Well, of course, it should really be spelled "craze", but I felt like using alliteration. :p

Korean pop, or k-pop as it is often called, seems to have become quite popular in the last few years. It also seems to be a trend (even if it is unintentional) for people who were once obsessed with anime to turn their interests to Korean dramas and bands. It's not a bad thing necessarily, though I must say it made me feel both sad and proud. Sad because I felt like the race of otakus was dying out (though actually that's not really true at all, from what I've seen on the Internet lately), and proud that I wasn't following a trend. The second part's funny, considering that I'm probably missing out on a lot of good things because I try not to do what everyone else is doing. (I guess that was part of the reason I picked Weight Training instead of Dance. I didn't want to add to the stereotype that girls take Dance and boys take Weight Training. But then again, I actually do want to try Weight Training.) After getting disappointed by the Twilight series, I lost faith in what's popular with the general public. Though I'm starting to jump back on the bandwagon again, particularly since I've watched a couple of popular anime (Durarara, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica) and found that they were actually quite good.

Back to k-pop. I haven't really listened to too much of it. I've tried, but I'm not usually all that fond of hip hop and dance music (I have the feeling I've misidentified the genres, but whatever). There are a few groups that I do like, such as DBSK (which has, unfortunately, split up, though a few of the members made a new group called JYJ, I think). Maybe I should listen to more of it. The other day, Shiroi showed me a few songs, such as a DBSK acapella, and also, to my surprise, some Japanese songs sang by K-pop groups. It's pretty cool that they can sing in too languages. But then again...have you heard any of those Vocaloid songs which are supposed to be in English, but the lyrics don't make any sense? I heard this Luka song the other day that was saying something about German alcohol, I think. I guess the composer's knowledge of English was a bit...lacking. Maybe it's just because Asian countries seem to enjoy putting English words in their songs and on their products, even if they aren't exactly sure what it means?

As for actual Korean songs by K-pop groups, thefalse-tto introduced me to Pinocchio Danger and Nu Abo by the group F(x). In particular she pointed out the girl Amber, who has now been added to my growing list of women/girls that I admire. For some reason I really like tomboyish girls and girly-looking guys. But besides that, it turns out Amber is actually Taiwanese-American and from California (I assume from around Los Angeles, since that is apparently where she got picked up by SM Entertainment).

Speaking of Los Angeles, I'd sure like to go there - not because I'm planning to audition to become a k-pop singer (though I actually would like to try if I had a larger vocal range), but because of Miku Hatsune's live concert at Anime Expo... Right now all the tickets are sold out, but I really hope there will be more. I'm thinking about going there if more tickets become available. (True, since Miku is a Vocaloid, she's just going to be a hologram and I could probably watch the concert on Youtube later, but I've started to think that a concert is a totally different experience from listening to music by myself. After all, you're surrounded by tons of people who love the same thing that you do.) This is one of the times that I feel frustrated about living in the suburbs. It's rather far from the action sometimes. (But there was a convention a lot closer to where I live, I guess I couldn't gone to that one...The price and the fact that finals were coming up threw me off, though...Still, would've been nice to look at the merchandise and see people perform at the convention.) Oh well. When there's a will, there's a way. I'll have to see about getting to LA.

Labels: amber, anime, anime expo, california, concert, convention, english, f(x), japan, k-pop, korea, languages, los angeles, miku hatsune, music, otaku, trend, vocaloid, weight training

I often feel that I am in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some may dispute it, and remind me that I live in the Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the electronic world, not to mention that my neighborhood is one renowned for its school district (and according to my father, who has been to Taiwan, even the people there know that our town is home to excellent schools) and my town is the headquarters of a very famous company. But for me, those are not the things that make a place the place to be.

Only a half-hour's drive away is the city by the bay, the place that Tony Bennett, according to his song's lyrics, left his heart: San Francisco.
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Labels: beach, california, city, confusion, de young, islands, lost, memories, museum, ocean, pier 39, places, san francisco, seashells, silicon valley, surprise, travel, treasure island, tulips

Today a childhood friend of mine came over to my house. She has been living in Shanghai ever since she moved away many years ago. I haven't seen her for a few years. She's in California now because she's attending a creative writing summer camp (I believe it lasts for three weeks) at Stanford.

