One of my fraternity brothers shared this link today, which I thought was a compelling image. It takes you to a map displaying the approximate area of the spill, then allows you to overlay that to whatever area you want, just to see how much it would cover if it was in your city! Here’s a look at LA (click to see a larger image):
I’ve had a major craving for Din Tai Fung that was finally satisfied this weekend. I’m amazed that there is only one shop in all of the country and it’s in a little unassuming plaza in Arcadia (although now it seems they have opened a second one not even a block away). They are renowned for their xiao long bao, which are these coin purse type pork dumplings. They have delicate skins and the insides have a juicy filling that makes it sort of like having a sip of a rich stock. I often went to have them when I was in Singapore and hadn’t had any since I returned 9 months ago! It was high time to see if the US store was as good as its Asian counterparts.
I was extremely satisfied with the little morsels, though they definitely could have been more filling (and given larger portions). Taste-wise, I can’t tell the difference between theirs and what I had in Singapore, so I was happy! I haven’t had better xiao long bao in the states. Though come to think of it, I don’t even see it on the menu in most places. My craving is still there, so I’m thinking I need to go back regularly. For me, it’s worth the 30-40 minute drive and 15 minute wait. Plus, I can take a detour on the way back to get cha for tea! The BEST boba shop I’ve ever been to. Now that is a satisfying meal and drink combo!
I love to watch 20/20 and 60 Minutes, which until today, I didn’t know how to describe. So I looked it up and thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that they are referred to as TV news magazines. They’re in-depth enough to provide good background on a story, but don’t cover every little thing going on in the world. Perfect for when I want to hear about some of the interesting things going on in the world. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of them (the Wikipedia article says they lost popularity to reality shows – what a pity), so after only a few hours, I’m left with wanting more.
To try to compensate, I’ve taken up shows like Dateline and 48 Hours, which pretty much only cover murder cases. It’s starting to get tedious as I hear about death after death… what happened to things like profiling notable people or digging into recently significant events? And since it’s news I crave, TED.com just doesn’t cut it either, with more of thoughts and looks into the future. What am I to do when there aren’t enough Barbara Walters out there? 🙁 I wish I had the patience for other types of video media, but all I want to do is watch my two favorite shows – 20/20 and 60 Minutes.
I’ve been noticing a lot of people who look like people I know. Most recently is Steve Nash (Panda’s had basketball running every day, so this guy kept showing up), who looks like one of my former roommate’s boyfriend! Or perhaps it is the other way around. Nash, after all, is older. And on an unrelated side note, every time I hear Nash I can’t help but think John Nash, the mathematician. But back to lookalikes, when Yeardley Love, a college senior from University of Virginia was murdered, the picture of her they used in the news reminded me of a high school classmate. A few months ago, I went to a concert with Panda and the second chair celloist looked just like a futuristic version of a middle and high school friend from New York!
Thanks to mobile technology, when I noticed that lady, I pulled out my phone and got on Facebook to find a picture to show Panda. Indeed, he agreed, she did look like my friend if she was only 20-30 years younger. I also used Facebook to find pictures of my other friends with lookalikes in the news and perhaps Panda is just humoring me, but he nodded that they did resemble the person of interest. Is it just that when you see enough people in your life, you will inevitably come across those who look eerily similar? Or maybe it’s just the way I am, looking for patterns and similarities. But I really do think they look like they could have been the same person. I’d share the side-by-side comparisons for you to judge yourself, but I don’t want to violate their privacy.
Yesterday Panda was feeling a bit antsy and wanted to move around. Knowing that I needed the exercise, I decided to go on a walk with him. I had mentioned awhile back that I wanted to do a treasure hunt on campus, so he suggested we go do that. You see, there’s this iPhone app called DreamWalk where you go to various places and either collect a stamp or get an instant win prize. Each stamp is a letter and if you get all the letters to a word, you can win a prize, like an Amazon gift card or movie ticket. Instant win prizes are some form of food that you can eat when you are in that area. Well, the only spots on campus are for stamps for the Victoria’s Secret gift card or a movie ticket. I wasn’t particularly interested in either, so we opted to try out the Geocaching app I had also gotten (and never really used).
There are quite a few on campus, so we headed to one near the IM field and John Wooden Center. I had no idea what exactly to expect or look for, so I felt rather silly standing next to a bike rack, trying not to draw attention to myself while searching. After taking a look at the hints, I was able to find it and was surprised at the huge water bottle full of little goodies! There was nothing I wanted/needed, so I left it as is, but there were some cool items. With our first find under our belt, Panda and I found another one to locate. This time, he saw it and we sat there as two guys on a bench nearby probably wondered what we were sitting on the ground for.
On our walk to the next site, we came across a Star Wars photo shoot. Darth Vader was hanging out around Broad Hall and two Storm Troopers were near the parking structure, one posing in front of a vent and one posing in a tunnel. Amused, we stayed out of the way until people started to walk into the shots, then continued down the tunnel and into the parking structure. There we found our next geocache, cleverly hidden (but unfortunately rusted shut!). I spent a good 15 minutes prying the thing open because I’m stubborn and would never allow such a thing to foil me! 😛 Finally, we headed over near the Chancellor’s residence for our final one, which was in an area most UCLA students are probably not aware of.
