To the Holidays and New Adventures

NEW ACTIVITIES

Christmas Eve Party- reflecting

One of my friends, Anne, hosted a Christmas Eve party, and before we ate, she asked us to reflect on the good things and bad/sad things of this past year and something we're looking forward to in the New Year. This question reminded me about the spirit of Christmas...I know that sounds super duper cheesy, but since I have graduated, the holidays are just different now. Before, it was finals, holidays, appreciating visiting family and seeing old friends. Now, I still work...get 2 days off, buy presents for some people, receive some presents, no Christmas tree this year, no Christmas lights, no real reflection of anything. Anne's question kept me grounded. Life is a luxury, an opportunity and chance that only happens once, so the symbolic beauty of the New Year is getting to "start over," start fresh and reflect so you can change aspects of your life, make you happier and healthier and break bad habits. Well we can do this any time of the year, but New Years is always a great reminder.

Good thing of the year: I'm blessed to be working with my family (and still getting along) as well as a passionate, caring staff who really invest themselves in the printing company. It's an exciting experience to see Select expand, and it's a pleasure working with everyone...and I've learned a ton.

Bad/Sad thing of the year: Losing relationships.

New Years Eve- Masquerade

Fun fun fun. First time I've been to a masquerade...it was a house party where people dressed semi-formal and wore masks. Got to know people and gave out my number, danced with friends, happened to stumble upon old church friends and it was so refreshing to catch up with them, drank water...haha. I had a good time.

Biking from LA to Long Beach- ai yai yai (28 miles?)

I biked with a group called the "Ethnic Nerds"...I was invited by Daniel. It was one thing I was looking forward to in the New Year, so even though I only had 4 hours of sleep (New Years Eve and the masquerade was a late night), I still went. We were supposed to meet up at 10am in LA Little Tokyo...we started biking around 10:30pm and I think we got to Long Beach around 3pm after an eventful ride (people falling, flat tires, me biking slow on a Beach Cruiser). The morale of the story is to not take a heavy-ass Beach Cruiser bike on long-distances.

I really want to do this again to see how much I can bike on a road bike. I think I may buy a bike.

NEW FRIENDS

Linda and Andrew

My first instinct was to not go, but then I kinda thought...what the hell...I wouldn't be doing anything at home. Had coffee with them, and everyone was really open about their careers and their relationships. Everyone seemed extremely passionate about what they did, especially Linda (she was trying to convince me to go into optometry), and it's really motivating to see that kind of energy and passion for something one is doing. We also had a "most-single award" and people were going the history of their love lives...or lack thereof.

Johnny "Lang Tu" Phi Nguyen (wanderer)

I had dinner for Christmas with my dad, and he told me he'd be late because he wanted to invite a friend who didn't have a family to have Christmas with and he was going to pick him up. Well this friend that he brought was an old family friend that I can't remember. He said he came over a lot when we were kids. It's interesting to have someone know your family so well. He could list all of my mom's siblings and he knew how old my aunt was. He said he held me when I was little and I was his favorite baby to hold. He's also a Poker Champion of World Series Poker 2004. Crazy! It's nice to hear from someone who...I dunno...it feels like he's practically family.

Biking crew

There's a biking culture out there...this is kinda like the strange realization I had when I went to VN and found out about the backpacking culture trying to stay in cheap places and taking Lonely Planet books with them everywhere. There are bike rules on the road, bike safety, different types of bikes, different reasons to bike (saving the environment, exercising, commuting), etc.

NEW FOOD

X :-(

Forgotten

Forgotten tastes
Forgotten smells
Forgotten sounds
Forgotten songs
Forgotten stories
Forgotten places
Forgotten acquaintances
Forgotten friends
Forgotten families
Forgotten emotions
Forgotten logic
Forgotten loves
Forgotten promises
Forgotten passions
Forgotten lessons
Forgotten blessings
Forgotten memories


Every second, life changes and the past and the present are either remembered or forgotten.

What do you make an effort to remember? What do you forget?
What will you be remembered for?
Will you be remembered or forgotten?

Late update

Sorry I have not updated weekly as I intended.

New Hangout

So I hung out with Julie and one of her friends, Daniel, and we all really hit it off and decided to commit to writing regularly with each other. It was so refreshing hanging out with people that you could talk about anything with from work to family to passions to religion...and fun that we share a hobby. It was just oh so refreshing...like running through the sprinkler on a hot day...or like opening a can of soda to hear that first pressure of air get released.

Oh yea, and the food at Artist Cafe is really really good too.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-artist-restaurant-garden-grove

We got chicken wings in tamarind sauce (that was my fav), fried frog legs, and bo luc lac ("shaken beef" in English?...it's diced beef basically with veggies...so JUICY). Yum yum.

Cooking New Food

My sister and I made Creamy Wild Rice Chicken Soup...but more her. It was delicious.

I've been lazy about this Cooking New Food one... :-( Perhaps some inspiration...or join me in cooking?

