The Island

Went to see The Island today. The story is pretty much I expected… and more. I always like action movie with a solid storyline that leads you somewhere. The Island does just that.

There is no disappointment throughout the movie, except the lady who screamed so loud at one point in the movie theater ; her voice actually scared the heck out of me. This is not even a scary movie; there is really no point yelling so loud, lady.

The Island deals with clone issues. This is the kind of movie that makes you think a bit after it is over; a good topic for a 5-page sociology term paper that discusses whether human has the right to copy themselves via technology advancement.

Of course, there are more surprises in the movie, but you have to see for yourself.

If there are more famous & cute actors in this movie, I am sure The Island will be a big hit in the box office.

Meet "Pororo"

A friend of mine introduced me to Pororo today, a little Korean-made penguin.

According to their official website, "Pororo the Little Penguin" is 52 series of 5 minute 3D CGI animated stories for 4 to 7 year olds.

Well, I am not in their target group, but that little penguin looks so adorable to me.

Pororo has some friends, too. They are just as cute.

All photos are up!

I just loaded all Leavenworth and Olive Garden photos in our OBS album. Go check it out.

Almost Ricca's B-day

Happy B-day, Ricca.

We know it is not today, but hope you had fun with us this evening. I updated this photo just for you. ( very efficient, don't you think?)


I loved the breadsticks and salad...like always.

Finally, to our b-day girl. Ricca!

The Gingerbread Factory in Leavenworth

For the details about our trip to Leavenworth, WA, please refer to Yang’s blog.

What i am going to do is to introduce my favoriate ~ The Gingerbread Factory. I highly recommend The Gingerbread cookie house in Leavenworth. The building is designed like an actual Gingerbread Cookie House ( the one they sell in safeway during chrismas), everything in the store is gingerbread-related or in gingerbread shape.

I actually went to that store three times in 10 minutes, each time I came back with more ginger cookies in my hands. Yes, it is THAT good. The type of cookie I got is called “Skinny Dippers,” I ended getting a whole bag.

Some Info About The Gingerbread Factory

(509) 548-6592
828 Commercial Street
P.O. Box 315
Leavenworth, WA 98826

On the way home, we found a blueberry farm. Blueberry picking was fun, I am sure Ricca is enjoying our LOVE right now. : )

The German Town where Yang and I spent the afternoon out

The german-styled lunch but way too sour for me..Their potato is cold ><

Cool Lodge Where We Stayed! Wish I can move in there...

Another Reason to Love Alaska Airline

As I went check-in for my flight back to Seattle this evening, I suddenly realized my flight was scheduled yesterday. In other words, my flight was GONE.

Can you believe I actually MISSED my flight as I overlooked the returning date on the ticket? Because my flight is scheduled to arrive at midnight, I ASSUMED it is Wednesday that I need to go to the airport. In fact, I should have gone on Tuesday night while flight arrives in Seattle on Wednesday morning.

When the staff told us there were open seats and we don’t have to wait overnight, my mom and I were VERY pleased. The best part of all, Alaska airline did not charge any cancellation/reschedule fee for missing our flight yesterday. It is awesome to know that I don’t have to pay for my mistake.

As soon as we boarded, I found out the flight is actually packed tonight. I am very fortunate for getting back Seattle today. Big thanks to Alaska Airline.

So yeah, I am back in Seattle.

Leaving for Las Vegas Tomorrow

Need to wake up early to drive to Vegas tomorrow; approximately 5 ½ hour drive from my brother's place.

Just checked the weather and it is expecting to be over 100 degrees tomorrow. Monday will be even worse.

Will blog more after I come back on Monday night. I will also include my trip journal for Day VI – Balboa Park and Day VIII – OC County Fair.

And no, I won't gamble there. But I will eat as many buffets as possible in the next two days.

OMG, I got my bikini line already!

