Sunday, August 31, 2003
I got a second speeding ticket in less than two months. This time I was "speeding" at NY state, and I was only driving at 80mph when the speed limit was 65, which I think was perfectly okay. Again, my excuse was I was just following the car in front of me but the cop said it was "too bad" that he got me instead. -______-"
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
My Summer in 20 minutes
Warning: This entry is extremely incoherent (and possibly very boring). I’m not responsible of any symptoms or brain damage caused by the unpredictability and lack of vocabulary of this entry. Read at your own risk.
Los Angeles
Met up with Norm and Dave at E3 (electronic entertainment expo). Anna, Charlie, and Shaheen were also there, even though I didn’t get to meet them. After the CMU people left for graduation, I hung out a bit with Andy and his cousin. Despite their futile attempts to convince me to join au telephone company, I still had a good time with them eating Taiwanese style night snacks and taking Andy’s baby Corolla to service + shopping for cars.
Other leisure activities included eating In-N-Out burgers, Third Street, stuff myself with sushi and “Taiwanese small eats” as well as meeting up with some LA gangs.
Best: My brother took me to this totally AWESOME noodle shop…best in Los Angeles IMO.
Worst: Getting my ass whupped by my uncle, as usual.
Las Vegas
Went to Vegas for a couple of days with Bryan + his gf Charlene (yup, I’m the third wheel. Andy was supposed to come with us but he had to “prepare for summer school.”) Roulette: After seeing this guy putting chips on almost every number on the table and won BIG, I tried his technique on $1 bets and won like a lucky ass. I must have told you my sad story – to no avail, I lost $60 in ten minutes. BlackJack: Always have been my favorite, however, same sad story, small wins, big losses. Craps: I was just watching my buddy Bryan’s unlucky day. Strip clubs: almost went if we weren’t so tired of saying goodbye to our cash.
Best: Being 21.
Worst: Wished I had a gf too, or at least SOMEONE to talk to me when they were ……ing.
Portland
I arrived at the airport and met up with my roommate James, this kid I knew back at school from 347 and optics class. If you know him, he probably already told you he roomed with this super nice Chinese kid from CMU for the whole summer, together checking out chicks at Barnes&Noble and being bored at home. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s a gangster-like Korean living in New York City, always causing trouble but somehow gets away with them. He was a good roommate though, always keeping me entertained with his crazy stories from Intel and how geeky those kids are.
Our home was located 15 minute walk away from James’s Intel campus, but 40 minute drive on the freeway (without traffic) away from where I work. I can’t blame him, he found the place and of course, he’s always watching out for himself. Because I live so far away, my boss pitied me and let me arrive work later so I can avoid the “rush hour” of Portland. The fact is, highway 26 is ALWAYS in rush hour, so it doesn’t really matter that much what time I leave for work. Everyday I got to work at 10am (sometimes, actually a lot of times, later) and left at 6:00 sharp. Sometimes I played ball during lunch time with my boss’s boss and getting my ass whupped by a bunch of older guys. Honestly, I don’t know how they keep themselves in such good shape; I could NOT catch up with those crazy people.
If I were to use one adjective to describe the work environment of Mentor Graphics, or rather, my department, that work would be friendly. People were so nice! Everyone was looking after each other. My boss even smiled warmly at me when he gave me tasks that nobody in the group wanted to do, like they were free snacks for me or something. But the best part was, they DID have free snacks/meals from time to time. There was one week that I didn’t spend a single dollar buying lunch. On my last day of work, my boss took the group out for a farewell lunch. And in the afternoon, there was a farewell party for the whole department because “Willy is leaving.” Well, most of the people in my department were like “Who’s Willy?” but they showed up anyhow for the free sushi. Somehow I’m fascinated how they can always find excuses for free food =)
Portland wasn’t bad at all, at least relative to Pittsburgh. Yeah, everything’s relative. Seattle, of course, was a better place then Portland. Vancouver, however, was really a heavenly place of good food, good looking people and cars, and fun fun. I remember while getting a haircut there, the barber asked me where I was from. I said Seattle just for the hell of it (well, actually I was afraid he didn’t know where Portland was), and then he added “Seattle is such a boring place right?” Damn right, compared to Vancouver, of course it’s a boring place. Yup, everything’s relative.
