Best of Times

Canada (Day 2)

2007-12-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say that completing the Canada saga that I had started out in the last post seems impossible. It's been too long - about half a year - since the trip and although my ardor for Canada still lives, I am afraid I am getting old and lazy and maybe I will not have the strength to finish the tale.

Nevertheless, here's Day2! Some pictures for Day2 anyway.
I think we spent most of Day2 in the bus. We stopped by Kelowna for lunch, and stayed at Golden where Kicking Horse River was probably flowing near. At this point we were not running alongside Fraser River anymore, and I felt like we've "leveled up" as we were changing rivers. We must be getting into some high country. In Kelowna where Canadians come here to do water activities. Here I remember seeing a kid running around naked. We spent an uneventful lunch here; the tour guide said that there's usually some traffic jam in and out of the city, and we were lucky to have be on time, etc.Stopped on the roadside to enjoy Tiger Tiger - or as I call Tigger Tigger - Ice Cream. The tour guide said that this ice cream shop/dairy product farm is quite famous. Don't know if it's as creamy as he says, but sure they give large portions. But I still don't know if it matches the milk ice cream I've had with Pris at Hokkaido , though. We saw some nice cows in the barn behind the ice cream shop.
The Last Spike. This is where they nailed the last spike to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Pretty cool, although I felt like we were in the middle of no where, there's not that much fun, and we were just stopping by this place because we needed to stretch our legs a bit. If I have read that Canadian railroad book earlier I would've had much more appreciation for this place. Of course now I feel the reverence for such a place like this, although I really have to say I didn't see any eagles at this Eagle Pass...but we did sight a little snake nearby.
City of Golden, where we spent our second night.
Kicking Horse Motel (Hotel?), where we stayed. It's a little bit crappy, but it offers solid Chinese breakfast and lunch. We came back here for lunch after coming back from Bannf. I wonder why these Chinese family moves here. My dad says everyone needs to make a living. But it's too cold and remote I think. On the other hand, the city boasts Lord of the Rings landscape...
Maybe I'll retire here. I can just sit around (like these Korean tourists, as we later found out) and enjoy the mystique in the landscape. To live by these mountains must be glorious. hahaa

As you can see by the end of Day2 we have already seen some impressive mountains. In the next day we would reach the most beautiful sites yet.

CANADA!! (Day 1)

2007-07-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

For two years Canada has been the Place that I've longed for. TOO many times have I seen on the magazine covers those pristine landscape of the Rockies, with some old-fashion brick cabin or lodge or castle quietly nestled at a forested corner. My fascination didn't start with Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain; however, when I saw the movie I thought it brought particular gentleness, sensitivity, and even heartbreaking sensibility to the landscape. From then on I regarded Rockies in a more special light. It is a mystery why the Rockies are so particularly spellbinding to me as Towada Lake and Oirase River had been and still are. (The first time I came across pictures of Oirase on JR advertisement pamphlets was before embarkment of our whirlwind pan-Japan trip. The second time was on Shinkansen, where I asked a lady the place in the advertisement, which I had carried with me. I was surprised at myself when I unexpectedly jumped off the Shinkansen and broke off from our group when the train approached Aomori.) Maybe there are few places in the world that hold special spiritual connections with you. You may not have gone there yet but somehow they beckon to you. I am not as fully charged as I used to be in Japan, and I don't think I'd die if I can't travel by myself. Now I'd like to think these special landscapes as patient giants, and that they'd always wait for me to join their side.

Anyway before getting poetic -which I am not good at, I should proceed with my accounts of our Canada trip.

CANADA!!
Family Trip with the Chens: Parents, bro, me, Abin-shushu, Chen Mama, and Leiju
Meeting with the tour from Taiwan consists of 30something members and a tour guide (Yang)
07/14/07 - 07/22/07

Day1: Vancouver
Bro had met up with the Chens the previous night before may parents and I flew into Vancouver at 8am. (We got up at almost 4am in Saratoga!) When we landed I immediately saw the big mountains flanking the city. I was excited and amazed because the mountains where I had lived by were never this bulky! Not in Taipei nor Saratoga. We waited for a little while for Bro and the Chens to show up, and even longer for the tour to arrive from Taiwan via China Airlines. Sure we were excited! We had not taken any family trip since the rainy 2-day Yosemite run 2 years ago and the second time we came to the US, which was in my second grade. Some airport pictures to show off our excitement!

We mainly toured some important spots in Vancouver for Day1: Queen Elizabeth Park, Gastown, Stanley Park, World Fair exhibition center, and a charming tourist-filled local market.

QE Park was very big and quite pretty. Lots of big trees and you could walk to a high point to have a good view of the city. There was a nice restaurant in there that has good view of it all; I forgot whether it was the Queen who had drank afternoon tea there or some G8 that had eaten there the restaurant is supposedly famous and hard to get. There were lots of couples getting their wedding photos in the Sunken Garden, but the most memorable part of the Garden was these strange giant rhubarbs we encountered!

The steam clock in Gastown didn't work, but I saw some steam coming out nevertheless. I also found a really cozy couch in the Starbucks at the corner right across from the clock.
Stanley Park is very comfortable with big green lawns, wide, unobstructed view of the Vancouver cityscape, strips of sandy beaches, view of Lionsgate Bridge, and lots of hinokis. Lots of Vancouverites rollerskating, joggin, and biking. Very jealous of the relaxing time they were having...wished I was jogging there with my buddy, then we could lie there taking a nap. Of course my mom did some stretching exercises; at the urging of my mom my bro also threw his arms around at the urging of my mom.