The thing is… I didn't even stay for that long. Two hours of straight sunlight already showed me visible difference in my skin tone. As soon as I removed my bikini, the parts covered under my bikini are lighter, much lighter than that uncovered parts. The result is so much faster than what I expected.

What really pissed me off is that I forgot to wear sunscreen lotion in the section below my neck and above my belly. As a result, they turned red…and will be super dark tomorrow. ><

So here is what I have learned

1. Apply sunscreen lotion evenly BEFORE wearing the swimming suit. That way I won't miss any spot.
2. Even if the bottle says“waterproof," don't take their word for it. Always re-apply again after coming out of the water.
   

My mom worried that I will get too dark and kept on saying the color I have is good enough. She always thought Asian ladies look better in lighter skin and encourage me to stay away from the sun as far as possible.

Catalina Island: Day IV

Catalina Island is the highlight of my trip in CA so far. Never thought I would have so much fun doing outdoor activities on a small island; approximately 75 minutes ferry ride from CA mainland.













Driving the motor boat is the best part of my Catalina one-day tour. My brother asked me if I wanted to drive the boat and then handed me the wheel. The boat spun around before I figured out how to stay control and drive straight. I almost throw a few nearby kayakers overboard while learning the technique. Fortunately, I didn't kill anyone that day.



We spent the rest of day touring the island and everything went smoothly. The view was incridble. I would highly recommend Catalina Island to anyone, especially those who love water activities.

Sunny in California - Day II

Ah ha, it is kinda expected, but it is so nice to enjoy the warm weather here in California.

There is a huge shopping mall around my brother's place so I spent a lovely afternoon wandering in the mall. It is not like we don't have those stores in Seattle, but every store is wider, brighter, and comes with lower state tax. The only down side is their suggested retail prices are higher.

As a reminder, 4th of July sale is coming up. It is now a good time to shop. Express has“box deals" with items saved up to 70% off, so are other brands. Be sure to shop this weekend. My next target will be a new swimming suit. : )

Tribute to Two of My Leaving Friends

It is so sad to see you guys leave. You two will always be remembered. Thanks for bringing in so much fun in my life.

Saturday BBQ photos are now online

Finally signed up an online photo space to store & share my digital photos. I decided to go with Ofoto for unlimited space. My first photo set are bbq photos taken at Yee’s.

If you attended the bbq on Saturday, you might have already received a link in your e-mail. If not, click here to check out the photos.

My Future Trip Plan

I will be out of town during the following time

Camping Trip with Amy: June 24 to June 26.
Southern California with family: June 29 to July 12.

Yang, may I reserve your 27 or 28 for dinner, bubble tea or hang-out? Otherwise I will see you after I come back on July 12^th.

Digital Transformation

Before my introduction to digital camera, I sent in my roll of film to the shop, developed all the photos, and throw out the bad ones. I kept the rest in my photo album. This is me two years ago.

Before my introduction to photoshop, I picked the good photos, printed out the selection, and then saved printed copies in my photo album. This is me six months ago.

After my introduction to BOTH photoshop and digital camera, I spent much more time in post-production. To ensure the best quality, I spend more time taking and playing around photos than was before. That is me at present.

As I am writing this blog, my memory flashes back to a person who used a very high-tech digital camera on my 21st b-day dinner. I was amazing by the fact that he did not print out any of his digital photos and store everything in his computer.

You can call me a slow adopter. Viewing photos on a computer is quite different from flipping through pages in a photo album.

But I have changed. I no longer develop all the photos; I pick a few good ones, touch up with photoshop, and then change photos in my picture frame every once in a while.

Maybe I will become “fully-digital” someday. But printed photos will always be more memorable and valuable to me.

Maybe it is a good thing to dress up

I bumped into my classmate and her family at ToDai after graduation yesterday. Later that evening, she called and left me a message.

I called back today and found out her brother is interested in asking me out on a date.

Never gone out on a date with non-Taiwanese before. This will be a new experience for me.

