cold medicine a few hours ago and intend to take some more just before I sleep. I need to cover up. Even my room seems kind of chilly. My hands are already frozen over...

No hunger means no reason to eat. I did eat very little today...an exploding persimmon, some bread, and some peanuts. Slight headache...

Perhaps I will finish my blogs tomorrow when I get up...or, I might just sleep 10+ hours.

Interracial Dating in China

2008-09-17T09:54:00.001-07:00

Last time, when I was strolling the moonlit lake called Xihu, or West Lake, I noticed quite a few young interracial couples, mostly white males with Asian (probably Chinese females). And I've wondered...is it mostly because one likes one's personality, or is it because of the exoticism factor? Could it be equal, or does one dominate?

By exoticism factor, I mean, purely, LOOKS, or PHYSICAL ATTRACTION. The liking of someone who doesn't look like you because they don't look like you - they have a more exotic look, one of which you have no familiarity.

I've liked all types of guys. While I do have a physical preference, I have found many types of guys attractive. I do have that "exoticism" mentality that makes me wonder about whether our babies will be cute or not. HAHAHA. Seriously, though, I would really pursue someone because of chemistry, not just physical attraction...

Dreams #0004: Action, Indian Sidekick, Arkanoid

2008-09-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

"I" was in a household teaching English. During my off times, the children would play a galactical ball video game, where you had to strategically bounce a ball to get rid of all the bricks. In my dream, I was also signed up as an extra for a USA-channel-based movie set; when I finally walked through, I became someone else, or so I think. I became part of the movie. I was in a city-area in Europe (or wherever they have cobblestone roads) with lots of fragile, archaic buildings. There was an emergency set, where there were two men helping an injured man. Then, somehow, I got an older Indian man as a sidekick and what were we doing...driving around? I don't know why, but we went to this grassy field, though it may been a golf field because it was so nice. This was outside of the city. For some reason, we kept hearing a whistling sound. Not too long after, the camera or my 'perspective' would zoom into the source of the whistle. There were dead bodies dressed in various costumes that would be hurled from a flying thing in the sky. These bodies would land in the most opportune zones - aesthetically, that is. One would wear stripes on his left side and have his face painted; he would land in a zone that would have the exact same pattern. Quite odd.

I was running away from this blimp/flying thing that hurled dead people, until it hurled this box...this floating box that turned out to be a funky car. We escaped from this situation and he said goodbye to his daughters and family.

Eventually, I dreamt that my mom also played the game and willed herself to break all the bricks, or used some type of hack. There was some symbolic meaning of this toward the action of the 'movie' dream. After we got to the end and had a happy ending, I somehow 'willed' the turning back of time, from scene 3 to scene 1...and we were back in the beginning again. And that's how it ended. Oh, also...the lady whose children I taught English...said I was a good teacher, that she didn't know I'd be so energetic around her kids. O_o

This sounded much cooler and more epic in my head...:/

eHarmony - A Look into the E-Dating World

2008-09-02T01:31:00.001-07:00

This weekend, I embarked on a new adventure. I tried online dating for the first time!

More specifically, since I was inspired by my mentor's story of how she met her husband on eHarmony, I decided to give it a try. I wasn't fishing around for a husband, but I wanted to at least make new friendships that could potentially turn into relationships.

On a dark, Thursday evening at my air-conditioned home, I impulsively thought, "Hey, I should try eHarmony! I might meet someone!" After I signed up with my name and other personal, non-financial information, eHarmony directed me to a personality test. I don't remember all the details, but from what I did remember, I had to answer a 20-minute survey consisting of a four-choice Likert scale. There were questions about my tendencies, including extroversion, agreeableness, and some other factors. I had to choose between the range of "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree." Then, there were some personality characteristics with checkboxes near them; one could only select a certain amount of them. After this personality test was complete, one could view his or her personality profile. I thought mine was pretty accurate, but I also know that psychology phrases its facts, such that it may apply to anyone at any given time. I took the profile with a grain of salt, indeed.

After I viewed this information, I created my profile, filling in my passions, people's first impressions of me, and other relevant information. Afterwards, I checked off ten "Must-Haves" and "Can't Stands" - these are things you must have in your relationship and things you cannot stand within it.

I set the ethnicity to a wide range and clicked a button. eHarmony started to find matches for me. To my disbelief, the system was matching me up with guys in the age range of 21-29. I checked through a few of the older guy's profiles and they did seem decent, but the age factor, ehhh. I went through the settings a bit and found I could adjust the age down, so I wasn't dating old geezers. Later, I decided to only choose Asian guys, but I couldn't choose the height.

The system matched me up with 24 or so men. I "Started Communication" with all of them...lol. I sent icebreakers to the profiles that sounded most intriguing. Thus, I started to communicate with the guys.

It was a 3-step process with the "Guided Communication" system. First, person A would select 4-5 close-ended questions for person B to answer (four choices for each). One could choose from topics of finances, to romance, to personal life. Then, after person B sent the answers, person B would also ask the same style of close-ended questions to person A. Next, person A would get an allowance of 3 open-ended questions (pre-formed or you could write your own) to ask person B; after person A received responses, person A would answer person B's questions. Then, they could proceed to what is called "Open Communication." They could send anonymous messages through eHarmony without revealing their personal information.

Also, one could 'close' the match at anytime, which would terminate communication between person A and person B. This is a softer way of saying, "You just got rejected, foo." I may have closed 20 matches, while a lot of guys pulled the 'close' card on me, as well. It didn't matter because I didn't know the guys personally and I may not have even started communicating with them, neither.

For me, since my trial was ending soon, after maybe 3-4 open exchanges between me and a match, he would give me his email or other info. One even suggested that we meet up, that is, if I was comfortable with it. I told him I didn't have time.

Throughout this weekend, I went through a grand total of over 50 profiles.

After a period of time, I realized that most of the profiles and answers sounded the same - I was looking for the guys to "meet" my minimum standard. That is to say, if I asked about how much a guy needed his personal space, I would want him to say anything between, "outside of work, I don't really need personal space" and "a day every week" - one unacceptable response I found was a guy who said he'd put 50% into his relationship, and 50% into his own personal time. I discussed this with a friend, who agreed with me that the person sounded selfish with his time.

There were a few people who sounded really awesome from the get-go, but only a couple responded to me.

Oh, and I have to mention this faux pas, if it really did happen. EHarmony kept logging me out for no apparent reason, though I thought they wanted some ad revenue, since less money was coming in that weekend because of the free trial. I was replying to this guy when it logged me out. Good thing I copied the email, I thought to myself. I proceeded to paste the email back into a text box. Later, I realized...I could have put the email into the wrong guy's text box! UGH. That would be pure disaster, since I had been corresponding with two men who had names that began with the same first letter. O noes. Oops?

So, after the first night, I got a few messages. It was almost irrational, but I was feeling really elated and happy. People were interested in me, even though my profile wasn't super-interesting! I tried to rush the "guided" process, so I could get to the communicating-without-restraints.

