BARRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I WISH YOU A BARRY CHRISTMAS!
I WISH YOU A BARRY CHRISTMAS!
I WISH YOU A BARRY CHRISTMAS!!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Zito and Bonds... It's all about the Giants in 2007!!

When the trainer becomes the trainee

Been almost two weeks now and Mah-B still hasn't learned to sit still in the corner before we feed him. I don't think he's dumb, I think he's just reluctant. His capacity to learn and think far exceeds our imagination. Why do I say that??

The past two nights, we've come home late cuz of the holidays and we're out with family. Upon coming home, we see his feeding dish has been moved from the back of the cage (where I ususally place it) to RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CAGE DOOR!!!

Geez Louise! If I feed him everytime he pushes his dish out to the front...then who's the trainer and who's the trainee?

A New Family Member...

We've recently adopted a new member to our family... His name is "Mah-B." Having no pet raising experience whatsoever, we relunctantly accepted him to our humble home while Daddy Daniel is running wild in Hong Kong.

Naively, we're trying to train Mah-B to sit still in his corner before he gets dinner. We yell, we point, we whistle. He just sits there and stares at us. It's Day 4, I don't think he's learning.

The other night, we bought him a pack of bedding from Walmart. We sprinkled it into his cage...by the next morning, Mah-B ate almost half of it. Which got us kinda worried cuz some websites say that pine is poisonous to guinea pigs, especially if it has baking soda in it. Well... he's still mightily strong. Though his fecal output has quadrupuled.

We've even gone to far distances of leaving central heating on during the day so Mah-B doesn't freeze to death.

Funny though, we speak to him in both English and Chinese. Maybe we're confusing him....

學海無涯

上年拔甩教識我講個 “hea” 字。
早幾個月學識講 “噢 嘴” 。
噙晚學左 - “雞肋 - 食之無味棄之可惜” 。
今日又有咩新野學呢﹖

Don't judge a book by its cover...

...nor should you judge a coffee bean by its scent.

Recently bought 1/2 pound of Peet's Ethiopian Blend...a very aromatic, very shiney and colorful bean. (No, coffee beans are not brown). One would expect the outpouring of the taste should be over and beyond the scent, as the scent is usually the preview of what's to come. The bigger the hope, the harder the fall.

Conversely, we finally open a bag of coffee beans we brought back from Paris. The beans were dull in color and lacked any scent of smell. I was rather disappointed and when making my first pot this morning, I lowered my expectations at the same time I lowered the amount of water I put in. Lo' and behold!!! This coffee packed a bigger punch than a Peet's Triple Espresso!! (Well..maybe a double).

European coffee wins this round!! But the ultimate winner, is of course, ME!!! WOOHOO!!!

Coming in 2007

It started out as "Hen-derful." Then evolved to "Wonder-Hen." It's now in a state called "Roy-der-Hen" Or "WonRoyHen." Hor hor hor... where will 2007 lead us leh??

Christmas Shoes

Christmas Shoes

by Newsong

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line
Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing 'round like little boys do
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldn't believe what I heard him say

Chorus:
Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"
He searched his pockets frantically
Then he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out
I'll never forget the look on his face when he said
Mama's gonna look so great

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

Bridge:
I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boy
To remind me just what Christmas is all about

Repeat Chorus

A cup of coffee...

I love coffee. I've always been fascinated, if not mesmerized by this bittersweet nectar. Not just as a beverage, but the very site of coffee beans and the scent of the forebearing fruit momentarily removes me from the troubles and worries of life to a definite comfort level. So many times, I've tried to peel away from this elixir. But the beauty, attraction and magnificence of this one tiny bean is impossible to resist. Brown teeth? Get whitener. Diabetes? Use Splenda. Hard on your stomach, well....tuff!

Coffee is best served scalding hot, or otherwise, iced-cold (Vietnamese style). None of this in between stuff. Room temperature coffee is one of the biggest insults to java connoisseurs. Barely palatable, room temperature coffee ranks up there with overcooked steak, a wet sandwich, or warm beer. And what is it with drinking coffee from a ceramic mug that makes coffee taste so much better than drinking it from a paper/styrofoam cup?

Aloha, Fall Quarter

The 7AM final was suppose to be the easier one. Get in, get out... kiss the prof goodbye type of final. NOPE!!! Needed at a minimum, another hour to finish this two hour final. Crazy...

The 6PM final was suppose to be the hard one. The prof said we'll be lucky if we can finish in the alloted 3 hours. I was done in 1.5 hours. Extremely crazy...

Two more quarters left and I'll be done with my Masters. I still remember my last final as an Undergrad at Cal Poly. I finished my final early, but was reluctant to turn it in. I ended up sitting there for another 30 minutes...waiting hopelessly for something that never came. It was at that moment, that I realized my life as a student was coming to an end. Well... turns out I was wrong. And I wasted those 30 minutes relishing over nothing!! But come June 2007, will I have to relive that experience?

Congratulations to Andrew and Candy

picture courtesy of S. Chung

CONGRATULATIONS and GOD BLESS!!!

December 3, 2006 @ approximately 10:35AM PST, Andrew Leung takes center stage at San Jose Christian Alliance Church in San Jose, CA to make the most important speech of his life.

"Many of you don't know me. But that's okay. My name is Andrew. And some of you may know that I'm going to be leaving soon. But as a sign and expression of my commitment.... Candy, marry me."

***SCREAMS**HOLLERS***CHEERS***

Andrew lets Candy catch her breath as she walks up to the stage and asks, "Candy, will you marry me?"

In which Candy delightfully says, "Yes!"

***MORE SCREAMS***MORE HOLLERS*** MORE CHEERS***

After tears of joy flowed from most everyone's eyes, the newly engaged slowly return to their seats, when all of a sudden, Andrew gets down on one knee and says, "OH! And I have a ring!!"

(Based solely on author's interpretation/translation. Not to be taken verbatim)

The little things in life...

I hate spending money on clothes. But I'm in such dire need of some new jeans I caved and went ahead and bought some -- only to find out that on top of the sale, there was an additional 30% markdown!! WOOHOO!!! Paying $15 for a $60 pair of jeans. Hor hor hor...

The other day, an older colleague walks by and points to my mechanical pencil sharpener. (Y'know..one of those you mount on a shelf and have to crank a handle.) He says, "Oh thank you thank you thank you for having this. You can't find these anymore!" He then walks away with a big smile on his face. His smile was very contagious.

This morning, Joyce's company allowed her to get some 2007 Giants tickets. She was able to secure 4 tickets, behind homeplate View Reserved to the Yankees/Giants game. For all we know, outside of the World Series, the Yankees won't be coming back to town for at least 6 years. This is even before the season ticket holders can get tickets! Quickly called Geoff and Anderson and as expected, they both said, "Go for it."

Ahhhh...and finals are finally here, once again. I live for times like this, when projects are due, pressure is mounting, stress is at its height. Whenever I find myself questioning why I'm in school, finals week always slaps me in the face and say, "Dude! It's time to rock-n-roll!"

Praise God for all the big things...and the little things in life.