Ah Ying eh Blog - 阿盈的部落

Sunday, 10 March 2013

Exploring Arts & Culture

If you ask me, I'll say Balboa Park is definitely on the MUST DO LIST if you ever travel to San Diego. If you can, please make sure you plan at least 2 days there. It is huge, and it is extremely interesting!

It's a dogs heaven

Since we had spent our first day doing nothing at Harbour Island, we have to squeeze both Balboa Park and Seaworld into our 2nd day.

We were thinking of covering Balboa Park in the morning, and go to Seaworld at 12pm, so we had only about 3 hours in the park. Due to the limited time, we rented a surrey near Spanish Village, and tour the heart of Balboa park in style (and honestly, in pain too. There are lots of uphills and downhills!) We enjoyed the architecture of the buildings, and we did stop for some photo shoots or a brief visit etc but we wish we could have more time here. There are so much to see!

The little girl was very envy when our passed by a garden birthday party. Blue sky, palm trees, green green grass, nice California weather and lots of laugthers. All the best elements in one great party. A bunch of lucky kids :)

San Diego Automotive Museum

San Diego Air & Space Museum

I particularly love this pet show, where they actually put up a sign saying "Warning! Children Left Unattended Will Be Sold To The Circus". Love their sense of humor.

After exploring a little bit of everything in the park, we were supposed to return our surrey and go to Seaworld. However, when we saw the lovely Spanish Village Art Center was having an art glass guild, we couldn't resist, and spent almost another hour there.

It was a sunny autumn afternoon. All the glass art were so mesmerizing under the sun. We visited a few art galleries, chit chat with a few artists, some were still busy adding the final touch on their art pieces.

This experience made me almost wanted to extend our stay in San Diego and visit as many art galleries / museums / parks as we can.....

Saturday, 9 March 2013

10 Iconic Hollywood Cars

OK, I must be very honest with you. I am totally not interested in blogging about these 10 iconic Hollywood cars. However, when I read about this, I'm surprise to see The Love Bug!! And it brings back lots of memory!! (of course, as usual, I am always excited to see the DeLorean from Back to the Future too!)

I was basically a Disney baby when I grew up, and watching The Love Bug on TV was definitely one of those memorable childhood moments I have (I'm referring to the '70s versions, and the early '80s TV version, not the one stared Lindsay Lohan). My dad drove a Volkswagen back then, so the fact that Herbie has mind of his own and capable of driving himself always make me wonder does my dad's Volkswagen do the same thing when we are not looking (just like what I felt about toys).

The stunts that Herbie can do back then was special and entertaining. The Love Bug was definitely a great family entertainment for us. I do remember some scenes where Herbie were splitted into half, or drive on 2 wheels, and these stunts were copied by the '80s Hong Kong blockbuster Aces Go Places too! (Hmm.... where's my long overdue blog post about Aces Go Places? Haha!)

The Birth Place of California

This is where I fell in love with San Diego,
almost immediately

I love San Diego!

It is one of the few places that I could fell in love at first sight. We were driving from LA to San Diego through highway #1 (yes, still couldn't have enough of it). Our initial plan was to drive around checking for a few motels / hostels that I have shortlisted, check-in, then go to Balboa Park. However, when we stopped by at Harbour Island for washroom, we immediately fell in love with this place, and decided to have picnic at this area instead, and totally forgot about our accommodation concerns.

The beautiful abstract art formed by the tree shadows on the grass was so mesmerising, you could easily feel connected with your true self and found your inner peace. Both of us sat on the bench, quietly, feeling the time flew around us. The scene of deep blue sea heavily decorated by the reflections of sunlight, with yachts sailed through the calm water, with laughters from afar, is definitely one of my favourite moments of this trip.

Hours later, when we finally noticed that we had spent too much time sitting here doing nothing (but felt extremely satisfied), we decided to go straight to Dolphin Motel, the #1 in my short list motels, with very good reputation in a few websites. The owner gave us very good rate and very understanding. He knew we were on tight budget so he even guided us to a few other motels/hostels nearby so that we can check the price before making the decision. Well, of course, we ended up with this lovely motel because of their service, and also because the rooms are very clean and comportable.

We got a lot of tips from the workers here to explore San Diego. So on that evening, we followed their recommendations, visited the amazing Sunset Cliff and the old town of San Diego.

We had great sunset experience at the Sunsest Cliff. We walked the trail and met the great Pacific Ocean again at the end of the trail. I just can't have enough of the ocean :) The soil at the cliff reflected sharp vibrant red-orange that took our breath away.

