重新去...

擁有。

Right, although I'm going to get an "incomplete" from Seth, I can still enjoy the process of completing the incompleteness.

After printing in the darkroom for four hours, I have finally finished 5 photos. So together with another three I did earlier, only two are shorted!

Bumped into Seth tonight and was talking about the book I lent to him. He said he hasn't finished reading it so may be I will get it back later...

Here's the pictures. For some reasons I found it having more character than digital--or is it just bias? I don't like the picture titled "Catwalk", since I can't get rid of the bluish color cast. May be I'll redo it tomorrow before the class



Talking about pictures, I really like the food photography of MOS burger, it looks so fake, so beautifully fake...



***

Emailed a couple of culinary schools over the past few weeks, and looks like I narrow down to two, both of them are in Canada (since I can work part time :-)

The first one is Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, where it takes only six months to complete the course. A friend of mine went there and got an offer from a celebrity international pastry chain store in HK. They have one seat avaialble for the winter quarter commences on Jan 4.

The next school is George Brown Chef School in Toronto. This is one of the top tens in North America, and they have a waiting list for this coming quarter. The next commencement will be in Sept 07, and it takes half a year to two years to complete the program, depending on which program I choose. Although I like Vancouver more than Toronto, the living cost is lower since I can stay with my family, and being close to them.

Hum... which one should I choose?

***

SAS Christmas calendar has started. Looks like the price is a bit higher than last year. For 12/1, they're offering $400 round trip from Seattle to Oslo.

curbed

A lot of things were happening that I wasn't able to finish my assignments for the color photography on time, and Seth said that I should finish the class with an "incomplete".... FAILED what a good encouragement.

Well, apart from that, he's a great teacher. Originally this past Tuesday was our last class, but he said he'll help us to do printing for the final project and moved the "real" final class to Friday. He'll also bring a few good wines to the critique section as well (Seth used to be selling wine in restaurants earlier in his career. He said that's because it's a less "polluted" side job that wouldn't side track him from being an artist).

So... even though I have almost nothing to show, I'd go for the class :-) And, ha, partly because I need to get back a book I lent to him earlier.



I was planning to print those I got from my Toronto trip. Since printing contact sheets for five rolls can be time consuming, so I decided to scann the film--but it turned out to be even more time consuming :-)



So I thought the airport was bad last night when I came back home, but I heard a lot of even worse cases for people who arrived Monday night. One thing though, I shouldn't get into the Shuttle Express when I saw it's going to be full--it took me two hours to get back home--not because of traffic, but we need to take the locals and drop people off.....

Sigh, I even did a stupid thing that I wrote tips on the final invoice and also paid tips in cash to the driver..............

What a night.

***

"離家出走" seems to be pretty hot, I googled for lyrics, but found this more interesting...

***

Triangular relationship.... haha... tried once, never ever wanted to do the same thing again.

If I have the first relationship to start with :-)

巧合

This trip is full of..... coincident.

Bumped into a friend from Seattle while I was waiting in a restaurant for another Seattle friend... what a small world. I was introduced Info Nepal during the lunch where people can do volunteer work while trekking in the mountains.



And then when I went back home, Wuster messaged me saying that I should take a look at this book. At first I wasn't that interested because of the title--why does "changing the world" always has to stick with "M$" no matter what?? But then... you know what, it talks about an ex-employee leaving the high profile job and started a non-profit organization trying to help children going to school. And all this is done in... Nepal.

Oh well, I'm sure there are a lot of others unnamed and unaffiliated who are giving up what they have to serve people who are in need. But nevertheless, I'm sure it'll be a good book to read, just in case I'm not inspired enough :-)

有排捱

Studio day today!

It took us four people to load up all the lighting equipments from Vistek that's worth $4000 deposit--a huge set up!

The Groöp Creative Studio was awesome, although it's a bit crowded with 12 people and all the lights packed inside. It's the cheapest I can find--only $100 for a 4-hour rental.



The shooting was very fun, and the kids (well, I should say the youngER adults... sigh, time flies!) liked it very much. One thing though, they kept asking me what I was doing when I was metering the light -- Eric was especially not comfortable with the gadget I put close to his face....

