Banana Tree House

Bay Area Horror Experience

2005-08-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Alt Title to this post: The Rude Letter I Have Received from Google.

Job hunting in the bay area? Perhaps considering Google, the new Microsoft? Thinking what's the worse that could happen for applying for a job? Well, allow me to show you this a-tad-too-personal rejection letter that I have received from julieg@google.com, presumably someone working at the HR dept at Google?

Hi Medical Records Clerk,

We would like to thank you for your interest in Google. After carefully reviewing your experience and qualifications, we have determined that we do not have an 'Engineering Project Manager - Mountain View' position available which is a strong match at this time.

Thanks again for considering Google. We wish you well in your endeavors
and hope you might consider us again in the future.

Sincerely,
Google Staffing

Now, if you like my naive friend Mike, who failed to notice the demeaning tone in the email upon first glance and thought it's simply a software glitch (inserting wrong job titles etc.), allow me to clarify that Medical Records Clerk was the position I've held over 7 years ago while I was attending college, nor have I applied for the Engineering Project Manager position since my background was, well, not remotely related to engineering.

The art of "it's not what you say, it's how to say it" or even "if you have nothing better to say, don't say anthing" has obviously eluded Ms. Julieg at Google. The intention behind taking the time to write such a vile and unprofessional letter was beyond me. Is Google not keeping their employees busy enough, or happy enough that they have to take time to do cheap shots like that? Or perhaps this is even acceptable practice at Google!

So if you are considering applying for any positions (not just the Engineering Project Manager position), do make sure that you are, indeed, creme of the crop material. Then again, don't give up hope if all you can do is to sit around and write structurally iffy nasty letters. Even the best sceening system has its flaws, as evidence by their proud employee -- Julieg.

House Hunting Part II

2005-07-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

So after the Brentwood trip last week, hubby and I proceeded to browsing at older houses in the area on a website. Lo and behold, the woman who ran the website called and convinced my husband to go look at houses with her this weekend, in THIS area (the heart of Silicon Valley)! Well, at least I didn't feel bad about wasting her time since hubby explicitly told her we were just browsing and not yet seriously looking. Nonetheless, she said she'd still show us what we can afford in this area.

The agent, a Chinese lady (go figure), showed us 3 places. I suppose we can borderline afford something resembling decent (but far from my dream house) in this area, but here's what it came down to:

(1) we have to really squeeze to come up with the 20% downpayment and

(2) then we decide on

(i) a smaller unit which would potentially appreciate faster or

(ii) a unit of the ideal size for us but in an area that doesn't appreciate as
fast (we are talking about 10 years).

All of the above decisions make me wonder: was it worth it? All this just to have a house in the bay area, and neither hubby and I even like the area enough to want to stay here on a semi-permanant basis!

What prompted me to think more was the words of the real estate agent, she assumed I'm a typical Chinese. She said things like, "You know us Chinese, we work 7 days a week. We are always out there trying to make more money." She told us about her investment house in Hawaii. And she also assumed that we own some high profile dotcom stock (ebay, google), which we don't.

I don't really feel bad that she is obviously more wealthy than us, but I guess it makes me wonder if I really should be like her and spend every waking moment scrambling to make more money (I exaggerated, she said she tries to stop working at 5 PM every day, Mon - Sat. I guess many jobs work longer hours than that.)

She didn't understand why we are reluctant to sacrifice our lifestyle for a worthy investment (buying a house in the bay area), given that we are still young (and therefore can and should suffer a little, I guess). I sorta feel guilty about my reluctance to make such a sacrifice, but I also couldn't help but wonder.

Is it really necessarity to go above and beyond to make even more money? Sure, one can never have enough money. Isn't that why it is important to know where to draw that line? We already own a house, albeit not in the Silicon Valley. We have a decent income. And we do have reasonably retirement plan. Taking all those into consideration, should we really sacrifice more time and quality of living for more investment? I am going to have to say that's a personal choice.

Most I know don't know more than 1 house, that doesn't seem to have an impact on their quality of life. Others chose to have children, but we chose the lifestyle. We are comfortable without stretching our means, I think that is good enough.

Like It, Not Like It aka House Hunting Part I

2005-07-25T02:34:00.000-07:00

Went house shopping at Brentwood with hubby today because house shopping is really a hobby of his. Brentwood is about 60 miles from where we work (a good hour drive assuming no traffic) but houses are, relatively, more affordable there. It's a pretty area, golf course, state parks, very green. We looked at a few model homes that's really at the top, TOP end of what we can afford, but I didn't exactly feel excited about any of them.

Interestingly enough, I was reading a manga a few days ago. In the story a married woman was telling to her three buddies about this house that she and her husband was looking at buying. It was a very good deal, all the criterias were met and exceeded, yet she just couldn't make up her mind. Whilst two of the friends were trying to convince her that it was too good a deal to pass up, the third one spoke, "Then don't buy it. For such a big purchase, what's the point if you don't like it like it, even though it met all your criterias. It will always bother you." So woman decided to talk to her husband about looking for a different place.

Afterward, one of the friends reflected to her boyfriend, "Yeah, I guess when you truly want something, no matter how many flaws you can find with it, you would still want it. That's when you know you really want it."

Back to my Brentwood, house-hunting story, although the new houses were nice, none of them really screamed us. Remember the one I posted that we saw in Seattle? Both husband and I turned and said to each other, "This is the one." as soon as we walked in the door. That's the kind of feeling I am looking for when we are purchasing our permanent resident.

Odd

2005-07-25T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've discovered today that I get spam mails in three different languages: English, Japanese, and Chinese. How I get onto the Japanese spam mail list I have no idea. Not that anyone (I hope not) actually read them, but it'd really help if they try to sell me stuff in a language that I can understand. :D

Marriage, Mine

2005-07-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

They, the infamous they, say that the first two years of the marriage is the roughest. Frankly I think that's a load of bull. If you are having issues in the first two years of marriage when you really should be in your honeymoon period, buddy, you've married the wrong person. Marriage requires work, they say. Yes, perhaps at a later stage, and it's not suppose to be that much work work.

They (studies) also show that cross cultural or cross class or cross educational or cross religion marriage tend to be harder to maintain, the worse sort being the female having the higher educational level. As an Asian female with a bachelor's degree raised in a middle income family in Hong Kong who married a white boy from the midwest with a military background, Hubby and I has a surprisingly overlapping set of values and we see eye to eye in most every issues that we've encountered in our married life.

Ironically, whilst we sailed through the first two and a half years of our marriage like we just got married yesterday, 80% of our arguments stemmed from one of our common interest -- video gaming. No, I don't complaint about him playing video games too much -- which seems to be the problem of other guys -- we play many (okay, just two) games together. Both of us being very good at the games we play and also very competitive, I couldn't figure out why that was the main source of our arguments for the longest time and then it hit me. Hubby and I tend to make very conservative decisions in real life, espeically when it comes to financial decisions (we would probably never make it big in the stock market T.T). While hubby carried his conversative nature into his gaming environment, I tend to make more risk-taking decisions. It's simply more fun that way, in my opinion. And that had led to our biggest difference. XD Now if only hubby will adopt the proper way of enjoying our video gaming hobby.... :D

Update

2005-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. To those who actually checks my blog occasionally, that's because I am not liking my life in the bay area, as opposed to my liking my life in San Diego, which is when I started blogging roughly a year ago.

I've been bitter about my work situation and have decided that it's better to say nothing when I have nothing good to say. After all, who wants to read about painstaking details of how stupid my coworkers are. Seriously, if only I can draw and have a slightly better sense of humor, I could be creating a comic strip similar to that of Dilbert. But that'd be passe because Dilbert already exist and drawing comic strips takes persistency that I don't have. :D

I've further listend to Dr. D's (who has stopped blogging)advice and given up my addiction on the African Wildlife Rescue game, only to pick up a new addiction -- Puzzle Pirates, a MMORPG (massive multiple players role playing game). It had conumsed my entire life and became my escape from crappy real life. Now that that addiction is starting to fade away, and I am dealing better with my bitterness, I can finally return to blogging, my other hobby. :)

Insight on Being a Temp (Temporary Worker)

2005-06-12T15:24:00.001-07:00

Don't attempt to bond with the perm (permanent employees). Same reason why you don't name the farm animals you intend to consume one day.

Insight of the Day

2005-06-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

There are two types of person in this world: the kind that I like, and the kind that I don't like.

(And if ye must ask, yes, the world do revolve around me, naturally.)

Pretty Woman. Happy Woman.

2005-05-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

I am far from being the prettiest woman on earth, however, last Friday hubby made me arguably one of the happiest women on earth. :)) How? He bought me the prettiest flowers I have ever received. Here's a picture of them:

So here's the story. Hubby and I (mostly I) had decided that we should dine out every Friday night. So we've (again, mostly I) decided to go to Applebee's Restaurant. As soon as we walked in we saw this guy, Chris, making balloon flowers for this little girl, and I was hooked. He then proceeded from table to table making flowers and swords and hats and even alligators for all the kids and I was just pining for one.

I gave hubby puppy eyes but he insisted that it was for kids only. :( Whyyyyy? I'm still a kid at heart!! Finally he ran out of kids to sell balloons to so he started looking for older patrons and hubby finally slyly gestured him over to make me my flowers. ^_^

Hubby said all the women in the restaurant were looking at me and my flowers as we exited, but I didn't notice. :( But I did see this girl and her boyfriend walking toward the restaurant and she let out a cry of excitement when she saw my flowers and never once took her eyes off of them. :D I was sure her boyfriend was thinking, "Oh, no," at the time. :D

Let me tell you, the flowers and hubby and even Chris made me a very happy woman that day. :D (I shall attached balloon flower maker's URL on here later on; I am too lazy to get up and look for the name card right now. :D Check back in you are interested. They also do events. ^_^)

The beauty about these balloon flowers? Just like real flowers, they don't last. :) Anything fleeting is more beautiful than anything that's permanent. :)

Game Score. Day 14

2005-05-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged (record) about my Africa Wildlife Game score in a few days. Many of you might have think that I have already given up on my Moby Dick (really, BM, how did the story end? :D), but I haven't. Do I really strike you as a quitter? (Actually, I am.) It's just been a constant struggle between keeping a chitty job and tending to my animals after the chitty job. How chitty is the job? Ugh. Don't even get me started. I've read that quite a few people have been let go because of blogging about their job, so I think I'll stay away from that subject at least till I get something better. :D Back to my scores:

Goal: 12,676,297

As of end of Tuesday: 213,545

Daily total: 6,965

Percentage: 1.68%

6,965. That is just pathetic. T.T Maybe I can talk hubby into letting me becoming a stay at home housewife again so I can tend to my cyber animals. :D

Laundry Day

2005-05-02T00:26:00.000-07:00

Playing Africa Wildlife Rescue for 12 days straight can get kind of tiring, so being the good housewife that I am, I've decided to do some laundry today. I accidentally put Kitty into the washing machine along with the dirty laundry. Oops!

After her nice bath I thought I might as well dry her with the laundry also. Wouldn't want my baby catching the cold now, would I? While BM might arguably be a good doctor, I am not sure how good he is when it comes to my feline baby:

See what a clean and happy kitty she was after she was bathed and dried? :)

May Movies Overview

2005-05-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Entirely based on my own movie preference:

May 3, 2005 -- National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage


Wide Screen	Full Screen

May 10, 2005 -- In Good Company, starring Paul Weitz, aka guy in 70's Show


Wide Screen	Full Screen

May 17, 2005 -- White Noise, starring Michael Keaton


Wide Screen	Full Screen

Team America


Uncensored and unrated SPECIAL edition	Wide Screen	Full Screen

May 24, 2005 -- Are We There Yet,

The Aviator,


Wide Screen	Full Screen

Possessed

I know, I know, but I'm a horror/monster flick junkie, remember? :D

May 31, 2005 -- Boogeyman

More Lemony Snicket!!

2005-05-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

Still haven't got your Lemony Snicket fix? No worries. Check out some MORE Lemony Snicket peripheral products:

Video game fans?


