Life without internet...

I dropped my digital camera during one of the past weekends and it stopped working.  The fact that it's still pretty new and also not being ready to spend $$$ for a new one, it was really disappointing and annoying.  So with desperation for a free fix, Google was the very first thing which popped up on my mind.  And guess what?  I fixed it from the free blog post of one guy who shows all possible fixes via video.  Bingo! 

We now live in the technology era and Internet virtually is an essential part of our life.  To me, Internet is my knowledge or information ocean.  There're always answers or solutions for pretty much almost all of my questions. 

Once I was with him at his workplace for lunch.  He was approached by his boss and was asked for a technical problem.  He immediately suggested him to look the resolution up via Google.  His boss immediately responded him back that he was asking him just because the internet was down and couldn't get onto Google.  And they both laughed. 

When I'm in an deserted or remote area with very poor or no reception of my phone, I feel so screwed.  I feel so concerned for what I gonna do in case I'm in need of some help or encounter some issues, etc.  When I'm moving into a new place and couldn't get an appointment for the internet setup through the provider company on the very first move-in day, it makes me really frustrated in the sense that I don't know what to do without internet. 

I sometimes wonder how I passed the first few decades of my life without internet.  It sometimes further makes me wonder how people live without internet and electronic communication medium during ancient time.  I can feel the big PAIN back then!

However, flipping the coin will give one a different perspective. Technology can be really exhausting though if it's being overused.  I recently quit facebooking as I become overwhelmed for the time I've been wasting on there and the distraction I got from it.  It could lead to information overloading if one go over limit.  If I sit before my computer during my spare time, I could keep on surfing there until my body signals and commands me to stop as it couldn't take any longer.  You see the point?

 

This is the point I'm talking about, LOL :P

Just like anything else, "Balance" is the key.  We just have to make sure not to overdo it.  Not sure I get the best out of internet or Internet gets the best out of me :P  Regardless I can't live without internet unless I decide to turn my gadgets and devices off during my vacation to prevent myself from information overloading.  Google is like my virtual H2O.  Life without internet, I simply don't know how.  Another version of it is that "Life without internet, it just sucks!!!".  What's the version of yours? :P

Oxymoron

I grew up with so well protected by my family, especially my mom, my grandma and my aunts.  There wasn't a single thing I needed to be concerned of since everything was well arranged and prepared for me.  Everywhere I went I was escorted by one of the family members.  I thought that I was well favored by most of my elementary school teachers just because my grand parents were doing so well financially and they were well known and respected by my teachers, not because I placed the first rank almost every year.

Basically, the path that I would be going was well paved ahead of me by my family.  The fact that I was never been on school excursions (because my parents had lots of concerns about  me when I was alone and out of their eyesight) and what I wore daily was decided, prepared and got ready by my mom every day until during my freshman year really made me to wish a bird who is flying freely and experience things on its own, rather than a bird in the cage.

Suddenly, things started to go the other way round.  It was when my two main guardians and escorts who were my two maternal aunts, my mom's two younger sisters, left me alone under circumstances.  My big aunt got married and my youngest aunt who dearly loved me lost her battle with lung cancer.  My mom was busy helping my dad with the business and left me alone with the decision making token for the path that I would be going.  Just like that, I made lots of decisions for my education which later would lead me to my current career.  At times, I felt helpless since I wasn't sure I was making the right decision or going to the right direction.  At times, sleepless nights during exams and stresses and exhausts at work made me feel weak.  And it made me mourn my long lost well protection and care by my family at the same time.  

Isn't it very common that we, human beings, always tend to like the opposites and contradictions?  When one had a well-paved road, she wanted to try to make her own road.  And when it came the time to  make her own road and was making one, she missed the well-paved road she once used to get.  Isn't it funny?

Likewise, we like to be a grownup when we were a kid but when one started to grow old, he or she wants to be a carefree kid again.  A lot of things we currently have, we take it granted.  Then, when we suddenly loose it, its value suddenly surfaces and we regret. 

