Commuting and Winter Gourd Drink!

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Today, I had an interview in Santa Clara, so I drove down to the South Bay. It’s interesting how my view of travel distance differs from SoCal to NorCal. I would always think driving from Anaheim to downtown LA is soo far that it’s somewhat prohibitive, whereas I have no qualms about taking a drive down to the South Bay, even though the two routes are pretty much the same distance. But as I was making the trip down and up the I-880, I was thinking about how much of a pain this commute would be if I ever got the offer and if I decided to accept.

The upside is that I would have pretty good access to the Milpitas area during lunch time. That’s where I stopped by today after my interview for lunch. Ate at this place called Taiwan Noodle House, even though from the Chinese it’s name actually should be translated to “Taiwan Pork Chop King.” And though I wasn’t in Taiwan, I might as well have been. It smelled like Taiwan, the chatter in the restaurant sounded like it does in Taiwan, and the TV channel probably was from Taiwan. It was a strange feeling to know in my head that I was actually still in Northern California.

What was super exciting was that when I sat down and took a sip of my “water,” it turns out that it was winter gourd/melon drink! How cool is that? I mean, it was a bit diluted, but still. They also sold a variety of Taiwanese eats, so that was also very cool. I ended up trying out their pork chop rice (I mean, it is called the Pork Chop King) and got a serving of the stinky tofu (which I love, btw). But after that, it was all disappointment. I really wanted to like the place b/c of the winter gourd drink, but when it comes down to it, I would have to say that I wouldn’t come back. The food wasn’t bad per say; it just didn’t really have the Taiwanese flavor I expected out of these two common Taiwanese dishes.

Two/Three Meals for the Price of One!

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I love how buying one Intermezzo salad allows you to eat for two or three meals. I almost died from choking just now while inhaling my salad. Mmm. Sprouts, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, egg, garbanzo & kidney beans, croutons that aren’t too salty and don’t cut up the insides of your mouth…and drizzled with poppy seed dressing. Intermezzo is definitely the place to go when I feel like I’ve been remiss in having veggies in my diet.

Bleh.

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I had originally thought of posting something on January 1st, since there is something special about catching the first day of the year, but I never got around to it. But I guess putting up posts on the first week after months of absence is close enough to a new start. Except I don’t know how long this current streak will continue as there seems to be a direct correlation to the number of blog posts that go up and my holidays/vacations/semester or term breaks.

Today, I spent most of my afternoon sitting in a McDonald’s in Richmond, hammering out cover letters and sucking on a large caramel mocha. I was waiting for my car to get the standard 35,000 mi. maintenance service, so I figured I’d do something productive with the time. (I had originally ordered a small mocha, but it never appeared. So after 20 minutes of waiting, I decided to get the manager to help me out, who then upgraded me to a large. That was nice of him and suited me just well, because I was at McDonald’s for the next 4 hours.) I don’t know if it’s just me, but sitting in a fast food joint by myself fully caffeinated for hours on end just doesn’t make me feel that hot.

What else? I don’t think I have a uniting theme to this particular entry. Just wanted to throw some thoughts onto the web. Last night I dreamed about two rival retail empires (most likely in the clothing and/or general consumer goods industry, because the type of buildings in my dream were reminiscent of Saks 5th avenue), managed by a “good” and an “evil” faction respectively. And when I say evil, I mean like fantasy-type, mythical evil. Except there were some on the “good” side who are unscrupulous and generally have not-so-good traits, while on the “evil” side there are a few who have noble hearts and intentions. (Yeah, I know. This dream goes beyond the surface.) Not only was there the main story of war between the two factions (in the business sense, and maybe a little in the flavor of gang wars), but there were also subplots of intrigue, betrayal, and redemption within the factions themselves…Yeah, I think I managed to dream up an entire concept for a TV drama series.

An Abandoned Draft, or Social Media Junkies

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Note: While I was going through my admin panel, I came upon this post, which had apparently been saved as a draft as far back as Aug. 15, 2010. I guess I had begun writing an entry, but for some reason never got around to finishing it up.  As you can see, I had only written a paragraph before something (perhaps it was time to go to the Lord’s table meeting since the 15th is a Lord’s Day) called me away, after which I subsequently completely forgot about the post.

Although this entry is most likely not complete, I’ll let it stand as is, simply because to append something on half a year later would be somewhat anachronistic (although I don’t know if that’s the best word to use here). In other words, what I would write now stems from thoughts, feelings, and experiences that I did not have half a year ago, and thus, there would be a disconnect in the sentiment of the first paragraph from that of the additional content.

But, that’s lengthy enough of a preface. At this point, I present to you what I now entitle…

“Social Media Junkies” – Aug. 15, 2010

You don’t realize how dependent we are on social media in our interactions with one another (especially if you don’t see them face to face on a regular basis) and how much it has been woven into society, to the extent that our consciousness of others’ existence is almost dependent upon it, until someone removes their electronic footprints. That has the eery effect of making you question whether they existed in the first place, or whether you’re a latent schizophrenic.

