At the office one day, we get a surprise visitor!
I was trying to get him to look at me - it's hard!
His name is Troy and he's a whopping 13!
Furry office friend
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: animals, opportunity green, pictures
07
November
2009
0
My future pets
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: animals, future, passion, pictures
06
November
2009
I made my temporary pet clams a little pool to chill in.
Close-up of one of them.
They're everywhere! So many potential pets!
Victoria Peak
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, hong kong, pictures, storytelling, travel, travel tales
05
November
2009
Nestled in the hillside of Hong Kong is Victoria Peak, one of the highest vantage points in all the region. It is well-situated in an area that allows for spectacular views on both the north and south sides (though really it has a great panoramic view), which is probably why it has become a tourist destination. Atop “the Peak,” as it’s known, sits the Peak Tower, a funny goblet-looking building that houses a shopping complex and offers unbeatable views from its rooftop. And so, one sunny day, I went to seek out what the Peak had to offer.
The view going up.
I took the MTR to Central Station and began to follow the sparse signs to get to the Peak Tram. After climbing up a very steep hill, I finally found a sign that assured me I was going in the right direction. Right around that corner was the tram station, tucked away under one of the many high rises in the area. I got myself a ticket and waited for the tram to arrive, marveling at the steep grade of the hill. I don’t think even San Francisco has such a steep incline!
The tram eventually made its way down, gently halting before letting off its people. I got in and grabbed a window seat, wondering what the grooves in the ground were for. It wasn’t until we were climbing up the mountain that I realized without those grooves, people would slide the entire length down the aisle. Along the way were some stops, which showed us just how vertical we were. Eventually, we got high enough to begin seeing some wonderful views. Everyone stared out the right side of the tram car to enjoy the landscape before us. After a few minutes, we reached our destination and filed out into the gift shop of the Peak Tower. Clever move on their part.
So many shiny things!
I, however, ignored all the flashy items and headed straight up. I came across the Bubba Gump’s that is up in the Tower and decided to settle for a quick lunch. I got a table with a fantastic view of the harbor and enjoyed a lovely meal there. As soon as I could, I took the final escalator up to the roof, where a gentle breeze filled the air and beautiful photos ops were everywhere. I took some pictures myself and asked another tourist to take some for me as well. Below me lay a clump of buildings on Hong Kong Island. On the opposite end was a view of the ocean dotted with islands, stretching out into the horizon. Along the face of the hill was a windy road for cars to drive along and in the distance, housing for those privileged enough to get such nice property. There was even a little garden for strolling that I wish I had the time to go visit!
I wanted to stay longer to enjoy the peaceful view and bright skies, but I had a ferry ride to catch, so I took a quick spin around the perimeter of the roof and headed back down to catch the next tram down. My visit, though brief, was still satisfying.
The south side view, in case you were wondering.
County fair animals
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: animals, county fair, experiences, los angeles, pictures
04
November
2009
Queen bee: she's the one with the yellow dot.
Residential life
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, friends, memories, opinion, pictures, storytelling, ucla
03
November
2009
A lovely neighborhood to spend your undergraduate years in. 🙂
I lived on campus at university for four years, three at UCLA and one at York. Though at times I felt a little old, I never regretted it and I’m really glad that I had the foresight to do so. After all, apartment life is plentiful after graduating, but dorm life is limited to those few years. Or should I say, residential life? The Office of Residential life was always very picky about what words they used to describe things: residence hall, rather than dormitory; learning center, rather than computer lab; dining halls or boutique eateries, rather than cafeterias or restaurants. It’s true enough, the words you use do carry a certain connotation, so residential life it is. Sounds more homey, doesn’t it? Exactly the point.
So anyway, I loved the residential life experience mainly because of its openness. Where else can you keep your door open whenever you’re in, say hi to your neighbors for no good reason without getting weird looks, and hang out in the hallways and lounges for fun? Everyone is free to be wherever they want, whenever they want and they’re not judged for it. Imagine laying around in the hallway of an apartment complex. It just feels wrong. Yet doing so in the middle of the night in the res halls was perfectly normal (and could even make you some new friends).
Pow wows in the hallway... not so much uncommon.
People feel safer and are more trusting in an environment where everyone is the same. We’re all just students, barely adults, all new to the place and finding our way in life. It’s great to have the freedom to sleep whenever we want, eat (nearly) whatever we want whenever we want, and socialize however we want. It also helps that we have food available to us from about 7 AM to 2 AM every day! We don’t have to worry about cooking our own food and a delicious meal is but a card swipe away. That also makes it much more conducive for people to socialize over shared food. I really do think there is no better uniter than a good meal. In fact, I do most of my socializing with some sort of nourishment, whether it’s a meal, dessert run, or just a drink.
