Tea reviews from a pro

Moved to wordpress

2010-12-02T02:13:00.000-08:00

I exported this blog to

www.teaslayer.wordpress.com

goodbye blogspot, it was nice using you

早安,晨之美MV

2010-11-29T01:39:00.000-08:00

Good morning/evening everyone! I hope you can enjoy this song by 盧廣仲 :)

It's basically an entire song on breakfast, but I think it's a pretty creative music video/song. It should be a fairly easy song to learn for people learning Mandarin. (Plus, he mentions milk tea near the end)

詞曲作者：作曲：盧廣仲填詞：盧廣仲

嘿!吃早餐阿!快點啦!

有好多好多早餐在這裡

在我們最熟悉的早餐店裡

不管你睡的多晚起的多晚

晨之美永遠在這裡歡迎光臨你

對啊。對啊。對啊。對啊。

對啊。對啊。對啊。

有好多好多早餐在這裡

在我們最熟悉的早餐店裡

不管你睡的多晚起的多晚

晨之美永遠在這裡歡迎光臨你

對啊。對啊。對啊。對啊。

有好多好多早餐在這裡

在我們最熟悉的早餐店裡

不管你睡的多晚起的多晚

晨之美永遠在這裡歡迎光臨你

對啊。對啊。對啊。對啊。

we share the mornig~

we share the milk tea~

我一直在這裡陪你一起

對啊。對啊。對啊。對啊。

via [音樂•ABC] 盧廣仲 - 早安，晨之美！歌詞.

Fantasia 夢 (Cafe)

2010-11-28T01:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't written one of these in forever...here goes:

This is a review for Fantasia 夢 located in Milpitas, CA.

Unlike my usual drink of choice, original 珍珠奶茶, I actually really enjoy this store's Taro Milk.

Taro Milk With Pearls

Pearls: 10/10 every time I go, it's perfect

Taro Milk: 10/10 This is by far the best taro milk I've ever had. You can actually taste the semi smooth texture of the blended taro. Many stores usually just use powder instead of REAL taro so this definitely raises the score a lot. Meanwhile, you can taste the not-overly-sweet sweet milk they added, enough so it doesn't overwhelm the taste of the taro.

Price: pretty pricey, not something i would purchase everyday. but if you haven't tried it, it's a must try!

up close

Have a nice day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Thought this song was pretty relaxing and a good morning song to drink your coffee/tea to. Kind of gives off a Starbucks vibe.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

enjoy and drink your tea! :)

Milk Tea vs. Royal Milk Tea

2010-11-24T19:09:00.001-08:00

Have you ever seen the words Milk Tea and Royal Milk Tea together on one menu and wondered what the difference was?

Well, I found out the answer today from here

Er... anyways, sorry I don't know how to make that bigger, but it says:

1. They use honey instead of sugar.

2. They use real tea & milk with a very black tea as the base

So, it sounds much healthier than normal milk tea in which I suppose they use normal sugar. However, I have a feeling this really depends on the store, since the way I was taught to make milk tea, I've always used 豐年果糖

There you go :)

Resolution Progress December

2009-12-06T01:47:00.000-08:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora
-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 24/17 COMPLETE
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek
-GATTACA
-Meteor Garden
-Up
-向左走向右走
-Transformers 2

-Jump Boys (or kids?)

-Dragonball Evolution

-I Love You Man

-Coraline

-Mamma Mia!

-The Namesake

-The Producers

-My Girlfriend is a Cyborg

-Atashinchi no Danshi

-New Moon

-Tale of Two Sisters

-Laputa: The Castle in the Sky

-Avatar

-G Force

-1 Litre of Tears (drama)

NDS/videogames: 8/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown
my M3DS cleared itself, so the NDS count might be discontinued

-Doraemon's Doragana

-Mario Kart DS Japanese

Books: 13/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before-Pieces of You
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

-The Royal Diaries: Nzingha

-The DaVinci Code

-5 People You Meet in Heaven

-The Devil Wears Prada

-ORP and the FBI

So, I didn't fulfill my resolution, but that's ok, because I took a better road. :)

Resolution Progress November

2009-11-27T22:38:00.001-08:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora
-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 20/17 COMPLETE
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek
-GATTACA
-Meteor Garden
-Up
-向左走向右走
-Transformers 2

-Jump Boys (or kids?)

-Dragonball Evolution

-I Love You Man

-Coraline

-Mamma Mia!

-The Namesake

-The Producers

-My Girlfriend is a Cyborg

-New Moon

-Doraemon's Doragana

Books: 10/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before-Pieces of You
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

-The Royal Diaries: Nzingha

-The DaVinci Code

so, here comes the last month of 2009!! LET'S TRY TO GET THIS RESOLUTION DONE!

Resolution Progress October

2009-10-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora
-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 18/17 COMPLETE
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek
-GATTACA
-Meteor Garden
-Up
-向左走向右走
-Transformers 2-Jump Boys (or kids?)-Dragonball Evolution-I Love You Man-Coraline-Mamma Mia!-The Namesake-The Producers
NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown
my M3DS cleared itself, so the NDS count might be discontinued

Books: 9/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before-Pieces of You
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

This resolution thing is mellowing out :/ but probably because i've been doing almost everything in japanese

Homework Surprise

2009-10-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

I had a very surprising sightsinging homework experience. Sometimes, our teacher will assign our class to class call him and sing in solfege or what not. Usually when we call, there's only an answering machine and we just leave a message. Today nearly shocked me. I decided to be a good nonprocrastinator and call my teacher early (right after lunch) and when i called he picked up the phone. That surprised me so badly that there was a pause when he said "hello?"

Convo

phone: ring ring

me: -in my mind- okay i'll say: Hi Dr. _____. This is _____. -insert solfege practice here-

3 seconds later

dr. c : HeeeeeeeLLO?

me: O_O; uh... -3 second pause- Hi Dr. C, this is ______. I was going to do my call me assignment. Is that okay?

dr. c: well, sure I'm ready (and some other stuff that regarded my past homework mistakes in minor key solfege)

-silence-

me: -not sure when to start then randomly starts- -insert solfege singing here-

dr. c: well that was good. You get a 95!

yeahh that's kind of how it went. I know i screwed up on one of the last 3 notes of the solfege practice T^T

Resolution Progress September

2009-10-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

-Jump Boys (or kids?)-

Dragonball Evolution

-I Love You Man

-Coraline

-Mamma Mia!

-The Namesake

-The Producers

NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown
my M3DS cleared itself, so the NDS count might be discontinued

Books: 9/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before-Pieces of You
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

2009-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

It's finally Friday! ^-^ i have been so tired this week and just KO-ed on my bed every night. Yesterday, our whole dorm was forced to wake up at 6:12 AM since someone pulled the fire alarm = =;. We all had to stand out in the freezing cold to some fake fire. (i could smell smoke, but i don't think it really was a fire).

yesterday was also my first time performing in studio class. I don't think I played very well because I sped through almost the entire piece (Bach Presto). I think it was due to nerves. Also, many things i worked on such as my bow hold didn't come through. Hopefully it won't happen again next time and I can play through the whole piece.

2009-09-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

today i finally felt ready for college (something i shoulda done 3 months ago) but i don't know why. it's like i put everything i had into a past memory box and am now looking forward to the future!

church bazaar~

2009-09-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

Our annual church bazaar was held today. I'm glad I came home this weekend and finished my FIRST COLLEGE MIDTERMS since there is so much going on (church bazaar, festival in park behind my house, etc).

Anyhow, this year's bazaar was special, not because they did not have boba tea, but because I won a raffle drawing for the first time in my life (i don't count my 5th grade class raffles). My prize was a basket of dental supplies-- so now, I have a ton of toothpaste, 3 different kinds of floss, 2 toothbrushes (electric and normal) and a bunch of other teeth-related items. My friends dahlia and henry from high school came as well ^-^. Nana returned from college for the weekend >:D oh so many people showed up it'd take a long time to finish listing them all. Twas cool hanging out with them and everyone

Other things that day: i saw my friend's parents at the nearby newly-opened 99 ranch market. :( i miss that friend as well~

google maps animation

2009-09-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

here's a nifty animation on how google maps works :)

awkward funny teacher moment

2009-09-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

this made my day-

"This white shirt makes my man boobs show! :D" -choir teacher

update on school: Intro to music tech

2009-09-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today we started doing some cool things with music in Intro to Music Tech. It's pretty cool to see how easily you can edit a song with a simple Logic program. Our assignment is to remix a song and I think I know exactly which 2 songs I want to mess around with... Love and War- DAVICHI and Love Love Love- Epik High. I've been wanting to put these two songs together before I went to hardcore jp learn mode and I'm looking forward to see if it'll work. :)

stupid moments: stupid email to beef jerky company

2009-09-21T14:04:00.001-07:00

So, last week or so, I bought a Beef and Cheese Stick combo at our student store. Bored, I decided to send an email to the company regarding whether to eat the beef and cheese simultaneously or separately. Today, I finally got a reply and just reading through the whole email makes me crack up. XD (not the reply, but the whole process in general) Here's a copy of the email:

Category: I have a general question about a Jack Link's Product
Question/Comment:
To Whom it May Concern:
Today I purchased White cheddar Beef & Cheese flavor and was baffled by how to consume it. I was wondering if the beef and cheese were meant to be eaten simultaneously or separately? Thank you for your time. By the way, I like your beef jerky. I buy it frequently at my school. :)

REPLY:

Thank you for your email - we appreciate hearing from satisfied users of our products. Please feel free to consume the Beef and Cheese Combo any way you like. Some people eat the cheese and the beef stick together others separately.

Our goal, everyday, is to make certain that our premium products reach our consumers as fresh and flavorful as possible. Our entire staff is dedicated to ensuring that, through every step of the process, we maintain the highest possible safety and quality standards.

It is only through meeting the needs of consumers like you that we can continue to be successful. We truly appreciate your comments.

Best Regards,

****************

Well, haha I feel stupid but that was fun.

