We finally got our airline tickets in the mail! The trip is less than a month away, and I am excited! Yay! “I am so excited, and I can’t hide it….” :)

As usual, I came home this weekend and “forgot” all about my work. Funny why I even brought my backpack home.

One of my friends invited me to go “clubbing” . I was like, “Err…” Is clubbing really such a big deal? A co-worker (a student at Northeastern) also invited me to go clubbing last summer. She joked that she could get me a fake ID; she even showed me her fake ID! Ha Ha. I laughed at the absurdity of it all. :)

But, nothing can beat an invitation I got last week. One of my friends asked me, out of the blue, if I wanted to go skydiving! Beat that! After all, who can refuse to jump out of the plane from X feet in the sky and fly (or fall, depending on how you look at it) Y feet below before the parachute opens? My friend and I had a really good laugh over that. She will be jumping on May 2 – which is Reading Day. A great stress reliever, maybe? (I, on the other hand, am not planning to jump out of anywhere anytime soon). :) If she is reading this, she should know that I think she is one amusing person. =)

With the perfect weather out there, I surprised my mom and went shopping with her. I guess it was surprising because she knew I hated shopping. Whenever we go, I am usually the one who nags, “Can we go now?” But now I figured, “Anything to procrastinate.” :)

I shouldn’t have brought my credit card to the stores (especially the Disney Stores). I spent over $100 in less than three hours (not bad for someone who hates shopping, huh?) Ouch. Just wait until I get my bills next month – I am going to be so broke. Wait, nevermind. I am already broke. I really need to get a job…and soon! But I think it is fair to say that I am not a huge spender, at least not on myself. Most of the things that I bought are actually gifts. That’s as far as I can say, because I know that somebody visits my site, and I don’t want to give the surprise away. =)

I think this is long enough of a post to last for the entire week… (laziness is taking over). ;)

A guest speaker (also a professor at Bentley) visited my English class today. She is rather young for a professor. In fact, I have no doubt that she could even pass for a college student. :) She actually reminded me of my physics teacher in high school - so full of life and energy! I perked up just listening to her stories. Unexpectedly, a sudden realization struck me! It is people like her - teachers who taught with a passion - that sparked my love of learning in high school! That alone has changed me in many ways, even see the world in a new light!

I thought I had lost my passion for learning after all that has happened this semester, but I now know that I was wrong. My love of learning may wane sometimes, but I think it would always stay with me. The guest's visit was short and simple, but it was all that I needed. It was absolutely refreshing, and I couldn't have asked for a better timing! :)

One presentation down; two more to go. :) I was more nervous that I *should* be, which was a bit surprising. It was not as if I had never done any class presentations before.

In fact, I had to go to the podium and announce daily news/updates to the class in elementary school. That was actually one of my "responsibilities" as the Class President of my graduating class. I don't think of it as a "responsibility" at all, because I had soooooo much fun with my amusing bunch of friends and classmates! It made me smile just thinking about it. One of my crazy guy friends even told me that all the guys in the class voted for me. Hehe. Funny story. :) Trust me, if I had any social skills at all - I learned most of it from them. It gave me a good balance, and I am thankful for that.

Anyway, I was reading the news today and there was an interesting article on the foot and mouth disease in Europe. There was an article about it, and it made me feel very sad for the cattles that were slaughtered. What a tragic situation.

Hmmm, I think this is a long enough post, and I don't know if I had bored you enough yet. :) I still have some work to do, so I probably won't write again until next week. So until then... :)

I couldn't wait until the end of the semester, and now that it is almost here, I am excited. And yet, seeing that one of my roommates have things ready to be moved, I couldn't help but feel a bit...sad.

Emotions. What a wonder.

I have two group presentations tomorrow. Ooh, how fun! Things are getting better these days, and my stress level has gone down dramatically. Maybe that's because I am in denial. ;)

I am a bit tired of group projects. I am only taking five classes this semester, and I have four group projects! That's excessive!

I signed up for a total of 19 credits next semester (1 credit is for Service Learning). And catch this: I have free days on both Monday and Wednesday! Do you know what that means? Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday would be crazy. It wasn't my choice, either, because there were only 1 or 2 sections for some of the required major courses.

I don't have to take 19 credits next semester, but I want to have an extra elective so that I could try out a graduate course - so I could decide whether to stay or withdraw from the 5-year program. I am leaning toward the latter at this point. It's still too early for me to decide, and things could easily change. So we'll just have to wait and see. :)

I am ultra hyper these days. 'Nuff said. :)

I just tried my first (or was it the second time?) a root beer. It wasn't my choice. Everything else in the darn machine was sold out! Let's see...Coke, Sprite, Nestea, and even Minute Orange Juice! By then, I was hitting every button to see if I can even get *any* drink out of the machine. So, what do you know? I got a root beer. And you know what? It's no wonder that it wasn't sold out. Why? Because it tastes nasty. In fact, it tastes so nasty that I feel the need to write a post about it. :)

Yay! I found out that I did well in my second (the so-called "final exam") for one of my classes! My professor didn't give us back our exam yet, but our grades were on a spreadsheet that she passed around in class. A 96! I was shocked! Can you imagine the look on my face, especially since I hadn't done too well on my first exam. Now, I just hope she doesn't hand back the actual exam on Thursday, and say, "Oops. I made an error on my spreadsheet. Your grade is actually a 46" or something like that. That would be freaky.

