February 2013
1 post
Little pinwheel, big thoughts
I awoke on Sunday morning several days ago to a few exclamatory texts wishing me a “Happy Chinese New Year!” Because our home was quiet, it had felt like any other lazy Sunday morning. But after seeing those texts, I immediately thought about all the celebrations that must be happening on the other side of the world. I remembered how fun it was being part of those festivities, and...
January 2013
5 posts
Updated posts below!
Happy 2013!
With the dawn of the new year comes new plans and wishes for the next 364 days. Regardless of our resolutions, I hope we learn to love life — and those who are in our lives — a little bit more this year.
“Be present. It is the only moment that matters.”
Happy New Year!
December 2012
2 posts
Happy Holidays, from our family to yours!
(This picture was taken on my birthday in San Francisco’s City Hall. The white decorations on the tree in the background were actually paper cranes)!
November 2012
14 posts
Philia Spanning the Pacific
Look who I saw again in Hong Kong!
Too bad the only picture we have together is blurry! Thanks for taking time out to see me. The States can’t wait for you to come back ;)
Bringing Thanksgiving abroad
There was no turkey on the table this year, and there was no football playing on the TV in the background, but I was just as thankful for my all my blessings. Of course, one of the obvious things I was thankful for was being able to visit Hong Kong again with my family.
This year, instead of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we had hot pot. My dad invited all his HK friends, and I even...
Roommates Reunited (Then and Now)
While I spent the last year working in San Francisco, my HK roommate, “Steph-LA,” graduated from UC Berkeley and has since returned to HKU to get a masters degree! Needless to say, our shenanigans commenced once we reunited.
I feel it’s only appropriate to post some of our recent — as well as past — adventures. Har har har…
Time Capsule
The night I arrived in HK, Uncle Kwan once again lent his cell phone for me to use:
To probably everyone else, this phone is a blast from the past. As Nokia’s second generation phone, this phone was popular during the early 2000s…but for me, it was popular last year while I was in HK. Haha. Because of the complicated jail breaking phone issues, I once again resorted to using this...
Welcome (back) to Hong Kong!
As I packed my wallet with both USD and HKD…I knew only good times could be waiting for me. With both types of currency, my wallet was ready to go the moment I included the handy Octopus Card as well!
After a tiring 14-hour flight, I felt rejuvenated when 7-11 along with my favorite Tofu snack greeted me in at HK’s airport!
Shortly after coming home from HK last year, I...
I woke up, but could have still been dreaming
The title is quite dramatic, but very true. I would be embarrassed to find out how many hours have been spent idly daydreaming about the times I spent romping around Hong Kong as a study abroad student. Thankfully, these daydreams have dramatically decreased (it’s only been about 1.5 years since coming home), and for the most part, I can function without being distracted by wanderlust...
Thoughts + Interview #3!
I’ve noticed I have stopped counting the days. During my entire first year of work — beginning day one — I would make a mental note of how long it’s been:
“day 1 of work — how come it’s so hard to last until 5:00 pm…..yay happy 1 month anniversary….2 more months till I roll off this crappy project….after this week, January will be...
October 2012
1 post
September 2012
4 posts
1 Year
What my hotel bed typically looks like as I’m packing up the night before flight day:
It’s my 1-year anniversary of being in the working world! I’ve pretty much been waiting for this day since my first month of employment. The initial transition from summer bumming, post-grad life to a real full day’s schedule was so tough that I thought reaching this 1-year milestone...
…more to come later about the trip! Internet at home is painstakingly slow.
August 2012
9 posts
Hot Japanese Nights
August is supposedly the hottest month in Japan….I believed it after our first day there.
At night however, the temperature felt perfect. I love warm nights, and as they are virtually nonexistent in SF, I was one happy gal walking around the streets of Japan in shorts.
….I am however, mosquito-phobic. There were definitely a couple nights when the long pants stayed ON and the...
Konichiwa, Japan!
This blog finally gets to see some REAL adventurin’ again! I initially started posting to document my travels abroad, so the perpetual wanderluster in me was so thrilled to hop on that plane again for a destination unrelated to work!!
