. . . bang bang.

2008-11-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

The election is over and we now have our new President-elect Barack Obama. I have to say, I'm pretty proud that my parents pulled through and voted Obama. Not only did they vote Obama, but they defended him when pressed by their McCain supporting friends and relatives (although my dad has to learn to stop spreading terrible McCain lies). My mom told her relatives to their faces that "if you vote McCain, you're voting with an old mentality, like old people clinging to the old ways!" I'm surprised by how much she likes Obama. She was moved when she heard about his grandma and even more moved when she saw his tear-jerking acceptance speech. For the past couples days, my mom talked passionately about the civil rights era, Rosa Parks, and the future of our country. I've never heard my mom talk about American politics, period. Until now. How things have changed.

2008-10-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

The new iPod nano makes my 4 year old iPod mini look so obsolete. The resolution, shake function, cover flow, and all these little things like transferring text notes makes this nano soooo awesome! I'm twisted over whether my next laptop should be a Toshiba or the new Apple MacBook. Apple is slowly converting me...

In other news, I just registered my mom to vote for the 2nd time in her life. My parents are so flip-flop this year. Last year, they solidly supported Hillary, then considered McCain. And for the past month, they were solid Obama supporters. And then my dad talked to his Viet McCain-supporting friends last week, so now he's swinging and unsure. Ditto with my mom. Does anyone else feel like Asian parents are a major swing group?

As for Prop 8, seems like many of our parents are either for it, or totally unsure. I hope this year's huge young voter turn-out come to their senses and vote No.

2008-09-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

My classmates recently discovered my cellphone has a pedometer that also tracks speed. So the 8 of us are at the dive bar, taking turns running in place, "racing" each other for the fastest speed, over 2 hours. I believe the other patrons thought we were on crack.

2008-08-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

We've all given up on our blogs, including myself. Facebook has took over our lives and journal-esque writing is now in the dark ages. Boo hoo. Cry a river.

2008-04-27T19:49:00.001-07:00

I am happy to announce that after 5 months of healthy eating and regular exercise, I finally shed the 10 lbs I gained last summer. Woohoo! One month in Thailand and Vietnam led to 9 months of an unflattering potbelly/lovehandles. Oh how your cheap eats turn me into a gluttonous empress! I bet I won't have this problem in Europe, where I'd be starving from our weak ass dollar. Btw, is anybody as excited about the rebate checks as I am? Not to say its a good idea, because its not. Its an economically stupid idea. But I still like getting free money.

2008-04-10T00:20:00.001-07:00

I've rediscovered the joy of earplugs. After 2 nights in a row of my manager's sexcapades, my tub full of earplugs finally came in handy. I even slept through my alarm clock, skipping 2 classes and conveniently waking in time for the Olympic torch rally. The latter was incredibly lame-O. For protesters and spectators, it was soooo disappointing. How can they change the SF route to include running along rocks by McCovey Cove, a giant warehouse, and the pee-stained streets of Van Ness? Tsk Tsk.

2008-04-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

5 hour lunch break... this is the life. I've found my new addiction, it's this site where I can put clothes and accessories together like a magazine layout. If only I could actually own all this stuff.

Here's some sets I made that I can only wish to have.

2008-02-29T20:42:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping myself occupied with YouTube videos of Filipino convicts dancing for fitness and recreation. Pretty interesting rehab program.

2008-01-23T18:39:00.001-08:00

Grad school is so freaking expensive, leaving everyone scrounging around for pennies. Within a few weeks I'm going to buy thousands of dollars of equipment. A few of my classmates discussed donating their eggs for $10-20K. Sounds like a great deal, but I wouldn't consider it with all the medical risks.

I've decided to take on a few odd jobs. Most notably, I'm now a paid human lab rat for brain, vision, and business school experiments. The pay isn't bad, about $10-25/hr. Hopefully I can save up $1-2K. I can cancel appointments anytime, meaning I have no obligations. How convenient.

2008-01-03T00:44:00.001-08:00

I made all these mini cheesecakes but no one's here to share it with me. Oh the downfalls of a long winter break... everyone is working in the real world and no one has time to hang out. I want to make sushi next week, anyone want to join?

2007-12-12T01:14:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I get so addicted to internet that I can't leave it, even to pee. So I'll hold it for hours, fixating my eyes on the laptop screen and my body too lazy to get up from the toasty chair. And only when my kidneys' about to explode, I will seek some energy to walk 20 feet to finally get to that chilly porcelain seat.

2007-11-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

If you haven't noticed, my template is different! I finally got my lazy fingers to copy + paste a new one. And lucky for everyone, I've conveniently added my new wishlist (on kaboodles) right before crazy Black Friday. See you girls this Turkey Day weekend, possibly a Denny's brunch?

2007-11-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

Softball season is over. I played catcher in a double header last night and damn, my thighs are sore. After celebrating our first win of the night at a bar, we lost our second game, barely missing the play-offs. Boo... There's always spring season.

2007-10-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

This week was rough. I had my first final and pre-clinical midterm practical. Even though the professors keep saying B- is the lowest grade possible, nobody in grad school aims for a B-, nobody. It's almost like getting a D+, since anything lower than a 3.0 GPA means automatic failure and retaking the year. This month is filled with non-stop exams and mandatory workshops, but once November rolls around, I'll play my Wii until my arms go numb.

2007-10-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

The Amazon wishlist is updated! Yay! Anyways, its been a laid back week with no tests, no quizzes, no homework. I wish every week would be like this. Next week I'd be crying for mercy from all the procrastination I put forth.

Things to note this week: Alameda adventures, Sushi House, Pilates, IM Softball game (killed the other team!), Jon visiting, bowling a great game, and making money off half.ebay.com. Sushi House is probably the best local, affordable sushi I've had. Nice location with a view of the Bay and beaches. The Western Regional Conference for optometry is this weekend, so its gonna be workshops and fancy food galore. Fun! Did I mention that I gained 8 lbs. since summer started? The food here is too good to ignore.

Alright, plans for my birthday are coming up. I think next Saturday would be a good day. Any suggestions?

2007-10-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated my Amazon wishlist yet. Please refrain using it as a reference for my forthcoming birthday. It shall be updated soon.

2007-09-23T18:39:00.001-07:00

My neighbors have ridiculously loud, chaotic sex every fucking day. Make them stop...

2007-09-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, a lot has happened.

I've been back in the States for a few weeks and I'm now living in Berkeley. School started 3 weeks ago and its getting more intense. I'm on campus 8am-4pm, sometimes 6pm, so its almost like I'm working a full time job.

My classmates are like a giant family to me, especially because we see each other soooo damn much. I like it here, maby even more than Davis. There's definitely more shopping, food, and liberalism. Unlike MHS and UCD gyms, girls freely strip down in the locker rooms here, and its usually NOT a pretty sight. There's still some things I will always miss about Davis, like our beautiful gym, free printing, and safe streets. I've never been this paranoid in my life, but suddenly street lighting and walking in groups determines where I can go.

Optometry school isn't that bad; it's just a lot of reading, labs, and pre-clinic practice outside of class time. I'm staying away from most extracurriculars and retreating back to my lazy high school days. Except now, I've taken up pilates, running, tennis and IM softball with my classmates. My body's gonna be so toned!

It's nice to be a student again.

2007-08-16T09:35:00.001-07:00

I miss the States. I've been in Vietnam a lil too long. Tomorrow we're going to the Cambodian border to check out a tax-free Costco, a small reminder of home. I've never been this excited for warehouse goods. Vietnam: a strange combination of ghetto and beautiful. Its a lot more modern than my first visit 6 years ago.

This is my aunt's condo in Cho Lon (Chinatown) in Saigon. She's lived there for almost 50 years.

This is what the streets of Nha Trang (and the rest of South Vietnam) look like:

The beach shores of Nha Trang has some breathtaking views:

Parks of clean, quiet, empty Hanoi:

In Hanoi, men get haircuts from sides of trees:

Almost a thousand hollow islands scatter at Ha Long Bay, near China:

Floating villages in Ha Long Bay:

2007-07-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Chao from Saigon!

