My Shoulder

So many of you may have heard that I hurt my left shoulder… and here is the story.

I landed on my shoulder twice during our third game of the day against a Div I team at Beantown tournament in New Hampshire. The first time it hurt, but I was able to stand up and keep playing. Maybe it would’ve been better if I steps out of the game when that happened… but since we were down by one player already (someone got injured and stepped out the game without having a sub), I don’t feel like doing that… so the second time I landed on my shoulder clearly, like.. just shoulder without anything else hit the ground and then I flipped over… I tried to get up, but my shoulder would not follow my body… and after two try I gave up. I felt something is out of place but since I never dislocated any joints, I had no idea just what happened. Talia walked me to the medical booth at the tournament and found a girl to look at my shoulder. She examined it and told me that it looked like I just gammed my shoulder, and told me that if I want to play the next day, go see them first. “Uh… she is not gonna play tomorrow.” Talia replied with a ridiculous look thinking that girl was insane. So I put on some ice and got back to my car. Talia helped me driving it back to Boston (it was about 1.5 hours driving) and dropped off everyone. That was about 7 or 8pm, I think. Then she took me to MIT Medical. The doctor looked at my shoulder and tells me that it is definitely dislocated. He tried to put it back in place for about 10 minutes, making me sit up, lay on my back, lay on my stomach, and dangling my arm out of the bed… anyways, it was quite painful and not really having much success. He thought he popped it back in but something still looks wrong. So he referred me to MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) emergency room (ER). So Talia drove me to MGH while I was in a funny looking gown. So we got to MGH and took some x-rays (click on it to see the x-ray copy) after waiting forever. Then a doctor woke me up and finally announced my real problem. It was not only dislocated (which was fixed at MIT Medical) but it was also a 3rd degree AC separation. It means that the ligament connecting my shoulder blade and my collar bone was stretched (not torn, thank god) so that the two bones were separated by almost 2 cm. He also told me that there isn’t much they could do about it… I do not need a surgery, because the bones will just grow back together over time. They prescript me some stuff and discharged me from the ER. When we finally got back to WILG it was almost 2am… We both really exhausted… Talia then made some dinner for me (we haven’t eaten the whole day! And talia did not eat either because she refused to delay me getting medical attention and did not want to leave me alone in the hospital… I cannot express how much I appreciate her company) … Then we both headed back to bed.

I found it was extremely painful to move my arm around… and the sling wasn’t strong enough to hold my arm in place so I had to use my other arm to hold it the whole time, which made my whole body sore… So showering the next morning wasn’t so fun… WILG (where I live) girls helped me to untie my gown and sling, helped me bringing my showering stuff to the first floor bathroom, which luckily was made for handicapped person. Perfect! I refused their offer to help me actual shower and started my adventure. There was a chair-ish thing to sit in the bathroom and there was a bar right next to the site at arm level. I guess it was for eople to hold, but I found it was a perfect place to rest my left arm on while I tried to shower with one arm. So I picked up my left arm, as if it was just some attachment of my body that I did not have any control over. Then I carefully placed it on the bar so that it wouldn’t slip. And it took me a lot time to shower because I had to try to keep my body relatively stationary respect to my left arm, otherwise it hurts like no other. So finally I got out of the shower and wrapped myself into a roll… Talia then tried to help me get dressed… she found a lose bottom down jersey for me to wear that day, because there was no way I could stretch my arm out to put on a T-shirt, not even a large one… Then I told her to wait outside of the door (because if am shy) and I will call her if I need her help. I did need some help from her to get completely dressed… now I just realized how important my left arm is even though I am right handed. Everything was just so inconvenient to do with one arm, especially when there was pain involved... Glad it was a Sunday I did not need to look good to go to class… However, it wasn’t the case on Monday… it was the first day of class of my Hebrew class in Harvard. Because all my other bottom down shirts were too tight for a injured shoulder… I had to put on t-shirts… It took me some effort to put a t-shirt on… but with the help of my teeth, it was nicely done. =) Other than some inconvenience and a little pain, it was alright.

