For the Mr. Kites

Sorry, I know it's been awhile. I haven't posted for several reasons: nothing interesting has happened, I've been somewhat busy saying bye to people, and of course I'm just kind of lazy heh. But with 4 days left until I'm flying back to Boston, I find myself trying to pass the time in any way before I'm back at school. By some strange twist of fate, in such a UC-dominated environment, somehow almost all of my close friends attend semester schools and due to some ticket fiasco, I'm not moving back in BC until 4 days after all of my rest of my friends there. It sucks to be the left behind.

My friends already at school are making a valiant effort to keep in touch I'm sure, but it's not the same. People, including myself, are already slipping back into their school modes and running out of time, conversations end awkwardly and I'm left in little old cupertino missing them while they surely have no time to miss me. Things are changing again and I just can't believe that after fun-filled 4 months I forgot that they would. I know everything will be okay, but I guess I'm just in that awkward limbo state where I'm being left behind but I can't dive head-first into my own busy school life yet either. Darn it, should've bought plane tickets for today instead -_____- I won't be making that mistake twice.

In other news, Hawaii was beautiful and extremely fun. Aside from some minor problems borne out of suddenly spending so much time with the family, it was 6 days full of bliss and beaches. We were on the Big Island this time, which is about the size of Conneticut but only has 300,000 inhabitants compared with 3 million in that East coast state. It is very undeveloped, full of lush tropical jungles and valleys and state-protected spreads of land. We went horseback riding, snorkeling at night with manta rays, on a helicopter ride around the island and up the tallest mountain in the world, Mauna Kea, the big island's resident largest volcano. Mauna Kea is the world's best side for stargazing, and I have seriously never seen so many stars before. There seemed to be more stars than sky, and the Milky Way and Jupiter were clearly in the sky. Breathtaking...I love stars. Snorkeling with manta rays at night was also amazing. We rode out on a boat at sunset to some bay unreachable by land, and there were huge lights in the ocean put there to attract plankton, which in turn attracted manta rays. These things were 16 feet across, almost bigger than our boat, doing flips and feeding on plankton maybe a foot below us. Some snorkelers even accidentally kicked them while paddling in the water (:(!!!!) Although the first sighting is a little terrifying with their size and their giant gaping mouths coming at you and whatnot, after the initial shock its nice to just float there and appreciate these giant creatures for what they are. Underwater pictures are to be developed...to be seen on my facebook!


An update on my culinary adventures....recently I attempted a cheesecake topped with a strawberry glaze and fresh strawberries. I am quite pleased to say that it was a huge success. My dad, the cheesecake lover and the reason I made it, highly approved. My mom loved the crust and even my sister, who doesn't really like cheesecake, was wishing there was still a piece left a couple nights later when she was looking for snacks...heh. My friends also highly enjoyed it when I brought it to a gathering...What should i cook next!??!

Also, for the first time in my entire 18 almost 19 years of life, I got a bad haircut. Okay, a couple hours after the matter it's not THAT bad...in fact I think I'd be completely fine with it if my bangs were past my eyebrows, but alas it is not to be sigh. Before, I could not even come close to understanding girls who cry after a haircut, but now I empathize at least. SIGHHH. I guess it was coming sometime, but I was hoping my luck would hold out...my entire life LOL. Ahh welll....good thing my hair grows super fast...things should be okay in a week or two I hope!

HMMMM. Not much left to say, I need to dance and pack and go back to school! And also, I have fallen in loooove with Little Boots. Her electropop is fantastic.

I know, I know, I fail. I haven't blogged in almost 3 weeks, aka FOREVER. Nothing too ridiculous has really been happening since I've gotten back from the East Coast; Cupertino is what it is, and that is lazy and sunny. I've talked about this with a couple people since I've been back, and living in California makes it SO hard to LEAVE! The perpetually beautiful skies are so tempting, and I kind of just want to laze around and not do anything, ever.

However, fun and exciting things have been happening. My good friend K from BC visited the past weekend, taking a vacation from her lovely hometown of Omaha, NE (HEHE). I took her to all the typical CA things and then some. We went to the beach, got a lot of pearl milk tea (VERDE FTW), yogurt, drunk karaoke-ing, a birthday party, swimming, and basically hit up every food place around here that deserves a visit (La Vic's, In-n-Out, Vivi's, Korean BBQ). On Monday I took her to San Francisco for some shopping and dinner at the Fisherman's Wharf. She wanted seafood and we went to this lovely place called Cioppino's which was rather delicious. Walking back to our car, she was BLESSED with a hilarious encounter with the SF BUSH MAN!!!

