Monday, February 28, 2005

I moved!

I haven't been to my blog for some time since I was busy moving. I just finished moving! And I'm fully unpacked!! It took me 3 whole days for the packing, moving and unpacking! Phew, finally everything is settled. Well, not quite, right now I have a nice beautiful apartment, but I don't have phone, DSL or cable. So I missed Oscar last night. :( And I tried to see whether I can get free wireless internet from my neighbors; unfortunately, people are getting smarter now, no luck at all after I tried all 5 available wireless networks (they are all encrypted now, damn. :P)! I got to apply for my own.

Every morning, the sun shine comes in through the window, casting the shadow of the blinds on the floor, making the room so warm and cozy. Looking out through my balcony, there is a gorgeous courtyard with a beatiful fountain. In the afternoon, I can just leisurely sit on the couch, playing some music, reading a book while not missing the view outside. :) I shall definitely take some pictures of my apartment next time.

TGI Friday on Hengshan Rd

That's why I can only post old pictures. This one was also taken from the trip to Shanghai last year. And Hengshan Rd is a very popular and Yuppie area, full of restaurants, bar, clubs ... Though I actually have never been to any club or bar there except for the tea house or the bowling place, I really enjoyed taking a walk there. I guess I just wanna get the feel of being a Xiao Zi (小资). :P

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Chinese Lantern Festival

The bund -- Customs Building


I'm taking a small break from packing. There are so much to pack, and my back already started to hurt. :( Wish I'm a genie. If so, I only need to blink, then everything will be taken care of automatically. Well, it's just a good wish (maybe it will work in my dream). But in reality, I have to pack with my painful back.

Today is Chinese Lantern festival(Yuan Xiao Festival -- 元宵节). Chinese are supposed to spend today with their family and eat Tang Yuan at home. Had lunch in Bamboo garden. We asked for Tang Yuan (汤圆),but only Yuan came, no Tang (soup). It's only dried sticky rice ball with sesame inside. There is no soup coming with it at all. But the taste is not bad actually. Anyway, happy lantern festival.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Shanghai -- Pudong financial district



Taken from my last trip to Shanghai in October 2004. Pudong has the most dramatic change since I came to US. Before, Pudong is like country side, no one wants to live there, even though it's only divided by a river from the most flourishing part of the city. Nowadays, Pudong became the financial district center in Shanghai. And since Shanghai is the financial centre of China, if a foreign company wants to open a branch in China, it may end up here. The river which divides Pudong area (east of river) and Puxi area (west of river) is called Huang Pu River, which is also a symbol of Shanghai. Along both sides of Huang Pu River is the famous Bund. If you happen to watch the Shanghai episode in the reality show "Amazing Race", you may remember how bund looks like. :)

Monday, February 21, 2005

Some thoughts

Sometime I want to write something like this, but I just can't get the words right. I'm not a good writer, and I'm not good at expressing my feelings. But it doesn't mean that I don't have any feeling. It's just that I don't know how to show it. Sometimes I like to hide my real feelings because I don't want to hurt people or don't want to be hurt by other people. But now I learned that will probably make things even worse. I'm not very strong but I learned how to protect myself. I have a hard shell, as long as no one breaks it, I'm safe. Inside it's a very fragile and indecisive person. So Here I am, a conflict person. Most people only see my best side -- a super happy girl, because I don't feel comfortable to show my real feeling. But am I really that girl?

My home



This was taken when I first moved into my current place. I stayed here for about 8 months. Now it's time to move out.

It was like taking a rollercoaster for the past 8 months. Some happy time, some horrible time. I remembered how exited I was when I first tried to decorate the place before I moved in. Been to IKEA for so many times just to buy the right curtains. The house turned out beautiful, very colorful. I had red and yellow color curtains against blue wall. It really looks nice.

Now I have to move out. I wish I can leave with only good memories. But I know it won't happen. Things can't be undone. If I could have restarted, I wouldn't make the same choice.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Father and Daughter

I read this article a while ago in an online forum. It's very moving, about the deep love between father and daughter. It reminded me of my dad.

When I was in college, I need to take bus to our main campus, which is very far. I stayed in college dorm; but once every one or two weeks, I came back home to see my parents, as well as do laundry, eat good food, watch TV... There was a long walking distance between my parent's home and bus station, and I always have to bring two very heavy backpacks full of clean clothes, food and other goodies back to school. So my dad always took me on the back of his bike to the bus station.

