Monday August 2, 2004

Arrived back from Hong Kong and Singapore safe and sound (for those of you who haven’t figured that out yet).  Actually, I’ve been back for just under a week.  Sorry to those of you who actually bothered to check in at this site once in a while only to be disappointed by the sad entry about my arrival to Hong Kong.  Email and web access were strangely scarce this time, even though I had a laptop in the apartment, and I never got desperate enough to call upon desperate measures.  Anyway, some highlights about Hong Kong:

This is the first time I have been in Hong Kong with most of my immediate family together in years.  The past three times, I believe I traveled here by myself.  Somehow, being here with my parents and Timothy seem to induce the lazy bug in me, such that I was fairly disinclined to think of fun things to do on my own during my week in Hong Kong.  Can I blame for weather for making me feel like a unmotivated bum?  Well, I suppose that if you define “vacation” as “time where you mostly do nothing but rest (veg)” then I think the majority of my Hong Kong trip was like this.  At least that’s what I remember.

We got to experience just a little bit of Hong Kong’s typhoon season.  Sheets of rain seemed to come from nowhere before letting up just long enough to entice unsuspecting souls back outdoors before the drenching commenced again.  Okay, it wasn’t that bad.  In fact, the rain really made the whole place considerably cooler, though not much less humid.  Regardless, the A/C was constantly on and cold showers were in order.

My Aunt Eunice’s (2nd) wedding reception was extravagant.  (The first reception, held probably a month ago in London, where the wedding took place, was probably just as extravagant, only featuring waiters who spoke with British accents.)  I think it was roughly a 10-hour ordeal, though my immediate family was only invited to the latter 6 hours.  I don’t think the waiters let my glass of oh-so-pulpy, fresh-squeezed orange juice remain half-empty on the table for any longer than 5 seconds during the entire course of the meal.  Really, the place was teeming with waiters.  As expected, I didn’t exactly get to chitchat with the very busy bride and groom.  But, of course, I got totally stuffed with food, to the point that I simply could not take another glass of that sweet, sweet orange juice.

I had tons of dreams while in Hong Kong.  I think I was merely more aware of how much I was dreaming because I was actually getting enough sleep for once.  Sadly, I don’t recall any of them anymore.  It’s definitely been more than one second since I woke up, and you know how it is.

On the day I planned to meet Chris, our meeting place was Hong Kong’s The Landmark, a beautiful shopping complex full of high-class designer fashion stores like Bvlgari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and plenty of others that I will probably even think about buying anything from since it will involve skipping at least 100 meals.  I was there early, so I walked a loop on every floor of its four buildings without stepping into a single one before finally slipping into a bookstore to find comfort.

Finally meeting up with Chris was really fun and encouraging.  We went to eat at a suspiciously cheap wonton noodle place where we both ordered two bowls just to convince our wallets that we were actually having a meal.  There, amongst other lunch-hour professionals crammed together at the same tiny table, Chris and I wasted no time in delving into the gritty muck of conversations about dating and spiritual life and other fun topics to discuss while others tried to just eat in peace without eavesdropping.  Then we went to a Haagen-Daz where he bought me a milkshake, only to discover that the cashier wanted to charge us an extra 10% when we tried to sit down.  Chris was not fazed, paying the extra fee with a smile, just so he could sit down at a cramped little Haagen-Daz to chat with me.  What an awesome friend!

Okay, more photos in my new photo gallery.  Now you can add comments and upload your own albums to my site if you register and login.  =]

My Singapore notes will come later to entertain my three readers.

Saturday July 17, 2004

Arrived in Hong Kong safe and sound.  Some highlights:

-The first thing we realized when we got dropped off at SFO was: omigod, we forgot a piece of luggage.  I got to people watch at the terminal with Tim while mom went back home to get the last critical piece.  Luckily, we live only about 10 minutes from the airport.

-Mom got to share a bunch of random facts with me about airplanes, cargo, and other airline-related stories since she works for Eva Air now.  She was using all sorts of random jargon for the cargo bins they were lifting into the plane.  Um, neat!