I had to be reminded that we're on a very fast-pace tour and that in a few more minutes we'd have to be on the bus.

After more than an hour on the bus since leaving Vancouver, we arrived at Chiliwack where we spent the night. We saw lots of antique cars parked outside our Rhombus Hotel, all of them made before 1914. Even the old guys were dressed like they were in 20s. Turned out there is some annual parade taking place near Chiliwack. These old farts shipped their cars all the way from the US to show them off. (Now I dont' mean old farts in an offensive way...I'm rather fond of old farts...they are funny) Funny but very impressive! They are so clean and shiny they might be in better conditions than our good old Honda!
After we settled in, this young couple who had been sitting behind us on the bus came to ask for some Internet help. My bro tried to help but to no avail. I liked the young couple a lot; they had married just a few days ago and are on their honeymoon. When I have my honeymoon though, I wouldn't be on a tour... because it's kind of like bang bang bang! A little tiring! But you do get to see a lot on the tour. Anyway that ends the post for Day 1. For the entire week I would be rooming with Leiju. She was a good roommate and I enjoyed it a lot! We always talked before we went to bed; hope she gets a job around here so she can stay in our house all the time.

Now I want to read a little bit more about Canadian railways before my bedtime call. I've been reading this little book I bought from a gas station in Kamloops. Not only the content is interesting, the prose is also curiously funny. The author would insert his own comments here and there and it made the entire story, especially the characters who played parts, came alive. I'm very delighted, and I've been following the trail with maps that I've gathered mostly from Merritt!

My Left Hand and Basil

2007-07-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

It's been one or two weeks since my last post. Let me recount: My summer internship has started, my left hand had been burned with mustache-removal wax, bathroom remodeling has started, getting through Crime and Punishment is becoming less painful, bioconjugation is starting to occupy my thoughts, Canada is approaching, and basils have finally started to flourish. Having said all this, now I feel that my summer is really eventful! Anticipation (of Canada trip next week), relief and satisfaction (from basils), pain and fear (for my left hand), curiosity (as my post-doc Aihua says "Chemistry is like cooking")!

I don't know what I feel about chemistry right now, except that I've just been reading and everything starts to sound a little bit more familiar. Bioconjugation. I used to dislike any subject that conjugates with bio- root, but I supposed if I'm stuck with it for the summer I must get used to it. As I sift through all the words and CONJUGATIONS (with apprehension in the beginning, of course, as my last chemistry course was in junior year of high school), things really begin to seem less intimidating. But OH! I don't want to say too much of what I feel about it. Don't want to jinx it! Ding! Flick flick!

I suppose I should give a detail account of what happened to my hand. But there is really not much too it. I was stupid and microwaved the mustache-removal for too long. Anyway getting it out was alright but as I ran up the stairs at night without any lights on, with that darn boiling wax carelessly held on by my left hand, some wax spilled out onto it and MAN DID IT HURT! I dropped the wax container (which made a big sppoosh on the carpet and splash on the wall before it rolled downstairs with more wax contamination) instantly and ran my poor hand in running water. I didn't dare to look but when I did and tried rubbing a bit of hot wax off a piece of skin fell OFF! SHOCK was even stronger than the pain. UH OH my skin fell off. What am I going to do. All of my cells were in a state of shock. I feel like there's some switch in me that had been turned on all of the sudden and all the cells are standing by in red alert. It felt funny, like I've triggered an alarm and there's a protective membrane that is separating me and the world. So some wax in between my thumb and my index finger connected the tissue. In desperation and perspiration I tried separarting the fingers. My heart was crying even though my eyes didn't. My careless mind is the one to blame! NOT my hand! I'm really sorry - that's what I've been telling myself...even till this moment. Anyway, I knew I probably had to go to ER. I've never been to ER since when I was less than 3 and the tip of my right pinky was about to fall off, but seeing my skin was all wrinkled and suffering in yellow wax, I knew it was my time for the ER. Besides telling my left hand that I'm sorry, I've also been apologizing to my parents and my bro silently, because it's my parents who had given me perfectly healthy body and it is I who had been so ridiculously irresponsible. I can't think of a reason why I also instinctually wanted to apologize to my bro...but it was probably along the same line that he's a witness in my growing up. Anyway I alerted my bro and my mom with my husky voice; they were in bed. My bro jumped up in one big leap and woke up my mom who was also very soon jumping up and down. It was as if calamity has descended upon us. Anyway long story cut short: My bro and mom rushed me to El Camino Hospital at ~11:30pm, with my hand in my favorite bear towel (that my mom threw away afterwards, to my regret deepest apologies). Our Big Car seemed to be nervous too (as the driver, my bro, is in shock) and it squeeled when we're going around the curb. But OH MAN I waited for at least 2 hours before the doctor saw me. By then I had already stopped trembling, and three of us were chatting. A really nice big nurse, male, and a really nice old doctor took care of me. (I recommend El Camino Hospital.) So I've been recovering ever since.

But of course you know - it would be unseemly to post pictures of my wound. Plus, looking at something like that will always make me want to apologize to my hand, my family , and my towel again. So stupid.

