Leonid Returns

The Leonid meteor shower. It arrives every year around this time, and this year's would be more intense than that of other years. I decided to look for some meteor showers. I figured it would be a pretty nice break from studying. So I walked out of my apartment and tried looking for some place devoid of light pollution. This is a hard task especially in Westwood where UCLA is located. Everywhere I went there was light shining on my face. It felt like I just finished a play.

So the first place I went was the track field at 11pm. The flood lights turn off after 10pm so it was a fairly nice place to look at the sky even though street and building lights were still visible. I lied down on the bleachers and looked up at the moonless sky. Orion's belt was there, some other constellations I forgot the name of were visible, and so was mars! The faint flickering yellowish dot...Sometimes I wonder if somewhere in the universe other beings were doing the same thing, lying down and watching the night sky. Of course they might be looking at the sky for potential planets to conquer, but I digress.

12am - Anyways onto the next spot: the roof. I went up to a neighboring apartment's roof. So I was technically on the fourth floor. It is a much better place to hunt for shooting stars. I should have gotten some chairs because my neck was starting to hurt. I left after 15 minutes and no sign of paint brush fleeting through the sky.

In the end, I think I saw two meteors. It might have been my imagination but I clearly saw them flew past the sky and disappeared...and no they weren't airplanes :). The whole trip took longer than I thought, but this is how it's supposed to be, random yet engaging. You need to be patient for it. It reminds me of the time we went to Alishan (阿里山) to view the Leonid meteor shower. I can't believe it has been 11 years. My family went with two other families who are good friends with us. We brought snacks, chairs, blankets, flashlights, and binoculars. Since we were in the mountains, light wasn't a problem. And we end up seeing more than 20 meteors after 4 or 5 different locations. Some burnt up really fast, but others created a bright mark even after it disappeared.

Star and meteor gazing requires patience and some luck. The longer you stay focused, the more chance of actually seeing something and getting a result (this is true not only for star gazing by the way). It was a nice adventure through the night looking up in space, witnessing the phenomenon that is rare to obtain.

Yellow Sponges

Burger King is pretty good at doing this. First they had the Indiana Jones toys last year, and then they have this Spongebob Squarepants toys this year. I have to get all of them right? So yes, I did collect all 8 Indiana Jones toys last year. And after spending 8 meals fattening myself with double cheeseburgers, fries, and small drinks, I got all 8 Spongebob figures.

Here's all eight of the characters, along with the acutal figures. I do not plan on selling them so I open the cases and wrappings.



The boxes also have a little surprise. It's a puzzle of a Spongebob picture...anything to get people like me to collect them all huh. I always fall into their trap! (raise fists)



By the way, the end result is usually less satisfying than when we're anticipating it. In this case it's the puzzle gimmick. The placement of the image just seems (tu)...

The material for the toys are pretty good. It's not the usual light-weight plastic. Instead this has a sturdy feel to it. I'm not a big fan of the cartoon, but these figures are cute and the theme (truth or square) is a neat idea. All the characters have some sort of rectangular shapes. This is it for Spongebob Squarepants, or 海綿寶寶 as they call it in Taiwan.

Hey maybe I'll put the BK Indiana Jones toys up too when I go home.

October 8, 2009

A somber way to start the day...

At least I'm going home for the weekend...first time going home with mixed feelings.

A cold San Francisco weekend...

A goodbye to a friend.

Attitude

Attitude is one of the integral topics in the discussion of culture and identity. If one is open to cultures of foreign countries, he or she may identify with those countries better. With the current stage of global culture and media, we are constantly bombarded with information about all facets of life and cultures of the world. One tipping point between those who are able to obtain their identity and those who are fickle about it is their attitudes toward those information.

From participating Taiwan Tech Trek (internship) for two summers, I have realized that a lot of second generation overseas Taiwanese are very reluctant in accepting Taiwanese culture, especially second generation Taiwanese Americans! Sometimes they would critique the differences between the two countries. I heard a group of people complaining about the differences in direction of travel between railroads and normal roads in Taiwan. Others would act in ways that may seem appropriate to America but less so in Taiwan, such as the dormitory incident in Taipei. But of course if they had been paying attention to Taiwan history, they would have known that most rail roads were built by the Japanese, and to preserve that section of history the government maintained the left-hand traffic system for railroads. If they pay more attention to the culture, they would have known that most Taiwanese school systems are more conservative. But after all, one can only learn so much about another country right? Maybe it’s the pride of the American people, or maybe it’s the parents who did not promote their Asian culture to their children. Taiwanese Americans need to learn more about their background! And for those who are eager to learn about other cultures, I congratulate you.

I like to think that I am very台. I don’t think that’s anything wrong. But I’m not biased against American cultures either (though it's hard to say what exactly is American culture)…well sometimes I’m not biased…However, when I go back to Taiwan, a lot of people said I look ABT (Amerian-born Taiwanese). Now how does that work? I don’t pretend to have accents or purposely get American style haircuts. I just do whatever I think suits me...like Khaki pants and polo shirt... And whatever others think, it is their business; I do not stress to blend-in. People also do not need to blend in to where they are living (though they still need to obey the laws of course). They don't need to hide behind their masks. Once they come to terms with who they are, the paths they choose will not be determined by materialistic views but by optimistic attitudes.

I think to truly be a well educated and globalized individual, we have to appreciate other cultures as well as our own. What is our own culture? Well it’s up to all of us to decide.

水調歌頭

By: 蘇東坡

明月幾時有，把酒問青天。
不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。
我欲乘風歸去，又恐瓊樓玉宇，高處不勝寒。
起舞弄清影，何似在人間。
轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠。
不應有恨，何事長向別時圓。
人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，此事古難全。
但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。

很多人說當我們孤單思家時會望月亮尋找安撫, 古代的詩人也經常以月亮當成思念的主題. 在這首詩裡含義很豐富, 尤其是最後兩行: 人都會有悲哀、歡樂、離別、聚合, 月亮也有陰、晴、圓、缺, 而這些事從以前就難以達到完美. 只是希望大家能長壽平安, 雖然相聚千里, 也能共同欣賞那輪明月.

這首詩是蘇東坡在中秋夜喝酒後懷念他弟弟時所寫的, 可是內容大家一定曾經感受到. 下次賞月時念一下這首詩吧 啊哈!

(10/3/2009 10:21pm 中秋)

吃月餅喝杯茶

坐在陽台上賞月
好享受~
少了烤肉看煙火...
不過聽說台灣有颱風芭瑪來襲,
如果在那裡什麼也做不到, 真可惜

爸爸寄給我三顆月餅, 一下填進肚子裡.


中秋節快樂!

以下是去年中秋節的照片, 在美國的家過的.

舉頭望明月, 低頭吃月餅 哈哈!

Here We Go

First day of school for my senior year in college...
I hope everything goes well, and I'll study as hard as ever. This quarter I'll be taking five classes so I will be extra busy. With graduate school application and tests, I might not be posting as much entries...but anyways it's a good way for me to practice writing skills.

Wish all the best to my family, especially to dear Reynold (brother-in-law). I know you will get past this hard stage. 加油!!早日康復!!