Wow, last post was September. What's with the slacking? Well I would say that the month of October 2009 is perhaps one of the most influential months in the determination of the majority of my life's path, depending on a few other factors later this year and next. After a lot of hustle and bustle with a bunch of companies and their interviews, it all boiled down to my original employer, JPMorgan, which was actually the first company I EVER interviewed with, for their internship last year. First time is the charm, just wish I didn't waste so much time on the others. I accepted their offer on October 9th, signing their letter as I was just leaving my own home of 18 years in Los Altos for lunch with family in San Francisco, then hanging out with my old high school buddies in Berkeley. It was definitely lots of mixed emotions, it was a huge relief to have a job, one which I think will have lots of promise for my career too, but on the other hand it was like signing an agreement to forfeit all my dreams of coming back to this beloved home in California that I even came to visit over my fall break. And now I will be even further, geographically, from the West than I was before. Rather than pursuing my goal of becoming a bright and successful Sand Hill Road entrepreneur, it looks like I am headed more towards joining the Manhattan crowd as just another Wall Street minion. Maybe I can still get back, maybe there's another chance for me yet. Or maybe JPM will, hopefully, assign me to a post out in Cali as they expand out West to replace old WaMu. Or I could learn enough finance to be able to choose where I want to go later. In any case, the fight isn't lost yet... just need more time.
Well, at least it's NYC and not Houston:
"In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York!
New York, New York"
-Jay Z, "Empire State of Mind"
In other realms, took the GRE yesterday, and am gradually trying to re-establish good terms with my research professors. I am still going to submit applications to the best graduate schools in the nation; something tells me I will regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't at least try.
Senior Design project is actually going well, and I'm actually enjoying being able to finally use my ELEC skills for something worthwhile. It's a gesture-control iPhone remote control that will hopefully be able to at least control your PC the same way a mouse does by the end of the year. Jaimeet, Max Paul, Tate Hornbeck, and I have been working on it since September, and so far it's promising. One of the things I will miss about engineering, being able to work an awesome projects with awesome people. Not to say finance isn't fun... sometimes.
Who am I kidding. I'm not just in for the ride. I want the challenge. Just bring it on, and I'll take it.
But first, some lunch...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Time for a New Odyssey
Lately I've been having some strange dreams in Houston. One night I was abducted by aliens, actually "abduction" is a bit too strong of a word to use here. More like the aliens asked if any humans would like to travel with them, and I volunteered rather enthusiastically. The journey after that was like a mixture of Star Wars and Halo. Then the next night I dreamed I was a world explorer during the 1600s or whenever it was that they were still trying to find the best way to get to Asia from Europe. I've concluded that this means I am rearing for yet another adventure in my life. Travel. Experience. My next odyssey, when will it call me?
Regardless of school though, I've had some fun while in Texas. Last weekend went to San Antonio for a family reunion over Labor Day weekend, and to celebrate grandmother's birthday. Was relaxing, even got to go to my uncle's ranch to go dove-hunting. I cannot emphasize more "harder than it looks" when it comes to trying to take out a bird flying over you with an automatic shotgun, even when its just a few meters away. My relatives made it look so easy, meanwhile, I'm jerking all over the place like a Dick Cheney on crack. Same goes for paintballing, which I did with my friends a few weeks ago as well.
This weekend was also fun, went to a small amusement park with my fellow dorm-mates for Sid retreat. Go-carting, bumper boats, and mini-golf. Like a kid again :) Then went to an orchestral concert with Shaiyan and Jay, where we mingled with Houston's rich and old people listening to Stravinsky and Holtz, sipping complimentary champagne afterward. Then heading to Hard Rock Cafe for some burgers and more alcohol with Jay Jay (very effeminate waiter) and crew. Finishing off with the Euro-trash party at another college. The entire theme of that day could probably be summarized in these words:
"Somewhere deep inside me, I find... the CHILD I USED TO BEEEEE!"
... yeah this song was also the opening to Sasha Cohen's "Bruno". What. I can't blame the movie for good taste in music.
Ok and what has been keeping me busy lately, as in actual work you might ask? Well, it's been coursework as usual, combined with GRE studying and job-applications. So far I've interviewed with companies in engineering, software, petroleum, banking, and consulting. Sometimes I just want to scream at the top of my lungs, at all these graduate schools and corporations, JUST GET ME BACK TO CALIFORNIA! I don't care what the salary is, just reunite me with my homeland. I want to be young and free again.
Ok, time for lunch and getting down to work. Jay is now awake... oh, I forgot to mention that he learned on Friday (Sept. 11th by coincidence?) that he got an offer for a full-time job with his former employer as an intern, Horizon. It's awesome, he's so relieved. USA wants him to stay here after all. Instead of a suspect immigrant he is a hard-working, perfect example of what proud Americans should and will be. And just an uber cool guy all around of course.
Ciao.
Regardless of school though, I've had some fun while in Texas. Last weekend went to San Antonio for a family reunion over Labor Day weekend, and to celebrate grandmother's birthday. Was relaxing, even got to go to my uncle's ranch to go dove-hunting. I cannot emphasize more "harder than it looks" when it comes to trying to take out a bird flying over you with an automatic shotgun, even when its just a few meters away. My relatives made it look so easy, meanwhile, I'm jerking all over the place like a Dick Cheney on crack. Same goes for paintballing, which I did with my friends a few weeks ago as well.
This weekend was also fun, went to a small amusement park with my fellow dorm-mates for Sid retreat. Go-carting, bumper boats, and mini-golf. Like a kid again :) Then went to an orchestral concert with Shaiyan and Jay, where we mingled with Houston's rich and old people listening to Stravinsky and Holtz, sipping complimentary champagne afterward. Then heading to Hard Rock Cafe for some burgers and more alcohol with Jay Jay (very effeminate waiter) and crew. Finishing off with the Euro-trash party at another college. The entire theme of that day could probably be summarized in these words:
"Somewhere deep inside me, I find... the CHILD I USED TO BEEEEE!"
... yeah this song was also the opening to Sasha Cohen's "Bruno". What. I can't blame the movie for good taste in music.
