Cumulonimbus

UK Trip 2010

2011-06-08T21:13:00.001-04:00

Ok a real post about my trip. Our main focus of this trip was Scotland, so we did not stay in London for long. We did spend some time walking along Thames though, sight seeing places like Tower of London, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Swiss Re tower as seen from Tower of London

Tower Bridge

Entrance of St Paul’s Cathedral

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We were supposed to drive to Manchester the same day that we arrived at London. However, when we collected our car at the rental car center, we discovered the GPS they provided was not working. Upon returning it we were told that they did not have any other working GPS! So we had to actually buy a map (from a gas station nearby) and figured our way out of London. It was definitely an unforgettable experience…took us about 6 hours to finally get to Manchester.

In Manchester we stayed at a UofM senior, Zhi Wei’s place. He was such a great host! (it was his n-th time hosting a friend). Our stomachs were constantly stuffed with awesome Manchester food. Between stuffing ourselves and visiting places, I managed to get myself a parking ticket. I could blame no one except for me own stupidity (or maybe it’s the stupid MU’s fault)…I did not display the ticket face up!

My mere presence (and my deposit in the loo) was not enough to stop MU from taking its 19th title…sighz

University of Manchester…group photo with Zhi Wei (right photo)

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Our next stop was Edinburgh. It was definitely one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever visited. We covered quite a lot in one day, among others the Edinburgh Castle, which sat majestically atop the volcanic Castle Rock; the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland; and Calton Hill, which offered spectacular views of the city.

Cannon, Edinburgh Castle

National Monument, Carton Hill

Salisbury Crag and Aurther’s Seat as viewed from Carton Hill

Old town in background

Edinburgh Floral Clock

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Perhaps the most anticipated part of the trip was the Scotland highland tour. One of the attractions on the list was the Eilean Donan Castle. It was a place I fell in love in since I saw it on a jigsaw puzzle and had made it the subject of my form 3 oil painting. It felt surreal to finally be able to view it up close, and even entered the castle!!!

National Wallace Monument viewed from Sterling Castle

Sunlight flooding the valley

Eilean Donan Castle!!!

The bridge leading to the castle

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The day before we left UK, we still managed to squeeze in Stonehenge and Bath into our schedule…

Stonehenge

Bath

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To summarize everything in two words: great trip!!!

Power of PS

2011-04-30T17:32:00.001-04:00

It’s been a few months since I last posted anything. Well, at least the hiatus is less than a year. A short update, just took my exam yesterday, and sadly it won’t be my last one…but let’s not get into that part.

So I think I should start with my UK trip back in 2010. It was my second time in London, and of course, one of the most famous landmark of the city is the Tower Bridge. Fortunate for us, the sky was gorgeous at that time!!

Blue sky…..yay!

And then, with nothing much to do, we sat there and waited for sunset…

We were awed by what we saw. Since our spirits were still high, we chose to stay at the exact spot for a few more hours. And our patience was rewarded…guess what? We saw aurora borealis!!!

Can you believe our luck????!!!!

Well…I can’t. And you should not too, just like anyone who is older than 3 years old. You might have even detected that there is something wrong with the photos…That’s what I have been doing since exam, learning some photoshop-ing skills. It’s been really fun to see to what extent one can modify a photo. Hopefully my amateurish attempts did fool you guys, even if just for a second :)

Here is the original photo taken back in 2010:

My new baby

2010-09-26T00:40:00.001-04:00

Since I drive so much, and my old car was getting old (mileage approaching 130k), I figured it might be a good idea to buy a new car. Financially I cannot really justify the purchase of a new car, but for my safety sake, and to make my 4.5 hour trip to Michigan more comfortable, I decided to went ahead with the decision.

As it would be my biggest purchase yet, it took me a while to decide what car to buy. Initially I wanted a Honda Civic coupe because it looks super cool, and I don’t mind driving a two door car as firstly, I drive alone most of the times anyways and secondly, a smaller car means a smaller carbon footprint (and less money spent on gas)?

Honda Civic coupe 2010

Then I decided that it would be too expensive to get a Honda if I were to load it with all the goodies I want. I did some searching and found out about Mazda 3, did some more digging and quite like it. Plus, it is cheaper than a Honda Civic, and it comes with more bells and whistles.

Mazda 3 2011

I was pretty set about getting a Mazda 3, until I came across the US news affordable small cars rankings. Surprisingly, the first in the list was not a Japanese car. Honda Civic coupe and Mazda 3 were both in the top ten, but the first in the list was the Ford Fiesta 2011.

Ford Fiesta? It was the first time I heard of the model, and I was skeptical about the association of Ford with good quality. So I did some more research and found out that it is a model reintroduced to the North America market in summer 2010 after the popularity of the model in Europe. The more I researched, the more I liked the car. And also, the price tag was even lower than a Mazda 3!!! Being a cheap person that demands more for less money, I naturally fell in love with the car. Oh and did I mention it boast 40 mpg on highway?

However, it was the SYNC system available in the car that really caught my eye. With SYNC, you can connect any Bluetooth phone to the car and have hands free conversation on the road. Also, with SYNC you can give voice commands to do things like selecting audio tracks, playing songs by certain artists, and much more. The video below pretty much summarizes what the system is capable of doing:

And also there is this hilarious (and somewhat sarcastic) review of Ford Fiesta by Top Gear, a famous UK auto TV show. I figured I might need to be prepared to be chased by baddies in a shopping mall (or maybe a Normandy landing):

So I ended up being a Ford Fiesta 2011 owner…

I like the headlights a lot…very futuristic (and hiao)

Unconventional design

Yup it’s a manual…

So far the car looks and drives great. I still can’t take my eyes off the car and can’t help smiling whenever I see this baby. Let’s hope it will be as durable as a Toyota. Which is what I used to have. LOL…

Filling in the blanks

2010-09-19T12:02:00.001-04:00

So, it’s been a while lol. This blog is so dead that it is alienating even its most ardent fans, to name a few, KY, me and myself. Why didn’t I update my blog more often? I think the reason is that because I was free. Now that my fall exam is approaching, I think I will start updating it more and more often…

I wanted so much to start blogging about something else, but let me go back to where I left off. July 4th as every American know is a holiday, but sadly for me I had to work on July 4th, due to the fact that it was when the quarter end valuation work begins. So Pei Ying drove down to Carmel to visit me. And she rented a beetle!

Py beaming with her VW beetle…

In the past she has been getting some pretty unique cars. Like this one (a Hyundai Genesis coupe?):

So anyways I worked half day one Sunday, and in the afternoon we went to Greenwood (like Birch Run) to do some shopping. On our way back we stopped at Indianapolis to catch Toy Story III before we went to the Monument Circle to wait for the July 4th fireworks. IMO the performance was really mediocre, and was nothing compared to those extravaganzas in Asia. But at least it wasn’t raining this year…

Dinner from Au Bon Pain

The crowd (above), and the fireworks (below):

Home sweet home

2010-07-08T20:51:00.001-04:00

Went home in May. In the span of the 2 weeks back, I did nothing much except enjoying home as much as possible. It was too hot to go out anyways :D Since I’ve already posted most of my photos on Facebook, I will just show some of the pictures I’ve taken at home here.

Let’s start with some priceless artworks in my house:

“Eilean Donan Castle”, oil, 2000

Untitled, oil, 2003

“Jardin d'Eden”, oil, 2010

…ok just kidding. That’s the yard of my house. There used to be two mango trees in the yard, now gone. The one left standing is a Rambutan tree.

Some green Rambutans…

…and red ones!!! That good looking bunch actually ended up in my stomach…

Papaya tree. Not my favorite fruit.

Tomatoes. They were really much smaller than how they look like here…

Other small things around my house…

Lastly, at home there’s always newspaper to look forward to in the morning…

It’s spring (commencement) again…

2010-05-14T23:13:00.001-04:00

First of all, let me congratulate Chelsea for taking the Premier League title. No, I’m still a Liverpool fan; I just want to congratulate the deserving champions here :)

So it’s been a while since I last updated my blog. Nothing much had happened in between, just the usual routine. And boy time really does fly when you are doing routines. When someone asked about my age recently, I had to think a while before I said I’m 25. It sounds so…old, and for a second there I found it hard to believe that I was 25 already. I bet other people would feel the same too after reading my previous post.

Ok end of rambling and beginning of usual posting. So I attended the University of Michigan spring commencement, again. It still took place in the Big House, and Mary Sue Coleman still ended her speech in the same words, but one thing is special this time – President Obama was the speaker!!! And boy he was such a mega celebrity. The audience was visibly larger, and when he entered the venue, everybody cheered and applauded like they were attending a rock concert. Truly amazing star power.

His speech started ok, with some funny bits, but soon getting too long and political IMO. Once he ended his speech, people started leaving the stadium as if Michigan is 3-33 down in a football game at half time. ~~I resisted my urge to do the same~~ I stuck around until the end of the ceremony before leaving for lunch.

I am not sure if I will be attending spring commencement again next year, but for now, let me say this: congrats class 2010!!!

Wei Chieh, trying to act cute as usual.

U of M!

Check out the crowd…

President Obama giving his speech

On big screen

UM Alumni

Ulquiorra Cifer…

2010-05-13T23:07:00.001-04:00

…kicks ass!!! Officially my favorite Bleach character now.

Espada no. 4. Looks like L, anyone?

Ice hockey game in Joe Louis Arena

2010-03-04T22:22:00.001-05:00

To me ice hockey has been an unpopular game that the media doesn’t even bother to show or talk about (maybe I didn’t watch enough TV or read enough news), so yeah, I watched most ice hockey when I was following a Japanese drama called “Pride”. Also, I was rather amused by the saying “We went to a fight and an ice hockey game broke out”. I finally had a chance to check the validity of that statement on a chilly January night.

It was a game between Michigan and Michigan State in the Joe Louis Arena. Claimed to be the fiercest rivalry (in ???), the game lived up to expectation and proved to be an extremely thrilling one, ~~but sadly~~ and luckily there was no fight. We were up 3-0 early in the game, but somehow managed to trail 3-4 for quite some time before finally winning the game at 5-4. All in all, a great game, and a great experience…

Freakishly big moon which we saw on our way to Detroit downtown

Joe Louis Arena

Players who couldn’t wait to get into some action…

Wolverines!!!

Final score…we won 5-4!!! gg…

Snowboarding

2010-02-09T21:42:00.001-05:00

I took the last week of 2009 off and chilled out at Pei Ying’s place. Since I had just finished the final assessment, I did not have to do any studying, so the entire week was just pure relaxation. And boy do I miss those days.

On the Saturday before going back to work, three of us (Siew Gee, Pei Ying and I) decided to go snowboarding. We went to the Pine Knob Ski Resort, which was half an hour drive from Dearborn. Before throwing ourselves to the snowy slopes, we made sure our stomachs were taken good care of. We had brunch at LA Cafe, which offered absolutely scrumptious omelets (in generous portions!).

We were ready for the test after the hearty meal. I skied twice, which I thought was okay as I knew how to do some basic maneuvering and minimize falling down. However, snowboarding was a whole different beast, at least for me. I cannot remember the number of times I fell hard on the snow. Still, I managed to have a lot of fun. It was fun falling down again and again, knowing that with each fall you are gaining more experience and learning something new. At least that’s what I like to think.

I spent most of my time at the beginning slope, and only ventured to the intermediate slope once to get some photos taken. Overall, it was a great experience, but would be much better if it was not an extremely chilly –10C day.

1. Get set, ready, ouch! 2. Let’s try again… 3. Weeee!!

Pei Ying being very cautious…

Best snowboarder of the day…low center of gravity does help a ton! :P

Pine Knob Ski Resort

Washington DC 2009

2010-01-25T21:24:00.001-05:00

I first visited the capital of US when I was a junior. Back then, my travel buddy was none other than ~~Abarai Renji~~ Ren Jie (too much of Bleach), and our trip was a cheap but enjoyable one. 3 years after, I revisited this great city, this time with Pei Ying.

Our trip started off not so well, when a traffic jam almost prevented us from reaching the Detroit airport in time. Long story short, we managed to make it because a kind girl saw us and let us hop on her cab. Also, it took more time than expected for us to travel from the Baltimore airport to our Washington DC hotel, as the cab driver screwed up the directions. So it was already 2am-ish when we reached the hotel. Tired and hungry, we went to CVS downstairs and bought some ramen to feed our poor stomachs.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip was alright. Little did our stomachs know that they were about to experience the greatest treat in a while: authentic Malaysian food! We went back to the Penang in Bethesda, and luckily the food there was still great. The Kuey Teow Soup was so so, but the Wat Dan Hor and the roti canai was awesome! Too bad, as usual no photos were taken because the food was gone before we realized it.

Back to the trip - the first 2 days were cloudy, and it even rained heavily at one point that we had to take refuge in the Air and Space Museum (and have lunch at the McD in it). Still, we managed to cover most of the famous attractions in the city.

White House, the side (back? front?) which I did not go 3 years ago.

The National Christmas Tree (yeah, no joke)

Washington Monument

Chinatown Dunkin’ Donuts (funny translation)

View from Washington Monument (bad visibility that day)

Jefferson Memorial in background

Entrance of US Capitol Hill (was under construction when I was there 3 years ago)

The Capitol Rotunda

Frieze of United States History

Great Hall of Library of Congress

Exterior of Library of Congress (somehow reminded me of Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome)

East face of United States Capitol

West face of United States Capitol

Reflecting pool (without the water). People actually walk “in” the pool.

Reflecting pool (view from Lincoln Memorial)

Lincoln yang bergaya-nya.