2nd weekend spent at school

2009-09-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

so ends the second weekend i've spent at school. dang it's not exactly boring, but i definitely see my colleagues more. strangely though, this weekend a lot of my friends left so it was kind of quiet.

i realized today how much i miss all of my friends. i used to have a lot of friends to hang out with and in college it seems like i just started a new blank page or i just hit the refresh button. i really would rather hang out with them than hang out with some of my college friends unfortunately. seems almost impossible to hold a conversation with any of them. it's so difficult to find anything past the usual greetings: "hi" , "what's up".

oh well i guess that's part of college. better than getting drunk? well a lot of my friends came back from my old orchestra's retreat. i really wish i could have hung out with them. :/

ANYHOW i got some new sheet music yesterday :) well not some...a lot. tons and tons of chinese, japanese, and korean sheet music. yay something to do

Mamma Mia! (the movie)

2009-09-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

I just finished the movie, Mamma Mia, and oh man, that was a good movie. :) I had no idea Meryl Streep could sing! She's such an astounding actress :) and probably one of the coolest 60 yr olds alive!! I wish my grandparents could still jump up and down on trampolines and run around (of course they're older than ms. streep, but still.....) The movie took place in Greece, which reminded me of my trip to Greece two years ago. Maaan, Greece is so beautiful. The water at the beaches is so incredibly clean and blue looking (well.. at least surrounding Crete and the other islands). it kind of reminded me of the first hotel we stayed in when we got to greece where the view out of our window was a beach. ahh good times good times. ANYHOW... this is the first version of Mamma Mia i've seen, so not really sure how it compares to the actual musical. I thought this had a pretty good storyline though.

Summary: There's a girl about to get married and she read her mom's old diary. She finds out that she has 3 possible fathers and she invites all 3 to her wedding. (she has no idea who her father is) and the 3 of them show up at the girl's villa. She tries to hide the 3 men from her mom, who finds them anyways and sings the Mamma Mia song. (this song) andddd the rest is for you guys to watch for yourself. :) All the singing is pretty good in my opinion and i like the songs a lot!! (how could u dislike ABBA songs?)

My favorite scene was probably when Donna (Streep) was singing Mamma Mia. I thought that part was kind of cool because it was kind of exciting to watch.

I thought this movie would be really corny when I first watched the commercial and saw the ads (because usually nothing is as good as the original right?) but it came out nicely. Now I really want to check out the actual musical! Overall, this was a fun movie and nice to listen to.

Movie makers are running out of ideas. So many movies are now sequels, originally books, musicals?, etc... :/

sleep at 11:00? nah...

2009-09-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

today's been a good/interesting/weird day :]

first, the good news...

1) i aced our sightsinging test :]

2) my DS is fixed thanks to keita!! :D

3) we got a little farther in the Orphan.. not really a scary movie because no gore actually shows up o.O (so much for rated R)

and the bad news...

none i can think of :D

Funny Music Video

2009-09-17T11:29:00.001-07:00

I found this hilarious song/video on youtube about dating asian men.

song: Date an Asian

artist: Jen Kwok

ENJOY

beef jerky addiction x.x; --EDIT-- NOT ADDICTED ANYMORE

2009-09-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

so lately, i've been pretty addicted to "beef jerky". @__@; it's so good and chewy but i think it's really bad for me... i had 2 sticks and 1 bag of beef jerky today....

-edit-

9/18/09

woow i'm so not addicted to beef jerky anymore. x.x; i looked up some ingredients listed on the back of the bag of beef jerky and oh man, it has MSG and sodium nitrite in it (CANCER). well i know that beef jerky isnt supposed to be consumed in large amounts daily, so now i'm just not addicted. i still like it... a lot...

opinions on stockton and my college

2009-09-13T21:22:00.001-07:00

i know a lot of people have asked me how college is so far and i guess i've given a lot of one-sided answers so i guess here is a more clear version of my opinons

1) yes, stockton is a super dangerous city. based on what everyone's said so far.... one street could be safe and the next is dangerous. i heard that my friend almost got mugged, but luckily didnt by walking to the nearby mcdonalds. i think the street my school is on is pretty safe. i mean, there's police patrolling almost everywhere near the school >.>;

2)my roommate's a cool person. i mean, i guess her personality might have changed a little from the first day, but she is still a super nice person. i know she doesnt do things on purpose and she has a sense of humor. i think she studies hard and also parties so i guess it's all good.

3) the school is pretty boring. i swear i do almost the same thing everyday: go to class, eat, sleep, practice violin/piano, and computer fun. having no class seems almost boring and having homework is fun. just the thought of having something to do is fun. i suppose i should join clubs and be social and was going to join pep band, but i decided i'm not going to sacrifice my ears for that.

4) everyone's pretty friendly at the school. no one hates each other i think

5) classes arent so bad even though they take up almost my whole day usually. isnt it funny..i complain about having no classes, yet i complain about them filling up my day.

6) i think i like everything the way it is right now. yeah, even if stockton is filled with random sketchy streets etc etc. :]

another weird dream

2009-09-13T21:12:00.001-07:00

last night, i had another weird dream. this time i was with the group i hang out with at my college and we were at a tiny store. I guess near Walnut and i guess it was because we were stocking up on stuff. anyhow, i remember, i grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the shelves and brought it to the counter to purchase. the employee dude didnt ask my age either. so i was fishing around for money since it was really expensive (like $35?) and i finally found money in my backpack second pocket, where i usually store random crap. while i was fishing around for money, my friend megan went up curiously next to the counter to see what i got and she said "ew" but i ignored her anyways... anyhow, i paid for it. didnt smoke, but i remember we kept driving down a highway, then i woke up and realized it was a dream. .-. good thing. oh also, i assumed that we were in walnut since there was a bag hanging next to the counter that said Walnut.

i wonder what all these dreams mean :/ and no, i don't smoke, dont think i ever will.

well...i did some school restocking today and hung out at church...yeah..didnt do much

whatta weird wednesday

2009-09-10T01:40:00.000-07:00

our group was kind of scattered today. :/ so i hung out mostly with victor....

weird dream and labor day fun

2009-09-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

last night, I had a really weird dream where I "ate" myself. It was more like licking myself (i think my arm) and i was licking in a line, so it became a kind of long U_____) <--- kind of like that. it was weird, i didn't have blood and stuff, instead it was white, and it kind of hurt to lick myself in, but for some reason, it was so addicting to do it. Then I kind of looked away for a while - don't remember why- but then when i looked back at my "arm" it was reversed, i mean the long ditch i licked. so imagine U_____) upside down x.x; it was weird.. it's like when you scratch yourself, you get this bumpy red line, but this was i swear 3 times that size. it kind of tasted like pork blood; that stench you get in your nose when you eat it.
dang i wish i remembered my old psychology dream analysis techniques.

i went to visit my friend Amy at UCB. unfortunately, it was a very short visit :( my mom only gave me 1 hour, but it makes sense, since she had to bring my sister back to her school and me back to mine (and the BAY BRIDGE WAS CLOSED) so it took much longer than the trip really should have if it was open. anyhow, i met one of amy's roommates and found out where her dorm was. didn't do much :/ , but i got my cousin's pictures from OCAC finally. :) so now amy can clear 4GB on her laptop.

Saturday: trip to Jtown

2009-09-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

I met up with some friends at jtown. it was pretty fun, i didn't even notice i was hanging out with them for 6 hours. unfortunately kevin had to go early. :(

BUT i got a dictionary (jp - jp definitions) :D and Doraemon manga.

communication with strangers

2009-09-05T23:17:00.001-07:00

i love to hear/watch stories about strangers that talk to each other and a close friendship slowly unfolds (example: NANA- a must checkout down to earth anime/manga). it's so awesome how just a few simple questions can ease down awkwardness and leave you with an unique trip.

Today on BART on my way to jtown, i met a girl called emily. she seemed like a clumsy girl since she tripped on her way getting onto the train, but she sat next to me and we started talking..and talking... i'm glad she started the conversation because that made the bart trip so much more interesting. she was a girl from socal and was attending uc berkeley and this was her first time taking the bart.

i usually dislike it when people sit next to me and are silent/minding their own business since it makes me feel tense, as if i should move away or just stare out the window. emily's definitely someone i wish i could be more like. although i kind of prejudged what her personality was like, she was very different from my assumptions. i think she inspired me to start trying to open conversations with people now rather than shy away. :]

i hope i can meet her again... maybe on monday?

Unfairness to Music Majors

2009-09-05T01:32:00.000-07:00

Being a violin performance major feels ridiculously time consuming. Everyday, I feel like I'm overwhelmed with classes (except monday so far) but even then, I feel like I have so much work to do everyday. I always feel like I have a class to attend every few hours of the day. Regardless of the difficulty of the class, I still have to attend the class to receive a good grade. On top of music classes, my college has something called pacific seminar, where we discuss "what makes a good society". Going to college as a music major, I thought i was finally free of all english and math related subjects, but no. we read articles and get assignments from that class unrelated to music (essays). I would understand if the essays were music-related, but so far they aren't. That class's homework is probably the most time consuming of all.

Anyhow, I'm extremely happy it's a 3-day weekend. I have a lot of homework and practicing to do this weekend. It's not hard....just very time wasting...

I'm pretty excited to hang out with my friends tomorrow. :)

Resolution Progress August

2009-09-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora
-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 13/17
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek
-GATTACA
-Meteor Garden
-Up
-向左走向右走
-Transformers 2

-Jump Boys (or kids?)

-Dragonball Evolution

-I Love You Man

NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown

my M3DS cleared itself, so the NDS count might be discontinued

Books: 9/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before

-Pieces of You
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

First Day of College

2009-08-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

Finally, the first day of college has ended. Even though I didn't have very many classes, it felt extremely busy. As exciting and fun the professors are, all my classes still feel so long and boring. One of the most unfortunate parts of being a music major at my school is that I have to wake up at 7AM everyday. (and I thought that when I got to college, I wouldn't have to wake up so early anymore ><). Anyhow, today, I had: Music Theory, Intro to Music Tech, Orchestra, and Choir (not really one of my classes, but i went to check it out anyways).

Music Theory- the teacher has a funny french accent and says 'oui' in class. he's an extremely funny, eccentric, and ecstatic guy. I think we have 2 music theory teachers. The other one is quite funny too, but a very different type of funny.

Music Tech- this must be one of the coolest rooms in the school. all the computers in the room are macs and have a keyboard in front of them, so you can compose music easily with a music-writing software. this class actually seems pretty exciting, not only because you can play on the computer, but we're supposed to learn how to use the "modern way" of developing music.