Hymn 672, stanzas 1 & 6

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…and I figure I’d also post this one since I also liked these two stanzas.

“Not what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art;
That, that alone, can be my soul’s true rest;
Thy love, not mine, bids fear and doubt depart,
And stills the tempest of my tossing breast.”

“More of Thyself, Oh, show me, hour by hour;
More of Thy glory, O my God and Lord;
More of Thyself in all Thy grace and power;
More of Thy love and truth, Incarnate Word.”

    Hymn 712

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    1. Be still, my heart! these anxious cares
      To thee are burdens, thorns and snares;
      They cast dishonor on the Lord,
      And contradict His gracious word.
    2. Brought safely by His hand thus far,
      Why wilt thou now give place to fear?
      How canst thou want if He provide,
      Or lose thy way with such a Guide?
    3. When first before His mercy-seat
      Thou didst to Him thine all commit;
      He gave thee warrant from that hour
      To trust His wisdom, love, and power.
    4. Did ever trouble yet befall,
      And He refuse to hear thy call?
      And has He not His promise passed,
      That thou shalt overcome at last?
    5. He who has helped me hitherto
      Will help me all my journey through,
      And give me daily cause to raise
      New Ebenezers to His praise.
    6. Though rough and thorny be the road,
      It leads thee on, apace, to God;
      Then count thy present trials small,
      For God will make amends for all.

    Letting Go

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    from Watchman Nee, The Overcoming Life

    This is the way many people commit their affairs to God. On the one hand, they say that they have committed everything to God. But on the other hand, their hearts are not at ease, and all the time they glance back. If you want to take control, He will not take control; instead, He will allow you to take control of yourself. If you will not take control anymore, He will take control and will bear the full responsibility…What does it mean to surrender? It means to leave the money on the ground and turn around and walk away. It means to ignore. It does not matter whether the children take the money away or the rickshaw man or a pedestrian takes it away. You do not worry about it anymore, and you do not take responsibility for it anymore. You need only to say to the Lord, “Lord, I give everything to You.” Once you commit yourself to God this way, God will surely receive what you have committed to Him. All that we need to do is to hand over what we have to the Lord.

    We have to let go first before God will pick up what we have let go…Brothers and sisters, one of our greatest sins is an evil heart of unbelief. We try to control ourselves and suppress ourselves every day…We wonder what would happen if we did not control or suppress ourselves. When we preach the gospel to an unbeliever, we tell him that he should not worry about anything, because Christ has died for him; he needs only to believe and he will receive everything. In the same way, we have been crucified with Christ, and Christ is living within us. Thank and praise God that Christ is our Head and we are His members. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. He is our life and our everything. When we are removed, when we give up, resign, and turn away, Christ will begin to take over.

    “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
    Your heart, does the Spirit control?
    You can only be blest and have peace and sweet rest,
    As you yield Him your body and soul.”

    -Hymn 448, chorus

    Hectic^5

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    These past few days have been hectic. Okay, more like hectic to the 5th power. The process of moving to a new apartment (even if it is just literally next door), is no fun. I pretty much stayed up ’til 4am Monday night trying to completely empty my old apartment. Somewhere along the way, I gave up trying to simultaneously juggle moving and organizing everything into their proper place and, instead, just began setting the boxes down wherever there was space, giving my new apartment a kind of “bomb-just-went-off-in-here” look. But then that means I got to spend the majority of my Tuesday, beginning at 8:30am, unpacking and organizing the new apartment, which mostly entailed a redo of thorough cleaning (and this is when I was originally planning a day-trip to SF). >:( Even then, I only managed to take care of the kitchen; I still have a whole mess of boxes sitting around my desk that need sorting through and putting away.

    And then there’s today. Woke up at 7am. Spent some time (way too little) with the Lord. Then started loading my siblings boxes/possessions from storage into my car (I am officially their moving service), filling it…to the brim. Ran a few errands, did a little bit more organizing (including but not limited to, putting up framed quotes), and washed the rags. Then tidied myself up a bit, ironed a shirt, and squeezed a bit of interview prep in there at the end. Left the apartment in a rush at 1:15pm for my job interview, which I thought I was so going to be late for but ended up getting there on the dot. Spent 2 1/2 hours at the interview site, swung by to see my cousin briefly, and then began my long drive down the 85/101/152/5 to Socal. Somehow, even though I hate driving exhausted, it somehow always manages to pan out like that. (It freaks me out to be conscious that I’m nodding off and yet still not able to prevent it from happening.) Talk about insanity.

    On another note, while others may stuff their faces with gallons of ice cream, I seem to indulge in fine dining instead as a coping mechanism. I have tried gorging on a pint of ice cream before, during my last semester in college, but it didn’t quite work for me. Actually made me feel more disgusted with myself than comforted. Good food on the other hand…mmm…roasted lamb sandwich and baked goat cheese salad @ Café Fanny.

    Where is my new laptop?

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    Why has it been sitting in Lexington, KY for the last three days? Why is it even in Kentucky coming in from Shanghai via Japan through Alaska?

    And I was looking forward to configuring it as a way to keep myself occupied this weekend.