Souvenirs from Taipei~

A few weeks ago, Rob came back from Taiwan with lots of small gifts. I love them all. Here are some pictures:

I really enjoyed the movie "CJ7" by Stephen Chow. I particularly liked the children that were in the movie. Meet CJ7.

The following is a Japanese product. Our pictures are embedded in these key chain dolls.

A close up of my Rob's.

This is a minature of us. You give them a picture, and it is made to order. This is our second one. Although it looks nothing like us, at least, they don't look ugly like our first minature. Now that I think about it, doesn't it look like HK actor and actress, Leon Lai and Maggie Chu?

This is a look back at our first minature. I got it for Rob for our 2nd yr Anniversary. I do see SOME resemblance, but it's hideous. I ordered it online and they shipped it from Mainland China.

They sent me pictures during the whole progress. I actually thought they did a really good job looking at the photos below. However, the colors really killed it.

Cruise to Bermuda

Last year, we went on the Norwegian's Spirit Cruise to the Bahamas. This year, on our 3rd year Anniversary, we celebrated by going to the Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas Cruise to Bermuda. The highlight of the ship includes rock climbing, ice skating, basketball court, and minature golf. Last year, we went to Pearl Island Snorkel, Parasailing, and a Disney water park. This year, for our excursions, we chose to go to Shipwreck Snorkel in the Bermuda Triangle and Scuba Diving!! Both ships were very different. We chose Royal Caribbean this year because it is highly reputable. We took so many pictures with our new camcorder and underwater digital camera. The following are a sample of pictures and videos:

This was the video that we took before we jumped into the water. There were 8 of us splitted into 2 groups. The instructor was French, and we couldn't understand him clearly. It was more complicated than we expected. Some of the things that we had to learn were:
1. What to do if there's water in our air tube;
2. What to do if there's water in our goggles;
3. How do we equalize as we go deeper into the water;
4. What to do if our air tank runs out of air;
5. How do we share air with our partner while under sea;
6. Simple sign language;
7. How to inflate and deflate our life jacket.

This was much more complicated than it sounds. We signed our lives away. There were so many things that could potentially harm us under the sea if we touch it. Also, all of us got a few scratches here and there.

This was a video that we took while we were under water. There weren't many fishes in this clip, but the instructor finds a lobster and shows us.

Due to high wind, rockclimbing was not always available. However, Rob had a chance to try it.

On our first day, we had a mandatory evacuation drill.

Like all other ships, we had a formal night. Each dinner was banquet style. We made some friends at our assigned table with 2 other young couples. 97% of the ship was occupied by cruisers age 40 and up.

Our ship at Bermuda. It's much bigger than it looks.

Every day, our stateroom attendant would make us a towel animal. Can anyone guess what this was? For 2 days, we thought it was a roasted duck. Can't help it if we're Chinese...

On the ship, entertainment included comedy shows, parades, midnight buffets, etc.

That's me with a heavy tank and weights on me.

This was at the famous Horseshoe Bay.

They surely are talented when it comes to making animals. We also got a puppy during our stay.

Awaiting for a after-dinner show with my Pina Colada~

A view of the top deck with the swimming pools and jacuzzis.

Some of the architecture in Bermuda.

Random photo.

We specifically purchased snorkelling gear for this trip. We didn't want to put our mouths where everyone else was.

Some fossils that we found at Horseshoe Bay.

A picture of one of the parades.

For dinner, we ate shrimp cocktails, lobsters, steaks, escargots, etc. We usually doubled up on desserts. Heh.

This was one of the many decorations on the ship.

Boston

A few weeks ago, Rob and I visited Boston for his dental school interview. We visited a few schools - Harvard, MIT, and Tufts.

Despite the fact that Boston is so close to me, it was my first visit. Boston was a friendlier, and much smaller version of New York City. My first impression of Harvard was that it isn't what it is cracked up to be. It wasn't as beautiful as I had imagined it. However, the campus town surrounding it was trendy and entertaining.

We did the typical tourists things. Rob ate a lobster a day. We ordered New England clam chowder whenever we can.