For those who do not live in California or who have not heard of this fantastic man, he is a fixture in San Francisco much like the Naked Cowboy in New York's Time Square. Holding and hiding behind a few rather large braches of trees, he waits on the sidewalk, sometimes near trash cans (as in K's case) and jumps out at unwitting tourists, scaring the bejeesus out of him. This being my first time seeing him, and also due to the fact that K does not react well to surprises and loud noises, I would say that she entertained basically everybody walking within a 20 foot radius of us.

A lovely end to a fun California visit I would say :) I was sad to see K go when I dropped her off at the airport, but after all school does start in less than a month so no complaining for me. I'm going to Hawaii with the family next Tuesday as well, so there's really not much time left in our 4 month summer. My good friends either haven't been around all summer or are just about to head back to school, and my thoughts are turning towards the upcoming year more often than not. I'm already getting at least 2 CSA emails a day, and things are starting to pick up! I am very excited :)

In other news, I bought this amazing leather jacket in SF :) I know I said I wasn't going to spend any more money after my shopping spree in New York and Boston, but this is an item that I've been looking for for a LONG time and I will cherish it completely. Also, I have realized that a job next year is pretty much going to become necessary, especially with all the shows that I want to see in the upcoming year. This semester I'll be watching Cirque du Soleil's Alegria at UMass, and a couple of days after that is Regina Spektor at the House of Blues. In October there's hopefully a road trip to New York to catch Chromeo, and maybe Justice later in the month? So many fun events coming up!

One last thing: I need new music!! Any suggestions?? I really listen to anything so....Send me suggestions!!!

So back in little old Cupertino, and enjoying the beautiful sunny days...Sorry East Coast I had to take the sun back with me :P The last week of my vacation was quite eventful...I resolved some blaring issues, spent a good deal of money and visited my sister for the first time in Providence, as well as taking my first trip to the Hamptons where her friend had a lake house. First off, Montauk is breathtakingly beautiful....unfortunately I forgot my camera in Boston during our time at the lake and thus have no pictures of my own, but here are some stolen from my sister :)


The view from my window when I woke up every morning

We ended up taking two ferries and a bus back to Providence which was a little more expensive, but after our trip to Montauk I can definitely say I hate Greyhound, so it was totally worth it. Plus, the ferries stopped at more amazing islands and ports such as Block Island...Picture below


Gorgeous!! I definitely want to come back here to vacation some day and rent mopeds :)

I was talking about this with my sister on our enjoyable boat ride, but after coming to the East Coast I can really understand how some of my friends say they would never want to live anywhere else. Who can deny the allure of summer beach houses in the Hamptons and ski cabins in Vermont and the like? California is wonderfully lazy and chill in it's own right, but while I'm young and able-bodied I definitely want to travel and live somewhere a little more fast-paced..aka the East Coast. I really do love the city of Boston now, and I can see myself staying around for at least a couple of years after I graduate.

Also, after visiting the East Coast I have been invigorated by the ultimate desire to do a lot of things, including to learn how to cook, and cook well. Regardless of the fact that I won't have a kitchen next year, I believe this is a useful (and if I might say, quite impressive) skill...Also I've always loved to bake and cook breakfast, as long as I had the time. I have decided to expand my repertoire to include a wide variety of dishes :) I figured out a new delicious breakfast sandwich, and also cooked dinner for my family which was quite a success as well. I'm so pleased with the results!! More pictures are on my facebook, if you care to see, but here is my favorite dish from the night...Beef & tofu lettuce cups:


YUMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Next up on my list of things to cook are cheesecake and white sauce/seafood pastas for my Dad hehe. The problem with cooking is I guess mainly finding somebody to eat my food haha....I have a small stomach, unfortunately. Another thing I want to change is my waking up at 2 PM everyday. I am fully utilizing my 3 hour jetlag to get up before 10:30 everyday and so far it's kind of working...I now have time to make breakfast as well as be productive and such :)