On day two, I received some close messages and felt a tinge of disappointment, but there are realizations that come to mind - 1) the guy doesn't even know me and 2) it's not me, it's him - we probably weren't a good match anyway, or I wasn't even interested. So, I began to close matches because I felt like I could find better ones elsewhere. I continued to correspond with the few guys that caught my eye. It was so exciting because the guy I felt was interesting wrote me long-ass emails, and I reciprocated. That night, I don't think I slept very well, hahaha. I was excited about the prospect of perhaps potentially finding a mate. Wow, and so early in the game.

On day three, I started to give out my email a little more liberally. I started to correspond with one guy who I thought was offensive at first read, but he seemed genuine after I started to understand him.

I got to the point of "communication" with about 6 or so men, with the average age of 25. Not bad for a weekend's work. Perhaps there's potential for more. And...these guys don't really mind that I'm going abroad - they're actually interested in my experiences, which is cool. I Facebooked one of the guys I met and he seemed cool.

Yesterday was day four and the free trial period has ended. It's been a fun ride, but I've also learned some valuable lessons.

1) As with dating, online dating requires a lot of time (and will require money, once you sign up for a reputable matching service - or, it could also be free). However, even with free trials or services, it will take awhile to communicate to the point where you feel more comfortable with a match's perceived character.

2) I asked a friend to sign up for eHarmony, but she was notified that the company would not be able to match her and let her know that in advance. Even though one company may not be the best fit for an individual, there are several out there, so don't give up your search!

3) After awhile, people's profiles start sounding a bit similar, unless there's a strong personality behind the writing. This is probably a sign that you should take a break from reading and go over it later.

4) It's alright to be picky, since there's millions of people in the world and many thousands who are using the search. Out of those thousands, maybe about a hundred are in your acceptable range of physical and personal attributes. You only need one, so you could be pickier, but know this - if you are a bit picky, you might miss out on someone who is awesome, but not as good a writer, or may not fit every one of your standards.

5) Strange, borderline-stereotypical observations. A majority of the Americanized Asian guys were somewhat short. Most of the white guys I was matched with were really tall and worked in IT or in the airline industry. There were a few Asian guys that were taller, but fobbier. I'm not sure if I'm just stereotyping or if eHarmony matched me up, such that, out of a sample of 50, these were the general trends I observed! However, I did like that a majority of them had interests corresponding to my own.

A fun Labor Day Weekend adventure, but I'm sure I'll come back to this or other e-dating services later when I'm more ready to get serious (or available to just date for fun).

Bad Sleep/Dreams #0003: Haunted House, Wayans Bros., Camera

2008-09-01T03:30:00.001-07:00

For weeks, I haven't had a good sleep...

Let me briefly recount the two terrifying dreams that I remember.

1) I was spending time with a policeman, doing research on a specific crime or crime scene. There was a supposedly haunted house in which a crime was committed a few days ago. He kind of looked like the policeman from Heroes, but maybe a bit more handsome. This policeman led me into that house and we were exploring it in broad daylight. However, once we were inside, the drapes and other ghastly details had dimmed the light in the house by several notches. So, it was relatively dark in the house. I was walking behind the policeman (or he was walking behind me - I don't quite remember), when I somehow lost the guy. I was terrified out of my mind, since I thought that the criminals might still be lurking around, or that there were ghosts in the house. I made a 360 degree turn, when I realized that the policeman was not in close range. I got the cold sweats and my heart started to beat faster. Then, two men came at me with scary faces and I screamed. The policeman instantly showed up and found that the two men who ran to me were part of the police force, though they were dressed as civilians. This policeman was very annoyed, maybe even pissed, that they would behave so unprofessionally. He gestured for the two men to leave the house. I was looking around at this moment when I spotted the shadow of something moving past the furniture...near a dark doorway or something. I was scared to even ask what that might be, so we ended up leaving this haunted house, as well.

2) I was hanging out in a classroom, when three Wayans Brothers showed up. Shawn, Damon, and Marlon came to teach calculus to some high school kids. I was very starstruck, but when I busted out my camera, I shockingly found that my camera's memory stick was full (or was it missing?). Next, when I tried to press down on the shutter button, it would not capture the picture. I was extremely frustrated and annoyed. Oh, Sony Digicam P-100, thou hast failed me in my dream. I noticed that, outside, there were lots of people eating from a buffet, but when I got there, the buffet table was already cleaned up. Oh wells, no free food for me.

Why haven't I been getting good quality sleep?
1) Been sleeping around 3am or 4am every day. Of course, this could be prevented...
2) ...However, when me and bro planned to sleep at midnight once, the plan backfired. I fell asleep for about 2 hours and woke up again at 2:30 or so. The short sleep felt like a nap, so I was refreshed. I got up and read a book until I fell asleep again around 3am or 4am. THAT is what you call a bad habit. BAD! The day after, I was paranoid about not getting that much sleep...and as a result, the quality wasn't as great again...as predicted.
3) I'm getting nervous about going to China...thinking about all the stuff I have to do before getting there (packing, making sure I get started in my readings and that my homework is done), when I first get there (taking care of paperwork and residency issues), and finally, during my stay...

Durrh, I've been fatigued during the times I get up, but I need to change this. I need to make sure I'm not jetlagged and that I get better quality sleep once I get to Hangzhou.

On the upside, I've had many a chill day, either seeing friends or staying home to do...just about nothing.

VISA Procedure (L.A. Consulate)

2008-08-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

On a Monday in August, I arrived at the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles around 2:50pm. I parked on the street and paid the meter, then sauntered across the street to the new building.

Since a sign said the closing time was 3pm, I feared that I would not be able to process my visa by that day. After entering the building and pressing a “visa” button, I waited for about 40 minutes for my number to be called. Around 3:15pm, the guards closed the door, but the clerks continued to work until all the customers had their documents processed. When it was finally my turn, I gave them my passport and visa documents and got a receipt; the clerk instructed me to come back on Thursday of that week.

On Thursday, Bro and I returned with the payment. We only stood in line for about 10-15 minutes and left the moment I got my passport with the visa attached.

It was a quick and easy process.

What Happened Around the Corner?

2008-08-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

Written by Bro, Edited by Jing

Part 1: From Jing’s Point of View

It was a dark and cloudy night-- the perfect night for a murder-- and I sat in the driver's seat enjoying a Whopper from Burger King. As I leaned in and took another bite, the force of my bite caused the tomatoes to squish juice out, which perfectly complimented the burger.

“This Whopper is a real whopper,” I thought. Heh, I should write that down.

I looked over at my brother in the passenger's seat and spaced out, while glancing at "Woody's," the convenience store paired with the gas station we just used.

Hah, Woody…WOODY. I smiled.

As I leaned in for another bite, a man with three children caught my eye as they walked by. He was a Hispanic man with a medium build and he held the hands of two children. The four were taking a stroll behind Woody's at 11 o’clock at night. The party appeared to have come from Denny's, the restaurant behind our car across the street.

I turned to my brother and asked, "Did you see that?"

He replied, "What? The creepy dude with the cap and three children walking behind Woody's? No, he only passed right in front of me."