-3 notable movies on United 869: The Whole Ten Yards (uhh… so what exactly happened?  I know that the captain kept stopping the movie to make announcements, but I really don’t know what happened by the end of the movie.  It’s not supposed to be that complicated, but somehow it feels like they just slapped something together.)  Calendar Girls (hmm, original idea, I think. Odd to watch this sitting next to my mom, who was thankfully asleep.)  Miracle (great movie, and it doesn’t even matter if you don’t like hockey.  This is my second time watching it.)  As Steph noted, on a scale of 1-10, a movie’s enjoyability and entertainment value tends to drop at least 3 points when watched on a plane due to the captain’s announcements, random people standing up to stretch, stewardesses asking if you’d like any more coffee, and, well, a really small screen.  My dad mentioned that had I chosen to fly business class on Singapore Airlines, I could expect 60+ movies to select from on my personal TV.  Wow. 

-Tim’s pulling a lot of weird tantrums, including throwing grapes on the plane.  Wha, what?!  Dunno what’s up with him.  Makes me grumpy too.  (Okay, not a highlight.)  Norm’s right about how some people (me, mom) will do anything to avoid a conflict…

-I seem to be quite a bit less adventurous when traveling with family.  I didn’t feel like talking to strangers, maxing out on the free stuff available onboard, checking out whether there are any open seats in business class, or even getting up to go to the bathroom more than once during the 13.5 hour trip.

-The first ad I saw coming off the plane in HK was an ad for “My Sassy Phone” featuring, of course, the Sassy Girl herself.  Wow, she’s still reaping royalties from that movie.  Amazing.  =]

-Of course, the first thing my grandparents did was offer me dinner even though I just ate on the plane.  =]  The stuffing begins…

-It occurred to me on the plane that I might not have any Internet access, cell phone, or other luxuries while in Hong Kong.  A scary thought, especially as I didn’t yet have contact info for a couple of friends I was hoping to meet up with in HK.  But my dad got me the hook up as soon as I arrived — laptop, cell phone, night-vision camcorder that takes 3.0 megapixel still pictures, Hong Kong and Singaporean money… WOW!  Just get me a missile-equipped sports car and code-breaking wristwatch and I’ll be ready for the next James Bond film.

-Thanks for the Meyer status reports.   I love how each of them starts with “Everything at Meyer is going great.”  =]

-Thanks for the e-card.  That was totally unexpected.  Suddenly makes me feel like I’m disappearing for longer than I actually am.  I’ll be back before you know it.  =]

 

Goodbye, 1994 Honda Civic LX

My 1994 Honda Civic LX is SOLD.  Thanks for your interest.

-No matter how many times I vacuum and wash the car, it gets dirty by the next day since I park outdoors.  It is a bitter, hopeless struggle.  Kind of like showering and doing laundry.

–Armor All Cleaning Wipes suck.  They leave streaks all over the car!  I tried to use a couple right before a test drive one afternoon.  I must not understand how to use these.  The packaging doesn’t mention it gets all soapy!  It made it look like I put that artificial snow all over the windows!

-The best test drive was the one where I showed up at the meeting place and called the guy and he asked if it was okay if we postponed the test drive for 30 minutes and I said, “Uh, no” and then he showed up within 2 minutes. Then he proceeded to run through multiple stop signs during the drive.  Actually, the race car driver guy took me on a pretty fun test drive too.  “Well, the brakes suck and the tires are balding, but the engine’s good.”  (Phew!)

-The worst test drives were those where they came in a pair and spoke to each other the whole time in a foreign language so you don’t get to know their secret thoughts about whether they think the car is a good deal and oh my what is that odd smell.

-It’s highly advantageous to know exactly what is wrong or needs to be replaced in your car ahead of time.  When someone points out that something specific is broken or worn, the correct answer is never, “Oh really?  I never noticed that” because that just makes you look clueless, at which point they will eat you alive and point out 10 other things that you probably “never noticed.”