Since last year, I’ve noticed that traveling has taken on a new meaning for me. The best trips aren’t necessarily the ones where I take the...
Interview #2!
Only a few people in my life truly understand my feverish obsession with studying abroad and everything that came along with it: wanderlust, traveling day dreams, compulsive late night viewings of photo albums…the list goes on. One of those select few however, is my friend Anna. Although Anna also grew up in San Francisco, went to Berkeley, and studied the same major, we had to travel 7,000...
July 2012
5 posts
Sunday night whine
Back in the day, I used to grumble on Sunday evenings as I packed my books to head back to Cal after a weekend at home.
I now do the same grumbling, but dread the wake up call that awaits me at 4 AM. You would think that after doing this so many times, I would be rather used to these pre-dawn rides to the airport…yet, I still have to mentally prepare myself for Monday morning — by...
Adventures of Mun-Mun (my cousin)
My cousin and I were chatting about work…below are straight quotes from our gchat convo:
me: i wish there were just more variation in my job
MunMun: oh dude, yeah
once things get repeititive
good thing i never know what i’m doing!
it’s always an adventure
LOL.
me: hahahaha
Cheers to the...
2 tags
Interview #1!
I really didn’t know where to begin in terms of drafting these interview responses, so I thought I would start by writing about someone with a similar background to mine. My good friend Kimmy matches the criteria: we were pledge bros in the same honor fraternity, classmates (we were both public health majors; she did a second major in economics while I did mine in business), roommates, and now...
New Blog Project
I’ve spent some time thinking about where I’ve been since college and what plans I may have for the next step…however, it’s tough to think about the next step when I am not even sure of my current footing. This transitional phase is a tricky one, though with it can come the potential to do (almost) anything since I am not grounded in a particular area. I guess this is the very optimistic way of...
Patriotism
My 1 day off from work today now equates to my “summer vacation.” Oh how the times have changed…
As with most national holidays, I’ve never given too much thought to the significance of July 4th. The most patriotic I get would be to don some red/white/blue apparel. However, a simple scene today made me pause and think about the significance of the holiday: As I was enjoying lunch on my day...
June 2012
2 posts
Where has the time gone
How come an afternoon at work can seem to stretch on forevermore, yet looking back, months seem to pass by with the blink of an eye? Without the conscious effort to seize the day, will our lives pass us idly by? That is a scary, scary thought. What a waste that would be.
So. In an effort to “regain ownership” of my own days, I have a goal to start blogging again. Somehow,...
May 2012
1 post
Happy Birthday Baba!
Happy Birthday to that guy right up there. =D Love you, Baba!
April 2012
1 post
Happy Holi!
This past weekend, a few of my friends and I went back to Berkeley to celebrate Holi! I never had the chance to do it while I was a student at Cal…but after having so much fun, I sure wish I had done it every single year while I was a student. A bit about Holi, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Every year, thousands of Hindus participate in the festival Holi. The festival has many purposes. First...
March 2012
4 posts
Welcome to my side of the Pacific!
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely loved my time abroad in Hong Kong; this blog in itself is the on-going product of that experience. One of my favorite aspects of my semester there was befriending locals. I loved sharing their rhythm of life in Hong Kong, and only wished for the opportunity to show them a piece of my own life back in the States.
Well. That wish came true.
After...
"Hello, how may I help you?"
My job involves a lot of time on the phone, and every single time, the representative on the other line asks for my name. Sometimes I have to repeat my name a few times…it totally makes me want to just say my name is “Jane.” Lately, to skip the entire ordeal, I have simply stopped correcting them when they get my name wrong.
Therefore, I may soon be known to those companies...
Happy 7th Anniversary!
Happy Leap Year Day, and thus happy “7th” anniversary to my wonderful parents who continue to show me examples of true love =)
Love you, Mommy and Baba!
February 2012
3 posts
Just making sure...
Just thought I’d share a recent funny interaction between me and my mother:
Mom: [super randomly, out of no where] “…you never talk about your job…you’re still employed, right?”
Me: “What! Yes…”
Mom: “Okay…just making sure…”
Me: “What the. You think I get up every morning, get dressed, and go to the...
