Since my buddy Simbathe2nd was able to write down some of his, I figure I’ll go for it as well.  Here’s some things you may not have known about me:

1.  Although I know the chances are low, I often time entertain the thought that I might bump into my future girlfriend whenever I go out in public.  I blame all those meet-cute situations that happen on television/movies.

2.  I don’t curse in front of people usually, but when I’m alone (say, in a car by myself in traffic) I can probably make Eminem blush.  I certainly got that from my dad (except he would cuss regardless if there’s people around).

3.  After all this time, I still occasionally see something that will make me flash back to an old memory of something an ex and I used to do, even though I’ve long since been over her.  I’m pretty sure it has to do more with the particular activity as oppose to the particular person.  It’s very annoying when this happens because I end up spacing out for a few seconds until I snap out of it.

4.  If you wear a sundress, I will more than likely give you a double take.  My neck has been bothering me all summer, consequently.

5.  You can tell when I’m really mad when I become absolutely silent.  You don’t want to know what thoughts are flying around in my head if you ever get me to that point.  Don’t worry though; it takes A LOT to get me there (i.e. a rude, disrespectful woman who thinks she can get away with offending my family, co-worker, and me in a public setting, but I digress).  I’m usually a pretty easy going guy, although I tend to worry a lot.

6.  I’m starting graduate school tomorrow, and my biggest worry isn’t failing classes, meeting new people, studying, papers, or tests, but having to give public speeches about boring assignments.  I can talk in front of people about things that I find interesting, but I get extremely nervous if I talk about a topic I’m not really connected to (i.e. statistics).

7.  If you ever want to hear my true thoughts about something/someone, catch me when I’m super tired.  I tend to say whatever pops up in my head right there and then, without any editing.  I think most of the time you’ll end up being highly flattered by what I say.

8.  Even though pictures and videos of my little brother have appeared on my blog, I have not officially told him about the existence of my Xanga.  It just makes me feel weird if I knew he read some of the things I write about.  I got a certain image I got to uphold!  =P  However, I wouldn’t be surprise if he knows about this site anyway. 

9.  Whenever a girl mentions that they choose not to drink, despite peer pressure and what society says, it turns me on.  I don’t know why.

10.  I’m actually a pretty popular underground alternative rock singer, but no one really knows about it around here since I do all my promotion and shows in Switzerland.

Just kidding about that last one, but that would be kinda cool huh?

There seems to be some stigma with living with your family after college age in the United States.  In such a individual-oriented society, I can totally understand why this belief is so prevalent.  Most of us are taught that as you grow older you need to be independent and take care of yourself on your own and thus shouldn’t need to live with your parents anymore.

I’m 23, working, about to enter graduate school, and I do not find it necessarily a bad thing to live at home right now.  Do I want to live on my own eventually?  Sure!  There are certainly perks for doing that and I could probably rent out an apartment right now if I really wanted to (props to those that are living on your own while still in school and/or working, especially in this recession).  However, I don’t find it urgent to do so just yet.  Let me explain the reasons why staying with my family feels perfectly normal and perhaps the smartest and most logical route to take at this moment.

It’s how I was raised.  From what I’ve heard, studied, and noticed, it’s very common in Asian culture for the child to stay with their parents as they get older.  In fact, it’s almost expected from them.  My dad and uncle are both housing and taking care of their mothers (my grandmothers), and throughout my life I was told that I should do the same thing.  Do I feel like I need to stay with them forever?  Honestly no, and my family understands that.  Well, at least my parents do; my little brother and grandmother do not want me to leave ever, but I’m sure I will have to when the right time comes.  That time may not come for another year or so because of the next reason.

Money, money, money.  I always told myself that I want to be as debt free as possible before I take on any new bills.  I’m currently paying back my undergraduate loans as well as my graduate school tuition out of my own pocket.  So far, it hasn’t been too difficult (luckily I was raised to save money well), but I know that living elsewhere would put a strain on my budget and quality of life.  By staying at home, I can pay off my debt at a much faster rate than if I was living somewhere else.  Despite the obvious benefits of living elsewhere, the financial benefits of staying home (at least for now) are too great to ignore.  Funny enough, being back at home may have been the right move all along.

