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Monday, 05 October 2009

[ - Europe #2 - ]

I know what you're thinking, who cares about what minnow has to say anymore, she never updates! Well i concur. i suck at keeping this updated, in fact I forgot my password to it entirely and had to get a reminder. pathetic right? Sometimes I get this feeling that my life has become extremely domesticated. I am a home body. i eat in. my idea of "going out" is dinner and a movie. Am I boring??

possibly. sometimes probably. Is this what WORK and a long term relationship does to you? don't get me wrong... all of the above isn't necessarily the problem... i guess the problem is that i am content with it all! Sure, I wish i had more girlfriends in town so we could go dancing and get dressed up. I wish I could travel more and be more active. But honestly, the only thing holding me back is ME. I'm not necessarily that motivated to do any of that because i am happy sitting at home and watching my plethora of tv.

i also found lots of happiness with my dog. she can be lots of trouble sometimes but at the end of a day of work, i get home and let her out and all she wants to do is nestle in my arms. it's the sweetest thing!

she's a lab/terrier mix about 35 pounds. she's the laziest dog and the most hyper dog. she LOVES to jump on and lick people but take her for a walk and she's a bum. :] my kind of dog!

in more recent news, k's sister got married in London. We decided to make a vacay of it and visited more countries. We spent 4 days in the London vicinity, 2.5 days in Paris; 1.5 days in Lucerne; 2.5 days in Amsterdam; 0.5 days in Brussels, then back to London. It was a very complete trip. Here are some pictures taken with my new Tamron 17mm-50mm f2.8 lens. :]

1. British Museum 2. Eye of London 3. London's China Town
4. Eiffel Tower 5. Chocolate Louvre in front of real Louvre
6. Mt. Pilatus Switzerland 7. outside the Red Light District Amsterdam
8. & 9. Flowers Amsterdam 10. Mussels in Brussels

So we had a great time. It was mostly K's family in London and his sister & brother in law in Paris. but after that it was just the two of us, which was nice since I no longer had to impress anyone. we took trains throughout and by the time our trip was done... i was done with trains. yes they are convenient, but when you dont speak french, dutch, or german it can be quite a headache. it was a wonderful trip all in all. more pictures below.

2009 Europe Trip

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

[ - SF - ]

YAY! Another trip to SF!! i know i know, a bunch of you are going to yell at me for not visiting you, but honestly i'm much too popular to visit everyone in 4 days time. :] i wish i could spend more time in the city, it really is amazing! As usual, I will put things in a list because I have lost the ability to write in proper sentences:

List of things we did:
Thursday
- Walked to Coit Tower (w/ luggage!) & up the million stairs
- Walked to the Jewish Museum & MOMA
- Walked to Pam's place
Friday
- Bussed to Exploratorium & Palace of the Fine Arts
- Saw Exploratorium & ten million kids
- bussed to Golden Gate Park & went to California Academy of Science
- shopped on Haight Street
Saturday
- shopping & trained to Cupertino to see Minsi
- ping pong, good fun
Sunday
- fly back home

List of Foods:
Thursday
- Taylor's Refresher @ Ferry Building http://www.taylorsrefresher.com
- Miette Bakery for macaroons @ Ferry Building http://www.miettecakes.com
- Tomaso's Itlian food @ north beach http://www.tommasosnorthbeach.com/
- Stella Pastry & Cafe for cookies http://www.stellapastry.com/
Friday
- Mama's for breakfast @ Washington Square http://mamas-sf.com/
- Burma Super Star @ Richmond District http://www.burmasuperstar.com
- Toy Boat Dessert Cafe @ Richmond District (sorry no link)
- La Mediterranee @ Filmore http://www.lamediterranee.net
- Lion Pub @ Filmore for drinks
Saturday
- Chow Food Bar for Breakfast @ Castro http://www.chowfoodbar.com/
- Xanh for Dinner @ Mountain View http://www.xanhrestaurant.com/
- Alexander's Steakhouse for hamachi shots and dessert @ Cupertino http://www.alexanderssteakhouse.com/

i think i enjoyed the food more than the sights. actually, i did. :] not to mention i had an MD appointment today and found out i gained 4 pounds from the weekend and my cholesterol had skyrocketed, but it was WELL WORTH IT!! i will leave you with some pictures.

1. SF MOMA
2. Tomaso's
3. Robots in shop window
4. View of the Bay Bridge from Pam's Street
5. Pastries from Stella's
6. Night view of Bay Bridge
7. Rainforest Dome at CA Academy of Sciences
8. Animal poopies
9. Rainforest dome
10. Vietnamese Moss Frogs
11. Fron of CA Academy of Sciences

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

[ - missed - ]

So since i started xanga i have successfully posted an entry on my birthday (april 1)... even on my 21st birthday when I was drunk. Unfortunately, the tradition did not succeed this year... and on an important birthday at that!! I am now TWENTY FIVE years old!!! Little fishie has growned up and apparently is too old to post on xanga anymore.

in some ways i am saddened that i dont keep up with this thing anymore. i enjoy writing and expressing my thoughts in somewhat amusing ways... and i enjoy the fact that some of you enjoy reading this crap. sometimes i wonder if i could ever be a writer... but then i enjoy having food on my table too much to pursue it.

now that i am twenty five not much has changed i feel. what have i accomplished? well, i would say that i am very well rounded.. i play a bunch of sports, i am musically educated, i have a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree. but all of that seems to pale in comparison to what i've learned and gained through my experiences. it's too bad graduate schools, employers, and life dont really seem to weigh those things in as heavily as what we accomplish on paper.

