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| DO IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN...this weekend i took a road trip w/ emma and annie up to berkeley to visit joanna! it was our kansas city crew and i must say it was pretty impulsive and random. we drove up saturday morning at 6 am and got back home around 11pm sunday night. i love it! when else in life can you take these spontaneous road trips? 
emma drove the ENTIRE WAY up (she also didn't sleep much the night before). for her, it was something she had to do so she'll know she that she can do it. it was not a problem for me since i slept the entire way up.. heh. thanks emma! however, we did have a little detour. because of our lack of sense of direction,
we didn't split west to the 580 freeway like we were supposed to but kept driving up the 5... an hour
past sacramento. oops!
here's our late lunch we had when we finally arrived. indian food! mMmmMmm!!! (it was annie's first time! she usually likes to stick to what she knows...korean.)
  
then we went to get gelato at a place on the berkeley campus.
chillin' at joanna's apt
that night, we dropped by an artsy cafe night berkeley's intervarsity was putting on. i was surprised at how much i enjoyed it. art is so beautiful.. i mean, it's a piece of somebody's soul, heart, thoughts, struggle that they decide to make public. it's seeing someone's internal made external. i loooooove it! this was one of my favorite piece.
(in case this is not legal...this is painted by a girl name andrea wong)
this was also a cool piece. the artists covered every single surface of a room with newspaper. they wanted to be in a place where everything is only black and white. it lessens the complication/noise of this world, they said. they took a bunch of pictures and displayed it here. (people are so creative!)
the next day, we ate at a mediterranean cafe. YUM
then, i got a chance to meet up with my cousin jonathan. he's really tall! (i'm standing on a hill...)
annnd then that's it! we got some homemade ice cream and headed back home. bye joanna!
going home...
yup. good friends, good food, good trip 
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| MY FIRST (ever!) JOB INTERVIEWrecently i've been feeling a bigger pressure to work. with the wedding coming up, i feel like i should be contributing something a bit more concrete than just my good ideas . one morning last week, i woke up feeling inspired and contacted 5 companies i found off craigslist. 4 of them have responded (wow! i'm impressed these things work!). i had my first job interview last week. the lady was impressed with my education units that i've taken in college and the experiences i've had working with children (this is a learning/education center for rich kids). i had told her i was interested in going into teaching so she was pretty surprised when i said i was going seminary in the fall.
"are you going to be getting your teaching credentials?"
"uhh no.. it's more for myself. it's something i have to do. just.. for myself.. (dangit, i said that already).. you see, my dad's a pastor and (uh oh.. i'm going in too deep) yea.. it's just something i want to do for my own personal growth"
"ohh.."
"yea..."
she said i'm in an exploring period of my life. she had interned at several different places before knowing what she wanted to do too. it turns out that she's also a sociology major. she tried volunteering as a social worker once-
"oh that's so cool! i wanted to go into social work too! but i'm not sure because it's soo heavy, you know? you really have to learn how to leave your work at work and be careful not to bring it home. i had a friend once who said she cried after work like everyday..."
then of course, i tell her how my passion is to work with poor kids and the reason why i even wanted to go into teaching in the first place is because of the messed up educational system here that gives poor kids bad teachers and resources so they end up growing up with weird education that can't compete with rich kids. then they end up dropping out and never "make it" which means they'll raise their kids in the very same environment w/ the same bad educaiton... and the sucky cycle continues!
she looks kind of surprised and then after a while, nicely tells me how their company is reaching out to the other end of the spectrum. they want to help rich kids because they'll be our future leaders one day. she said rich kids need love and care too.
yeaa.. later my sister tells me i should act like i WANT the job when i go into an interview. the thing is, i don't really want the job because it's not something i really want to do. ben tells me how this is all part of growing up... realizing you need to eat and make money in order to do what you love to do. besides, this job is only temporary so i can save up money. i guess i still have a lot to learn... about growing up.
the lady told me they'll think about it and give me a call. it's been 5 days! is this normal? now i want the job. i should've been more convincing and not go on that spiel about the messed up educaiton system. oh well.
