A Charlie Brown Christmas, Unemployment, Laptop, & Microsoft

In December, my mom usually plays the same Christmas albums from years past, including:

• A collection of holiday songs from Johnny Mathis, Burl Ives, and Mariah Carey.
• The album Soulful Sounds of Christmas featuring various soul musicians.
• The soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

They’re all my favorite, and during the holidays, I still listen to the albums at home, work, and on my Zune HD when I’m out and about. But the one that stands out the most is the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, because it reminds me of Christmas in 2001.

In December 2001, I was just wrapping up my first quarter at Bellevue Community College (now Bellevue College). My parents were both unemployed—through no fault of their own—and staying afloat with strategic use of unemployment checks and, I presume, credit cards. I didn’t have much insight into the whole situation, because I was rarely at home; my college classes extended into the late evening and I worked on weekends.

In Christmas of that year, my sister and I woke up pretty late. It must’ve been at least 10:00 AM because I remember seeing daylight coming through the living room. We opened up our presents, which I’m positive included some kind of underwear from the dog (a common theme since when we were younger) and a couple other clothing items. Then, I opened up a gift and was confused at what I saw: It was a neoprene laptop case. I asked my mom, “Um, what’s this for?” and she responded, “Oh, they were just giving them away at Circuit City, so I got one for you and your sister.” Hm, weird.

After we finished opening our gifts, my mom walked into the family room and came back with two big boxes: one for me and one for my sister. I vividly remember that moment. I unwrapped the present and wondered what could be in the box with computer printing on it. Sure enough, I had gotten my first computer: a Compaq Presario laptop running Windows XP. The feeling was almost like when we first got the Internet (Prodigy or AOL, anyone?); I instinctively knew how to use it, but it felt really good to treat it like something totally foreign.

I remember hearing my mom talk about it with my sister that she had gone to Circuit City and found the laptops on sale. Hoping to get a deal, she found out that they were offering 10 percent off if she was willing to sign up for a Circuit City card, which is good because laptops were still a pretty new concept for typical consumers back in 2001. And although my parents both found jobs after the holiday season, I can’t fathom how long it took for them to pay off the two computers.

I took my laptop with me to school almost every day, wrote tons of papers on it, and watched movies during the long breaks in between classes. No longer would I be regulated to sleeping in the library to pass the time. However, procrastination in school projects was still an issue, but that’s another story.

The laptop also formally introduced me to the Microsoft brand. I’d known about Microsoft before, from using desktop computers running Windows 95 and Windows 98, but having my own computer let me explore how it worked and made me solve my own misunderstandings in how computers operate. It sparked my interest in technology and introduced me to new concepts like developing websites and mobile applications, blogging, finding resources online, and generally shaping my computer skills. I’ve taken advantage of these skills to develop myself academically, professionally, and personally. It’s because of this early exposure that I’m fiercely loyal to Microsoft products.

And now, whenever I listen to the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack, I can’t help but think about that Christmas in 2001: The costs my parents endured to provide me with a tool to improve my education, my first laptop, and my introduction to Microsoft.

Thank you to my parents for buying me my first laptop for Christmas in 2001; it helped transform the way I learn and began my immersion into the world of technology, which is something that I take advantage of every day. I hope you understand how much that investment continues to pay off.

Love you, Mom & Dad!

Uber-Quick Update – Welcome, 2010!

I got in a car accident on January 1; someone ran a red light and destroyed my car. I’m still feeling pretty banged up—my left wrist, lower back, chest, and lower abdomen are still bruised almost two weeks later. My left wrist hurts the most, so that’s why I haven’t been making any posts and have been trying to avoid typing in general. Shoot, even washing my hands hurts.

That said, I hope the beginning of 2010 treated you a little more gently!

Other Things That Happened in Japan

I’ve compiled a list of some other things that happened while I was in Japan. Since none of them fit in with the posts I wrote a couple months ago, I decided to wait until now to create the list. In no particular order, here are some thing that I remember happening:

• I didn’t know which direction the train station was, so I asked a young guy which way it was and he walked with us a couple blocks (in the opposite direction that he was going) to point us to where the station was.
• On my way back to my hotel from my parents’ hotel near Kannai Station in Yokohama, I walked through an area that I thought was pretty harmless at night. Instead, there were a lot of guys in business suits asking me to come into their bars and clubs. I hailed a nearby taxi and asked him if where he picked me up was a bad area and he said “Yes.” Oops.
• My parents and I walked into a bar in the Kannai area of Yokohama and the bar owner said “Sorry, Japanese only” in English and smiled.
• My friend Brook and I found a soul-music bar called Chap Sweet and Mellow that seated about 10 people. We chatted with locals and made music requests.
• On my way back from my mini Japanese bachelor party with Brook and our friend Yuhito, I got on the train, slept, and stepped off the train at its last stop, which was halfway between Tokyo and Yokohama. In Japanese, I asked a guy if a train to Yokohama was coming, slurred speech and all.
• While I was preparing for the wedding ceremony, the lady who was helping me asked me to strip down to my boxers so that I could change into my hakama. And then she stood there and watched me take off most of my clothes. Awkward.
• After meeting with my friend Doug, I saw a man sitting on the sidewalk near a crosswalk at a busy intersection; he was passed out and it was only 5:30pm.
• While I was waiting for Brook to meet me at a train station near his apartment, I watched a kid on his bike get sideswiped by another bicyclist and take a nasty spill. His M&Ms and other bags of goodies were a complete loss.
• A child kept pointing to me and calling me “English teacher” in a store.

My Trip to Japan – Part 3 of 3

On Sunday, September 27, Yang’s dad ever-so-kindly drove me, my mom and dad, and Yang up through Tokyo.

In the morning, we went to the Toyota Showroom in Odaiba, a man-made island in Tokyo. The picture on the left is of a Lexus hybrid sedan. Lexus has a small section in the Toyota Showroom that shows off about five cars, depending on new model releases.

Droppin’ knowledge: Lexus is a division of the Toyota Motor Corporation in the United States.

From the Toyota Showroom, we went to Tokyo Tower. The main observation deck is 492 feet from the bottom of the structure; for all you Seattleites, that observation deck is 28 feet shorter than the observation deck on the Space Needle. In any case, both are high off the ground and have great views of both respective cities. The two pictures below are of Tokyo Tower and one of the many views from the main observation deck.

After spending about an hour in Tokyo Tower, we made our way to Yoyogi Park so that I could say “bai bai” to my friend Brook. After getting lost in the gigantic park, I finally found him and it took a good while to say “See ya.” He really knows how to find a good time when I’m in Japan.

Then, we drove to Asakusa—more specifically, Asakusa Shrine, which really caters to to tourists. The picture to your right shows a crowd of visitors in the strip-mall area of Asakusa Shrine. It’s a neat area because a lot of the buildings and shops are old-fashioned looking. My mom and dad bought a few gifts for folks back home and walked down some of the residential streets and alleyways. Contrary to what you see in the picture, by the time we left Asakusa Shrine, it was dark outside.

Yang’s dad had to meet with a work customer, so he dropped us off next to the Imperial Palace in the heart of Tokyo. Good news was that the area wasn’t busy. Bad news was that it was dark and impossible to see the palace. Serious bummer. So we walked a few blocks and took the train back to our hotels in Yokohama.

On Monday, we all took it pretty easy. I met with my parents in the afternoon, and we went to Yokohama Chinatown and my parents bought more gifts for people at home. Then, thinking that there was a place for us to buy glasses on just about every block, I took a taxi with my parents to where Yang’s parents lived. I was wrong. No place to buy glasses, except for the one place in a department store… where the Fendi, Burberry, and other luxury brands cost $200+ for frames and lenses. No thanks. I was looking for glasses that cost $50. When Yang was available to meet us around 3pm, we walked to her parents’ place, and then from there, we drove to Yang’s dad’s work office. Then, we drove to a Chinese restaurant that Yang’s aunt’s friend owned. The food was delicious! After being stuffed with food and hydrated with alcohol, we went home and slept well.

Tuesday, September 29, was our last full day in Japan, so Yang and her parents took me and my parents to a place near Mount Fuji called Hakone, which is popular for its natural hot springs. The drive took about two-and-a-half hours, but we stopped for my parents to buy more gifts. After another 30 minutes of driving, we reached our main destination for the day. Time to walk! The air was filled with a strong sulfur smell from the various natural hot springs in the mountain. We passed by a bunch of the hot springs (see the picture to your left), and when we reached the end of the trail, we bought eggs that had been hard-boiled in a hot spring. They were pretty good. Just peel the egg shell off, dash a little salt on it, and indulge. Too bad it gave me a stomachache an hour later.