Orchestra- maan, this class was very boring. and yes, it counts as a class. my standpartner didn't really talk to me, so it was really quiet for me. i hate joining orchestras again because a lot of people already know each other and already hang out with each other in their own groups. yeahh i know there's still new freshman in orchestra, but i don't know which ones they are. cool fact: i found out the other violinist in my trio group is the concertmistress. :O i hope to be learning a lot from her :] The orchestra tried to sight-read a Dvorak piece i played in 8th grade. It felt weird playing the 2nd violin part.

choir- well, i didn't really sign up for this class yet. i thought it was quite fun though. It sounds cool when a lot of voices harmonize together to sing a song. The teacher is the same teacher as the music theory (not the french one).

I started watching Orphan with victor and keita. dang our practice room parties are so extreme XD

2009-08-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

I start classes "tomorrow". ah, yes finally the first official day of school. So, the past week has been so busy and I've been really tired. I spent tons of time at the school practice rooms

-edit-

Well, today's been an awfully long day.

1) The school screwed up my degree program, so now, I am going to be placed into Violin Performance B.M. instead of Music Violin B.A. So, I am going to now sacrifice my Japanese class (not that it matters) to squeeze in the rest of my B.M. classes

2) there was going to be a shuttle launch on tv in florida, but it got cancelled. haha, sucks for all the news crews that came to our school.

Stockton Ports vs. San Jose Giants

2009-08-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Today, i went to my first baseball game ever at Stockton Baseball Park. The game was Stockton Ports vs. San Jose Giants (I thought it was San Francisco Giants?) It was part of the MOVE trip I signed up for. The MOVE trip is a "trip" thing that all freshman at my college have to sign up for. It's supposed to be some way for us to connect with nature and bond with each other, but unfortunately, my MOVE trip took place right behind the school, the Calavares River. There, we picked up trash, even though there was barely any trash :/ so we picked up tons of concrete slabs o_O. The only interesting thing I saw was a shopping cart in the water.... but apparently, people found boxers, bras, stuff like that.

Well, for some reason, i was super tired today (i think it was because of the late night sleeping and waking up at 8-ish). so Luckily, our MOVE trip ended "early" (2:30-ish because we were so close to the school and had such a easy task, we ended our discussion early and had free time) and i was so ready to go take a nap in my dorm, but no my friend says he's bored and just has to tag along = =;. so i end up not getting sleep and got my textbooks for school. i think i was running on coffee caffeine. dang that friend is getting kind of annoying though...he tags along for nearly everything. i mean, I don't mind hanging out with people, but when they get kind of clingy, it's annoying. i guess i am kind of one of those loner types, but it actually feels pretty nice sometimes when you don't have people hanging around you nonstop.

I thought the baseball game was pretty fun except that it was kind of long. I think I tend to like to watch sports where you use some item to hit another item (i.e. tennis, ping pong, badminton, baseball, etc.) I got to hang out with some hawaiians, who told us some interesting things about hawaii (like, why do tourists always go to waikiki o_O; that place has sucky waves or something like that)

1 day of freedom left

2009-08-16T23:59:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow's my last day of freedom before i'm moving into my college. it's kind of a sad feeling even though I know that I'm going to only be a 1 hour away from my friends and family, etc, but it really is a big hassle to go back and forth, especially through a very boring route. I guess, I can enjoy looking at the big brown hills and windmills while blasting jpop. i wonder when i'm going to come back home... I'm guessing probably after next sunday, when most things are finally settled in college.

mm.. I'm a little nervous to meet my roommate, even though i kind of talked to her on facebook. i also wonder what kind of people there are at my school. it feels like it's going to be high school freshman year first day all over again (except i have a laptop this time). i hope it's full of nice people...

good and bad day

2009-08-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

Twas a strange and long day.

Good: went ta church

-got starbucks

-got more school stuff at bed bath & beyond!

-ate at sweet tomatoes for the first time since a competition i had long time ago with jennifer and evelyn

Bad: -Our car key did not fit into the slot where you start the engine for a ridiculous amount of time. (.__. );

-hung out with friends at church for maybe last time in a while...

-tired

it's so late...

2009-08-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

agh i can't fall asleep >:(

earlier, i read through my 2006 taiwan ILT xanga entries..and DANG how I wish I could have kept entries that well this year especially for this camp... I think i have finally gotten over the tragedy of leaving the camp, but the downfall is my memory's fading and i have to force myself to rethink what happened x.x;

i spent nearly a whole afternoon yesterday getting college supplies and I want to sincerely thank the workers at Target for putting up with the millions of questions i had (because of my mom) on where things were and being so helpful. But thanks to you guys, I have finally completed my college shopping list!! i'll be sure to go back and get any missing school supplies there!

-teaslayer

meteor shower

2009-08-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

Today was the first time (since taiwan) that i looked up into the night sky and saw stars. tons of them. it's a shame that taiwan's sky is so clouded almost all the time, but the moon is quite pretty there. So, the reason I stood outside in boxers and watched the stars is because there was supposed to be a meteor shower. Instead, I saw a super bright star making circles. It was really weird...like a drunk star? I'm positive it wasn't an airplane since it was far too bright. Anyhow, after the star made a few circles it went in a straight line somewhere else.

Does that mean my wish just failed? x__x;

teaslayer

super busy

2009-08-13T01:42:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got to my house, I have been busy unpacking things and finishing some last minute college freshman forms (which i'm still not done with). I stocked on so many things that I'm not sure really where to put all the new stuff I got.

Later on, I got to go to Jason's house. ^^ The three of us (angela, jason, me) made a giant furball thing out of Toby (dog)'s fur all over the floor. PRETTY NASTY HUH! but it was really fun. :)

Back in California

2009-08-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

After a really long time from taiwan to japan to california, i'm finally back. I think i should be happy, but i really am not. i miss walking up the long sloped road to Tamkang University :( (okay that was random) and I really miss hanging out with the rest of everyone who's probably in Taizhong now.

Anyways, the flight from Japan to California had terrible service. I pressed the steward(ess) service button twice and both times, the steward(ess) came really slowly. Both times I had to press the button twice before i saw someone make their way through the isle to help me. I swear, if i were choking, I'd DIE before they even got there to help me or even notice.

It was kind of a quiet trip on the way back, almost the whole way, since my cousin was sleeping next to me. I managed to finish 2 movies (Dragonball and Monsters vs. Aliens) and 1 episode of a show. The food kind of sucked so I starved from Japan to California.

As for a memorable event, in Narita airport, Angela and I (mostly me) wanted to buy green tea ice cream out of a vending machine. So, we tried to collect money. I bought The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi vol. 1 and Newstype Sept. edition (anime magazine) to add up more money to our change. To our dismay, we were 70 yen short. Coincidentally, we were talking right next to the ice cream machine about how we were short of money, and as we were walking away from the vending machine, a kind man came up to us and gave us 60 yen he said he didn't need. What a nice guy huh. ^^ i think he thought we were trying to get something else (maybe a phone card?). I don't think he would be so willing if he knew we were trying to buy ice cream. Later on, Angela found another 10 yen in her bag and we were all happy with the ice cream. ^o^

So, as for now, I really miss Taiwan and i wish everyone were back together in Taiwan and having fun instead of leaving the camp early. :( California seems so boring now, or at least where I live. strangely i'm barely excited to see anyone again because I guess it means that school's going to start again...

safety sling sign

gripping both belt and what?? x__x

the ice cream my cousin and i worked so hard for :]

a note to my roomates

2009-08-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

To Roomates/ Room 8670:
First of all, thanks for making the stay at camp so much fun and keeping our room so loud!!

To the sisters... (vicky and jessica) it's unfortunate you guys had to be one of the first people I had to say 'bye' to :( Your beds are really comfortable o.o although they kind of smelled bad (especially jessica's x.x) I'm going to miss ur guys' cussing at each other, ranting on fruit, aggresive personalities, and all the things you do in the room. >.> That was one of the things that made our room so interesting and cooler than all the other rooms. It's going to feel so quiet wherever I sleep now (since I only have 1 roomate in college).

to ellis... u are...a dangerous person to be around x.x; i think we hung out the most during the entire stay at camp. i'm going to miss your shortness, ur weird/funny stories and comments, and u stealing my bed. when i get back to california, it's going to feel like there's an empty hole in my bed... no squishy stomach to sit/lay on XD. I probably wont miss the violent things you did to me though (including cutting my leg, pulling my hair out, etc)= =;. Okay, I'll try to visit ur high school or ur house and we'll hang out then, cuz ur holding my stuff hostage anyways.

amy... i know ur not really our roomate, but you spent a lot of time in our room that it kind of felt like it. i'm going to miss ur random barging in our room and bothering you.

I'm glad you guys were my roomates, because I don't think i would have wanted it any other way. well, hope u guys have a fun and safe trip for the last OCAC trip. :]

--tab

o_o i wonder if u guys WILL ever find this haha

Snow White Fantasies?

2009-08-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

After watching this video, I'm tempted to get pet deer, squirrels, birds, etc and have them clean up my room/backyard/house :D

yeah!! singing hypnosis!!

last minute rant in taiwan

2009-08-10T09:22:00.001-07:00

a quick last minute rant in taiwan

sometimes, i hate how my grandma is the nervous-type. this morning, i woke up to the annoying sound of plastic bags rattling around since my grandma was trying to help me pack my luggage. To be a little hypocritical, the sound didn't bother me all that much, but when I woke up, I seriously could not find anything.

Scenario 1: For lunch, our family went to a French restaurant called Mr. Onion. I didn't bring my camera because I couldn't find it immediately. Later on, before I went out to the night market, I blurted out "WHERE'S MY CAMERA?" and my mom started helping me look for it. It ended up being in my suitcase..the one that would be under the plane when i left. -- Not exactly where I left it...

Scenario 2: Yesterday, I left my bug repellent on a table near where I slept, since I have a habit in Taiwan where I wake up and spray bug repellent on myself. But, I guess I didn't notice it missing, so I went the day without bug repellent and I ended up with 6 new mosquito bites... ouch ne? on top of that, after coming back from the night market, i couldn't find my bug bite medicine and my bug bites felt like they were BURNING.

Well, that's my rant. I'm almost back to America, yeah.. 2 more Taiwan days. I'm glad I actually spent today shopping, because I think I finished most of my shopping. :)

Bakuman inspiration: rockstar

2009-08-09T07:54:00.001-07:00

Last night, my friend, Hiroshi, showed me a new manga called Bakuman. After reading through the first few chapters, I think I've been inspired to be a rockstar. XD Anyhow, it's a pretty good manga, and I would recommend it to people who would want to become a mangaka.