IN contrast, flourishing basils are always good kind of news to report. For a while now they've been bothered by their bents in their stems (actually not only two but four took hits during the shipping), and more severely by bugs who ate holes and finally entire leaves. How dare they! I looked up online, made some super-heavy garlic water, and sprayed the leaves day and night. Most importantly, I put them away from other plants. They are turning out better. Even the two stems that had only a lifeless leaf each are seeing some new leaves today. Very promising fellas! The other two are booming. I'm like a proud mother. I'll post their pictures later!

Basil Plant from Hough Mama

2007-06-27T00:11:00.001-07:00

A package arrived from Hough Mama today - and it's a live basil plant! All the way from Michigan OHHHHHH!!

My mom was at disbelief how a live plant could be mailed and still survive in a package. Hough mama is pretty incredible. So sweet, too, for sending me what I've always wanted and have been too lazy to drive down to Home Depot to get myself. It's embarrassing how lazy I am and it takes Hough mama to send me a package. But I AM very excited the basil plant! There are actually four of them. They still smelled very fresh when I took them out of the wet newspaper package. Only two of the stems were broken but all the leaves were still intact; I'm determined to nurse them so they get the best care and the best Californian sunlight. I better go get better soil or fertilizer pretty soon. These plants deserve the best care because they are not only born out of kindness they also have traveled very far indeed!

I can't wait till they are ready for picking. I've wanted to make ALL basil pizzas and ALL basil pastas with just olive oil and garlic for a long time. Haha silly old me!

Lavender Cookies!

2007-06-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

I made lavender cookies today! I forgot where I got my recipe, but I made the cookies according the recipe posted on the first link that I saw. I scrolled down the page after I made the cookies to see - gasp - unfavorable comments that the recipe received. I was prety happy with my cookies though, and I like them better than the snowballs. All the ingredients were readily accessible (butter, sugar, eggs, flour) but lavender. Not that it's so difficult to get - neighbors have huge lavender bushes out in the frontyard, so big that you can easily sneak behind them to pick out a few lavender flower stems - it's just that there is quite a bit of work involved in picking out buds, taking out extraneous little connecting stems, washing them, and drying them. But it was fun and well worth it. I think I'll make them again for my parents and bro. Don-don!

***Below is a spoiler for Bob. Stop reading if you are Bob***

I also drew a little something for Bob...(I hope he didn't see this post because it's meant as a surprise for his birthday.) I won't post the drawing here because my drawing skill is embarassing. It's supposed to resemble Muir Beach, where we watched the most beautiful sunset. It was two years ago when we made the trip, and even now I can still remember the dog on the beach, its old man, the cold, the moon, the sunset, the purple sky, the rocks, the rock that we sat on, soft sand, and the gentle sea waves. It was an enveloping calmness. Warm despite the cold; very sweet and touching.

Jennie is getting married!!

2007-06-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

So hard to believe! Jennie is getting married!!!! CONGRATULATIONS to JENNIE!
MAN, I can't believe anyone of us is getting married this soon... even though it's been long known that Greg and Jennie have been very stable. But OH! WOW! I wonder if they are moving to France! I am pretty excited about the wedding and the new life that Jennie will be leading! Jennie will have a lot to teach us when we get married (because it might be a while before anyone of us gets to...maybe.) Will be attending that in Decemeber, tentatively. Don't know where the action is yet. So hard believe. Haven't seen Jennie in a long time either.

We've always been wondering who'd be the first one to marry and now things we talk about are getting real. All the "girl talks" are becoming "real talks". Kind of scary. I'm getting OLD! The next one among us to get married is... I think Sandhya. Then Tiffany. Then I can't say. Too hard. I don't think I'll be the last one though.

Commencement

2007-06-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

This is the time of graduation again...not mine but Bob and Wilson and Kwame and Sheng and Barry's. There were lots of relatives who came and this reminds me of Rabbit and his many many relations. I think among them Barry's relations were the most numerous. I saw his grandmas (nutty and gingerbread), his parents, his bru and his girlfriend, his prof (or lecturer Mark), and maybe even others that I can't remember. They are all very nice and I thought his dad was especially funny and conversational, quite like the dad in American pie. We were all at Sheraton for Barry's brunch, and I also went to the dinner that Peter organized after the departmental ceremony at a Thai place.

It was the second time that I met Bob's parents, who were very sweet to let me tag along for the entire time time! We walked around a lot and ate at the Fish Market. I was so bad...I didn't know that I've ordered such a giant plate reminiscent of the HUGE plate that I ordered at Denny's after the Yosemite climb, which people still make fun of me about. Yes the giant plate consisted of delicious seafood and pasta; but it was too big in spite of its loveliness. Also because Bob's parents and Bob don't eat a lot I look like a beast! hehe!

Anyway, they met my mom today, and we all had dinner together at Joy Luck Place near Ranch 99. I was happy that my mom felt at ease with them despite her nervousness prior to the dinner. Good good!

Man but I have to say that graduation is a big pain. Everyone seems soo tired. So many dinner/brunch engagements, while things must also be packed and stored away. Poor hough baba and hough mama. Right after my departmental ceremony last year my parents whisked me away and we all went back home to take a nap.