Naturally, I made some new friends during my stay at Portland. Most of them were colleagues from work, my boss, my boss’s boss, my boss’s boss’s boss, etc. Because I live 40 min away, again, WITHOUT TRAFFIC, I rarely drove down to where I work during weekends. All the other interns lived at home or near work, so I couldn’t really hang with them. My officemate was great though. His name is Chris, and we did some stuff together and kept each other company when the work got boring. Only during the last week did I meet other people out of work. Yeah you heard the story and let me tell you again, I discovered places in Portland that will just blow a Pittsburgher’s mind away! I don’t mind working there considering the laid back work environment…but sometimes the pace is just a little too slow for a city person like me.
Best: Every Friday – pay day!!
Worst: Every other days…well they were not that bad, especially after knowing Jenny and her crew.
Taipei
I could not begin describing what a great time I had there. Besides spending quality time with my family, my grandmother + sister from Hong Kong, I also met up with tons and tons of people, knew lots of new people as well as some buddies from way back – all in short 12 days.
You might have already known that I got to know a flight attendant from EVA air. We met up in Taipei one day and chatted, only to find out that her roommate is serving on my flight back to Los Angeles. A little diversion here: on the way back to Los Angeles, I was hanging out in the kitchen of Business/First class for most of the time. You know what that means? Free, first-class food. I had lots of fruits, quality cup noodles, soy milk (only served in first class), even a free bottle of red wine, all companied by three nice and pretty flight attendants. Flight back was too good.
Anyway, back to Taipei. I got to meet some people from my elementary school, namely Sara and Richard. I haven’t seen Richard for at least 8-9 years and he has not changed a bit. It felt good talking about elementary school…and knowing where some of those people are and what they were doing.
High school friends: friends from TAS as well as Taft. TAS friends were my usual hang outs when I’m in Taipei (you know who you are), however, Taft friends were a bit different. I don’t think I made any real good friends at Taft that I still keep in touch with, except for the Taiwanese people. The only people around when I was there were Kelly and Foster. Foster has not changed a bit; still short and talkative. Kelly, on the other hand, has transformed into a gorgeous, mature woman (well, I only remembered her when she was 15). The only person that I have gotten significantly closer this summer was her, considering that I barely knew her back then in high school.
Local friends. I’m actually surprised how many local people I knew, considering I have never gone to a local school there. Even more surprising, I’m pretty good friends with a lot of them, considering I only see them twice a year. You guys are great! Come visit me lah!
Eh…what else did I do? Don’t remember and too much to write…sorry no detailed description of my daily encounters.
Best: Everything.
Worst: Nothing except the record high temperature in 80 year history.
Warning: This entry is extremely incoherent (and possibly very boring). I’m not responsible of any symptoms or brain damage caused by the unpredictability and lack of vocabulary of this entry. Read at your own risk.
Los Angeles
Met up with Norm and Dave at E3 (electronic entertainment expo). Anna, Charlie, and Shaheen were also there, even though I didn’t get to meet them. After the CMU people left for graduation, I hung out a bit with Andy and his cousin. Despite their futile attempts to convince me to join au telephone company, I still had a good time with them eating Taiwanese style night snacks and taking Andy’s baby Corolla to service + shopping for cars.
Other leisure activities included eating In-N-Out burgers, Third Street, stuff myself with sushi and “Taiwanese small eats” as well as meeting up with some LA gangs.
Best: My brother took me to this totally AWESOME noodle shop…best in Los Angeles IMO.
Worst: Getting my ass whupped by my uncle, as usual.
Las Vegas
Went to Vegas for a couple of days with Bryan + his gf Charlene (yup, I’m the third wheel. Andy was supposed to come with us but he had to “prepare for summer school.”) Roulette: After seeing this guy putting chips on almost every number on the table and won BIG, I tried his technique on $1 bets and won like a lucky ass. I must have told you my sad story – to no avail, I lost $60 in ten minutes. BlackJack: Always have been my favorite, however, same sad story, small wins, big losses. Craps: I was just watching my buddy Bryan’s unlucky day. Strip clubs: almost went if we weren’t so tired of saying goodbye to our cash.