Also, started dancing again...Class yesterday was a little disappointing, as it was my 3rd failed attempt at taking class with a certain teacher and hip hop was also a little lacking. I guess for hip hop you really need to go to the big urban cities to get the full experience? After taking class in New York and watching everybody in Boston, hip hop class in a little town doesn't seem that exciting haha. I might start driving up to SF to take class from Funkonometry or what not, but I guess we'll see how that goes. I realized that I really do want to keep dancing...maybe even after college? I'm thinking about joining a company or a dance group...contemporary or hip hop are both fine with me, as well as getting more involved with Conspiracy/Bulletproof Theory (BC's bboy crew...although I'm waacking it's still the same group :P) while I'm still in school. All I need is time!!! hahah

I guess one of the reasons that I've been thinking so far ahead about so many things I want to accomplish is because my all of my friends who just graduated are getting their lives sorted out, and in a sense are finally starting real life. They are all amazing interesting people who are doing amazing interesting things despite whatever their majors are. This ranges from cooking school to completing their master's on a full scholarship at one of the best universities in China to going full time as a photographer or getting into Parson's....basically they are all accomplishing the things they wanted to do and succeeding while still managing to do the things that they love. I can only hope that in 3 years when I am in their shoes I have achieved half of the things that they have.

In other less happy news, I've been feeling kind of down for multiple reasons which I wish I could write about, but can't due to various reasons. Things are changing in a lot of ways....The ones that are going in the direction I want still make me sad when I think about how nothing is the same, and the ones that aren't upset me even more. Why is it that even when we get what we want we still feel pangs of nostalgia, so that despite the fact that we won, we still aren't happy? This isn't the first time I've felt like this, and neither will it be the last, but I wish it would stop happening. Just being selfish, I suppose.

Enough with the pity party, apparently my blog is too emo harhar. Lots of fun things planned in the month before summer ends....Lots of people's birthdays, catching up with people I haven't seen in FOREVER, MAYBE skydiving on Sunday, staying with D in SF for a night, K is coming to visit me beginning of August, and then trip to Hawaii with the fam. Time is FLYING by!!

A lot of things on my mind recently....I'm back in Boston for a couple of days and everybody around me is studying for something (MCATs, LSATs, etc.) and I'm feeling pretty unproductive around them, so I suppose I'll blog and feel mildly intelligent for a bit. Topics I want to cover: passive aggression, the downside of living on two coasts, thoughts about next year.

Okay so we decided to go watch Bruno on my last night in New York (how did I get tricked into doing this...I have no idea) and the theater was huge, with nice comfy seats that kinda bounced and sank down when you sat down in them. When I sat down the rather overweight lady behind me starting complaining about how my seat hit her knees but seeing as how I couldn't really do anything about it except not sit there, I didn't say anything. Throughout the movie she kept kicking the back of my chair in bursts, which I naturally assumed was an accident, but towards the end, when there were maybe 10 minutes left, she abruptly swore and leaned forward and angrily asked me to put my feet down, which of course I did promptly. I guess maybe my feet were blocking her view? I'm still not quite sure, maybe she just really dislikes people who put there feet up. But seriously, what a display of passive aggression...so ridiculous. I really don't understand why she didn't just ask me to put my feet down to begin with?? I don't know I can't say that I'm a very passive aggressive person, so maybe it's just really satisfying to kick seats instead of watching a movie in peace? But yeah...people are strange.

So just when I thought that I was making life on two coasts make sense, not so much. This weekend there were a ridiculous number of things going on...obviously I could only pick one thing to do, and it turned out very very fun :) Unexpected fun is so fun!!! And so satisfying. And also no hangover a bowl of pho the next day won't cure heh. I had a fantastic time, and yet when I hear about all the shenanigans my friends at home are getting into, I wish I was there too...I feel like I am doomed to this feeling of always missing out on something. I hope that this feeling goes away, because it would really suck to be forever dissatisfied with what I have. But I'm not!! I'm not dissatisfied!! How to stop *________*

Hanging out with BC people again, I am getting super super excited for the upcoming school year. As I read on her blog, C definitely had it right. Freshman year was too ridiculous and I felt all over the place...sophomore year I know what I want to do and I know what I have to do to achieve those goals, and I am SO EXCITED!! Now it's just a matter of time...I have culture show to think about, school, I'm researching in a psych lab, and I'm thinking about either joining a dance group or getting a job. Unfortunately, I do have to pick :/ I wish I could do both!!