Ok and what has been keeping me busy lately, as in actual work you might ask? Well, it's been coursework as usual, combined with GRE studying and job-applications. So far I've interviewed with companies in engineering, software, petroleum, banking, and consulting. Sometimes I just want to scream at the top of my lungs, at all these graduate schools and corporations, JUST GET ME BACK TO CALIFORNIA! I don't care what the salary is, just reunite me with my homeland. I want to be young and free again.
Ok, time for lunch and getting down to work. Jay is now awake... oh, I forgot to mention that he learned on Friday (Sept. 11th by coincidence?) that he got an offer for a full-time job with his former employer as an intern, Horizon. It's awesome, he's so relieved. USA wants him to stay here after all. Instead of a suspect immigrant he is a hard-working, perfect example of what proud Americans should and will be. And just an uber cool guy all around of course.
Ciao.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Rice: Best Quality of Student Life, and Easiest School Name to Make Fun of
The reality of class-life has hit me like a ton of bricks. Especially after a week-long vacation in NYC and New England, wining and dining with family in the city and on the beaches. And especially with so much pressure on this one semester to get grad-school, my career, and everything all sorted out. At this point I have already given up and blogging again. I nearly lost my room keys on the first day, while playing ultimate Frisbee. At least I'm on campus though, and I'm back with a group of people I'm relatively familiar with to start with.
I will say very honestly that this week has begun with a little heavy sense of defeat. I know, what madness is this. But I've just heard rumors of some news from California regarding an old friend of mine, and if true I don't think it will be good for me. I hate any situation having my hands tied when in a place different from where another person or thing that could use my immediate attention. It sucks. I'm going to have to tackle this, but how. Tell me HOW! I will figure something out, but I question the outcome, the method, the motive, everything. Complicated.
Let me try to remember the better days. NYC was great, went out to nice restaurants, saw a show on Broadway. Yale, where my sister is going, was a cool campus. They have a pizza shop in their town that makes delicious New England style clam pizza. It's also where I developed a taste for Amarone, a fine Italian red wine from the Veneto region that comes from grapes dried on straw mats, and that costs about $75 a bottle. After that, we went to Newport, Rhode Island, where we ate lots of seafood, beached, and rode boats everywhere. Rhode Island is very much an Ocean State, if not much bigger than say Singapore even.
But now I'm back here in Houston, sitting in over-air conditioned classrooms listening to old professors drone. And yet so much work, so many expectations, I have a headache...
Life should be a party. What is this.
I will say very honestly that this week has begun with a little heavy sense of defeat. I know, what madness is this. But I've just heard rumors of some news from California regarding an old friend of mine, and if true I don't think it will be good for me. I hate any situation having my hands tied when in a place different from where another person or thing that could use my immediate attention. It sucks. I'm going to have to tackle this, but how. Tell me HOW! I will figure something out, but I question the outcome, the method, the motive, everything. Complicated.
Let me try to remember the better days. NYC was great, went out to nice restaurants, saw a show on Broadway. Yale, where my sister is going, was a cool campus. They have a pizza shop in their town that makes delicious New England style clam pizza. It's also where I developed a taste for Amarone, a fine Italian red wine from the Veneto region that comes from grapes dried on straw mats, and that costs about $75 a bottle. After that, we went to Newport, Rhode Island, where we ate lots of seafood, beached, and rode boats everywhere. Rhode Island is very much an Ocean State, if not much bigger than say Singapore even.
But now I'm back here in Houston, sitting in over-air conditioned classrooms listening to old professors drone. And yet so much work, so many expectations, I have a headache...
Life should be a party. What is this.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Pop, War, and Innocence
I originally didn't think anything of Michael Jackson's passing, and was actually pretty annoyed at how much media attention this guy was getting. Especially when the great Robert McNamara, savior of the Cuban Missile Crisis, "whiz kid" of Ford Motor Company's revival during the post-WWII period, and architect of the Vietnam War, died the same week as Jackson, and nobody even cared. I saw only one article on the matter, whereas I saw countless articles that just had the same headline of Jackson's daughter saying what a great daddy he was.
But just today, as I was eating clementines from Kroger at the dinner table, mumbling to myself about what I hate about the world, I realized that Jackson may really have been a heroic figure of some sort, in a similar way to what McNamara was. Both seemed to struggle throughout their years with the concept of innocence. Both sought to define, to protect, or to create innocence. But they failed. Miserably. Jackson surrounded himself with symbols and themes of youth, which he considered the heart and soul of innocence. But instead he was sued for being a pervert, and died young from drugs. Pity. But McNamara did not do much better. He assumed he was protecting the innocent from backwards ideology, brainwashing, even from world destruction. But he merely brought more death, more inhumanity, to the world than he began with, responsible for the deaths of many innocents.
So before you tell me to go take a philosophy class about innocence and what it means to achieve and maintain innocence, I will say, how do you know someone who thinks they can tell me what innocence is, will not actually just rob me of it. Heck, by reading this very blog post, this could be the end of your innocence. Sorry about that. But what use was it to you anyway. Who knows. So that's what makes me wonder, is there any use in trying to be innocent... not that I'm going around killing and stealing, but rather, just toying with the idea and thinking of what should be done with all these people around me who think innocence is a virtue. Ponder that, Mr. Pei.
I've also been thinking about immigration lately. As my friend Jay will gladly tell me, it's really difficult to immigrate to the US. And people like my Dad will gladly tell me how this country is successful because it was built by immigrants who could not exercise their full potentials elsewhere. I myself would like to think that the US is the "light on the hill", which attracts the best and brightest from all over the world to come here and lead successful lives, which the rest of the country can benefit from as well. So should immigration quotas be relaxed or tightened, or kept as they are? As you can probably tell, I say relaxed. Globalization is removing the need for feudal and nationalistic views on the world's identity. We have passed the age of Individuality, of the Personal Potential. We're now in the age of Do-Anything-Anywhere, and Maximized Efficiency of Humanity (MEH...). My old friend Ayn Rand was right, when she called for the praise of human innovation and objective efficiency of manpower. But individuality, I think, cannot be accommodated for in all cases, as not everyone is ideal, and the world right now has people born in all the wrong places and situations, and with no way to get out, save death. It will take great, orchestrated human effort, eased by freedom of movement and migration, to save the world. If the US is the first to really promote that, then it will all begin here. Not that I'm patriotic ;)
Anything else? Updates on my summer, I just came back from Dallas this weekend, to meet my family there. Always fun to take advantage of the weekends to run away and see family. And now I'm sitting in the Maroneal business center, because my apartment has no power. At first we thought a Shamoor was pulled (i.e. someone forgot to pay the bills), but the power company says we should have power. Damn. So I'm sleeping in a non-airconned room in Houston's summer heat tonight. Oh well, I'm sort of used to it. Singapore manned me up. Oh speaking of which, I found a Singaporean restaurant in Houston! I was actually going out to Chinatown to just get some dimsum or something. I tried this place called Hong Kong DimSum. Misleading. Sure enough, they have dimsum, but most of the menu was actually Singaporean dishes. So I'll probably return there every once in a while, to get my fix of SIN :)
And that's all for now that I can recall. Good night!