His sarcasm was obvious. I knew he would probably go on to write this story to make him seem sarcastic, when he, in reality, was not so sarcastic.

At first, we didn't think anything of the situation. There are plenty of reasons why a Hispanic man in his late-twenties/early-thirties would go behind a convenience store with three children. Unfortunately, more than half of these acts are illegal in all 50 states. We originally didn't think too much of it, but as the minutes went by, our paranoia increased.

What could have they been doing?

Theory 1 (Backseat Mom):

M: Maybe he went behind the store to use the bathroom.

J: Why? Can't he just go into the store? It's so shady...

B: And why would he go behind WOODY'S, of all places?

-End Theory 1-

Theory 2 (Shotgun Bro):

B: Maybe he went back there to molest them.

M: That's not likely...

B: I mean, think about it, why would he walk BEHIND the store? What's worth walking behind a store, where it's all dark and there's a chance to get mugged? And it's three children - give them some candy and they'll follow you to any dark alley.

M: Now that you mention it, that is really shady, and it seems worthy of an investigation.

-Support for Theory 2-

J: And what would he do BEHIND the store? If he came from Denny's, he went out of his way just to go behind Woody's. Like he WANTED to be there with the children. Also, if he really were using the restroom, he could have used it at Denny's.

-End Support Arc-

M: The kids looked pretty happy, though.

B: Of course they looked happy, he probably gave them a few Blowpops to practice on before he brought them there!

Author's note:
That wasn't said at all, what was really said was something along the lines of, "Oh... Maybe they didn't know what was gonna happen."

J: Man, in a few days, we're gonna see some message on television with three missing children and a possible Hispanic suspect.

M: Let’s just drive behind Woody's and see what's there.

B: What would that prove? What if he IS molesting them? What will we do? Call the cops?

J: What if he has a gun?

B: Yeah, there's no benefit to go there.

Our burgers' lifetimes were running out quickly as this matter continued. My burger was less than half done because I'm the slowest eater this side of the universe, but my bro and mom were almost done.

Evidence Thus Far:
- Going into a dark and shady corner behind the gas station's store
- Three kids that were a bit too happy
- Hispanic man in his late-twenties/early-thirties, with medium build
- Coming from the direction of a Denny's
- Been gone for about 20 minutes

Part 2: Second Half from Bro’s Perspective

B: Okay, let’s try to spin it from a different angle.

Theory 3 (Shotgun Bro):

B: So maybe he works at Woody's, and he brought his kids there because he didn't have anyone to take care of them. Then, because he wanted his kids to sit still, he came through the back, and left them in the manager's room, while he went to work!

M: No, even workers come through the front, there really is no benefit to coming through the back because you walk a lot more; you might as well just take the kids through the front.

B: Okay, this is getting kinda scary, it's been a long time already.

I looked around, it was definitely late, and has obviously been awhile. The time dragged on forever, as Jing took bite...after bite... ever so slowly. I glared at the Whopper and the devoured bite...after bite... ever so slowly. I just threw everything in the trash bag; the only thing left to complete the collection was Jing's Whopper wrapper, so we could throw it away. We probably would have kept the trash, if we did not see the garbage can over there...

B: Wait, I can get a clear view of what's going on behind Woody's from there! If I'm shot at, start the car.

I walked to the garbage can, examining everything behind the store.

There are trucks, lots of trucks, and a McDonalds, too! But wait, if he came from Denny's…
I turned around to see the direction that he came. There were two restaurants, and in between, there was a sign for an Inn.

At Jing's angle, it would have been impossible to see the sign... I see...

I returned to the car, giddy at the prospect of a final solution.

Theory 4 (Shotgun Bro):

The man came from the Inn. He walked across the street to cut behind the Woody's. About 200 feet behind the Woody's, there was a McDonalds. He probably offered to buy Happy Meals for the young children!

But wait:
Why would any single father travel alone with 3 kids? (Can he afford the trip?)
If he isn't a single father, why didn't the mother come too?
Why did he have to take all the kids to eat out there?

We never went into the McDonald’s to confirm it, so maybe he really was doing something illegal.

Maybe he's still out there with the kids…

-End-

Mini Family Vacation

2008-08-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

August 12: Las Vegas, Nevada

On the morning of Tuesday, our family set forth to conquer the sandy heat of Vegas. Once we arrived, we browsed aisles and aisles of sparkling jewelry, which I failed to document with my camera. They weren't worth documenting, as the jewels were tiny. TINY! The two highlights of this jewelry show were free water and a $1 jewelry sale booth. I bought many pins that I wanted to give away...but I have no idea where they are at this moment. After this, my family sat down at a booth selling electronic massage equipment. We did end up buying one of these massagers. After walking around several hundred square feet of shiny gold, silver, and multicolored jewels, we left the area and ate dinner at the Sahara Buffet. Decent, I suppose. Soonafter, we watched the Treasure Island Siren's show (finally, after many failed attempts to do so).

Sassy Sirens of TI!

NEVER, EVER go to The Palace in Downtown Las Vegas!

Here's why:
When we first checked into the room, we found a not-yet-cleaned-up smoking-room, with dirty magazines sitting spreadeagled on the table. It was really disgusting - so much that I held my pee in for an eternity - I did not want to use the restroom there. Mom went back downstairs to change rooms (I imagine she made nary a complaint, although she was quite annoyed). Soonafter, we moved down to another room. It was slightly better. Shortly after, we turned in for the night.

August 13: Las Vegas, Nevada

My family and I woke up a bit early in the morning, so we could go to see some more shows. First, we went to the Sands Expo Center. We saw many wholesale deals, from swords and military equipment to wholesale junk. Also saw a few Chinese distributers there.

Here's something I saw that amused me:

One booth had mannequins on display...so apparently, some of them come with extra-large boobs, if necessary. So, we walked around the building, which was several thousand square feet...

We went to the Las Vegas Convention Center, which had a lot of other wholesale stuff on sale. They had wholesale makeup, bongs, apparel, stuffed animals, lawn furniture, and anything else you could have thought of...stuff that people could sell and buy. Our feet were starting to hurt at this point, so we finished our trek through the rugs of Vegas. We ate dinner at McDonald's that night (first time in a long time that I've eaten there). Additionally, we tried to use the internet that night, but it wouldn't work and mom got annoyed. We busied ourselves in the evening by watching hot male gymnasts on television.

August 14: Grand Canyon West, Arizona

On this fateful day, we set out for Grand Canyon West, which houses the renowned and novel "Skywalk." There was a stretch of 14 miles of gravel road leading to the headquarters of Grand Canyon tours; this road was extremely rocky and disgustingly dusty. We parked and noticed that every car that has traversed the road had a dusty rear bumper and dirty car. After mom purchased our tickets ($70...*cough*), we boarded a bus that took us to the Skywalk.

