Once upon a time, there is a Gemini called Jingying...

"Silence of Vajra Guru Pema" by Tashi Ram

2011-04-24T21:31:00.002-04:00

It doesn't matter if you see me or not.
I am standing right there with no sorrow or delight.

It doesn't matter if you miss me or not.
The feeling is right there and it isn't going anywhere.

It doesn't matter if you love me or not.
Love is right there and it isn't going to change.

It doesn't matter if you are with me or not.
My hand is in your hand and I won't let go.

Come to my arms.
Or let me live in your heart.

Silence Love.
Calmness Joy.

Indoor Sky Diving

2008-09-23T02:36:00.003-04:00

Recommended by a buddy, I tried indoor sky diving during my week at Vegas for SAP TechEd. You got in a room, they called it (vertical) wind tunnel. The floor is a made of metal mesh. Underneath the mesh is a huge fan, a fan that has enough power to blow a person up! Around the room are alot of pad and cushioning.

They gave each of us very baggy suit to wear, which suppose to increase lift. The instructor told each person to lie on the mesh floor first. Once it starts, the operator turns on the fan gradually. I started feel being lifted. Yes!, Next thing I know, I am floating in air! The feeling of flying is amazing...

Everything came into play, your body position, your weight...Some ppl struggle to get lifted. Some ppl struggle to get balance. To me getting lifted is no issue, I was so light, and the suite was extreme baggy on me. From the video my dad took for me, I looked liked a ballon in that suit. LOL! For a few times, the instructor had to pull my foot and drag me down, because I flew to high :-PPP

I recommended this activity to ppl all age. It is not scary, very safe, since you do it indoor.

The "Le Reve" Show at Wynn Hotel

2008-09-23T02:14:00.006-04:00

I had a chance to go to Las Vegas couple weeks ago to attend the SAP TechEd for a week. During that week, I wanted to watched a show. I did some research online and order the ticket for on of the best rated show at Vegas - The Le Reve.

After watching the show, I have to say. Le Reve is really the best show at Vegas. The Wynn Hotel built a circular domed Theater just for this show, with a deep swimming pool in the center of the stage. It allows performances occur in air, in water and around the theater on its wall.

This is a total 3 dimensional show. Synchronized swimmers swim in water, diver dump from 50 feet above the surface of water. Acrobatic performer doing all kind tricks and form their body to different shape in air.

No need to mention the state-of-art lights and sound effect. The circular theater make even thing looks prettier. And the whole show's choreography is outstanding! It is rated the most artistic and most creative show in Vegas!

In my own point of view, it is better than a Cirque de Soleil show I saw before, because Cirque uses an traditional front stage, audience don't get the all around effect.

In Bellagio hotel, there is another water show produced by Cirque de Soleil called "The O". I saw it's clip on youtube. There is no way it can compare to "Le Reve". The stage is not as good, the choreography is not as interesting. The theme is not as romantic. "O" is about animals and tribes fighting for sacred water resource and a epic of how holy water is thru out history. Because "O" is a cirque de soleil show, evidently, there are clowns, and some cirqus like apparatus.

On the other hand, you won't see much typical circus act in "Le Reve", it is consider a theatrical show than circus show. The Name of the show "Le Reve" is from one of the most famous painting by Picasso, where Picasso depicts his mistress lying in a couch and fell asleep. The show use the name of this painting to set the theme. It allows unlimited space for creativity in the show. It starts with a lady going to bed. Then we entered her dreams. She dreamed about trees, love, sexuality, demons, wedding, etc.

So, my point is, if there is just one show you should see in Vegas, Le Reve is the one! This is indeed the best show in Vegas!

If you are the kind of person who rather watch a nude show than a truly amazing world-class show , I'm not going to comment anything about it....All I got to say is sorry for you.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

2008-08-11T23:54:00.005-04:00

The 2008 Olympic Game Opening Ceremony at Beijing was truly spectacular. The visual effect, choreography, costumes, lighting, fireworks, sound were all so amazzzzing.

It's like an big Hollywood blockbuster done by real people. There are 15000 performers participated the Opening ceremony. Now the bar is set too high for any country to match to in future!

The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) was customized with the ceremony in mind. It has an all-around membrane screen wrap the entire stadium and a world biggest LCD screen lays in the center of the stadium on ground. The main dancers, Kongfu masters, and singers performed in the center, with thousands back-up performers formed circle around the LCD screen made stage.

Series of fireworks went off across the city ensembles with fireworks around the stadium lead to one highlight after another. It is designed by the world renowned firework designer.

The most special trait about this ceremony is that it is 3-Dimensional. Many dancers was flying in sky by a steel string ties to them. The final highlights was Li Ning run around the stadium's membrane wall and lit the Olympic Torch!

What a show! I don't think there is going to be any Olympic opening ceremony will able to beat that ever! Only could a country with abundant population, enough fund, and unlimited passion for sport could achieve something like this!

Good read

2008-05-05T11:34:00.002-04:00

(1) This is a good article written by a Mongolian Chinese. It's interesting to know the perspective of another Minority about Tibet Movement.

http://members.tripod.com/americanmediawatch/id16.htm

(2) This is another objective article written by an American writer, Michael Parenti, an internationally known award-winning author and lecturer, as well as a leading progressive political analyst

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/mparen01.html

Independence when you can't agree on

2008-05-01T15:25:00.004-04:00

Do you get a divorce when you can't agree on something, or try to work it thru?
I think most ppl would say "No, we will try to work things thru." Then how come the Tibetans in China they just want to separate without even try to work things out with the Chinese Government? Do they think the majority Hans not showing them enough love? Do they think the government forget about them?

Oh yeah, they don't have enough freedom! Freedom doesn't not equal to independence. They can send representative to negotiate with the government to get more religious freedom. They can ask for more seats in the central government. China is going thru many reforms, things are so different compare to 20 years ago. There are so many temples in China, if you want to go pray in the temple, no one will stop you. If the riots only ask for more religious freedom, the government won't worry so much about that, it is when they request independence, that is what scare the government.

We see there are Christian in China who complain they don't get enough religious freedom to practice Christianity, but hey, you don't see them say, give me one chunk of land in China and we will build our own country. Why, because, Christian Chinese still consider themselves Chinese. Some Ti bets don't even consider themselves Chinese. It's all about race after all, isn't it?

Btw, there are 55 officially recognized historical minority groups. Minorities lived in China since ancient history. Recent immigrants to China are not considered as minorities in China. Out of the 55 minorities, 53 are fairly happy being Chinese citizen, only riots from two groups constantly trying to gain independence from the past 40 years. There is some in correct info on Wiki saying the communist party invaded Tibet. I'm not trying to defend for the CCP, I don't like them either. I'm simply telling the truth. Before PRC was founded in 1949, Tibet region was under rule of the Chiang Kai-Shek's National Party After Chiang Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan, the CCP took over control of the Region. They did sent some troops there, only to maintaining the local stability, but there weren't any wars.

China is a secular state, same as the U.S. in this aspect, if Tibet Buddhists want to make Buddhism as the national religion, off course the government not going to agree to that! Is they want to separate to build a new country, off course the Chinese government no going to say yes to that either. Are we determined to have a 2nd civil war in the US, if a southern state wants to declare independence today?

Have we get any lessons from the Balkanization in Eastern Europe? Do you really want to split powerful large country to many tiny pieces? Why can't the whole world just become one country? I know in reality it prob is not going to happen, but in theory, isn't that going to be awesome! All races, religions, parties and groups are able to across their difference and live happily together.

Why can't we just pass race and religion difference?

2008-04-24T22:03:00.004-04:00

Many who pay attention to new in the Chinese region probably know two of the biggest province in China the Uyghur and Tibet province want to gain independence for long time, even though they have been part of China since ancient time. The main reason being are people live at Uyghur and Tibet belong to different ethnic group from the rest of China. Uyghur people are Turkish descendants and they practice Islam. Tibetan practice Buddhism. For the rest of China, Han ethnic dominate 90% of total population and majority are atheist due to 60 years of ruling by the communist party.

In recent years, riots have occurred several time in Uyghur and Tibet provinces. They are trying to gain independence from China. What I can't understand is how come the Inner Mongolian province is so peaceful, they never attempt to gain independence nor united with The Mongolian People's Republic? The language, religion, and race are all the same between inner Mongolia province of China and Mongolia the country. The would have every reason to separate themselves from China, but they don't want to.

My guess here is Mongols once rule China. The Mongolian empire built by Genghis Khan was once the largest nation on the earth. So Mongols in China can find a sense of belonging, but Uyghur people and Tibetans may not, since Uyghur Empire and Tibetan Empire were never strong enough to conquer eastward successfully. There were several failed attempt in ancient history, and since they lost the war, they ended up to be part of the ancient Han ruled empires in Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.

In the western world, there are a lot news that are not in favor of China. I'm not trying to defense China, coz some of those reports are probably true. However I'm just going to tell you what I've seen as kid during the 15 year I lived in China.

(1) Minority kids were treated as superstar in School. Among the 56 ethnic groups in China, 55 of them are consider minority group and they only count as 10% of the total population. Since majority of the minorities live in the west, it is so rare to see a minority classmate at my school in a big city like Tianjin. All the kids think they are so special! We loved them. Chinese Minorities are really good at singing and dancing. At end of each semester, it is the school's tradition to have a talent show, minority kids were always the star in those show. In tern of education, minority enjoy a superior advantage. For college entry exam, the passing score for minorities are lower than the score for Han. And if there are two students one Hans and one minority have the same score, minority have the priority to be admitted first. In many poor areas at Tibet and Uyghur, whole bunch of schools were found. Minority families are allow to have more than one child legally, while the rest of Chinese families have to obey then one child policy! Talking about affirmative action, this is real practice in play!

Since 10 years ago, the Chinese government decide to improve the economy in the western region of China. So many infrastructure were built, such as road, electricity power plants, hospital, etc. The new railway built by the Chinese Central government from Beijing to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet province, is a cashing cow for the Tibet province. It sending millions of tourists to Tibet to boost the local economy. And the Tibetan are saying the government and the Han people are not nice to them? In Uyghur, there is the world largest tomato processing company, China's 2nd largest petroleum field and refinery.

