End of Love?

 

My neighbors' kids made this heart-shaped sign with gravel right on the sidewalk by my garage. Thought it was kinda cute. End of Love? I suppose?

Wastewater treatment in HK

Wittybb sent me this article: 黎廣德﹕淨化維港 加速發展 決心何在？

I too don't understand why Hong Kong Government is dragging its feet in wastewater treatment. Despite a large surplus in the budget, Phase 2B of the wastewater treatment plan won't be reviewed till 2010? Secondary treatment (activated sludge or other biological processes) is a must and should have been implemented along with the primary treatment (physical/chemical processes). If the government is serious about cleaning up the Victoria Harbor, it should build a treatment plant that is up to the US standards.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Never give up... no matter how difficult the situation appears to be. There is always a way out. There is always a solution. Never loose faith... never loose hope. This is the pursuit of happiness.

P.S. I think Will Smith's son deserves an Oscar for his performance.

Uh Oh

I think babies like to say "uh oh" all the time. My boss' son does that when something falls out of his hand... or whenever he feels like to. Today... a baby girl was saying "uh oh" too while I was lunching at El Burrito Loco.

A piece of advice

I asked my good friend why it is so hard to find someone whom I can share my life with?

She replied

b/c
- you're unique
- you won't treasure her as much if it's easy
- and if it's so easy she won't be special and unique?!~

Very true.

miracles

Miracles exist for those who believe in them.

Untitled

When reality hits you smack in the face,
it's got to hurt.
It is unsettling.
But truth cannot be denied.
Intuition has its place?
Or experience calling its shots?
The unknown is the biggest fear of all.
Shall we lift this fear
by revealing our true selves underneath?

Einstein and God and Science

Reading the two articles recommended by Wittybb and David... reminded me that I had actually written a couple of blog entries a while back which talked about similar issues.

An Equation...
I pondered the possibility of a single equation that would describe everything in this world and universe, including every physical thing and you and me and even our behavior. This is the deterministic view point held by Einstein. And as Christians, we believe that God has a plan for us... which in a certain sense, for He has laid out a plan, His plan is deterministic. Yet, we also speak of free will and that we are responsible for things that we do and say. It is contradictory. But I do not struggle with it. I'd like to believe that we do have free will and we should be held accountable for our actions. But who are we to say that our free will is not part of God's grand plan for us? Our free will could very well be just the random noise in the grander scale of things. Knowing this makes us humble and meek as how Jesus has taught us.

On God and Science
I struggled a great deal and I still do, to this day, on how to make compromises between faith and science. I believe science is a discovery tool... a tool that we should use to explore and understand God's creation. The more we know, we realize that there are still more things that we don't know. What remains mystery is in our faith to believe.

Easter Weekend

What a disappointment that the weather was so unseasonably cold this weekend. Despite the weather, this Easter weekend was quite good (or at least so it seemed).

Saturday, I went up to Chicago Chinatown and had "dim sum" with my friend and my boss' family of four. My boss was brave enough to try "chicken feet" but didn't like them. Andrew was so dazed at first as I had never seen him so quiet before. But then he finally sobered up and just didn't want to sit still on my lap. We did a little tour of chinatown after lunch. But it was just too cold to be walking around, let alone with two kids. Dinner was at chinatown again and met some new friends. And that was good.

Sunday morning I was at church for the Easter service. A family invited me to their Easter's dinner, for the second year. It was so kind of them.... I felt like I was in a home away from home. Jokes, laughters, and kids running around and screaming... they said grandma had a crush on me... as she complimented on my eyes, saying that there were attractive?! No one had ever said anything nice about my eyes, except with words like "tiny" and "small." Anyway, I was flattered... Kidding aside, grandma is really kind.

I took many pictures especially of the kids. Here are two of them.

Carly looking up at the balloon...


An intimate moment of Maya and Carly...

Leslie

They had the music video-movie on last night... I believe it was the last of Leslie's work. Never watched it before. Pretty good.

Snow's in the forecast later this week. Hope the Easter weekend will have good weather. Last year it was horrible. Thunder and bad storm.

Going to work this afternoon, again. Have to finish the resubmittal to INDR. My client is breathing down my neck.

A Quote That Doesn't Flow

The unreachable is most fascinating.

JC (1975-??)

....zzz

in this sleepless night
even the stars are hiding their twinkles
no more little no more wonder
the one is the special one
who flies to the moon and Jupiter

Being nice

Since everyone's written something about friendship and being nice to ppl and all. I decide throw in my 2 cents as well.

I don't have many friends, honestly I don't. I am not good at socializing. My tongue starts to tie up when I get nervous.

On the other hand, I have certain expectation on whom I choose to be friends with. I desire a higher level of connection, whether it is a on an intellectual or emotional level. This might explain why I don't have many friends.

That said. I think I have a pretty good sense of "seeing" ppl. I mean, I can tell whether a person is good or bad, not just on the surface... the deeper kind of understanding if you will. That way, I can see past one's mistakes and wrong doings, and can forgive others readily.

I hold dear to the belief that if I am nice to ppl... ppl will do the same in return. After all, you feel good anyway even you don't get anything in return. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

As for friendship, I always wonder what makes two persons click. Has it to do with personality? Or the day and time you were born? Or just random chances? Anyhow, treasure your dearest friends. I think one of our purposes in life is to make friends and develop relationships with ppl. Take away that purpose, our life would be empty and meaningless.

untitled

enduring
love
surely but slowly
ignites the
eternal flame

Crapioli

I swear I made up the word "CRAPIOLI" myself. I don't believe I've heard anyone saying it before.

But then Jasper did a search on Google. Holy Crapioli!

157 hits for crapioli

Well. Not too bad I guess. 157 great minds think alike.

Life and Nature

Watching a nature show on discovery channel...

A bird gave it best show, dancing and flashing his beautiful feathers, and yet his potential mate was not impressed and flew away.

