Yay for another tournament! I personally had not done so well in my first tournament (Smashapalooza) last week, so I was excited to hear that there would be another tournament at Santa Teresa in September.
I will play C and D mixed doubles with Trevor. Haha, haven't played with him in forever, ever since our SJCC days. I hope I don't suck, or at least don't get him mad. In junior year or something, Alex would always get super pissed off at me for messing up in games. There was one memorable time (i posted this on xanga...) he stalked off the court after one of our games, and I refused to talk to him even though he went to my house and tried to apologize. Haha, good times. But yeah.
One time the mixed girls and I were talking, and we were complaining about cocky, chauvinistic male partners who would blame us for messing up a game. Like we were the ones to blame for their shots going out or into the net! Stupid suckers. But yeah, anyway. Didn't mean to go off onto a tangent. I don't think Trevor will get pissed off at me like that, but I'd understand if he did if I'm totally off the mark and hitting out for every shot. Especially in a tournament game. It'll be fun practicing with him for the tourney! Like old times.
Anyway, I want to play girls doubles too, but I can't find a partner. Diane will be in Berkeley and I think Meiyi will be in LA. I don't know about playing with anyone from Piedmont because I've just been playing with guys there whenever there's open gym. Hopefully I'll find a partner soon... the girls doubles entries are capped at 16!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I detest Chinatown.
Before anyone accuses me of going against my roots, I would like to explain.
Perhaps "detest" is too strong of a word... but it would be equally apt to say that I'm extremely averse to Chinatown.
Perhaps I just had a bad experience in Chinatown today...but it seems that most of my experiences have not been on the positive side. I'm usually happy and relieved whenever my family and I depart Chinatown. Perhaps it's because I'm ABC (American-born Chinese), but whatever it is, this is why I can't stand SF Chinatown:
1) The smell and sanitary conditions.
What more can I say? Anyone who has ever been in Chinatown would know what I'm talking about. It's this pervasive, sewer-drain, rotting-meat-in-the-sun, bad-breath odor. Plus, the streets are so dirty. People hack up their spit all over, and there are all sorts of bits of trash strewn about. Years back, I tried to sit on the sidewalk because I was so tired from walking and standing for hours, but my dad told me not to because of all the germs and nastiness and spit and snot and stuff. Yeah.
2) The crowds.
Chinatown is crowded, crowded, crowded. There are people shoving, people cutting in front of others, people showing blatant disregard for traffic regulations, people jostling through crowds... Okay, personally, I hate crowds. Chinatown probably has some of the most crowded streets at optimum traffic time than most.
3) The noise.
Traffic is so bad that people are always honking at each other. And, whatever happened to the guy who kept yelling HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY? He was a little annoying, but funny. Plus he made a good landmark whenever I couldn't tell where I was. Haha. Well, he's gone now, but the noise level is still pretty high... Then there're the portly shop ladies/men who rearrange vegetables and simultaneously scream (at the top of their well-developed lungs) their low, low prices. This is kind of funny watching them, but the main things I really can't stand about Chinatown are:
4) The rude people.
I find that most Asian establishments are like this (99 Ranch, I'm looking at you): lacking in customer service and leaning more toward low prices. Understandable when the price of produce is 1/4 of Safeway's, I guess. It just sucks when I greet and thank the cashier, and she doesn't even look at me--just keeps glaring with a slightly harassed expression on her face. I asked my dad, and he said that's because of the bad working conditions. Understandable as well, I suppose... it's just that this world would be so much nicer with some courtesy. I mean, I can sort of relate to them. When I worked at 99 Ranch, my boss would yell at me for no apparent reason. Little story: When I was training at the register, I had my sheaf of produce+meat codes with me so I could commit them to memory. However, my boss sent someone over to tell me that if I didn't put away my study packet, my boss would immediately stop training me and fire me. Humiliating and degrading. She could have come over quietly and asked me not to use the packet to help me study... but instead she pointed out my supposed wrongdoing to a co-worker and made her warn me. Not logical; if I didn't have the packet, I couldn't check whether or not I was making a mistake with the codes.
Another story: My boss was testing me on the code for a certain type of cucumber. There were three types to memorize and I memorized them by their distinctive sizes. I still remember them: 5051, 5052, and 5053. Anyway, she holds up a bag of cucumbers and I punch in 5051. She says, in her harsh clipped way, "No! Is 5053." I am very sure that the type of cucumber is 5051, and I try to respond modestly (she is my boss, after all): "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure those are 5051." My boss turns to the assistant manager and they both laugh at me. "Who's been here longer than you have? Who manages the front?" they mock. Anyway, after degrading me for a bit longer, they take a closer look and realize that I was right. No apology, nothing.
Asian people are hard, hard bosses; this can lead to some pretty deplorable working conditions. When I started as a freshly trained employee, I tried to kickstart some feelings of courtesy into the Asian cashier reputation. I had noticed that my fellow cashiers, unlike say Safeway's cashiers, barely greeted the customers. Customer service can go a long way into brightening someone's day, at least a little bit, by greeting them and chatting them up a bit. I actually made a few customer friends at 99 Ranch. Weird but true. There was one 20-ish guy who came with his parents, and the parents would try to matchmake us. So awkward, but it certainly broke the monotony of listless customers who expect zero interaction with the Asian cashiers.
