Cleaning Up
September 30, 2002
I began boxing some stuff that I won’t be bringing to Japan because my parents may rent out the basement. While stuffing things like my textbooks, notebooks, personal effects, etc, I stumbled onto my box of memories - a shoebox filled with stuff from girlfriends, friends, would-be lovers, and other people that in some way or another impacted my life.
I don’t think I could get myself to go through each piece of item so meticulously if it were a few years back. Some of the memories were just too painful to revive. Today, as an older and wiser self, I went through each item remembering whom it was that gave it to me, the reason, the situations, my state of mind, and the like. I’ve concluded that even though I think I lead a pretty mundane life today (that I’m content with), I had a pretty crazy life back then. If it were three years ago, I would have said that that life was horrible and traumatic, filled with hate, anger, tears, and fear. Today, I know that there were just as many happy moments as there were sad moments. Some affected my life and turned it from its path while others barely nudge me along the path and go unnoticed. For all its worth, I’m glad I went through everything that I did. It’s shaped me to become the god-like being I am today.
That’s all. Back to stuffing crap into boxes. I’m fucking leaving in nine days and I’m feeling glummy.
Hi2
September 28, 2002
My titles of each update just suck now.
I saw a Canucks game today. First game I saw in probably 10 years or something. It was a pre-season against Calgary and Vancouver whupped them 5-1. Having not watched hockey even on tv for many many years, I didn’t know any of the players except Linden and last year’s playoff sensation Bertuzzi. We got the ticket for free from work and somehow managed to get free parking too - some guy handed out these pieces of paper that read “User Authorization #1038″. Ok…
I’m feeling so blech right now. The place is so quiet without Eri around.
Also, I’m looking around for a Kodak Palmpix for the m515… even though I’m gonna get a good digicam in Japan, I kinda want a small one to bring around in my pocket for spur of the moment shots. Anyone hear how they are? Everything I read on the web says it’s not very good but you gotta love the compact size.
Update
September 26, 2002
It’s weird. I had written probably five updates since my last update but right before I press publish in blogger, I decide the update is too stupid to be used and delete it. I even wrote the sentence you just read in my last unused update.
Dennis:
keep us updated onto the story of this Leigh Morrow. Sounds mysterious… maybe we’ll get a scoop on some breaking news regarding someone from Hamber. And congrats on your dnab eman.
Justin:
if you’re gonna just lock out topics that don’t agree with you, your forum is going to suck. And you sure get sensitive about that picture.
Michelle:
Hello! Sorry if my hello is 19.5 hours late… I know how it feels to be awake in the wee hours and there’s no one online to talk to.
As Dennis mentioned, the Victoria trip was quite fun. Eri, having slept only two hours the night before, was dragging herself everywhere. Every ten minutes I would ask her, “Are you ok?” and she would say, “Yes, I’m just sleepy”. Even so, we took some pretty cool pictures. The digital ones are in a disk somewhere but there are some ‘real’ pictures on my real camera that need to be developed. I’ll probably use them up in the coming week.
Eri is leaving for Japan tomorrow which marks the last few days I’ll be here in Vancouver. I know I have a million things to do but I just don’t want to do it. I’ll really miss everything here but I look forward to a place that bears no resemblance to anything I’ve accustomed to. I made backups of backups of my contact lists so that I’ll have some email buddies to ground me to my life. I’m bringing a small library of books and mega-collages of photos to remind me of things. And of course I’m bringing my favourite games and my kickass laptop. Forgive me if I don’t update when I get there. I’ll be scrambling around looking for wide bandwidth. So far the most appealing is a wireless connection for 30 bucks a month flat… only thing is it’s a 64kps connection. Doh. ADSL will be way too expensive after factoring in the skyrocket phone bills and the line installation (FUCKING 700 DOLLARS TO CONNECT THE FUCKING LINE + FORTY FOR THE PHONE EACH MONTH + THE ADSL FEE).
I didn’t know it at the time, but Tuesday was my last day of work. I thought I would go to the meeting tomorrow but since I’ll be driving Eri to the airport, I’ll miss it. I’m still going in because I just can’t get myself to sever ties with that damn place.
Monsters Inc.
September 18, 2002
Just saw it. It was so awesome! Boo is utterly adorable.
The movie disc itself is 93 minutes viewing time. The bonus special disc is freakin 200+ minutes viewing time. It’s filled with a lot of garbage like cut scenes only they show them in pencil form. When you patch a million pencil drawings together into jumpy animations, it makes your viewers sick. That disc sucks. The only cool thing was a virtual tour through the Pixar Studio. It’s a freakin playland there. They seem to have lots of fun at that company. If only I had talent…
Hi
Since no one else is updating, I’ll take the liberty to lead into the forefront.