I'm afraid I'm not very good with people. Although my zodiac sign, Leo, says I'm supposed to be extroverted, strong-willed, ambitious, and a born leader, I don't think those things are true...Maybe I used to be more like that, but I've been changed by my experiences. (Or I happen to be unlike most Leos.) A person once said I was more like a Virgo. Virgos are shy, meticulous, intelligent, analytical...as well as being perfectionists and worrywarts. Maybe I was born at the wrong time. (But I was actually born a little bit late, so maybe I'm meant to be a Leo with a Virgo's personality?)

I'm not a very good host, and I couldn't really say much. There were things I wanted to ask, but I couldn't really express myself because I thought the questions would be too blunt and rather strange... And I couldn't really say what kind of things I do when I'm at home during the summer because it might take a lot of explaining. Nor was I able to properly tell her how video and computer games that I was playing worked. (I guess it's partially because I don't know what to say exactly and partially that I've usually figured out how to do things on my own or by reading instruction manuals, so I'm not so familiar with giving people verbal instructions...)

She did say that the Korean boys at her school were quite fond of Starcraft, and it occurred to me that some member of the Korean boy band SS501 had become a Starcraft programmer or something of that sort.

Anyhow, though, that's not really important. I'm sorry, I got sidetracked again. (I apologize for my disorganized posts recently. My thoughts are a bit...muddled.) To me, living in Shanghai is a foreign concept, even if I've visited the city several times. Through listening I've noted various differences between the city where I reside, in California, and Shanghai, China.

- SH: Hot and humid in the summer
CA: Hot, but apparently not as hot as SH (both my friend who lives in Shanghai and my friend who lives in Taiwan say that here is cold, comparatively. I was horrified. XD)
- SH: Friend gets on the bus at 6:45 am and rides it for an hour to get to school
CA: I leave for school at 8:00 am, about an 8 minute ride
- SH: A polluted city with weak sunlight
CA: Bright sunlight (but in my town, you can't see the stars that well at night. Yosemite, on the other hand, is just splendid for stargazing.)
- SH: No wildlife, except in zoos.
CA: Birds (mostly pigeons, crows, and seagulls) and squirrels. (Stanford University, as I just discovered today, has so many squirrels in this one area. It was amazing.)
- SH: 8 classes at the school my friend attends (which is an "international" school that teaches by USA curriculum.) 4 classes in one day, then the other 4 the next day. (It's a good idea. You would have 2 days to do your homework so you can manage your time. And if you have trouble with it you have one day to ask your teacher for help.)
CA: 6 or 7 classes, daily. (It's predictable, but I want to try the 8 class system.)
- SH: Many students use Skype.
CA: Kids are more likely to chat through Gmail.

I wonder if I would come to like Shanghai if I went there. Maybe I could have a dog, like my friend does, if I lived in Shanghai. But I have very little grasp of Chinese (at least as a written language - I can speak Shanghainese somewhat better than Mandarin, so maybe that's okay) and I like my big backyard and getting to use the Internet freely (in China, you can't access Facebook, Youtube, or Blogspot, as well as other thinsg). Perhaps trying out the lifestyle is the only way to see.

Labels: atmosphere, california, china, comparison, friends, inability, instructions, internet, korean, language, leo, lifestyle, school, shanghai, squirrels, stanford, starcraft, temperature, virgo, zodiac

Last weekend, my family was going to visit my mom's friend's new house, and since the University of California Berkeley was along the way, we decided to pay it a visit.

That was my second time visiting UC Berkeley. The first time was quite a while back, and I don't really remember it anymore. So it was basically like going there for the first time.

I kind of worried that it would be like betraying Stanford, because I heard that Stanford and Berkeley are rivals in football...But I do have to check out other colleges, after all. :p

The campus is different from Stanford, that's for sure. Berkeley is fairly close to the ocean, and so it has a cool, fresh sort of feel. Stanford is drier and it has palm trees and such. And Stanford looks rather symmetrical. Click here for a picture of Stanford. Click here for a picture of Berkeley. Stanford appears to have Spanish architecture whereas UC Berkeley looks kind of...Greek, perhaps, with those columns? D:

Unfortunately, since I went there on the weekend, some buildings were closed, and it was rather quiet around the school, at least in the buildings. But outside there were students going on their laptops or relaxing. I saw people playing frisbee, walking their dogs (well, maybe the people walking their dogs were just people who live in the city of Berkeley), and people kicking a little beanie or bag kind of thing around. (I found this really funny because in the Sims 2 University expansion pack, you can do that very same activity)

