Right decision?..."千里之行始於足下."

I just dropped $13,500 + $1131 (taxes) on this used honda civic 2007 with 27k miles, and blew one of my chances at a Japan interview. Now working two jobs at Genentech during the day, and Macys during the night to pay this thing off. Was it really worth it? Sometimes... I have my doubts..but no point in looking back.

On the bright side, I don't have to ride a bike everywhere I go anymore like i did the last 4 years at UCSD..(which is near impossible in San Francisco).. Biking did hella keep me in shape though.

Fixing my bike up in Latin America Hall back in 2005 with Alex Wong. [Nov 15, 2005] to be exact! Over 4+ years already..crazy! Fall Quarter Freshmen year of college at U C S D!

So with my new Macys job..

This job is pretty much a joke...supervisors and managers are usually nowhere to be found and they scare us at orientation claiming they always have "eyes" on us "ALL THE TIME" watching our every move. Shooot, like I really give a crap, I'll just eat cereal breakfast lunch and dinner to eat within budget instead of eating out if I ever lose/quit this job. My lab job in college paid more than this. At first it was pretty tiring standing over 5 hours after an 8 hour shift, but my body finally adjusted so its not too bad no more..

Nevertheless..I met some pretty cool people/coworkers at Macy's :D Most of them are still in college up in CSM or SFSU...definitely more fun talking to people while working than having to work by myself. And of course, theres a part of the job description that they didn't mention at orientation...and thats dealing with douchebag customers.....well..with that..let's just say its an interesting experience haha.

2009! What a year...what will happen in 2010?!

JET with Japan?

Selling the house in the Bay Area?

Parents moving out of Sacramento?

Back to Hong Kong?

-The Bay?

The mortgage in the bay seems to be putting a lot of pressure on my oldest sister. I feel her stress though. It definitely won't be easy trying to sell it, but we all know we want to do our own thing and I can't always assume my sister having to look over the family like she has over who knows how many years. Most likely will sell the place at a slight loss, and rent our own places.

-Sacramento? Hong Kong?

Both of my parents will be in Hong Kong by December 26th. My mom hella wants to move back to Hong Kong due to cheap health insurance and the close proximity of friends and relatives. My dad on the other hand, doesn't like Hong Kong too much and wants to come back. My mom has thought of selling the house in Sacramento and at least move back to the bay, which I understand. There is no longer any type of reason to drive over 200 miles each weekend just to see them. My sisters and I hate the long drive and traffic, and no longer has enough time to drive up there often to visit them anymore. It'll be much better if we are all back in the bay. It will save soooo much gas money..maybe my dad will give in next year? Besides the small place in the bay, he seemed to like coming out to the bay... I'll keep my hopes up.

-Japan?

The JET Program received my application and sent me a letter that I will be hearing from them in early February. But with over 3000 applicants, I'll still need a back up plan.

2010 will be a very interesting year..

千里之行始於足下...

Japan- JET and AEON, Transportation..and Tendonitis

Don't do free weights and perform repetitive inspections!! Lesson learned. At first I thought I got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but it turns out it's Tendonitis. Now I have to wear wrist supports all the time! Who would've thought! Gym + videogames + inspections = killed my wrists haha. I for sure learned one thing from this incident in the working world. Don't try to finish all your work at once, not take breaks, and expect to get free time afterwards, because the work just keeps on coming!!!

These things (Caliper and Go-Nogo Gauges) basically killed my wrist.

Achilles at work helped me jack some ice packs...inflammation at its finest.

I ended up going the chinese medicinal way to ease the pain. Acupuncture + Chinese herbs = the natural way. Surprisingly, acupuncture felt really good, the NEEDLES and the electricity shocking your nerves!! It felt like someone was massaging my nerves on the inside! haha. It definitely isn't as bad as it seems.

Supposedly soaking your hands in chinese herbs can relieve inflammation.. I have no idea how, but it helped.

