I just won a mountain bike!

Our residential hall at Berkeley holds a meeting every Tuesday to plan student activities, such as dances, movie nights and fundraisers. To encourage attendance, raffle tickets are given out at every meeting to anyone that shows up.

Well, today was the last meeting of the semester and the raffle. The grand prize was a Mongoose mountain bike. I was told that I had seven tickets while the runner-up had five. Armed with this information, I bid six tickets when the bike was put up for auction. Instant winner!

This is definitely really exciting. I still cannot believe I won such an awesome prize. A quick Google search suggests that similar bikes cost around $200. I'm hoping it doesn't get stolen before I could take it home. *crosses fingers*

a Thanksgiving without a turkey (well, almost)

Thanksgiving was pretty fun as my aunt Cynthia invited us over for a hot pot dinner. It was a great meal even though we didn't have a turkey this time. I'm sure PETA would be proud. :-)

The party was overall quite enjoyable. It was definitely nice to see Connie and Cathy again. Only a few more weeks until Christmas!

On second thought, I just remembered I still have that turkey sandwich I bought at Berkeley the other day. So this wasn't really a "turkey-free" Thanksgiving. Sorry, PETA. :P

Veterans Day weekend report

The midterms are finally over. It was great to get some rest over the long weekend!

Speaking of which, I slept in on Friday and didn't get up almost 1:30 p.m. That was incredibly satisfying. Even though I got up very late, my family still went hiking in Stevens Creek County Park after a quick bite.

Having had lots of rest, I didn't get up too late on Saturday morning. Therefore, my parents and I took a stroll to the Starbucks in downtown Mountain View for coffee and snacks. The three of us also checked out the nearby mineral shop; this reminded me of our family vacations as mineral shops are quite common in tourist areas.

The highlight of the weekend is that our family friend Mei invited us to her house for dinner in the evening. It wasn't just us as the Lees had several other people over. All of the kids loved playing The Incredible Machine 3 on my laptop.

The Veterans Day weekend was overall quite enjoyable. Oh yeah, and there are less than two weeks until Thanksgiving. :-)

Currently playing: The Incredible Machine 3

three midterms in four days :\

It turns out I have three exams in the next few days: Physics 7B tomorrow evening, Math 53 (multivariable calculus) on the 9th and Economics 100A (microeconomics) the day after that. These definitely aren't easy subjects. So wish me luck - I'm going to need lots of it!

On the bright side, there is no class on Friday because we get Veterans Day off. Thank heavens for small favors.

Currently reading: Calculus: Early Transcendentals by James Stewart

Halloween dance report

I just got back from Freakfest, the Asian American Association's annual Halloween dance. It was all right, but things could have been handled better. For example, the event was delayed for "security reasons" right off the bat. There was no compensation even though the dance started 30 minutes late. The DJ left out the slow songs too. Considering that I paid $10 for the ticket, I can't help but feel a bit ripped off.

I'm keeping this short as it's around 3 a.m. right now. However, here is a detailed review of the dance if you're interested.

Currently playing: RaidenX

officially 20 years old today

I'm now officially 20 years old. The 631 million seconds that have passed since I signed up for that MMORPG called Outside have gone by really fast. I can hardly believe I'm no longer a teenager!

To commemorate the occasion, here are three interesting facts about my childhood:

1. I once did something bad while watching cartoons with my mother. She got mad and turned the TV off. Three-year-old me then followed the cables and looked into the electrical outlet, thinking that was where the images came from.
2. I used to think nighttime was caused by clouds.
3. Some of my elementary school teachers often joked about having special powers, such as telekinesis and the ability to teleport objects to other planets. I actually believed them. Go figure.

So yeah... happy birthday to me and everyone else born on October 10. :-)

Currently listening to: J. S. Bach - Selected Preludes and Fugues for the Piano

Best. Birthday party. Ever.

So I'm turning 20 in two days. The nice thing is that my parents had a big party for me tonight. The reason for the early celebration is that I'll be at Berkeley on the 10th.

Our guests were the Lee, Lu, Liang and Shieh families. Everyone definitely had a good time. The only downside is that my uncle Dong couldn't come, but that's not a problem as it was already a full house!

I got a whole lot of love and some greats presents. The first is a nice laptop case from Carol. I often take my computer while traveling and will certainly find this useful. Mei knew that I loved classical music and got me a Bach album. I also received a $30 gift card to Borders from my aunt Cynthia. Last but not least, Wen-Juei and Lisa gave me a small crystal figurine. I can't express my gratitude enough.

Before ending this post, I'd like to thank all of my friends and family (especially my parents) for their years of support. They certainly had a big role in my life. Having said that, I should probably get some rest soon as it's rather late here. Take care, everyone.

Historical note: Pictures (and a video) from the party are available here.