It seemed like a pretty relaxed atmosphere, and it seemed I didn't feel as sick when I could feel the refreshing sea breeze. Maybe living by the ocean would actually improve my health and perhaps cure me of allergies...And there would be nice photo opportunities. When the sun was setting on some water it was really stunning. (But I was in the car, on the highway...I couldn't stop to take pictures)

Ah, yes, and my mom's friend's house...It was located in a nice place. From the master's bedroom, you almost have a view of the water. I bet if they lived a bit farther down their street they'd have a splendid view. Their house is big and pristine. It's neat and there are fake flowers (which are not as good as real flowers, but still pretty, and they don't die...) placed around the house. My parents think it's too big, but I'm the kind of person with a "bigger is better" attitude towards houses... XD

One of the most memorable parts of Berkeley, anyways, before I forget, was the Sather Tower, otherwise known as the Campanile. It is open for certain hours each day, so if you pay a small sum, $1 or $2, you can go up to the top in the elevator. (It is free for students of Berkeley, though.) I went up there around 4 pm, so while I was looking at the splendid of view of the surroundings, suddenly, a really loud clanging sound resounded in my ears. It was so loud I covered my ears. The sound came from the bells of Sather Tower, and as I was right next to them, they seemed very scary indeed.

But the view is really good from up there. It was a nice day, and you could see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance... I'd like to live in the city of Berkeley. It seems like a beautiful place, even if the population is a little big for my liking.

Labels: architecture, bells, berkeley, california, campanile, golden gate bridge, health, house, ocean, photography, sather tower, sims 2, stanford, university, view

This is a valuable lesson that I learned today from my teacher. It ought to be the new Golden Rule. (Well, not really. I'm not all that fond of cars because I get carsick. But that's besides the point.)

More than ten years ago, a young man (my teacher) was going to a place called Jake's to meet up with his friends. He was sitting on the roof of his car when a Ferrari came into the parking lot. Back then, a Ferrari was quite expensive (and still is), $150,000 or something. My teacher and his friends stared at the car, drooling. It was red and sleek, and was shiny, like it was polished often (which is quite a feat, since it's harder for things to look shiny in the nighttime than in the daytime). They couldn't decide whether to go inside Jake's or not. They were hungry, but if they went inside, they wouldn't be able to see the Ferrari anymore. After a few minutes, an old lady stepped out of the car.

"Hello, boys," said the lady.
"........Uh, hello," said my teacher and his friends.
"My husband died recently. I'm getting ready to sell it," remarked the old lady (regarding the Ferrari).
"Oh, what, really?!" At this point, my teacher is rummaging in his pockets for money (though he wouldn't be able to afford the Ferrari anyways).

Later, the old lady gets back into the car. She accelerates a little.
"Awww..." go the boys/young men/whatever you call them. (Just like a kitten's purr, so says my teacher)
Accelerated again. "Ohhhh...."
Went in reverse. "Ooohhh..."
My teacher offers, "Will you be alright? I'll drive you home." (Doesn't matter to him that he'd have to walk home after all, he just wants to be in a Ferrari, something he probably never got to do before)
"Nah, I'll be fine." The old lady drove off...Out of my teacher's life forever.

My teacher then said to us, "Don't let widows wreck nice cars. And treat your car nicely."

Anyways, speaking of cars, I was given some advice about how to skimp on car insurance. You have to pay more for car insurance if you get into lots of accidents. I was told that you should get your license when you're sixteen, and then wait two years or something until you actually get a car. Then when you get car insurance it'll look like you're a safe driver because you didn't get into any accidents for two years. (Obviously, if the folks who work for insurance companies figure this out, they might get suspicious, but oh well. Thought I'd let you know.)

I've always complained about not having life insurance to my parents, but in reality, it's probably better that I don't have it. For one thing, I'm young, so the chances of my dying are lower than those for an older person. And also, some people can't use money that results of a death. (Though there are quite a few people who say, "Well, money is money!" and there are even those who kill people on purpose to get ahold of inheritance money) I wonder if my parents would be willing to spend money they received if I was insured and I died. Would it pain them too much to use money which my life had been the price for? And if you had a dog, for instance, and it died, and you got money as compensation, would you be too pained by the loss of your dog to touch the money? Or would you move on, and put the money to good use?

