Through all the highs and lows of high school, it's all worth it.And also
Monday, June 13, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Last Real Day of High School
Looking back as a senior I am really not sure about the effectiveness of high school in preparing me for college. All I learned is that people cannot be trusted all the time, and it is up to yourself to provide the motivation to get anything done. Perhaps that actually is a good lesson I learned while I’m still a teenager.Over the course of my four years as a high school student, I have lost a few friends, been deceived by people I trusted, and learned that hard work is not always rewarded. With regards to hard work, grades and extracurricular activities do not matter that much. In the eyes of the government, every student is turned into a set of numbers. That is why the STAR test is administered each year, and why students take the SAT and the ACT. GPAs exist so that one student can be easily compared to another. These numbers do not define who you are. I have seen many of my peers act as phonies in an attempt to get a higher set of numbers. There people have an exemplary skill of filling in bubbles and regurgitating material that is expected of them. Look at everyone in this school who has a 4.0 GPA or above. Some of these students have not contributed a single thing to their society or are not particularly talented. After high school students will be completely responsible for their own actions as adults. They will have to take care of things like taxes, health care, and food.Aside from all these negative feelings I had for my experience in high school, I had great experiences as well. I managed to write a symphony (albeit a short one), which the music department is going to perform for the final concert. I also had an opportunity to travel to Italy with my freshman English teacher, Janet Headington. In the end, high school is what you make of it. My advice for underclassmen is to not let others say what cannot be done and to not succumb to peer pressure.
And also a few days ago I had a pretty good achievement: I really am almost ready to say good bye to:
All I am missing now is signing some more yearbooks. I will have more organized blog posts later. For now, I must enjoy sleeping while I can.Friday, April 29, 2011
Thank you for choosing UC Davis!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions <do-not-reply-adm@ad3.ucdavis.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 10:55 PM
Subject: Thank you for choosing UC Davis!
To: Myron LamHello Myron, Congratulations! You have successfully submitted your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) to UC Davis. We're pleased that you have chosen UC Davis for your undergraduate education, and we look forward to seeing you soon! Next steps: Please visit http://myadmissions.ucdavis.edu to review and complete your upcoming pre-enrollment tasks. Don't forget to check for upcoming deadlines. For additional questions about your admission or enrollment, please call (530)
752-3710. For a list of campus contacts, please visit
http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/contact Again, thank you for choosing UC Davis. And welcome to the UC Davis Aggie family! Sincerely, UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions
From: UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions <do-not-reply-adm@ad3.ucdavis.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 10:55 PM
Subject: Thank you for choosing UC Davis!
To: Myron LamHello Myron, Congratulations! You have successfully submitted your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) to UC Davis. We're pleased that you have chosen UC Davis for your undergraduate education, and we look forward to seeing you soon! Next steps: Please visit http://myadmissions.ucdavis.edu to review and complete your upcoming pre-enrollment tasks. Don't forget to check for upcoming deadlines. For additional questions about your admission or enrollment, please call (530)
752-3710. For a list of campus contacts, please visit
http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/contact Again, thank you for choosing UC Davis. And welcome to the UC Davis Aggie family! Sincerely, UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
All Around Hercules
Fine, it wasn't every single part of Hercules, CA.
But, as in the map, it's more places than I go to in a typical day, on foot. That's what happens when classes are more or less canceled for standardized testing that the federal government wants my district to do in return for grant money, otherwise known as the STAR test. Never the less, there's the story in pictures and a video.
From description on Flickr: "Most seniors didn't have to show up today. Those that did had to take a partial AP Lit practice test and/or go to AP Gov review. So here's everyone scrambling to leave after the gate was unlocked."
Walking past Refugio Valley Park.
Subway Sandwich - it's the "limited time" Orchard Chicken.
Typical macro shot of a flower - by City Hall. I tagged along in my friend's interview with the building official regading damages to the private property in the mudslides. Yes, the flower has nothing to do with the interview.
This the is the fireplace at the library.
One thing I forgot to document is when I was walking backwards along Refugio Valley Road talking about "Hercules High School...college." I really like how those tour guides can just talk and walk backwards the entire time. Or well, I remember when I went to UCLA, and that tour guide cheated a few times when she wasn't talking.
