"Begin each day as if it were on purpose." Back. Again. Thanks to Kevin, Michael and Martin (with no particular order). You guys are friends that leave footprints in my heart. I enjoyed every bit of our last seven days spent together. Great and grand times. Kevin, hope that you enjoyed your birthday with us.
Well, it seems that I've fallen back to reality. My summer job will start next tuesday. All those things I've dreamed of doing in summer - will I some of them, if not all?
I've decided to put a Word of the Day column here. Actually, let's call it WordDaily. I don't know how long it will stay, given my capricious nature. Having that said, today's word is.. Capricious (adj) - changeable, fickle, unpredictable.
By the way, June ended in kaleidoscopic colors, just as I surmised.
June 22, 2005 Retreat
Leaving tmr for Japan, just a small retreat for 7 days. Hope that I'll take the rain away and return with plenty of sunshine. Bye~
June 20, 2005 "Nobody trains for second."
Didn't do much today. I really shouldn't spend my time in hk like this.. On thursday, I'll travel for 7 days; and when I come back, june will end. Then, july will end. And so will august. Why does time go so quickly?!
^@#(&$!. Frustration.
June 19, 2005 Happy Father's day.
Went our early for a bit of hiking with dad this morning. Throughout the journey, we eavesdropped and heard from many that father's day is often overlooked and shadowed by mother's day. Isn't it true? People seem to do so much more for their mums. You know, when I have a child some day, this will not be allowed.
Well anyway.. I actually got myself something today. To me, it's really a big thing. What is it? For those who know me well, let me give you a hint: it's something I never wear. You should slap yourself if you don't get it.
June 18, 2005
Went to TST again in the afternoon today. Had lunch, window-shopped a bit, and then had two dinners. Why? Well, we first walked into a new vietnamese cuisine place which stealthily stated that it occupies the entire floor. Yes, it does occupy the entire floor, but the floor was like 1000 sqaure feet. Maintaining our poised composure as usual, we decided to give it a try, and ordered a few dishes. Ironically, the food turned out to be quite bad. Therefore, we left and had our second dinner of the night somewhere else.
Met someone quite unexpectedly today. What a small world..
June 17, 2005
It is yet another rainy day. When will the sun come? I just hope that this summer won't be remembered as a rainy one.
Went out for dinner with the jpn-tour ppl and Thomas at Red Ants. Well, I would give it a 'sad face', since the food is similar to those so-called 'tea restaurants', if you know what I mean. We had a bit of shopping afterwards. Oh btw, is it true that hk ppl invariably stick to long pants even in the hot, sweaty summer? I believe so..
June 16, 2005
Stayed at home today and unpacked all my stuff, and tried to organize my desk. Well, I found out that to organize stuff you need to get things to organize them. Then, you'll have even more stuff, just a bit more organized. So..
I guess it's just an excuse of being slovenly. It shall be done.
June 15, 2005
It basically rained all day long. When I left US I was hoping that I would somehow bring the hot weather back. Well, I'm back, but where's the blistering sun and 3x-temperatures? I just can't stand any of these rainy days.. They seem to be time for people to show off their trendy umbrellas, or an opportunity to boast their distinctive taste of matching colors (say, black), or a combat in wreckless assaults of others' umbrellas.
Well anyway, we finally paid the remaining fees for our trip to japan. Yes, in case you don't know, I'm going to japan next thurs for 7 days. It has to, should, ought to, and will be an amazing trip.
June 14, 2005 Back
Well, I'm back. The flights were fine, although there were glitches when I arrived at hk - the red rainstorm warning was hoisted, and luggages were delayed for almost an hr. Anyway, another summer has started, and let's get it going.
June 12, 2005 @ Harrison's - Last Day Last day
Visited Cornell in the morning, and went to Watkins Glen in the afternoon. Since the weather got worse, we headed back home after half-an-hr of walking. Somehow the weather recovered and we played gold under muggy conditions. Dinner, my last dinner here, was great at usual. I will miss all the fine dinings here.. Anyway, we watched My big fat greek wedding after dinner. It was a humorous movie.