I don't understand how can they not appreciate what the Chinese government is trying to do for them??? Who can explain this to me???

Olympic Game and Tibetan Riot

2008-04-22T00:31:00.004-04:00

I don't understand why there are ppl trying to boycott the 2008 Olympic game at Beijing China.

(1) First of all, we should not mix Sport and Politics.

(2) If a state or province in your country trying to gain independence, whT would your government do?

(3) I support religious freedom and human rights, but that is not what those Tibet Riots were trying to accomplish. They were just use religion as a mask and trying to separate Tibet from China and mess up the Olympic game. How evil!

(4) Even the buddeism leader Dala Lama accept the fact the Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China.

(5) History of Tibet is infused with History of China. Tibet establish diplomacy with Tang Dynasty at 627AD. Controlled by Mongol Empire since 1236, and volunteering joined China in the Qing Dynasty at 1751

(6) So if you going to boycott something, it's wise to understand about the situation and history of that country first before interference.

A new perspective on Asians only hung out with Asians

2008-04-16T14:41:00.005-04:00

Recently, someone very special to me said to me that he notices that his Chinese colleagues always talk to other Chinese at his workplace. It is like they form an inclusive Chinese group within the company. I have to admit what he observed is very true and consistent to what I've seen in most Asian communities. Despite the ease of communication in their mother tongue, what else causes this phenomenon? I have to wonder...

Americans are very nice people in general. They are not rude, but not super friendly either. In the U.S., immigrants are pretty much on their own. Immigrants have to figure out their own way to fit in. To an outsider, it is difficult to penetrate the "white" society without any insiders to guide them to the entrance.

China welcomes foreigners with open arms. When a foreigner goes to China, whether it is for leisure or business or study, s/he will immediately find him/herself surrounded by local Chinese, who want to be their hosts. Chinese feel it is an honor to show foreign visitors around, so they have the opportunity to explain Chinese history, tradition, culture, food, arts and music to their guests from far away.

For Instance, how many White co-workers at your workplace pro-actively ask their Asian coworkers to hang out with them? When someone made a joke and people in the whole office are laughing except those Asians in your office, how many approached them to explain the joke to them? Sure, I know probably most the culture or historical references to the joke are missing for your Asian coworkers to get the humor. However without some nice American to explain to them, it will be even harder to understand! And you wonder why they have the tendency to talk to their own people???

When I was in High School, not many schoolmates I knew made attempts to help me understand about American culture. I had to figure out most things on my own, slowly. At least, if I ask someone about something, I would get an answer. That is one difference. Americans expect others to ask first, rather than just start telling. This only works if an immigrant knows exactly what to ask. A lot of time, culture shocks can be so subtle; we feel its existence but just can't name it. So it is possible to not even able to put together a question.

If you ever visit China, you will know what I mean. Every Chinese is so welcome; everyone is so eager to talk to foreign visitors, to help them understand their country, their people. One two-week trip to China, you will absorb more about China and Chinese than any immigrant in the U.S. can understand about this place in a year.

Well, on the bright side, there are a lot TV programs in China discuss about other countries. Sometimes, in those programs, they often invite foreign exchange students studying in China to get on the show and talk about their experience in their own country and in China. Many American TV shows and movies can be found in China too. There is also a Chinese version for every American reality show. Otherwise it will be more difficult for Chinese immigrants to interface with non-Asian.

Off course not every American is indifferent about other ethnical groups. There are many I know are very nice and friendly. To those Asians who have American friends and Americans who have Asian friends. Hopefully, they can fulfill the duty of culture ambassadors, cross the culture barrier and tumble down the invisible wall. Asian's lifestyle is not so different to American's anyway. If you want to make an effort, you will find more similarities than differences. :-)

Me and My Randomness

2007-10-01T23:39:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I just suddenly have this urge to post a blog with this title. I don't even have a content in mind yet but I already know this is what I want to call it. I've been doing alot things lately, alot random behaviors, reading random articles online, sending random emails to friends at some random time during the day. To me, this is just a very random phase. Even though, it is all very random, I think it all makes sense, at least it makes sense to myself. If some random reader is reading this now, s/he is probably very confused by what I am writing about. Actually I am not even sure I know myself. This is just some random burst before bedtime. People should know, I'm not wierd, I'm just random :-P

Recent Update

2007-09-29T10:43:00.000-04:00

Training at Chicago was good. Learn some new knowledge. It was very cold week.
Egypt trip plan is set. Will be going in December for two weeks. So excited!
Went to Hartford. It was nice hanging out with old and new friends, and went hiking.
Business trip to Salt Lake City was canceled, but will still go to DC for 1wk.

Everything is put off

2007-09-07T10:35:00.000-04:00

Was planning to go to Indiana Dunes for camping with friends, but two of them are down due to sickness. So plan has be to put off. sucks...
All my post recently are about negativity, not so good, should start get positive about things again. On the bright side, I'll be at Chicago for training next week. That will be fun. :-)

Misc stuff

2007-09-06T15:59:00.001-04:00

Egypt plan is up in air now,...a friend is unsure if she can still go due to some realistic reason.

I got hit on by some creep on the shuttle at workplace. And there is another wierdo in the building is stalking me too.

Still waiting on result from the drawing for Olympic pre-sale tickets. No words yet.

This SUCKS!

Oh, Wow, I forgot that Sept 1st is when I first wrote a blog. I can't believe I've been doing this for two years! That's worthed a celebration.

Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival + Ribfest

2007-09-05T13:38:00.000-04:00

Labor Day weekend were pretty good. Watched couple live performance during the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival. Went to the 12th annual Rib Fest, but didn't eat any ribs. Finally, I watched Bourne Ultimatum after talking about going to a theatre for weeks. Its fighting scenes were thrilling, better than the last two. Also watched couple DVDs at friend's house. The "Prestige" and "Stranger Than Fiction"

The Prestige is such a complicated movie, but really good, kept audience thinking. However I still think I like the other magician movie the Illusionist better, because the stage effects in this movie is more dreamy and artistic. There's also more romance in Illusionist. For those who don't know, I'm a big sucker for romantic films, especially when it has a happy ending. The movie Prestige started to lose me when a Cloning machine was introduced, didn't expect it to become a SciFi, hehe. Its ending was shockingly dramatic with a meaningful moral- Hate ruins everyone. Revenge is not the solution. No one wins at end.

What can I say about Stranger Than Fiction? hmm.., it is indeed very strange. Haha. But it is still a very interesting movie, if you are looking for something different and out of ordinary, i would definitely recommend this movie. Definitely one of the top performance by Will Ferrell.

Autumn Has Started Already In China

2007-09-01T01:46:00.000-04:00

I just realized today in Chinese tradition autumn has already started. In Chinese calendar, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice are middle of the season instead of beginning of the season. I think the Chinese way makes more sense since the two Solstices suppose to be the longest or shortest day of the year, hence they should be considered as the center of summer or winter.

Following this logic, 9/21 should be the middle of Fall rather than beginning of fall. That means Summer ends and Fall starts a month and half before 9/21. So 8/7 should be the last day of summer and 8/8 should be the first day of Fall every year. Wow, hence it is already Fall now.

Even though Chinese calendar is basically a lunar calendar, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice are determined by observing the Solar system. Actually there are total of 24 solar-terms in Chinese calendar that are called "Jie Qi", which translates to "Season and Climate". There are two every month to reflect the change of weather and temperature due to change of distance between Earth and Sun. Ancient Chinese peasants use the 24 "Jie Qi" as the key for planning and arrangement of agriculture activities.

The First AC and Automatic Fan at UNESCO China

2007-08-31T22:16:00.000-04:00

It started getting cooler here and no more AC is needed till next year. I wonder what people do before AC and electrical fan. Well, my theory is they had higher threshold to heat.

I recall visiting an UNESCO site at Anhui in Southern China. There is a well reserved historical village with intact architectures. It was once home of many wealthy merchants 500 or 600 hundred years ago. They accumulated their wealth by trade Tea and Silk. The planning of village was done before residence moved in. Its roads form an intertwined spider web shape which resembles the Eight Diagrams of Taoism and divide the village into 8 sections. The center is a lake or reservoir. Water needed by the entire village is distributed through 8 canals. Each estate in the village has a unique design with extravagant decoration, yet still in harmony with the overall style of the community.

One of the most interesting I found in one courtyard is an ancient prototype of Air Conditioner and a very original automatic fan. The owner definitely knew how to enjoy life. A cave used to store water spreads underneath the whole courtyard. Fresh water from a closest river flows into this gigantic water tank as old water was dumped out. What is this for? Keeping the house cool! It is the world first AC!

Now let's talk about the fan. The house consists of a mill. At the other side of the mill wheel connects a big palm leaves fan in living room. The big fan would start to spin as river pushes the mill wheel. Isn't that amazing? I think it is such advanced technology for 500 to 600 years ago. No need to mention how environmental it is! No harmful chemical released :-) Oh, besides, the high ceiling and thick walls help to maintain the temperature of the room as well.

Why aren't there more environmental safe cooling inventions these days? And why are modern houses not as energy efficient as they were used to be. I mean they are much better comparing to old house built 30 years ago, since higher quality thermos material are introduced. However, I still think buildings made today are still less energy efficient comparing to buildings made hundreds of years ago. :-P

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

2007-08-30T05:15:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine told me about the Myers-Briggs Personality Test that he took at a training. So I was intrigued to take that test myself to see what I get.

Googled a little bit, found this online.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
There are 16 different types result in this self-analysis. http://typelogic.com/
My result: ENFP

According to the assessment, people with ENFP personality are found in 5% of the population. ENFP are enthusiastic, effervescent and spontaneous. ENFPs can become restless quickly if occupation involves too much detail and follow-through over a long period of time. Variety in day-to-day operations and interactions best suits ENFPs. ENFPs enjoy inventing new ways of doing things; don't like repeating experience. Once things become routine, ENFPs will lose interest. ENFPs can be curious just about everything, always try to find what's new and then pass on the information, hence they could make a good reporter, newscasters or journalists. (Now I know why I like to write blogs. LOL)

ENFPs are also hyper alert and always ready for emergencies. They continuously scan the external environment and nothing will escape their attention. They are keen and penetrating observers. At times, ENFPs have the tendency to interpret the hidden meaning of events beyond words or actions.

