December « 2009 « ((little fat notebook))

The relationship

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: behavior, experiences, future, habits, panda, relationships

31 December 2009

I realized that I don’t speak much of Panda except mentioning him here and there. But in terms of our relationship, I haven’t delved much into it. I thought I’d write more about how our relationship developed, but it’s one of those things that’s nice to just do and not have to reflect on. So, to meet my expectation in setting up this blog that I would at least cover our relationship somewhat, here are some thoughts…

It’s been a year and a half since we met and things have changed tremendously. We managed to make things work around busy schedules and even a couple of months apart. I was a little nervous coming back from Singapore, wondering how things might have changed after so long of only interacting virtually. Thankfully, we quickly eased back into each other’s lives and had a painless transition. He taught me to use coupons and pay attention to the price of food I buy and I taught him that life should just be enjoyed sometimes. We’ve built a rhythm and style of interaction that only we share, with plenty of inside jokes to be remembered. We’ve shared laughs and cries and hugs and kisses and plenty of food as well.

It’s hard to imagine a life without him and I certainly don’t plan on it. I can tell him every little thing and I often admire just how cute he is. He’s got the gentlest soul and so much heart that it touches me deeply. He’s done a lot of behind the scenes things to take care of me and is usually cleaning up after me. I’m not a very neat person. I am organized in my own messy way. We’ve learned to compromise on some things, change for others, and still many have to be worked out. We developed a pattern for many of the things we do and we’ve created so many memories already. We’ve made a variety of loose plans for the future, both for ourselves and for us as a couple.

Of course, things are not perfect and he hasn’t had much experience with what high maintenance a girl’s emotions can be. The way I interpret things is not something he can think of naturally, so it’s a challenge. I have high standards and I let him know exactly when I am not pleased with him. He always cares so much and wants to do right by me, but often just doesn’t know how. I have been extremely demanding at times, not giving him a break. But the good thing is, we almost always want to talk it out and don’t just stop speaking to each other. And with a lot of back and forth, I think we both learn a lot in the process.

So all in all it’s been a great ride and I’m excited for the years ahead. And now that I’ve covered the relationship, I probably won’t really talk about it again. It’s probably the only thing that I like to keep private. 🙂

A numbers game

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: cars, daddy, experiences, food, fun, interesting, mommy, panda, pictures, storytelling

30 December 2009

Today was my 24th birthday and I got to spend it with Panda and my parents. 🙂

I couldn't drive off without a picture first!

I got up early in the morning, surprising my parents, since I love to sleep in. Well, I had a date to catch! Since Panda does not have his own transportation, I went out to pick him up so we could have lunch with my parents. I was allowed a day of joyriding in my new car for my birthday, after which the car will be stored away until I get myself a job. Call it sort of reward and encouragement at the same time. I got a chance to set up the Bluetooth connection and made my first call with it to Panda. He couldn’t even hear a difference! Excellent. Now I’ll never miss a phone call in the car since my music will automatically be muted for incoming calls.

kid-sized ice cream cone with chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream

Isn't that the smallest cone you've ever seen?

So we drove back to my neighborhood and I called up my parents to direct them to the local Souplantation. I can’t believe we never knew about it before! But you know, now that I think of it, it looks awfully familiar and I think it’s been there for a long time, but we just never knew about it. So lunch was nice, with my dad and Panda doing most of the talking. My parents really enjoyed Panda’s choice of restaurant and it was quite healthy and filling. Plus, they had the cutest little ice cream cones! By and by, it was time to part and for me to head off with Panda for the rest of the day. We did a little strolling around the area before heading over to the dealership, since we’d noticed that the floor mats in my car were missing.

Look what we came across on our stroll!

With the paper mats in the way, we didn't notice at first that the actual mats were missing!

This fish must have been very hungry, since it spent the night trying to eat rocks.

The rest of the day was very chill as we hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. For dinner, I had a hard time choosing, so we found something on Yelp that was near his home and headed that way. Unfortunately, the place was closed for some reason, but thankfully, he had just gone to a nice Japanese place just down the street the day before. We went there and had a nice time eating and watching the fish doing silly fish things in the tank in front of us. Nice place and nice food. To round out the night, we made a pit stop at cha for tea, my all-time favorite boba place. They offer games there for people to play as they hang out, drink tea and boba, and munch on some food. We’ve got a little tradition of playing Connect 4 there, so we sat down to a showdown.

All too soon we had finished our drinks, played many a round, and realized it was time to head back for the night. I dropped him off and drove on home, enjoying the feel of the Corolla one last time. I came back to dozens of birthday well wishes from friends on Facebook and a steadily growing number of votes coming in to help me towards winning a job interview for January 4th! It’s great to have support and it’s been a fun way for me to earn my foot in the door for an exciting job. With just one day left, I’ll do one final push and hope for the best. I do believe I can stay in the Top 5 and earn an interview, but just in case I’m still working hard to ensure it’s taken care of.

