Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Macadamia Nuts


Macadamia Nuts
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Supposedly these nuts got the hardest shells!!

Macadamia Nuts


Macadamia Nuts
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
this is what it looks like inside

Cracking Macadamia Nut


Cracking Macadamia Nut
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Allen cracking the macadamia nut

Coffee Beans


Coffee Beans
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
This is Kona coffee on the branch! We tried some Kona coffee. I gotta say, it's the best I've had (or at least the place I tried it)

Roasting Coffee


Roasting Coffee
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

$13.50 Clam with Pearl


$13.50 Clam with Pearl
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
They were selling these clams with a pearl inside.. kinda gross!

Ancient Village: Point of Refuge


Ancient Village: Point of Refuge
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
We went to the Point of Refuge, I think this is the place the Polynesians first arrived Hawaii.

Sleeping Turtle at the Ancient Village

We also saw this sea turtle there sleeping by the beach. we got pretty close, about 10 feet, although the signs say that we need to keep 15 feet away.

Ancient Village


Ancient Village
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
cool Ancient carvings!

Ancient Village


Ancient Village
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
We saw this guy there. He was really cool, got tatoos all over his arm. I guess he was local

Dolphins!!


Dolphins!!
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
We saw 2 dolphins on our way to Molokini. 1 is mother and 1 is baby. They were swimming right up to the boat! it was so cool! but I was too busy taking pictures to really look at them. they were real cute tho

Dolphins!!


Dolphins!!
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Pretty Hawaiian Girls


Pretty Hawaiian Girls
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
So we went to a local Luau. $100 per person! (normally it would be less than $50)! We saw the pig and stuff, and the food was really good. I guess it's not a real Luau. If it is, it would be Luau for the kings, afterall we did pay twice as much... I mean they were serving steak and all you can drink Mai Tais and Blue Hawaiis. No we didn't get drunk. the kids were sooooooo adorable!

Local Crafter


Local Crafter
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Local Crafter


Local Crafter
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Beginning of the Luau


Beginning of the Luau
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Fire dancer at the Luau


Fire dancer at the Luau
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Hula Boys at the Luau


Hula Boys at the Luau
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
They're HOT!

Hula Girls at the Luau


Hula Girl at the Luau
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
she hot?

Taro Pie.. hmm.. Yum!


Taro Pie.. hmm.. Yum!
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
We got this at McDonalds, along with the spam breakfast. I gotta say, taro pie is soooooo much better than apple pie. Man this stuff is soo good, we went back for more.

Feeding


Feeding
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Pearl Harbor


Pearl Harbor
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Yea we went to Pearl Harbor. We followed the signs to the actual military base, and they kicked us out. we later found out that USS Arizona Memorial is where we needed to go.

Torpedo


Torpedo
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

More Japanese at Pearl Harbor


More Japanese at Pearl Harbor
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Seriously, this place is filled with Japanese tourists! more than half are Japanese!

Japanese at Pearl Harbor


Japanese at Pearl Harbor
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
don't they all have the same hair style?

Bikers delivering toys for Christmas

We saw a biker event where all the bikers gather in Honolulu with toys tied to their bikes to deliver them to a foundation that gives Christmas presents to kids

Jelly Fish


Jelly Fish
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Jelly Fish


Jelly Fish
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Dole Plantation


Dole Plantation
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
yes, this is where they plant all the dole fruit products.. well, not all i don't think...

Jelly Fish


Jelly Fish
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Giant Clam


Giant Clam
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Strange Pineapple 2


Strange Pineapple 2
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Red pineapple??

Famous Hawaiian Shaved Ice


Famous Hawaiian Shaved Ice
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Yummy! You can even add vanilla ice cream and red beans in there! We did!

Strange Pineapple


Strange Pineapple
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
One of the many many weird shapes..
I don't even like pineapples

North Shore Wave


North Shore Wave 2
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
The famous North Shore waves, over 6' high

North Shore Wave


North Shore Wave
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Christmas in Hawai'i


Christmas in Hawai'i
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Wearing short sleeves, and a Hawaiian shirt!!