The evaluation is very accurate and I agree to all of it.

Flat Tire

2007-08-30T00:51:00.000-04:00

I got a flat tire yesterday. Right before entering DSCC,...all I hear was a sound "boom" following "pssss", then the car start to limp. Apparently I drove over a huge nail on the middle of road. Hard to spot those kind of things when driving 40 miles a hour.

Luckily there is an auto service right across the street from the DSCC base. So I had to drop my car there and walked to work. Although the auto shop is right outside the DSCC entrance, there is still a long walk from the gate to the building I work at. It is such a coincident that every time I end up have to walk long distance unexpectedly, I have my favorite pair of dress shoes on :-( Well anyway, still have to walk in those heels. Took me about half hour to get to the building and I was late for work obviously. The base is about the size of an airport :-P. It is by the Columbus airport too.

Later of the day, the auto shop called me to pick up my car. I got there the same way i came, on feet. The cashier showed me the nail they pulled out from the tire. OMG, it is huge. Technically it is not even a nail; it is a flat tip screw. It must be approximately 7 inches long, 1/4 inch in diameter. Crazy how that thing stuck to the tire.

Anyway tire was fixed, I got my car back. Did not get another flat tire on my way home. Haha :-D

Recaps for last week

2007-08-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

Mid of last week, I went to see a Columbus Clippers vs. Louisville Bats Baseball Game with some friends from the church of my coworkers. Although the game was really long and boring and we were on the losing side. It was still fun to enjoy the summer evening with some friend, just chilling, chatting while watching the game.

On Saturday, I had to work during the day for the cutover of a migration project. It went pretty smoothly, so get every done around 2pm. Went home, took a nap. Two of my friends are leaving Columbus to pursue bigger and more important things in their lives in other parts of the country. So there were two farewell parties I had to go on Sat night. It's just really difficult for me to see people leaving, especially one of them are very good friend of mine. I tried to have a good attitude about this, but it is just hard to have uplifting mood. There is an old Chinese proverb "No banquet that will last forever." I know we will still keep in touch, and our friendship will still remain, but it is just not going to be the same anymore, that's why people alaways need to make new friends.

Unfunctional Family

2007-08-24T02:58:00.000-04:00

I heard my mom talk about her friends' daughter's marriage couple days ago. I was really surprised when I heard about the story. Here is the brief in a nutshell. My mom's friends' daughter is Chinese. She married a white Australian guy. Both of my mom's friends don't speak English. Last year, they went to Australia to visit their daughter and her husband for the first time.

The problem is this guy can not stand listening his wife speak Chinese to her parents. He told her that they can not speak Chinese at his home when he is present. It makes him "anxious" when he doesn't know what they are saying. I mean that is NONSENSE. First of all, it is her home too; Secondly, it is their right to speak in their language; Thirdly, they only know Chinese, how he expects them to talk to their daughter? Fourthly, what if he goes to a non-English speaking country? such as Germany or France, can he stop all Germans and French to speak German and French? I mean who he think he is! What right he has to do that!

What is most ridiculous is that their daughter seems OK with it. She told her parents not to speak to her when he gets home anymore. So during those a few days they were visiting, they could only talk once he left for work. After he returned home, they stopped talking. Since they don't know how to speak English, they could only use hand gesture, and shake or nod their head to communicate! This is insane. I can not believe such rude and inconsiderate people exist. I was more mad about the daughter. Why is she so weak? Why couldn't she tell her Australian husband that what he did to her parents are wrong? I know I would never do that to my parents.

Among all the bazaar stories I heard about intercultural relationship, this is NOT the weirdest one indeed. There are a lot of things I heard and read were even worse. Although most of those stories are quite unfortunate, I do believe there are good and bad people in every race actually. It is just when it comes to cross-cultural things, people become more sensitive and skeptical and tend to focus on the negativity much more than the positivity. I'm certain there are just as many successful cases of intercultural relationship, but most people don't pay much attention to those good stories, since to most people horrible ones sound more interesting.

Thoughts after taking online teambuilding training

2007-08-23T23:35:00.000-04:00

I just finished an Accenture internal online training called "Cultivating a High-performance Project Team: Building a High-performance Team". There are some new concepts that differs significantly from my previous understanding.

In traditional Chinese culture, the "art of leading" is to keep the everyone in team "balanced", the best leader is the one who can keep the "harmony" of the team. Every since China opened it's door to the the outside world. The westernized influence swept China. Many private new companies adopt the westernized management philosophy since the early 80's. Promoting competition within employee, rewarding individual contribution and etc become popular buzz words used in modern enterprise management.

By completing the training, some of my views about how to create an successful team changed. In this training, it doesn't recommend severe competition between team members, because that "break" the team. When prizing individual contribution, it suggests do it one-on-one. My guess that avoids unnecessary jealousy among team member which can negatively impact team culture. It also said for upper managment should emphasize and reward team achievement rather than individual success.

Majority of the training are agreeable to what I already knew. Couple things that are different, such as, team manager should try to resolve team members' conflict. In modern China, if there is a conflict between two employee, boss would just say: "deal with it, or you both can get fired". It is not a common practice for lead to get involved in team member's conflict, because they think that will just make things become more complicated. What was taught in this course is more aligned with the traditional Chinese management method, which is lead supposes to maintain the harmony among his subordinates in every way.

The training also explained about the importance of informal processes and foster of feeling of inclusion, devotion, dedication, pride and trust among team to further improve team performance.

I can't always get what I want

2007-08-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

Growing up, I'm a very lucky person in general, short period of hardship in my teen year, but overall I'm pretty blessed. I don't like pray, because I think GOD is too busy to answer so many prayers, and it is unfair to grant prayer to everyone. I think GOD will do the justice regardless if you pray or not. If it is thing that you are not supposed to get, you won't get it anyway. Nobody always get what s/he wants.

Fast food culture

2007-08-16T21:58:00.000-04:00

In today's society, most people are not interested in the idea of long distance relationship, just as most people are not willing to wait in line for their food. This is the result of the fast food culture. Everything has to be convenient.

We all know fast food is tasteless, because the process and ingredients into making the food is too simple and plain. Building a good relationship is like preparing a nice meal. It takes long time to make, and sometime you have to go out far from home to shop for that special ingredient. Only things that you spent a lot of time and effort to achieve that u will know how to appreciate it and cherish it more.

To me distance is more romantic. There are some really good things about distance. It forces guys to make more effort than when they are in the same place. That way they get involved in a deeper way. Sometimes the physical proximity can drive the relationship into a more physical direction and completely stop paying attention to the emotional aspects. If someone wants to start a long distance relationship with you, then you know that person is very serious about it.

Nothing is impossible. I definitely think long distance relationship can be worked out, it just takes more work. Problem is most guys don't want the extra work, because they think they can find someone else soon, but chances are those easy things will fizzle out just as fast. A connection is not something that happens to everyone everyday, and most likely not someone next door. It takes many guys many years to realize how hard it actually is to meet the right person. A person who happens to find someone easily usually ends up having other issues that have to resolve later. Just think about all the health issues people have discovered due to over consume of unhealthy fast junk food.

Great Trip to Hartford

2007-08-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

I went to visit my good college friend from U of M who lives in Hartford now. It has been 10month since I last met her at NYC. We got a lot to catch up, and talked a lot, have a lot fun.

We hung out with her friends pretty much every night of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And we bar hopped. heheh. I've never done that before! It was so much fun. I drank a little bit just enough to get a buzz, but wasn't drunk. Because I don't think it would be fun anymore if get too drunk.

For day activities, we went to New Haven to visit Yale University and ate at the famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria. I order a pizza with clam and shrimp. It was so yummy. The clam and shrimp tasted so fresh. And the spice on the pizza is so good too. The pizza had a very rich flavor. And there is no redundant mozzarella and tomato sauce used on the pizza, which is great decision, all I could taste was the awesome flavor from the seafood.

Saturday afternoon, we went to the very first Connecticut Wine Festival. We tasted many quality local wines. I enjoyed the wine tasting experience :-) We must have tried 20 some different wines. heheh. And when we were having lunch at the festival, there was man who works at the winery at one of the booth at the festival happened to sit at our table too. So we had a nice chat with him, and later we went to his winery to tried a few wines. He was a really kind old man, remind me of Santa. :-D

Other than that, we also had dinner at a fancy Asian Fusion restaurant, and Sunday brunch and the Manchester downtown area. Manchester is this small town adjacent to Hartford. And we got there, we realized an antique car show was holding there. So as we walking thru the old town to our brunch place, we glanced thru some of the cars too.

Overall, it was a very pleasant trip. And I like Skybus airline. So convenient and so efficient. I highly recommend anyone to use Skybus as their top airline choice.

Milwaukee->Firework->SanDiego

2007-07-22T13:12:00.000-04:00

OK, this is kind an out-of-date post, but since I have been so busy for two weeks after I returned from my one week vacation, and I had no time to write about my vacation. Finally find some spare time to fuel my hobby.

Weekend before July 4th, drove up to Milwaukee for the Summerfest with four of my pals at Indy. We stopped at Chicago for some authentic DimSum. It was so delicious and we were so full. I contacted a buddy at Milwaukee and he let all of us crash at his place, so didn't have to pay for hotel, which was great.

City of Milwaukee was new to all of us, so we explored the city together. The main event during the trip was to see the Summerfest. It is the largest musical festival in the world. We listen a concert by a band called Fray's. To alot ppl, they are very famous, but I've never heard of Fray's before that. Hehe. It was my first time go to a rock concert. It was pretty cool. On Sunday morning, we also went to the Milwaukee Arts Museum, it was a place I always wanted to visit, ever since i saw its picture in Architecture Review. I'm so amazed by the dramatic beauty of this building and its designers' genuine talent.