Game Cube	PS 2	Xbox

Game Boy Advance	Windows PC

Can you do without the strategy guide once you own the video game?

Or are you the traditional card game type of folk? Check out the Lemony Snicket's A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS The Catastrophic Card Game:

Last but not the least, how about the Lemony Snicket Unauthorized Biography? :D

Lemmony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

2005-05-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Click on the image of the book to purchase it from Amazon.com for the low, low price of $9.49 each:



			Book 12 coming in October 2005

Want them in box set instead for $23.75 each?


Box Set 1 Books 1-3	Box Set 2 Books 4-6	Box Set 3 Books 7-9

Why not just collect them all? Get all 11 books for the low, low price of $83.09. Super value! (I'm getting so good at this advertisement thing :D)

Movie: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

2005-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the DVD, was very difficult to get a hold of, at least for me. I've been trying to hit Blockbuster since Tuesday when it was released. But I had to stay late to work overtime, and same thing Wed, Thurs, and Fri. (On a good note, I got a decent pay check coming with all the overtime. :))

So by the time Friday rolled around, and I was able to get off work at 7:30 instead of the usual 9:30, I was determined it's Lemony Snicket tonight or bust. Clinging onto whatever false hope that I had that Blockbuster would actually have a copy of LS on a Friday night at 8:00 PM, I went there straight from work. It was, of course, all gone. They didn't even stock full two shelves of them like they did with some other movies. So I've decided to try my luck at Target, who sometimes have deals on new DVD for $15.99 instead of the $19.99 - $21.99 like most places. I drug Hubby with me to the Target within walking distance only to find out that all copies of LS have been completely SOLD OUT!! No kidding!! In a Target!! On a FRIDAY night!! (On hindsight, I should have taken a picture of their empty shelf/section, that was certainly a Kodak moment.) You should see the look on the store clerk's face when Hubby asked for "Lemon stickers." :D

Like I've said, it's Lemony Snicket or bust, so we proceeded onto the second closest Target store (after 2 years and 3 months of marriage, Hubby knew better than to argue with me when I am fixated on acquiring a certain item on a certain day). Guess what? The WIDE SCREEN version was sold out at this Target ALSO!!! :O The only options were Full Screen (who watches full screen?) or Full Screen with book (Hah! A book! What a concept!). So we headed back to the Blockbuster, where I started my LS hunt, and bought a new copy from them at the low, low price of $19.99.

Dispised what Hubby said the review said, I enjoyed the movie. It was very entertaining. A bit fast paced, but I guess better than waiting for a sequel to find out the answer to the mystery. (Yes, I suppose reading the actual books would be an option too. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Reading! Imagine that!) So if you are thinking about acquiring this movie, AND you are not in dire need of possessing it like I did, please click on one of the following links and purchase it from Amazon.com. I have yet to make a sale since I've signed up to their Associate program. :~( Have pity on this girl.

Get the wide screen version for the low, low price of $16.49:

Or the 2-DISC SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION for the low, low price of $21.44 (strongly recommended, I only didn't get this one because I didn't see them at the stores that I went to :(:

Or, if you absolutely MUST, the full screen version, also for the low, low price of $16.49:

I'll put links up for the books later. :D

***

BM: Look, I actually took a break from my game (to allow the animals time to heal) to do something else constructive and meaningful -- blogging. No worries on my mental health anymore. ^_^

Saturday, Day 11

2005-05-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,297

Total: 160,015

Daily total: 8,719

Now you might think I've been slacking basing on the awfully low daily total. That was so far from the truth. Sure, I watched two movies today (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Lemony Snicket' A Series of Unfortunate Events), but I still tried to spend lots of time to tend to my animals! The stupid game glitched on me and the animals simply refused to heal till this morning! Imagine my anguish and frustration! T.T At that rate, it'll take me a calculated of 4 (FOUR) years to reach my goal. T.T

Translation

2005-04-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

My own version of translation:

Original: 怒從心中起,惡向膽邊生

Translation: Adrenaline rush

***

What's your thought on that, BM? :D

Friday's Score

2005-04-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,297

As of end of Friday: 151,296

Daily Total: 16,774

Take will take to achieve goal based on daily total: 2 years

Blood Donation Scare

2005-04-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I need to quit my game from time to time to allow the animals to hear. Apparently if you just stare at them they'll never heal. :~( Stupid design of game. So I thought I'd blog some. Perhaps it would not be too bad of an idea to litter my blog will some other entries apart from my game score, of which BM has been a very royal reader. ^_^

The first sign I saw today as I got out of the elevator on the floor I work on was a big sign that says "walk in blood drive." So I thought to myself, "why not?" It's only been 10 years since I last donated blood -- because of some medical conditions back then, I was unable to donate blood for a few years. :~( And since work was slow and I was merely sitting there feeding my animals, I thought perhaps I should go save a life instead. Hahahahaha.

So I went and gave blood. And they made me sit around and forced me to drink fluids and tried to push cookies on me and I thought that was just silly and didn't want the cookie to ruin my appetite as it was approaching my lunch hour.

I went to lunch about 20 minutes after I finished donating blood. It was a good day and I was in a good mood so I skipped and hopped to the elevator. And as luck would have it, I ran into green lights after green lights at each crosswalk so I ran through two only to stop at the third and most lenghty one.

As soon as I stood still at the third light I knew I had done something horribly wrong -- the running, what was I thinking? I started getting a little light headed. Not very severe, but enough to know that I was in trouble. And probably what they called "tightness of chest," I was gasping and my chest hurt. Luckily I didn't have to wait long, the light changed and I crossed the street and made it to the restaurant that I was heading to, the entire time feeling more and more dizzy. I was seated right away. I ordered without looking at the menu and begged for water.

My symptoms got only worse after I've entered the restaurant. I could only see intermittenly. The other times I was seeing white. The noises around me sounded from very far away. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that about four tables from me sat four women in scrubs. I figured they must be nurses or hospital workers of sort. I debated about going up to them and asking them what I could do to make myself feel better, but I was intimidated. I've read it somewhere (and I don't mean you, BM) that doctors don't like being asked doctor questions when they are not at work playing doctors, (perhaps if those doctors would stop identifying themselves as doctors when they are not at work, that wouldn't be an issue any more, huh?). As I was formulating my approach to the nurses in my head it became clear to me that I wouldn't even be able to take the 10 steps necessary to get to them. If I so much as to try to get up on my feet, I'd probably collaspe.

I must have looked pale or something, the waiter who normally takes 10 minutes or more to bring me my water, if at all, brought it to me right away, along with the soup. I downed half a glass of water and even though I felt nauseated, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it out of the restaurant vertically if I don't have some food. I just don't know how long it'll take my body to absorb whatever I was about to eat. After the water, I started forcing myself to drink the soup, which tasted different than normal.

I thought about calling my coworker, I'd feel better if someone could walk back with me after I ate, but I don't have anyone's number. In retrospect, I have the blood bank's hotline number in my back pocket, but it's hard to think of these things when you were literally not seeing straight. Luckily as my body started absorbing the fluid, and the sitting down probably helped also, my symptoms started to go away as I eat.

After this whole incident, I sure hope my blood is going to someone WORTHWHILE. (I'm not a doctor, I can freely comment that some lives are more valuable than others.) I'd be so pissed (not that I'd find out one way or another) if my blood ended up being used by some reckless or drunk driver with a deathwish, worse so if he had already killed a few innocent. No, I do not believe people like that deserve to live and nothing shall stand in between a man and his deathwish.

End of Thursday

2005-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Moby Dick: 12,676,297

measley parsoni: 134,522

Daily Total: 21,970

I've finally hit ONE PERCENT (1%) of my goal after TEN days of HARD work. :D At this rate I'll be able to catch my Moby Dick in exactly 100 day, which is only a tad over three years. ^_^

End of Wednesday

2005-04-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,927

As of end of Wednesday: 112,552

Daily Total: 14,186

As my dear, loyal readers whose been following on my quest to be the best in Africa wildlife rescue , a video game may have noticed, I have already cracked ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND (100,000) points as of Wednesday, April 27, 2004!! Hurrah! Hurrah! :D

To BM: Who needs a life when there is Africa wildlife rescue , a video game :D

End of Tuesday

2005-04-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,297

End of Tuesday: 98366

You can see my daily score is getting lower and lower. It's only a whopping 7,000 points total. T.T My real life is cutting more and more into my gaming enjoyment! Why oh why did I worked the 4 hours overtime? This must be stopped. I should allow nothing to get in between me and my gaming!

Gaming on Monday

2005-04-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,297

Current: 86,184

Oh boy, I barely did over 13,000 points today!! I am letting my REAL LIFE interfere with my gaming enjoyment! This is horrible. I mean, do I really have to go to work after all? What beats staying home and playing Africa Wildlife Rescue 24/7? How could I even consider holding a JOB at a time like this??

Sunday Scores

2005-04-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Goal: 12,676,297

At end of Sunday: 72,328

Which make my daily total a whopping 24,323. MUCH worse than Saturday. :~( But I gueeeesssss there are other things just as important and needed taken care of as my stupid Wildlife game. :P

Feminine Hubby and The Existence of a Male Figure in Childhood

2005-04-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

About a year ago (can you believe that this blog has already survived for more than a year?) I wrote an entry about how Hubby is very in touch of his feminine side. Well, there's been some more development. No, he did not become more feminine, nor did he come out of the closet, thank you. He attributed his feminity to the lack of a male figure in childhood. He was brought up by his mother alone, after a tragic accident claimed the life of his father.

Well, from his wife's point of view, I am not experiencing any downside from the effect of the lack of a male figure from his childhood. From everything that I've read and heard (mainly on "best of craigslist" and not just the Hollywood depiction), Hubby doesn't possess any of those common issues that women gripe about their men, or just men in general. Communication is not his weakest suite -- he is perfectly capable of expressing his thoughts and feelings and listening to mine. He enjoys canoodling. He goes shopping with me, sometimes more willing than others. He has no qualms about sharing housework. He is naturally sweet and sensitive... and the list goes on.

So judging from my own experience, and what I read about others, I can't help but wonder perhaps it's better if boys are raised with out a male figure in life to mess them up. :D

Game Score Update

2005-04-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

After an ENTIRE day, and I mean that literally, I was able to bring my score to

Goal: 12,676,297
Yesterday (end of day): 47,995

That's a whopping 27,000 points in ONE day (of HARD work)!

If I can keep up with this pace, I should be able to achieve my goal in a little over one year -- much better than the original projected 10. :D Of course, in order to do that, I'd have to be unemployed *again*, which I am no longer unfamiliar with, and have one very unhappy hubby. :D

Game Addiction II

2005-04-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hubby, being the cynic that he is, insists that the gal (boy?) who has 12 million points did not earn it fair and square. He said he/she must have found a "crack" somehow. Regardless, I am officially making calee7 my white whale and achieving 12m points in a stupid game my life goal. For that, all my dear, loyal readers must suffer with me, much like when Hubby was at sea. What do I mean by that? I shall record my daily score until I exceed calee. I sure hope the number after her nick is NOT her age (although it very well might be).

***

DAY FOUR
Goal: 12,676,297
Current: 20,246

At this rate, I ought to complete my goal in 7 years, instead of my original estimate of 10...

***
BM: How about getting your nurses hook on that too? XD

Game Addiction

2005-04-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

So I discovered Gameblast.com and got sucked into this game called "Australia Wildlife Rescue." Just like many other stupid games that I've been addicted to, my enthusiasm last about 3 days because usually I can beat a game in 3 days. It wasn't that hard when that's all you do day and night when you are not eating, sleeping, and cooking for the hubby. After the defeat of the game came, of course, the withdrawal. So I searched the almight internet and tah da, I've discovered Africa Wildlife Rescue and Pacific Island Wildlife Rescue on the Nickelodeon website. So now I am playing games on the same website as hubby's 12-year-old nephew. At least most of the games are free. hahaha. Then I saw that this highest score at this game was some 12 million points. Being a very competitive person, I naturally made beating that score my next life goal. Oh, at a measly 5,000 pts a day, I should be able to achieve that in, oh, say 10 years. :D

Hi Tech Food

2005-04-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

The executive chef of Moto Restaurant, Homaro Cantu, has been experimenting with edible printed food -- food printed with fruit or vegetable liquids on soybean and potato starch paper.