Ugh, another story just popped into my head. So one day, after I got a bit further into my training, I was working the register with one of the older ladies. She was a meeeeaaaan one. If you go to 99 Ranch, she's the one with a perpetual scowl on her face, long hair tied with a scrunchy at the nape of her neck, and curly-ish bangs. Anyway, I don't exactly remember the details, but I made a pretty minor mistake (I think it involved bagging, or receipts... don't remember exactly). She smacked me on the shoulder and told me I was a stupid, stupid girl, then turned away disgustedly. I was soooo pissed off after that, I glared at the customers the rest of the day. So I guess I can't really blame the shop employees in Chinatown for horrible customer service... if I had been treated better, I would give better customer service. Not all the cashier ladies are horrible, though; my favorite was a nice older lady named Angela and she still works there. She has short cropped hair, wrinkles, smiling crinkly eyes, and solemn lips that have a trace of a smile around them. She was playful and always nice to me even when I messed up, and if I had a hard day of training, she'd still have a knowing smile and a laugh for me at the end of the day. Sounds so cheesy but it's true. I was just at 99 Ranch last week at Ivy's line, and Angela noticed me and smacked my butt in recognition. Haha. The customers weren't so friendly to us in return, so maybe that was a factor in our lack of customer service... which brings me to another point.
5) The rude customers.
Anyway, Diane and my dad were standing outside a shop today, waiting for my mom to emerge. I go in to hand my mom her jacket and carry groceries for her. The shop is just STUFFED to the corners with people. As I follow my mom out, I'm stopped by a wall of people. I gingerly ease my way through them the best I can, trying hard not to shove into anyone. Well apparently I failed. As I'm going through the crowd, I feel someone leaning on me for a protracted period of time. I turn around to see a middle-aged woman staggering backwards. She turns around and, glaring, starts yelling about people violently shoving her and knocking her over. Then I realize she's glaring at me! I run over the past few seconds in my mind: I hadn't particularly shoved anyone, unless you count brushing by them in an attempt to get through. Then I think: what about my bag? I had sideswiped people before, unknowingly, because of a big bag I'd wear over my shoulder. I check myself: my bag is on my left shoulder and not my right. The woman and her friend are on my right. So had I really just shoved her? I gaze in confusion at them. Maybe I just hadn't noticed, so I stammer an apology. The woman is still loudly and indignantly explaining to her friend about how I had shoved her and made her lose her balance. I decide, thanks to my broken Chinese, that it's not worth standing there and trying to make her understand that I didn't knock into her intentionally, so I shake my head and leave.
Incidentally, that's also why I dislike Chinatown, though it's more my fault:
6) The language issues.
So Diane and I went to a cafe place for cheap milk tea. I asked Diane to make the order for me since she can speak clearer Chinese than I can. She refused, so I decided, Hey. I can speak Chinese too. I know the words. This is what happened: Confident, I stride over to the counter and ask for pearl milk tea. The employee repeats my order. I nod happily and add, "No ice please." Well, apparently we had some communication issues. I had phrased my latter request like this: "Mo bing." Instead of "No ice," she heard "Red bean dessert" ("Hong bing"). So, she gives me two drinks: pearl milk tea and the red bean ice thingie. Diane and I look at them in confusion, and she sets out trying to explain that I just wanted the pearl milk tea. The employees look at each other in confusion, and we resort to crude sign language. Finally, the disgruntled employee whisks away the red bean ice, slams it on the inside counter opposite of the cash register, and barks out the price for just the milk tea. After I pay and thank her, she turns away in a huff. Diane reprimands me for not having spoken clearly enough -- I should have said "I don't want ice" instead of "No ice."
Admittedly this is partly my fault for my crude Chinese, but I couldn't help comparing this milk tea experience to one I would have had at a Quickly in San Jose. All right, so I've never had to correct a miscommunicated order at Quickly... but I have had good enough customer service from that place to state this, with assurance: That mistake would have been rectified quickly and respectfully, with a smile and a "No problem." Then again, I have to give those employees the benefit of the doubt; it was nearing the end of the workday and I don't know if they were working in deplorable conditions or not.
All in all, the only appealing factors about Chinatown are its cheap prices and sentimental connections. But then again... I would rather spend the extra money on having an enjoyable shopping experience in (clean, friendly) Safeway or elsewhere other than Chinatown.
Perhaps "detest" is too strong of a word... but it would be equally apt to say that I'm extremely averse to Chinatown.
Perhaps I just had a bad experience in Chinatown today...but it seems that most of my experiences have not been on the positive side. I'm usually happy and relieved whenever my family and I depart Chinatown. Perhaps it's because I'm ABC (American-born Chinese), but whatever it is, this is why I can't stand SF Chinatown:
1) The smell and sanitary conditions.
What more can I say? Anyone who has ever been in Chinatown would know what I'm talking about. It's this pervasive, sewer-drain, rotting-meat-in-the-sun, bad-breath odor. Plus, the streets are so dirty. People hack up their spit all over, and there are all sorts of bits of trash strewn about. Years back, I tried to sit on the sidewalk because I was so tired from walking and standing for hours, but my dad told me not to because of all the germs and nastiness and spit and snot and stuff. Yeah.
