dracil

Went out a little early because I realized that the 4th book in the Song of Ice and Fire series was released on Thursday! Arrived at Berkeley bart at 11:15 for a meeting at 11:30. By 11:45 Aaron showed up and said change of plans, and Sophia was downstairs waiting. So we bart againt to Walnut Creek. No Catherine though. Picked up by Eric then we went to a placed called Le Bistro after Aaron objected to the comment about supporting our "comrades" from "across the strait" by going to this Chinese restaurant. The food was rich. Interesting rare lamb. Small portions typical of these restaurants. Very good service though.

We then went to get chocolate and flowers for Jenny, then went to her place for a bit. Some of her mom's friends came by and we took that as a cue that we should probably leave.

Aaron had to go back, so he was replaced with Nancy. We ended up at her place talking for a good 2 hours+ about jobs/interviews and hypothetical relationship issues. Then we looked for dinner, decided on Japantown, and Tanpopo at that. We ended up waiting 45 minutes-1 hour before we were finally seated. Fried soft shell crab was excellent, as was the spanish mackeral sashimi. Ramen was ok, potstickers were bad, and there was this other thing the girls seemed to like but I thought was too sour. Oh, and good seaweed salad. Service wasn't really there though, even though we had been forced to sit at the counter. Eric claimed their seafood wasn't really fresh though, which may be because of the 85 health inspection score they got, 8 points lost for moderate health risks due to food temperature related problems.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

What the heck, I am certain I made a post earlier in the week, but it's not there...
Currently feeling perplexed

dracil

Interesting day.

So I spent the day with CSA people as the only Taiwanese guy, using money given by the Chinese embassy including a pretty expensive dinner. The guy from the embassy also came. I was also wearing my ITASA shirt, but nobody there noticed what it meant, but instead focused on the Stanford part of the shirt.

Some people were curious about why a Taiwanese guy was hanging out with the Chinese group instead of the Taiwanese group.

As per my usual answer, I usually join groups because I know people there, and don't care too much about the ideologies represented.
Currently feeling amused

dracil

This is now a semester of projects and presentations.

I hate presentations.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Saw Shubha after many years. So the last time she was here she was way too busy to meet, but this time she was actually free, and also staying at downtown SF instead of the SFO, which made things much easier. Such a different lifestyle she has... We mainly ended up just doing some shopping for her. We'll probably be able to meet more often since a lot of her business trips require her to come here.

Saw a cat "panhandler" which I thought was cute. Wished I had a camera for it. It was just lying on a small rug with a hat in front of it (and quite a bit of money in it)
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Well thankfully the 2 presentations yesterday and today were much better than the ones last week. I still have a midterm I have to go through tomorrow though... 2 days to prep basically. Eww.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

My name is Dracil. And I am an addict.

An addict of what?

To the untrained eye, they might think I'm an addict of the Internet. It is the latest fad in "new addictions" after all. But that is not really true. The time I spend on the Internet is merely a symptom of the real disease. In any case, I was an addict before the Internet became popular.

So, what? Games? Well, I spend a pretty unhealthy amount of time with games, and did so before the Internet, but that's not really it either. Games are actually more likely to be nothing more than a gateway to THIS addiction.

Here's a hint, I do it in the bed. I do it in the bathroom.

No, it's not sexual, although it could be.

I also do it in cars. I do it while eating. Sometimes even while walking.

People sometimes give me strange looks.

Still no idea?

The answer is, I'm a reading addict.

Most of my day-to-day net surfing is spent reading and reading and reading. When I'm interested in a game, I spend as much, if not more time reading strategies and discussion about the game. When I watch stuff, I actually prefer having subtitles, even if it's a language I understand fluently. And yes, occasionally I can be found walking and reading something. I'm always reading something when I'm eating and not with people. I read when I defecate. If I don't have a book or magazine or newspaper ready, I read labels on boxes in the bathroom. I've actually read in the shower in the past for that matter.

So, yeah. I'm an addict.
Currently feeling amused

dracil

Celebration for David's birthday.

Karaoke first. I was reminded again why I hate karaoke. Missing songs. Other than that, I guess it was ok... although I was only getting in about 1 song/hour.

Charlie is here visiting.

Aaron brought his new girlfriend. A big O_o to all of us. Coincidentally he also had to leave right after karaoke. Hmm... wait and see. We were joked today during dinner about how BST was Bisexuals Students for Transexuals, but we'll see if our theory of it really meaning something more like Berkeley's Single Taiwanese (just made this one up) holds.

We now get a 25% discount at music tunnel because David now has a silver card, which means $3000 worth of karaoke. O_o

Then food at Tomodachi. Crappy crappy service. Yes, give a table of 7 people 2 menus and claim you "don't have enough" even while still had at least a dozen menus left. Cake for David.

Then went to David's place momentarily before heading back.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Hmm, HCI meeting today. So much stuff suddenly piled on. O_o
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Yay for the daylight saving time 1 houre return.

It's become very cold since yesterday.

So. Much. Work.
Currently feeling tired