Accomplishment

January 31, 2010 Beef noodle soup (紅燒牛肉麵)

I have wanted this for so many months now! Mad cravings. It wasn't as good as the one from a restaurant back home, but it sufficed and my craving has been quenched for now. Also, I bought some green tea ice cream. I'm going to have some before I go to bed. :)

Flag

January 31, 2010

This is what CTF flags look like. It's a green glowstick, 15 cm in length and 1.5 cm in diameter. This picture was taken last night, but it's still glowing.

By the way, I didn't capture this one (or, rather, one) but I provided its exact location.

Celebration

January 30, 2010 Ice cream cake slice

Jen and Peter took the MCAT today. Jen took it nearby, but Peter had to head south. After her exam, her friend from New York and Elisabeth got her an ice cream cake. I LOVE ICE CREAM. I had gelato today while I was at a mall wasting time during Jen's exam. It was quite excellent.

Seven

January 30, 2010

I installed Windows 7 today. I like it, I think. But it gave me a weird prompt that said something like: "Enter password (recommended) ... Enter password hint (required)". I found that amusing.

Dolphins

January 29, 2010 From the boat going to the mainland

We saw a pod of dolphins today. It was incredible and cute. There were quite a few, but my camera sucks, and this is my best shot at a dolphin mostly out of water. You might be able to see some nearby wave action and some other dorsal fins.

Tree

January 29, 2010

Here's the tree, as promised. The lights on the house are also up and lit. I wonder what our neighbors think of us.

Levels

January 28, 2010 Shark Harbor

Today we went to Shark Harbor to sample little shore crabs. We set up a line extending into the low tide zone and up the beach, and every two meters, we shoveled and sieved for crabs. Because of the impending full moon, the tide was really low. Later we went to check out some very large rocks which are part of the intertidal zone and are home to mussels, barnacles, at least one sea star, and a few crabs. Somehow, one of my classmates managed to climb to the top (probably 20 feet off the ground). The other classmate at the lower level, was probably 8 feet above me. Maybe less. And before we left to go back to WIES, I played in the water. It wasn't too cold, and the waves were pretty good. Very fun field trip.

Book

January 28

I got this book in my mail yesterday. After 19 days. It's shiny and new (but I was buying from a reseller, so all is good). The content is horrible, though. Formatting is inconsistent, and just yesterday, when typing up my homework I came up across the following sentence:

Be careful to do it for the second line, the word-by-word gloss, in these examples not the third line.

What do you think? Seriously, where was the editor looking?

Babies

January 28, 2010 Sea lion pups on Bird Rock

Today, some of my friends went fishing. I came along for the boat ride. Only one fish was had, but it was too small to keep. Bird Rock is this rock that protrudes from the ocean. It is not very big, but the birds use it well. Prime location for seafood fishing. It's like having a stationary boat. The rock is covered in bird poo poo, and it has a little tuft of vegetation at the top. There were many pelicans and those diving birds.

Greyness

January 27 | Lake Washington, North off SR-520 bridge, East bank

I woke up on the bus today after an uncomfortable slowness. A few minutes after the driver announced "Evergreen Point" we were still here. I haven't seen this much fog in a long time.

Wilson

January 26, 2010 Wilson the Bison at Catalina Harbor (Two Harbors)

This is Wilson! He is identifiable by his broken horn. Also, his side is patchy, but you can't see it from here. There's another bison in the background. The red building is a yacht club. Look at him graze. Munching along. Didn't even look up at me or the van of people. He's also very old and might die soon. :(

Trap

January 26, 2010 | Corner of Atm. Sci. / Geophysics

This is probably not something UW wants us to know. The sign says "Poison, do not touch." I think it's meant for mice and rats. I wonder how many of these are hidden in bushes around campus...

I wanted to upload a video of humans vs. zombies awesomeness, but my video editor refused to cooperate. I keep taking videos hoping to put them together, spend hours, and turn up with mostly nothing.

Pelican

January 25, 2010 Peculiar Pelican

This bird is ginormous! I've never seen it in my life! Well, maybe in a zoo or something. Anyway, it was pretty cool. We thought maybe it was injured, because it was about to fly away but didn't. Interestingly, later when my class took a field trip to Two Harbors (about 10 minutes away) to do some sampling, this pelican visited us. Hehe. Well, I don't know if it was the same pelican. I like to think so.

Humans

January 25 | Stevens Way and 15th Avenue (North of RC)

Today was the start of Humans vs. Zombies at UW. The game starts with two "original zombies", who don't wear any visible identification -- this is intended to get enough humans tagged as zombies to kick off the game. Since zombies don't respawn until next morning, the only people who these humans were watching out for are the two mysterious OZ's.