Christian Lassen Store


Christian Lassen Store
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
This is a store filled with Christian Lassen Paintings!!!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

rofl

I got this email in my bulk folder:

Dear user na1paj,

You have successfully updated the password of your Yahoo account.

If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance with your account, please contact Yahoo customer service at: register@yahoo.com

Thank you for using Yahoo!
The Yahoo Support Team

+++ Attachment: No Virus (Clean)
+++ Yahoo Antivirus - www.yahoo.com


It's so stupid to put "+++ Attachment: No Virus (Clean)"
and yahoo picked up on that virus.

What a dumb idiot!!

Story

there was a lady
had two sons
one of them married
the other one has a girlfriend
one day she started complaining
that her sons don't listen to her anymore
(her sons are adults)
and she blames it on the girls
that they caused her sons to be failures
while one of them is an assistant manager
and one is to be a lawyer
but she blames the wife of the older
that her son is not following her footsteps in his career
and she blames the girlfriend of the younger
that her other son failed the test

and my "f" key is getting stuck on the keyboard

Collecting Data

I'm collecting data from Taiwanese International Students for my preliminary Thesis.
I need information from them to see what they've been learning in the past and what they should/want to learn more

This is the list of things to learn that I came up with:

Grammar rules (Rhetoric, Sentence Structure, Parts of Speech, etc)
Grammar (in writing)
Grammar (in speaking)
Vocabulary (Memorization)
Vocabulary (Usage)
Standard Test Taking Skills
Phonetics Pronunciation (KK 音標)
Pronunciation (different system: _______)
Conversational Skills
Slang Usage
Reading
Listening
Composition writing
Western Cultural Knowledge

Anyway, if you know any Taiwanese International Students, or where i can find some (I already got UTD and A&M) let me know so i can send them the word file. Or i can send you the word file and you can send them out too :D the more the merrier.

oh and this is due on Tuesday, so I'll need them by Sunday night

funny stuff

http://www.flashfunpages.com/couple.swf

Monday, October 31, 2005

HOW FUNNY!

http://www.ntust.edu.tw/focus/sigg/

Friday, October 28, 2005

I tried something new...

Allen and I are going on our late honeymoon finally, Hawaii end of November, for 1 week.
We're going on a cruise there and going to all the islands

Anyway yesterday I had 2 mormons visit me. One of my friends here used to go to a mormon church when he was young (he's Taiwanese) but he's not mormon, so he has mormon evangelists visit him once a week. So I thought well, I don't know much about mormons, and I hear so much bad things about it (like polyagomy, the weird stuff) so I told him to bring them over one week to teach me about the history of mormonism and rectify my misconceptions of mormonism. Anyway, it was an interesting 2 hours, and they taught me what they believe in and stuff. It was weird tho. They believe in prophets.
well, that was my interesting Thursday, just wanna share it. Don't think I'll be going to a mormon church... just too awkward.

But my point is that I tried something I was afraid of. Have you?

How is this possible?


howpossible
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Any explanations?

Sunday, October 23, 2005

I really really...

really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really

don't wanna do my paper

Thursday, October 20, 2005

What Kind Of Asian Are You?

from: http://nemesiscorporate.com/AsianRU/

Young Asians in America come in many forms. Below are the major categories. Most Asians fit into multiple groups. For example, Rice-boys can also be Fobs and many Tabs are Fobulous. The only groups that are never part of another group are the Twinkies and the Asian-Americans. Claim your Fobbiness! When you see your Asian friend, greet them with "Wassup Fob!" And if your Asian friend says something ridiculous, say "Fob please!" Of course, when a non-Asian calls you a Fob, that is grounds for a fight. Ahahaha... The categories below are to be taken lightheartedly. Read, recognize and laugh.

