A brief update after 1 month

I have been really neglecting my blog. It would be great to say that I have been busy with such exciting activities that I lack the time to post anything.

The truth : I have been stuck in a vicious cycle of school + assignments + research papers

On th bright side, I have half way through the semester! I am super excited because I just got my tickets to fly back home to Malaysia on the 26 of December.

Christmas in LA.

New Year in KL.

Absolutely wonderful!

I don't really miss home all that much actually. It feels the same here in LA. If you changed the side people drive on, tweak the roads signs and sign boards - you will have me fooled! The thing which is such a 'sell out' is the food. Having a McDonalds. KFC, Pizza Hut, etc... every freaking block is not normal. Well not normal to me. Then again, throw in capitalism and gluttony = there you go, a fast food nation! *utterly disgusting*

I made that comment, because that is what I rationally feel (when I am not hungry). Just as soon as my greediness kicks in, I will stuff fries, burgers and grease in my face - guiltless! Sue me! It is not as though eating nasi lemak, curry laksa and char kuay teow is the new healthy fad diet : it probably is just as bad. I would like to think that hawker food is made with more tender loving 'kitchen + culinary' care than what you get at drive-thrus. Mind you, by tender loving kitchen care I did not mean hygiene or cleanliness. ;)

I am wrecking my brain now ingesting formulas, economic theories and a bunch of graphs. I am suffering from knowledge indigestion right now. The knowledge goes in just to face barriers from distraction and temptation of procrastination. Not all that great.

Okay, time to get back to eating my economics text. Not delicious. But a mandatory meal for tonight to get through the week!

love love

Random questions???

???

I have a whole list of random question in my head right now ... completely irrelevant to the reader but a needed release for me

Could an average cook like myself ever learn to be the next Martha Stewart even when I am plagued by time constraints and not much of an interest in cooking. I merely want to cook well just because I love to eat. Does it make sense?

Does my hair color make me look ditzy? Does it relect too light under the sun? Even worse, does it make me look like I ain't proud to be Asian and have black hair? If that is the case I would dye it back to black instantly.

Is procrastination a genetic trait? I swear to some degree it is.I know for sure my sister procrastinates. My mom doesn't though. Could it have skipped a generation? Let me know because I don't want to wait on my laziness any longer.

For people who I have talked to often or people who I have held a conversation of some sort with : am I intimidating? Really I get feedback that I am scary to approach and that my words are so blunt that ironically they are sharp and they cut.

How long do you think it will take for the next social network to come about? Like a life changing one. We had our Friendster. And then we all switched to Facebook. Now we merely tweet. I need to know so I can pay less attention to Facebook and Twitter just based on the notion they will soon be replaced.

Is there any benefits from reading magazines? Or is it purely for leisure and filling spare time? There are good articles aren't there? But are they sufficient in numbers and quality that magazine reading can constitute as a good enough past time? On the flip side, does reading magazines leave one more vulnerable to advertisements and a whole host of persuasive messages?

Life is full of questions, gimme the answers even if my ??? are trivial. I need some sort of peace of mind.

love

Hectic Days!

This is the library - wonderful airconditioning! haha

This is the entrance to Chapman - the Schmidt Gate which is suppose to empower you!

School is in full swing and I have still failed to post photos of Chapman University so here are a few which I have snitched here and there.

I have made a good amount of new friends although there's not much time to hang out during classes and all. With the piles of work to drown me definitively during the weekends and weekdays, there's not much time for socializing. I would surely save those golden hours for EATING + SLEEPING. Highly valued activities they are!

Going into communication classes makes me ever so sure that I want to pursue communication. We talk about so many different issues from intercultural communication to interpersonal communication to persuasive techniques. It is very eye-opening!

Sure many would argue that communication is for lazy people who are not gifted up there in the IQ department. I have always believed that every major has its mojo and they are difficult as well as easy in their very own ways. In defense of the communication major, I would say as compared to sciences and law etc, it is harder to learn a skill than it is to learn facts. With that being said, there is a place for sciences, math, law, accountancy, business and the many fields out there.