And finally, various shots of my favorite monument in the city:

Shows

2010-01-17T20:38:00.001-05:00

10/10 David Copperfield

Venue: Fox Theatre, Detriot

Finally got to see the famed magician live. The magic/illusions were a little bit disappointing though, as I have already seen most of it on tv, and they weren’t all that impressive. I really wanted to see the illusion which he was sawed into half, but unfortunately he didn’t perform it that night. Here is a Youtube clip of what I was talking about:

11/21 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey:Over the Top Circus

Venue: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit

Went to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the second time for this circus show (1st time was for an NBA game years ago). Saw some protestors at the entrance protesting against the animal cruelty that the trainers have allegedly committed to train the animals for this show. Well I guess as long as there are people who like us are willing to pay for the show, the cruelty will go on…or maybe not. Can’t people think of a better training method? (wishful thinking)

The show itself was alright, and was definitely more tailored to kids. The 7 motorcycles speeding in a steel globe was quite a scene though, and we were definitely holding our breaths watching that insane stunt. Given the difficulty of this show, one can guess things didn’t always go well, as recorded in the following video (note: this is not what happened in our show):

Some photos taken:

The Greatest Show on Earth? Hmmm….

What a circus…

Tiger show (disappointment because I thought it was Thai girl show…ok lame)

12/5 Disney on Ice

Venue: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

I bought front row seats for this event, but didn’t expect them to be so close to the stage. It was actually not a very good idea since if we were to sit a few rows behind, we would actually have a better view as the “elevation” is higher.

The show was enjoyable but not as “magical” as I thought it would be. Guess I have grown out of it after my last Disney World trip.

The proximity of our seats to the stage

This is a cool scene that has all the major Disney villains in it

Cheers…

12/12 Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker

Venue: Fox Theatre, Detroit

I had little idea of what a ballet performance is like before attending this show. After watching this, I wouldn’t say that it is my cup of tea. The music was great (well Tchaikovsky’s work), but the ballet dance was just okay, lacking in both precision or difficulty (at least it seemed like so). Obviously I was missing something. Maybe I should have paid more attention when I was taking my modern dance class a while back…

Carmel Automobilia 2009

2009-12-30T14:20:00.001-05:00

The downtown of Carmel, which is within walking distance from my apartment, is a vibrant place especially in the summer. Often the main street will be closed for special events like concerts, themed fairs or various shows. One of the shows that I have attended is the Carmel Automobilia 2009.

I did not know about the event in advance, and found out about it when I went out to lunch with a colleague who temporarily stayed with me for that weekend. Since he had to run some errands after lunch, I decided to take some time to see what the show was all about. Coincidentally Utah called me about it, so we decided to go there together.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that they have some decent cars on display there. I can’t remember when was the last time I was actually so close to cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins.

Ferrari and Lamborghini:

The Lamborghini Gallardo was actually the one that I used to drive……in Need For Speed Most Wanted. Other cars:

And there was this car which screamed for attention:

The entire car was coated with pennies. Guess how many of them were needed?

That’s only $382.95, really.

Indeed…

Utah Trip (Last day)

2009-12-29T14:14:00.001-05:00

Still tired from our previous day hiking, we did not do much on our last day in Utah. We stopped at a couple spots on our way out of the Zion National Park, went to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and the Valley of Fire State Park.

By the time we reached Las Vegas, which was where we would catch our flight back to Detroit, it was already 2 pm-ish. We had our lunch in Todai, a Japanese buffet place in the Miracle Mile Shops. And so, that concludes my Utah Trip. What a long post!! (well it took me two months to finish writing it LOL)

Zion Canyon

Checkerboard Mesa that reminds me of Excel Spreadsheets

Valley of Fire (not as dramatic as it sounds)

Utah Trip – Zion National Park

2009-11-16T22:22:00.001-05:00

Our next stop would be the Zion National Park. It was already late afternoon when we reached the park, so we basically just set up our tent (a huge tent enough to fit 5 of us) and had dinner for the night. We did not rent the campground just to ourselves; in fact one has to reserve for it months in advance. Instead, we shared a campground with a group of Malaysians whose trip organizer was Wei Ping’s friend.

One of the stops we had on our way to the campground

Nice scene with cactus plants in sight

The next morning, we left the campground early for the Angels Landing hike. The hike was a tough one, especially the descent. Descents are always difficult for me because my center of gravity is not exactly low, and those worn-out shoe soles of mine certainly did not help. Pei Ying and I got to the peak at a pretty decent pace, but we took quite some time to get back to where we started.

The view up there was definitely worth all the hard work though, and the lunch we had at the top was definitely a satisfying one. I guess it proved that victory will only be sweeter if it is a hard-fought one.

Morning moon

Zion Valley

Beginning of the hike

A series of steep switchbacks

Rocky mountain (literal)

Insane slope with lots of insane people on it (trail marker in smaller photo)

Check out the steep cliff and how close the trail is to the edge…definitely not a time for missteps

Pei Ying making her way up

Deep valley

Support chains for hikers (trail marker in smaller photo)

Photoshoped

Zion Canyon viewed from Angels Landing

Zion Canyon widescreen

Utah trip – Bryce Canyon National Park

2009-11-03T21:33:00.001-05:00

We left Arches National Park at around noon, heading to our next destination – Bryce Canyon National Park. We did not do any hikes there, basically just stopping at a few spots to take photos. The view there wasn’t that spectacular in my opinion, but my expectation wasn’t high in the first place too.

I somehow discovered the widescreen mode when I was taking photos in this park. Yeah shoot me for not knowing that earlier…but since then I was hooked. Here are a couple of widescreen shots that I took…and I used to think that such photos are computer-stitched panoramic shots:

An enlightening trip indeed!

Utah trip – Arches National Park

2009-10-26T22:11:00.001-04:00

During Labor Day, five of us (Wei Ping, Jason, Siew Gee, Pei Ying and I) went to the Utah state for a short trip. We transited at Salt Lake City and reached Grand Junction at around 9pm. After collecting our Ford Fusion from the airport, we proceeded to the Arches National Park to spend the rest of the night.

Due to unknown reasons I could not fall asleep (guess sleeping in car only works for me when the car is in motion), hence I spent the whole night pondering on the meaning of life…not (stupid lame sarcastic catchphrase IMO). Too bad there was a full moon, so my plans of capturing the milky way in still frames did not manage to realize.

Thank you very much…very bright indeed.

Early next morning, we went to Dennis for a quick breakfast (taking away leftovers for later), then rushed back to the park in hope of catching the sunrise. The walk/hike to the Delicate Arch was unexpectedly long, and at one point we got lost. Luckily we somehow made it to the destination, just in time to catch the sunrise. The sunrise itself wasn’t that awe-inspiring, but the Delicate Arch was definitely majestic and a sight to behold. And I’ve never imagined I could get that close to the Arch, basically to the point that I was under the Arch.

Delicate Arch

Pei Ying patting Delicate Arch’s head and commended it for being a good arch

One of the numerous jumps, with Delicate Arch watching behind silently, for it is a good arch.

This photo sticks out like a sore thumb after it was photo-shopped. Like the poses though, as if this is a cover shot for an album

Double Arch

Balanced Rock (right column). It has the size of three school buses according to Wiki.

19

2009-10-18T21:19:00.001-04:00

Limited edition – only one pair in the world :P

Hilter Parodies

2009-10-18T20:43:00.001-04:00

I recently came across some very funny parodies (IMO) made from one particular scene in the movie Downfall (German: Der Untergang). The original scene depicts Hitler’s furious outburst when he realizes that the war is lost. Since the movie was in German, subtitles were added to the clip showing Hitler ranting about various issues (essentially putting words in his mouth). I had some good time LOL-ing when watching some of these videos. I am sharing some of my favorites here (WARNING: HARSH LANGUAGE IN VIDEOS):

1. Exactly what I felt when I found out iPod Touch did not get the camera upgrade:

2. Hilter reacts when he finds out MU lost to Burnley

And there are countless of other such videos showing Hitler ranting about basically everything, from complaining about Windows Vista to ranting about Usain Bolt’s win in World’s Championship. And here is the parody of parodies (my favorite!):

US Senior Open 2009

2009-10-12T21:56:00.001-04:00

Our company happened to be one of the sponsors of the US Senior Open 2009 which took place in Carmel, and had tickets to the practice rounds and also actual games. I initially declined the invitation to one of the earlier practice rounds, but on second thought, I figured it would be almost sinful to turn down a free day off offer complete with a free lunch. So in Crooked Stick Golf Club I was, when I could be working in the office :)

Entry pass that has to be worn at all times

Entrance

Fine day…check out the crowd watching the practice

Greg Norman, who used to win some majors

Airshow Tak Jadi (7/18)

2009-10-03T22:11:00.001-04:00

We wanted to go to the Thunder Over Michigan airshow at Willlow Run Airport, and had even bought tickets for it. However, due to us reaching there late there was a massive traffic jam near the entrance. We ended up not being able to enter the site, instead parking our cars outside the area and contented with taking pictures of the aircrafts observable from where we were. Thanks to Seow Yuen who was well prepared (with bottled water and beef jerky!) the experience was not that bad.

A B2 stealth bomber in sight (only 20 exist now)

Can you spot the plane?

Getting comfortable…

July 4th 2009

2009-09-28T22:21:00.001-04:00

July 4th coincided with my first quarterly valuation work, hence I had to work even though it was a public holiday. However, things weren’t as bad as I had two visitors during that weekend – Pei Ying and Wei Chieh.

On Friday night, we saw some fireworks on sale in Meijer. Since I haven’t tried one before, we decided to buy some and light it in a park not far from my place.

Orang-orang gila (orang gila-gila?) celebrating first discovery of fire…

On the 4th of July itself (which was a Saturday), we went to see the real deal near the Carmel City Hall. The place was within walkable distance, but I really should have driven there since it was raining and parking wasn’t that difficult to find. And did I mention that we had to carry our own camp chairs there?

Such a wide pool. What a way to show off Carmel’s coffer.

Everyone’s well equipped and determined not to let the rain spoil the fun

Stalls making quick bucks

Curly fries seasoned by rain

Wei Chieh forcing a smile despite all the “hardships”

And finally, the fireworks:

All in all the experience will be so much nicer without the rain…still it was a memorable July 4th.

Alden Dow House and Studio (Midland, MI) (6/20)

2009-09-20T21:56:00.001-04:00

Alden B. Dow was the son of Herbert Henry Dow (founder of Dow Chemical Company) and student of Frank Lloyd Wright. He was an architect, and one of his most renowned piece of work is the Alden Dow House and Studio, located in Midland, Michigan.

We paid this place a visit on one fine summer day. There were 8 of us, and we went there in two cars (Billy and Wei Ping driving). We had a tour around the house, and it was extremely informative thanks to the friendly and knowledgeable tour guide.

In the afternoon, after having lunch at a pizza place in the town, we went to the Dow Gardens, which is developed by the same Dow family. Before heading back to Ann Arbor, we managed to stop by at Frankenmuth too. As usual, the pictures will do the talking:

Alden Dow House and Studio

Dow Gardens

Frankenmuth

I bet the photos are a little bit too talkative today…:P

New addition to apartment

2009-07-28T20:20:00.001-04:00

About one year after I started working, I finally decided to buy a futon. I found this Manhattan convertible lounger online, and since it has some pretty good reviews and the price is rather affordable, I decided to go for it.

Before: One huge-ass box…Objects behind for scale

After: a less empty apartment

Now I figure I just need a bigger television, another nice standing lamp, a small coffee table with some artwork on it, and a couple pictures on the wall to make my apartment look nicer. Well, I don’t really need those though, so I shall stop spending unnecessarily…for now.

Gallup Park revisited

2009-07-26T20:58:00.001-04:00

Not long after our Gallup Park picnic, we revisited Gallup Park again for the Rackham/RSG Day. The reason? None other than the free boat rentals and free food (yay call me cheap).

The parking at Gallup Park was extremely limited, but luckily we managed to find one spot thanks to my compact car. The other visitors who were driving SUVs or big American cars could only watch helplessly as my car slid into the space too small for their vehicles.

Py and I got a canoe, and that reminded me that my first time canoeing was with a py also. We canoed from the rental place to where the food was, and decided to tie our boat to a tree at the bank nearby so that we could go get ourselves some food. With plates of food and some cold soda, we resumed canoeing, and that was one of the most relaxing thing one can do for an afternoon. What beats drifting slowly on a river while enjoying some food, not having to worry about other things at least for the moment?

Gallup park picnic

2009-07-20T22:52:00.001-04:00

Just submitted my module 4 end of module exercise, so I’m going to take some time off and write this post. Again, this happens back in May…end of May in fact, when the darling buds of May were shaken by the rough winds. Since summer’s lease hath all too short a date, we decided to have a picnic in Gallup Park when not too hot the eye of heaven shines…

Ok ok sorry Shakespeare. Wei Chieh and Jason each cooked some “bihun”, Szu Ling prepared some sandwich, Siew Gee brought some fruits, and Pei Ying and I had the arduous task of eating the food (reads thank you guys). Weather was great, but a little bit chilly. We brought Frisbees there, but too bad nobody wanted to play it except for Wei Chieh and I…so we played while others watch.

Here are some pictures:

Indianapolis

2009-07-19T21:07:00.001-04:00

5/24/2009

Indianapolis is a rather boring place (might be an understatement), but that may be because I’m not a particularly exciting guy. During PY’s visit to Indianapolis (May, after graduation before work, around Memorial day’s time), I couldn’t quite figure out where to go. Initially we planned to go to the Midwest Games, but thanks to Swine Flu it got cancelled. Hence we went skydiving instead, and on Sunday, we went to a place near downtown to play some badminton.