The night of Independence Day, my same crew at Indy: Charles, Emily, Robert, plus Muna watched a firework show at Carmel. After the show, we lite the firework we bought. We were like whole bunch little kids playing with fireworks. I was even bare-footed running on the lawn. LOL

The last highlight of my vacation is flew to San Diego for a quick trip. The bad thing is I forget to call my old friend who use to work with me at Lilly to meet me. She lives at LA, so will take 3 hrs to drive to San Diego, when i remembered to call her it's already too late, she wasn't prepared to drive there. That was bad planning on my part. Good thing was i still got to meet another really old friend, by number of years we know each other, not by age. Haha. So we went to Sea World, mission bay, Coronado Island, and Gaslamp district. It was a very short but nice trip.

Playing Billiards and Middle Eastern Festival

2007-07-22T13:02:00.000-04:00

My friend Muna invited me to the 12th Indianapolis Middle Eastern Festival. I asked a few Chinese friends to go with me too. We saw some singing and dance performance, then we bought some Arabic food for dinner. I had the Kadaf, sort like a grounded lamb and beef hotdog in a pita roll.

After dusk, it's free dancing time. I learned to dance with middle eastern music and learned some new moves to :-) I think i'm really quick of picking up this kind stuff. Just basically dance with the rthym of the music. It was really fun. I like their style of dancing, alot movement in arms and hands. The rythm was good too. :-)

Afterward, Robert and Charles called me to meet them at the Fox and Hound to play some pool. Frankly speaking, I was so bad at billiards. Rober and Charles' skills were way advanced than mine. However, I think it was just my lucky day, I won 3 games in a row! LOL

That was another fun weekend :-)

Chinese Men's Idol Finale

2007-07-21T14:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the Chinese Men's Idol Finale, I watched at home at Indy. We have a Statalliets to receive Chinese TV program. I've followed the show since May and finally it was over last night. The candidate I was rooting for since th qualification selection week several month agao, finally won the Chinese Men's Idol title. I was so excited! :-) He was never the best looking, but definitely the best vocalist among all! I was so glad voter made the right choice.

There are some different in the rule or Chinese idol VS American idol. Except the finale last night, judge votes and audience votes all count 50%. I think that's more fair, because Judges can give their opinion from a move professional point of view.
However the finally is all audiance vote based. Honestly, any one of the two singer in the final are really really good. So whoever won the title, doesn't really matter any more, hence judge opinions were no longer important, it's all about who the audience prefer more. And the both will have a great career ahead of them. In the last year Chinese Women's Idol, all the top 3, became very popular singers, and all had their CD made.

When I talked about this with one of my girl friends, she said she didn't like to watch the show, because she thought all the candidates were sisy boys :-P. I think that is so not true, I totally disagree :-P The are very good looking, but no way they look like women. That comment just hysterical. hehe. Each of them has their own style and charater. The the guy who won the gold, isn't even not that good looking, his voice is way better how he looks. He got 3.3 million of vote at the end of show. That just the vote during the 3 hours of show, all previous votes were cleared after each week. So I think 3.3 million people have the same taste as I do. hehhe

Randomness

2007-07-18T23:48:00.000-04:00

Ever since back from vacation two week ago, it has been pretty busy in the office, work 10-12 hours easily. We need build all these servers due to our client's decision to relocate their datacenter. It's a big and time-consuming project.

I saw on Facebook, couple friends of mine just went for fishing recently and they caught big fish. I was very envious, coz I've never gone for fishing. :-P I also had Japanese Hibachi twice last week. That's too much hibachi in a week. Hibachi is Japanese Steak House. They cook on a flat stove right in front of customer. You table is set around the grove. It was fun watching the cook make the food. Most of the cook tend to do some trick for show, such as make a fire, joggle knives and fork, make noise with the salt/pepper jar, etc... But food is kind taste all the same since they use the same method too cook everything. It is still better than Mongolian BBQ, since MBBQ never clean their grill plate, everything taste like char coal! After leave Hibachi restaurant, you would realize your clothes smell very greasy, even worse that the curry smell after Indian food. I probably don't want to have hibachi again for at least couple weeks. In general, I still prefer Sushi and raw fish :-)

Saw a few movies this week: Harry Potter, transformer, and Spiderman 3. I like watching Movies, but it is also easy choice. Maybe it's just me. I like to go to movie myself, good to watch with friends too, but doesn't bother me if just me, since you can't talk during movies anyway. I like go shopping alone too. It is fun to go shopping with friends, but when I go with friends, I usually won't get anything for myself, because it always take me too much time to make a decision on what I want, so I don't want to waste friends' time. When I shop for myself, for anything from cloth, to daily supply to food, I could stand at a rack for hours to think which Shampoo I want to try this time :-P I could easily kill 3 or 4 hours in the mall or just supermarket like Target or Walmart. Heheheh. Now you know why I always have no time to do anything else. :-P Well, at least I rarely go shopping, don't feel I need to buy anything, so didn't waste too much time.

Not much else is going on, just work and play. Everyday flies by very quickly. I think I'm pretty happy and satisfied about the status quo, but in my subconscious I always feel something is missing. I don't know what, but just feels life is not as perfect as it appears. And I went to a discussion group on Tuesday and it just hit me. What is the purpose of my life? I am trying to live everyday of my life to the fullest. What all these are for? Just so I can wake up the next morning and have food and go sleep again? Is that all my life mean to be? Just to live healthy and happy? Is there supposed be anything else? Human nature is greedy. I'm blessed with lot things that many unfortunate people don't have and I should feel content. I don't know why I just feel life is so mundane, not sure what I really want. Obviously, my life hasn't completed yet. So will I have to figure out what is that missing, how I want to my life to be, and what the purpose of my life. For now, I just need to go through each and everyday.

Go camping!

2007-07-15T02:30:00.001-04:00

I went to Breathe with my friend today. It is a summer event held by the church I've been gone to a few time. I'm not X-ian, but a good coworker/friend had invited me to go her church a few time. And since I met alot nice people there, I decided just go if i get time, but not really involved or associated.

Anyway, I thought it is going to be a music festival kind thing based on the way she described to me, but there actually alot people from the vineyard church are camping on a open field. The church's band is there to play worship music for participate, then the minister give a sermon, pretty much like the regular Sunday service I've been too, just out door.

OK, readers, maybe you are wondering where I'm going with this...
Well, we got there about 7:30pm, and the fun started after the sermon was complete at 9pm. People walk back to their camp ground, which is only couple hundreds feet away. People from our small group started the camp fire. We all sit around the fire, then they took out food. We made S'more, roasted hotdogs, ate watermelon, chips, crasin.

Not sure if s'more and hotdogs really are better to be heated in big open campfire, or i was just extreme hungry, they tastes so much better than I remembered :-P. And i especially like to make s'more. There is alot arts in making a good s'more. The marshmallow must be heated evenly, balanced, slightly brown crispy outside, melt inside. It takes alot patient to do that. At the begin, I had the marshmallow too close to the fire, it gets burn really quickly and became tar. Then i realize, I had to learn to be patient, and let the marshmallow get heated slow. :-) It really takes time to make a good s'more, but it's all worth it. Things that you made yourself always taste especially delicious.

How can some people be so secretive about their ages?

2007-07-15T01:38:00.001-04:00

There are couple of my friends who always keep their age confidential. I've know them for a few months, and they still won't want to tell me their ages :-P

Why is that?

For some girls, I can understand why. All women want to be young. If they are not as young as they want to be, they don't want ppl know about their true age. Another theory is even if a gal is still belong to the young category, someday she won't be, so if no one knows about her age, you can really guess her age even after years ago. Her age will forever be a mystery. If I had known her for 20 years, then her age would just be X+20 to me. hehhhheh.

For the guys, I really don't get it. How can men be self-cautious about their ages as women! This buddy of mine refuses to tell us his age. Every time we asked him, his answer is "why you need to know? It's just a number" Why do I have to have a reason to know? If it is just a number, why don't you tell use then?

I mean it is no big deal if he doesn't want to tell ppl his age. I just don't get the reason. Is he afraid that if he is older than us, we are not going to hung out with him anymore?...Even if he never told us his exact age, we pretty much are able to guess...and we are hunging out with him pretty well, so it doesn't make any sense that we would just stop being friends with him if we find out about his exact age.

Based on the number of years work experience he has after school that he told us, he might be couple years older than the rest of us, but he really looks, talks and behaves just like one of us. Nobody really care if he is really older than us. But the fact that he doesnt want to share with us more information about himself kind bugs me. If he really see us as his friends, why wouldn't he want to tell us?

As of us, we rather hung out with someone behave like us but older than someone who acts much older but actually our age. He should understand that if he really doesn't want people to judge him by his age, and want younger people to treat him like one of them, should first be able to accept his own age first. Hiding it shows fear and denial.

As a woman, I do want to be forever young too indeed. However, everybody knows that is impossible in reality. Luckily, thanks for my parent's genes, I do look as least 5 years younger than my true age. That doesn't mean I don't face problems everyone else would face. One day, I will become old, but I'm certain I'm not going to be ashamed of telling people my age. I want be pround of my age. One day, when someone asks me my age, I will say I'm 80! Then s/he would respond with "oh wow, you look like you are only 60!" LOL. At least that's what I hope for :-P

Even if I won't look that much younger than my age, I can still feel that young. It may not be possible to look young forever, but it's definitely possible to have a young heart for the rest of my life. :-)

Memorial Weekend = Fun Time

2007-05-29T12:41:00.001-04:00

I went to watch Indianapolis 500 Parade on Saturday with two friends and my mom. Then we went to a new Chinese Dim Sum restaurant for lunch. It's really delicious. It was really hard to find a good DimSum place at a city like Indy. I'm so glad there is such good authentic Chinese food here. DimSum is so tasty. We had really good lunch, very full...

My friend Emily needed to stop by Tiffany to pick up her necklace in a mall, so I went with her to get a sneak preview of her necklace. It's really pretty and looks nice on her. We also browsed some rings while we were there, we saw a $57,000 Diamond ring for 2ct there. :-P That's so crazy! She likes the classic and timeless round cut stone with a Solitaire design. I prefer a more fashionable non-round cut, especially square cut on a more sophisticated band. Non-conventional is what I always go after ;-)

However, I think gems are so overrated in general. Why ppl want to spend so much money on jewelries? There are so many good quality synthetic stones that just look the same? Sure, for wedding ring, it should be genuine, but for all other occasion, CZ, lab-made stones are just as good. I personally think Mossanite is such good alternative for Diamond. Its brilliant, fire and luster are all tested be better than Diamond. Mossanite is just slightly softer than Diamond, but unless someone is planning to use her ring as metal cutter, I don't suppose harness of stone matters that much.