It's been a long week in Thailand, but fun nonetheless. Thailand was a blast, me and my mom went on a tour with a bunch of Viet-american families from the Bay Area and we were a RIOT! one of the guys on the tour is my UC Davis' friend best friend from Alameda! Some other kids were around my age and we drank and watched ladyboy and sex shows. I even watched the ping pong sex show with my mom, yea kinda awkward and its not as cool as ppl say it is. The ladyboy show was AWESOME! They looked gorgeous, more beautiful than models. The Thai guys are so petite and graceful, they make perfect ladyboys. Now the real girls in the sex show... not so pretty, not even cute, now i can see why so many Thai guys would rather go out with ladyboys.

I also rode an elephant and watched all these random Thai cultural and animal shows. There's this adorable little 6 year boy from one the families that we kept messing with. He made "houses" made out of pillows and mats at our thai dinner dance show, and he made me lay on his "bed" throughout all of dinner. Our tour guide, Apple, was hilarious! She's Thai, but she speaks English and Vietnamese so she makes fun of everybody.

We went to the beach resorts in Pattaya which were full of Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese tourists and it got crazy! I went parachuting and jet skiing! There's this one guy from Sac in my tour group that kept hitting on me, nice guy but he's soooo loud and obnoxious and he won't stop hitting on me and buying me drinks. He won't take no for an answer! Jesus! My mom's like "stay away from guys like that! don't take any of his drinks, no good!" haha.

Once we hit the road back to Bangkok, there were Vietnamese tourists from Vietnam everywhere! Weird how my whole tour group speaks in Vietnamese around English speaking Asians in Pattaya, then we only speak English when we're around other Viets. Its like we have a secret language.

Anyways, I'm in Saigon right now. Even though my tour group was suppose to part ways at the Bangkok airport, we somehow ended up near each other in Saigon, so we're all hanging out and setting up more Viet tours together. All the moms are best friends now and their adult kids, including me, are getting along great. That's all for now.

2007-07-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm in Taiwan right now, Lily's motherland, for a layover to Thailand. It looks just like America, except all the women in the airport here are thin, pale, and tall. There's a man photographing miniature figurines on the floor, as he's crawling on the walkway. I think I'll leave now. More posts and pictures from Asia as the summer progresses.

2007-07-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day of work!!!

No work for 6 months!!! I might be the only one excited to be unemployed, but I can't help but feel happy to sit back and relax after 5 years as a working girl. Eventually I gotta make money again, but for now, I'll take it easy my first semester then pick up a research job at Berkeley spring semester so I can qualify for research grants next year.

As a parting gift, my bosses let me pick a free pair of glasses. I chose this cute Kate Spade pair:

2007-07-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend started off with a bang: 3 vaccine shots in my shoulders by a nearly blind nurse, woot!

I realized I was screwed when the RN said her name. She gets seen at my optometry office every month, so she must be going blind. She tried twice on each shot and put the bandages nowhere near the bloody holes. Anyways, I think she stabbed me in my axillary nerve cause I couldn't move my left deltoid muscle upwards for 2 days. That made moving my furniture from Davis to Berkeley a challenge on Saturday. Later that night, I shook off the sore shoulders with some drinks at Sino and V-bar. Good 'ol alki always numbs the pain.

If anyone wants to check out my new place on College Ave and Derby St, you can see it this Friday when I move more stuff in. Its a very nice place in a cool, safe neighborhood, pics will be posted when everything is settled.

Then on Sunday, I surprised Jon on his birthday with a traditional Thai massage in SF. They worked on his sore back and my screwy shoulder. Miraculously, they healed my shoulder! We ate at Jon's favorite restaurant, the original Mayflower for dim sum. Then hung out at Japantown where I got my fobby Japanese haircut from Aya, the layering queen. I really like this fob look and I hope Jon gets a Jay Chou haircut so we can be fobs together.

2007-07-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

I compared my tiny size 5 feet to Amy's equally tiny feet, only this time my feet were ginormous as if they had Elephantitis. 6 hours of apartment hunting in Berkeley yesterday felt like 6 hours on the Stairmaster. At least I'm getting killer calves from all this walking.

I'm so excited to move to Berkeley, but its so expensive to live there ... I feel like getting into Berkeley for optometry school is easier than securing an affordable apartment at a decent location. My rent is gonna be ridiculous, even with a housemate. No car because parking and car insurance costs too much. Lucky for me I got more student loans and that lofty grad scholarship, so I won't be dirt poor. Food is cheap, so people better visit me! I'll scare the homeless ppl away for you. :)

I'm gonna go apartment hunting again with my classmate Chris this Monday. Wish me luck.

2007-06-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

All done with school!!!

time for summer laziness and apartment hunting.

2007-06-08T21:11:00.001-07:00

I'm graduating in a week. Wow.

My last final is next Wednesday, on the evolution of fruits and vegetables.

2007-05-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

We are the champions - my friend
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the CHAMPIONS!

Co-ed IM Softball champion for life! woot! I'm still in disbelief. Out of 74 other teams in our league, WE ARE #1 ! My face will forever be plastered on our gym wall. I've never been a gung-ho UC Davis fan, but this is the best departing gift ever.

2007-05-24T16:57:00.001-07:00

We're going to the semi-finals! I want to win IM softball so bad. Then I'll finally get a picture on the wall of our gym and champion t-shirt - the ultimate reward!

When you guys see me this weekend, I will be super tan. Darkness, mang.

2007-05-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Oh Spring, what a lovely time of year. Graduation is coming and strangely, I feel no remorse or elatedness. Just this feeling of "Okay, let's keep going." Even though college is ending, in my head, it doesn't feel like its ending. I guess because I'm going to Berkeley this Fall, I feel like I'm going to be in school forever. There's no sense of urgency to live out more college debauchery.

Alright, I had my fair share of drunken nights, dorm chaos, college lovers, as well as long study hours, good grades, and boring ass meetings. And sometimes I regret not going out on a Thursday night or watching Top Chef marathons instead of going to class. If I had do college all over again, I'd dorm with a stranger, choose Exercise Biology major with Art studio or social science minor, drop the Honors societies and pick up more IM sports. Just my 2 cents.

Yea, honor societies are lame. Grades are overrated.

2007-05-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

90 fucking degrees. I don't think I will ever be satisfied with crazy Davis weather, but at least its good heat for a good tan. There's a lot of things about Davis I will never be satisfied with, like having no mall or shopping place to buy underwear. At least we have a kick ass gym, IM sports program, and buttloads of sushi buffets. I can't wait to play in the playoffs next week. IM Softball playoffs begin next week and my team is undefeated, so we better make it past the first bracket or else somebody's getting slaughtered.

Thank goodness for personal finance, a class I originally didn't give shit about. My professor saved me again yesterday, telling us to check our monthly statements in detail for small monthly charges, usually a precursor to larger frauds. Lo-and-behold, I found that a small internet company bought my credit card information from another internet company (like Travelocity) 2 years ago and has been charging me $14.95 every month for almost 2 years. It's a HUGE scam that has stolen thousands of ppl's credit info, without authorization. Once again, some loud, angry demands on the phone, filing another fraudulent claim, complaints to the FTC, more legal threats to their bogus company, and I should be expecting a full refund in 2 days (otherwise my bank will be on their ass). I should have demanded a refund for interest/inflation, too. Regardless, I'm changing all my accounts and I'm gonna be a money Nazi from now on.

These money issues have taught me to have NO MERCY for frauds, threaten customer service accordingly, and chose my legal words very carefully. I am damn grateful for Google, otherwise I wouldn't know how to pretend to be a verbal hotshot on the phone.

NEVER apologize, never admit to their claims, never submit to THEIR wrongdoing. I'll be joining a class action lawsuit with thousands of other "Passport To Fun" scam victims to make sure those fuckers go to jail before they burn in hell.

