Ball games

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I seem to only be able to play block or ball-like puzzle/strategy games and when I do, I do so with a zest.  Recently I have been obsessed with three of them, in three different mediums.  On my iPod touch, there’s Bubble Burst; on the computer, there’s Bubble Spinner; and in real life there’s Lonpos.  All use balls in different ways to create games that I find addicting to play.  I guess part of it is because I can be decently good at them and part of it stems from my Tetris gaming days.  Sometimes I find myself playing these things for hours, shooting for amazing results.  So much time goes into them!

bubble burst iphone game high score

My high score on the easy level.


Bubble Burst is a game where balls fall into a given box region and you tap ones of the same color to get rid of them.  Mystery boxes fall down and you tap them to get prizes, which can be good or bad.  Sometimes the balls will bounce right out of the container and with each one you lose, a life is lost until you die.  This is a fun game for me to play whenever I am on the road, since I can just pull out my iPod and tap away.  The unfortunate thing is that you can’t save it mid-game, so you have to either finish or quit before you can access the other functions on your device.  However, you can press the power button to turn off the game and essentially freeze it until you decide to continue playing.  My high score on this game reached 28,007,888 once!  That was on the normal level though; for the hard level I usually shoot for 400,000 and for the extreme level I go for 200,000.

bubble spinner game on deadwhale.com
Bubble Spinner is a game that Panda introduced to me.  A sextagonal shape of balls appears, spinning on a center.  You shoot balls at it and get rid of ones of the same color if there are three or more when you shoot your ball.  With each hit, the “wheel” spins accordingly and you have to work with some crazy angles on this thing.  Gray balls along the bottom indicate how many more balls you can throw without making the minimum three before you get attacked by extra balls flying in.  When you get rid of all the balls, a new set appears and with each level up, that is how many points you get per ball removed.  What I love best about this game is that there is absolutely no time pressure, so if you need to get distracted, you can leave the game without pausing and come back whenever you want.  Sometimes you lose out a little if you pause on a game that is timed, but there’s no worries like that for this one.  They’ve also got some random “soothing” music playing in the background, which is nice to listen to at times.  My high score on that one is 56,374.  Oh, and this is one you can share your score for on Facebook, if you’re into competing with your friends.

lonpos game of plastic pieces like tetris

There are 12 pieces in all, ranging between 3 and 5 balls connected in a unique shape.


Finally, Lonpos is a game I discovered when at a friend’s relative’s place in Germany.  They are kind of like tetris pieces, but fit into a triangular shape container.  It takes a certain spatial ability to perfectly fit them all in one of the 15 possible ways.  The more complicated versions then turn them into 3D puzzles.  It’s hard to explain until you try it.  I’ve managed to solve the basic one a few times, though it always takes awhile, and back in Germany I got the 3D ones but now I forget how they work.  I really wanted one when I first found out about it nearly two years ago, but I could only find it online for over $100 (and if I remember correctly, closer to $160!).  Thank goodness I waited – I found this set in Hong Kong for only HKD 10!  🙂

And there you have it – my gaming obsessions.  Nothing nearly as complicated as video games or whatever else is out there.  I prefer simple balls, used in creative ways.

YouData: slow and steady

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I’ve been subscribing to this lady called “Dealicious Mom” who e-mails out frequently about freebies and coupons that she finds.  I’ve gotten some good deals out of it, like two free tacos at Jack-in-the-Box.  Well, most recently she introduced me to YouData, which I have found to be a great way of making a few extra dollars here and there.

youdataBasically YouData takes the middle man out of the advertising cycle, linking you straight with advertisers interested in getting your attention.  You therefore get paid directly from them for clicking on a link and going to check out their website.  It doesn’t give much, with anywhere from 5 cents to 15 cents per click.  So far I’ve averaged a dime a click, which isn’t bad.  You get paid to your PayPal account every Friday and I just received my first payout!  It’s not much, but it’s something I wouldn’t have had otherwise.  The site is still growing, so there aren’t that many offers up yet and there is no guaranteed supply – patience is key here!