2) The crowds.
Chinatown is crowded, crowded, crowded. There are people shoving, people cutting in front of others, people showing blatant disregard for traffic regulations, people jostling through crowds... Okay, personally, I hate crowds. Chinatown probably has some of the most crowded streets at optimum traffic time than most.
3) The noise.
Traffic is so bad that people are always honking at each other. And, whatever happened to the guy who kept yelling HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY? He was a little annoying, but funny. Plus he made a good landmark whenever I couldn't tell where I was. Haha. Well, he's gone now, but the noise level is still pretty high... Then there're the portly shop ladies/men who rearrange vegetables and simultaneously scream (at the top of their well-developed lungs) their low, low prices. This is kind of funny watching them, but the main things I really can't stand about Chinatown are:
4) The rude people.
I find that most Asian establishments are like this (99 Ranch, I'm looking at you): lacking in customer service and leaning more toward low prices. Understandable when the price of produce is 1/4 of Safeway's, I guess. It just sucks when I greet and thank the cashier, and she doesn't even look at me--just keeps glaring with a slightly harassed expression on her face. I asked my dad, and he said that's because of the bad working conditions. Understandable as well, I suppose... it's just that this world would be so much nicer with some courtesy. I mean, I can sort of relate to them. When I worked at 99 Ranch, my boss would yell at me for no apparent reason. Little story: When I was training at the register, I had my sheaf of produce+meat codes with me so I could commit them to memory. However, my boss sent someone over to tell me that if I didn't put away my study packet, my boss would immediately stop training me and fire me. Humiliating and degrading. She could have come over quietly and asked me not to use the packet to help me study... but instead she pointed out my supposed wrongdoing to a co-worker and made her warn me. Not logical; if I didn't have the packet, I couldn't check whether or not I was making a mistake with the codes.
Another story: My boss was testing me on the code for a certain type of cucumber. There were three types to memorize and I memorized them by their distinctive sizes. I still remember them: 5051, 5052, and 5053. Anyway, she holds up a bag of cucumbers and I punch in 5051. She says, in her harsh clipped way, "No! Is 5053." I am very sure that the type of cucumber is 5051, and I try to respond modestly (she is my boss, after all): "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure those are 5051." My boss turns to the assistant manager and they both laugh at me. "Who's been here longer than you have? Who manages the front?" they mock. Anyway, after degrading me for a bit longer, they take a closer look and realize that I was right. No apology, nothing.
Asian people are hard, hard bosses; this can lead to some pretty deplorable working conditions. When I started as a freshly trained employee, I tried to kickstart some feelings of courtesy into the Asian cashier reputation. I had noticed that my fellow cashiers, unlike say Safeway's cashiers, barely greeted the customers. Customer service can go a long way into brightening someone's day, at least a little bit, by greeting them and chatting them up a bit. I actually made a few customer friends at 99 Ranch. Weird but true. There was one 20-ish guy who came with his parents, and the parents would try to matchmake us. So awkward, but it certainly broke the monotony of listless customers who expect zero interaction with the Asian cashiers.
Ugh, another story just popped into my head. So one day, after I got a bit further into my training, I was working the register with one of the older ladies. She was a meeeeaaaan one. If you go to 99 Ranch, she's the one with a perpetual scowl on her face, long hair tied with a scrunchy at the nape of her neck, and curly-ish bangs. Anyway, I don't exactly remember the details, but I made a pretty minor mistake (I think it involved bagging, or receipts... don't remember exactly). She smacked me on the shoulder and told me I was a stupid, stupid girl, then turned away disgustedly. I was soooo pissed off after that, I glared at the customers the rest of the day. So I guess I can't really blame the shop employees in Chinatown for horrible customer service... if I had been treated better, I would give better customer service. Not all the cashier ladies are horrible, though; my favorite was a nice older lady named Angela and she still works there. She has short cropped hair, wrinkles, smiling crinkly eyes, and solemn lips that have a trace of a smile around them. She was playful and always nice to me even when I messed up, and if I had a hard day of training, she'd still have a knowing smile and a laugh for me at the end of the day. Sounds so cheesy but it's true. I was just at 99 Ranch last week at Ivy's line, and Angela noticed me and smacked my butt in recognition. Haha. The customers weren't so friendly to us in return, so maybe that was a factor in our lack of customer service... which brings me to another point.
5) The rude customers.
Anyway, Diane and my dad were standing outside a shop today, waiting for my mom to emerge. I go in to hand my mom her jacket and carry groceries for her. The shop is just STUFFED to the corners with people. As I follow my mom out, I'm stopped by a wall of people. I gingerly ease my way through them the best I can, trying hard not to shove into anyone. Well apparently I failed. As I'm going through the crowd, I feel someone leaning on me for a protracted period of time. I turn around to see a middle-aged woman staggering backwards. She turns around and, glaring, starts yelling about people violently shoving her and knocking her over. Then I realize she's glaring at me! I run over the past few seconds in my mind: I hadn't particularly shoved anyone, unless you count brushing by them in an attempt to get through. Then I think: what about my bag? I had sideswiped people before, unknowingly, because of a big bag I'd wear over my shoulder. I check myself: my bag is on my left shoulder and not my right. The woman and her friend are on my right. So had I really just shoved her? I gaze in confusion at them. Maybe I just hadn't noticed, so I stammer an apology. The woman is still loudly and indignantly explaining to her friend about how I had shoved her and made her lose her balance. I decide, thanks to my broken Chinese, that it's not worth standing there and trying to make her understand that I didn't knock into her intentionally, so I shake my head and leave.
