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9/11/2002

Time to reflect...  It was exactly 1 week after I left a wonderful 3-day weekend in NY.  It was my first visit to NYC and so I did all the "tourist" things.  I saw the Empire State Building, Central Park, and yes... I took the elevator up to the top of the World Trade Center.  

I was awakened by my mother who had heard the news from her co-workers and called me from her work.  I remember asking her if she had the right information because what she was telling me just did not seem possible.  But she insisted that I go watch the news.  So, I went downstairs and turned on the TV to the horrific sight of the first burning tower.  The first thing that popped into my head was "I was just there...."  I kept watching in disbelief, wondering if this was just some nightmarish fabrication of my mind.  I couldn't sit in the empty house alone, but my eyes were fixated on the TV.  I couldn't leave.   I quickly grabbed the phone and started dialing.  I wanted to hear familiar voices.  Then I watched in horror as the second plane began flying towards tower #2.  It was like a horror movie.  The plane seemed to be moving in slow motion as it forced its way into the twin of the now crippled and inflamed tower.  I quickly began dialing my friend in NY, not knowing if the phone lines were still working.  Luckily, my friend was on the other side of Manhattan.  As the events of the day unfolded, my mind became numb.   This was just too unbelievable.  My brain just could not register what my eyes were seeing.  

The next day, I set out to do what I was suppose to do that faithful morning.  I went to go pick up my pictures from my NY trip.  As I began shifting through them, I came upon the pictures we took at the bottom of the WTC (where we ate NY hotdogs for lunch) and the ones we took at the top.  It was eerie, seeing myself standing in the spot that was now nothing more than a remnant of a proud and tall symbol of NY.  

While this terrorism was a tragic experience, it's unfortunate that the society as a whole did not change all that much.  Murders, rapes, kidnappings, theft.... still occurred.  Had we really become united?  Had we really learned to  love each other?  Have we given our children their childhood back?  Had we really turned towards God more?  Are the deaths of those heroes in NY, Pentagon, and the airplanes in vain?  

Dear God  Help us to remember your precious children who were needlessly sacrificed that horrible day.  How much you must have suffered, watching your children suffer and die.  How you must have fought to stop yourself from reaching out and changing the course of that day, for you could have easily done so.  All because you had given us the wonderful gift of choice, even those who had committed this tragic act.  How you must have hurt as you watched them making the choice to fly the planes into WTC and the Pentagon.  Let us not forget.  Let us live our lives for the better.  Let us not let their deaths be in vain.      

8/28/2002

Pictures from 4th of July in SF and Magic Mountain are up!

7/16/2002

I've been so busy getting back into school work, that I forgot to write about the awesome time I had in SF for the 4th of July.  After a hearty dinner of clam chowder in a bowl, a must if in SF, Mike, James, Joe, and I took a "Fireworks Cruise" on the bay.  Boy, was it ever cold!  We were all huddled together, trying to feed off each other's body heat.  And when the fireworks started (we picked the correct side of the boat and got the best spot for the fireworks display), we almost felt warm from it.  Almost.  But the fireworks were a beauty.  I also got to go to Napa and witness the rows and rows of grapevines.  I had so much fun.  (Pictures to be up soon)

But don't get me wrong, I did have the "guilt" for not spending much time with my mother during my 4th of July break.  So, I surprised her this past Friday by showing up unexpected at the doorstep.  We spent some quality time together.  And she let me act the "grown daughter" role of buying her clothes and dinners.  Sometimes I blindly forget that she gets lonely and even scared in that big house.  I should call her and send her unexpected letters more often...

Just an interesting observation:  While looking out of my window on the airplane, I noticed something I had never noticed before.  On the engine was this symbol: 

6/16/2002

Today is Father's Day.  It's usually a day my brother and I would go buy my father new clothes, usually because he never had the time to go buy himself any clothes.  We'd then go out to eat, tell him we love him, and give him his gift.  It seemed so routine.  Don't get me wrong, our love and thought wasn't fake.  But we knew it's just something we did on Father's Day.  I wish now that I had told my father that I loved him, respected him, and truly appreciated him every day and not just on Father's Day.  I hope he knew that before he passed away.  

6/10/2002

It has been a while since i wrote in here hasn't it? well...let me get you caught up. from May 24 - May 26, I had my summer break. I went shopping, sun-tanning, running errands, and meeting with friends. 

During the Memorial weekend, I went to Yosemite (pictures are up on the Photo Gallery) with my mom and my church. It was quite a drive, I must admit. We left at 1:30 AM Saturday and arrived at the campground at 7 AM. Trying to follow a black car at night isn't exactly easy. What's worse was that I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep on Friday before we left and there was no CD player in my mom's car. I had to sing to myself to keep awake after all the radio stations (except the country music...*shutter*) worked. 

When we got there, we went on a little hike, had breakfast, and I just conked out. We then went on a little trip to an area near our campground that had many many redwood trees. It was a pretty sight. 

Next day we took a tour bus to Yosemite falls, and other "tourist sites" and took another hike. I was awed by the majestic beauty of God's creation. He is the ultimate artist. We left Yosemite at around 7 PM and didn't get home until 2 AM or so. Never again will I volunteer to drive... 

GO COREA! On a side note....Korea is co-hosting the FIFA World Cup this year. We won the first game (2-0) and tied the second (1-1; against USA). I have to admit, I wasn't as torn as I thought I would be about who to root for. I rooted for Korea. Ironically, I did want a tie, because I wasn't sure if I would be happy-guilt free if one or the other won. But having the Korean blood running through me, and being a US citizen on paper, makes my perspective very different than the American-borned Koreans. I don't have as much of a struggle between being Korean and American as they probably do.