Basically the storyline is about a guy, who is pretty much forced by his classmate to combine their skills and make a manga. For example, one guy is pro at drawing and the other is #1 in their class

Heineken Linkin Park Headphones

2009-08-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

I kind of lost track of the "fun in taiwan" days, so don't expect to see them in the last few weeks posts.

After searching a lot of 7-11 and Family Marts for weeks....I got this totally sick-looking pair of Heineken headphones at Family Mart. On one side, it has the Heineken Logo and on the other side, it says Linkin Park, All-American Rejects, and Hoobastank. I think it was to promote their Taipei concert on 8/13. I really wish I could go to the concert, but unfortunately, I'm leaving the day before.

Anyhow, pics of the headphones ^^b.

So, if you're in Taiwan, I would recommend getting these headphones, because not only are they cheap (399NT without the beer) they work pretty well too. It also folds in (as shown in pics) which i think is one of the coolest things i've seen for headphones so far. The sound... sounds much different than my JVC clip-on headphones or Sony headphones. (Not sure if that's a good thing or not)

teaslayer

p.s. i know they spelled Hoobastank incorrectly--Hoopastank

Last day of OCAC

2009-08-08T06:41:00.001-07:00

And so ends my stay at OCAC camp. I miss everyone a lot even the ones that live practically 30min-60 min from my house. For some strange reason, I couldn't bring myself to cry in front of my friends when we were talking to each other for maybe the last time. I regret just running through the dorm doors after my mom scolded me and told me we had to leave immediately because it probably looked like I completely ignored my German friends T_T (i'm extremely sorry) as well as everyone else who said bye to me. But you know, I miss everyone very very much and I think this is going to be one of my most memorable summers. I wish I could spend the actual last week with everyone too. In fact, I miss everyone so much I feel like I somewhat regret joining this camp. It's pretty amazing how 6 weeks could bring everyone so close together... The camp theme song had a line that was absolutely right for me... (rough translation) "some friends will make you angry, but you'll end up leaving crying".
ANYHOW I didn't get to say bye to a few more of my friends, some who left for the weekend the day before due to the typhoon. But, I'm glad I got numbers from my friends in the USA that I can still stay in contact with :]
I'm glad I spent the last night pretty well though. My roomated and I ended up just telling each other weird stories and doing stupid things (including her writing on the wall on accident) x.x;

Well, it's time for me to finish uploading all my posts...

-teaslayer

--oh, i think i'm going to go visit the school/camp tomorrow again anyways since i'm meeting up w/ my friend from there :O

--- i don't think anyone from camp will ever find this (might post it on facebook when i'm done), but... if you do... congratz :O

To Roomates:
First of all, thanks for making the stay at camp so much fun and keeping our room so loud!!
To the sisters... (vicky and jessica) it's unfortunate you guys had to be one of the first people I had to say 'bye' to :( Your beds are really comfortable o.o although they kind of smelled bad (especially jessica's x.x) I'm going to miss ur guys' cussing at each other, ranting on fruit, aggresive personalities, and all the things you do in the room. >.> That was one of the things that made our room so interesting and cooler than all the other rooms. It's going to feel so quiet wherever I sleep now (since I only have 1 roomate in college).

to ellis... u are...a dangerous person to be around x.x; i think u hung out with me the most during the entire stay at camp. i'm going to miss your shortness, ur weird/funny stories and comments, and u stealing my bed. when i get back to california, it's going to feel like there's an empty hole in my bed... no squishy stomach to sit/lay on XD. I probably wont miss the violent things you did to me though (including cutting my leg, pulling my hair out, etc)= =;. Okay, I'll try to visit ur high school or ur house and we'll hang out then, cuz ur holding my stuff hostage anyways.

I'm glad you guys were my roomates, because I don't think i would have wanted it any other way. well, hope u guys have a fun and safe trip for the last OCAC trip. :]
LOVE U GUYS TO DEATH♥♥♥

2009-08-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe there's only 1 week of camp left. I already started to miss everyone. I mean, when are we all going to meet and be together again? We're all so scattered around the world... even in the United States. As for my class, only 1 other person lives somewhat close to me while 1 person lives in oklahoma, 1 person lives in Massachusetts, 2 in New York, 2 people live on opposite sides of Canada, and those are the people that live CLOSEST to me in North America. The rest are from france, holland, thailand, and vietnam o_O. See, when will i ever meet any of these people again?? and this is JUST my class.

So I think I'm going to try to cherish this last week with my homies in the entire camp.

Resolution Progress July

2009-08-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora
-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 11/17
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek
-GATTACA
-Meteor Garden
-Up
-向左走向右走
-Transformers 2

NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown

Books: 8/17
-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before
-Breaking Dawn
-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson
-The Hatmaker's Sign
-Pay it Forward

trip to 八里-- really long post

2009-07-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Our teacher brought our class on a trip to 八里 today which is right across the river in 淡水.

In the beginning of the trip, I was so freaked out by Ellis. While we were walking down the mountain to the port...through the daytime version of 淡水老街... ellis started making weird gasping noises and clinging on to me. At first I thought she was just kidding around (because previously, she pulled a stunt where I was squeezing her cheeks and she purposely dislocated her jaw), so I kind of ignored it and kind of had a race with Alice to see who could walk faster (yes we're kids like that), and ellis would cling on really tightly every time. It wasn't until ellis was dragging me down that I noticed something was wrong with her. Then, when I asked her what's wrong, she'd give me a signal like "just give me one more second/minute". It freaked me out so badly to see her not be able to talk and sound like a fish out of water. Good thing she was back to normal by the time we crossed the river to 八里.

At 八里, we visited a 十三行 Museum of Archaeology. It was a kind of fun museum... unfortunately, i couldn't really understand/wasn't really paying attention to the guide. The museum was kind of small too, but the exterior looks really cool. The air conditioning felt oh-so-nice on this blazing day. Oh also, when you stand outside, they have tiny mist fountains on the ground!! Back to the museum, i guess you could say, we spent most of our time lazing around-- When we entered the museum, we went to watch a movie... where we could sit on nice squishy seats, later on we went to a small circular dark movie room where we just kind of sat and laid their in the darkness doing nothing...

-quick stop to mcdonalds where the teacher got this weird hello kitty toy... yep... my teacher... still a child at heart :]

-took a super long bus ride that brought us across a red bridge; somewhere across the river again...

and we went to our next destination....

Tittot Glass Museum. This was definitely the highlight of my day. Each student in our class could make a glass-item, but there were three to pick from- Sand-blown glass; painting; necklace. I chose Sand-blown glass and made a really cool paper star jar that had OCAC and my chinese name on it.

Something crazy I did later during our return trip... first an explanation- In Taipei there is a really convenient method of paying money for each ride which is having an Easy Card. You just have to press the card to the scanner and it'll sense it (even through things like your wallet, cloth, purse, etc.) So, back to story, I decided to try something stupid and insane while our class was going through the checkpoint. I put my wallet (with easy card) in the back pocket of my shorts and jumped onto the scanner. At first it didn't have the beeping sound and I was thinking "Oh crap..." my teacher and everyone else that was still behind the scanners had a "wth" expression on... and I kind of wiggled my butt and it beeped (thankfully). Later on, Alice told me that if it hadn't beeped, everyone would have thought I was crazy... some annoying guy called Edward also asked if i was crazy in a weird accent ha..ha..ha..

Well, we went back to the university LATE all because we couldn't find one guy in our class because he decided to go way ahead of us = =; so thanks to him... we all got 扣分...

Other things:

I hung out with Amy and Angela that night at night market.

I kind of wish I hung out with colleen too or that she hung out with us...

Fun in Taiwan: Day 25

2009-07-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

This no-pooping problem has got to end. x_x; I had a mild stomachache due to probably the shaved ice+milk ea+other stuff I've had since yesterday. I squatted on the toilet so long that I got bored and fell asleep x_x; (only for a few minutes though)

Today our teacher brought our class to a popular shaved ice store called Black Sugar and I got a pretty big shaved ice. ^o^

my shaved ice! condensed milk+passion fruit flavoring = very interesting flavor

the view behind the shaved ice shop

Fun in Taiwan: Day 21 - The Eye 10 見鬼10

2009-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Due to our classes' "good behavior", our 2nd teacher decided to show us a movie, so we watched a HK horror film called The Eye 10, or 10 Ways to See a Ghost (the 3rd and last movie in The Eye series) . Rather than being scary, it was more hilarious. I think one of the funniest scenes in the movie is where one of the characters gets possessed in his apartment and looks like he's hip hop dancing and suddenly 2 teens pass by and think the character's challenging them to a dance batttle.

And here's the trailer

Even though the trailer kind of looks scary, trust me, the movie is barely scary.

teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan: Day 20 - Solar Eclipse and 西門町 (Ximending)

2009-07-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

So, if you watched the news or heard from friends, I'm pretty sure you know that there was a once-every-500-years solar eclipse over Asia. Luckily, I'm in Taiwan, so I got to see it.. however the downfall was that in Taiwan the moon only covered about 85% of the sun, so it wasn't the full solar eclipse. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, so I feel so lucky to be able to view something as beautiful as this eclipse.

We had our weekly Wednesday trip and visited some famous parts of Taipei City such as 228 Memorial Park and 西門町. The story of 228 is that there was a girl selling some smokes on the street (which was illegal), so a Japanese police accidentally opened fire on her and killed her. This stirred up the anger of the Taiwanese and a lot of people died, but apparently, it's supposed to show how the Taiwanese stood up against the Japanese.

We had a speed competition and I ended up twisting my ankle :( . While we were running around 228 park, we came across a part with a lot of tree roots jutting out, and I lost my balance on one of them and the side of my food slammed sideways to the ground. The same thing happened when we were also running at 西門町, so my right foot ended up being swollen by nighttime. Probably due to the 6 hours of shopping and almost nonstop walking we went through. My friend even said that it wasn't swollen when I checked my foot a few hours after i twisted it even though the skin around it seemed like it already elevated to where my ankle bone was.