Nature is cruel sometimes.

Life likewise.

Puzzle

To understand a person is like putting a puzzle together. The major difference is that you actually have to ask for the pieces yourself---the puzzle doesn't come in a whole set but with possible missing pieces that you may spend your whole life searching for them. Each piece of the puzzle is a tidbit of information about that person. After you gather all the pieces, you still have to find out how they all fit together.

Hand on the mouse

My boss caught me napping today. I was working on a drawing. And for some reason, my eyes were just too tired to stay open, but hand on the mouse.... my boss stopped at my door. He said, "You sleeping? I can't let this shit happening there!"

Ha ah ha... he was joking of course. But man, was I not embarrassed.

~~~~
Thanks to Jasper for the following illustration!

一凹一凸

When we are young, we can be molded to fit each other fairly easily. Even if we don't fit perfectly, we are pliable enough that our rough edges can be rounded and ground out without too much pain. Think of ourself as clay. As we dry out and get older, we can no longer be shaped into different forms easily. We settle into a rigid self.

To find the second half that fits.... is not easy any more.

But.... water. As long as the clay has not been fired before. You add water. You get back the workable clay. Yes it will take time and lots of hard work. But as long as you add enough water and with patience, your clay can be reshaped again.

weekend

Had dinner last night at a restaurant called Asian Grill in Noblesville, IN. The food was pretty good. Kinda like Asian fusion type deal. It's right there in the downtown square. A neat little downtown.

Going wine tasting today down in the Bloomington Area. They've got Oliver and Butler there. Hopefully it'll be a worthwhile trip.

untitled

eternally
lost in the continuum of
space where love
infests
every
soul
of humankind

work

Being a project manager is not easy. Thanks to my boss. All of a sudden I have five or six projects on my hand. All of which are not my usual flood studies. Yeah something new and something exciting. But then I don't have help... I need someone who can do the tedious cad and gis work for me. Yes I am lazy. I am good with GIS but not so with CAD.

A little burned out.

The Spark

I ponder the possibility of an existence
An existence of a spark that triggers a fire
A fire that burns passionately
A fire that cannot be extinguished
A fire that continues to light up the night
and brings life to an otherwise boring soul

Chicago

Had a great time with friends in Chicago Saturday.

Brunch at Orange. A good breakfast joint. Good atmosphere, good food and big serving.

Went to Lincoln Park Zoo. Spent a lot of time watching the chimps and the gorillas. The weather was really nice... in the 50s. Even the chimps were out and about. Looking at the African apes, I wish they weren't kept in cages. The facility at the zoo is really good. But I just wonder if the animals would be happier in the jungle. But then, from their perspective, they might just as well be thinking.... "what are all these people in cage staring at us for?"

Oh... we saw zebra too. Two zebras stood out from the herd of three there. One with a black body with white stripes and the other has a white body with black stripes.

Then we watched a play at Lincoln Square Theatre... Rashomon. A Japanese story about a rape and murder, being told by four people with four different contradicting accounts. Very well acted. The actress who played the samurai's wife and the actor who played the bandit were exceptionally good. Moral of the story? People see things what only they want to see and they tell only what they want to tell. We are selfish creatures; we lie; we are deceitful. But the silver lining is that we have compassion--the goodness that lies within us, no matter how deep and hidden it is, is undeniably there.

Lincoln Square... a nice street (square?) with small shops and eateries. After the play, we stopped at a pastry/coffee shop. I want to go back there later in Spring. I want to take pictures of kids playing in the plaza. I want to visit the book stores there or just stroll along all the row houses in the neighborhood.

Dinner was at Medival Times. With low expectation, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the show as well. You don't get to see people dressed up as knights and kings and princess... jousting on horses and sword fighting all the times. Eating with your fingers was actually quite a satisfying experience.

After dinner, we went to a Andy's for some good Jazz. I wish I knew how to play Jazz. Well... wishful thinking really... my piano skill has deteriorated so much due to years of lack of practice, let alone playing jazz. I will probably stick with my singing for now. Even with singing, I have a long way to go.

Childhood Games

Wittybb was writing about games we played while we were kids, which reminds me some of the fun games I used to played with my friends/classmates....

Foot Trample

ok... it seems weird but we played this game all the time in primary school. First a group gathers with each person sticking out one foot touching others'. Then take turn and jump/hop away from each other as far as possible. That will usually take about 2 rounds. Then TRAMPLING begins. Taking turn, one can stump on any other's foot with one leap. If you are able to step on one's foot, the person you step on is out. If you miss then you are in trouble because you now are very close to the person you tried to step on. So very likely you will be out soon. We used to wear "white sail fish." That is one way to turn the white fish to black fish quickly.

Sticking to the Wall

I don't remember exactly how this game is played. But basically one or two persons will serve as the "catcher" and the rest will try to stick to the wall. Usually the game is played between two columns. So the wall is actually the column. Your goal is not to get caught while running between the two columns. You can form a chain by holding hands. So as long as at least one person is touching one of the columns, the whole chain is safe unless one get chopped off. A lot of running around and screaming, but quite fun I remembered. This game is usually not allowed because running is involved. The prefect will catch you and no more "rest period."