You can read more on this article from The New York Times:

When the Sous-Chef Is an Inkjet

The Moto Restaurant is located in Chicago, Illinois. Hubby is going to Chicago for a training in May. There's always hope that he'll take me there. XD I just have to make sure he doesn't found out the cost before we made it into the restaurant. ^_^

I Want. I Want.

2005-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

So I kinda, sorta got a job that starts next week. So even though I might not be able to spend a lot of money right away, at least now I can return to my lifestyle of drooling over all kind of knick knacks and gadgets. This is the next on my list:

It's a portable player that can work with your TiVo Series 2 device and save up to FIVE hours of programs. It can also play media of many different formats. It can also double (triple? quadruple?) as voice recorder, digital camera, or camcorder.

If only it's not $549. :~( All the new toys are so expensive. :~(

My Newest Blog Toy

2005-04-11T00:29:00.000-07:00

Hahaha, look what I found blog-hopping? :) An e-poster for the movie "War of the Worlds" thats coming out on June 29th. Do I know what the movie is about? Not the slightest clue. So why would I want to go through the hassle of putting that on my blog? (It wasn't easy, you have to submit and application form and they have to approve your site to put up their banner. :P) Answer: Cuz it looks cool. ^_^ So go ahead, click on the banner. Really, it won't bite. :)

They have more goodies than just a banner. Perhaps when I am more awake tomorrow, I'll see what else I can throw onto my blog. ^_^

Terri Schiavo

2005-04-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

So the Terri Schiavo has finally came to an end. At least as close to an end as it could be to those of us who are not directly involved. Frankly I was happy to hear that when the court rejected her parents appeal. I honestly do not like my tax money tied up in frivolous law suits. Florida governor trying to acquire custody of Terri Schiavo? Oh, please!

But that's not what I want to say here. Nothing I can argue both from a legal or moral standpoint hasn't already been argued to death, but I do have one question.

Terri Schiavo's parents are Catholics. I can certainly see that an atheist who does not believe in life after death will consider death being the worse thing that could happen (although I doubt most of us atheist feel that way, perhaps it was because I'm more a quitter than a fighter. I can think of many scenarios where I think death will be a better alternative). Regardless, Catholics, as in the case of most religions, believe that there is life after death. So presumably, the difference between life and death is really down to wether the soul is still with the body.

So let's now look back at Terri Schiavo's case. If her soul was no longer with the body, it's pointless to keep the body "alive." And if she soul was still with the body, what kind of an awful existent that would be? I once watched a show about a woman recalling her time spent on solitary confinement, I believed she was locked up in a pitch black cell too. (That would be one of the scenario that I think death would be a better choice.) She continued to toss and find a button (coin?) non stop to pass time and keep herself sane. Now we all know that solitary confinement is considered as "cruel and unusual" in any civilized society. Now imagine a soul trapped inside a body that cannot move or communicate. Imagine how awful that is? If people truly believe there's life after dead, and in their theory, life after death is the glorious time is to be with their God, why not let her pass on to the next stage? Surely the first year or two it'd be hard for the ones left behind to grasp the lost, but it's been 15 years? It baffles me why it's so difficult to let her move on, to be with God, no less.

Blogs and Bills

2005-04-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I went through a phase of marking the bills that comes through me in order to see if I'll ever get the same bill again. Well, much like any other bizarre idea in my life, this one was short-lived too. For whatever time period it was that I've marked all the bills that had came through me, no, I've never seen one of them twice. On hindsight, consider the sheer number of bills in circulation, one can be doing it for years without seeing one again, or a life time for that matter.

On a quick search on the internet, you can now track your bills through http://www.wheresgeorge.com. You can enter the denomination and serial number of your bills and see where they'll end up, or where they had been. Talking about the digital age. Of course, now that I have this "disease," I consider all money to be "dirty" (as in germ covered), I'll never dig out a bill at home unless I absolutely have to, let alone entering them into the computer. This will forever be a thing of the past.

But advertising for Wheresgeorge.com was not the purpose of this entry. I was going to talk about the list of blogs on blogger.com. You know those that shows you the latest updated blogs? I use to browse through them from time to time when I got too bored at work (this is, of course, back in the good old days when I still have a JOB). On the occasions that I've read something of interest but forgot to make a note of it, most of the time I'll never be able to find the same blog again. To accidentally run into the same blog twice is about as difficult as acquiring the same bill twice. :~(

Kitty Buddha

2005-03-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

After spending days contemplating about the email correspondence between Dr. D and I, I've arrived at the conclusion that those Buddhists had it all wronged. Let me explain to you what I mean by that.

Buddhism believes that, to the best of my knowledge, the ultimate goal in life (or many lives if you'd prefer) is to achieve enlightment and became a Buddha, thus escaping further reincarnations, which is said to be full of pain and suffering. Now I don't have a very clear picture on what exactly is it like to be in this Buddha state, but for as far as I could tell, it really doesn't sound all that appealing. (Granted, my opinion could change once I get there, if ever. But this will go back to my original point that what its like then is not comprehensable at our stage now. I can only speak for what I know and how I feel at this point in this life time.) What's the sense of working not just your entire life, but life after life after life, we are talking about a LONG time in a geological sense, or possibly longer, in order to achieve something that I didn't even care about?

So, for argument purposes, let's say the Buddhism viewpoint (of reincarnation) represent the truth of the universe. And that the goal is to "escape all pain and suffering (associated with being alive)," the best alternative is not to become a Buddha, but to reincarnate as a spoiled pet. Yes, I said pet. And by that I don't mean a fish, or a rat, or snake, which you'd have to keep in a cage. I am talking about more like a cat or a dog. Note, I said a spoiled one, obviously the life of an abused pet is not much to be aspired to.

Let me use my Kitty to illustrate to you why a spoiled pet's life is what we should aspire to be:

(1) Kitty is spoiled rotten; how many humans can say that about themselves? If I have kids, I would not spoil them remotely as much as I spoil my cat. Why? Because one day they'll have to go out into the real world, and survive out there.

(2) Take the life of a regular person, he/she will have to keep a job in order to pay for all the expenses incurred for the basic needs in life -- shelter, food, other amenities and comfort in life. Does Kitty has to worry about any of those? No! She takes everything I provide for her for granted. By the Buddhism viewpoint, I must have owned her lots from my previous life (lives)!

(3) Most humans, even the lucky of all lucky ones, will find themselves in occasions that they'd rather not be in. For instances, most individuals, as I understand, do not enjoy their work, or at least wish they could work less hours at times. People who actually enjoy what they do are a rarity, and even those, I'm sure, have parts of their jobs that they'll rather not have to deal with. Do you think Kitty had ever done anything against her wish? The most horrible thing that has happened to her was probably being picked up when she doesn't want to, for a few seconds before she struggled free. (Sure, she's fixed and deprived of the pleasure of intimacy, but Buddhism was never about advocating intimacy. Monks don't have intimacy; by the same token, nor do Buddhas, so we are really comparing oranges with oranges here. :)

(4) Demanding: Kitty wants to be fed; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants attention; Kitty makes lots of noises. Kitty wants to play; Kitty makes lots of noises. Eventually you'll have to choose being caving into her wishes, or going insane from her persistent meowings. (Did you know that cats are not naturally vocal? Pet cats acquired that ability to better boss around their owners. They've learned from experiences that owners reacts better to noises. Who do you think is the true boss in this house?

(5) Her life literally is consist only of eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, play, eat sleep, play. How many of us would die for such a lifestyle?

Therefore, the Buddha state described in the scripture, in my humble opinion, must be very closed to that of my Kitty. I shall rename her Buddha from now on, if she feels like responding to her newly adopted name.

Funny Things my Ex-Roommate's Mother Used To Do To Him

2005-03-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

My ex-roommate had a few gripes about things that his mother used to ask him to do; some of them are funnier than others.

(1) Grocery shopping:

She'd ask him to stand in line first when she went and "grabbed just one more item." Of course she'd also never made it back in time. Poor kid will stand there, items all rung up, cashier looking at him, others in line looking at him. He has no cash on him and mom was nowhere to be seen.

(2) Parking lot:

She'd see a spot, but couldn't manuver over there right away, so she'd ask him to go and stand in the spot to hold the spot while she manuver her way over that. This one always make me laugh.

Hubby, on the other hand, have the tendency to get himself into situations like that. Grocery shopping with hubby is a pointed mission: stop ONLY at points that we KNOW we need something from. Oh, and hurry! Immediately before the last item, he'd say, "I'm going to stand in line, why don't you go grab it." Have you ever try to find an item in a grocery shop that you were there for the FIRST time? With the stop watch running? It's literally like running a 500 meter hurdle! So boy did that to me again today.

"What else do we need?"

"Green bell pepper."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"I'll stand in line then."

Rolled eyes, "Okay." Do as you wish, like I could stop you.

After the green bell pepper, just like any other good woman, I thought of something else that I'd like to get -- lotus, which the store carry only intermittenly. While I was taking my time (hehehe) looking for lotus, I heard whistle from behind me -- hubby's signal for "I'm over here." Apparently he had already unloaded every thing we had (which was hardly anything) onto the conveyor bell and it was his turn already when he realized I was nowhere to be seen. LOL. Needless to say he had to put everything back into the basket then came looking for me. Ahahahahaha. Suits him fine. "I'll stand in line while you go grab the last item"! :D

This is hilarious

2005-03-27T01:45:00.000-08:00

Check out this link, especially funny were "class" and "swim meet." :D

Karma

2005-03-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

On a different note from my previous blog, why bother to be a nice person if I don't have a religious believe, you might ask. (Let's not even delve into whether all religious folks are necessarily "nice" people.) There are a few reasons: (1) education and upbringing. I don't need to have a fear for punishment in order to be nice. (2) I am still able to tell right from wrong. And I also believe in karma is a smaller scale. Many a times in my life, I've had people that offered me a helping hand when I most needed and less expected. And those incidents had very profound effects on my life. I do not have a way to repay these people in my life, so I figured that if I am nice and try to help others when they need it most, hopefully they'd do same later on when they were on the other end of the table, and so on and so forth. Yes, in a corny way, it is very similar to the movie "Bring it Forward." Except I wasn't the person who started it. I try to help others because I have already received assistance. I am not afraid to admit that I'm not the first person in this chain; (3) and a more selfish approach at things, since we don't really know (some would argue that) what it's like after death, it doesn't hurt to be nice and have all basis covered. :D

On Religion

2005-03-27T01:37:00.000-08:00

(Yeah, I know, I've already written a few entries by the same title, but I assure you, my dear readers, this is not going to be "just another one of those." :)

When I was in my twenties, I was happily an atheist. By that I mean (1) I don't believe there is a God, or Gods, or ghosts and (2) when people die, it's like falling into a deep, dreamless sleep -- there is nothing, literally nothing, no feelings, no consciousness, you are not even awared that you are asleep. For the longest time, that's what I hang onto. I believe that religion is what makes one feels comfortable, and that's the only belief that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Let's look at the Bible-oreinted religion. I attended a Catholic school when I was a kid. Back then it was taught that good people go to Heaven and bad ones end up in hell when they die. What disturbs mehe the most about this school of belief was the concept of eternity. I find eternity scary, heaven or hell. No matter how good one thing is (think of the happiness incidents in your life, let it be a party, gathering with friends, a movie, even your wedding), but imagine being stuck at that moment for all eternity. How's that for a concept?

Later on, I've learned that some Bible-oriented religion is even simplier than what I was taught: those who believe in God/Jesus will go to heaven and the non-believers will end up in hell, after judgement day (or something similar to that effect). Now that's plain mind-boggling. It is as if saying that whether you believe in the existence of something that you can't see or feel or prove is the single most important thing in life. Imagine that! What about those that never had the opportunity to encounter this certain religion in their life? Are you just going to tell them that they are SOL? (For my non-English readers: SOL = shit out of luck.)