Helping my family.  I was away at college for a few years before coming back home.  When I came back, I was shock to discover that my brother has become very lazy and was failing middle school.  Middle school!  As it turned out, he just needed some guidance and motivation, so over the past year I found myself spending a lot of time helping him get back on track.  After all this time,  he’s finally back to getting As and Bs in school and is actually doing something active (tennis) instead of always staying home playing video games.  He now seems like a more happy and confident boy, and that may not have happened had I not been around.  This experience has shown me that despite my selfish wants for living on my own, being at home might be what’s best for my family.

In the end, my goal is still to live elsewhere in the near future, but perhaps not yet.  With the economy the way it is and my current job only 15 minutes away, it doesn’t seem financially smart to find another place to live at this moment.  If I ever get that job I want in VA I’m most definitely going to move down there, but for now I’m perfectly content being home.  Hopefully after reading my reasons, you can understand why I feel this way.

*If you want to read a good blog about this topic, check out this article from Stuff Asian People Like*

Obviously, I’m very aware of all the chatter going around as of late.  Morale seems to be going down as members are leaving out of frustration or so they can go to a “better” place.  I’ll admit that I get sad whenever I see members, especially prominent member in this community, leave.  It’s certainly understandable why people do go and why some people are fearing this place will go under.

Despite all of that, I am still happily right here and not planning on leaving anytime soon.  I’ve been a part of this place for a long time now and will stay here for as long as I can.  Sure, it may be lagging behind in certain areas compared to it’s competitors, but there’s a certain charm to this place that other places do not have.  It’s very personal, and even though the amount of members are shrinking that doesn’t take away from the fact that there are still great people around.  It may not be at the same level it was a few years ago, but this place sure does have a lot to offer still.

For me, I’m just going to keep on doing my thing here.  It has been really good to me over the years, so I can’t really complain too much.  I’ve met so many wonderful people here, so if somehow the inevitable happens I can honestly say I had a great run and was happy to be here all along.

That is why I have not given up on the tennis club that I work at.  We recently got new (and better) management, so already there’s a lot to be optimistic about.  Not going to give up on this place just yet!

….Oh, did you think I was talking about something else?  Well, just take the words I wrote above and apply it to what you thought I was talking about.  My sentiments are pretty much the same.  I won’t be leaving Xanga that easily! 

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In other news, look who I bumped into in Washington, D.C. yesterday:

My goodness was that sun blinding

It was a very spontaneous and last minute meet up.  I got word that she was heading down to D.C., and since I lived close by I figure we should try to see each other.  I was worried that it wouldn’t work out, but it ended up happening and we were able to walk around D.C. for a couple hours.  Very glad I got a chance to meet her, and hopefully I’ll be able to see her again (maybe the next time I head up north?).  She’s a good one!

After checking out oulck‘s posts (here and here), I decided to try this out too.  In the process of looking for an old picture that I could use for this project, I ended up coming across a bunch of old photos of my little brother and me back when we were both about 6 years old (fyi:  we’re 9 years apart).  I have to say, we do seem to have a lot of resemblance back then, yet still have our own styles.  I’ll show you guys some of those pictures later, but first here’s my then and now reenacted vintage photo:

 
I can’t believe I found all those props!  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I don’t own rainbow shirts like that anymore.

That was actually pretty entertaining to do.  Why don’t some of you try it out?

So as I mentioned above, I found some old photos of my little brother and me when we were both around age 6, respectively.  Seems like we each had our own distinct styles, but who rocked their style better?  Take a look and judge for yourself:

Eh, I’ll just call it a draw

A long time ago, I created an account over at OkCupid, primarily to do all their fun tests.  I did dabble on the dating part of the site later on, but I have since stopped really using the site. 