Besides getting owned at the gym and at work, I managed to try to follow through with the whole JAPAN thing. I got an upcoming interview with AEON on the 21st after spending a couple of days on the personal statement and application. Supposedly, it takes up a whole day from 11am-7pm!!!! Theres gonna be group interviews, and I have to perform a 30 minute lesson plan. Sheesh, not so easy as people claim it to be! I'm still debating if I plan to go through with the AEON route, as I've researched online, people have mentioned its a half sales/half teacher job and some cases of not getting paid working overtime! Also, I sure as hell might not have the patience to sell something. Like Graham said, I am probably going to be like, "If you don't buy this, your're dumb. Bye." Haha. The whole AEON thing is an English school or so called Eikawa, where it mainly focuses on people who take English for fun during evening and night time. AEON also pays only around 35,000 and you have to pay for your own ticket.

For JET, you get paid around 40,000, included round trip flight to JAPAN, and subsidized housing and rent/bills. The downside is I will most likely be placed in the boonies. The good side is you really get exposed to Japanese culture, nature (which is one of the biggest things I am interested in, I wanna go backpacking there!), and meet and work with a lot of kids! Surprisingly, people online said JET also actually wants people who DON'T know Japanese! At first I was like wtf, but then I guess it made sense, because they want people that only mainly know English, which would make the teachers more "foreign" to the Japanese natives. I don't know how my asian looks will work out though haha. Nevertheless, the way I see it, some basic japanese wouldn't hurt..

..I'm ready!.. Got all my stuff together, transcripts, study abroad transcripts, passport, my references and recommendation letters (still waiting on one more!!), and a 2 page statement of purpose that I spent two weeks on!!! I hope I get this, tried my hardest on the application part, ready to take some Japanese night classes at San Mateo Community College. If I don't get it, then I guess it's not meant to be!

People did say this whole Japan thing could be a GOOD or BAD thing.

-THE BAD- It won't be that great on my resume as teaching English is completely different from my Environmental Biology background and my work at Genentech right now. I would have to start the job hunting all over again if I do come back from Japan after 2 years (That's IF I get it, haha). People have been telling me to just stay with Genentech if possible.

-THE GOOD- I would be given the opportunity to have the greatest experience of my life while I'm still young. I would go to the place that I have always wanted to go to since high school and be able to live there. (Hong Kong does come second since I kinda semi-live there every now and then haha). I would also not lose out on social life, and might even make a lot of friends over there.

Lots to think about, I might not even get it, I might suck at teaching!! Training people at work and working with kids on kung fu back in h.s and college is so different from teaching a language!! Anyways, in the meantime, I just need to create a lesson plan for AEON, gotta keep saving that money for a car, cause carpooling and sharing a car with my sister just ain't crackin. Hopefully, the next time I write in this thing, I can say I am going to be "LIVING IN JAPAN FOR 2 YEARS!!!" Not going to expect TOO MUCH though, 16% acceptance rate, and with this kind of economy, it's almost like finding a needle in a haystack.

Right now..I just hope my tendonitis goes away quicker than the expected 6 weeks. I need my hands back so I can play the most anticipated game of the year. Of course, MODERN WARFARE 2!!!!! My coworkers got it, lots of my friends got it, and now I am patiently waiting for it from the mailman. This just might be Counter-Strike alllll over again haha

Funny thing is.. at first, I cancelled my pre-order thinking I wouldn't and shouldn't play so much games! But after seeing this commercial when watching new South Park, I went crazy and re-ordered it again. Eminem and Nate Dogg KILLED THIS TRAILER!!!

One last thing I forgot ..I blogged this on my new mac!...I never thought I would switch over..Haven't regretted since...after using a PC since I was like 6 when it was like windows 3.0.

I guess Linda was right when she said, "Once you go mac, you never go back!" I think Brent lectured me on this too haha.

Life 3 months after graduation...