After eating a corn-flavored soft-serve ice cream treat, we drove to an outdoor art museum. It had a bunch of structures and a sizeable acreage to explore artwork. We even had the chance to get lost in a maze. Once I got in, I realized that there were flowers growing on the top of the walls. How precious… until I realized that the plethora of flowers were attracting bees. Lacking any sense of direction and worried that the bees would maul me, I, naturally, was the last one out of the maze. The last thing we did before leaving the outdoor art museum was soak our feet in a hot bath. If you don’t have access to a foot massager (human or machine) or if you’re too shy about your machete-like toenails, soaking your feet in hot water provides some good, temporary relief.

Heading back to Yokohama, we took a detour to Kamakura and visited the Great Buddha (see image to your right) of Kamakura at the Kōtoku-in Temple. This is the second time I’ve visited the temple… and for the second time, I wasn’t able to go up into the giant statue. Outside of the temple, the street is lined with small shops and traditionally decorated buildings. When we left, darkness hit us pretty quickly, even though in this picture, it looks fairly bright outside. We hoped in the van and made our way back to Yokohama.

Before going to dinner, we had some time to spare, so we stopped by a ferry terminal near the restaurant that we were going to. While doing some walking, below is a picture I found:

I can’t read most of the kanji in the sign, but I’m guessing it reads something like “Smoking results in a fail-whale situation. No smoking.”

We had a pretty awesome Chinese food dinner—and I’m not talking about General Tso’s chicken and egg fooyung. Unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly what I ate, but I know it was good stuff.

The next day, September 30, was our last day in Japan. Yang and I had to pack like crazy because we had our stuff—dirty clothes included—scattered on the floor of our hotel. My parents had already finished and just hung out around their hotel until Yang and I came by. Yang’s dad picked us up at my parents’ hotel and we started our drive to the airport. On the way there, we took a shortcut through the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line, an underwater freeway, and stopped by Umi Hotaru, which is a man-made piece of land containing shops and restaurants and looks kind of like a ship. We were in a hurry, since we underestimate how long it would take to drive to the airport, so we only stayed at Umi Hotaru for about 15 minutes. We got to the airport about 1 hour and 15 minutes before our plan was set to take off. Oops. We had a quick tearful “peace out” and power walked to our terminal… on the opposite side of the airport. We hopped on the plane and we were set. Eight hours later, we landed at SeaTac.

And that’s it! My trip to Japan in an nutshell… or blog, whichever you prefer. I hope you enjoyed it. :)

For more pictures of my trip to China and Japan, visit my China & Japan – September 2009 photo set on Flickr. If we’re friends on Facebook, you can view a few more pictures on my Facebook profile.

My Trip to Japan – Part BONUS of 3

This post about one day in Japan turned out to be too long to mash my remaining four days into it, so I’ll post the real My Trip to Japan – Part 3 of 3 in a day or two. Enjoy!

September 26. Saturday. What follows is part of the day’s plan: the Japanese wedding reception(s).

I visited the barber to get a shave with an old-school razor. At one point, I fell asleep. I think at that point, he put makeup on me (I think it was to make me look less shiny). Afterward, I went to have the outfitters put on my hakama, a pretty manly looking, traditional Japanese set of garments. Then, I met with Yang, who was in her kimono, and a bunch of her family members plus my mom and dad, and we got our pictures taken at a studio by some uber-professional and detail-oriented photographers. Studio pictures, done (?).

Time for a grand entrance into the reception hall. Shazaam! 70 people, spotlight’s on us walking into the room.

Over the next hour, Yang’s brother and a group of dragon dancers performed a routine for wedding receptions. And then, it was time for me to give a speech. I pretty much started crying after saying “Thank you for coming out and showing us your support….” I’m not good at public speaking in general, but in emotional settings, I’m even worse. I was able to push out a few other words after about 30 seconds of being totally choked up, and then it was Yang’s turn. She handled it better than I did. I did, however, get a sizeable portion of attendees, both men and women, crying. Glad I could be so touching without saying more than 15 words. ;)

After listening to a couple people give speeches, taking pictures with everybody who attended, and cutting cake (see picture to the left), we left to change our attire; I changed into a black tuxedo and Yang changed into a white wedding dress. Then, we took more studio pictures and made another entrance into the reception hall, but this time, we lit candles at each table before we sat down at our main table up front. After another hour of pictures, it was over… Well, the “first reception” was over.

We had about an hour and a half before the second reception started, so everyone gathered to take more pictures in the hotel. After about 30 minutes, Yang went to change into her third outfit—a pink dress—and we took more pictures in the hotel and attended the second party. It was during gathering that I was able to eat. First bites of food equaled a win, but it was around 5pm, which is sort of a loss. During this second party, we took more pictures with friends and had everyone play bingo for some really cool prizes. And then it was over. We said “Thank you” and chatted with folks as they left.

