Count down

It's almost summer! Maui, Singapore, Vietnam, and (perhaps) Taipei beckons with all the warm weather, good food and great company!
But before that, finals are only 3 weeks away. I feel rather unprepared for the upcoming exams. Hopefully I can pull off what I did last semester and get some good grades. I just wanna get it over and done with and enjoy summer and all the warm weather my tropical island body have been lacking! I dunno how I can even stand the crummy weather here in AA. I guess it does make me appreciate the good weather.

...

Y'know... I've come to the conclusion that many of us inherently 1) think to much about the past and 2) worry too much about the future. I guess it's rational/natural/normal. The past is something we've experienced, and really all we have to reflect back on. We think about all the good times and try to cherish it, and to relive it. Our mind wonder off and think about all the shitty times and a surge of emotion hits.

The future represents a certain amount of uncertainty. For me, expectations (external and from myself) is a source of pressure that in someways keeps me going and what I'm doing. I fear not reaching those expectations. I keep telling myself that failure is something we all must go through and that we shouldn't be afraid to fail. [Actually... Dad told me that! Dad: i still remember the letter after graduation :) thanks!] The feeling of defeat is not a nice feeling, but sorta like the cold weather in AA, it does make me appreciate the good times I've had.

having said all that... why should we think about the past too much and worry about the future too often when the only thing you can influence/act on is the present.

yeah... dunno what i'm gettin at... so i'm just gonna end this post with some random picture from my collection :)

enjoy the weekend!

Oh! What a Day!

Headed to the 34th Annual PowWow held here at UM at the Crisler Arena. Some really really awesome costumes, beats, and singing. By far the most cultural event I've been to in a while. It was something that I have no previous knowledge of and thus was a really eye-opener. I was left in awe and frankly quite fascinated. I'll let the photos speak for themselves:



After that, I went up to North Campus for Tzu Ching's Tea Party. It was mostly just the organizing committee members as well as the usual familiar faces. We got together to play a couple of games, watch two short vids on Tzu Chi's origins, and what UM's Tzu Ching have been doing. The Shr Gu's from Troy graciously brought some superb home cooked food for us to eat. Thanks Shr Gus! It really did feel like a small family and the warmth that people are willing to give sometimes overwhelms me. I hope I can do the same for other people too, what other have done for me. :)


Next!
Dashed back to the dorm to change and trotted over to East Hall Atrium for the SEA Culture Night for some awesome SEA food and performances. Sel: Good job ! :) Don't say I never support hor! hehe... I spent my USD10 worth of coupons on mostly desserts like cendol, ching chow, and even goren pisang! Even coerced Rabbit to have most of the uncommon food. I reassured her that the nothing that I bought used to be alive.

Got back to the dorm to change (again) for Billy and Chris' Stoplight Party. Realized that I'm in serious shortage of green shirts, so i settled for a dirty brownish green kinda polo shirt. Got there a demolished a few fools who thought they were any match for my awesome Beer Pong skills. Ha! Good times. Good times.

Mad Skillz: Ronaldinho vs. Inamoto

The Weekend has Landed!

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of life you will be happy to live with all your life. Make themost of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement." ~Foster C. McClellan

-----
The weekend is finally here! Which means more time to do homework, and catch up on history reading without the distruption of class! :P It's gonna be a packed weekend. There a film showing at 2pm later this afternoon of "The Passion of Mao" by Lee Feigon. I have a paper due on April 10 on Mao ZDizzle which I have yet to start. :S TWSA KTV night tonight from 7 till late. Prob head back "home" to the Penthouse for some much needed rest after last night's shitty sleep, and this morning's 8am lab.
Saturday! "Dance for Mother Earth" Pow Wow from 11-1pm-ish... then Tzu Ching Tea Party from 4-6pm... then SEA Cult Night at the Math Atrium for some (hopefully) good SEA food (Sel: there better be nasi lemak!)