I have not decided on my second major / minor though. It will be either Business Administration or Economics, only time will tell.

As for now, it's nearly the end of the 1st month for the Fall 09 but I am already anticipating Christmas! Ooooh I here the snowbells jingling......!

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

R.E.S.P.E.C.T seems hard enough to come by nowadays huh? Yes I am referring to the Kanye West - Taylor Swift incident.

To grab a mic from a girl who was having her moment and lashing out that some other artiste had the better video is plain rude. We know, you have your problems Kanye, and swiggin on a half empty bottle of Cognac/Hennessey does not do anyone any good, but at least have some sense of judgment. He hurt the poor girl, but worst of all he damaged the little bit of positive reputation he had left.

I am not even a Taylor Swift fan, but I felt bad for her. Kanye should learn common sense and calculated probability. It was not too surprising that Taylor won the award with all the other nominees splitting the pop vote and she having all the country votes and some pop votes to snatch the Moon man. I just wonder if Kanye was bitter that a teenager was outselling him?

This is a classic example of not having respect for another person. Ask my friends and ask people close to me, I am not an angel and never will I say that I have the highest morales. But R.E.S.P.E.C.T is something I have been taught to value. You will hear me voice myself, but never will you hear backtalk. You will see me disagree openly but I will never ridicule. You will see me get defeated but never will I be bitter.

I am left to wonder if it was a planned publicity stunt? Hmmm, with all the criticism Kanye is getting, if it was it was certainly a bad one. All publicity is good publicity? Certainly not! Definitely question at whose expense? With that being said, I doubt it was as Taylor has enough teenage brain cells to know that she was being made fun off and Kanye has some sense in him (I hope) to know he would be played out as the bad person.

I think for all of us there is a line of tactfulness, and when you cross it, that's plain recklessness. I have no doubt that with everyone laughing and making a mockery at Kanye's expense, he will learn. But let us all learn ahead of him and from him. It only takes one douchebag and asshole to make all of us look bad. Take it from Beyonce - what she did proved she was a class act!

*just chiming in my thoughts along with everyone about the incident*

Random thought....

Warning : This is just gonna be mere babble. My blog has metronomed itself into a dry, boring spell with nothing more than my daily life, which is not that interesting altogether. So this is something new and fresh.

I spent one of the last few nights just thinking. At first it was empty thoughts, just enjoying the night bliss. Then I somehow jumped to the thought of how everyone of my friends including myself is undergoing this transition phase. Having too much pride to flip burgers, we are all heading to new schools in attempts to get our degrees. I say "attempts" but I know we will all pull through. I wanna wish all of you the best of luck and enjoy yourself as much as you can, while you can. I simply cannot wait to get back home and have a reunion and we will all share stories - happy ones! *fingers crossed*

I have always considered myself a "work" person more than a "school" person. I hate schedules. I hate conformity. I hate inhibition. But then again I thought to myself, work would serve the same unsavory dishes on my platter. The only difference - a paycheck for dessert. So I just have to stomach it! I am having an awesome time at my new school, Chapman University. *I shall update soon about that when I have some photos as illustration* But being in a university where everyone is older than me, yet seemingly more care-free as well as careless, made me realize that I grew up to quick. Everyone is so relaxed. Utterly chilled.

Then again, that's just not me. I am not your 'slow paced, nature loving, strolls in the park' sort of girl. I speak my mind. I don't gravitate towards popular belief. I am sarcastic. I do not care about being politically correct. I have a sarcasm which scares many but I spare a few who are close to me. I chase time like tomorrow's the end of the world. I am impatient. I am expressive sans a filter. I joke, most of the time inaprropriately with sexual and violent relations.

For a girl - I am crude and brute. My boyfriend says I am disgusting. Like really. If I were a man, I would be Seth Rogen. Uncensored, explicit yet so much innocent fun. Contradictory - yes you are darn right. A better looking version of him, that's what I am banking on.