While I'm on the topic of cash, my school district often doesn't have enough money. One of my teachers complained, "They want us to teach differently, in the 21st century, but they don't give us the money to do it. In fact, they take away money." I know it can't really be helped, because California is a state in debt (as is the whole US of A), but it's annoying. Most of the people who make decisions are not students anymore themselves, so it doesn't really matter to them if they take away the money for schools, even if children are the future. (Yeah, I know, school is mostly based on memorization anyways, but still. It's worthwhile to go to school.) If only, if only, there was something that could be done about it. Money is what makes the world go round but it is also what stops it from going round. D:

Labels: california, car, death, debt, ferrari, future, inheritance, insurance, jake's, life, money, problem, school, story, united states of america, world

Today, something of interest happened. The most interesting thing was that it was practically right under my nose, and I didn't notice at all.

The event in particular occurred around 10:09 am, Pacific Time. It was something caused by the Earth. By the tectonic plates beneath the Earth. The friction between two of them, which happened to be CONVENIENTLY located in California, must have built up again, because the event I am speaking of is an earthquake. Find more information about it here.

I didn't feel the earthquake, so I didn't hear about it until the afternoon, when I called my mother.
Mom: Did you feel the earthquake?
Me: No, when was it?
Mom: Around 10:09.
Me: Hmm...I didn't feel anything.
Mom: Really? But it was pretty close by. We had to evacuate the building.

When my parents came home, I double-checked with my dad. For him it was even worse since his company building is even closer to the earthquake's epicenter. My mother found it surprising that I didn't feel a thing. Someone she knows who lives in the neighboring town felt the earthquake (then again, that town is a bit closer to the epicenter than mine).

I guess we were safe from the earthquakes. Either we were far enough away, or the design of the classrooms is quite sturdy. At the time, I was in one of the "portable" classrooms (although I believe it can be moved around, and it looks kind of boxlike and the ceiling isn't as high nor are the windows as large as a "built into the ground" classroom) and I heard once that portables are more earthquake safe.

But then, if the other students had felt the earthquake, wouldn't they have mentioned it when talking at brunch or lunch? Perhaps it wasn't felt at all? Maybe it's not too bad to live where I do. (Though it is still certainly within the danger zone if an earthquake is in a different place. I mean, I was in an earthquake in late October - the day before Halloween or something close like that - a few years ago, and I definitely felt that one. But it had a slightly higher magnitude) But I still always feel like it's dangerous living in California, since in the movie 2012, the first place to go was California.

Some places are worse off when it comes to natural disasters, though. I keep email correspondence with an old friend of mine who moved to Taiwan years back. She said that not all that long ago they had a huge earthquake, but their building was fine, as buildings are designed to be earthquake-proof, even apartment buildings, which can reach high heights. There are also typhoons in Taiwan. Sounds like a pretty wild place; I guess the Earth's pretty excitable over there. I don't really understand why one of my friends says I should visit Taiwan sometime if it's so dangerous and it's pretty polluted. I don't even know where I would go there, besides Taipei 101, which was the tallest building in the world (is it still?). But if you know someplace cool to visit in Taiwan, let me know.

I've also wondered whether I should visit Korea. What I mean by Korea is South Korea, since I'm not sure whether North Korea is an ideal place to visit. Anyhow, though, I only know of one place in Korea, and that's the capital, Seoul. I'm afraid I'm not as well-versed in the world as I had previously thought.

Luckily, I had some good loot this year from Christmas. XD Although I am Santa, I have elves who give me gifts. One of the things was a world atlas, which is something I wanted (I already had one, but it was a thin one with not much information that I ordered through the "book orders"). If I were retired already, then I could spend more time looking at it...Sigh...

Ah, before I end this post, I wonder if you have noticed the new blog layout, which I put up just yesterday. (If you are new to visiting this blog, then you might not have known). I've made a few changes to the coding, because the original text size was rather small, which bothered me... And the layout is aligned to the right, so if you expand your screen it will still stick to the right of the Internet window. I hope that doesn't trouble you. I thought I'd try a different color this time.