Racing Game with Pencils

This is my favorite. I would draw a race track on a piece of paper, furnished with the starting and finish lines. Also on the racetrack are the "bouncy" guardrails. To play the game, you need pencils of various lengths. So you start at the starting line holding the top of pencil with your index finger with the pencil tip pointing at the line. You would then push the top of the pencil with your finger and create a streak or a line. Where the line fades is where you start your next turn. The idea is that if you use a longer pencil, the line you fire will be longer. If your line hits a "bouncy" guardrail, you are ok. But if you hit a solid wall... then you crash and lose a turn. I think it is really fun.... give it a try.

My Office (update)

 

 

 

Hmm...

 

An interesting picture of me! Thanks to Morgan!

15th

I was told... today is the 15th of the first month.

......

Crappy Night

Went to Jewel-Osco and mistakenly bought an expensive bottle of Pinot Noir. Thought it was 6.99 and turned out to be 18.99. Oh well. I didn't return it. Thought that I could treat myself to a good wine.

Then I got home. Opened the kitchen door. Kicked down a suitcase. Damn it. It has a laptop in the suitcase. Worse yet, it is not mine but belongs to my barbershop chorus. Then I set down the grocery... and the damn bottle slipped out of my hand. Did a somersault and landed on the kitchen floor. As it landed, glass shattered and bloody wine splashed all over the floor. ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Took me at least half an hour to clean up. Well... got wine on my down jacket... in the washer now. The good thing out of all this is that now my kitchen floor is mopped clean. And my laptop is ok.

My Office

Had been quite busy with work and everyday life since I got back from HK a month ago. Oh man, I can't believe a whole month has already gone by. I know... I still haven't written anything on my HK trip yet. It will come when time is right... eventually... I'll write about it. And the pictures... sigh....

Anyway.. have to come back to work on a Saturday morning coz my office is getting new furniture. Nice, huh? Lots of shelf space and a big desk. More room for me to pile up my junk. I am going to move the server into my office as well since I am managing it anyway.. sortof... we have a contract with a local company for computer support. But I do take care of some day-to-day problems and surprises.

I am too lazy to move my stuff to the new desk yet. My stuff is currently occupying the 2 desks on the other corner of my office that you can't see in the picture. Oh... I need some decoration too. Any ideas? I've got some pictures framed. Should hang them on the wall.

I did put up the "fei chuen" from Jasper. See the tag in the middle. See if you can read it.

Valentines... belated

On valentines day, I asked a quartet from my barbershop chorus to sing for all the ladies in my office. Here's a slideshow made by the local newspaper... I was singing in the quartet as well.

http://daily-journal.com/multimedia/display.php?id=48

Wii-athon

Picked up my friend, wu kong--the monkey (Mii nickname), from Ohare yesterday afternoon, then went to Trader Joe's to get some grocery and couple bottles of wines. I cooked chicken and some vegetables for our "year-end" dinner. The Black Mountain Chardonnay was good but the Barefoot Merlot was a bit of a disappointment. Anyway, we stated playing Wii after dinner. We started with the Sports games then moved on to the Wii Play. Then we spent all night playing Excite Truck. The Excite Truck game was a lot of fun. High jumps, drifts and crashes... We didn't realize it was 6 in the morning until we quit playing.

Happy New Year! Year Year Have Fish! Heart Thinks Things Made!

Snow and Wii

At least 12 inches of snow forecasted for tonight and tomorrow.

I got my Wii this evening! I played all the sports games. I am now exhausted. But Fun!

Shitty Island

Excerpt from The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami

Somewhere, far, far away, there's a shitty island. An island without a name. An island not worth giving a name. A shitty island with a shitty shape. On this shitty island grow palm trees that also have shitty shapes. And the palm trees produce coconuts that give off a shitty smell. Shitty monkeys live in the trees, and they love to eat these shitty-smelling coconuts, after which they shit the world's foulest shit. The shit falls on the ground and builds up shitty mounds, making the shitty palm trees that grow on them even shittier. It's an endless cycle.

It's a book that I recently picked up from the bookstore. I am a third through... and I cannot put it down. The story is so fascinating and dream-like. It is as if I am reading an adult version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I am certainly going to read other novels of his.

Love and Sacrifice

to love is to sacrifice.

Back to the States

I am back to the States. Arrived Wednesday night and my boss was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. We had sushi for dinner. Poor Bo and Daisy (my boss' two dogs) were freezing in the car while we were having dinner.

The past two days I have been fighting my jetlag. Mornings were fine but then when the afternoon came around, my head would become light and start spinning and my eyes would start drooping. 2007 has been so far a year of surprises and unexpectedness. For better or worse, life goes on. It is how we make sense of it.

I was going to spend time writing about my HK trip during my plane ride. But I ended up drifting in and out of sleep. Nothing was written as a results. I will start writing soon, I promise. A lot had happened. Hope my memory will serve me well as I write. Fortunately, I do have pictures to help me remember.

Last day in Hong Kong

I am tired and exhausted as I am writing this. My 2 week trip to Hong Kong is almost over. Tomorrow I will head back to the US. On my flight home, I will try my best to recall and write down as best as I could what happened during my stay. A few unexpected things ... otherwise a good trip ... I realize I do miss Hong Kong. Not so much the city itself, but my friends and family and my childhood memories.