Incidentally, that's also why I dislike Chinatown, though it's more my fault:
6) The language issues.
So Diane and I went to a cafe place for cheap milk tea. I asked Diane to make the order for me since she can speak clearer Chinese than I can. She refused, so I decided, Hey. I can speak Chinese too. I know the words. This is what happened: Confident, I stride over to the counter and ask for pearl milk tea. The employee repeats my order. I nod happily and add, "No ice please." Well, apparently we had some communication issues. I had phrased my latter request like this: "Mo bing." Instead of "No ice," she heard "Red bean dessert" ("Hong bing"). So, she gives me two drinks: pearl milk tea and the red bean ice thingie. Diane and I look at them in confusion, and she sets out trying to explain that I just wanted the pearl milk tea. The employees look at each other in confusion, and we resort to crude sign language. Finally, the disgruntled employee whisks away the red bean ice, slams it on the inside counter opposite of the cash register, and barks out the price for just the milk tea. After I pay and thank her, she turns away in a huff. Diane reprimands me for not having spoken clearly enough -- I should have said "I don't want ice" instead of "No ice."
Admittedly this is partly my fault for my crude Chinese, but I couldn't help comparing this milk tea experience to one I would have had at a Quickly in San Jose. All right, so I've never had to correct a miscommunicated order at Quickly... but I have had good enough customer service from that place to state this, with assurance: That mistake would have been rectified quickly and respectfully, with a smile and a "No problem." Then again, I have to give those employees the benefit of the doubt; it was nearing the end of the workday and I don't know if they were working in deplorable conditions or not.
All in all, the only appealing factors about Chinatown are its cheap prices and sentimental connections. But then again... I would rather spend the extra money on having an enjoyable shopping experience in (clean, friendly) Safeway or elsewhere other than Chinatown.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A great summer.
Well, summer is drawing to a close... the days are getting shorter and the breeze crisper.
I love the long carefree days of summer. The breezy, perfect nights. The golden light of the setting sun. The floaty sundresses and warm air. But I also can't wait for fall--all those pretty fiery colors, crisp breezes, snuggly scarves...
I would say that this summer was probably my most favorite of all, especially with Smashapalooza, badminton days, hangouts, biking, milk tea, driving, beach days, and Mission Peak. I did everything on my summer to-do list except 1) bike across Golden Gate Bridge and 2) pick cherries. It's okay; I'll save that for next summer, right?
I have a certain person on my mind. And no, Diane, not the plums and branches. -_- Too bad that we won't see each other for a while (I think).
I'm sad to see summer go... but I welcome the coming of fall.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Driving!
Driving is so freeing!
Now that my mom trusts me with the car and I have insurance, I've been driving around every opportunity I can get. :) SO AWESOME. It's just so easy getting from one place to another now. Say for example I had to get myself to Great Mall. I would have to give myself about 45-60 minutes to get there, because I would have to walk to the bus, wait for the next one (and sometimes the buses are waaay off schedule) and sit on it. If I drove, it would only take me like 10 minutes after I'm out the door. So awesome.
"Training" for smashapapoopoo is really fun... I wouldn't have imagined that I would be looking forward to a tourney, but I'm glad I signed up. It's my first one! Plus it's gotten me used to feather birdies. I really hate plastic ones now... I don't know how I ever could have played with plastic in high school! I think I've mentally converted to 21-point scoring now. 15-point scoring seems odd now.
I hope we aren't sandbagging :(. I'm playing D mixed with mikeypoo and D girls doubles with Diane.
Now that my mom trusts me with the car and I have insurance, I've been driving around every opportunity I can get. :) SO AWESOME. It's just so easy getting from one place to another now. Say for example I had to get myself to Great Mall. I would have to give myself about 45-60 minutes to get there, because I would have to walk to the bus, wait for the next one (and sometimes the buses are waaay off schedule) and sit on it. If I drove, it would only take me like 10 minutes after I'm out the door. So awesome.
"Training" for smashapapoopoo is really fun... I wouldn't have imagined that I would be looking forward to a tourney, but I'm glad I signed up. It's my first one! Plus it's gotten me used to feather birdies. I really hate plastic ones now... I don't know how I ever could have played with plastic in high school! I think I've mentally converted to 21-point scoring now. 15-point scoring seems odd now.
I hope we aren't sandbagging :(. I'm playing D mixed with mikeypoo and D girls doubles with Diane.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Humbled.