In contrast, the more we know we can't get something we want, the higher value it is, agree?  When it's easily available to one, we take it granted.  It always appeared to me that the movie which I had watched Nth times and I didn't bother to watch it anymore really attracted me on my exam nights. :P  And there always got super long list of things to do right before my exam so that I would be more well prepared next time for next year's exam.  But guess what?  That long list vanished with the wind and evaporated as the gas once the exam was over.  :P  And the same mindset of being more prepared and more disciplined would visit me again during next year's exam.  LOL :P

Super famous celebrities wanted privacy whilst we as most of the commoners like publicity by publishing everything or posting pictures at everywhere we go on the facebook? :D 

People in the villages wonder what it takes to experience the city life while people in the city pays to experience the urban or rural lives during their vacations.

Single people want to get married whilst it pops married people's mind with the freedom of being single every once in a while.  Couples who aren't able to get kids try all possible way to conceive.  But parents with kids long to have a break every once in a while. 

People who are out of job want so badly to be back onto the career no matter what it takes whilst those with jobs usually complain how tiring and stressful their job life is.  Black people want to have a fair skin whilst white people sun tanned to get a darker skin. 

Oh well, this world is full of opposites, contrasts and idiosyncrasies.  I guess it's what makes the varieties and differences.  The word "miscellaneous" exist there for a reason.  Like colors, opposites and contrasts make us different and unique.  And guess that they are what make the world go round. The opposites attract each other and contradictions make spices of our lives, don't they?  Yeah, Oxymoron!!

Leaving Me the Angry Bird in the Legend

Okay, I'm sure that everyone of us knows that yelling is not a good thing.  Especially this plays even an important role and make a bigger point when one is trying to be a role model to her kids.  I had repeated Nth time to myself that no yelling, no screaming or no raising voice before them but it failed at times.  

Why?  I realize that it's the only exit I could find whenever I get caught myself into the ultimate exhaust, tiredness or upset.  Even if I'm in the normal mood, those little playful mischief and patience rubbers along with their misbehavior are so capable of making me to end up with mommy's meltdown moments most of the times.

Whenever I got blindfolded by my anger, I'm no longer me and all my consciousness and senses are gone momentarily.  9 out of 10 times, I was out of control and I ended up ranting.  After busting out and releasing my madness and anger, I always come back to my senses and guess what?  I'm usually loaded with full of guilt and regret.

However, what I notice though is that my guilt and regret declines for each incident.  The more such incidents I committed, the less guilt and regret I felt.  For almost everything we involve ourselves, the very first time always appear to be the biggest deal.  But it usually tends to be no such a big deal for each subsequent incident, isn't it?  Likewise, I guess that I just don't try to make much effort to rectify my mistake after repeated guilt and regrets had numbed my senses.  And it's probably because I don't get haunted by my guilt and regrets anymore after having them multiple times.

I came across this article on Yahoo! which mentioned about the danger of yelling at your kids.  This really made me review myself and I feel so horrible how I become getting comfortable with it over time and not reinforcing myself to stay on track with my vow.  Especially when I learnt that how yelling and screaming at those little innocent ones could have created such a big impact on their life and more importantly, an unintentional wound or scar could have left on their mind.

Oh, NO!  I'm one such angry bird.  I suddenly feel like I'm a horrible mom and I feel so embarrassed for my behavior at the same time.  I realize that I'm seriously in need of reprimand to not repeat those again.  All I need is my anger management.  I know that it's not going to happen overnight as it takes time to rectify one's personality.  It's not easy to stick with it but I must not give up.  My determination is my first step.  I hereby make a vow to myself that NO YELLING, NO SCREAMING and NO RAISING VOICE to my little ones NO MATTER WHAT.  I'll live up to my mojo!  I can do it! I can do it!! :D

iOwn, iHeart, iUse and iEat Mac!

First of all, when you're thinking about Big Mac from Mc Donald's, I know where you usually end up for your meal :P  And it's not Mac-and-Cheese either :)  What I mean here is Macintosh.  It's A-P-P-L-E in other words.

Apple is something which got fascinated since Adam and Eve time.  But who knows that it'll still get influences and will still be fascinated for generations to come.  Thanks to Apple's father, Steve Jobs, who created jobs for people out of (an) apple as his name suggests :P

I'm always fascinated by White and thus design innovations in white by Apple is always eye-catchy to me.  They really make me love at first sight.  I still remember myself seeing the first time of those gorgeous white Mac PCs which was displayed at a computer exhibition and it couldn't get out of my mind.  But with a thin or flat wallet as a student, it was something I could only have dreamt of.