After an appointment with orthopedics couple days later, I found out that I will have to wear a sling for 2 or 3 weeks… To heal completely, it will take 3-5 months, and I need help from physical therapist to regain the full range of motion of my shoulder. I started to do some simple exercise since Wed. Thinks like swing my arm forward and backward, swing my arm side to side, swing my arm in circles… and the hardest one to do was shrugs! It usually takes me more than half an hour to do those exercises where my right arm would only take minutes to do the same thing… However, I found it was pleasing to see how much it improved after each exercise session. Today (Friday), I did not need to lay my arm on the bar in the showering room any more. My left arm cannot do much complicated stuff, but as long as it is kept close to my body, I feel pretty comfortable. Also, it can move a little bit on its own now. Despite the arm does not have much strength, my left hand works just fine… I tied my shoelaces by myself since yesterday, so that I don’t have to wear flip-flops to class all the time… (Yeah I had to wear those to class the first time of my life…) I also managed to put on the sling by myself, which requires stick a part in the back... Oh and I am typing with both hands comfortably for the first time! (With the help of external keyboard that is =) The only simple thing I cannot do so far is the tie my hair… so I wear my cap at home to keep my hair back or ask friends to tie it for me if I have to go to class. Other than that, I can do pretty much everything in my daily life.

Jess said that she was amazed by my ability to do stuff on my own. Actually I am more amazed about how fast our body heals. How fast less and less pain I feel day by day. Also, I would like to say that I am VERY GRATEFUL for all the help and support I have been receiving from the house. Everyone is so nice! Especially, Talia who worries about me more than myself do (Tals, did you thank your parents for me for sending me yummy Challah?); Jess who is helping me build my magic box for my intro to visual art class; many other ones I bug when I need help. I feel really lucky that I live in WILG, I feel like I am not facing the hard time by myself. Maybe this is also why I wasn’t so worried at all the whole time. I knew I can get it through, because of my awesome friends. Thanks to all! I really appreciate your help!!! It also applies to the ones are far from me! I know if I were near you, you would have done the same thing for me! And just your concern about me warms my heart and gives me courage! I am indeed a lucky one to have you all!

So yeah, if you were worry about my condition, please stop worrying. I am totally fine. I am sure I can go through this without much trouble. Seriously, I would hate to know any of you worries about me.

There is a rugby game on Sunday. I plan to go watch, though it probably makes me feel like playing a lot… sigh… too bad I am out for this season…

What else is new? Oh I am taking Hebrew in Harvard. This changes my life completely. I used to sleep from 4am-11am. However, because the class is at 9am-10am… I have to get up early to take bus over there… also because of my shoulder, I had to get up extra early to do icing and stuff… So my life has become more normal… that is sleep around 12 or 1am and gets up at 7 or 8am… it isn’t that bad… it is nice to see the sun for a little longer ;) also because I like the class, I don’t mind at all. Oh so this weekend is Yum Kippor huh. !חתמה טובה =) Hehe, and this not from copy and pasting, but I made it by myself! We are learning reading the alef-bet and vowels now =) Hehe

I am going to LA to see my tiger (Tony) the weekend of Oct 5th. Hopefully my shoulder will be much better by then, or he will be busy =P I am looking forward to it! [Happy 2-month anni to us! (It was today)=D]

Ok… this is enough I think… I need a break for my wrist and hopefully when I update my blog next time I will be out of my sling =)

bowling and surfing!