...Although its only been 3 months ..things sure have changed...after finally deciding to come back to San Francisco instead of staying in San Diego, I finally got a full time job. After sending out hundreds of applications/emails/resumes and doing over 10+ interviews in the months of June and July, I finally got a job at Genentech as a Quality Control Analyst. This job was sort of not what I expected. I thought I would meet a lot of people, but instead I am only working with 3-4 people most of the time in inspection! It's ok though I guess, they are super friendly and we have a lot of things in common. I realized having people you can click with at work is a crucial aspect at the workplace...Nevertheless!..I definitely can't see myself doing this more than the one year contract..not my type of job!..also training has taken close to a month already! who wouldve thought.. But then again I shouldn't be complaining, afterall its still a decent paying job with a pretty good company. Working with UCSF/SFHP as a part time for a month in July before Genentech was veryyy interesting. Talking with Cantonese elderly with diabetes was an awesome experience, especially when they wanted someone to talk to since most of them seemed like they were pretty lonely. It felt good to be able to help them with their medications, give them help whenever I can, and even better, I was able to work on my "formal" Cantonese. Before I left there, I trained a new hire to take my position. He was in his mid-late 30s from Hong Kong. I ended up treating him to yum-cha because he was very interested in telling me about life in the "real-working-world" ..He always referred to old chinese idioms...I felt like I was talking to some type of GURU. One of the quotes I won't forget from him was...."知已知彼百戰百勝"...
"人在江湖身不由己" .. awesome. Very meaningful, will never forget it.

Coming back to San Francisco, I just have to say, I've been missing college life. First, living situation here just sucks. I didn't have to deal with other people's problems and expenses, and I was pretty much doing my own thing. I realized I had more friends/apartment mates to talk to and hang out with in SD, but I can also understand contact with friends die down especially when everyone is sooo far away after college. However, my close childhood friends are still around and I am very thankful for that. There's always tradeoffs I guess...

In a year, my buddies plan to be going their separate ways..noooooo! I guess that's life, but we better keep in touch! My close friend Wes (WAI SEE LEI!) is planning to go somewhere in Asia doing missionary trips after he grads, and my friend Alfred is planning to head up to UCD to hit up some more studying..



My 兄弟's... We just had to hangout...ah my nigggggs...Alfred me & Wes...we don't get many of these days no more...since middle school/elementary man!
Our childhood city of San Francisco...in Sunset and Richmond.

What I am looking forward to now:
Ever since high school, I've wanted to go back to either to Hong Kong or go somewhere in Asia such as Japan. I've been thinking lately how could I go to Japan and try to live there but also make money? I've been told from a lot of friends and coworkers that teaching English is not too hard there and it'd be a great experience!!...My parents said go for it, my friends encourage it...so I am really going to go for it! Hopefully it goes through....I wanna do something exciting while I am still young! Putting GRAD school on hold while getting that $$$, and trying to start things anew in a new place with new people ..and see what I really want to do in life!..looking at my old posts..its crazy how plans can change so quick...but like my friend said...just go with the flow.

2 weeks left!

Theres only 2 weeks left! These last couple of weeks been relaxing, challenging, and very thoughtful. Sungod was pretty good, but nowhere close to T.I second year. I didn't even drink this year surprisngly, everything was just pretty chill in general I guess. I also just had my research internship presentation last week. I felt like I OWNEDDD IT!!! I spent the three day weekend on it making it and I knew what I was talking about the whole time and wasn't even nervous in front of the class. Haven't really felt like that ever. People said I talked superfast but it was sort of difficult to have to mention all the crap i had to talk about..meiofauna biodiversity, pcr, dna extraction, sequencing, results, conclusions in freakin 15 minutes. ehh..it was all good, it was a overall a very good experience.

My P.I for my lab really really helped me analyze my results and he taught me a lot of things. He still probably thinks I'm an idiot but whatever haha. I think in the end, he knew I tried hard, and I just gotta thank him and Karen for teaching me a LOT of stuff this whole year. (hopes they'll still write me recommendation letters in October haha) I also had a good lunch with my BOSS from Bioservices couple of weeks ago. I actually GOT TO KNOW my boss a lot more! He's a reverend at a church and he's getting his masters in theological studies. All I can say is, he could be a strict boss, but he's probably one of the coolest bosses one could ever ask for. He definitely taught me some advice about life in general, etc. He say I might get something *special* for being one of the best employees the last two years (we'll see hahahaha). Man, I hope I will have an awesome boss when I find a new job after college...sighhhh

Just now, I also had a good talk with my rooommate AGAIN who I am definitely going to miss after college. Probably one of the chillest, coolest, funniest guy to live with these last two years. We were just talking about acquaintances and people after the collegelife, THE REAL WORLD, and things about encountering and dealing with superficial/FAKE people UAHHH. He says you gotta be fake to fake people, and use "politics" on them ahahhah. I have a feeling that having coworkers as friends sure aint gonna be the same as regular friends..

