San Francisco’s Pier 39, with the Bay Bridge in the background.
August, 2011.
I was reminded of this song (CD here
I wouldn’t say I’m a super emotional personal person. I’m not good with using words to describe how I feel or what I’m thinking–pictures and music often do a better job.
Again, Google continues to carry out its mission: to try to take over the world.
I’ve just downloaded the Picasa 3 beta. You can now make movies, take screenshots and webcam shots, add watermarks and print captions. It also comes with a new photo viewer that looks like this:
Hey, the easter egg still works! Anyone else trying out the beta?
Edited: Friday, August 22
When I got back, everyone kept asking why I didn’t stay for the Olympics. My answer was “it’s better watching it on TV.” But now that I’ve seen these pictures, I guess being at the opening ceremonies wouldn’t have been too bad.
More here or check out some weird Olympics photos.
Boy was the spirit of the Olympics ever-present at the Torch run protests today! Everyone showed strong team participation and competitiveness. Check it:
Team China:
Team Tibet:
Team Burma:
Team Darfur (represented by the green balloons):
Team Vietnamese Fisherman:
Team Friendlies (yes, that’s what the Mascots are called):
Team Lion Dancing:
Team Fudan (represented by the blue flag-i have to give a shoutout to the university where I was last summer):
and my favorite, Team Athletes:
Where did all these people come from? How did they start “cheering” on their respective teams? Where were they before all this? Are they JUST starting to protest now? I felt a little left out, like I should have been holding a sign or something.
Here’s my chat with Melissa after we left:
Me: I just bought sek lau jup (guava juice from a store in chinatown)
Melissa: I just bought a mocha
Me: guess that means I’m pro-China and you’re pro-America.
Can I just be pro-people?
Side notes: My pictures are pretty horrible here. For better pictures, see Scott Beale’s post and Rockbandit’s flickr set.
This was also the first event that I used Twitter. With the torch route so unpredictable, it was awesome to get real time info/updates from folks all around the city, especially @laughingsquid.
Update: By the way, read about what China is saying about the torch relay here and here.
The Olympic flame landed in SFO today around 3:40am. There have been so many protests already. Being Chinese American, I am proud of China’s rise in power and prominence, but at the same time, I am dismayed at all the controversy surrounding the Olympics. I don’t condone China’s civil rights record, but c’mon people, when you try to bum rush the torch bearer, you are doing exactly that which you are protesting against. I wonder what
I’m also proud that my city will be the only North American city to host the torch relay. The current published route (IF it’s not cancelled) has the Torch ceremony beginning at 1 P.M. tomorrow in McCovey Cove and finishing up at Justin Herman Plaza. (SFGate Map of Torch Route), but the route could change up to and even during the relay, said Mayor Gavin Newsom. Even with all the protests, China vows to continue the relay. I’m tempted to take a day off tomorrow, but I don’t want to fight the crowds. Anyone out there going?
Hangin’ out at J-Town after volunteering at the food bank. This one has the feel of an advertisement. So I’ve given up on being lazy and my pictures look sharper to me already. Check out the new updated versions of My Territory and Skimboarders.
My friend Craig had extra tickets to Barry Bonds’ last game with the Giants, so he invited me and my friend Nathan along. We had really good seats (row 10 on the 3rd base side). Even though I’m not a big fan Giants fan, it’s always fun to go to a ballgame and of course, take pictures! Nathan and I brought our cameras along, but the the people who sat in front of us had big posters that blocked our photography efforts.
In the middle of the 6th inning, I went to use the restroom, and asked if anyone wanted me to get anything. Craig asked for garlic fries, but he told me to get them only if the lines were short. There were a handful of people in line, so I went ahead and stood in line. All the while, bottom of the inning, Giants at bat, Bonds on deck. I was very tempted to leave the line, but I figured, it’s ok, I’ll just watch on the TV’s. Apparently, it was his last at bat. He was leaving because his big toe was hurting (poor baby…*said in the tone of Hanz & Franz*) Anyways, I guess the fans gave him a standing ovation. He came out, waved his hat around…yay. And poof. Just like that, he’s gone. No speech to thank his fans. Not even an interview with the press. Bonds and his attitude, all the way to the end.
Anyhoo, here’s why I’m posting this today. Craig IM’ed me this morning and sent a scan of the front page of the sports section in today’s San Jose Mercury News:
Click on the link to see what I’m talking about. You can see my friend Craig on the left with the hat and Nathan on the right with his camera, but WHERE AM I??? Yes, I was in line–missing. Totally missing. These things are only supposed to happen to someone like Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents.
Funny, I wasn’t that upset about missing Barry Bonds. I’m more upset about being missing from the newspaper. There goes my 15 millimeters of fame.