June 11, 2005 @ Harrison's - Air Show Air show
Had breakfast at 7.30 so that we can go to the grocery store early. At 10, we drove to Rochester airport for the air show. It was darn hot - 100 degrees F (equivalent to 37 degrees C). Having brought no seats, we walked around and explored the display aircrafts. We then found a shady spot below one of the aircraft's wings, where everyone crowded underneath it. Real air shows were on every half hr. Lunch was some boiled meat sandwich, which was fine. After lunch we waited almost 3 hrs to see the famous thunderbirds show. Our patience was rewarded.. The thunderbirds went zooming through the air, creating many sonic booms since they were traveling faster than speed of sound. Anyway it was yet another fun day.
At night, we watched the Victor mini parade and had grilled burgers for dinner. Watched Ferris Builler and now here I am. Time has indeed passed extraordinarily quickly this week.
June 10, 2005 @ Harrison's - Eventful Eastman House/Stever's candies/R.I.T./U. of R./Soccer game
Well, since I can't think of a title for today, let me just name it the eventful day. In the morning, we visited George Eastman's House (founder of Eastman Kodak company). Yes, its full name is Eastman Kodak Company, but nowadays very few know it and simply abbreviate it to Kodak. Anyway, after that, we went to Stever's Candies for chocolate. I got some milk chocolate macadamia and a chocolate dipped strawberry. They were tasty. We then had mexican food for lunch, and visited RIT and U of R.
Well, after a quick dinner (it was spaghetti with meatballs btw), we went to the soccer game - Rochester Raging Rhinos vs Toronto Lynx. It was an intense match but ultimately the rhinos won by 1-0. There was also a mini fireworks show after the game. Nothing fancy, but nice nonetheless. That's about it for today.
June 9, 2005 @ Harrison's - Niagara Falls Niagara Falls
Visited the famous Niagara Falls today. Since its located on the border between the US and Canada, we also passed the customs to the canadian side. Which view's better? I'd say the canadian one - you get to see the whole view of the falls. We stayed there for more than 6 hrs, during which we walked, chatted, picnic-ed etc. Then we came back and had bbq dinner at 'village pig', where I ordered a sampler platter and had to pack most of the leftovers home..
Well, it was a fun day. Can't believe that last week at this moment I was still studying for french exam. Hmm..
Btw Ocean's 11 is definitely better than 12.
June 8, 2005 @ Harrison's - "Lax" Day Lumber jack/cut lawn/bonfire/hardware/papa jack
Woke up earlier today to do some lumber-jacking before the weather got too hot. Well, we chain-sawed three trees down and chopped them into pieces of wood to burn. So that was pretty successful.. Another successful thing was that I got the lawn cut nicely. Anyway, after a bonfire hotdog lunch, we went to Melissa (their daugther)'s house to fix some hardware stuff. We then had ice cream at 'papa jacks'. That's about it. Oh yea, we just watched Chocolat now. It was a great movie (especially for those who actually read the book).
June 7, 2005 @ Harrison's - Diamonds Smacking for Diamonds
After an easy breakfast at 9, Harrison and I went to Herkimer to dig diamonds. It turned out that the title 'smacking diamonds' fit better. We were given hammers to smack rocks that seem promising, meaning that they have small diamond-like crystals. Well, we got some small ones and luckily, I found a really big one and brought it back to refine/polish it.
It's said that there'll be thunderstorms tonight. But hopefully, it won't, so that I can do some lumber-jacking. We'll see.
June 6, 2005 @ Harrison's - Arrival It's all about driving
So, after saying farewells to my hk friends at 9:30, I packed my things and waited for Harrison (my american parent) to pick me up. He arrived around 11. We drove to their house at Victor, and since it's almost a 6-hr drive, we stopped half-way at mcdonald's for lunch.
When we arrived, we moved my granite-weighted luggage downstairs to my room. We then figured out plans for the next 6 days. It'll be fun. After a quick pizza dinner, Harrison drove his 1930's car around the town. It was great..especially its authentic horn sound.