Included are pictures of agave a plant that is grown and is now blooming outside of Rains. It lives for 20-25 years but blooms only once for 3 weeks at the end of its lifetime. A rare event indeed! Very rare sight to see this aloe-looking plant to tun into a giant asparagus! Reminds me of a giant firecracker. Funny plant!

It was a surprise that we ran into Jonathan who took the picture below for us. He had this funny mustache that he hadn't shaved off for quite a while. But now he's passed his quals so he can clean up a little bit. I'm not complaining about his mustache tho. I've been seeing Daniel's mustache for a long time. HAHA! Congratz to Jonathan!We took these pictures after we came back from Half Moon Bay! Bob took me to Half Moon Bay for a day during the Memorial Weekend so I can forget about OOMMF for a little while.

End of the Spring Quarter

2007-05-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize we're so close to the end of the quarter... Only a little more than a week left!
Things are still busy as usual. Got the two weekly problem sets and hyperthermia project to work on. I'm beginning to worry that I'll not have enough time to study for finals because the project is consuming most of my energy. But OH do I need to study. So much to catch up for MSE 207!

Recently we've been learning about alloy solidification with dendrite formations, constitutional cooling, etc. That reminds me of the good old days when I worked in Kawasaki, especially the times when I studied and napped on Superalloys II by Hagel, etc. That's the book my advisor called it the bible of the superalloy community. I worked hard on it but have forgotten most of the stuff now, of course. At the time I've been learning lots of things on my own then without knowing anything about materials science. HEHE didn't know I'd ever return to this material. Slowly however, images from the book are reappearing to me - not that they are helping me to understand now...they are just a bit haunting.

Over the memorial weekend we went to Montara and Pacifica. It was cold so we didn't stay too long. There were lots of surfers our there having a grand time. I had good time following them, too, from Pacifica Taco Bell, which was a classy little building right on the beach providing shelter for us. After we came back we went to Fleet Street's spring show. My favorite song was "Everyone peed in the shower."

Then we made pizza! It's our second try and they tasted a lot better!

Random Things in My Room

2007-02-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

I usually create folders for my pictures according to whatever events that I attended to. But recently it's been a problem because I've started to take random pictures around me even when I'm just chilling and milling around. So now I have pictures of my water that I drink, my bed, my plant (now dead) and even lotion that I use. I'm not sure how to group them and I'm afraid they'd just get lost in some "miscellaneous" folder....for I do enjoy them so much. I guess they somewhat mm show off a tinge of color to the life that I lead...little tiny everyday details that I take so much pleasure in.

Too many lemons from our lemon tree so I started putting a good chunk into my water. It's become my addiction now. Life is good when there's a thick slice of lemon sitting in cold water in a glass. MMmm and the lemon fills the whole glass too.

Just can't get enough of baby lotion. Have been using them for 3 years now I think ever since they were put on sale somewhere and my mom brought back one bottle.

Red beans!! I left them at home for three weeks thinking that they'd be dead when I see them next, but no! There were still a couple leaves left that are green and soft. I brought them back to Rains but they died on me a few days later because the stems were already dry. Pretty tough little guys though (there were three of them.)

Presents from Bob

2007-02-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

Bob and I haven't been sleeping much lately. Bob's been working on his thesis with Sound, Spanish essay, and physics; I've been working on my first ever Lab Report for MSE 171. For some reason the report took me the whole weekend and Monday, and I stayed up on Sunday and Monday just to catch up. But everything came through very slowly and I even ended up staying till 8am this morning. It was pretty intense last night as my eyes were straining from staring at the computer screen too much and knowing that I should be in bed. Pretty painful.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post a few pictures from earlier but hadn't gotten a chance to. Bob took lots of pictures of me when I was opening presents for my birthday in January. The red scarf looks so great and comfy on buddy! It took me a lot shorter time to knit than the last old green scarf. The stitches are also a lot more even, compared to the old one that is bumpy at some places. Both scarves are actually very warm and it proved indeed to be very Useful on our Tahoe trip! I'm glad that I've finally made something Useful! (Although I had been a PD undergrad, all of my products have been utterly ugly and useless...except for my senior project that I'm still pretty proud of.) Before I start my daily rant about Stanford PD I think I should post some pictures finally!

Bracelet from Hough mama and Bob!

Opening my present!

It's a cake (under the aluminum foil!)

It's a chocolate pudding cake (with vanilla ice cream on the side). It's been more than four weeks now since this picture and it's still sitting in my fridge! but believe it or not it still tastes as good. Bob's the cake master!

The red scarf!

I think Bob has improved his cake-making over the year as I've improved my knitting as well. Man I've been showing off the presents...hope we don't make anyone feel too jealous! hehehe

Jerry's food

2007-01-22T02:17:00.000-08:00

Today's my second time to cut Bob's hair. It went a lot better than the first one I gave last quarter, in which I went too far up cutting Bob's right side-burn, leaving a long shallow trail around the ear at the right side of the head. This time the shave was even and not at all too short like a convict. I'm very proud. Note too myself: it was 11 at the back of the head, 8 at the tip, 10 on the top, and ~9 on the side. The haircutting took me an hour, which was very long compared 20min that Bob says a barber would give a shave. Maybe I should go a little faster next time because I don't think it is nice to put anyone in a chair for that long. I always hate being in barbershop sitting there with nothing to do: It might be entertaining for me being the hairdresser but I might be torturing the one whom I'd like to fix up, though!