The studio owner was pretty nice that he helped shooting together with me, and suggested on posing--which I'm supposed to have some good idea by now! He also lent me his Canon 20D after I messed up with my Polaroid Land trying to do test shots... And brought out two lens so that I can switch!

What impressed us the most was that he printed almost 10 prints for us to bring back home!

Oh well, it all come to a price--tips (20%). But I do think this is a fair trade, isn't it?



****

At dinner, as I had expected, mom and dad brought up the topic that I wanted to make cake for the rest of my life.... (which I have to say, it's much more than that!) Anders, Florence, and I had a lot of discussion... and looks like the conclusion was pretty positive! With caveats that I need to:

1. Be prepared for failures;
2. Always have a plan where you can fall back on;
3. Life is short, follow my dreams.

Mom didn't seem like buying into this conclusion. She always think that it's dumb to give up my current job and spend my time making pastries...

Coincidently, I mean VERY coincidently, my fortune cookie said:

Don't let others stop you from doing what you know is right

And Florence gave me hers, read,

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Yeah I know I just prayed for a clearer direction earlier this morning, but wouldn't this be too dramatic?

And then I came across one of my favorite blogs, and liked what the blogger said:

辭職

不約而同地，近日有兩位朋友先後向老闆遞上辭職信，理由都是一樣：對工作感到太厭倦。

我不敢對他們說：其實在倦透了的時候，有本錢和勇氣離開，而經是一種福氣。只是，大重的怨氣會把福氣驅走。

在外面的人看來，他們兩人的職業都屬於薪高糧準福利好夠穩定又風光，但不時聽到他們埋怨工作上的種種麻煩事。我知道他們不會隨便對所有人都埋怨，因為旁人大概會認為他們不知「民間疾苦」。作為一個曾經有當過高薪(?)高尚(!)的教師的人，卻很明白他們的感受。

一直相信，工作，除了因為要掙錢養活自己或別人外，應該有更重要的因素存在，有人是為了滿足感，有人是因為虛榮心，或者是為了打發時間。總之，若單純地只想溫飽，領綜援就夠了，而且享受政府醫療時還免收費呢！

然而工作不單是上班下班那麼簡單，當中的工作性質、人事關係和心境同樣重要，辦工場所可能讓你遇到最重要的人和事，當然也可能毀了人的一生，因工作壓力而自殺的事，已屢見不鮮。

走出去吧！前路未必更好，但舊路只有可見的黝暗，別忘了，最後有綜援等著你，到65歲後，還可以領生果金，到時候，可以買很多很多生果。

總之，死唔去的話，有排你捱！

***

Sigh, whatever I do, it'll be tough.

But since I have one and only one life, I'll have to do what I think is worth spending my life....

Lovely Toronto

I haven't come back home for almost a year already, partly because of several family visits during the year, and partly becuase I thought I didn't quite like Toronto.

But this time, I found this place lively and lovely.

Here's a brief summary of the trip so far:

Thursday 11/23
I slept for half an hour before leaving for the airport. Big thanks to Willis who was kind enough to drop me off at the airport by 6am (and a couple of freinds chatting with me online to "keep me awake" kaka).

At the airport I met a couple of friends how are traveling at around the same time. One of them was going to Toronto on the same plane too!

Talking about the plane, I just love it. It's a brand new Embraer 190 that has individual seat back video--I watched three movies during the 4+ flight (of course, with fast forward). I think JetBlue is using the same fleet as well.

Friday 11/24
Part of this trip's mission was to kill as many films as possible, so parents and I decided to take a long walk to the China Town and take some pictures along the way. Oh, I needed to take this many pictures so that I have something to print during the last week of my photography class.

Toronto definitely has definitely become more and more crowded. There are a lot of new condos built around my area. It's particularly warm this year too, and may be that's why a lot of people are on the street shopping, playing music, and expressing themselves through drawing on the roads, etc. What a lively place!

Saturday 11/25
Second day of shooting and I'm dead tired. I walked on the street for over six hours non-stopped, hauling three lenses and a camera around the city. I went to St Lawrence Market--a place that's like Pike Place market but it's like three times bigger. I bought a piece of duck breast and llama lion for Monday's dinner.