Joseph, also from MIT who interned in Qualcomm last year, just got back in town for the summer, so we decided to go bowling on Wednesday. Jackson and Tony came too. Obviously I was the worse one in the group. My score ranged from 50-80. They are about 120-160. There wasn’t anything special until the last game… Joseph suggested that the one wins will have a free bubble tea from the losers. I complained that I would never win. So they agreed to double my score. All the sudden I see the hope. Magically the will to get free bubble tea made me play extra extra well in that game. I ended up getting 97, my personal highest score and only 10 points less than their high scorer of that game. Joseph and Tony were all so amazed that bubble tea can make such a difference. Haha. I love food~~ ;) So yeah now they owe me bubble tea ;)

The best part of the week was of course surfing on Saturday! Qualcomm gave the interns free surfing lessons and I luckily got lotteriied in and had the lesson in the same group as Tony. The instructor was pretty detailed, she demoed to us then made us do the motions on the beach before she let us into the water. It turned out to be very useful. With her help I was able to stand up for a few seconds!!! She said that if I come next time, I should be ok to go surfing without a instructor! ;) Just 2 days ago I thought I would never be able to learn surf because I am not a good swimmer! I am sooooo happy!!! =D Too bad the lesson ended shortly… I wish I can try it couple more times … Then Tony, Yunjie, Elisa, and I threw a football around on the beach. I don’t think I am good at throwing football at all… I feel my hand isn’t big enough to control the ball… Glad rugby doesn’t need me to throw the ball like that hehe. After that we moved over to the swimming area to swim. The big wave made it harder but more entertaining. Tony and I went back to 3rd grade and started to splash each other with water. Then we tried to swimming along the wave, but the wave always ended up swallowing me... the worst part was when I thought I dodged the wave and when I was just taking a break, another one came, glad Tony told me to watch out in time so I did not drink too much salty water =) The funniest part of the day was when we were trying to dry off on the beach, Elisa and I got bird pooped on! Glad we were so close to the ocean that we can just go back to the water and wash off. Somehow I found it more amusing than annoying hehe. Tony thinks I am easily amused, I take it as a compliment hehe.

After beach, 5 of us went to dinner. We went to a restaurant that makes food from my hometown, I LOVE it! And I love it more when all my friends enjoy it also! =) “Hmm… I am happy!” They laughed at me hehe. I wish I know how to cook, so that I can make a kosher version for Rucks (Michal), that would be so much fun! Hmm.. maybe 20 years later ;) haha .

The fun day ended with a great movie Bourne Ultimatum. We arrived 50 minutes early but still had to sit all the way in the front… some scenes that had fast movement wasn’t so enjoyable because it hurts my eyes a little, but thanks to Tony’s distraction made it a little easier. Anyways, the movie is recommended! But either arrive extra early or wait for a week or so =)

“Life isn’t always beautiful, but it is a beautiful ride.” Exactly, and I shall try my best to cherish and enjoy what I have now =)

Yosemite!

Wow how did it become August so soon! Time flies by without me noticing. About 4 weeks left of my internship…

The Saturday before the past one, Tony and I went to Mt Soledad to try to see sunrise. By “try” I mean… we got up early and went there, but the cloud was so thick that I cannot see the sun at all! Quite disappointed, but regardless, it was a fun time and we decided to see sunset sometime, so no need for getting up early ;) hehe I am not a morning bird… passed out almost the whole day after that =P

The past weekend … was time for Yosemite with Tony, Yehia, and Jen! Hiking!? So… people who know me well… would ask… “what the heck? You would even drive to class which is 10 minutes away!” Hmm… exactly… for “laziest person in the world” walking isn’t my favorite activity. Especially with 2 cross country runners, my little legs couldn’t quite handle that… haha They led most of the way and I just walk my pace in the back and enjoying the scenery. The 4 mile trail to the top of the mountain was quite steep. And when we get higher… I start to get nervous when I look down… not the best thing to do for someone scared of height… haha… but the great view at the top and the feeling of achieving something was wonderful. Of course, for a “camera pimp” like me, producing 100 pictures there was a piece of cake ;) On the way down the mountain, we went on another 8.6 mile trail. (So total was about 14 miles!!!!!!) We passed by 2 waterfalls. I’d say the first waterfall was my favorite part of the hike, because it was easy, relaxing and fun! I did not bring bathing suite and did not want to walk in wet clothing for the rest of the day, so just sit on a big stone and watched them swim. The most exciting moment I would say was in the middle of the night and we got woke up by the noise of a bear banging on our food lock and try to steal some food. It was right next to our tent, I say 5 feet away. Yehia turned on the flashlight and shined towards the bear, then funny conversation started:

“Is it gonna come in and eat us?” I got a little scared...
“Should I go out there?” said Yehia and looking tough.
“Are you kidding me? You want to get eaten by a bear? Go back to sleep!” Jen couldn’t believe what she just heard.
“Go away bear! I want to sleep!!!” Tony mumbled. I guess he was tired.

To bad we were too lazy to catch it … I missed a bear dinner =( haha

The second day we were trying to see what we should do at the breakfast and we happen to sit next an old couple. They were the nicest people I have seen. They told us about their trip and gave us a map to show where to go and stuff. Then the old man mentioned Israel. So I got excited and told him my friend is in Israel right now. And then we started to talk about the death sea and how beautiful it is while the wife were telling Tony and Jen the possible route of the day. In the end, we said good luck for each other’s trip. Then I decided to show off my few Hebrew phrases, “Be’hatzlacha!” I said it twice then the old man finally got it and was surprised =) He replied with “Be’hatzlacha!”, “Le’hitroat!” and “shalom!” hehe, that was a fun time.

On the way back, we stopped by a shop by the gas station. We were joking that as a HR (Human Resourse), Jen has the people skill that we engineers don’t have, which proved to be true. First she got us map from the old couple, then she got tissue for me at the store for free, while a moment ago another lady got refused. One amazing thing is that the casher asked me if Jen was my sister. “Nooooo!” I pointed to Jen, “White?” then I pointed to myself, “Asian? Eh???” haha I got confused how he could even think of ask this question haha.

After getting back from Yosemite we were all pretty tired. Tony had to skip the salsa class to finish his Harry Potter book and unpack stuff. I went there along and the instructor taught the most moves on that day. I am certainly not a good teacher, because I can barely manage to do my own moves haha Not a good day to miss.

Yesterday we went to Acura classic tennis match. It was so cool that I got to see Martina Hingis play! She was a former world No.1 player for almost 4 years, and she used to be my favorite player since like … 10 years ago! I am pretty excited to know she was playing. I got to watch Jelena Jankovic, current number 3, play, too. Even better, I got their signatures on my cap!!! =) xoxo happy =) Every time after watching professional plays, I always feel like playing myself… hmm gonna find some friends to play tennis sometime =) xoxo

Today’s activity is bowling =) should be fun! hehe

oh, pictures for Yosemite is here, and for tennis is here =)

A relaxing and fun week

We couldn’t go to Yosemite last weekend because we couldn’t find any reservations for camp site or nearby hotels. I am pretty sad… and I hope we can eventually make it this summer. However, after a long trip to Vegas, it was nice to take a break. As usually we played some basketball, tennis, table tennis. Other than the usual activities, there were some spotlights.

I got my first salsa lesson last Monday. I was shy in the beginning, thanks to the very funny instructor, I wasn’t as nervous. And after a while, I guess I got used to it. Just getting the steps/ spins right took all my attention already. I told a friend that I am taking salsa class, she said “sexy”. I was laughing so hard. If you ever see me dancing, you would never use that word on me haha. I have no dancing ability =P but just think it would be fun to try it out hehe. Yesterday was the second lesson. We learned something fancy: the guys has to pop the ladies, like swing their bodies around without moving the positions. I don’t know how to describe it. I felt the ladies were hoping not to get a back injury from that. Haha.

There was a bank robbery 3 blocks away from where I live. When Jess and I were eating in a near by restaurant 2 weeks ago, all the sudden we heard policy on a helicopter accounting the description of the suspect and tell people to report if they see him. We were joking if it is just the bank in front of us. Last week I went back to that restaurant again, and the owner told me that it was indeed that bank and the suspect was caught the next day. There were several police cars and helicopters. Even the FBI came. I thought those things only happen in movies. But I guess movies are based on real lifes, isn’t it.