But just today, as I was eating clementines from Kroger at the dinner table, mumbling to myself about what I hate about the world, I realized that Jackson may really have been a heroic figure of some sort, in a similar way to what McNamara was. Both seemed to struggle throughout their years with the concept of innocence. Both sought to define, to protect, or to create innocence. But they failed. Miserably. Jackson surrounded himself with symbols and themes of youth, which he considered the heart and soul of innocence. But instead he was sued for being a pervert, and died young from drugs. Pity. But McNamara did not do much better. He assumed he was protecting the innocent from backwards ideology, brainwashing, even from world destruction. But he merely brought more death, more inhumanity, to the world than he began with, responsible for the deaths of many innocents.
So before you tell me to go take a philosophy class about innocence and what it means to achieve and maintain innocence, I will say, how do you know someone who thinks they can tell me what innocence is, will not actually just rob me of it. Heck, by reading this very blog post, this could be the end of your innocence. Sorry about that. But what use was it to you anyway. Who knows. So that's what makes me wonder, is there any use in trying to be innocent... not that I'm going around killing and stealing, but rather, just toying with the idea and thinking of what should be done with all these people around me who think innocence is a virtue. Ponder that, Mr. Pei.
I've also been thinking about immigration lately. As my friend Jay will gladly tell me, it's really difficult to immigrate to the US. And people like my Dad will gladly tell me how this country is successful because it was built by immigrants who could not exercise their full potentials elsewhere. I myself would like to think that the US is the "light on the hill", which attracts the best and brightest from all over the world to come here and lead successful lives, which the rest of the country can benefit from as well. So should immigration quotas be relaxed or tightened, or kept as they are? As you can probably tell, I say relaxed. Globalization is removing the need for feudal and nationalistic views on the world's identity. We have passed the age of Individuality, of the Personal Potential. We're now in the age of Do-Anything-Anywhere, and Maximized Efficiency of Humanity (MEH...). My old friend Ayn Rand was right, when she called for the praise of human innovation and objective efficiency of manpower. But individuality, I think, cannot be accommodated for in all cases, as not everyone is ideal, and the world right now has people born in all the wrong places and situations, and with no way to get out, save death. It will take great, orchestrated human effort, eased by freedom of movement and migration, to save the world. If the US is the first to really promote that, then it will all begin here. Not that I'm patriotic ;)
Anything else? Updates on my summer, I just came back from Dallas this weekend, to meet my family there. Always fun to take advantage of the weekends to run away and see family. And now I'm sitting in the Maroneal business center, because my apartment has no power. At first we thought a Shamoor was pulled (i.e. someone forgot to pay the bills), but the power company says we should have power. Damn. So I'm sleeping in a non-airconned room in Houston's summer heat tonight. Oh well, I'm sort of used to it. Singapore manned me up. Oh speaking of which, I found a Singaporean restaurant in Houston! I was actually going out to Chinatown to just get some dimsum or something. I tried this place called Hong Kong DimSum. Misleading. Sure enough, they have dimsum, but most of the menu was actually Singaporean dishes. So I'll probably return there every once in a while, to get my fix of SIN :)
And that's all for now that I can recall. Good night!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
PBC Remains Competitive in a Turbulant Economy
Man, if I could invest stock in Individuals, I would put all my money down on that good fellow Ryan Pei. That kid is driven for success. Since he himself is not a publicly traded entity though, I guess I have no other option but to just sit back and marvel at his accelerating growth.
Lately I've been wondering what it means to be competitive. Some people hate competition, say it makes us too greedy, too narrow-minded. Others love it, say it's a motivator, a road to ultimate personal gratification. Here's my assessment, of how I deal with competition. I will run in the race, head to head with the other competition-lovers, if I think I have a chance of winning. And this is a vast majority of the time. But whenever I'm falling behind, or when I get tired of running, I'll plea for advice and comfort from the disinterested spectators, those who either think they're too good for the race or that it's just not worth it to run. Then when I think I've heard enough of their rambling, I run again. And it cycles like this, I never find myself running forever for the sake of running, nor taking too long of a rest because the non-competitive crowd never comes up with a good reason for me to stop. I figure survival and comfort in life are key, which can only be achieved by maintaining competitiveness, and along the way we just have to take a few moments to think about where we are really going.
But I like competitive people much more than non-competitive. I'm not sure what the draw is. But I think it makes perfect sense to feel attached to someone who thinks life should be a pursuit of happiness rather than a miserable helpless existence. Also tend to be attached to competitive peoples in general. Like the Swiss, Americans, and Singaporeans. I just saw the World Economic Forum's "World's Most Competitive Countries" index, and the 1st place spots in North American, Asia, and Europe were held by the US, Singapore, and Switzerland respectively. All my favorites, how cool is that.
So what happened as of recent? I turned 21, while visiting Fredericksburg and Austin with all my family from Texas. Lots of fun of course, and my first legal alcoholic drink (in the US) was a rather flat kir royale, sort of disappointing. But the food was good. We literally did nothing but eat the whole weekend, my kind of weekend. And I got to take my new 2009 Accord out on its first real road-trip across Texas. Such a smooth ride, I love this car.