~~~~

Human beings are mysterious animals. Their behaviors defy simple logic. If we look at people's actions and reactions as simply mysterious behaviors and try not to find explanations for them, then life will simply be a mystery. Better leave the mystery alone and not be hurt by the mystery.

kaleidoscope rebuttal

really
twisting kaleidoscope
so cliché
who says life is always colorful?
unexpected for sure
but not always colorful

On Manipulation

Mind be controlled
He says one plus one equals three
And you dare not disagree
Truth be told
No manipulator shall exist
If you choose to resist

~~~~~~~~~
Ha ha ha... but resistance is futile. You shall be assimilated.

China From the Inside

A very nice documentary about China on PBS.

phone calls

My sister called twice; left a message on my cell phone and my home phone asking me to call her back. I still can't get a hold of her. Hope she's alright.

Update: Finally got my sister on the phone. She's alright. Just a few things about her wedding and my mom.

Lingering Christmas Cold

Just thought that I had just recovered from my Christmas cold. Well... not quite. I was late to work today. Headache and cough this morning. The headache got worse in the afternoon. Now I am ok. Still have this cough. Maybe I should see a doctor tomorrow?

Dinner

Home-made pasta sauce... Yum Yum Yum.

Update:

The Chianti was good. Got it from Costco.

kaleidoscope

LIFE is like a twisting kaleidoscope
with ever changing shapes and colors
squares, diamonds, and triangles
ruby red and turquoise green
together, pictures painted and awe inspired
tidbits of everyday moments
flash before our eyes
as if a kaleidoscope never stops turning
tears, despair, and hatred
laughters and amazement
our life formed and we EXPERIENCE

A delightful/funny lunch

My day didn't start all that well. I woke up this morning and the alarm clock read 8:40 am. After muttering a few curses, I rushed to brush my teeth. Then I realized that I had someone to come in at 9 for a job interview. My rush became a mad dash. To my own amazement, I made it to my office before 9 o'clock with a minute to spare.

The guy was already in the conference room, yet my boss was no where in sight. I called him up and he said he was still a good half hour away and asked that I would handle the interview. Arrghhh. The interview went well for me and for our new hire. And yes, we ended up hiring him on a trial basis. The rest of the morning I was training him on a few things. My boss kept emphasizing that I should not spoon-feed him so that we can gauge his skill sets. Ok... we'll see how that go. I am glad that we finally found someone to help out with projects. I've been supporting everyone by preparing nice graphs and cad drawings. It's time that I can move on to bigger and better things. Career-wise, I need to branch out and maybe get involved with different types of projects. Not that I don't enjoy doing flood studies (they are challenging at times), but it'll be nice to venture into some groundwater stuff and maybe some wastewater side of things so that I can apply what I picked up over the years in school.

Hmm... I am supposed to write about a delightful lunch. Yes... So the story goes... My coworker went out to lunch and promised to bring me back something from a new Filipino restaurant in town. She got back an hour later empty-handed. She said... "2 good news and 1 bad news." The first good news was that the food was really really good. The bad news was that you couldn't order carry-out without a 2 hour notice in advance. Huh? Another piece of good news was that she got cans of tuna stacked away in the kitchen cabinet and that I could help myself to those for lunch.

Since she was raving about the food so much, my boss and I decided to go try it ourselves. It was a buffet lunch. Got curry chicken, roast pork, sweet and sour tilapia, crispy rolls made with pork (I think), beef, fried rice, and stir-fried rice noodles. The food was surprisingly good, kinda have a home-made feel to it. Not greasy at all. If you want to order any dishes on the menu, you need to call in in advance, since according to the chef--in his exact word--he prepares everything from "raw," meaning from scratch.

The best part of the whole lunch was that after we were done eating, the chef came out and sat down and started yakking away. We talked about the Philippines, how beautiful it is, the early history of its settlement. We touched on global warming, bad food/bad customers, his business philosophy, .... the list goes on.

He is such a colorful person with a good sense of humor. We were talking about ignorance and intolerance of people and about America being a melting pot. Then he commented that unless your name is Racing Bull or Sitting Duck, you are really just a foreigner in this country. [That really cracked me up.]

He continued... "The blacks came here on the Amistad; the whites came here on the May Flower; I flew here on Northwest!" [Man, he should be on Comedy Central!]

Then he said that people told him that he came to the US and took the job away from the Americans. He would reply, "Are you a cook? Are you a nurse (he was a nurse by profession, but he loves to cook and therefore the restaurant)?... No... So I didn't take the job away from you." [I thought to myself--good argument!]

One thing he said which made my boss a little uneasy afterwards was that he has a theory about our immune system. If we aren't expose to the germs, we won't be immune from them. People use soap and wash their hands all the time... and the theory goes washing hands all the time is not necessary. [Ok he didn't say that in those exact words, but we thought he really meant it. He was a nurse for goodness sake.]

It's great that we have a little nice ethnic restaurant in an otherwise very vanilla (my boss' word, not mine) town. To me, it's always interesting to meet people from different culture and with different experience. In essence, this is what Life is meant to be lived. You live to experience the people, the nature, and all the things around you. [And don't forget God, if you believe He is among us and in us.]

So for once, my WORK infected soul seemed to be cured miraculously. I didn't really do any work today. After lunch, I was just talking to another coworker about the project we were supposed to be working on. All talk, no work. And before we knew it, it was 4:30. Time to go home.

Virus Warning!

A dangerous new virus is being distributed electronically. It is called the Worm Overload Recreation Killer (WORK). You can get WORK from your boss or colleagues. Do not touch it. The virus will wipe out your private life.

If you come into contact with WORK, there are two antidotes. You can purchase Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) or Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). They're available at your local grocery store. Take repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated.

Forward this warning to five friends. If you don't have five friends, you're infected with WORK and it is controlling your life.

Very funny! I thought I just eradicated the virus b4 the New Year!

Camera