Anyways, I am not gonna forget this FOR SURE. FATASS Caterpillar in the room is what I called it haha. MUST see before and aftermath of the caterpillar on the youtube site, basically all the green blood splatted on the blinds and my desk LOL. FUN TIMES hahaha.


These last weeks had just been so crazy. My netbook broke down so I had to dissect it and install these parts that I got from SWEDEN. YES, SWEDEN. ASUS doesnt sell parts cause they wanna rip you off by sending it in, so I had to buy a fan from europe, where the shipping cost three times than the actual fan!!!! But now the laptop is all good, but still a slow piece of crap.
Wes's comp broke down too, it just randomly shuts off, and he had a shitload of viruses.. but we managed to freakin fix that shit too, so that was pretty awesome.


Last week, I also used some of my work money and got a new ipod touch. I spent some good hours jailbreaking it. It was very exciting and now I can get paid apps for free!!! (so illegal, I am chinese though, what are ya gonna do, we're known for pirating) haha. Planning to jailbreak and edit my sisters and wesley, that should be fun.




For memories...

now...back to thinking what I wanna do in life. for the next year...If I wanna do grad school....i am 85-90% interested in going to ALASKA!!! YES. ALASKA. with an M.S in Environmental Science.


http://www.alaskapacific.edu/academics/Departments/EnvironmentalScience/GraduateProgram/Pages/Default.aspx

BUT...I have my doubts...I still don't feel like I am smart enough to go. I am gonna try my hardest studying GRE's this summer, no more of that halfass shit I did back in high school with the SATS. Luck doesn't come twice.

Grad School

AHHHH...finding a job is: hard/frustrating/stressful/pissing me off/making me worried.
Makes me more and more wanting to go to grad school. I would have a good chance of getting into one in Oregon, Nebraska, Hawai'i
Am I capable? http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/academics/mesm.html
What is gonna happen?
I shall see.
Need recommendation letters tommorrow, hope professors don't think I'm weird.
Must get one from work too.
Damn, things are gonna be different.

What are you going to do with your major? (Environmental Biology)

Just about everyone I know has asked me this question over the last four years. I think I finally have a solid answer. After going to a networking event with Mowang for environmental careers with professionals in San Diego and interviewing with over 10 professionals from different companies, I think I finally know what I want to do (about freaking time). Recently, I've been somewhat regretting about being an environmental major and should have just been a full biology major student since half of the classes I took were all biology related. But after attending this event, I felt much better about sticking to what I want to do.

Goals: (if possible)
-work with an environmental consulting firm like EDAW (www.edaw.com) and be an outdoor field biologist, either working with air quality control, water quality control, or wildlife biologist. Basically working outside, assessing and gathering data to see if things such as the air quality is suitable for a populace or if they comply to environmental laws such as CEQA (environmental impact reports).

-or-

-(more technical) work with an environmental consulting firm that monitors air quality, and other industrial hygienes such as asbestos, etc, from different clients such as U.S army, office buildings etc, while getting training through EPA. (what I really want to do.) I think theres less writing in this one. (seems more fun). I actually applied to a job that had this, they contacted me back, I filled out a long questionairre filled with long essays, but now its been a week, i think I FAIL.

Conclusion
-I just want to find a job I am gonna like, I don't care if I don't make six zeroes, I'll be happy with anything from $40,000-50,000 a year....but even now....THAT might even be asking for too much.

