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28th November 2009
This Crazy November
Now that the end to this horrible month is drawing near, I can do a brief summary of the end result of the crazy events that took place earlier in the month. There were other insane events that happened this month, including close relatives of very good friends passing away, one of my best friends' father having gotten into an accident and she herself was rushed to the ER and found out she was loaded with bacteria and viruses... it's not been pleasant. But there's no point looking back or moping, we can only gather our thoughts around what we have to be thankful for, and love those that are important to us even more...[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Seeking serenity."][/caption]My dad's car has been examined by the other car owner's insurance company. Well, at least that's done for now. The rest of it is out of our hands. We no longer have a car, but I'd like to think that it's for a reason.My mom was finally released from the hospital the day before Thanksgiving after spending almost a month in there. I can't even imagine how much pain and suffering she went through. For these weeks, the only time the family was able to be together was if my dad and I happened to be at the hospital at the same time. We tried to stagger our visits so she can have company for more times during the day. Her hospital experience warrants another post, but I'll write that one if I have the energy.My low blood pressure issue is finally under control so I don't feel like I'm about to fall over anymore. However, a few times this month I totally lost the peace and calm that I felt earlier. I always that you couldn't lose it once you had it, like learning to ride a bicycle or swim... but I was wrong. The stress, lack of sleep, and overload of life just took over and I had a few flip outs. But it was a good lesson for me. I know I have much to learn... and to always be vigilant... because no, I am not immune to everything.Let's all look forward to a better end of the year and a new year with new blessings.
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5th November 2009
About those scary status updates
Since my status updates have been sort of morbid, I decided to write something to sort out what's happening to me (to avoid questions and more melodramatics):My grandfather passed away two weeks ago. Even at that time, my mom had been sick for a while, so she was not able to return to China to attend the funeral.After an unpleasant episode with some friends on Halloween, I woke up on marathon day to get news that my mom might need to go to the hospital. After sending a message to my friend letting her know that I would not be present to congratulate her on completing the marathon, my mom decided to go on a different medication to avoid the hospital and then kicked me out the door.Less than an hour or so after meeting up with friends at the marathon, I got a call from mom that my dad was in a car accident. Fortunately, everyone in both vehicles was ok (the other car ran a stop sign and my dad, not being able to break in time, ran into them. Mind you, this was a 90+ year old couple, and the granny was driving. Then they claimed they were too old to wait, then drove off. Yeesh. These old grannies are scary. So now the car is officially undrivable.The next day, my mom finally checked herself into the hospital to avoid having to call an ambulance when symptoms got worse because our local zoned hospital is... er... a hell hole. Yes, for those of you who didn't know, our hospital are actually in pretty bad shape. The same day, I somehow lost my planner, which lets me sort out my stupidly cramped schedule, and that put me into another frenzy.During this whole period, I've been having some (more than usual) low blood pressure issues. Either I wake up in the morning very dizzy and seeing stars and the world spinning, or like this morning, with limbs all tingly and unable to move. But then two hectic phone calls came from aunts who called the hospital while my mom was having severe chills (bordering on seizure), were freaked out, and told me to get there asap. So I dragged myself out of bed, got to the hospital without falling into the subway tracks, and after helping my dad "ice down" my mom's temperature (interesting how you go back to the good old "ice in rubber gloves" method despite being in a modern hospital), persuaded him to go home to get some rest and food, chatted up the nurses (and left my info all around), peeled an apple (I had been told that if I ever became jobless I can be a professional apple peeler... lol), called aunts to calm them down and tell them not to go to the hospital lest they catch something and pass it to their families... and left.Within an hour after I left I get more calls from mom complaining about the hospital and that she wants to switch hospitals (because, of course, she spoke to "knowledgeable people", i.e. her hospital roommate's kids) despite being happy with this particular one the day before (b/c they had good food and Chinese speaking doctors). So I called and spoke with her PCP and her physician in charge at the hospital, then persuaded her to stay for at least for one more day for the specialists to come in and check her condition.Then it was time to wrestle with the police station