I’ve gotten used to untimely events happening before I fly, especially when I fly out of New York. See my previous post about these incidents.

The latest are a pair of rather amusing events.

On my recent trip back to NYC, I decided to try out a particular ramen shop with my friend, who was driving me to the airport. Unfortunately, that happened to be a particularly popular spot and we ended up waiting until 9PM for a seat – my flight was at 11PM. As you can probably imagine, we stared at each other and wondered whether or not I would miss the flight. We told the waitress and she finally seated us and put in our order before a group of 6 that came before us. Once we got our food, we managed eat it, pay, and leave within about 10 minutes. Talk about time efficiency. Fortunately, I was able to catch the flight without any issues… except that it was delayed and I would have caught it anyway even if I were late.

The return trip was even more amusing. I woke up on the morning of my flight wondering what interesting thing will come between my flight and I. I wasn’t really nervous because I knew that something generally happens but usually I still manage to get my flight ok.

My friend, who was getting her bf to take me to the airport, asked about another friend who usually would take me to the airport. I told her that my other friend’s baby was about to be born (about 2 days late already) and with my luck, if he had decided to drive me, it would probably happen during the drive. She joked that then I would be going to the hospital to see his new baby instead of catching my flight. As it was, she called her boyfriend and found out that his car’s battery was drained due to that it was going off all night because of an ad card that was stuck in its window. At that moment I knew that this was going to be another adventure. We were looking for someone to help jump start his car… but interestingly enough I was the one who was the least nervous. We found someone after some time searching and I was on my way.

En route to the airport, I got a text that my friend’s daughter was born and again confirmed my usually pre-flight luck. Although we had to get through some traffic, the ride to the airport was fine. The final glitch came when I realized that although Virgin America allowed 70lb for the first checked bag, it turned out that my bag was about 78. So… I had to stand in front of the counter and rearrange everything. It was definitely a first but fortunately not as messy as some others’ experience. That was also a very nice (Chinese… well Asian) lady who was kind enough to ask if I were going to LA that she had room in her luggage still. Then also offered her bag in case I needed one. I didn’t, but thanked her. It’s good to know that there are still Asian people who would help each other in times of difficulty. (Later on after I got over this ordeal, I gave her a thumbs-up when I saw her at the terminal) I actually found all of it an amusing experience and not inconvenient at all. I guess that’s the thing with life – expect the unexpected… and enjoy them when you can.

I spoke to some of my friends about this and they were only half convinced of my strange luck. But I thought this was pretty convincing evidence that indeed… there seems to be something trying to stop me from leaving NYC… 

After my friend Alejandro inquired about why all of my other trips have their own little (however short) blog entry except for my trip to PR, I have decided to backtrack and write a small entry about Puerto Rico.

One of the reasons I did not do a post on Puerto Rico was because I compiled two visual-poetry collections (the other was that I didn't have a regular blog at the time), which is a bunch of photos paired up with a few lines of poetry that I wrote.

Harmony of December - Love

Harmony of December - Self

This is really my first attempt at taking semi "artistic" pictures (i.e. paying more attention to angle, colors, general composition). Puerto Rico was a a spiritual journey for me. It was also the second time ever that I had spent Christmas away from New York after I moved there (the first time was Vermont with my dear Marri and her family for a taste of an "All-American" Christmas). I was facing some tough existentialistic self questioning and something in the back of my head kept on nagging me about getting away from NYC. So when my friend Lan called and lamented that she didn't know how to spend Christmas, I recalled that my friend Alex had extended an invitation for me to go to Puerto Rico and took him up on it. I packed my bags and went down to Puerto Rico with Lan, all within about 10 days.

Some thoughts about the parts that we visited:

1) El Yunque: This was probably my favorite spot. It's the tropical rain forest on Puerto Rico and I'm a sucker for these types of places. We spent half a day here, which was no nearly enough. There are different hiking trails, some lead you up to top of mountains, which have gorgeous views of the coastline. As it is a tropical rain forest, there was a lot of fog, but those moments when the sky opens up and a ray of sunlight hits the valley below... wow... Just be careful since the paths are wet and slippery.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="Run for it!"]