After badminton we stopped by at White River State Park, a park just west of the downtown area. The park was as interesting as Indianapolis itself, however all that mattered was the company :). Still exhausted from badminton, we bought a bottle of Powerade and just lazed around enjoying the nice weather.

Random piece of artwork in the park

Indiana Central Canal

Indianapolis skyline

You jump, I jump

2009-07-06T23:22:00.001-04:00

Last year, I thought of doing skydiving towards the end of my college life, but the expensive cost prevented me from doing so. This year it was still as costly as ever, but well at least I’m working now. Also I figured that time is running out for me to do “adventurous and exciting” stuff, as I always believe that a person tends to get more and more risk averse as he/she ages…

The time was ripe for skydiving when Pei Ying visited me for two weeks before she started working. She did some research and found out that there is this place in Greensburg, a good 20-30 miles from Indianapolis that offers this sports. I took a day off on Friday (5/22), and not before long we were there waiting to be thrown off the plane.

There wasn’t much training, as we would be doing tandem skydiving. We watched a ~15 minutes instructional video beforehand, and had some advise from our tandem instructor on dos and don’ts. Basically there wasn’t many things to remember, and deep down I felt that most of the people won’t do exactly as instructed anyway (like py :P)

I was given a chance to wear the skydiving suit, but opted out since it wasn’t really cold. We boarded a small plane (those with a propeller at the nose), and thus began a 10 minute ascend to the sky. I sat nearest to the transparent door of the plane, which they opened at times presumably because the cabin was too stuffy. Surprisingly I didn’t feel like I was on a death row or what. I felt worse when I was waiting to be on the Top Thrill Dragster (TTD) in Cedar Point.

When we were at about 13,000 feet it was the time. A couple of people jumped out first, including my camera lady, who was about to make a 90 bucks video of my skydiving. I was told to kneel down at the door of the plane, and at count 3 I was thrust out of the plane…not alone by myself of course. The free fall was thrilling, but not as “appalling” as the TTD. The camera woman somehow appeared in front of me after a while (can’t remember how), and all I could do is to give stiff thumbs up. After a good 30 seconds? 1 minute? the tandem instructor pulled the parachute and there was a sudden jolt when my free falling was halted. From then onwards it was just gradual descent to the ground.

Py jumped after me, so I did see her landing. It’s a relieve that both of us made it. Consider that a way to celebrate our 16th monthiversary! (and a fast way to burn money – whole experience ~ 300 usd). Guess I can cross out another item in my to-do-list.

Greensburg Skydiving – waiting area with plane seats visible behind. Py not showing a hint of nervousness…

Seeing some actions before we fly…

(Skydiving pictures are blur because they are snapshots from a video)

Here we go!!! (Cumulonimbus ready to meet cumulus)

Plunging into the sea of clouds

Flying like a bird (luckily not a blue one)

Click here for Pei Ying’s video. Should have posted it here but I don’t have the original copy in my computer…

Pei Ying’s Graduation

2009-06-21T21:45:00.001-04:00

Unlike my graduation which was held in the Diag (for the first time I think), the Class 2009 graduation took place at the usual venue, the Big House. For me, py’s graduation reminded me how fast time has passed since I graduated.

This happened just one year ago:

And now it’s this:

The bad thing about graduation in Big House was that after the ceremony, we had to walk a long way from there to East Hall to attend the actuarial ceremony.

Flowers that I bought for py after reminded by friends :P

Congrats class 2009!

Notice the box added to the Big House

This year’s speaker: Larry Page, co-founder of Google

Happy graduating!

Group photo with py’s parents

PY, welcome to the working world! All the best :)

Pei Ying’s Birthday

2009-06-11T22:56:00.001-04:00

PY turned 21 on a Friday, and that means we could celebrate that day together. We decided to take advantage of the birthday discount to dine in the Chop House. For the most of my college life, the Chop House was known to me as the most expensive restaurant (it has since been replaced by Gandy Dancer). The jaw dropping cost of dining here had prevented me from visiting this place throughout my college life, but on the 17th of April, the time was finally ripe for a visit.

What we had for the dinner:

Appetizer:

Smoked North Atlantic Salmon

Salad:

House Salad

Entree:

New York Strip, 15OZ (mine)

Dover Sole Meuniere OR Amandine (py’s)

Side:

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

and a martini.

We were so full by the time we were done with the entrees that we did not have space for dessert. All in all, the food in the chop house was excellent and definitely worth a second visit (provided wallet is fat enough).

Thank you, Barca

2009-05-27T20:01:00.001-04:00

Can’t express my gratitude enough…

24th birthday

2009-05-22T11:14:00.001-04:00

Realized that I’m too behind in my blog updates, so I took Friday off (5/22) just to catch up with my posts…ok lame. Let’s turn the clock back to 3/22, which is two months ago. On that very day, I officially turned 24, another year closer to wherever that I’m heading…This year I have decided I’m not going to whine about how old I am or how I have achieved nothing yet :P

Since 3/22 was a Sunday, I managed to go to AA to spend my time with PY and Umich friends. On Friday night, upon reaching AA, Pei Ying and I went to La Dolce to try out some of the restaurant’s finest desserts. I had the Creme Brulee, and PY had the Chocolate Melt Cake. We ordered another extra as we still have same gastric juice to use. Thanks PY for the treat!

On Saturday night, we (the Michigan gang) went out to Kai’s garden to have dinner. Dishes were okay, but not olala good. Thanks guys for the meal and card!

Short, but nevertheless an update…

Chocolate Melt Cake…highly recommended!

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Er…cake. Forgot its name!

La Dolce Vita

Gangs of New York/American Gangster

Up (btw this is Pixar’s upcoming film title)

2009-04-27T22:24:00.001-04:00

When I was driving to Ann Arbor on 3/20, I spotted a hot air balloon floating nearby the interstate highway. Since my camera was just in my backpack on the passenger seat, I quickly grabbed it and took a couple of shots:

Balloon first spotted

I-69

Coming closer to view…

Weee……

It sure is a colorful one…isn’t it?

Ok I am just being wuliao…too lazy to blog about my birthday yet, so this is like a teaser?? :P

Chicago Training (3/18-3/19)

2009-04-22T23:52:00.001-04:00

About a few weeks back (actually come to think of it it's already more than a month ago), my manager signed me up for a one and a half day software training in Chicago. Though it's not exactly a luxurious getaway, a brief "reprieve" from the office was much welcomed.

To save costs, my manager and I carpooled and departed Carmel before daybreak (so that we didn't have to spend an extra night in Chicago). When we reached downtown Chicago it was already 8+am, therefore we went straight to the training. We did not check in to our hotel until that evening.

The highlight of the training session was...well, lunch. It was my second time having deep dish pizza, and it was tasty. Much much tastier than the regular ones that I now detest. Besides the food, I got the chance to get a glimpse at the city working life too. To me, one thing stands out: the seemingly higher stress level associated with working in a faster paced environment. That again made me wonder if I could switch back to a more hectic lifestyle...

We headed back to hotel before having dinner at Rosebud. More on the hotel: it was strategically located (just beside the river, opposite to the newly constructed Trump Tower!) yet cheap (97 bucks per night!). Of course you get what you pay for: the room was oddly shaped and small. Still, it's a steal since I just needed a place to rest for one night.

Dinner at Rosebud was ok, and we (4 of us) went to America Girl Doll after the meal because one of my colleague promised to buy doll's accessories (...) for her daughter. I managed to meet up with Vivian and Shi Ting after that. We went to Noodles Co, as they just got off from work and had not had dinner yet. It was certainly great catching up with old friends!

View from the window of my room

Trump Tower (can't fit the whole thing in one shot)

Narrow room

Long time no see...

Chicago night view 1

Chicago night view 2

UMS 2009

2009-04-12T22:34:00.001-04:00

Every year, the University Musical Society of the U of Michigan presents a list of world class performances with very affordable ticket prices (with student discount). This year, I still managed to enjoy the discounts thanks to Pei Ying. We went to two concerts in March:

New York Philharmonic (3/7)

· Mendelssohn : A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture (1826)
· Schumann : Symphony No. 4 in d minor, Op. 120 (1841)
· Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition, arr. Ravel (1874/ arr. 1922)
· Encore - Brahms : Hungarian Dance No. 1
· Encore - Bizet : Farandole

The Silk Road Ensemble, Yo Yo Ma (3/14)

· Kim/Umezaki/Tong : Wandering Winds
· Kayhan Kalhor, arr. Ljova : Mountains are Far Away
· Zhao Jiping : Sacred Cloud Music
· Shane Shananhan : Saidi Swing
· Rabih Abou-Khalil : Arabian Waltz
· Angel Lam : Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain
· Dmitry Yanov-Yanovsky : Paths of Parables
· Colin Jacobsen : Ascending Bird
· Encore - Wu Tong : Sheng solo
· Encore - Traditional : Ethiopian Song “Musiqawi Silt”

The New York Philharmonic was awesome; personally I like the Pictures at an Exhibition a lot. The music supposedly depicts a tour of an art collection. Although it did not summon instant images to my mind, it was an interesting exercise to try surmising the artworks depicted based on the style of the music.

The Yo Yo Ma concert on the other hand was a disappointment. I didn't have high expectation even before attending the concert, as I was aware that I am not a person opened to all types of music. The performances did open my eyes as I was introduced to some new instruments, but really Yo Yo Ma's name should not be put in the title. He was just a participant in the ensemble, and his name was clearly used to boost attendance. Overall it was disappointing to whoever who wants to see him showing off his extraordinary talent.

I should note that there was a decidedly odd work which included a narrator telling stories so lame that they were actually funny. I bet that part managed to wake a lot of people up :)

Great video with great music!

2009-04-12T00:19:00.003-04:00

Music: Jurrasic Park Theme by John Williams

I want to visit this place someday!!!

Valentine's Day

2009-03-25T23:24:00.001-04:00

Another long due post. Admittedly this year I did not put in as much thought in planning the V-Day as last year. That being said, the celebration is still a memorable one...

Since I acted late, most of the restaurants on Main Street are already fully booked. We ended up going to the Yotsuba Restaurant for dinner. I ordered a duck ramen (of course it's not the instant noodles), while Pei Ying had the Yotsuba ramen. We also ordered some sushi and desert. On top of that I got the chance to try warm sake for the first time :P

Duck ramen, which according to PY was just so-so..(of course since she tried far better ones in Japan...)

The dumpling that came with the ramen

Sushi!!

Dessert and sake (quite strong IMO)

After the heavy dinner we went to Briarwood Mall for a walk, and it was snowing when we came out from the building!! Guess it's time for another episode of Winter Sonata :P

In front of "May's"...

Since the night was still young when we got back to U-Towers, we decided to join the rest for a bubble-tea session in Bubble Island.

Yet another Bubble Island gathering...

So that's our 2nd Valentine's day. Hopefully there will be many many more to come! PYILY!!!

一位國文老師的告白

2009-03-12T22:16:00.001-04:00

小学造句:

１。題目：一邊……一邊……

小朋友寫：他一邊脫衣服，一邊穿褲子。

老師批語：他到底是要脫還是要穿啊？

２。題目：其中

小朋友寫：我的其中一只左腳受傷了。

老師批語：你是蜈蚣嗎？

３。題目：陸陸續續

小朋友寫：下班了，爸爸陸陸續續的回家了。

老師批語：你到底有幾個爸爸呀？

４。題目：難過

小朋友寫：我家門前有條水溝很難過。

老師批語：老師更難過。

５。題目：又又

小朋友寫：我的媽媽又矮又高又胖又瘦。

老師批語；你的媽媽是變形金鋼嗎？

６。題目：你看

小朋友寫：你看什麼看！沒看過啊

老師批語：沒看過

７。題目：欣欣向榮

小朋友寫：欣欣向榮榮告白。

老師批語：連續劇不要看太多了！

８。題目：好吃

小朋友寫：好吃個屁。

老師批語：有些東西是不能吃的。

９。題目：天真

小朋友寫：今天真熱。

老師批語：你真天真。

１０。題目：果然

小朋友寫：昨天我吃水果，然後喝涼水。

老師批語：是詞組，不能分開的。

１１。題目：先……再……，例題：先吃飯，再冼澡。

小朋友寫：先生，再見！

老師批語：想像力超過了地球人的智慧。

１２。題目：況且

小朋友寫：一列火車經過，況且況且況且況且況且況

老師批語：我死了算了 @@

Malaysia 2009: Summary

2009-03-08T22:45:00.001-04:00

A wrap up on my trip back home:

Family: This time around it seemed that there were more little kids around. And those who used to be little kids were actually Form 4 or Form 5 now, although they still looked like primary school kids :)

A particularly memorable event was a trip to the "Fo Guang Shan" near Klang. The journey there was unexpectedly long, but worth the trouble I guess. It has been too long since we had such trips as a family (and extended family)

Entrance of "Fo Guang Shan" (mum was holding the camera)

Group photo (mum was holding the camera again...sighz)

Food: Had almost everything I missed the most when I was in the States. But of course, there is never enough time eat all you want :(

New Year Day's vegetarian dishes

Friends: Met 2 high school friends and bumped into one. Things have really changed, and now it feels like that chapter is so far behind me now...and it should be. Form 5 is like 7 years ago now!!!

The Michigan gang meeting was awesome. Prior to that had a 3-hour "paktor" with Wei Jie, which involved walking around in KLCC Suria, Berjaya Times Square, Sungai Wang Plaza, The Pavilion and back to KLCC Suria again. We met up with VS and Seremban folks (Kai Kiat and Mel) later and chatted for a while before the "reunion" dinner at Madam Kwan's. Had a pleasant surprise when Jin Ye brought her boyfriend too. Congrats congrats...