I watched Ratatouille, a movie about a rat that can cook. I usually don’t like cartoon movies thinking they are for kids, but this one is pretty cool. The animation and graphics were so good; the water looked very real, which is pretty hard to do. It is always amazing to me how smart people are, and what we can do. Technology is quite a magic, isn’t it. It is hard to imagine what the world would be like in 10 years =P Other than being amazed by the animation, I liked a conversation in the movie. Daddy rat, “You cannot change nature”. Little rat, “Change is the nature”. I agree, I don’t believe in following the fate. Some people look for happiness, but some people create happiness. “The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes their way”. Indeed.

Crystal, Tony and I went to kayaking again. (Pictures can be found here.) Crystal was on her own; Tony and I share a kayak because I don’t think I can do it myself. The most fun part was when we trying to ride the wave to get back to the shore. Our kayak rotated a little and wasn’t straight and tipped over… and I happened to be underneath the tipped over kayak. For a second, I was thinking to myself, “I don’ t want to die yet!!!!!!!” hahaha glad that I got out a second later =P Fun times. I told Crystal that she should try tipping over sometime, because she was the only friend who hadn’t. “I will sometime maybe without trying”, she said. Hehe

A month ago, I got email from coach saying we should work out. Only until yesterday I actually went with Tony. (I cannot do work out on my own… too boring…) I feel that I am much weaker now… I cannot do as much weights as before. The only thing got better maybe is my tolerance, I can run better now. Gonna go running with Tony and Yehia after work today. Should be fun =)

Rucks is going to Israel in about 12 hours. I admire those who can just go after their dreams. It needs a lot of courage. !Rucks, שיהיה במזל Take good care! Ani mitga'agea elaich!

two weeks full of fun

Hmm… I haven’t been updating my blog for almost 2 weeks, because I was too busy having fun here! =P hehe Now that I am only my way back from Vegas, I finally got some free time to write about all the fun I had in the past 2 weeks. Sorry this blog seems way too long... if you don't have time, you can just read the headlines =)

1. Die Hard & Bubble Tea & Board Game, Friday, June 30

Jess (For those who don’t know, she is my house-mate-to-be and I am her old-wise-one in WILG) came to San Diego to visit last weekend. On Friday, Jess, me, Tony, and Yehia (they are interns from Qualcomm also, we met playing basketball =D and they are the ones that I have been hanging out a lot this summer, fun guys) went to watch the movie Live Free or Die Hard. It was pretty good I think. I was kidding that after watching this movie, people would appreciate (or hate) my major (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) a lot more haha. After that we went to a Chinese bubble tea place to chill. I don’t know why they call bubble tea Boba in Taiwan… in Chinese, it also means girls with big boobs… so I never call it that… but maybe that is why it is popular hahahaha. It was a very cozy little shop with free board game rental. If you never played Blokus, I would really recommend it, it is fun and has a lot of strategy. Especially, unlike Taboo or other board games, it doesn’t require large vocabulary or history/ fact knowledge – perfect for someone like me!!! Haha After spending about an hour or two relaxing and fun hours there, we headed home to prepare an upcoming exciting day: jet skiing!