At least the version I was taught focus on encouraging people to be nice people. Although I must say that the very first things that turned me off this religion in the first place was the sisters - alleged servants of God - at the Catholic school I've attended really practiced "do as I say, not as I do." (Not unlike all the pedophilic Catholic priests.)

But I've digressed, my atheism belief worked out perfectly for me for the last decade, until I've met my husband and became very emotionally attached to him. Then my atheism belief can no longer do it for me. "There has to be something more than existence on earth," I thought to myself. Why else would we have feelings and grow so attached to another individuals? Shouldn't there be more to it? Essentially, I've became greedy? Even without knowing whether we can make it through this life time together, I want some sort of guarantee that there's a way for us to be together after we've "passed on."

Well, the western Bible-related religions are not going to give me the answer that I want to hear. I think the gist of it (correct me if I am wrong) of them all is the fact that those who ends up in heaven is "happy" because they are now with God. Not quite the answer I was seeking.

Therefore, I've turned to eastern religion to see what I can find in that respect. I accidentally came upon D's blog, who claims he is a Buddhist. And even though he's a doctor by trade and his blog really has nothing to do with Buddhism, I've decided to email him to see if he can answer my questions about "life, death, and the meaning of the universe."

After a few emails back and forth, I've came to the conclusion that Buddhism is not any more or less disturbing than the western religions. To put it simply, Buddhism believes in reincarnation. And to the best of my knowledge, Buddhism believes that life is full of sufferning, and the goal is to achieve "enlightment" and escape the fate of reincarnation (gross generalization). Buddhism also believes in this concept called karma. What it really means is your fate in this life reflects your past sins or good deeds, and whatever you do in this life (along with those from previous lives) will carry on to the next lifes, and so on and so forth. Well, I have a decent life so far. A few things I've like to have been different, but overall, I'd consider myself a lucky person. In my opinion, being born in the western civlized world and have the opportunity of higher education in and of itself is a kind of blessing already. But the catch about reincarnation is that you do not bring your memories with you. You start fresh everytime, and you do not remember past deeds and relationships. Again, it does not provide me with the answer that I am seeking. In addition, I can't shake the feeling that if you reincarnate without knowledge of what you've done in the past, you are practically a different person. Is it fair that one has to be punished for sins committed by a stranger, namely yourself in your past life? It's a concept that's very hard to grasp.

From what I can tell (barely touched the basics of what Buddhism truly represents) it differs most from western religion in the sense that it takes into account all other organisms in the world that we share, not just focusing solely on human. Yet the concept of reincarnation after reincarnation after reincarnation is about as disturbing as heaven or hell for all eternity (could one really commit a crime so heinous that one needs to be punished for all eternity? Is God, who preaches forgiveness, really that unforgiving if you failed to confess before you die?).

I have read this book when I was young, I believe it was a science fiction book, in which the author toyed with the idea of fusing eastern and western religion together -- heaven = good life after a life of good deeds; hell = vice versa. Perhaps there is the way to integrate these religions and get an even better picture. Or, is there really a meaning? Perhaps there isn't one. Just because we are capable of thinking, we want to know what's the meaning of life/universe. Who is to say there is one?

So in the end, neither eastern, western religions (those that I've somewhat explored so far), nor atheism provide me with what I want to hear (yes, I admit. It might not necessarily be the truth that I am seeking. I am seeking peacefulness of mind during this lifetime). So I guess I'll have to settle for "I don't know." Perhaps "afterlife" is really a concept that one will not be able to grasp until one is there. Perhaps it's like trying to understand "5th dimension," or explaining the concept of "internet" or "television" to someone from the 16th century. Perhaps "the truth" is something completely beyond our comprehension at this state, at least that's all I have to hang onto, for the time being.

My New Addiction

2005-03-25T01:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, I must confess. I've got a new addiction. Is it illegal drugs, you might ask. No, of course no. Smoking? No. Drinking? Hell no. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! One of those Yahoo mini games? Nooooo. It's cooking for the hubby.

You see, for the past two weeks, my life has resolved to nothing but want ads scanning, cover letter and resumes rewriting and submitting, other than when I ponder, "What should I make for dinner tonight" (and occasionally, what can I get from Blockbuster today :). Don't I wish hubby's paycheck is fat enough so I can be a full time permanant kept woman. :~( But that belongs in a different entry.

My friend B said I've became "domesticated." I don't like the term "domesticated." It sounds so... demeaning to women. My friend E thinks I enjoy cooking. She couldn't be more wrong. If I have unlimited monetary resources AND always able to find a decent place that serves my craving, I won't be cooking. Most of the reasons that I cook were because I cannot count my enjoyment of food in the hands of others. Why pay exorbitant prices for something that I can make just as good or even better at home?

Aren't you contradicting yourself, you might ask. No, no, no. I didn't say I'm addicted to cooking, I said I'm addicted to "cooking for the hubster." What's the difference, you asked again. My, don't we have a curious mind. Let me give you an analogy. Most people don't really enjoy going to work; they merely enjoy the moment they receive the paycheck, or at least the moment they are blowing away their paycheck. My joy came not from the preparation of food, but hubby's excitement when I make him his favorites. His eyes will light up and his face glows like a golden retriever just saw his owner picking up a ball and a stick.

This particular joy does come with some sacrifices. First of all, I have to give up some of my favorite Chinese cuisine, including but not limited to squid, sea cucumber, thousand-year-old eggs (Yeah, same kind they served in Fear Factor. Were I on there I'll be asking for a second serving). After all, I have no heart to ask hubby to have dinner, Fear Factor style, after he came home from a long day of work. :~( But for that look of his, everything is worth it. :)

[Some truth has been distorted or exaggerated for the smooth flowing of this entry. All complaints and request for "correction", with the exception of typos or spelling errors, will be disregarded.]

Strength and Weaknesses

2005-03-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

So I've been doing practically nothing but browsing/screening want ads and sending out resumes and cover letters lately. For the very first time in my life, I actually take into consideration to look for a job with growing potential. I don't want just another dead end job to tie me over the next few months. Let me tell you something about a mid-age career change -- it's awful. Everything (even entry level jobs) want "1-2 years experience." Oh, for the love of God, I can do filing and data entry and create letter and schedule appointment WITH or WITHOUT 1-2 years experience.

"Light Math" -- Well, I studied calculus 10 years ago and it's a bit rusty, but I'm sure I can brush it up quickly, how does that sound to you.

"Knowledge of IE preferred" -- O - MY - GOD! Preferred? Any job that remotely comes CLOSE to the computer should REQUIRED IE knowledge. After all, how hard is it to use IE???

"Complex travel and meeting calender"? -- Oh, c'mon. How complex could that be? Can you do it this date at this time? No? Okay, how about this date at this time? Like someone had once said, "There's no such thing as a stupid question; just stupid people."

Here, let me just lay it out for you.

My strength, my real strength -- I can boil anything and everything down to the "gist of it," assuming that I have a grasp of the subject matter. So we can effectively rule out nuclear physics right about now.

Henceforth:

"Briefly state your interest in this job."

Money!! Hello!! What do you think? Not exactly the most meaningful job we are talking about here. You try posting the ad soliciting services for free, see how many responses you get.

Last but not the least:

"Why should we hire you." (They usually don't put it in exactly those words, see my strength above.)

Because I can do this damned job better than your everyday morons out there, and that probably include half of your employees that have already been at your company for five years and still clueless and I need the money. So there! Just hire me, okay?

My weaknesses:

There isn't any. I'm perfect. If there are any weaknesses that I am awared of, AND can be fixed, it'd already have been fixed so it's a non-issue. Duh! How many more times do we have to go through the obvious?

My Blog

2005-03-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

It has came to my attention that couple pals of mine actually hit my blog occasionally. Finding that out was short of mortifying. Not that there's anything on here that I don't want them to see. Quite the opposite, there is nothing here to read. I wish I could say "this is a blog about nothing" and still be as successful as Seinfeld. It takes a certain type. What started out as an affort for more substantial entries had turned into a blog of mindless rambling. To think that any one other than (1) hubby and (2) unsuspecting victims who were querying for how to grow/transplant/kill/picture of banana tree would actually voluntarily come here and suffer through my rambling. Well, folks, I'm touched.

For that, I'll try my darnest to put stuff with substances on here, maybe, perhaps. :)

Rain. Rain. Rain.

2005-03-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

It's raining again, from Saturday all the way through Tuesday, at least that's what the weather channel says. I guess the saving grace about rainy days in the bay area is that even on an overcast day, you get these "breaks" where the sun will actually comes out from time to time.

I feel lethargic when it rains. Doesn't help that I'm unemployed. Doesn't feel like doing anything. Doesn't feel like going out. This continues (unemployment + overcast), I'll be ordering groceries online soon.

Hubby complaints about the rain too. Funny it'd affect him. On hindsight I guess it's lucky that we didn't move to Seattle, where it rains some 40% of the time... No wonder it's suicide capital...

Thanks GOD!

2005-03-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the state's constitution, saying the state could no longer justify limiting marriage to a man and a woman

It is so nice to see that there are still VOICES OF REASONING exist in this country and that we are not yet overran by vile and hateful fundamentalists.

To those who are trying to defend the institution of marriage, for the love of God, please go crucify those HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES who were married and divorced MULTIPLE times. So people make mistakes, but three PLUS times? Oh, c'mon. I personally met this guy one time, a successful guy in his career, I presume, phD holder, owns his own company, yet looks and talks like Howard Stern, IN A REGULAR WORK ENVIRONMENT. Personally, I think that was quite unacceptable (it's not a radio show, I couldn't tune him off). Regardless, that wasn't the point of bringing this gentleman up. He has been married FIVE times, twice to the same women. I couldn't help but blurted out, "Why?" Yeah, one of these days (if not already) my big mouth is going to get me into a lot of trouble. He said, "Because I was taught to marry the person that I am in love with." Um... okay. If the getting married and getting a divorce is NOT devaluing the institution of marriage. Ladies and Gentlemen, you want to talk about defending the traditional one man one woman value.

Oh, and what about that guy who married FOUR different women WITHOUT divorcing any of them all in the name that he "loves them all"? You want to talk about "protecting the institution of marriage." For the record, I'm married, to a man, and I have yet to figure out how others getting married can have this magical negative effect on my marriage. If that's how you feel, start looking for a marriage counselor. You have no business messing with the law.

Movie Spoiler: The Ring

2005-03-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Not part 2, I haven't seen part 2 yet. I've sworn off movie theaters until cell phone usages are banned.

Just this thing I've been thinking about ever since I've watched "The Ring." (Do not read on if you haven't seen the movie yet.) I think the entire problem of the ring can be solved by adding a small bit of instructions in the copies -- make copies, and include at the end to "make a copy." Ta da, problem solved, no more people will die from watching the movie. Copies get made, girl in well is happy. End of story. Wonder why nobody thought of that? :D I'm so smart.

Movie Review: Ladder 49

2005-03-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

It was an okay movie, very much like Backdraft. The flash back scenes really interupt the build up of the movie. The extra part about his wife and such were warm and fuzzy, but, like I've said, can't sustain the pace for an action film. It was, however, a good movie for one to get a glance at what it's like to be a firefighter and their families. Might make a better documentary if it's "based on a true story" or was it?

Movie Review: The Incredibles

2005-03-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Simply incredible. Need I to say more? Well exceeded my expectation.

Pixar rocks!! Now that Pixar is no longer working with Disney, I wonder if we'll ever see a part 2. :( Then again, most part 2's suck anyway.

Soft Ice-Cream

2005-03-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

My birthday is coming up. Think I'll get a soft ice-cream machine? :D~~

Movie Review: Flight of the Phoenix

2005-03-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks to unemployment, I am back to my two-movie-a-day life style (okay, maybe just one, but I am working on it).