I typically would have been lazier and just put a link to the set of pictures I have on flickr. However, it was a special day so I decided to actually put a little effort into documenting the day. Just to be specific I finished writing this post 2011-04-27 01:15. But I will be posting this for 2011-04-26.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Spring Break Day 6 - Various Live CDs
I was cleaning up my collection of live CDs of Ubuntu, openSUSE, and other operating systems of which I do not know much about. They are a good way to spend a weekend downloading the ISO (yes, slow Internet connection, even if it is called "hi-speed DSL" by AT&T), burning the ISO, loading it in the computer, and then playing around with various functions in the live CD. I even committed to installing Ubuntu 8.04 on my desktop, and Ubuntu 9.10 on my laptop when I got a new hard drive. Let's just say I look forward to Ubuntu 11.04 being released, and I will commit to installing that on my newest computer.
Spring Break Day 5 - Ubuntu 11.04 Beta
I don't care if I managed to skip the days I was on vacation. I'll get back to writing about the rest of those days later.
As for yesterday, I was trying out Ubuntu 11.04 beta. I have to say it looks pretty nice, and there are obvious influences from Windows 7 and Mac OS X. The entire user interface very much looks like a mobile operating system based on all those apps available in the Ubuntu Software center.
And to just think, not too long ago, I was using Ubuntu 9.10: http://mzzyzx.posterous.com/ubuntu-910-70.> And also 8.10: http://mzzyzx.posterous.com/ubuntu-810-8.>
Monday, April 18, 2011
Spring Break Day 1 - Monterey
I haven't bothered to write blog entries in a long time because they are extremely time consuming. Likewise, I have yet to put stuff online from previous experiences away from home.
As for now, some guy commented on that photo above, on flickr. When I reviewed this picture, it seemed like a very nicely balanced one. I figured that summarizes what happened for Saturday, when my family took off from the Bay Area and headed for Monterey. We also went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but in the end, the nature it still much more beautiful.
I'm in Santa Barbara at the moment, and I will be writing a blog post for that...like when I get home.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Delta Connection CRJ900
It's about time I posted something new to my blog. I am possibly going to be going to the east coast to visit New York University and Boston University. Delta flies a route from Boston to New York with a CRJ900 with Comair. So here is one:
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Certificate of Merit Evaluation Level 5
I think I did well enough. I messed up a little bit, but it's okay. The idea is still just to try you hardest and get feedback from the evaluator. Music theory is no problem. Anyway, this is the only time I ever felt unprepared for the evaluation, as I only had one week coming back from ski week.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Composition Collaboration
Here is my only attempt a music composition with another friend that was from a long time ago. It's a given what I wrote was a rip off of Beethoven from his Piano Sonata number 1. As for my friend...let's just say it looks interesting. My guess is that the sketch was mad in 2007.
I decided to put this online as an example of why music composition is something I've consistently done alone since 9th grade. I gets confusing trying to have completely different styles be expressed at once.Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Year's Eve...oops..er..Happy New Year
Here's probably the last blog post for 2010. It's been a year full of highs and lows and epiphanies, and good experiences. I'm writing this post as my reward for completing two more college applications, to New York University and Boston University. Other than that, there's plenty more work for me to finish...that is for English, Spanish, and Government.
At the end of the day, Winter Break disappeared really quickly. Some of the stuff I wanted to do, including organizing pictures, playing with Ubuntu 10.10, and making flight videos....they all got put on hold. Priorities have their importance...such as making sure a plane is able to land before it runs out of reserve fuel.
Here are a few low points in 2010:
I'll be optimistic and end with my good things in 2010:
Okay, forgot to publish this yesterday, but I don't care. Not like anyone reads my blog anyway.
I'll make a proper list of things I liked and disliked about 2010 once winter break is over. There's a huge amount of homework I need to finish. But just for the record, obviously a few missing good things in 2010 are:
At the end of the day, Winter Break disappeared really quickly. Some of the stuff I wanted to do, including organizing pictures, playing with Ubuntu 10.10, and making flight videos....they all got put on hold. Priorities have their importance...such as making sure a plane is able to land before it runs out of reserve fuel.
Here are a few low points in 2010:
- Hard drive failure...or well..that was actually December 2009, but close enough to 2010
- Laptop being stolen (Feburary)
- An incident that ruined my attitude regarding, er..."DSB" (June)
- General bickering regarding numbers, both in 11th and 12th
- Not able to attend Camp Royal Reunions
- Waterworld (June)
- Chau's (August)
- Winter Break (December)
I'll be optimistic and end with my good things in 2010:
- Installation of Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB card...helps in running FSX and Adobe Premiere Elements (January)
- Netbook my mom bought for herself (February)
- Interact District Conference (November)
Okay, forgot to publish this yesterday, but I don't care. Not like anyone reads my blog anyway.