I didn't have a problem with reading until my summer American History class started. -_- Our textbook is a 600-pg nonfiction book, which retells American history from the bottom up (poor to rich). I mean, it's interesting and all, and I definitely learned more about living in America in the old times than I would have if I'd taken any other history class... but it's a lot to stomach in a month-long class. It's not too bad; we just have to read 150 pages a week. The thing is, we can't just skim the book; we have to totally absorb each and every little detail and nugget of information because anything in the book can be tested.
I have a book report due tomorrow, which isn't too bad. What sucked was having to read The Grapes of Wrath ... all 600+ pages... in one weekend. lol. I mean, I probably should have started earlier, but I was too busy reading my textbook. The book honestly wasn't bad. It definitely left me humbled by the plights of the migrant families in the story. Like, they can't get anything but fried dough to eat, and meat is a luxury to them. It's like, I'm reading this and I'm snacking on yummies at the same time. lol. Reading about their hunger makes me hungry at the same time. -_-
I have a book report due tomorrow, which isn't too bad. What sucked was having to read The Grapes of Wrath ... all 600+ pages... in one weekend. lol. I mean, I probably should have started earlier, but I was too busy reading my textbook. The book honestly wasn't bad. It definitely left me humbled by the plights of the migrant families in the story. Like, they can't get anything but fried dough to eat, and meat is a luxury to them. It's like, I'm reading this and I'm snacking on yummies at the same time. lol. Reading about their hunger makes me hungry at the same time. -_-
Thursday, July 16, 2009
daily rantings
My Tide To-Go stain remover pen SAVED MY LIFE today. Seriously, Diane was very unsupportive of my purchase and she said it was a waste of money. IN YOUR FACE :D I found it difficult to use at first, but it's actually very simple once you get used to it. Really, I think there's a cheaper way to go about making your own stain remover pen. The marker tip of the To-Go pen is just a sort of button that you have to press down to release the liquid inside the pen (maybe hydrogen peroxide as a liquid will work as well?). All the marker tip does is sweep away the stain. But still. IT SAVED MY LIFE. Combine a ruffly white skirt with girl issues. -_- Every girl needs this pen.
But anyway. (I hope only a few people read my blog or I'll be mortified. lol.)
I. CAN. DRIVE NOW!!! Well, slightly. My mom still doesn't completely trust me with driving by myself. However, I've got car insurance!! I say give it a couple more goes behind the wheel and you'll see me whizzing on 280 in no time.
I feel so fat and lazy, but I don't want to exercise. Sigh. so sad. I do like badminton, but I hate those days where I just can't move/hit. Like, I'll swing my racket arm, and I can't get full power. Plus, I want to keep in good standing with my parents, and going out just about every day of this week won't do that. But I do want to get better in time for Smashapalooza at berkeley. -_- Badminton is an expensive sport. Diane spent $250 on birds yesterday and I'm going to buy the next set of birds after we use up this one. I spent $25 to string my racket a few weeks ago and I'm waiting on $22 from chris. After checking my bank accounts from which I've been steadily depleting money without replacement (no job...), I'm trying to limit my spending. BUT IT'S SO HARD :( So, I've been trying to put myself on a no-buy... or at least a limited-buy. lol. I think it's helping a bit with my money management. Like, when I actually do go shopping nowadays, I carefully look at what I'm buying to see if I really am going to wear it a lot and if I really do need it--otherwise I'm putting it down.
I think when I go looking for jobs... Tutoring would be a nice option. It'd be easy $. I kind of wish i'd stayed at SJCC just so I can tutor. haha. Hey, it's $15 an hour! I wonder if there's a tutoring thing at SJSU... I don't know. I don't really want to privately tutor, though.
Then again, it would be really fun to work with a friend. Like Thanh and I want to work at a restaurant together.. that would be fun :D No more retail. Well, retail is okay, but it's actually a pretty exhausting job. I just like the discounts... if I actually did use the discounts at Tommy Hilfiger more often.
ah.
But anyway. (I hope only a few people read my blog or I'll be mortified. lol.)
I. CAN. DRIVE NOW!!! Well, slightly. My mom still doesn't completely trust me with driving by myself. However, I've got car insurance!! I say give it a couple more goes behind the wheel and you'll see me whizzing on 280 in no time.
I feel so fat and lazy, but I don't want to exercise. Sigh. so sad. I do like badminton, but I hate those days where I just can't move/hit. Like, I'll swing my racket arm, and I can't get full power. Plus, I want to keep in good standing with my parents, and going out just about every day of this week won't do that. But I do want to get better in time for Smashapalooza at berkeley. -_- Badminton is an expensive sport. Diane spent $250 on birds yesterday and I'm going to buy the next set of birds after we use up this one. I spent $25 to string my racket a few weeks ago and I'm waiting on $22 from chris. After checking my bank accounts from which I've been steadily depleting money without replacement (no job...), I'm trying to limit my spending. BUT IT'S SO HARD :( So, I've been trying to put myself on a no-buy... or at least a limited-buy. lol. I think it's helping a bit with my money management. Like, when I actually do go shopping nowadays, I carefully look at what I'm buying to see if I really am going to wear it a lot and if I really do need it--otherwise I'm putting it down.
I think when I go looking for jobs... Tutoring would be a nice option. It'd be easy $. I kind of wish i'd stayed at SJCC just so I can tutor. haha. Hey, it's $15 an hour! I wonder if there's a tutoring thing at SJSU... I don't know. I don't really want to privately tutor, though.