On Sunday, we went to watch Indianapolis 500 Car Race with 3 other friends. It's my 2nd time, first times for 3 of them. We each paid only $20 for general admission, but i think the place we seated was even better than the ticket I paid for $85 three years ago. The lawn we seated is at in field, and it was a grass hill, So pretty good view. We were at the 2nd turn. There is more accidents happen at the turns because cars are trying to pass at the turns, hence more collisions happen, more actions. Besides, the surface of 2.5 miles of speedway racing track tilts at four turns, to prevent car flying out of the track. Hence infield have better view at the the turns. We actually witness a race car hit the wall when trying to pass another car. Immediately fire came out of the tail, and then turned to think black smoke. Just like 3 years ago, it started to rain after about 100 laps. Franchitti was rank 1st when the race was cancelled due to weather, so he won the gold.

After the race, 4 of us went to a Mediterranean Restaurant Khoury's for dinner. They serve Turkish/Greek/Arabic type of food. When we got there, an Arabic party was holding there for a kid's graduation. A singer sang with loud Middle Eastern music. The food were pretty good, I liked it. I've been to this restaurant before, I saw a belly dancer last time, but we didn't see her there this time. The other highlight of the night is that we tried Hooka Pipe smoking. :-P I tried once couple years ago with some other friends. I had the apple flavor last time. This time we shared a special blend, which is a mix of several different flavors. It was really fun. We had such good time. Emily took picture for each of us when smoking. Hahha!

Later on Sunday night, we wanted to go dancing, since we didn't go on Sat night, but when we got to a club, we realized that all clubs close early on Sunday night, even though Monday is a holiday. That was kind disappointing, however it didn't affect us having a good time. Instead, we drove to Emily's place watching Casino Royal together. I saw the movie before, but a lot of questions I had been answered when watch it for the 2nd time. There were rarely any movies I enjoy to watch more than once, but this is definitely an exception. Even the 2nd time around, the movie still seems really good, and Daniel Craig is still as handsome as anytime.

Spirituality

2007-05-13T23:11:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine at work has invited me to go to church with her for a few times. The church is quite different to any other churchs that i have been to. The worship music and sormon is gear toward young crowd/followers. They have a rockbband play rock style worship music. And the minister gives really good sormon speeches week after week.

It has got me thinking about GOD and spirituality lately. I'm not a Christian and don't plan to become one either, but I do believe GOD exists. To me GOD is a spirit, not a human figure. And since it is a spirit, a positive energy of the universe, it can be anywhere and everwhere. It is all around us.

Believing GOD is not about asking God to give things or to do stuff for me, but more about seeking guidance for my soul. I feel going to church refreshes my soul and allows me to reconnect with my spirit. I do pray for God's help when i think i might be in trouble though.

I think religions separate people, so I don't want to join any religion. The spirit of God is everywhere, around everyone, why should someone have to belong to a certain group to show his/her belief. It's so pointless labeling ourselves as Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddist, Hinduist, etc... Besides, I don't think one needs to join a religion to ensure a place in heaven. Everyone gets a spot reserved up in heaven, as long as you are nice to others and live your life to the fullest.

Since God to me is not a human figure with superhuman power, rather a postive force/energy/spirit in the universe, it doesn't even make much different to say believe or not believe. That is because we are all part of the universe, the energy comes from the universe. Utimately each of us is a element that builds this energy, which mean GOD is all of us combined. So there is no meaning saying you don't believe GOD exist, then that just translates to you don't believe the existence of yourself. I think the reason ppl say they dont' believe GOD because they are referring GOD as some human figure knows magics and can change ppl's life in a snap. If that is the case, then I don't believe such GOD exist either. However the spirit of universe should always be with us in our lives.

Revisit my blogs

2007-05-07T21:57:00.000-04:00

It has been a very very long time since I input anything meaningful to my blogs, mainly because i was lazy to write anything. Life actually has been splendid, alot things are going on, nothing significant really. I'm the type person who is always excited and any that's new. The concept of writing blogs has seen alittle out dated by now, so just didn't feel like writing :-P I actually continued of doing this for one year and half, that's pretty good personal record :-P

You might ask then why the hell I write again today? Well, it's kind early to go to bed, but no other good show on TV anymore, and I'm kind tired to anything else that is more important...so decided to generate a blog instead.

Ok, enough worbage, back to some really stuff. What has been going on in my life?
Met alot new friends at columbus lately, Thanks to them, I started to become a party animal :-P Last Sat, I wore a super revealing hot red dress to a party, LOL. it shocked alot ppl :-P

Dad had a heart surgery and he is fine now. A speeding ticket set me back $150.
One time at BOMA, i met a UofM alumina, she was a EE major, worked as an engineer for couple years, then went back school got and MBA, now she works at victoria secrets, live and breathe fashion everyday. Very inspiring to me,... maybe I want to do that someday too ;-)

Have been keep in contacts with old friends at Indy pretty well, but hasn't been doing a good job geting hold of old michigan friends. Only couple of them are on AIM that i got to chat to sometime...Friends at each stage of my life are quite different...they all know one aspect of me...it's important for me to keep in touch with me...if i don't, it would like losing a part of history about myself... :-)
One other trend, I realizing, I'm been talking to my guy friends alot more than my lady friends. It used to be other way around. My lady friends seems to be extra busy and consumed in their own lives. Guy friends appear to have more free time and they would often consult with me for opinion and suggestion about their relationship with their girlfriends or gf-to-be. As an exchange, i got understand about guyz' perspective. It's win-win.

Besides all these hideous things in life, another big output of my time is voluteering at NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Profession), I'm on the board of NAAAP-Columbus. They held a Career Fair just for the Asian couple weekend ago, I helped out. It felt good to do something valuable and benificial to alot ppl who are looking for a new career. I'm also the social chair at NAAAP Columbus, so I got to organize activities and have many chances to meet new members. It's so interesting to me to see how ppl act serious when they need to be and all of sudden change to crazy party animals when they need to get lose :-)

Work at ACN has getting busier, prob because I finally got my IT1 level clearnance. So they've assigned more tasks to me. I kind like it, got to learn more new stuff. As long as it's not too much, I generally response well to challenge.

That's sum up my social life and professional life.

Look forward for Summer

2007-03-21T13:21:00.000-04:00

Hi to everyone who read my blog,

I'm doing great. Met some new friends. Had alot fun St. Patrick Day weekend.
Work is fair, someday more some day less. I keep work-life balanced.

bye,

Jingying

What does your favorite color reveal about you?

2007-03-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

PURPLE
You are very spontaneous; you have a quick and original mind that knows no boundaries.

You are comparatively conservative and appreciate beautiful surroundings, especially in nature.

You are relaxed and self-assured. You work well with others.

You are a unique individual, and have unusual tastes, but you're quite comfortable among more conservative peers.

To find out what your favorite color says about you goto http://www.gagirl.com/quiz/color.html

Talking to myself

2007-02-19T09:36:00.000-05:00

Havn't post anything for couple weeks, mainly because there wasn't much happening. Went to San Francisco for SAP training during the first week of Feb. And caught a flu there, took me couple weeks to get fully recovered.

Couple things I realized during my illness.
1) It's so nice to have a good friend. After my SAP training, I flew to OC to visit old friend KZ known since the EECS days at U of M. Unfortunately, I was so sick by the time I reached his place. Couldn't do any sightseeing. KZ and his parents were so nice to me and took care me when I was sick there. I couldn't recall anyone took care me when I was sick other than my parents. Partially because I never got sick at a friend's place, paritally i doubt all my friends would be this nice to me, maybe just a few very closed ones. But you see, I had a flu, so it could be contiguous, taking that into consideration, i really couldn't think anyone but my parents would take care me like that w/o worrying getting sick themselves. So bottom line, I was deeply touched by the behaviors of KZ and his parents.

2) If one day my parents left me, I will be all by myself. I wish that day will never come, but it'll happen sooner or later. I have no siblings, no cousins, no any relatives living in the U.S. No bf either. Even my a few good friends do not live closed-by either. I will be all on my own one day. Gosh, That is crisis I never realized! I never felt I needed anyone, coz I was always very self-dependent. I do almost everything on my own, w/o asking any help, unless i have to. Even if I still think I can get over any difficulties life throw at me, I would still like some moral support. What is the solution for the problem? This is a reciprocal question. The answer is obvious...find someone...but who??? At this time of my life, I look around me, it's so hard to find anyone still available. Even if you think someone who might be right for U, recalling all the emotion you wasted on others who didn't feel the same way, you wonder if this is just another illusion to let you waste more time, energy and emotion or maybe it is for real this time...

Dr. Phil's Test

2007-02-02T17:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.shanemcdonald.com/laughs/l-dr-phils-test.html
I got a 45.

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

New Things That I Tried at Cancun

2007-02-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

New additions to Jingying's list of things that she has tried. hehe :-)
1) Wind Surfing
2) Parasailing
3) Sailed a Catamaran
4) Sea Trek Diving
5) Touched a real sea turtle
6) Swam underground river
7) Jet Ski
8) Visited a Maya ruin - Chichen Itza
9) Swam in Ik Kil- The sacred blue cenote
10) First time lived in an all inclusive resort. I think I ate too much :-P

Thought In the Morning

2007-02-01T11:06:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't be a great idea to have a funeral before one is dead? So a
person can hear what other would say about him/her. When one is
alive, very few people would tell him/her what is really in their
mind, maybe they don't want to say, maybe it's not the right time and
right place. How sad that is if one goes thru his/her entire life
couldn't even know how others really think of him/her?

Funeral is best place and best time for people to share their real
thought about the deceased, only problem is the dead can't hear. So i
think it's such good idea to have funeral before one dies, off course
guest can't find out the person isn't died yet, but not a too big of
deal if they do find out, since if there is some thing they got to
say, they got to say it there any way, because the person is not going
to have another funeral.