5/12/2002

today's mother's day! i want to give a shout out to my mom who's been there for me through all my good and bad times. she has always been the quiet, yet powerful, force in my life. i probably did not express or fully grasp all the sacrifices and love she has shown me all throughout my life. and now that i'm older, and hopefully wiser, i wish i could say that i understand her better. but i don't think i'll ever truly fully grasp her love for me because she always seems to amaze me in showing just how deep her love really is for me. i love you mom! music for the day: "uh muh nee kkeh" (to my mother) by G.O.D. ( i know it's kinda old, but i think it's fitting for the day. for those who may not understand korean ^_^, it's a song that basically expresses just how much we took our mom for granted, who sacrificed and always gave us the best, and treated her so rotten because we thought we knew better. i heard that when this song came out many runaways were touched by it and returned home...)

5/9/2002 (4:30 pm)

whew! it's starting to heat up here in az... my thermometer reads 90. time to turn that ac on! well, i'm home finishing my project on the Top 200 Drugs so i could start studying for my pharmacokinetic final (which is this coming monday). AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!  have you noticed how hot weather can really make you feel lethargic? oh well...back to my project...  

5/4/2002

well...time to go hiking again! this time it was definitely plausible and somewhat easier than last time. while on our way up, i saw this elderly gentleman. he had a walking cane in one hand and was huffing & puffing his way up. when i saw that, i had great admiration for him. i hope that when i'm his age, i will have that much energy and be in that good health to be still hiking...i went to see the greatly anticipated movie...spiderman. it was awesome! i'm really glad that they stuck to the original story instead of trying to be make it more than it need to be. i was impressed with the special effects and i thought they did a good job with the casting. well, they get 2 thumbs up from me! ^_^

4/20/2002

it's saturday. time to go hiking again. except this time we tried something new. we joined some other people and went to camelback mountain. let me tell you...i definitely had no idea what i got myself into. that thing was hideous! it had rocks all over the place and it was steep, not to mention very high. there were few spots where the rocks were so rough and steep that they put railings up so that we could hold on to it. while hiking up, i kept myself encouraged with some thoughts and formulated this. ok...ok...it's kind of philosophical, but humor me. i thought the hike was similar to life in this way. there are three things you need to look out for when hiking. 1. the steps in front of you. if you don't, you can slip and fall. and believe me, you don't want to slip and fall on this mountain. but besides that, you also need to look at the steps in front of you because you need to plan out where you're going to step. if you don't, you may end up missing pathways that were much better than the one you are on. 2. you need to look ahead at your goal. this is suppose to encourage you, but sometimes it may be discouraging because you can't see the goal clearly due to obstacles (i.e. rocks) in the way. so, you look to 3. the trial behind you. this should motivate you to see how much you have already accomplished. cheesy huh? keke....well, it took us 1 hour to finally get up to the top, and i was so proud of myself. the view was spectacular. you could see all the greenery from golf courses everywhere and the buildings from downtown phoenix. maybe...maybe i'll try it again....let me think on that....

4/6/2002

with lightening and thunder in front of us and in back of us, and as the sky sprinkled upon us we hiked. what the heck were we thinking? obviously we weren't...well, as we were returning from the hike, i saw a site that reminded me of something from childhood. bright rays of sunlight were peeping through various areas of the clouds above. it looked very much like the paintings and pictures that depicted the second coming of jesus christ. well, when i was young i really thought jesus was coming whenever i saw those rays of sunlight coming through the clouds. i would look and look, but no jesus and the host of angels! keke...how naive i was then.

3/24/2002

you won't believe where i went this morning! i got to go to an air show at luke air force base. i had the chance to take pics with a stealth bomber and saw thunderbirds doing enormous stunts. at one point, one of the thunderbirds went directly above us. it was so low that the ground, as well as my heart, shook and pounded. the noise was tremendous as well. i must say, for the thunderbird show alone it was worth standing in a line for one hour and having to go through metal detectors. my only regret...i should of put some more sunscreen. i got totally burnt. let's just say that i have some major watch tan and a major sunglass tan. no....make that a burn. i'm a lobster! ouch....

3/15/2002

it's 2 in the morning. crazyness, huh? i just got back from a club called coyote bay. i know..i know! thursday night...and a school night even! keke...they played mostly hip hop. well, truthfully this was my first time at a club like this. it was quite different, needless to say. and not to be offensive or anything...but i think this was the most african-americans i've seen in arizona! wow! the dance floor was empty at first, but the music started jumpin' after awhile and more started dancing. all in all, i had fun! (except for the thong contest...)

3/10/2002

oh yeah...i'm definitely feeling the effects of yesterday's hike. yeah, yeah...i'm a wimp. i woke up to feel my whole body giving out on me. i definitely need to exercise some more. it's such a beautiful day today. perfect weather to be outside. and i'm stuck in here...studying. blah. my laundry room is next to the swimming pool. as i walked by i saw bunch of people having fun by the pool. i envy them.  

3/9/2002

i can't believe it. i actually got up at 7 AM on a saturday to go hiking! my cousin and i joined a friend and we hiked up a "mountain." it looked easy enough in the beginning but the path was quite deceiving. and here was our friend who did this 3x a week, power-walking up this thing. this was my first time ever! we're trying to follow her and the distance between us seemed to grow farther and farther. and she told us she walked slow... when we finally reached the top, it was a beautiful sight. you could see all the houses and of course, the golf courses (the only green land you'll see in az) i have a feeling i'm gonna feel the effects of this hike tm...*groan*

3/6/2002