bureaucracy for the report for my dad's car accident, which was finally ready and we'll pick up tomorrow. This was when my coworker suggested maybe I should go see a therapist. ^^; But... I'm trying to hold on to my zen... so that I don't actually have to end up going to a therapist.November has proven to be rather the testing month for me. Last year I had surgery and had my heart broken and almost went insane. This year... well... yea.... The most important lesson I've learned this past year is that when there seems to be no end to shit in sight, just "toughen up" and take it one thing at a time. There's no point to thinking about it all or mulling over things. *Overthinking* is usually what's damaging to one's spirit. However, checking with yourself emotionally is good from time to time too. And at least I have more tools this time around to deal. It's important to remember to not chase yourself into a chasm of depression.Life will always throw you these curve balls. It's really about how good your skills are at handling them. I see this as a test for putting everything I've learned, especially in the past year, to use. Car not drivable? Well, it was a crappy car and I don't want my dad driving anyway. Lost planner? Maybe it's time to migrate to online one (it was a bit ridiculous to have 2 planners and 2 to-do lists anyway). And mom's condition? Well thank goodness I'm here...And I also appreciate all the support from friends. Thank you all. So far, I'm ok. -
17th October 2009
My adorable MBTs
Everyone, please meet my MBTs. They’re produced with Masai Barefoot Technology. They are orange, a bit quirky, and endlessly amazingly wonderfully comfortable… except when you need to jump/hike/walk on mountain paths (but that can easily be overlooked). I find that because they are more rigid than your typical shoes, flat surfaces work best for them. But once I got used to them... I just wore them everywhere.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="They go with me everywhere!"][/caption]
The reason I got these was because my Sifu said: if you are really serious about learning WingTsun then you should get a pair of these. So… after much mental struggle (these shoes usually go for over 200!), I finally kicked myself into getting a pair.
I got my pair back in May and started wearing them almost every day since my move to SF (June). My legs were extremely tired when I first started wearing them but now they are the most comfortable shoes in the world. I get called out randomly in the middle of the street/store/greyhound station (?!) by people who are interested in getting a pair or just thought I looked really funny (kidding). I seriously think they should hire me as their spokesperson and pay me commission.
Amusingly enough, after I started showing them to the people at Studio WingTsun (SJ), two of them each got a pair and another one has a pair on the way. I basically said that if this trend continues, we’re going to become the MBTWT school! Which… I don’t mind at all. I’m definitely getting another pair once this pair wears out (which I hope will not be any time soon). But if you are planning to get a pair, I suggest you get them at a online shoe retailer (like Zappos or Footwear etc.) on sale. Generally they run a bit small so get your size or half a size bigger. I do recommend trying them on at a store first (if you can) because the fit is slightly different than your normal shoes.
But if you’re interested in some nice cool shoes that "rock", these would be IT!
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16th September 2009
Gathering of the Tea Bags
When I was in SF, I drank inordinate amounts of tea, mostly from teabags. I had a load of teabags that I didn’t know what to do with. I wanted to compost them, but the garden is not mine and I don’t want to mess with it (I’ll get my little window garden sometime!). So eventually, I remembered there was another way I could use them – as a beauty product!Tea does amazing things for bags under the eyes. It has antioxidants that are good for the skin. Just squeeze the bag of tea until it’s relatively dry (so you don’t get tea into your eyes) and then lay them down flat on top of your eyes, covering as much surface area as you can. Then leave them there for about 10 minutes. I’m not sure how many times you can do that, but I would suggest using them once or at most, twice. Also, when you are saving teabags (to be used later), put them in the fridge to keep the temperature low. The cooler temperature will keep the bags
So the next time you have a batch of teabags that you don’t quite know what to do with (black tea and green tea work the best, herbal tea not so much), why not try to use them for some eye pampering!When I left SF, I left the bag of teabags to my roommate. I hope she figures out how to use them.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Yummy and useful!"][/caption]
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12th September 2009
Getting the Full San Francisco Experience II
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... -
6th September 2009
For longer and stronger eyelashes
I’m not usually one who does open advertisements for products, but having tested this for myself I really think I should recommend it to people who have always been troubled (especially Asians like myself) by sparse and fragile eyelashes.