Do you want to find out what other would say about you before you turn to ashes or buried? I know I would. What would you say about me based on what you know? ;-)

Two Parties In A Row

2007-01-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

My Korean Argentinean roommate had a Birthday party last Friday, and my coworker had another B'day party this Friday. I went to both! Normally I would get bored and overwhelmed at parties, because I wasn't comfortable meeting a lot of strangers at one time. Surprisingly, both parties were really fun, I had two great times! And meet a lot interesting new friends!

I used to be a really really shy person, barely talk to anybody. It got better over the years. I became more outgoing and talk more, but still was nervous in front of ppl I just met, and can't think of anything to talk about when I was nervous. Most of my friends don't know this, because I don't feel nervous talking to people I already know or my friends.

However, recently things have changed without me realizing it. I no longer feel nervous and uncomfortable talking to people I just met. I took me 10 years to reach where I am now, and it just happened I don't even know how. All the shyness, nervousness, psychological stress is all gone! I am so happy now. :-)

Isn't North Dakota the Most Conservative State or What!

2007-01-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

Check this post on CNN!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/18/dakota.cohabit.ap/index.html

If they believe cohabitation is a crime, which it is by North Dakota law, then enforce the law by arresting everyone who does this right now. Don't just pick on somebody and let somebody go.

If they can't make enforcing this law possible, because there are not enough prisons, then get rid of this obsolete and radiculous law! That's not fair for ppl who are effected by this law, when so many others are not. A law supposes to have equal effect on everyone who obeys or disobeys it.

Personally, I don't have any problem with unmarried couple living together. This is a very personal matter, just like some choose to have sex before got married while some want to wait.

As long as it is consensual and neither party is married to someone else, I don't approve cheating, people suppose to have the freedom to choose who they want to live with, even if they are not married.

No wonder North Dakota economy is so bad, because the state is too conservative.

Wine Tasting Meetup

2007-01-17T14:24:00.000-05:00

I went to a wine tasting meeting organized by Bacchus Society Wine Club ( http://bacchussociety.com/wineclub/) last night and it was a blast!

We evaluated 7 wine from South France. My favorite was a dessert wine: Domaine de Rancy. It's phenomenal!

It was a great group of ppl, i had such good time, 3 hours flew by. The venue is perfect for the event too. Bourgedy Room is a 4-star restaurant specilizing in Tapas.
I tried some France Cheeses, mushroom bisque, lamb domathes (more like spanakopita rather than stuffed grape leave) and duck breasts. The duck breasts were delicious, so tender but not greesy. :-) There Tarimasu is delicious too! best dessert ever invented by the Italian. I shared it with a member at the wine club, and he offered to pay for the desserted later. :-P

Later, one of the member brought another France wine to share with us.
After the meeting was over, two of my new friends that i just met there bought me a bottle of Riesling produced in Germany to share among 3 of us.

Not only we taste wines at this meetup, the organizers also gave persentation about how each wine was made, how grapes grow, and background information of each wine producer. The event was very fun and informative as well. :-)

I definately want to go to their next meetup! :-)

Things that still surprise us

2006-12-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

As we get older, less and less things that will surprise us.
In the past, if i sent a mass email to all friends about an interesting article, majority of ppl would reply to my email with an expression, aka, "WOW", "Haha!", "Cool", stuff like that, or even just "knew it already", "not so funny"

But nowaday, only a mere number of friends responsed to the news article i sent.
I don't know if they just became indifferent to the outside world, or they don't even want to bother read email i sent unless it is labeled URGENT or IMPORTANT on subject line, or maybe they havn't even checked their emails in the past two days.

Either way, things are different once we get older. We don't feel strongly about alot of things anymore. Things are less likely writing on our faces.

Anyhow, I let you decide if this new scientific discovery worths a WOW!
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2091881.ece

Becoming a People Person

2006-12-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

A buddy told me on AIM that he went to some random bar last weekend and talked to like 15 or so random people that he never met before in order to practice to make himeself become a more and more outgoing person...

It makes me start thinking...Am I a people person? What is the passing bar of being social? Am I just in the gray area between anti-social and social?

If social mean be able to speak to any random person comfortably, and mingle with any groups of ppl, i would say i am not there yet. It always took me a while to warm up to ppl. I don't tend to talking with strangers, because i don't feel like tasting my time talking to ppl i may never meet again?

I am definitely not anti-social either, because i do like talk to friends, or ppl i know to learn from them and see what their perspective on things. And I like hung out with old friends and make some new friends once a while.

My buddy and I both agree that in this world to be successful you have to be a people person. So does it worth to change myself to be sucessful? Would i be happy still once i become sucessful, but realize i am no longer the same me i was once?

Anyone who can tell me?

Company Prom

2006-12-19T22:57:00.000-05:00

Accenture Columbus was holding a holiday party last Saturday. The attire is black Tie. Some of us called it Accenture Prom, since it's a dress up party.
It went great, a lot fun. Nice to see coworkers getting lose :-P

Food is good. I had a few of glasses of wine. Each person was given $25000 fake to play at the Casino tables. Good chance for me to learn. Then i can go to Vegas, just kidding. I've to Vegas when i was 20, so couldn't even be near the casinos, but i think even if i am allowed to gamble, i don't do it either, coz i don't like losing money. It's only fun to play with fake money for me.

I wore a Chinese Qipao to the party. This is the 2nd time I wore this dress, 1st time at my cousin's wedding. This is also the 1st time i wear a Chinese style dress to any event in the U.S. I felt special, and looked fabulous, so many ppl complimented on my dress ;-)

Some of younger coworkers, decided to go a dance club to cut-a-rug, we left there at 1pm :-P It was fun to be young and vital :-)

Science proves judging a person's character by his look is NOT nonsense

2006-12-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

U of Michigan new research result. Fun read, enjoy :-)

Maybe it really is in his face

See Greece in Nashville

2006-12-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

More Art Works

2006-12-14T00:45:00.000-05:00

My Addiction to Romantic Movies

2006-12-07T13:44:00.001-05:00

I also watched Illusionist and Lake House, not so long ago. I like these two films too, very good romantic stories. Gee, I am such a hopeless sucker for great romantic films :-P

Casino Royal Review

2006-12-07T13:43:00.000-05:00

I went to see Casino Royal last night. It's soooo gooood. :-)

I think Casino Royal is very different to previous 007. Bond didn't slept with 20 women in this movie,..just 1 and only. and he was in love with her, but the girl died at the end, which is sad.
Previous Bond movies are that way maybe because Pierce Brosnan was too good looking, and the directors just utilize his best trait and potray him into a womenlizer who flirts with all women...

Craig is a much more tough and serious 007. My favoriate plot was the torture scene. Oh my god, no matter what the bad guy did to him, he just would not yield...only a real man can do that! Every girl would fell in love to this Bond, after watching this extreme cruel scene, don't you think so?

Another unforgetable scene was when Linda sank in water, and she held his hands for the last a few seconds of her life.

Off course, all the other action packing scenes are pretty thrilling too.

I Have A Type B Personality

2006-12-02T01:03:00.001-05:00

R U Type A or Type B, the answer is here

You're as laid back as they come...
Your baseline mood is calm and level headed
Creativity and philosophy tend to be your forte
Like a natural sedative, you have a soothing effect on people
Friends and family often turn to you first with their problems
You have the personality to be a spiritual or psychological guru

NYC trip

2006-11-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

My trip in NYC has been great, I like New York alot better than last time when i was here. The subway seems cleaner now. Alot fun stuff to do :-) And the weather of this weekend is awsome, mid 60. My friend's apt is close to Timesquare and it has a great view to the Hudson River. We watched the Marry Poppin show, hung out at the NYU area, saw the Bodies Exhibition (http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com) , it's pretty interesting and all my friends were surprised the way they display them don't make ppl feel wierd at all. And we ate at chinatown and little italy. We also had Tapas at this spanish reaturant at this really trendy area in Greenwich Village. So it's been really fun.

Video Game

2006-11-13T20:18:00.000-05:00

My company had a celebration for the success of your last release at Gamework. There just one video game i like to play there. It's a drop ballon game , 4 players sit in their seats, and you can control you ballon to go up and down, left and right, as you do that, your seat moved up and down as well, u can even do a free-fall. It was so exciting! I beat the craps out of the manger in another team :P

Cave Person

2006-10-27T12:20:00.000-04:00

The power went out at my workplace since monday, and tuesday they figured out a way to used the back up generator, but that only enough power to keep the computer running, there is no light. so dark here. I start feeling i work in a cave, heheheh, and computer monitor is like the magical light source discovered by caveperson!

Totally out of luck

2006-09-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

Plane to Denver stucked at Colorado Spring for 4 hr because of Heavy Fog in Denver
Plane back to indy from Denver delayed 3 hr due to mechnical issue with the plane.

My Chase checkign acct is withdrew $1000 by identify theft thru ATM transctions.
Good thing Chase reimbursed me my loss. This frault happend to alot person's acct.

I've been rip-off by Wirefly.com. My $260 Moto Razr cellphones rebate havn't been received after sent form out for 8 wks. Many complains about this online.

Nichole Kidman and I share the same birthday

2006-09-14T21:53:00.000-04:00

I checked the famous Gemini list and I found out Nichole Kidman and I have the same birthday. That is so cool, because she is also one of my favorite actress.

3rd Generation Prius- my next car

2006-09-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

I have driven over 55K on my Saturn ION in 3.5 years. So I am thinking of getting another car after used my Saturn for 5 years. By that time the 3rd Generation Prius will be out in market. According to online information, it is expected to be more fuel efficient and more technology radiant than the curent 2nd generation model Prius. And it is categorized as a midsize car. I can't wait to test drive the new Hybrid in 2008!

Last time holiday before Thanksgiving

2006-09-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

Today is so chilly. When we were still complaining about how hot last week was, cold weather has arrived. Another year is almost over.

Labor day weekend, last holiday till Thanksgiving. What have I accomplished in 2006?
Not much really, but i manage survive, that is something, right?

Let me think again. I found a new job, got a roommate, finished my house's basement, stayed calm after got mugged, started marking arts again. Oh yeah, 2006 is not completely a waste.

