Asian food & Asian language

I was waiting  for class to start yesterday and these two girls were having a conversation behind me. They started talking about how good sushi and other such Asian foods were. Then, one of the girls brings up how she got her nails down in Bellingham and how the people who did them were “Chinese.” She began talking about how the nail technicans were watching an “annoying” Chinese show that really got on her nerves because she didn’t like how they way they talked because she said “They were so annoying, the Chinese show was literally like “OH MY GOSHHHHH” (Seriously, that was what that girl said). I have to say these girls were white/Caucasian.

Now, I know what nail salon they were talking about, because I’ve been there before and I know for a fact they’re Vietnamese and not Chinese. How do I know this? I know what Chinese sounds like and it was not Chinese. It definatly sounded Vietnamese. I’m not Vietnamese but I’ve been around enough Vietnamese people to know what their language sounds like. And the lady who did my nails asked me what nationality I was before and she said she was Vietnamese. So I turn around and tell them,

“They’re actually not Chinese there. They’re Vietnamese.”

And she was said, “Good to know!” in this weird tone  “Why are you even talking to me” sort of tone. I turned back around and I could hear their voices become quieter like they didn’t want me to hear what they were saying.

Now, I don’t know if I’m being racially sensative but it irks me when people generalize Asians.  It baffled me so much that they could praise asian foods like sushi, pad thai and noodles but say that some “Chinese” show was annoying them. I know I can’t expect all people to be consistent in their views and attitudes, because let’s face it, human beings contradict themselves a lot. Also, I’ve seen Asian shows from Asia before and they do have that “OH MY GOSHHHHH” feeling that girl was talking about. Very overly dramatic with overacting because it is suppose to be silly usually. But I felt a sting of annoyance at this two girls. I mean how would you feel if they were saying a show in your race’s language was annoying? I know these girls are entitled to their opinion, but it just made me think they were ignorant.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! I am friggen 24! Ahhh I’m old! lol It’s a serious age, no poop about that. Anyway, I just got home from Natick with my parents. We went to the mall there and ate at Minado. I love they’re seafood! Pictures here later.

By the way, I have a crush on Victor Kim from Quest Crew, lol. Especially after seeing this YouTube video of him singing “I will follow you into the dark,” since it is one of my favorite songs!

Spring Semester 2009

My first day of new the Spring semester is tomorrow and I am nervous. I am taking 2 art studio courses, Chemistry, Pre-Cal and doing an on campus job at Student Graphics. It doesn’t sound like much but the way my schedule is played out, it leaves me with not a lot of free time. I’m nervous and worried if I can balance everything and do well in my classes. Perhaps I shouldn’t have taken on that much, but I always end up pushing myself to the limit to see if I can actually do it all.

I’ve made myself a mini goal list for this semester to share with everyone.

1. Do homework as soon as it is assigned
2. Set aside extra time to review notes
3. Attend life drawing session at AS220 or other locations to practice drawing skills
4. Do not do art projects at the last minute. Work on them thoroughly!
5. GYM GYM GYM GYM lol

Okay, since this a mini goal list I hope I can do the 5 things I listed! Wish me luck this semester!

Joined FlickR + Updated YouTube

It’s around 3am right now. You may ask why am I still up. It’s because I’m home alone and it’s rare when get complete alone time. So, I like to cherish it by being awake and relaxing in the living room. I’m home alone because my dad is in the Philippines for 2 weeks and my mom is currently working 3rd shift.

Anyway, I signed up for a FlickR and I posted a widget on my site of it. You can see my current uploads of the New England Aquarium from last week. Some of them came out pretty well, but I regretably did not take more because the battery on my Canon ran out. But I only have one contact/friend on FlickR, so if any of you guys have an account please feel free to add me! ^_^ Here’s my link.

I also uploaded 13 videos on my YouTube account the other day. They are severely overdue videos from the Rock the Bells show from July 2008. Talk about procrastinating! Haha. I took short videos of the performances by Nas, Murs, Redman, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Mos Def and more! Here’s my YouTube link and here’s one of my videos!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Yes, I am a day late but it’s alright. The holiday rush came and swept me away with the shopping, wrapping, cooking and other preparations. My family celebrated it on the Eve. It was a pleasant holiday, but one of the boring ones I’ve had lol. My parents didn’t come to my cousins house to celebrate and my aunt was came in late because she was working. So, I was bored for most of the day haha. But I was still glad to spend time with my family.

Also, I was super excited to use the hot pot that my boyfriend got me! Now for all of you who don’t know what the hell a hot pot is, here’s the Wiki link. I couldn’t find thin sirlion strips of beef though, because Stop n’ Shop didn’t have them… also I didn’t have time to go to the asian market to find them. But it was still yummy, but not like Shabu Zen or anything! It felt it was a mix of Filipino Nilatan and Vietnamese Pho, haha.

