Sis's blog

Summer is going good so far but I'm just too lazy, in a way, to blog. lol..so, check out my sister's blog cuz she does all the blogging while I do all the chilling..haha..

First Stop, Los Angeles

Hours before leaving Purdue for the airport, I parked my bicycle without locking it. Thinking that I will make a quick run to print my receipt and nothing will happen to my bicycle. When I got out, nothing happened to it. It merely went missing.

I searched around the vicinity but I was merely being naive. Once its gone, it is probably not going to come back. Too bad.

Just a few miles away from Purdue, the driver drove through a pothole. Bam. A few minutes later, the tyre punctured. We waited for approximately 30 minutes or so for another limo to pick us up.

Upon arrival to LA at 10.50pm, I waited 40 mins for my luggage and slept in the airport that night. I cling my laptop strap to my thigh, place the other leg on my suitcase and hug my carry-on bag. I did not manage to sleep well but its good enough.

I called the hostel for a pickup in the morning and their service was amazing! Only $16 a night and they pick you up for free, provide you free breakfast, free wifi, free dinner, pool etc. Amazing huh :) The only drawback is that I'm currently in a room with 19 other people. The upshot to this is that they are from different countries, which makes it interesting.

Anyway, I slept for an hour, took a shower, googled some sites I wanted to visit and started finding my way around this magnificient city. Again, how lucky am I, the bus ran out of gas half way to my destination and he asked all of us to get out of the bus. lol.

My first destination was Korea Town. Well, rumor has it that they serve good Korean food and the price is reasonable. I took the bus, walked then took the bus again. By the time I got there, its lunch time ;) I saw a regular restaurant, like those chinese take-out place, but I wanted more. Korea Town, I see Koreans everywhere. I should be able to find something better. I walked probably 1km away in search of the "perfect" place. All of the better ones have "better" prices too. Sadly, I walked back the exact same route to the very first location, went it and ordered combo B. Amazing =)

Next stop, Griffith Observatory. Again, I took the bus, walked, walked, walked and walked. It wasn't smart of me to walk instead of taking the bus as it was quite a walk! I stopped half-way after walking probably 5km, as I realized that I need to climb up a hill in order to get there. Seeing it from a distance is better than nothing.

Staples Center was next. I need to go there, feel the atmosphere around that area. Sadly, I do not have a camera! My cellphone was out of battery before I started my meal. Sobz. I wanted a picture of so many beautiful scenery in this hollywood city, BUT lucky me :) I helped this lady, a citizen originally from Taiwan, to take her pic with Staples Center and I told her about my plight. So, she helped me take my pic and will send it to my email :) lol.

Anyway, I'm now back in the room, with 19 other people and I'll pick my sis up tmr and head for Chiew's house =)

Done

Finally, after days of procrastination, I finally completed my research work and I will be having lunch with a few graduate student later. The sad part is that lunch is pizza, but the benefit of being there is to get to know more graduate student in the Chemical Engineering department, which will make my life easier the next few years.

Anyway, Lakers lost the 2nd game. They had the momentum going but they could hang on until the very last minute. Sad. Hopefully they will win this Tuesday and when I am in LA, hopefully, they will win again on Sunday.

In less then two months, I need to be back in my hall, unpack my stuff and start the Resident Assistant orientation. I know that next semester is going to be hell and I am absolutely not looking forward to it, but having a goal and trying to push myself to the limit for the whole 16 weeks of the semester is kind of fun, in a way.

I will be flying to LA this Thursday and will probably bunk in the airport for 2 nights in my sleeping bag to wait for my sister. I looking forward to be in Oregon though, back to see my family and friends that I have made during my exchange program three years ago. I am more excited to meet up with Kaitlyn if she is available and of course, her boyfriend too. A huge gathering :)

People said that life is so great when there isn't any stress, when you live in an island or on the peak of a mountain enjoying your days without worrying about your financial status or anything else. In my opinion, that isn't true at all. I like to have a goal, to have a clear picture of what I want and to work hard towards that goal. That sounds a lot better than being aimless, unorganized and lazing around doesn't it ;)

2nd summer place

Well, I bunked at my friend's place for a month now. Tomorrow, I'll bunk in another house. lol.

Summer is absolutely a great time to relax and enjoy myself but since there aren't that many people around, I guess sometimes I tend to just sit down and gaze while looking back at my past memories.

Anyway, after the conference in Reno, Nevada, MidWest Games in Carbondale, Illinois, my next destination would be: Los Angeles, CA; Las Vagas, Nevada; Grand Canyon, Arizona; San Jose and San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR; Seattle, Washington; Nigara Falls, New York, Boston and Maine.

I should definitely look at the bright side and work hard to finish up my research, study for a testout and enjoy my vacation next week~! Yeah :)

Summer 2008

So many things had happen and I can't help but to look back into the past. It was amazing. Sadly, I cannot live in the past nor do I have the power to change my past decision. I can only learn and try to prevent myself from making the same mistakes that I made.

Sometimes, I use to wonder, what will happen if I a decision that I once made? Sometimes, I use to ponder what the future holds for me and what is my role is this huge world?

My roommate was right. He told me that he felt as if I have been living in my own world. Initially, I ignored him as my results reflect my effort and I felt as if he was merely a lazy student; but I was wrong. Even though I excel in my studies as well as most of my extra curricular activities, I did not find joy in my life. I seem to have surpressed my feelings and emotions too much that I seem to have lost them. I do not have the courage to open it up as I thought that feelings will only disrupt the pathway for me to achieve my dreams. Yet again, it hindered my ability to think, to make decisions and to be truthful.