The product is called Zino. It’s a special serum that is used the same way as a mascara. You can also choose to use it as a primer, although I’m usually too lazy to put on mascara in general.
My eyelashes used to be (like any typical Asian) very short and the lashes on my lower lid are few or non-existent. My friend S read about this product in a beauty magazine and recommended to me. Unfortunately it can only be purchased (as far as I know) from SaSa, which is in HK. But we generally order them together and then share the shipping, the total of which comes out to be around the same as a high end mascara. I used it for about half a year (you’re supposed to use it once in the morning and once at night but I was lazy so eventually I only put it on in the morning). After a few weeks I could start to see results, eyelashes started growing where there were none and existing lashes were much stronger than before. I used it for a little over half a year, by the end of which I probably only put it on once every 2-3 days and only on the upper lashes, but they worked wonderfully. Now I don’t even use them anymore, but this is a wonderful product and I’d like to recommend it to all my friends and people who have eyelash problems. -
31st August 2009
My Generations of Pets...
Sometimes I really wonder about my particular habits... like naming and treating electronics as pets... >_< Below is a list of all the most important "pets" (*cough*computers*cough*) I ever owned... and this also exposes my age... hehe.First generation:
Dumbo (Packard Bell): My one and only ever desktop computer (my friend John even got me a toy Dumbo for my birthday for fun). 1996-1999. It got me through my Westinghouse paper hell, cost a FORTUNE (I paid for half of it, parents paid the other half), and saddest thing is, I don't remember for the life of me what happened to it... >_< so named NOT because I was obsessed with the elephant... but because my computer was perpetually driving me up the wall...
Wakko (from Animaniacs): This was a printer but it always gets placed alongside Dumbo so I'm putting it up here... so named because my printer was very temperamental.
I also named random things like a broomstick that I carried around (Puu), my Gund (Enishi), my orchid (Tomoe)... yes... this habit goes back a long time.Second generation:
Suupuu (Dell Latitude): this was during my Houshin Engi obsession stage.1999-2002. Rather short lived. Died 2 months before I had to hand in my thesis... argh. Then again, it was one of those illegit computers that was returned to the factory and somehow a random (Indian) technician got hold of it, "fixed" it, and then sold it at a lower price to poor students... under the table of course. o_OThird generation:
Hyd (Dell Inspiron): Obsessed with Laruku (Hyde). 2002-2006. Actually Hyd is still sitting in my cousin's house somewhere. Toshiba Satellites are extremely well made and I am sure if I didn't pour soda (Pepsi) on this one that it would be even better. Then again, I poured that soda on 2003 (the day of Jen's Chinese wedding, I remember distinctly because I was rushing out to get to her wedding and...) on the upper right hand corner... and for the next few years (until 06), it kept on working fine other than the occasional ghost writing by the keys on the upper right hand corner (e.g. \\\\\\\\\\\\\ or automatic deletion) and that my backspace doesn't function (you really have to wonder how I managed to use it all those years - ok fine there was some banging on the keyboard involved)... >_<Fourth (current) generation:
Niji (Toshiba Satellite): Niji = Rainbow in Japanese (one of my favorite Laruku songs, yup still obsessed), and it's the name of the Click-B fanclub (yes, I was obsessed with them at the time...). 2006-present. Still beautiful and sitting in my room in NYC, about to make the move across the US...
