Ogisan's Home: December 2005

How was your Christmas?

Mine was very wet. I spent an hour in the afternoon trying to capture some foggy scenary of City Island. My camera was wet but no damaged was done to it. Then I had dinner at Michael's place.

Tonight, I just finished watching a 1949 Japanese movie "Stray Dog" by Akira Kurosawa. It was actually quite good. One would expect that perspectives within movie of that vintage to be quite different from ours but it was very straight forward and enjoyable.

One line really stuck to me "the world is not fair, but it is worse to take it out on world."

It is common for us to feel being taken advantage of but it would not be fair for us to take advantage of the others.

Tami is coming back from Taiwan tomorrow, will be picking her up! Yuppy! Tomorrow is also my birthday, don't know what she will bring for me.

This is Su!

My friend Su is going back to Taiwan today for two weeks. I met her at CMCNY. She was actually the leader of my first hike. I have known her for a year and we have done quite a few hikes together.

Every time I see her, she says "I am so fed up after a week of work, I need to get rid of it by hiking (每一個禮拜下來就積了一肚子的氣,需要去 hiking 把氣消一消)." Haha.....

She is a very nice lady indeed, albeit old fashioned as well. Don't be deceived by her look. It will take moer than 10 miles before she will slow down.

I wish her a very good trip to Taiwan.

Winter Hike at Minnewaska

!

These are actually from 12/17/05. It was very pretty and very ICY!

It's almost Christmas!

It's been three and half weeks since Tami left for Taiwan. Life is quite different without her. I taking out a sweater from the dresser and it smelled so nice. I don't think I can make it smell that cozy.

Another thing is that Tami alway wraps our Christmas gift very nicely. Hiding all the seams and tapes. This year, the Christmas gifts that I am sending out will not be wrapped as nicely, if they are going to be wrapped at all.

Lastly, my apartment is slowly turning into the Bronx zoo. Only she can keep things tidy for me.I think it is time for a clean up!

This is Dave....

I have known him for 10 years now. I knew him from my days in Wash U. Dave attended schoold of architecture. He is now working for a NY based architecture firm but has been assigned to a project in LA for the past 2 years.

He is a very pleasant, light-spirited man. I don't think I have ever seen him been down - always talking about going out, socializing, and boozing.

Dave just got back in town for work. We met up for dinner at Tabla, an Indian fusion place at 25th St. and Madison. The food is exotic and pleasant. These are some pictures of Tabla and the curry popcorn that they serve (something Dave always brings up when we talk about Tabla).

We ended the night with some tapioca/bubble tea (珍珠奶茶) at Saint's Alp. I told Dave I have to drink Tami's favorite drink for her - so I had to get a hot black milk tea. The truth is, it is just a little chilly for a cold one.

Part II of the day...

The night is followed by a Christmas party at Dr. Mercer's. It was a very fun party - good food, good ambience, and a good crowd. It is very well organized as well - with alumni giving us residents tips on jobs interview, etc.

Ps. Who think Dr. Mercer looks like William Dafoe? feel free to comment.

Kudo to Dr. Mercer for his time and generosity for hosting the event.

Part I of the day.

I went hiking at Harriman today. I have done a few winter hikes here and there but this is my first hike in snowy ground.

It was much more difficult than I anticipated - not because of the temperature but because of the condition. The weather started out at low twenties, but it was not cold because there was very little wind. The snow was above my ankle mostly and knee deep at times. The snow provided very little traction - making going uphill extremely difficult. The snow masked what was underneath out feet (i.e. rocks, branches, or little streams), making the trail difficult to travese.

I screwed up this shot, got a giant flare in it. Otherwise, might have been somewhat decent

All in all, we did about 4 miles in 4.5 hours, which is very slow and felt more like a 7 mile hike.

Finally having a day finish at normal hour.

(Picture of 奶油白菜 - one of Tami's famous dish)
Today is the first day within this week that I have finished before 5'o clock. How wonderful. I get to relax at home before having to go back to work at 6:45 AM. I got to watch "War of the World" which I thought was quite good and I finished some more food left in my fridge. (Since Tami is back in Taiwan, I have to do everything myself now). Oh well, I will live.

It is suppose to snow tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it will be pretty, but it can get pretty dangerous on the road too.

Don't get confused. I did not make this pan cake, this was made by Tami before she left for Taiwan. Can you make out the figure on the pancake?

Hiking pictures...

One of the few things that I enjoy is going through my pictures. I was going through my pictures tonight, hoping to find some that I may print as Christmas gift. 我今年可是很認真的挑禮物 (I actually put in a lot of effort in picking out Christmas gifts). Anyway, these are what I came across tonight.

First snow of the season (2005初雪).

The forecast warned of snow last night. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning, everything is covered with a layer of white. Not too cold though, like most snowy days.

Oh what a day! I finally had time to do some hiking today.

I am a proud member of CMCNY(Chinese Mountain Club of New York, 紐約華人山川會). It is a club that organizes outdoor activities such as day hikes, weekend backpacking trips, and biking trips. So far my participations have been limited to day hikes as I do not own a bike and do not have all the camping equipments. I became a member in January 2005 and have done a total of 10 hikes this year (which was my goal when I joined).

My last hike was in mid-September and my foot has been itching badly. I was on vacation to Taiwan from 10/15-11/6 and caught a bad cold after I came back, thus missing much of the New York's fall foilage.

Today was extremely cold with temperature in 30s and windchill in

20s, but it was great fun. Despite the weather, a total of about 15 people came out today. We all had a goodtime. The sky was clear with few clouds. We blasted through 6 miles in no time. I was veyr impressed by what people brought for lunch - instant noodle, coffee, tea - all made with hot water kept in thermos. Can you imagine what a luxury it is being able to have warm food/beverage in such weather?
Perhaps it is time for me to buy a thermos.

Here are some pictures from today.