[During an experiment at Physics EA class, period 1.]
Judy: What's 25 minus 15?
Me: 15! No, wait...10!
[pause]
Judy: ...Isn't it 5?
Me: ...
[Ryan was listening to this.]
Ryan: You guys are in PreCalculus, right?
[Judy nods.]
Me: -_________-
Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Adventures with Gingerbread
Last Sunday, Erica and Jenni helped me bake gingerbread cookies for the Japan Trip Craft/Bake Sale which takes place the next day. With the recipe taped on a kitchen cupboard, I handled the wet ingredients listed in the recipe and Jenni took over the dry ingredients. Halfway between mixing and stirring, Jenni discovered that there was not enough flour at Erica's place. We looked at each other and then at the pouring rain out the window. Erica got her slippers dirty and I got my socks wet, but we didn't let that stop us. xD We walked back to my place to get more flour and continued on with our baking. :D
Baking is definitely a tricky process. The dough refused to cooperate with us. Erica's sister had warned us that because Hawaii's weather is slightly warmer than most places, the dough will be softer. I let Jenni do the rolling because I always get the dough stuck onto the pin. I don't know how she does it. @_@ I wish I had more patience! We made three batches of cookie dough - two for cookies and the other batch for making gingerbread houses. =) We kept rotating them and putting them into the refrigerator in hopes that the dough would harden. Chilling the dough did not make too big a difference as it was still difficult to cut out the shapes, but we tried out best. After cutting out the shapes, Erica carefully transfered them onto the pan with a spatula. We decided to make gingerbread men, Christmas trees, and snowmen. :D I decorated the gingerbread men with m&m buttons and used a toothpick to make a face. Poking holes for the eyes and mouth was fun. =)
Cookies don't normally expand, do they? These did. There was no trace of those scrawny little gingerbread men we cut out - out of the oven, they're big guys. When they were baking in the oven, Erica peeked through the lit window and exclaimed that some cookies were sticking to each other. This worried me. But when we took the cookies out of the oven, we smiled at the sight of gingerbread men holding hands. <3
"Aww, they're friends!"
One batch of cookies came out a honey-golden-brown color. The other batch was a darker shade of brown. Erica worried that we burnt them. I joked that we could still sell the burnt cookies by saying that we added cocoa powder to that batch. XD But they tasted alright~
Jenni was evidently very enthusiastic about making gingerbread houses because she brought lots of candy to decorate them. I did not have any candy at my place so I brought mixed nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, you name it) and animal crackers. ^^;;; I haven't made gingerbread houses since elementary school. I used to make them using milk cartons, graham crackers, frosting, and gummy bears. Reminiscing triggered something in my mind. A sudden realization hit me!
Everyone I know uses graham crackers to construct their houses and I have never seen anyone use real gingerbread. @_@; But I guess the name works better. Graham cracker house doesn't sound as pretty.
We were all pretty excited to be making our first gingerbread house from scratch and with real gingerbread. I happily thought to myself, "These will be genuine gingerbread houses, not fake ones!"
Making gingerbread houses from scratch is no doubt a difficult task. It is no wonder people used graham crackers - they are easy, convenient, and uniformly shaped. We had to cut out dough with a knife to make the rounded corners straight. My gingerbread house kept falling down. The trick is to be persistent...and to stick it into the freezer before it falls on you again.
Presenting the gingerbread house before it goes into the freezer.
(I only notice now that one side of the roof was lopsided. Oh well.) The frosting hardened pretty quick and I was eager to start the decorating~! I started by slithering frosting on the gingerbread and sticking snow caps onto the roof.
Me & Erica's gingerbread house (left) and Jenni's (right).
Jenni decorated the top of her roof with peppermint kisses and used cereal to create the look of a tiled roof (she loved the idea after seeing it in a Martha Stewart magazine). I wanted to give my house color and variety so all four sides were decorated differently. Erica helped me decorate one wall with a variety of nuts (Jenni commented on how they looked like bricks), another wall with a candy cane, the third side with red & green gum drops, and the fourth side with peppermint kisses.
Isn't it pretty?
I propped a "reindeer" on top of the house for a finishing touch. (In actuality, I have no clue what animal it is but it passes for being a reindeer. ^.~)
Finished product!