228 Memorial Concert Hall Graffiti at Ximending
-teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan: Day 18

2009-07-20T06:11:00.001-07:00

Last night my roomate "freaked" out, so all 4 of us barely got any sleep. = =; but dang, she said some kind of mean things. i mean, i know she was sad and crying and all, but augh, she hit a soft spot which left me pretty depressed for the next few hours today. ouch ne? but i didn't tell her ermm.. yeah.. i guess i havent really recovered since that day i ranted about certain things...
On a brighter side, i scored i'm pretty sure 2nd highest on our 1st chinese test. (2nd the best >:D) And the teacher thought I could barely answer any of the questions. IN HER FACE xD jkjk

Other than that, it was a pretty "normal" day.
Oh, Chinese Massage class was pretty fun today. Yes, my shoulders and eyes burn ><;.
-teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan day 11-17

2009-07-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

I am finally back at my "house". at this point, i don't think i really care who reads my blog, even my friends or family since i am going to stop using this soon hahaha ^^;

so, an update:
This was my second week at school camp at Tamkang University. It was actually a pretty interesting week.
Nothing much to report on about Monday and Tuesday except that I joined Chinese Massage class and it's so painful yet relaxing at the same time. It's kind of a pointless class, since most people don't do anything related to massage, but it's cool how you can tell the teachers about any problems, and they'll teach you how to fix it through Chinese massage. For example, if you have jet lag or sleeping problems, you press somewhere on your face and behind your ears.

Every Wednesday, we are supposed to go visit a city or a famous site in Taiwan, so we went around a few places in Tamsui/Danshui including, a temple (forgot the name o.o but i almost threw up in there because it smelled so bad), 紅毛成, and the coolest part, Jay Chou's high school aka, where parts of the 2007 Jay Chou movie 不能說的秘密 (Secret) was filmed. I'll put up pictures later...
I never thought that Danshui was such a pretty place, especially the sea. Yesterday (Saturday) we went to a union thing at Fisherman's Wharf for the camp I joined, since there are other ones around Taiwan. It was pretty fun to watch the shows and acts prepared by all the camps, but some of them were really boring. But during the performances, I was noticing the sun setting and it was really amazing. Right across from Danshui river is a place called Bali. In Bali, I think there is a giant mountain, which was one of the most incredible things to see, because the mountain would change shades of colors and at night there were lights on the mountain and yeah.. It's hard to explain, but I really wish I took pictures of it.

Other things in the week... I went to the night market 3 times this week but didn't really get anything and snuck out of camp once to 7-11 (ha..ha...) Class is OK.. we mostly just read, copy phrases/characters, youtube, and talk. Time actually flys.
2 of my roomates got sick--fever and started to hallucinate- so I sleptover and my cousin's room for one night. I specially brought back my blankets because my roomate "died" on my bed because she couldn't climb up to her bunk = =;

teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan: Day 10 -Hanging out with Dahlia and Mo's Burger

2009-07-06T00:17:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I tried Mo's Burger for the first time in my life and I must say, the burger was pretty good \(^o^)/. But, In-N-Out still holds first in my heart~~ (this'll be 2nd place)
[x]dental checkup
[x]haircut
[x] shop for clothes
[x] zoo
[x] meet with other grandparents
[x] toilet restaurant
[x] Mister Donut
[x] Mo's Burger
[ ] Meet Lian

I went to 西門町's Modern Toilet Restaurant with Dahlia, Henlee (who i haven't seen since soph year of high school) and Dahlia's friend, Stephanie today. Pretty awesome time hanging around there and looking for presents for some friends in the US. One of the coolest things i saw was a store/restaurant/manga bookstore called Moe Moe Center. The store has 3 levels, the 1st level is a normal clothes store, the 2nd level is filled with manga, and the 3rd level is the maid cafe. Unfortunately, we didn't go in (haha, i kind of want to see what a maid cafe's like) Well anyways, hope to meet them again soon!! (which will probably, definitely happen)

teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan: Day 8

2009-07-03T02:11:00.001-07:00

This morning, I came to a realization that I've been waking up at 7AM everyday. I thought I was waking up at 8AM, but my ipod clock was set on Daylight Savings Time, so everything was 1 hour faster...

teaslayer

Fun in Taiwan: Day 7 - Modern Toilet

2009-07-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

The highlight of my day was eating at the Modern Toilet restaurant in 西門町, Taipei. You can easily recognize the restaurant by the giant toilet that hangs on a wall near the entrance. When I entered, a giant piece of pink, swirly, CUTE poo (that I believe is their mascot) caught my eye. Seriously, it was so cute I wanted to hug it.

The whole restaurant is of course, bathroom themed. Our table had a sink/bathtub under the glass tabletop and a giant showerhead thing on our wall. The seats were all toilet, yes REAL colorful toilets that you could open the lid and peer inside (you can't really use it though and if you did, that'd be very nasty :P ). I ordered a curry chicken and it came in a black toilet --a hot steaming plate of brown, goopy, ~~diarrhea~~ curry. It wasn't bad, just a little too spicy in my opinion. The soup was good though. The drink I ordered was a Honey Milk Tea. In my opinion, it was a little too sweet for me. Oh, did I mention, the drink's served in an urinal? The desert was a swirly glop vanilla/chocolate ice cream served in a squat toilet (What exactly causes white poo? o_O).

Modern Toilet was definitely da shizzle. >.<; teaslayer [x]dental checkup [x]haircut [x] shop for clothes [x] zoo [x] meet with other grandparents [x] toilet restaurant [x] Mister Donut [ ] Mo's Burger [ ] Meet Lian

2009-07-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

if i weren't baptised, i would give her a piece of my mind...

Fun in Taiwan: Day 6 - Visit to Taipei Zoo

2009-07-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I went to the Taipei Zoo today, especially just to see the Giant Pandas. That was probably the best part of the whole zoo. The pandas are extremely cute.
Unfortunately, the whole zoo was uphill from the entrance, so my legs/feet are ridiculously tired right now. I don't think I finished going through the whole zoo also. The weather was very hot. When my cousin and I entered the penguin house, there were so many people sitting on the floor, in a row.

Nighttime: I went to Shilin Night Market. I didn't do much there though. I spent most of my time playing claw games, and ended up winning 5 things. ^o^

-teaslayer

[x]dental checkup
[x]haircut
[x] shop for clothes (at my grandma's friend's shop)
[x] zoo
[x] meet with other grandparents
[ ] toilet restaurant
[x] Mr. Donut
[ ] Mo's Burger
[ ] Meet Lian

Resolution Progress June

2009-07-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Anime: 6/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora

-Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-K-ON

Drama/Movie: 9/17
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek

-GATTACA

-Meteor Garden
-Up
NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown

Books: 8/17

-The Odyssey
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before

-Breaking Dawn

-Foresight: story of thomas jefferson

-The Hatmaker's Sign

-Pay it Forward

Fun in Taiwan: Day 5

2009-06-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in Day 4, I went to an art exhibition at the National Taiwan Museum. The exhibit was called Eco-Art In Taiwan, so it makes sense why my great grandpa's art is in display-- he was well-known for drawing birds but there was also a painting of a Cloud Leopard. Only my grandpa and 2 other people gave a "speech". The funniest part was my grandpa's speech went over time even though my grandma reminded him 3 times the day before that it was only supposed to be 3 min. long (his felt like 10) XP. It was pretty embarassing when one of the hosts whispered to my grandma to figure out some way to get him off the stage. Anyways, the coolest thing in the museum was I think, the huge dinosaur skeleton display at the museum entrance. I'm pretty sure that's the dinosaur from the movie: Night at the Museum and if not, it looks really similar (There's even Night at the Museum 2 cardboard cutouts in front of the museum).
My Great Grandpa's artwork on display
teaslayer

not much happened after that... the 6k NT i got from my grandparents was used up like BAM. :( (no i didnt lose it..i just bought something my mom forced me to buy = =)

Fun in Taiwan: Day 4 - Meeting with Other Grandparents

2009-06-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

Ahh yes..it's finally day 4.
-Update on the list-
[x]dental checkup
[x]haircut
[x] shop for clothes (at my grandma's friend's shop)
[ ] zoo
[x] meet with other grandparents
[ ] toilet restaurant
[x] Mr. Donut
[ ] Mo's Burger
[ ] Meet Lian

So, just another average day in my opinion. My jet lag is coming so late, like on the first day in taiwan i had no jet lag, but that night I became super tired, so i slept earlier. Today I woke up at 7am. The morning seemed to drag from there. By the time it was 10am I thought it was the afternoon!

Quick update: No cavities. my grandma brought me to a really closeby noodle store. (i would type out name if i knew how to use this laptop = =)
Seeing my dad's parents was the most shocking part of my day. My grandpa looked like...as if, I haven't seen him in 5 yrs. Seriously he changed THAT much within one year. I got to see my cousin, Calvin and his mom. That was pretty interesting, except they kept insisting on speaking English to me. = =;? as if I didn't understand Chinese. My grandma loves buying sweets for her grandkids, so I think she thought my sister was coming along, but she couldn't so I ate twice the portion for everything (pudding, yogurt, watermelons...) I ended up having such a bad stomachache at the restaurant we ate dinner at.

-teaslayer

tomorrow there is supposed to be some public exhibit thing exhibiting my great grandfather's artwork. It feels pretty exciting except it sounds boring. ;] My grandpa (the only son) gets to make a 3 min speech... i wonder how that's going to go

Fun in Taiwan: Day 3: First things first, Haircut and Cheap Clothes

2009-06-28T07:14:00.001-07:00

Since I only have about "1 free week" in Taiwan, I have to cram in a huge list of things i want/have to do in this one week.
[ ]dental checkup
[x]haircut
[x] shop for clothes (at my grandma's friend's shop)
[ ] zoo
[ ] meet with other grandparents
[ ] toilet restaurant
[x] Mr. Donut
[ ] Mo's Burger
[ ] Meet Lian

haircut-- that took forever. Well, not as long as the past years I guess. I managed to finish the book, Pay it Forward though. A quick review on the book-- I liked the story and the new perspective the author/ Trevor brings into the reader's mind. -- This is actually probably the 2nd time I've been satisfied with a haircut.

shop for clothes-- pretty disappointing. My grandma's friend's shop had less clothes this year. Not so many "awesome" ones in my opinion, and the chill looking ones looked weird on me. I still kind of felt bad to say "no" to some of them, even though they looked extremely strange on me. Later on, my cousin and I found a better shop, and we found pretty awesome panda jackets and a shirt.

well, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
-teaslayer

-oh yeah, i met my other cousins (not the close ones) and we had a little "family gathering" at a sushi restaurant.

Fun in Taiwan: Day 1 or 2-- Welcome to Japan and Taiwan

2009-06-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to connect to the internet at my house but it is incredibly slow, so I don't know if this post will make it.