Much to my dismay, the Skywalk was TINY and still in construction. Adding to my disappointment was the fact that one could not bring anything onto the Skywalk, nor take personal pictures from it. (Yes, you know me, the photography aficionado.) I was going to sneak my phone to take pictures, but then I realized there was a metal detector, which indeed detected my evil intentions - the phone was put away into a locker immediately as I whined inside my head. We put on these "booties" and then walked on the glass. I was looking down through the glass and also peeking past the metal/glass fences...whatever you call them. I am usually afraid of heights, unless I know it's "safe" for me not to be scared - this is one of them times when I wasn't scared :P. Bro and I got so brave that we jumped on the glass (gently, lest we jump so hard that we slip and fall on our asses). It was a crazy effect! It seemed as though the canyon were zooming in and out at us. I continued to examine the crevices of the canyon through the glass and past the fence. Pretty cool.

After we passed the "Eagle Point" a second time, we stopped at Guano Point for some bat-poop-lovin'-action. Just kidding...I have no idea what I just said. There were many rocks to be climbed, so my family climbed them. I climbed a few of said rocks. Beautiful views all around.

This hiking and action tired us out, so we drove back to Flagstaff and stayed there for the night. Ate at Sizzler's. Watched more Olympics and cheered for Michael Phelps. Yum.

August 15: Various Parts of Arizona

We set out superearly in the morning and passed by Sunset Crater/Wupatki National Monuments. Sunset Crater used to be a volcano and Wupatki is a set of several Native American ruins. Thereafter, we went to Grand Canyon North and South Rims. At South Rim, we experienced a most spectacular sunset, though there were too many curious tourists that blocked it from our view. We went to a Watchtower in the area...and that was quite magnificent.

Subsequently, we drove home and hit Kingman at 10:00pm. (This is where the late night mystery took place.) Then, I drove about four hours from Arizona to home. I admit, I was getting somewhat delirious...but I succeeded in driving us home safely. Hooray-zors.

Jury Duty

2008-08-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting experience, as you could infer from the title.

Weeks ago, I received a letter to fulfill my civic service, so I postponed it to today, when I could actually serve my duty.

I had no idea where the court was, in relation to the library nearby, but after circling around the block twice, I found some parking near the library and walked to the courthouse. The security guard x-rayed my belongings and directed me to the jury room.

Inside, I was amused to find around 40 people seated with books or magazines in their hands. Perhaps others were looking around, confused at their reasons for being there, whilst a few individuals conversed. The room was medium-sized, perhaps the size of a classroom fitting 50 or so people. I also have to mention that about 1 out of 8 people dressed up in professional clothing (I suppose most did not care - yes, I was one of them).

The administration lady motioned for me to come forward, so I filled out a sheet asking about my qualifications and then sat back down. Whilst I was filling out the paper, I overheard some old Caucasian folks talking about China. They asked this lady about her trip to China and made a mini-tirade about the food, saying it was horrible. They continued to talk about the attractions in China and I tuned out. I sat back in my seat and began to read again.

I thought about yesternight, when I was heavily researching "how to get out of jury duty." There were many interesting things you could say to seem heavily-biased and immovable. If you wanted to serve a jury, you would need objectivity and an open mind. Also, there's the concept of "jury nullification," which gives much power to those on a jury to proclaim that they find the defendent innocent, even when all evidence presented illustrates that he or she is actually GUILTY. The act of jury nullification is a commentary on the potential jury member's power, that he or she could just disagree with the law, and based on that, vote innocent. However, having 12 members on a jury would be the thing to offset such power.

I went back to my reading and read about 10 pages, when the lady introduced herself and played two videos - one about the experience of a jury member (I have to admit, the video made it seem somewhat interesting) and the procedure for the court proceedings. Then, the lady let us out for lunch around 12:00pm. I walked back to the library and picked out some books for my summer reading. I sat on a cushiony bench and attempted to sleep in strange positions, but it did not work out quite so well. After trying to rest my eyes for 30 minutes, I started to read my book again until I was supposed to go back to the jury room.

I passed by the District Attorney's office to find a man and woman talking. I did not pay much attention to them. I sat down and attempted to read, while an old western show with twisted music played in the background. About 20 minutes after I sat down and read some more, the judge came into the room. Although he was in full professional dress, he didn't look like a judge (probably because he wasn't sitting on his pedestal). He then announced some news: the case has been resolved and we are free to go. He also mentioned his appreciation for having the bulk of people show up to serve their civil duties. We applauded this great announcement and cheerfully left.

The only bad thing about jury duty is the waiting. I spent about 3 hours or more in the vicinity of the courtroom, waiting/reading, only to use up 15 minutes total listening to announcements and watching videos.

Hey, it's not everyday that you get to determine someone's fate. Maybe I'll want to serve on a jury some other day in the future, when I have the time...

MAIS Summer 2008

2008-08-02T18:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, seven weeks of learning! (Especially intense, since I hopped out of finals, just to go back to class the following weekend.)

I took three courses within seven weeks; one was research-based, another was about the Chinese culture, from history of olden times to the ways one should interact in the present culture, and the last class taught us a bit more about business in China. In addition, there were seminars to help prepare the English teachers for teaching and living in China. The majority of Chinese students and I waived the Chinese beginner's language course.

The three main themes in Chinese culture are:
1) Guanxi - know the right people to get to the right places.
2) Face - never publicly embarrass anyone by giving people a "no" answer. Instead, make excuses if you really cannot make it (in other words, beat around the bush).
3) Face value means more than true value - as evidenced by the Chinese's want of diplomas (instead of transcripts) and Chinese people highly-valuing foreigners, based on looks and their 'foreign' background (even though American-born Chinese have a similar background).
4) Contracts don't mean a thing - it's thought of as a piece of paper that does not bind you and the other party by law. Be careful - some of them are empty promises.

Although I know of the Chinese culture, it did not occur to me that such themes were a large part of Chinese business. I think I'm adequately prepared to face my people, ha.

Also, after all these work-visa pains (other people were rejected because of the strict Olympics rules), I have finally found a job to teach English in Hangzhou. My application is being processed right now and I should be able to go to China in a month.

My classmates were generally really open and friendly. I enjoyed their company very much, but I'm a bit sad that we'll all be separated. Only two of my classmates will be joining me in my mission to teach university students English.

My professors were very knowledgeable, but it seemed most of them did not structure the classes very much. After all, it is difficult to use up ALL the time in an 8-hour day and continue being productive with short breaks. I felt that the research and business classes were reviews of what I've learned in my undergraduate studies, but the cultural class was mentally stimulating, due to the cornucopia of information that flooded my brain (China's long history yields many dynasties, as you may be aware) and the interactive skits.

Now, here are some incidents/paraphrased quotes that amused me:

1) The professor was demonstrating a survey to us by filling out an El Pollo Loco survey (to get $1 off his next meal). It asked, "Why haven't you tried El Pollo Chicken Sandwich?" The professor wrote, "I am a professor demonstrating a Powerpoint in class...it is fascinating." Hilarious.

2) My classmate A.W. was talking about guanxi and some incidents he experienced. He noted that people won't help you unless they know you. He needed some tools from a store, but they did not assist him until they got to know him as a community teacher. Thus, he also said he did not take advantage of guanxi and very rarely did "...flex [his] guanxi..." for evil purposes.