2. Jet skiing & Seafood buffet & Beach & Bubble tea again! Saturday, July 1 (For pictures, click here)

Getting up at 8 am wasn’t so exciting for me, but it proved to be all worth it, so it was all good. As I mentioned, Jess, me, Tony, Yehia, and two other Qualcomm interns arrived at the jet ski rental place in Mission Bay at 9:30. We did not get to start until 10:30 because of the paper works; we had to sign our lives away! There was a safety talk about how not to crash, not because it is dangerous, but it is super expensive to pay for a tiny scratch for the jets! It probably hurts more than actual injury =P The guys all went separately, only Jess and me were sharing one together. Every driver had kill switch tied to the wrist, so that if the driver fell off, the jet would stop instead of run off by itself. I let Jess to drive first, because I wanted to take some pictures first. As some of you might have known, I still kept this “Asian tourist habit”. After we get to the no speed limit zone, I put my camera away. (Thanks to my slim Sony T7, I can fit it into the little water prove box they gave us to carry our contract / map.) The bay was in general quiet. The waves were not big. However, for a fast running jet, the waves were not small enough, especially before we got used to the driving. In the back, I felt like I was riding on a horse. Those jets didn’t have breaks, but without giving gas they would slow down a lot. So we could be going 40 mph and hit a wave then stop right there. Those were bad. Yehia did that when he was driving at 55 mph and fell off the jet. Too bad I did not get to see it, haha. It would’ve be hilarious. =P Jess and I weren’t that daring, our highest speed was about 45 mph. It was also quite hard to hold onto the jet, our hand / arm started to hurt. The funny thing was that the trigger for the gas was right by the right handle, so I have to use one hand to give gas and hold onto the jet. Sometimes when it went fast, I had to try really hard to control which finger to release which to hold tier. So sometimes when I was trying to hold tier, I end up making the jet go much faster by accident. We did not see the guys on the water, maybe because they were driving too fast for us =P I actually think sharing a jet was fun. This way we could talk, so we wouldn’t get very bored. Too bad fun times are always short, we had to return the jet after an hour. Poor Yehia not only fell off the jet, he also got lost on the way back to the rental place, so he ended up paying almost $200, but he said it was fun, including falling over.

After jet skiing, six hungry monkeys decided to go for seafood buffet. Yehia never had sushi before, so he was trying all those new things and saying it was heaven. One of the guys said to him, “you were pretty close to heaven before!” referring to him falling over the jet. We all laughed aloud. Best quote of the day.

In the afternoon, we did the typical San Diego activity: go to the beach! They probably went to swim and played volleyball. Why probably, you may ask? Because I was mad tired from getting up early and passed out once we got to the beach.

Sadly that Jess had to leave the next day to fly back to Cincinnati. It was such a very fun weekend! I cannot wait for her to move into the house! (By house, I mean WILG, where I live in Boston =)

3. San Diego County Fair, Tuesday, July 3rd (For pictures, click here)

Every summer, san diego has a about one-month-long county fair, which has a variety of entertainment. Such as roller coaster rides (relatively small), summer concerts, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand lots of food!

I booked ticket to see Switchfoot concert on Tuesday. Tony and Yehia came along for food. Had the experience from last year, I made them to leave work at 3:30pm (=P), it took us almost 2 hours to go to the fair ground which was only 10 miles away! Ridiculousness, Rucks would say! We parked at a off-site free parking lot, then took a shuttle over. They used those city site seeing buses for the shuttle. I got really excited to get to sit on the top level. It brings me back memories of when I was a kid. We had a lot of those kinds of double layer buses in Chonqing, China. Don’t know where they went when I grew older.

Switchfoot concert was pretty good. They were where active, running around on the stage and doing some cool moves when they play guitar. I liked their show a lot. The fun part of the day wasn’t the concert alone though. I couldn’t believe I let them convinced me to go on to roller coasters!!!!!!!! OMG I almost cried out lol I got scared even on the fairy wheel, when they stopped us when I was at the very top to let the people at the bottom out… gosh!!! I could’ve fall out! From the pictures Tony take, it seems to be very pretty to look down on top there, but I was too scared to look haha! The 3^rd and also the last one we wend to was the pirate boat. OMG when I thought it gonna come down it went higher! The worst part was when our butts left the seat! I thought I was gonna fly out! I think I cursed every time my side went up haha! Thank god Tony tried to make me feel safer on there or I probably would have had a heart attack. Though… Yehia did not scream any less than I did lol! Now I am more sure that I won’t ever go to six flags! Haha but… I had to admit… it was kinda fun though =) haha but I don’t know if I would go on another one again soon lol