The new couple left early and therefore not in the group pic...and thanks Mike for taking the photo (congrats to both him and Poh Yi too :D)

Special Event: Went to Perlis and visited Pei Ying's parents and family members. Personally I think it was a good gesture, but a lot of people are making a big issue out of it. Some say it was like a "lawatan sambil meminang"....(......)

Conclusion: All in all this short trip back was a very memorable one. Quite surprisingly, I found myself getting used to everything rather quickly - the weather, the people, the culture...yes, there are so many things to complain about this country, and I did feel sad about the dismal state that the country is in, but hey, this is home after all. You keep your eyes closed to all the shitty things around you (corruption, ignorance, pollution, etc etc) and savor the delicious food first before you complain :P

Malaysia 2009: Mum's birthday

2009-03-01T22:23:00.001-05:00

So it was my mother's birthday, and my sister came up with this brilliant idea: why not each of us cook one dish for our beloved mother? After some quick "brainstorming" we decided to prepare taro pork, sour spicy soup and vegetable mix. As you can see I'm extremely bad with dish/food names, but hey at least those are better than ridiculous and meaningless names like "Eight Stars with Great News" or "Eight Gods Crossing the Sea"...

Clockwise from top left: Sour spicy soup, Vege mix, Taro Pork, and Sour spicy soup in a bowl...

I would say that the outcome wasn't as expected. My taro pork was a bit too salty and the meat too cooked, whereas Su Khai's sour spicy soup was too sour...guess we all learned something that day.

To compensate my mum who had to tolerate our cooking, we went out to Pizza Hut for dinner that night. This is a family photo (first in quite some time) with the birthday cake before going out for dinner:

Birthday celebration with family is always good!!

CNY in Malaysia

2009-02-23T22:14:00.001-05:00

I took 10 days off from work and went back to Malaysia for the last two weeks of January. That means I got to celebrate CNY in Malaysia for the first time in four years. No more snow and exams during CNY!!!

The journey back was a long and tiring one. Luckily Voon Seng, Teck Hua and I had the same flight (starting from Minneapolis), so I didn't have to endure the whole journey myself. Upon reaching KLIA, I waited a while and met up with my sister, who was also flying in from Australia on the same day. We then proceeded to the LCCT, which by the way is the worst airport I have seen so far, to take an Air Asia flight to Penang.

Home is good. It's been too long since five of us - my parents, my sisters and I were together. I think we haven't been under one roof since August 2004 when I left for the states. So, my mother was saying that she wasn't quite used to it when the 3 of us (siblings) were busy chatting at the back seat when we were heading back from the airport...Indeed, I felt very happy when I was around with my family. All the good memories came back effortlessly, and they felt so inviting, so familiar, yet there's this hint of sadness as we all knew the good times were fleeting. It won't be long before we had to part ways again to pursue things that we don't even know why we are pursuing in the first place...

Let me break down this Malaysia experience post into a few, or else I don't think I will ever finished blogging about this whole thing. This draft has been sitting in my Windows Live Writer for more than a week. There's too much to talk about, and so much worth posting, yet so little time! (or rather, I'm so lazy!)

Reaching Penang Airport...

Take 2...

Updates...next time

2009-02-12T22:50:00.001-05:00

I am supposed to study my FAP...look at the materials in addition to the online learning modules!! But can't seem to find the motivation to do so. Will update more about my recent Malaysia trip and etc.

Warren Buffet in the making (yeah right)

2009-01-14T20:23:00.001-05:00

"...be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."

-Warren Buffet

Easier said than done I'd say. I started investing in stocks since end of November, and I should say that it has been an "interesting" experience.

I had some beginner's luck when I first opened my online trading account. I should say that buying low and selling high within days was an extremely satisfying experience. Making money suddenly seemed so easy, and I even wondered if I could sustain myself financially by just doing tradings.

Of course, as the Malaysian saying goes: "You think everyday Sunday meh??" Soon enough I was finding myself stuck when the market was going down as a whole. Seeing reds was an equally "un-satisfying" experience, and denial started to set in. "Ok one la, lose a bit now, by holiday seasons it should go up" "Nevermind one, Obama's gonna sworn in, bull ahead". BS. The unwillingness to admit that a mis-judgement has been done, combined with the insatiable greed when times were good, inevitably pushed me closer and closer to where I started.

So, right now I think I should re-evaluate my strategies. I should be more disciplined, and be more willing to sell even if I am already losing. Well, didn't I already know all that? I guess maybe my best bet is to hire a group of monkeys and let them throw the darts...

Back to the reason I am writing this. Today is the first day that my portfolio (bombastic sounding, but really, it's just a small sum of money) turned negative, and things don't look good in the short future. How bad? I bought AAPL at 84.74, didn't sell it at 97, and now that Steve Jobs has announced that he is stepping down, the after hours trading price is hovering at 79s...serves me right man. There's nothing much I can do now except being a long investor. Wait, what about 壮士断臂?? Haha screw that...

The Dark Knight- Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof

2009-01-02T22:43:00.003-05:00

I have to share this...let's not build up the expectations though...watch it for yourself!

Celine Dion

2008-12-29T23:38:00.001-05:00

Celine Dion initially scheduled her Indianapolis concert on November 9th. Back then, I couldn't make it since I wanted to watch this with Pei Ying, and she was still in Ann Arbor. However, due to a "timely" throat infection, Celine Dion was forced to reschedule the concert. It was postponed to December 21st, an excellent time because firstly, Pei Ying would be at Indy at that time and secondly, the fact that the concert fell on the 21st made it a conveniently perfect anniversary gift :)

It was a super cold day (temperature was around -25 degree celcius after wind chill). The concert was supposed to start at 8, but some joker (literally, stand-up comedian) took the stage instead of the real main character. He did a great job entertaining the audience, and did very good impersonations of celebrities like Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Michael Jackson, George Bush and more. Too bad I don't remember (to be exact, didn't catch) his name.

Celine Dion probably figured that the Indianapolis fans didn't mind waiting for another hour after having waited for a month for this concert. She showed up at 9pm, but promptly made all the waiting worthwhile. Clad in a mini-dress, she brought out the first song of the night, I Drove All Night. She would go on and performed classic hits like Taking Chances, The Power of Love, Because You Loved Me, To Love You More, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, All By Myself, The Prayer, and Fade Away. Of course, how would a Celine Dion concert be complete without My Heart Will Go On? We had to wait until the second encore performance for that song.

Overall, the concert was great. The stage-work was fantastic, with lots of moving parts and lights displays (erm I guess I don't know how else to describe it) Most importantly, her voice was just superb. It is usual in the Asian world that singers, especially those Taiwanese ones (ok being opinionated and based on my limited observance), perform notably worse from their recordings, and sometimes have to resort to "caused-by-being-overwhelmed-crying" to cover up their bad-karaoke-like singing. If they sing exactly like the recording, it is only because they are lip-syncing. But Celine Dion's performance was just professional. Her command of voice was perfect, and her performance moving. I was thrilled to have seen this best selling female artist of all time live.

I have been You-Tubing her All By Myself since, and it is my new favorite song now.

A few pictures:

The comedian taking the stage

Drum roll...

Finally!!

Standing on the piano..

That's the best my 6X optical zoom can do...

Celine Dion and violinist (To Love You More, Py's favorite)

Wonder Woman cape??

My Heart Will Go On (flutist playing Titanic theme)

Just realized I've posted a tonne of pictures...well forgive me for being excited about my first concert :)

NBA - Pacers VS Warriors (Dec 17)

2008-12-29T22:11:00.001-05:00

This was my 3rd NBA game, and I finally got to be much closer to all the action since I got courtside tickets for a good deal (company's discount). Basically nothing much to be excited anymore, except that this was my first NBA game with Pei Ying. Pacers won in the end, which makes 3 wins (home team) out of the 3 NBA games I watched.

Got to see the hawd cheerleaders up close!! Oops better behave myself...

Pacers...couldn't find a better picture to post actually. Been realizing that recently I have been taking shittily blurry pictures...why??

Final score >> 127 :: 120

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-26T23:13:00.001-05:00

Wanted to name this post "Mackinaw trip", but decided against it since technically we (Siew Gee, Jason, Pei Ying and I) didn't even set foot on the island. Throughout the holidays, we stayed in Mackinaw city but didn't get the chance to visit the island due to suspended ferry service during Thanksgiving.

So where did we go? We went to Sleeping Bear Dunes (my second time) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Upper Peninsula. It really wasn't the best time to visit those places, since it was snowing quite heavily.

I was actually excited of re-visiting the Sleeping Bear Dunes because I wanted to re-create the timeless photo taken by Chooi KK. It is my favorite photo and I have been using it for the profile picture of my facebook account. Some of my friends actually thought it was a cartoon poster rather than a real photo of me (note: no photoshop invovled):

Sadly, this time around I couldn't manage to have a profile-picture-worthy photo taken:

Ok enough of me...let's look at some other photos:

Kids running down the slope...

Lake Michigan

Of course, what's Thanksgiving without turkey?? That night, Pei Ying and I ordered Thanksgiving special for dinner, while Siew Gee and Jason each had some "fishy" stuff:

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore reminded us of Yosemite, since we went to both places during winter times. I think the lack of blue sky ruined the views once again.

Doesn't it look like a castle?

"Castle" up close

Waterfalls...

Initially we decided to go Mackinaw Island on Saturday, but unfortunately there was no ferry service. So we just hang around and take a few photos:

Mackinaw bridge

And that concludes our short trip....

Christmas Spectacular Starring the Rockettes

2008-12-07T20:15:00.002-05:00

About two weeks ago (11.22.2008, which strangely feels like ages away, possibly due to my deteriorating memory), I got the chance to watch the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Rockettes, thanks to Pei Ying's aunty B-Lee.

I started out the day by playing some badminton with Wei Ping, Billy and Jason in CCRB. Right after that, we (plus Pei Ying and few more people) drove to Novi to get Ajishin for lunch. The noodles was again heavenly, especially after the long wait in line. We split ways after lunch, with just Nabil, Pei Ying and I heading to Detroit to catch the show.

The Rockettes is a precision dance group which performs in Radio City New York. Every year they have this Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall and also some other American cities including Detroit. The venue of the Detroit performance was Joe Louis Arena, the home for the Detroit's ice hockey team.

The Rockettes' famous routine includes the eye-high leg kick, not unlike those kicks in the french Can Can (got this feeling although I am not familiar with that). Also, I enjoyed the toy soldiers performance a lot. Overall, it was a great show and a great way to kick off the holiday mood for the season.

Some photos (courtesy of Nabil):

The stage

Opening scene

The Rockettes!!

Amazing Toy Soldiers Performance

The bus actually moves, and the background was actually a screen that shows the New York streets

Santas. One comment: I hate it when Christmas shows have to somehow squeeze in the "I Believe" cheesy theme...

After the show we went back to AA and had dinner with Seng Khai and friends. Had another badminton session in NCRB before calling it a day. It was a tiring but satisfying day I'd say...

Pacers-Hawks game

2008-11-20T22:54:00.001-05:00

Got a free ticket from my colleague, who in turn got it from his boss. Well since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go for my second NBA game.

Building right beside Monument Circle

Name of Pacers' arena: Conseco Fieldhouse (Conseco bought the naming rights)

"Monkey" show during half time

Our boys in action...

Final score -we won!!

Men's Glee Club

2008-11-20T21:46:00.001-05:00

I attended Men's Glee Club's concert twice during my years in U of M, partly because I was coerced into doing so by my senior who happened to be a member of the club. Last weekend, I ended up in Hill Auditorium again for my 3rd Men's Glee Club concert. Sounds gay? Nope, because firstly their performances were quite good indeed, and secondly, I went there with yy :P

This year, the Friars weren't as funny as before, probably because I couldn't quite hear what they were singing from the balcony. However, I should say that the pianist did a great job again, and I was delighted that their first performance actually used a pipe organ as the accompaniment. The effect reminded me a lot of "Phantom of the Opera".

Hill Auditorium

Up close shot. If you are sleepy enough, your mind play tricks and those singers actually turn to penguins...

Car Accident

2008-11-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

Last week when I drove to Ann Arbor, I finally reached my second 88888. It was nothing special except that I took a picture of 88888 for my first car last time, so I wanted to do the same for this car as well:

(Yup engine light is on...had it checked and it was no big deal...)

Speaking of which, I have already put more than 5k miles on this car in less than half a year. Coupled with the miles I gained from my old car (>13k miles I think...in a mere 3 months!!), my total mileage (excluding those that I earned on other cars) would have let me complete about 70% of the journey circling the earth if I were to travel in one straight line.

That being said, having experience does not mean that you are less prone to accidents...conversely, as the Chinese saying goes: 上得山多终遇虎!

The accident occurred when I was driving Pei Ying, Huey Shann and Szu Ling to Meijer on Carpentar Road. It was raining, and I was driving on the outer lane of the southbound road. A cab cut into my lane from the right, and I was rather annoyed because he turned in rather abruptly. I did not slow down, and to be honest did not intend to due to my annoyance. Then it happened; the traffic in front of the cab stopped suddenly, and the cab tried to turn left in order to avoid ramming into the cars in front of him, but later decided against it and drove back to my lane. I hit my brakes hard, but due to the slippery road the car skidded forward instead of coming to a halt. My car finally dedicated its first kiss to the sweet ass of that cab.

I stepped out to check the damage, and thank god it was nothing serious. The cab's rear suffer a slight dent, and my left signal lights were shattered. The cab driver asked if I could follow him to Showcase Cinema, since there's where he's dropping of his customers. We went there, and had the police officer come and write a report. I could blame no one but myself for this totally avoidable accident, and I would like to apologize to my fellow passengers. Bright side: no one was hurt in this incident.

So yeah no doubt that ruined my day.

