We Believe! Warriors! 103-99

Emily, Vho, Owen and I went to Game 4 of Warriors playoff against Dallas last night. We arrived so early hoping to get the free t-shirt, but we only got a small towel. We were kinna mad at first, but our mood changed 180 degree as soon as the game began.
Emily and I both are not a big fan of basketball, but 4 of us cheered with thousands of people in the coliseum. We sat, we stood, we jumped, we sweated…the towel is pretty useful after all.
“Let’s go Warriors!” “Barkley Sucks!” “Air-ball!” “Defense!” “Yeah!” “Boom!” "MVP!"
Our hands were hurting from clapping and our voices were fading from yelling for three straight hours. We had so much fun watching the game. To me, not only the Warriors won, but also let all my frustration out from yelling and shouting like crazy. Perhaps, this is a good psychological therapy.

Hiking @ McDonald Park

Eight of us went hiking on Saturday. It was a very nice day, but super hot. After about 3000 turns, we finally arrived @ the park entrance. Our first visit is the restroom which was FULL of bugs…bugs…and HUGE bugs! Scary!
Christina – our leader…from the beginning to the end; Emily – our potential leader…trying hard to catch up to walked side by side with Christina; Patrick – his body scent left lots of space betw him & the people behind him, but he attracted the unwanted snakes and slugs; Owen – our navigator to go thru the woods yet left no instructions how he got to the other side; Vienne & James – feeling itch the whole time and tried to avoid the poison ivy because they wore shorts; Vincent – our other navigator for alternative route which possible maybe a dead-end.
It’s was fun, yet exhausted. We burned lots of calories from the hike and gained double from the tea time snack afterward.

MJ - 贏家

Under a great pressure, I had to give in. I played 4 rounds of MJ with Emily, Owen and Vho last night. 99% of our games fell into the 3, 4 "funn"catergory. Very peaceful! We took 2 and a half hour to finish...cuz Vho kept "numb john" in the very last game. We were so concentrated in our game and 大毛 once became ‘lie si moe’ again. Thanks for Emily’s support cuz she’s my 上家. I reached the biggest combination in MJ of my own record. I think it’s called ‘自摸清一色’…WOW! I won enough to buy a pineapple bun for breakfast after my rule of 除四.
Aiya…what’s up with me? Bragging about playing MJ…NOOOOOO…I think I got contaminated by the ‘MJ-holics’.

Snake King

Owen went to his Concord office this morning to pack this cube due to renovation. He finished early and just came by my office for lunch. We went to Stacy's cafe in downtown Pleasanton. I had a special risotto and he had a philly cheese steak sandwich. It's over 80 degree outside...so warm...with a nice breeze. It's so comfortable. I love the sun! We had a great time sneaking out from work this afternoon. Too bad we have to go back and continue to work... Life is wonderful!

"Dog House Crank Call" - 賤格

I heard this news from the radio in my car on the way to work this morning. This news made me so 奮怒 and very 激動. CBS radio has a show called “Dog House Crank Call”. This time they called a Chinese restaurant. The operators were trying to take order from them over phone, yet they were making some sexual jokes. The crank call lasted 6 minutes. The two DJs were sexually harassed and insulted the operators. 下流! The background is full of laughs during the call, and I am about to explode. How come the media never learns? Recently Don Imus got fired from CBS because he made racist comments against African American woman basketball players. The two DJs are now suspended by CBS. I tried to search this news online as soon as I got to the office, yet I cannot find anything from the search engine. Is it because the Chinese community did not unify and voice out our frustration like the African American community did? How come the two DJs are not fired? Is the media waiting to see if the community will give them a stronger pressure for them to take REAL ACTION? AHHHHHHHH!

My narrow mind?

Will you reject a friend because you share a different set of value? Since Friday, I found out something that my friend does which I totally can’t accept. This has bothered me since…I tried to tell myself it’s only a rumor, but more facts have proven. I can’t act like I don’t know anything. I am the kind of people who you can tell how I feel from what’s on my face. What he does have nothing to do with me, it is his personal choice in his private life. However, he lost all my respect for him, and it bothers me even more when he and some of my other friends think it is acceptable and has no shame of it. Is it the cultural conflict or is it different perspective between man and woman? Who knows? Maybe I am too narrow-minded. I really can’t be a true friend to him anymore, just because his value is way to far from what I can handle. I wish I had never known that side of him. I once treasured our friendship very much, perhaps higher expectation results bigger disappointment.

Virginia Tech

It’s been two days since the tragedy happened in Virginia Tech. The Korean student (Cho) shot 2 students first in the dorm, then he went back to his own dorm, reloaded his gun and wrote a death-letter…and he went to another hall with his fully loaded gun and chain to lock the doors in the building. He went in classroom after classroom, just non-stop shooting. 33 people confirmed dead and over 15 were injured. He killed himself afterward. No one knows his motive. But the media are trying to dig up everything about him.
I think I need to stop following all the upcoming news about the gunman and the victims. It is just too disturbing. Imagining the scene, innocent people were killed, blood all over the wall, the floor in the classroom. I don’t think I can handle it anymore.
We don’t understand why God will allow this kind of evil thing happened in the World, but God has a plan and everything happened for a reason. Let’s pray for the gunman’s family, the victims’ family and the survived people. God will do the job and ease their sorrow.