Best: Being 21.
Worst: Wished I had a gf too, or at least SOMEONE to talk to me when they were ……ing.
Portland
I arrived at the airport and met up with my roommate James, this kid I knew back at school from 347 and optics class. If you know him, he probably already told you he roomed with this super nice Chinese kid from CMU for the whole summer, together checking out chicks at Barnes&Noble and being bored at home. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s a gangster-like Korean living in New York City, always causing trouble but somehow gets away with them. He was a good roommate though, always keeping me entertained with his crazy stories from Intel and how geeky those kids are.
Our home was located 15 minute walk away from James’s Intel campus, but 40 minute drive on the freeway (without traffic) away from where I work. I can’t blame him, he found the place and of course, he’s always watching out for himself. Because I live so far away, my boss pitied me and let me arrive work later so I can avoid the “rush hour” of Portland. The fact is, highway 26 is ALWAYS in rush hour, so it doesn’t really matter that much what time I leave for work. Everyday I got to work at 10am (sometimes, actually a lot of times, later) and left at 6:00 sharp. Sometimes I played ball during lunch time with my boss’s boss and getting my ass whupped by a bunch of older guys. Honestly, I don’t know how they keep themselves in such good shape; I could NOT catch up with those crazy people.
If I were to use one adjective to describe the work environment of Mentor Graphics, or rather, my department, that work would be friendly. People were so nice! Everyone was looking after each other. My boss even smiled warmly at me when he gave me tasks that nobody in the group wanted to do, like they were free snacks for me or something. But the best part was, they DID have free snacks/meals from time to time. There was one week that I didn’t spend a single dollar buying lunch. On my last day of work, my boss took the group out for a farewell lunch. And in the afternoon, there was a farewell party for the whole department because “Willy is leaving.” Well, most of the people in my department were like “Who’s Willy?” but they showed up anyhow for the free sushi. Somehow I’m fascinated how they can always find excuses for free food =)
Portland wasn’t bad at all, at least relative to Pittsburgh. Yeah, everything’s relative. Seattle, of course, was a better place then Portland. Vancouver, however, was really a heavenly place of good food, good looking people and cars, and fun fun. I remember while getting a haircut there, the barber asked me where I was from. I said Seattle just for the hell of it (well, actually I was afraid he didn’t know where Portland was), and then he added “Seattle is such a boring place right?” Damn right, compared to Vancouver, of course it’s a boring place. Yup, everything’s relative.
Naturally, I made some new friends during my stay at Portland. Most of them were colleagues from work, my boss, my boss’s boss, my boss’s boss’s boss, etc. Because I live 40 min away, again, WITHOUT TRAFFIC, I rarely drove down to where I work during weekends. All the other interns lived at home or near work, so I couldn’t really hang with them. My officemate was great though. His name is Chris, and we did some stuff together and kept each other company when the work got boring. Only during the last week did I meet other people out of work. Yeah you heard the story and let me tell you again, I discovered places in Portland that will just blow a Pittsburgher’s mind away! I don’t mind working there considering the laid back work environment…but sometimes the pace is just a little too slow for a city person like me.
Best: Every Friday – pay day!!
Worst: Every other days…well they were not that bad, especially after knowing Jenny and her crew.
Taipei
I could not begin describing what a great time I had there. Besides spending quality time with my family, my grandmother + sister from Hong Kong, I also met up with tons and tons of people, knew lots of new people as well as some buddies from way back – all in short 12 days.
You might have already known that I got to know a flight attendant from EVA air. We met up in Taipei one day and chatted, only to find out that her roommate is serving on my flight back to Los Angeles. A little diversion here: on the way back to Los Angeles, I was hanging out in the kitchen of Business/First class for most of the time. You know what that means? Free, first-class food. I had lots of fruits, quality cup noodles, soy milk (only served in first class), even a free bottle of red wine, all companied by three nice and pretty flight attendants. Flight back was too good.