I have to write about this because I am really excited. My sister bought me a Nikon D80 SLR Camera and a hard-to-find 18-200mm Zoom-Nikkor Lens. (Ok, I have to pay her back....) Really have to give my sister credit for finding the lens. The lens is so popular that it is out-of-stock almost anywhere in the world. I think she went to several camera shops in Hong Kong and finally one store said that they had ONE in stock. And the only reason they had it was because a customer ordered it but thought that he had waited too long and canceled the order. Ha ha... I guess I am lucky. I am going to take a LOT of pictures while I am in Hong Kong. And to be a good brother as I always have been (my sister would totally disagree), I will try to capture every moment of my sister's wedding with my new Nikon D80. :) Thank you, my dear sister!

corruption and GDP

I was reading the January issue of The Economist. In it there was an article about corruption.

There was this graph showing the relationship between corruption and GDP. Data points are scattered but they fit an exponential decay curve fairly well. The amount (or cases?) of corruption increases exponentially as a nation's GDP decreases.

I guess it is not a surprise that corruption is related to economic wealth.

What makes me a bit uneasy is the realization that our moral or morality depends on money. Our morality has a price! We can't afford talking about morality if we can't even make our ends meet, or if we can't keep our stomach full. I might have taken this a bit out of context. But think about it. I think, to certain extent, this is true. Sad, but true.

Happy New Year!

Today is such a gloomy day... cloudy and all, hope the new year will be brighter than the weather.

I spent New Year's Eve at a wedding. Didn't stay for the ball drop. The midnight just slipped by unnoticeably as I drove home. For some reason, I was in a depressed mood. Finally got to be alone and quiet, but I realize quiet moments are way overrated. I opened up a bottle of wine. Make a toast to myself. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I was asked an interesting question today.

Does Santa use a whip?

Really, would the whip actually work when he travels with supersonic speed?

Wednesday, Party Day

Had an exciting day yesterday.

Three parties, sort of. The first one was at the church and I wasn't really part of it. My parents have been going to this quilting groups at church. They make quilts for missions. The ladies in the group presented a quilt to my parents as a parting gift. Very nice of them.

Around noon, I picked up my parents from the church then headed to my company's X'mas party. Free drinks and free food. And a year-end bonus check!!!!!! To top it off, my dad won the dart tournament and got a $50 gift card to TGIF. Now he is revered as the king of dart at the engineering office next door coz he beat all the top guys there (guys who always hang out at the bar).

We then had a Wii party at my coworker's. Man... that Wii was fun to play. And yes, the remote did slip out of my hand once. It hit and ceiling.... no damage was done. I was sooooo embarrassed.

After the Wii party, I met up with a professor of mine from Purdue. He was on his way to Toronto and stopped by to visit us. We went to TGIF for dinner, thanks to Dad's daring performance at the dart tournament. After the dinner, my prof supposed to follow us home and stayed with us for the night. But we lost him on the way home. It was raining... at night... and visibility was low. I actually spotted him twice after he took the wrong turn. He didn't have a cell phone. So I had no way of finding him. I just got his email tonight. He ended up staying at a motel 6 last night and he has arrived Toronto safe and sound.

Sister's Wedding Site

http://www2.hongai.edu.hk/~chc/wkc.html

Haircut

My mom gave me a haircut--free of charge--as my b-day present wor. Oh well...

Work

Really excited at work today. Gotta move in an office. And a big news that I need to keep it under wrap for a while. Next year will be interesting.

Tiramisu

oh... haven't posted a real entry in a while. I guess it's about time.

My company had a X'mas party tonight. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Almost every one from the office plus their significant others have showed up. I brought my parents along as well. The food was good.

I had tiramisu for dessert. It was sooooo good. It was very light and soft. It just melts in your mouth. I think I had just tasted the best tiramisu, ever.

After several bites, however, I was lost in thoughts. I hate how my brain works. A piece of tiramisu could bring back so many memories. I was surprised that I still miss her. Damn it. Never learned how to let go. Or will I ever?

Time

Time is a good medicine.

Really?

Happy Turkey Day

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

football

Purdue finally won a game this Saturday.... against the lowly Michigan State. Oh well... the defense is finally catching up and again... the offense is a bit lack-luster. But a win is a win. No complaint there.

As for the Bears... they finally lost a game. A team cannot overcome 6 turnovers no matter how good it is. Well.. it's about time that they lose one. It will make them a better team.

Ice-cream

Took my parents shopping yesterday... found a really good deal for an ice-cream maker attachment set (to the kitchen-aid mixer I have). Only $20... freeze mixing bowl + drive assembly + ice-cream scoop. I just looked up Amazon... the same unit being sold for $80. Unbelievable!

Anyway, I put the freeze bowl in the freezer last night. So earlier today, I bought some heavy whip cream and milk... With the powder mix that came with the set, I made ICE-CREAM! It was soooo easy. Just let it stir for 25 minutes... you get a soft ice-cream (like frozen custard). Now the ice-cream is in freezer... it should be ready for dinner dessert. Haha ha....

"home"

For those of you who are in the States or... in a country that you are not born in... have you ever considered where you are currently living "home"?

For me, I guess I am quite adaptable in that I can pretty much go anywhere and settle down and consider that place my home. I guess I can be classified as a settler... but the truth is I don't like changes either. There is a certain security about status quo.

What would you do if you don't think of your home "home" and always have the desire to go "home"? What really make a home "home"? What makes you belong to a place, a city, or a country?

weekend

Good friends from Indianapolis came visit yesterday. We went to see a locally produced musical in town--- Beauty and the Beast. The musical was good, actually surprisingly well done for limited budget and talents. My coworker was in the cast too... she's Babbette... the duster lady. She did really well.... very "fung show" indeed. The lady who did Belle was a really really good singer... very professional.

Today... we all went up to Chicago to do some shopping. Dinner at China town... we had Szecheun food. Haven't had Szecheun stuff in a while. It was good... but I can't imagine eating that stuff every single day.

Fight

Mom and Dad had a fight tonight. Well actually this fight has lasted for more than a week already. I spent my whole evening talking to them. They are still fighting as I am writing this. Sigh.... One of these days, the inevitable might just happen. I truly feel sorry for Dad when he said... I deserve to be happy for my last few years of life.... I'd use all my money to do things that I like to do... go places that I like to go.

Sigh....

life

life is short. really short.

talking to a friend on the phone today... she worried about his dad's health... about the inevitability of death.