The movie delivered exactly what it promised, nothing more, nothing less. The story premise was a plane crash stranded a group of individuals in the Kobe desert and they were going to build another plane out of the old one to fly themselves out of there. It was pretty much a predictable movie -- accidents happened, they were set back, squabbling among the group, lost a few people to various incidents, and finally the ones left made out alive.

Following are the spoiler part. Do not read any further if you plan on watching the movie:

The part that irked me was how the group reacted when the found out the "engineered" whom directly them to build the plane actually built remote control toy planes for a living. They felt for sure that they were not going ot make it out of the desert in the plane that they build. Oh, for the love of God, they were all going to die anyway, what's taking a chance? I have no idea what was there to bitch about.

Other than that, a solid movie.

Movie Review: 2LDK

2005-03-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

"Envious roommates in a duel to the death" said it all, right on the DVD itself. It was a dark comedy about two actress wannabes fighting over the same role and the same guy, till death.

I foudn it funny, in an excessive violent kind of way. Hubby completely disliked the movie, said it was a dumb movie. And need I to remind you that this is the same hubby (as I have only one) who LOVES mindless comedies and thinks "Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag" was the best comedy made.

Amazon patrons rated it 4 stars out of 5. Wait till hubby sees those reviews. :D

An Old Story

2005-03-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

I remember this sci fi story that I've read when I was a kid (it's a Japanese manga). It is very interesting to read science fiction from different cultures. They vary in their own very distinctive ways. I'll give you an example.

Common theme in US animation: heroic protagonist came into contact of nuclear waste and gained super power. It is very interesting interpretation that (1) nuclear waste always glow green (see The Simpsons) and (2) protagonist gained useful super ability instead of merely being deformed. There's some misunderstanding here on how mutation work, but we could chalk that all up to suspension of disbelief, I suppose.

Common theme in Japanese animation: aliens or evil forces attack earth. A team of 5 (always 5. The 5 will include one normal, average size male -- protagonist -- generally color-coded red, an exceptionally skinny and tall male -- sidekick #1 (blue), a male who can "lose a few pounds" -- sidekick #2 (green), an attractive female (pink, of course, sexist!), and a sometime genius kid (yellow)) were always selected to defend earth. Now why would alien/evil forces pick Japan, an ity bity, island to start is beyond me. Again, suspension of disbelief.

Like my friend in Hong Kong commented after watching Independence Day, "It's always the Americans who saved the world." Well, of course, it's a movie made by Americans. It's called "Independence day," alias ID4. It's released on July 4th. Of course, the Americans were going to save the world. Would we make a film only to make the French or Chinese take the spotlight?

Anyways, I digressed, I've been doing that a lot lately. Back to this story that I started out saying. :)

It's a story about this high school boy picking up what looked like an UFO model with an open top one day. He brought it home with him. And when he stared into the open top, all he could see was darkness. It was as if there was a voice telling him to do it, he placed his hand over the top. Soon (days?) a nebula began to form inside the black hole. At some point down the line, boy freaked out over it and wanted to get rid of "the universe." But some guy (?) appeared and said he needed to finish off what he had started. So he continued to nurture the universe. At the end, the universe was formed, and he could hear small voices of prayers occasionally. He said every once in a while, he'll reply "okay." Then he'll hear back, "Oh, thank you, thank you." So essentially he had became God, but he was still a normal high school boy.

I just thought it was a cute little story. :)

Blog of the Day

2005-03-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd do my own version of Blog of Note as I blog surf. =)

garden of peace

Absolutely beautiful website although the writing is a bit hard to understand. I especially like the picture of what appeared to be father and daughter. =)

Oh, And Then There Was This:

2005-03-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

In the article titled Rave: I love you, Average Boyfriend.

average boyfriend, it annoys me that you have come to expect me to prepare not only all of our meals together, but also to wake up early and make your breakfast, to pack your lunch, and cook an extra snack for you at two in the morning...

That's average?? Really? Is that the expectation of an average man? I always knew I was lucky in the man department (only with the current hubby, don't even want to think about the horrendous experience prior to him), but I didn't realize I was that lucky. :D

Fifth Week, Still Surviving the Bay Area

2005-03-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

We have officially survived four weeks of bay area. And I was not exaggerating when I say "survive." Last week was arguably the roughest week I've ever had with hubby since we've known each other. He was exhausted and I was edgy most of the time. The one thing that's worse than knowing you've inherited all these bad genetic material from your family is to not be able to do a thing about them when they were freely expressing themselves.

It's sort of like in a dream, where you were both the protagonist but you were not. You were experiencing what was going on both as the first person but also as a third person witness. On one hand I could feel the irritation building up inside of me, but the rational (3rd person) self was acutely aware of the fact that my irritation really had nothing to do with what hubby had done or said and it was simply not something that's worth throwing a fit over. Sometimes I was more successful than others at controlling my temperament.

I'd hate to think that our relationship is so fragile that by merely relocating to the bay area can put dents in our relationship. Guess we've got to work harder at figuring out a routine that we can achieve balance between work and a pleasant and healthy life.

Speaking of which, Hubby purchased a '04 Miata last Friday. When I said he purchased it, I meant I didn't know it ahead of time. Okay, that wasn't entirely true either. He's been talking about buying another car for a while now. But since shopping for big ticket items (predominantly houses, cars) is like a hobby of his, it's hard to tell when he's really going to do it. And I accidentally left my cell phone at home when I went to work on Friday. By the time I got hold of him he was already on his way home in his new (used) car.

For reasons beyond understanding I found his purchase of this particular car very distressful. Poor hubby even offered to sell it if I really hated it. Now I've never received/acquired any useful interpersonal relationship advices from my family, but I do have a set of guildlines of what kind of wife that I don't want to be. I don't believe I should be able to tell him what kind of a car he can or cannot have. I certainly would not like it if he interferes strongly on my choice of a car. More importantly, I couldn't even pinpoint what was it about the car that distresses me.

Fortunately, as the weekend arrived, and we drove around town in his little Miata with the top down and the weather was gorgeous and hubby was playing ALL the songs that were my favorites, I've made peace with the car. At least it is green. And now that hubby has the crappy car of the house, that'd free up monetary resource for me to get my brand new GREEN 2005 Prius. ^_^

Average Length of Being in Love?

2005-03-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

I read this interesting blog today in which the author/blogger quoted some statistics that she read elsewhere -- "experts said that the actual time of being in love is only one year and eight months." That's a statement, a very scientific one at that. That's just like saying, "the incubation time of AIDS is 7 years." It's a precise length of time, not even an average.

An intriguing question is: how did these so-called experts (and who are these experts anyway?) determine whether someone is "in love"? I'd think that the only way to scientific determine whether an individual is in love is to meaure his/her brain chemistry. But since that is unheard of, I am going to assume that we are not yet able to do that. So they arrived at this startling conclusion basing solely on self-reports?

Once I've been asked the question of when I fell in love with my husband (during the course of dating). I didn't have an answer for that; I still don't. Is it even possible to pinpoint that? It's not exactly like catching the flu -- "Oh, I got it some 2-3 days ago from this guy who was sitting next to me." Better yet, how do you even defined what is being "in love."

One year and eight months? That was by far the strangest remark I've ever came acrossed. (Completely irrational statements such as "God showed Himself in front of me on a grilled cheese sandwich/potato chip/fence in my backyard" not withstanding.)

I couldn't help but wonder how they arrived at that figure. One year and eight months? So what do you call couples who've been married for thirty years and still hold hands when they go out? Did they really only stay in love for one year and eight months, and then stayed together the rest of the time for reasons other than "real love"? How odd! And how sad!

Time for a New Mop? T_T

2005-03-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

This is a completely stupid entry but it's important for me. As a woman (sexist as it might sound), I am very attached to some of my kitchen/cooking/cleaning wares. I am highly susceptable to advertisements on new products in this area, especially when the word "disposable" is included.

The only item I want to snatch from hubby that he brought into the marriage is his potato peeler, were things not work out between us. My "baby" was a sharp knife that I posses, until it was replaced by my new "baby" - a $5 bargain from the outlet that can cut anything like tofu (and if don't know what that is like, you should buy a brick of tofu today and try to cut it. No really, try it. Tofu is not that expensive).

But this blog entry is not about tofu, it's about, that's right, as the topic might have suggested, mop. I am highly distressed that upon finding the perfect mop -- Scotch Brite Butterfly map -- they have discontinued the product, leaving with the mop but no refills. T_T Perhaps I shouldn't jump to the conclusion that I'm stuck with a headless map. I did, afterall, find a picture of these mop heads on an Australian website...

Ebay Advertisement

2005-03-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've all seen those eBay advertisements that came up with practically any commercial merchandise searches you've ever done. I'm sure the wordings are standard, "New and Used on eBay." But I was looking for mop refills. Do I really want to buy a lot of 8 used mop refills from eBay? :D

Kitty Translator

2005-03-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

A while back I've read that some Japanese company (?) had invented these kind of dog collar that'll interpret what the barkings were suppose to mean.

Ugh. Much as I love my cat, I don't want to know what she has to say. I'm not sure what my cat has to say is necessarily warm and fuzzy like she is. I guess in a sense, I feel guilty towards my kitty. What if she ask me why I had her fixed? Granted, I chose to be child-free, but I didn't exactly poll her opinion before I took her to the vet. Okay, even if she was so protected she doesn't know what mating is exactly. What if she wants to know why she's always stuck with the same type of cat food? Or that I always forget to open up the shades for her when I go to work. What if she expresses that she doesn't like the fact that we move a lot, and make her endure the horrible car ride every time? Or worse, even if she doesn't complain, what if she starts to have a lot of requests in the future? It'll be like having KIDS!

No, thank you. I think things are just fine the way they are. Now that she and I cannot communicate. I can continue to tell myself that I'm being as good of a owner as I can and try my best to make her a happy kitty. :)

Blogging No-No's

2005-03-05T15:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my! After blogging for a whole year, I just discovered this list of 10 no-no's on Blogarama on what NOT to do if you want to build readership to your blog. To make a long story short, I must have done 8 out of the 10 on the list.

The very top one? Have a topic. I believe my very first entry said there is no theme to this blog. Seinfeld, by his own admission, said his show was a show "about nothing." Forgive me for trying to be the next Seinfeld. Of course it's only been a year, and I am, quite frankly, not seeing some 10,000 hits a day, who would have thought? I thought I'd have readship like that of Stephen King by now, while living out of my $2 million beach front house. To quote a Chinese saying: it's not that I don't have talent; people just haven't learned to appreciate it yet!

So I am contemplating revamping my blog, maybe separating it into different sections: personal rant, knick knacks, and others. And while I am at it, I can maybe even fix all the broken picture links from the past. They were only scattered over 3 different computers and over 5 directories. Not like it's a chore or anything. But now I am turning my hobby into a project. :~(

Japanese Grave Stone

2005-03-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'll try to put some pictures on in the near future. Hubby has already set up BananaTreeHouse.net for me. :D Let's take a vote on whether I should fix all the broken pix from the past. Any one?

Check out these interesting looking Japanese grave stones. I particularly like the hippo in the 5th pic down, and the doremon in the 6th pic. Look also at the strange creature in the lower right hand corner of the last pic. I want! I want! Looks like there's a kitty one hiding in the left side too, behind the big "buddha."

Interestingly enough, I've seen statues like these in US for backyard or even indoor decoration. Wish this place will have a website to sell to oversea. Hehehe. Looks more creative than the brown bear cut out of a tree trunk!

Travel Cuisine

2005-03-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Travel Cuisine in Cambodia. Producers of Fear Factor need to check this out. I wonder what animal group activists would say about eating fried tarantula.

A Spoiled Brat

2005-03-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was reading this blog yesterday. This girl was explaining how she and her mother had a "conflict of personalities." She expressed that her mother could not accept her viewpoint that she consider life temporary and unimportant and refuses to take on a job that she hates and regretting by the day she die that she had not live her life. At first I sided with the girl. Sure, to me financial stability is very important. Roof over head and food on table comes before dignity (it's a Chinese saying). But who is to say that everybody must succumb to a life like that? However, as I read on, I've lost respect for her when I found out that she was complainting about her mother kicking her out of the mother's house.