Sunday! um... hwk... *sheepish grin*

It has been a busy week with a couple of papers due, various hwk assignments as well as a Mx214 exam. Nothing toooooo strenous, but still rather time consuming.

Sometimes, I feel as if school sorta gets in the way of things I actually wanna do and learn. but I know college is a necessary thing that I have to do for great future endeavours. I'm quite happy with what I have now... I think that we should always be grateful for what we have b/c there's many more ppl out there who don't have it as good. We get so caught up with our wants/needs that sometimes we can't properly differentiate (Calc?!) what is a want, and what is a need.

For me, ... I just want to be happy. And making people around me happy, and being happy with other happy people makes me happy :)

Ethan and Austin, Milwauke. Thanksgiving Break '05

天才手語表演

They Told Me...

"Satellite" ~Asha

"They told me
that if i tried
there aint no mountain high enough
they told me,
that if i prayed
that there aint no river too deep for me
so up the ladder, high on top
higher and higher, never stop
reaching for the destiny that
god has laid for me
on and on without a doubt
fighting hard, not giving up
trying to appreciate the struggles that i hate...
they told me ...."

Good Ol' Days

I talked to Sarah (thanks!) earlier this morning and take a look at what she sent me! Ol' School pics of the good ol' days! I present to you, class photos from Chinese International School, 1991-1996-ish. 5,000 points and a free drink for whoever finds me first in each pic!

Primary 2: Way back while schoolin' in Causeway Bay

Sarah and I both think that i'm the one in the pink mask at the back, on the right :P

Primary 2: Class Photo. I was excited standing next to two girls! until I realized that so was everyone else....

Primary 4 (missing P3 for some reason): Gotta love those sexy cardigans!

Primary 5: check out Jason Yu's (second row, first from the right) hair cut. Stylin' it, bro!

Primary 6: "You were Harry Potter!" ~Sarah

Oh! the days when we were young... when nothing mattered and nothing to worry about. Met up with Jason Yu while I was in NYC over Spring Break.

Bug's Eye View

We were saying how somethings just dont change, and I think that's quite true about this gang of kids I knew from Hong Kong.
I mean, we all lead different lives in different places now, but we all had that common bond of growing up together as childhood friends few people have. Hopefully i'l be able to meet up with a few more you guys in the near future!

If you're reading this, and know of someone in the pictures (or from CIS) drop me a comment and leave ur msg after the beep!

Sunrise :: Sunset

Penthouse Sunrise: Law Quad, Early Fall 05

There are days when u just dont feel like doing anything. Today is one of those days for me.
It's St. Paddy's Day today and in proper college tradition, students from all over the country started to drink (not water, silly) starting at dawn. Michigan was no exception.

During my quick 5 k run around the campus in preparation for this sunday's race, I encountered at least oh.... several dozen drunks donning anything green they could get their hands on. haha... quite a sight really. OH! Kids these days... :-P It got to a point where I couldn't even differentiate whether ppl were drunk of not.
I need a drink tho. but there's no one to drink with. :-/ no one legal anyway...

Had lunch today at TKWu on Liberty with Wilson. So, I was happily eating my bowl of beef noodles, which by the way is actually pretty good, and noticed something shiny submerged in the soup, lodged in between a noodle and a piece of beef. Identified the foreign object as a piece of steel wool! Woot! Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world? :)

Headed down to Arborland mall to get some stuff for Engin at ACE Hardware. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the choices of caulks and glues! They have friggin' glues for every fuck thing. Wood on wood, wood on metal, wood on plastic, plastic on plastic... the possible permutations are endless!

Hopped on over to Cold Stone for some Rocky Road...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
...

It's been a long week with alot of things on my mind, and even more on my To-Do list.
- hist 352 essay/exam
- hist 352 read CP
- hist 205 essay
- hist 205 read read read research
- mx 214 prac exam
- mx 214 hwk
- engin 100 #7
- GIEU journal #5
- summer travel plans (those who are in Toronto, Cali, Vancouver, Maui and Taipei, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, COS I'M COMIN' TO VISIT!)

and this is just for this weekend.
sigh... it's gonna be really busy... hopefully I get most of this done.

in the mean time... i need a rest and a few pints.