3) Randomly, the research professor once said, out of nowhere, "Have you ever looked at the word 'the' long enough that it looks stupid?"

4) The research professor was doing some examples in class regarding the tones and emotions one could pick up from dialogue. For one example, he stated that "both the names could be used in an ambidextrous way..." and some of my classmates corrected him with the word "androgynous," you know, the word meaning unisex.

5) A.W. has lived in China for a long time, but when he first got there, he wanted to ask something and said "亲吻" qin1wen2, instead of "请问" qing3wen4. The former means "kiss," while the second means, "Please ask." He had said the "kiss" phrase to a random woman, who took it offensively and stormed off. The second time he accidentally said "kiss," the random elderly lady smiled.

6) The research professor was talking about this gothic culture study and somehow said, "...testament of S&M...er, us & them." Freudian slip! LOL.

7) The other day, we played Jeopardy. M.W. wrote the Chinese numbers for 1-5 on the board. One of our classmates, C.S., asked, "What IS all that?!" The Chinese students shouted incredulously, "That's Chinese!!!" Apparently, the non-Chinese speakers thought that everything in China is in pinyin.

8) I don't remember the context for this quote, but one of our business professors (R.P.) said, "Na na na na...you can't fool Google!!"

I hope everyone has a safe trip to China. I look forward to hanging out with everyone (and especially singing karaoke).

Earthquake!!

2008-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Around 11:40am, my family went to Puente Hills for a doctor check-up. After my brother's vitals were measured, I was weighed (gained weight, blah!) and my height and blood pressure were measured. I'm now 5'5"!! So awesome, hahaha. I used to say that I was 5'4.5", but now, I grew 0.5"!!...Or maybe my height was measured wrong throughout the years.

After the measurements, I was standing up, when the room began to shake back and forth. I was puzzled, but I knew it was an earthquake. I walked under the doorway with the nurse and the shaking stopped. Bro was standing around, confuzzled and frozen. Mom went to the restroom before the shaking started, but once it started, she left the restroom. After she came out, the shaking stopped. The earthquake had lasted 10 seconds or so. The doctor ran past us and mumbled something about the earthquake.

(Today was the day I was diagnosed with bronchitis. I was also given prescriptions, which are very helpful. I have taken 4 days of doses and I feel so much better!)

Soonafter, I checked my Facebook and within 5 minutes, at least 10 people had updated their statuses to something concerning the earthquake. That's how I found out that the epicenter was in Chino Hills. I shouted excitedly, "OMG, we're ON THE MAP!"

Here's a relevant CNN site:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/29/earthquake.ca/index.html

After we left the doc's office, we were so eager to go home (right after making some purchases at Sam's Club, though). Why did we want to go home? My mom really wanted to know what happened to our house (not in the worried sense, but in a curious way).

We entered our house and noticed a few oddities.
a) A plastic cup fell onto the ground.
b) A glass fish sculpture was tipped slightly on its snout.

Later, I went upstairs, to find that my hair gel had fallen into the toilet. I came back downstairs to hear Bro shout that the plunger fell over. A few days afterwards, we discovered that the fire alarm had fallen from the ceiling, as well.

Minor damage! Mom had the balls to express that she wished she was in the house, while the earthquake happened. She wanted to see the shaking of the house and the movement of the inanimate objects in our house.

I will end this post with two items:

1) Bro's Facebook Noteworthy Note: "EQ Quotes"

In the post-earthquake universe, these are my most memorable quotes.

"Whoo, the epicenter was in Chino Hills, WE'RE FAMOUS!" (- Jingy)

"MY GEL FELL INTO THE TOILET!" (- Jingy)

and my personal favorite,

"Oh no! The plunger fell over!" (- Bro)

Yes, it was a scary moment, I thought that as i was standing in front of a doorway of a clinic. I was petrified by the sheer fear of this event. Either it was fear or don't-give-a-damn-ness but I just didn't move.

I would write more, but I'm going to go pick up that plunger.

2) Proposed t-shirt/button/bumper sticker sayings:
"I survived the L.A. earthquake of '08."
"I'm from Chino Hills, you know, the epicenter of the earthquake."

Comicon 2008

2008-07-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 25, 2008

Bro went to class with me today! (He drove me to class, whilst I rested my tired eyes.)

I was so sleep-deprived that each time I closed my eyes for 5 seconds, I would enter instantly into the dream phase known as REM. The first dream image I remember is that of a tropical paradise. The only thing I could see was a sliver of sunset, water on the horizon, but I was situated in some type of underground cave. The other dream image I remember is someone wearing red and black handing me a drink (in a reddish tinted room). I was going to reach for the cup, but I woke up after that.

I was sooo utterly proud of him! He actually answered a few questions and impressed my professor. (This is, of course, attributed to ABL :D.) Basically, a guest speaker came in to talk about the 4 P's of Marketing: price, position, place, and promotion. The speaker asked the audience what those P's were and Bro listed them with ease!! Such a proud Sis, I am.

During breaktime, the professor asked how old Bro is and then said that he's very sharp and bright. That was a great compliment. I beamed with pride for Bro.

After class, Bro drove me most of the way to San Marcos, but then I took over. I got lost briefly, then had dinner at Acapulco with Jen and SexyMexy Alan. It was a fun dinner (bro and I both got an ultimate shrimp combo o_o) and then we hung out a bit. I revised Jen's resume (with the diligence of all the other resumes I've ever revised - I should start counting the number I've revised: 2007- June 2008: at least 7 resumes). Left the place and got to Steven/Yishu/Kyle/Jason's place around 10pm. Dropped off the stuff (had to return to my car several times because I was delirious and kept forgetting things). Anyway, we got ready for bed and the con. Steven offered to tag along with whatever we wanted to do, even though I told him to take a lookie at the program. Slept well in Kyle's huge bed.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

It took awhile to get ready as Chun Li! Each of her buns took 10 minutes to perfect. The boots were tough to zip, but they fit better than before.

We left for the Fashion Valley trolley stop and took the trolley to the Con around 10:00am. Once we registered, we got our assignments (6:30-9:30pm, ahh!) and then had a lot of time to just walk around. We headed toward the expo floor and bumped into Karen (on purpose). Got lots of *says in a deep voice* SWAG. So much free stuff ranging from posters to comics to pins. SWAAG. Took a lot of pictures with random people.

Hairy Spartan!

Took a picture with the great Ray Bradbury, sci-fi author and author of Fahrenheit 451. (Why is he pointing at Steven and not me? I'm the one who's dressed up! :P)

Short story: I wanted to take a picture with the Cat-in-the-Hat. He was a bit fruity or geeky - couldn't tell. He marveled, "Chun Li!" and then asked for a dancing pose. Afterwards, we had a "catfight." After I thanked him...he meowed at me...

We went to a DC Panel, followed by a Grant Morrison/Gerard Way panel. Steven actually got to take a picture with one of his top three favorite comic book writers :)

"Killing is so definite, but you can keep maiming them."
- Gerard Way, on the demise of comic book characters

"When we killed off Jean Gray, the phoenix, there was a guy who loved her...he was basically having a relationship with a piece of paper..."
- Grant Morrison

"I'm going to listen to this at full volume...and haven't been able to hear good ever since..."
-Grant Morrison, on his hearing...