The Key to My Heart

2006-08-30T00:37:00.000-04:00

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

My New Found Talent

2006-08-23T18:31:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've been giving myself hair cuts and high lighting, and it looks pretty good. Ppl who saw my new hair cut told me I looks great in my new hair style and they like it. I didn't even get any compliment when I paid $100 at a saloon once for a haircut and highlight. I also did a perm for my mom. She likes it too. I really see my potential to become a hair stylist. Maybe it can be an alternative career option once I am retired, or I can still be an interior designer, which I always wanted to do, if I am not in IT.

Barbara Streisand Concert

2006-08-23T17:34:00.000-04:00

My company is selling ticket to Barbara Streisand concert. I am shocked how expensive the ticket is. Zone One is above $600 per ticket, even the worst seat causes about $160 a person.
I will never pay that much for a concert, unless I am a millioneer. One another hand, i am kind surprised that she picked Columbus as a stop in her 17 cities tour. Maybe there are more rich ppl in Ohio than I thought there were., or whole punch of mid-class American who is crazy about her. hehehe :P

My Favorite Magazine

2006-08-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

I was waiting at the dealer for my car to get maintained. Shuffling among a stack of magazine, I discovered a magazine called Wine Spectator. It is a very interesting magazine, with articles submitted by many wine tasting experts. It is the first magazine that i actually am interested reading the articles inside rather than just scaning thru pictures. If you like wine tasting, make sure read this magazine when you get a chance, it will worth your time. Even if you don't like wine, the magazine might inspire you to become a wine taster :-)

Snakes on the Plane

2006-08-22T13:36:00.000-04:00

This movie is the scariest film I ever seen, but it is also very entertaining. However the thing i don't get on alot reviews on Yahoo Movies is why so many ppl finding this movie funny? Do ppl like watching other ppl getting killed on movie? What is wrong with people today?
Even though it is not real life, no little sympathy toward those died on the plane?! Just because something is not real, doesn't make it ok to feel amusing to watch so many ppl got bitten to death, even on a silver screen. maybe ppl like watching cruelity nowaday, maybe ppl's heart getting colder and harder. Anyhow, my impression of this movie is shocking, and sad for those unfortunate passengers. Scary is scary, it doesn't matter if it really happened or not. Just like comedy, when it is funny, it is funny. Nothing is really happening in a film. They are all fake. Even film that is based on a true story, when audience watching it on the silver screen, it is still not real. So we should treat all movie the same, and evaluate whether it is scary or funny without the factor whether things really happened or not. Besides, ppl died in such horrible way in the film, the way they are killed is not even look funny. How do some ppl find that amusing...

93% of earth is still unconquered by me.

2006-08-12T02:38:00.000-04:00

Visited 16 countries (7%)
http://www.world66.com/myworld66

I thought myself no longer Nerdy, oh well...

2006-08-12T02:28:00.000-04:00

20% scored higher (more nerdy), and 80% scored lower (less nerdy).What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:High-Level Nerd. You are definitely MIT material, apply now!!!.

http://www.nerdtests.com/ft_nq.php?im

Wass Up => Birdies

2006-08-09T11:03:00.000-04:00

Using my lunch post some meaningless blog. This is my way of wasting my life. :P

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The Old West

2006-08-02T00:13:00.000-04:00

Do I look like a Cowgirl ?
Grand Teton
I am not Mormon!
Inside YellowStone NP

Deadwood, SD , Indian Reservation

Texas Trip

2006-08-02T00:02:00.000-04:00

Who is better looking? Me or the Lobster? Either way I will eat the lobster, then to become the star of the picture.
San Antonio Riverwalk, very cozy place to hang out.

The Alamo. San Antonio is sooooo hot, i couldn't stand the heat during the day, so couldn't get a picture of Alamo in sun light. We were hanging around the riverwalk whole day and get on shore only after dusk. :P

Indy 500 Parade

2006-06-15T22:17:00.000-04:00

The clown's nose is too big for me :P

I Got Robbed

2006-05-22T17:24:00.000-04:00

May 14th, an unforgettable day in my life, the 1st time I saw a real handgun in person, and the gun was pointed right at me...

It's a Sunday, I got home from a gathering with some new friends i met at Columbus. I was in a pretty good mood. I got home around 8:30pm, parked my car on the lots, walked toward my apartment door. A guy walked out behind the large dumpster sit next to the walk way, in front of my apartment building. I didn't pay much attention, thought could be just a tenant, and he talked quicket toward me and I glimped at him and realized he was stare me...it gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but I still keep walking toward my apt, toward him...

Suddenly, when he was 2 feet in front of me, he took out his right hand hid in the pocket of his jacket, and I noticed at this moment he is holding a gun in his hand! He yelled "gave me your purse", i was totally frozen, didn't know what to do, before I realized it, he already grab my purse off my should and running away. After a second of void, I know what is happening, I didn't know why, I started chasing him. Probably my subconscience told me I can't not lose my purse.
I was running after him, I saw he hopped on a black pickup and shout "Go, Go!" to his partner. The truck started immd and exit from the only entrance in my apt complex. I stopped chasing, maybe because I know I can't catch the truck, maybe because I came back to my senses. I COULD GET SHOT IF I KEEP CHASING. I cried for help, no one hear me. I called 9-1-1, 10min later, they sent a cop, he asked my about what happend and description on the guy and ask me to gohome cancel all credit card and checking account in my purse. Becaue the whole thing happend to quickly, i didn't get the license number of the truck.

I had so much stuff in my purse, it took me whole night to call all my banks to sort things out.

The next day, police gave me a call, said they recovered my purse near a dumpster not far from my apt, but they hasn't caught the guy. And off course, all the cash in my purse was gone.

The good thing is I havn't lose too much money and I am still alive. The criminals used my credit card, but since I already reported it was stolen, I am not responsible for that.

I told what happend to my newly met friend here, they are very concerned, and one of them is just looking for a roomate. Good timing! without 2nd thought I agree to her that I will move in once my current apartment lease ends in July.

Her condo is in very nice area near Columbus. I don't think I will encounter any more cimes at this area, althought my apartment wasn't in a bad area either, but her area is so much more better.

Spring Activity

2006-04-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

In march, I had another SAP training at Atlanta. It was a lot more fun than Phili. I saw the olympic park, had brazilian BBQ, CCN headquarter, World of Coca-Cola, The Underground Shoping Area. I wanted to visite the home of the author of Gone With the Wind, but due to time limitation, had to remove it from the plan. Still I had a great week at Atlanta.

Last week, I went indoor Rock-Climbing with some friends. As a 1st time climber, I was amazing. I climbed to the top 3 times. It was so exciting and challenging. And it brought out my competative nature, which hasn't shown for a long time.

I am planning to get a hot air ballon ride in the near future....

Efficient Tour Group: 7 days tour 6 states

2006-03-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

My parents are planing to sign up for a vacation package that bring tourist drive around 6 states in the wild west in 7 days with guide full trip.

There is their road map:

Utah: Salt Lake City -> Idaho: Idaho Fall -> Wyoming: Grand Teton -> Devils Tower -> Montana: Yellowstone -> South Dakota: Mt. Rushmore -> Colorado: Steamboat -> Denver -> SLC

Almost late for my flight

2006-03-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

I went to Phili for SAP training couple weeks ago. After the class is over on the lastday, I decided to tour downtown Philadephia. I wanted to visit early in that week but the class run till 5pm each day, no time left for any site-seeing. The last day of class ended a little early, so it gave me about 2 hours to tour downtown. I saw Independence Hall, Libery Bell, Benjamin Franklin Museum.

The bad thing is I took the wrong road on my way back to Airport. When I finally arrived the airport, its only 20min prior to my flight. I couldn't check in at the main terminal because passengers need to arrive at least 30min before their flight in order to get a boarding pass at the main terminal. They told me I still have a chance if i can reach the express terminal where the plane on time w/o go thru main concore. The problem is I have to walked there from outside, since w/o a boarding pass, I can not pass the security check point located in the main terminal. Only way is to get to the express terminal directly from outside and there is no check-in time limitation there as long as the plane hasn't leave.

I was on high heels, and carrying a heavy bag, and it's very cold,never expected these!!! I run about half of a mile on my heels and reached the terminal 1 min before the plane was ready to take off. I was exauhsted, but very happy that I could make to the flight, otherwise i have to take another flight next day. My poor italian made shoes, i would never want to hurt my shoes by running in them, but it's a special circumstance, and they are very sturdy, so grateful the heels didn't break!

After all, I am amazed by my potential, i havn't jog for million years, well, i almost lost my breath by the time i got there, but still I am suprised i made it w/o took my heels off, and my heavy luggage is still with me. Once I get in the terminal, there another long walk or run to the gate. I was runing like a wind, ppl saw me probably thing i was crazy, but i didn't care, all I was thinking at that point is to reach the gate, even if the plane might left already, but i still have to give it a try. Well, I made it... i had a sweet nap on my flight back from Phili to Columbus. :-)

I LOVE TurboTax

2006-03-08T19:13:00.000-05:00

This is the 1st year I use TurboTax to file my income tax return. I used H&R Block for the past a few years, but finally decide they charge to much and want to file tax on my own.

However, it's too complicated without anyhelp. So friend recommended TurboTax, I decided to give it a try. OH, MY GOD. it's so easy to follow, a 10-year old can do it! I think I will start using TurboTax every year from now on.

One other thing I want to remind ppl who read this it that unless you are absolutly sure what forms you need, show Turbo Premium package, it enclosed everything you possible need for tax purpose and more information to maxium your refund. In 5 years, this year i have the most refund than ever. I regret I didn't start use it earlier, so maybe I could get more refund for the last couple years that I have been working.

If you ar sure you have nothing can itemlized or deducted, then doesn't matter to use HRB or Turbo, but still the latter is much cheaper. HRB charges their clients by number of forms they used, so more deductions means more Sub-schedule forms you will use, they will get paid more.
With, TurboPremium, it doesn't matter how many form you will need, so you can get all your deduction without worrying your tax preparation fee is stacking up!

Cholocate Cream Puff

2006-03-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

I went a Schmidt's with my friends for dinner last night. It's located inside German Village of Columbus. I don't care for German food much, but the Cholocate Cream Puff was great! Its diameter is size of my hand. I ate the whole thing, when my friends couldn't even finish. Then I decided to have very little to eat for lunch today.