I need to change. I need to open up, learn to speak from the bottom of my heart and be truthful. I admire those people who could do so and I have to realize that this change will not jeopardize my dream.

All in all, I need to learn, change and get back on track as soon as possible. Stay focused, organized and open up.

Ultimate Spring Break 2008!!

It has been quite a while since I last updated my blog. Time was a constraint and it still is.


Spring break was amazing. After being around Purdue for that many months, I finally get the opportunity to travel down south, all the way to Louisiana. A group of 60 people were divided into two. One group to Dulac, LA and the other to Houma, LA. I was fortunate to be on this trip with 30 other amazing individuals.


This trip's main purpose is to aid the rebuilding process in Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina and Rita 3 years ago. It may sound weird that this happened three years ago and they still need volunteers but the remains that this city has not recovered completely.


My first task was to tear down a kitchen and build a frame for it.

This used to be the homeowner’s kitchen. We tore it down, nailed plywood as the new floor and rebuild a frame for him. The light brown colored wood behind me is what we built. We spent two and a half day in this house.

My second task was to paint a house. I painted the roof (where my friend and I were literally on the roof itself) and a few other exterior of the house.

Through this trip, I managed to see the different culture in Louisiana as well as the authentic traditional food called “Cajun” food. Its spicy, consists of rice and usually a dish called “Gumbo” which is made up of rice and soup. Besides that, we managed to visit downtown New Orleans and walked around the French Quarter. I was impressed by the vibes that these folks have despite the natural disaster 3 years ago.
The picture looks as if we are in Disney World :)

All in all, I gained plenty of new friends, learnt a lot more about the culture and the people down south as well as the US and most importantly, took a beautiful break from my hectic life in Purdue.

New Years Day

Different food, different faces..lol..

Welcome 2008. May everything go well this year.

Malcolm knocked on my door on dec 30th and told me that he is bored of being here in West Lafayette. He wanted to go somewhere else, some happening place to welcome this exciting New Year. He told me that he googled the events in Chicago and there were so many events there! He asked me whether I wanted to go with him and I said, "Yeah!”

After lunch with Aiman and his 2 other friends in China One Buffet, Malcolm and I head to Hawkins to print a few maps from "google maps" as a guide. Then, we dropped by Malcolm's place for him to change and make a few calls and there we go, the road trip begins!

The journey there took us less than 2 hours. We arrived there at 4.50pm, Chicago time. Initially, we wanted to park the car in Millennium Parking Garage but we overshot and decided to park in another parking garage up ahead, 303 E Wacker Parking Garage. After finding a great spot, we hunt down the restroom and I called Adrian to ask his location (he is there with a group of 11 others, an ADP gathering). They were having pizza for dinner and will head back to Westin Hotel after that. Malcolm wanted to go to the fountain and we head off that way.

The snow storm in Chicago is pretty bad. A unique way to welcome this mysterious New Year. We stopped by the beam in Millennium Park, walked to Butler Field and head to the fountain. Butler Field was awesome as there was a blanket of snow covering the ground which makes it a great place for a snowball fight and to make a snowman. There was plenty of cute bunny hopping around the park. We tried to catch one (our strategy did not work) and Malcolm tried to throw a snowball to one but the bunny ran away before the snowball actually got close to it.

We then walked randomly around while heading towards Westin. We found Westin Hotel but Adrian and his group hasn't gotten back yet. My stomach was growling, so we went around hunting for food. Lucky enough, the restaurant, "Singha" was open. They serve decent Thai food at an appropriate price. We ordered Masaman Curry and a fish dish. After dinner, we walked over to Westin and wanted to go up to room 716 and room 726 but there was a guard there. I called Adrian and he told me that they are not required to show their room key to get in the elevator but it did! I then asked Adrian which Westin Hotel is he in and he told me that it is near John Hancock Tower. We were in the wrong hotel!! Haha..

We got some directions from the reception and Malcolm check the location on the map. He stored the directions in his head and we used his bearings in his head and managed to make it there. Before heading to the hotel, we dropped by Walgreens to buy a couple of socks as Malcolm’s socks was soaked (there was a hole in his sole). We chilled there for a while and head to Navy Pier. On the way over, snowballs were flying all around. As we were walking in a group, the people in front threw the snowball back and vice versa. As we approached Navy Pier, the snow storm turned into a blizzard. Weird weather indeed.

We walked around Navy Pier, went to meet up with Chen for a while and walked to the end of the pier. Again, we threw snowballs at each other there. Haha..Minutes later, 2 policemen appeared and we stopped. Someone must have complained! Haha..We then head to the restroom to dry up, went to buy ice-cream and head out to eat the ice-cream while waiting for the fireworks to go off. Ice-cream in the snow. Cool huh..lol..the fireworks lasted for 15 minutes. It was magical. No doubt. The best I have ever seen..

All of us head to have a snowball fight and build a mini snowman after that. It was super fun! Everyone was tired but happy at the point. Everyone head back to the hotel. Malcolm and I went to chill there for a while and head to the car at around 3.30am. It took us more than an hour to find the car! The hotels are all connected and the pathway to 303 E Wacker garage is closed! Weird. We were one minute late from paying USD 3 less, so we decided to eat some snacks we bought in Walgreens above the parking garage where they have stalls there and try to sleep. It wasn’t really comfortable to sleep there. Hence, we went back to the car and slept from 6 to 7am, got up and went straight to the restroom in a hotel nearby and freshen up.

Both of us were very tired at that point but it was an awesome experience! We head to Chinatown and had dim sum. It was delicious. I bought a dozen egg tarts back while Malcolm bought two and some other tidbits. We head home after that. Arrived home at 1pm (est), took a shower and rest well.