After that, we went to see Milo Ventimiglia (also spotted Sylar, who was sitting in the back).

We went to volunteer after this panel. It was really chill. There were so many volunteers that all we did was sit around (similar to last year). First, we watched a panel of comic artists (very empty panel - only 20 in the audience, compared to the full house of Milo). Then, we went to see a documentary about a Marvel artist (who drew Spidey and others). We were out by 9:00pm.

I scared Ren by sneaking up behind her...muhaha. Bro captured that awesome moment on camera.

We four went back to Steveracer's car and then ate dinner at Tajima. That was a fun day.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Today, I went to Comicon with Ren (who dressed up as Sakura), Dustin (as Guile), and Bro.

Our first endeavor was to attend a panel. We couldn't make the CW ones, so we went to "Hamlet 2" and "Harold & Kumar" panel.

*Audience asks something about sexy Jesus*
"We were just trying to address Jesus' sexuality..."
- Andrew Fleming, "Hamlet 2" staff

*Scream*
"Thank you, my high-pitched friend."
- John Cho

Once, an audience member went up to the microphone and said to John Cho, "Hey, my friend looks like you..."

John said, "Okay, show me..."

The guy busted out his wallet and took some pictures out. He threw it at John, who caught it and looked at the pictures briefly and responded, "None of these people look like me!" He then flipped through the pictures and showed them to the audience.

Kal said, "Are you implying that Asians all look alike?"

John shouted and pointed to the guy, "You are a racist!!" LOL.

Also explored the exhibition hall floor, in search of our characters. Chun Li was everywhere, Sakura was found in a few places, but Guile was so unpopular. Couldn't find him anywhere...

We found more free swag, but missed out on a few things.

Here's a short tale: I passed by a booth with a second floor and asked a staffmember what was up there. He replied in the most matter-of-fact tone: "A unicorn." I thought he was just kidding with me (or even worse, making fun of me), but then I looked and saw a unicorn, not unlike the one I saw in Harold & Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Couldn't get to the unicorn because of the HUGE line.

There was also a Meet & Greet session with John Cho & Kal Penn (Saturday), but the line had closed by the time I got there :'( Ah, the opportunity costs.

We had a rest from the Con for a bit. 'Twas a violent fight-off like nothing people have ever seen before...

Finish THEM.

Ren and Bro had to still volunteer, so Dusty and I were getting ready to take off. Somehow, they two got off early (yes, of course, Comicon ends early on Sunday ;D I was counting on this). We went to the AMC to watch "The Dark Knight" (excellent movie, in terms of character development of villains and plot). Ate dinner at Santana's and then I drove Bro home.

Tally:
Saturday: ~8+ people asked for my picture
Sunday: ~30+ people asked for our pictures

So FINE

2008-07-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Silly UCSD. I don't owe anything to your library.

Here's my appeal, written in the midst of class:

"Before, when I received a courtesy notice for the three books I borrowed, there was a discrepancy between the email notice and the online account information. Megan initiated a claim for the book that I supposedly could not find. Before this process, I had all my books renewed. After corresponding back and forth with Megan, I finally found the book and emailed her back. I thought everything was taken care of, yet I was charged a fee (even though the book was found and returned before the due date) after sending an email to Megan to let her know I have the book. I just had all my books returned today.

Here's part of the email I received from Megan: 'During the search process, the item will remain checked out to your patron account. Because of this, you may receive additional overdue notices. Please be aware that if the item is found, it will be removed from your account immediately, along with any fees that might have accrued. If it is not found, you will be contacted directly by the Library Billing Unit regarding additional options.'

Thus, my account should be fee-free, since the book was found and returned before the due date."

After this appeal and another email, the lady said she'd take the fine off of my account. Mission possible!

Bitterness and Fear - Dreams #0002: Heat Motifs

2008-07-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

...is paying to get rid of an old videocassette tape.

I just sold an old Star Wars Trilogy videotape on Amazon.com. After having Amazon take their share, I was left with very little. Then, yesterday, I found out shipping was over 9 dollars to expedite-ship the tape to New York. I went through with it...only to remember that from the whole order, I did not even break even, since shipping was more than the tape revenue and shipping allowance combined! (Dumb. Should have canceled the order.) I pretty much just paid someone money to take my tape. What a waste of time and money. To add to this horror, I checked my email quite late because I was busy with the last week of school and the person not only gave me a bad review, but also yelled at me several times through email.

The only winners in this mess are Amazon.com and the Post Office. Yeah, I've learned my lesson...

In other news, I had several fearsome dreams.

First, I had been in front of a church building with my friend, when I took a picture. I reviewed the picture, to find that there were flames engulfing the building. I was puzzled and showed my friend, when less than 5 seconds later, the top of the church burst into flames. From that dream to the rest of my dreams, I could not shake off that emotion of fear.

In another dream, I was speeding through a road and bro was right next to me. It was really hot in the car and I could feel the heat as I gassed the pedal. I went faster and faster, until I woke up...

Dreams #0001: Camera, Asian Tourists, Eddie Murphy

2008-07-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday and Iris and the gang were planning a special get-together. At first, I was in some pseudo-San-Diego area. More and more people started to come to the place. We started to intake cold beverages and chat for a bit. There was a notecard that someone passed around, with puns about each attendee's name. Harhar.
Then, I went into a friend's car (this friend is one of the people from my master's program). We were going to a convention or such. In an instant, while driving, she powdered up (white face powder), put on a black wig, and changed her costume. I was amazed at the quickness. I also used the face powder, but it made me look ghastly.

Skip to a little bit later. I wandered around town on the same day. All of a sudden, Eddie Murphy pops up out of nowhere and I hollered, "OMG...Does ANYONE have a camera?" Some fobby tourist said, "Ah, I do!" I asked if he could take a picture of me and Eddie, but a stampede of Asian tourists came up behind me and the guy, who was the leader of the Asian-Invasion, took group pictures of his tour groups. Somehow, as he got ready to take a picture of me, Eddie, and a few others, Eddie started to do random stunts. He jumped a few feet onto the hill above us. He levitated from the ground, while he "got low" (crouching position). Skip ahead to another scene.

Karen and I visited a convenience store and walked around for a bit. Turns out, there was a levitation device being sold - it was only $6, but with a discount, it was $0.90. Good deal. We both bought 2 of these devices. Ours had Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" on it. I also got some stickers. Karen thanked the clerk on the way out.

Then, at a dinner party in the evening, mom was sitting around with some random people. The guy introduced himself to me and said he used to be my classmate in middle school (Michigan). I couldn't visualize his face, so he told me he was the "Geico Lizard." Confuzzled. Also visualized images of some of my close friends from middle school and moi in a car, near the end.

Marriage??