4. Fireworks, Wed, July 4th (For pictures, click here)

I worked on 4^th of July so that I can take Friday off to go to Las Vegas (it turned out that we left after 4… I could’ve not take a day off…) In the beginning I wasn’t so excited about fireworks. I saw it last year… it was pretty but I wasn’t so impressed about it. At the last minute I changed my plan and decided to have a good dinner. The winner was Korean BBQ! Crystal was a big lover of Korean BBQ so she came up to join Tony, Yehia and me. We all get to know each other through basketball, isn’t that amazing? That is why I love basketball!!! =) Ballers are cool!!! =) So yeah the food was amazing! It was so good that we forgot about time… we ended up getting to fireworks about 10 minutes late. We had to park far away because there is absolutely no parking anywhere closer. Before we get to La Jolla Cove, we can only hear the explosion noise while the buildings on the street totally blocked the view. “I feel home” It took me a minute to process what Yehia was talking about. Finally we realized that he meant that in his country where war is common in daily life, and the firework noise sounded just like bombs. We laughed, but deep down I was a little sad. Why can not we just live peacefully? I hate wars… To me there is no justified war, because there is always innocent blood … Sigh, world isn’t so simple huh… I hope we can eventually reach a peaceful world…

We finally get to La Jolla Cove, and it is proved to be the best place for anything at any time. The fireworks looked like right above my head. It was much better than watching far away. I think it was my best fireworks experience so far. If I have a chance I would come back to La Jolla again next July 4th.

5. Las Vegas, Friday, July 6th (For pictures, click here)

Mike (a NAVY friend I met through Si, a good high school friend who is in NAVY now, from last year) bought ticket to the World Series poker game, so I tagged along with Si. I heard about Vegas ever since I was a kid, but this weekend was the first time I ever got a chance to go. Since I am more a person about nature, I wasn’t so excited about artificial buildings that much, especially I don’t drink nor gamble. However, experiencing Vegas is always one thing should be done in life, isn’t it?

Because Mike couldn’t get off work till late, by the time we got to Vegas it was almost 10pm. We did not do much that night due to the fact that Mike has games the next day, did not want to disturb him, since it was a pretty important event for him.

The next day we found out that all the shows are pretty much in the evening… guess the day-night is shifted here in Vegas just like in MIT haha. We finally found one magic show that is at 2pm. It was pretty cool. Tigers(!), people, birds and even amtrak came out from no where! Sometimes I wonder how they did those tricks hehe, but I’d rather not know them, because that would kill the fun part. Sometime life isn’t all about truth, is it. Hehe. The tigers were really cute, I love cats, big cats =)

After the show we just hopped around the hotels. OMG that was painful, 110+ degrees was not so nice to us. I had to drink so much to make sure I wouldn’t get dehydrated. With the experience in Caribbean, I learned to put sun scream over and over again, because sun burned was not fun at all. We went to bunch hotels. I think for inside, I liked Bellagio more, but outside, New York New York and Paris was prettier with the Liberty Statue and Eiffel Tower. Even though I was from NY, I never went to the Statue, so it was quite fun. Eiffel Towel was just amazing, especially at night with the lights on. Too bad due to timing issue we missed the chance to going into the tower. I wasn’t so sad about it, because I am more amazed by its architecture, which would be better to see from outside. I guess I got this from my dad who was doing architect work. However, I think Si got really disappointed. It was one thing she really wanted to do, which I did not realize… Sorry, next time, poor one.