My parents had me when they were in their 40's. So my dad was not young any more when I was in college. Every time I sat on the back of my dad's bike and saw his shoulder moving each time he stepped on the bike paddles, my nose just felt so sore. My parents are not those kind of people who explicitly express their feelings (which I am the same way). If my dad wants to praise someone, the best he can do is just to say "good". He never says "Excellent, or you did great!" It's just a simple plain "Good". Some people may get frustrated if they don't know my dad. And he never says how much he loves us.

One time on the way to the bus station, he told me that when I am old, he hope that I can still remember that there was this old man who always took me to bus station every weekend. He said in such a way that almost made me cry. Even though all the words he says were simple and plain, I can feel all the caring and love from his tone. I couldn't speak. I don't know how to speak out my feeling, I don't know how to tell him that I understand how he cares for me. And I don't know how to say "I love you, dad!"

父亲和父亲的烙饼 (ZT)

人的有些经历,经过了一遍,就不想再提。人的有些感情,过去了,就把它藏在心里。有最坚硬的外壳护着的,一定是些不能触动的柔软。而今天,我不得不去扯动自己的记忆,把这些仍然觉得新鲜的创痛拿出来,献给那些曾经经历过不幸的,正在遭受不幸的人们,我们都明白,我们之所以被不幸折磨,是因为,我们心里有那么多的爱。有首歌里唱的是:人字的结构就是相互支撑。让我们彼此依靠,互相支持,在寒冷的人生季节里也能体会到一些微温。

。。。。。。

父亲一直是个大忙人,他也闲不住。那年他负责一个上千万的大工程,临走的时候,只是要母亲给他收拾了几件内衣。母亲想给他放两件遮寒的外衣,他都嫌麻烦,他一直夸口说:自己体壮如牛。多年来,事实也的确如此,连小感冒父亲都很少得。

等到我们知道父亲病倒了的时候,父亲已经转回到了本市的医院。那阵子,我正好放假在家。母亲和我赶过去看他的时候,他除了有些苍白,精神倒是很好。他象个孩子一样冲我母亲乐,得意地说:“这回可是个大病。。。”

母亲和我都明白他的意思,能够住院的病对他来说就是个天大的病,他自己觉得挺新鲜,很开心地跟我们描叙晕倒到底是个什么感受,这可是他平生第一晕。他那个样子,就象是做了什么惊天动地的大事,要讨表扬的小学生。母亲看着他又好气又好笑,我也觉得很逗,他这样的,住院根本就是多余,我看他现在出门就又可以打死老虎。他自己也感觉挺好,叫母亲给他去办出院手续。母亲告诉他,安安心心地在医院里躺两天,不会躺出人命的。我们怎么也不会想到,他这在医院里一躺,就不是简简单单的三天两天,而是前前后后躺了差不多两年。。。

父亲是突然原因不明地晕倒在指挥室里的,所以医院给他做了很多项检查,他的白血球指数出奇地高,红血球指数出奇地低。经过了两次相当痛苦的骨穿检查以后,最后结果交到了我母亲手里:再生障碍性贫血。我们对这个名词很没有概念,不知道这究竟是个什么类型的病。主治医生看着母亲和我充满疑惑的脸,很平静地解释说:就是血癌。。。

不幸总是在你最没有防备的时候突然袭击,让你毫无招架之力。他好像不停地跟我们开着残酷的玩笑。结果刚刚出来没两天,父亲的病情就开始急转直下,我们想瞒他都瞒不住。我们接到医院的第一张病危通知书的时候,心情不是震惊两个字可以形容的。父亲是个非常乐观的人,一直安慰我们不要担心,什么血癌不血癌的,其实就是贫血,多输点血就好了。。。看着他掉满了瓶瓶罐罐的手臂,听着他那些强词夺理的解释,我总是勉强笑着笑着嘴角的肌肉就开始抽搐,眼泪不由自主地往下落,赶紧转身假装拿点什么,或者俯身假装去捡点什么,就手把眼泪抹了。。。