One interesting thing you can do on there was answering a bunch of questions that ended up determining your dating preferences and your compatibility level with other folks on there.  I was checking my email the other day and they sent me this dating flowchart.  Basically, it gives key questions to answer and you can determine how likely I would date you.  I think it’s more or less accurate, although I’m not sure I would consider all the questions on there to be the most important ones to ask.  Here, take a look:

So yup, if you were curious now you have a little bit more insight in me

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This past weekend, I took a weekend trip down to VA Beach.  My friends and I went down there last year and enjoyed it, so we decided to do it again.  Overall, it was a fun trip.  We got rained out all day Friday and half of Saturday, but we were able to secure some much needed beach time.

(Pics courtesy of Marvin)

Us:  “Yay, we’re going to the beach!”  Gecko:  “Hellz yeah!”

Mmmm, Sonic (put some more Sonics in Maryland please!)

Quite satisfied with our newly renovated hotel rooms


Come on, work it!

At Carraba’s.  Mmm, now that’s some good eating.

Frisbee on the beach (I know, how cliche)

Apparently my friend thought that umbrella I brought was very Asian.  Do you think so?

Helping my friend by getting crap out of his hole (well, that didn’t sound right)

Look how deep that is!  (that doesn’t sound right either -_-)


Bistro at 306.  BEST crab and spinach fondue any of us has ever had (see below)

Fondue is on the right (My goodness it was overflowing!  Yum yum!)

Gotta finish it off with a Japanese buffet =D

I’ll end this with a compilation of the videos I took while down there.  Enjoy:

A couple of weeks ago, my little brother was ranting to me about how our dad was so mean and unfair.  They had recently got in a heated spat, which pretty much involved my dad yelling at him and telling him to do what he said, no questions asked.  He felt my dad was too harsh and didn’t seem to really care about him.  He even went further and claimed that he doesn’t love him because he never says he does, nor showed any real outward signs of affections (for example, a hug).  After I got him to calm down a bit, I told him the following in hopes that he would at least kind of understand what it took me so much longer to figure out.

When I was growing up, I used to tell myself I would never become like my dad.  Back then, my view of my dad was pretty distorted.  He was always working at the restaurant and hardly communicated with me unless it was something like “You hungry?”  In fact, our longest conversations usually happened while he was punishing me for doing something bad.  My dad was not exactly a fan of the whole “understanding and talking about the issue” routine, but rather just settle it with commands and spankings (oh that belt and fly swatter stings!).   Needless to say, those experiences greatly influenced the negative view I had of him for the longest time.  I remember how I used to watch fathers on television shows and wondered, “why can’t my dad love me the way they do with their families?  It is just so unfair.”

It wasn’t until within the past few years that I’ve started to understand where he was coming from.  After a few psychology classes and a chance conversation with my mom, I learn that my dad does really care for me and I’m pretty sure he’s the way he is because of what he had to deal with growing up.  I discovered that my grandfather (my dad’s dad) left the family for the Philippines when my dad was only a year old to earn money for the family.  He did not return until my dad was 18 years old.  During that absence, my dad pretty much had no older male role model and had to learn to be the man of the house the hard way.  He dropped out of school when he was about 14 years old so he could work, earning enough to support my grandmother and aunt (his mom and sister). 

After learning of this, I developed a theory as to why my dad had such a hard time talking to my brother and me.  He didn’t have any real father and son experience growing up, so it made sense that he would be uncomfortable with this relationship.  What he knows very well, however, was the notion of working hard to support those you care for, and he has certainly done that.  I didn’t realize it as a little boy, but he was working all those long hours in the kitchen of his restaurant to make sure his sons had a better life than he ever did.  That, to him, was how he showed his love for us. 

In the future, I’m still personally planning on becoming a more empathetic parent than my dad, in that I will talk and listen to my children in addition to whatever punishment I would give.  You know what though?  In the end, I consider myself very grateful to have such a hard-working, loyal, and honorable dad in my life, even if the ways he shows his love is very subtle.  I would be so lucky if any of those qualities of my dad gets passed down onto me.