So, when i-Products revolutionize the gadget world, it's no doubt that icrazy about them.  Then, iBuy, iOwn and iPatronize those iPhone, iPod and iPad and iXXX. 

When my ex-boss was getting an office cell for me, ideviated and idecided to get Android instead of iPhone4S out of curosity to see what an Android has to offer.  iAdmit that Droid got more features, functionalities and ifancinize voice-command feature and voice-prompted Google navigation system.  But iFind that iProducts are much more intuitive and easier to use.  iPrefer and thus iStick with iProducts. 

iBrag about the new iPhone5 here :P

Now that, iPhone5 just came out and imanaged to get one for him.  ihaven't really explored it yet but ilove it so far for being lightweight, Siri and voice-prompted iMap, which is very similar to voice-prompted Google map which ilove from Android.  Being a lot lighter in weight than iPhone4 alone is making me to get one for myself as well.  Especially when the middle main button of my current iPhone4 doesn't work all the time, it makes me in the midst of iHate and iLove of my iPhone4.  Anyway, when iheart and ifascinate by them, iforgive and ioverlook any flaws or downsides they might have. iKnow, iKnow, iBaise :D

Just like that, iInsist and iGo on fascinating iProducts.  iBuy, iOwn, iFan, iUse iPhones and iProducts which are otherwise known as Apple(s).  OH, Ah!  And WAIT!!!! iEat Apple(s) too, LOL :P

Cure for Shopaholic Syndrome?

One of my favorite things to do is shopping.  Which girls don't like it anyway, right?  Well, I've come across a couple of those who are not really into the shopping so...  Anyway, I'm speaking for myself and shopping is one of my passions.  Yeah, yeah!  I'm one of those girls or whatever you call me.

Just the other day, I've come across this article on Yahoo! and it really made me to testify whether I'm a shopaholic?  I couldn't escape from a lot of points mentioning there and I'm a shopaholic of course as you might have already guessed :P

Just this morning he was telling me that closets at our place weren't large enough to accommodate all my stuff.  That's why I need California closets and I'm glad that we happen to be in California.  Thanks God! LOL :P

There got lots of items with tags still on in my closet.  See!  That's one of the shopaholic signs of the aforementioned article, isn't it?  Shopping is my relaxation, my enjoyment and yes it's my entertainment as well :)  When I'm stressed, frustrated or tired, I need window shopping online to make myself relieved from them.  It works for me most of the time, if not always.  Of course, there got times when even shopping could not cheer me up though. 

Luckily, I'm not a very obsessed shopper who always need to buy something but just looking and drooling over stuff could satisfy me most of the time.  Good deals always turn me on though.  :P  This really contributes a lot to my shoe shelves for adding more pairs to them.  A Junkie Me(hot deals addict or coupons queen or you name it :P), a Shoe Lover and a Shopaholic, they all are linked together, aren't they? :P  And even California closets give me up for loading them up with way too many stuff.  :P

I still remember those days when I teamed up with a very good and close friend of mine and shopped til dropped.  We literally started out like 10:00am in the morning and when we got back home it was about 10:00pm.  Believe it or not!  And my feet were super ached and killing me that I could not even wear my favorites wedges for a day or two :P

With that momentum, Singapore's shopping paradise, the famous Orchard Road, left us no fresh places to go :D  And I still remember those crazy yet carefree my college days where we (my other two close friends and I) often skipped lectures to cruise around different shopping malls.  "Window shopping" was a pretty fancy term for us as students with slim wallet. 

You know what?  This world needs people like me, especially for the current economy downturn, to stimulate it.  LOL :P 

Recently, I come to my senses that when those little things which I acquired through the good deals that I'd thought really add-up.  Just like a dime seems nothing but when tons of dimes are added-up, it could make big $$$$.

With that said, currently I'm in the process of looking to adopt my new passion or hobby, LOL :P  My enjoyment of shopping is already imprinted to the bottom of my heart or head so I don't think that I could get rid of it completely.  I'm just merely trying to find a way to divert my passion into a different perspective so that I could downgrade myself to a shopper from a shopaholic.  Simply put, I'm just trying to find a shopping substitute. 

The thoughts that I should prevent myself from being a shopaholic has already clicked my mind for a while.  And when I came across the aforementioned article on Yahoo!, it motivated me even more and my revelation followed. 

