Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Chinese New Year meal

Last night we went to Shogun for our kind-of-belated Chinese New Year meal! We ordered 6 rolls and 4 sushi (yum!!!!). Enjoy~


Maui roll, Caterpillar roll, and Spider Maki roll.

Tsunami roll, Houston roll, another roll that I forget...(hehe), Salmon sushi, Tamago sushi, and 2 other kinds of sushi that I forget.

Sin Yee, Chi Min, Alvin, and me!

It was a memorable dinner....Happy Chinese New Year everyone! :)



Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Chinese New Year 2006

Let me start off with a hearty "Gong Xi Fa Cai"!!! :) Yes, I know I'm over here in the US, in a small city called Lincoln right slap in the middle of the states, but it's Chinese New Year all the same, just minus the cookies, relatives, and ang pows. But despite the festivity, there's something that bugs me... some of my friends had asked me "Why don't want to come back for CNY?".

Ahem.

Hello??? It's the middle of the semester, and despite having quite a large Chinese population here, CNY is nothing to the Americans, hence, it's just another Sunday, so no holiday, period. The closest they would come to celebrating this Sunday would be because it's 2 days from payday. I wish I can go home and celebrate CNY with my family and friends back home, but it's not like I can take the bus for 8 hours and arrive in Penang.

So let me say it for the last time...I want to go home for Chinese New Year, but I can't. Please don't ask me that question again!

Oh, and happy Chinese New Year. :)

Saturday, January 07, 2006

My first manicure

I always walked past the nail salon in Gateway Mall thinking..."Why are there so many people in there? What's so nice about paying big bucks to let other people paint your nails when you can do it yourself?" But I'd always wondered how it feels, and thought of trying it out but just never did. Finally, today, I got a french manicure!

The process was pleasant...it felt so pampering! They even threw in a hand massage! I've never been a spa person...I've never even gotten a facial before in my life...so this was a new experience! I have a feeling I will return for more soon... ;)

Friday, January 06, 2006

rm -r *

These simple, harmless-looking symbols may not seem very threatening to most people...but they caused me a lot of agony this week. Translated into english, it means "recursively remove everything in this directory". Everything here meant all the scripts and information that I accumulated through the semester for a project....all....f**king....gone. The worst part is...I cannot blame anyone because the idiot who did this was myself.

But as usual....there are always two sides to a coin...because of this incident, I realized how lucky I am. About 10 seconds after I realized my horrible mistake, my office mates were abuzz...trying to help me recover the files and comforting me....friends consoled me, gave me support, helped me write script (hehe)...it was really touching, to say the least.

Thank you all, my precious friends. *hugs*

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Void

Have you ever experienced a complete void of emotions before? There was a period of time when I used to be scared, because I felt so empty of emotions. For a long time I didn't feel especially happy, nor sad, nor angry, disappointment...nothing. Everyday I just went about my business totally blank. I felt scared because I thought I will remain like that for the rest of my life. I wanted to feel, to love, to hate, to be able to feel anger. I wanted to feel like a person. When I could break up with someone over the phone in five minutes and didn't feel the least bit upset, I freaked.

Back in high school, I was a hot-blooded person...I loved and hated with passion. It was during those times that I got hurt the most, by the people I trusted and liked. I think somehow I learned to keep everything inside then. But eventually, I let go, and gradually allowed myself to reach out and start feeling again.

Now...I'm starting to hate it. Being able to feel means being able to be hurt. Being able to be hurt means being vulnerable. And I hate nothing more than being vulnerable. I think...it's time for me to get back into that void...

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Perfect world

In a perfect world, everything is laid out perfectly for us from birth to death. We don't have to lift a finger to achieve anything, don't have to struggle against the tide. We don't have to suffer heartbreak and disappointment, anger, or betrayal. There's no such thing as stress, or hunger.

But we don't live in a perfect world, and that's a fact. Things can go wrong and they do go wrong; sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to; and sometimes we need to give up things that we like for practical reasons. More often than not, to achieve even a simple goal, it feels like you have to swim across the Anlantic Ocean, naked, no less. And heartbreak, disappointment, betrayal...who goes through life without tasting them? Undesirable and painful as they are, it is these hurdles in life that defines us, molds us into who we are, and builds our characters.

The worst thing that one can do when faced with difficult times is to run away. It is like a scene from our childhood nightmares...you keep running, but the monster is always at your heels, snipping and snarling. In an adult world, it is time to suck it up and actually stop, turn around, and face that monster. Because the truth is...no matter how tough something seems to you at the moment, time will eventually wash away the hurt, the pain, the anger, and whatever other emotions that seemed so strong at the time. Time heals, that's a fact, it's just that some people take longer than others. But if you don't tackle the problem once and for all, it will forever be like a scab on your skin, bleeding everytime you pick at it, never really healing.

There have been times that I thought I was never going to be happy again after certain incidents, but I always smile again. That's life. Get over it.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Beautiful

This image rendered me speechless.

How many computer scientists does it take to unclog a bathtub?

Here's the million-dollar question again.... So yesterday my bathtub was clogged after I washed my wool clothes in the tub (noooooot smart). I pumped and pumped the tub, hoping that the wool would come up, but the water stayed stagnant. So I left it overnight, and sure enough the next morning the water is all gone. Unfortunately, after taking a shower, I realized the tub has not actually been unclogged. So I stared at the few inches of water in my tub and set off to borrow a pump from Alvin. But alas, I didn't know how to use the damn pump! It was so hard to push down, so I asked for help. Alvin came up and helped me pump for...at least 15 minutes. The water went down about an inch, and I thought, yay, happy ending! BUT, the joy lasted for only half an hour because the water stopped going down after that. So...in the evening Ryan came over with yet another pump in hand and set to work. After about 2 minutes, he asked me, "Why is the handle for the plug up?" and he pushed it down. Immediately we heard the welcomed gush of water, and within 30 seconds, all the water in the tub was gone. SO...apparently, what happened was...I must've accidentally moved the handle while I was washing my clothes...so of course the bloody tub was clogged...I plugged it!

Oh well.