And how is work? Meh, it's alright I guess. Getting to know many more people, so that's good. And for once, yesterday I was able to actually HELP someone else with something, rather than having everyone come help me because I'm a clueless intern. So I suppose that signals at least some progress.
Anything else? Nothing urgent, I don't think I'm getting enough sleep though so I'm going to bed after a little Skype and a shower. Good night!
Lately I've been wondering what it means to be competitive. Some people hate competition, say it makes us too greedy, too narrow-minded. Others love it, say it's a motivator, a road to ultimate personal gratification. Here's my assessment, of how I deal with competition. I will run in the race, head to head with the other competition-lovers, if I think I have a chance of winning. And this is a vast majority of the time. But whenever I'm falling behind, or when I get tired of running, I'll plea for advice and comfort from the disinterested spectators, those who either think they're too good for the race or that it's just not worth it to run. Then when I think I've heard enough of their rambling, I run again. And it cycles like this, I never find myself running forever for the sake of running, nor taking too long of a rest because the non-competitive crowd never comes up with a good reason for me to stop. I figure survival and comfort in life are key, which can only be achieved by maintaining competitiveness, and along the way we just have to take a few moments to think about where we are really going.
But I like competitive people much more than non-competitive. I'm not sure what the draw is. But I think it makes perfect sense to feel attached to someone who thinks life should be a pursuit of happiness rather than a miserable helpless existence. Also tend to be attached to competitive peoples in general. Like the Swiss, Americans, and Singaporeans. I just saw the World Economic Forum's "World's Most Competitive Countries" index, and the 1st place spots in North American, Asia, and Europe were held by the US, Singapore, and Switzerland respectively. All my favorites, how cool is that.
So what happened as of recent? I turned 21, while visiting Fredericksburg and Austin with all my family from Texas. Lots of fun of course, and my first legal alcoholic drink (in the US) was a rather flat kir royale, sort of disappointing. But the food was good. We literally did nothing but eat the whole weekend, my kind of weekend. And I got to take my new 2009 Accord out on its first real road-trip across Texas. Such a smooth ride, I love this car.
And how is work? Meh, it's alright I guess. Getting to know many more people, so that's good. And for once, yesterday I was able to actually HELP someone else with something, rather than having everyone come help me because I'm a clueless intern. So I suppose that signals at least some progress.
Anything else? Nothing urgent, I don't think I'm getting enough sleep though so I'm going to bed after a little Skype and a shower. Good night!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Blogging is for losers. Period
What a fine compliment. One that comes from someone who has committed his life to discovering the meaning of life or the origin of the universe, among a few other trivial pursuits. But none as trivial as blogging.
No but really, I feel very complimented. I like it when people are not afraid to possibly offend me, as long as they speak up. So good job Mr. Anonymous, you have earned yourself your own quotation being honored as one of my blog post titles.
Ok, updates for the weeks past. Went to my sister's graduation last weekend, which I was really glad to have skipped work to attend. Her high school did a much better job than mine did. My school's ceremony was too orderly, too disciplined, too centered around the idea that if any one of us fucked up in marching around or saying things at speeches we'd get raped. Whereas my sister's was actually entertaining to watch. Free emotions, free ideas. This is what graduating is about I think. Finally being entitled to say things for yourself. Man I wish I went to Mountain View High. Then again all the cool people went to Los Altos. But enough about me, big congrats to my sister! I know she is going to be very important, worldly-famous person, and I'm glad because she's very cool, and I'm proud to be her brother.
My first two weeks at my new job have been good. I've met some cool kids there, so that's good. I was afraid during my first week that I would be stuck with some particular people I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting the first day I got there... won't name any names but, I'm glad I'm not stuck with them now.
This weekend has been relaxing for once, thus why I have time to put up another post. I've been reunited with Pandora, listening to all my favorite stations. I couldn't listen in Singapore because the site is unlicensed outside of the US. I also went to see "Up" in 3D. I was really surprised at what a fantastic movie it was, since I heard little about it before. Why does Pixar never disappoint?
Now the only thing missing from my normalized life is tennis. I've even spammed facebook friends to see who's in Houston available to play, and so far no response... come on, what's up?
Ugh don't give me any sympathy people. Give me a good fight.
Oh snap. India lost to England in cricket. Let me try to console my roommate, before he floods the place with bitter tears of curry.
No but really, I feel very complimented. I like it when people are not afraid to possibly offend me, as long as they speak up. So good job Mr. Anonymous, you have earned yourself your own quotation being honored as one of my blog post titles.
Ok, updates for the weeks past. Went to my sister's graduation last weekend, which I was really glad to have skipped work to attend. Her high school did a much better job than mine did. My school's ceremony was too orderly, too disciplined, too centered around the idea that if any one of us fucked up in marching around or saying things at speeches we'd get raped. Whereas my sister's was actually entertaining to watch. Free emotions, free ideas. This is what graduating is about I think. Finally being entitled to say things for yourself. Man I wish I went to Mountain View High. Then again all the cool people went to Los Altos. But enough about me, big congrats to my sister! I know she is going to be very important, worldly-famous person, and I'm glad because she's very cool, and I'm proud to be her brother.
My first two weeks at my new job have been good. I've met some cool kids there, so that's good. I was afraid during my first week that I would be stuck with some particular people I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting the first day I got there... won't name any names but, I'm glad I'm not stuck with them now.
This weekend has been relaxing for once, thus why I have time to put up another post. I've been reunited with Pandora, listening to all my favorite stations. I couldn't listen in Singapore because the site is unlicensed outside of the US. I also went to see "Up" in 3D. I was really surprised at what a fantastic movie it was, since I heard little about it before. Why does Pixar never disappoint?
Now the only thing missing from my normalized life is tennis. I've even spammed facebook friends to see who's in Houston available to play, and so far no response... come on, what's up?
Ugh don't give me any sympathy people. Give me a good fight.
Oh snap. India lost to England in cricket. Let me try to console my roommate, before he floods the place with bitter tears of curry.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A brutal end to my half-year long vacation
Wake up at 6:30. Get dressed. Eat cereal. Get on the train. Sit down at my cubicle. Look busy on my computer. Leave after 9 hours. Come home exhausted. Rustle up dinner. Shower. Skype a bit. Go to bed. Repeat. It seriously feels like I'm living the life of that animated girl in that song Shaiyan once showed me on YouTube.