Well, my cousin and I left SFO at 11:30AM on Friday. Strangely the 10 hour flight to Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan didn't feel very long. I guess it was just the thought that we would eventually get there anyways...helped.

The stay in Narita felt SUPER long though. We waited 4 hours at the airport for the flight to Taiwan. So, I guess it was a good time to practice my Japanese-- which actually went ok--- I said 'sumimasen' to a lady that was in my way and when I bought the Atashin'chi manga, the bookstore person spoke in Japanese to me too. ^^b mm.. My cousin and I also bought 2 bottles of milk just because the bottle looked cool. I think we managed to shop through the entire airport mall and still have 3 hrs left. There was one really cool origami shop, where they have huge models of villages/dinosaurs/cranes (even the world's smallest crane).

We finally got to Taiwan. First thing we did (after getting home) was getting 3 boxes of Takoyaki at the "night market". It's so good, i wonder why California doesn't sell it T^T.

-teaslayer

teaslayer: talking to myself

2009-06-24T11:08:00.001-07:00

So I guess I never posted something on this, but I decided to seriously learn Japanese a few weeks ago after reading AJATT and Antimoon. After reading these sites, becoming fluent didn't seem challenging anymore. I suppose it's like super-motivation? I also thought about my past and realized that I was pretty much "fluent" in Chinese at 1 yrs old and pwned English at 3 yrs.
So, with that logic, I'm going to try to be fluent Japanese in 1-2 years. I mean, that doesn't sound impossible right? I also flipped through pages of Remembering the Kanji I and I already recognize a lot of the charcters with their Chinese meaning (some of the Japanese meanings and characters were slightly different). That gives me a whole other advantage...right? @__@;

I wish I kind of remembered how i learned Chinese and English though. I mean, did I just listen to it a lot? I remember sitting on the floor with an alphabet audiobook in my hand and just flipping through it for English at least... but what about Chinese? hm... i need to think about this...

-teaslayer

wednesday: funny broken vending machine

2009-06-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

I was at Sunvalley Mall with my cousin, and we saw a really funny out-of-order vending machine
-teaslayer

update from teaslayer is sad

2009-06-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

Feelin' much better now. wow, i recover quick... my happy and sad emotions are easily influenced i guess ^^b thanks to u kno who u are

Aqua Timez – Chiisana Tenohira (Little Palm)

my body understands my heart better than myself
if I’m nervous sweat would runs down my palm
at any time, I wonder, in the tears that want me to stop grinding my teeth
I’ve been taught the meaning of regretting the sadness
I’ve packed hopeful words in many bags while starting a journey
at the times when I want to turn back, you are the one who stopped me
on one of these days too, when I couldn’t choose the right words
you who holds someone close without saying anything
will realize that your way is really lonely

patting my back when I squat down
that little palm is always beside me
More than any beautifully decorated words
I was saved by that warmth
There’re moments when everything never goes well
surely at the times when everything goes wrong
I guess we’ll realize the importance of a person’s existence
Thank you for loving me no matter what kind of person I am
and for being always beside me

Lying down on the grass
and gaze at the flowing clouds
I was able to get back my peaceful heart, just a little
In that place, it feels more gentle than yesterday
I reflected how people couldn’t live well only by himself
still in afar I’m enchanted by the swaying flower of miracle
My regular days that I’ve strongly protected now have been dried
on far older days
I haven’t known my adolescence, since I ran through it and realizing that
I’ve missed the importance of important person

We couldn’t live with just beautiful hopes
the promised sky would get contaminated
In that space under the passing beautiful sky
I swore the word “certainly” into that blueness
Day after day, without completing my broken dreams
I think back over the days I’ve lived, however
out of merely looking back and mourning for tomorrow
people have no choice but to progress forward
for the sake of the beloved person in front of our eyes

Touching lightly my invisible scar
there was your gentle palm
All the way better than applause from the whole world
the important thing was beside me

I’ve lost my way in living these busy days
even sympathy have also seemed meaningless
Since I’ll never again lose someone without realizing it
for you who loved person such as me
I made this “thank you” song

words aren’t enough, certainly I won’t be able to catch up
words aren’t enough, but, but
thank you

got from here.

friday: new laptop! (as well as itouch, printer, and ext. hard drive)

2009-06-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

I got a Macbook Pro from downtown Walnut Creek's Apple Store for a graduation present. I can't believe there was a line to enter the store, but I think there was a new iTouch that came out? Anyhow, Apple's employees are so helpful; they helped us the second we entered the store. ^^b (maybe they were trying to get people out faster) but still.. :)
Well, as I said earlier, I got the Macbook Pro, that came with a iTouch 8GB and a printer. (for college students) What a good deal!! :D
Anyhow, I'm still trying to figure out how to use the macbook >.>; So far I've only gotten MSN messenger in there. I'm trying to figure out how to download a Chinese typing program. It's supposed to be super user-friendly... perhaps a little too friendly? but I love it so much! \(^o^)/ It's so pretty!!

I can watch anime in bed now! ^o^

teaslayer

Oh yeah, I got an external hard drive ^o^. My computer actually moves now!

high school reflections

2009-06-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a week and a half since high school ended. I've been reflecting on how fast everything just happened. Like, in freshman, sophomore and junior year, i was thinking "IM NEVER GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE :(" but then senior year came and BAM everything just ended. I think...high school really is a valuable experience in life, perhaps not education-wise, but it gives so many LIFE-experiences and helps you deal with later on obstacles with people and such. (of course everyone's high school journey is different so I wouldn't know about everyone). I mean, I met so many irreplaceable characters and learned so many invaluable lessons.
but, here are some of the most valuable things I learned..

0) Lying sucks; it puts so much unnecessary pressure on you.
1) Time waits for no one. (Efficiency is key.)
2) The objective is to win...it doesn't matter how you do it >:)
3) It's what you do early on that affects your outcome. I guess it's kind of like..you can make your own destiny in a way.

On to the next chapter of life :]
teaslayer

thursday: UP in 3-D review

2009-06-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

I watched up in 3-D today with Angela. Surprisingly, there was almost no one in the movie theater, only 12 people including us. I wish I could have kept the 3-D glasses... Some thoughts on it...

Partly Cloudy: This was so cute and funny. I liked the storyline a lot, which was mostly about "where all babies come from". So, babies come from clouds (yes, the clouds that float in the sky) and they all have their own individual storks that help them deliver the babies. All the clouds could make cute/normal babies, except for one gray cloud...that was making defective/dangerous babies, like...porcupines, etc. I felt so bad for the stork :(...but it had a sweet ending.

UP in 3-D: I thought this was a pretty nice Disney/Pixar film. I liked it much more than I liked Wall-E. Too bad it didn't feel like there were a lot of 3-D parts. (I think the commercials had more 3-D than the actual movie itself). The characters were interesting... I loved the opening story about the old guy and his wife. That was so touching hehe. The ending was really enjoyable too...rather than lingering on the past, the old guy moved forward..out of his protective shell. :)
anwyays, if i say anymore, the movie would be spoiled

I'm really looking forward to Toy Story 3 after watching the commercial

-teaslayer

Relatives from Texas: Day 4- Baptism and Tiburon

2009-06-14T02:56:00.000-07:00

To start off, this was the day i got baptized. Usually this is supposed to be a happy event (i think) but in reality, i have been so nervous for this day since i said i would do it (one main reason being to extend my relatives' stay in CA). Unfortunately, i can't bring myself to tell the world the reason why, but even after the baptism, i'm not sure if i did the right thing for myself. I know I believe in God and i suppose just about everything i have learned from since i was young...but something just isn't right. i don't believe i deserve to be baptized i guess. maybe christianity isn't the right religion for me or something. On top of that, my sister kept nagging me, telling me that i didn't even go through "confirmation class" or whatever, and my reply has been "why does it matter? babies get baptized" -- hiding my feelings. Another question would then be, when? if not now, then when? when would i ever want to get baptized?

On the other hand, everyone was pretty supportive. Our entire youth group stood up there with me during the ceremony. I wonder if they planned to? It doesn't matter, because i thought it was pretty amazing whether or not they truly supported it.

Okay, on to normal "relative days"

Surprisingly, one of my aunts that used to live in New York came along with her boy friend (i think). She showed up right after my baptism = =... Anyways, we went to Tiburon. The weather was amazingly good! Usually the Golden Gate Bridge is covered in fog, but today, it was so clear-- like a photograph/painting!

teaslayer

Relatives from Texas: Day 1- San Francisco

2009-06-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

So, I don't think I mentioned this, but mom's brother's family came all the way from Texas on Wed. night to attend my graduation ceremony (how nice of them). Since it is my aunt's first time to California in many years (like more than 5 yrs I think), my mom decided to bring them around famous spots in Norcal...first destination being-- San Francisco.

The first place we went to was Coit Tower. Pretty nice scenery...for tall people! :) My aunt and cousin had bushes/trees blocking their view of San Francisco.

Second place was Pier 39. I don't think there was much to do there for them...My sister slept in the car while I brought my relatives through the place. We ended up buying fruit from...the fruit stand? My uncle said it should be good because it was organic. We kind of rushed through the rest of Pier 39, only stopping to look at sea lions and breakdancers. Other than that, we didn't do anything else there.

Third place was Lombard Street. Ah yes, the infamous zig-zaggy street. o.o Stopped their briefly for a quick photo.

Fourth was the Palace of Fine Arts. The place definitely has changed since I was last there. In the giant dome, there used to be i think carvings/paintings on the ceiling but that's all gone now; probably because so many birds poop there.

Fifth and final was Japantown. I had been asking my mom if I could go for about 2 weeks to buy manga, and she finally brought me there. I ended up buying the first 2 volumes of Nodame Cantabile, Katekyo Hitman Reborn vol.1, Sayounara Zetsubou Sensei vol. 1 and Lucky Star vol. 1. So far, only Hitman Reborn and Zetsubou has furigana on all their kanji >.>; Anyways, too bad we only stayed a short while there... because there was so much other stuff I wanted to look at.

thursday: graduation

2009-06-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

Graduation was today. The last and final time i will probably ever see my high school friends. It leaves kind of a...happy and sad feeling at the same time. It's not that I can't go back to visit my friends from high school, it's just that I'm so used to seeing this group of '09 graduates in my classes. It will be so weird next year in college to see a complete class of unfamiliar faces. I only know 2 other people from my school going to the same college. Most of us will have to start all over again...find a new group of people to whine to about teachers and classes. Will I even succeed at that? I suppose the good part about this is..it's a fresh start. Another chance to make an impression on a new group of people.
Well... At least it's better than most other people in my school who are going alone to other colleges.