At the end of the day, it's still mind boggling how I am a people's person. I socialize with ease despite all of the above.

If you just read the babble and felt it was not worth your time I am so sorry. Just thoughts. Nothing more. A vicarious way of knowing me, but knowing me just a tad bit more nonetheless.

love xoxo

Yamashiro Restaurant!

We celebrated Courtney's birthday a couple of days earlier! We were not gonna tell her where we were bringing her which was Yamashiro Restaurant. It is situated at Hollywood Hills with a breath-taking view of Los Angeles.

This is the entrance to the restaurant : pretty grand huh?

It was just the four of us : Christian, Chris, Courtney, Chern. (Just realized it's all C's)

Yamshiro Restaurant is not exactly authentic Japanese, they serve what is known as CalAsian cuisine!

In the restaurant it feels pretty surreal! You see a koi pond, pagodas and all these teak furniture which makes you feel like you are in a palace. Well to a certain extent it is somewhat true.

Here are a few quick facts about Yamashiro :

It is also known as Mountain Palace as it is an exact replica of a Japanese palace located up in the Yamashiro Mountains near Kyoto, Japan.

The structures of the building date back to 1914.

Memoirs of a Geisha, the movie was shot there.

During World War 2, the building was disguised so no one would be reminded of the Japanese and 

it was a military school for boys.

This is the Pagoda near the pool where drink are served : It is the oldest structure in California!

We started the night of with one drink each at the Pagoda Bar overlooking Los Angeles. The bartender took good care of us and gave each of us one drink which he taught suited us! He did his job awesomely! 

After that we headed into the restaurant and were seated right next to the koi pond. We had sushi, calamari and crab cakes! Portions were small but very yummy! The most important thing is : their desserts are so delicious! The warm chocolate cake and dark chocolate mousse are "must-eats"!

One interesting architecture is the fact you have to walk downstairs to get to the restroom. So alcohol consumption should definitely be planned accordingly if you do not want to be tripping and falling down the stairs! *wink*

Sure, you do leave the place with your wallet a lot lighter but it is a great experience! An extremely justified one!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 23rd BIRTHDAY COURTNEY!

San Diego Zoo

Okay, this is a very delayed post. 

Christian, Chris and I headed to San Diego a couple of weeks back to visit San Diego Zoo. I guess it's a 'must see' if you are close to the area since it is one of the world's best zoos!

Chris giving the 'koala' face!

Here with Christian!

Christian drove us there (thanks a bunch!). With all the wrong turns and the silly GPS giving us weird directions, we somehow did finally get there after 3 hours or so. Pheeeww!

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about San Diego Zoo. I love how Wiki is so convenient for lazy people like me. 

"The World Famous San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California is one of the largest and most progressive zoos in the world with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species. It is also one of the few zoos in the world that houses the giant panda. It is privately operated by the nonprofit Zoological Society of San Diegoon 100 acres (0.40 km²) of parkland leased from the City of San Diego, and ownership of all animals, equipment and other assets rests with the City of San Diego."

At San Diego Zoo I got to see this baby panda below. She is real cute isn't she?

And not forgetting that polar bear which was peacefully taking a lazy snooze.

To me, San Diego Zoo is not any different than any other zoo, since it showcases animals but what makes it so special is its layout and animal shows. When you see the animals, you are more likely to go "Wow, you lucky fella!" rather than "Aww you poor thing all cooped up in there!". The reason being the enclosures are so well designed and maintained it practically mimics the animal's natural habitat.

The shows are wildly entertaining too! I got a chance to catch the bird show and it was unlike any other I have seen! I got to see a parrot sing "Old McDonald"! Not kidding! 

This is the smart parrot that sang Old McDonald for all of us! pretty melodious actually!

All in all, San Diego Zoo is a wonderful place to visit. The extensive species of animals will not only entertain kids but adults too! 

xoxo