2007-04-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

After almost a week of constant phonecalls, its finally over. I now have all my money back and those bastards who stole 2000 bucks from my bank account have a huge fraudulent claim slapped against them. I hope their horrifically bad credit haunts them until they burn in hell. Even though I never share or save my passwords, my account was not protected. I can never trust PayPal ever again, and I will be closing my account NOW. PayPal, you dissappoint me. :,\

2007-04-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

We WON! We won our first co-ed intermural softball game tonite! Man, it was such an adrenaline rush, down 5 runs in the last inning with 2 outs, then coming back with 6 homeruns at the bottom of the inning. I'm so excited for this season. I don't even know why I never considered playing anything before, but for sure, I'm doing intermural sports at Berkeley. Most definitely.

Go Apple Kelloggs Pie! (yea that's our team)

2007-04-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately. Thinking about how much I don't know, how much I need to know, how much I want to know, and how much I don't want to know. It's strange. All my life I had this idea of how my life would be when I grow up and how the close people in my life would be as I grow with them. Now its all uncertain, but after a few days, I've gotten to a point where I'm okay with this uncertainty.

In the meantime, I'd like to turn this sense of limbo into something positive. So I've made a list of things I'd like to do, with no particular deadline and no particular order:

learn to swim really good, learn how to surf in Hawaii, learn to make sushi with my mom, skydive, invest/open in an awesome restaurant, design something that is sold in a store, write a book about something, kayak across the Bay, travel outside of the U.S. and Asia, learn how to shoot a gun, learn how to karate chop, bake a wedding-size cake, learn how to drive stick proficiently, reach a point in my life where I can stop making lists.

2007-04-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Spring just makes me jumble my days together, never sure whether I have class or work, or which class is next. I feel a bit senile. I keep telling people the wrong times when I'm available. I confuse myself a lot and I blame it on all that reality show "I Love New York" crap that I'm addicted to. I saw the season finale of Surreal Life: Fame Games, and I'm so glad Baywatch's Traci Bingham won instead of gross Ron Jeremy or the whiny, douchbag Vanilla Ice.

My guiltiest pleasure: shitty reality tv.

2007-03-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

I'm an officially registered Cal student now. hoorah.

2007-03-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have no plans for spring break aside from Lily's birthday extravaganza. I want to go to SF haight or Berkeley and just peruse the stores and art galleries. Go to the malls back home, check out swimsuits and shorts, maybe get a piercing or a haircut or highlight my hair. What is everyone else up to?

2007-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

It's freezing in Davis again. It's so cold that it might even snow tonite and tomorrow, making skipping class so much more tempting. If I decided to go to New York City instead of Berkeley, I don't know how I'd manage in the winter. Probably stay in my heated apartment all day and fail all my classes. This is Davis right now:

Over the weekend, I went to the Warriors vs. Lakers game only to be disappointed at the Warriors' 25 point loss. I've never seen them win a single game, so at least my hopes weren't crushed. They haven't been to the playoffs in 13 yrs, so they keep reviving the old skool jerseys at the games, hoping for their championship '75 luck to come back. But I gotta admit, those old skool clothes look pretty damn cool, I even got myself a hoodie.

Pretty random post. Time to go to Anatomy class and get free pizza.

2007-02-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Omifuckingod!!! I got into BERKELEY!!!

Omigod, I'm gonna be an eye doctor from Berkeley - one of the awesomest city and school to have ever existed. And the admissions committee signed me up for $10,000 scholarship, so I have a 1 out of 4 chance of receiving it! What a great Valentine's present. Was hibernating and working my ass off for one year worth it? hell fucking yes!

Alright guys, I'm gonna dance on the grass and shout now.

2007-02-06T00:29:00.000-08:00

tv dinners, beer, and cable tv. that's my senior year. i feel like a 40 year old man laying on the couch during my lunch breaks, eating scoops of mocha caramel ben & jerry's, waiting for my girl scout cookies (somoas to be exact) to arrive on my steps.

ever since i finished my last interview on friday, i've suddenly felt relieved. relieved that all this hard work is over. no need to participate in clubs, organizations, honors societies, homeless clinics. no need to get anymore A's or show up to half my classes. its just a waiting game now, so now i can relax and hope i get what i want (ahem, berkeley give me a damn seat!).

2007-01-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

I went to my Berkeley Optometry School interview yesterday, and guess who else was there? Holly Carag and Michael Do from Milpitas High. Small world!

I felt pretty confident throughout my interview, but it was pretty short compared to other ppl. It went rather smoothly and I think I did my best in that situation. Right after my interview ended, my mom calls me to ask me if I got in, I said "We all find out the end of February." So she automatically assumes that's bad news and starts convincing me that I HAVE to get into SoCal -a PRIVATE school that will cost $200K in debt compared to the $60K debt at NYC- as a back-up school and she's convinced that I didn't get into Berkeley. So now, all my confidence got shattered even though I have every reason to believe I can get into Berkeley. Boo...

2007-01-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back from NYC! I fell so much in love with the city that I most definitely want to go to school there or Berkeley. It's gonna be a tough choice. Pictures will be on Flickr shortly. Some highlights about Manhattan:

- I love how I can shop until 10pm in Uptown or SoHo, and 1am if I'm shopping around Times Square (even on Sundays!). There's tons of selection at low prices and not a single Forever 21 in sight!
- So like the movies, I thought me and Jon should go Ice skating at Rockefeller center. I was hoping NBC Dateline would show clips of us as they transitioned to commercial breaks.
- Only on the East Coast can I bundle up in ultimate winter gear: long coat, scarf, beanie, and gloves.
- I liked using the subways everywhere and all the strange things that go on there. B-boy battles were at all the main stations. After me and Jon finished watching Letters from Iwo Jima at Times Square, we headed for the Uptown subway at 3am. Then a HUGE mob of gay Puerto Rican teenage males chased me down screaming, "OMIGOD its Lucy Lui!!! (she's from Queens, NY btw)" or "Papi, I can't believe its herrrr!!!" and various other random statements. They surrounded me at the station and started dancing, two guys kept twirling me around and screaming "OMIGOD, hurry take a picture of me and Lucy Lui!!!" while they posed like they were in Charlie's Angels. So random!
- Finally, I watched my first Broadway show, Alter Boys, which was about a Christian boy band that had a Jewish, Catholic/gay, alcoholic, Enrique Iglesius wannabe, and a normal singer. It was pretty funny, my favorite was the Enrique Iglesius wannabe who looked like the Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl. We were so close that their spit flew on us (yea, gross I know). And all Broadways tickets are 50% if you buy 1-3 hours before the show, so we only paid $40 for 2nd row seats.
- Jon and I pretty much ate out, shopped, and did "normal" activities in NY. But somehow, bowling at ESPN Zone seemed more interesting in NYC than anywhere else. Maybe its because I had unusually great game or it could've been the crowd of business men cheering me.
- Surrounding our hotel, we had massive selection of delicious restaurants at cheap, competitive prices. I had the hands down BEST sashimi and mochi in my life. Oh I can't wait to go back...
- Throughout the whole trip, I kept protecting my purse, thinking it'll get snatched, but the New Yorkers were really polite. Sure, they had thick accents and they'd talk very straightforward, but at least they'd end interactions on a polite note. Like, "Hurry up, why won't ya!" followed with "Thank ya, yoo have nice day." Or "I said pull INTO the subway, I don't have all day!" followed by "Sir, would ya like this seat?" There's few "please" or "Can I take your order" and many "What do ya want?". I kinda like how the culture is very straightforward with few fluffy words.
- Last time I went to NYC, I stayed in Brooklyn. This time was totally different. The population looked a lot like SF in Manhattan and Queens. We weren't even in Chinatown and Asians seemed to be everywhere, Uptown, Westside, SoHo, Queens. Tourists kept asking me and Jon for directions and a lot of New Yorkers assumed we were locals, talking about local issues and places that we had no idea about. I bargained down the price of a hat and beanie with a Vietnamese vendor and that just made my day.
- I wanted to go to the The American Museum of Natural History 2 blocks from our hotel, featured in Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum" but it closed right after our Broadway ended. So Jon went there during my interview and he couldn't stop talking about how awesome it is. For my next trip, I now have to hit the Natural History museum and the Guggenheim Museum.
- My interview at SUNY-NYC went well. One of my interviewers looked like SNL's Tina Fey with a thick accent and a mean stare. I met all the other candidates and we joked around a lot between sessions. One girl was from Canada, one guy from Queens, NY, and another guy from Oakland, CA. I actually have the same interview day as the Oakland guy for Berkeley and Southern California. In the end, I got accepted!