Ugh. If you want to live up to your belief of not wanting to go to a job that you hate everyday, either find a job that you enjoy (Yes, they exist, far and in between, but some lucky folks actually like their jobs. I hope I'll be one of them some day.) or live a low cost life-style, of course even a low-cost life-style needs money. But one loses her rights to complaint when she chose to leech off of someone else so that said someone (or society in general if you draw from one of the many programs available) can live their ideal lifesyle of not having to worry about financial stability, then it's not all that noble after all.

I can respect others' lifestyle choice. One can choose not to take up a job that he/she doesn't like. Not everyone has to climb the corporate ladder and hope to get rich some day. Others can choose to live in poverty temporary (or permanantly) with only very basic supplies in life in order to go after a dream of one day becoming a successful artist/actress/screen writer etc., but there shouldn't be talk about dignity and idealism before one has attained financial independence.

Be Careful What You Wish For

2005-03-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

It is nice to be able to surf some (legitimately even!) at work. I've came to realize that there's only so much time one can spend blog-hopping until one's mind begin to turn into a glob of bubbling goo.

I should install some kind of chat programs. At least banging away on the keyboard will make me look like I am working. Alternatively, I can bring my laptop in, that would make me look even more important.

Bay Area III

2005-03-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Yet another slow day at work, so I have decided to sit here and blog till everyone who'll sit and read my blog for more than 3 minutes to tears.

I never intend this Bay Area subject to go on part III. Then again, who plans on sequential blogs? It's not like a horror flick, in which you have to leave at least one monster undead in case you have the budget for the next sequel.

Fourth week in Bay Area. To quote the hubby, once you learn to overlook the fact that one may never been able to afford a house in this area (within reasonable distance, being defined as 60 miles), it's not a bad place to live in.

Still no words on the couch that was supposed to take 6-8 weeks. :~( Also no words on the chairs for the dining room which was supposed to come in 7-10 days (way past).

My cookies came yesterday but nobody was home so all I got was a yellow slip from UPS. :~( Or maybe it was FedEx or USPS, same difference.

I've only had my new Gateway M210 laptop for three weeks and I already need to send it back for repairing. The DVD drive is only reading every other DVD that I put in. This sucks. And their return policy was only for 15 days, not the regular 30. Else rest be sure, I'd be swapping it for the 12" Dell laptop.

Last but not the least, we seem to have less time in the Bay Area as compared to San Diego. :~( It seemed we always have time to go out and have some fun in the evening back in San Diego, but here, I had to start dinner as soon as I got home from work, and after some TV it's already bedtime. T.T Hubby and I need to learn to pace ourselves so we don't get burnt out or get onto each other's nerves. :D

Speaking of which, I'm contemplating maybe writing some relationship tips on my blog. Why not? There was never a theme to this blog and it's not like the subjects are not already scattered.

Coooookies

2005-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

Food is very important to me and hubby learned that fast shortly after we started dating. I even coined the term "fooding," which hubby finds very amusing. (I don't know why he finds that so amusing, after all, it's easy to create new words in English that way.)

Now imagine how happy I was when I found these McVities Chocolate Covered Digestive Cookies on the English Tea Store website!!!

It's not coming in till TOMORROW. I can't wait. :D~~~

My Blog

2005-03-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Can't wait till hubby to set up new account for me so I can start littering random pictures all over my blog again. :)

Bizarre Company Policies

2005-03-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

One advantage (?) of having many, many temp jobs was that I have also read many, many different company policies. And quite frankly, each one just gets progressively more bizarre than the last. It's amazing how what you think of as common sense is not so common sense after all. What is wrong with this society?

Dress Code in Company #1 (not too bizarre)

After all the basics are covered, it threw in this last blanket one that says to not wear anything to work that you'd wear to a trendy bar. Okay, I guess that's a blanket coverage for styles that are beyond your wildest imagination.

Code at Company #2:

"Please leave your weapons at home."

Dress Code at Company #3:

"Undergarments are required."

I don't even want to know how #3 came by...

Speaking of the Obvious

2005-03-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Don't you always feel like giving a sassy response instead of a straight forward one when you were asked one of those obvious questions? Let me give you an example: Hollywood Videos. Their cardless membership access takes some getting used to (most of the day I prefer to not have interaction with many livings. I can do a transaction at Blockbuster without opening my mouth at all, albeit it might seem a bit on the rude side...), but it's quite convenient once you get the hang on it. Anyways, whenever I go there, they'd always pull up my account which has both my name and my husband's on it, and ask, "And what's your name?" On hindsight, they are probably just verifying that it was, indeed, the correct account that they pulled up. But for the longest time, it just seem so painfully obvious the difference between an Asian female name and that of a white male. So I have honed my skill by saying, "xxx-xxxx (phone number), and I am not xxxxxxxxxx (whitey hubby's name)." In retrospect, even if I give him hubby's name, I'm still verifying the account. :D Nothing personal towards the clerks who work there, majority of their employees are actually very cheerful and friendly, just something to make the routine a little less mundane.

Yesterday, MCI called. MCI is very likely the sleaziest company I've ever dealt with. I've had one of their sales representative point blank lied to me. And I mean point blank, quoting me plans and prices that didn't exist, rephrasing in a misleading way, you name it. Okay, that could be an individual who were just overzealous about making sales. I've talked to 5, FIVE, of their reps after that and none cared about their rep's blatant lie. That told me something about the company. So I am especially rude and creative (or so I think) when it comes to MCI's sales call. I think the very last time I told them, "Not a chance in hell" before I hang up.

It was very unfortunate that I didn't get to answer the call last night. :~( I could have so much fun with that. I didn't know what hubby said to them, but I would have personally said to them, "Has hell frozen over?" Hubby was instructed to say, "My wife says when hell freezes over" next time they call. Oh, whence is MCI going to call again?

March Birthday

2005-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

So the other day hubby brought up this suggestion for my birthday present -- lasix surgery. I wasn't sure if I should say it's sweet or freaky. A surgery as a gift?

I've had pretty bad eye-sight for most of my life. Maybe I can't say that. But I've had fairly bad eye-sight since my first eye examination. Whether it was due to my poor reading habit as a kid or genetics (in which I didn't even stand a chance), there was no way to pin point. So one of my "three wishes" (Haven't you always question yourself that, IF you can have 3 wishes, AND the last one cannot be for more wishes, what would they be. Yeah, it's that kind of a scenario.) was to have perfect eye-sight again (?). Never had I thought it'd happen in this life time and I didn't even need a genie from a bottle for that.

The idea of a lasix eye surgery is still very scary. How others can just go and get it done without seemingly a lot of thought was beyond me. But recently reading this article on MSN (which I could no longer find) about how looks matter at the work place, I think I'll eventually take the big plunge and get it done. I guess if sh*t happen, it's just my luck.

Here's An Interesting Love Story

2005-02-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

Movie: A Day Without a Mexican

2005-02-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

What a STUPID movie!! Don't get me wrong. I have lot of respect for the guy (guys?) who produced this movie to make a statement/political statement/send a message to as many people as possible, but it's just dragged on for sooooo LOOOOONNNGGGG. It's not exactly a very complicated plot. Granted, I wasn't expected the normal Hollywood style lots of actios, lots of explosion, but gee, can you really sit there for TWO hours and watch a movie about nothing but Mexicans were gone. I mean, we GOT the message after the first 45 mins... Even HUBBY, who has a longer attention span than me, had to fast forward the movie just to get it over with.

If anything, it did make me want to go for a big, juicy carnitas burrito afterward.

Insight of the Day

2005-02-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

Taco Bell is really the Mexican equivalent of chicken with yellow sauce...

When East Meet West

2005-02-26T01:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, let's get something straight here:

1. The kind of Chinese food that you see in grocery store aka Panda Inn style -- fried rice or steam rice or chow mien with two side dish combo including but not limited to broccoli beef, chicken in red or yellow sauce, and sweet and sour pork is NOT real Chinese food.

For the record, we have Hong Kong or Taiwan style "western food" too. And if you ever seen what's served, you'd probably go, "Huh?"

2. There is no such thing as "fortune cookie." It exists only in US. I recalled watching "Rebel Billionaire" and they went to Hong Kong and the guys started looking for fortune cookie. Including the founder/owner of LoveSac, who had spent three years in China, they were all very surprised that they couldn't find fortune cookies in Hong Kong. In retrospect, I suppose there really isn't any ways they'd know that fortune cookies are an American thing. (They finally found them. Although it's not culturally Chinese, fortune cookies are probably still "made in China.")

3. To-go boxes are also an American adaption. Taking your leftovers to go is frowned upon, at least in Hong Kong. Besides, the portion of meals in Hong Kong were actually made for human consumption. There shouldn't be need for those white box, which in recent design has lost their handy little metal handle for more convenient microwave reheating purposes.

4. Don't even get me started on chopstick fonts. There isn't even any alphabets in Chinese. We have characters, not alphabets.

5. Hero, House of the Flying Daggers, Disney's Mulan are movies made for American audiences, they do NOT, I repeat, NOT, represent mainstream Chinese movies. (And for the love of God, Disney did not create Mulan. I mean they made it into a movie, and conveniently mangled up the ending. It was written by a dude name Hans Christian Anderson in the year 1837, but that belongs in a different entry.)

6. People in China no longer dress like they do in those movies. Nor do they in Hong Kong or Taiwan or Singapore, or other places with Chinese.

7. Not all Chinese knows Kung Fu. And we can't defy physics and fly in air.

8. If you like martial art movies other than Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and House of the Flying Daggers. More power to you. But that's only one genre of Chinese movies. For one thing, we also have modern movies. You know, those with cars and elevators and skyscrapers and people dressing in jeans or suits or sweats.

Woo Hoo! Life (Blogging) Is Good Again! :D

2005-02-26T00:37:00.000-08:00

So here goes:

I woke up. I played with kitty. I get dressed. I played with kitty some more. I get ready to leave the house. I played with kitty again. I went to work and returned home. I played with kitty...

So I hadn't been blogging a lot lately (and this is so not the first time I started out a blog entry this way). I was reading this article in which the author was referring to most blogs out there as "egoistic" and with "lots of spelling errors." And I was really bummed out by that comment (speaking of being egoistic). And I felt offended. Now that's taking things personally considering the person who wrote that probably never seen my blog and never will. And quite frankly, I can't even say that his observation was incorrect... Well, in my own defense (to who?), I just want to clarify that I don't blog because I believe that others out there care about all the painstaking minute occurences in my life. I blog because I have a passion for writing. (Like that somehow makes my blog better than others. Hahaha.) And I'd like to avoid this turning into literally my online diary, but let's be honest, how many of us have deep, insightful thoughts everyday? Or something to funny to write about. And if we do, we'll be writing for $$$! :D

But couple good things happened today. ^_^ (Yeah, "ut oh," is right, here comes what I think is greater than life but will bore you to tears...) First I stumbled onto this blog where this guy actually SAID he enjoyed reading others' blogs and learning about their lives (I'm sure some blogs interest him more than others). And although I knew he wasn't referring to mine, it certainly got me out of my blogging blues. I'd mention his blog on here, when I got around to digging out his URL. ^_-

Second, some guy who claimed to be Craig from Craig's List left a comment on my blog!!! Holy Cow!! Pardon me for being a bit skeptical. For us nerds/geeks out geeks, Craig was about as close as it gets to a celebrity. I suppose the founder of eBay would be a celebrity too, but I don't believe she is the owner of eBay anymore. I suppose there's also Bill Gates out there, albeit my love for Microsoft products (scroll down and check out my recommendated web browser, hint hint).