L. G. Spock (Lenovo S10): Er... see post. 2009-present. Has helped me through... a LOT and I owe my livelihood to it. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. (And the names are getting fancier... )Did I miss anyone? Right now I don't even keep track anymore of all the things that I've named... I'd go insane. I just remember that all of my flash drives are named after colors (in Japanese)... my GPS is Ed(ward Elric), my phone is Sora-chan (小天), my cards are Hitomi (Escaflowne), my camera is Hikaru II, my mp3 player Akira II....>_< At least now I only name my electronics (mostly, but it seems I only BUY electronics too... aye)... -
24th August 2009
Evolution of the Plum Chicken
Being that now I'm living on my own and need to 1) eat, 2) save money, 3) explore cooking - the natural conclusion is that I should start cooking on my own. Another concern of mine is that I don't want to waste anything... the Evolution of the Plum Chicken is a very good example of what usually happens with my food...When my housemate brought home some plums, both of us knew that they would all be in the garbage within 3 days since neither of us can possibly eat so many and she didn''t even touch them because she had too many already. So on the second day, I decided to do something about it so that the plums don't go to waste. The way I wanted to do it was to cook them. Since I didn't have the equipment to make jam, I decided to make plum compote.1) There was still some rock sugar left from my Red Bean Soup so I decided to melt that for my sauce instead of using regular sugar (which I never bought).
2) I washed and cut the plums. The put them in the sugar water to cook.
3) The skin of the plums come off very easily after a few minutes in the bath of hot water. I picked out all the skins with chopsticks.
4) The finished products, which I split into two containers, were: plum meat and plum sugar water, which I stored in my gogo no koucha (yum) bottle.
5) Ok, so this wasn't really what I had in mind and was far from what the recipe instructed... but... at least now the plums won't go bad.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Plums, oatmeal, sugar plum sauce"][/caption]
6) The plum meat I used for oatmeal topping - extremely delicious. I wolfed down the oatmeal (ok so I was hungry too).
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Plum Chicken"]
7) I couldn't figure out what to do with the sugar plum sauce until I just figured I might as well try to make sweet and sour chicken with it.
8) I had some chicken breast meat that I removed from the chicken I bought 2 weeks ago, which I marinated with small amounts of salt, soy sauce, and corn starch and put away in the fridge. I stir fried it until about 80% cooked. (may need to add water in the duration)
9) I poured the plum sauce and stir fried some more, then finally added a bit of corn starch so the sauce would thicken.
10 ) And finally, the result:[/caption]
Amazing what a Chinese mind (Don't be wasteful! Be creative and you can put EVERYTHING to good use.) can do, right?
The remaining plum sauce became:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Yummy Sweet & Sour spare ribs"][/caption]
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22nd August 2009
My humble (SF) abode
As some of you know, I have recently moved out into a roomshare. Most of the furniture is already here so I only had to get a bed (air bed for now). It's tiny and sort of... crappy, but I love it.There are many things you have to learn when you're on your own. I have been on my own before, when I was in college, but the feeling is complete different. Things that I've learned...1) Be sensible about what you need at the present moment - I've always been a great fan of preparing for the unexpected. Have at least two of everything. I was listening to a recording by Marie Forleo before and there's one thing that she said that really resonated with my current considerations: "only spend money on what you need now."
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Transformation of my tiny room.*"]
2) Be creative about using and reusing what's around to fulfill your everyday needs so you don't have to a. spend too much money and b. don't gather too much stuff - I've been using the same philosophy with other things too. Congee cans are being used as pen holders, styrofoam trays as drying trays, cup cover as coaster... oh using egg shells to remove all the burnt bits off the side of my frying pan. A glorious end to the piles of egg shells...
3) I've realized that the only way I feel like I can work is when everything is neat and orderly... so I wiped the entire place with cleaning solution then with wipies then with a sticky roller... yes... paranoid... but effective.
4) SF is kind of humid so everything starts rotting or smelling much faster... so buying a charcoal moisture absorbing device is very important.
5) Hide away as much as possible... and you know what, not too much is needed!
