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OFFICIAL NOTICE: JOURNAL MOVE

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 20:30 EST

Due to Zorpia's consistently low performance on journal entries (entry not getting saved after I finish writing, random problems with my text, regular slowness, unacceptable downtimes, etc.), I have officially moved my journal. http://bigi.agum.com This journal will not be updated anymore from now on! Update your bookmarks! (I imported all my old Zorpia entries to the new place)

the last half year

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 03:50 EST

a great number of my friends are coming into the last half year of their college life... however, i know that some of you aren't very happy at the moment because of different issue... i want to say that, this period of time really should be cherished, it should be the best time in your life, not an unhappy one.. i want to try my best to make every one of you that i care for to feel happy.. i haven't wasted my last half year in college. i went travelling and played enough to make sure i won't regret it. i want you guys also to feel the same -- when you look back to your final year in school you'll think it really was the best time you've had. coming to think about it.... this includes winky and june too! even tho they are far in HK.. this is also their last half year in school. enjoy every minute of it! i won't be able to do much for you guys from here :D other than coming back to HK in May/June... for the rest of the time, be sure you guys enjoy it the most you can =)

super ski trip!

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:09 EST

body very sore from skiing... at least i learned how to ski now! <-- some pics uploaded. i didnt get all of them yet.

dual boot

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 12:53 EST

i think that trying to dual-boot Windows and Mac OS X on a new Intel mac is pretty pointless, and stupid. i don't know about you, but one of the biggest reasons i would want a mac is because of OS X. given that Powerbooks' design does rock, and so does the iMac's, it's still the operating system that you use a computer in. i'm also aware that Macs use top-of-the-line hardware to put together a computer. however, trying to boot Windows on it just doesn't make any sense. if i were to dual-boot, i'd try to work on dual-booting WinXP and Mac OS X on my PC instead. building a nice $500 PC with Core Duo processor and running Mac OS X on it sounds nice to me, i don't know about you. besides, when i'm actually using the computer, all i see is my monitor and my keyboard mouse anyway. if i had a cool enough monitor, it doesn't lose much by not looking like an iMac. =)

random programming topic

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 16:24 EST

if you ask somebody do they know a certain programming language (for example perl), if he says "i can read it but not write it" the translation is: "i have done some kind of programming before so i can most likely somewhat guess what a portion of code does, but no, i don't know the language you are asking about." because everybody knows it's easier to write code than read code, especially for a big program...

DS games

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:40 EST

I've decided not to buy Trauma Center and Castlevania DS for now. part of the reasons is that I'm not quite sure of those coupons work anymore (reading things on CAG and SD about maangers rejecting those.. they've been out since November!!), especially if I print it out black and white.. although, I have to admit getting those 2 games for $10 each ($30 -$10 coupon -$10 gift cards, which I have 2) are pretty damn nice deals. However the main reason is that given the available time I have to play games now, I think Animal Crossing and Mario Kart will take up plenty of that (honestly, either of those 2 alone can take up all of my gaming time available every week). So, no purchases for now. =) In other news, Kat also got the Target deal with Animal Crossing for $25.. can't wait till I finish the newbie quests so I can get out of my town!