NYC was so fun, I wouldn't mind living there for a few years. 4 more days until my Berkeley interview. Yea, its definitely gonna be a tough choice.

2007-01-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

Learning how to drive stick shift: Lesson Deux

After an hour of looping around the Med school's parking lot, I felt like I succeeded at shifting from parked to reverse to 1st gear to 2nd gear and stopping-going. So with Jon by my side, clutching the door, I thought I was ready for the city streets. Nope, I was wrong, totally wrong. A giant 4x4 started tailgating me, then I stalled at the stop sign and simply panicked. So I snuck into a small side street where I stalled 3 more times at the same green light. Other drivers at the intersection were staring and wondering why I wasn't going, so I freaked out a bit and Jon looked horrified and practically shat in his pants too. When I finally managed to get the car going again, I hurried to the nearest parking lot at the school gym so Jon can finish the trip home.

How lame. I really wanna drive stick cause you know... all the cool (and cheap) cars are stick. Maybe I'll get it down in ten more lessons.

2007-01-04T01:22:00.000-08:00

This year, there is no new year's resolution. No big goals, no big plans, just travel and bar/club hop more than usual. Thus far, this whole month of January is gonna be booked solid with awesome events in Oakland (my dad's bday), Tahoe, NYC, and Berkeley. NYC trip in 2 weeks for my optometry school interview!!! I'm bringing Jon along for a mini 3 1/2 day vacation and there's so much stuff we wanna do that I just hope we can squeeze them all in. We're staying at a cute hotel 2 blocks from Central Park and Broadway and a 6 minute subway ride to Time Square for only 80 bucks/night! Damn, post New Year's Eve prices are a steal.

Oh yea, Las Vegas pics are now ready on Facebook. None of them are mine. Note to self: buy a damn camera already.

2006-12-15T00:25:00.000-08:00

One of my most favorite songs suddenly came on tonite. Ben Folds, "The Luckiest". I've had this iPod mini for almost 2 years now, but its been unused for 8 months. Where the hell have I been??? Oh yea... busy getting caught up and ignoring all other aspects of my life, including old friends, family, music, pop culture, and this iPod mini that I used to be so in love with.

I'm determined to make this year full of senioritis and adventures. So far all my classes this year have have titles like Greek Mythology, Human Sexuality, Sports and Fitness, and Taekwondo. That's right, I've decided to finally try out Taekwondo, the one thing thing on the my "to do" list since age 4. Except this time around my dad isn't forcing me into the mirrored room full of little Daniel Lees and Kent Dos. Its about time I learn how to punch like a man, especially if I move to Berkeley or NYC.

2006-12-12T00:09:00.000-08:00

One final left - Greek and Roman mythology. Its amazing how these myths get rewritten for thousands of years and they still delight us. Too bad nowadays all the child cannibalism, rape, and killing raids were taken out. The stories just aren't as dramatic anymore. The general public complains that movies are too violent and sexually inappropriate, but they really ought to read some of the original stories. Now those will churn your stomach!

Oh yes, Christmas is around the corner and like every year, my family is going to Orange County. I'd rather not think about that trip, but I hope somebody gives me a steam iron cause I really don't need another neon green jean jacket. And for some holiday spirit straight from little 'ol Davis:

Downtown Xmas Lighting Parade: I'm Rudolph's bodyguard.

All the Christmas characters!

Band-Uh hyping the crowd.

The Tree Lighting!

My 'LIL and me.

2006-12-06T01:46:00.000-08:00

Finals are around the corner, so in an attempt to kill time I always turn to Yahoo! Avatar. This is how I pretend I'm back home in the bay. And that's my real pet leopard.

2006-11-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

It's official. We have the most two-faced frauds as our ex-housemates. They think they can start accounts and send their bills under our new address without facing any consequences? They've tried doing that in the past to strangers, so they're obviously doing it on purpose. What bitches.

2006-11-08T02:16:00.000-08:00

I voted. And thus far, the results have been more pleasant than 2-4 years ago.

2006-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Online banking is supposed to expediate services. When I got my first credit card, I sent my second payment through mail. That was no good cuz the mailman didn't deliver my payment until 2 weeks later, how retarded cuz it usually gets there within 3 days. Anyways, I received my first late fee despite sending my payment 2 weeks in advance and the credit company has no sympathy for retarded postal workers. The next day I signed up for online banking so I can pay immediately, foregoing future late fees due to slow postal services.

Now for my second credit card, I signed up for online payments also. Except this time, when I paid in full, the credit company decided (after 2 weeks of receiving my payment) that they're gonna return my payment and tack on a $35 returned online payment fee. I have no idea why they'd do that cuz I have plenty in the bank to pay off my statement. And the customer service folks are taking forever to get back to me - through only email of course (since that's their new, oh-so-modern policy). I'm considering returning back to paper bills, but that might mean I'd have to send out my payments a month in advance and I'd still have the possibility of having them lost by the mailman. Trying to be a good customer and paying in full and on time seems to be pointless with credit companies and postal workers that don't comply. Oh what should I do, what should I do...

2006-10-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

This is a more relaxing quarter than I anticipated. In between classes, I sit around the school's coffee shop eating and chatting with friends or purusing around campus. Today, me and my sheep lab group spent hours checking out halloween costumes. 3 weeks into the quarter and I've hardly studied for any classes, hardly read, hardly did anything but watch a shitload of Project Runway, Scrubs, and more tv. I'm really getting used to all this nothingness in my day. So used to it that I'm considering taking all my winter and spring quarter classes as "Pass/No Pass".

I just realized, I still have to finish 4 essays for optometry school applications then I'm home free. Those aren't due for a long while, but I should do them soon before I get too caught up doing nothing.

2006-10-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went to the bars legally for the first time and of course I had a blast. Everyone paid for my drinks, and I'm just milking them like crazy cuz I know by next week I have to start paying for my own. We danced and drank, we danced and drank some more.

The most awkward moment happened when I was standing in a circle of friends outside, taking a breather, then a guy that Victoria used to date in dorms snuck in the circle. He looked square at me and was like "Hey, you're Christine." Yes I am. "Do you know me?" Yes I do, we dormed in the same building. And after that he asked me like 50 different questions about my life and how come I don't contact him, all while pushing me into a corner. The most creepiest and perviest 5 minutes of my life. The bouncer booted everyone out the bar, so crowds poured outside with us. He kept shifting his body at each effort I made to get away, preventing me from getting out of the freaking corner, persisting with more questions while I yelled "I have to go!". I couldn't take it anymore and just shouted "DAMMIT, JUST LET ME WALK TO THE CAR!!! FUCK!", and shoved him out of my way. Okay, first of all, we NEVER hung out or talked to each other, I talked to his roomate occasionally but that was it.

Overall, it was great seeing a lot of familiar faces and friends at the bar. But not so cool when old faces come to haunt me. Eww, I hope that guy doesn't hang out at Cantina's a lot, cuz I really like hanging out with my friends there.

2006-10-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

My birthday week has begun. I spent Saturday in SF at The Supper Club, which is by far the best 5 course meal I'll probably have in my life. Me and Jon dined and drank on a giant white bed, while watching colorful theatrics and singers perform all around us. Between meals the whole place got on the floor with dozens of ppl dancing drunkenly on tables, most notably a woman in her 50's with a new boob job. By god I wish I'd have that much energy when I'm that age.