In honor of the “numbers game” that my parents keep saying job searching can be, I thought I’d play around with some numbers myself…

1 lifetime:

2 parents

3 cats

4 countries lived in

5 states of residence

6 cars our family has owned

7 major relocations

8 cousins (and a step-cousin) I don’t get to see enough

9 jobs where I’ve earned money (3 internships without)

10 years old when I started documenting my life like the packrat I am

11 (and a half) places I’ve called home

12 grandparents, aunts, and uncles living in Asia (plus a step-grandparent)

13 years of keeping a daily journal

14 schools attended from pre-school through college (some simultaneously)

15 European countries traveled over a 5-week spring break

16, an eventful age: took driving lessons, attended Leadership Academy, went to Australia & Hawai’i, and moved to California from New York

17 (and a quarter) years’ worth of education thus far

18, the last landmark birthday (21 doesn’t count since I don’t drink)

19 affiliations with UCLA organizations throughout my college career

20 (intermittent) years in this country

21 major cities traveled to over that 5-week spring break

22 countries traveled to overall (not counting the 4 I’ve lived in for some period of time)

23 airports I’ve been through

culminating in 24 years of rich experiences!

I’ve certainly got a lot of stories. As always, things in my life tend to be more exception than rule, so these numbers may be slightly off, depending on your criteria. You get the idea though.

My “first” car!

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: cars, experiences, pictures, storytelling

29 December 2009

Oh how unpredictable car buying can be! Yesterday I went with my mom to the Toyota dealership, set on choosing a Camry. I, of course, wanted the hybrid, but since it’s quite pricey and it doesn’t make sense financially to get it over the LE, I had my reservations. After all, I was out to make a responsible decision for me, my parents, our (mostly their) money, and the environment. I wish I liked a Prius enough to get one, but I just can’t get over the odd shape and look. Plus, I don’t want to have to deal with some bar thing blocking my vision in the rearview mirror.

So to humor me, the salesman (I’ll call him “Cary”) let me drive that around first. I loved how silent it was and the little whoosh sound whenever you brake wasn’t too distracting. Next up was the Camry LE, which was solid and nice, but didn’t thrill me. The gas pedal on this one was far more responsive and it took me a few seconds to readjust. We kept looking around at different models and Cary decided that I should drive the Camry S as well, just for kicks. The sound system in that one is far superior and it comes with fun seats that make it cool and sporty.

After those runs, I still had no clear choice of preferred vehicle. The hybrid was my dream, but too much money for its worth. The LE was generic and a bit boring, but was the S worth an extra 2K? The only thing I really liked on the S was the special fabric they use for the seats. That certainly isn’t worth the extra money. So, in an effort to satisfy my whim, we went looking for a silver hybrid with a moonroof (the one perk I reaaally wanted). As we were driving up the parking structure, Cary casually mentioned the Corolla as he pointed out a Corolla S. I was surprised that it looked quite nice, since I’d always been adverse to Corollas, thinking they were too small. They are quite a bit cheaper though, so perhaps I should have thought of them earlier. Saving money doesn’t hurt!

Since it looked pretty nice, I decided to try it out too. Turns out they’ve changed the Corolla a lot in the past couple of years and the Corolla S was not only roomy enough, it came with the seats I liked! So stylish. 🙂 On the test drive, I felt a difference immediately, which was due to a smaller engine. It’s louder and vroom vrooms a little when I accelerate, but otherwise it handled just like a Camry. I felt more comfortable in it and it even made me feel cool, what with bluetooth and a fancy 6 CD changer with JBL speakers. It has ample cargo space in the trunk and backseats that can be laid down for extra room. I didn’t care much for the skirt or spoiler, but I guess they don’t hurt. Oh, and of course it had my moonroof.

The same look of mine! As for the actual one, pictures to come...

You know the one thing I wanted that didn’t change? The color. Funny, since I went in thinking I’d get a silver Camry, but wanting to check out color options. Instead the thing I didn’t think would change did and the thing I thought would probably change didn’t. Life works out in odd ways, doesn’t it? So my mom and I were happy and energized after taking the Corolla S for a spin. We went home to update my dad on the new direction we were looking. Then began lots of researching online for prices and I called up our insurance company to ask for quotes. Then today, I got quotes from two more companies, compared, decided to stay with AAA, and in the mid-afternoon, it was back to the dealership. After many hours of pounding through numbers and paperwork, we finally came upon an agreed price and sealed the deal. I settled my insurance, they washed and gassed up the car, and I was on my way. 🙂

BuckyBalls!

laelene Posted in general blog, photo blog，Tags: experiences, interesting, opinion, panda, pictures

27 December 2009

birthday present wrapped in recycled materials

Isn’t it precious?