Happy St Pat's Day, World!

Sunset on the other side of the world: Phan Thiet Winter 06

Perseverance

Just woke up after 7 solid hours of sleep, something that I haven't been getting the past two nights. It's another Monday, the start of another week week of work, obligations and studying. My mental To-Do list is getting longer and longer, and by no means am I meeting all the due dates I have set for myself. I really am having a hard time finding motivation to persevere. But I know that perseverence is much needed right now to get me through the home stretch and to the (shortterm) goal of SUMMER!!!

I dreamt about mountain biking last night. Bizzare. I took a jump from a mound of dirt that didn't look big enough to give me much air. But I soared and got up pretty hight. As I was on the way down, I saw the ground and thought to myself "I'm not gonna make this. It's impossible! I'm gonna crash!"

But I didn't. Instead I landed with a soft thud and carried on pedalling away...

I wonder what all this means...

Untitled#1

just a quick post before I head to bed...

There has been alot of things on my mind lately. Expectations, uncertainties and insecurities being the three main themes. I have talked to many about it, and have received much good and pragmatic advice from them. To those whom I talked to... thank you very much for showing you care and know that i really do appreciate it.

I should be alright...

I'm starting to feel the pressure of an 18 credit semester!!!!! ahhhhh...
I just feel like giving up. but you know I wont... cos i'm good like that.
but i hope i do get thru it and make it to Hawaii in a stable state of mind.
Btw, updates on my Mauiming blog... go check it out!

I still do want to post up summaries of my New York trip. but that will depend on how much of my school work i get done next week. chances are, they prob wont be up for awhile.... if they ever do.

FINALY DECISION: I WILL NOT BE APPLYING FOR TRANSFER TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
thought about it... decided upon a course of action... moving on.

anyways.. it's late and it's day two of the GIEU orientation program that has burned up my whole weekend. hopefully i get to squeeze in some time for studying... somewhere.
oh... and dinner with Rabbit tmrw night too :)

goose night!

Welcome to Singapore!

"A tour and celebration of the sights, sounds and culture of Singapore. Includes sections on food, culture, religion, art, parks, museums, wildlife and history."


This film is kinda old, but it does give a pretty good run down of what Singapore is like. STB: please contact me for further services :)

gotta love the "dong dong qiang" music.

NYC Dreaming...

Day Deux

So, woke up to a weather report that said it would be "Messy".
Oh boy... WAS IT MESSY, alright.
It began with flurries the size of quarters, progressed on to sleet the weight of quarters, and finished off with a concoction of something between hail and rain.
"Messy" is an understatement...

Met up with Sue at the heart of Chinatown - Mott and Canal, and nibbled abit on the best Fried Yam Cakes (see above) at some dim sum place that I'm certain is run by the Triad.

Headed up to the west side of Central Park and completed a small part of the American Museum of Natural History. Tired out my feet and came back to Lissy's place for another heartwarming home-cooked meal thanks to Auntie.

Jay Leno, wine, and ice cream to finish the night off... gotta love it!

The ESB in the clouds

Life: One Way Street?

Somewhere on Bleeker St. towards W 4th St

Instead of giving you plenty of details about my trip in NYC... I'll give you periodic "foto feeds" to satisfy your visual cravin'. The full updates shall come after I get back to the world of Meijer: Ann Arbor.

So... ctrl-D this site, and come back often!

out. mingster.

Pre- New York New York

On my way to New York City! woohoo~
I'll be crashing with a good friend of mine, Lauryn.
We go wayyyy back... long enough that we use to chat on ICQ! (what's that?!)
I haven't seen her in a long time and it's gonna be a blast.
Having grown up in big metropolitan areas, I always miss the city life - perpetrual hive-life pace of life, the buildings, the honking cabs, public transportation...
Better get going.

Expect many more updates to come!