I'll make a proper list of things I liked and disliked about 2010 once winter break is over. There's a huge amount of homework I need to finish. But just for the record, obviously a few missing good things in 2010 are:
- Camp Royal (June)
- Westminster College of the Arts Composition Week (June/July)
- EPGY (July)
- Skiing (and snowboarding) a total of 4 times: January, February, April, November.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Las Vegas Trip Day 3 - Walking
This post was written 2010-12-23 02:47
We covered a lot of ground on Day 3, which was Tuesday, December 21, 2010. I need to make sure I keep the dates right...since it's very confusing not writing the posts on time.
I got a lot of random footage of the Vegas Strip on this day. This would cover from around Bellagio to Mandalay Bay. Now when is all of that stuff going to be edited together into a nice cohesive video, time will tell. I still haven't been able to edit the video from Alaska. Or plenty of other things. You know, life throws you a curve ball and you need to be able to hit it. As for me, I'm still learning about what the "curve ball" is and the proper way to hit it.
Never mind all grievances, I got good exercise done that day. Walking so far is really tiring my legs. Not so much as skiing would, but almost there.
For dinner, we took a shuttle to Rio to eat at their buffet, and thus commence the 24-hour access pass deal a lot of people are trying out. Let's just say that Planet Hollywood's concierge was a bit bored. We learned that the shuttle to Rio would be at Paris. So we walk to Paris and finally made it to some other official, only to tell us that the shuttle doesn't stop here, but rather at Ballys. And then we get out Ballys exit. There was a bus waiting, labeled "Airport Shuttle." there was a sign that pointed toward the right saying "shuttle to Rio." So we stood next to he sign, expecting a bus to come. But then the Airport shuttle driver directed us down towards the right. Finally we see this glass covering thingy to protect us from the rain. It was cumbersome to say the least.
And a side thought, I like skiing. The bus had dirt on it's side and it was wet, windows all fogged up. That's a fairly uncommon thing to see on this bus.
THUD!
Just when we would be getting off the bus, this guy was backing up, and hit the bus. Good thing we didn't get kept in the bus for too long before we were dismissed. Interesting night.
Rio's food. I say not worth the money...and idk about the pass. More later, I can't stay up anymore.
We covered a lot of ground on Day 3, which was Tuesday, December 21, 2010. I need to make sure I keep the dates right...since it's very confusing not writing the posts on time.
I got a lot of random footage of the Vegas Strip on this day. This would cover from around Bellagio to Mandalay Bay. Now when is all of that stuff going to be edited together into a nice cohesive video, time will tell. I still haven't been able to edit the video from Alaska. Or plenty of other things. You know, life throws you a curve ball and you need to be able to hit it. As for me, I'm still learning about what the "curve ball" is and the proper way to hit it.
Never mind all grievances, I got good exercise done that day. Walking so far is really tiring my legs. Not so much as skiing would, but almost there.
For dinner, we took a shuttle to Rio to eat at their buffet, and thus commence the 24-hour access pass deal a lot of people are trying out. Let's just say that Planet Hollywood's concierge was a bit bored. We learned that the shuttle to Rio would be at Paris. So we walk to Paris and finally made it to some other official, only to tell us that the shuttle doesn't stop here, but rather at Ballys. And then we get out Ballys exit. There was a bus waiting, labeled "Airport Shuttle." there was a sign that pointed toward the right saying "shuttle to Rio." So we stood next to he sign, expecting a bus to come. But then the Airport shuttle driver directed us down towards the right. Finally we see this glass covering thingy to protect us from the rain. It was cumbersome to say the least.
And a side thought, I like skiing. The bus had dirt on it's side and it was wet, windows all fogged up. That's a fairly uncommon thing to see on this bus.
THUD!
Just when we would be getting off the bus, this guy was backing up, and hit the bus. Good thing we didn't get kept in the bus for too long before we were dismissed. Interesting night.
