And I wish my parents chose to go to Shanghai this month.
Today, I went shopping. I did manage to transfer most of my C drive contents onto my external hard drive. I think I’ll have to sacrifice some of my TV recordings, because 1) they’re gigantic files 2) for some reason, I get an error message saying my external is out of space, even though I ought to have at least another 190 GBs left. Oh well. I only recorded the Kohaku from 2 years ago, some old TCM movies (I’m still in denial over the fact that Charter removed it from its basic cable offerings), and a few other shows (although I’m not sure what they are, and I can’t view them in Safe Mode). I tried to transfer the files, went to play piano and chat online, and realized that only 1 GB or so was transferred. By then, it was already midnight. I tried to watch some dramas while I transferred my first batch of files (just in case I’d get another warning), but I decided to actually sleep at 4 AM, and the transfer lasted another hour or so.
Well, since I wasted so much time *trying* to transfer the files, I was happy to rewatch a few old episodes. I think Last Christmas is the drama I’ve rewatched the most. I still love the chemistry between Yuji Oda and Yada Akiko, even though he seems a bit old. Frankly, I like Tamaki Hiroshi more in Last Christmas than in Nodame (or maybe just his hairstyle; he was just an emo grown-up brat in Last Christmas). I also rewatched a bit of Goong (more like 10 minutes from the last episode). If only a second season could magically pop into existence. I had planned to rewatch a bit of It Started with a Kiss, but I recall the second part being quite slow, and I got a bit tired of all the jealousy. ._.; (But I do remember that one scene in the rain! That was so sweet! I wouldn’t mind watching the first part too!) I started watching this one clip of Full House, but after staring at Rain’s face for the majority of the 5 minutes, I kind of lost interest. No offense, Bi! And Spring Waltz? I never really liked the childhood flashbacks, and some parts of the story kind of freaked me out… but I still remember liking the overall series. Although that cut in the final episode was overly dramatized, I thought it was still a nice, somewhat bittersweet ending.
If I find time later, I’d like to rewatch some parts of Nobuta, My Little Chef, and Winter Sonata (I haven’t seen that since I was in middle school or junior high). I’d also like to watch the subtitled Huan Zhu Ge Ge episodes. I can’t believe the series is more than a decade old (right?) and they just subbed it within the past year! It’d help me brush up on my Chinese. Plus, I could never understand anything that Xiao Yan Zi was reciting (poetry and the whatnot).
Anywho, I woke up at 9, somewhat reluctantly, so i could print out a list of things to buy for college. 
(and transfer some more files). Since I like drinking tea, my mom bought an electric water boiler. Yes! We have a few boxes of longjing cha that people gave us when we were in China. I also want to continue my experiments with milk tea. When we went shopping, I managed to snag a box of ashitaba tea. 99 Ranch used to carry it, but I haven’t seen it in a few years. Yay for Chinese herbal stores! What can I say? Tea tastes good and has some great health benefits. I need to find some better tasting Japanese green tea, because the brand we use doesn’t taste too good. ._. I also like oolong tea and barley tea (I bought a box of it, but I haven’t tried that brand yet). I can’t say I like the flavor of chrysanthemum tea though.
And this is why I would like to become a tea taster if all of my other career plans fail (or a sushi chef). It’s also why I liked Shoon. <3 He’s cute. 
I also bought some plates and bowls and other dining utensils… some mango Calpis, and… *drum roll*
a new cell phone. The contract expires this week, and in general, Chinese stores *cough* give you better deals than regular stores… Although, I guess it isn’t quite true any more. They used to allow you to trade in old phones for really good deals, and if you opened a line without getting a new phone, you could get several hundred dollars back (I guess they take it out from the commission?). Those phones would go to China (or something like that. I don’t really know). Again, that was a few years ago. Now, all the phones available in China are several times better than the phones here (with the exception of the smart phones like the iPhone, but those are more like PDAs than phones, no?). I would like to add that NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA phones are CRAZY. I wish I could live in Japan just to use one of those phones *o*. They seem like they’re generations ahead of our phones… >.< Those Panasonic Viera and Sony Bravia FOMA phones really caught my eye when I was in Japan. ;_; They’re screens are big (not as big as the iPhone’s screen, though), perfect for crystal clear TV. (Oh, and I’m still in awe over the credit card feature – Asian phones FTW?)
As for my phone, well, all I can say is that I wish I had known that the models in store weren’t the only models I’d be able to choose from. Now I’m having second thoughts (maybe less so than I was 9 hours ago)… I would’ve gone for the iPhone. Unfortunately, the data plan was just… well, the price is frightening. They lure people in with a cheap $200 iPhone, and then BAM! hidden costs (although they aren’t really hidden). Eventually, I’ll get a Touch, and that will be enough. Hey, it supports WiFi.