Eri and I, along with Dennis and Shannon, will be venturing to Victoria this weekend for a day of fun in the sun. We’ll each be holding an Orb that has lost its light and through the course of the day, we’ll have to restore each orb’s light in order to save the world from Chaos(tm). First, we’ll go to Butchart Gardens to battle the Earth Elemental. Then it’s onto the Undersea Garden to thwart the Water Elemental. Then it’s onto a restaurant for lunch where we’ll fight the Fire Elemental in the oven. Finally, the Air Elemental can be found in the Insect World place because a lot of insects can fly. Our weapons will consist of cameras, maps, bags and bags of money for admission, and hearts of gold. Don’t tell anyone this, but I’m planning to make fun of Dennis’ stupid long robes and the pointy hat he’ll wear.
Argh! I’m leaving so soon. Argh! I’m financially screwed!
Happy Friday the 13th!
September 14, 2002
May you all stumble across black cats and walk under a thousand ladders. - Ancient Chinese Proverb
Thank you Michelle for updating! Thank you for giving me something to read about in my otherwise mundane life. I never got the idea of American Idol. A bunch of kids with varying levels of self esteem get up and get bashed by a panel of judges whose credentials are more suspect than the dissappearance of Hoffa. It’s the same to me as those chinese singing competitions they have every year where ugloids try to win and possibly make it big in hong kong - it’s not about talent. Real talent should be found by the public, not some fancy jacket, leather shoed, expensive tie clip judge who yells at people for trying. Sadly, this show is yet another one of those stupid game shows where you vote people off until the last person wins. The formula for these shows is so old now.
I think Justin’s forum has potential if people would just post on it.
Finally I have things to say (not important though)
September 11, 2002
Today is our 2 year anniversary. We went to the rose garden at UBC because that’s what we did on our first day together. We even stayed in tradition and stole a rose there. Yay! Other than that, we didn’t really celebrate.
And I finished Aliens vs Predator 2 yesterday. It is a really good game - it beats the first one hands down. The marine campaign is outright scary, especially with headphones on and dimmed lights. The other campaigns are alright, but not as scary. The storyline is not bad too although it’s a little hard to understand what’s really going on. They did a nice job isolating the one human marine from his team though. In the first game, you just start out alone and everyone is dead. I thought that was kind of weird. I’m playing it over again on a harder setting this time. The hardest setting doesn’t let you save so I’ll just pass that by. Definitely worth playing.
New webcam picture of Balloon Puppy #2. #1 died in Japan because after it shrunk to the size of a pencil, Eri untied its rear legs and after that, she couldn’t re-tie them. So it looked like half a balloon puppy with a pointy balloon end for a tail. I think after that, we both knew #1 had passed on. When she came back this time, we had to go get another one. Hence the webcam picture. #2 is already getting a bit soft. It won’t be long until it turns pencil size too. That’s all.
YAEC
September 09, 2002
Yet Another Email Change:
jeleung@hotmail.com is dead. New one is “jerry_leung_< at >hotmail.com”. Obviously, replace < at > with the real “at” sign. The reason why I changed is because the first one is loaded with spam everyday.
First Day
September 04, 2002
For many it was the first day of school. For me, it was the first day of realizing that I will be leaving for Japan in a little over a month. So I guess for anyone who still doesn’t know, I’ve taken employment with Nova Group in Osaka for at least a year to teach conversational English. The pay is alright - I’ll be able to live comfortably and probably save up a little bit of money - that is, if I don’t spend it all on those delicious electronics. I am leaving on October 8th and before that I would like to have a small party just to see my friends and spend some time together. I haven’t made any plans yet but just giving you a warning that you will be required to come.
Today I went to the airport to see off a group of students who have been here for a month. The ones that were close to us cried and cried. It was kind of funny. One girl had written four cards and as she was giving them to us, she burst out in tears each time she handed out a card. Between each card, the receiver and the girl would hug, express gratitute and say they’ll miss each other. Repeat 4x. The ones that didn’t make any effort at all to speak to us nor speak English at all did not show any emotional attachments. I don’t blame them. I don’t miss them either. As for me, I didn’t really say goodbye because I will be able to see them in a month or so. One guy, Hiro, even lent me a Thin Lizzy reunion cd which to me, was to lock in my visit to see him in Tokyo (about a 2 hour bullet train ride away from Osaka).
So in this month I will be filled with anxiety and feelings of unpreparedness. I’ll be doing things that I know I will miss for at least a year. But hey, I’m only an email away so I want most people to write me once in awhile and for a select few, I expect and would be angry if they didn’t write. I’ll also snag a webcam/mic before I leave so I can run some live chats with people. If you’re even in the neighborhood, my small closet of an apartment is yours to live in and should I have time, I’ll gladly take you around and show you everything (once I get to know the surroundings).
Fear not, I will update twice as much in Japan as I do now. Hopefully.