After sunset, we drove to the old town. It's a typical tourist spot with restaurants, cafes, bars, and shops selling souvenirs. Apparently this is the birthplace of California! I love the fact that it is so colourful and vibrant, so Mexican (I like how they describe in one of the popular sign plate that almost every souvenir shops have "we didn't cross the border;the border cross us. This is exactly how I felt). We saw a long queue in front of the Old Town Mexican Cafe, and decided that this is the one! I had our name on the waiting list, then we sat near the front kitchen, looking at how they prepared the tacos. Half an hour later, we were seated. I love the ambience, warm yellow lamp with a few Mexicans playing their music and sang in the happy tune. The food was good, but too heavy for us.

It's a lovely first day at San Diego.

Friday, 8 March 2013

Learn from Own Mistakes

Do you sometimes wonder why there are people around you that repeating the same mistakes over and over again? Do you sometimes get very frustrated that they never learnt? Do you sometimes vomit blood because you have corrected their mistakes a gazillion times and they still never changed? Well, don't be excited / angry / frustrated. According to Goldsmiths latest research, apparently not everyone learns from their mistakes. It is not their fault. Their brain just cannot function that way.

The study, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, investigated brainwave patterns of 36 healthy human volunteers performing a simple time estimation task. Researchers asked the participants to estimate a time interval of 1.7 seconds and provided feedback on their errors. The participants were then measured to see whether they incorporated the feedback to improve their future performances.
'Good learners', who were successful in incorporating the feedback information in adjusting their future performance, presented increased brain responses as fast as 200 milliseconds after the feedback on their performance was presented on a computer screen.
This brain response was weaker in the poor learners who did not learn the task well and who showed decreased responses to their performance errors. The researchers further found that the good learners showed increased communication between brain areas involved with performance monitoring and sensorimotor processes.
Caroline Di Bernardi Luft, one of the research paper's co-authors from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, commented: "Good learners used the feedback not only to check their past performance, but also to adjust their next performance accordingly."
The brain responses correlated highly with how well the volunteers learned this simple task over the course of the experiment, and how good they were at maintaining the learned skill without any guiding feedback.
"Though these results are very encouraging in establishing a correlation between brains responses and learning performance, future studies are needed to identify a causal role of these effects," Professor Bhattacharya added.

So, if you are the lucky ones that always learn from your mistakes, thank God or Whoever you believe in, you are designed to excel in life.

Important note for myself: Don't get angry when others repeat the same mistake. They are not designed to get it. Be gratitude for you are not in the same category, accept the fact, and adjust your method in the future.

Thursday, 7 March 2013

Mayim Bialik

I am not sure if you do notice, I have just recently added another link at "吃饱没事做？阿盈向你推荐" - Mayim Bialik's blog.

As I told you earlier, recently I've been addicted to The Big Bang Theory. So I started to watch video clips on Youtube and googled about The Big Bang Theory, then Sheldon Cooper, then Jim Parsons, and then almost everything about The Big Bang Theory. And this is how I came across The Official Mayim Bialik's Blog.

When Amy Farrah Fowler first appeared in the final episode of season 3, I actually love the idea of having a female version of Sheldon Cooper, they seems like a perfect match! And I did somehow find this face familiar.

However, in Season 4, I do not like the way this character developed. Amy is quite annoying sometimes, being too harsh and trying too hard (and I was happy that Sheldon described her as his friend who is a girl but not not his girlfriend.) I think at this point, the writers were trying very hard to find the balance between making her a female-version of Sheldon Cooper and at the same time likeable. After all, making an easily unlikeable character a likeable one is actually Jim Parson's thing.

It is in mid of Season 5 that the writers finally found the rhythm. The chemistry between Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik makes Shamy moments subtly sweet and enjoyable. Like Sheldon, my feelings for her has been increased too. :)

So I googled her, and I finally know why I felt that she looks familiar. She was Blossom Russo! (Well, I never watched that TV series in the 90s, but back then, they were not much shows on the TV and we basically know almost every shows aired. Blossom was quite popular back then), and she was in Beaches too.

It was when I watched one of the interviews on Youtube that I found out that she was actually accepted by Harvard and Yale (but she chose to attend UCLA to be close to her parents!) She earned Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience, Hebrew and Jewish studies, and she completed her PhD in Neuroscience!!She is Dr. Mayim Bialik!! So, this is how I started to read her blogs.