Before I left Jerry today Wilson wrote a long email to Jerry's list complaining about the food. Apparently Jerry residents pay $1,300 a quarter just for the food and snacks, amounting approximately $26 for lunch and dinner each day - but the quality of food is simply lacking. As an eating associate I agree somewhat. The menu hasn't changed at all since last quarter, snacks is mostly composed of dried fruits and candies and bars, and there just isn't too much to the fruit selection besides the bananas that are always rotting in the box. I guess the staff should do a better job now that Wilson has sent out this embarrassing email. Lewis, Bob, Sheng, and Lewis all affixed their names to the email. That's pretty gutsy, and I appreciate them speaking out. Andy came in, and although agreeing about the points in Wilson's email, declined to put his name on it. I'd, too, have second thoughts (although I am only an eating associate.)

Bob and I went to the Red Barn to see HEFFALUMPS for the first time on Friday. gasp!
I'd say there were at least 40 horses there, and we walked up to almost each one of them and looked them in the eyes. At first I was so scared as we walked down the stable, thinking that they were so unworldly and big like monsters or heffalumps, but they were so gentle and curious that they'd stick out their long heads trying to reach us that I had to stick out my finger at them to let them sniff it. I even petted their noses at times and could see their muscles and veins so clearly. They looked big but innocent, and the smell and the hay and the big bodies and eyes and veins and muscles made me feel so homely and genuine, and so far away from strenuous work environment that I'd certain like to come back to the Red Bran everyday. The Red Barn is only 20min walk from Jerry, in which you go around the lake, along Campus Drive, and along the Tennis Court, and it is open till 11pm.

Hehe and now the Red Barn joins the list of Bob and Andrea's weekday get-away destinations!
Here's a picture of Red Barn I found on the internet. Next time I'll bring a camera to capture the Red Barn so as to make it OUR Red Barn...I'm so possessive...yikes.

Ski Trip

2007-01-17T02:08:00.000-08:00

Time: Jan.12-14, 2007
How it came about: Jerry Ski Trip
Place: Tahoe

This year's dorm trip to Tahoe is a very different experience from the one that I went last time with Kimball. Not only has the person who used to be my friend and whom I'd liked very much has now become my best and most loving buddy who is traveling with me to everywhere, I've also realized that my state of consciousness has improved significantly since two years ago. Somehow I feel I'm more aware of my surroundings, i.e. roads that get to Tahoe, things to do around Tahoe, where fun is located, what mountains lie N, E, W, or S of Tahoe, and all that sort of geographic points of interest. I suppose this heightened sense of awareness could be taken as a sign for an improved state of consciousness? I think this is healthy!

We drove up to Tahoe in heavy traffic with Jill, Daniel, and Andy, arriving ~11pm-12am-ish. It got so cold the second day that Jill had to give up her lift ticket and abandon her plans for skiing. Poor Jill for her fingers - don't know if wearing more gloves could've helped. But we decided to sled near Mt. Rose NE of the Lake afterwards, and that kept us busy till dinner. (we found from a website that off 407 near Mt Rose there's a good sledding spot.) To get to Mt. Rose we took 50, then 28, and finally 407 on the way up the mountain. It was a steep climb up, and so relentless that we started seeing Bobmobile wearing down (Bobmobile's brakes got injured during the trip, making crunching noises when we got back down the mountain.) The altitude gave us great view of the Lake though. Its color is so blue, brilliant, like nothing else!

Driving up the road up to Mt. Rose in search for a good sledding spot!

Bobmobile taking a break from working hard on Mt. Rose.

View from a scenic overlook on 407, as Bobmobile takes a brief respite.

Bob and Jill at the scenic overlook. Silly Bob brought both green and red scarves to the trip, and indeed wore both when he drove up to Tahoe the night before.

Where we stopped to wonder whether or not to put on snow chains as a sign off the road told us to, we were puzzled as to why so many cars are parked here...

Aha! This is the legendary sledding spot that the website had described! There were many people sledding and snowshoeing all around, and the hill at left-center of the picture shows the side where we had sledded.

Buddy went first. He was the most skilled sledder of us three.

Bud went very hard so had to to walk up very far.

Someone looks like Pooh!

Jill in action, coming down to rescue me, who had just taken a bad stumble and looked very confused in distance.

This is me before I went straight down for the rock and bruised right side of my butt. A guy who helped me find my glasses, sled, and cap even returned my string cheese that fell out of my pocket. I almost forgot about the string cheese and was very confused when he asked "Is this your string cheese?"

I still looked a bit daze after rescue had arrived.

Jill making a snow angel.

Bob and my snow angels.

Jill looking spiffy.

My toes were frozen even with two layers of socks on. Afterwards the sky turned dark we stopped by Incline Village's Starbucks to thaw our toes. Bob and I had a warm and very sweet cinnamon dolce drink that I read about on spokeo. Apparently this drink had been an old-time favorite that Starbucks had just revived. At night we saw movie Lassie. Buddy had always wanted to see this British production. It was very good and far superior than cheesy Disney animal movies that I've seen!

Bob and I at beach near Tahoe downtown. The Round Hill behind us is very peculiarly round, almost looking man-made.

Bob and Jill fed ducks and geese. When it was my turn one of the few ducks jumped up and bit my finger because some sticky inside of an energy bar got stuck to it. Feisty.

More duck feeding.