Then again, it would be really fun to work with a friend. Like Thanh and I want to work at a restaurant together.. that would be fun :D No more retail. Well, retail is okay, but it's actually a pretty exhausting job. I just like the discounts... if I actually did use the discounts at Tommy Hilfiger more often.
ah.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
june update
wow guys, I haven't blogged in the LONGEST time. Anyway, I'll make this nice and brief.
What have I been doing for the past month? Well, I had a summer class at SJCC in the afternoon. It was so awesome because for the past year I've been killing myself waking up early in the mornings to go to class (30 mins - 1 hour bus ride sucks) and for Oral Communications, I could wake up at noon!!! Awesome. Of course this totally messed up my nice sleep schedule, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.
I had an awesome professor for this class. She was really nice and fair and just overall very friendly (if you are going to take coms20 at SJCC, get Leslyn McCallum. Her classes fill up very quickly, so you'd have to hurry). I just really loved this class! I know I sound like a nerd but I don't care. I actually enjoyed writing and giving the speeches, and the activities in the class were really fun.
The people in my class were also really cool and interesting--totally not your typical classmates. For example, the guy who sat on my left is currently going through a three-year-long child custody settlement with the mother--a girl who he never even liked. The guy who sat on my right is a reformed gangster. The girl who sat at the table behind me was in drug rehab for a number of years and has been clean for three years. Fun, huh? I love my classmates! :D
For my informative speech topic, I actually gave a speech about perverts on public transit. I loved that speech :P Oddly enough, the inspiration came to me when I had a pervert encounter on the bus the day I had to write the speech.
So, the pervert encounter? Yeah, I was on my way to Walmart from SJCC to pick up some junk. So I'm sitting in the upper division of the bus, near the back. The bus stops to pick up some people, but I'm not paying any attention to them. Then I notice this 40-50 year old Indian dude who has taken a seat diagonally across from me. Normally I wouldn't have paid him any attention, but his entire body was turned around in his seat and facing my direction. My gaze flickers over to him and I see that his gaze is turned in my direction. Well. Okay, whatever. Maybe he's looking out the window. My attention flickers back to the view out the dirty window.
A little bit later, the bus stops to pick up a whole group of people. I'm taking up two seats, so I scoot over to the window seat to make room. Bad move. The Indian guy seizes the opportunity to claim the seat next to me, like he thought I was offering it to him or something. A tall, slightly chubby Asian guy about my age fills his vacated seat.
Hence begins the usual hitting-on proceedings (and this guy was being a LOT more obvious than most), except that unlike most other pervs, he takes up 1.5 seats. I'm scrunched as close to the window as I can get because he's basically invading my space and I don't want my leg to touch his (ew). I'm trying to make it as clear as possible that I'm super disgruntled and uncomfortable so he will go away.
So out of the corner of my eye, I'm aware of the Asian dude looking at us and getting up to move to another seat somewhere behind us--but I'm barely paying any attention to this because I'm so focused on staring resolutely out of the window and wishing for my stop to come. Then when I finally see my stop coming up, I make these not-so-subtle getting-off-the-bus movements (zipping my bag, hoisting it over my shoulder, etc.). Indian dude offers his hand for a handshake. I gingerly clasp his hand (out of politeness) once and let it fall. As I get off the bus, I see the chubby Asian guy sitting right behind the seat where the Indian dude and I were sitting. I don't know exactly why he chose to sit there--I was wondering why he chose another seat--and here are the possible reasons I came up with:
1. He saw the debacle and wanted to view it from a better vantage point. (Sort of like entertainment on TV. Sheesh, I hope not.)
2. He didn't like his seat and wanted the seat behind us. (Maybe, but generally no one takes those side-facing seats unless the whole bus is like packed. I sat in those seats a couple of times and every time I got thrown around whenever the bus jerked to a stop or accelerated quickly).
3. He saw what was happening and positioned himself behind us to intervene if the perv tried something beyond perv-ness and into perverted-ness. (Maybe he was genuinely a good guy! The Asian guy, not the perv dude.)
If it was because of #3, I would like to maybe thank him the next time I see him (which is probably never). Not keeping my hopes up.
Anyway, tons of girls get hit on when taking public transit. I'm glad to think that the majority of people on VTA are nice people, and there are only 1% or so of perverts.
So in my speech, I talked about:
1) Recognizing a perv. Note that VTA pervs are generally of the flirty type and not so much of the really creepy physical perverted types. I'm thinking it's because we're in the Bay Area. Heh. Anyway, most of the pervs I've seen are either in their twenties, or 40-50 years. And totally not to be racist, but they are usually Hispanic. I don't know why. Perv encounters don't just take place on buses and lightrails, but also at bus stops and just walking to bus stops. There's always some sort of association with public transit..lol.
2) Dealing with the perv, should there be a confrontation. Resist giving out personal information, such as phone # (never, never ever). Usually a perv confrontation begins with a request for my name. I find it's hard to lie about this, so I don't think giving your name is a big deal. And I always, always say that I'm taken, even if I'm not. This step particularly will save you a ton of grief. The perv will usually back off at least a little.