Baking is definitely a tricky process. The dough refused to cooperate with us. Erica's sister had warned us that because Hawaii's weather is slightly warmer than most places, the dough will be softer. I let Jenni do the rolling because I always get the dough stuck onto the pin. I don't know how she does it. @_@ I wish I had more patience! We made three batches of cookie dough - two for cookies and the other batch for making gingerbread houses. =) We kept rotating them and putting them into the refrigerator in hopes that the dough would harden. Chilling the dough did not make too big a difference as it was still difficult to cut out the shapes, but we tried out best. After cutting out the shapes, Erica carefully transfered them onto the pan with a spatula. We decided to make gingerbread men, Christmas trees, and snowmen. :D I decorated the gingerbread men with m&m buttons and used a toothpick to make a face. Poking holes for the eyes and mouth was fun. =)
Cookies don't normally expand, do they? These did. There was no trace of those scrawny little gingerbread men we cut out - out of the oven, they're big guys. When they were baking in the oven, Erica peeked through the lit window and exclaimed that some cookies were sticking to each other. This worried me. But when we took the cookies out of the oven, we smiled at the sight of gingerbread men holding hands. <3
"Aww, they're friends!"
One batch of cookies came out a honey-golden-brown color. The other batch was a darker shade of brown. Erica worried that we burnt them. I joked that we could still sell the burnt cookies by saying that we added cocoa powder to that batch. XD But they tasted alright~
Jenni was evidently very enthusiastic about making gingerbread houses because she brought lots of candy to decorate them. I did not have any candy at my place so I brought mixed nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, you name it) and animal crackers. ^^;;; I haven't made gingerbread houses since elementary school. I used to make them using milk cartons, graham crackers, frosting, and gummy bears. Reminiscing triggered something in my mind. A sudden realization hit me!
Everyone I know uses graham crackers to construct their houses and I have never seen anyone use real gingerbread. @_@; But I guess the name works better. Graham cracker house doesn't sound as pretty.
We were all pretty excited to be making our first gingerbread house from scratch and with real gingerbread. I happily thought to myself, "These will be genuine gingerbread houses, not fake ones!"
Making gingerbread houses from scratch is no doubt a difficult task. It is no wonder people used graham crackers - they are easy, convenient, and uniformly shaped. We had to cut out dough with a knife to make the rounded corners straight. My gingerbread house kept falling down. The trick is to be persistent...and to stick it into the freezer before it falls on you again.
Presenting the gingerbread house before it goes into the freezer.
(I only notice now that one side of the roof was lopsided. Oh well.) The frosting hardened pretty quick and I was eager to start the decorating~! I started by slithering frosting on the gingerbread and sticking snow caps onto the roof.
Me & Erica's gingerbread house (left) and Jenni's (right).
Jenni decorated the top of her roof with peppermint kisses and used cereal to create the look of a tiled roof (she loved the idea after seeing it in a Martha Stewart magazine). I wanted to give my house color and variety so all four sides were decorated differently. Erica helped me decorate one wall with a variety of nuts (Jenni commented on how they looked like bricks), another wall with a candy cane, the third side with red & green gum drops, and the fourth side with peppermint kisses.
Isn't it pretty?
I propped a "reindeer" on top of the house for a finishing touch. (In actuality, I have no clue what animal it is but it passes for being a reindeer. ^.~)
Finished product!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Weak
Yikes! I didn't realize that my last post was in October and that it's almost the end of November! How time flies! Not much is new with me. I had a sore throat last Friday, which developed into a cold and a slight fever on Saturday. I called the library to tell them I was not feeling well. Instead, I chose to stay home to do my English homework (part of my never-ending list of work to do). I guess that wasn't such a bright idea, though, because I fell off my chair when I was typing the revision of an essay. I mean, what kind of idiot does that?! I scraped the part of my arm that is a little above my elbow. Ouch!
On Sunday, I was especially stressing in the morning because I felt horrible and sickly but I had a lot of studying to do and oh no why can't time stop just once? But no, I still had to study, sick or not. I didn't want to fail...I grew up having that to be one of my biggest fears. I took A LOT of different pills (for sore throat, cold, fever, etc.) and studied in vain. My head was pounding slightly and I was feeling incredibly weak so I laid in bed for a while. After napping for an hour or so, I woke up with my head spinning more than ever. I hate that I can't take naps in the afternoon when I feel tired because I always wake up with a headache.