Epilogue: Firestone managed to find out a series of problems with my car when I sent it to them for the signal bulb fix and oil change. Fresh off from an accident, I decided to get most of the critical stuff repaired. Together with the citation (because ass-kissers are always at fault), I had to shell out a total of 1500 USD...yup right now I am still getting sporadic coughs of blood.

Blind Date - Olde English Sketch Comedy

2008-11-16T22:54:00.003-05:00

Saw this ages ago...LOL. Great comedy for nerds/geeks!!!

Chicago II

2008-11-12T23:01:00.001-05:00

The next day we headed out to pick Steve up before going to Chinatown for a DimSum lunch. The wait was insane; we decided to go downstairs for some bubble tea before resuming our wait. I'd say that the food there wasn't that exceptional, on par or possibly worse than Great Lakes'.

After lunch we decided to walk around in downtown. I wanted to see the Buckingham Fountain and the famous Crown Fountain, since I missed it 3 years ago. To my dismay, both fountains were shut down presumably because of the cold weather. I got the chance to revisit my favorite in Chicago though, the Cloud Gate sculpture or more famously known as "the Bean".

Group photo in front of Jay Pritzker Pavillion (don't have the one with Vivian in it...dang)

The Bean!!!

What are you waiting for? Spit out some water dude!!!

Chicago river

Our next destinations included the Magnificent Mile, Ghirardelli Chocolate and the Grand Lux (dinner). The hot chocolate that I ordered in Ghirardelli (not the regular one) was just...too chocolaty. It was like drinking melted chocolate, and I suspect one could possibly suffocate to death if he or she takes a big gulp of it. The dinner at Grand Lux was great, but again I don't think it is worth the one hour+ waiting time (of course we did not wait there the whole time). I guess this is how things work in big cities...

Want to kill some brain cells?

Shrimp Scampi

The weekend was a short one, but it was sure fun to meet up with old friends!!

Chicago I

2008-11-06T22:15:00.002-05:00

Eric visited me about three weeks ago during his fall break. Since I was stingy on my leave days and Eric himself did not have much time anyway, we decided to go to Chicago and pay Vivian a visit. The timing was great I should say; Vivian's birthday fell on that weekend, and that means more reasons for us to be in the Windy City.

Eric reached IND at about 10.15 pm. Since I noticed that there was an accident that caused a massive traffic jam on my opposite way while driving to the airport, I decided to take a detour passing by Indianapolis downtown to get back home. We stopped by the Monument Circle and took some photos.

The very next day after work (a Friday), we headed to Chicago after a stroll in the park nearby my house. I was planning to show off the fall colors of the beautiful lake which I took photos of earlier, but was greatly disappointed by the view. Well, one word could sum it up - hideous!

Apartment new look (I still prefer brick color facade)

We reached Chicago probably about 9-ish, and Vivian and Felix recommended this Korean BBQ place for dinner/supper. The atmosphere of that restaurant was "great". It was authentically Asian, as smoke filled the place and people crammed themselves together, enjoying the sizzling meat and steaming soup. I pictured that it should be great if a bunch of guys hang out in this place, each having a bottle of beer and talking loudly about obscene stuff while gobbling down chunks of burnt meat (ok too much of tvb...)

We ordered too much and in the end Vivian had to request for a box. We headed back home after, and I managed to try out some wii Mario go-kart before calling it a day.

About time to revive my blog...

2008-11-04T22:15:00.001-05:00

So what have I been doing in the past few weeks? None other than study, study and study...the outcome? I seriously don't know :(

Anyhow, life feels good right now. I am loving the fact that I don't have to study...for now.

Well, will update on my Chicago trip when I get the chance (reads when I am not in my lazy mode).

Restless...

2008-10-19T21:18:00.001-04:00

Title says it all...AARRGGHHH..

RIP Grandma

2008-09-30T21:39:00.001-04:00

Hope you are in a better place now. Although we didn't know each other well, you were the only grandparent I've had, and I want to thank you for what you have done to raise your family. RIP.

New camera!

2008-09-21T22:29:00.001-04:00

My faithful Canon A85 finally succumbed to old age (~4 years), and I was actually amazed by how it managed to last this long. 3 years ago it suffered a dramatic fall from the top of a full size fridge (in some Mr Jones' house back when I was in North Carolina), and it went hay-wired for a while before working normally again as if nothing had happened. Lately though, noticeable bands started to appear in the photos it captured, and that's when I decided I need a new camera.

I should thank my dear girlfriend for giving me this wonderful present. It's Canon PowerShot A2000 IS, a model came out as recently as September (yup this month). Let's look at a self portrait:

Wanting to do some testing, I took it out to a park across from my apartment and a small lake nearby to take some pictures. I didn't really try out the features, just taking random shots instead. I wonder when I will actually get the chance to use the various functions packed in it, to name a few the fireworks mode and the aquarium mode.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Meadowland Park not far from my apartment

Small bridge that connects the park and path to lake

Looks like a resort huh?

The lake I mentioned...it beats Yosemite's mirror lake (haha at least in this picture compared to what we saw in winter)

Another view..

Trying out the micro function.

Yesterday also we had a potluck (8 people in total), and I prepared my favorite Malaysian food - Bat Kut Teh!!

The main ingredients

End product

Also, when I was done with jogging at Monon Trail today, my neighbor (an Indonesian, but his wife's a Chinese) invited me to his apartment and we chatted for quite a while. Then his wife suggested that we have dinner together, which I did not reject :P. I found out that he has the same surname as me (I do not have a common one), and also discovered that the very first guy I met in the chinese church for badminton is actually his uncle!!! What a small world it is!

In Shapiro Library

2008-09-13T23:54:00.001-04:00

I'm currently writing this in UGLI using my laptop which is connected to the UM wireless network. Glad to know that I can still login to the university network using my umich name and password...or should I be worried??

Sports

2008-09-11T21:25:00.001-04:00

Recently I have been playing quite some sports. In fact, for the past few days, I managed to play (just to be clear, I am not talking about wii sports here :P ):

Sat - Tennis

Sun - Bowling

Mon - Badminton

Tues - Golf

Wed - Tennis

Fri - Volleyball in AA??

Had my first golf experience 2 days ago, wasn't too bad. I stole some balls from Ken and Jill to practice some swings. Personally I think that driving wasn't too hard, as long as you practice to the point of being able to swing consistently (well that's the key to most sports). We also played some putting on the green. I ended up treating both of them Coldstone because I foolhardily challenged them to a putting game...(gosh)

For sports listed above, other than badminton I'd say I'm playing at beginner's level. Hope as time passes by I will get better in those games...and be a sporty actuary! (as Kai said, insert evil laugh here)

Labor Day

2008-09-04T22:04:00.001-04:00

Let me start with an interesting discovery (pardon my ignorance):

"Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer."

-Wikipedia

So I guess fall has officially taken over. For the labor day weekend, I drove back to Ann Arbor to meet up with py and friends. It was another great weekend yet, and as usual enjoyable time flies by. I'm really glad that the Umich Malaysian kampung now has two more members of my age: Wei Ping and Billy. Welcome to the big family!!

On Saturday afternoon, py and I finally got the chance to watch Wall-E. The show had been running for quite a while, and I was quite surprise that they still showed it in Showcase. We enjoyed the movie a lot, and I was again awed by the creativity of and originality of Pixar production. Before the show I had read a lot of great reviews about it, but the movie still topped my expectations, unlike the Dark Knight which disappointed me due to me having high expectations. I personally think this is the best movie of Pixar, even better than my old favorite, Monsters Inc. I'd really like to see this movie get at least a best picture nomination in Oscar...

Speaking of which, I'm actually upset that Pixar is making Cars II. It is understandable why they want to do Toy Story III, but Cars??? I thought it was the lesser one of Pixar's production. There should be a Monsters Inc II....

Back to topic. During my stay in AA, I managed to attend a "Merdeka" bbq organized by UMIMSA. The food was...hmm did I even eat? (lol), and there wasn't much activity going on except chatting. This year the park was pretty crowded, compared to the previous few years. It's sad to say that now I'm already among the oldest in the community...

Also, this time I managed to play some real tennis in daylight. Jason must be pretty impatient seeing my bad strokes, but I learnt a lot amidst the chaotic flights of balls. Now I start to realize that tennis isn't as easy as it first appeared... Well, I'm still learning and hopefully this weekend Ken will be able to give me more tips.

I shall revisit this lovely college town (and lovely person living in it)soon.

Google Chrome

2008-09-02T21:49:00.001-04:00

In no time after the existence of Chrome was made known, geeks all over the world have been rushing to download this latest product of Google, unalike to how those Ah Lian-s change their wardrobes once the latest trend in fashion is revealed on Vogue. And yes, geeks and Ah Lian-s alike, they do not forget to flaunt it.

So just let me finish by saying that I'm one of the geeks (nerd might be more appropriate) before they start taking it personally and clamor...

New York trip

2008-08-28T22:32:00.001-04:00

Purpose of trip: renew my passport and also you know what :P

Date: 8/21 - 8/24

Since 8/21 was a Thursday, I took my first personal day for this trip. A friend fetch me to the Indianapolis airport after work, and basically the check in was my most pleasant one ever. There was virtually no line throughout, I guess due to the fact that it was a Thursday and Indianapolis was not a popular airport. In a mere two hours I was already in the Big Apple (factually incorrect since my destination airport was Newark International).

When the moment I had been waiting for ages come, there was no explosive/emotional reunion, because somebody was very shy :P. Luckily the shyness and hint of foreignness didn't stay long; soon enough my PY was back to her cute self. Hugggss (finally).

During my stay in New York, I managed to get my passport renew in one day (for once let's cheer for the efficiency of Msian officers). Other than that, basically we spent most of our time walking around in the city, with me savoring every moment of it.

Unique way to park your car

Rockefeller center

ToysR'Us in Times square

Times Square

New York Public Library (didn't get the chance to go in during my freshmen year)

We tried to visit the St Paul Cathedral too, but we ended up in another St Paul near the Columbus circle. Guess we shall visit it some other time.

On Friday night, we watched Phantom of the Opera (again....my 3rd time!!). To obtain the tickets, we lined up for a good one hour + to get the tkts discounted tickets! The tickets were really cheap though, only 51 USD per person, which was about the same as what I got 4 years ago. I recalled how awe-struck I was when I first watched this broadway show, and how I secretly vowed to bring my love one to watch this show again. There I was in the Majestic Theatre, finally fulfilling my wish. PY said it was rather boring in some parts though :S, but I'm glad that she loved the 2nd act.

Look at the size of crowd the show still gets after years of running..

Of course, I also managed to meet up a bunch of friends (mostly Michigan folks). We chatted for a while, and it was great to meet May Ying again after so long...

In Melissa's apartment (888 8th Avenue!!!)

What's a trip to New York without excursions to Malaysian restaurants? We went to Nyonya and New Malaysia, and I finally got my cravings satisfied.

Char Kuey Teow in Nyonya, absolutely delectable!

The Wan Ton Mee was actually bad...not recommended (Nyonya)

The dish that I had been thinking day and night....kai si hor fun!!! (New Malaysia)

Laksa. Good recommendation by Eric (New Malaysia)

Last but not least, I should thank Kai Li, Guang Hui, Kai Yuan and Jian for their hospitality and company. In a nutshell, it has been a great weekend!!

Random

2008-08-28T20:34:00.001-04:00

When I first entered my apartment building, I realized something was wrong. It didn't take me long to find out that the lights in the hallway were not turned on. Upon entering my apartment, a quick investigation confirmed my fear: there was a power outage.

Straightaway I called the office to ask what's going on. Apparently the whole neighborhood was facing the same problem, and I was promised that the power would be back on around 6pm. Thinking that it wasn't a big deal since the day was still bright, I tried to cook, but to my dismay discovered that the stove won't work without electricity. Hence I did some marinating and decided that I could use my laptop powered by battery to do some surfing online. Maybe not. Modem needs electricity no?

Wanting to kill some time, I did some exercise and finally dragged myself out to Monon Trail to jog after much debate. Still no electricity when I came back. Starting to get frustrated, I rested for a while before taking an early shower. Same thing after shower; no electricity. It was then I started to get worried. If that persisted I would need to dine out and go to bed straight after dinner unless I manage to find a hangout place.

I started calling my friends in my neighborhood and asked if they still have the same problem. One friend said he got power a few minutes ago, and right after I hanged up the lights finally went on.

My purpose of delineating such a mundane occurrence was to express my realization of how we have to lose something to realize its real meaning to us. Things as simple as electricity can truly make a difference in our lives, yet when it is available in abundance we fail to see its value. I guess this incident serves as a reminder that I should not take things for granted and start being grateful for everything I have.

Finally...

2008-08-21T19:51:00.001-04:00

This got to be the longest wait ever...and now the end is near. Can't wait can't wait!!! :):)

An Olympic of World Records and Historic moments

2008-08-17T00:11:00.002-04:00

Just witnessed Phelps securing his place as the most successful Olympian in the history of modern Olympics. 8 for 8!!

But I have to say the most memorable moment of today (US time) was the 100m men's finals on track. I missed seeing it live this morning (I thought it would be broadcast at night time), but managed to catch it on NBC later. Usian Bolt, the Jamaican who won the event, broke the world record in the most relaxing manner ever. And it was almost hilarious the way he looked right and looked left while running, and was already celebrating when he had not even finished the race!!

Bear in mind we are not talking about marathon, in which you have plenty of time to do all sorts of celebration you want if you have a clear advantage; it's 100m race which normally finishes in 10 seconds!!! And there he was, palms up, slapping his chest before even completing his race. And still managed to smash his old world record...

Oh, did I mention that he ran with his shoe lace not properly tied?