Bruin Cafe is a popular place for students to get grub! photo credit: ASiUU on flickr
Besides all of that, being in college in general is just great. Thousands of students of (generally) similar caliber are alongside you, everyone learning amazing things in their respective majors. Most have no idea what they’re going to accomplish in their lives and have a world of possibilities ahead of them. For many, it’s the first time they’ve lived away from home and get to experience the freedom to schedule their lives however they like. There’s a great energy in the air in residential halls, which are bustling with life anywhere from 8 AM to 2 AM. And there certainly is no other place like it on earth. Especially none quite like UCLA on-campus living!
Broken and fragile
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: pictures, technology
02
November
2009
Not very durable, are they?
At one point it started to sizzle. Not good.
The metal tip just snapped.
I am now on my third charger for the same laptop! Yikes.
Ultimately (in professional terms)
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: business, future, ninja, opinion, passion, technology, work
01
November
2009
In the struggle to find a job to even begin a career with, I’ve had quite a lot of time to think of where I want to go in my professional life. I’ve known for a long time that I want to start my own company (or maybe even many). In fact, I’m going to say I will start my own company. I just haven’t quite settled on what it will be yet, though I’ve been thinking eco-consulting for awhile now. But I’ve realized that that is not what I want to do ultimately. It’s a milestone that I will cross at some point, however well or poorly it goes. But ultimately? I’d like to be an angel investor, making sure the solutions I see in life are executed.
Of course that means that I will need to somehow become super rich first. When I told Ninja that what I really want is to be really rich, he was like, “Duh, don’t we all?” When I went on to explain why, however, he understood that I wasn’t making just a shallow comment. I want to make a difference in this world and there are so many places I can see myself doing that, if only I had the money! I would really just love to spend my time thinking of solutions to problems I see and then finding the best people to execute them. I’d set them up with the resources they need and give them whatever guidance necessary to get them on their way. From there, I’d hope they’d be able to take over and run a profitable and socially-conscious enterprise. If I could do this, then I’d start a company like Mary Qin, Inc., to be a holding company for all those little niche companies I could create.
I’d go about getting a sensible public transportation system, sharing riding system, or something set up for the Los Angeles area to ease the traffic and pollution problems. I’d get an electronic receipt system going so we stop wasting paper on receipts that most people are unlikely to look at and most will just lose anyway. I’d also get that system linked to our credit cards so that whenever we check our bills, we can see the receipt associated with each charge. No more hunting through piles of paper! I could finally get a vocational school for athletes going both here and in the UK, so we could cultivate athletes who are ready for all stages of life. Then I could set up a research think tank where people can submit ideas for researchers to carry out. I guess Google’s kind of already doing this, but it would be free for people to send in ideas and no guarantee on if their submission is chosen (whereas Google’s is contracted). Really I’d love to tackle my “hopelist” and parts of my “ideaslist.”
So here’s to getting a job, being extremely profitable, then setting up a foundation or something to implement the solutions I so dearly want to see.
Markets and bazaars
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, fun, hong kong, panda, pictures, shopping, singapore, storytelling, thailand, travel, travel tales
31
October
2009
I got the 3D ones so they can stand on their own (the other ones are flat and only have two legs).
To continue my story about shopping (and sandals)…
Since my trip to Chatuchak, the big weekend market, didn’t yield anything to show for all my troubles, I decided to go to the Bangkok Night Bazaar for a second go at getting some Thai memorabilia. I instantly liked the place better – even though it had a smaller selection, it had more of the things I like. I managed to find some adorable little elephant keychains that would be perfect gift items. I came across a stall with the type of lamps that I’ve always wanted to get once I have my own place – it was a pity I couldn’t purchase them yet! I treated myself to a purple stone ring and a pair of earrings and I even got Panda a leather wallet (which I felt he needed as a symbol of professionalism).
I first saw a white one of these at Pinkberry's.
It tickles a lot at first. I had to take my feet out a few times and just giggle it out!
I had heard that there was a fish spa at this market, so I asked around until I found one. It was pricier than the girl at the hostel had told me, so I decided to keep looking. (Plus it was decorated with way too much pink – I don’t think I could have sat in there for very long.) I eventually got directed to the right place and happily stuck my feet in for a 15 minutes. The fish quickly came along and began to gently nibble at my feet and ankles. Since the skin around ankles is very thin, it tickled a lot when they targeted that area, so I was chuckling to myself quite often. After a few minutes, I got more used to it and no longer had to wiggle my feet to shoo the fish away for a moment or take my feet out entirely to recover. I was tempted to go for another 15 minutes, but decided that for the first time, that was plenty. My feet felt softer and refreshed afterward, though I’m not sure if it was because of the fish or just soaking my feet in water. I’m pretty sure the dead skin that the fish got rid of for me was a major factor though. Too bad there aren’t fish spas where I live! They’re supposed to be good for people with skin conditions, like eczema and psoriasis, and though I don’t think I have those, I do have strange skin conditions sometimes.
Was there a clump of yummy goodness there or something?