Llama! Yeah I know, I don't know how to cook it yet, and it's pretty scared when I think of what they look like. Oh well... too bad they are running out of venison steak...

I also went to BCE Place, where I stopped at a picture gallery that showed how successful the Hungarian refugees were 50 years after they fled from their homeland. I was amazed how devoted they were to Canada--they treated this adopted home their home... I mean, they never thought of going back, and they wanted to give back to this society after their success (most of them were like CEO or founder of public companies like Barrick Gold, Member of the Parliament, film producer, artist, etc).

How different they are then the Asian immigrants--a lot of us are always thinking of going back...

(Sorry no digital photos this time... I'm forcing myself to use film, although it's expensive :(

Talking about expensive spending, I rented a full set of studio lighting equipments and a studio tomorrow--I am planing to do some family portraits!

Giving Thanks

I just can't believe it... time flies and 2006 has almost come to an end. Looking back over the past year, I do have a lot that I am thankful for:

1. A roof over my head -- especially after the tragedy in Belleuve where a crane crashed and killed one person.

2. World's best parents who call me sharp at 6.30pm almost every day checking in with me.

3. Awesome friends who bring laughters, encouragements, inspiration, advice, and support.

4. A good job that supports the expenses of traveling, and picking up an expensive hobby.

5. A good counselor that is helping me along the way of discovering myself that is shaking up my qwest of dreams.

6. Working with insanely talented friends who dare to be my model for the light contorl class, like her, her, her, and him. Special thanks to Peggy who has infinte posing idea and never got exhausted with a day long shooting.

7. Good fellowship with Taoming group that allows me to witness what God has done on every one through the group.

8. My family's visits where we had a few days of good times we wouldn't have when we were in Toronto.

9. Had LASEK done (more sharing on this later)!

10. God who never fails on me, who is always forgiving, always patient. He didn't let go of me.

Coder, Actor, and Hero

Inspiring story about a coder who works at ILM who find his way to get on NBC's Heroes!

A personal touch added by a director I worked with a few years back...

Yeah, Masi Oka is a friend, and one of the guys I worked with at ILM often from '96-'99. He was starting to take increasing time off to see if he could make a career out film and T.V and bouncing back and forth between L.A. and Marin. It didn't look particularly promising at the time for him '96-'99, but he kept sticking with it, despite the challenge of meeting hard effects schedules. He kept getting little things here and there and eventually got his 'break' and made it. I was surprised and pleased to see him on Heroes. Inspirational!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1199811/

日光之下...

並無新事!

About this time of last year, we're studying Ecclesiastes in Sunday school, and I thought I undersatnd it all, well, at least in my mind I know what it's talking about.

But then until tonight, when a friend brought this up again during our conversation about living out a dream, this verse hit me again.

It's very true.... althoguh it's a standard Christian answer to questions about career/calling/vocation etc--it's going to be yet another job no matter what it is--if it's not under THE plan.

Thanks for your inspiration! You opened up a few options that I can try to 'test water'.

***

Yeah, it was the fear that made me hesitated about jumping to another career. It's the fear of losing this fantasy once the reality kicks in.

看 風 的 ， 必 不 撒 種 ； 望 雲 的 ， 必 不 收 割 。 傳 道 書 11:4

That pilot test is a good idea!

起承轉折

Change is good! Oh well, at least it should be good...

Met with C yesterday, and we went back to the point where we discussed three months ago. Yeah, I've just been dreaming rather than taking action. Afterall, it's not easy to give up and step into the field that is full of unknowns.

But if I really want to change, I have to change quick before I regret. People are telling me bad experiences of others, like it's tough, it's time consuming, it's just a dirty job for college dropouts. It's not something that people would admire of.

But I'm having more in mind, which is even more difficult to achieve.

Think big.

Think big?

女王の教室 inspired me that education is a creative process. Always full of surprises, full of miracles.

Focus.

***

Went to Musashi's tonight and had the best priced chirashi. Very filling, although I had to wait outside of the restaurant for over 30 minutes to get a seat.