one of those things

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 16:38 EST

saw this on someone else's journal, i dunno why i decided to do this one, it seems kinda fun. Appearance/ Self-Image [ ] I am shorter than 5'4. [x] I think I'm ugly sometimes. [x] I have many scars. [ ] I wish my hair was a different color. [x] I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color. <-- those who only saw me regularly during part of my jr and sr year in Davis [ ] I have a tattoo. [x] I am self-conscious about my appearance. [ ] I've had braces. [x] I wear glasses or contacts. [ ] I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free. [ ] I have more than 2 piercings. [ ] I have piercings in places besides my ears. [ ] I have freckles. Family/Home Life [ ] I've sworn at my parents. [ ] I've run away from home. [x] I've been kicked out of the house. [x] My biological parents are together. [ ] I have a sibling less than one year old. [x] I want to have kids Someday. [ ] I've had children. [ ] I've lost a child. School/Work [ ] I'm in school. [x] I have a job. [x] I've fallen asleep at work/school. [x] I almost always do my homework. [ ] I've missed a week or more of school. [x] I've been on the Honor Roll within the last 2 years. [ ] Failed more than 1 class last year. [ ] I've stolen something from my job. [ ] I've been fired. [x] I've skipped school. Embarrassment [ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a spoken conversation <-- close.. but no [ ] Disney movies still make me cry. [ ] I've peed from laughing. [x] I've snorted while laughing. [x] I've laughed so hard I've cried. [x] I've glued my hand to something. [x] I've laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose. [ ] I've had my pants rip in public [ ] I was born with a disease/impairment. <-- i never actually checked [x] I've gotten stitches [ ] I've broken a bone. [ ] I've had my tonsils removed. [ ] I've sat in a doctors office with a friend. [x] I had a serious surgery. [ ] I've had chicken pox. Traveling [x] I've driven over 200 miles in one day. [x] I've been on a plane. [ ] I've been to Canada. [ ] I've been to Mexico. [ ] I've been to Niagara Falls. [x] I've been to Japan. [ ] I've Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans. [ ] I've been to Europe [ ] I've been to Africa. Experiences [x] I've gotten lost in my city. (both Hong Kong and Davis) [x] I've seen a shooting star. [ ] I've wished on a shooting star. [x] I've seen a meteor shower. [x] I've gone out in public in my pajamas. [ ] I've pushed all the buttons on an elevator [x] I've been to a casino. [ ] I've been skydiving. [ ] I've played spin the bottle. [ ] I've drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour. [x] I've crashed a car [x] I've been Skiing <-- will, in a week.. [x] I've been in a play. [x] I've met someone in person from the internet <-- one and only one, you all know who it is [ ] I've caught a snowflake on my tongue [ ] I've seen the Northern Lights. [ ] I've sat on a roof top at night [ ] I've played chicken. <-- ? [x] I've played a prank on someone. [x] I've ridden in a taxi. [ ] I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show. [x] I've eaten Sushi. [ ] I've been snowboarding. Relationships [x] I'm single [ ] I'm in a relationship. [ ] I'm engaged. [ ] I'm married. [ ] I've gone on a blind date. [x] I miss someone right now. [ ] I have a fear of commitment. [ ] I have a fear of abandonment. [x] I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back. [x] I've told someone I loved them when I didn't. [x] I've told someone I didn't love them when I did. Sexuality [ ] I've had a crush on someone of the same sex. [ ] I've had a crush on a teacher. [ ] I am a cuddler. [ ] I love to flirt. [ ] I've been kissed in the rain. [ ] I've hugged a stranger. [ ] I have kissed a stranger. Honesty/Crime [ ] I am a terrible liar. [ ] I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't [x] I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't. [ ] I've snuck out of my house. [x] I have lied to my parents about where I am. [ ] I am keeping a secret from the world. [x] I've cheated while playing a game. [x] I've cheated on a test. [x] I've ran a red light. [ ] I've been suspended from school. [ ] I've witnessed a crime. [ ] I've been in a fist fight. [ ] I've been arrested. [ ] I've shoplifted. Drugs/Alcohol [x] I've consumed alcohol. [ ] I regularly drink. [x] I've passed out from drinking. [x] I have passed out drunk at least once in the past 6 months. [ ] I smoke [ ] I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them. [ ] I've smoked pot. [ ] I'm a stoner. [ ] I've snorted cocaine. [ ] I've eaten shrooms. [ ] I've popped E. [ ] I've inhaled Nitrous. [ ] I've done hard drugs. [ ] I have cough drops when I'm not sick. [ ] I can't swallow pills. [ ] I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem Depression and Self-harm [ ] I have been diagnosed with clinical depression. [ ] I shut others out when I'm depressed. [ ] I take anti-depressants [ ] I'm anorexic or bulimic. [ ] I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it. [x] I've hurt myself on purpose. [ ] I'm addicted to self harm. [ ] I've woken up crying. [x] I've cried myself to sleep. [ ] I see or have seen a therapist. Death and Suicide [ ] I'm afraid of dying. [ ] I hate funerals. [ ] I've seen someone dying. [ ] Someone close to me has attempted suicide. [ ] Someone close to me has committed suicide. [ ] I've planned my own suicide [ ] I've written a eulogy for myself. Materialism [ ] I own over 5 rap CDs. [x] I own an iPod or MP3 player. [ ] I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga. [ ] I own something from Hot Topic. [ ] I own something from Pac Sun. [ ] I collect comic books. <--- not anymore since high school.. [ ] I own something from The Gap. [x] I own something I got on e-bay. [ ] I own something from Abercrombie. Political/Social Attitudes [ ] In general, I don't like people. [x] I'm very outgoing [ ] I listen to political music. [ ] I'm religious. <--- officially, no.. I don't have any practices. but I do believe in Buddhism [ ] I dress fairly modestly. [ ] My attitude is, "If you've got it, flaunt it." Random [x] I can sing well. [ ] I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant. [x] I open up to others easily. [ ] I watch the news. [ ] I don't kill bugs. [ ] I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme [x] I curse regularly. [x] I sing in the shower [ ] I am a morning person [ ] I paid for my cell phone ring tone. [ ] I'm a snob about grammar. [ ] I am a sports fanatic. [ ] I twirl my hair [ ] I have "x"s in my screen name. [x] I like being neat [ ] I love Spam [ ] I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day. [ ] I bake well [ ] My favorite color is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue [ ] I would wear pajamas to school. [ ] I know how to shoot a gun. [ ] I am in love with love. [ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS. [x] I laugh at my own jokes. [x] I eat fast food weekly. [x] I believe in ghosts. [ ] I am online 24/7, even as an away message. [x] I've not turned anything in and still got an A in a certain class. [ ] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room. <-- if it was far away at the time I turn off the lights, I'm fine.. [x] I am really ticklish. [ ] I love white chocolate. [x] I play video games. [ ] I'm good at remembering faces. [x] I'm good at remembering names [ ] I'm good at remembering dates. [x] I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. [x] My answers are totally honest