got another friend's email tonight... her dad just passed away over the weekend.

was it a coincidence?

my dad looks older as each day flies by. he is sleepy all the time. i am worried.

life is too short.

Tonight... tonight...

In the middle of my barbershop chorus rehearsal tonight, my director suddenly said to me in his usual stammering way, "I... I have a personal matter that I need to talk... talk to you." (Not trying to make fun of him, but he does stutter every now and then.) I was kinda worried coz I was the only tenor tonight and thought that he might have something to say about my singing. (Oh, yeah... due to the lack of younger/higher voices in the chorus, I am officially a tenor now. I guess it's a good fit for me. My voice is not loud enough to be a lead anyway. And surprisingly, I like singing tenor.) Anyway... getting back to my story....

He then pulled me aside after rehearsal and with a bashful smile, he asked "You are still single, are you?"

?!?!?!

I was stunned for a moment. Then I realized that he was trying to be a matchmaker. He said he wanted to set me up with the organist at his church. Oh boy....

On a side note, my mom declared the other day. "You cannot have a foreigner wife!"

On another side note and on the subject of being 阿Q, I have given up trying to look for my other half or more accurately speaking--dreaming about it. Facing with the reality of my family situation (mainly with my mom) makes me realize that the chance of finding a woman who can tolerate me and my mom is literally slimmer than winning the lottery. No more 阿Q. I just have to give up trying.

:`|

Fall Pictures

Fall 2006

Starved Rock State Park

The colors were disappointing. I knew it's too early. Only 25% of the foliage has put on its autumn colors. The guy at the visitor center said this year's color won't be as good as usual anyway because of the cold weather. It was worth the trip though. It's good that my parents get some exercise.

Starved Rock is a pretty place. There are many canyons with sand stone bluffs. The canyons are very deep... more spectacular than those at Turkey Run. I will go there again in the Spring to see the waterfalls.

The town Utica is just to the north of the state park. A little midwest town. I checked out a pottery store. The guy was really nice. He's been in business for 30 years. I wish some day I could set up a workshop at home. I really miss doing pottery. Next year... some time next year.

Had lunch in town at a small restaurant called Nodding Onion. The building, I guess, was converted from an old home, very nicely decorated. The food was surprisingly good. I had the wasabi tuna wrap. They only serve breakfast and lunch. Highly recommended!

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Only took a few shoots.

阿Q

現實是不可能長久逃避, 但是當阿Q也算是不錯的短暫麻醉.

Snow in October

Snow, snow, snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok... it were just flurries. But still, it's only October 12. This is gonna to be a long, cold, snowy winter. White Halloween, anyone?

Selective Memory

Talked to my best friend couple nights ago. We both have the problem of losing our memory. More accurately speaking, selectively losing our memory. It's not a matter of choice sometimes. When we forget, we just forget with no reason. I guess using the word "selective" implies active control. Hmm... maybe something or someone else is in control here, definitely not me consciously by choice.

The most distant memory I have... has to be my sister's birth. No, I didn't see her birth exactly. I remember standing on the sidewalk, holding my grandpa's hand and pointing at the ambulance that was transferring my mom to another more well-equipped hospital. I was three years old then. I am not quite sure if it was a real memory, but to this day, that image is still stuck in my head. Was I crying at the time? I must have been.

I tend to forget everyday mundane things. So keeping this blog is a good way to help me remember. I was going through my year-old posts the other day. I was surprised how many things have since escaped from my memory already. I think I am getting old. Ha ha.

Jambalaya

Made jambalaya today for dinner. Mom is on strike so Dad and I have to take turn cooking. First time ever making jambalaya... I am a big fan of Creole/Cajun cooking, but I never really did make any Cajun food before. Well... the jambalaya turned out ok. Haven't had any Cajun food lately.. and kinda forgot how jambalaya should taste like. At least edible... ha ha.

Picasa Web

Have been so busy at work. Got a really really tricky flood study from the engineering company next door (my other boss). The next two weeks I'll be working on it. Gotta redo the hydrologic model and more. Time is of essence for that project. My boss winced when he heard that I'll be occupied by my other boss for 2 weeks. Oops too bad. Hope we can hire a helper for me some time next year. Oh well... small company... have to stay lean and mean.

Finally got around to upload some of the pictures from the yellowstone trip. Picasa is amazing. Now that it has a web album thing... uploading pictures is a breeze. 250 MB of storage. not bad for free.

football

Purdue's playing Notre Dame tomorrow.... crossing my fingers... praying hard... Will miracle happen?

Update 1:
Purdue is down by 14 at the half. The defense is not playing very well, but I love the offense. Curtis Painter (our quarterback) is better than I thought. Lymon's (wide receiver) got a big body and a damn good receiver. Of course Kory Sheets (running back) is a delight to watch. Hope the defense will show up in the second half.

Update 2:
Didn't watch the second half. A family from church invited us to their home for dinner. Anyway, I just checked the score and we lost. Oh well... Purdue has a very young defense. Next year will be better I hope.

A Giant Bug

A giant bug was found near the town of Hulen, Germany. Here's the aerial downloaded from Google Earth.
The bug measured 167 feet long. Huge!

mid week

Sunday... I was nervous. Never had led a worship service before. I didn't start very well... kinda fumbling with words and forgot the name of the family who gave the flowers on the altar. But everything turned out ok in the end. I am glad that I did it.

Work has been incredibly busy lately. Now that I have to do all the cad and gis work for the ecological group, meaning I have prepare all the maps and figures for their reports and stuff. On top of that I have my own flood studies and projects to do. My to-do list is usually 10 items long. I wish I have help, but we are not going to hire anyone this year. Bummer.

Mom was mad at Dad (as usual) today. But today, she has a good reason too. She was making the lotus seed paste for mooncakes... and she ran into a math problem. She had a bowl of sugar measured at 16 "lurn" and she only needed 11 "lurn" of sugar. So she poured some sugar out until the whole thing measured at 5 "lurn" (remaining sugar + bowl). The whole time my mom was doing it, my dad kept challenging her that she was not doing the math right and that she didn't take into the account the weight of the bowl. My mom got soooo annoyed that she almost wanted to call me at work. Over dinner, I tried to explain to my dad that the weight of the bowl didn't matter. But my dad still didn't get it. Poor dad.

To delete or not to delete