Anyway, back to Taipei. I got to meet some people from my elementary school, namely Sara and Richard. I haven’t seen Richard for at least 8-9 years and he has not changed a bit. It felt good talking about elementary school…and knowing where some of those people are and what they were doing.
High school friends: friends from TAS as well as Taft. TAS friends were my usual hang outs when I’m in Taipei (you know who you are), however, Taft friends were a bit different. I don’t think I made any real good friends at Taft that I still keep in touch with, except for the Taiwanese people. The only people around when I was there were Kelly and Foster. Foster has not changed a bit; still short and talkative. Kelly, on the other hand, has transformed into a gorgeous, mature woman (well, I only remembered her when she was 15). The only person that I have gotten significantly closer this summer was her, considering that I barely knew her back then in high school.
Local friends. I’m actually surprised how many local people I knew, considering I have never gone to a local school there. Even more surprising, I’m pretty good friends with a lot of them, considering I only see them twice a year. You guys are great! Come visit me lah!
Eh…what else did I do? Don’t remember and too much to write…sorry no detailed description of my daily encounters.
Best: Everything.
Worst: Nothing except the record high temperature in 80 year history.
Friday, August 15, 2003
I think I must have been drunk when I wrote the last entry. I don't remember I wrote what I wrote last nite....but anyway, here are some pictures.
KTV group pic
KTV closeup pic
Bryan (and his new style) and I at LAX
KTV group pic
KTV closeup pic
Bryan (and his new style) and I at LAX
Thursday, August 14, 2003
I have been debating whether to broadcast my life here in Taiwan like what Jeff did. I figure I'm lazy and there is just WAY too much going on here, I won't write about everything in detail. So far I've just been meeting people, I mean, that IS one of the main reasons why I'm here; family, relatives from HK, friends from high schools, friends in Taipei, friends from somewhere else. These four days here, already I met couple new people as well as friends I haven't seen in years. It's great!
Weather has been a bitch. Afternoon thunder shower everyday. First day I didn't bring an umbrella and got soaked with acid rain while trying to catch "Finding Nemo." It's a cute movie by the way. Other than that, it's the usual hot and humid air, sort of reminds me of crowded locker rooms minus the smell. Sometimes it gets disgustingly hard to breath before the daily afternoon showers.
Food. Damn, i swear i gained weight already! Everywhere I go, I eat. I see some egg muffins selling on the street, I get some. I see a milk tea shops, I get some bubble tea. I go sing KTV, I order snacks + drinks. I dream of beef noodle soup the night before, I go get some beef noodle the next day. On top of that I go to very nice restaurants...food that doesn't taste better anywhere else on the planet. And mad CHEAP!!!!!
Girls. Went clubbing last night at Room18. Ladies night. I didn't pick this date...I was actually planning to go home early to be with my parents but since Irene was so kind to offer to pick me up, I couldn't refuse. I thought I wasn't able to handle 4 girls so I tried to find more guy friends to come with me, only to find out that I don't know any guy friends here. But it turned out fine...clubbing with 4 girls sounds good to me anytime now, not to mention other fine ladies in the club. As for girls on Taipei streets, I did not really pay much attention for all my energy was focused on food and the people I'm with. Well, I pay attention whenever neccessary.
Any questions, concerns, comments, or just want to say hi, write something in "comments."
Weather has been a bitch. Afternoon thunder shower everyday. First day I didn't bring an umbrella and got soaked with acid rain while trying to catch "Finding Nemo." It's a cute movie by the way. Other than that, it's the usual hot and humid air, sort of reminds me of crowded locker rooms minus the smell. Sometimes it gets disgustingly hard to breath before the daily afternoon showers.
Food. Damn, i swear i gained weight already! Everywhere I go, I eat. I see some egg muffins selling on the street, I get some. I see a milk tea shops, I get some bubble tea. I go sing KTV, I order snacks + drinks. I dream of beef noodle soup the night before, I go get some beef noodle the next day. On top of that I go to very nice restaurants...food that doesn't taste better anywhere else on the planet. And mad CHEAP!!!!!