What a sweat!

I drove to work this morning, knowing the gas warning was flashing in my car. I was too lazy to pump, thinking it would be enough to wait until tomorrow. Got off from work…as soon as I got on 680, I realized the meter for gas was touching the “E”. Oh no. I called Owen to ask if he knew there’s any gas station on the way home on 680. Well…he’s so mean…he was useless on that matter and gave me a long LESSON. >:P
I turned off the radio and the air right away. I was sweating (literally)…thinking what if my car stopped in the middle of the freeway. I better remember all the sign so I can tell Owen to save me. I know my car has a function to tell how many miles left before pumping…but I never learned how to display after I owned it for 2 years. I was searching for a gas station sign…how come I only see mountain after mountain…still no gas station! I was praying to God, please don’t let me hung on the freeway…pls…pls. Finally…a gas station sign, but it has a “D” on it…does it mean “diesel?” Well…better not risk it…just kept going… hill after hill… finally it's my exit!
Woo…thanks to God…he gifted the Shell gas station to save me!

So hurtful!

Chinese in Milan, Italy has a riot against the local police. The incident began with local police issue ticket to Chinese business deliveryman for using handtruck to transit their products. Witnesses say they saw local police started hitting a woman who carries an infant first, that’s why they react violently against the police. Local police representative says the handtrucks are blocking the traffic, yet Chinese says all business were doing the same thing, but local police is discriminating Chinese. I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. But seeing the local police hitting Chinese and nailing them down on the ground; seeing Chinese were yelling they were discriminated…that really really hurts me so much… 好心酸, 同好心痛.
Couple weeks ago, a 17-year old boy in Hong Kong went to China with his parents during the Ching Ming Festival. He went to the local hospital because he had a bad headache. The doctor gave him a shot, and he went in vegetative stage after 2 days. The doctor told his parents that his brain cell has died, and now depending on 3 different systems to keep him alive. So sad! His dad commands a detail report from the Dr, but nothing has been given to him yet. He was so heart-broken and helpless. He claimed that it must be mal-practice by the doctor.
I’m so disappointed every time when I heard any bad news about China. The corruption, the poisoned food, the poorly trained medical system… Aiya! China...争氣 ar. I believe you can be one of the “super-power” countries one day. I wanna be proud of you and one day people will be in line to return to you and get your citizenship.

CALL THE POLICE!!!!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!

My dad woke me up by a phone call this morning. It must be very urgent for him to call me on both my home and my mobile at 8 am.
"How come you don't pick up the phone? Can you call the police for me right away?" - with a urgent tone of voice
"What happened?" - worried
"Someone went in my car and stole everything." - still very urgent
"When? Where?" - ??
"After I went to the gym last night, but I just found out this morning."
"How come you just find out now, did you car got damage? What did you lose?"
"Oh. I forgot to close the window and they opened the compartment in the car and took all the quarters. Maybe $2 total. They didn't open the trunk cuz the alarm didn't go off" - with a calm voice
Gosh! He scared the hell out of me. I thought something really bad happened. After the conversation with him, I just called the police station and reported the incident. The police won't even issue a police report because the car was not damage and less than $2 was stolen. However, the police says they will add more patrol drive-by for safety check. That's about it!
Thanks to God that nothing really bad happened, but it's a good alarm for all of us to be careful with our belongings.
OR the moral of the story is "DON'T GO TO GYM AT NIGHT!" haha...

Bill Organization - 2007

After going thru all the statements and receipts for tax purpose, my goal for 2007 is to keep all receipts attached to the credit card statement every month-end. I CAN DO IT!

Our Garden

Owen & I planted the tulips in our backyard last year. With our little care, unexpectedly, the tulips bloom again this year. So beautiful!

Hot Water is Back!

Our water heater stopped working after we came back from vacation. Owen researched the warranty and called many plumbers for quote. During this time, we have to go to mom's for shower. The price quotes are range from $95 to $350 for the repair. Damn those plumbers! The plumber finally came out this morning, all he did was replaced one small part and it took him less than 10 minutes. According to manufacturer, it worth only $8.00, but he charged $50 for the part. Sigh.... cannot do it ourselves cuz we don't want to mess with the gas line. The worst part is when we called the warranty again; they gave us a different procedure to claim cost of the part. First time, they said the plumber will claim the part from the warranty direct and will not charge you at time of repair. This morning, they said they will reimburse us with the actual part, not the money. This is just so stupid! I expect this will be a long process to fight for the refund. Well...my conclusion is "WARRANTY IS USELESS". But the bright side is now we have HOT WATER in our home.

Sure Win

I heard a story from Pastor Ma this morning in the Sunday whorship. There are 5 animals participated 5 different sport events: rabbit, horse, ant, duck and squirrel. The 5 sport events are short distance running, long distance running, weight lifting, swimming and tree climbing. Guess who wins in which sports? Pretty obvious, duck will win in swimming; rabbit will win in short distance running; horse will win in long distance running, squirrel will win in tree climbing; and ant will win in weight lifting because an ant will lift things up to 12 times more than its body weight. This story tells us everyone has their own talent and you will shine when you use yours. Hmmm...I wonder which events I can be a sure win. Once my high school teacher told me that I am like a lock box. All I need is to find the key...hmmm...where's that key now?