最佳位置

Really like this MTV, especially the last scene... feel familiar (in my dream haha)



***

Rumors are saying that a new gadget is going to be available soon, although this is likely the top top secret, apparently it's been leaked... so here you are!

If you're a follower of engadget.com, you would have come across this blog, which talks about a new gadget... I haven't seen the real thing, but somehow I think I have to agree with the users comments--the product design has a bit 食古不化...

Comparing to the Japanese design, it's a huge difference. Oh well, US product design always isn't attractive.

Sigh... can we be more innovative? True, the magnetic display does enhence the image nder bright sunlight, but isn't that too old school? Also the double keypads at the bottom... are they too annoying? Every porduct is going to be touch screen, even ipod cut down it's sleek control in their next generation. Why do we add not one, but two keypads to the device?

Sigh... When can we have a Steve Jobs type senior rahter than getting one that was rumored to be fired because of the missed market opportunity?

生命中不能承受之... 透明

***

It's been a long time I haven't written a blog, and my sisters were calling me up asking if I were in troubles or something like that. In fact, a lot of people think that I am going to leave Seattle very soon because of my previous blog titles. Well, partly correct -- the titles represent a more recent change of my life, which I am going to tell later. There were just a lot I have to share about it!

All in all, it's because of something that is transparent.... You know, what matter the most are things that we feel like transparent...

***

Talking about transparent, Ho gor said, "你當你的組員真係透明嘎!" Haha, he's referring to the fact that I have a sound plan leaving Seattle and leave my church's small group (named "透明") behind :-)

BTW, when I wanted to add a newer member to the "transparent group"'s email list, and she said, "but then i will turn to transparent... now i have some existence"

Haha...

***

Another reason I stopped blogging was because I'm addicted to the TV drama 女王の教室. A very good one that I can't help crying in the last episode.

The drama reminded me the conversation with a friend over lunch today... looks like I'll make use of my remaining time to finish that personal project!

85% 再見!

我很好，大家不用擔心。有機會，再跟你們分享。

80% 再見!

再見!

Disappointed

It was so disappointed to learn that my package will not arrive until next week, where they "estimated" it will be arrived on Friday using their next day shipping.

Why would I need PRIME if they can't gurantee the package will arrive on time?

I am so dependent on the device to kill my time next week...

Sigh, so I contacted the CS and hopefully I will get some credit back at least.

***

The 美女廚房 is really entertaining! A lot of us launged the head off...

***

Downloaded Trentemøller's latest record The Last Resort. I think it's awesome!

He's the second Scandinavian artist I like... the first one? Mew!!

旁觀 身受...

I can always find something I like from this blog :-) The following excerpt describes exactly what C and I talked about this morning.

做記者一定要懂得旁觀 也要懂得身受 ...

人生不像小說
不可以好看就算
對每一件事和每一個角色
都應該負責任
小心選好 應該投入還是抽離....

C said, there is no turning back. This is a one way road, and I have only one choice.

***

I was chatting with a friend the other day, who reminded me that it's equally important to affect just one person around you, in a good way.

金 寶 （ Edward Kimball ） 是 個 平 凡 的 基 督 徒 ， 在 鞋 店 任售 貨 員 ； 但 他 很 有 負 擔 向 人 傳 福 音 。 一 次 一 名 年 輕 的 新 員 工 來 到 鞋 店 ， 金 寶 鼓 起 勇氣 向 他 傳 講 救 恩 ， 從 那 天 起 ， 這 年 輕 的 店 員 便 把 生 命 的 主 權 交 給 基 督 。 這 人 便 是 慕迪 先 生 (D. L. Moody) 。

***

Finally I understand why you said you like the movie so much. Honestly that movie was not as good as I thought, but if the plot was around something that happened to me, it definitely would catch me.

淆底!

Came across this post just now. Very interesting about what it really means by "淆底" :-)

Ha! Looks like I have a good excuse now!

Thrilled, but...?

Chatted with Seith about having a career as an artist. He is so passionate about fine art photography (while he started off as a painter), but he also made me feel that being an artist has to pay huge price!

Including that you won't get paid if someone purchased your prints from an established gallery in NYC.

***

Work is going to be hectic!