On the other hand, we visited Rob's cousin - Derek, a freshman MIT student, who needs rest or drugs. We also went to ice skate in a park that resembles a mini version of Central Park. The entire city was New York and San Francisco slapped together and thrown into snow.

Most interestingly, we randomly walked into a restaurant called, "Dick's Last Resort." The theme of the restaurant is ridicule and horrendous service. For examples, customers had dozens of balloons tied to their long hair; slow or no service; utensils and entrees thrown at you, etc. Worst of all, we STILL had to pay 15% tips!

Because we flew there, our trip was by foot or public transportation. When we walked, we often got lost. Their idea of a train is a bus inside a tunnel. We unintentionally visited all of their landmarks.

At last, we ended the trip with a show to the Blue Man Group. We have seen it before, but we couldn't help ourselves when the student discount (I saved my student IDs!) was almost 1/4 of what we had paid in New York. Looking back, that night in New York was the most romantic date that we have had.

Shooting Range

A few weeks ago, a group of us went to the shooting range. As if I haven't heard enough stereotypes about the US and guns! I shot guns and rifles. It was an interesting experience. It was so scary pulling the trigger for the first time though.

Honestly, while I was firing, I don't think I knew where I was pointing to!

That's me wearing glasses and googles that they gave me at the same time!

Chinese New Year Parade

It's hard to tell... but we were on a float at the Chinese New Year Parade in Flushing, NY. I have never been to a parade hosted by the city. And now, we were in one! However, it wasn't as cool as the ones that you would see on TV. People did wave to us though!

In other Chinese news, we went to the some cocktail party for the Chinese small business community. It was so stressful finding a dress! I feel obligated to buy a dress each time we go to a formal event. Not long before this, we attended a Chinese American Dental Association cocktail party for NYU and Columbia University.

Too bad I didn't take many pictures, and I was pretty wrapped up for pictures due to the air conditioning.

Congratulations to Me and Hubby!

I officially finished paying off of my student loan last week. Luckily, my university wasn't that expensive. By the time I graduated (minus scholarships and grants), I was in a debt of $13,000. My loan kicked in in November. It took me 4 months!

Now, time to save... for what first?

In US, the university ranking is as follow:
1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Stanford
5. U Penn

And, my babe just got in to UPenn for Dental School!! That's how many Porsche until you graduate? I take full credit for all of those essays and surveys that I helped write and revise!

WPM

I always had random mention about how fast I typed. I was always the fastest typist when I took my typing class in 6th class. It was all natural - just like the kids nowadays that spend endless hours in front of their computers.

Soon, everyone else caught up to speed. It was like my height. I grew quickly as a child. Soon, I stopped growing while everyone grew taller than me.

In high school, I estimated that I typed 75 wpm. However, I didn't think it was true. To end my curiosity, I took 3 random tests. I didn't try more than once on any of the tests. My scores were as follow:

81 WPM,

74 WPM, and

102 WPM!!


http://www.testmytyping.com/typing-speed-test.php
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php

( ^.^ )

Recently, Rob has been invited for an interview from multiple schools. He's everywhere. We are still waiting to hear from the California schools. As for me, there has been much changes at my workplace. My end-of-the-year performance assessment went very well. I received my bonus for last quarter. Now, I am continuing my program with the leadership portion. My last class is in July. Hopefully I'll be promoted then.

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A few weeks ago, Rob and I celebrated our 1000th day anniversary. We went to see the Phantom of the Opera and dined during the "Restaurant Week." There was so much anticipation, because I have wanted to see Phantom of the Opera since I was 12. We were seated in the second row; everything was close. Even with my weak eyesight, I was able to see their spits and sweats. Though I have heard the soundtrack, I never knew the exact storyline until the night of the show. In the end, I was disappointed at the ending and storyline. Perhaps, it was overrated. Another disappointing factor was that people wore jeans and sneakers. How foolish was I to have thought that the audience would be different at a classic like this. On the bright side, the execution of the performance was 2 thumbs up. =)

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In other news,

Before














After

Paradise Island

Local food! Conch fritters, conch salad, conch chowder, etc.



















Kalik's Bahama's local beer. Beer... yuck!



















CONCH! It's so yummy~














Stingray