父亲开始的时候,还有精神跟我们开玩笑,后来不停的高烧,低烧,口腔出血,尿血,溃疡。。。把他折磨得没有什么力气了,他不得不有生以来第一回这么安静。我在他旁边晃的时候,他的眼睛就跟着我动,你要是去问他是不是想要点什么,他就摇头。我那时候从来不去想他这些怪异的举动有什么含义,我怕自己一想就想多了。。。

那时候,他几乎每天都需要输血。有时候,该到输血的时间了,护士还没来,他就会伸出自己苍白的手掌给母亲看,说:“我又饿了。。。”母亲问他是不是真的想吃点什么,他就装出一幅很凶狠的样子说:“我是吸血鬼,不吃饭。”逗得母亲笑也不是,哭也不是。

父亲从来都不是个心细的人,大大咧咧,雷厉风行了一辈子。现在让他就这么无助地躺着,吃口饭都觉得艰难,这可能才是让他最难受的。我从没听他为这个抱怨过,他的病情经过一次又一次的反复之后,他变得相当沉默。我和母亲都猜不透他的心思,只觉得这不是个好兆头。他手臂的血管因为被插针管的次数太多,完全塌陷下去了,脑门上,大腿上也没少挨扎。如果正碰上经验不够老到的护士,就得多挨好多下。有一回,那个护士自己都急了,针怎么扎都扎不进血管,我看着心里头疼得跟扎我自己似的,他还安慰人家:别紧张,不是你技术不好,是我这个难度系数太高。。。

更让我难受的是,他是老不说话,可他心里什么都特明白。我从来没注意过医生配药的单子,我也没见他看过,可他就能告诉我,医生又加了什么药,或者又减了什么药。我估计他是借此推测自己病情的好坏,虽然他从来不谈这些,可我们都知道,没有一个病人可以真的完全不在乎自己的病情。其实,我们心里都清楚,那些药不是能治本的东西。医生也跟我们谈过几回,要根治只能做骨髓移植手术。我们全家都做好了准备,早早的就开始检查身体验血什么的。同病房的一个二十八岁的小伙子,刚刚做完了移植手术,听医生讲,情况良好。可第三天,就出现了严重的术后并发症,死在了观察室,这对我们都是一个不小的打击。我们都不敢告诉他,可有一天他自己跟我们说:“不要做手术了,做手术有什么好?那谁谁谁,多好的一小伙子啊。。。”我们就知道,什么也瞒不了他。后来,父亲因为输血感染了丙肝,我们家第四次收到病危通知书,说实话,心痛得都已经麻木了,希望和失望总在周而复始地操纵我们的感情,我们一家人都已经精疲力尽了,就在这时候,医生告诉我们,以父亲的身体情况,要动手术已经是不可能的了。。。

我们尽可能多地跟他呆在一起,他大部分时间都在睡觉,我们知道他很难受,虽然他从来不说,吃不下东西的时候,他就抱怨一下医院的伙食。母亲租了医院附近的房子,就为了能给他做点吃的,其实,母亲亲手做的东西,他也没能多吃两口。那天,母亲把父亲安顿好,让我看着父亲,她自己回去给父亲准备午饭。我看见父亲突然笑了,我问他为什么笑,他说:“你妈马上就会回来。”我不明白,告诉他,母亲回去做午饭了,至少要四,五十分钟以后才可以回来。父亲眼睛瞟着床头柜说:“你妈把钥匙丢这儿了。”我看看他,不知道该说什么,就说:“你睡一会儿吧。”父亲声音很轻地说:“我等你妈回来。”

大概过了五分钟,他自言自语地说:“走到门口了。。。没拿钥匙吧。。。该往回走了。。。”又过了几分钟,父亲告诉我:“你妈正在电梯上呢。。。”果然,一分钟不到,母亲就慌慌张张地进来了,父亲看着她一句话也没说,可眼里的深情看得我鼻子一个劲地发酸,我转身冲到走廊上,任由眼泪拼命地奔流。

父亲有一手绝活:烙饼。父亲的烙饼松软香脆,绝非一般的烙饼可比。小时候,有父亲的烙饼吃的日子,就是我们绝对的幸福。父亲说,这是从他的父亲那儿偷师来的,也就是说,这也算我们家的家传绝技。我和弟弟猴在炉边等饼出锅的时候,父亲总是故意遮着我的视线,告诉我:传男不传女。其实,我知道他就是想激发我的好奇心,让他这烙饼的手艺后继有人,我才不上他的当呢。我只吃不烙,神仙一样逍遥。