miss

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 04:05 EST

suddenly, I've been missing my NY trip a lot. also, I've been missing my Vegas trip a while ago too. =/... in other news, I want an Intel iMac.... not a MacBook Pro (since I already have a Powerbook, after all...). but, I should wait...

this weekend

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:20 EST

this weekend has been what jerry would call a "stabilizing" week. getting general matters settle down... i had in mind a lot of activities planned for this weekend. however, i ended up staying home all weekend being a nerd. which i think is fine, i like my accomplishment this weekend. i fixed my brother's computer and ridded it of viruses and tough spywares (that involved using hijack this and manually removing files/services... took a while). and then i fully-updated his computer with the latest windows update, spybot updates, firefox updates, etc. (except i can't get SP1 or SP2 due to non-genuine windows) but that should still be a lot better than before since it hasn't been updated for literally a few years and there must've been 50 security fixes that i downloaded. while i was working on it i figured i might as well take care of the other stuff in terms of computers situation at home. i called in comcast to cancel that additional IP service (which hasn't been working for a couple of weeks already anyway), went out and bought a router. a wireless one of course, and while i was at it, i made sure to get one compatible with the DS. so i re-setup my home network basically. now every computer at my home can get online at the same time (instead of being limited to just 2) -- so my bro's, my home pc, my intel laptop, my powerbook, and even my DS can all be online at the same time via comcast. so since i'm "reviving" my powerbook, i thought maybe i should just use it as my home pc replacement from now on since it can finally get online (comcast incompatibility with mac os x -- couldn't get online with it before). i thought i'm probably going to be using it actively from now, so i finally turned on the powerbook to use semi-extensively for the first time in a year or so, and figured i should probably update the softwares on it. new OS X version, new safari, new adium. new everything pretty much... it's so new now, i feel clean. took a few hours to download all of that. so that's how i spent my weekend. -- i know i must've talked about this a million times. but i always can't seem to get that feeling away. on saturday i woke up to a normal davis weekend. i can't help but think about again the times in the past few months. i missed waking up on a saturday in davis, MSN-ing June and Winky, and getting ready to go to lunch with them in a simple place in downtown Davis. i don't know why -- as i was walking out to my car in the parking lot (getting ready to drive back to bay area), i felt like going to Fuji in downtown with Winky and June. then i realized they are not in Davis anymore. =( on sunday when i was getting back to Davis i had a similar feeling again. "Why am i driving back to Davis alone?" i couldn't help but wonder. 其實在連我自己都不知不覺間﹐她們都經已融入了我的生活了現在反而要去習慣她們不在我身邊的生活...