Yaaay, I can officially cross off one item from my wishlist because I got a present from Panda today. 🙂 It’s an early birthday present and it already has my fingers numb from overuse. What is it? Well, none other than BuckyBalls!!! And what is that? Well, they’re magnetized balls 5 mm in diameter and you get a set of 216. Can anyone tell me the significance of that number? A trip to Wolfram Alpha quickly enlightens you: it’s 6³ (six cubed), which means that number forms a perfect 6X6X6 cube. Very handy for a condensed form of safe-keeping and transportation. And that is exactly the shape I found it in today when I unwrapped the gift. Let me also say I’m so proud of Panda because he has really taken my greening efforts to heart and took gift wrap from a present he received to wrap mine, made the bow himself out of old ads, and found a cute image to cut out of another ad to make my card. Isn’t that just lovely? The preparation was almost better than the gift. But if you have ever played with BuckyBalls, you can understand why it was just was almost better. Honestly, they are so great and amazingly entertaining.

Complete with carrying case!

In fact, they’re so loved that they’ve got a fan following with plenty of pictures to share on their own creations. That’s what I love about products that are so simple – it leaves a lot of room for innovation and creativity! This one also gives a great interactive lesson in magnetism and how polarity works. By trial and error, you can quickly learn how you can make some ball fit nicely in a square grid whereas others fit much tighter in a staggered grid shape. If you check out the pictures on the Facebook page, you can find many descriptions including “hedron” and other such nerdy terms. What better way to fall in love with science?

Testing out their magnetism…

…still hanging strong!

By this time the connection was weaker, but just that one point of contact allowed it to support that weight for awhile!

It holds pretty well.

Uh oh, once you mess it up like this, it’s really hard to fix.

And a photo blog in the coming weeks to show some of the fun creations I sacrificed my thumbs to make! (It can be quite difficult to pull those suckers away from each other. They have a magnet grade of N35, which is pretty darned high… aka they have strong attraction and repulsion forces.)

Magician vs. illusionist

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: daddy, experiences, mommy, opinion, pictures, travel

26 December 2009

I saw David Copperfield with my parents on Christmas Eve and though the show was good, it was not magical to me. Perhaps it is because I have come to an age where I understand some of the logic behind the tricks he does or perhaps it was because I found him to be rather arrogant, cuing us to applaud every little thing he did. Ultimately, he isn’t a magician, so I suppose I shouldn’t expect a magical experience. After all, he’s an illusionist and that part he did quite well, playing with our minds so that it was hard to fathom just how he pulled off his stunts.

I was also very distracted by his odd sense of humor and all-too-confident demeanor. I went looking for cool tricks that I just couldn’t explain, but he tried to mix in too much comedy for my taste. Certain things also appeared too staged, like the husband who slapped his wife’s butt when they were on stage because her knit dress was showing her undergarments. When David asked if anyone had any questions, it was way too obvious that the guy shouting, “Do it again! Do it slower!” was part of the show. It didn’t help that those aren’t even questions.

david copperfield makes 13 members of the audience disappear

That's my daddy in the front row with the sweater on!

Nevertheless, there were some entertaining moments and he certainly is skilled at his crazy illusions. The night ended on a high note when my dad was one of the audience members who go to go on stage and be vanished into thin air. He eagerly went up and when the show was over, came out laughing heartily after having been a part of the show. That was definitely worth it and we got an autographed picture for his troubles. So in the end, it turned out to be a fun time, but I do believe we could have used a little more disbelief to enjoy it more.

Pontiac limo

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: cars, interesting, los angeles, observation, pictures

25 December 2009

Saw this guy on the freeway as we were exiting.

Now there's a model of limo you don't see often (or ever).

Yes, it’s the same car, FYI. I happened to get in front of it so I could catch it in all its limo glory!

“Concealed” snails

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: animals, interesting, observation, pictures, ucla

24 December 2009

I randomly noticed these while standing around one day. So cool!

Note the one in the far back too! I was going for a sort of artistic angle. 😛

And then there was this guy, tucked away.

Ho hum holidays

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: katana, opinion, travel

23 December 2009

I’ve felt strangely disconnected with this holiday season, perhaps because it’s the first time I’m not on winter break since… well, since I can remember! It was a lot easier to be excited about not going to school and having my birthday off, but I’ve had things pretty easy lately. Other than my internship three days a week, I’m pretty much doing my own thing as I job hunt, so there’s no huge distinction between this week and the last. For some reason having my parents back and not having my internship for these two weeks doesn’t have a strong effect on this impression.

I feel oddly out of sync with the world and watching those shows full of holiday cheer is like watching some foreign movie. I don’t really connect with what is going on and I kind of watch with a bit of confusion. Perhaps some snow would help me get in that mood. I saw some pictures Katana took while she goes on a cruise through parts of Europe and that is what I consider to be festive! I guess it also sucks that my neighbors really cut down on their Christmas lights in the past two years, so the most prominent reminder of this time of year is no longer there. I’d like to go somewhere to enjoy a bit of a wintery feel.