I'm on my way to rehabilitation.  If you're a shopaholic like me, think twice and think over yourself again.  It's never too late to change you know? :D

I'm one proud MaMa!

OMG!  It was so incredible!  Never thought of how it will be like to start a piano lesson with someone who created the book.  When Jane Bastien called me last week that she got an opening spot for Sophie, I was really thrilled. 

At the age of 6, Sophie went for an interview with her a couple of weeks back.  As a parent, I thought that I would just let her give a shot but never thought that she would be selected.  I know, I know.  Nows-a-day, interviews started at the age of 5 or 6 years old :P  What's a competitive world! 

Right after relocating to San Diego and while practicing her piano one night, Sophie noticed that the author of the piano text book from which she was learning her lessons was from San Diego.  At that point of time, I know that James Bastien is the author of all those Bastien piano lesson books series which most of the piano teachers follow.  But it was all and no more or no less. 

It was until then I learnt from one of parents' of Sophie's good friend that Jane Bastien who is the wife of James Bastien and co-author of all those books provide piano lessons.  Even at that point, I still didn't have an idea that James Bastien had passed away.  I went back home and did a little research about both James and Jane Bastien and I started to find out more about them.  I learnt that this couple is a piano Gurus and really renowned people for piano world.  Having her contact information on hand, I thought that I would just check with her to see whether she would have time for Sophie.

Even when Mrs Bastien called me back and gave me an appointment to meet with Sophie, I didn't fully understand that it would be an interview to say yay or nay to Sophie to become her student.  I knew that she would be evaluating Sophie but didn't even stress Sophie that it was the most important part.  Honestly, I didn't even do much preparation for Sophie.  Even though I wanted Sophie to start a lesson with her, I guess that I would be fine if she couldn't make it. 

The bottom line here is that I wasn't as crazy as other parents whose dreams were to become their kids to be students of Mrs Bastien even though I was hoping that Sophie could make it. Last week when Sophie started her very first group lesson with another girl of her age, I was a little bit surprised by the gesture of the mom of Sophie's partner.  When Mrs Bastien gave both of us permission to go in to the piano room to listen to her lessons, the other mom whispered me that it was the moment she had been waiting for all her life and she could not express how happy she felt that her daughter got selected. Her words made me wonder that being a student of Mrs Bastien was an once-in-a-life-time opportunity or something like that :)

Then, I realized that there got so many parents who were dying to make their kids to be students of Mrs Bastien and I wasn't as bad as them :)  When Mrs Bastien called me and gave me the time slot for Sophie, I didn't even accept it right away even though I was overjoyed.  I told her that I needed to think for a while since Sophie got a conflict with her After school lessons.  :P 

Anyway, I could not hide the fact that I was really thrilled and was really proud of her though regardless.  Even it takes me to wake up and go to work super early on every weekday where Sophie got her lesson so that I could send her there on time, I still feel so worth it.  Even it took me to wait for hours outside of Mrs Bastien's house in the heat with both Sophie & Michelle for her interview as Mrs Bastien was running late, I find it was really a trivial thing as well.  I have to admit that it was like a dream when I stepped into Mrs Bastien's house for Sophie's very first lesson last week with her.  Basically, I could not believe that she was getting that opportunity. 

Sophie was mad at me on that day of her very first piano lesson with Mrs Bastien as she had to give up her Chinese and Kung Fu classes for that piano class.  She didn't understand that how lucky she was to have that opportunity other kids are dying to get it.  But she came out happy of her piano class as she enjoyed it.    I just would like to create this post as a memoir for my little girl as a milestone so that she could read it one day when she grows up.  Keep up the good work, girl!  It's no doubt that I'm one proud MaMa!

A Shoe Lover's Note

Let's just start that I'm a shoes-manic.  I couldn't recall exactly when it started but when it comes to shoes, I'm pretty crazy.  When I was a kid, I used to always donate a pair of shoes for monks as they were affordable from my pocket money vs. the robes which were much more expensive than shoes.  Not sure I can relate it to having Nth pairs of shoes I got.  But there's a saying in Buddhism that if you do generous donations (which basically are sharings) you will get shared by others in return.  Who knows, I'm getting the fruitful returns of those donations which I had done previously :P  Anyway, the bottom line here is that I'm pretty fascinated by shoes and yes I have quite a bit of them (Okay, okie, it's a little more than quite a bit :D). 