Out of all of my female friends, I find that I take public transit the most because I take it everywhere all year. So, I've found it particularly handy to carry around my pepper spray!! I found it for $8 at Walgreens completely by surprise. But honestly, if any girl decides to take public transit, she would be subject to a possible perv encounter. It's just so easy for pervs to pick up girls on public transit, ya know? Being forced to take public transit as I am now, I had to learn to deal with these pervs. They really aren't so bad--they're just being friendly and trying to pick up girls easily. But if they are clearly at least 40-50 years old, their jeans zipper is unzipped (...) and they offer to drive you somewhere... that's when caution should be taken.
Okay, enough about pervs. I got an A in the class! Yay. OH, SPEAKING ABOUT GRADES. I GOT AN A- IN ART HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUDES, I worked my butt off for this stupid class (which I now, absurdly, love). I was so scared, heehee. Okay, here's an easy list view.
Color Theory: A
3D Concepts: A-
Art History: A- (whooOoOo!!)
Art 01 - pass.
Social Problems - dudes, I still have no idea. The prof is pretty absentminded, so grades are reeeaaally delayed. I have the feeling that I got a B, though. Oh well. Don't care.
Creative Writing - A
And for Fall semester, here are the classes I want to take and have signed up for (two are waitlisted):
I can't wait! Heehee. I'm afraid I might get overwhelmed with three studio classes, but I'm not going to have to worry about Piedmont badminton in the afternoons anymore. Now I'm taking BADMINTON on fridays! And I'll be joining the club. Funnn!
I've really been playing a lot of badminton these days at Smash City and once at Bintang. Like, Diane and I go about 2-3 times a week or so. It's pretty cool because we're both improving. Diane can get fast shots in the front a lot better, and I feel that I can move around a lot more.
I give the credit to Truman because I hecka pushed myself in that mixed game at Bintang with them. I felt so breathless (not tired breathless, but BREATHLESS breathless) and just so beat up after that game. I really felt like I gave it my all. Now I'm applying that same feeling to the games I play now...I hope. I'm thinking girls doubles with Diana or Jenny next semester, and mixed doubles with either Leo or Truman (if he needs a mixed girl).
Truman asked me to play mixed with him for the Berkeley tournament but I'd already said I was going to play with Mikey-poo! Darn. Oh well, I want to play with Mikey! I don't feel stressed out when I play with him. I'm thinking I want to play girls doubles with Meiyi for the tournament too, but I still have to ask her. We haven't played together in forever.
Pictures with Thannie from the little reunion get-together at Cataldi!
What have I been doing for the past month? Well, I had a summer class at SJCC in the afternoon. It was so awesome because for the past year I've been killing myself waking up early in the mornings to go to class (30 mins - 1 hour bus ride sucks) and for Oral Communications, I could wake up at noon!!! Awesome. Of course this totally messed up my nice sleep schedule, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.
I had an awesome professor for this class. She was really nice and fair and just overall very friendly (if you are going to take coms20 at SJCC, get Leslyn McCallum. Her classes fill up very quickly, so you'd have to hurry). I just really loved this class! I know I sound like a nerd but I don't care. I actually enjoyed writing and giving the speeches, and the activities in the class were really fun.
The people in my class were also really cool and interesting--totally not your typical classmates. For example, the guy who sat on my left is currently going through a three-year-long child custody settlement with the mother--a girl who he never even liked. The guy who sat on my right is a reformed gangster. The girl who sat at the table behind me was in drug rehab for a number of years and has been clean for three years. Fun, huh? I love my classmates! :D
For my informative speech topic, I actually gave a speech about perverts on public transit. I loved that speech :P Oddly enough, the inspiration came to me when I had a pervert encounter on the bus the day I had to write the speech.
So, the pervert encounter? Yeah, I was on my way to Walmart from SJCC to pick up some junk. So I'm sitting in the upper division of the bus, near the back. The bus stops to pick up some people, but I'm not paying any attention to them. Then I notice this 40-50 year old Indian dude who has taken a seat diagonally across from me. Normally I wouldn't have paid him any attention, but his entire body was turned around in his seat and facing my direction. My gaze flickers over to him and I see that his gaze is turned in my direction. Well. Okay, whatever. Maybe he's looking out the window. My attention flickers back to the view out the dirty window.
A little bit later, the bus stops to pick up a whole group of people. I'm taking up two seats, so I scoot over to the window seat to make room. Bad move. The Indian guy seizes the opportunity to claim the seat next to me, like he thought I was offering it to him or something. A tall, slightly chubby Asian guy about my age fills his vacated seat.
Hence begins the usual hitting-on proceedings (and this guy was being a LOT more obvious than most), except that unlike most other pervs, he takes up 1.5 seats. I'm scrunched as close to the window as I can get because he's basically invading my space and I don't want my leg to touch his (ew). I'm trying to make it as clear as possible that I'm super disgruntled and uncomfortable so he will go away.