Piano

January 24, 2010 WIES lounge

Here's the Institute's piano. Its keys look very old and aged, but the sound isn't too bad. I've experienced much worst from pianos in my hall during freshmen year. Unfortunately, I haven't been playing much because playing with people around makes me a little nervous.

Frog

January 24, 2010

My sister just finished coloring this thing, and they put it up by the front door. It's the local derivative style, I guess.

I was actually going to post a picture of our Christmas tree, for the sake of the fact that it's still standing, but this came up. I'll post the tree some other time when I'm out of ideas — it doesn't look like it's going down anytime soon.

Spying

January 23, 2010 Walking around WIES

So, I want for a walk today. I meet this guys here. I have a closer view of one of them, but I think having two of them is better. Today was beautiful. First full day without rain or heavy wind. The sky was beautiful. The walk was muddy though. I need to wash my pants and shoes. :(

Departure

January 23, 2010 | Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport

We said good bye to my mom today. We watched her clear security and left home. She's on a trip to New Zealand to work with somebody on something.

Then I taught my sister some number theory. Yay!

Lounge

January 22, 2010 Vegging out island-style

When there is a storm bringing wind and rain, hiking is not such a good idea. Nor is kayaking or snorkeling. This is what I did after my exam. I watched a ridiculous amount of TV today. RIDICULOUS. So, tomorrow I will power through a crap load of work that I'd rather not do. (This is a part of my hesitation to prepare for the MCAT now. Because I want to enjoy this break from normal school.) The days go by so slowly. It is amazing, and I love it.

Flowers

January 22, 2010 | Outside the RC

My friend Kenneth lent me his 50mm f-1.8 Nikkor lens today. I tried taking pictures of it - it's sharper and faster than mine.

So, these flowers are for you. I uploaded the highest possible resolution so you can look at the detail.

Quails

January 21, 2010 Gigantic quails! in the rain :D

Aren't they cute?? Apparently, the rain draws them out to closer to the cafeteria. I saw them yesterday, too. But then, they ran away to hide from me. They are so big. And there are so many! I want to see baby quails.

Recruiters

January 21 | CSE Atrium

Today a bunch of CS undergrads met a bunch of recruiters looking for internships and full-time coding. I was there and gave a few resumes to a few people working for a few companies.

How I got there is an interesting story, but I have a good reason not to talk about it in public.

Airport

January 20, 2010 Airport in the sky!

Despite warnings of a storm, our professor decided that we should try to head out to Avalon which is about an hour away by car on terrible, terrible roads. We got as far as this airport which is probably about 20 minutes from Avalon. But it started to rain, so after getting cookies here, we headed back to campus. We had a little trouble getting the vans up a muddy uphill. Later, it rained SO hard. Ridic. And when the rain died down a little, I wondered around. :)

Bellevue

January 20, 2010 | Downtown Bellevue

The first question you should ask is: what was I doing in Bellevue this morning?

I got on the 230 today, pretending that it were the 277. And began working on my code. About 7 minutes after the bus usually arrives, I kind of woke up (we aren't there yet?), looked out the window, and was confused momentarily at what my bus was doing in Bellevue. There.

Weather was good, though.

Bird

January 19, 2010 Diving bird

I don't know what this bird is, but I'd like to go snorkeling to watch it go diving for fish underwater! It's a calm bird, and it didn't really react to my coming up closer. It has cute long webbed feet! Whereas, step another foot and storks fly away.

Key

January 19, 2010 | My mailbox

I got a key in my mailbox today. I was excited to see it because it means they put a package in the big mailbox, and I am long expecting my linguistics textbook. The package was for my mom, though.

Where's my book?!

Sunbreak

January 18, 2010 A break from rain

The building straight ahead, if you don't already know, is where the labs, the library, the computer lab, and the lecture hall are. The building to the right is the boys' house. The girls' house is next to it but not shown here because I wanted you to see the little bit of sun we got today. It wasn't raining all day, but the winds were blowing pretty hard until 3:00 or so.

Clear

January 18 | East off Montlake Bridge

It's sunny here! First time in long weeks. And you say it's raining on Catalina. Sad-face.

I wanted to experiment with my circular polarizer filter today, but didn't get to. We watched a ridiculous (Monty Python) movie and played Brawl. Hopefully the weather stays for me and changes for you - for the better.

Bathing

January 17, 2010 Sea Lions

I was at the dock today, of course, and I was looking at the water to see if I could see the heads of sea lions. And then I saw these guys! One is sunning itself. Hehe. The other looks like it's sleeping. It's like me. ^.^ Apparently sea lions are vicious though. So, don't touch too much.