When I go shopping, either online or in store, the first section I'd automatically and unconsciously look at is the S--H--O--E--S racks.  I like trying to put them on when I'm shopping in store.  And if they fit and if I think that they look pretty then you'll see it on my shoe rack the next day in addition to those Nth pairs of shoes I own.  I just couldn't resist, that's all :P  My 50-pairs shoe rack at home could not accommodate all shoes I got.  Just for your record though: I got 3 shoe racks to keep everyone's shoes of the family.  Yeah, I know, I know... :P

I still remember that there got 15 something pairs of shoes I gotta throw away when I migrated here from Singapore.  I still remember that moment when my heart got ached when I had to throw each of them away right into the trash chute of our apartment.  As a side note, almost every apartment in Singapore comes with a trash chute. And I really love that convenience of throwing trash without having to leave your house by the way.  Anyway, the point here is about my heartaches that I had to trash my 15 something pair of shoes which I couldn't bring them here with me.  Instead of trashing them, I had thought about donating of them.  But, all of them were used and a few of them were even worn out so I thought that they wouldn't be good candidates for donation anyway.

Well, that was one of dramas of my shoes.  And when I first left to Singapore from my country, I again left tons of shoes at home as well.   It was a collection and some of them were my favorites so I got a hard time back then as well.  Everyone around me knows about my fascination of shoes.  And once I was joked by one of the guys who was courting me back then that the only concern he got about me was that he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to afford for my shoes down the road.  LOL :P  Very well said of him, didn't he?  :D

And just the other day at work, I got a comment of "Oh, you really got lots of pretty shoes!" from a coworker who was passing by me by staring at my feet.  That was a comment from someone whom I only run into at the hallway occasionally.  And he's also not from my group so we didn't see each other much.  Even he noticed about my shoe fascination.  Hmmm.... $$$$ well spent?  LOL :P  Likewise, people around me often stare at my feet to see what shoe I'm wearing is not something unusual either :D  And needless to mention about loads of compliments which I got from them.

He asked me a couple of weeks back that whether I knew which department of Macys makes the most money?  After a small delay, I guessed it right.  Yes, it's so-called "Shoe Department".  When Macys was doing the designer shoes clearance with 65% discount a while back, it was super crowded there.  I no doubt was one of the shoppers there of course :P  I added three more pairs to my collection including a pair of Michael Kors's by then.  The shopping crowd explains that there got plenty of women who are as crazy as I do (or even more crazier than me perhaps) out there.  See, I'm not alone :P

The only thing though is that when it comes to moving, it could be quite a headache.  My shoes alone need a couple of boxes and need certain amount of time for packing and unpacking of them.  No kidding, huh? :P

Regardless, nothing could stop me from my love about shoes.  It's above and beyond of an addiction.  My love about shoes has already been rooted as a part of my brain. LOL :P  I'm now trying to control the pool size of my shoe collection though by buying only the ones which I absolutely love.  Even then, it doesn't mean that I would stop buying; it just means that I'm trying to reduce the volume :P  Guess what? Just like one of my favorite song titles, Nothing Gonna Stop Me, Nothing Gonna Stop Me Now!!  LOL :P  Also, have you ever heard that a girl can never has too many shoes?  :P

Lastly, let me share this cool note from this site with you:
Just in case you're wondering why shoes?

"Shoes don't talk back where men do. Shoes don't just stand there looking pretty, they make you look and feel beautiful. Shoes go with what YOU want. Shoes are the perfect accessory. And having more shoes than friends is definitely the way to go. Shoes are your best friend and always know how you feel. They don't tell you your gorgeous, but they make everyone else see it. Shoes make you feel good inside and always give you that excitement when you try on a new pair. How much it pains me to say it, choose shoes over chocolate, shoes don't make you fat and you still feel nice. And shoes you can live with your whole life. Shoes always replace men!"

If you're still wondering why shoes then I would recommend you need to read on other people's notes from that same link.  :P   But no offense of course :D

                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  THE END     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before an uninvited guest has knocked on our doors...

"Death" is something unpleasant and I don't think that anyone want to talk about it.  There are exceptions like monks and certain people though.  But a lot of us tend to forget it because no one really wants to die. 