In the afternoon, Jenny and Zane left to buy Zane a suit. It was a miracle that my parents didn't bother me so I was able to concentrate on studying for my Chapter 7 & 8 Physics test in peace. And a miracle happened because I could actually concentrate (or maybe it's just the pills doing the magic, hehe). It's always very hard for me to read my Physics textbook. I dread it because I never understand what I'm reading. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and discipline to go through it. =) After five hours or so, I felt confident that I would do well on the test tomorrow. At night, I started studying for the Chapter 3 math test. I stayed up a little later than I intended because I saw some pictures of Dong Bang Shin Ki and I simply could NOT stop myself from going through them and saving them. I swear, the fangirl in me took over my body.
Me, "Go to sleeeeeppp! You have a test first thing tomorrow and you're sick."
Fangirl, "Wow, lookit how big these scans are!"
Me, "Look at the time. You have school tomorrow."
Fangirl, "Oh my gosh, not only pictures of Jaejoong, but all the other members too! <3"
Me, "GO TO SLEEP!"
Fangirl, "Har har, Micky looks weird in this picture."
Me, "..."
The fangirl won and I had to wait until she was satisfied with all the pictures she saved before going to bed. @_@
My fever is gone now (I think) but my cold is still there because I had to blow my nose multiple times during the test. My friend (who sat next to me) also caught a cold so we were both blowing our noses, lol. It seems like I just have to get sick at least once a year or something...and I'm especially vulnerable in the winter. (What is wrong with me! I live in Hawaii!)
I hope everyone else is taking better care of themselves than me! Take care!
On Sunday, I was especially stressing in the morning because I felt horrible and sickly but I had a lot of studying to do and oh no why can't time stop just once? But no, I still had to study, sick or not. I didn't want to fail...I grew up having that to be one of my biggest fears. I took A LOT of different pills (for sore throat, cold, fever, etc.) and studied in vain. My head was pounding slightly and I was feeling incredibly weak so I laid in bed for a while. After napping for an hour or so, I woke up with my head spinning more than ever. I hate that I can't take naps in the afternoon when I feel tired because I always wake up with a headache.
In the afternoon, Jenny and Zane left to buy Zane a suit. It was a miracle that my parents didn't bother me so I was able to concentrate on studying for my Chapter 7 & 8 Physics test in peace. And a miracle happened because I could actually concentrate (or maybe it's just the pills doing the magic, hehe). It's always very hard for me to read my Physics textbook. I dread it because I never understand what I'm reading. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and discipline to go through it. =) After five hours or so, I felt confident that I would do well on the test tomorrow. At night, I started studying for the Chapter 3 math test. I stayed up a little later than I intended because I saw some pictures of Dong Bang Shin Ki and I simply could NOT stop myself from going through them and saving them. I swear, the fangirl in me took over my body.
Me, "Go to sleeeeeppp! You have a test first thing tomorrow and you're sick."
Fangirl, "Wow, lookit how big these scans are!"
Me, "Look at the time. You have school tomorrow."
Fangirl, "Oh my gosh, not only pictures of Jaejoong, but all the other members too! <3"
Me, "GO TO SLEEP!"
Fangirl, "Har har, Micky looks weird in this picture."
Me, "..."
The fangirl won and I had to wait until she was satisfied with all the pictures she saved before going to bed. @_@
My fever is gone now (I think) but my cold is still there because I had to blow my nose multiple times during the test. My friend (who sat next to me) also caught a cold so we were both blowing our noses, lol. It seems like I just have to get sick at least once a year or something...and I'm especially vulnerable in the winter. (What is wrong with me! I live in Hawaii!)
I hope everyone else is taking better care of themselves than me! Take care!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Lee Junki Appearance @ HIFF
Lee Junki made a special appearance at the 27th Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival last Friday, October 19. He was presented with the "Rising Star" award at the U.S. premiere of his latest movie, "May 18" at the Hawaii Theatre.
I did not expect to get to see Lee Junki because 1) I found out last minute, 2) Tickets must be sold out, and 3) Tickets must be expensive. But no, tickets were not sold out and tickets were only $12. Yay!
The movie did not start until 8:00 pm, but there were already long lines of people waiting when my friend, my sister and I showed up at 6:00 pm. Standing in line was a horrible experience because we literally had to smell poop (this was an area where homeless people dwell) for more than an hour. We passed the time talking to another wonderful Lee Junki fan standing in line with us. Although we all just met, we got along very well because we
At around 7:30 pm, the lines started moving, a black limousine drove by, and screams erupted. I ran to the front. At first, I couldn't see anything because there were so many people, but they all held their cameras and phones up, snapping away so I knew he was in the crowd somewhere. And then I spotted him! My heart nearly stopped.