Twinkie
- Besides your nationality, there is little to distinguish you from white people
- Your significant other is not Asian and never has been
- You have few Asian friends, if any
- You are embarrassed at family events because you cannot speak your language and everyone has to switch to English to communicate with you
- You have no idea that the other types of Asians on this list even exist
- You think Hello Kitty is dumb and do not know what Sanrio is
- You are the only Asian on this list that does not know what Bubble Tea is
- You drive a Ford or some other domestic car and if you drive a Honda, it is stock

Asian-American
- You claim yourself as Asian, but real Asians think you're whitewashed and non-Asians see you as a foreigner. You fit in nowhere
- You have heard of Bubble Tea but have never actually had any
- You are confused about your cultural identity and express this frustration through spoken word performances at your college
- You read A. magazine and think it's great
- You do not know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, or Kangta are
- You are only vaguely aware of the other Asians below

Yap (Young Asian Professional)
- You are in one of these professions:
a) Medicine / Pharmaceutical
b) Engineering
c) Finance
d) Investment Banking
e) Accounting
- Most of your wardrobe was purchased at Banana Republic
- You go to "mixers" on Thursday nights to meet other Yaps and talk about the Dow Jones.
- You did exactly what your parents wanted you to do and as a result, your life is hella boring
- Your apartment/home is decorated almost exclusively with stuff from Pier 1
- Your parents always talk to their friends about how much money you make. If they don't, then you're a dissapointment

Fob (Fresh Off tha Boat)
- You were not born in America
- You know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, and Kangta are. In fact, you have seen them at Atlantic City or Las Vegas recently
- You speak your native language fluently and so do all your friends
- You do not have any non-Asian friends
- Your parents do not speak any English
- When you speak English, you like to make everything plural
- You get extremely good grades in school
- You cannot dance
- Your fashion sense comes from whatever country you're from and you incorporate nothing from American fashion into your wardrobe

SuperFob
- Your command of the English language is minimal and you don't care
- You like dim sum chicken feet
- You do not own a single CD, VCD, Video game, or DVD that isn't bootlegged
- Your only hangout is Chinatown
- All the lights in your house are fluorescent
- You dry your cloths outside your window
- You need a haircut
- You either smell like cigarettes or food

Fobabee
- You are an Asian-American or Twinkie who has recently "awoken"
- You have a newly found fetish of Asian girls/boys
- You have taken the Asian Studies course at college
- You are trying to learn as much as possible about your culture to make up for your lifetime of trying to be white (Twinkie ; Banana) or Black (Chigger ; Tea egg)
- If you are lucky, you will grow to become Fobulous

Gangsta Fob (Fobsta)
- You have shot another Asian
- Your favorite hangout is a pool hall
- When you talk, you sound like a cross between a Fob and an urban black kid
- Your hair looks silly, but no one will tell you because you'll shoot them
- You have a serious gambling problem
- You are a Rice-boy, but your mods are cheap and are never painted to match the rest of your car
- No one tells you your rice ride looks cheap because you'll shoot them
- You want to have a Tab girlfriend, but can only get Hoochie Tabs

Tab (Trendy Asian B*tch)
- You shop at A/X, Bebe and Club Monaco
- You only wear black and will occasionally wear white to "mix it up"
- You do not weigh more than 105 lbs
- You have never paid for dinner at a restaurant in your life
- Platform heels are your favorite
- You are a makeup expert, in fact, you appear completely flawless
- You do not smile in public
- You are the object of desire of all Asian men and you know it
- You smoke
- Your cell phone is completely customized
- On the inside flip of your cell phone is a sticker pic of you and your man
- Somewhere in your purse is a Sanrio item
- You only date Asian and will only date a boy with a nice car
- You are often seen with Rice-boys
- You never travel alone. You are either in the company of other Tabs or your Rice-boy boyfriend

Hoochie Tab
- You are an import car model
- Your boobs are not real
- There are naked pictures of you floating around on the internet somewhere
- Stiletto heels are your favorite
- Your role models are Francine Dee and Kaila Yu
- Your boyfriend is a Gangsta Fob
- You cheat on your boyfriend
- Unlike most Asians, you do not do well in school