I like them a lot though, because they really feel like an honest way to earn money.  After all, what is a second of my time worth?  Plus, with ads targeted at my demographic, it’s actually stuff I may be interested in, which can improve my life.  Most people will probably look at this and think to themselves, but that’s hardly anything.  Well, certainly, but everything adds up.  I’ve been a member of MyPoints for years and I’ve never taken them up on a deal, but I always click the e-mails I get to get the 5 points just for viewing the offer.  From that and a few special offers, I have accumulated over 12,600 points.

So similarly, over the years this can start off just making a difference of pennies, then nickels and dimes and quarters and dollars.  Eventually, I can look back to see that I’ve earned dozens if not hundreds of dollars just by taking a few seconds a week to click and check out relevant ads.  That makes me feel good and realistically, money doesn’t just come so easily, so this feels worth it.  I shared it with my fraternity brothers on our listserv, but I don’t know if they’ll all see the value and potential in this.  Whatever the case, I’ll keep using it and sharing it with anyone who might be interested.

Why not go sign up too?

Green me!

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photo credit: blackstarproject.org

photo credit: blackstarproject.org

I am in the market for a car.  Why?  You know, I’m not quite sure.  But hey, it’s the last thing my mom will do for me before she sends me off to fend for myself.  Of course, I can still bum my living situation off her for the allotted three months before she starts to charge me a minimal rent.  Besides, might as well take advantage of the government’s stimulus plan and save a thousand or so, right?  All of this came up rather randomly and suddenly the first full day I was back.  My mom and I spent the day finding out about getting me a new phone and we decided to drop by the dealers’ strip at night to have a quick browse at what there was.  Sadly, I’m not the most original, so I pretty much just wanted to look at the brands we’ve owned: Toyota and Lexus.

photo credit: vietnamcar.com

photo credit: vietnamcar.com

Originally my budget was $30,000, but that was dropped down to $20,000 when my mom saw some of the price tags for the cars on the lots.  After a bit more searching, she settled to something more like $23,000, which should get me a decent set of brand new wheels.  I think I can probably stretch that a little if I need, though hopefully I won’t.  I checked out Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan and try as I might, I still find the Camry the nicest-looking.  And yes, I do not want to buy a car unless I think it looks nice.  Most have short, stubby trunks that I find utterly unattractive and others just have the wrong shape in general.  I liked the features of the Altima but I just didn’t like how it looks from the front.  After some pondering, my mom decided that what I need is a mid-size sedan.  I don’t really know what the difference between that and a full size is, but hey, sounds about right!

photo credit: thedailygreen.com

photo credit: thedailygreen.com

I went home and did some research and suddenly it dawned upon me: why am I not looking at hybrids?!  So of course, the first thing I did was only consider the hybrids on the market.  Lucky me, there aren’t too many out there that are mid-size sedans, so it makes choosing easier.  I really just want the Camry, but the Prius has such cool features and the Altima is slightly cheaper and has sliiightly better MPG.  Sadly, I find the Prius ugly and I don’t know if I could bear to own the thing.  I guess a test drive can help me decide.  As for the Altima, though it’s the safest car on the road, I don’t know if the price and MPG differences are big enough to change my mind.  In the end, I’ve come full circle and still got my eye on a Camry Hybrid.

However, I want to go to the dealer’s and ask about all the things that the Prius has and what the Camry can have too.  Usually I’m all about functionality over aesthetics, but for some reason with cars, that’s not so much the case.  I’ll also need to take them both out for a spin.  I’ve heard that the Prius has a “Prius blind spot” and if that bothers me, there’s no way I’m getting it.  The solar panel cooling system and parking assistance sounds so awesome though!  I hope they have that type of technology for the Camry as well.  I wish the Camry’s MPG was better though – only 33 MPG to the Prius’s 50!  How does the Prius get away with being so much cheaper when it has better technology?!  I just don’t understand cars.  All I know is that I’ll probably stay brand loyal for the rest of my life, thanks to the choices that my dad made in my youth.