It is not that I was particularly in love with him (I am now), but the experience of seeing him in real life, and not on television or in pictures, is staggering. He was just as beautiful and
We were lucky to snag seats in the front, where we met more Lee Junki fans. Again, we spoke like old friends. (Fangirls unite!) It felt like forever before Lee Junki finally appeared on stage. Along with the "Rising Star" award, he was also presented with a bowl made of koa wood.
I felt very happyyy for him! ^^ He began his speech with the traditional, "Aloha!" His accent was fobby, but so adorable. <3 There were two translators: English and Japanese. After he said one line, he would wait for the English translator to finish her translation. He then opened his mouth to say his next line when he was interuppted by a man saying, "Wait, wait. Japanese first." IT WAS SO CUTE. <3 He forgot that there was a second translator more than once. xD
The movie experience was not as wonderful. For starters, the theater experienced some "technical difficulties." I couldn't believe that they experienced problems on such a night. ^^; There was no sound in the beginning. The sound came back on when the movie started but we found something new to complain about: the quality of the film was bad. The movie looked like it was being played from the computer.
"May 18" started out good. I loved the first half in the movie...and it is entirely coincidental that Lee Junki starred in only the first half. Or maybe not...? I really enjoyed the scenes between the brothers, Jin Woo (Lee Junki) and Min Woo (Kim Sang Kyung). My favorite scene is the bicycle scene (people who watched it should know what I'm referring to). I won't describe the scene because I know I will take the humor out of it.
I did not understand some parts of the movie very well because I was not familiar with the historical context behind the movie. I did some research after seeing the movie (*coughcough*) and the movie basically recounted the Kwangju Massacre in Kwangju, South Korea that lasted for ten days from May 18, 1980. The movie focused on the people caught in the upheaval and presented a shallow portrayal of the events. All of the soldiers were "evil" and all of the civilians were "innocent." I only got to see the civilians' side of the story. I found it horrifying to see so many innocent civilians getting beaten to death by soldiers. Somehow, watching this sort of violence on screen feels even worse than watching soldiers kill with guns or cannons. Women and children were not spared.
During the movie, I cried during a scene where a dad gets killed while trying to tries to save his son during an attack. The next scene showed Jin Woo trying to help an injured person. He also gets shot in the process. These scenes were heart wrenching. However, I felt that the biggest flaw of the movie was that they over-victimized the civilians, making it seem somehow phony. I think the filmmakers tried too hard to gain sympathy from the viewers which played down their effect of pathos rather than playing it up. To appeal to the audience's emotions, "less is more." I found a few scenes that were unnecessary and could have been removed. In fact, I think the movie would have been a lot better if they removed the third of multiple scenes of Chang Su's blind mother crying for him and the scene where a little boy cries for his dead father. In another scene, the civilians started dying one by one as they battled against the soldiers at the City Hall. One guy starts to say his name on the walkie-talkie and is later joined by others who go down. The talking scenes went on for quite a while and I felt that they were overly redundant. I do not mean to sound heartless, but it felt like too much.
The movie did hold surprises for me. I never expected to see Jin Woo killed off so early in the first half of the movie because he was our star. <3 It was also the first time I've seen a movie in which the main hero (Min Woo) of the movie dies (and it was a very senseless death, too). In fact, all of our main characters die except for Shin Ae, our leading girl. =(
If the movie weren't so shallow and if a few scenes are deleted, I would have like it a lot more.
...But I'm happy because I got to see Lee Junki. <3
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Feeling Junk
** Sorry if there's pidgin (local slang used in Hawaii) here. There is no better words to use.
Yesterday, Zane got his own American Savings Bank account. It may be stupid, but this made me feel junk. I went through a lot of (unnecessary?) trouble just to get an account there, even had a few strings pulled because my mom's friend worked there. But Zane gets one just like that, with the snap of his fingers. It's not like I'm feeling resentment or anything of that sort. Of course not - I'm very happy for him. But that doesn't change the fact that I feel junk. It seems that I always end up taking the hard way out when there is an easier path to follow. It sucks.
Last night, I found out that Zane wasn't even taking the PSAT! I was so shocked and I really couldn't believe it. But Jenny was all like, 'whatever' about it and said, "Doesn't matter because he's going to college."
This made me feel junk too. I was really stressing yesterday and doing some last minute cramming for the test because there was never any time for me to study before. Now it's like all the studying I've been doing is for nothing.
"It doesn't matter anyway."
