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30th October 2009
Living the Farm Life
It took me a while to get there, but I got there finally.
My friends Di and Alex got a farm in Prince Edward County with their two horses (Tianxia and baby) and I've been trying forever to visit them. Finally, I figured out that I would visit them before I go back to New York and also drop by the Toronto IWTA branch (with the amazing Sifu Carson Lau) for a visit and a little bit of WingTsun training.What awaited me was a group of super nice WT students (and instructors), my two awesome (though elitist - lol) friends, tons of good food, a farm-full of animals, and a WHOLE LOAD OF HAY!Training in Toronto was great. The school setup and training program seems to be very different than what I am used to in NY or even CA. Everyone runs around and finds something then starts to beat each other up... I mean... train very enthusiastically. Sifu Lau was super nice (as always) and showed me around as well as introduced some of his students to me. Unfortunately I was only able to train for one day, but I hope to return to train again or at least take a seminar with Sifu Lau!Alex and Di's farm was 50 acres... I don't think I've seen that much LAND belonging to one person (that I know of) for a long time. Hay season was basically over but unfortunately they'd had some bad luck with farm equipment so I ended up helping them hay part of the field (very small part). It was quite a marvelous experience. I also got to (sort of) throw the bales of hay to the horses. By the time I left there, I was TOTALLY in love with Tianxia (oh be still my heart~).[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Oh Sunny Days~"][/caption]They also had7 (8?) Chinchillas (yea a week later I didn't remember ANY of the names except Leonidis - THIS IS SPARTA! - ok I'm a dork) and a whole load of other animal/insect guests. Di also stuffed me with her delicious/unbeatable homemade food (which probably is why I gained so much weight >_<) and introduced me to her vegetable, herb, and fruit gardens. Ah the life of a farm. We were picking our own salads (in the backyard) and I drank fresh pressed cherry juice.Di and Alex and I met in my early college days... through a rather interesting event. The first time I heard of Di was when I was told "Di's having a shower with Kenshin." Naturally... I flipped out (so I had a little crush on Kenshin. Who didn't!?). Then it turned out that someone splashed some sauce on Kenshin (short for: the Rurouni Kenshin wall scroll) and she was washing it out. I think that sealed our fates and we've been friends since (Alex is a tack-on and the person who turned me into an alcoholic for a while in my college years :p). They are some of the most resourceful and interesting people I know... despite that they made me SLAVE on their farm![caption id="" align="alignright" width="320" caption="Sunset on the farm (over moo moos)"]
[/caption]I think that experience on a farm is something everyone should have at least once in their life. It's very different (no kidding) from the city and also different from suburban life. It's quiet, serene, and sometimes offers you pleasant (and some not so pleasant) surprises. Like Di said, she could see the entire Milky Way in winter time and sometimes read a book under the full moon. How could you not appreciate life when you have all this beauty around you?Other memorable experiences include:1) Xinjiang restaurant - OMG!!! I've NEVER had Xinjiang cuisine but this is SO good! I'm generally not a huge fan of strong tasting and super meaty dishes, but I think the skewers (with the massive amounts of meat) were some of the BEST I ever had! They were spicy so I was half tearing, but I ordered seconds!
2) YMCA - I don't think I've been to any YMCA as... well... upscale as the one that they took me to. I am not sure if they're all like that in Canada, but I certain had fun the two times I was there, taking full advantage (sort of) of their beautiful Olympic size pool, sauna rooms, and spacy and clean showers.
3) Rental cars are mostly in RED... WHY!? Oh... right... national color...
4) There's nothing like seeing the sunrise/moonrise/sunset on a farm... and I CAN SEE THE MOON AND STARS CLEARLY!!! (ahem...)
5) Farmers are legally allowed to shot anything on their perimeters! (yes, I played with the gun xD)
6) Hanging out with the neighbor's cows (a.k.a. moo-moos). -
20th August 2009
Always on the Run II
Many people are wondering... WHAT!?!?! If you think your head is spinning, have a little pity for my parents. They're probably wondering what they did to deserve such a strange daughter. :)Yes, I'm headed back to New York City for at least 3 months, September-December. I have yet to decide whether I want to spend Christmas and New Years in New York or in SF area (probably down to SoCal with friends if I come back to CA). But that's for another day.When I left my old company on a LoA (it'd have been more problematic if I told them straight out that I was leaving), I brought in a friend to take over my position. The plan was that when I inform my ex-bosses that I was not going return to the company, he would permanently take over. It's a win-win situation on all fronts.But recently, my friend found a good internship opportunity that will span 3 months (Sept-Dec). Problem is, the company cannot wait for him for 3 months so he would end up jobless when he comes out of the internship, which is rather undesirable in this abysmal economy.Being the one who always tries to find a solution where everyone benefits or at least suffers the least damage (yep, Libra), I came up with a strange plan... strange, but awesome if it worked: I would return to NYC and replace him at my old job for 3 months.[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Look around you."][/caption]This way:
1) I can make some money before school (which could start in Oct or Jan, and this gives me more time to prepare for it) AND take WingTsun lessons from Sifu (YAY).
2) Sifu will get some front end help (if he needs it) because he's expecting to be shorthanded come Sept.
3) My friend would have a job to return to.
4) There's no disruption to work and my ex-bosses don't need to spend money, time, and effort finding someone who may or may not be trustworthy.There was the issue of my roomshare - I would have to leave it empty and pay rent for 3 months for a room I'm not using.Incidentally, I have been in contact with another girl who is trying to move from NYC to SF (like myself) and I thought, why not ask if she's interested in subletting my roomshare for the time that I'd be in NYC? It'd be good for her to have a friendly place to stay and really try out the city.5) Apparently it was a good turn of events for her too.So in the end, if everything works according to plan, 5 parties would benefit from this arrangement (not counting my parents and friends in NYC whom, I assume (lol), would be happy to see me before I implant myself semi-permanently in SF for school).It just happened that this time everything fell into place. Sometimes I feel like there are always options and the solution is there, but we just fail to grasp/grab it. But when you're ready, things will fall into place.[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="WT RULES!"][/caption]There were a lot of lucky coincidences in this matter, but there were a lot of conditions, were they not mature, things would not have happened the same way. What if she wasn't ready to move or I didn't ask her? What if my boss wanted to hire someone entirely new? What if my school only opened admissions once a year? What if I had already committed myself to a job? What if...I think in the end you should always prepare yourself and be ready to accept/work with all the opportunities that come your way. They may not come for days, months, or even years. But if you're not ready for them, you will miss out on them when they do come along. The best thing is that the planning and personal development that you put into preparing are rewarding in themselves.On top of that, I'm visiting Alex&Di in Canada for a few days and decided I would drop by and train with Sifu Carson Lau's WT school in Richmond Hill for a day. Turned out that there will be a web channel interview on that day so I get to see a lot of cameras and WT demonstrations! WHOO HOO! (<-total geek when it comes to certain things...)Of course... before all of this, I am still going on my trip to Yosemite, Lake Mono and Bodie.So there... my latest... Run.
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Sze K. Aka Chan's Posterous
歸去，也無風雨也無晴。
Walking the Fool's Journey.79316 ViewsTwitterFacebook -
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