[You know what I just realized?  Camry = C + mary!  Yeah, this is what happens when I mistype something… amazing discoveries occur.  :-P]

Job market

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My dad just forwarded an e-mail talking about the boom in jobs in the green sector.  That’s great but, umm, where are they?!  I would love a job in some sort of environmental firm, especially if it’s a consultancy.  But alas, the focus seems to mostly be on energy and more technical stuff, so maybe I really should look into starting up my own little thing.  Unfortunately, I would really need a partner who has the scientific background or some sort of environmental degree.  I’ve joked with Panda that I will start up a business with his brother, but hey, I’m totally up for that if it’s possible.  However, I haven’t even met the guy, so that’s really just a fantasy.  More realistically, I’ll be looking for a temp job to start giving me an income, then continuing my search for something a little more permanent as I try to build up a career.

One of my three darling kitties.

One of my three darling kitties.

Today I looked into cat sitting jobs and considered applying to a pet services company.  It’s not exactly my ticket to a high-profile job, but it certainly is my passion.  I have a strong affinity for animals in general and felines in particular.  What’s better than spending my days with them?  I’d get a chance to move around the area, visit a bunch of cats, and occasionally stay over at people’s houses to watch the fellows.  Doesn’t sound like a bad deal, but of course then comes the question: where’s the future in that?  Even if I did run my own little business for that, I see it more as a side gig or something for retirement.  It’s certainly not the type of job I’d like to make a career out of, but more of one I’d like to maintain long-term as a hobby.  Short-term however, it’d be a great job to have as I try to find something with a bit more growth.

What I really want to get into is eco-consultancy, but where do I find such opportunities?  I’ve searched online for quite awhile and came up with Sustainability Works in Santa Monica, which is a non-profit that helps local companies change their ways to become more eco-friendly.  However, their focus is quite narrow and I’d like a company that services the greater Los Angeles area, so I’d get a chance to deal with people from a variety of cities in the area.  It’s surprisingly hard to find a job that apparently is popping up left and right.  Just gotta love how articles only talk about a trend without any sound evidence, with solid examples of companies hiring or something.

Tour themes were always a fun thing to plan.

Tour themes were always a fun thing to plan.

I’m tempted to fall back on some old jobs just to earn some money (hopefully they’ve still got space for me!) in the time being.  Sad how lack of money is such a motivator.  🙁  For the moment, I’m really interested in a job at UCLA.  I remember seeing a friend leading some donors or other important people around campus for a tour and it seems that’s the closest I’ll get to being a tour guide for UCLA after graduation.  Everything else is student-led, so I’m out of luck in my dreams of being a fabulous tour guide (unless I attend graduate school?).  Well, we’ll see, I’ve been browsing the listings and there are some interesting ones!

Lack of motivation

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My trusty scale.

My trusty scale.

I’ve been back for just about five days now and not worked out once.  Instead, I’ve gone to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, stuffed myself with a huge plateful of dumplings, scarfed down a gigantic serving of kimchi fried rice, and fed myself otherwise unhealthy amounts of food.  I’m still happily one jeans size smaller and ten pounds lighter then when I left for Singapore, but who knows how long that will last.  When I first discovered this weight loss, I couldn’t believe it.  I was at the doctor’s and using a kg scale and the conversion just didn’t seem right.  But since I’ve come back I’ve tried a handful of different scales and even tried on pants one size smaller to confirm.  Time and time again, I’ve been amazed that I weigh what I haven’t since my high school days.  Of course it’s not just about weight, but I do feel more sprightly now (though that may just be psychological, who knows).  Nonetheless, it feels good and I’m still a healthy weight.  So, to keep it that way, I’ve really got to buckle down and get myself to work out during the day at some point, but it’s just too easy to fall back into my lazy routine.

Oh yes, a most familiar scene.

Oh yes, a most familiar scene.