After seeing everyone off, Yang and I met with some other folks in the hotel lobby. A couple handfuls of Yang’s friends were missing, so I thought maybe they had trains to catch. Not the case. They had gone to a nearby izakaya (Japanese-style bar) and were holding a room for us. Awesome! So, went to our hotel room and changed into our Chinese garments and took a taxi to the izakaya. Oddly enough, I was the only one who knew where the izakaya was, mostly because I frequently explore Yokohama on foot when I go to Japan.

We got there and, sure enough, there were about 10 people just hanging out, drinking and eating. I ordered a nama beer (draft beer) and sat next to one of the guys who gave a speech at our second reception. He spoke English, which was really cool, especially since he wasn’t shy about talking—alcohol always helps with that. :)  About five minutes later, I grabbed a menu and looked for food to order. And then I saw it… basashi (raw horse meat). Immediately, I remembered Kenji’s YouTube video of him eating basashi, so I decided to follow that up with my own video, y’know, just in case I had an opposite reaction.

 

To be honest, it hardly had any flavor, but paired with the soy sauce, ginger, and green onions, the flavor just blended really well with the smooth texture of the basashi. I would order it again: It’s cheap (about $4 for 4 slices) and goes good with beer. :)

After ordering up some yakitori and talking in a mixture of Japanese and English to just about everyone, I was ready to call it a night.

I’ve uploaded a few pictures on Facebook of Yang and I in our different wedding reception outfits. They are in the folder named China & Japan + Wedding Receptions - September 2009.

For more pictures of my trip to China and Japan, visit my China & Japan – September 2009 photo set on Flickr. If we’re friends on Facebook, you can view a few more pictures on my Facebook profile.

My Trip to Japan – Part 2 of 3

Before I jump into part two of my trip, I’d like to share one of my passions.

Music plays a huge part in my life. It’s my instant memory refresher that also acts as background music for a mental slideshow of different parts of my life that last as little as two weeks or as long as a year. So it’s only natural for me to choose new albums to listen to when I go on trips or when I’m in a certain mood. On this trip, I had a few albums that I’d acquired the days before I left: Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon; Olu – Soul Catcher; The Filibusters – (Untitled).

The Kid Cudi album (in the picture to the left) was my most played because the beat, the whole rhythm of the album, was kind of how my brain moves while I’m in Japan—dream-like, slow moving while everything else around me moves 10 times faster, but all at my own pace and body movement. Y’know, kinda like those slow-motion music videos that look really corny. Honestly, it made me want to do the robot on a few occasions. Anyway, back to the story.

After coming back to Japan from China on the evening of September 21, Yang and I went to our hotel in Yokohama and had dinner with her family. I was hoping to meet with my friend Brook that night, but dinner lasted a little long and I was pretty tired anyway from the plane ride and the drive to Yokohama from Narita Airport in Chiba.

On September 22, I took the train to Brook’s apartment, which is near Shibuya, a suburb of Tokyo. For some reason, I like to bring a backpack with me when I’m venturing out to Tokyo. Unfortunately, when it’s time to go out, it’s a pain to carry it around. What’s worse is that there’s not a whole lot in it. I use it to carry non-alcoholic beverages, my digital camera, and whatever things I buy, but I rarely buy things when I’m in Japan. Hence, my backpack is pointless… it’s just a koala-like object that is not a koala at all. Anyway, Brook and I met for a couple hours and he invited me to his friend’s potluck, but since I had the man-purse of terror tugging on my shoulders, I decided to go back to Yokohama instead.

Wake up! Bam! September 23. In the late afternoon, I met with Doug, who I’ve known through Twitter since my early days as a “I think I’m talking to myself on Twitter” guy (who knows… maybe I still am?). It took awhile for us to find a bar that was open at 5pm since most open at 8pm, but we had a nice chat over a couple of beers and peanuts. It was really cool to meet someone in Japan, especially since I only know a handful of people. Connecting with complete strangers in a foreign land is tough enough, but we were able to connect with what we knew of each other through Twitter. Then, I was off to the Shibuya area to meet Brook again. We went to a fairly cheap izakaya (Japanese-style bar). After some food and beer, Brook was ready to call it a night because he had to work the next day.