Ok I exaggerate. It's actually kind of fun. I would tell a lot of stories about work, but I think I would get into serious trouble if I publicized this kind of information. So see my private blog if you want the real story.
And to keep things interesting for me on the way to and from work, I try to imagine what living in Houston would be like for a foreigner. The way I saw Zurich or Singapore. Because Houston is a pretty boring major city, to tell the truth. But as a foreigner, watching American habits and customs might actually be somewhat entertaining. For one, hearing English and Spanish on the Metro, and having a sort of "honor system" for the fare to get on. Seeing all the different races, especially blacks, since you don't see many of those in Asia and only some places in Europe. The oak trees everywhere. The homeless people lining up outside the church across the street from Lovett. The skyscrapers in downtown, with business people and crazies on the sidewalks. The underground tunnel system. Rice campus. The museum district. The huge portions that you get served at restaurants.
Oh I can also mention the drive to Houston. So I left Los Altos, California at 3am on Thursday. Got to El Paso, Texas at 10:30pm that night. That's 1,152 miles in 19 hours. Dad and I took shifts driving. And unfortunately, while on my shift, I got a speeding ticket going 80 on a 65mph highway in New Mexico. New Mexico is officially now my least favorite state. They should just go back to Old Mexico, completely useless to us. Ugh and I can't wait to be 25, then auto insurance companies won't continue to bleed me for all I'm worth. Woah Ryan, be careful what you wish for. Being older is never a good thing.
The trip after El Paso was fun though. Stopped in Fredericksburg to see the grandparents, who were swell as always to see. Then Aunt Phyllis's new place in Seguin. Get BBQ from Luling. And finally, onward to Houston.
And once I got to Houston, I got my new CAR! And it's a beut. I should put up pictures, dark gray Honda 2009 Accord, the best look for the Accord yet.
Now I have to do some real work. Yes, even now I have homework. I have to write a program, in Java. Hopefully I'll pull through. Asking Quincy a lot of questions though on Skype haha. I should seriously split my wages with him.
Signing off!
Ok I exaggerate. It's actually kind of fun. I would tell a lot of stories about work, but I think I would get into serious trouble if I publicized this kind of information. So see my private blog if you want the real story.
And to keep things interesting for me on the way to and from work, I try to imagine what living in Houston would be like for a foreigner. The way I saw Zurich or Singapore. Because Houston is a pretty boring major city, to tell the truth. But as a foreigner, watching American habits and customs might actually be somewhat entertaining. For one, hearing English and Spanish on the Metro, and having a sort of "honor system" for the fare to get on. Seeing all the different races, especially blacks, since you don't see many of those in Asia and only some places in Europe. The oak trees everywhere. The homeless people lining up outside the church across the street from Lovett. The skyscrapers in downtown, with business people and crazies on the sidewalks. The underground tunnel system. Rice campus. The museum district. The huge portions that you get served at restaurants.
Oh I can also mention the drive to Houston. So I left Los Altos, California at 3am on Thursday. Got to El Paso, Texas at 10:30pm that night. That's 1,152 miles in 19 hours. Dad and I took shifts driving. And unfortunately, while on my shift, I got a speeding ticket going 80 on a 65mph highway in New Mexico. New Mexico is officially now my least favorite state. They should just go back to Old Mexico, completely useless to us. Ugh and I can't wait to be 25, then auto insurance companies won't continue to bleed me for all I'm worth. Woah Ryan, be careful what you wish for. Being older is never a good thing.
The trip after El Paso was fun though. Stopped in Fredericksburg to see the grandparents, who were swell as always to see. Then Aunt Phyllis's new place in Seguin. Get BBQ from Luling. And finally, onward to Houston.
And once I got to Houston, I got my new CAR! And it's a beut. I should put up pictures, dark gray Honda 2009 Accord, the best look for the Accord yet.
Now I have to do some real work. Yes, even now I have homework. I have to write a program, in Java. Hopefully I'll pull through. Asking Quincy a lot of questions though on Skype haha. I should seriously split my wages with him.
Signing off!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
On the road again...
Wow, awesome week. Went to Berkeley, twice. And to Santa Cruz, twice. San Fran once. Frat parties, movies, theatrical plays, beaches, redwood forests, biking in the hills, barbecues; basically I tried to cram in my entire dream California summer vacation into one week, and I was fairly successful.
class QuincyChan
QuincyChan.squeeze(lemons,tribbles);
That's right. I called a method within my class QuincyChan called squeeze. What does he squeeze? Well, the arguments in this case are lemons and tribbles. And Quincy has an infinite supply of lemons growing in his yard. Big, juicy ones. Which he gives out to everyone. And he teaches me Java. Which is great, because I am a total airhead when it comes to Java. And when I get to Texas I will have to prove that I am an expert in the field.
And tomorrow the great journey by automobile towards Houston begins. 20 hours straight drive. Will probably be done in about 2 to 3 days by my Dad and I. I actually look forward to it. Dad is a cool guy, and I can catch up on a lot of sleep in the car.
Alright, I'll see you again when I get to Texas!
class QuincyChan
QuincyChan.squeeze(lemons,tribbles);
That's right. I called a method within my class QuincyChan called squeeze. What does he squeeze? Well, the arguments in this case are lemons and tribbles. And Quincy has an infinite supply of lemons growing in his yard. Big, juicy ones. Which he gives out to everyone. And he teaches me Java. Which is great, because I am a total airhead when it comes to Java. And when I get to Texas I will have to prove that I am an expert in the field.
And tomorrow the great journey by automobile towards Houston begins. 20 hours straight drive. Will probably be done in about 2 to 3 days by my Dad and I. I actually look forward to it. Dad is a cool guy, and I can catch up on a lot of sleep in the car.
Alright, I'll see you again when I get to Texas!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Good to be home, all in all...
So I haven't even seen any of my friends yet, going tomorrow to Berkeley to see them. But I'm already very comfortable at home, it's sort of nice not having people calling you all throughout the day trying to do something with you, for once.