Let me describe to you my life after college and before my stint in Singapore.  I’d wake up ridiculously late, anywhere from 2 or 3 in the afternoon to even 6 PM at times.  I’d casually drag myself out of bed in the heat and either go downstairs to pig out for a bit or go online and sit on the bed, typing away.  At some point I’d hop in the shower to wash away the grossness from lounging around all day.  I’d eat dinner around 8 PM and occasionally go for a nighttime stroll with my mother afterwards, as I promised my dad I would when he went back to China and couldn’t accompany her anymore.  We’d walk for about an hour in the brisk night, then I’d get back and hop straight back into bed, prop myself up, and go online for the remainder of the night.  I even set up a little snack station next to my bed, so a variety of food and drinks would be available within arms reach.  I’d stay up all night on my laptop and fall asleep sometime between 6-9 AM, when the world lit up again and everyone else around me was just starting their day.

It’s no wonder I didn’t lose any of the weight I’d gained in college, despite eating less overall.  Instead, my belly grew out a little and my thighs thickened, though of course I never noticed a thing, with such gradual changes.  I don’t want that to happen to me again, so I’m trying to spend less time working on the bed and go downstairs to the dining room table to go online.  I’ve also been keeping busy meeting up with people and hanging out in the places that I love.  Unfortunately, much of that involves food, and plenty of it!  It’s ok though, I just need to get off my butt and get my heart rate up to keep off any buildup.  Maybe I’ll dust off that bike in the garage, or maybe I’ll bring out my beloved longboard.  I do plan on learning how to surf once Ninja gets back from being Indiana Jones, so that should help with toning!

But for now, I have little motivation and all the reason to lounge around in bed all day.  I’ve really got to start looking for a job though.

Cabaret

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Tonight, Panda, Opti, Doc, and I went for a spin back at our old stomping grounds – the cabaret performance that Orientation Staff puts on for incoming first years.  Cabaret consists of a series of acts that include musical numbers and some skits.  O-Staff creates all of the performances, generally with a spirited Bruin theme, to get these students pumped up to join the UCLA Bruin family.  A lot of inside jokes are shared, including the famous one: “A Trojan is good only once, but a Bruin is forever.”  Of course, we can’t avoid a bit of good-humored poking at the USC Trojans, who are our arch-rivals.  The UCLA-USC rivalry is probably the greatest intra-city rivalry in the nation, so we’ve got to teach the incoming classes to be prideful!

Just being back on campus for the first time in months was nice, with everything so familiar, yet with bits of new developments showing up, like the new police station that is partly built now and the area by Pauley Pavilion that’s fenced off for the tennis tournament.  Entering the ballroom just before the performance brought back memories of when I used to groove to the music and go for a few spins around the large room on my longboard.  Then it was just spotting after spotting of people we knew, from those who have been around for 4 or 5 years to those who joined when I did last year.  I went around saying hi and hugging as many people as I could find amongst the crowd before settling down to watch the show.

DSC07550

The staff on stage teaching the 8-clap.

Many of the acts were still familiar and some were new, but the same Orientation flavor was in all of them.  It was my first time truly seeing it as an audience member and it went by faster than I remembered.  The four of us marveled afterward in how much shorter it seemed to feel, but in looking at the time, it didn’t seem that much shorter.  Strange, isn’t it?  I guess being backstage and part of the acts makes it seem like a lot more time passes.  At times, Panda was tempted to help out his fellow engineer and a returning counselor, Ra, who seemed to be the only one doing stage crew work most of the evening.  I remembered last year how I’d help out here and there, though sometimes I’d feel like I was more in the way when there were too many hands helping out.

It was really nice to go back and see everyone again.  I feel very out of place with the people I don’t know, but it’s almost as if not much has changed with those who I do know.  I still think of them as fondly and remember those wonderful days of living up in a beautiful residence hall with the staff that I got to spend so much time with last summer.  I loved what we did and the time I spent fulfilling a dream I’d had since I was a little high school graduate, ready to embark on my college career.  Though my memories of my own Orientation experience are limited to a general positive feeling and scattered memories of fun times, it left a lasting impression and I’m really glad I got the chance to work on O-Staff before I lost that opportunity.  Plus, I got to meet Panda there.  🙂