Above the clouds. This was taken on the way back to SH this week. Sadly, this was one of the last pictures taken with my point-and-shoot. I dropped it on Thursday on an outing. :(
I’m up typing this now because I can’t sleep. I think jet lag is settling in. I haven’t even stayed at home yet, because apparently there was a gas leak so they had to turn off the gas until Tuesday. Which means I have no hot water nor can I use the dryer. So I’ve been staying at other people’s houses. It stinks not to have a home to go back to. And I don’t have my car either! Oh well.
So I arrived back in SF on Friday evening because I had to bring one of the students back home. I’ll be flying back out to Shanghai on Tuesday morning. Crazy, eh?
But that’s not all. I was able to attend Dustin and Valene’s wedding after all. Yes, I have officially crashed a wedding now. I even wrote in my name on the table place card. After the wedding tonight, we were loading up my friend’s car in Oakland’s Chinatown and we had to transfer my stuff when a fight broke out at a party near our restaurant. Everyone came rushing out toward’s my friend’s car. Half of us got in the car, while the other half had to walk to their cars. We couldntt drive off right away because people were running in the street, but we managed to get to the end of the block and as we turned the corner, we heard gunshots. Welcome back to America…sheesh.
Well, I didn’t bust out my DSLR today, but here’s one of the pictures from the wedding. Congratulations to the two of them.
Tomorrow, I’ll be going to church and to Benny and Julia’s shower. This has got to be the perfect weekend to be back. What a blessing in disguise in the midst of all this traveling.
It’s been pretty hot here. Our new friends seem…well…pretty friendly. Looking forward to seeing more of the area. Will post up more pictures soon at Flickr.
Check out the celebration–the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China from Britain. Too bad I was only able to watch it on TV. Must have been madness out there.
Happy birthday to my dad too.
It hasn’t been that bad since I got here. I love those red eye flights where I sleep the whole way through. Sure makes the flights go faster. Too bad my light wouldn’t turn off, but the flight attendant was nice enough to put a plastic covering over the entire light panel.
I should have asked for those eye mask things. Then we can use them for games back home.
Anyways, will try to take some pictures and post them when I have time.
Anyone buy anything on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
My family watched a lot of football over Thanksgiving. Out of all the sports, I think football is the only one I don't mind watching, no matter what team is playing. Then I came across the weirdest high school football game.
Too bad we didn't have time for a Turkey Bowl this year at our church. We could have used the Jones Soda Holiday and Desser Pack 2006 for punishment. It includes Turkey and Gravy soda, Sweet Potato Soda, Dinner Roll Soda, Pea Soda, Antacid Flavored Soda and dessert flavors like Cherry Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie, Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie. My friend Stan would want some, if he doesn't have it already.
So at work, we've been trying to put together some promotional materials for our programs. We were looking for pictures that showed diversity. So my coworker sent me a picture of what he called "White people in China."
I can't believe it's almost December. JVC is coming out with some new dual-mode noise canceling headphones. Apparently, they have two different modes for filtering out ambient sound. The short of it is that there's a "wide" and "low" mode, with the former being better suited to getting rid of a larger range of frequencies (such as those found in an airplane). The "low" mode, however, is best suited for a narrower and lower frequency ranger, such as bouncing around in that city bus on your way to work. Should be good for my plane rides. They're going on my wish list.
Check out my geotagged pictures. Ok, there are only a few. At least I added some pictures from this summer. Nobody's really seen any yet.
The layout for this summer (2006) has highlighted my pictures, and my writing (or what there is of it) has taken a back seat here. I’m trying to figure a layout that can support both pictures and text. Too bad I don’t have much time for anything, but we’ll see.
There were a lot of bees at the retreat. So what do we do? Take pictures of course!
Here are some of us with our students at the Great Wall.
Here’s my teammate taking a picture of us on the wall.
I’m back here in HK again. The heat and humidity is a bit nostalgic. I’ve been able to email at the terminals in the library, but haven’t been able to upload pictures just yet. Will try using my teammate’s laptop once we get into CN. Apparently, we’re supposed to have internet access in our hotel rooms. Hotel? Yeah, I’ll be at a commuter campus with few dorms, so we have to stay at modest local hotel right off campus. Ok, these terminals are really helpful for carpo tunnel and plus I’m getting tired of standing here. Blessings y’all.
Mackenzie’s first time in the ocean. Taken at Stinson Beach on Memorial Day. This picture reminds me of those pictures in those clothing catalogs. Hmm, I gotta work on that overexposure.
My brother got me another stick of ram for pennies, er, just about. I’ve been complaining that my computer has been running slower and he said it’s from all the junk that I run. Hey now. Anyways, the deal master came through and here it is, next to the old RAM that’s covered with a soft layer of dust. And yes, I put it in myself. It’s not that hard, but I just don’t like working with hardware. Messes up your skin and nails. Hehe.
Hsin already gave me slack for taking pictures of my computer. What’s wrong with that? He takes pictures of engines and cars and I just take pictures of…whatever. I wonder how many ladies are out there who work with computers, whether it be hardware or software, web stuff, internet, or design. Seems like the percentage is quite low compared to men.