Rice-Boy
- You drive an Asian import. Usually a Honda or Acura
- Your souped up car (known as a Rice-ride or Rice-rocket) is unrecognizable from it's original stock form
- Your exhaust pipe is big enough for your head to fit in
- The spoiler on your car looks like it was made by Boeing
- The interior of your car also looks like it was designed by Boeing
- You always drive like you are racing someone
- You are not afraid of dying in a crash, but you are afraid of speed bumps and parking lot on-ramps
- The only other person besides yourself who can sit in your car is your 105 lbs Tab girlfriend. If anyone else sits in your car, the entire bottom of it will be touching the ground
- Even though your car is a Honda, it goes faster and is worth more than a Lotus Esprit
- If you drive a Civic, your dream car is a Supra. If you drive a Supra, your dream car is a Skyline (which you can never have). Poor Rice-boy.

Fobulous
- You speak perfect English and you are fluent in your native language
- You have Asian friends as well as non-Asian friends
- You listen to Asian pop as well as American music
- You are equally aware of both popular American culture and Asian pop culture
- You are a good dancer
- You date Asian by choice even though you could rock the opposite sex of any other race
- You are a good designer and have superior Html skills
- You have an Apt107 page AND an AA page and the guest books in both are packed
- For you, FOB stands for Fabulous Oriental Being
- You have lots of Asian pride

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Goal

Life is a lot more exciting if there is a goal that you're fighting for.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

天底下只有三件事

一件是「自己的事」 
諸如:上不上班、吃什麼東西、開不開心、結不結婚、要不要幫助人...
自己能安排的皆屬之。

一件是「別人的事」 
諸如:小張好吃懶做、小陳婚姻不幸福、老陳對我很不滿意、我幫助別人,
別人卻不感激.....別人在主導的事情皆屬之。

一件是「老天爺的事」 
諸如:會不會颳風、地震、戰爭、開悟、成道......
人能力範圍以外的事情,都屬於老天爺的管轄範圍。


人的煩惱就是來自於:
忘了自己的事、愛管別人的事、擔心老天爺的事


所以要輕鬆自在很簡單:
打理好「自己的事」、不去管「別人的事」、不操心「老天爺的事」


這只是靜心在「哲學」上的詮釋,知道並不代表你能辦到。

除非你能進入「靜心狀態」去「觀照」,你就會「如實」發現


天底下真的只有這三件事:

「自己的事」、「別人的事」、「老天爺的事」

下次心情不好時,趕快問自己,那件事到底是「誰」的事!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Warcraft

Cool, Allen got into Warcraft too.
But he didn't do it because of me, I begged him to play a million times, but he didn't want to. Now that his coworker is playing, he wanted to play. Am I not as important as his coworker?
Well, at least he started.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

November 18th



To celebrate the up coming of Harry Potter Goblet of Fire, I will be re-reading book 4 for the 3rd time to refresh my memory and to catch any details I missed the first 2 times.


What I'm absolutely crazy about:
Harry Potter
Miyazaki's anime

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Spoke to advisor today...

Well, I went to my advisor today to get a better understanding of my degree and my casebook (thesis).
to make long story short, I told my advisor that I want to do a dissertation for PHd eventually and I asked him if I can do a PHd from Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT). He said no and told me to switch to Masters of Arts.
He did say that my idea for a dissertation was pretty good.

Anyway, after I talked to him, I went to the Dean's secretary and asked her the same question, and she told me that in order to do a PHd, we need to first get our masters degree and take a language proficiency test. Well, I plan to take the Chinese test, but she said that nobody on campus can grade it... DARN! and on top of it, the ESL advisor (not the one above) is retiring at the end of this semester.

Boy my degree is going to be tough!

Oh so the idea for my dissertation is that I'm going to critize the current standard way they teach phonetics and establish a new system. I still have a year to think about it.

the process of learning

I came to a realization today...
in order to learn something, we must first learn to imitate
and then once we do that, then we apply the knowledge, and this step means to go "out of the box"

so taking art for example.
the first step of learning it is to imitate, drawing something or taking a picture of something or designing something similar to what we saw and liked.
Once we can do that successfully, then we can create our own style, and designing something that, although comes from a pre-existing idea, is original.

is this too deep for ya'll?