We had a lot of food this Christmas. Not only, did I make hot pot, there was chicken adobo, biko, ham soup, minudo, shrimp, salmon, shells n’ cheese (lmao for the kids), and of course rice! The way my family cooks it’s as if we have 50 people coming to Christmas, but in reality it’s only 15. Then, there of course so many left overs. I never really had an interest in cooking until the the past 2 years. I like preparing food and making it for the ones I love. I think it’s a beautiful way to bond with family and be involved. But I also get self conscience about cooking since I’m still somewhat new at it. I’m still practicing though, and I can’t wait to try the hot pot again!

Slacking

I have not been keeping up with this blog. I’m not sure how those other bloggers do it.

I am currently caught up with school. The semester is winding down and I need to get some final papers and studying done! I cannot wait til it is all over. I have a long to-do list of what I need to do after as well lol I’ll share it with you guys.

• Finish Christmas shopping (I’m half way done!)
• Go to Chinatown or Minando with my cousins
• Design a POW/MIA tattoo for Kenvin’s friend
• Re-design Hooray4Tools.com!
• Exercise more
• Figure out Otaku’s budget
• Design some flyers for ASA
• Review some Chemistry before the next semester starts
• Look for discounted textbooks online

Ahh so much to do even after school is done! lol and I was thinking of getting a part time job over break to pay for some bills… but I’m not sure if I have time. Anyway, till next time kiddos!

Dynamics of a long distance relationship

FYI: This is going to be a emotional, fuzzy blog about my boyfriend, so feel free to not read it if you do not want to hear about it. I just needed to vent a bit.

Since my boyfriend is deployed in Qatar and I’m here, in Rhode Island, phone calls are very crucial to us. He only gets two 15 minute morale calls each week. This weekend, I missed both of them. He is very mad at me because of that. I couldn’t help it though… I’ve had an exhausting week at school so I slept in that day. And I was basically in a deep sleep so I didn’t even hear my phone ring.

Blah. I know he will cool off soon, but he always gets mad when I miss his calls. It’s not like a intentionally do it, but then I understand how important those calls are to him. He spends his time working 12 hours a day and doesn’t have anytime to relax. And when he has a free day, he calls me. I can see how mad he would be. I remember I would get upset at him when he didn’t answer my calls, when he was at his base in Montana. I know that sounds silly, but in long distance relationships, phone calls are the closest thing to keeping in touch with that person. It would be as if I left him hanging on a date.

Sigh. I just can’t wait til he comes home from the military. I do miss him a lot and it’s rough on us. We’ve been doing this long distance thing for over 2 years now. And I am ready for a normal relationships with him. I have some anxiety about our future though, since his parents moved away from Rhode Island. I’m not sure if he will be able to come home to me anymore. He might go to Texas, or Kansas, with his family. He even might sign up for another 4 years with the military. Honestly, it does make me upset that he is considering that, but even though I’m his girlfriend, he is his own person. And if he wants to move there or sign up again, I can’t stop him. I will support him with whatever decision he wants. I just want to know we have a future together, no matter how far away that is.

Oddly Low Gas Prices

After going to Minh Hai for some yummy pho with Jerome, I went to put some gas in my car. I only had 16 dollars on me, so I was not sure if it would fill it up. I go to a full service gas station near my town. It’s not part of a huge chain, like Shell, so it is relatively cheap. When I handed the man the 16 dollars and he filled up it up, my tank was actually filled up. It usually takes 30 dollars to fill it up like that…. But then I looked at the gas prices and saw this…

The picture isn’t the best quality since I took it on my phone.

I know gas prices are dropping…. but I have not seen regular gas be under $2.00 in years! I am shocked!

“Whatever I Like (Obama spoof)”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-yJBsjatW0

Genius. Simply genius.

I started!

I FINALLY started my American Art & Architecture paper today! It only took… hmm a month and a half after it was assigned to do it. lol I’m so pathetically lazy! I went to the library and started organizing the information for the paper… man I have like 12 references just for a 5 page paper. I feel like I’m doing a 15 page one. I did some progress, but theres still a long way to go. So, I’m locking myself in my room this weekend to really finish it. Crap!

But putting together my bibliography together, I found a great online resource. EasyBib.org You can just pick the type resource (book, article, online databases), enter the ISBN#, Title and Author, etc, and it automatically puts it into a MLA or ASA format for you! It even saves it online and once you are done with it, you can download a Text document of it already formated! Indents, Underlines and everything! Yay, isn’t that soooo cool? lol Ok, maybe not that cool… but I really loathe putting together bibliographys and knowing how to cite a specific thing… so this made my life so much easier! ^_^