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| how it happened...it's been about a week... and i've told this story MANY times. i'll write it here for those of you haven't heard
it started 2 weeks ago...
when B Ng (my college pastor) asks to talk to me after a meeting. he gives me an early graduation present: a $50 gift certificate to a nice restaurant called Shiro in Pasadena for ben and me. i am extremely grateful and call ben later telling him how honored i feel. a few days later, ben sends me an evite to take me on a special date and asks if we could use the gift certificate. ben looooves giving (and receiving) surprises so i am not suspicious when he doesn't give me any details.
the special date is on wednesday. a good friend emma comes over to do my hair (she likes doing hair) and pick out my outfit (she likes clothes even more). i let her... only to amuse her. ceci and mabel, my other roommate get involved and i find myself sitting in front of my bathroom mirror with three friends fussing over how i look. we argue for a while over whether i should wear a skirt or not (i wanted to wear shorts!!).
ben comes over and he drives me to a pretty secluded beach in laguna. it's called the thousand steps beach and the reason why is because you have to go down a flight of like a bajillion steps to reach it. he sets out a bed sheet and brings out some snacks. we enjoy the beach (and i enjoyed the snacks). then he brings out his journal and reads to me poem he wrote me. it was very interesting... let's just say i appreciated his effort! ;) he brings out the guitar and we worship/pray a bit. then we head back to my apartment to change and leave for Pasadena for our 8:15 dinner reservation at Shiro. (oh, and we had to climb back UP all 9817349273 steps!)
 
right when we exit the freeway, gary (ben's worship pastor/mentor) calls and asks ben if he could drop off a projector (that was in ben's car) at the church office (also in Pasadena). ben tells him that he is on a date night with me but gary insists that they need it by tonight. we make a small detour to the church office. i plan to stay in the car while ben drops off the projector but when i see a big bald guy changing by his car (the only other car in the parking lot), i quickly follow ben into the building (ben later tells me that the guy was God-sent because he didn't know how to get me into the office without sounding suspicious!) we walk into the office until we reach the end where a big window was at. ben pulls up the blinds and i see lots of LIGHTS!
the window led to the roof of the office and it was decorated with lots of candles and rose petals. i hear Lifehouse's "Storm" playing (one of "our" songs). ben tells me to come up and helps me get onto the roof. there's a table for two and i see my name on a namecard. (i'm totally like what is going on... but ben did tell me he was going to take me on a nice date... but this is too nice.. but yea.. just be quiet and enjoy.. but ??!!). we eat a good dinner (thanks dave!) then he pulls our chairs to one of the corners of the roof where a screen and a projector was at. he takes out an instruction sheet and starts playing around w/ the buttoms. unfortuanately, ben is not very tech savvy and cannot get the dvd to play.
now here is the unslick part of the night:
after many tries, ben finally calls one of his good friends for help. in less than 2 minutes, i see dave run upto the roof. he gives me a quick hello and begins working on the projector. i'm like ummm.... you live in LA and we're in pasadena.. and you got here in 2 minutes? he fixes it quickly and runs off the roof. now i'm really like  ???!!! (the picture is of ben trying hard to get the film to play)
the slick part:
i'm expecting to watch a movie... or MAYBE a slideshow of us if he's going to propose.. but the first thing that pops up is my roommate and good friend, ceci. she tells me how i've impacted her life and encouraged her over the years. then, nancy luyen, a close friend in london. then tara pak (i was like "ewwwww"). it goes on and on. it's a video for me from my closest friends about how i've touched their lives! i'm obviously tearing. then, the next part of the video is of my sisters and brother-in-laws encouraging me. then after that, my parents (in taiwanese). ben went behind my back to video tape all my friends. SLICKKKK. lastly, ben comes up on the video. after the video, he gets his guitar and sings me the poem he read to me earlier. OHH, no wonder it sounded funky! it's a SONG, not a poem. the song ends annnnnnd the moment is here... (i am SO nervous at this time!) he gets down on his knees, and asks....
afterward...he lets his friends know that they can come up (they were across the street eating dinner). the best part was that not only his guy buddies come up but some of MY closest friends did too! then, my sisters! they were all there setting up while ben and i were at the beach. it was a very happy time!
yay! he's my fiance now..weeiiiirddddd...
the girls
ben had one of my best friends joanna (the one w/ the very excited face looking directly into the camera) fly down from berkeley. how awesome is that?!
i took single shots w/ all my friends but i going to share this one because annie's expression is priceless. i think i had to comfort HER because she was crying and laughing so hard. hey annie, I'M the one that got engaged!
a closeup... is she laughing? or crying? (sorry annie)
the guys...
sisters!
and lastly.. thanks to eileen who designed and put together so much! maid of honor!
oh ps. the gift certificate to Shiro is completely FAKE. ben had it made in order to get me out to Pasadena. a co-worker designed it and another signed it. he dropped it off to B Ng the day before i got it. brian, you owes me one!
annnd thanks to ben. you planned everything out SO WELL :)
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| hi,
i'm engaged.
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