Yesterday, Zane got his own American Savings Bank account. It may be stupid, but this made me feel junk. I went through a lot of (unnecessary?) trouble just to get an account there, even had a few strings pulled because my mom's friend worked there. But Zane gets one just like that, with the snap of his fingers. It's not like I'm feeling resentment or anything of that sort. Of course not - I'm very happy for him. But that doesn't change the fact that I feel junk. It seems that I always end up taking the hard way out when there is an easier path to follow. It sucks.
Last night, I found out that Zane wasn't even taking the PSAT! I was so shocked and I really couldn't believe it. But Jenny was all like, 'whatever' about it and said, "Doesn't matter because he's going to college."
This made me feel junk too. I was really stressing yesterday and doing some last minute cramming for the test because there was never any time for me to study before. Now it's like all the studying I've been doing is for nothing.
"It doesn't matter anyway."
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Long Overdue Post on Fall Break
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. My sister hogs the computer way too much. For evidence, you go to her websites and see that they are updated more frequently than mine. And...I've been busy. I planned to write about my fall break, but that was more than a week ago now. I don't quite feel like blogging too much about it now. Still! I have pictures! So let that be the excuse for this overdue post. =)
Sunday (Oct 1)
I went out with Jenny and Zane for lunch and a little bit of shopping. And just because I want to show off my lunch:
Tokyo Shoyu Ramen @ Mikazuki inside Shirokiya
Monday
I planned for this day weeks before fall break started. My friends and I were all stressed from school and work so I figured we could all use a little cheering up. Although we see each other every day at school, it's not the same as getting together just to have fun. And I mentioned before how a friend neglected all her friends because of her boyfriend...well, this was a girls-only-fabulous-fun-day. This means he CANNOT come along. He actually called while we were putting cucumbers on our faces, but my other friend snatched her phone away. xD We baked matcha roll cake with azuki beans and gave ourselves the "beauty treatment" (my ideas).
Matcha roll cake w/ azuki beans & apple cider
It tasted like a dream come true...
Just b/c I like this shot and you can't really see our faces...(I'm in the middle.)
Tuesday & Wednesday
Work @ the library.
Thursday
I went bowling to celebrate a friend's birthday. I hit a strike, but suffered from a mysterious losing streak afterward. I was doing fine in the beginning, but after lunch, I got zero after zero. o_o; Hm. Bad luck sushi?
Friday
This was the longest day. I set my alarm to wake me up at 6:10 AM, but I forgot to put in a CD so I woke up 20 minutes late. On Friday, I was supposed to go hiking at Diamond Head with Erica and the Vietnamese Club. I'm not in the club, but I'm going anyway just because Erica invited me and I've never been to Diamond Head. *smiles* Erica estimated to be finished with the hike at 12, everyone was telling me how we had to climb a 100-step staircase, and Ha complained that her legs were killing her. All of this made me think it would be a long and difficult process to get to the top.
The hike was actually slightly disappointing for me because it was so short. It was an easy hike - not challenging at all. The trick is to watch your feet. The path is rocky so you can easily trip, fall, and break your back. And the infamous stairs! Not difficult at all! A hundred steps are nothing! ;D (I know my sister will have something to say about this...tsk,tsk.)
The view at the top was spectacular. There were many Japanese tourists and I heard someone exclaim, "Sugoi!" Sugoi, indeed! :D I made a gallery of this trip and you can view it here. (If you go to the Photography page, you would notice that there are two more galleries - 6 & 7. I'm going to put that up later because there are too many photos to deal with right now.) The first shot in the gallery was taken before our hike. Erica spotted a stray cat so I snapped a picture of it. Erica was second to take out her camera, but one picture was enough to scare the cat away. XD Sorry, Erica! You can have my picture (just ask)! I also have a picture of stairs in one of the shots...people told me that was the 100 steps staircase, but they were mistaken! Those were NOT the staircase...there were actually three sets of staircases. Thankfully, I did take a picture on the real staircase:
Erica (in pink) and me on the 100-steps staircase.
We finished the hike three hours before 12 so our "lunch" became our "breakfast." XP
I say this is a long day because I also went out later that night with an old friend from elementary school. <3 I've never attended a "First Friday" before. "First Friday" is an event that happens on the first Friday of every month. Galleries in Chinatown/Downtown are open for public viewing. There is much entertainment such as live music. Many shops and restaurants are also open. =3 We went to the The Arts at Marks Garage and I really liked this piece:
I don't remember the title, but it costs $1800.