Portrait of a Fat Goose.

Geese and mountains of Tahoe in distance.

Living room of where we stayed.

Well bundled up.

The wind pants Bob lent me were great. They kept me very warm and and comfy and happy in -7deg, and I was able to make snow angels. I think I need a pair here at school, too, as it is getting so cold here recently.

On this trip we also went to check out Harrah's 1st floor casino, as Jill and Bob had never seen a casino before. It looked very cheap compared to those in Las Vegas, and it was even hard to breathe inside because of smokers. We also tried out the hot tub. It was always my dream to be in a hot tub outside of the house that has great scenery, just as what's on those Japanese advertisements you could pick up at any JR station. It was kind of like that, and we had a view of tall pine trees. But it was already very dark and we couldn't see anything. I got out feeling very dizzy and weak though, as I soaked in the tub for too long. There was a sharp pain in my back, too, as my muscles there were very tense.

It was a chill snow trip, and we decided that we're up for more exciting stuff next time we're up in Tahoe, such as cross-country skiing and going up the gondola. Going up the gondola is a must because Bob and I had wanted to get on it in the Kimball snow trip, but the weather was too harsh for gondolas to operate. The gondola reminded us the good times we've had before I headed out to Japan and we've become buddies. Gondola is just too expensive! We simply didn't want to drag Jill up there with us, so we'd have to wait till next time, which is not so bad because that'll just make the next trip to Tahoe all the more exciting.

Birthday

2007-01-04T00:06:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to self~ yay!
It is 12:06am now according to my blog, and I've already received well wishes from Chelsey, Bob, bro, and parents. So nice so nice! Kudos to my buddy who sang the birthday song like Pooh, and my mom who was rolling around in bed but still singing the song twice in Chinese and English! hehe so funny!

I wonder what's going to happen today. I think it's going to be exciting. My parents and I, especially my dad who's into cheap stuff, are determined to find us some kind of free meal deal on my birthday. I checked online and am going to call up those restaurants before we starve ourselves for the big meal. The restaurants that offer free meals are this Indian buffet, Todai, Benihana, and IHOP. Actually I'm not quite convinced about the quality of the food that these restaurants offer (although Benihana's supposed to be good), but I am oddly proud that our family is all spirit, and that we're going to celebrate our unique free food spirit on my birthday.

Now I'm closing this post as my birthday is winding down. (Man I've really become a chattering nut. )

So I called Benihana and this Indian buffet restaurant. Benihana's not friendly at all to me. As I meekly started off that I've read somewhere that Benihana is offering a free birthday meal with three paying guests, the lady answered in this demeaning tone, " We don't offer any free meal." So callous! at least she could pretend to be apologetic. Well I'll never go this place anyway. Too pricey anyway, and can never possibly be as good as the teipanyaki restaurant okasan took me in Kyoto. It was a even more humiliating experience when I called the Indian restaurant. The man answering couldn't understand what I was saying, even as I shouted into the phone..."FREEEEE", "BIRHTDAY" "MEEAAALL" very slowly three times. I thought maybe he pretended not to undertand, but maybe I was too harsh on him. Anyway, I ran laps with my dad at Saratoga high school and found a Korean bbq restaurant to eat on El Camino that does give free dinner on your birthday. There were lots of meat and cloves of garlic that I ate. I was terribly stuffed!

My dad didn't look too happy because my finger blocked the camera flash. I hope this picture doesn't give off wrong impressions - he's pretty happy throughout my birthday!

I would have uploaded the picture of my bro and me but it was a bit too blurry. But I took great pictures of my mom who posed in the skirt that arrived in the mail today. As she's happily posing, I reminded her about lin chiling 林志玲 who said that your body should always keep a natural flow during poses, etc. (Both my mom and I are lin chiling fans - like every other Taiwanese~)

Now my chatter has gone on for so long it's not my birthday anymore! Finally, I'll tell you that I like this year's birthday a lot. Not sure too much of what I did except that I ate lots. But I really enjoyed this quiet domestic bliss, and liked being generally observant of weather (o i didn't say how much i enjoyed watching the clouds whisk pass yet), observant of the birds in our backyard (with my dad's binoculars), or observant even of my mom (well taking lots of pictures probably doesn't count)? Oh I think I'll miss home again when I go back to school.

Haircut

2007-01-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

At the urging of my mom - I got my haircut today! Although I did remember Cate's warning about Asian barbershops that always give you fobby looks, I was actually a bit excited that I'm starting everything anew, with a new haircut and a new year!

While I was sitting there a funny lady sitting next to me kept chattering away. She complained about Cantonese accent, how she can't understand it, and how another lady with a heavy Cantonese accent kept going up to her during their Japan tour that she had to say to her "I don't understand I don't understand!" I thought all of this was pretty funny as most of the barbers there were Cantonese, and if these barbers were at all offended. Probably. The barber with the lady wasn't too attentive. The funny lady was still happily chattering away though, and I didn't realize she's actually an old lady till after my haircut was done and I had put my glasses on. The old lady had on a fashionable (and fobby, of course) haircut of a 30 year-old.

My haircut was ok. Although I didn't like how my hair tailed off in the back, I went home pretty happy. But I dont' know what came over me as I was taking my shower...I cut the tail off with a small scissors! I felt about my hair and now the back of my hair is all flat...or worse, the sides might be longer than the back now. But I'm glad my mom's not too horrified, though, and am just sorry for my mom who dragged me to the barbershop.