On the other hand, I'm so happy i never have to go back to my high school. >:P This was definitely one of the best things that has happened in my life.

teaslayer

i feel like this song really fits graduation :)

Kizuna- ORANGE RANGE
lyrics translation:
I wonder what you’re doing right now?
I wonder if you’re looking at this too?
The sky dyed an orange color
The setting sun that changes into the morning sun

The nights when we cried, both of us shedding our tears
The days that we laughed until morning, having pointless conversations
I won’t forget either of them, they’re treasures that anchor me as I am now
I feel it even when we’re apart, your kindness
So no matter where I go, I’m not alone
No matter what happens, I’m not crushed

The sky and sea met, and like that island
Even if we’re apart, we’re blended gently with the same colors
Hey, we have a close bond

I knew what the matter was, I didn’t know what the matter was
I’m halted, I’m moving forward, I’m backing off
When I fall down, I am lended a hand, and fall down again
Karan-koron, I open up again
Karan-koron, I fall down again

Softly putting a hand over my heart, on nights when I can’t sleep
We’ll meet again in my dreams, I can hear a lullaby
Our bond pushes me on

La la la…
Hey, we have a close bond

My friends voices sounded out in my heart; I can’t see the road with my eyes blurred by tears
Get up now! I looked up, and hey it’s the same sky; by no means am I lonely
I don’t have to carry everything on my own; it’s great that everyone’s here, I believe now in our bond
It won’t collapse, it won’t disappear; With this, let’s move on!

A step, a step, I just move forward, a step, a step, our paces match
If it seems like you’re going to fall, yes, grab my hand; Say Wo! Wo! Wo! Everyone sing
A step, a step, I just move forward, a step, a step, our paces match
If it seems like you’re going to fall asleep, yes, grab my hand; Say Wo! Wo! Wo! Everyone sing

I wonder what you’re doing right now? I wonder if you’re looking at this too?
The rain has stopped, an arch hangs in the sky; you and I are connected by a rainbow

got from here

tuesday: DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL (not really)

2009-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today was the last finals day. :] I'm so glad that's over because now I'm DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL!! It's strange though, I thought I would be super excited for this day, but now my feelings are between happy/scared/sad. I am relieved though that I'm done with high school. ^^b Graduation ceremony is on thursday though. I hope that won't be the last time I'll see my school friends anymore...

teaslayer

Resolution Progress May

2009-06-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Anime: 4/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora

Drama/Movie: 6/17
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]
-Fast and Furious 4
-Star Trek

NDS/videogames: 7/17
-Cooking Mama 2
-Elite Beat Agents
-Mario Kart DS
-OUENDAN
-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
-Tamagotchi Connection 2
-Ninjatown

Books: 1/17
-Brave New World
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before

last 1.5 weeks of school

2009-06-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating in a long time. I have so many posts still in edit. This is the last 1.5 weeks of high school forever, and it's so busy. :(

teaslayer

saturday: bought a japanese dictionary

2009-05-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

I got a Japanese Dictionary at Borders today to aid me in my Japanese self-study. There were many selections of japanese-english/ vice versa dictionary, but surprisingly, the deciding factor was the word "fart". Yes...out of the entire selection of dictionaries (there were 4 or 5) only the Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary for Japanese had that word.

by the way, fart is 屁 in japanese

teaslayer

friday: visit to dahlia's house

2009-05-23T01:35:00.001-07:00

i went over to my friend 小貓 house today. it's probably one of the coolest houses i've ever seen. when you enter, there are stairs going upstairs and downstairs. :] her room leads straight to backyard, which is a 1 min run to the swimming pool.

a little later, we decided to go on a walk, and walked over to kevin's house, which is only about 1 street away. we forced him to go walking with us, so we ended up walking to a park around their house. on the way there and back, it was interesting listening to both of their stories, since they both moved from country to country quite a bit. 小貓 has been to almost everywhere in europe, it's so cool. :] her stories are really funny, but i was too tired to laugh/think too much

tea_slayer

-ranting-
well, i went to Quickly today with (d__g, 變態雄, and i invited 小貓 to come along ^^~) i felt bad not letting 變態雄 go, but he's so rude to go "uninvited". i dislike him a lot too and d__g knows that. i hate saying "we're going to Quickly's" every time after school, and this time, 小貓 was an exception, since i invited her. 變態雄is so annoying because he's so touchy-feely (tries to hug me every time he can.. me: -grimace/twitch-) and sounds stupid when he talks. in fact, i think he's one of the few failed koreans i know. i wish there was a nice way to say "go away and stop annoying me".

thursday: vending machine screwup

2009-05-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

today at school, I wanted to buy water at the end of lunch. I only had a 20 on me, so I decided to stuff that in the vending machine. There was a sign already that said "please no 5s" but I thought that only meant the machine couldn't read 5s. Water= $1. It took about 4 minutes just to get the change out of the machine. The machine ran out of quarters as well, so I got a bunch of dimes back too. x__x;

tea_slayer

Tamagotchi Connection 2 opinion

2009-05-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

This week, I was able to finish 2 games: Tamagotchi Connection 2 (DS) and Elite Beat Agents US version (DS)

Tamagotchi Connection 2 took me forever to finish. The game is quite bland and reptitive. I suppose it's not so bad for kids. The minigames are kind of amusing when you first play it, but after a while, it is repetitive. I disliked how in games such as the Music Concert, the dialogue took forever! You cannot press any button to speed it up, so I timed the amount of time it took for the minigame to finally start and it was around 35 seconds. Another complaint about the dialogue is that it's extremely reptitive. All the tamagotchi have the same mind i guess. The reason it took me so long to finish is that my goal was to upgrade all the shops to "royal" status. The only way to achieve that is by waiting for the "princess" to come to your shop and approve it.

There were a few changes to this game from the first Tamagotchi Connection. One change was the Music Concert game. Before, all the rhythms were the same, so I could easily look away and still pwn the minigame. Now, all the rhythms are different, or well...there's enough variety

Fun: 4/10

-teaslayer

thursday/friday: epik high concert (hype and the real thing)

2009-05-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty hyped up for the Epik High: Map the Soul concert tonight! I want to get the bandana badly, so I really hope I can get their before they're sold out!! >w<

-edit-
THE EPIK HIGH CONCERT WAS DEFINITELY EPIK (epic)!!! shame I didn't get my bandana though. I should have had better planning and asked my friend to buy it for me first. I also didn't realize I had so much time to buy it. While my friend was visiting his other friends that I don't know, I could have gone and bought the bandanas and other stuff.

BY THE WAY, FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVENT GONE YET.. CAMERAS ARE ALLOWED (flash photography isn't)
T.T i made that mistake, and so my cell phone pictures turned out really bad

Far East Movement started off the show with this theme about the future. Music was gone in the year 3008 and they were trying to revive it or something. It was freakin' awesome though, and it was a good way to start off the show. They gave away free shoes and a tshirt :( (i want free shoes...) They were wearing astronaut suits, and the background visual was really good despite the transitions sometimes. (where do we live? THE FRISCO)

Kero-One followed right after FEM. He started off really well, but it became kind of repetitive. If he cut his part a little shorter, it would have been better. There was a girl that was dancing in the back and she was kind of random even though she actually did sing some parts.

When Epik High finally came out, the crowd went berserk. DJ Tukutz and Beatboxer DG (i think that was his name) was pretty good. I think my favorite part was when Epik High were singing old singles again. Nearly everyone was singing along. Some pretty epik things that happened were: Tablo came off the stage and fans went insane. Security wasn't so great and I think they gave up eventually trying to blcok fans from the stage. DJ Tukutz actually rapped and danced along to one of the songs..pity i don't remember which song. I left the concert with the one line "no reason to live without you" playing in my head over and over again. :]

Well, an update for yesterday:

I suppose I "forced" my sister to go the Epik High autograph session in San Francisco since it's only a block away from her school. She told me that Epik High didn't show up because their flight was delayed. Instead, she got me a free autographed poster which I can't wait for to arrive. My sister told me the event was insane, and they were giving away free backstage passes for the concert on Friday. I wish I was there, since the questions were really easy.

I got hired to work at Quickly. Well, I told the person I would work for free since I can probably only work a month. (I'm going to Taiwan next month and college right after that) I could care less if I got paid or not though :)

this love...

2009-05-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

i really feel like the song "This Love" - Gdragon cover now. sigh. :(

good thing you don't know my blog, because you're such a bad liar.

wednesday: ice cream craze

2009-05-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

last night, due to a sale on ice cream at safeway, i bought 10 cartons each $1. :) they're small by the way. >w<

Hungarian Dances: good representation of Hungarians?

2009-05-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been listening to Brahm's infamous Hungarian Dances (as well as playing them with my orchestra). For the first time, I noticed the piece was brutal/rough sounding, well not that I just realized it, but I realized every time the conductor/teacher tells the orchestra to play it more peasant-like/heavy, images of fat chubby women plodding around always form in my mind; particularly Madame Thernardier from Les Miserables'.

I know/hope Hungarian people do not all look like that, but this is my first impression from Brahm's Hungarian Dances, especially from No. 5.

I am not trying to insult Brahm's creation. In fact, I really enjoy listening to it... it doesn't get boring. I would also really look forward to seeing a live, actual Hungarian dance. :)

Here's 2 popular Hungarian Dances, no. 1 and no. 5. CHECK IT OUT! it's really good.

friday the 8th: Great America trip (for physics)

2009-05-08T23:56:00.001-07:00

I went to Great America today for a physics field trip. There were many schools there aside from our puny group. Most of the time, I hung out with Kellie and Jason.

Just a general opinion of this trip, it could have been better. So many strange things happened today, it was all "karma"?. There were so many long lines which annoyed me. It was kind of boring waiting for everything. We had a physics packet we were supposed to complete, but everyone from our school was too lazy to finish it. The rides in Great America don't seem so fun anymore and they seem even shorter than the last time I went.

