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| Asian 2007Happy Fourth everyone. Weather has been a bit crummy lately in Boston with crazy lightning storms and heavy rain, but hopefully the sky will clear for some fireworks tonight. Work has been kicking my butt - forcing me to repeat steps over and over again due to minor issues that were detrimental to my devices. Anyways, I will be going off to Asia again in a few days, Korea then Hong Kong. In the spirit of Asian countries, I figured it is time to update on my previous trip. 
Landed in Bangkok with bro, smith, john, and frosty after a layover in Hong Kong.
Stayed at the Four Season Hotel for the security (they checked cabs for bombs), to avoid the humidity, and the proximity to Siam Paragon Mall where we ate a good number of meals.
Pretty big mall with good AC but not very crowded.
Went by to see a big buddha at one of the many temples.
One day, I decided to walk around the area and found a big park... reminded me of Central Park.
... except for a random chinese gazebo
Then ventured to the most famous temple in Bangkok
The temple had so many shiny tiles... super blinged out...
Final stop was back in Hong Kong for a few days to hang out. Just in time for the 10 year anniversary of the hand-over of HK back to China. It was the first time I saw the streets in TST without cars.
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| Dave's Send-Off to MarriageAmil, Tyrone, Jason, Marcus, and myself took Dave to Montreal for his bachelor party (late May 2007): 
The moment we got there, Dave loitered in the hotel room pondering Karen's reaction...  Of course we toured St. Catherine's street and had an interesting night with Dave running from the "girls" 
The next day, we wandered the streets and was surprised to find Willard Straight Hall in Montreal... 
Followed by poker at Alex's place (Amil's friend) along with a test of strength which Dave failed miserably 
After a night of Dave getting more attention from females than he ever had, we headed back to normalcy 
In the end, the wedding turned out wonderful despite Karen's strong distaste for bachelor parties (more interesting photos have been withheld to protect the innocent  ) | | |
| Bringing Xanga BackAt the urging of some, and following the lead of others, I'll be attempting to update my Xanga more frequently. Since the New Years, things have been going quite well for me. The past six months have flown by with work, travels, and events. I've essentially cut all my extracurriculars and now spend time focusing on trying to finish up my PhD. It's looking more like February 2009, not the August 2008 I wanted, but that date is still good. I'm going to attempt to play catchup for the past six months and also post photos for my other entries that were boring summaries. Pictures are worth a thousand words so I'll try to keep it simple with some photos. Updates will follow later. | | |
| Welcome 2008Goodbye 2007... it's been quite a year. Focusing on my work, learning more about myself through interactions with others, people I have lost, new people I have met... there were good times and bad times but I see that life still goes on. The last month has been pretty intense with emotions. From my grandma's passing, to stressing over my testing trip in Pittsburgh, to having my gf telling me that she has ran out of excuses to stay in a relationship with me, to finding out my Columbian grandmather Sophie has also passed away, it's been pretty rough. For my testing trip to Pittsburgh, I had my graduation date riding on the results of the trip. The day of my travel, I fought through a snow storm to make it down there. My original flights were all canceled and things didn't look bright for travel out of Logan airport. I took my chances and found another flight, and made it down OK. I took 6 devices to test, 3 turned out defective. The first day, one device broke and another was set up to test on the following day. Coming in the morning of the next day, the device was also broken leaving my hopes and dreams on one sole device. Fortunately, that device gave me all the data I wanted and what a relief it was. I came home for one day, then my parents came to Boston so we could go to Toronto to visit my paternal grandmother, my last grandparent. I was also informed that Sophie passed away on 12/20. She was our neighbor and I grew up eating her food and practicing my spanish with her. She was essentially part of my family and would consider my brother and I as her grandchildren. Since I've been away at school, I haven't had much time to see her. The last time I saw her, she was essentially bed-ridden. Her health had improved but she recently contracted pneumonia and died 1 month and 1 day after my maternal grandmother -- we will miss you. I spent a week in Toronto getting schooled in Mahjong by my relatives and grandma, and ate a good deal. Went boot shopping for my little cousin and took some family photos. It was pretty relaxing, and then came back to Boston to take care of some work. Spent some time to myself to recover on sleep and watched some kdramas. Ended up spending NYE by myself and sober for the first time in many many years. It was pretty nice to be comfortable with not having to get drunk or feel the need to be with people. Let's see what 2008 brings with such a clean start. 12/20/07 R.I.P. Sophie | | |
| Life at Full ThrottleA little over 8 months have passed since my last entry, and I feel like I have aged many years since. From growing and understanding myself, my desires, and my views to the loss of significant people in my life, I've experienced life at full throttle. Trying to recap the significant moments of the past 8 months will be a little difficult, but I am writing this before the hands of time chisel away my precious memories.
In the month since my last entry, I learned to be aware of my feelings and to voice my frustrations, insecurities, and jealousies. I vented my anger to some AAA exec during Grains of Rice since I was tired, and felt taken for granted. I did my duties and decided I need to stop trying to make sure things go well, and leave it to others to bear the burden. I opened my heart to Hannah and hoped for the best, trying to forgive her for her moments of weakness and what I call the Tortilla Boy affair. I also felt I've entered the tunnel of my PhD, the final stretch before I can graduate. I conceptualized a device, laid out the tasks I wanted to accomplish, and began plowing away. This is one of the main reasons I've kinda disappeared off Xanga for some time.
I had a wisdom tooth removed, and went down to NYC to have a surprise birthday party for my brother. The time after that was filled with adjusting to life with a girlfriend, and trying to get things done for research. Soon came Dave's Bachelor Party in Montreal, and his wedding on June 9, 2007. It was a nice little ceremony in Flushing where I got to see many old friends from Cornell. I then celebrated my birthday at Buddakan with much love from Wen and the people who showed up. I left the next day back to Boston to get stuff done in regards the provisional patents for my thesis work.
Soon after, I left for Thailand and Hong Kong for two weeks with my bro, Frosty, Smith, and John. I had some fun, expanded my cultural awareness, and met some cool people. Went back to Boston for the 4th of July, then flew off to Chicago for a conference a few days later. Came back from that, then drove down to NYC followed by Pittsburgh for some testing for a week. Made it back up to Boston on 7/20 to celebrate Elisa's return from the West Coast to move her furniture while Hannah was in Montreal. After, Hannah's mom was around resulting in some tension.
When mama Seong left, things were good. Went down to celebrate Amy's parents wedding anniversary and my mother and grandmother's birthday. Had a very good time, and then return to Boston for some big news. Turmoil and emotions were flying for some time, but things were eventually resolved. Made another trip down to NYC and Atlantic City for a concert and some partying, then back to Boston working hard. I also made a trip down to Cocoa Beach Florida for the HEMS workshop and learned a lot.
Eventually fall came and I went to White Mountains for the first time. Saw the foliage at Franconia Notch Park and took many photos. Got my devices made, and established contacts in the UK. Potentially looking at graduating June or September 2008, but we will see how things go. Then unfortunate news struck, my maternal grandmother fell ill.
She had swollen legs and constipation initially. Laxatives cleared it out and swelling went down but she was exhausted. One week after, she had issues walking up and down stairs and fell once. Parents decided to put her in a nursing home for supervision. Another week in the nursing home, she had a fever and was sent to a hospital. She was diagnosed with severe anemia and pneumonia. After a week of treatment to no avail, and no luck with finding the source of anemia, a CT scan was performed. I came down on Veterans day to see her in a feeble state, and she mustered the energy to open her eyes and to say my name. It was really painful to see her like that when I only saw her a mere 2 months earlier in perfect condition. The scan result was late stage ovarian cancer and was terminal, but I had to return to school, hoping to return by Thanksgiving to spend more time with her. She was moved back to the nursing home which provided hospice care. One week later at about 1am, my grandmother passed away. She was born on 7/14/1919 (lunar month and day) so she lived quite a long and full life. I came back home on Tuesday to spend time with the family. The funeral was on Friday and she was laid to rest on Saturday with a small blooper which annoyed me some. I miss her very dearly and may she rest in peace.
11/19/07 R.I.P. Grannie
9/8/07 R.I.P. Henney
11/17/05 R.I.P. Antimony
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