有一阵子,他精神显得特别好,还能下床溜达了。那天,母亲单位有事,不能来,中午他问我想吃什么,我说我回去给你做吧。他说什么也要跟我一起回去,因为医生也同意让他多活动活动,我想,来回十分钟,应该不过分,就同意了。进了门,父亲突然跟我说:“今天咱们吃烙饼吧。”我一愣,因为我根本就不会做呀。。。父亲开始拿勺子拿碗,和面打鸡蛋。他每一个动作都很慢,一边做,一边给我讲,多少面要放多少水,多少盐,葱姜蒜怎么配。。。我站在旁边只犯傻,好半天才明白过来,父亲今天回来,其实是特意教我做烙饼的。。。我跟我自己说了一千遍不许哭,可眼泪还是不争气地往下掉。

父亲好像根本没注意我正在猛掉眼泪,他还在告诉我咱们家的烙饼,最关键的就是火候和滚锅边的技术,他让我好好看清楚,他给我先烙一个,我也得给他烙一个。。。我缩着鼻子,很专注地看着父亲每一个细微的动作,我一定得把他的那个饼烙好了。。。可惜,我是那么笨,父亲做起来那么容易,我做就那么别扭。我又急又难过,哭得更厉害了,父亲手把手地教我怎么擀边,怎么翻面,怎么起锅。等我做到第四个的时候,父亲很欣慰地笑了,说他这饼算是有传人了,以后他要是不在的时候,就有我可以做给我妈和我弟弟吃了。。。

那天的午饭,我的那张饼是泡在我的眼泪里吃完的。。。

The Bund



I didn't take any new pictures recently. This one was taken during my last trip to Shanghai. Shanghai is my second hometown, where I spent 15 years since I was 9, and where my parents still live. Xian is my first hometown, where I was born and spent my childhood. Bay area should be my third hometown since I've been here for more than 4 years now. Time flies by so quickly. Am I wasting my time and my life now?

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Apartment Hunting



I woke up very early this morning since someone called me around 8am, and it turned out to be a wrong number. I can't sleep after, so I went to look for apartment today again. But I haven't found any good one yet (well, the good one is either not available or way too expensive). I have been moving quite often after I came to bay area, about once or twice a year. This is the beginning of the 5th year after I moved to bay area, and I'm looking for the 6th place to live now.

I guess it's not a very good season for apartment hunting, because not many people are moving out right now. The occupancy rate is pretty high, so it's kinda hard to get a decent place. I have checked out around 8 apartment complex already. Hopefully I can get something by this weekend. And I hope I can stay in this new place for a long period. I'm so tired of moving now.

The only good thing about moving is that I can clean out my stuff again. Every time I move, I have to throw away lots of clothes. Otherwise, I will have to rent a storage room for my clothes then. :P

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Flower

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Drunk



Yesterday was Valentine day. It rained so hard, kinda like my mood. Life is not as easy as you always expected. Everyone has his/her own issues in life. Compared to other people's, maybe mine is nothing. But still, I was not in a good mood, so I got drunk. There was a saying that people get easier to be drunk when they are in sad mood. I guess that is the truth. It was my first time to get so drunk. I threw up. But it's weird that my mind was still very clear even at the moment when I threw up. I was trying to figure out whether or not I should throw up. I did it because I felt that would make me feel better. And it did.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Mountain Madonna hiking trip

White Deer -- Taken from the hiking trip at Mountain Madonna Saturday afternoon.


The trip was organized by supertime group. I never realized there are so many Chinese people in bay area until I got to the parking lot.

It rained hard yesterday, so the trail is kind of muddy, but still it was a good hike.

There was some small episode during the trip. I was hiking with my camera hanging around my neck. After going down hill for a little bit over one hour, I suddenly realized that my lense shade was gone. Someone in the group told me that he saw it 20 minutes ago on the trail. Eagleye and Big Iron Hammer were very nice to help me looking for it. So we turned around while other people kept going down hills. We walked uphill for around 15 minutes, and I saw my lense shade sleeping on the ground waiting for me. I was so glad that I found it, and it didn’t drop into the mud either! But I didn’t stay happy for very long because none of us had a map, and there is no cell phone signal in the mountain at all. There are so many branches on the trail. And no one remembered how we got there. We were lost! Luckily, we somehow remembered that we went down hill all the way. So we thought as long as we walked uphill, we should be fine. So we made our decision for just going uphill and stuck with it. After some detour, we finally found our way out. Phew!