Warning: this paragraph is not good for kids’ eyes. So yeah Mom, tell Alina and Justin not to read it haha, though it is not really bad. So, since I don’t drink nor gamble, to make my Vegas trip special, I had to go see a stripper show, right? Hahaha I made Si to go with me to a male one instead of a female one. I think if I were to see a female one, I would either be bored or be too jealous hahahahahahaha. The boys definitely had nice bodies. They dance pretty well too. The fun part to me was to see other girls in the audience getting brought up stage. They were pretty wild haha. The boys sometimes come down to the audience to interact with the audience; I was trying to avoid them the entire time haha. I am still a little conservative after all. Glad it was birthday of the girl sitting right next to me, and her friends were pretty loud, so that the guys usually pass me to their group. Phew! There was a older lady, like 50 ish (?) sitting right behind me. One boy picked her out because of she was the only over 25 (maybe 30) lady there? I forgot what he said, but afterwards, her group of friends (or maybe daughter?) were laughing and she said, “hell yeah, I am ready to do it!” I couldn’t help laughing still haha Wild mama. Don think I would pay that much to see this kind of show again, but it was a good experience for life I think haha. To clarify, they don’t really strip down to nothing. Disappointed… haha I am just kidding!

Because Mike and I both need to work the next day, we cannot stay around for another evening, and also because there is no show in the day, we decided to just go home. After 6 hours of drive we got back to San Diego, and I found myself feeling cold! With the experience of the desert, I found San Diego truly heavenly! Haha

Alright, I think this was my life time Vegas trip, don’t think I love it enough to go back again, or at least not in couple years. However, I think it was a nice trip =)

Now I am finished up this blog… it is Monday already, and I should go back to work now, actually… maybe lunch haha. Today I am going to salsa dance class with Tony. I know nothing about dancing, so I really hope I won’t embarrass myself too much…and I am really looking forward to our possible Yosemite trip this weekend! I love nature! =)

*** I cannot believe you actually managed to finish reading this looooooong blog!!! I hope it did not bore you too much! Thanks very much for reading it! Thanks for caring about me! I miss you all dearly! ***

Bankrupt

Hmm I guess I had too much fun in the first few weeks, now it is the same old thing: Beach, basketball, table tennis, movie / dinner with friends… The only new thing I did was shopping – not a good thing. Somehow, I happened to be in shopping malls for 3 days straight. After the third day, I started to wonder when is the next time I get my pay check, cuz I think I am at the edge of going bankrupt haha. The 4th day, someone asked me if I want to shopping again, I ran away from her right away. Haha. Cannot afford any more lol

My friend just asked me to do a silly online test, “What gender does your brain think?” My result was 80% female, 20% male: “Your brain leans female. You think with your heart, not your head. Sweet and considerate, you are a giver. But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!” Interesting… My friend, who happened to match my result, commented that he thought I would be lower on the female side more on the male said. “You play rugby and basketball, how can you be more female!” Haha. One can never be judged by appearance. It is true! Thought I hope this doesn’t imply my face looks like a boy’s hehe.

Jess is coming to visit from Cincinnati this Friday. Maybe I will take her to try jet-skiing =) I am also planning to go to Las Vegas with Sisi and Mike (friend from NAVY) the next weekend. Mike is going to have a poker competition? Haha sounds like fun. I have been hoping to go to Vegas all this time. Hopefully we can make the trip.

I heard that US open golf got the youngest qualifier this time, she is only 12. I wonder what babies do nowadays... then a friend told me that a 2 years old scored 156 on IQ test... deeply ashamed... hehe make me feel like i should achieve something before I get too old haha

Now I am thinking about staying at MIT one more semester if I can get founding, meaning if I can get a TA-ship for that semester. I kind of want to take a few classes and play rugby. But it is just what I am thinking… maybe I will be tired of school by then haha.

Changed or not

No matter we keep moving on or try to hold on, time always flies by without any hesitation, and we always grow up bit by bit over time. The fear I have at departure, is because I am afraid of change, afraid things won't be the same. That is right, everything is changing every day, even every minutes. I am different today from yesterday; I am different this year from last year. However, I am still who I am, no matter today or yesterday, no matter this year or last year. There is change, so we adapt to the change. This is how we live. And then, you will find out nothing changed at all!

Special thanks to Rucks for comforting me when I was upset. You are right, I believe there are somethings would never really change. And I will hold on to it for lifetime.