Rio's food. I say not worth the money...and idk about the pass. More later, I can't stay up anymore.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Las Vegas Trip Day 2 - Shopping
This post was written 2010-12-21 10:39, and finished 2010-12-23 02:45
I'm non-materialistic. Enough said. I will append the blog post later once I have time. And hopefully if I remember.
Let's see what happened that day. I woke up, and I ate the rest of the buffalo chicken wrap as my breakfast. I found out that we would be going to go to some shopping area.
Since it's been so long, I have already forgotten most of the smaller details. I'm going to give a quick summary.
I walked around the shops at the outlet. While my mom, aunts, cousin and aunt's friends were shopping, I just kept walking around. The only stores that interested me were the Ritz camera shop, Bose, and this kitchen appliance shop. I don't care about clothing style. As long as I got clothes that keep me warm in the winter (and cool in the summer) and are clean and fitting, I'll be happy. (And of course if it wasn't a masculine color...such as pink...I probably wouldn't have it in my wardrobe to begin with.)
And let's see, I managed to record my walking from one end to the other of the Las Vegas factory outlet. That took a good 7 minutes.
My aunt's friend suggested that we go to this one place to eat dinner. It turned out to be at Terrible's casino. Although Terrible's is like everywhere in Nevada, this one is 60 miles from Vegas. Why here, I don't know. It was an okay dinner. Most had Steak and Lobster, one friend had New York Steak, and I had fish and chips.
After dinner, the friends and (unwillingly) my mom played with Lady Luck for a while. My aunts, cousin and I didn't want to just sit at the casino, so we decided to go to the Walgreens across the street to kill some time. There were some obscure DVDs on sale for $5 for 2 discs, so eh, I got this one production of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." We also got a half gallon of milk to put in the refrigerator in our suite.
60 miles, and we get back to Vegas. We drove by I-15 and got a view of the strip (as in the recap video at the top). What else happened...nothing. Let's look at the post for Day 3....soon...and the video probably won't be done...and never will...too busy here.
I'm non-materialistic. Enough said. I will append the blog post later once I have time. And hopefully if I remember.
Let's see what happened that day. I woke up, and I ate the rest of the buffalo chicken wrap as my breakfast. I found out that we would be going to go to some shopping area.
Since it's been so long, I have already forgotten most of the smaller details. I'm going to give a quick summary.
I walked around the shops at the outlet. While my mom, aunts, cousin and aunt's friends were shopping, I just kept walking around. The only stores that interested me were the Ritz camera shop, Bose, and this kitchen appliance shop. I don't care about clothing style. As long as I got clothes that keep me warm in the winter (and cool in the summer) and are clean and fitting, I'll be happy. (And of course if it wasn't a masculine color...such as pink...I probably wouldn't have it in my wardrobe to begin with.)
And let's see, I managed to record my walking from one end to the other of the Las Vegas factory outlet. That took a good 7 minutes.
My aunt's friend suggested that we go to this one place to eat dinner. It turned out to be at Terrible's casino. Although Terrible's is like everywhere in Nevada, this one is 60 miles from Vegas. Why here, I don't know. It was an okay dinner. Most had Steak and Lobster, one friend had New York Steak, and I had fish and chips.
After dinner, the friends and (unwillingly) my mom played with Lady Luck for a while. My aunts, cousin and I didn't want to just sit at the casino, so we decided to go to the Walgreens across the street to kill some time. There were some obscure DVDs on sale for $5 for 2 discs, so eh, I got this one production of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." We also got a half gallon of milk to put in the refrigerator in our suite.
60 miles, and we get back to Vegas. We drove by I-15 and got a view of the strip (as in the recap video at the top). What else happened...nothing. Let's look at the post for Day 3....soon...and the video probably won't be done...and never will...too busy here.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Las Vegas Trip Day 1 - I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane
This post was written 2010-12-21 01:49
It's really exciting (now that I love airplanes) that I would be going to the airport. I was listening to "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and the lyrics really struck me. My dad was dropping my mom and me off at the Southwest terminal. I saw a couple hugging. "Hold me like you'll never let me go." Pretty much sums up the feeling.