But there are times like family, friends or loved ones' deaths are something we gotta unavoidably deal with.  The recent death of my big aunt, my late big uncle's wife, brought "Death" once again to my attention.  When I talked with my youngest uncle about her situation during her last hospitalization days, it broke my tears again as it once again poked my old scar for my late parents.  I absolutely can relate and sympathize of how my cousins will be feeling for their mom at this one of the hardest times of their lives.

There's Buddha's teaching that everyone will die one day.  Along with that, all other thoughts and insights click my mind altogether once again.  I felt like I suddenly become more religious.  It just brought up most of the stuff which I learnt during the summer Buddhist camp  when I was a fourth grader.  A lot of times, we as human beings enjoy the materialistic things around us.  Wearing the nice clothes and pretty shoes and bags, enjoying the compliments we've got from people around us for how great we look or how great we're doing, dreaming of a big and gorgeous house to own, etc, etc.  The list of items which we care and our wish list, both of which appears to be materialistic are so long and it just goes on and on and on...

But how many times and how many of us do care about helping others around us who are in need?  From the small things like holding a door for a mom with a stroller who is struggling to get through the door by holding it with one hand while trying to push the stroller with another one ?  And do we really care about those who are starving and thinking of sharing what we have with them, in terms of money donation or whatever we could?

A lot of the times, we care ourselves so much that we get ourselves lost in this materialistic jungle and the core values of life such as kindness, being helpful, etc have been overlooked.  Our mind is poisoned unconsciously with Greed (lobha), Hatred/Anger (Dosa) and Delusion (Moha), Pride (Mana) and Jealousy (Irshya).  Those five main different kinds of fire are burning inside us without being aware of ourselves.  Those are the main sources of our unhappiness and uncontentment. 

I used to hold griefs and grudges for people who did bad or treated me bad.  Whenever I happen to think about what they did to me, it makes me really mad again.  It's one of the main aforementioned mind posioners, Dosa (Hatred/Anger), isn't it?  During recent years, I had learnt to let them go.  I come to realize that I could have diverted my energy to use on other beneficial stuff for my life instead of getting it burnt by these kind of unworthy things. 

When "forgiveness" couldn't be the solution, "Let it go" and "Move on" are the two main resolutions I learnt during recent years.  And still my same old favorite quote "If you have a clean soul and get rid of your evil wills then you will get a good fate".  Speaking of "fate", I couldn't deny the fact that there got certain things in life where they are beyond our control for deciding our own fate. 

For instance, someone who is born as a deaf or a blind, they couldn't pick their fate for being a normal person just like others.  However, I'm a firm believer that the fate of most of the things in our life are determined by how we behave or gesture.  Newton's law states that everything has reflection.  Good things will have good reflections and bad things will do the same.

In summary, any of those materialistic things we're holding onto today means nothing when an uninvited guest comes and knocks our doors.  Can we bring anything with us when we're leaving?  Can we bring a beautiful girl or a handsome guy tile when we left?  Can we bring our favorite diamond ring or a Lamborghini with us when we're gone?  Nah!  But I think a clean guilt-free soul is something we can bring everywhere. Our uninvited guest could pop up at any point of time in our life and before he comes  we'd better behave ourselves.  Still the same old saying: "Life is short.  Live...Love...Laugh"  And when and while we live, keep ourselves up with a clean soul and get rid of those evil wills as much as we could.   I've been trying in the past as well but I now will raise the bars of my life even more by trying harder to always stick with this new motto of my life!  Bring it on!

I heart beaches

The weather forecast on my phone starts showing 90F for this week.  It's my first time seeing 90 degree ever since we've got here.  After passing May Grey and June Gloom, summer is right here.

What that means is that those countless gorgeous beaches will be super crowded for such a nice and warm weather.  I heart beaches and it's so incredible to live in a city where beaches are just so close by.  From where I grew up, we always gotta make a special plan and reserve a dedicated time to visit a beach.  Going to a beach was a vacation for us.  All I'm trying to say is that beaches are not close by and it would take hours to get there.  To visit Ngapali beach which is considered to be the best beach in my country took us a little more than a day by the bus.  By air will get one within shorter time frame but it'll cost one more of course.