On the first ride, the Demon, there were some students ahead of us, and they let all their friends cut us. The three of us were about to say: O well, our school friends are up there too so uh, we'll just cut you i guess. (they were seriously ahead of us by a lot) but being the nice people we are, we didn't cut them. After the ride, I got stuck in my seat, which was kind of scary.
A while later, we went to Flight Deck (Top Gun). It took us around 30 min just to get to the front of the line. When it was finally our turn next, some people behind us asked if they could cut us because they wanted to be on same train as their friends. Being the pushovers we are, we decided to let them (good karma i suppose). Finally, it was our turn. When we got onto the train,

our ride was delayed, because a girl got stuck in the gate-- the gate that opens and closes automatically to make sure we don't get run over. I felt really bad for her at that moment, but then we had to wait for next train to come back. (bad karma). The ride finally started going again, and surprisingly, the 3 of us got front row! (good karma).
Later on, Jason and I decided to get Dippin' Dots. We had walked around the park the whole day only to see closed Dippin' Dots stands and finally found one open near the bathroom. I swear this was the longest line we had to wait in. The worker was very slow-- extremely slow. All the kids were complaining in line. On top of that, they were middle-schoolers. Most of them kept letting their friends cut (bad karma), so Jason and I started saying loudly that kids these days were so disrespectful. When it was finally our turn, the worker tells me he has no change (no pennies). me: uh.. = =; okay.. It takes him another 5 min to finally get pennies i guess. I swear this was the longest line i had to wait for the whole day. Well, that's all the rants I have. :]

:McDonalds doesn't sell Dippin' Dots anymore?:

-teaslayer

emotionless

2009-05-06T02:12:00.001-07:00

i feel like i've run out of emotions. :( yes this is a short post
i'm currently busy

-teaslayer

Epik High Concert

2009-05-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

I got tickets for the Epik High concert yesterday!! yay, i'm somewhat excited. too bad the seats are in the balcony and kind of far away

Resolution Progress April

2009-05-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

Anime: 4/17
-Clannad Season 2
-Bus Gamer
-Neko Ramen
-Toradora

Drama/Movie: 4/17
-Spider Lilies
-My Wife is a Gangster
-Hansel and Gretel
-1 Litre of Tears [movie]

NDS/videogames: 2/17
-Cooking Mama 2 :D
(well..i got my ds confiscated from my mom -sigh-)
-Mario Kart DS

Books: 1/17
-How to Sleep Less and Have More Energy Than Before

Friends: 3/17

life update

2009-05-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

hello, today i returned from my school's disneyland band/orchestra trip

tuesday: visit to esther's house

2009-04-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

tomorrow i am going down to Los Angeles (SoCal) to Disneyland for a school trip!!!

so, today after school, i hung out with my friend, dg and se.
first, went to quickly concord :]
after dropping of se, dg and i had a contest to see which sibling would reply to a txt faster. we have 2 friends called esther and sh who are siblings. unfortunately, dg won since esther was asleep =/. we decided to go over to their house to wake esther up :] but when we got there, sh couldnt wake esther up (later i found out she was kind of sick =/) instead, dg and i ended up playing w/ rocks outside their house and ended up making rock castles shaped like goldfish...
at least they didn't kick us out :)
but hung out until around 6pm.

esther's house is HUGE. when i dropped dg off later, his house and my house look so tiny in comparison to esther's.

tea_slayer

monday: computer clean up

2009-04-27T23:59:00.001-07:00

on saturday, i finally decided to disassemble my computer because it was too distracting (and other reasons)
this is what i uncovered under the computer
scary huh

funny thai green tea commercial

2009-04-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

My friend sent me this super cute and funny commercial for green tea in thailand.
The language is Japanese though.
Enjoy!~

Japanese Robots Taking over the World?: Fashion Robot, Housework Robots, Robo-kid?

2009-04-22T11:18:00.001-07:00

Recently, I have noticed many articles on Japanese robots.

The first article is Fashion Robot.

The girlie-faced humanoid with slightly oversized eyes, a tiny nose and a
shoulder length hair-do boasts 42 motion motors programmed to mimic the
movements of flesh-and-blood fashion models.
"Hello everybody, I am
cybernetic human HRP-4C," said the futuristic fashionista, opening her media
premiere at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
outside Tokyo.

See entire article here
This robot's face is based off anime style, but has as silver metallic body because the creators were afraid the robot would look too uncanny. According to the institute, the robot is only for entertainment uses, not for housework. Apparently, the robot's first catwalk was almost flawless; the facial expressions were sometimes mixed up.

Picture from here

(haha apparently the robot has been harassed already)

The second article is Housework Robots
The University of Tokyo's researchers have come up with 2 robots meant for household work. The first one is the Home Assistant Robot.

The Home Assistant Robot is 155 centimeters tall and has a humanoid appearance.
It moves about on two wheels, has three fingers on each hand, and has several
cameras on its head that allow it to recognize the objects in front of it. The
robot's most remarkable features are its ability to grasp soft objects and its
capacity to reattempt tasks that it has failed to perform correctly.

This robot truly is amazing. According to the article, the robot can use the washing machine, wipe your floors, carry items from place to place,etc. The robot's first demonstration was near perfect, only being unable to find the button to open the washer's lid on the first few tries.

The second robot is the Kitchen Robot

IRT's Kitchen Robot is shaped like a hinged desk lamp; instead of a light,
though, at the tip is an appendage with two parts that open and close like a
crocodile's mouth, enabling it to grasp objects. Handling delicate objects like
dishes calls for an accurate sense of the object's center of gravity and the
application of just the right amount of pressure - not too weak, not too strong.

Read both articles here

The last article is Robo-kid

A bald, child-like creature dangles its legs from a chair as its shoulders rise and fall with rythmic breathing and its black eyes follow movements across the room.
It's not human -- but it is paying attention.
Below the soft silicon skin of one of Japan's most sophisticated robots, processors record and evaluate information. The 130-cm (four-foot, four-inch) humanoid is designed to learn just like a human infant.

I think this is the most interesting robot. It kind of makes me wonder why we would need robot kids- next will they make a robot family? I feel like I've heard of something like this on my childhood TV show, Jimmy Neutron. Anyways, according to the article, the robot can record emotional expressions using eye-cameras, then memorize and match them with physical sensations, and cluster them on its circuit boards. It can also recognize human touch.

Read whole article here

I think it's great how the Japanese are creating so many robots, especially
household robots (i could use a few of those). The household robots could prove useful to disabled/elderly people while the robo-kid..well.... he proves that science has progressed so far that they may be able to take over the world in perhaps the next century ^^a. Seeing the rate of robots'appearance in Japan, I believe it won't be too long until we have real Transformers or be living in a Megaman-like world.

tea_slayer

Earth Day

2009-04-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's Earth Day!

Freebie: All Disney stores are trading a free gift (my sister said it was a Disney water bottle) in exchange for 3 water bottles to celebrate Earth Day. To see the actual event, click here

I already have 6 empty water bottles!! but i don't think i can get 2 gifts (.__. )a

-edit-
Check out what i got for the free gits! :D
pretty nifty ne?

tea_slayer

breakthough in science: Blind to be Cured through Stem Cells

2009-04-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon an appealing article about a treatment to the most common type of blindness, age-related macular degeneration, also known as AMD

BRITISH scientists have developed the world’s first stem cell therapy to cure the most common cause of blindness. Surgeons predict it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six or seven years’ time.

Read entire article here

First of all, I am surprised that research of eyes has progressed this far. This article matters a lot to me, because I am already considered legally blind. I know that AMD doesn't apply to me yet though, but it might happen to the adults around me soon. I'm glad to know there is a possibility that something can be done about this disease.

tea_slayer

more music~

2009-04-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

lies- Big Bang
I found the piano sheet music for this song :) but it sounds funny...

2009-04-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Champione - Orange Range

Just felt like posting this song

friday the 17th: new belts!

2009-04-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

my belts came yesterday! (after waiting for 3-4 weeks-ish since my package was lost the first time Hip Hop World sent them)
「pics」
tea_slayer

thursday the 16th: Ichigo Daifuku Day

2009-04-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

After watching this video...

My friends and I decided to try to make Ichigo Daifuku!

Here is the outcome:the mix of sugar, flour, etc.

strawberries covered in Red Bean Paste

the outcome! ;D

-sigh- what the mochi really looked like

this is what it looks like on the inside

these look better, cuz mintai wrapped these mochi T-T

tea_slayer

I got the Davichi albums from mintai! ^^ it's really catchy and good

Coriya Hot Pot City

2009-04-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

Coriya Hot Pot City - Pacific East Mall, Richmond, CA

This is one of my favorite restaurants ever. It's only $10.99 for lunch all-you-can-eat hotpot! (sometimes they have sushi) I think my friend's aunt started the chain stores of Coriya Hot Pot City.
Not only does this restaurant have all-you-can-eat food...it has all-you-can-drink boba!! :D So, my review on the boba: They have this milk tea dispenser and you can add as much tapioca if you want. The only downfall to this boba is that the milk tea is somewhat watery sometimes but it's not too bad. :]
Another favorite aspect of mine is the ㄘㄨㄚ冰 (shaved ice). I know no other place (besides my church) that serves this snack. And it's all-you-can eat!!!

All-You-Can-Eat veggies and meat! (but you do have to be skilled at hotpot ;) )

Milk Tea Dispenser

My Milk Tea

yum, squid!

My shaved ice! It's not supposed to be soo dark... and in the back, you can see my 2nd cup of boba.

tea_slayer

monday the 13th: Visit to University of the Pacific

2009-04-13T22:58:00.001-07:00

I visited the University of the Pacific - Stockton campus today.

My mom and I arrived at the school around 2:00pm to explore. We weren't planning on going on a tour of the school until we asked the Student Center employee and she told us we couldn't see the dorms/rooms unless we had a guide.

Personal thoughts: After the tour (or what I saw of it), I think I like UoP even more. Even though the neighborhood around the school seems boring and empty, the school itself seems like it will be enough fun for the whole year. During the tour, I noticed that the guide mostly talked about how UoP was the "first to _______" haha not exactly "first in ____ field, etc." However, the school still feels comfortable. I thought it was cool how a lot of Hollywood movies were filmed here-- such as Flubber and Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (the guide even showed us the window Indy jumped out of! :D) There's many other cool things in the school.

the most famous representation of the school. In fact, I think I see it in every advertisement UoP has. It is the Bell Tower - however, there are no real bells in there
Faye Spanos Concert Hall sign
Faye Spanos Concert Hall
Recital Hall

this is the Hydraulics Lab in Flubber.

fountain in front of library

i think this is the theater where you can watch movies

-edit-
I decided to enroll in UoP on Tuesday. :)