First there's Mike Resnick (Sci Fi writer), then there's Craig Newmark. Life is certainly good ("Simple mind, simple pleasure." -- Jim Davis, in Garfield) I swear, sometimes it's my oddest blog entries that will attact the unimaginable and get feedbacks. :)

And for those of you who are here looking for tips on planting/transplanting/maintaining/killing banana trees, my apology for the deception... :)

As for my when-I-caught-them-I-just-want-want-dig-a-hole-and-burrow-myself-in-it kind of shameful spelling errors... well, sometimes I try to squeeze time to blog ah... and it was very late at night ah... you get the drift... :)

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness III

2005-02-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

I want 3.2 MP Credit Card Size Digital Camera HELLO KITTY Edition. T.T

It was released in Japan in December, 2004. Why is US so slow on getting these cutsie gadgets, if ever? T.T

Bay Area II

2005-02-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

It's been three weeks since the move. That means we'll be able to see our new, custom-ordered couch in no more than 5 (yes, I said FIVE) weeks.

And hard as it may be to admit it, I'm starting to fall in love with Silicon Valley. And that's NOT because every well-known tech company under the sun has an office here (Netgear, ATI, Ebay, Yahoo, Google... where's Craig located, you know, the Craig from Craig's list...). It's all TOO nice to be able to drive no more than 20 mins any way to get to some type of Chinese stuff (groceries, sweets, mangas, videos). I am LOVING it here!

And there are also LOTS of Prius here. I can't wait to get my own. T.T (<- that's the emoticon for tears streaming down my face, btw). Maybe they'll have more COLOR selections for 2006??!!! What's with the different WHITE and different PEARL and different SILVER colors? It's a CAR! I'm not trying to paint my wall here.

Oh, and one more interesting and noticeable "phenomenum" in the bay area. The green lights are long enough for about 4 (FOUR) cars to pass and the yellow lights last for about 3 seconds. I WONDER WHY SO MANY PEOPLE RUN THE RED LIGHTS??!!!

Now I just need to find a bay area blogger list to get onto. ^_^

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness II

2005-02-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

The next toy that I want to get:

http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview.jhtml?sku=CZ307

(I can't post pictures just yet because we just got internet access yesterday, haven't set up any accounts yet.)

It is a 2 MP credit card camera WITH water proof case. All for the low, low price of $119.99. For those of you who has been following my blog (LOLOL), yes, I have upgraded from 0.3 MP to 1.3 MP and soon to 2.0 MP. Have I mentioned that it also has a small, small LCD display screen? :) Yes, call me spoiled. Read my motto of the day!

I Stand Corrected

2005-02-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

Hubby made a fuss today about me commenting on how he likes Chinese movies because they are slap stick comedies. *rolls eyes* Why oh why did I tell him this URL? Oh, that's right, he's one of my 3 loyal readers. :D

So here's the correction to my previous post. Hubby's appreciation for comedies is not limited to slapsticks, he also has an appreciation for MINDLESS comedies! As evidence by his favorite comedy of all time -- "8 Heads in a Duffle Bag."

Tomorrow he's going to argue with me that that was NOT his favorite comedy... Ah well, gives me more stuff to blog about, right? ;)

Hubby and Chinese Comedies

2005-02-21T23:50:00.000-08:00

Found a video rental store that has REAL Chinese DVDs. I stress REAL Chinese DVDs for a reason. Back in Sacramento, all the stores (that are usually within a Chinese grocery store) inevitably rent VHS tapes. To make matter worse, these were not original VHS, these are copies that they've made. Add that to the fact that a million people have already watched it, the quality was simply unacceptable. If they have to make copies, can't they at least make VCDs??

So I was pretty happy when I found a place that rent DVDs, and NOT homemade DVDs, the real, copy right attached copy!! Interestingly enough, hubby picked out more movies than I. Everytime we go there, he'd beeline towards the comedy section. "Beeline" was just a figure of speech, there's only one shelf. Some movies were divided by the famous actors, other's by category. Hubby said, "I have never watched a Chinese comedy that was not funny." I found that odd, it's not like humor was one of Asian's strong suit. Then I realized something -- hubby loves them slapstick comedies. Evidently slapstick comedies are like arts and music and certain body gestures -- they are international.

Bay Area

2005-02-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

It's been two weeks since the move. The ironic thing is, when I have all the time in the world to blog to my heart's contend (being unemployed), there's nothing to write about, mainly because without a job, or a kid I guess, I literally have no life. I suppose I could write about the unpacking saga. And how that ONE box that we left behind has all the stuff that we need. (I'm sure there's already a Murphy's Law written for that one).

This being a temporary resident (I sure hope I won't be renting this place for the rest of my life!), I don't feel like unpacking and displaying my entire book collection. In fact, I'm kicking myself for collecting books in the first place -- there are so many better alternatives, like stamps, takes up less room and easier to move from place to place. But you know, when you buy your first house, you get this misconception that this is "permanant," or at least I'll most likely be stuck in the area (Sacramento) semi-permanantly. Who'd ever thought...

Although I have lived here 7-years ago, I have forgotten how wishy-washy the weather in bay area is. It could rain and then turn sunny and rain again and turn sunny again ALL IN THE SAME DAY!!! When I was a kid, the saying had it that a woman's mood is like weather. I guess this is the kind of weather it was referring to. (I wonder if that statement is still politically correct in our society in US today.) Regardless, is it a pure coincident that women's mood resemble that of the weather, or our mood reflecting the weather -- sunny = more serotonin = happier, cheerful women; rainy/overcast = less serotonin = more moody, irritable women? ;)

Time Travel?

2005-02-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Found some funny stuff on the web today. :) Check it out.

Anyone else interested?

Settling In

2005-02-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

We are finally starting to settle in in our new "home." The boxes are half unpacked, and we've already done a few home cooked meals. The hubby is being undecisive on whether he likes the job or not (his answer goes back and forth depending on the day). I suppose I should job hunt again (third time since the start of this blog, hurrah, hurrah, and my cat is probably one of the most moved cat -- about eight times in her 10 years of existence), now that we are in the horribly expensive bay area, my not working is no longer an option. :~(

Hubby was already saying that he'd like to move to a cheaper area "in a year's time or so." Ack! Not what I want to hear while I am still UNPACKING!!!

Lots of Asian amenities around -- restaurants (that serve more than just chicken in red sauce and chicken in yellow sauce), groceries, and REAL bookstores (the kinda that carry bizarre books that might never sell. The weather is, of course, beautiful for the most part. Perhaps the bay area is not that bad after all. :)

Movie: Shall We Dance?

2005-02-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

I'll give it a B-. Not much I want to comment on this movie, except for the fact that it based on a Japanese comedy by the same name made in 1995. I have an issue that they (the US version) decided to give the audiences that little tid-bit (that it's based on a Japanese movie) at the BEGINNING of the movie and along with it they had exerpts (pretty much the entire movie) from the original Japanese version. Ugh. It's like giving you a summary of a story you were about to read. What's the point? Granted, it's not exactly a detective story that has lots of twists and such, but still. I hate, hate, HATE getting a run down of a movie I'm about to watch. Grrrrrrr.

Movie: First Daughter

2005-02-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

Kinda kiddy-ish. I guess it's really aimed at audiences a tad younger than me. (Do not read on if you don't want to find out about the twist in the movie. As if, right? ;) I think the fact that the boyfriend turned out to be a secret agent was kinda cute. Yeah, wasn't that big of a twist. Many would probably argue that they've seen it coming a mile away, but I am slow like that. :)) Which is good, cause it makes movies more enjoyable for me. ^_^ The guy who played the boyfriend/bodyguard was kinda cute. :) So was the big black secret service. Let's just say I won't kick him out of bed. ^_^

Didn't like the ending much that it hinted there might be possibilities of the relationship going on. Same thing with "The Prince and I," I think sometimes, even in movies that's aimed at younger audiences, it doesn't hurt to be more realistic that certain romances, are just unattainable. It's not always necessary to have a "happy ending."

How the Cat Got Spoiled

2005-02-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

I read on this article that cats are not naturally vocal. It's when they cohabit with humans they learned that their owners respond much better to sound that they adapt the ability to "talk."

Over the course of ten years, my cat has learned that "mew mew" will get the door opened and closed for her. "Mew mew" will get her new, fresh food to replace those that has been sitting out for TWO hours. "Mew mew" will also get her fresh water. Today my cat learned a new trick, "mew mew" will also get my husband to open the blinds for her (or shall I say the husband learned a new trick today?) so she can bask in the sun.

I thought cats are nocturnal. What do they even care about basking in the sun??

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness?

2005-02-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Check out this complete system that'd allow you to experience the motion like that of a movie star.

D-Box -- The Odyssee Experience

Read what they have to say on their website:

Odyssee uses a two or four point suspension system to lift and move your seating in perfect synchronization with the onscreen action and sound, creating a virtual-reality experience in your living room or home theater. You're literally drawn into the action as never before, experiencing the same motional forces as the actors and players you're watching.

The Move to the Bay Area

2005-02-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

So the big move was over, at least I hope so. Just like any other moves in the course of history, it was a hectic experience. I suggested to spend an entire day loading so we could pick up the odds and ends as we go then drive and unload the next day to make the experience as untraumatic as possible, but noooooo, hubby decided literally the last minute that since we could finish packing before 3 PM, we should just hop into our cars and go. Not to mention that he had conveniently underestimated the amount of junk that we possess and downgraded the Uhaul to a smaller size. Ugh. We had to load up our SUV AND shanghai a friend to help AND loaded up his Baja AND spent the next day driving back to Sacramento and loading up BOTH of our cars to bring more stuff down. Well, at least we weren't moving to a different state.

My entire weekend was packing and driving and loading and driving and unpacking and more driving and it just seemed that the world was spinning and spinning and spinning around me.

Never had I thought that after residing in the bay area for five years, leaving for seven, I'd be returning here because the Montana boy whom I've met in Sacramento was taking me back here. Life has a funny way to work itself out. Ah well, as long as I overlook the fact that the housing prices are unrealistically high and that my family also lives in the same area, this is not a bad place to be.

Blogging and I

2005-02-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

I havent' been blogging much lately, as evidenced by Hubby kind reminder, "You haven't blogged in over a week!~~~" said with whiney voice and pouty face, sounding very disappointed every time he checked my blog. I must say, even coming from my Husband (as Chinese would say, "The florist says the flowers smell good" -- doesn't count), I felt very flattered every time I heard that. :)

To me, blogging is a creative process. And in order for a creative process to take place, certain criterias must be met (I'm a picky person!): time of the day (preferrably in the evening), location (living room or bedroom), number of individuals in the house (I prefer to blog when I am alone). In addition to all of the above, I also prefer blogging from the laptop, over the desktop. I tend to think better when I am not stuck in a straight back chair. So the death of my beloved Sony Vaio laptop didn't help much on the blogging end either. And the night shift job for the last three weeks had effectively took out all my precious blogging AND movie-watching time. :~(

BUT, good news to my loyal readers (?), my brand spanking new, top of the line Gateway M700 laptop shall arrive in my new house (rental :( next Tuesday and Parsoni, the avid blogger, shall, therefore, return. :)

Making the Best out of the Worst

2005-01-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look like the big move to the bay area/silicon valley is inevitable. In less than a year's time this blog has gone from San Diego Blogger to Sacramento Blogger (never added my site to that list) to Bay Area Blogger (yet to look it up). Spent our last anniversary moving to San Diego. Spending this upcoming anniversary (2 yrs! :) moving to bay area. Hopefully this trend will continue and we'll perhaps spend our next anniversary moving to Seattle, WA. :))

While the big plunge is inevitable, I've decided to look on the upside of moving to the bay area:

1) Lots of Chinese food. :)))
2) Mangas every Tuesday (when their new shipment comes in :)))
3) Beautiful weather
4) Better job opportunities (I hope. I hope. :)

See? It can't be that bad. It's no San Diego, but the house prices are relatively more "reasonable." (It's all relative, right?) It was a mere month or so ago that we were looking at brand spanking new 3,000 sq. ft. houses. :~( Now we are going to rent a 2,000 sq ft town house for a mere double of what we pay for our mortgage. The upside? No more driving to bay area in search for a place.