2006-10-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Mine and Vic's big B is coming up and you guys are all invited! We're planning on eating sushi at 6:30 on Saturday Oct. 14th, location is still in Vic's head. Then we'll watch The Science of Sleep. The only theatres that show it are:

CineArts@Santana Row
3088 Olsen Drive, San Jose, CA, 95128 Map It
(11:35am), (2:00), (4:40), 7:10, 9:40

CineArts@Palo Alto Square
3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, 94306 Map It

Camera 7
Pruneyard Shopping Center, Campbell, CA, 95008 Map It
(2:00), (4:20), (5:25), (6:50), (7:50), (9:15)

If we watch it at Santana Row, we can hit up a nearby bar for a few drinks before watching the movie. I think watching The Science of Sleep slightly tipsy would be an exhilarating experience, don't you think?

2006-10-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Over this past weekend, I realized how ridiculously easy it is to get into bars without an I.D.
1) Lots of make-up. But not too much or else you either look like you're 13 yrs old or a hooker.
2) The outfit. Designer jeans, pumps, leather purse, accessories galore, and nice non-cotton top with a well-fitted jacket.
3) Don't care. Walk in, get your drink, tip the bartender, enjoy. Make no fuss about being under 21.

In one week I'll be the big 2-1. Is there gonna be a big difference. . . ?

Possibly more bar hopping and a broke bank account.

2006-09-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

Usually when I make a new background, I'd upload it full-size to photobucket and there would be no problem. Now photobucket doesn't let me upload gigantic sized jpeg files anymore, and if I do, it automatically shrinks it 50% the size of a typical monitor. Fack. When I stretched my background using html, it looked even more retarded. So either I get a shrunken or blurry background. Until I figure it out, the template shall do for now.

P.S. New pics on flickr. Ma famille et mon homme.

2006-09-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

fotos.

2006-09-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

For your information, my wishlists are updated. Feel free to browse through them. :oD

2006-09-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's a bit overdue, but I've finally took pictures of my new apartment. It's cameraphone quality, so be kind!

2006-09-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Done with the OATs! Now I can finally have a life again! Its gonna be my first and last time taking it, cuz I'm damn satisfied.

OAT scores out of 400 points.
Practice scores (total): 310 - 330
Practice scores (science): 300 - 330

Final (real) score (total): 370
Final (real) score (science): 360

That means I scored in the top 2.2 percentile!!! I haven't had a life for 6 weeks, and my poor Blogger hasn't been loved for so long. Back to blogging, back to life in front of mr. tele and eBay. Yep, its about time to eat out and celebrate.

2006-08-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

Ahh... funnel cakes, photobooths, and Boyz II Men. The California State Fair is awesome.

2006-08-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Fuck work. My boss wants to switch my schedule again because the other front desk guy is starting school soon. That's fine BUT he doesn't start for another 2 1/2 weeks, yet she still wants me to cover his closing shift starting this week. That totally screws up with my study schedule cuz that means So to have the same amount of study time for my OAT I have to force myself to wake up 8 am to study, which is a lot harder than having to wake up at 8 am for work. I just don't get why I can't start the closing shift in 2 1/2 weeks. The doctor didn't give me any good reason besides, "well we just want to change everybody's schedule now." It sounds so contradictory to what my boss tells me every week, "Christine you need to have a consistent schedule to study your ass off for the OATs. Its the most important test you have to take and not something you want to take more than once." There's no way I can have a consistant schedule if she keeps fucking with it.

In 5 years, I know if I start my own practice it will be ridiculously organized and consistant and NOT like the practice I work at right now. I'm not gonna piss patients off and change my opening hours and days every month. I'm gonna pay a little extra and hire book-keepers and medical insurance billers (those ppl who get trained and educated to do medical billing at Bryman, Heald College, etc). I'm not gonna hire car salespeople and stoners who come in with hickies the size of my fist with absolutely NO experience working with patients or insurance. I'll use a computer system that keeps track of medical records, insurance billing, contacts and glasses on order. Then when patients call, they don't get pissed off that no one can find their glasses or prescription. Then if there's some patient records that I have to take home for further study, I'll put the list that I took home on the computer system. Cuz it hella pisses off staff and patients when docs take charts without anyone knowing. Then staff furiously look for those charts and they can't help patients when they call and patients get even more pissed that no one can help them.

And when patients come in for their appointments, I'll have 1 employee fully responsible for pre-testing procedures for 30 minutes, then I'll do my part for another 30 minutes, so patients don't have to wait long to have the tests and exams done. And if patients are 30 minutes late, I'll make it a policy (that they're fully aware of) that they must schedule another appointment, otherwise I'd have to make other patients wake longer (every other optometry office in Davis does this, just not the one I work at). You don't know how many ppl get pissed off when docs run late, 20 minutes - 1 hr pisses EVERYBODY off, staff and patients. Maby if I make it efficient with good customer service then maby dozens of patients won't request to leave for another doctor every month.

Next, I'll make a policy where staff always collects payments from patients right after receiving treatment, or have them pay in installments, otherwise EVERY SINGLE patient will have a balance of $600+ and I wouldn't receive a dime of it (which is whats going on in my office right now, and the docs just don't get why they're not getting paid). You can't be too nice and let everyone rack up a huge balance. Doctors are supposed to be nice, but you shouldn't be an idiot and let ppl take advantage of you. And I'll make sure patients are fully aware of all policies so nobody is surprised to find out the cost of their exam or glasses or anything.

I don't think many pre-health students in college realize this, but health care is a business, whether its medicine, dentistry, optometry or whatever. And as much as you love healing ppl, your patients are customers too. They will leave you if they don't like your service (mostly if they wait too long). Many will try to bargain deals or refuse to pay. And like any other business, if they refuse to pay then you should refuse to serve them! My orthodontist didn't give me braces for free! So why the hell should an optometrist give glasses, contacts, or exams for free?! If you can't pay it all at once, then pay by small installments cuz nothing is freakin free. If you're a doctor, don't blame the staff if you're not getting paid cuz its the doctor's resposiblity to set up an efficient, flowing system that works for everybody. Collect your damn insurance! Set up installment plans for poorer patients. Do something except blame the staff for skimpy profits. Unfortunately, I think some docs (the ones at my place for example) get so caught up in helping patients that they don't realize how much their business sucks. They keep frustrating over how many patients leave and how much money they're LOSING over equipment and staff costs. Just cuz you get a degee and credentials to practice, doesn't guarantee you big bucks.

2006-08-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

Something my dad has always said, "Stand your ground at ALL costs" (even if no one believes you or you look crazy). A day after the accident, the other party's agent admitted that it was the other woman at fault. Hours later the adjuster says that all damages will be paid, just repair it and send them the receipt. Great, within 24 hours I got most of this accident settled on my terms thanks to my dad's advice: Persist Persist Persist.

I still can't believe I managed to find the woman an hour after the accident simply by driving endlessly around Davis. Makes me think I'm crazy for doing it, but most of all, makes me feel like my dad. One day long ago when we were driving to Toys 'R Us, some guy in a pick-up truck flicked us off. Typically most ppl brush it off, but not my dad - he's not the brushing off type. Instead, we chased after that truck endlessly until pops flicked IT off and sped away. Sure it was unnecessary, but it shows that you shouldn't let ppl shit on you.

Persist, argue, fight back. It's okay to be crazy.

2006-08-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Poor Timmay got hit today.

1:55 PM in front of Quizno's about to head home to enjoy my honey roasted chicken sandwich. I was in a parking lot at a complete stop when a middle-aged white woman reversed straight into Timmay, my poor '89 BMW. Timmay got some minor scratches and the lady's brand new minivan got a dent and heavy scratches (Ha! Her '06 Honda shell can't compare to my '89 BMW shell). She claimed she didn't see anything behind her, possibly suggesting that I sped up to hit her car - which I didn't. We traded insurance policies and she quickly left. But I forgot to get her license plate number, driver's license, and picture of her damaged car. STUPID ME.