Girls. Went clubbing last night at Room18. Ladies night. I didn't pick this date...I was actually planning to go home early to be with my parents but since Irene was so kind to offer to pick me up, I couldn't refuse. I thought I wasn't able to handle 4 girls so I tried to find more guy friends to come with me, only to find out that I don't know any guy friends here. But it turned out fine...clubbing with 4 girls sounds good to me anytime now, not to mention other fine ladies in the club. As for girls on Taipei streets, I did not really pay much attention for all my energy was focused on food and the people I'm with. Well, I pay attention whenever neccessary.
Any questions, concerns, comments, or just want to say hi, write something in "comments."
Sunday, August 10, 2003
Inspired by “American Wedding”
After watching the movie, I feel both scared and excited about my future. Who am I going to marry? How many times am I going to get married? Am I even going to get married?!? I feel like I’m still 16.
Two words: time flies! I still remember watching “American Pie” with my Taiwanese buddies the summer of high school graduation. The characters in the movie were moving on the college, and so were we. Sometime in the midst of college life, I watched “American Pie 2” and the movie characters were also struggling with their college careers as well as partying like a proper college students. Now everyone’s graduated from college, including myself, I ask myself “Where did my youth go?” I feel like I haven’t really done much for the past four years. I feel like, damn, that’s IT? At the same time, I know that college had shaped me – prepared me for the long, hard road ahead of me. Some friends I made during the four years will be my lifetime partners. Some skills I learned I will be using for the rest of my life. Some memories I will most definitely remember until the day I die.
I don’t regret a single bit that I chose to go to Carnegie Mellon. Prestigious university, nice people, good education. Although I might complain a lot about the boring city, hideous weather and the crazy work load, but I realized this is just another challenge in life, another unique experience that one day we would tell our children or grandchildren. “When I was back at college, man, nobody pimped more than I did. And I STILL got 4.0!!” Well, maybe there wasn’t much to pimp and no way in hell I have a 4.0. But you know what I’m saying? You won’t taste the sweet until you experience the bitterness of life. If life always bends the way you want it to, then where’s the excitement when you finally accomplished something important to you, or finished reading “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy? What the hell is the point of living if you have everything you want in this world already?
Yup, I wouldn’t tell people to not come to CMU because Pittsburgh is a shithole. I will tell them that Pittsburgh IS a shithole but it’s up to you to make it a better place or not. I will say, brother, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
After watching the movie, I feel both scared and excited about my future. Who am I going to marry? How many times am I going to get married? Am I even going to get married?!? I feel like I’m still 16.
Two words: time flies! I still remember watching “American Pie” with my Taiwanese buddies the summer of high school graduation. The characters in the movie were moving on the college, and so were we. Sometime in the midst of college life, I watched “American Pie 2” and the movie characters were also struggling with their college careers as well as partying like a proper college students. Now everyone’s graduated from college, including myself, I ask myself “Where did my youth go?” I feel like I haven’t really done much for the past four years. I feel like, damn, that’s IT? At the same time, I know that college had shaped me – prepared me for the long, hard road ahead of me. Some friends I made during the four years will be my lifetime partners. Some skills I learned I will be using for the rest of my life. Some memories I will most definitely remember until the day I die.
I don’t regret a single bit that I chose to go to Carnegie Mellon. Prestigious university, nice people, good education. Although I might complain a lot about the boring city, hideous weather and the crazy work load, but I realized this is just another challenge in life, another unique experience that one day we would tell our children or grandchildren. “When I was back at college, man, nobody pimped more than I did. And I STILL got 4.0!!” Well, maybe there wasn’t much to pimp and no way in hell I have a 4.0. But you know what I’m saying? You won’t taste the sweet until you experience the bitterness of life. If life always bends the way you want it to, then where’s the excitement when you finally accomplished something important to you, or finished reading “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy? What the hell is the point of living if you have everything you want in this world already?