Pre-Barbershop long hair.

Post-Barbershop short hair and after shower. I don't dare to show the back that I had so angrily(?) cut short!!

Ramble

2006-12-30T00:36:00.002-08:00

For some reason I really feel like blogging right now. Maybe it's because I've been reading for some hours now and that after having gotten into characters' heads and living their lives, it is as if I don't say something out loud I would get buried somehow. Hell even I'm writing unabashedly long sentences and begining these sentences with "Hell" like novelists occasionally do.

Now I have this space all to myself to shout to, I really can't think of anything so significant to write about, except these wood blinds that hang in my parent's window. I was cleaning these wood blinds today and I found their construction and the texture of each blind very delightful. I had never given any thoughts to how these lines were put together, but today I wondered about why these lines are thick and those are thin, how these strings are intertwined, etc. Of course I didn't grow so curious to an extent that I would take these blinds apart to learn its assembly, but I think I would be very happy to go to a blinds factory, or more particularly a wood blinds factory. I've grown so fond of the texture and the warmth of wood now now I think all furnitures with all colors besides the natural brown is gaudy. O I hope I'm not becoming pretentiously high-class or old-fashioned!

I'd very much like to attach a picture of my parents' wood blinds here but I've left my camera cord at school! But to make this post look fuller and colorful (hmm), I'll put in a picture of a setting with wood blinds that make me happy! hehe

Leaves

2006-12-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Today my dad, bro, and I went to Castle Rock along the Skyline Blvd. There weren't too many people hiking today, so it was easy for us to proceed at our own pace.

There were these funny-shaped leaves all over the place so I asked my dad what kind they were. I was so ashamed to find out they were oak leaves!! Shouldnt' I know these to come from oak trees? Anybody, botanists or not, would know what oak leaves look like right? hmmph! I've heard about oaks, birch, cedar trees all the time but I never care what they look like or how they are different from one another. So I looked them up.

Oak's "spiraled" leaves and acorns.

Birch tree barks.
so I guess oak, birch, and maples are the three biggest tree families that make up deciduous forrests. It's funny how the dark marks on these birch barks make the trees look like they've been axed many times!

Birch trees and leaves.

Redwood v. Pine leaves:

Redwood leaves. Compared to pine counterparts, the redwood leaves seem somewhat more flat and friendly.

Pine leaves. These leaves are pointy and grow in all directions. Wiki says that although the leaves seem to grow in rings on the branches, they actually grow in very tight spirals.

Speaking of trees I thought of this small wooden bowl that I'd turned on a lathe last year. I gave it to my mom in one occasion but it broke into two pieces when my mom soaked the bowl in water. Luckily I did take a picture of my bowl before its unfortunate end.

I started out with cherry and redwood that I laminated together before turning. I was never quite sure what these wood pieces were actually because I picked them up from Minton's scrap section.

I really liked how the cherry wood at the top came out so nicely.

Half Dome Quest

2006-12-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Yosemite trip!
Date: 8/12-8/13/06
People(9): Avia, Harrison, Eric, Lewis, Deni, Jill, Daniel, Bob, and me.
Team Yosemite Falls Team: Avia Harrison, Eric, Lewis, Deni
Team Half Dome: Jill, Daniel, Bob, and me.
Level of Exhaustion: *****

We took off from Stanford campus at around 8am to arrive at at Lake Turlock campground before noon. I was dumbstruck when I popped the trunk - I had left all of Jill's pots and pans, along with all the food supplies, at the Mirrielees parking lot! So with Daniel and Bob I drove back to Mirrielees to retrieve our pots and pans. It was the first long drive of my life. 7 hours. Wow. The only time we stopped, besides lunch at Subway, was at my Mirrielees apartment to use the bathroom. The drive actually went very smoothly and I was very proud of myself and my Accord1995 for accomplishing such a feat. I felt very indebted to NewFuckingYork (name of my car) for working it so hard.

The next morning we headed out to Yosemite. Daniel, Jill, Bob, and I were intent on summiting Half Dome. After a few hours we were ready for an intense hike from Happy Isles that would last around 12 hours.

Daniel in meditation on the way to Yosemite.

A nice view from the bus. We left our car in the parking lot to take a bus to Happy Isles, our starting point. Harrison and the crew, arriving later to take on Yosemite Falls, found Bob's car and left a message on the windshield.

One very happy Asian guy told us to pose for this picture. Actually we were in a hurry and knew we must get to Half Dome before it gets 3 or 4pm. We started out ~10am.

Vernal Fall on Misty Trail. We saw this huge beautiful rainbow at the foot of the Vernal Fall, and everyone turned around to admire it even though the trail here was incredibly steep and slippery. After taking this picture, I kept climbing and climbing without raising my head at all. Lots of Japanese murmurs I heard. hehe Japanese tourists taking pictures here and there.

Top of the Vernal Fall, where we took a little break to look around. I think most people do not venture further beyond this point.

We were happy with our pace. Team Half Dome is doing well and Jill, who's one most hardcore experienced hiker, approves smilingly.

The Emerald Pool sits immediately above the Vernal Falls. Everywhere there were signs of "no swimming" "dangerous", etc. The water had a very deep emerald color and looked coolish and inviting for a swim. The general area is all very nice and many people sat around to picnic. I thought I saw some people swimming in the Pool even though it's illegal. The daredevils!