2008-07-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

I've been asking friends about whether they want to get married in the future, and here are some negative replies I've gotten:
1) "No, because I don't believe a marriage will make two things better between two people - greater fights will ensue. Things are good the way they are."
2) "No, because I don't believe I'm good at showing affection."
3) "No, because it leads to the potential of divorce and other hassles, especially when wealth and children are involved."
4) "No, because I have commitment issues."

I personally want to get married one day. Why? Similar reasons as others:
1) Legal bonds to the person you love and connect with...FOREVERRR...
2) Without marriage, it's considered immoral to have children outside of wedlock...and I want a family.
3) Family expectations combined with my own expectations.

There's more, but I'm not going to go through it all in detail. It makes me a bit sad when I hear that some people don't want to get married. Maybe they'll change their minds in the future.

We're still young - we have the luxury of pondering...

Troubles I Cannot Control

2008-07-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

In my master's program, from the time I have applied to now, there's been quite a few conflicts obstructing my journey to my (foreign) homeland.

First, I found out that there were no Business internships secured this year. I can live with that, because I still have the opportunity to live and work abroad, even if I'm not working in a business role.

Second, I found that I absolutely NEED my diploma, in order to move on with the visa process. I am THISCLOSE to getting my diploma. I might have to wait for it until next week. I thought I didn't have to worry anymore after this.

Finally, today, one of my classmates notified me that a couple of our classmates had been REJECTED and could not obtain their work visas. This worries me because I applied for the same companies (or similar ones). The rationale behind this was, "You're too young and inexperienced." What the fork, mate?! The thing is, one of the gals who were rejected already had LOTS of experience in the field of teaching kids...if she was rejected, what does that mean for the rest of us? In addition, I'm Asian - I KNOW for a fact that Asians have prejudice against their own kind for certain issues.

I don't quite like the "on-the-surface" face thing. The diploma is a paper that does not PROVE I graduated (since these can be easily manipulated) - a transcript would make better proof of having graduated from a university. As for the visa, we'll have to see, with time, which patterns emerge from the acceptances and rejections.

What can I do right now? I can only wait it out, or seek my own fortunes...

Morality & Perfect Diplomacy

2008-07-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Oy, I've bit off more beef than I could chew. There are times when I'm "in-the-wrong," and times when I'm "in-the-right," but what I aim for is to be "in-the-money" for a long, long time...and that has nothing to with anything.

I. Morality
This is a very important concept to me, due to the fact that I strive to be the best person (in all aspects) that I could be. I want to exude integrity, leak goodness, and be the sweetest honey.

At AX, there were many chances to do the wrong thing. I did not give in to temptation, though I could have:
1) jacked some badges as a volunteer to avoid working my full 8 hours.
2) skipped out on some of my hours or misreported them (we actually did not turn in a check deposit because the guy didn't take care of it - this wasn't a problem because we fulfilled all our hours).
3) worked very little and just stand around as a volunteer, which would be no better than a piece of broccoli lying in the middle of the hall at the con.

The action of turning off one's evil conscience is simple for some, difficult for others. I will admit that it was a struggle between my angel and my devil, and the angel prevailed...for that weekend.

Hooray for morals. I proved my own strength of character, and even without posting this detailed information, I have gained satisfaction from being honest and hardworking. Or, I'm just tooting my own horn. It's good to live a life of integrity.

II. Perfect Diplomacy

I have experienced too many instances where a person has confronted me with an angry or condescending tone. I finally know how to react to those instances, when I used to feel frustrated for others choosing to take out their angry emotions on me.

In high school, I said something extremely upfront, and a bit rude, to a friend (online conversation). (Thankfully, I've gained an understanding of diplomacy and learned people skills since then, heh.) Then, it was quite uncalled for when the person's friend jumped into our private conversation to offset my assumption about another person I mentioned offhand. To me, this is the American way - barging into other people's business, policing them, and thinking you're the boss who can save the world. I did feel bad for saying things to my friend, but I think the cold war is finally over.

Lesson #1: Don't talk about a person in rude ways - if you want to make suggestions for self-improvement, bring it up gently.

Lesson #2: Don't barge into other people's business, when you were never mentioned in the conversation; don't even try to "save" a person in a conversation when nothing BAD was being said about them.

Then, this year in college, I was treated to a condescending tirade by a peer. I was merely trying to bring up an issue to someone of a higher position, but this person kept cutting me down and down. I was lower than a tree stump. The person said, "Why didn't you...this and that...? You need to..." I don't remember all the words that were said, but they created a huge atom bomb of anger waiting to be released. I tried to resolve all my feelings by talking it out and I suppose it worked. Later, though, someone else of an even higher power stepped in and apologized for that person and explained the situation.

Lesson #3: Don't ever take other people's bad attitudes personally. If you haven't done anything blameworthy, it's probably not your fault that they're so mean/angry/hateful/etc.

Lesson #4: Furthermore, when people verbally battle it out with you, do not fight back and lash out at them. Fight back with a stern tone, but without sharp, curt words you might regret later. There are things said that change the dynamics of relationships after they're said...and things might not be the same thereafter.

Just today, another instance of this ongoing diplomacy battle ensued. I misunderstood the instructions for my part in the group project (and I really should have done more for my part). In class, during break, when I was asking about changing up my Powerpoint slide, the person in charge of it lashed out at me, yelling, "How come you did NOTHING?!" I was taken aback with these angry words. I was offended, for sure, because our group member was sitting right next to me, whilst the person was yelling at me. There were still a few people in the room. I was beyond mortified, to be honest. The person continued by saying what I didn't do - that I only pasted the notes onto a document with a few "icons," stating that I did not much else. The truth is, I misheard the person - thought the notes were already done and all I had to do was write it on a slide. However, I did some research for the other portion I worked on, but I didn't notify EVERYONE of what I did. So I told the person, "I sent you the document on Thursday night, when you said you wanted it Saturday night. Why didn't you tell me to add more to it?" Then, the person said, "I didn't check until Sunday night...at the computer lab with the group." Then, in a hushed, bitter tone, muttered, "You didn't even show up to the meeting last night." I didn't have anything else to say to defend myself, so I just said, "...Sorry" and turned around and ignored the person for the rest of the day. For the rest of that class period, I could NOT focus at all. However, I'm fine now. The person had a bad day or something happened, since the person was gone from class, calling on a cell phone for a LONG time, and had been sniffling/wiping eyes in class. As much as I would feel sympathy, I don't really. In fact, I don't care anymore, but I learned some more valuable lessons.

Lesson #5: Do not confront a person in a public space, especially when others are present. This makes people feel humiliated and hateful about the person who said these cruel things to them. In the end, though, it is the yeller who looks bad.

Lesson #6: [Offered by a good friend.] In group projects, make sure everyone knows what you're doing at all times (and that you've volunteered for projects). Clarify everything by asking questions. That way, if people are unsatisfied with your work in the end, it is "their bad" for not having given you the correct guidance.

With groupwork, I'm usually pretty good with it, but if there are too many leaders and dispersed directions, one tends to sit back. No more shall I do this - I will be more interactive and engaged with group projects from now until the end of life.

Ultimately, there have thankfully only been a few instances where I've uttered regretful words; those were uttered long ago and the damage is slowly fading. I have learned from my mistakes and I hope to continue developing my interpersonal skills.