So out of the corner of my eye, I'm aware of the Asian dude looking at us and getting up to move to another seat somewhere behind us--but I'm barely paying any attention to this because I'm so focused on staring resolutely out of the window and wishing for my stop to come. Then when I finally see my stop coming up, I make these not-so-subtle getting-off-the-bus movements (zipping my bag, hoisting it over my shoulder, etc.). Indian dude offers his hand for a handshake. I gingerly clasp his hand (out of politeness) once and let it fall. As I get off the bus, I see the chubby Asian guy sitting right behind the seat where the Indian dude and I were sitting. I don't know exactly why he chose to sit there--I was wondering why he chose another seat--and here are the possible reasons I came up with:
1. He saw the debacle and wanted to view it from a better vantage point. (Sort of like entertainment on TV. Sheesh, I hope not.)
2. He didn't like his seat and wanted the seat behind us. (Maybe, but generally no one takes those side-facing seats unless the whole bus is like packed. I sat in those seats a couple of times and every time I got thrown around whenever the bus jerked to a stop or accelerated quickly).
3. He saw what was happening and positioned himself behind us to intervene if the perv tried something beyond perv-ness and into perverted-ness. (Maybe he was genuinely a good guy! The Asian guy, not the perv dude.)
If it was because of #3, I would like to maybe thank him the next time I see him (which is probably never). Not keeping my hopes up.
Anyway, tons of girls get hit on when taking public transit. I'm glad to think that the majority of people on VTA are nice people, and there are only 1% or so of perverts.
So in my speech, I talked about:
1) Recognizing a perv. Note that VTA pervs are generally of the flirty type and not so much of the really creepy physical perverted types. I'm thinking it's because we're in the Bay Area. Heh. Anyway, most of the pervs I've seen are either in their twenties, or 40-50 years. And totally not to be racist, but they are usually Hispanic. I don't know why. Perv encounters don't just take place on buses and lightrails, but also at bus stops and just walking to bus stops. There's always some sort of association with public transit..lol.
2) Dealing with the perv, should there be a confrontation. Resist giving out personal information, such as phone # (never, never ever). Usually a perv confrontation begins with a request for my name. I find it's hard to lie about this, so I don't think giving your name is a big deal. And I always, always say that I'm taken, even if I'm not. This step particularly will save you a ton of grief. The perv will usually back off at least a little.
Out of all of my female friends, I find that I take public transit the most because I take it everywhere all year. So, I've found it particularly handy to carry around my pepper spray!! I found it for $8 at Walgreens completely by surprise. But honestly, if any girl decides to take public transit, she would be subject to a possible perv encounter. It's just so easy for pervs to pick up girls on public transit, ya know? Being forced to take public transit as I am now, I had to learn to deal with these pervs. They really aren't so bad--they're just being friendly and trying to pick up girls easily. But if they are clearly at least 40-50 years old, their jeans zipper is unzipped (...) and they offer to drive you somewhere... that's when caution should be taken.
Okay, enough about pervs. I got an A in the class! Yay. OH, SPEAKING ABOUT GRADES. I GOT AN A- IN ART HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUDES, I worked my butt off for this stupid class (which I now, absurdly, love). I was so scared, heehee. Okay, here's an easy list view.
Color Theory: A
3D Concepts: A-
Art History: A- (whooOoOo!!)
Art 01 - pass.
Social Problems - dudes, I still have no idea. The prof is pretty absentminded, so grades are reeeaaally delayed. I have the feeling that I got a B, though. Oh well. Don't care.
Creative Writing - A
And for Fall semester, here are the classes I want to take and have signed up for (two are waitlisted):
I can't wait! Heehee. I'm afraid I might get overwhelmed with three studio classes, but I'm not going to have to worry about Piedmont badminton in the afternoons anymore. Now I'm taking BADMINTON on fridays! And I'll be joining the club. Funnn!
I've really been playing a lot of badminton these days at Smash City and once at Bintang. Like, Diane and I go about 2-3 times a week or so. It's pretty cool because we're both improving. Diane can get fast shots in the front a lot better, and I feel that I can move around a lot more.
I give the credit to Truman because I hecka pushed myself in that mixed game at Bintang with them. I felt so breathless (not tired breathless, but BREATHLESS breathless) and just so beat up after that game. I really felt like I gave it my all. Now I'm applying that same feeling to the games I play now...I hope. I'm thinking girls doubles with Diana or Jenny next semester, and mixed doubles with either Leo or Truman (if he needs a mixed girl).
Truman asked me to play mixed with him for the Berkeley tournament but I'd already said I was going to play with Mikey-poo! Darn. Oh well, I want to play with Mikey! I don't feel stressed out when I play with him. I'm thinking I want to play girls doubles with Meiyi for the tournament too, but I still have to ask her. We haven't played together in forever.
Pictures with Thannie from the little reunion get-together at Cataldi!
I love her! And that shopping day at B&BW was hilarious. This really nasty pumpkin lotion had erupted all over our COOL CITRUS BASIL bottles, which were all the way at the bottom of the big blue buckets. We hecka dug through all the mess to get to the bottles, and then we had to rinse them off at the sink. Haha. So obsessed...
-_- I was GOING to make this short and brief. oh well. I have so much to write about still (1. mini-reunion with ANDREW VO, 2. car insurance, 3. bipolar mom) but I honestly don't want to type any more. I shall resume tomorrow?
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