Labels: 2012, atlas, black, blog, building, california, catalog, classroom, earthquake, font size, layout, location, natural disaster, portable, taipei 101, taiwan, typhoon, world

It's good to brush your teeth at least twice a day, and even better to brush after every meal. (That's something I don't do, hehehe. I really don't floss enough either.) But what people don't necessarily remind you to do is to brush your tongue. Your tongue gets dirty too, so keep it clean! I remember when I was younger one time my tongue felt uncomfortable or something. It was because it wasn't clean. I forget what was stuck to it... Perhaps toothpaste? But nowadays I just give it a quick swipe so it won't get dirty. Be careful when you're brushing your tongue unless you want to throw up. It's pretty nauseous if you brush towards the back of your mouth.

I watched the movie 2012 over the weekend. It's not really a new movie anymore, but I had wanted to watch it. I actually didn't know much about it - I know it was about the world ending (Apocalypse, is that the word for it?) - but I expected it to be kind of like a documentary. It was actually more of a science fiction movie, I guess. It was very saddening, seeing people die and cities fall and all that, but then the movie ended on a hopeful note. For some reason it seemed very wrong for it to be like that, because the survivors all smiled and (seemingly) had forgotten their loved ones who had perished, the homes that they had lost. It was like the movie made me all panicky and then eventually said, "Oh, it'll all be okay in the end, even if we have to go live on Africa because the rest of the Earth is underwater." It would have made more sense to me for all the people to die, but of course there has to be some sort of a happy ending.

Well, anyways, I was starting to panic because of how horrible it was seeing the cities falling down and the ocean swallowing up the land. The destabilizing of the Earth's crust began in California, because we have fault lines here, thus making earthquakes more likely. So I thought, "Well, we should hurry and move elsewhere, so we can live just a little bit longer than we would here." Because that way, we'd have a little time to say goodbye.

Of course, a lot of people say the world's not going to end in 2012. I'm really not sure. I have a tendency to be paranoid, and besides, I find the thought of the world ending kind of exciting, so I tend to believe it will happen. Who knows, though? We won't be able to find out until it happens.

Oh yes, and before I forget, there was one part in the movie I found really meaningful. It was a scene in the movie showing people in Italy praying to be saved. Then they noticed that the ceiling was cracking. A crack ran along the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel...and separated Man and God! (That famous painting, you know?) You can imagine the shock it caused. It was like God had given up on the humans.

That's why the ships that people boarded so they might be able to live were called Arks. It's a reference to Noah's Ark...The ship Noah boarded along with two of each kind of animal to ride out the storm while God gave the Earth a "fresh start". (No wonder in the movie I saw elephants and giraffes being airlifted to the Arks...)

Speaking of other movies, I was thinking about going to the movie theater sometime. I still have Silver movie tickets left and I haven't used them up. I was planning to see the movie Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (It's a Hayao Miyazaki film, from Studio Ghibli, and I am a great fan of their work, so I have to see it!) but it's already gone from the theaters. I was really saddened. The other day my mom and I were looking at movies that are in theaters currently, like the Princess and the Frog (which I heard my history teacher took his son to see. Is it good? I might want to see it even if it is intended for a younger audience), and New Moon (which I won't be watching; usually books are better than their movie counterparts, so since I didn't like the Twilight books much, I probably won't like the movies much either).

There's a movie called Avatar that came out recently. I had no idea what it was about so I jumped to the conclusion that it was Avatar: The Last Airbender (the cartoon about the bald guy with an arrow on his head! Wahoo!) Actually, it was about aliens, I think. I really have to stop jumping to conclusions. XD

Labels: 2012, apocalypse, avatar, california, dental hygiene, god, happy ending, hayao miyazaki, movie, new moon, noah's ark, ponyo, sistine chapel, studio ghibli, survival, the princess and the frog, tongue

Yikes, I completely forgot about making an entry yesterday! Whoopsy-daisy. But I guess it's not a big loss because I doubt anyone reads this anyhow. XD

It was so hot today! Summer is already over but this autumn has been fairly warm so far. This afternoon, I practically got fried walking home. I really wish my parents could home to pick me up, but since they are too worried about the safety of riding a bike, and I'm not old enough to drive, I have to walk.

I started reading a book called The Boys of San Joaquin. I think I've heard of the place San Joaquin before. I think it's somewhere in California? Near/in the Central valley or something? I don't know if I've been there but the name really does ring a bell. But then maybe it's because I live in California.

Labels: autumn, bike, blog, california, danger, post, safety, the boys of san joaquin, walk

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