After explaining all this to my little brother, I sure hope he understands just how fortunate we really are to have a dad like him.

What a fun, tennis watching week it has been!  I ended up going to the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. three times this year and each time was wonderful.  Thanks to whoever did that no rain dance when I requested for it because I didn’t get rained out at all, despite the high thunderstorm chances.  I managed to see more famous tennis pros than I’ve ever seen this week, took plenty of pictures and videos, and I also got a chance to hang out with a fellow Xangan.  I’ll go ahead and give a quick overview of each day I went.

Monday Session

Highlights:
*It was USTA Appreciation Day, so I was able to purchase two tickets for the price of one.
*Saw many pros for the first time, i.e. Ivo Karlovic, Robin Soderling, Mikhail Youzhny, Ernests Gulbis and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
*Getting Robin Soderling’s autograph and getting our picture take with him (see pic below)
*Hitting my fastest recorded serve
*Although our tickets were for the top stands, we secured some front row seats anyway
*Took some good videos of Hewitt (listen for them “COME ON!”), Karlovic and Tsonga, and Gulbis (you can hear my brother react to the first pro serve he has seen in person)
*Being able to take my little brother to his first professional tennis tournament

Pictures:

My cousin and me posing with Robin Soderling (who upsetted Nadal at the French Open, sadly)

(Click thumbnails to enlarge)

Wednesday Session

Highlights:
*It freakin’ didn’t rain!
*Tickets were free due to my volunteer work at the Asian Festival last weekend.
*Hung out with Thuy, aka tigerdauphin.  She drove down 4 hours just to hang out with me that day and ended up sleeping over.  We did an XTV together as well (for those that missed it, you can check out some of the highlights at the bottom of my main page).  Even though we’ve never met before this, it felt like I was just meeting an old friend I haven’t hung out with in a long time.  What a great girl and hopefully our paths will cross again.
*Got to see even more pros I haven’t seen before, i.e. Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Sam Querrey, and Juan Martin Del Potro
*Took pictures together with Juan Martin Del Potro and Dmitry Tursunov (he ran by me last year, but this time I got him!)
*Loudest crowd at a tennis event I’ve been a part of (huge fan support for Lleyton Hewitt and Fernando Gonzalez)
*Took some more good videos of Ivo Karlovic (tallest guy on tour, thus has a BIG serve), Tommy Haas (shirtless just for the ladies, and maybe some guys), and Fernando Gonzalez (you can see/hear the Chilean support near the beginning)

Pictures:

Thuy aka tigerdauphin and me with Dmitry Tursunov (he’s bending down btw so he can fit in the shot haha)

(Click thumbnails to enlarge)

Saturday Session

Highlights:
*Got free box seats tickets for the daytime semifinals due to my USTA involvement
*Watch a close first set between Juan Martin Del Potro and Fernando Gonzalez, a match that was being broadcast live (although I don’t think you can see me)
*Luckily bumped into Andy Roddick and John Isner practicing before their night semifinal match over at the side courts!  (That explains why I missed the second set)
*Took three great videos of Andy Roddick up close and personal practicing (doing overheads/volleys/groundstrokes, returns, and serves)
*Got into a tent that was giving out free drinks, alcohol, and food to box seat ticket holders that day.  Sweet!

Pictures:

I was almost close enough to feel his sweat, which I heard can add 20 mph to your serves if you drink it

(Click thumbnails to enlarge)

That’s the end of my Legg Mason week!  I think I’ve had enough live professional tennis to hold me over for a while.

Miss Noree_n tagged me for this audio post, so for my audio I’m gonna give shout outs to a lot of you.  Let me apologize in advance for not being able to give shout outs to everyone I wanted to.  If I did, the audio clip would probably stretch past 10-15 minutes!  I also wanna apologize if I mispronounce any usernames. 