Unbelievable!!!!

2008-08-15T22:32:00.001-04:00

Just saw how Michael Phelps got his 7th gold...one word: UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Phelps was like one body length behind the leader during the 50m turn (it's 100m butterfly race btw)...but he never gave up and kept giving his best!! Towards the very end the guy next to him (earlier leader who still led) was already stretching his hands for the wall, and although Phelps himself was also close enough to reach for the wall, he did an additional butterfly stroke....and VOILA!! Phelps did it and won the race by a MERE 0.01 SECOND!!!!

Gosh...what a great race....although it's not a world record, it's an Olympic record still. And great great moment in the history of swimming!!

(and really, every one should see how Phelps mother reacted...she was stunned for a few good seconds, then collapsed with relieve..)

Morse Park Bbq

2008-08-14T22:46:00.001-04:00

My weekends were usually uneventful, as I'm gradually becoming more and more like a 宅男 (guy who stays in home all the time) as Jill noted. Well, other than the fact that doing nothing at home is the most economical way of spending the weekend, I do really enjoy being with myself and just take things easy over the weekend.

I don't really fit in the mold of 宅男either though, as I don't really eat instant noodles while staying up late watching anime (that's my idea of the term). My typical weekend boils down to surfing the Internet, doing groceries, doing laundries, jogging on Monon trail, exercising with Wii (:P) and nowadays studying. Some Sundays I did go out for bowling (now I have my own pair of bowling shoes), and catch movies in cinema, but pretty much that's it.

Last weekend however Ken organized a bbq in Morse park, and finally I ended my streak of not venturing out from my home for more than 10 miles since July 4th. The location was ok, and the food was good. The only downside of the bbq was that no one brought anything other than food; no football, no frisbee, no cards. Hence all we did was just eating and chatting...I'd prefer if I could sweat a bit...

Lake by the park

Fishing for food?

A portable grill that we bought (not the rusty one, the one obstructed by guy in green)

And guess what I did after stuffing my stomach with food? I went back, rested for a while, and went to office at night to do some studying and finish off some work...great way to spend a Saturday night huh?

(Time to watch Phelps chasing his 6th gold)

Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

2008-08-09T10:18:00.001-04:00

Just watched the opening ceremony on NBC last night. Didn't like how they cut into commercials even when the show and fireworks were taking place. I liked all the performances very much, especially the part where they put up a show using moving printing blocks. I was watching in disbelief when it was revealed that the blocks were actually manipulated manually by humans, because I just concluded earlier that there was no way that such precision and coordination could be done without exact execution from computers. Truly awe-inspiring indeed what teamwork can achieve..

Now that I've seen this, I am hoping that I will be able to attend the London 2012 one...

July 4th

2008-08-07T22:41:00.001-04:00

The past independence day was my first holiday since I started working. Naturally, I was anticipating the coming of that day. The fact that it fell on a Friday meant that I would have a long weekend, hence I decided to go back to Ann Arbor and have some good time there.

When I was driving into Ann Arbor, I was suddenly reminded of how I felt when I went back home for the first time after studying for a while in UiTM Shah Alam. It felt great....to be home, and Ann Arbor is like my home in the States. And boy I realized how much I missed my college town...

My time in Ann Arbor was basically a relaxing and enjoyable one. On Friday (July 4th), Siew Gee, Wei Chieh and I went to Novi just to find out that Ajishin, a Japanese restaurant that we planned to go was close on that day. We went for dimsum in Great Lakes instead, and caught 2 movies (Wanted and Hancock) after lunch. I thought Wanted would be a great movie, but other than the amazing visual effects and action scenes that got old after a while, the plot was absurd and laughable. Well I guess it's hard to find a movie that can surpassed "the Matrix" in novelty, excitement, and depth.

Wei Chieh and I played some tennis in the evening. It was my first time playing tennis, and thanks to our assumption that the tennis court would be well lit at night, we went there at 9 something only to find out that it was in fact not lit at all. We played still, and honestly it was not quite fun chasing balls in dark...

The next morning, we went to Novi again, this time having our desires fulfilled. The food in Ajishin was unquestionably good...I don't know how authentic it was, but it certainly was delicious. It reminded me of the taste of hawkers style food in Malaysia...

Sushi master in Ajishin...actually two of his assistants were Hispanic...that I'm pretty sure.

That triangular delight was real good!

Sheer ambrosia...

Wei Chieh holding back tears of regret because he ordered the cold noodles...

Siew Gee's noodle actually tasted like "loh mee" in northern Malaysia.

For the afternoon, we went to Gallup Park to do some kayaking. Wei Chieh and I shared a kayak, and for us the main agenda of the day was to run into Siew Gee's kayak. It might have sounded easy since we were two against one, but in truth we had to summon every ounce of our energy and brainpower (lol) before we could actually do that.

Colorful kayaks

Excellent day for kayaking...

Trying her best to keep up with our insane speed (haha in reality that's so not true...)

Wei Chieh and I was ready to go back for a good dinner, only to be shocked by an unforeseen occurrence (we should have known better). In the end we dined in Asian Legend, which was not bad actually.

So that was my only visit to Ann Arbor up till now. I'm guessing I'll be back in this lovely town during Labor Day...till then so long AA!

To everyone especially Gu Long fans: Must read!!!

2008-07-30T22:20:00.001-04:00

I stumbled upon this essay on Chow Yee Hoong's blog, and it is absolutely hilarious....if this was indeed written during exam period, you got to admire the author's courage and incredible sense of humor...

[爆笑]北京高考零分作文
题目:“细雨湿衣看不见，闲花落地听无声”是唐朝诗人刘长卿在《别严士元》中的诗句。曾经有人这样理解这句诗：1、这是歌颂春天的美好意境。2、闲花、细雨表达了不为人知的寂寞。3、看不见、听不见不等于无所作为，是一种恬淡的处世之道。4、这种意境已经不适合当今的世界……根据你的看法写一篇作文。题目自拟，体裁不限。字数800以上。

盛夏，夜，深夜。

景山山颠。

山上有人，两个人，一男一女。

这两人就是当今武林名声最响的两位杀手，男的名秋细雨，女的叫叶闲花，江湖人称“细雨闲花”。

诗人刘长卿曾用“细雨湿衣看不见，闲花落地听无声”来描述这两个可怕的杀手。细雨湿衣，湿衣的是鲜血；闲花落地，落地的是人头。这两人杀人来无影去无踪，如果他们想杀你，当你还没看到他们人影没听到他们声音的时候，你就已经死了。

秋细雨三天前接到一份帖子，指名要杀叶闲花。事成之后，不但有三百万两冥币，更可以让他在“红楼梦中人”选秀节目中担任曹雪芹的角色！

但是杀死叶闲花比杀死比尔还要困难得多。

江湖中没有一个人清楚叶闲花的武功来历，性格脾气，但是每个人都知道叶闲花的故事。

叶闲花有一双迷人的大眼睛，据说她曾一动不动地瞪死过赵薇和高圆圆，而那一年她才十七岁。

叶闲花声音有如黄莺般幽婉醉人，传说听过她说话后林志玲身体酥麻了整整一年，你说要不要命？

叶闲花轻功独步武林，踏雪无痕，落地无声，号称超过当年青翼蝠王韦一笑。有人见她上星期在高速公路上偷了刘翔奥运会入场证，刘翔追出一万公里最后被活活累倒。

一般人听到叶闲花的故事早就吓得去买尿不湿了，但是秋细雨没有去买。

秋细雨不是一般人。

他知道，杀人不但要靠技术，还要拼人品！

秋细雨很镇定，他正用一把指甲刀修整着手指甲，他的手指修长有力。

他要等待，等待对方先沉不住气。高手相争，不允许一丝一毫的失误，先沉不住气的人就会露出破绽。

致命的破绽！

因此秋细雨一言不发，只是静静地玩弄着指甲刀。

没想到叶闲花更是好整以暇，自己悠然自得地涂口红，喷香水。

秋细雨只好先发制人，道：“你知道我找你出来是为什么。”

叶闲花温柔道：“在我们动手之前，不能先谈谈么？”

秋细雨道：“我是来杀人的，不是来聊天的。”

叶闲花道：“你有把握杀我？”

秋细雨道：“我从不做没有把握的事情。”

叶闲花道：“我要提醒你一件事。”

秋细雨道：“你说。”

叶闲花道：“百晓生作杀手谱，小女子是杀手榜排名第一，阁下区区第二，你真能杀得了我么？”

秋细雨道：“我也要提醒你一件事。”

叶闲花道：“你说。”

秋细雨道：“论杀手实力，我本在你之前，只是那次排名百晓生采用了短信投票系统，中国‘花痴’人数过于庞大才让你得了第一。”

叶闲花的脸色一变，道：“我更要提醒你，我的粉丝团叫‘花粉’，不叫‘花痴’！”

秋细雨道：“我最后要提醒你，你的那些‘花粉’全都是花痴。还有，我们已经跑题了。”

叶闲花道：“我们这样拼命厮杀，你难道不怕麻烦么？”

秋细雨道：“你以后再也不用怕麻烦了，天下只有一种人永远不怕麻烦，死人！”

叶闲花道：“这么说你非逼我出手不可？”

秋细雨没有回答，他已不用回答。

秋细雨道：“亮兵器！”

叶闲花道：“我用刀。”

秋细雨道：“你用刀？刀在何处？”

叶闲花道：“我就是刀！”

叶闲花露出甜甜的笑容，忽然间褪下了自己的衣服，全身上下只剩下蕾丝比基尼和黑色丝袜。

叶闲花的脸美得让人窒息，再配上这样的身材，这样的服饰，充满了一种原始的诱惑力。

她的眼睛会说话，她的媚笑会说话，她的手，她的胸膛，她的腿……她身上每分每寸都会说话。

她知道，只要是个不瞎的男人，现在肯定会被她迷得神魂颠倒。

秋细雨是个男人，而且是个不瞎的男人。

可他现在却偏偏好像瞎了一样，完全无动于衷。

他知道，美丽的女人是一把刀，当你沉醉的时候，刀就会切进你的胸口。

秋细雨沉吟道：“我只想问你一件事。”

叶闲花娇笑着：“请讲。”

秋细雨道：“大夏天的，穿这么少你丫不怕蚊子叮啊？”

叶闲花沉默了半晌，幽幽地道：“你一定以为刚才我在喷香水，是不是？我告诉你，我喷的是六神花露水！”

叶闲花又道：“不过这不是普通的六神，是我特别提炼的药水，无色无味无毒，不过却会慢慢扩散在空气中，闻到它的人会四肢麻痹不能动弹。”

秋细雨一惊，忽然觉得身体已经麻木不听使唤，不由得一身冷汗。

叶闲花又道：“你以为我和你扯淡是因为我害怕，以为我脱掉衣服是想色诱你，其实这都是为了拖延时间让药水能扩散到你周围。”

秋细雨面上不动声色，道：“难道你自己不怕药水的厉害？”

叶闲花得意地道：“一开始我涂的口红就是解药，所以我仍然可以自由行动。”

叶闲花逼视着秋细雨，问道：“现在你还认为你能杀了我么？”

秋细雨道：“我能。”

叶闲花道：“你不能动而我能动，你却能杀了我，这不是很好笑么？”

秋细雨道：“是很好笑，但是你一定会被我杀死。”

叶闲花道：“为什么我会被你杀死？”

秋细雨忽然反问道：“飞刀能不能杀人？”

叶闲花道：“好像能。”

秋细雨道：“我有没有手？”

叶闲花道：“的确有。”

秋细雨道：“我手上有没有刀？”

叶闲花道：“你手上好像只有指甲刀。”

秋细雨道：“足够了。”

叶闲花道：“足够了？”

秋细雨道：“我有手有刀，就能置人死地。”

叶闲花道：“指甲刀也能杀人？实在可笑！”

秋细雨道：“以前江湖中有七十三个人觉得我这把指甲刀很可笑。”

叶闲花道：“现在呢？”

秋细雨道：“现在人都已死了，死在这把刀下。”

叶闲花道：“你的手还能动？”

秋细雨道：“你要不要试试？”

叶闲花脸上的笑容渐渐凝固，忽然间，她已出手！

一招“冒牌九阴白骨爪”直逼秋细雨天灵盖，这一招她已练过七年四个月零二十九天，她完全有把握相信没有任何人可以抵挡得了这一招。

可这一次她错了。

刀光一闪，“盗版小李飞刀”已插入她的咽喉。

她到死也不相信，一把指甲刀可以要了她的命！

闲花终于落地！

三个时辰后，药水的药效渐渐淡去，秋细雨终于可以动弹了。

望着叶闲花的尸体，秋细雨道：“虽然你已经死了，但是我还要告诉你两件事。第一，我一直用甲刀修整着手指甲是为了调整手和刀之间的同步率，说白了就是找手感。第二，我杀你的真正目的不是为了钱或者名利。”

一边说，秋细雨一边从叶闲花衣服的口袋里搜出了刘翔的奥运会入场证。

秋细雨坚定地说：“我爱北京，我要看奥运！”

New place, new life

2008-07-27T14:18:00.001-04:00

When I first started my job, I kept on whining about almost everything when I really should not. I think I was mainly terrified by the idea that I was already a perceived grown up and should start acting like one. I also did not like the idea that I was about to enter the "working" part of my life...no more long vacations, no more spring breaks, more commitments, more responsibilities etc. But one month after, I've kind of found my center and start to appreciate things more. Life is actually not that bad, and I hope things won't take a sudden downturn when I am starting to enjoy it. Right now, I am seeing this period as a time when I build my foundations for a better and more exciting future...