One thing I remembered about the Nevada Falls is that it's loud! From 20 minutes away we could already feel the beast. Lots and lots of water!!! I wonder how long it'd take for the Nevada Falls to fill up our swimming pool. The last time I was so taken with such forcefulness of water was when I was maybe 9 and saw this dam discharging flood. Oh we also saw three bears on our way.

Actually Half Dome had eluded us for quite a while as the trail took its twists and turns. We finally caught sight of it at the 4th or 5th hour of our hike, at which point we decided to take a picture before summiting. We were joyous thinking that the end is drawing to its close. Jill and Daniel with his mustache looking tough here with boots. Bob looks a bit irritated here because of sand in his eyes.

Daniel on Planet Half Dome.

Daniel and his cane, Bob, and Jill.

I crawled up the second third of the way to the top because I had never been so afraid in my life. Or more like horrified. On all fours, I couldn't believe I was on this tall alien rock and wished it were just all a bad dream. Not even Drop Zone or Invertigo at Great America could compare to this. I felt soo far away from Earth that once my butt touched the ground, I became rooted to it. The ridge on the bottom right corner in this picture is where I called it quits. Beyond this point you'd have to go up this section for five minutes that has no railing or steps at all. I noticed some squirrels scudding past me as I was crawling. Pretty feisty, nasty animals.

I was so close to the top! I knew I might regret for life for being a weenie at this moment, but I just couldn't bear to live with such heights. Bob and Jill pressed on though, and Daniel stayed with me. Man Daniel was so tired he was about to fall asleep. Before that he took off his shirt to change. At the moment I thought half-nakedness on this rock was somewhat odd and funny. I kept telling him to stop moving so he doesn't roll off.

The view at from the ridge was amazing. However, I wasn't altogether enjoying the breathtaking views because I was worried that something might have happened to Bob and Jill, who took an hour to make it up and back. I also didn't think I could make it back down the rock completely without having a breakdown.

Here are some pictures taken by Bob:

Dip before the final ascent to the top. I saw these guys passing by us before. Bob said they were just holding backpacks for people who are summitting. We also saw a guy carrying his baby daughter on his back. Bob said the baby had been brave the whole time, only bursting out into tears when they got very close to the top. We saw the dude's mom at the foot of the Half Dome when we were coming back down. The grandma, who had already been to the summit and back, told us she couldn't bear to see her son do this. Yea even the tough grandma couldn't bear that. Daniel asked for the baby's name but I forgot what it was. There was also this one young lady who had a nervous breakdown in climbing up the ropes. We passed her by on our way down, and saw that someone was very generously helping her :)

Jill looks pensive before the ropes. Bob said even Jill was scared for a moment.

Bob and Jill made it to the top! Wished I was there.

It's a Happy Bob standing against backdrop of the Valley's deep blue sky.

More pictures from the top of Half Dome! Bob didn't feel comfortable to venture beyond the point where he was taking the pictures. Too scary!

Jill went all the way out to that jutting tip of the Half Dome.

The rocks under her feet look treacherous. Better not shake your legs there! haha(Would be kind of weird anyway.)

Bob probably took this picture when he and Jill were making their way back down. Bob said that on their way up, there was this really annoying kid who kept on yapping the whole time but got scared in the middle and ended up delaying the ascending line. That kid and the dad didn't bring too much water themselves, and Daniel and I had to offer some to them.

It's funny on this kind of intense hiking trip that you start to recognize other hikers. For example, the previously mentioned father/baby duo and the grandma. This nice European couple who took our group picture. This girl who couldn't go any further and sat near Daniel and me for almost an hour. Even those guys who were sitting on the rock holding backpacks. Daniel, of course, would yell out encouragements to everyone, and even made little chitchat with some. There was a general sense of commederie in the air that's just moving.

Here are the pair of ropes leading up and gloves that people have left. Some of them were quite new!

We found enormous pine cones everywhere! This is one of only a handful of pictures taken on our way back. I couldn't take too many pictures as it was getting dark and we were rushing to get back to Happy Isles for the last bus that'd take us to our car. It already turned pitch black as we almost ran/hopped/skidded down the John Muir Trail. We didn't bring too many and powerful enough flashlights with us so it was quite dangerous. I had to stick with Bob the whole time and we both had to be very careful. Making our way back down to Happy Isles turned out to be as intense as climbing up Half Dome. Oh and of course I did make it back down that beasty Half Dome. On top of my fear for heights I also worried that I'd clog the traffic with slow pace. I had to keep telling myself that I must not a nervous breakdown and better keep my eyes as low as possible.

Driving back from Yosemite back to Stanford was also quite an experience. We were all exhausted, but thanks to Bob who took us safely out of Yosemite and back down from the highlands. We stopped at Oakdale for a meal at Denny's, where I ordered a huge meal of pancakes and omelette with mushrooms by mistake and saw a lady flipping out at a waiter.

We could've taken a nap at Denny's but Jill and Daniel had to work the next day. With a cup of coffee in hand, tough Jill took rest of us back home from Oakdale. HOMMMMEEE!!! After long hours of sleep I woke up with severe sores all over the body. But I'm proud of my bodily pains and the sores and wished they'd never away.

Man I thought this 2-day trip would be a short post!!