June 5, 2005 10 Dino Power
Mooney's version
Taft sent 10 teams to the 14th annual Boston University Engineering Design Challenge today. In this year's contest, teams built vehicles to a climb an 8 ft ramp angled at 25 degrees while an opponent did the same on another ramp. The two ramps shared a common 1 ft "peak" area where a small "flag" on the right edge of each track had to be knocked over. Points were awarded for 1) climbing the hill, 2) knock down you flag, 3) being closest to top center line after 15 sec. After 4 preliminary rounds the top 16 teams from the 90 or so total were determined. Taft got 4 teams into the finals. They were:
Steven Chiu andn John Chiu
Khoa Do Ba and Marina Tokoro
Wilson Yu and Eugene Young
Daniel Kim and Josh Kim (Josh was away with Habitiat for Humanity)
Unforutnately, a bad luck of the draw had the 4 Taft teams facing each other in the 1st round. Khoa/Marina and (Chiu)^2 were eliminated by their fellow Tafties Yu/Young and Daniel Kim. These two progresed though the next rround but Yu/Young faltered in the semi finals, but in the runoff for 3rd place, Yu/Young won. Meanwhile D Kim's technique of going airborne at the peak and blocking the path of the slower competitiors on their side of the ramp had many in the audience oooing and awwwing. However, this reckless hurling of his car into his competitiors caused his flag apparatus to break. Still, speed could win out if he could keep his competitor from reaching the top. In the finals, all the competitors and judges crowded around the track. The two raced to the top in nearly equal times. A violent collision left two cars on top of each other. As the judges unraveled the points, a tie was declared. The race had to be run again! This time an equally violent collision occured, but Daniel's competitor was able to crawl slightly on top of his car and get about an inch closer to the top. A tough loss but still, not bad. We all had a great day. Many thanks to Jim Lehner for volunteering to drive one of the vehicles and helping throughout the day.
My version
Almost the whole day was spent for BU, and it was worth it. Wilson and I, after four rounds (3 1 3 2), got into the semifinals (top 16 out of 8x). Then in the elimination rounds, we subdued Marina/Khoa and other components, and got into the final four. Unfortunately, our car then stumbled on a narrow track and missed our chance to the finals. Well, we then won our third place runoff, and got a big trophy. Is it really because of Dino?
Leaving Taft tmr. Oh well, time certainly flies.
June 4, 2005 11
Took Sat II math today. It was quite hard actually.. Only managed to do 4x/50 questions. Well, never underestimate your foe; and this time I did. Sigh..
In the afternoon, we finalized our car for bu tmr, then ordered out. Now playing with steven's psp. Might get a few hrs of sleep before leaving early later.
Meanwhile, there are 11 more days until I return to HK.
June 3, 2005 Nocturne No. 2 In E Flat Major - Chopin
Exam Schedule Mon: Math Tue: Physics Wed: English (Portfolio) Thu: History Fri: French
Finally done with exams. How was french? It was honestly, hard. I basically used two hours to finish a supposedly 90-minute exam. Anyhow, I have tried my best. So..
On another event, I didn't try my best. Adrienne left today and I blankly watched her leave.. Do you know how much my heart yearns just to talk to you?
還要白白地錯過多少機會?
也許, 真是名利易得, 真愛難求.
June 2, 2005 1
Exam Schedule Mon: Math Tue: Physics Wed: English (Portfolio) Thu: History Fri: French
History was actually quite easy. Four of the key terms directly related to social issues, which was what I prepared for. As for the primary sources, it was quite apparent as to which ones relate to foreign policy. So..
French tmr. It would be the hardest exam for me I guess. Who knows..we'll see.
P.S. Tired of the bg music? Don't worry, I'll change it when exams end tmr.June 1, 2005 2
Exam Schedule Mon: Math Tue: Physics Wed: English (Portfolio) Thu: History Fri: French
Handed in portfolio today. History tmr.
On a brighter note, I surmise that june will be a colorful month.
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