While waiting at check-in, I saw the officer in charge of regulating the flow of traffic. She was walking up and down the Southwest Airlines terminal. A car had just parked, and the wife had gotten out of the car. She needed some help with the bags, so her husband shut off the engine and ran with her to get the bags into the airport building. Later, I saw that officer run up to the car, blowing the whistle. Of course the husband wouldn't be able to hear...he's too much in a hurry. And there she goes, busting out her notepad and writing him a citation. He comes out just after the lady finished writing his ticket. He said, "I'm here." The officer simply nonchalantly hands him the ticket. A person waiting behind me in line said, "Merry Christmas?" Basically I'm pretty sure the guy cursed, drove off, and with a ruined mood for the rest of the day. The law's the law, and you break it you got to pay.
But then I see this other couple. They get out of the car. No, the bags didn't come out. Only their persons. To put it nicely, the were taking the lyrics "hold me like you'll never let me go" way too far. They just hug and kiss for a good 3-4 minutes. The same officer had walked to the farther end of the Southwest terminal and didn't notice. Only around 5 minutes in, the guy helped get the bags out of the car. He got in, and by the time he started the engine, it would have been twice as long as the guy who got ticketed earlier. That just really made me mad. That's not fair...or well...it's only illegal if you get caught. There was also this other guy. Let's just say opening the door mean loud blasts of music accompanied with a heavy bass rhythm came out. It's catchy...but annoying. The people who came out basically were extremely clumsy and had large bags haphazardly packed, along with a few papers that fell out upon opening the door. And by the time a second officer came buy, she told the driver, "hurry up let's go." And traffic was blocked. Again. What a way to start the vacation.
Now where was this take place? This time it's Oakland International Airport. It means seeing all those different airlines, ads, and the rushing of passengers. Not to mention, the bureaucracy: the TSA. It was a fairly quick process, and if I had went through an X-ray machine, I wouldn't have known.
And then I find this moving walkway, and I see a view of the wind blowing hard on the San Francisco Bay. Eventually I make it to the Southwest terminal. I bought a Chicken Caesar sandwich at California Pizza Kitchen, since I hadn't had any breakfast. I make it to Gate 29, and await boarding.
"And Section C, welcome aboard." Uh...it was lame. All the aisle and window seats were taken in the entire 737-700. I was desperately looking for a window seat since I have always been looking forward to recording the takeoff again. I made it all the way to the last seat and saw a middle seat. I figured, whatever, all other seats are going to be taken anyway. I sit down and then I hear on the PA: "We have a few window seats over here by the wing." Hmm...I wanted that. I like hearing the engines. And I love hearing the flaps...especially the flaps. I've flown on a Boeing 737 so many times that I'm somewhat mad I didn't hear the flaps sounds too well from where I sat. Anyway I got a good view of the winglet at least. And the person sitting to the right of me was out of the way for the most part.
Here are the takeoff and landing videos:
Takeoff
Landing
No need to say anything about the turbulence on this flight.
My mom and I rendezvoused with my two aunts and cousin that flew in from San Francisco. They had an earlier flight, but the departure delayed it due to weather. (California's been having some pretty nasty weather lately.) Thus, my later flight arrived at Las Vegas before theirs. I posted to Facebook I had landed, and attempted to upload a video. (I really am an addict to uploading stuff whenever there's Internet access during a trip.)
The taxi driver was pretty bored:
-Hello.
-[no response]
-You can help us with our bags.
-[no response]
-We're going to Planet Hollywood.
-[no response]
-(In Chinese) Wow this guy sure is weird.
-[pushes the button to start the fare counting]
-[arrive at PH, pushes button to stop the fare counting]
-Thirteen fifty.
-(In Chinese) Wow. He doesn't even open the door for us.
-(In Chinese) Nor does he help us unload
-(In Chinese) We're not going to tip him that much, he doesn't deserve it.
-[takes the $16, counts a few times, incredulously looking at the bills]
Then we go to the registration counter. I sit there, waiting, attending the baggage we have. There really was some pretty annoying and suggestive music. And the hotel area was what I considered to be elegant. Basically that place is just nothing like those resorts at Lake Tahoe. But then again, the places at South Lake Tahoe are for people who are going skiing/snowboarding, so it's a different attitude.
Then my mom receives information that we're in the hotel registration, and that we actually need to go to the timeshare check-in for Planet Hollywood Towers. So we drag out things through up an escalator, and and find ourselves in the casino area. The person working at the information desk pointed us in the right direction, saying this happens all the time, and doesn't know why the taxi drivers (and the Planet Hollywood staff) can't get it right.