It's been great getting back with family especially. Mom is busy as ever at work, but still genuinely pleased to have me home. Natalee had her prom, and it's been good to catch up with her on school... and her thoughts about going to college next year, for which I am able to impart "great" wisdom that she takes in complete seriousness, I'm sure. And Dad is always Dad. Playing a lot of tennis, and always coming home with something new and Singaporean in taste from the market, like a crate of 18 young coconuts that he found on sale (which we take out into the backyard to hack open enthusiastically with a butcher knife), some sugarcane juice, century eggs, even the "baklah" pork jerky, or at least something very similar to it.
I realized that I always miss my family's sense of humor, too. Natalee telling me stories about her high-school bimbos. Mom trying to discreetly tell Dad that the oyster beef has gone bad. Natalee and I singing songs in unison from "Family Guy" (Sooodooomyyyy, hahaha). And Dad coming home from a Jewish wedding, where they made him wear a head-cap yarmulke, and he starts throwing it around with Nat, saying, "Look! Ultimate frisbee!" My family is priceless.
And I've been keeping in touch with my friends back in Singapore. Yay for Skype! Nothing new and exciting from them, but I suppose no news is good news. And I've only been gone for less than a week... admittedly, miss them though.
Oh and hey, why am I blogging now? Isn't the whole Singapore thing over? Can't we call it quits? I've actually grown sort of attached to this blog, I know, it's creepy right? Go out and make a friend, Ryan, stop being such a loner. I would... but actually, I'm sitting here reading books and online manuals on Java... for the summer job. Ugh. I hope this works. Otherwise, find me a professional blogger position somewhere. I can quit this so-called "engineering" then. Kidding, it should be exciting, just not motivated yet.
Ok, back to more "public static void"... how appropriate.
It's been great getting back with family especially. Mom is busy as ever at work, but still genuinely pleased to have me home. Natalee had her prom, and it's been good to catch up with her on school... and her thoughts about going to college next year, for which I am able to impart "great" wisdom that she takes in complete seriousness, I'm sure. And Dad is always Dad. Playing a lot of tennis, and always coming home with something new and Singaporean in taste from the market, like a crate of 18 young coconuts that he found on sale (which we take out into the backyard to hack open enthusiastically with a butcher knife), some sugarcane juice, century eggs, even the "baklah" pork jerky, or at least something very similar to it.
I realized that I always miss my family's sense of humor, too. Natalee telling me stories about her high-school bimbos. Mom trying to discreetly tell Dad that the oyster beef has gone bad. Natalee and I singing songs in unison from "Family Guy" (Sooodooomyyyy, hahaha). And Dad coming home from a Jewish wedding, where they made him wear a head-cap yarmulke, and he starts throwing it around with Nat, saying, "Look! Ultimate frisbee!" My family is priceless.
And I've been keeping in touch with my friends back in Singapore. Yay for Skype! Nothing new and exciting from them, but I suppose no news is good news. And I've only been gone for less than a week... admittedly, miss them though.
Oh and hey, why am I blogging now? Isn't the whole Singapore thing over? Can't we call it quits? I've actually grown sort of attached to this blog, I know, it's creepy right? Go out and make a friend, Ryan, stop being such a loner. I would... but actually, I'm sitting here reading books and online manuals on Java... for the summer job. Ugh. I hope this works. Otherwise, find me a professional blogger position somewhere. I can quit this so-called "engineering" then. Kidding, it should be exciting, just not motivated yet.
Ok, back to more "public static void"... how appropriate.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Half a World Away, from my Secret Garden home...
So what am I doing up at 5:30am writing this blog, you might wonder? MAJOR JETLAG. Seriously, I have never had jetlag this badly before. I usually sleep whenever possible, and now I have a really hard time adjusting. I go to bed around 11am my time, which is around 2am in Singapore. Screw me...
The flight back was OK, everyone in Hong Kong was wearing face-masks as part of the swine flu paranoia. I managed to talk with friends on Skype even at the HK airport, yay for free internet again. And when we reached SFO in the afternoon, we flew right over downtown SF with no fog cover, so I saw the Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge, and the city... what a way to be reminded of home.
But bits and pieces of Singapore are definitely still with me. Dad got me some coconut juice, not as good as at home, but definitely good for nostalgia's sake. Holy mango, did I just say "not as good as at home"? I absolutely did not mean to say that... Singapore has grown on me too much. And I brought tons of snack foods and spice mixes with me as well. Food in the US tastes pretty bland after Singapore, must admit. I also told my parents that it felt cold and windy, and they looked out the window to look for the "wind" I was talking about, and then laughed at me like I was crazy. It's actually a heatwave for the Bay Area right now, in the 80s. It actually is very pleasant weather here, I'm just not used to it yet. I'll get out of my long-sleeved shirts and coats once I'm a bit more re-acclimated...
Daren Lam also came to see me the same day I flew back in, he was in the Bay Area for a few days before continuing on to Yellowstone for a few weeks of camping and hiking. He set up his camping hammock in my own backyard in the redwood grove to try it out... it almost felt like I hadn't even left Singapore for a moment with a friend seeing me at home. Plus that hammock is meant for jungles I think, a tent would have done fine here haha. I got to show him my solar panels too, since he was in my Solar Photovoltaics course with me, taught by the one and only Prof. Oruganti.
Another difference that Daren made me realize is how quiet it is here... you go outside and you don't hear so much traffic, people, music, etc. But I think that's just a difference of living in suburbs vs. the city. But still, when I go to sleep, I hear a ringing in my ears because it's so quiet. I'm used to listening to the air-con, a fan, buses, ships, people, etc. As Daren said, he can't fall asleep out here until there's some cars driving by or something to make some noise. Maybe that's another reason I have such a hard time going to sleep.
Ugh... and my summer job is also starting to bear down on me too. I have less than 2 weeks left in California before I head back to Houston to work. I got called the day I cam back, they wanted me to learn Java before I show up for work... oh boy, Java. I have my big book around here somewhere, but hopefully I can just learn online and get Quincy to teach me some. I have this somewhat badly-timed family vacation to Monterey this coming Memorial Day weekend though that I have to do, so hopefully I can see all my friends at home and still learn Java at the same time. Then next next Thursday I drive with Dad all the way to Houston, giving 2 to 3 days for the journey. And once there, I will not even have my own car, since it got crashed a few weeks ago when my aunt was driving it. So I guess I'm walking/metro-ing to work everyday for a while...