It is an interesting piece, but I would rather use my money for the Japan trip, hehe. ^^ I also took pictures of paintings but those didn't come out well due to the glare of the lighting. My favorite place was the Ramsay museum. Ramsay is an AMAZING artist and I'm officially a fan now. I'm sad that I can't find any of her works online so I can't show you guys. =( What sets her apart from all the other artists is her extraordinary attention to detail. When I first entered the museum, I noticed that there was a magnifiying glass hanging next to each peace of her artwork. I found the sight to be quite comical...but you can only truly come to appreciate her fine lines when you view them up close. It's astonishing.
Here are some other pieces that I liked:
All of the members of the Chinese zodiac!
A close up of me!
Cute teacup set.
I really liked that teacup set...I thought it was irresistably cute...simply adorable. This was at the grand opening of a new furniture shop called [area]. I'm sure it was unaffordable so I didn't bother looking for the price.
Pretty vase.
I fell in love at first sight with this gorgeous vase at the shop "into" (yes, it's called into), but pictures don't do justice. -_-
It's getting really late now so that's all for now. Good night!
Sunday (Oct 1)
I went out with Jenny and Zane for lunch and a little bit of shopping. And just because I want to show off my lunch:
Tokyo Shoyu Ramen @ Mikazuki inside Shirokiya
Monday
I planned for this day weeks before fall break started. My friends and I were all stressed from school and work so I figured we could all use a little cheering up. Although we see each other every day at school, it's not the same as getting together just to have fun. And I mentioned before how a friend neglected all her friends because of her boyfriend...well, this was a girls-only-fabulous-fun-day. This means he CANNOT come along. He actually called while we were putting cucumbers on our faces, but my other friend snatched her phone away. xD We baked matcha roll cake with azuki beans and gave ourselves the "beauty treatment" (my ideas).
Matcha roll cake w/ azuki beans & apple cider
It tasted like a dream come true...
Just b/c I like this shot and you can't really see our faces...(I'm in the middle.)
Tuesday & Wednesday
Work @ the library.
Thursday
I went bowling to celebrate a friend's birthday. I hit a strike, but suffered from a mysterious losing streak afterward. I was doing fine in the beginning, but after lunch, I got zero after zero. o_o; Hm. Bad luck sushi?
Friday
This was the longest day. I set my alarm to wake me up at 6:10 AM, but I forgot to put in a CD so I woke up 20 minutes late. On Friday, I was supposed to go hiking at Diamond Head with Erica and the Vietnamese Club. I'm not in the club, but I'm going anyway just because Erica invited me and I've never been to Diamond Head. *smiles* Erica estimated to be finished with the hike at 12, everyone was telling me how we had to climb a 100-step staircase, and Ha complained that her legs were killing her. All of this made me think it would be a long and difficult process to get to the top.
The hike was actually slightly disappointing for me because it was so short. It was an easy hike - not challenging at all. The trick is to watch your feet. The path is rocky so you can easily trip, fall, and break your back. And the infamous stairs! Not difficult at all! A hundred steps are nothing! ;D (I know my sister will have something to say about this...tsk,tsk.)
The view at the top was spectacular. There were many Japanese tourists and I heard someone exclaim, "Sugoi!" Sugoi, indeed! :D I made a gallery of this trip and you can view it here. (If you go to the Photography page, you would notice that there are two more galleries - 6 & 7. I'm going to put that up later because there are too many photos to deal with right now.) The first shot in the gallery was taken before our hike. Erica spotted a stray cat so I snapped a picture of it. Erica was second to take out her camera, but one picture was enough to scare the cat away. XD Sorry, Erica! You can have my picture (just ask)! I also have a picture of stairs in one of the shots...people told me that was the 100 steps staircase, but they were mistaken! Those were NOT the staircase...there were actually three sets of staircases. Thankfully, I did take a picture on the real staircase:
Erica (in pink) and me on the 100-steps staircase.
We finished the hike three hours before 12 so our "lunch" became our "breakfast." XP
I say this is a long day because I also went out later that night with an old friend from elementary school. <3 I've never attended a "First Friday" before. "First Friday" is an event that happens on the first Friday of every month. Galleries in Chinatown/Downtown are open for public viewing. There is much entertainment such as live music. Many shops and restaurants are also open. =3 We went to the The Arts at Marks Garage and I really liked this piece:
I don't remember the title, but it costs $1800.