Workspace

January 17

This is my workspace. Two computers. You just said something. Yay!

Flashlight II

January 16, 2010 Elisabeth's flashlight

I thought this was one of the coolest things I saw today. The light isn't very bright though, and to get any light requires quite a bit of manual labor. This is perhaps cooler than the manual cell phone recharger that my brother bought during the epic power outage of '06!

Picture

January 16, 2010

I don't think you've seen this yet. There it is. I still haven't got a photo frame, so the design in my room is still incomplete.

I'm leaving to go CTFing in 30 minutes. Yay!

Packed

January 15, 2010 City Shock

Wow, it's so weird being back. On the island, I see about 30 people (half of the people were here for a program for the elderly- Elderhostel/Exploritas) daily. The return shuttle was packed, and for some reason, we had to wait before leaving for campus. I think if I had been there for another 20 minutes or so, I would have passed out. It was so hot and stuffy! I miss Catalina air and space.

Whoa, I just realized I combined two events into one. This is the return shuttle from LA Live which is a gloriously capitalist location for eating and entertainment in the "heart of LA". I went there to see a movie with my friends. Nice chairs though.

Weather

January 15, 2010 | South of William H. Gates Library

This is the law library. I don't know if you can see: it has been raining. It's raining a lot these days.

By the way, this is picture #314. Yay, floor 100*pi.

Hiking

January 14, 2010 Another field trip: Parson's Landing

The walk is incredible, as is the beach. Unfortunately, this place is quite a drive from school. But we passed by many small coves along the way. I'm still getting used to the whole island thing. It's incredible how much I've accepted suburban/almost-city life. I've always wondered back home what it must have been like before people came to Washington and paved roads and built a million houses. The landscape here is very different, of course, but it's amazing to see how untouched it is. The red windy road can barely accommodate two vehicles (only one at some points). There aren't power lines everywhere, and as we traveled along to our drop-off point, we essentially never lost sight of the ocean. The ocean is so beautiful. The first time I visited Catalina I was so enchanted by the clear green and blue color. I've never been to Hawaii, but I imagine it must be like this, except my experience will be much longer and so much better.

Floppy

January 14, 2010

Recognize that thing? It's a USB diskette reader.

My dad and I were trying to figure out how to upgrade the BIOS in my computer. It could only be done by running a DOS program - they're still around. XP can even format a floppy disk as a MS-DOS boot disk. (I wonder if Windows 7 retained this functionality.)

Anyway, the experiment with floppies didn't work. We figured it out another way eventually, and my computer starts up closer to normal now. Yay!

Cave

January 13, 2010 A Cave at Two Harbors

So Two Harbors is the nearest town. It is about 40 minutes away by the walking of an unfit person. It's really only about 2 miles away, but the elevation is killer. The view along the way is wonderful. The town is incredibly small! They don't even have a real grocery store. Just a small, small general store with a few vegetables. The food is very, very expensive. I think I payed twice as much as usual for Pop Tarts. Anyway, after we went to the general store, my classmates and I walked down to the shore with the intention to go cave-looking. The rocks are massive, but not too difficult to climb. I think my shoes may have taken a little damage. The first cave we visited was warm. I didn't climb very far. Here are the four people with whom I went to Two Harbors. People here are awesome. :)

Bell

January 13 | Number Theory classroom

This is a bell, right? Whatever it is, the cover was off. Interesting. Trrrrrrrr.....

Lab

January 12, 2010 A field trip to Little Harbor

Here is some of my class. We are at a campsite, walking to the shore. Though we have three labs a week, for this course we will be going on field trips instead. It's going to be fantastic. Next week, we'll go to the tourist place Avalon. I'm sad that my other camera decided to play dead for a while. Hopefully, I can take it apart and put it together and make it work again. I'll need a screwdriver first and some time.

Patch

January 12, 2010 | RC Lounge

Workers patched the ceiling and left. And put "dehumidifiers" in place to suck in moisture. Also, I heard, upstairs.

Apparently a leak went unnoticed for a while, until it started dripping on us. They're not sure where it is, and the asbestos is making things complicated.

Anti-dorm

January 11, 2010 Non-dorm-like rooms

I was a little disappointed about not getting to be in the dorms. The bedrooms in the cottages don't have desks inside the room. The drawers are same. Blah, blah, blah. It's kind of a weird set-up, but I suppose I will survive. Class which will be held in the library is literally 2 minutes away. And there is a computer lab and a work space open in the same building. (Basically save about another 3 minutes of walking maybe...) I had other pictures in mind, but I've been so busy today!