Why I want to work outside?...I think my internship influenced me a lot. freakin relaxing. (where I collected all my little marine animal buddies haha)


I actually had to make a poster for my research project that I have been working on yesterday. My principle instructor needed something to describe what our project is, and why we are doing it, in a quick simple poster display. I had to put some of the coooolest organisms that I've found of course. Sabellid, Amphipod, Neriid, Ophiuriod, Bryozoans, Limpets, Caprellids, Nudibranch!!!!!

Some of the coolest meiofauna I've collected and photographed.
1.Caprellid
2.Mean Cancer (Crab*) haha
3.Flatworm
4.Gastropod
5.Isopod
6.Nudibranch
7.Syllid
8. Amphipod
9. Limpet
10. Pycnogonid
11. Spionid
12. Taniaid

What I might have now, I might not have tommorrow.

So today, April 21st, I decided I would give this blogging thing a try. It feels like Xanga all over again. I think the whole point of making this blog is to be able to look at this maybe a good couple of years from now, and see how much life has changed. I believe after my last quarter here at college, a whole new lifestage is going to be ahead of me. While I am relaxing here in SD on my last quarter, taking only two classes, I feel like I am still stressed about finding a job. Nevertheless, I realize I should just enjoy the freedom and college life while I still can.

These couple of weeks have been very interesting and fun, going kayaking, some parties, and kickbacks.
Two very important things came into my mind this last spring quarter.

Family and Friends.

Family: Returning and living back at home has been on my mind since the beginning of this year now. While I always miss my family and my dog, I am afraid I might easily get annoyed by them once I see them everyday! However, I realized family has still been pretty important to me, as I wouldn't know what would happen if I had lost them. I was actually watching basketball videos since NBA playoffs has been going on. I have recently really liked Dwyane Wade a lot, and I came across this video. The way he related to his sister, really made me think about my relationship to my oldest sister, and of course my middle sister.



His sister is also 5 years older! and always bought him clothes and shoes..
I still wear Jordans shorts my sister bought me back in 8th grade ! (they still fit me surprisingly). I must say without my oldest sister, I really wouldn't have been here today, getting a B.S. in college. She was like my second mom when my parents were always in Hong Kong throughout my childhood. My sister also made me realize what we have today, we might not have tommorrow, anything can happen. She told me recently her close friend's father had just passed away from cancer, and it made her miss my dad a lot. While my dad can be annoying as hell sometimes, I notice I always miss that old man. He can literally be happy just by talking to him for a couple of minutes on the phone. I also can't forget my middle sister helping me fight off black people when I got my ass jumped in a literally all black school near Haight Street in Frisco. While I learned about a lot of my past family drama from my dad and mom's side recently from trips to Hong Kong, I try to put that aside, and realize that no one is perfect, let alone a family. There are always two sides to a story, but ultimately I rather not hear about it, and move on..

I just came back from dinner from COCO'S with my roommate which I am sure I will miss hanging around and just talking and singing to chinese songs with (He's mexican haha). We actually had a very deep conversation. He told me he wouldn't care about anyone, even his family. Of course I had asked why, but he said he just came from a bad family background where no one really cared for each other. While we had many things in common, our family backgrounds seemed like opposites. This again, made me think that family can be so important to some, while not at all to others. It just made me realize how crazy that one's environment can influence someone on such a great level. I guess this means that maybe its also true then, that you can see one's personality by looking at their friends!

FRIENDS

After college, I realize it might be a lil tough to see all my sd friends. Everyone is going their separate ways, and some are already as far as across the globe! I actually had a very very interesting night with them yesterday night on 420. Let's just say life was in slow motion for the first time and I laughed a lot cause of a lil sumtn' sumtn'. haha. My group of small but very close friends from sd and the bay has always been there for me especially these last four tough life changing years! Although my two close friends from the bay (alfy alf and wes) I rarely see except on breaks, I will never forget our inside language LOL (yo the bo, and the 'd!) hahaha.


this blog is a good way to save some good memories I guess...also if I do get pissed in the future at my sisters or anything, I'll look back at this and be like OHHHHH yeah I still love them. HA!