When I'm 26..

It's 42 minutes till I become 27, so in the spirit of reminiscing what's left of my 26 year old age, I'm touching again this beloved blog of mine that I haven't touched for almost one year.

When I am 26 (because I'm not yet 27)..

.. I made one of the best decisions in my life
It's when I decided to go to this place called Kellogg. More about that later.

.. I lost somebody that I love so much..
My dearest auntie, how I love her dearly. It was one of those things in life when you start to see things in a better perspective. When you finally learn how to accept, just simply surrender, and no matter how hard life is, you know that in the end, everything will be alright.

.. I had to leave the people that I love..
The decision that I made required me to move thousand miles away to the other side of the world. It was hard to leave my family behind and my friends too. I still remembered how it felt like yesterday. It's funny how you think that one year is a long time, well it's not.. it certainly flies.

.. I had to move my whole life in two suitcases..
I arrived in a small town outside Chicago where I don't know anyone at all. It was 28 hours of traveling, two days worth of jet-lag, and suddenly the center of your universe is now in this tiny town.

.. I made more than 300 new friends..
Shortly after I start school, I suddenly know a lot of friendly faces. A mix of people that are very interesting, smart, funny, kind, some are bitchy, some are just obnoxious, but overall, they're my new buddies.

.. I did things that I haven't done before..
So many leadership activities that I did. Can't even name them all.

.. I got so busy living in a bubble..
B-school life is seriously crazy. I rarely have my own me-time (rarely? make that never!). My outlook calendar is probably busier than some Fortune 500 CEOs out there, I'm not even joking.

.. I got to wear so many costumes in one year..
Kellogg parties are known for their random fondness of costumes & weird themes. So far, I've been a Gossip Girl posse, a lumberjane, a reindeer, an angel, a grunge '90s girl, a sexy '80s girl, and the list goes on.

.. I lost my Bruno..
Certainly the toughest time for me since I left for school. I lost him and never got to say good bye in person, but I know that he knew how much I love him. I missed my dogs every day and I really can't wait to see them again.

.. I went to see the Oprah show live..
And I got to be on national.. no, international TV! Amazing.

.. I met Warren Buffett..
I took some crazy pictures with Mr. Buffett. Another amazing experience. Oh, I also met Mitt Romney and I became Tim Draper's personal assistant for one day.

.. I went to the Bahamas, led a trip to Russia, Finland, Estonia, went on a ski trip in Colorado..
Yes, I sure traveled a lot. I love it.

.. I haven't had a real, proper break for more than seven months..
Since Christmas, crazy life moved like a bullet train, non-stop. I don't think I'll have a proper break until this year's Thanksgiving week. Wow.

.. I took a job in Waterloo, Canada..
And now, for the summer I live in another place, another tiny town that made me miss my old apartment 601 alot, but I'm determined to like this new place. You gotta love it! Who could hate a place where you can eat poutine every single day?

.. I waited to turn 27 in my tiny little room on my air mattress all by myself..
Sad? Slightly, because I miss my family and friends. But I'm actually pretty content with what I have at this very moment. Remember.. it's the perspective.. I'm just trying to live my life in the present. One day at a time.

Happy birthday, F-Word. You're actually growing up.

One Lazy Evening in Paradise..

A good friend and I decided to list down what do we want to do within the next five years. Both of us are leaving to go to school this Fall. Without further ado, this is both of our lists..


And this is mine. I hope I can cross them all..
I've been enjoying my holiday in this beautiful island. It will be my last vacation before school and I've been feeling quite enlightened lately. Happiness is truly inside of you. :-)

Hollow

I guess it's a mix of a lot of things. For the past week, I haven't been in the bestest of moods (do I ever?). It could be my raging hormones. It could be the two vials of vaccine shot. It could be separation anxiety. It could be anything. For a change has about to start. And I feel a bit empty..

Is it a feeling of underachieving? Which I very rarely feel.. (sorry for being an obnoxious jerk here.. but it's true). I know that I'm losing my mind, because I don't think I have anything to complain about. Well, of course there's always my neverending financial troubles.. but hey, money shouldn't be able to buy happiness right?

So, what is it then? What?

Older, Older, Older..

So, it's my birthday again. I guess I should be happy, I mean I got hugs, kisses, wishes, greetings, prayers from people who cared about me. All eyes on me.

I don't wanna share any reflections just yet, maybe soon, since I'm about to embark a new journey, so instead of the deep stuffs, let's talk about the superficial stuffs.. Stuffs that I get to talk about because it's my birthday.. Yes.. my birthday wish list!!

Without further ado, here it goes:
1. Lenovo ThinkPad X300, the mothership of all Thinkpads
2. 1TB of Hard Disk Drive, to keep all my music, photos & videos
3. Portrait lens for my Nikon D-40X digital SLR
4. Tickets to Alicia Keys in concert
5. Plane ticket to Bali
6. Nintendo DS Lite, yeah.. I lost mine back in Hong Kong
7. A new iPod, yeah.. I lost mine in Starbucks
8. A small portable hard drive 250 GB that I can use to watch DivX movies in TV

There you go, my most wanted shallow stuff list.

Happy birthday to me, I'm older, not wiser, but helluva prettier! :)

Photo courtesy of gettyimages.com

Keeping Myself Busy

1. Read Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth and then listen to the global webcast
2. Keep myself updated with the Economist
3. Maybe I should take a photography class and fully use that Nikon D-40x of mine
4. Since I sprained my ankle last week in the gym I can't really do cardio for the next 2 weeks, so maybe I should switch to a gentler yoga class
5. Pay all my credit card debts
6. Apply for my student visa
7. Sell my iPhone so I can buy a 1 TB hard disk, I'm so broke

American Idol Conspiracy Theory

Sorry folks, but I gotta write another post on American Idol.

Seriously, I think the producers are a bunch of mean people. On the Top 3 performance night, they are so purposely guiding the viewers to vote for a David vs David finals. I feel really sorry for Syesha. Here are few comments on the show tonight:

1. It's almost a 2 hour show.. and you know how they say that you'll only remember the first person and the last person (like back in my presentation skills class, the instructor always told me to pick the first slot or the last slot), well, guess who got stuck in the middle? Syesha.

2. In the tradition of the songs pick by the judges, usually the person who got Simon's song choice will get the best comment from.. Simon, of course. And you know how viewers almost always follow Simon's opinion. And guess who got Simon's song? Not Syesha.

3. So, every TV pothead knew that David Archuleta is almost guaranteed a spot in the finals. He's 17, cute looking, and very much is the favorite of the 16-25 female group, which is the largest group of voters. So, he's 99% safe. However, David Cook is not safe. So, in order to make the David vs David finals, the producers will choose songs for all contestants. David Archuleta gets a lame choice of song, but still okay. Unfairly, David Cook gets the best song of them all (a very legendary one indeed), Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, now.. if you're in the top 3 of American Idol, of course you'll be able to sing it well, no need to be great because the song itself is already a great song. So, who got the worse song of them all, which is also the least popular song of them all? Syesha.

It's a very cruel show. Especially, the judges seemed like they are specially tasked to guide the voters to choose David A. and David C.

Okay, I think it's time for me to get a life.

Mr. Gates & I

Well, this is my second encounter with Bill Gates. I've seen him speak (live of course) last year and again yesterday. Although yesterday was my first photo session with him. At this rate, who knows? Maybe he'll invite me for a BBQ party at his house next year.