It is an interesting piece, but I would rather use my money for the Japan trip, hehe. ^^ I also took pictures of paintings but those didn't come out well due to the glare of the lighting. My favorite place was the Ramsay museum. Ramsay is an AMAZING artist and I'm officially a fan now. I'm sad that I can't find any of her works online so I can't show you guys. =( What sets her apart from all the other artists is her extraordinary attention to detail. When I first entered the museum, I noticed that there was a magnifiying glass hanging next to each peace of her artwork. I found the sight to be quite comical...but you can only truly come to appreciate her fine lines when you view them up close. It's astonishing.
Here are some other pieces that I liked:
All of the members of the Chinese zodiac!
A close up of me!
Cute teacup set.
I really liked that teacup set...I thought it was irresistably cute...simply adorable. This was at the grand opening of a new furniture shop called [area]. I'm sure it was unaffordable so I didn't bother looking for the price.
Pretty vase.
I fell in love at first sight with this gorgeous vase at the shop "into" (yes, it's called into), but pictures don't do justice. -_-
It's getting really late now so that's all for now. Good night!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Adventures at the Library
Here I am, taking a long little break from homework to give you guys some insider scoop on the library! How exciting! No, actually, I can't give away too much. I don't think I feel too stressed yet with all the work I have. At least, I hope not. o_o;
Today is my fourth day at work, making it 7.5 hours. *smiles* At first, I really wondered whether the job was worth all the trouble that I went through to get it (that definitely caused me alot of stress!) I spent two weeks with trips to and from the Federal Credit Union, pulled strings to get an account at the American Savings Bank (my mother's friend works there, thank goodness), visited the Satellite City Hall twice to get my state ID (they were closed on my first trip there so I only got to pick up an application form), and filled out fifteen forms.
But I think this job is good for me. It's probably going to be the easiest and least strenuous jobs that exist out there. My supervisor, Kristine*, is one of the most eccentric people I've met, but she's very kind.
* name change
I got hired to be a student helper at the Social Science & Philosophy section. It consists a small staff of only five people. I've spent the past few days under "training" but I can't wait until I'm done with it so that I could actually help out with some real work. Kristine constantly tells me how her supervisor has really high standards and expectations. Hearing this makes me want to show her that I can do a better job than any other previous student helpers they've had. I want to exceed her expectations.
Most people find having a job at the library boring, even my friends who work there. Maybe I'll get bored later on, but I've done this for three years in Middle School (I was one of thenerdy cool kids in the Library Club) and it wasn't bad.
Yesterday, I had a tour around the third floor (staff only) of the library and was introduced to many people. I got to peak across the hallway to the busy director's office. Kristine showed me the "most important room" - the lunch room. It was connected to a spacious kitchen. There were three refrigerators, three microwaves, a stereo, and a toaster. She tells me this like I'm expected to remember the number of appliances the lunch room contained. The quirky thing about the lunch room were the puzzles. There were hundreds of boxes of puzzles...!
"To keep sanity," Kristine tells me.
There was even something called a "cot room" in which there were two beds for workers who weren't feeling well, are tired, or haven't had enough sleep. o_o;
"You can practically live here!" Kristine jokes.
Throughout the tour, Kristine kept warning me of safety precautions. In fact, she is so paranoid that I find this her caution to be peculiar. Maybe something has happened to her in the past that caused her to be this way. While we were on our way to a staff-only elevator, she tells me to make sure the door latch is shut behind me. Her eyes widen as she exclaims, "Who knows when a drug addict may slip in!" She goes on to explain that if they find the door to the staff room open, they might sneak in and try to find anything they could use to sell so they can buy more drugs. Kristine looked dead serious, but I can't help finding the scene comical. I can't imagine what a bunch of old, dusty, about-to-be-discarded books and ballpoint pens might be worth. She also tells me, "When you see a strange man in the elevator that just gives your skin the tingles, you trust your instincts and don't go in the elevator with him!"
I hope none of the things she is telling me will make me into a paranoid freak (I'm paranoid enough already!)
She continues talking about meeitng strange, scary, and dangerous men as we walk down another bare hallway to another room. A man walked by in the middle of her rants. Kristine looks up and exclaims, "Oh, Charles! Let me introduce you to our new student helper."
Charles smiles and says, "You're telling her that I'm scary and to stay away, huh?"
Kristine replies, "Oh, goodness, no! I was just telling her..." She explains what she has been telling me for the past half hour while Charles nods his head in swift motions. "Oh, Charles! I wasn't talking about you!"
I don't remember this episode as well anymore so the description is not very good, but it was extremely funny and we all had a good laugh out of it.