So let me start by describing my new apartment (ok, maybe I should not sound like I own it). It is called the Stonegate apartments, and I just love it for its convenient location. It is less than 10 minutes from my workplace, and it has everything you need within 5 miles radius (Walmart, Meijier, Kroger, cinemas, banks, post office etc). The Monon Trail, a nice jogging trail that goes as far as to downtown Indianapolis runs right through it, and there's a lake not far from my apartment. The Arts and Design District of Carmel is also within walking distance. In a nutshell, excellent location.

The apartment itself is not so new, but I got a remodeled unit. Hence, the microwave and oven are new, and next week they are going to do some work on the windows. The only downside of it is that there is no washing machine in the unit, so I have to go out of my room to do my laundry, and it's coin laundry. But well, the laundry room is literally like 5 steps away from my unit, so no complaints.

As for the community, I think Stonegate is more like an area for people who just started working or families with lower incomes. I see a lot of Hispanics around (most of my neighbors are Hispanics), some Indian families, and not to mention Chinese families. I think my next door neighbor is a Chinese, but we did not really talk as we rarely bump into each other. From what I have seen thus far, the people here are decent folks. No loud music on weekend nights, no crazy activities around. This should be a good place for me to study...

Due to my limited funds, I took the minimalist approach in furnishing my apartment (haha). Let the pictures do the talking:

Living room...Yup the weird thing is a video bean bag...can't afford a futon yet :P

My computer desk at the corner. It took me more than half a day to assemble that monster...

My entertainment center!!! A pathetic 22-inch flat screen TV (two of my colleagues who were also just newly hired bought 40-inch!!) and of course, my wii :)

Dining table and kitchen.

Kitchen with microwave and oven (sinks are across the aisle)

My full-size bed...

Basically it's a nice apartment with a nice price (<600 per mo). Will blog more about the surroundings next time!

Winter fun

2008-07-19T21:18:00.004-04:00

Found out this video when I was trying to upload my photos to Snapfish. It was taken during our freshmen year (judging by the fact that Qun Feng was still there). Although that is probably like 3-4 years ago, it almost felt like centuries ago...

How I miss those days...we seemed so carefree and innocent!! (and kinda stupid and wuliao not to mention..)

Moving out of Ann Arbor

2008-07-12T15:53:00.001-04:00

After just a mere month of resting, I had to move on with life; my next stop would be Carmel, a town about half an hour away from Indianapolis, Indiana. The good thing about this place is that it is 4 hours away from Ann Arbor, and this means that I can practically go back to my college town during the weekends, whenever I wish to.

The packing and moving was not that bad, due to the fact that I did not unpack most of my belonging when I moved to U-Towers. Coincidentally, Ren Jie would be leaving the states the very same day I moved out from Ann Arbor. Hence, we had a small gathering and dined in Yamato, a Japanese restaurant in Kerrytown the night before our departures.

Group photo

The food was ok, but the AC wasn't working that day, and it was a hot day. After dinner, I packed all my stuff into my car with the help of Wei Chieh and Ren Jie (thanks!), and had some card games before calling it a day.

Our messy room in U-Towers right before moving..

The bathroom and pathetically small kitchen

Wei Chieh being himself

Ren Jie was like: "What??!! Haven't seen leng chai before ar??"

Soon after, I would be bidding Ann Arbor goodbye and embark on a new journey!!! Well, right now I have already known that it is not a particularly exciting one, but let me blog about that later...I'm catching up!!!

Midwest Games 2008

2008-06-29T12:31:00.001-04:00

Midwest Games is an event organized by MSD annually to allow Malaysian students from the region to participate in various sports competitions. The venue changes each year, and this year it took place in Carbondale, Illinois. Throughout my four years in the States, I have never participated in Midwest Games before, but I wasn't going to miss this one. It was my last chance to participate as an undergraduate (technically speaking).

I signed up for volleyball and badminton mixed doubles. Practice we did (lol) before the game, especially for volleyball. The Michigan gang went there in 3 cars, and I was one of the drivers. It took us 8 hours to reach our destination. Carbondale wasn't a big place, but it had everything in my opinion. For the night (and the following ones), we stayed at Motel 6.

Student Recreation Center of Southern Illinois University Carbondale

The results did not turn out well for us; we managed to win only one game in the volleyball (not counting the walkover), and we (Pei Ying and I) lost in our first mixed doubles game. Pei Ying did win 2nd place in women's double though. Despite the losses, I did have a great time there just playing sports. And I should not fail to mention that something happened while we played volleyball; let's just say that thanks to Wei Chieh (:P), I had to reset my "focus".

I seemed to be distracted by something when everybody's focusing...

The volleyball team (with our "babysitter" - RJ)

Group photo with Wichita key player - StarryNight

On the night before we departed, there was a tornado warning. The city siren went off for a few minutes, and when we turned on the television, the local channels kept repeating warnings about the impending storm. The tone they projected was grave and we were advised to head to underground shelters to take cover. As it was our first time, we took heed seriously, and was even considering hiding into the bathroom if things got really bad and debris started shooting everywhere. Well, it appeared all our worries were unnecessary; the storm when it finally reached was pretty anti-climatic. I have definitely seen far worse ones in Malaysia.

Ominous clouds

So after another 8 hours of drive (we managed to stop by in Indianapolis for lunch), we got back to AA safely. All in all, this was yet another fun trip during my post-grad pre-work period.

Stardust

2008-06-26T21:50:00.001-04:00

Memorable line from the movie (Yvaine to Tristan, thinking that he couldn't understand her):

"Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no fits. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine. "

For anyone who loves fantasy, adventure, and romance, this is a highly recommended movie....

Cedar Point

2008-06-23T22:01:00.001-04:00

Exactly two years ago, when I went to Genting, I had already found out that I was too old for rides. Back then, even the stupid Corkscrew managed to scare me to death (I thought my seatbelt was not working), not to mention the damnable Solero Shot. And I thought I have already experienced the worst....how naive I was.

Cedar Point is a famous amusement park located in Ohio, more than one hour away from Ann Arbor. We (Ren Jie, Jason, Siew Gee, Pei Ying and I) went there in a car but came back in 2 cars, thanks to the cool Ford Focus that Siew Gee bought in Ohio (cool when you judge the cover oops ooops better stop here :P)

The weather was okay that day, a bit cold but did not really rain. From miles away, the towering tracks of the rides already gave me a sense of foreboding. The ominous clouds that composed the background did not help much either in alleviating my soul.

We started our day with Raptor, a ride which was considered a medium-level in Cedar Point. Then we proceeded with the Top Thrill Dragster, the pride of the park. To get an idea of how thrilling it is, check this out:

Top Thrill Dragster

Quoting Wikipedia:

"When Top Thrill Dragster opened, it set five new records:

First continuous-circuit roller coaster to top 400 feet
First roller coaster to reach 120 mph
Highest drop of any coaster
Fastest roller coaster in the world
Tallest roller Coaster in the world "

After that, we basically did most of the insane-est rides, including Mean Streak, Maverick, Millennium Force, Skyhawk, and Magnum XL-200. Here's an idea of how intense the Millennium Force is:

Again, I could not stress enough on how crazy the rides were. Take Millennium Force for example: it slowly hauled us to a height of 310 feet, and the ascend seemed forever. When the climb was over and the train started moving over the curve, there was this almost-still moment which we could see how damn we were, before dipping 300 feet to hell. The horror was simply indescribable. I still could not believe I have done all of those things....That made me think that I should do such things when I still have the ability to do so, because I realized the older you grow, the more "kia si" you would become...

We certainly did...

Post graduation (Cars)

2008-06-21T22:29:00.002-04:00

After sending my parents off, I stayed in LA for another night before flying back to AA. For the month following that, I would call 536 South Forest Ave, Apt 1603 my new home. Staying in U-Towers was fun; its location was perfect, there was free air-con (included in rent), I had another 2 "pig friend dog buddy" as my roommates, and most importantly Pei Ying and I were just 2 floors apart.

Life was easy, but deep inside me there was this uneasiness due to the fact that I was about to start working soon, very soon. So there were quite a few things that I needed to settle first before I could actually slack, for example arranging for a place to stay when I work and getting a car.

My car search actually started since before graduation, but did not bear any fruits. That was probably because I had plenty of time. It was amazing how pressure worked wonders (or I should say how money bought "wonders"). Once I felt the heat, I got a car and decided where to live all in just one weekend.

So my new baby is a 2000 Toyota Corolla. It is rather ironic because my first car (a 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage) was newer than my 2nd car. I did not like the Toyota very much initially, because it was manual, and it did not look cool. I had to convince myself to buy it (ask Wei Chieh about that). But I have grown to like it the more I drive it. It is spacious (had enough room for a computer desk, a set of dining table complete with 4 chairs, kitchen set, plates set, and bags of groceries - the guys who helped us loading the stuff had a look of utter disbelief) yet petite in size. Most importantly, it has good gas mileage.

Look at these pictures:

My first car (gosh, look at me!! ......) -Summer 2005

Wasn't it nice and new?

I was bored and wuliao enough to take a picture of mileage reaching 88888. (Remind me to do so for my current car...it's now at 82k + :P)

VS my current car:

Toyota Corolla 2000 (I don't like the GANLEY thing, but lazy to take it down)

Parked across the road from my apartment

Yup so that's the very short story about my car. Will blog more on post-grad activities....

Los Angeles

2008-06-08T12:43:00.001-04:00

Los Angeles has never been my favorite city. To think of LAX and all the unpleasant memories associated with it simply makes me reject the idea that LA could be a nice place. Indeed, I still do not like the place although my visit to Los Angeles was not a comprehensive one.

I always thought that the highlight of my graduation trip was the Grand Canyon - Las Vegas portion, even before the trip. Hence, when we reached LA I was already not quite enthusiastic in visiting around, which was bad for my traveling companions - my parents and RJ's family. We stayed in Westin near the LAX for the remaining of our trip.

Throughout our stay, we have visited Hollywood (nothing much there, really), Disneyland (yeah yeah where your dreams (dry) come true) and Universal Studios. Here are the pictures:

Walk of fame

Showing enthusiasm posing beside Goofy's statue which I have already posed with in Florida.

Group photo in front of the Universal Studios globe

Any resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator?

So our trip officially ended on the 8th of May when our parents bade us goodbye in the LAX airport. Again, I want to thank my parents for bearing with me for the whole period, and hopefully I can organize something better for them in the future.

Sin City

2008-06-08T12:18:00.001-04:00

For our stay in Las Vegas, we chose Stratosphere, a unique hotel off the strip. It has the most visible structure in the skyline of the glamorous city, an observation tower standing at 350m, making it the tallest free standing structure in Nevada (2nd in US).

Stratosphere (technically speaking it is still in troposphere)

For dinner on the first day, we went to MGM Grand for the Grand Buffet. It was costly, but worth your penny (if you don't eat too little). I took in quite some calories, eating stuff ranging from seafood (king crab, crab, shrimp, various kinds of fish) to mutton, beef, chicken and pork. After the sumptuous meal, we went to the Venetian to watch Phantom of the Opera (Las Vegas version). It was shorter than the Broadway version, but since there wasn't any intermission the show actually felt longer. The effects were more suited to the Las Vegas feel with more lights and fireworks. Overall, I still feel that the New York's show was better.

On the next day, we went up the Stratosphere tower to get a better view of the city. The most interesting thing about the tower was that there were rides on top of the tower. The sheer height of those rides make them the worst nightmare of people with acrophobia. Of course, I did not take those rides (as I knew I would be taking more insane rides later - another story).

On the outdoor observation deck of Stratosphere

Errr....no thanks.

For lunch, we went to the highly recommended Todai, a Japanese seafood buffet. The food was good, but wasn't quite up to my high expectations (boosted by praises from VS).

On that night, we went sightseeing along the strip, and I finally got to see the famous fountain performance of the Bellagio. Bellagio was indeed the ultimate luxurious hotel; the interior was just palatial, embellished with seas of fresh flowers which I wondered cost how much to daily maintain them.

Eiffel Tower (in Paris (in Las Vegas) )

After the sightseeing, we rushed back to Stratosphere to make sure we were not late for the adult show - Bite that we planned to watch. The show was not that much erotic. It combined elements like magic, singing, dancing, acrobat, and lights and sound to make it an entertaining package. Yeap, another show not quite up to my expectations :)

Of course, any Las Vegas experience won't be complete without any gambling. I did play some slot machines, and learned first hand why casinos exist.

Arizona

2008-06-06T22:04:00.001-04:00

Upon reaching Las Vegas, we picked up the rental car (a minivan) that we have reserved earlier and officially kicked off our road trip. We dropped by IHOP for lunch before driving to the meteor crater, located not far from Flagstaff. To our dismay, the crater was already closed (yes, it has hours) when we reached there. Hence, we decided to visit the site again early in the morning the next day. We spent our night in Amerisuites Flagstaff, a hotel which we found to be not bad due to the spaciousness of the rooms.

We finally got to see the meteor crater the next day, not without first paying an admission fee. I was surprised to know that the site was not owned by a government entity. It was, and still is, managed by some private organization, hence the "premium" charged on every entrance. The crater was gigantic in size, and we already got the idea when we were driving towards it. The rim that was forced up spanned a good 1200 meters in diameter, and it was visible from miles away. To imagine oneself standing in the center of a massive impact 50000 years ago was simply mind-boggling.

Meteor crater (there's an old mine shaft at the bottom of the crater)

After visiting the crater, we wasted no time and drove straight to Grand Canyon. It was my second time there, therefore I was not as awed as I did 2 months back. Well, even back then I got a bit bored after seeing the same thing a couple times. I guess to really appreciate the view you have to either hike or join a helicopter tour ride.

Grand Canyon..