New gadget

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After much deliberation and visits to AT&T, Best Buy, Walmart, and Costco, as well as some websites, I settled on the LG Xenon as my new phone.  So far it’s been alright, though I think the original calibration wasn’t so great so I redid it.  Now I don’t seem to hit as many wrong buttons, but we’ll see.  Maybe the Vu would have been better, but that one doesn’t have a keyboard, so I’d be completely screwed if the calibration was messed up.  Whether or not this is the best phone out there for me, it’s got all the basics that I wanted, so I was eager to buy it as soon as I decided.

lg xenonThis time around, I felt a bit outdated, since apparently in the past few years, bluetooth and cameras have become a default in phones.  Well, that’s good because I wanted both, as well as a slot for a MicroSD card and a simple, clean interface.  Unfortunately, though the outside looks simple, once you turn on the phone, there is a mess of buttons and symbols that I need to get used to.  Not as easy I as thought it’d be.  The irony of convenience in electronics is that you often need to learn the system first.  Until then, it’s all confusing – exactly the stage I’m at!

I ended up choosing Costco’s deal because they gave a free car charger and case and waived the fees.  Upon opening the package, I found I got an earpiece too!  Not a bad deal.  Now I just need to learn how to navigate the thing and update everyone who needs to know on my new number.  I hope this one is up for a bit of dropping and crushing.  I seem to be rather careless with my devices.  :-/

Readjustment

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It’s ironic that I’m having more trouble finding time to write after returning, since I have no set schedule in my life and therefore could really do it anytime.  Of course, instead I find myself distracted and not even noticing how much time goes by.  Granted, I’ve been doing a lot of things to settle back in, like depositing money into the bank and looking into a new phone to get.  I even confirmed the weight I lost while away and began to car hunt.  Now I’m rather tired and running late for an entry, but it’s way past my bedtime.  My scalp managed to fall asleep so I’ve got this strange tingling on my head and it’s quite hot in my room, which is making me veeery lazy…

I’m going to sleep now before I do something to jeopardize the lack of jetlag, thanks to my carefully-planned sleeping pattern to allow a fast adjustment back to PST.

In transit

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Oh no!  I’ve missed a day, so I will make a quick belated entry.

Friday morning started with a very groggy me lounging in bed half-awake, trying to will myself up when I got a call from Mizu.  Thinking it was my alarm, I picked up the object ringing at me and pressed something, apparently picking up.  I read the screen and wondered why Mizu’s name appeared when it dawned on me that I had picked up the phone.  Confused, I spoke into it and found him speaking back to me, telling me he’d be there in just a few minutes.  I rushed to get ready and woke up Typea as planned, so he could help lock up after I went out.  It took some stuffing, but we managed to get all my luggage in the car, all the while wondering how we managed to do it the first time around, even with a full car.  With that, we were off to pick up Zen and meet Starfish at the airport.

I can't believe this is the only picture I took in the airport.

I can't believe this is the only picture I took in the airport.

I checked in with no problems and even had 5 kg to spare in one of my bags, so I added some more to it from my carry-on.  The four of us got some breakfast together and then said our goodbyes as I headed in.  Once I made it through the passport check, I waved to my little sending party and went to my gate.  I enjoyed the free internet they had and sent an e-mail to Panda before I boarded the plane for the first leg of the trip.  I had been given an emergency exit window seat for more leg room, but I hadn’t realized that the window would be so far away when I had agreed to it, so I regretted my decision.  The trip to Tokyo was fast and painless and soon enough it was time to get off, go through security, and reboard the plane with a fresh crew.

This time I asked for any other window seat and the air hostess got a guy to switch seats with me.  I had a nice chat with the people sitting next to me and then enjoyed a few movies before taking a nap.  Unfortunately, much of the latter part of the ride was suffered in discomfort as the girl sitting behind me put her knees up on the back of my chair and began to move around constantly, kicking, kneeing, and pushing the seat annoyingly.  I decided to take it as an erratic massage or a broken massage chair of sorts.  I didn’t know if bringing it up would just make it worse, so I just kept moving around every time she did.  I definitely liked her best when she was asleep.  At least I figured out why my chair wouldn’t lean back at first when I tried earlier on.