I sit down, have a quick chat with one of my friends on the phone. And then we get our keys. We will be staying at room 3707. We take the elevator up, and see that the shades opened up automatically for us upon our arrival. (Now, I'm pretty sure that's because someone accidentally pushed the "shade up" button as well as the lights.) Speak about good view...we saw a parking lot as well as a bunch of other towering buildings across.
We then had lunch at the Ocean One Bar & Cuisine. We noticed that it had a $5.99 lunch special. And with the 5 of us, we ordered 4 dishes. (Refer to flikr.) My Buffalo Chicken wrap was a really good one. At the end of the meal, there were still left overs, after sharing between all 5 of us. Kinda makes us feel a little bit better, that we honestly couldn't' have bought more food if we wanted to.
After that I retire to the room for more of less the rest of the night. I take a nap. And then I set to work on the Stanford supplements. Go figure, working on a vacation. Not that I exactly was too excited to go here in the first place. And it's nice looking at the view outside while doing the essays. My mom did request a room with a good view. This suite is a pretty good one. At night, the parking lots naturally aren't emphasized, and you can see plenty of other casinos nearby. We even get a glimpse of the Bellagio fountains.
I'll have the post for Monday Dec. 20 written on Tuesday. It's very time consuming writing in this much detail.
It's really exciting (now that I love airplanes) that I would be going to the airport. I was listening to "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and the lyrics really struck me. My dad was dropping my mom and me off at the Southwest terminal. I saw a couple hugging. "Hold me like you'll never let me go." Pretty much sums up the feeling.
While waiting at check-in, I saw the officer in charge of regulating the flow of traffic. She was walking up and down the Southwest Airlines terminal. A car had just parked, and the wife had gotten out of the car. She needed some help with the bags, so her husband shut off the engine and ran with her to get the bags into the airport building. Later, I saw that officer run up to the car, blowing the whistle. Of course the husband wouldn't be able to hear...he's too much in a hurry. And there she goes, busting out her notepad and writing him a citation. He comes out just after the lady finished writing his ticket. He said, "I'm here." The officer simply nonchalantly hands him the ticket. A person waiting behind me in line said, "Merry Christmas?" Basically I'm pretty sure the guy cursed, drove off, and with a ruined mood for the rest of the day. The law's the law, and you break it you got to pay.
But then I see this other couple. They get out of the car. No, the bags didn't come out. Only their persons. To put it nicely, the were taking the lyrics "hold me like you'll never let me go" way too far. They just hug and kiss for a good 3-4 minutes. The same officer had walked to the farther end of the Southwest terminal and didn't notice. Only around 5 minutes in, the guy helped get the bags out of the car. He got in, and by the time he started the engine, it would have been twice as long as the guy who got ticketed earlier. That just really made me mad. That's not fair...or well...it's only illegal if you get caught. There was also this other guy. Let's just say opening the door mean loud blasts of music accompanied with a heavy bass rhythm came out. It's catchy...but annoying. The people who came out basically were extremely clumsy and had large bags haphazardly packed, along with a few papers that fell out upon opening the door. And by the time a second officer came buy, she told the driver, "hurry up let's go." And traffic was blocked. Again. What a way to start the vacation.
Now where was this take place? This time it's Oakland International Airport. It means seeing all those different airlines, ads, and the rushing of passengers. Not to mention, the bureaucracy: the TSA. It was a fairly quick process, and if I had went through an X-ray machine, I wouldn't have known.
And then I find this moving walkway, and I see a view of the wind blowing hard on the San Francisco Bay. Eventually I make it to the Southwest terminal. I bought a Chicken Caesar sandwich at California Pizza Kitchen, since I hadn't had any breakfast. I make it to Gate 29, and await boarding.
"And Section C, welcome aboard." Uh...it was lame. All the aisle and window seats were taken in the entire 737-700. I was desperately looking for a window seat since I have always been looking forward to recording the takeoff again. I made it all the way to the last seat and saw a middle seat. I figured, whatever, all other seats are going to be taken anyway. I sit down and then I hear on the PA: "We have a few window seats over here by the wing." Hmm...I wanted that. I like hearing the engines. And I love hearing the flaps...especially the flaps. I've flown on a Boeing 737 so many times that I'm somewhat mad I didn't hear the flaps sounds too well from where I sat. Anyway I got a good view of the winglet at least. And the person sitting to the right of me was out of the way for the most part.
Here are the takeoff and landing videos:
Takeoff
Landing
No need to say anything about the turbulence on this flight.