Just like grandpa's house, complete with white cloths to help the birds sleep!
Now as for Hong Kong, there was quite the variety of markets available! I spent an entire day going from the Bird Market to the Flower Market to the Goldfish Market to the Ladies’ Market to the Jade Market and finally to the Night Market. It was a little tricky to find the Bird Market, but when I got there, I felt like I was walking into my childhood. The gates were of a traditional Chinese design, the bird cages were the bamboo types that my grandfather uses, and there were some Chinese men sitting around enjoying the chirps of the birds.
I love that Chinese people use porcelain bowls to feed their birds!
Right next to that was the Flower Market, true to its name with a lot of flowers and plants in general. Actually, a lot of what they sold were just plants, but hey “Plant Market” hardly sounds as appealing, right? This place was a treasure trove, with brilliantly-colored flowers, plants shaped to look like little green creatures, bouquets bursting with all kinds of species, huge lily flowers, and even lotus flowers, complete with buds! My favorite were the vases that eat flies. I’ve always wanted a Venus flytrap, so any “carnivorous” plant will do! Oh, and I also liked the kitty who was sitting in one of the shops. 😛
A bit of a walk away was the Goldfish Market, which was more of an amazing animal market. It was mostly aquarium type animals, but I did find some adorable little kittens and even this crazy HUGE beetle that was about the size of a child’s fist. It was still true to its name though, with a huge variety of goldfish for sale, often put out in rows and rows of plastic bags, ready to be taken off the rack. Some were the normal goldfish you think of, but many were these cute globe-shaped ones, so plump they were practically spherical. I also came across some unassuming shells that turned out to be hermit crabs! I’d totally spend my weekends on this street if I lived in Hong Kong. I wish I could have gotten new pets, but alas, international travel with live animals is either a big no-no or is at least extremely troublesome.
Next up was the Ladies’ Market! At first I was afraid I’d miss it, but once I got to the street bordering one end of it, I discovered how silly that idea was. There was NO mistaking the dense market that suddenly appeared. I happy began my shopping spree, getting dresses and flip flops for myself, a tie for Panda, cuff links for the men at C&S, and compact mirrors for the ladies at C&S. I did a decent job bargaining (or at least I felt like I did) and I found some great stuff, so I was very happy by the end of it! Just for kicks, I dropped by the Jade Market and Night Market, but by then I was back to just window shopping. I did go by this one area that sold adult toys and such, which was completely random. I also managed to get a Lonpos set for only 10 HKD!!! After waiting a year and a half, it was completely worth it. The only other set I had found previously was around $100, so this was a fabulous deal.
All in all a great shopping experience! 🙂 My wallet even agrees, albeit reluctantly. ;-P
Oddities
laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: amusing, friends, los angeles, pictures
30
October
2009
How'd you like to find this in your bathroom stall?
Sooo my friend uses her phone with this sticker still on it. o.O
Well, this is the pedestrian crossing button I would have pressed to try to get the white man to show up sooner, but...
Gusty day
laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, los angeles, pictures, storytelling
29
October
2009
photo credit: WGB Photography on flickr
Indoors, with the windows open and suddenly the wind picks up. Clouds loom overhead, cooling the air. Doors rattle with the passing gusts and an eerie feeling settles. Outside, the tree shakes its branches, letting down a shower of leaves. Only the strong ones hold on as the dying ones drift to the ground, creating a loud rustling noise. It’s too dark to not turn on the lights, but too bright with them. The air thickens with the gloom of a potential storm, heavy with unseen particles. Everything feels ominous.
On the drive home, an ambulance approaches from the right at an intersection, howling to get vehicles out of its way. Stopped at the intersection, you wait for it to make its turn towards the buildings behind you. The ones you just left. As firetrucks honk their way from the opposite end, turning in the same direction as the ambulance, you wonder if they will go near where you just had been. Did the weather bring along with it trouble? A foreboding sense creeps up on you as you drive off towards home. Away from danger, away from trouble, you hope.
At the next intersection, leaves swirl in furious spirals in front of you as you wait for the red light to change. All the excess from nearby trees has been brought down to clutter the curbside. With each car that passes, another puff of dust is left in its wake, blurring your vision. You watch as the palms sway vigorously, so high up. One has even thrashed down a frond that lies forlornly in the road, being run over by the traffic passing by. For a moment you wonder if the apocalypse could start like this – just a dreary, troublesome day… much like when the Santa Ana winds blow and bring with them strange behavior.
Unexpectedly, you feel your car move. Did someone just bump into you? You check in your mirrors and find nothing wrong. All the cars are a safe distance away. The car moves again. This time you recognize it – the gentle rocking from a surge of wind. You didn’t realize the rushing air had reached down low to shake your car. After all, it was just the treetops that were affected, right? But no, the undeniable push of the winds tells you otherwise and you wonder if this is how it feels to be in your car during an earthquake.
What an odd day.