Moral of the story, life never slows down. But you're in trouble when it does, I guess. Like I said a long time ago, the jungle's worst enemy: boredom.
Goodbyes in Singapore...
Leon meeting me at Changi Airport
Taxi ride to the airport, along the most beautifully green, clean highway in the world, ECP
Tyler Tan, a friend who is about to do his NS like Subhash is doing now, and who I got to tour around NUS as a "prospy", my home university's code for "future victim"
Gabriel Lim torturing crabs out of their homes... engineers are naturally ruthless
At Sungei Bulo, at the Straits border between Malaysia and Singapore
Church... where I dutifully went every Sunday... ha ah ahah haha, Sorry, Jesus, that wasn't actually funny...
Vesak Day in Geylang
Views from Gabriel's apartment in downtown... breathtaking
My favorite mode of transport around town, with Daren as driver
I conquered Bukit Timah! All 180 meters of it...
So I remember in Bangkok I learned that there is a Demon King, who rules over all the other demons. He is a special demon in that he can change form, into a human for example, and when he becomes extremely agitated, his anger will cause him to suddenly have 12 arms instead of the normal 2. That was me during my last few days in Singapore. The sudden approach of my departure date filled me with such anxiety and rage that I grew 12 arms and used them all to meet and bid my farewells to as many of my Singaporean friends as possible. I think I achieved partial success, but I was busier than ever. I think I slept less than when I did studying for final exams. Leon even told me, "You can't make everyone happy. Just see a few friends and move one", but I refused... everyone should get a chance, they're all too awesome! I'm really actually quite proud of the group of friends I've managed to make while here, they are exceptional ones.
Examples of my excursions: Riding around with Daren Lam again on his motorbike, except this time to Bukit Timah which we hiked up and down, and going to Clementi with him to buy food gifts for home. Going to the club with Gabriel and crew, and to Geylang to see the Vesak Day participants and the prostitutes advertising their wares, as well as eat the good food. Also going with him to his sister's swank apartment in downtown and to Sungei Bulo to see some mangroves and the water-border with Malaysia. Also a restaurant at Suntec followed by hitting the old pubs at Boat Quay with Daxiang and Quek. Walking, eating, and shopping around Chinatown and Orchard with Tyler Tan, visiting a museum there too. Ones who unfortunately I did not get to see include the IFG group (Limmy, Grace, and Joy), and Subhash, who was on some remote island at the time doing something for his national service.
I will go back soon, this is a requirement, for my sake mostly. I will explain in my next post the difficulty I'm having re-adjusting to life back in the US, it's actually harder than I thought, though I remember coming back from Switzerland was a bit of a shock. And even for how small Singapore is, there is much more left that I could have done besides seeing my old friends again. For such a tiny country, Singapore is definitely dense in terms of stuff to do and see. Pulau Ubin, the Airfield and Barracks museums, the Ford Factory, the Changi and National Museums, Arab Street, Little India, Changi Park, and more are all either only barely seen by me or not at all. Dang I actually didn't do that much... alright, I'll look up ticket prices again to go back. How's next week sound, all? =)
Taxi ride to the airport, along the most beautifully green, clean highway in the world, ECP
Tyler Tan, a friend who is about to do his NS like Subhash is doing now, and who I got to tour around NUS as a "prospy", my home university's code for "future victim"
Gabriel Lim torturing crabs out of their homes... engineers are naturally ruthless
At Sungei Bulo, at the Straits border between Malaysia and Singapore
Church... where I dutifully went every Sunday... ha ah ahah haha, Sorry, Jesus, that wasn't actually funny...
Vesak Day in Geylang
Views from Gabriel's apartment in downtown... breathtaking
My favorite mode of transport around town, with Daren as driver
I conquered Bukit Timah! All 180 meters of it...
So I remember in Bangkok I learned that there is a Demon King, who rules over all the other demons. He is a special demon in that he can change form, into a human for example, and when he becomes extremely agitated, his anger will cause him to suddenly have 12 arms instead of the normal 2. That was me during my last few days in Singapore. The sudden approach of my departure date filled me with such anxiety and rage that I grew 12 arms and used them all to meet and bid my farewells to as many of my Singaporean friends as possible. I think I achieved partial success, but I was busier than ever. I think I slept less than when I did studying for final exams. Leon even told me, "You can't make everyone happy. Just see a few friends and move one", but I refused... everyone should get a chance, they're all too awesome! I'm really actually quite proud of the group of friends I've managed to make while here, they are exceptional ones.
Examples of my excursions: Riding around with Daren Lam again on his motorbike, except this time to Bukit Timah which we hiked up and down, and going to Clementi with him to buy food gifts for home. Going to the club with Gabriel and crew, and to Geylang to see the Vesak Day participants and the prostitutes advertising their wares, as well as eat the good food. Also going with him to his sister's swank apartment in downtown and to Sungei Bulo to see some mangroves and the water-border with Malaysia. Also a restaurant at Suntec followed by hitting the old pubs at Boat Quay with Daxiang and Quek. Walking, eating, and shopping around Chinatown and Orchard with Tyler Tan, visiting a museum there too. Ones who unfortunately I did not get to see include the IFG group (Limmy, Grace, and Joy), and Subhash, who was on some remote island at the time doing something for his national service.
I will go back soon, this is a requirement, for my sake mostly. I will explain in my next post the difficulty I'm having re-adjusting to life back in the US, it's actually harder than I thought, though I remember coming back from Switzerland was a bit of a shock. And even for how small Singapore is, there is much more left that I could have done besides seeing my old friends again. For such a tiny country, Singapore is definitely dense in terms of stuff to do and see. Pulau Ubin, the Airfield and Barracks museums, the Ford Factory, the Changi and National Museums, Arab Street, Little India, Changi Park, and more are all either only barely seen by me or not at all. Dang I actually didn't do that much... alright, I'll look up ticket prices again to go back. How's next week sound, all? =)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Demons and Monkeys in the "City of Angels"
Finally taking some time to sit down and write my blog for one last time on the subject of my glorious adventure to Singapore this semester. Not exactly going in chronological order, I'll just start with my trip to Bangkok, since that is fairly recent. And holy cow that's a ton of pictures... towards the end my camera actually ran out of battery, so you're seeing only about 3/4 of the trip to Bangkok.