ok... duplicate posts. wasn't intentional and wittybb has spotted the difference. to delete or not to delete. oh well.... who cares.

i am still a little apprehensive about tomorrow. I need to read the scriptures tonight and make sure i don't screw up.

baking a cake with my mom for my dad's b-day tomorrow. just finished whipping the cream. and the cake is out from the oven. we'll see. man... that kitchen aid mixer is sure worth the money.

went to IKEA today with a coworker. she needed some shelves. she never been to IKEA b4 and was excited (and a bit overwhelmed) about the whole thing. oh... actually... we had to work today. there's this detention pond in Schaumburg that we had to look at and see if we can make any improvement on the landscaping and type of vegetation. anyhow... my parents tagged along as well... coz they wanted to go shopping... and they got bored sitting at home. a fun day i guess.

damn it. the cake didn't turn out right. have to redo it.

moon cake

Mom made these mini mooncakes. Brought some back to work to share with colleagues. They were quite a hit. I was surprised how well they liked the mooncakes, even the ones with salted egg yolk. Well... afterall the mooncakes are sweet. People here like all kinds of sweet stuff anyway.

I helped make the lotus paste. It was quite time consuming. First melt the sugar in a wok of hot oil. The oil can't be too hot otherwise the sugar will become charcoal. Then add the cooked groundup lotus seeds. Keep stirring untill everything's mixed together. The longer you stir... the thicker the paste becomes, and the harder it is to stir.

If you realize the amount of oil that goes into a mooncake... you probably will not want to eat it again. But heck with the cholesterol... it tastes sooooooo good.

moon cake

Mom made these mini mooncakes. Brought some back to work to share with colleagues. They were quite a hit. I was surprised how well they liked the mooncakes, even the ones with salted egg yolk. Well... afterall the mooncakes are sweet. People here like all kinds of sweet stuff anyway.

I helped make the lotus paste. It was quite time consuming. First melt the sugar in a wok of hot oil. The oil can't be too hot otherwise the sugar will become charcoal. Then add the cooked groundup lotus seeds. Keep stiring untill everything's mixed together. The longer you stir... the thicker the paste becomes, and the harder it is to stir.

If you realize the amount of oil that goes into a mooncake... you probably will not want to eat it again. But heck with the oil... it tastes sooooooo good.

thursday

believe it or not... i did have a better sleep last night. but still... woke up in the middle of the night for no reason.

rev. craig asked me to lead the sunday service. hmm... i agreed to it, but i am a little worried. well... God will watch over me.

...

New sheet + new blanket + new pillow case =?= good night sleep

I don't know. Haven't had good sleep lately.

untitled

If only I were to be carefree,
to be free of worries,
to be free of wants and desires,
I would have been a child all over again.

Some random thoughts

being too rational is not too good sometimes. but i guess that's the only way that I can keep myself sane. no... nothing dramatic happened in my life. in fact it was a wonderful weekend. the weather couldn't have been any better. my folks were happy. my friends were so nice and hospitable.

that feeling of emptiness is overpowering at times. difficult to articulate what exactly it is. no reason? for knowing the reason might not yield any solution.

time to immerse myself in my work. being busy is a damn good way of avoiding being too rational. hehee... doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

Yellowstone

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had the time to update my blog. With my being parents here, I really don't have much time to myself. Anyway...
Just got back from a trip to Yellowstone. My dear friend from Cali, her husband, some friends of theirs, my parents and I, total of 9, made the trip. We stayed at a surprisingly nice cabin in West Yellowstone. The scenery was just amazing despite of the haze and smoke from nearby forest fires. Here're some of the pictures I took.

A hot spring with beautiful colors. The blue color is from the mineral and I guess the reddish brown is both from mineral and bacteria growing at the bottom. I think this picture is taken at West Thumb.

A stump of dead wood by a hot spring. This spring is less hot and therefore the color is paler in comparison to the previous picture. This hot spring is in the Norris Basin.


There are so many crystal clear streams in the Yellowstone National Park. This is one of them. I forgot the name of this creek. Next time I go there... I will definitely spend time fly fishing.


A B/W photo taken at Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. The sun was setting. The haze from forrest fire was masking the mountains. So I decided to try B/W instead. The picture turned out really well.


Evening at Jackson Lake (Teton). We stopped at a beach on Jackson Lake and saw the sunset. We were throwing and skipping stones on the water and had a lot of fun.


Elk up-close and personal. We saw quite a bit of wildlife at Yellowstone... elk, big-horn sheep, bison, and even black bear. My friends saw a moose on their drive back.

We were stopped by some rangers letting their herd of horses crossing the highway. It was quite a scene. Galloping horses and dust flying....


Fire destroyed quite a bit of forests. But fire is a good thing. It kills off dead and diseased tree and allows new growth.


A shadow of me.

Design

God'’s purposes could, in principle, be achieved as much through an evolutionary process as in any other scientifically defined process. It is important to remember that there is no clear demarcation line in the Bible between God's '‘works' in nature and his '‘works' in history: He is seen as sovereign in both.

Psalm 104 (Ps 104:24)
'How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all'’

it dawned on me... as I was reading the article. What if God is nature and Nature is God? God is the every rule and process that humankind has discovered and yet to be uncovered.

J&J

They got married today. I was not able to attend their ceremony, however. I am truely happy for them. May God bless their every step forward. The road ahead of them may not be easy, but they will have their beloved daughter, AvaJane, who will give them joy and hope even during difficult times. God is good. And God will provide for them and their soon-to-be-born AvaJane.

Fireworks II

Fireworks

A colorful and brilliant light show yet only lasts for a moment.

Thoughts

Helped Jennie move yesterday. Looking at a picture of her and Jason, for a moment, I thought I saw myself in that picture in the place of Jason. I talked to Jason. I asked him to be patient with Jennie, to ride out each storm with her by her side... no matter how bad the situation gets... never leave her by herself during the lows of her emotional rollercoaster. I told him, believe it or not, she needs him most when she is most angry and unreasonable. Leaving her to deal with her own emotion will only make her more scared and insecure. The cycle goes on. I wasn't able to do the right things when I was with her. I hope Jason will learn to do so and to provide what I couldn't have provided for her. I really want them to work out. I care about Jennie and I want the best for her and her baby.