Okay, running out of things to say. Everybody is studying so hard :X and I'm just waiting for the pizza to get here hehe. One last thing...I LOVE 80s MUSIC.

So the last two weeks have been REALLY REALLY ridiculous....I managed to escape some chaos at home with my pre-planned trip to the east coast, but I guess the crazy followed me harhar. As did the sun! So I suppose that makes up for it :) I hope all the east-coasters are appreciating the tiny bit of sun after a month of straight rain...I KNOW I AM hehe.

Okay so my trip has been ridiculous amounts of fun....It's been a LOT of fun seeing everybody in Boston, since so many people stayed behind for work and class. It's kind of weird, I didn't realize how much I'd missed everybody :) I guess I'm slowly starting to learn how to reconcile my different lives on the two coasts. I also met up with B & T, which was nice since we haven't talked or caught up in awhile. The area around Harvard is super nice and cute! I'm really jealous that most colleges have a type of plaza or student area for the kids to hang out at...BC is severely lacking in that area unfortunately :/ The rest of my nights in Boston were just the usual, and of course beer pong :)

So an unexpected turn of events led me to the New Jersey/New York area a couple days ahead of schedule, but it's been really fun so far :) Visited the Museum of Sex which was very interesting, and been eating at exciting fun (and somewhat famous) places. ALSO, I took two hip hop classes, BOTH of which I enjoyed VERY MUCH. I really love to dance, I can't believe I let myself not dance for a year when I went off to Boston....RIDICULOUS!! The first class was just a normal hip hop class with pretty fun choreography, but the second workshop I took was AMAZINGGGG. If you guys have not heard of/seen Kyle Hanagami and Ellen Kim dance, you guys are SERIOUSLY missing out. They are two amazing dancers/choreographers from SF who started their own group called The Lost Kids, and basically yeah I love them. Kyle Hanagami taught us a piece to Adele-Hometown Glory, and even though I usually REALLY dislike this new lyrical hip-hop trend, his choreo was fantastic. I realized that the reason I don't like lyrical hip hop is because unless it's done really well, it just looks bizarre and the moves don't match the music. However, in the right hands....it brings a whole new meaning to dance.

Anyway, here's a clip of one of my favorite dances that Ellen and Kyle did together...when footage of the dance I learned from Kyle is uploaded, I'll post that up too :)




Also EXCITING NEWS! I basically got like almost a foot of hair chopped off my head. This was something that popped into my head the week before I left for the east coast and yeah...I am actually really really glad that I decided to go through with it. After everything that's happened, I was definitely ready for a change. I am really really pleased with the results and yeah...HEHE.



Ummm yeah that's about all that's exciting that's happened in my life :) After my stay in New York I might be heading back to Boston for a couple of days to see L who just got back from China, and then to Providence to visit my sister...YAY! FUN TIMES FULL STEAM AHEAD!!

"Time, you can't see it you can't hear it, you can't weigh it or measure it in a laboratory. It is a seductive sense of becoming what we are, instead of what we were a nanosecond ago, becoming what we will be in another nanosecond. This whole entire landscape existing before and behind us and we move through it, slice by slice."

It's so easy to get carried away in your own life that you forget that everything you do has real consequences. Sometimes it takes getting into real trouble to realize that we all have a lot of growing up to do. I don't know what to say about the past two days except that I'm glad it's over. Slice by slice, I'm trying to move through it.



I don't think things will be the same anymore.

It is currently almost 3:30 in the morning, and for once, it is not thanks to my friends nor a book nor any type of controlled substance that I am still awake. This time, it is all me.

I don't quite know why or why now my insomnia has returned, only that it is back with a vengeance and despite the fact that I have been yawning for hours, when I close my eyes in anticipation of sweet sweet sleep all I end up doing is thrashing about in my too-hot blanket as I think about how uncomfortable it is that my shirt is riding up. I love to sleep...so why can't I?

My giant white flower. It looks like a huge gardenia! I was told. It was snapped off its branch too long ago, the edges of its petals are turning brown, and I am sad. At 3:33 AM, life seems to be a lot simpler than it usually presents itself. My five bouncy balls, one of each color lined up in the order of the rainbow, make me happy just looking at them. Souvenirs from my adventures today.

I am currently reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, and although it is a good book as I read it I can't help but wonder which parts are real and which parts are made up and whether or not that really matters.


Is what happens to us real, or how we perceive it?