Looks like an upside-down dolphin.  Where are we?

Looks like an upside-down dolphin. Where are we?

After way too long, we had breakfast and began our descent into LAX.  I watched the scenery pass by, trying to spot the UCLA campus or anything else I may recognize, but I couldn’t tell which cluster of tall buildings was downtown and everything else looked unrecognizable.  Coming out, I found Tom Bradley International Terminal to be under construction – yet another thing that looked foreign to me.  However, once I got out to the street, I was back in my comfort zone, familiar with the area and accent, content with the sunshine and temperature, and ready to be on my way.  I patiently waited for Panda for about 40 minutes (he couldn’t get off work too early) and happily spotted him 15 minutes early!  We loaded up my stuff and I clung to him, thrilled to be able to feel him again.  He’s gotten thinner from the busy, stressful days lately, but gosh, he looks good dressed up.

We got some Quizno’s for lunch and ran a few errands before crashing at his place, which I got to see for the first time.  I was given a card and key so I can let myself in as needed and he read his card to me, as we like to do.  We don’t have an anniversary day, but it’s about that time, so he got me a Happy Anniversary card.  🙂  I gave him the tie and cuff links I bought him and promised him his other gift the next time I see him, since that one was buried somewhere in my luggage.  We got to hang out for a few hours before my mom came to pick me up and get dinner.  I spent the rest of the night unpacking and telling my mom stories about all the things I had acquired (which really wasn’t much).  Strangely, I don’t feel like I was gone for so long.  Everything is pretty much as it was and I immediately fell back into most of my old life patterns.  Things do smell different though.

Farewells

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Ah, what a nice soiree we just had at the office tonight.  It was time to celebrate the months spent together and say goodbye to some of our interns (myself included), who are moving on to the next phase of our lives.  There are three of us who are leaving within the next couple of weeks and I’m the earliest to go, so we arranged to get together the night before my flight.  It was so nice to see everyone come out, including some of the people who have been busy lately and who I have not seen in weeks.  The turnout was spectacular, with really only one person I can think of who I would have liked to come.

It felt very much Singaorean.

It felt very much Singaorean.

We started off with a feast of jackfruit fried rice, chicken wings, veggies, and yam cake coupled with a sort of lime drink, wine, or juice.  As the conversations flowed and everyone filtered in, some of the people got a game of charades started while others chilled out in the back.  There was a lot of laughter from all areas, since nearly all of us know each other, and the atmosphere was cozy and comfortable.  It was a really nice chance to see everyone one more time before I fly off and don’t get to see them for who knows how many months or years.  So, I took pictures as I always do, as a way to commemorate the event and have a way of looking back on this final night.  In the years to come I can look back and smile as I remember the intimate gathering of the people I’d gotten to know in my five months here.

When the first people were about to head out, we gathered everyone together and each of us got a card, as well as a chance to address the group and talk about our experiences.  I took the opportunity to individually thank everyone there for the parts that they’ve played in making me feel welcome here and taking care of me when I needed help.  In fact, many of them have been instrumental in my survival here, offering me their time, attention, and even homes as I needed.  I felt a fondness towards everyone, even those who I hadn’t gotten a chance to know well because of too few encounters.  Since I had not anticipating speaking, I pointed them out in a general order of involvement and touched on some of the things that made them so special to me.  Of course, a lot could not be said, so I hope they feel appreciated enough, because they certainly are.

Time for some thank yous.

Time for some thank yous.

From there, things wound  down as people bustled around cleaning and I finished packing everything from my desk.  As everyone left, I got multiple reminders to remember my passport, teasing me about the time I forgot it recently as I embarked upon my little vacation a few weeks ago.  I assured them that I would have everything with me this time and I’d take extra care with the passport this time.  😛  Eventually, we were all ready to go and went back to rest for the early start tomorrow.  Last minute, Zen’s car became available, so he, Mizu, and Starfish are apparently going to send me off tomorrow morning before they all head to work.  Isn’t that lovely?  🙂

So with that, I should catch a nap before I need to be up and ready to go.

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