On our way to Schimdt's, we drove pass Short North. That is the Columbus equvialent of Soho. A lot art gallaries. Nice architectures. Many lights on street like Xmas. Anyway we had a good time and full :-)

www.meetup.com needs improvement

2006-03-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

It's so unfair that this website charge $12/mon for group founder. How many ppl are willing to pay that much to create a group for ppl they don't even know. The whole purpose of this website is to give an opportunity to people with common interests to gather and to know each other. The fee prevents that to happen, since not a lot ppl want to build a group, hence nobody can meet.

My proposal is to charge the group creater $1/mon, and anyone who like to join the group also pay $1/mon. If there are 11 members, plus the group founder, the website will still have a net revenue of $12/mon. I bet they can gain more this way, since more ppl won't like to create a group. And more groups created only can mean more people can able to sign up those groups. In long run, it's very benificial to the website designer, and people who use this website. WIN-WIN situation.

I think, the ppl who designed this website are prob geeks. They don't have a business mind, but want to get rich. That explains why they pose the $12/mon crazy fee for group creators. Ppl don't like the fee won't create a group, without a group noone can join it, eventually less and less visitor to this website.

I tried to check if there is a Movie-buff group in Columbus. This supposes to be a very common interest....guess what, no group created. I don't blame everyone. Even I would think it's crazy to pay $12 a month to keep a group. I would rather use that money for a movie. But when I checked the list to see the number of people who are interested joining the movie-fan group if it got created, guess how many potential members on that list? About 20!

That says everything... The more you trying to charge ppl, the less you will get. Sucess story of Walmart.... and all other inexpensive retail stores and restaurants.

What is the deal with Old Single Women?

2006-03-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

Why are single women over 40 constantly in a bad mood? It's like everything & everyone bothers or annoys them, similar to ppl who are constipated, only indefinatly longer. I guess you can call that Depression. But only if they want to admit that, and get help from a shrink or some medication, they won't get any better. When they are in bad mood, either too quiet, or too irritated, they are effecting the spirit of the whole world. Someppl may not be pessimistic, but when they are surrounded by pissed old single women, how can that not makes them to become pessimistic?

So my theory is single women over 40 (especially the ones that are not dating) are horrors to society. We have to find a way to avoid them, or convert them.

Welcome back :-)

2006-01-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I log a blog. For those who are waiting to read my update, here you go.
A lot have been going on lately. I started a new job, Moved to Columbus, OH, Got accquited with ppl in my place, Started paying attention to football games, Watched Brokeback Mountain (I even persuaded my parents to watch, suprisingly they liked it), Celebrated Chinese New Year, Visited a old friend who is also working at Columbus.

That is about it for the first month of 2006.

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra New Year's Eve Concert

2006-01-01T03:36:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year for everyone who reads this blog :)

I went to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra New Year's Eve Concert on the last day of 2005. It was really great. Beside the tranditional classical pieces that are being played every year, they also played some recomposed Jazz and Ray Charles's R&B. Since this is newyear eve, instead of applausing with our hands, people were blowing their noise makers, hahaha :-D

I would say that was a very unique and fun concert and I LIKED IT ! And off course, I had two glass of Champagne in this evening and danced at the after-party. That concludes it.

Just a Thought

2005-12-30T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last night a thought just poped in my head, "WHY AREN'T THERE ANY CAPTION FOR MOVIE IN THEATHERS?" You might say that because everyone goto the movie can hear, so there is no point for caption. But how do we know mute or deaf people do not want to go to theaters. They have the right to enjoy BIG SCREEN too!. I'll say the only reason prevent them to goto a movie theather is because THERE IS NO CAPTION for movies!

Although they can not hear, I am sure they want to experience the feeling in front of a big screen and feel the rhythm and shivering brought by the loud Dolby 7.1 speakers and subwoofer.

Even for ppl who are not deaf, sometimes there are words you just can't understand due to actor's accent or simplily missed while you're whispering with your friends. Caption will help audiences follow the story.

So movie makers start putting captions below the images of film from now on. Maybe you will find the box office will do a little better than now!!!!!!!!!

Review for The Memoirs of A Geisha : A+

2005-12-30T01:33:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this movie, definately give it an A+. However sometimes I just wonder what if the character of Sayuri is replaced by the famous japanese actress Koyuki (play the role of Taka in The Last Samurai)

I mean don't get me wrong here, I like Ziyi Zhang, but she is Chinese and maybe in Western eyes there are no different between Chinese and Japanese, but as Chinese American, I can easily seem Sayuri not behave like a true Japanese woman.

Instead, Suzuka Ohgo (the young Sayuri or Chiyo)did an awsome job in the movie. The girl was totally cute in the film. I feel she is the true star in the film and when she nods, she noded like a true Japanese, which she is. However once Sayuri is grown up, she is replaced by the Chinese Ziyi and it just felt weird.

I would rather see Koyuki plays the role of grown Sayuri.She is a good actress and did a good job playing Taka in The Last Samurai, whose husband was killed by Nathan Algren (play be Tome Cruise) and later took care Nathan for years when he lived at Samurai's Village.

However, disregard Koyuki's fame in Japan, she is not as familiar to the American audience as Ziyi Zhang. On the other hand, who would become famous if she doesn't get enought exposures on Hollywood films. I think Directors should give her more chances in movies to let audience get to know her better. Maybe one day,she will be favored by the American audiences as much as Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh did!

Table and Chair and Lamp I made

2005-12-14T22:39:00.000-05:00

Three more items I made in my 3D design class.

Foto Session with My Top Models

2005-12-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

I didn't have much to do at home. So I decided to have a photo shooting session with my "Top Models" Check the great picture below! My models work so hard for this foto shoot!

Let me introduce them to you the 6 stars in this Animal Kingdom serie:
Simba, Big White, Snowy, Tree hugger, DuDu, and Nemo!
What a happy family:-)

Two years in a blink

2005-11-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

Sculptures that I made : I am really proud of these art pieces.

The Subdivision of my home

In My Workplace, I became a US citizen that day.

Hotel during SAP training at Dallas
I love being sent for training. Good hotel, good food and I became wiser.

This corner of Dallas gives me illusion of Europe.

Trip to Boston

Trip to Hawaii: something other than the beach, mountain and palm trees.

Indy 500 Car Race: The noisiest event I've ever been to.

Although I have to admit watch a race in person is more exciting than see it on TV.

Actually, I think everything will be more intersting in person.

H----A----M----M----E----R----2------L----I----M----O

2005-10-11T12:57:00.000-04:00

Christine and I at QingMeiJingYue concert. We were seating hosts for the event.

QingMeiJingYue is the name of a Chinese orchester quartet band.

Above are some typical Chinese intruments.

Why some ppl are so FAKE!

2005-10-10T20:07:00.000-04:00

Recently, I am feeling people are very fake. The reason I say that is because i realized a lot people I know they just used me as their "antidepressant" to get over their depression.

They talk to me when they are sad, as soon as they find other friends or other things to do, you can't find them anymore. I want being there for my friends, and i want the same in return, because I was always consistent with my friends whether they were happy or sad.

But not all people are sincere, a lot ppl i know have the tendency to use me as their temporary friend and I hate being used! Maybe they didn't do that intensionally, maybe they didn't think it would be a big deal, since I am always a very easy-going person, maybe they just thought I wouldn't get angry anyway. That is such wrong assumption! I can get angry too, really angry...........and disappointed.

Why some ppl so phony? They just suck all your moral support and positive energy out of you and once they get better, they left. When you are the one feeling lonly, you won't find them anywhere anymore...

I'm 9 month to 25.

2005-09-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

It's just striked me today when I'm about to doze off in front of my monitor in my cube
I'M 24!!!!!!!! Oh my god, I'm old. My 18yr birthday just felt like yesterday. Althought it has been 3 month past my 24 B'day, but since there was no big celebration and I was traveling at Thailand on that day, the truth was just never got into my system till TODAY.

I started panicking. What am I going to do to? I'm about reach 25, and it's all downhill after that for humans physically. And I don't feel I have accomplished anything yet!. Someppl may say I accomplished a lot. A master degree, a big house, a stable job....but those mean nothing to me. What I really want I havn't get at all, I'm not any where near to get them yet. *sigh*, what am I suppose to do...............................................................................................................................................
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................................................................................ Still don't know. I have a plan, but it seem practical, but there will be alot challenges in order to achieve it. Well, i will just live my life one day at a time, and hopefully, i am getting closer and closer to it everyday.

Out of order

2005-09-19T11:08:00.000-04:00

I know my blogger is a little out of sequence. Not all pictures posted on this site is in chronological order, but i mean, hey who cares, as long as it's interesting. I am just going to continue posting things randomly.

My friend Muna and I cooked everything on this table.

My only pet

2005-09-17T12:49:00.000-04:00

Since I never had a pet, in order to be on the trend, I thought I should at least post something. Here you go. My best friend- DuDu.

Not much to do OR too much to do?

2005-09-13T14:29:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting in my office feeling eyelids are getting heavy, words on screen begin to blur....

That described my situation 1 month ago till something changed me...

Since I am taking an art and an architecture class, my life started to turn around. The classes have been a blast. I am having so much fun and really start to discovering about my true passion :-)

Because of the joy these classes brought me, I no longer feel drawsy in my cubicle.

2005-09-10T17:24:00.001-04:00

Outside the Thai Dragon-n-tiger Zoo

2005-09-10T17:24:00.000-04:00

Praying...

2005-09-10T17:23:00.000-04:00

Me on Sri Lanka Air. The stewardess is so pretty.

2005-09-10T17:20:00.000-04:00

A really fancy Chinese style lunch

2005-09-10T17:17:00.000-04:00

Let's go

2005-09-10T17:10:00.000-04:00

That is NOT me!!! It's a Thai Sheboy

2005-09-10T16:57:00.000-04:00

On the back of Elephant

2005-09-01T15:32:00.000-04:00

Today is the 1st day I start using blogger after being infected by my bloging genius friends. Being a bloger virgin as I am, this is a whole new world to me. Normally, i don't even keep a diary, since I am too lazy to write anything. Besides, everything I wrote before seem to disappear eventually. Blogger should be a great centralized location to hold most of my scattered thoughts together.