I really wish there was no unwritten society rule that tourists are only supposed to take pictures of the touristy stuff, such as in Bangkok the temples, palaces, ruins, etc. I wanted to take pictures of the homeless with pet birds and rabbits on the streets, the lady-boys, the jewelry scammers trapping tourists in their "one in a lifetime sale events", the mysterious policeman who went into a jewelry store and handed over some pieces to the clerk for inspection (stolen?), the old white men walking around with sweet "thai candy" hanging on their arms (both girls and boys)... but I think taking out my camera in these cases would have earned me some unfavorable responses. I should have done it anyway, I'm such a wuss.
But anyway, got some good photos nevertheless to remind me of the town. Kanit Jaimun, a Thai local who lived in California for a while and who also has a really good blog with much better pictures than mine <<http://kanizworld.multiply.com/>>, kindly showed me around some of the city while I was there. I also met some NUS groups while I was there. During the evenings I tended to wander alone, around the dark alleys, the "soi"s, in Silom and Patpong, where most of the foreigners congregate to do the stereotypical tourist activities in Bangkok: massages, buy clothing and jewelry, sex shows (including the infamous "ping pong" show), bars, more sex, more drugs and alcohol, and don't forget, riding a tuk-tuk. I actually liked to pretend I was not a tourist, and since I've been told I could sometimes pass for a Thai, I did my best to wander around appearing as Thai as possible, and even followed some random people just to see where they go and what they do. I wanted to see what kind of human behavior takes place here. Nothing too exciting, I'm pretty jaded at this point I think. Thought about active participation, but decided against it. I just explored the clean, daylight side of Bangkok; I'm such a good boy :)
Anyway I'm very glad I got in touch with a local there, because it made figuring out the local public transport much easier, as well as finding good places to eat and what to order. I had some typical Thai foods, as well as some other great deals like an US$8 all-you-can-eat-within-1hour-and-10min sushi and hotpot buffet. It was a good buffet, with salmon sashimi, lots of meat, fish, clams, etc. A very good deal, never seen a sushi buffet like that in the US, and if one was to exist like that I'm sure it would be at least $30 a head here.
Transport was also unbelievably cheap. The train from Bangkok to Ayuthaya was 2 hours long and only cost about 60 cents, which was also the cost of the meal on the train, which was some egg and meat rice mix that was actually pretty tasty. But it was also raining like hell most of the time, especially at Ayuthaya where you have to walk around a lot to see all the ruins. That's also when my camera ran out of battery... shit. So I took only a few photos of the place. I've had my share of Southeast Asian ruins though, so at least we got that out of my system.
The only form of transport that I had trouble with were the boats. Fortunately those were really cheap too, so I could afford to make a lot of mistakes, which I did. Going up and down the river from Silom to the Old Town was especially confusing. It should only take 1 boat ride to get there, but I ended up getting of about 4 different boats... some of them look like they go down the river but they really just CROSS the river. Oh well I made it in once piece after all.
There's no real story here that I can narrate, so I'm just going to try now to tell you the images in my head at the moment that I remember of Bangkok. There's a fat white lady smoking a cigarette, talking with a fat Thai guy with a Bluetooth in his ear, and they seem to be talking about some nearby sale of something. There's some tall hotels, with balconies overflowing with lush bougainvilleas, overlooking the river, the slums, the temples. The skytrain, the MRT. Pink taxis and tuk-tuks buzzing on the streets. There are some cute Thai girls behind a coconut ice cream stand in Chinatown, from which I bought some ice cream, and flirted with them a bit :) Just a bit! "Hey, how are you... could I get a refill, since I can never get enough coconut here?" Corny stuff like that. There's a sidewalk where some massage girls are sitting on outside a parlor, and an old homeless woman with a sign and a cute little bunny rabbit tied to a string in her hand. There was this old grizzly white man sitting in front of me on the boat, with a young Thai boy-toy in feminine looking clothes sitting next to him (reminded me of Titan haha). Spicy Tom-yam soup (considered very mild by Thai standards) in a big, fancy mall, followed by jelly ice dessert. There's a Ronald McDonald statue outside McDonald's, doing the "wai" gesture to people entering. A man on the train with big, dirty bags and no shoes, who couldn't keep smiling or giggling to himself, and who spent a long time in the bathroom when the conductor came by to check our tickets. A woman in a fancy coat and pants, sitting next to who I assumed was her daughter, in a school uniform and reading a book teaching Chinese. A man outside one of the Ayuthaya ruins, who saw me getting drenched in the rain and pointed to his hat, gesturing that I should get one too. A giant orange millipede on one of the ruins statues, and a huge monitor lizard (at least 2 meters long, and fat) that was swimming down the river and got out of the water to hide in the tall grass while a huge dog barked at it. Eating crispy fried crabs on the floor of my hostel room. Meeting Kanit after he was done with work, still wearing dress shirt and tie, at a nice pizza place where I ate a ton of pizza. The salt stains on the back and shoulders of my shirt from sweating so much in the afternoon heat. Oh yeah and 10 Baht (about 30 cents) for a bubble tea at Victory Monument (the huge roundabout where all the buses go)! That's all I can rack my brain for now.
Oh but before I forget, there was this tour group at the grand-palace that I accidentally followed around thinking it was the free tour that the grounds offered, but was approached eventually by one of the guides to tell me to fuck off because it was a private tour, oops. I joined the free public tour after that, but the private tour was admittedly better. I don't know if the guide actually knew what she was talking about, she could have just been making it all up and none of the foreigners would know any better, but they were good stories. One story was about the demons and monkeys. At the temple you see statues and paintings of demons and monkeys everywhere. They look similar except the demons wear shoes and the monkeys almost always have their mouths open, as if screaming or ready to bite someone. Demons are also usually riding chariots and leading armies. And they are always fighting. Over a woman usually. This is what life is like in the City of Angels.
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