BTW, here are all the people I mentioned in the audio, in order, to help you find them in my long audio:

Noree_n
Beetunes
Bluedreamer85
elelkewljay
Tigerdauphin
Loves_Mud
Rob_of_the_Sky
PiscesPhishie
B1ANCACACA
Missedout_onlife
Xkthily
Sincerely_Winnie
NoPenniesHere
Dylan_Disast3r
FlipGuy31O
Paul_Partisan
wherethefishlives
XandraXstz
MySecretLoveAffair
Mycontinuity
Lil_squirrel4ever
IndieChaos
S_h_a_sha
Kontzicles
ShatterFocus
Strawberries_and_honey
One_eared_batman
Wutuwaitn4

So, here are the rules for this:

I remember seeing last year’s contest, but was just getting back into Xanga so I didn’t enter.  I saw that this contest was happening again, so I figured why not?  I’ll go for it!

Now, what item did I end up buying from the BFN Online Store?  I could have gone the easy way out and bought something like a sticker or whatever, but instead I ended up buying something a little bit more pricey:

I took the following picture spontaneously yesterday, while I was at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic tournament in D.C.  My cousin, brother and I were walking around the place when we saw Ernests Gulbis (who has been as high as #41 in the world) practicing on a side court.  I took out my Flip MinoHD to record him serving when I decided hey, this would be a good time to get that shot.  Without further ado, here’s the picture I will be submitting to the contest:

Proof I wasn’t lying about what I said in the previous paragraph =P

Hopefully I’ll end up being one of the 12 winners!

Some bonus clips:  Below are two of the first videos I’ve shot with my new Flip MinoHD.  The first is one of my cousin and me serving at a booth at the tournament (just ignore the 1st and 3rd serve I did and focus on the 2nd one ):

The second video is the last few minutes of my parent’s Chinese opera performance this past Sunday (which you may have saw me mentioned in this pulse):

Even if you don’t understand what they’re saying, you can sort of get the idea from their actions (note:  my dad does say a few “ham sup” dialog haha).  If you’re interested in seeing the full half hour version (!!) you can watch part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

P.S. Check out sonychak’s entry, who was the first person that entered into the contest.  What are you guys waiting for?  Submit an entry!

Just got back from a LONG day at the 6th Annual Asian Festival 2009 in DC (well, more accurately it was in Reston, VA).  It was awesome and totally exceeded my expectations.  Allow me to walk you through the day with some visuals:

We got there initially around 10am to do some volunteer work.  In doing so, we not only got free t-shirts but also 2 free tickets to the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in DC! 

Free is always good

We definitely earned it, because they had us do some manual labor involving getting 39238 chairs moved to the stage area, among other things.

We put them chairs up there!

After we did all that, we hung out here for a bit just watching some performances and some of the VIP speak.

After they finally let us go, we headed over to where our other two friends were at, playing quickstart tennis (think mini-tennis):

 

For the next couple of hours we just wandered all over the the festival just eating, watching shows, and enjoying the sights.

All of us in our volunteer shirts

Around 3ish, we headed over to the tennis courts to prepare for:

While waiting around for it to start, look who’s just chillaxing on a hill nearby:

It’s Murphy Jensen once again!  (Btw, this was one of those sneak pictures where we were pretending to take a picture of us, but really was taking a picture of something in the background =P)

After gaining the courage, I finally walked over there to ask if we could take a picture with him.  He said sure and he actually chatted with us for a few minutes.  Very friendly guy!  More famous people should be like him.

Group shot with Murphy Jensen!

He signed an autograph for me as well.  Sweet!

We took part in the tennis block party and it was a tiring, but fun experience.  Afterward, we hung around for a bit and took a picture with the other professional tennis player there, Radek Stephanek.

Although not a favorite of mine, he’s very cool in person

After 8 hours there, we finally left the place around 6pm.  What a great experience!  Now I’m tired and burnt, so I’m gonna go rest up.  I will be there next year for sure.

Oh, one last thing; here’s a vlog I did while at this festival.  Enjoy!