Today I learned that there was more to being a student helper than just shelving books and keeping the place neat and tidy. They have other little tasks to do behind the staff room door. I've even learned of things that "are not to be revealed to the public." (Like top secret entrances to the library before it opens to the public!) *smiles*
P.S. Did I ever mention that in my time spent at the library, I've come across many interesting book titles? Here are a few:
- "A Manual for the Police Officer: How to Handle Abnormal People" (spotted on first day)
- "Spies and Provocateurs: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Persons Conducting Espionage and Covert Action"
- "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters"
- "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History"
I make it a game to spot one everyday! It'll be something I can look forward to keep myself amused.
Today is my fourth day at work, making it 7.5 hours. *smiles* At first, I really wondered whether the job was worth all the trouble that I went through to get it (that definitely caused me alot of stress!) I spent two weeks with trips to and from the Federal Credit Union, pulled strings to get an account at the American Savings Bank (my mother's friend works there, thank goodness), visited the Satellite City Hall twice to get my state ID (they were closed on my first trip there so I only got to pick up an application form), and filled out fifteen forms.
But I think this job is good for me. It's probably going to be the easiest and least strenuous jobs that exist out there. My supervisor, Kristine*, is one of the most eccentric people I've met, but she's very kind.
* name change
I got hired to be a student helper at the Social Science & Philosophy section. It consists a small staff of only five people. I've spent the past few days under "training" but I can't wait until I'm done with it so that I could actually help out with some real work. Kristine constantly tells me how her supervisor has really high standards and expectations. Hearing this makes me want to show her that I can do a better job than any other previous student helpers they've had. I want to exceed her expectations.
Most people find having a job at the library boring, even my friends who work there. Maybe I'll get bored later on, but I've done this for three years in Middle School (I was one of the
Yesterday, I had a tour around the third floor (staff only) of the library and was introduced to many people. I got to peak across the hallway to the busy director's office. Kristine showed me the "most important room" - the lunch room. It was connected to a spacious kitchen. There were three refrigerators, three microwaves, a stereo, and a toaster. She tells me this like I'm expected to remember the number of appliances the lunch room contained. The quirky thing about the lunch room were the puzzles. There were hundreds of boxes of puzzles...!
"To keep sanity," Kristine tells me.
There was even something called a "cot room" in which there were two beds for workers who weren't feeling well, are tired, or haven't had enough sleep. o_o;
"You can practically live here!" Kristine jokes.
Throughout the tour, Kristine kept warning me of safety precautions. In fact, she is so paranoid that I find this her caution to be peculiar. Maybe something has happened to her in the past that caused her to be this way. While we were on our way to a staff-only elevator, she tells me to make sure the door latch is shut behind me. Her eyes widen as she exclaims, "Who knows when a drug addict may slip in!" She goes on to explain that if they find the door to the staff room open, they might sneak in and try to find anything they could use to sell so they can buy more drugs. Kristine looked dead serious, but I can't help finding the scene comical. I can't imagine what a bunch of old, dusty, about-to-be-discarded books and ballpoint pens might be worth. She also tells me, "When you see a strange man in the elevator that just gives your skin the tingles, you trust your instincts and don't go in the elevator with him!"
I hope none of the things she is telling me will make me into a paranoid freak (I'm paranoid enough already!)
She continues talking about meeitng strange, scary, and dangerous men as we walk down another bare hallway to another room. A man walked by in the middle of her rants. Kristine looks up and exclaims, "Oh, Charles! Let me introduce you to our new student helper."
Charles smiles and says, "You're telling her that I'm scary and to stay away, huh?"
Kristine replies, "Oh, goodness, no! I was just telling her..." She explains what she has been telling me for the past half hour while Charles nods his head in swift motions. "Oh, Charles! I wasn't talking about you!"
I don't remember this episode as well anymore so the description is not very good, but it was extremely funny and we all had a good laugh out of it.
Today I learned that there was more to being a student helper than just shelving books and keeping the place neat and tidy. They have other little tasks to do behind the staff room door. I've even learned of things that "are not to be revealed to the public." (Like top secret entrances to the library before it opens to the public!) *smiles*
P.S. Did I ever mention that in my time spent at the library, I've come across many interesting book titles? Here are a few:
- "A Manual for the Police Officer: How to Handle Abnormal People" (spotted on first day)
- "Spies and Provocateurs: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Persons Conducting Espionage and Covert Action"
- "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters"
- "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History"
I make it a game to spot one everyday! It'll be something I can look forward to keep myself amused.
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