Dharma & Greg

2005-01-22T02:04:00.000-08:00

Dharma & Greg is one of my all time favorites. Hey! Some people like their M*A*S*H others like their I love lucy; I deserve to have my own quirk!

There are more than one reason why I like the show so much. The humor was subtle. I am not into crude or slapstick type of humor (hubby loves that. pie in face never fail to make him laugh. Simple mind, simple pleasure right? :). I also think Thomas Gibson is arguable one of the most attractive men I have seen. (Hey! We all have different taste, so stop being judgemental! :P) I particularly like it when he breaks into that innocent smile of his. :) Simply gorgeous!

I like Dharma and Greg's personalities and how they interact. One of the first episode I have watched when it was first aired was when Dharma and Greg went onto a first date and ended up getting married in Reno. I've always aspire to do that but hubby wasn't spontaneous enough for that. Well, having one failed marriage under his belt didn't exactly help with that issue. :P We did move in after a month and subsequently run off to get married one weekend in Tahoe though!! Close enough. ;)

A couple of years ago when I started dating the current (and so far, the only) hubby I started watching D&G reruns and also got hubby hooked on it. At times it's like watching the two of us. :) Though sometimes we shift roles. For instance, hubby is a very organized person. He likes his things to be in orders and he likes routines very much. I, on the other hand, welcome changes and sometimes even uncertainties (i.e. moving. I, however, do NOT like it when it affects my roof over head and food on table). The random, on call schedule that I had working for the tissue bank for 2.5 years drove hubby nuts. :D Sometimes I worked 3 days in a row; others 12 hours a week. Hubby did not like that a bit. He'd rather me take a pay cut for a 8-5 job. *rolls eyes* But when it comes to being obssessive-compulsive, I definitely have hubby beat in that department.

Work wise I definitely aspired to be like Dharma: magician assistant, black jack/poker dealer, dancer for ZZ top, owner for a shop that sold nothing, auctioneer -- as many odd end jobs as possible. :D I had a degree in physical anthropology, I've done freelance translation work (Garfield comic strips), I've done tissue harvesting. One more odd end job and I think my resume can finally look somewhat like that of Dharma's. :)

Bay Area. House Prices. Depressing.

2005-01-22T01:29:00.000-08:00

So after the wonderful 10-month stay in San Diego, the dream-like house hunting in Seattle, we are now looking for houses (rental, of course) in the bay area. The infamous bay area. The are that I vowed never to return to when I left it years ago. Ack! House prices there are -- how should I put it -- depressing.

Why am I returning to the dreadful bay area? Well, hubby left the Navy (happy happy joy joy) and got a job offer that's too good to turn down in the bay area. Okay, he'll be working for Northrop Grumman. :D Hence the big plunge.

To put things into perspective for all ye folks who are unfamiliar with houses prices in bay area:

We've saw a house for sale (next to the one we were looking at renting) going for $698,000 for a tad short of 1,500 s.f. in Sunnyvale.

To put things into more perspective:

We can pay twice the price of what our house is worth in Sacramento for a house that is, you guessed it, a tad smaller, and possibly older.

To put things into yet another different perspective:

We paid less that 1/3 that price for our house 2 years ago that is bigger and possibly newer.

Some comparisons:

$600,000 can get you a brand spanking new 4,000 sq. ft. house in Sacramento with money left for upgrades.

$450,000 can get you a brand spanking new 3,000 sq. ft. house in Seattle, Washington (Renton area). Cheaper if you are not too picky about pretty designs.

Some less depressing news (for the bay area dweller or bay area dweller wannabes):

$600,000 can probably get you some old houses that's less than 1,000 sq. ft. into San Diego, California.

Surely, we can live some 40-60 miles area from the bay area and get a brand spanking new, 2,000 sq. ft. home for around $600,000. What better way to spend your time than driving back and forth to the bay area some 5-6 days a week and what better way to spend your ENTIRE pay check than putting every single penny into the mortgage?

Movie Reviews

2005-01-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Lately my blog has turned into my personal movie review blog. I can't help it when there was nothing else I can blog about owing to unemployment. How ironic it is that when I am NOT working and have all the time in the world to blog, I have nothing to write about. Hahaha.

I realized that my keywords "movie" + "name of movie" had drawn me a lot of traffic. (Advertisement time: Yes, you too and find out search terms leading to your blog by signing up to SiteMeter.com) I sure hope those folks who came here when searching for information on a movie found what they need here instead of feeling like it's a hoax, like those other group of folks wandering here thinking I could teach them how to raise/keep/transplant or kill a banana tree. :D

Movie: Coronado

2005-01-19T01:36:00.000-08:00

A total waste of time. Acting was bad, movie was SLLOOOOWWWW. Very disappointed.

Movie: The Forgotten

2005-01-18T23:50:00.000-08:00

I like the movie, I guess. I guess it was not unlike "Signs," you kinda figured out there's only one way the movie can end. Lots of excitment during the middle of the movie. I was expecting a more spectacular ending but that didn't happen, kinda hard given the nature and time constraint of the movie. I do like it that the trailer/preview didn't give away too much. Well, it had to give away a certain amount to lure you to watch the movie. I think they did a good job by not showing you a 15 minute abstract of the entire movie. It's not a bad movie to watch if you have the time.

Note: Hubby liked it, although he didn't think he would before we started watching the movie. *rolls eyes*

Tomorrow: Cellular

Movie: Employee of the Month

2005-01-18T23:16:00.000-08:00

Let's just say it's one strange movie. For some reasons I thought it was a comedy. Well, I was far from being right. How strange was the movie? It's sort of like a combination of Keanu Reeves's "Point Break" and "Feeling Minneasota." So if you like one or both of the movies, you can consider watching this one also. When the movie took this bizarre turn close to the end, I knew all "rules" were out of the window and anything could happen from that point on. So the even more bizarre ending wasn't exactly a surprise. :)

My Hubby's Job Search Saga

2005-01-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've always pride myself at my ability to spot patterns. I am starting to see a pattern at hubby's job search saga, or was it all a figment of my imagination? Let me list some (all) of the incidents. The companies are in no particular order and no names (of course) will be mentioned.

(1) Hubby was suppose to have an interview with Company #1 at his first job conference. Co. #1 was late and didn't have time to interview him. Okay. Co. #1 was supposed to be at job conference #2 (held by a different recruiting agency). Co. #1 didn't even bother to show up the 2nd time. Okay. Co. #1 was to have a phone interview with hubby. We received a phone call the morning of the interview, from the agency, that someone was fired from the company that day and human resource was too busy to do the interview. Eeerrrr. Is their human resource a one-man department or was it someone very, very (like the vice-president or something) important was let go that day? We have yet to hear back from said Company.

(2) To interviews with Co. #2. Co. #2 said they'll get back to us last Thursday or Friday to inform us of their decision (I held out looking for a temp job in case we are relocating). No called Thursday. No call Friday. Hubby called them Fri evening. Guy #1 called back after work hours and said he'd call again this Monday or Tuesday to schedule a phone interview with another guy (hereonafter known as 'Guy #2'). No call Mon or Tues. Hubby again called them on Tuesday. Evidently Guy #2's daughter got into an accident and broke her arm. No call from them till today -- interview next Thursday.

(3) Hubby went an took a test with Co. #3 on Monday. Guy #1 (NOT to be confused with Guy #1 from Co. #2) said he'd inform Hubby of the test result on Tuesday. No call on Tuesday. Hubby called them on Wed. Turned out that Guy #1 (of Co. #3) has been sick, and possibly will be out for the rest of the week.

Ugh. And we are not yet taking into consideration Co. #4, 5, and 6 which were supposed to contact us last week and this but has yet to do so. I am starting to think perhaps Hubby was the one who's jinxing everyone. :D Oh well, no loss on our part. The longer the process takes, the more opportunities will open up for us. ^_^

Movie: Harold and Kumar Going to White Castle

2005-01-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that we were just watching one movie after another? The next "project" is to catch up on the past 3 seasons of Alias. :D

Your typical slap stick comedy type movie. Some jokes were more crude than others. More hubby's (ex-sailor!) taste than mine. Built-in sequel "Harold and Kumar going to Amsterdam."

Speaking of which, I wasn't aware that White Castle Burger Joint is a real place in the South and East. :D I thought it's just something made up. Great advertisement for White Castle Burger. Hehehe. If there's one around I'd want to try it at least once. :D Although some gal that roommie knows said it's not that good. Anyone ever been to White Castle??

Movie: Village

2005-01-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

Another good thing about being unemployed. I can be at the door of Blockbuster Video right when they opened on Tuesday morning to nab the new movies that come out that day. That's about all I can say about being unemployed...

Not a bad movie. Very similar to Signs. You were really looking at the thrill effect through out the movie. There's really one way to end the movie Signs. There was 10 minutes left of the movie. The aliens HAD to be defeated. It was a convenient ending. Although why aliens of superior intelligent (judging by the fact that they can do intergalactic travel) failed to do a oh so slightly more thorough research about this substance that covers about 3/4 of earth was beyond me.

Again, Village was a movie very similar to Signs, watch it for the thrill factor and don't think too much into it. I didn't see the twist coming, which is good. I am slow like that; it allows me to enjoy my movies more. :) Hubby said he figured it out half way. Glad he didn't tell me. Regardless, we enjoyed the movie.

What It Takes to Be a Housewife

2005-01-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

Whatever it takes to be a housewife, I don't have it. All these time I've been pestering my hubby to make enough $$ so I can be a full time housewife, I lied. This is the second week I stayed home while waiting to see where in US we'll be moving to, and I am practically being bored out of my MIND. Last week was fun. I need last week off. Caught up on some TV shows, movies. Oh boy, this week was PAINFUL. I found myself playing mindless computer games all day. I would rather sit at a desk somewhere else, doing some equally painful and mindnumbing work AND getting PAID to be there. Now I know why traditional housewives always have kids after kids after kids -- to keep them from going INSANE from boredom.

A friend from the last temp place was telling me about this temp job that she is at right now. Hopefully I'll get it too so I can have some INTERACTION with other live humans (never thought I'd say that) OUTSIDE of this HOUSE!

Banana Tree House

Bay Area Horror Experience

House Hunting Part II

Like It, Not Like It aka House Hunting Part I

Odd

Marriage, Mine

Update

Insight on Being a Temp (Temporary Worker)

Insight of the Day

Pretty Woman. Happy Woman.

Game Score. Day 14

Laundry Day

May Movies Overview

More Lemony Snicket!!

Lemmony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Movie: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Saturday, Day 11

Translation

Friday's Score

Blood Donation Scare

End of Thursday

End of Wednesday

End of Tuesday

Gaming on Monday

Sunday Scores

Feminine Hubby and The Existence of a Male Figure in Childhood

Game Score Update

Game Addiction II

Game Addiction

Hi Tech Food

I Want. I Want.

My Newest Blog Toy

Terri Schiavo

Blogs and Bills

Kitty Buddha

Funny Things my Ex-Roommate's Mother Used To Do To Him

This is hilarious

Karma

On Religion

My New Addiction

Strength and Weaknesses

My Blog

Rain. Rain. Rain.

Thanks GOD!

Movie Spoiler: The Ring

Movie Review: Ladder 49

Movie Review: The Incredibles

Soft Ice-Cream

Movie Review: Flight of the Phoenix

Movie Review: 2LDK

An Old Story

Blog of the Day

Oh, And Then There Was This:

Recommended Reading of the Day

Fifth Week, Still Surviving the Bay Area

Recommended Article For the Day

Average Length of Being in Love?

Time for a New Mop? T_T

Ebay Advertisement

Kitty Translator

Blogging No-No's

Japanese Grave Stone

Travel Cuisine

A Spoiled Brat

Be Careful What You Wish For

Bay Area III

Coooookies

My Blog

Bizarre Company Policies

Speaking of the Obvious

March Birthday

Here's An Interesting Love Story

Movie: A Day Without a Mexican

Insight of the Day

When East Meet West

Woo Hoo! Life (Blogging) Is Good Again! :D

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness III

Bay Area II

Who Said Money Can't Buy Happiness II

I Stand Corrected