Her address and phone number is in the yellow pages, so I decided to go on a manhunt. I contacted Vic to borrow her camera and hunt down her ugly minivan, after an hour search throughout north Davis I couldn't find her house (it must be the wrong address or something) but I did find her minivan at an elementary school parking lot. Unfornately that required making an illegal turn across a cement barrier. Right when I finally got on the same side of the road as her, her van dissappeared somewhere. Determined to not have her claim me at fault or more damage, I considered staking out at the elementary school tomorrow before 3:oo and taking a pic of her license plate. Such a freakin stalker, and turns out all my stalking was fruitless. My trusty dad (all the way in Milpitas) made a few calls and we got her driver's license and various other personal info. Crazy how easily we can stalk ppl and get all this personal info with a few phonecalls, a phonebook, and some personal friends in the right field.

My claim is now filed, just waiting for an adjuster to assess the damage tomorrow. That lady better not claim me at fault or someone's gonna get egged.

2006-08-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

6 hours studying for OATs today, and another 4 more to go. I can't believe 1/4 of the test will be on algebra. Even tho I excelled in it 7 years ago, it was still SEVEN freakin years ago. Any 8th grader can kick my ass on the OAT algebra section.

2006-07-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner: cereal
breakfast: cereal
lunch: cereal
dinner: contemplating ice cream

Too hot to cook. Too hot to go outside and buy real food.

2006-07-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Kayaking under the bridges and the ballpark was unbelievable. I'll definitely do it again with more sunblock and some food for the birdies. I wish I had a waterproof camera to take pictures. Me and Jon raced our kayaks while we dodged speedboats and yatchs. A cruiseliner almost hit us - twice. Yes, a bit scary for a moment.

Paddling out reminded me of The Old Man and The Sea. God I hated that book. But for 40 minutes we were stranded at sea, stuck in a whirlpool off Pier 28 where the tides turn. I killed time and tried to pet the seagulls sitting on the currents, but they kept scooting their bodies away from me. With a lot of manpower I managed to paddle out to enjoy more scenery. San Francisco simply looks gorgeous.

My biceps are huge now and I'm tan as fuck.

2006-07-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Uck. 20 hour work weeks + 12 summer school hours/week, excluding time spent writing essays and studying for midterms. Where the hell is my summer? At least I spend my weekends in SF, otherwise, I'd go crazy here in 110 degree Davis.

I don't see why ppl are in such a rush to graduate in 3 years. That just means one more year of work for you! You have the rest of your life to work, and even then you're only working so you can save up enough money to stop working. If I wanted to, I could graduate next quarter, but what's the point? Might as well stick around and enjoy my last year in this college bubble.

2006-07-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

While I was eating my Chipotle tacos on the outdoor patio, I kept watching these homeless runaway teens beg for spare change and leftovers. For 30 minutes I watched dozens of pedestrians shake their heads, "sorry, no money." 5 high end boutiques were packed on that block, and not a single person had a quarter to spare in upper-middle class downtown Davis? What a lie, but I can't blame them, I was the same way.

When I first applied to volunteer at the Willow Homeless Clinic in downtown Sac, I just wanted clinical experience. I didn't really care about the homeless. Actually, I thought they were disgusting and got annoyed whenever my great uncle stopped to give them $20 bills. Now, I interact with the homeless every other weekend, giving them free health screenings, food, and listening to their life stories. Some are really fucked up. Some are really crazy (with hallucinations and all). But they all have one thing in common - they've reached rock bottom. And I have nothing to complain about when 4 different patients in a day come in telling me about their suicidal tendacies, dead mother, dead children, abusive husband, 3 heart attacks, 2 strokes, and janitorial job at some fast food joint. Yes, they might beg occasionally, but they got it rough, no need to make it rougher.

So I jumped the patio fence and handed them my extra barbacoa tacos and my drink. I think they were weirded out at first (me, a young asian lady in pumps and business suit). But they were really grateful and that just made my day.

2006-07-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

For the past 2 months, I've been telling my boyfriend Jon to keep his birthday open for a surprise. Well, his birthday is 6 days away and I didn't really plan any "surprise", but he's expecting it. Hoping to create a somewhat decent surprise gathering, I just shot out 100 emails for his bday dinner at some smancy Singapore restaurant in Burlingame. My problem now: I'm afraid too many ppl will show up and I have no clue what to do after dinner. Party at his place? I'd have to call his roommate about that, which leads to another problem: I don't have his phone number! And if I want his phone number, I'd have to ask Jon, whereby he'd ask me, "why do you need to talk to Sumit?" And I have no reason to talk to him, errr... yea.

Last night, I just bought kayaking lessons for me and Jon on his birthday. It runs between the Embarcadero, Bay Bridge, and Golden Gate where all those baseball hopefuls try to catch Barry Bonds' homeruns in the ocean. He also doesn't know about this. I just found out that he gets sea sick but he's okay on water if he's doing something active. What luck. Hopefully kayaking is active enough so Jon's not yakking on his birthday.

2006-07-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

Some girls worry that their boyfriends will leave them for other women. As for me, I know my boyfriend will leave me for his other love: Scarlett. She gives him thrills that I can't compare to. And sadly, she only a bike.

2006-07-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

4-hour lunch with my pledge brother - damn that's a long time. So we both tried Murder Burger's famous ostrich burgers for our first time. The verdict: it tastes EXACTLY like beef. I swore I paid 6 bucks for a tiny ass beef BLT, then I looked closer and noticed small stringy stuff. I don't care if the ostrich meat was healthier and less greasy. Paying 2 bucks more for my health wasn't worth it (for now). Now the $4 chili cheese fries were a different story . . . mmm . . .

Even though I'm procastinating in all my classes, I don't seem to care. It's been a long time since I spent an entire day running, ebaying, and eating, with no worries in the world. No homeworking, no reading, no studying for classes or OATs. Nothing - and it felt damn good.

2006-07-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Once again, I walked into a public restroom in San Francisco and found myself sitting beside a moaning escapade. Initially, I thought the woman in the stall beside me was simply having a rough time on the crapper. Then the moans turned into screams, and the screams turned into words. And before I could get out, I heard children's voices. OMG! No older than middle school! Nah, they must be playing a prank. So I checked the floor and it was covered in clothes. NASTY!

While washing our hands, me and the other women gave each other the same disgusted, shocked look. That holy-shit-middle-schoolers-are-fucking-here look. My oh my, you never know what kids are up to these days.

2006-06-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

Those church kids sure are tricky.

I was taking a stroll on campus, enjoying the Conga/Cuban concert on the warm, sunny Quad, when a girl approached me with tickets. She looked like a lost high schooler from a tour group.

"Hello, are you a UC Davis student?" I thought: okay, she's asking for directions. Then she continues, "My organization is throwing a FREE dinner for UC Davis students, " she says as I listen closer. "Its complementary with free entree, drinks, and desserts. We do this every year for students. You should come out and get some FREE food." She got me hooked, then I looked at her tickets; the word "CHURCH" popped out. Fast, I must get away!

"Oh its for a CHURCH?" I ask.

"Well, yea... " she hesitantly admits, "its for a Christian lecturer..." Slowly, I walked away from her and tell her that I'm Buddhist (which I kinda am, but not really). She shouts "That's fine!" but I continue to hurry off. From previous experience, it's NOT fine that I attend such an event as a non-Christian with no intent of converting. My first and last time going to a "free student dinner" event ended with a preacher scolding me and my non-Christian friends for not staying for his Sermon against non-believers. The church bouncers threatened that we go back to the religious event (or else...), even though it was publicized as an unaffiliated free dinner. Regardless, I have no intent on ever attending anymore free food events with vague premises.

But I have to admit, those church nuts sure know how to publicize themselves.