old time buddy

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 01:27 EST

today was the 3rd busy work day in a row. this week has been pretty crazy as far as work goes. however, apparently i'm not a particularly busy person in terms of intel standards. i'm afraid i'm only really catching up to what the rest of the people always do. well, nobody said work was supposed to be really easy.. on a side note. brian was looking at the pictures i posted on zorpia one day and said to me, "you are a really lucky person. not everyone can have a chance to have such good friends." i think that he is right too. i've always been pretty lucky in my life in all aspects (except that one). the world is fair - so i don't complain even when i could never find someone suitable for my other half. i really do cherish my good luck. meeting the exchanges was a good luck of mine that i won't trade for anything. and of course brian, eric & denise as well -- walking through all my happy times, sad times with me and staying close to me for all of my college years. speaking of old friends and making a difference in my college life, the two people that made the biggest difference to me and changed me the most throughout the four years, kevin and sharon, i have not talked to or seen neither of them for a while. now that we have all graduated and went our own separate paths, how often are we going to have a chance for a "reunion" in the future? every few years? whenever this thought hits me, it makes me kind of sad..

Good day

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:11 EST

I am at home now as I type this, at 6:00pm exactly. Today turned out to be one of the best work days I've had. well, in summary, I got up at 6:30AM, headed off to work at 7:00AM, got to work at 7:40AM, bought breakfast to my cube and started working at 7:50AM, and from then on it's work, meeting, work until 3:30PM. Right by 3:30PM I finished the stuff I should complete for the day (I hope...) and took off. I think that's about right because that's about an 8-hr work day and considering I did not even take lunch break, that should equate a regular 8:00-5:00 work day for others. I had a headache by 2 or so because of too much stress. No one was crazy enough to go eat with me at 3:30, so I decided to go to 為食街 in Sac downtown to have a lunch/afternoon tea/dinner thing myself. I found out that 為食街 is a really happy place to be at in the afternoon times. They decorate the place so nicely (with colorful curtains and all) and the afternoon tea specials are $2 each, cold drinks are $1 each. Having a cold lemon tea, wonton noodles, fried chicken wings with fries for $5 was about the highlight of the day. (the place was so nice I paid $6.5 for a 20%+ tips) Sitting there alone to enjoy my meal made me think of the happy days in HK when I was kid; makes me remember times when my mom mixed the lemons in the lemon tea for me when I was a kid, and blew cool the wonton noodles for me before I eat. To be honest, work day today was really, really tough. Waking up was a problem itself. I had never worked so hard on a single work day. I literally had zero break time -- not even lunch. All the allocation/fusing issues and requests from other groups were stressful enough, and I had to do my presentation of my new project proposal in the meeting today, which was the first of its kind that I've done. At the end I would say everything went really well, even though it was tough. But none of this mattered that much because, labor is labor. Winky and Emerald (whose first message was a big "thanks".. for the CDs I sent =) ) started my day putting a smile on me, and afternoon tea at 為食街 wrapped up my day with a sweet dip. I came home and took a relaxing shower, and my headache has been pretty much gone since then. Now I'm about to take a good nap and then perhaps do some grocery shopping afterward?