Friday, February 11, 2005

Red Leaves



I went to see the doctor for the physical exam. I got there early and saw all the blooming flowers right in front of the building. It's Spring now!

Clouds



Taken from the bird watch trip on Sunday. Since my camera is not that powerful, I can only take more scenary pictures than birds pictures during the trip.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Another sunset shot from central valley on Sunday
Mt. Diablo under Sunset

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Central Valley Sunset

Taken from the bird watch trip on Sunday



想来有趣,大家在网上都用网名。到真时生活中很难对上号。象大铁锤,他本意取名为“砖头”,目的就是多上网多拍砖。没想到“砖头”已被人占用,不得已取名“大铁锤”,意为砸得更恨。不过他高高大大,名字到也形像。而eagleye在我想象中应是瘦瘦高高,眼睛细细长长,视力具佳的。见面发现视力不佳,带着一副眼镜呢。不过就属他镜头焦距拉的最长,拍的鸟儿最大,也算负了eagleye的名吧。“鸡婆”的网名实为"chickengrandmother"。他是加州某观鸟协会会长,因为经常在论坛上发言,被别人嫌烦,故得“鸡婆”之名。实际上他讲话十分有趣,自称鸟人讲鸟话,好玩儿!而我的网名“草人王”,是把我的名用拆字法造的。Howard说很难和我对上号,估计把我当男生了吧。



Today is Chinese New Year! It's the year of Rooster. Wish myself healthy and happy in the new year!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Sandhill Crane

Taken from the bird watch trip on Sunday.



I felt so amateur when I went to the bird trip. When I went there, I brought my backpack full of snacks. Howard also brought a backpack, but it's a camera bag full of lenses. He has a very nice camera body and three huge lenses in it. Compared to his, my camera is just like a toy. :( Eagleye and Big Iron Hammer also took their digital SLR with big lenses. My camera takes long time to store the image, making me feel so embarrassing when I tried to take the flying birds' pictures. Big Iron Hammer just made continuous shots of the flying swans, I can hear his sexy shutter speed sound -- "click click click" one after one. And for me, after so many try, I finally grab a good view of the flying by sandhill crane, but when I'm ready to take the second shot, all the birds are gone. :(

Monday, February 07, 2005

Bird Watch/Photo Trip

Red Tail Hawk


I went to a one day bird watch/photo trip to central valley yesterday. It's organized by CCCClub (California Chinese Camera Club). I just joined the club several days ago through the online forum I've always been to. It was a nice trip, I get to learn all kinds of birds, also get to know some new friends -- eagleye, Howard, 鸡婆and 大铁锤。鸡婆is an expert in Bird watching. He brought this big expensive telescope with him. And thanks to him, we can finally get a clear view of the birds since all the birds are so far away :(. He also taught us how to distinguish 鹰(hawk) from 鹫(vulture). When both kinds glide in the sky, vulture's wings turn into V shape while hawk's stay flat. And vulture will rock a little bit from side to side when it glides while hawk doesn't. It's pretty cool after I learned this, now I can tell whether it's a hawk or vulture in the sky now. :)

Friday, February 04, 2005

Around Ariba Campus

Flower


It is frustrating today. I'vebeen dealing with some customer urgent issues for 2 days, but still don't know what caused the problem. I've been trying to reproduce it on several different instances even on the hosting site for so many times but never succeeded. It looks like a cache problem, but there seems nothing wrong with the code. I still have bugs to fix, features need to be done, and time is running out. :(

Well, just take a short break for now and post some pictures I took yesterday when I took a walk with Vicki around the campus in the afternoon. Maybe this will help me to figure out what's wrong after my brain gets some rest.

Pipes


Thursday, February 03, 2005

Another Burlingame bart station picture
Beach Babe


Taken through the window of a gallery in Burlingame several days ago

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

More Photoshop Color Experiments

Original Picture (Taken in my cube on my desk)


Color changed


Black & White background

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

San Jose History Park


Taken in San Jose history park a while ago. It's in front of the Chinese Taoist temple.