well i don't care. i've beaten cancer twice and continue to never give up and all before the age of 25! i have much to be thankful for this year... i have a feeling my 25th year will be a great one and that i'll learn more and more about myself. as for the NOW... i am looking forward to the following things:

- Relay for Life!! PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN!! any amount is greatly appreciated! http://main.acsevents.org/goto/MONNIW
- short and sweet trip to San Francisco at the end of April
- sister's graduation in May
- Camping trip in June
- Comicon in July

i hope all is well in all of your lives.... i will commit to keeping up on my xanga this year. :]

Tuesday, 03 March 2009

[ - UPDATE! - ]

I know, my new years resolution should really to update this thing more often. I have a few updates to get you all caught up on:

- Dec. i was declared cancer free! YAY!! i had an MRI and CT scan to confirm this. I'll have to have this done every 3 months apparently.
- had an awesome christmas, my family took a trip to Grand Canyon and Las Vegas where we spent Christmas Eve
- New Year's was fun and low key
- Lunar New Year was a lot of fun! Not much money though, I have to admit
- V-day was low key, but K managed to get me roses, gruyere cheese, and smoked salmon (YUM!)
- recently took a Big Bear trip with friends last weekend and had a blast!

Chewie has been growing... she's now 25 pounds and getting more and more adventurous (ie, misbehaving). But she's still cute as ever. I play tug with her for about 15 minutes then she passes out for an hour. But onto more important things....

So, as you all know, I am the proud founder of UCSD’s Colleges Against Cancer organization. In 2005, we started a fundraiser at UCSD called Relay for Life which has since raised more than $150,000 for the American Cancer Society. Every year, I am more and more impressed and proud to see the hundreds of students gathering for a cause that I care about so dearly.

I never thought I would be faced with having to deal with cancer again. In fact, I once thought that if I had a relapse of leukemia I didn’t think I would be able to deal with it all over again. When I was diagnosed with a completely separate and malignant tumor in my parotid gland this past summer of 2008, I was crushed. It didn’t seem fair for anyone to have two different types of cancers let alone within 8 years and under the age of 25. It just comes to show how relentless this disease really is.

I never thought after beating leukemia that I would be lying in a hospital bed, getting ready for a 5 hour surgery to remove a malignant tumor, and thinking of what to say to my parents for the last time should something go wrong. After waking up and seeing my family there to support me, I knew that I would be ok. The numerous phone calls, emails, texts, cards, and well wishes assured me that this cancer wasn’t going to bring me down.

After several MRIs, CTs, PET scans, a biopsy, 5.5 hour surgery, 35 radiation sessions, and 3 dozen ensure bottles… I am yet AGAIN cancer free! And I’ve thanked many of you over and over again for your continued support… but I am asking for your help once more this year….

Cancer doesn’t pick and choose its victims, it doesn’t give anyone a break… you could live your life the healthiest way you know how and still be at risk for cancer. That is the sad reality, which makes my message even MORE urgent. Please help me find a cure and beat cancer once and for all by donating what you can to my cause. It can be as little as five bucks and it would mean the world to me! You all have been so great in supporting me all these years and for that I am eternally grateful!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09CA?px=5268159&pg=personal&fr_id=13620

Wednesday, 03 December 2008

[ - revitalized - ]

I think a wonderful family gathering was what I needed to feel refreshed. Since my last entry, some flavors have returned to my palette, THANK GOODNESS! My sour taste came first then a subtle salty taste. They're not 100% yet but getting there. The one taste that hasn't come back yet is sweet taste!! I guess I can't complain, at least I'm not eating a million sweets.

Turkey day was great. My mom decided at the last minute to invite all our relatives over to enjoy a 20 pound turkey that she labored over the entire day. I made cornbread and mashed sweet potatoes. My sister made garlic mashed potatoes. We also had clam chowder and a potpourri of vietnamese food too (duh, we're asian).

We had about 13 people over and filled our bellies. My only complaint is that I couldn't taste PUMPKIN PIE, which nearly killed me because i LOVE the stuff. I just hope there's more for christmas!

Health wise, other than the taste, my white blood cells did drop dramatically after finishing radiation. Apparently, that is normal the only downside is that my doctor didn't want me traveling far distances via plane where I would be in a confined space with several hundred people. She didnt want me getting sick and worsening my situation. Also, my weight had been dropping.. about 2-3 pounds a week. I've finally plateaued and i'm sure now after THanksgiving i've gained. But they want me back up to my baseline weight, but i kind of like myself at the weight i'm at now. I feel energetic and healthy otherwise. The week before Turkey, I had my blood tested again and it showed my WBCs were up to 3,000 (norm is 4,000 +). A good sign for the holidays!

In other news though, my dad's brother has been in the hospital for 2.5 months. He had his colon removed due to infection and a month before that he had a quintuple heart bi pass. So you can imagine he's not doing so well. I was never close to him even though he's my uncle, but it sucks to see my dad so concerned and worried. I feel like this time around, my fight against cancer has been really me and my mom. My dad and sister weren't really in the picture, but i didn't feel like i needed that much support. Sad to say, but it was actually easier the 2nd time around. I understood more with what was happening to me, I was more familiar with the hospital setting, and I took the side affects better.

Regardless, i'm glad it's over. I'm going to have a PET scan and MRI done at the end of December to make sure it's all gone, then back to work in January! I'm going to miss my relaxed days at home, but i am ready to live my life again!

! - i saw WICKED Wednesday before Turkey... it was great!
!! - am going to see Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis tonight and tomorrow!