Up side

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 12:36 EST

Had to come in to work at 8:00am today (I came in at 7:45am and even got breakfast) to work on emergency matters. (and that means getting up at 6:30 and heading out at 7:00) The only good thing about coming in at 8 this morning is being able to see Winky on MSN to talk to (right before she goes to bed; HK time) and Emerald on MSN to talk to (right before she gets off work; Belgium time). =) Makes the day seem much less hellish than it otherwise would be... 我住近波士頓你住太古城你在課室用功我還未甦醒當我下午想溜冰其實你卻在細數繁星要是你懂幻想我是你的羊閉著眼睛望到我仍是這樣當你夜裡不能睡期望我或能令你宿醉我學會整蛋糕你沒法品嘗你若賽跑獲獎我無力叫嚷只要共你心靈通能瞌眼便浮現你長相曾共你經過聽筒講到落淚可惜是有聲沒有畫就算空郵影片怕中途偏差未夠睡前幻想感覺昇華

Mismatch

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 00:28 EST

I think the job of Product Development Engineer and me is a wrong match. It has nothing to do with the technical side of it. I'm neither incapable of doing this nor lack knowledge/talent for it. In fact this is not really even such a tough job; a lower tier engineer than I am probably would still have no problem handling it (and better too; if it is a matching person). It is the style of working. Maybe this is because I'm a programmer and expect to work like a programmer. You can give me a big software project, and I don't care if I had to make all the decisions on it and plan it out, or if I am just going to take orders from a superior and be a code monkey. You give me a deadline and what I'm supposed to get done, I'm going to get it done for you, it's no problem. This is my work style, because in this way I get to plan ahead, I work hard at it whenever I need to finish what I am given and what I'm supposed to complete. I don't care if the deadline is harsh, because I know my ability well; I can plan around it and get it done; besides harsh deadlines to others usually aren't that harsh to me really, knowing my technical ability. The most important point is that I need to be able to plan ahead. A personal life is important to me, in fact, more important than my career is. This means, when I planned ahead for a good family dinner on a weekend, I don't want my boss calling me and telling me to get my ass to work on a Saturday night because new fucking units are arriving in the labs. I have too much of a personal life for a job position like this. I am not going to base my life around my job. Family and friends are MORE important to me in my priority list. I am fine with it if I knew I had a deadline on Monday and expect to work a lot over the weekend to get my stuff done, and my family would know of my plan. What I don't want is after telling my family on Wednesday that I'm going to be home for family dinner for the weekend and have them prepare everything, then I find out on Friday that some goddamn units are arriving on fucking Saturday and I need to be on-call. I'm sure someone is fitting for such job. I mean, goddammit, the whole fucking Folsom Development Lab is full of such people. The most important thing in their life (other than money) is probably the work they do. They may have a family, they probably don't care about them enough that it makes no difference to them if they aren't seeing/talking to their family in months. This job is supposed to match such people. This is a harsh thing to say, but this job is supposed to match people with no lives, ready to devote their life to what they do, don't need personal spaces, on-call 24/7 simply because they don't have anything better to do anyway. And as we all know, we have full of such people among engineers. In fact among engineers, if you AREN'T one of such people, you'd be a minority. Unfortunately, I am part of this minority. I don't want to say I am not fitting for being an engineer. Because I know damn well I am much capable for this. In fact, my job right now doesn't even require me to think as hard as I'd like to. The problem is that the work style and my life style don't match. This won't last for long. Just another half a year more, ok?

happy days =)

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:43 EST

stole some of the pics from June's xanga... Evera's party =) Happy times.. miss you guys, Jacky, Winky, June. others: will see you all again some time soon.. So at the end right before they left, Eric started to join our group too.. too bad we only hanged out 2 times before they left Delivering self-boiled chicken soup for June and Jacky @ 24 on their finals week.. "Studying" in the library cages on finals week... Mini golf!!! Santa Cruze Boardwalk =) a lot more has happened this past half year, but I haven't even collected all the pics myself yet...

Bye bye!!!!!

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:02 EST

Winky, 阿June, 返到香港繼續努力, 畢業找份靚工, 大佬一定會返黎... Meanwhile, I will miss you guys. 五月就返黎探你地; 未來幾年就會返黎香港做野﹗﹗