~~~~~~~

Is the happiness the only thing we strive for and care about in a relationship? I watched a TV program by RTHK last night (yes, I am finally subscribing to the chinese channels on direct TV). In it, several young people (who are college students) were interviewed for their views on relationships. One thing they mentioned which struck deep in my mind was that they think there is no guarantee in a relationship and that happiness "at this moment" is the most important thing in a relationship. But that is it? Happiness? Most important? I dunno. I refuse to believe that is the case. There is got to be more than that.

On a grander scale, is happiness what life is all about? Our life is simply a quest for or a pursuit of happiness. I dunno. I refuse to believe that is the case. There is got to be more than that.

~~~~~~~~

My parents will arrive tomorrow. They will stay with me till X'mas. Most people were bewildered when I told them that my parents will be staying for so long. I joked that at least I would be well-fed.

Commute

I rode my new bike to and from work today. It was fun and I finally got my needed exercise. The trip was surprisingly short... only took about 15-20 mins. Oh... a little over 3 miles each way. The only bad thing is that by the time I got to work, I was all sweaty.

soulmate

You don't always marry your soulmate.

Heard this on TV tonight. Is that true? I can't imagine how it can be called a marriage if your wife or husband is not your soulmate. So marriage is simply a way to procreate? But to procreate doesn't necessarily need to be married. I don't get it.

New bike

I bought a bicycle at a local bike shop... yeah! Trek 7.3 FX. Will take them several days to put it together. Can't wait... I'll be riding to work everyday!

Saturday morning

Aching body from yesterday's physical labor when I woke up this morning. Went to the Farmer's market at downtown Kankakee. A bit disappointed. Only a handful of stalls and only one was selling locally grown produce. I got a quart of strawberries and a bunch of asparagus.

Then I headed to a local bike shop. I've been thinking about getting a bike for a while. It'll be nice to ride my bike to work every day. Save some gas and better the environment! Anyway, the salesman was really knowledgeable. I guess $400-500 will be money good spent. Kinda on the expensive side. Need some time to think about it.

Lake Michigan

Got a day off today, sort of. I drove up to Miller Beach, IN to help my boss' brother landscaping his new house. Five of us put in 91 pots of plants in, oh, 5 hours. Not bad at all. We then took a dip at the beach. It was a hot day and the sand was scorchingly hot. The water was nice and cold though... maybe a bit too cold. Hit the bar with my boss and his older brother afterwards. I am now really really tired. Should have a good sleep tonight.

Bridal Veil Fall

Went to Target over lunch time to pick up the pictures. Hmm... they turned out ok. At least some of them did. Took me a while to figure out how to use the scanner at work to scan in the negative. Each picture takes forever. Anyway... I only had time to scan several. This is one of them.

Trip to Cali

It was a good trip. Got to see my good friend and her husband. We made a trip to Yosemite National Park with a couple other friends of her. Yosemite was really pretty. We were fortunate that it rained quite a bit a week b4; the streams were raging and waterfalls were just magnificent. I shot 7 rolls of films. (Thanks Ces for her camera and for arranging the trip.) I will post some pictures once I get them back. Yosemite remained me of 世外桃源...

I got back Tuesday night... actually Wednesday morning around 2. The flight got delayed. I slept for 10+ hours last night. I still haven't recovered from the trip. Haha...

Rain lots of rain

It was quite a cloudburst. I think we got at least 2 inches of rain in 15 minutes. A lot of places were flooded. Normally it's a 5 minutes drive from work to home... but today it took me almost an hour... several streets were not passable... well... I did drive around a little bit to check out the creeks near by. I've been working on the watershed plan for Soldier Creek here in town. So this is a really good opportunity to see how the creek and the storm sewer system are doing. Apparently not too well in some areas. I didn't have camera with me though... what a bummer.

I am going to see Indy 500 with my boss and his brothers this Friday. Actually I think it's the time trial.. .not quite sure. It'll be fun. A lot of beer... I was told.

And Saturday I am heading to San Jose, CA to see my friends... and we are going to Yosemite for the weekend. Can't wait!

breakin?

I am so angry... partly at myself. I think there had been an attempted breakin to my car. I found scratch marks on the passenger door and a little piece of the black foam seal around the back window was torn off. I kept thinking about when it could have happened... and I haven't had the slightest idea. I was so distracted and deep in thought about the whole thing that I spilled the whole cup of latte at the coffee shop earlier this evening.

I have to be really careful next time, making sure not to leave anything valuable in plain sight inside the car. This is why I am mad at myself as well.

Not a happy day for me...

THREE NOTES GO INTO A BAR

C, E-flat, and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished; the G is out flat.

An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.

Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims, "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest.
The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless.

The bartender decides he needs a rest - and closes the bar.

Happy Mother's Day

Mom... thanks for being my mom. Yes, you can be difficult to deal with some times... you get angry... you get mad... your mood can swing wildly... you are demanding... Yet, you are my mother. I have no choice. I can't go shop for another mother. I have told you so. And you laughed. You liked my honesty. I love you, mom. I won't be who I am today without your constant support and encouragement. You would give up everything for sister and I. I am ashamed that I could not have done the same in return to you. I wish I could have been a better son than I was. May be I was not that bad, was I? Happy Mother's Day... to you. Again, thanks for being my dearest mom.

Barbershop

Our barbershop chorus had the first show ever last Saturday. It was a great success. Over 400 people came to see our show and nearly filled up the entire high school auditorium. It was fun, fun to perform again in front of a great audience. We invited the chapter from Bloomington to sing with us. They were great... much better than we were. I hope our chapter will grow bigger and get better very soon.