2006-06-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Fucking newbies. I bought a textbook from half.ebay.com and the seller now tells me she needs $10.31 more bucks sent to her by check because shipping cost $13.00, contrary to media mail standards on half.com. The standard shipping is $3.50 for a reason - so sellers can't rip ppl off with shipping. What fucking textbook cost $13.00 to ship from Jersey??? I've seen that thing in person and it'd cost 5 bucks at most to ship. She's either ripping me off, which I refuse to pay, or she was stupid enough to choose same day air shipping, which can't be right if I don't have the book yet.

I refuse to give in to morons.

2006-06-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

I received my quarterly review from my internship supervisor. I thought I'd get a horrific critique since she shouted at me, gave me major attitude and slammed the door in my face, telling me to leave the room a few times. Turns out she loves me, except she naturally has mood swings. The other employees warned me of this. GREAT. So she gave me glowing reviews and offered to write a me a flowery letter of rec, a continuing internship, and a job at the end of the summer. As great as that seems, I'll leave my options open to other optometry offices. Moodiness just isn't my cup of tea.

2006-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

long lazy days of summer. I slept in, ate a caesar salad for lunch, then worked in lab for a few hours, and soon I'm off to the gym for some running and weights. I like being lazy, but this summer, I'm gonna (try to) be a healthy lazy ass.

2006-06-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

A few science lessons learned over the year:

- Alcohol has no effect during an emergency. Take formals for example. I go to the ladies room and find 2 girls drowning in toilet water, unconscious as fuck. My blood alcohol content was sky high after about 8 glasses of Long Islands, Midori Sours, Belvedere shots, beer, and sangria combined (with no flush red affect I might add), and I still managed to sprint clear across a golf course in stilleto heels to get help while the ambulances arrive.
- Charcoal is good for you. Sure, my mom has always thrown away my toast, claiming that charcoal causes cancer, but truth is: it does good things too! Blackened toast with honey prevents hangovers in the mornings and it also whitens your teeth. And someday, when you find yourself with alcohol poisoning (like my pal Frank last week), then the EMT will cut up all your clothes and pump tons of charcoal into your stomach before pumping out your food. Awesome!
- Pee is clean. Not only can you drink this stuff, but you can whiten your teeth with it too! Thanks to Physiology lab, I can now feel safe around pee. Pee straight out of your system is sterile, so no worries about bacteria. And if you're worried that you might have diabetes, just drink your pee. If its sweet, you might be diabetic - that's how docs use to test it.

Okay, I'm tired of science. I'm gonna take a nice break and enjoy my summer. Who's down to go to the beach next week? or learn to sew with me? I want to make a cover for my new laptop out of an old, unworn tank. Or spend a day taking "artsy" black and white photos in the city (I'm planning to decorate my new apartment/room in a theme)?

2006-06-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

About 4 times everyday, I click on a few news articles on the sidebar of Yahoo! news. At the bottom of one news article was thumbnail picture of beautiful sandy memorial, headlining an photo slideshow. I've seen that same picture on Newsweek yesterday, so I clicked on the slideshow. I was observing the personal handwritten names on each cross, when I looked closer and noticed something strangly familar. It was the name of a fallen soldier, a high school classmate and acquaintance. That is so eerily strange. What are the odds that his legancy would continue through thousands of news publications and historical documents.

I wonder what happened to everybody else in high school, and how are the ones in Iraq doing? Just reminescing I guess.

2006-06-07T02:09:00.000-07:00

Doctors remove 3rd arm from Chinese boy

2006-06-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

I just drank a cup of water with ice and just realized that my ice has green stuff growing inside of it. Now my melted ice water is this pee green. I hope there's nothing wrong with it cuz I'm not in the mood of getting sick again.

2006-05-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

The best thing about being Greek: formals every other quarter! It's just like high school all over again, getting all prettied up with friends for a dance fest. Except this time around, nobody cares about dates and everyone is pissed faced drunk.
alpha kappa psi girls
zeta class girls
jon, orchid, and me

2006-05-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

2006-2007:

My new officer positions will be Service Chair of AKPsi and Fundraising & Activities Coordinator of Davis Foresight, pre-optometry club. I'm so glad that I didn't run for Foresight President. I can care less about that club right now, so I'm taking a less demanding position next year. In a way, its sad how easily I can get these positions; every Foresight member told me that I was a shoe-in president and the current president kept telling me to just take the damn position, even though I've been skipping every social and marketing event. Since I kept declining, she had to convince the current lazy VP to take position.

Then the AKPsi executive board assigned me Service Chair based on my likeability. As one officer said, "the other candidates had really good applications, but you have a better reputation. It was a really really hard decision, yet in the end we had to choose you." Apparently, being liked is more important than skill or passion. That worries me. Can I succeed on sheer skill and passion alone, or will I succeed because ppl just like me enough to give me breaks?

2006-05-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yay... I have food poisoning! I shouldn't have assumed that the condensed milk was still good. So I spent all of yesterday yakking, morning til night. Ironically, between pukes I was writing a lab report about Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that grows on skin, meat and diary products and unleashes food poisoning on its victims. So everytime I had my head above the toilet, I kept thinking to myself, "damn that Staph aureus! fucking contaminated milk in my coffee!"

My body is retarded this quarter, first whooping cough, then bronchitis, and now this. At least I don't have to work out to be skinny, I just have to get sick.

2006-05-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Beware: rant rant rant

What a rough day. I stayed up til 5:30 in the morning working on a lab report, then woke up late to my 9 am bacteriology lab - coincedently on the day when the pre-labs due before class is worth 3 times as much as normal. The Nazi TA refused to accept my damn piece, then he told me to just ace my next lab report and called me a "rich girl". That's whack! I pray to all the lab report gods that the Nazi TA gets a urinary tract infection from all that quality time he spends with bacteria. Then he'll cry everytime he pees!

Before my physiology lab, I rushed to finish up my physiology lab report, only to have no time to finish up the easiest take-home quiz ever. So I turned in an incomplete quiz, what an idiot of me. With no breakfast or lunch, or sleep, I was gonna pass out, but since I'm the lightest person in my physiology group, I had to drink 3 glasses full of straight up salt water and gradually pee into a bucket. That just made me feel like throwing up AND passing out, I gagged every time I had to swallow some salt water. After 2 1/2 glasses, my skin turned pale, body shivered, and I was gonna throw up, but lack of food in my stomach prevented that from happening. Naturally salt water makes you gag, but my whole body weakened from it, so the TAs stopped me from finishing. Great, so I'm spending the remainder of my day dehydrated, light-headed, and on the verge of yakking. Thank you physiology lab, I've learned so much about the human body.

Lesson learned: I hate all labs, regardless of what its about - I hate them all. I used ace all my labs, but upper division bio labs are ridiculous. Time for me to eat dinner, but these strange bowel movements are making me light-headed. My stomach is bloated but the salt is preventing me from peeing any liquids out. Maby I'll just pass out and wait to eat later. No, I should eat now.

2006-05-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

I am alive and well and no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. This quarter has been most retarded with 3 classes full of ridiculous amounts of writing. Bio majors shouldn't be required to write, period. At least summer is close and this spring allergies aren't tooo bad with all the drugs I'm taking. My new tan just proves how good this weather is getting. And my new Vans slip-ons just prove how new shoes makes every girl happy.

2006-04-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

Suddenly, my ex has been AIM-ing me every other night and yelling across the window at me to hang out. Now he wants to drink with me tonite. Too bad he didn't put in all this effort a year ago because I can care less.

I'm with a good man now and I'm too happy with this catch to be giving a damn about an guy who never gave a damn before.

2006-04-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today I interned for an Optometrist for the first time.

I wish Dr. Suzuki was my optometrist, too bad I don't need one. She calls everyone "Gurrrrl" in that ghetto way and occasionally says "What a bitch!" during conversations with patients.