Anime Expo 2008: Volunteerism, Ticketed Events, and more!

2008-07-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a lovely July 4th. Anime Expo was quite fun!

I. Volunteerism: Friday and Saturday, 8 hours total (for 2 One-Day passes)

Friday, July 4: Volunteered for 6 hours total:

1) Registration Hall
- Helped to print badges, rip them, and distribute them
- Directed guests to the front of the printed badge line

2) Hallway in front of Huge Programming Room
- Answered questions pertaining to the Programming Room
- Acted as a line guard, where I prevented attendees from cutting
- Battle Stories: there were some random moments when I was guarding the line from cutters. Out of nowhere, a girl sprinted from nowhere, directly into the door. I guess she was cutting quickly. The main staffer just looked at her like O_o. Another girl and her posse tried to enter the line during a small break and when I stopped her to tell her that the end of the line was "way back there," she whined, "but the security guard told us we could go in," to which the staffer whispered, "You know what, that girl is lying, yo." She ended up sneering at us. I also felt bad for the guy who did the all-con volunteering thing because he wasn't assertive enough to keep people from cutting; like a timid mouse, he went up to the staffer and pulled on the staffer's sleeve. Just kidding...he just told the staffer that people were cutting, to which the staffer frantically yelled, "you need to stop them from cutting!"

3) Hallway near a Smaller Programming Room
- Guarded the doors for about two hours (there were some foine staffers there, too)

Saturday, July 5: Volunteered for 2 hours total:

1) Exhibit Hall
- Answered questions of patrons, mostly concerning when the exhibit hall would open (10:00am) or where to line up
- Scanned badges like a robot with laser eyes
- Battle story: scanning badges was the most intense thing ever. Once the staff let in all the exhibit attendees, I helped check for valid passes. If the people did not have passes or lacked valid passes, we had to stop them and ask them to stand by for assistance. I must have scanned at least 300 passes at this time. It was speed reading for about 1 hour. My head was spinning, as it got close to the hour.

II. Ticketed Events

For the concerts, I waited in line for less than 20 minutes total.

Yoko Ishida & Jyukai:
Yoko Ishida looks the same and sounds the same...she even dances the same.
Jyukai was amazing. The gal's voice was great and the music was melodic.

Shokotan:
Too much cutesy music, but her more poppy stuff appealed to my ears.

For the larger events, I waited in line for 2-3 hours each...

AX Idol:
My expectations of this show started extremely low. However, the actual show was pretty awesome. AX Idol is a competition where talented people compete in Voice-Acting and Singing contests. The gal who won the singing contest danced and rocked her way to stardom. The gal who won the voice-acting contest was talented, but I think the scene selection played a large role in her victory (it was a scene with a fuzzy animal crawling out of her cleavage o_O).

AX Masquerade:
I waited in line with my group (outside for 30-50 minutes, then inside for another 1.5 hours - we played B.S. and chatted). I was a bit let down because I thought the show would last four hours, but it only lasted two hours! A gross underestimate o_O. My favorite skits of the night were: the ninja comedian, the Wii-enlargement skit with Super Smash Brothers, the Final Fantasy battle, and the Sesshoumaru-to-Inuyasha transformation.

III. Amazing Company & HAWT guys ;)

For the first day, I volunteered with bro and mom. They were mostly at the registration hall area. On the second day, I volunteered alone to finish my hours. Afterwards, I sought out Vinh, Minh, Jen, Daniel, Hoang, Michael & Co., and some others. Bumped into Ren twice. Saw Monica. Watched the concert and Masquerade with the cool MASA people :P

So...on Friday, I found a very hot Kakashi walking around the Expo. I vowed to take a picture with him in the near future. Then, A HOT KAKASHI passed by me on Saturday and I shouted for bro to help me take a picture and he yelled at me to gogogo :)

I saw this guy with his mask halfway off and he was sooo attractive! I was swooning ;D I asked this handsome fellow for a picture and he obliged. He made small talk with me, too! He said, "So...this is one of the busiest days of the expo...have you been here all four days?" Then he winked at the camera. I could have fainted from excitement....lol. Silly fangirl who doesn't watch Naruto DESU NE!! Afterwards, I was on the lookout for more hot Kakashi's...and saw one whilst waiting in line, but the one I took a picture with was the best!!! RAWR.

IV. Commercialization & Growth

AX has been steadily growing. The Los Angeles Convention Center was a great place to hold AX, since it was roomy and in close proximity to the concert-hall (Nokia Theater).

However, I went into the Exhibit Hall and all I saw were large vendors dominating the floor. The huge companies had shrunk, relative to prior years. I didn't even see Viz, ADV, or Tokyopop this year! ARGH...what the heck. Haha, and less freebies for all :'( However, bro and I got some awesome Astroboy T-shirts.

V. Conclusion

AX 2008 was much, much better than AX 2007, in terms of location/size and people. I cannot compare the programming because this was the first year I attended AX Idol and AX Masquerade, but those two shows were great - AX Idol was definitely worth the wait!

The End of the Beginning...

2008-07-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

Even though sixteen of years of schooling just flashed before my large Asian eyes, life has just begun!

College was awesome. If you know me, you know I was superinvolved and that I loved leadership activities. I will continue to pursue this and other communication endeavors throughout my life. I may also talk about LOVE in a frank way...so I might be pining about you next.

I left my old blog, which reflects a vast amount of change within six years. From junior year of high school to senior year of college, one could see my quirkiness progress to new heights. Now that I am a legal adult (though I still cannot "supervise" a provisional licensee's driving nor can I give permission for young'uns to accompany me into Dave & Buster's), I strive to write meaningful entries in this new blog (if not meaningful, at the very least, very entertaining).

Why blog at all? I've graduated college and I have a network of friends who blog and I'd like this to be the way for us to stay in touch. Additionally, I LOVE to write. Also, I'm just vain - I admit it :)...

Why Blogspot? Blogspot's branding is professional and mature, much like I want to be. Additionally, Google is taking over the world, one blogger/user at a time.

What you will find in this continuation of my blog:
1) Silly retellings of my day's activities, at times with fictionalized elements
2) Subjective entries on personal and world news
3) Random, well-written quotes by other people
4) Random, not-so-well-written poetry or other VERY short literature by moi
5) Recommendations
6) Emo entries (conflicts) with proposed solutions
7) Inspiration

I will also start a few themed blogs, to organize my thoughts. In the near future, I will have a literary blog (collections of my work), travel blog (I will refer to it at times), and I may even create a photography blog. In the distant future, I will create a personal finance blog.

As a blogger, I promise that each of these entries will be more fun to read than your old college textbooks (except the human sexuality one...or, it depends). From time to time, I'll do a straight-up regurgitation of my day, with tidbits of randomness. For example, did you know that humans are the only mammals who don't have "penis bones"? (The reason I even know this was because I was Facebooking one time and I saw a conversation on this o_O. Shocking, huh. No wonder it's called a boner...)

Right now, it is time for this inspirational writer to rest. Thank you for reading.