After that, we headed back, proud of a good day’s work. It was great to get out, enjoy the day, breathe some outside air, and be active! In the future I definitely want to have more of these adventures with Panda (I don’t think I’d have as much fun alone – plus, it’s a perfect way to spend time together). We even decided to do some team building along the walk back and gave each other piggyback rides, then took turns guiding one another as one person kept his/her eyes closed. Yeah, yeah, cheesy, but we had a lot of fun bonding in so many ways! 🙂
My mom lectured me about smart financial moves today and though I was tired and didn’t really want to think about it, she makes a good point. I can save a lot of money if I take advantage of tax breaks, save and invest wisely, and limit my spending. At this point, I don’t really want to think about it and plan for it, but it really is the time to start as I get a steady paycheck. Unfortunately (and despite one of my majors being Economics), I’m not really interested in the financial field and have little patience for all the complexities of it. At the same time, I can save a lot of money by knowing how to handle my money smartly and not pay a financial advisor to figure that out for me.
It’s a bit of a dilemma because I just don’t have the interest, but the stakes are pretty high and the ultimate benefits do warrant a closer look. As of now I’ve been letting my Roth IRA money sit there, whiling away, but what I need to do is invest it in a somewhat aggressive mutual fund or index or something. There are many other things to do, such as figure what areas of tax avoidance I can take advantage of (note that that’s not the same as tax evasion, which is illegal). I need to put in a lot of time and effort into this area, but I just don’t have the interest. I wish I could just let someone else handle it, but why spend good money on something I can learn myself?
At least if I start early in my working life (like now), I’ll be setting myself up for a better future that will be able to ride out the periodic financial downs. I just wish it wasn’t so complicated.
It’s the time again, when people’s sinuses get the best of them and somehow spring brings with it no shortage of colds. I got sick last week and coughed my way through many days before the temperature of the office was thankfully brought up to less than freezing. Interestingly, the guy sitting next to me was out sick the second day I was ill, then when he returned the following day, the guy next to him was out! Must have been passed on between us. 😛 One of the guys at a company we work with told me he got sick and was out yesterday too. Yeesh, the bug is getting around. Have you gotten it?
Now this week I’m not sick, but my nasal cavity is still not at its best. This morning I lost my voice a bit and this week Panda has been borderline sick as well. I joked that since I probably gave it to him, I’m not going to get it back from him – no tag-backs, right? So I’m not afraid of getting sick again, but I do need my throat to cooperate before I’ll be back to normal again. It sucks when you sound like you’ve just woken up throughout the entire work day. I’ve been drinking warm water and wearing two jackets all week, but obviously that hasn’t worked as quickly or effectively as I had hoped.
So all you healthy people out there, beware! Eat some extra fruit, drink some extra water, and stay warm. Before we know it, this will all be over and summer will be in full swing. I can’t wait!
I am greatly amused by how fitting the avatars generated for my commentators tend to be. The girls get “prettier” ones and the guys get more bold ones (not to gender stereotype, but personality-wise these people tend to fit those profiles). If you want to see what yours is, just comment on my blog and the little square picture that shows up is your avatar. If you see a picture, that means you created a Gravatar, so you’d either have to comment using an email different from your Gravatar, or go deactivate your picture for a bit to see what would have been generated for you.
I don’t know what type of algorithm is used to translate an email address into an avatar and it’s probably completely random, but I do feel that you’ll like get an image that you like and/or seems fitting for you. Perhaps it’s all my imagination, but I can’t help but think that! If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself and see what you think! The style I chose is called “Identicon” and all images are single-colored geometric patterns. There’s also a set called “Wavatar” and another called “MonsterID” – the former I’m not very familiar with and seems to be little geometric creatures, while the latter is a bunch of fun little monster cartoons.
Go ahead, give it a try and let me know if you like what you get! 🙂
Tonight was my first time going to Spring Sing in Pauley Pavilion and it was a really fun experience. The one thing I love about being indoors is that I won’t get cold! So tonight I could really focus on the performances at hand. Also, I went with Panda and Houdini and some other friends I haven’t seen in a long time, which made it very enjoyable too. Now what really struck me about the night, as I was watching all the great entertainment that Company (the crew that does the comedic skits between all the acts) does, was how much I will miss some of my Bruin moments.
A lot of what they do is inspired by making parodies of what life on campus is like for students and there are more than your fair share of inside jokes. I haven’t been away long enough to really miss college, but hearing about swiping into the dining halls and the crazy squirrels reminded me of the fond memories I’d created along the way. There was one joke about passing out a book called “Wild Animals” on Bruinwalk that I didn’t get because it came about after I left. I’m going to be sad when more and more of those references begin to slip by me as I get outdated. Thankfully, there will always be our staple jokes about Trojans and North vs. South campus and Bruinwalk. I’m starting to miss the good old times, when I was one of those “in” students who understood everything.
Tonight, like many other nights in the past month or so, Panda and I went to the Apple store to play on the iPads. We’ve entered a couple of sweepstakes to try to win one, but in the mean time we’ve been going every week or so to play Flight Control HD on the devices there. It’s fun to play a game we both like that we can work on together, plus it’s nice to get out at night. Share experiences strengthen our bond and give us nice memories to look back on.
And so, week after week, we will go out and play that game together. Today we managed to get 100 planes! On my own I can get over 200, but as a team it’s far harder and it forces us to try harder. 🙂 Now if we do win an iPad, we’ll spend more time playing together at home. Today I tested it and I we can play the game with one person on an iPad and the other on the iPhone, so I’m excited. Just gotta win one now!