My mom and I rendezvoused with my two aunts and cousin that flew in from San Francisco. They had an earlier flight, but the departure delayed it due to weather. (California's been having some pretty nasty weather lately.) Thus, my later flight arrived at Las Vegas before theirs. I posted to Facebook I had landed, and attempted to upload a video. (I really am an addict to uploading stuff whenever there's Internet access during a trip.)
The taxi driver was pretty bored:
-Hello.
-[no response]
-You can help us with our bags.
-[no response]
-We're going to Planet Hollywood.
-[no response]
-(In Chinese) Wow this guy sure is weird.
-[pushes the button to start the fare counting]
-[arrive at PH, pushes button to stop the fare counting]
-Thirteen fifty.
-(In Chinese) Wow. He doesn't even open the door for us.
-(In Chinese) Nor does he help us unload
-(In Chinese) We're not going to tip him that much, he doesn't deserve it.
-[takes the $16, counts a few times, incredulously looking at the bills]
Then we go to the registration counter. I sit there, waiting, attending the baggage we have. There really was some pretty annoying and suggestive music. And the hotel area was what I considered to be elegant. Basically that place is just nothing like those resorts at Lake Tahoe. But then again, the places at South Lake Tahoe are for people who are going skiing/snowboarding, so it's a different attitude.
Then my mom receives information that we're in the hotel registration, and that we actually need to go to the timeshare check-in for Planet Hollywood Towers. So we drag out things through up an escalator, and and find ourselves in the casino area. The person working at the information desk pointed us in the right direction, saying this happens all the time, and doesn't know why the taxi drivers (and the Planet Hollywood staff) can't get it right.
I sit down, have a quick chat with one of my friends on the phone. And then we get our keys. We will be staying at room 3707. We take the elevator up, and see that the shades opened up automatically for us upon our arrival. (Now, I'm pretty sure that's because someone accidentally pushed the "shade up" button as well as the lights.) Speak about good view...we saw a parking lot as well as a bunch of other towering buildings across.
We then had lunch at the Ocean One Bar & Cuisine. We noticed that it had a $5.99 lunch special. And with the 5 of us, we ordered 4 dishes. (Refer to flikr.) My Buffalo Chicken wrap was a really good one. At the end of the meal, there were still left overs, after sharing between all 5 of us. Kinda makes us feel a little bit better, that we honestly couldn't' have bought more food if we wanted to.
After that I retire to the room for more of less the rest of the night. I take a nap. And then I set to work on the Stanford supplements. Go figure, working on a vacation. Not that I exactly was too excited to go here in the first place. And it's nice looking at the view outside while doing the essays. My mom did request a room with a good view. This suite is a pretty good one. At night, the parking lots naturally aren't emphasized, and you can see plenty of other casinos nearby. We even get a glimpse of the Bellagio fountains.
I'll have the post for Monday Dec. 20 written on Tuesday. It's very time consuming writing in this much detail.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Brr...it's cold
What a good way to remind myself of the one sport I like: skiing. It's amusing walking out of the house, and finding the car covered with frost. Showing that picture very well could convince someone that I "went" to Lake Tahoe. As for picture number 2, the thermostat reads 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Today is the first day of 2010 where the central heating has been used. I've been getting by wearing extra clothing and having a small 1500-Watt electric heater in my room. Just another thought about physics: I think my room requires around 600 watts of power to maintain a "constant" temperature. After letting the heater stay on for a while, room's temperature stabilized with 600 watts. I will attempt to insulate the windows more.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Pictures of the Sky and Candles
Well, this was a whimsical desire. I doubt I have the devotion to do a photography blog. It takes too much "effort." Never the less photos are still cool. One thing I have been contemplating is a screenshot of the day kind of thing for flight simulator. That would be amusing to some degree. So about these pictures...one of my friends said he saw a double rainbow outside. I immediately grabbed my camera and tripod and went outside hoping to see something. But no. All I saw was "boring" sky. Since it is cold outside, I decided to grab a few candles and light them all to warm my hands, and that explains the candle pictures. (pictures are licensed by Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0, so credit me as "mzzyzx")
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Vote for SF Team on Films
This is a desperate attempt to get people to vote for the San Francisco team's video, produced by my fellow yearbook staff member (and the rest of the SF team). And you can vote as many times as needed. Please support the SF team: http://www.fresh-films.com/
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