From where we live now, it'll only take about 10 minute drive to a gorgeous beach. And one doesn't necessarily need to stick a beach when there got so many stunning ones to pick from.  To me, that's the beauty and the core of San Diego.  Beaches are so easily accessible to us and it could be the destination of our daily evening strolls if we want to.  Really, we can have a little vacation every week at those beaches.  I can't ask more.  The only downside is that beating the crowd during weekends when they are so easily accessible to everyone.

A beach offers the countless options.  Walking, jogging, surfing, swimming, Frisbee-ing, beach-volleyball, you name it.  Or gazing people or staring and enjoying it beautiful scenes?  Or trying to spot wildlife such as pelicans, storks, seagulls, sea lions?  I really love gazing at the restless sea and its raging tides.  Pampering my bare feet by dipping them into the warm and soft white sand and enjoying the cool breeze which is kissing my face and the gorgeous scenario and surrounding are just so soothing for me.  The settings and surroundings at the beach always make me forget everything but the current moment I'm enjoying there.  I find it's the best stress reliever for me.  It always makes me refreshed and recharged.  There's nothing like spending time with family at beach.

My kids love beaches too.  Beaches never disappoint them.  Building sand castles, playing with sand, running before waves or chasing them, collecting the shells.  There got plenty of activities which will keep them entertain and busy.

One of these days, I see myself camping at a beach with my family from the sun rise til sun set.  Cooling down ourselves by the beach during a warm day will be a wise thing to do.  And relax, relax and RELAX!  It's all about relaxing.  To kill such a beautiful day, I would add a favorite book or two to my list.  What do you say about the lunch picnic and the afternoon nap by the sea?  I had witnessed the sunset at the beach for a couple of times and they were incredibly awesome.  One time at Pacific beach, it was super awesome to witness the sun setting below the horizon, behind the sea. It happened like within a minute or two and I felt so incredible for catching that remarkable moment.  Oh my! Just thinking about it makes me want to do it right away.

Hey, most of all, beaches are free.  We're literally getting a free vacation.  Scratch those big bucks for expensive hotel rooms or resort fees.  One just needs to bring own self and invest a day.  Cost-efficient and affordable mini-staycations without having to cost one much and leaving your own town.  Plus, one can do it periodically and over and over again. Oh, I heart beaches!

London 2012

Olympics is right here and I'm getting so much addicted to it.  It's so amazing to see those young competitive athletes in all those games.  Most of the athletes are so young and they are only 16 or 17 years old.  Well, it's true for most of the games I've been watching.  Gymnastics Artistic, swimming, diving, and so on. 

At such a young age, they already know what they want to do and who they want to be.  With winning medals(especially Gold) for their representative countries on their shoulders, it's so much amazing to see how a 16 or 17 years old is coping with such a huge stress.  

Some of the games were so competitive that it was so breathtaking to watch them.  Between gold and silver and silver and bronze, it could be as worst as a fraction of a hundred of a second or a point difference. 

There's absolutely no doubt that the road to their championship doesn't come easy.  Years and years of intensive training, hard work, sweat and sacrifices of their personal lives were invested to become the world class.  Most of them started out like when they were 5 or 6 years old.  While other kids were relaxing and enjoying their lives, they might have been pushing their butt hard to become one of the best of the best.

It was kind of shocking to read about the news of famous Chinese synchronized diver, Wu MinXia.  Her family kept her grand parents' death including her mom's suffering of breast cancer from her until after her gold medal.  Their huge success comes with a great tradeoffs too.

There's even no doubt that how Micheal Phelps's mom would feel incredibly proud of her son's phenomenal victories in all those games.  Those athletes and their success stories are so inspiring.  However, I'm not sure I want my kids to pay such a high price for their personal life for such success.  I just don't have the heart to bear to see them doing it.  The injuries they gotta suffer from time to time during their intensive training have not even been factored in yet.  Oh well, there's no such thing as a free lunch, right?  No pain, no gain!!!!

Nonetheless, I really enjoy watching those amazing games just like millions or billions of other viewers.  Part of the reason why this week has been so tough and long was that I was putting all my spare hours on watching them, :P  I just wish that NBC would shift the schedules for the broadcast times of those games a little earlier so that I don't need to stay up until mid night.  Those amazing athletes give their best for each of the game they are competing and I am also giving my best patronizing them.  As much as London's excited to host those vibrant games, I'm excited to watch them as well.  Oh well, my Olympic games fevers!!