-My car used to veer *heavily* to the right when the steering wheel is allowed to balance on its own.  I guess I was just so used to driving it with one hand constantly applying pressure that I never noticed.  Why would anyone ever drive without their hands on the steering wheel.  I think misaligned wheels are kind of like a “bonus”, an added safety feature by virtue of it encouraging you to keep your hands on the wheel.

-I’m am such a sucker!  I changed out all the tires and replaced the brake pads, shoes, and rotors.  The mechanics doing the diagnostic insisted there were “microcracks” in the belts which could cause a failure within 1000-50000 miles!  I ended up paying $1000+ out of pocket to have these repairs done for a car that ended up selling for $4000, instead of just lowering the asking price and making the buyer take care of the repairs himself.

-Not a single buyer asked me about the Jesus fish still stuck on the back of the car, nor where the original Civic decal went.  Oh well.  No ask, no story.

-When the buyer finally gave me the certified check, I looked at it and thought it was weird that it was made out to him instead of me.  And he convinced me that this was okay according to the Stanford Credit Union.  When I brought the $4000 check to Bank of America to deposit, the teller ask, “Are you _______n _______n?” and I said, “Uh, no, that’s the buyer…” and he said, “Well, this check can only be deposited into an account associated with _______n _______n” and I was like, “Uhhhh, this is NOT good.  He has the car and I can’t deposit this certified check?  What’s the point of writing a certified check to yourself?!” and he was like, “Um… I hope you can call this person and have him write you another check…” Anyway, there are a lot more stupid details to this whole affair with the check that had me biking back and forth around campus in a run for my money, but you get the idea.  If a buyer hands you a check that says “Pay to the Order of [Buyer’s Name]”, don’t accept it!!  DUH!!

Well, it’s gone now.  Bye.  The Toyota Prius isn’t due to be delivered until September, if even then.  Oops.

Friday July 9, 2004

I’m disappointed that nobody’s written back with excitement over their decision to quit their jobs with reckless abandon and become a world-class cup-stacker.  I really am.  Did anyone even check out the video?  7.43 seconds, ladies and gentlemen!

I’m feeling thin after dropping $1000 in car repairs in the past week (new tires, belts, brake pads, shoes, rotors) for a used car that I’m trying to sell for a measly $4000.  What a nasty surprise.  You do the math.  Well, at least now I can sell the car with the satisfaction of knowing that I did everything I possibly could to prevent some poor sap from veering off the highway into a crumpled heap of scrap metal because some silly belt snapped under the hood of his otherwise amazing and perfect used car.

I’m ecstatic that:

1) there are websites galore on such intriguing and mystifying stupid human tricks such as: pen spinning, lighter tricks, modular geometric origami, and sand sculptures!!

2) A. W. Tozer has helped me pinpoint a critical piece of my doubts, fears, and skepticism in Chapter 4 of his book, “The Pursuit of God”:

“These notions about God are many and varied, but they who hold them have one thing in common: they do not know God in personal experience. The possibility of intimate acquaintance with Him has not entered their minds. While admitting His existence they do not think of Him as knowable in the sense that we know things or people.”  [Okay… I don’t think this is supported by my personal observations, but…]

“Christians, to be sure, go further than this, at least in theory. Their creed requires them to believe in the personality of God, and they have been taught to pray, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven.’ Now personality and fatherhood carry with them the idea of the possibility of personal acquaintance. This is admitted, I say, in theory, but for millions of Christians, nevertheless, God is no more real than He is to the non-Christian. They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle.”

I believe Tozer remained a Christian by the conclusion of this book, and I desperately want to know WHY.

Wednesday July 7, 2004

This is possibly the wackiest thing I’ve seen in a long time:

http://www.speedstacks.com/videos.htm

You simply must check out the “Emily Fox does cycle in 7.43 seconds” video.  Is it inspiring and heart-pounding?  Is it ridiculous and meaningless?  Does it make you ecstatic or angry that it’s probably replacing PE at some schools like Loma Linda Elementary?  =o  I just don’t know…

Okay, I’ll go back to trying to figure out how to spin a pen or how to twiddle my thumbs now… maybe one day I will have devoted enough time to a stupid human trick to make an appearance on Jay Leno!