Logic

January 11, 2010 | RC Lounge

The lounge was open today. A "dehumidifier" was put in to... dehumidify(?) the room. Apparently, moist air is good for you, but bad for wood. And it was raining outside anyway.

This is one of those RC moments that rarely occurs outside. Jerry (left) asked me for help on a math problem (logic, argh), and when I couldn't help him, two others. One more got interested - so that makes us five so far, me and the four in the picture, all working on one problem.

Homemade

January 10, 2010 Final dinner, kind of

Actually, that is a lie. I'll probably come back next weekend. I'd say there is a 60% chance that I will return. Anyway, there was cooking today. We had a ground pork stew thingy that is good over rice or noodles. The green thing is shredded cucumbers which can go with the ground pork. The shrimp is random (and has ketchup in it because that's how my mama rolls). We had green veggies, too. And those rectangular things are radish/turnip cakes. Those are homemade, but not by me; fine, they're actually restaurant-made. It's like eating at home though!

Avatar

January 10, 2010

I'm quiet, as usual. Otherwise, self-explanatory. Yeah. I don't know.

Yogurt

January 9, 2010 Frozen yogurt from Yogurtland

My buddies and I had a giganto reunion over food. We went out for dinner for some Vietnamese food. Then, we went to Yogurtland where they have a million flavors and a million toppings, and they charge $0.30 an ounce which is not bad. :) Plus, they have cheesecake bits. Yummm.

Clock

January 9, 2010

A window into my room. A window in my room. A puzzle clock above the window.

It's actually a bad place for a clock. You practically can't see the handles in the day. But I never look at that clock anyway, so it's not a problem. Fixture is temporary, on a pin. It will be raised slightly when I put a screw in. A photo collage will be put up in the clock's former place. And the big puzzle that we worked on is already up.

And I cleaned up today. A few hours ago, my room was full of empty boxes and bins. Not anymore.

Soulmates

January 8, 2010 Parked in front of the biology building

Some other biology person has my bike! I've known this since freshman year, but I didn't see it at all or very often last year. Today, I unlocked my bike. I looked up and saw the twin. I was confused and thought for a second that I had unlocked the wrong bike which of course wouldn't make any sense.

Closed

January 8, 2010 | RC lounge

The RC lounge was vacated today at around 12:10, and remains closed to students until a diagnostic is performed and any necessary repairs can be done. I snapped this picture after work stopped for a break.

Students initially noticed a leak on the ceiling. When workers arrived, they found a puddle of water on the leaking panel, removed the panel, and let water drip into a bucket. Our building is old, and the leak was initially attributed to heavy rain.

However, workers found that the water drops were too frequent, and deemed necessary a more through analysis of the piping system. Since the inter-floor crawl space contains asbestos, the lounge was vacated and closed. Analysis proved difficult due to the amount of asbestos insulation, and the results of an inspection, as well as testimony from the people on the 2nd floor, who complained about a leak in the men's restroom, showed that the problem is serious.

As a result, the lounge remains closed. Part of it is sealed off to prevent asbestos contamination to other areas, and we don't really know what the workers are doing up there, or when the lounge will reopen.

Flashlight

January 7, 2010 LED flashlight

Yay! I have a flashlight now! It was on sale at the grocery store; so I couldn't pass it up. And it's in my favorite color. Hurray! It's very bright though. :/

Interim

January 7, 2010 | Grant Lane, passing MGH

I was walking from Linguistics today. We had a substitute Asian grad student. He was explaining wh-movement and wrote the sentence on the board in English:

"Where did he go?"

After that, he asked another student for this sentence in Chinese, and began writing it on the board under the English.

他去了...

I was a little surprised, but started copying them down. He didn't finish the sentence.

"Oops, why am I writing characters?"

Bag

January 6, 2010 Camera bag

I bought my camera a backpack! :) Now I can worry less about hurting my camera. Strangely, a few days ago, I had a dream that my camera broke, and then I got a new one...yeah. Hmmm, actually, it's probably not that necessary. Awww, crap. I'll sleep on it. Hopefully, I'll get too lazy to return it.

Chemistry

January 6, 2010 | CHB, 2nd floor hallway, looking North

This is 2nd floor hall in CHB (CHemistry Building). Along this hall are individual labaratories - but you've been here before.

I believe this hallway is the most direct route from inside Bagley to the bus stop on Pacific & Pacific. As I was passing a lab (Dr. Ginger's, I think) today, I noticed a waste container standing outside.

I hope it was clean.