New Activities

Sawdust Art Festival

I went with my friend, Henoc, and it was the weirdest thing for us. We had a free ticket but it's like $6 admission in Laguna Beach. People showcase their art and sell them. Some look nice and some look really hand-made...all for high/over-priced prices. Everyone there, including Santa (haha), was white...except for Henoc and me. We were good with checking out the entire place and all the booths in less than an hour.

(I took some pictures, but I can't find my camera right now.)

Carving- snowboarding

I've been snowboarding a few times, but I always use heel side. I was inspired by Brian to carve, and I totally ate it in the snow...over and over again. I don't think I've ever been that sore...to the point where it hurt to just get up from the bed. Really really painful...my arms were really sore and it hurt to lift things, my stomach would hurt when I laughed, my knees were bruised. Anyway, I feel a lot better now, so I will stop crying about it. I think I will have to look up how to carve next time before I eat it again.

Publish Post

"Nhau" (verb)

I could never figure an exact English equivalent for the word, "nhau."

VERB

1. To have a good time with people.

Everyday, I walk from Point A to Point B, without half a glance at the in-between. Focused, driven, efficient. Tasks to-do and tasks completed. Organized in my head like check-lists. Done by this deadline.

But when I pass by people who are "nhau-ing," I see their bright red faces radiant with sun-like joy. They share their food and their drinks. They share their day-to-day, their experiences, their work, their love lives, their families, their past, their future, their reflections, spewing in one necessary session to release themselves. Stress and problems and cares are left until the next day. For today, they cheer with glasses, cups, cans, bottles, all raised up into the air, for things shared and for things forgotten. They cheer with anything because it really doesn't matter the form of container or the type of liquid. Moments are immortalized in times like this: times with friends, times with family, times with people.

In good company,

time

freezes.

2. To drink.

I'm the hero of the Party Poopers, a legitimate reason for them to go home. I'm the customer of the Baby Sitters, another reason for them to stay in business.

They call me the "one shot wonder." I'm a wonder...with one gulp of the invisible, my mind immediately blurs...and I wonder why it happens to no one else. I become red with scorching heat. I'm red with blood pulsating through my body. I'm red with an extra dose of emotions racing through my veins. I become red with silence. I'm red with sleep.

I'm a wonder, and I wonder why the molten liquid that is thoroughly enjoyed by most, even addictive to some, can burn my flesh so. I'm red with envy because the activity that bonds so many together in a communal state of inhibition and carelessness makes me puke.

Drinking or "nhau-ing"-- Everyone does it. It scares me. It isolates me.

Fresh Start

I said I would do new things, so here they are:

New Hangout
Last weekend, I met up with Mylinh in Downey. We tried to go to the popular Portos, but it was closed so we instead ended up going to a Chinese restaurant nearby. I met her at a mutual friend's going away party, and she's been active in trying to hang out with me, so we finally hung out. I'm so so glad I went. She's really cool.

She taught me the importance of not fearing and just being active in asking people to hang out if you want to get to know them. A lot of people (including myself sometimes) thinks it's weird to initiate or are scared that they may think I'm weird if I ask, but seriously...what's the worse that could happen?

New Activity

I went to an archery class with my friend, James. Bull's eye!

Orange County Archery

18792 Brookhurst St.

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

714-965-1125

$22 (including rentals) for a one-hour class where they teach newbies like me and him. It was cool...so random. The class is Sun 2-3pm or 3-4pm, but go to the later one...they let us stay an hour afterwards since there was no other class waiting. ;-)

Archery is something I've never done before. I used a 16lb bow. The arrow has a little nitch to fit into the string of the bow. There are different kinds of bows: bare bow, long bow, commander (I think that's the right word?...I think...it doesn't look like the bow you would imagine...it looks more complicated and often has a "sight" to see exactly where you're shooting and a trigger). It has 3 fan things on the tail and one particular one should be pointed towards you.

James and I also met this guy, Chu Dung ("Zung"). He was really cool and let us shoot his heavy red bow too. His bow was so so sexy....it was a sports car red. Italian bow, he said. He was really friendly, and he told us that he started because he saw a movie where one of the characters started archery, so one day he just decided to do it, and he fell in love with it. He shoots at last 100 arrows a day, and won a California championship for the bare bow. He also teaches archery privately for $30 an hour. I thought that was really cool...just giving yourself the opportunity to step out of your comfort zone to try something new and working at it hard enough to be top of your game. I really hope to see him again...or shoot with him again. :-)

New Dish
Ok...I kinda cheated on this one. Yes it is a dish I never made before, but I used the instant noodle packet to make it. I got out of work at 8pm, so I just whipped the dried instant noodle packet together with leftover Thanksgiving ham and tomatoes and greens (don't know what it's called but I eat it a lot...if you knwo w). My sister and I liked it.

For next time: Looking back on it, I should have added green onion. I'll also actually COOK a real dish next time...from scratch (or close to scratch).