Wait. Not so fast. Instead, we took a short detour and found the holy grail of hole-in-the-wall bars. It was a pretty well-hidden spot—down an alley and three floors upstairs. We walked in and found… A SOUL MUSIC BAR! The bar, called Chap Sweet and Mellow, fit maybe 10 people and was decorated with records, CDs, soul music posters, and a tiny disco ball in the corner. Come to find out later, the bartender/guy who owns the bar is a local DJ. He played pretty much anything we wanted from the soul genre. It was a good chance for me to chat with the locals in Japanese and a cool blend of how people can communicate through music. Me and Brook’s facial expressions would light up on almost every song and the bar owner would ask us what we wanted to hear next.

My parents came to Japan on September 24, but before meeting them at the airport, I took this video of me riding the Landmark Tower elevator in Yokohama, Japan. It’s the tallest building in Japan and contains offices, a hotel, a few restaurants, and a cocktail lounge, which is on the 70^th floor.

 

I was really glad to see my parents in Japan. We had it all planned out for a couple of months, but just having them there was surreal. I was glad they got to experience why I enjoy visiting Japan so much. I think they were surprised by the food portions—a lot of people think Japan is all expensive restaurants with small food portions. I think we debunked that theory on this trip.

September 25, I showed my parents around Yokohama, but they were pretty tired from the 9-hour flight from Seattle the previous day, so I took them back to their hotel, hung out for a bit there, and then met with Brook and our friend Yuuhito at Chaps for some more soul music. We stayed there for about an hour and then went to the same izakaya where Brook and I went to a couple days earlier. We chatted and drank quite a bit, and they proclaimed our mini-gathering to be my Japanese bachelor party. I even completed the event by falling asleep on the train and worrying about where I was when I woke up.

The next day, September 26, was me and Yang’s wedding reception, but I’ll save that for my next post.

For more pictures of my trip to China and Japan, visit my China & Japan – September 2009 photo set on Flickr. If we’re friends on Facebook, you can view a few more pictures on my Facebook profile.

My Trip to Japan (er, China) – Part 1 of 3

I left Seattle in the afternoon on Wednesday, September 16; flew into Chiba, Japan, on Thursday, September 17, in the late afternoon; and caught a morning flight to Dalian, China, on Friday, September 18.

My favorite part about China has got to be the food; the tastes and types of food are totally different than what we’ve got in the United States. And, as a visitor, I am asked to drink alcohol as part of the whole dining experience with family members and family friends. It’s not exactly a leisurely drink—it almost seems like a sport. Someone will raise a glass of some throat-burning, Chinese-brewed drink, and those playing the game will drink everything in the glass (clarification: strong stuff is in a shot glass; beer is in a typical beer glass). It’s fun but difficult when I’m supposed to have energy when I’m around others. Anyway, I’m sure you know how that goes. :)

On Sunday, September 20, we did a few things:

1. In the early morning, Yang’s family and a few of their friends banded together and we went to their family gravestones to pay respects. The climb was only about 15 minutes, but we spent about 30 minutes at each site. There was a ton of mosquitoes, but it was a nice experience.
   
2. Yang and I had our wedding reception at the hotel we stayed at. There were about 70 people in attendance and it lasted for about two hours. During the reception, we did the usual rituals: took pictures with people, thanked people for attending, cut cake, ate, drank, and talked with guests. After people started leaving, we got in a car and the driver took us to various spots to get our pictures taken and have another guy take short videos of us that he’ll edit into a compilation video.
   
3. After having our pictures taken, about 15 of Yang’s family members and I went to a restaurant for my father-in-law’s birthday. By that time, I’d had enough of alcohol over the previous 48 hours, so I refrained from drinking.

Other than eating good food, drinking potent liquor, climbing the mini-mountain, and having the wedding reception, I walked around Dalian with Da Xuan—one of Yang’s family friends. Since I don’t speak Mandarin Chinese, getting around is pretty difficult, so I always had someone else with me and we didn’t venture too far out of the city.

Yang’s brother, Pon Pon, showed me this iPhone application. Apparently, it teaches you how to be a better kisser. It’s pretty simple, you pucker up, kiss the screen, and it rates how well you did.

And, as a heads up, I was unable to access Twitter or Facebook while in China.

For more pictures of my trip to China and Japan, visit my China & Japan – September 2009 photo set on Flickr.

Been busy with everyday life happenings lately

Been pretty busy with a variety of things going on in life these days, so sorry for the lack of posting to this blog.

Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past month or so:

• Working
• Attending social media events
• Messing around with Windows 7
• Refreshing the columnbreak website and brand.
• Generally getting out of the apartment with Yang more often.

So, yup, that’s about it lately. Oh, I’ve also made myself discoverable on Facebook, so feel free to add me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll accept the request. ;)