Yup, I wouldn’t tell people to not come to CMU because Pittsburgh is a shithole. I will tell them that Pittsburgh IS a shithole but it’s up to you to make it a better place or not. I will say, brother, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
I went on a company sponsored rafting trip yesterday. Everything was paid for AND we get paid 8 hours yesterday too...don't you want to work for Mentor Graphics?! If you want to work here you better treat me well so I can hook you up ;-) Well, rafting was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!! It was a 18-mile raft and we had a decent lunch in between. We had total of six rafts and we had some crazy people on our raft. In an intense water fight between rafts, some of our "teammates" would jump in water to sneak up on other rafts and pull people out into the water. And one of the best parts was there was very pretty guide in our group...too bad she wasn't our guide! But she has really pretty face, nice body, and beautiful light green eyes! Couldn't stop looking at her =P I think she's probably older than I am but whatever...hehe. Don't get me wrong, rafting trip would still be awesome even without her! =)
After rafting, dinner with Jenny and then passed out for only having 5 hour of sleep the night before. Best day in Portland!!
After rafting, dinner with Jenny and then passed out for only having 5 hour of sleep the night before. Best day in Portland!!
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
A picture of my new friends.
A picture of my work friends.
A picture of my work friends.
Monday, August 04, 2003
No internet, no TV, not AC for the past three weeks. Days were long, and nights were freaking hot and lonely.
Well, good things come when least expected. I made some new local friends during my last weekend here at Portland and brother, life is GOOOOOD with friends. Her name is Jenny, and she took me to places that I never thought existed here, places where happiness and fun can be found. Decent bubble tea shops/restaurants, ktv, cheap bowling, pool, places to play ball, and so on...all discovered this weekend...my LAST weekend. If I have met her earlier, Portland would have been infinitely better. I wouldn't have been so bored that I went test drive cars EVERY weekend just for the hell of it. I didn't need to go to Barnes&Noble every night to kill time, so bored that I started reading books about Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. Oh well, I'm over it, and I got my hookups now =) Thank you Jenny. Jenny's mad cool!
Funny how we met. So I have a friend here at work, and last Friday he took me to this chinese restaurant for lunch. The owner is Taiwanese, and a lady there started chatting with me because we're all from Taiwan and all...I told her about the Baskin Robins story and she said she knows them -- small Taiwanese community here. "So how old are you?" This question popped up out of the blue. "Uh..I'm 22..." I wasn't sure where it was going. Then she said "Oh that's perfect~ Let me introduce a girl friend (or girlfriend?) to you! Here's her phone #" and she told David, Jenny's little brother who was also working at the restaurant, to give me her phone #. When I got back to work, I had a name and a number and bored out of my mind, so I gave her a call and chatted. Chilled with her after work and throughout the weekend...also met her cools friends + more hookups, all the way from Portland to Vancouver...haha...
Well, good things come when least expected. I made some new local friends during my last weekend here at Portland and brother, life is GOOOOOD with friends. Her name is Jenny, and she took me to places that I never thought existed here, places where happiness and fun can be found. Decent bubble tea shops/restaurants, ktv, cheap bowling, pool, places to play ball, and so on...all discovered this weekend...my LAST weekend. If I have met her earlier, Portland would have been infinitely better. I wouldn't have been so bored that I went test drive cars EVERY weekend just for the hell of it. I didn't need to go to Barnes&Noble every night to kill time, so bored that I started reading books about Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. Oh well, I'm over it, and I got my hookups now =) Thank you Jenny. Jenny's mad cool!
Funny how we met. So I have a friend here at work, and last Friday he took me to this chinese restaurant for lunch. The owner is Taiwanese, and a lady there started chatting with me because we're all from Taiwan and all...I told her about the Baskin Robins story and she said she knows them -- small Taiwanese community here. "So how old are you?" This question popped up out of the blue. "Uh..I'm 22..." I wasn't sure where it was going. Then she said "Oh that's perfect~ Let me introduce a girl friend (or girlfriend?) to you! Here's her phone #" and she told David, Jenny's little brother who was also working at the restaurant, to give me her phone #. When I got back to work, I had a name and a number and bored out of my mind, so I gave her a call and chatted. Chilled with her after work and throughout the weekend...also met her cools friends + more hookups, all the way from Portland to Vancouver...haha...