Well, maybe I am not going to lose my scholarship after all! Or maybe I am just overly hyper and optimistic today!

Friends are treasures. Yes, without a doubt! I have much to say about my friends, and many thoughts on "friendships". But, time is not on my side right now. I could, of course, just ramble on about it. I don't want to do that now, however, because my friends certainly deserved more thoughts and care than just some "ramblings" done in a hurry. Wouldn't you agree? :)

Hmmm, it'd be easier if I could just "name" my friends while writing my post, but I do respect people's privacy (so, unless I have your permission...) Also, wouldn't it be interesting if I do something like "Friend of the Month" or something to that effect? ;) Well, if you don't mind that I use your name (and trust me, there's always something I could say about you), let me know. You could post by clicking on "comments", e-mail me at hkmail@excite.com, or IM me. Whatever works.

P.S. Some of you are "comments-shy!" Still, much thanks to those who gave me comments via e-mail and AIM. (Oh yes, at least I know I am not the only one having recurring dreams) :)

Note: This page is *usually* not updated over the weekends. There are some exceptions, of course. ;)

When is the (pre) final exam *madness* going to end?! To college students everywhere: I sympathize with you. I really do. Now, the question is, when will this semester finally be over for you? :)

The sky, the stars, the moon. How amazingly beautiful. There is something about nature that always gets to me.

Some artists can capture the beauty of nature so perfectly in their paintings. The branches of the trees, the swaying leaves, the bright colored flowers. Sometimes I could even imagined myself in the drawings - imagining the sweet fragrance of the flowers, or the feeling of gentle winds brushing against my face. And sometimes, I don't even have to imagine it. It *is* all around us. But sometimes...we are too consumed with the routines of everyday life that we never really slow down our lives to truly appreciate the beauty and wonders of this world...

The jittery before finals. It's crazy. Sleep? What is that?

Disclaimer: If you click on this page, you will get lots of annoying pop-up windows. But, I like this page well enough to disregard the minor annoyances. At least I liked it well enough for it to land in my Favorites folder. That's it for now. It is, after all, 4:48 a.m in the morning. :)

I find it funny (and freaky sometimes) when dreams repeat itself. No, really. I am serious. Sometimes when I don't finish a dream, I would have the *exact* same dream some months later -- starting from the very beginning. Just the other day, I had a dream and I awoke in the middle of it. I didn't need (or want) to know how the dream ended because I knew exactly how it ended. Yes, I had that dream before. It's a bit eerie that the even the smallest details were unchanged. Brrr. Maybe my unsubconscious mind is in some sort of a loop? Any similar experiences? :)

On a lighter note, for those at Bentley, what date have you been assigned for course registration? Mine is this Wednesday, so *hopefully*, I should be able to get into most of the courses without jumping through loops (as is the case for the last 3 semesters). I think someone else (no names here, *hint, hint*) knew how frustrating that can be. What courses do you plan to take? Any good course/professor recommendations? Post away, e-mail me, or let me know when I see you. :)

(Another trick: If "comments" doesn't work on IE, simply refresh the page. It usually works the second time.) :)

Earlier this year, my brother was working on his homework for AP European History. I, other the other hand, was on my way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. The only thing that was on my mind was...food! My brother, knowing that AP European History was one of my favorite courses in high school, interrupted me and asked, "Hey, what do you know about the Romantic Movement?"

I didn't even have to think about the question. It was too simple. With a huge grin on my face, I answered, "It was romantic. What else?" My brother looked as if he was about to kill me, but...then his expression turned into one of amusement. After all, who else could've given him such a cool answer? :)

There is so much work waiting at my desk, taunting me, "How long is it going to take you to finish me!" Is your work calling out at you too?

At the rate that I am going, I won't be getting much sleep for the next two weeks. What a scary thought! Then again, did you know the British liner, Titanic, sank today in 1912, taking about 1,500 lives with her? If you didn't, well, now you do...

P.S. I really get my kicks just updating my "rambling thoughts", even though I haven't even told anyone about this page...yet. :)

We always have a choice in everything that we do, right? Well, today, I choose to be happy. You should too. Appreciate the little things in life and keep smiling. Life's much better and more meaningful that way. :)

I found out that I have been assigned a new advisor...again! The strange part is, they changed it right before course registrations! Brilliant move, don't you think? ;)

Welcome! This is it. My first post of my very first blog. So, what is this all about? Well, as the name ("Random Ramblings") may have suggested, what do you think? :)

There are about two more weeks until finals, and then it'll be all over. I am glad. It's not that I don't enjoy school (I most certainly do), but this has just been a rough semester. There were too many days when I felt as if my life was spinning out of control. Fortunately, I felt happy (or at the very least, content) for the most part.

I'd like to end my very first blog entry with some of my favorite quotes:

"There is a magic that comes from loving life with a passion; the only way to find it is to see it with your heart."
"May the blessings of hope and the warmth of memories remind us all what a wonderful life this is."
"Beyond the clouds, behind the rain, there are a thousand rainbows."

P.S. If you have any comments, please feel free to post them by clicking on "Comments". (Note: If you are unable to leave comments using Microsoft IE, try using Netscape!)