Mahahahah… I would suppose my dress did catch some attention yesterday. : P

Next question: what should I wear on the date? I can’t find anything to top this dress. He probably will be a bit disappointed when I show up in jeans.

UW Graduation 2005

Click Below to See the Enlarged Size



Front: Amy, CinDy, Connie, Yee and Rida
Back: Tim (sorry for blocking you, didn't know I am THAT tall, LOL), Jeff, and David

My "hello" still doesn't connect well, so I tried ImageShack instead. Their thumbnail is kidda small, but you can see view the large size after the click.

Do I have a problem standing?

Has it ever occurred to you that standing alone felt weird? I can stand ok, but I don’t enjoy the feeling of standing there and doing nothing.

I would walk around, jog, or give a presentation when I stand. Otherwise I quickly feel tired of standing and look for a chair that is closest to me. I need a reason to stand up AND this reason must involve with some sort of physical movement.

Maybe this is just pure laziness.

Speaking of movement, I should go to IMA tomorrow. It is my last day to go…for free.

A Day Full of Surprises

After the lunch with my classmates, I drove to school to see my professors. The meeting was at 2pm; I calculated just enough time to arrive on time. Unfortunately, traffic was awfully stuffy today; this unexpected delay took away the possibility to find a free street parking around campus.

I checked the time; I should still be able to make it on time if I buy the parking permit. After I painfully took out cash out my wallet and handed over to the gate cashier, he told me the parking space is full.

Excuse me, how can the entire parking garage be full? There are at least four levels.

“How about the next level?” I asked.

“Nope, there is a graduation today. It is full. But you can try the northern entrance” he responded. Hum, it must be one of those stupid high school graduations.

By the time I turned to the northern entrance; I was already 15 mins late to my meeting. I grabbed my cell phone and called my professor about the delay, he is not answering the phone.

I got another parking permit at north end, but the parking lot is full as well. I was VERY worried at this point. Why did he assign me a parking with no space available?

20 minutes late on the clock. “I might have to reschedule this meeting” I told myself.

I got my parking money back and decided to park in the bookstore. My professors might have already ditched me by then. Last time I checked my watch before I walked in the Communications building, I was 35 min late.

Surprisingly, they were still there, chatting happily. I apologized and quickly set up my laptop as they finished up their conversation.

“So, Cindy. Bring on your presentation. You got exact 12 minutes left” one of the professors asked.

“Huh, what presentation? I thought I am here to show my graduation project, a website, that’s all” I was in shock.

“ Just briefly talked about your business plan and showed us the website”

“…….” I almost fainted.

I didn’t realize this is the comment that I was supposed to defend my project..like a dissertation/thesis debate before graduation.

The worse part is that I didn’t prepare at all. I thought it is a casual meeting between the professors and the students.

I randomly made up something, and played around my website. The whole presentation took no more than 5 minutes via a totally unprepared manner. Later on they asked some questions and made suggestions for the project.

The whole thing ended before 3pm, as they are rushing through another meeting.

“Congratulation, Cindy” you passed. We actually already signed the paper before you arrived today.

Yyyeahhh, I thought so. I wasn’t really expecting a formal presentation in the first place.

So, I guess I am officially done with school.

Done Done!

Check out my newly-designed cap. Yup, that little green furry thingy with pink strips it is. My parents probably hated my design but they were afraid to hurt my feeling to say so. If I am in a good mood, the design probably will stay the same until graduation.

It better not rains on Saturday; otherwise my green fur will absorb all the water….oh no, please please don’t do that to me.

Before I messed up my cap



After the damage is done

The Better Version of Me

Dear Yang
Don’t want you to feel left out in the first photo-viewing group, so Amy and I picked this photo specifically for you. (I like all my photos, but Amy suggested this one, hehe)

I will share the rest with you after you come back.

P.S. "Hello" is acting weird today. I can’t upload any photo there and would hate to waste any of my dante space. I might need to pay for web space after graduation. This sucks.