Firsts

Memories from: Everywhere

I just got off the phone with my best friend and it got me thinking of "firsts." Just for the fun of it, I decided to list down the first time I've done stuff. This will probably be on-going, so this list that I published wouldn't ever be finished.

1. First time I went mini-golfing:
• Durham, NC at Frankie's with my closest friends from Elon: Najah, Janae, Kimberly, and Michelle.
2. First time I ate an actual meal in the Cheesecake Factory:
• Durham, NC, same day I went mini-golfing for the first time with the same people.
3. First time I ate cake from the Cheesecake Factory:
• Wayne, NJ, Spring break 2013 when my mom visited me and we bought a cake for my cousin's birthday. 
4. First time I went to the state fair:
• Raleigh, NC, in October 2013 with my friends Janae, Kimberly, and Bea. 
• That day was also the first time I tried a giant turkey leg.
5. First time I ate in Chipotle:
• Washington D.C in October 2012 with my friend Amy, who brought me home with her to Maryland for Fall Break of freshman year. 
• That was the first road trip I had since I came to the US and the first time I went to D.C. and Maryland. 
6. First time I drank milk tea (and liked it):
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2003, 4th grade, after our P.E. team won a game, our teacher bought us milk tea. I've been addicted ever since. 
7. First time I ate Lu-Wei (and liked it):
• Kenting, Taiwan, Summer 2013, when my high school friends and I stayed in Kenting for 3 days and 2 nights. That Lu-Wei was life-changing. I don't know how I lived 9 years in Taiwan not liking that street food. 
8. First time I went laser-tagging:
• Manila, Philippines, Summer 2011, my cousins and I played in Alabang Town Center and got beaten by experienced little kids. I missed an important phone call in those 15 minutes haha. 
9. First time I touched a slot machine:
• Atlantic City, NJ, Spring Break 2013, when my relatives, my mom, and I went to Atlantic City for vacation within a vacation. I had no idea what I was doing, but I believe that at one point, I earned more money than I used...and then lost it all. I hope my quarter went to a better place. 
10. First time I got into a Taiwanese drama/variety show:
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Summer 2007, I really got into 棒棒堂 and the drama I was obsessed with was Brown Sugar Macchiato...because 王子. 
11. First time I got into a Korean drama:
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 2009, the month Boys Over Flowers came into my life. All those nights I slept at 5am were worth it - even if it happened a week before finals. 

Top 5 Challenge

Challenge done in: L.A.

I was bored so I decided to look for challenges...so...here's one before I do a K-Drama challenge lol. If you haven't noticed, I'm in my K-Drama phase, so just bare with me :P

1. Five interesting facts about yourself.
1. I want to live in San Francisco and New York at one point in my life. 
2. When I'm alone in my room at night, I turn off all the lights, blast my music, and dance in the dark. It's actually the best XD
3. Sometimes when I'm walking somewhere and listening to music on my iPod, I pretend that I'm in a music video. 
4. I wish I could sing and take photos for a living. 
5. I self-taught myself in guitar so that I could sing while playing an instrument. 
2. Five important people.
1. My dad
2. My mom
3. My brother
4. My other brother
5. Nathan (cuz I'm gonna marry him one day) ;)
3. Five items you can't live without.
1. Laptop
2. Phone
3. Camera
4. iPod
5. Guitar
4. Five wishes.
1. That I can buy a nice house for my parents and brothers and provide for them so that they don't have to worry about finances. 
2. Bring my youngest brother to the states so he could go to school and receive special education because he's autistic. 
3. I wish I could achieve these by doing something I love - whether it be singing, being a photographer, or filmmaker. 
4. I wish that my whole family (including relatives) can live happy and healthy lives without much financial trouble. 
5. I wish I could teleport and eat as much as I want without getting fat. 
5. Five favorite quotes.
1. "The goal isn't to live forever, but to create something that will."
2. "Don't forget, if the future should take you away, that you'll always be part of me."
3. "At the end of the game, the pawns and the king go to the same box."
4. "Missing someone gets easier everyday because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are one day closer to the next time you will."
5. "Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about those who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it."

It's that Rainy Day Music

Memories from: The Philippines

It's actually raining here in LA, the land of drought...or so they say since December. What I love about a rainy day is staying inside my house/apartment/dorm, looking at the cloudy day outside my window while the rain falls. It just gives that feeling of comfort. Plus, there are just some songs that go so well with a rainy day. So here I am, on my bed, listening to the OST of Boys Over Flowers and it reminds me of the time I finished watching that K-Drama in freshman year and listened to the soundtrack while I traveled to the Philippines.

Maybe it was my lingering feelings about the show that made it extra special, or maybe it was the fact that I got to see another part of the Philippines that made the music feel more fitting. It's been 5 years since the summer of 2009, but the memories that I associate with the songs are still alive. The jeepney rides, the extreme heat, the beach where we walked on whatever-object-it-was-on-the-ocean and screamed our lungs out, the dance classes, and feeling wet most of the time from the sweat, the pool water, or the ocean. Isn't it neat how some songs can bring up certain memories that you thought were gone forever?

I miss the Philippines. I miss how happy all my visits there were. The vibe of all the different locations, the people I've met and and hung out with, and maybe the fact that at certain points in time, my life actually seemed like a Korean Drama.

Rainy days and rainy-day-songs. Let all the feels begin.

Space

Thoughts from: L.A.

I don't know if anyone's ever mentioned it before, but there's something about sitting out on the balcony at night, with nothing but your thoughts and your laptop, while drops of rain are falling down from the star-less sky of L.A. My philosophy professor and a few other people I've met have been telling me that we're experiencing a drought in the city of angels and that rain has been absent. Maybe it's because of those words that I know appreciate rain a little bit more...either that or I just need to buy an umbrella.

What is it about time and space that defines life? It's always there - In the movies, where we have to plan out how much time we're going to spend showing a scene; in our daily lives, where we have to figure out how to use up our time in a non-wasteful way; or in the sky, that extends outside the world, and therefore is just called "space." We're in a world that requires defining so that we won't be lost. But I guess even when we define things, nothing ever seems to have clarity.

Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it's just a human need to want to understand everything. That's why we're always asking questions even when the answers seem out of reach. Like, what else is there in outer space? Why do clouds give us the illusion that we can jump on them when in reality, we'd just fall through them?