6) Ok... I admit it... I'm a bit OCD'ed...[/caption]
7) Ok... so I can't go anywhere without creating a food hideout... it's happened at EVERY place I've worked... I was the creator of the Food Can/Fund at the lawfirm where I worked as a paralegal (the tradition continues), Food Drawer at CU, Food Cabinet at iaTV, Food Drawers II and III at LW and CH and was officially known as the Supplier... >_<
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="My food closet... >_<"][/caption]*editing pictures is a bit difficult without photoshop... >_<
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21st August 2009
VAMPS in SF!
Well when I heard that VAMPS was going to have a concert, there was no question that I was going. The problem was finding out when I would be where (considering all my traveling) and then booking my tickets for that. When I confirmed that I would be in SF on 7/25, I immediately bought tickets to their concert.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="The line down Sutter."][/caption]
The line was INSANE! I didn't bring a camera because at the MUCC concert they asked people not to take any pictures and there was a LONG line to check your camera in (we skipped it.. cough). I didn't want to have to go through that again.
To relieve you the pain of having to sort through my fangirl squealing, I have found this post by another fan which pretty much summarizes how I feel about Hyde. Below are some general thoughts on the concert itself.
The concert was held at the Regency Center on VanNess and Sutter, the inside of which actually looks a lot like The Fillmore in NYC, where I went for the MUCC concert last December.
It's been 10+ years since I fell in love with Laruku and STILL I am SO in love with them (Hyde). He still looks the same, acts the same (SO CUTE), and SOUNDS the same! His amazing voice has not been completely destroyed by his incessant smoking! His English is still... err... it has improved since Baltimore (Otakon) where he screamed out "Do you like CRA[beep]S!?" Everyone went into a O_O phase... until we realized that he meant "Crabs"... ahem. Then we laughed.
This time he managed to convey the following:
1) SF is his city because... dun dun dun dun - it has HYDE street! (whoot!)
2) The SF streets are pretty steep (wonder if he rode the cable cars...)
3) He likes the Castro (everyone laughed, not sure why, maybe I'm missing something), Fishermen's wharf... and...
4) He had to buy a lot of clothes because (he paused)... it was SO COLD. He turned to the crowd with a really perplexed look and said, in a cute, helplessly confused way: I don't get it... (yea... I think a lot of tourists agree with you)
5) SF is beautiful :)
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="216" caption="Crappy camera phone = =+"][/caption]
I had the same overwhelming feelings of joy when I saw this concert as when I saw the MUCC concert last year, except this one had HYDE!!! I LOVE concerts, or any live music in general. It just has so much... LIFE in it. And you can have direct reactions from the crowd around you. I guess this is the same as why guys like sports events. It's the spirit of the crowd and link with other people that's so awesome. My heart just soaked it all in (I physically felt tingling in my heart, though that's an illusion of course), despite that I was there alone, I enjoyed every moment of it.
VAMPS music is much harder than Laruku music, a bit more than what I like, but still good. I enjoy all music as long as it's good. They did covers of other songs, including a Beatles song. Hyde's English is not great, but his voice would make everything sound good. <3 (I'm obviously biased)
A few things...
1) When you're at a ROCK concert, trying to cover your ears whenever someone screams around you MUST be tiring... (DUH!) WHY someone would do that... beats me (I was having too much fun screaming).
2) Screaming and waving your hands show the artist how much you enjoy their music. The worst thing for a musician (band) is if they play their music and it's dead silence in the audience. You might as well not go to a concert then.
3) C'mon, when you are explicitly TOLD not to use a camera, don't wave your massive SLR around. No one will feel bad for you even if you have a broken nose (not from that day) and are escorted out by security.
4) People certainly take advantage of any/every occasion they can cosplay at...
5) My MBT shoes make it extremely hard to jump up...
6)And I missed my MUCC concert mates (cutie, Sarah, and Chun)... >_<While I still have the energy to jump around and cheer for people/bands/groups I love, I will savor and enjoy every moment of it.
P.S. Jack, they're certainly not Laruku, but it's still Hyde. and I loved it. K.A.Z. was awesome too!
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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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