Other than that, shadowing is perhaps the most mind numbing activity ever. Between spouts of seeing something really cool in ppl's eyes, I have to stand around for long periods of time pretending to look busy. I'm not trained to handle insurance procedures, handle equiptment, or read patient charts, hence I'm not allowed to do anything until someone with spare time can train me. Oh yes, I met the CEO of the California Optometric Association - she was getting her eyes checked. Honestly, I think most of these women become optometrists purely so they can chat for an hour with their friends, which is something I look forward to doing.

2006-04-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

New Phone, same number:

It slides, works, and takes really clear pics. That's all that I need in a cell.

2006-04-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Stupid skinny shaved legs of mine! I spent 1 and 1/2 hours being repetitively shocked by 100 V as the guinea pig for my Neurobiology Lab group. With my right leg twitching non-stop and a strange feeling of constant Pop Rocks zipping down my leg to my heel, I kept thinking... "Shouldn't there be some waiver we had to sign?" It just doesn't seem right to be have the skinniest member of every group get shock uncontrollably for such a long period of time. Now my calf muscle is still stiff and contracted. Its the same class that we skinned and shocked live frogs until they were overcome by tetanus. Then we paralyzed them with toxins and cut their hearts out so we can bag and toss them away. My NPB class probably disobeys almost all animal ethics ideals. Anyways, that's my Major field of study.

Seems like I'm always behind on my workload. All these things keep getting piled up and now I have a new optometry internship twice a week. When does it all end?!! As soon as I send out all my grad school applications this fall/winter, I swear I'm going to drop EVERYTHING and just get drunk everyday while watching cable tv.

2006-04-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Great. So she's been telling strangers and random acquaintances that he's the "Midnight Mirader". Its nice to know that these random ppl will walk up to me about her lovely opinions. When I go to parties or have lunch with some friends and acquaintances and they ask why she isn't up that weekend or what she's up to, I think I'll tell them that she's busy with the Deadbeat Doormat she's in love with. Unfortunately everybody knows he's too doped out to give a damn about her or his own life anymore. I wonder if she actually knows what ppl say behind HER back about him. Oh ho ho.

I don't spread the bad word about him, but if she's been doing that about MY man, then by god, I might as well do the same for her.

I spend quality time with my man and go out, play video games, cook, watch movies, go to clubs, snowboard, shop, rock climb, talk over coffee and then some. At least MY man will choose me over blunts and a boring mine-numbing life. End.

2006-04-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

There are more productive ways to spend your life than searching for new Widgets. And yet I've managed to waste away precious time finding Yahoo! Widgets that can help me calculate, recognize Japanese warning sounds, and quit smoking. In fact, I don't even smoke (at least not the nicotine type).

2006-04-07T00:41:00.001-07:00

New performances at UC Davis Freeborn Hall!
Common: April 30th
... and Beck: May 24th
If I don't have any major projects due the next day, and the price is right, then I'll definitely try to see Common. Beck would be a big iffy...

2006-04-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Its just one of those days where I want to hide in my bed all day.

School cafeteria toaster torching my croissant in FLAMES, causing mass havoc
Court systems giving me the wrong address of the wrong Court house, stealing my BAIL
Exploding vacuums full of dirty water at work
Bumped down the waitlist by some graduating seniors who never saw their counselors
Dooped by fraudulent Mankind jean sellers, selling damaged unauthentic SHIT
Camera that miraculously DIED when attempting to take pics of the fraud

Its just one of those days where I want to get sweet revenge on all these fuckers, thieves, toasters, and whatnots.

2006-04-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

This picture sticks in my head. Sticks and stones and a crab puts me in a good mood. I'm constantly craving Japanese food, preferably a spyder roll, taylor roll, and fried bananas with deep fried soft shell crabs. Strangely, I never liked sushi.

2006-03-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

"I would be happy to have you intern with me in the future. I'm thinking early May might be a good time, when my new employees should be comfortable with their job duties and I would have time to explain things to you. Let me know if that would work with your schedule. In the meantime, good luck at UCD, keep up the studying and don't party too hard!

Jo Anne S. Suzuki, O.D."

Finally, a glimmer of hope! I need an optometry internship BADLY. I'll probably meet the doc this Tuesday and arrange to take her out to lunch. Then continue taking her out to lunch or coffee or whatever that can force her to remember me. Can't let any fiesty pre-health competition steal this opportunity from me.

2006-03-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

According to the travel meter in Jon's car, we traveled over 1000 miles this weekend alone. Picked up from Caltrains stop in Millbrae. Jazz club in Jack London Square in Oakland with some Davis friends (very awesome performance and generous drinks by the way). Cooking B'un Rieu with Jon in Burlingame. Shopping and eating in Haight in San Francisco.

Lily's big 21st bday at Buca's in Campbell (seafood is my weakness). Watching some Harrison Ford movie with Jon's family in Cuppertino. Pit stop at my apartment in Davis for some sleep. Snowboarding and semi-learning how to carve on the slopes at Sierra in South Lake Tahoe. Another pit stop at my apartment for a break. And now I'm back home in Milpitas, semi-ready for another trip with Jon tomorrow, meeting at the Millbrae stop again, then a Warriors game at the Oakland Collisium.

9 cities in 3 days. Oh my god. My ass hurts.

2006-03-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

Only 1 more final to go! I finished my Neurobiology and Human Physiology final in 20 minutes. Hopefully that's a good thing. This spring break is going to be ridiculously short, 4 official days off (excluding the weekend). Stupid UC Davis, just accept the official UC calendar already!

Time of arrival: 7 PM, Tuesday March 21st, Milpitas

Plans March 21-24, 26-28: hang out with folks, the mall most likely, or the city
March 24-26: Fri afternoon-Sun morning, snowboarding with Jon and anyone else who wants to go

2006-03-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

Its weird being on the other side.

Today I walked into my Women's Honors Society meeting and caught one of our new pledge spilling details about parts of the pledge process. When I reintroduced myself and politely asked if she could keep those matters confidential, she simply freaked out and begged me not to tell the Fraternity that she was breaking confidentiality rules.

I don't care if she broke the rules, just don't do it publically in front of 50 other ppl. Anyways, I promised her that I wasn't gonna snitch, as long as she promises not to blab her mouth everywhere. She started getting real paranoid, keeping her distance from me even while walking to the same bus stop. She probably thinks she's gonna get a good beating, as if I'm gonna 'round up my croonies and play embarrassing tricks on her.

What she doesn't know is that I simply don't care. I'm too busy and too apathetic to involve myself with the pledge process this quarter. And ditto with the rest of the actives. Its kinda fun watching these pledges skirm over nothing.

2006-02-28T00:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Victoria's easily accessible TAZO tea collection, I've probably tasted every TAZO tea flavor ever created. And now, I probably owe her a new collection. My late nights are spent sipping on tea while browsing the computer, watching tv, or before studying for a midterm. I've also replaced coffee drinking in the mornings with tea drinking. It just seems healthier and more relaxing that way. I can actually see myself catching up with a friend over noontime tea. How Euro is that?

So here are my favorite TAZO tea selections:
Black Tea: Awake, Earl Grey, Chai (caffeinated)
Green Tea: Zen, Om
Herbal Infusions: Calm

Most UNrecommended tea: Passion (it tastes like sipping on a bitter, warm watermelon)

2006-02-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a lot of sneezing, wheezing and coughing. At least when I take my prescription anti-Histamine allergy medication, I know EXACTLY how its working in my body. A good thanks to my Systematic Physiology class. Apparently Cindy's taking the same exact course title at the exact same time at SJSU, what are the odds! Seems like all I talk about now is school.

School, work, and extracurricular took over my life. Just 3 years ago I was the average, uninvolved, apathetic high schooler who could care less about what I was doing or where I went for college. Now I am forcibly the overachieving, actively involved, somewhat emotionally attached college student who HAS to do all this crap to get into a half-decent grad school. Hopefully all this non-stop activity pays off, otherwise I'd have to hurt somebody or just get really fat and lazy.

Anyways, back to Cindy. Happy Berfday to CINDY! and a Happy Valentine's Day for those who care.