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2) BioBay: This is a MUST see, mainly because Puerto Rico is one of the few sites in the world where you can see these microorganisms light up the dark waters and whisper the secrets of the depths of the lakes and streams to you. You occasionally see schools of fish and unidentified creatures swim by... and I even did some silly WT moves in the water. I'm sure the creatures didn't like that very much! The tour guide told us that 20 years ago you didn't have to stir up the water to see it light up. You only had to sit and wait for the wind, which, when it comes, weaves silver threads in the waters and then the entire surface of the lake becomes a shimmering silver blanket. Just imagining it is amazing. But in another 20 years, we probably won't even have the pleasure of seeing these microorganisms light up even when we stir up the water (mainly due to pollution).
3) BEACHES!!!!! Well I'm really not a big fan of beaches but these are all kinds of beaches and they are mostly relatively clean!
4) Ponce: We really regretted not having gone to this wonderful historical area. Mainly it was because our friend (who is a native) who had the car didn't like this area so we didn't end up going. After talking to some people after we got back from the trip, I'd say it's a definite "must go"!
5) Old San Juan: This was a charming European-flaired place that we had a lot of fun walking around in. By the end of our trip we were regulars at the Plaza de Colón (yea we always end up waiting for people there)! There are tons of little alleyways with (I'm sure) delicious restaurants that we never got to try out!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="320" caption="Lots and lots of fried food..."]

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Tips or fun bits:
1) If you are getting out of the Old San Juan, leave EARLY. Otherwise you will get stuck in traffic for sure.
2) Be sure to bring an umbrella wherever you go. The weather is the most unpredictable element in Puerto Rico. We got rained on almost as soon as we landed.
3) Forget about your usual diet. When you're in Puerto Rico, try to eat like a local. The most amazing food is home cooked (if you know anyone there), but otherwise, if someone hands you a HUGE piece of deep fried fish... don't clinch your eyebrows. Just eat it. It tastes really good! You must try the famed mofongo. I had one with conch and it was delicious! Oh, and get ready for a LOT of plantains. >_<
4) Alex told me that once I land, there's something that the passengers do that's unique to Puerto Rico. They clap. Yep, usually we only clap if the trip proved extra rough but the pilot handled the situation with grace. But with Puerto Rico, they clap regardless because they know it's time to PARTY.
5) Most US cell phone companies that I know of consider PR as part of the regions that they cover on their regular plan. So unless you're in some remote area you don't have to pay any cell phone fees!
6) For those of you who fear that you'd miss out if you go around Christmas time. True, you don't get the freezing cold and heavy snow, but you get plenty of decoration and festivities going on.
7) DO NOT walk around too late at night. If you have to, stay in the streets where there are a lot of people. Yes, this is a warning.

Otherwise, we had a great time. Alex took us to his house and treated us to his mom's cooking (which is ALWAYS the best cooking). He also told me that around dinner time you see very few people around because people like to eat at home! Whoa!

The most important thing that I got out of this was an opening of the mind and spirits. When you are looking at the beautiful sky and ocean, you just wonder what you're doing spending days cooped up in the concrete forest. My soul was rotting. This was what I needed to get myself out of ME and start to experience the world, so it was truly a spiritual journey.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sky Above; Ocean Below."]

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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~"]

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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)"]

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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).

Backpacking has always been a dream of mine. Traveling in general is one of my favorite things to do. There is always the issue of not being able to find the appropriate traveling partner. There are lot of people that love traveling, but not everyone can handle backpacking. We sometimes grow too comfortable with our environments and to step out of it is very difficult. Most of the people who would travel by backpacking are guys, and the one girl that I knew with whom I was planning to go on a trip around Europe couldn’t go because of health reasons.

The biggest problem people have is “if you have time you don’t have money, when you have money you don’t have time.” Heard that one before? Because of this, I have yet to set foot on Europe despite my strange British accent. Fortunately, in recent days it seems a lot of girls are willing to join me on my crazy trips, so here’s hoping for many great journeys and traveling partners ahead!

BUT! When there’s a will there’s a way. After I realized that the only person who can trap me is myself, I just started running everywhere. I don’t know when I will stop with this speeding around, but so far it’s been very enjoyable and I want to savor it as much as I can!

In the past 12 months, I’ve been to (NY and SF/Bay area are not included):
October 08: Japan, Taiwan
December 08: Puerto Rico
May 09: Hong Kong, Macau, Guang Zhou, Hainan
June 09: Oregon, Seattle, Vancouver,
July 09: Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Las Vegas
August 09: Yosemite, Mono Lake, Bodie
September 09: Toronto

All of them were amazing and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. You can read about most of them in the Travel section.

The next few trips that may/may not happen but that I have talked about with some people:
1) Spring visit to Yosemite – to see the waterfalls!
2) Trip to Egypt within the next 2 years – with Sarah, before her friend moves away!
3) Backpacking across Europe in April/May – with my friend in Germany who is finishing school and want to take her “off” time to travel
If you are interested in any of these – LET ME KNOW!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="With everything on my back."]

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When you've stayed in a city for a little while, you start to learn some little things...

1) When you have a party, tell everyone it's at 7 if you want them to get there by 9. I thought it's a HK thing, but I guess it's a Cali thing too..
2) When you pay cash on the muni for a ticket, you'll get a transfer that is supposed to last 90min, but if you're lucky and your driver was feeling generous, you may end up getting one that gives you a few more hours and you end up going and coming back on the same ticket... oh and it's for unlimited transfers within that time.
3) Having MSG in your food seems the norm here, so if you are allergic, either learn to cook or be really careful with your food (esp if you're Asian).
4) The Muni monthly cards are good for three days after the month that the card is for.
5) Californians seem to be less passionate about traveling. They're happy just being in CA. They are more easily content about their lives. No issue. Just observation.
6) The ATMs here are all outdoors. I have yet to see one indoors where I can deposit my money without looking every which way. Sheesh.

And the list may go on...

Sunday 8/30/09
We finally made it to the tufas in the South. They were magnificent (if somewhat smelly). The alkaline flies were… well… a bit nauseating, but at least the only swarm around the lake. There were many varieties of birds there, and the most wonderful thing was that at every different point the lake has a different feel. It was eerier, serene, and mysterious at the same time. It was much larger than all the lakes that we saw in Yosemite. The feeling was completely different. We went on the Touloume Grove trail this time but was only able to get to the first great Sequoia before we had to head back so that we can make it in time for our appointments in SF. The funny thing was, Zhou (he did most of the driving after we got out of Yosemite) drove so fast that we ended up back in the neighborhood much earlier than expected. So being Berkeley graduates, Wendy and Zhou took me on a tour of Berkeley, where I found their lovely new East Asian Library <3. I will be sure to pay it a visit sometime. We all agreed that we would plan another trip for the Spring because we weren’t able to see the waterfalls this time around. We also have quite a long to-do list to go through… all for the next trip!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Kick-@$$ travel partners!"]

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Wendy and I got back to the city and after dropping her off at her apartment and changed there, I went off to the Miss Asia Pageant at the Palace of Fine Arts to join people from WZRC in NYC. It would have been fine if Ed (my GPS) didn’t almost take me across the Golden Gate bridge. But finally I made it to the pageant. Knowing how the station operates, I went to find S+S and sure enough, ended up being draft to work the pageant. I ended up counting the votes for the contestants and also running around trying to figure out where everyone was. It was most amusing. Interesting enough, I discovered that all the contestants were wolfing down pizzas backstage because they were so hungry. Aye. I guess it works for some people. I personally like working backstage much more.

After the pageant I went to dinner with the winners/contestants/backstage people. The drive down to Daly City would had been uneventful if not for the fact that I got lost in the 750239849 parking lots. But when, at the end of the evening, I finally parked Claypole back at his little station, I was so very thankful that I was able to go on this trip, everything turned out wonderfully, and I was even able to see people from the station and get a nice dinner and get a glimpse of the world of glam (ahem).

Regardless, I think everything is a valuable experience and I treasure every moment of it.
There are a few things that I learned on this trip:
1) Zipcar is the BOMB! I LOVED my little Claypole (he’s BLUE)! Though… I might still get a Yaris if I do get a car…
2) Do not EVER assume that parking lots are easy to navigate… EVER!
3) Even if you think it’s not possible for you to reach your goal (like how I thought quite a few times when I looked at the “impossible” trails)… if you keep at it… you actually will reach it. You may be deathly exhausted, but it’s possible to get there. This from the person who, looking across the desolate desert land, thought it was impossible to reach the second lake… but we did.
4) TomToms are very nice little GPS devices. Zhou had a Garmin but he said the timing on my Ed was better. :D
5) Don’t mess with ladies driving a truck with a freaking BOAT on it on a VERY curvy mountain path.
6) When a mattress unexpectedly drops in front of you on the highway, maintain your cool (no it wasn’t us, but we saw it happen) because there’re a lot of other people behind you.
7) There is almost NO reception around the YMB area… at least that’s the case if you have T-Mobile.
8) Hiking in MBTs… may not be the best idea.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Love the reflection"] [/caption]

Friday 8/28/09
Zhou, Wendy and I met up around noon at the zipcar station right next to my place and we started our journey with Claypole. I drove part of the way until the road started curving so extremely that I just refused to put all our lives in danger anymore. The road to Yosemite was horrifying, especially for someone like me who has a deathly fear of heights, but Zhou was able to get us to Lee Vining without any incidents. We stopped twice at Yosemite to just see the sites on our way, then made it in time to get a glimpse of the sunset (which we weren’t able to catch again). Then it was dinner at one of the two restaurants in town (Bodie Mike’s). The food actually was better than I expected and I really did like the restaurant. Prices were… well… NY/SF level, but this is a tourist trap. I’d say probably 70% of the people who were eating there were tourists.

There was a fire in Yosemite Valley so the area was blocked off from visitors and hotel customers (fortunately the prices for hotels in Yosemite valley were way too high and we didn't book them), but the smell of smoke was prevalent in much of the rest of Yosemite that we roamed through. I know forest fires are necessary for the health of the forest, but it's still sad thinking about all the trees that are burning down.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="The Bunny Vantage."]

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Saturday 8/29/09
We got up at 6 to try to catch the sunrise (which was reported to be at 6:28), unfortunately we missed out on the part where the dark skies slowly turn light so it’d have to be Sunday. We planned for Bodie, then back to Yosemite. Bodie had the full setting for a western horror (or hero) film. It was desolate, eerie, and unrestored, which we really liked. We also learned about the Bodie curse, which was that if you take ANYTHING from the grounds of Bodie (nail, stone, flower!, etc.) as a “souvenir” you are asking to be cursed! It’s bad luck for as long as you have the item… so in the museum we saw boatloads of letters from people returning the items they took and begging the ghosts of Bodie for forgiveness. What I wondered was… wth would so many people take these nails!? A highlight was the ADORABLE bunny that came our way. Wendy and I ran after it (carefully) and took tons of pictures.

We then headed back to Yosemite and managed to do two trails: Touloume Meadows/Soda Springs and Gaylor Lakes (no jokes pls!). They were both beautiful and after Gaylor lakes, we persisted and crossed a dessert (no joke!) to get to Granite lake, which was another gem.
Dinner was again at Bodie Mikes (look we didn’t have much choice) but this time we totally took charge of the salad bar.

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."]

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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!"]

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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.

San Diego was the last stop on my S tour and it was to visit my friend John, whom I have known for over ten years and we met online (!) when I was still using my AOL account (!!!). It was the first time I've seen him since he got married and had his child and I am so unbelievably happy for him that despite all the crap he went through in his younger years, he was able to make it to this point. It was strange but comforting to see him living a family life. In the years that we've known each other, we've both had our ups and downs. The fact that he can reach this point is really encouraging and really speaks to how strong human beings can be. Things could always have taken a worse turn... but the important thing is that they didn't.

Our relationship is a testament to and evidence that friendships between male and female DO exist (although I think *I* exist as a good piece of evidence already since a LOT of my very good friends are guys - Libra trait?). Although sometimes I am concerned that his wife would over think his being so kind to me. History is history, what matters is that we survived and so did our friendship. And now we both know our paths and are ready for the future, and know that we  have eachother's support.

Old Town really wasn't all that. Of course, there were a lot of nice Mexican restaurants but I wasn't sure how Mexican food would agree with my stomach so I stayed away from them. I got myself lost in downtown San Diego looking for the Amtrak station and ended up walking under the scorching sun to find it. Despite it all, I found downtown SD rather interesting, with plenty of activity and lots of tourists (not to mention tons of Comic Con banners). Although I had the same issue with people not knowing directions. (What's UP with these Californians!?)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="192" caption="What a cutie!"]

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John and his family as well as some friends were making a trip to Las Vegas so I decided to tag along. LV was rather amusing. We barely went out because the temperature there was just a BAD JOKE. It was so hot that we felt like we were in an oven for all of the 3 minutes that we were outside. Even the wind was oppressively hot.

John was there for a family event, which ended up to be rather... messy and I took up the task of babysitting his beautiful Ju-chan (Julia) for the entire night so he and his wife could go about cleaning up the mess. She is probably one of the (if not THE) BEST babies I've ever met and that's a LOT coming from me. A happy baby is a good baby and she certainly was a very happy baby. I couldn't stop telling John how lucky he is to be blessed with such a wonderful baby. We (Ju-chan and I) almost became best friends by the end of the night and I do so miss her adorable smile.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Watch (or listen to) the clock!"]