Sunset in Grand Canyon as backdrop

We slept at Holiday Inn Grand Canyon that night, and bid farewell to the famous national park the next day. On our way back to Las Vegas, we managed to spend some time at Hoover Dam, used to be crowned with superlatives but now the world's 34th largest hydroelectric generating station.

The intake towers on the Arizona side (the dam is on the Nevada-Arizona border)

Contemplating on life (LOL)

Graduation trip (San Francisco)

2008-06-01T22:55:00.002-04:00

After the graduation day (4/27), I had to move all my stuff to where I would be calling home for the next one and a half month - U-Towers. I have to thank a bunch of friends who helped me out in the process: Pei Ying, Siew Gee, Ren Jie, Wei Chieh, Mei Chen, Jason, Masz, and Wei Hsien (hope I did not forget anyone). Everything had to be done on that day because on the very next day, Ren Jie's family and my family would have to catch a flight to San Francisco. Our full itinerary for the next 10 days would be San Francisco - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - Los Angeles.

Since I have already witnessed the insaneness of the roads in San Francisco (steep slopes, existence of relatively reckless drivers, difficult parking), we decided against renting a car during our trip in the city. Hence, a lot of walking + taking public transportation had to take place. Luckily the weather was okay, as in it didn't rain although it was quite cold. I would say that we were pretty productive in San Fran, covering most of the attractions including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown and a couple more places.

Sea lions lazing at Pier 39

Finally got to sea GG bridge up close

"Crookedest" street in San Francisco - Lombard street

Alcatraz (remember the Rock? I don't frankly)

Inside the prison

One of the cells

Skyline of San Francisco viewed from Alcatraz

Group picture "inside" an artwork in San Francisco MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

Taking limo (a short and ugly one though) back to the airport

Graduation

2008-05-30T00:07:00.001-04:00

"Hi everybody, I am in the states already. Till now, everything goes on quite well and I am now in my own dorm room."

Keng Yang, Old email

That's the first line of the email I wrote when I first came to the states. Almost four years have passed since then, and it certainly did not feel like four years. Here I am, graduated and feeling apprehensive about what's about to come up in my life. Will I blend well into the company I work for? Will I fit in the circles? Most importantly, will I be happy? I guess time will reveal everything eventually.

But until then, let me blog about my graduation. My parents came to the states a couple days before my graduation (4/21). It felt kind of weird to actually see my parents in this country, because...I don't know why. An analogy would be like seeing your teacher in the mall. Nevertheless, I was excited and needless to say I did bring them around (but now I regretted not planning well enough).

Drinking bubble tea at South University :P

Law library

Burton Memorial Tower (Bell tower)

North Campus sign

As for the graduation day (4/26), I am proud to be the first class to graduate on the diag. I am grateful that the ceremony did not take place in EMU, but I don't really care if it is in the big house as long as it is in the campus. I actually preferred it to be in central campus instead of south campus. And I'm delighted that we as the class of 2008 can tell the others that we had a "special" graduation.

The speaker for this year is not as well known as last year's speaker, Bill Clinton. I for one do not even remember his name. We the Malaysian bunch attended the actuarial mathematics commencement after the general one. It was much more fun, because there was food and it was indoor. Of course, throughout the course of the day we did a lot of camera-whoring, and not to mention the must-do: tossing the graduation cap to the air.

Graduation ceremony in front of Hatcher Graduate Library

Actuarial students = Malaysians???

One big family....

4 years for this moment..

So yeah, I've finally graduated!!! Thank god nobody turned on the waterworks, though I did feel a bit sad that my college life has come to an end then. Here I would like to give special thanks to my parents, who had given so much yet asked for nothing in return. Thank you mum and dad, and happy graduating for me!!!

Birthdays

2008-05-18T00:40:00.002-04:00

For my 23rd birthday, I spent my time at a rather odd place. I said odd because I would not have pictured myself in that setting in the states before. It was actually a tzu ching meeting, which took place at a "senior's" house somewhere near Detroit. I should say that I admire their environmental awareness a lot, and their efforts regarding this issue deserve praises. However, their over-emphasis on discipline and institutional rigidity really turned me off. Imagine sitting, sleeping and eating with certain ways and rules. There might be a hidden reason for that, but on the surface I doubt that conforms with the teachings/recommendations of the Great Teacher.

Speaking of which (which is the real reason I write this post), I received a cute surprise gift that night by Pei Ying:

It is a homemade Oreo cheesecake if anyone is wondering. Though appeared amateurish, that's the best gift I could ask for. And thank you for the sports coat and the soft toy :)

So when it's her birthday, I made her a buttermilk cake:

I slightly overbaked the cake, and the birthday wishes looked like a message from a serial killer, but other than that it appeared much better than I expected.

Again, the conscious me is afraid of turning this blog into a collection of cloying posts, but well, I just want to keep record of stuff. At least it's better than a picture of wisdom...oops. Hmm. Why do I even bother explaining. What a self-conscious bastard I am.

Untitled (MOMA exhibitions love to use this title)

2008-05-16T10:14:00.001-04:00

When I read about celebrities (especially sports celebrities), I used to picture them as grown-ups who had done great things and experienced a great deal to be where they are at the moment. And I used to admire great legends and secretly hope that someday I would be one of those people standing at the pinnacle of their respective field. They were my source of inspiration, and by just learning about their achievements made me all excited about the possibilities in my own future.

Hence, when I came to a sudden realization that I am now 23 and still leading an uninspiring life, I could not help but feel a bit sad. Looking around, people who had achieved great success (again, mostly in sports world) and really made a difference are no longer people who are ten or more years older than me. A lot of them are my peers, and some are even much younger than me. A few familiar names here: Roger Federer (age 26), LeBron James (age 24), Christiano Ronaldo (age 23), Lewis Hamilton (age 23), Rafael Nadal (age 22), Maria Sharapova (age 21).

Realizing that people of my age had gone thus far triggered a self introspection on what I want out of this life. Do I want to be an all important person who will be remembered for ages due to the differences I made in this world? (yeah dream on I don't have that ability) I think I have long past the time for illusion of grandeur. It's time to get real, and right now I just want to lead a happy and fulfilling life. Hopefully my existence in this dimension will ultimately bring more goodness than badness to the world.

Pre-graduation summary

2008-05-11T15:58:00.001-04:00

Now that I'm extremely free, I should start filling in the blanks in my recording of events. Let's start from before graduation (1-2 months before my graduation date).

Basically that period can be viewed as one of the best time in my life. There was virtually no academic pressure, as I was only taking 2 classes and pass/failed one of it. Also, the gateway lab was closed by then, meaning that I did not have to work 15+ hours weekly (even though sometimes I wished I could work). On top of that, quality time with py made life so much more meaningful and exciting. I should not go into the details, but I really really hope that these memories will stay forever with me. I should dedicate one post to talk about my memories though; I feel that I lack the ability to remember things, and such poor memory worries me sometimes...will talk about it later.

Managed to attend two more concerts before I graduate: one by the San Francisco Philharmonic and the other by Lang Lang. For the SF Philharmonic concert, I was quite thrilled when I got my tickets; it was 3rd row on the main floor. It would be the first time for me to sit in the main floor section in Hill Auditorium. Tickets for seats in this area were normally astronomical, but I purchased the tickets through a special offer, hence it only cost me 15 per ticket. I was pleasantly surprise when I found out the 3rd row was actually the first row with audience, and I was so near to the stage that I could practically touch the conductor!!! (yeah it's that close) The performance was okay, and I thought it would be better if they could perform the 1st movement of Beethoven's 3rd (the reason I went for the concert) faster.

Lang Lang's concert on the other hand presented an unexpected surprise for me. His playing was flamboyant and his expressions hilariously exaggerated as usual, but when the concert was over, I managed to get an autograph from him!!! I finally understood how those teen girls in Malaysia felt when they lined up to get autographs from S.H.E. To think that I was face to face with an international celebrity was simply...I do not know how to put it. I am still disgusted at myself, picturing I'm no different than those teen girls :(

I went to Chicago too during one of those weekends to attend a Student Leaders' Meeting with Pei Ying. I was skeptical at first of what such meetings can achieve, but to my surprise I gained some insights on how exchange of information could improve oneself. I guess conference and meetings did exist for a reason.

I also decided to drop course C which I registered for earlier. I figured with all the graduation trip preparation and execution, I would not have sufficient time to study, not to mention that I was already having a very severe senioritis by then. So here I am now, shaking my leg when others are studying day and night for exams.

Okay, this is not a summary anymore. I should probably stop this incoherent post here. Will write more when I feel really really bored (which I probably will).

Grand Canyon National Park

2008-04-19T23:33:00.001-04:00

Since I did not really visit Las Vegas and will do so during my graduation trip, I will skip that part for now. Grand Canyon in late winter was....cold. The scenery was great, but it got old after a while (especially true when you just walked along the rim without really hiking down). We were too unprepared to hike down anyway.

So what we did there was too see the sunset and sunrise. Hmm. Doesn't seem like there's a lot to talk about, or maybe it's because I started writing about this too late???

Anyway, I'm going to Grand Canyon again in less than 3 weeks. Hopefully it is going to be warmer then.

Group photo

Grand Canyon

"Group" photo

Having too much fun...

2008-04-03T01:53:00.001-04:00

I don't know since when the jumping shot became a must in barren, rocky national parks like Death Valley, we had tonnes of fun doing so nevertheless. Finding the right time to snap the photo isn't an easy task though, and the following pictures tell a thousand words.

Voon Seng jumping in futility (tsk tsk tsk):

YATTA!!!!

F4 - flying 4 (or fantastic 4? fabulous 4? famous 4? at least it's not futile*4)

Death Valley National Park

2008-04-03T01:36:00.001-04:00

We did not visit the park in the strictest sense, we just passed by it on our way to Las Vegas. But well, there's nothing much to see really (the name tells you that it is not exactly very lively). The views were breathtaking though, and in my opinion, some of the photos that I am going to post below are the nicest taken in this entire trip.

Long straight road

Nice clouds...

Reminds me of Artemisia tridentata (sagebrush I encountered during my Camp Davis trip), but don't think it is...

Imagine if you're out of gas now...

Check out the horseshoe vortex in the center of the picture

Nice view, isn't it?

Shadows of clouds....cumulus shadow

My favorite photo of the trip (photographer: me, camera: VS's - have to make this clear lol)

Yosemite National Park

2008-04-03T00:40:00.000-04:00

Yosemite was great, but not as great as it would be in spring-summer. Some attractions were closed (we didn't get the chance to see the giant sequoia), and the views were not as magnificent in some sense. A great example would be the disappointing winter-version of mirror lake; try compare and contrast the follow:

Point taken?

Group picture in front of the Yosemite Valley...

Group picture in front of the Yosemite Falls (739-m in total height, highest measured fall in North America, 7th in the world, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Falls)

Closer look at the lower falls

What we did in this park was basically just "walk horse look flower" (Chinese saying). I will definitely revisit this place in the future if I have the chance.

Spring Break 2008

2008-04-03T00:26:00.003-04:00

This is a long due post. Things have been going great the past few weeks…so, let me just start from where I left.

Spring break was awesome; we had had a great time traveling in California, Nevada and Arizona. So just let me make a quick summary of the trip, since the journey has already been meticulously detailed by Voon Seng in his dramatic trilogy complete with photos (lol).

Where: San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon National Park

When: Spring break 2008 – 7 days

Who: The fabulous five (yeah I know the use of fabulous is a bit g…bad influence from sex and the city) - Voon Seng, Siew Gee, Ren Jie, Pei Ying and I

How: Good old rented full size Impala

In a nutshell, this has been a great trip, thanks to the good company :) I will revisit San Francisco, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon with my parents in less than a month's time (Gggoossh!!! Paniccking here....I'm about to graduate soon!!!!!)

Life changing event

2008-03-16T15:21:00.003-04:00

Okay, due to popular demand, let me dedicate this post to detailing a recent event that opened a new chapter in my life...

So, it all started when....

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(key: you can't miss it)

Europe trip summary

2008-03-02T15:46:00.002-05:00

Finally, after 2 months, I managed to finish blogging about my Europe trip!! Woohoo!! To summarize the trip, it was a fun and great. I am glad that I did it, and it was really like sampling Europe, since we did the whole thing in about 2 weeks. Now that I have learned more about the continent, I will know where to revisit in the future.

Of course, the trip won't be great without the 2 buddies that traveled with me. Here I wish to thank them for making the trip interesting. Hope we will get more opportunities to travel together in the future.

I don't know what took me so long to finish the travelblogging, but actually lots of things have happened in the past 2 months. I am still pondering if I should blog about a life-changing event that happened late January, or straightway jump to blogging about my very recent Yosemite-Las Vegas-Grand Canyon trip. We'll see!!!

London

2008-03-02T15:08:00.008-05:00

London was the most disappointing city in my list, despite the fact that my expectation was not high in the first place. The city struck me as uninspiring and dull not only because of the weather, but the lack of soul and perceived personality. I should say that such opinion is highly subjective, and I bet a lot of people would beg to differ. The thing is, I was probably wrong since we didn’t really have the time, spirit and mood to have a good look at the city. We were so worn out and lazy that the only places we went were the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Windsor Castle. We didn’t even go to the Parliament House and the Tower Bridge.

On the side note, here I should extend my gratitude to Ren Jie’s aunt and family for their hospitality. Not only they took time to fetch us from the airport, they let us stay in their house and cooked meals for us. We were very well fed and taken care of. Each of us even got a Christmas present from them!!! Ren Jie’s aunt really reminded us about the warmth of home and family. Thanks a million!

Trafalgar Square

Big Ben

The London Eye

Poor guard in front of Prime Minister's residence

On our way to the Windsor Castle

Walls of Windsor Castle

Entrance to Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle!