nancyaa's Xanga

first day of exploring barcelona

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:23:32 GMT

I woke up early (as okusan would say, "buttcrack of sunlight") in search of markets and anything interesting. to my dsappointent, barcelona is just like most other european countries...shops close on sundays...most. I guess that's an improvement from swiss ( closes at 6pm weekdays and don't even bother on sundays).

just for a little change, I took up a 4-hour bicycle tour starting from jaume I around the city center, stopping briefly at barceloneta beach~it was amazing!

despite my supposid expertise with a bicycle after so many years in davis, I was not used to riding THEIR bicycles on the ROAD with the traffic. I got honked quite a few times...some guy screaming something in spanish to me...other than that, it was a fun ride~

thanks to the guide, he reminded me that barcelona held the 1992 olympics~ and gave me a lot of useful info for my dissertation...so instead of having a relaxing vacation...i'm back on dissertation mode!

tomorrow, I will try to find some markets to invade, and then i'll go to the olympic museum for further research (NERRDDY! YES I KNOW)

btw, i'll try to get some pix uploaded when I get back~as usual, won't see much pix of me but scenaries and anything worth noting...

invading barcelona

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 17:14:33 GMT

hey everyone~ I have officially landed in barcelona after a series of mistakes. this includes me mistaking my flight number for my departure time, and also my date of return...not on a thursday, but wednesday. yes, this is miss nancy lau here, so no surprise huh!

i'm currently typing my entry with my pda so forgive me for any grammatical errors (not like I was ever good in it)

so my first meal was with some new friends I met not even 3 hours ago...3 non-profit org volunteers from south africa, france, argentina...a hydrology major guy from israel, and a girl on vacation from sunny LA! they seem pretty cool, very much well travelled too~

tonight, I think i'll just take a good night's rest, and hit the flea markets tomorrow and a bike tour

just a word of thought

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:32:40 GMT

do i have high expectations of people? or do they just have low expectations for themselves?

funny, today someone commented that they can't meet up to my expectations, thus, indirectly blaming me for their mistakes. well, i think i have every right to criticize them for what they did when they decided to 1) break their promise, 2) lie to me when they were confronted, 3) jeopardize the rest of the group's grade and possibily academic future for what they did if caught. what do i call this? irresponsibility.

for the past months, i've done my best to let this person know what they've been doing in their own country cannot be applied to the rest of the world (telling them straight up, or just get pissed). yes, still young, but that is no excuse. sorry just doesn't cut it when there's no repent and intention to change for their own good. my tolerance for this incompentence can only go so far, and i'm almost there.

if you're reading this, just a few advices:
-think of the consequences before you act
-think of other people's feelings before you open your mouth
-be responsible for your own good and well-being
-don't abuse your luck cause you can't make a living out of it

yes, i am still pretty pissed off about it. simply because you think that avoiding me until i cool down will erase everything. if tomorrow, we get in trouble for what you've done, are you willing to take full responsibility, or just say, "c'mon, its not a big deal!" cause its a fuckin' big deal when you get expelled.

new fusion

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:11:44 GMT

hey everyone~i'm back in swiss and started my mba program...yes, i'm very busy so this is going to be a short entry.

we have students cooking...as in its a part of their pratical kitchen class...and guess what i ate today? hamburger and fries...dipped in chinese hoi sin sauce. i think they mistook it for barbeque sauce...

leaving the US again soon~

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:08:39 GMT

well, its almost been a week since i returned to SF, and i'm off again tomorrow to LA for two days before i leave the US again. its been really fun seeing everyone, even though its just for lunch or dinner...but it was really nice. for all the people i didn't get to see this time, GO TO HK THIS WINTER!!! ^.^ you still have half a year to save money if your excuse is that you have none...and if you have money already, save more so you can shop~!

i wish i could've stayed in davis a little bit longer...i really miss that place T.T i miss my college years~ i hope i can see everyone again soon!! take care~

i'm back without a phone...number

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:30:29 GMT

okay, i've made it all the way back to the US...but there's a problem. my sim card isn't working anymore. i didn't find out until i arrived in the airport cause i couldn't make any phone calls. the thing is...i didnt' cancel my plan, and i've been paying for it...so i have no idea why its not working.

anyways, just to let all you guys know, i'll be getting a prepaid card for my mobile today and i'll message everyone soon` don't miss me too much!

hm...

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:39:11 GMT

my internship is coming to an end~! woohoo...or aw... 6 months...6 long island-life months!!! it felt like yesterday that i arrived in maldives, the day before i arrived in switzerland...and last week when i graduated from davis. everything is happening so fast...i can barely grasp the wonderful journeys i've been on...and i'm planning on new ones~

i have one more year to go on my master's...then i will officially work. hahaha finally! after years of procrastinating...i will finally get a real full-time job...not studying on the side!

roughly a year and 3 months ago, i decided to pursue a degree in hospitality management. when i announced it to the world, my friends and family were surprised. especially my family...they thought i was gonna work in a papparazzi...or the JET program. my mom, in particular, didn't really think i was thinking right...she thought it was just another one of my days...until i really applied and got accepted, that is. but still, her and one of her close friends thought that i was idealizing this world and my plans...well, i have this grand master plan where i will be travelling around the world with a job paying me to...and she thinks that i'm watching too much tv.

yes, i do watch a lot of tv. no, i'm not idealizing my plans. i mapped out everything i have to do...where i have to be...what i have to do to get me there...its a plan! and now i'm 1/4 accomplished. i didn't really planned to come to maldives, a little detour...but my plan is still on the right track! now that my family sees how serious i am (cause its rare), i'm getting more support from them that ever and i'm glad~

so now...one more year in the mountains (bluche, swiss...very alpy) and i'm done!

counting down the days...

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:55:30 GMT

wow...its been almsot 6 months and now i'm counting down the days till i leave maldives...in 5 days~!

its been a wonderful experience and i met a lovely group of friends here...i will definitely miss you all!!! i'm worried about one thing though~

will anyone be able to recognize me??? i mean, i'm soooooooooo tanned...i'm tanner than a bunbun. when i first arrived in the island, people thought i was japanese or korean...now? they all ask me if i'm from thailand or philipines >.< no offense...its just that no one gets it right!

i'm on a very tight budget this year, but i'm still very determined to travel~hopefully...istanbul and bucharest. i'm looking at the tripadvisor reviews, and it seems a little dangerous, something about gangs forcing you to hire their people to be their tour guides or something...but i really want to go to there~ so we'll see...

drifting apart...

Thu, 31 May 2007 10:51:11 GMT

after graduating high school, best of friends may separate and go to different colleges. and then you make new friends...suddenly, you're not as close as to the people you could once share the deepest secrets with. not all, but some. once you start college, you make new friends, and you'll most likely have new best friends. then you graduate from college and you move away, separating again from people you're close to.

with time...somehow...no matter how hard you try to keep the friendship as close as it was before, it just doesn't work out. there's no common topics and subjects anymore...you find yourself repeating the same boring question, getting the same boring answer..."hows it going?" "what are you doing?" "cool" "oh" "hahaha" you don't really even know if they mean it anymore.

a part of growing up is scary. all you can do now is reminisce how fun it was to hang out with everyone. every conversation you try to make becomes a little...awkward. and you don't know what to do about it...at least, i don't. so much for all the facebook, friendster, etc. to keep you in touch with everyone else...

my trip this summer~

Mon, 21 May 2007 22:58:49 GMT

well, it seems like everything has been finalized. this summer, for 1.5 months, i'll be travelling across two oceans, and 3 continents~ i can't wait, cause i wanna get out of this country already!! not that its bad, but i feel claustrophobic on an island 24-7...

but anyways, here's my schedule:

june 15-17 hk

17-29 sf and la

30-july 3 hk

3-9 japan

9-22 hk

22- dec 17 swiss

i hope i can hang out with all my buddies back in high school and in college...i really do miss you guys!!!