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Shee Gua's bad hair cut


DSCN3713
Originally uploaded by na1paj.
Shee Gua got a bad hair cut today... and I was the culprit...

he needs to hide from the public for a month

How cute!


DSCN3728
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

How cute!


DSCN3725
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

How cute!


DSCN3723
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

How cute!


DSCN3721
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Friday, September 30, 2005

I HATE SPAM

i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i hate spam i

The Perfect Guy



Ohhhhhh!!! I don't even like Ashton Kutcher before this movie!!!
But I gotta say I'm falling in love with this character XD

I think any girl would! He soooooo sweet in this movie!
only if there is a guy in the world like that... sigh, what a fantasy.

Shadows

As I walk down the dark alley
I see my shadow leaving me
farther and farther
fading fast
it left me
alone

I approached another light
only to see my shadow
leave me
again

Feelin' Crazy?

Man it's one of those days I just wanna feel crazy, you know, go dancing, screaming, drinking, wild stuff...
but then it never happens. I suppose it's a stress release.
Or driving down and empty highway at 4 am with the window open and cold air blowing in, air so cold that you nose becomes numb, and your eyes becomes watery...

I just gotta get drunk, I gotta get drunk again...
What is it? to forget what's going on? that'll be running from the problem.

Nah, just tired of the boring daily stuff, go to school, come home, clean the house, feed the dog, water the yard, make the meals, do the laundry, feed the husband, do my homework, take a shower,..................

That's stuff 40-yr-old people do. I'm 23. And I've never been crazy. And I don't even like alcohol.

Why can't I be normal?

Thursday, September 29, 2005

DSCN3686


DSCN3686
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

DSCN3687


DSCN3687
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

DSCN3689


DSCN3689
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

DSCN3691


DSCN3691
Originally uploaded by na1paj.

Friday, September 16, 2005

What parents do to keep children busy while they're working

There are soooo many after school programs for kids out there. I worked at one of them teaching science to kindergarten and elementary school kids, public and private schools. And when I'm surfing on Craigslist, I see under the education employment section that there are so many companies looking for people doing this part time, paying $15~$20 / class (3 hrs long each). so if they work 5 days a week, that's $100 a week, $400 a month. this is not even enough to cover for baby sitting, and surprise I've seen A LOT of them look for babysitters so they can go work there, and then they eventually realize that they're loosing more money, so they quit.
So what kind of people get this kind of job? You would think students, but surprise surprise! a lot of them are people who

1.) don't have the education to find better jobs
2.) in the process of looking for a new job
3.) students

So, do you want to leave your kids to #1 kind of people?? hm... I wouldn't. And unfortunatly most of the after school program teachers fall under this category.
and what about #2? a little better? Well, they eventually figure out that they're not making enough with this job and the work load does not compensate the salary (they make you do a WHOLE LOT of prep work), and will switch to a new job quickly. This category includes me. Which is why the companies are always looking for new teachers!
#3, is similar, students. But student schedule may not always meet with the classes. They sometimes have to skip the after school program classes for tests, meetings, etc. and there are nobody else to cover for them.

So what's the problem with always hiring new teachers??? Well, they lower their requirements for a teacher! during my interview, my interviewer just asked me if I think I'm capable, and I said yes, and I was hired on that spot, doing the paper work etc. NOT EVEN A BACKGROUND CHECK! since they're so desperate for teachers!! They seem to hire anybody who needs a job.

Now, do you want to send your kids to after school programs??

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Shee Gua drank from the toilet this morning!!

yuck!!! I really hoped Allen flushed the toilet...

Fastest way to skin Garlic!

Cut off the butt end (the hard part)
smash it with a Chinese butcher knife or a hammer with a big flat head
hold on to the skin on the head end
pull the garlic out

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

What I do

I work every weekend
I go to school full time
I study and do homework everyday
I clean the house
I vacume
I mop
I pick up dirty cloths and socks
I go grocery shopping twice a week
I cook every meal
I do the dishes after meals
I do the laundry
I fold the laundry
I mow the lawn
I take care of the dog

And he says I'm lazy and don't do anything around the house.