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Since I know I have no gambling luck, my main focus was finding good food to eat. We saw so many Wolfgang Puck (ate at Spago) restaurants there, among other great restaurants. The most amazing and wonderful thing was that the guys (the girl's didn't gamble) donated all of their winnings to treating all of us to dinner so I ended up with quite a few free (AND GOOD) meals. The funniest thing was that at Payard, there was a grandfather clock that would spit out tiny packages of chocolate truffles every 15 minutes or so. We were standing guard around the clock and every time it rang we rushed to get the package. Between the 7 of us (including Ju-chan) we managed to get 7-8 chocolates... and there were only 3 windows where the chocolates would come out! (you see how diligently we were watching the clock) We even ran for the clock while we were sitting elsewhere eating our lovely desserts.

It was certainly a memorable trip and I even got a 20" monitor out of it (bless you, John) so my eyes don't have to die from staring at 10" Spockie all the time.

To top it all off, I managed to get all my luggage on the flight as carry on... yes... I'm good.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Guess where I'm hiding the monitor?"]

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My trip to Irvine was to only visit my friend Chian and her family. She moved to Irvine about 2 years ago and I hadn't seen her for about 2 years before that so it's been a while. But you know what they say about true friendships, no matter how far/long apart you are, you just need to see each other and it's as if nothing has changed... except now little Evan 小魚 is a cute mini heartthrob (his dad claims he takes after him...)! He's so popular that girls in the class drag him to corners (THEY'RE FIVE!!!) and try to kiss him and claim him to be their boyfriend... what the... but if 小魚 is anything like his namesake 江小魚 from 絕代雙驕 (sometimes I think his dad gets a kick out of being able to nickname his kid after a 武俠小説 character...), he's definitely got a bright future ahead of him (in more ways than one...).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="In their beautiful house."]

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It really makes me so happy that Chian and Gary are doing so well. We each have our own paths. They gave up a lot to move down to Cali and now it's proven that their decision was correct. When I got off the train and saw 小黑魚 there, watching the trains quietly, my jaw dropped - Evan is so big now! It really amazed me since the last time I saw him he was still crawling around.

 

Irvine actually is a lovely place... except for the fact that it's so hot during the day (like Oregon) that we didn't dare go out until late afternoon. When I got there I was really pale (which is normal for me, even the beach @ LA didn't change that), and when I left I was "hazelnut" bordering on "chocolate". Of course, that had to do with me trying to learn how to swim in their community pool everyday. The water in my ears drove me nuts, but I actually think I can swim a little now (gave up on freestyle for now, going for breast stroke, which is much easier).

 

Irvine itself is filled with very affluent people so everything is very well taken care of. The food is pretty cheap but living there (buying, renting) is really expensive. There are a lot of Asians there so I got to eat my beloved icies everyday. Chian and Gary were kind enough to indulge me. There's also a point where you can see the fireworks from Disney everyday (didn't get to go because of time), since it's relatively close to Anaheim. I had a great time and would definitely go back if I get a chance (I'd rather come here than go to LA). Well... of course there's also the fact that little Evan stole my heart. :)

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="243" caption="跟他爸一個模子裏出來的..."]

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以下是給小魚的：

小魚語錄：
1）媽媽問：小魚，你要叫姐姐還是阿姨呢？
答：她明明就是姐姐。（你這討人喜歡的小壞蛋）
2）媽媽問：小魚，你要不要親姐姐？（親的是手哦！）
答（轉過頭，裝害羞）：姐姐，我能親你嗎？（真是的，什麽都行！）
3）媽媽問：小魚，你教姐姐游泳好嗎？
答：嗯！姐姐！不要怕哦！我很厲害的。我會教你的。有什麽你就記得叫我，我就在這邊。你要這樣游哦，你的手這樣這樣擺... （以下省略737449895字）（唉，小魚，你不用那麽臭屁也很是可愛的）
4）媽媽問：小魚，你喜歡姐姐嗎？
答：不可能不喜歡。（天啊！我的心就這樣被一個五歲小孩偷走了！）
5）媽媽問：小魚，你想姐姐再來嗎？
答：當然想。（就沖你這一句，我很快就回來了！）

可愛的小魚啊，Aka姐姐要告訴你，你爸爸媽媽爲了你，經歷了很多很多你所想象不到的煎熬哦~你是一個很好的孩子，你要明白他們的苦心，要好好孝順啊。就算他們不要求什麽，你也要知道，爸媽心裏最重要的，就是你。你能好好地、健康地、開心地長大，就是報答他們最好的辦法了。

Come to think of it... I have more and more friends that I can say I have known for over 10 years... and they're still very good friends... I am very thankful.