*points to this*
I think it’s an adequate replacement for my current W700i, although I wish I could’ve gone and got an even higher end phone. I like Sony Ericssons, although I wouldn’t mind a Samsung. =\ The 3.2 MP camera is sweet, but I’ve read that this slimmer, slightly cheaper model has an only average camera, and since it has no flash lighting, it lowers its value as a Cyber Shot branded phone. ._. At least I like the LED light, because it’s really the only reason I was able to get around in the dark during robotics. It doesn’t have a dedicated Walkman player, unlike my current phone, but the mp3 player should be good enough. ._. I just decided that since I’ve never had my own dedicated mp3 player, I’d finally get an iPod (end of problems). It also has a second camera for video conferencing, although it’s pretty much useless here. Why are American networks so pathetic? *shrug* Anywho, I still had to pay an additional $50 for it, which I guess is okay… but I think I got a better deal on my W700i. >_>; My brother also picked out an S500i, but that’s another story. The bad? While I think I’m mostly satisfied with my choice, I hear that the color on the keys wears off… I hate the fact that the you plug in on the side. That just makes things really awkward, IMO. The speaker probably isn’t as great, although I’ve heard that that’s not as big of a sound worry as another issue. I wish they upped the video recording quality, as I’m sure they’re capable. The screen’s kind of small too… And from the limited range of colors, I ended up choosing truffle brown. I hope you guys don’t think it’s a nasty color. ^^; My dad thinks that color suits a guy more, but I think it was the most reasonable from their selection. Those purple and orange ones look nasty, and silver and black are far too common. Why did this not come in baby pink? I think that’s just the perfect color for a candybar phone (I mean, look at Sony’s pink Bravia with its awesome OLED display – or I think it uses OLED on the cover).
Okay, so I went crazy looking up phones AFTER I came home from the store. =.= It doesn’t make you feel good to know that there are other, much better models out there. ._. The phone came out last year, and it’s essentially the k800i dumbed down a bit. *sigh* But anything that’s remotely better costs at least an extra $100 (I’m thinking k850i). I feel guilty because we had planned to visit a few cell phone stores, since we couldn’t contact the sales associate at the one we normally go to. And the first store we found? Well, she happened to be working there by some off chance. o_O. Too bad we didn’t go bargain hunting, because the cell phone store by the herbal store (lol…) had the same phone. I could have picked it up right away (instead of waiting until next week), and I didn’t have to pay the extra $50. D: Wow. I just paid a $50 premium for umm… well, she did give me a cute cell phone holder… thing (I’m not sure what it is), and she’ll be giving us free accessories too… (lol the guy working at the second store was pretty cute though! haha).
So, do you think people will offer new or old, loyal customers better deals? I guess that’s a bad question. -.-
I got home to find the first billing statement for this year. It’s pretty sweet, actually. I guess this is why I chose Caltech. -_- They didn’t include the first $500 of my scholarship yet (I know, not much, right? – I wish I did a better job on my PSAT *grumble*), so I think I’ll call them on Monday.
I slept through the rest of the afternoon. Bad idea. My head feels really heavy right now, and I hate this groggy feeling. Ughh. I haven’t felt this way since I got into the habit during the school year. I can’t keep up like this.
My mom woke me up and made a fuss about dorm shopping. I hadn’t carefully read over the new student handbook in a few months, so… I neglected some important details. (Oh boy). Mainly, I was freaked out over the fact that the water boiler we bought was an appliance that might not be able to bring to campus (we already have one at home). ._.;; But after some research, I think it meets housing standards, so I’m okay. I just didn’t want to wake up to that. ._.
*sigh* I have piano lessons tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s been so long. I feel like such a n00b.
I thought this was cute.
Oh, and to those of you who celebrate it,
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
99Ranch was mostly sold out of moon cakes, which was disappointing, since I love the ones with red bean paste filling (and I eat them for breakfast when they’re "in season"). I didn’t feel lik trying pineapple. >_>;
And since I’m really too tired to find out/calculate at what point it becomes Monday in Australia, I’ll give an early birthday shoutout to Ron.
Happy birthday Ron!
*hug*
I was also talking to one of my now-senior friends today. Remember my long rants about my senior project? I only did Chinese opera, because the school librarian was dissatisfied at my choice of taking singing lessons. She thought I was takingthe easy way out. I was really offended, and that pretty much destroyed what little interest I had. She told me I should focus on Chinese opera, because there was no way I could salvage some kind of science project (which, according to her, was something I should have done) within that time frame. -.- Why thank you. >_>; Granted, I did learn a bit of Chinese opera, and it was fun in the end… BUT I seriously think I wasted a lot of money and classes on learning that instead of actually focusing on what I’ve been learning this past month (getting back to the basics). Lol. So I guess it’s that time where she gives her usual senior project talk to the seniors… and she actually mentions that she encouraged me to take on that project to learn more about my culture… (although I’m almost certain she would have given me low marks for my effort had she been my judge, just because she was so against music projects).
Somehow, I feel insulted. I really liked all of my teachers (They actually cared that you were successful, and not just because it would be a reputation booster… they were more like family than anything else), but… aside from that… I felt like the school as a whole kind of cheated me. Like I was just some tool in their promotional campaign. -.- And their statistics are all fabricated, IMO. =.= They use you if you do a good job at promoting how perfect their educational system is… but… just as easily, they slap you in the face with this’s and thats. >_>; It’s annoying as *beep*.
When they think your advice is good, they come to you for more. When they think your advice is any hazard to them, they run over you. -.- It’s friendly advice. Take what you will. It’s your decision in the end, so don’t blame me. And I don’t think my advice was bad. It was real advice about classes from a student’s perspective… not from a counselor who has never taken the class before. So there. I won’t go into any specifics. They’re all contained in older rants.
I also heard that there were a few changes in the teacher roster this year. I’m very surprised.
"And so each day I drew and Shuujin read manga"
Bakuman Chapter 5
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