I enjoy reading her blog posts. I respect her devotion to religious, I respect her passion in science and education, I respect her being a vegan, and I respect her practice in attachment parenting. Putting her political opinion aside, I think she is sophisticated and inspiring. Besides, her blogs sometimes including behind the scenes of The Big Bang Theory too! So here I am, recommending her blog to you :)

Latest update as of July 2016, Mayim has a new fantastic site: Grok Nation

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

小人

以前读余秋雨的《小人》，看他骂得淋漓尽致。虽然我也看得咬牙切齿，但那些毕竟都是久远的过去了。只是，几千年过去了，人类竟没有进化得更好。

其实，我们都不怕枭雄的。枭雄很多时候只是和我们的思想观点不同而已。枭雄通常都是能人猛士，思想有逻辑且有迹可寻。枭雄永远站在光明处与你对敌，有时候，反而亦敌亦友的惺惺相惜了。我们也不怕恶人。恶人明刀明枪的，你小心就是了、别惹他就是了、避开就是了……

可怕的是小人，几千年来小人在阴暗处享受着损人不利己的活动，即使是疯子如Joker，也总有所图，可是小人图个什么呢？小人不怕麻烦、办事效率高，他们善于领会及运用别人的隐忧和私欲，把大事搞砸，可他们图个什么呢？我们想极也没有答案。

借余秋雨说的：“他们反复向别人解释，自己是天底下受损实最大的人，自己是弱者，弱得不能再弱了，似乎生就是被别人欺侮的料。”。偏偏他们又善于用谣言制造气氛，借他人之手起哄是他们的天赋。我们除了无可奈何，除了手足无措，除了防不胜防，我们千百年来就这样受着……

惟有圣贤和真正的智者，才知道怎么应对吧？

千里送laksa

昨天在FB上看见PP贴了她妈妈的鸳鸯laksa，好像很好吃似的。
于是口痒痒、脸皮厚厚地讨要一小碗。
PP很配合哦，说要叫老公给送到办公室来给我哦！
我其实也没真的放在心上。讨爽的。
反正那laksa怎么看都绝对诱人，讨讨没损失！

今天早上一到办公室，就看见桌上有个保温袋。暗爽！Laksa原来是真的送来的！

打开一看，哎哟哟，还放了个冷袋以保持食物新鲜度！真有够贴心的！不必猜必定是PP的主意。

馋嘴的我等了又等，终于到了午餐时间，赶忙拿去微波炉弄热。搞得整个pantry香喷喷的。口水直流！

鱼肉还多过米粉！

到公司食堂把laksa汤倒出来，哇塞！鱼肉还多过米粉嘞！
说是要和大家分享，但太好吃了，好像就是我一个人独吞。
这可是我第一次吃鸳鸯laksa哦，想不到asam laksa加siam laksa(lemak)这么美味！
谢谢PP的妈妈美味的午餐！谢谢PP这么有心思！谢谢Tan-san这么配合七早八早给我送来。

这！太感人了！！！！
这绝对是我终生难忘的laksa!

p.s. 这个故事教训我们，别没事儿在FB上胡言乱语讨食物，那是会给别人家带来很多麻烦的！真是超级不好意思！

Monday, 4 March 2013

I am Not a Slave

I noticed that more and more people started to notice that it is hard to find me through mobile phone during non-working hours. Well, I think if I don't explain myself, more and more people will start to think that I am super sombong liao. Haha! This makes this blog post very important to me, though I am so tempted to go to bed now :)

I think it is about time that I make this declaration: I am not a slave to technology! I always suspected that one day when the A.I. rise to power, I will be the few that get terminated since I always have 十冤九仇with computers.

Please understand that I am not obsessed about technology. I don't think my brian has developed to be able to constantly engaged in 24 hours connection. I don't feel the necessity to have my mobile phone with me for 24 hours. (This is also one of the reasons I do not have a data plan even though it is supposed to be employee benefits). The mobile phone is called a mobile phone for a reason: we only need it when we are mobile :p

When I go to meeting, I don't always bring my phone along because I know I am not going to pick up anyway (courtesy in meetings), unless I am waiting for some urgent calls. I'll have it with me if I'm mobile - walking from one plant to another.

When I'm driving, unless I'm with headsets, else I will not pick it up unless I know there's some urgent calls coming in.

When I'm at home (especially weekends), most probably my mobile phone will be in the dark corner of my backpack that I bring to work, or it will sit quietly at the side table in my bedroom. If I were downstair chit-chatting with my parents or reading news paper or munching tibbits, I will not hear my phone rings and I will not look at it at all until the next morning when it wakes me up (oh, and my phone doesn't have to do this on weekends since I am the follower of 睡到自然醒.

When I'm exercising, I assure you my mobile phone got no chance to follow me. Physical strength is my weakest link :) It is already hard for me to balance, to jump, to run, to shake, to stretch. I assure you that distraction from a phone call is the last thing that I allow to jeopardize my determination in shaping a healthier me.

When I'm in the toilet, don't even expect me to pick up the phone! I am either very focus in doing the business, or too embarrased to talk to you with the uniquely-toilet aurally-pleasing-acoustic.

When I'm in the cinema. Lagi no hope! I deserve 100% cinema experience, and I am not risking myself to be the public enemy #1.

So, if you ever called / texed / Viber / Whatsapp but couldn't get me, don't worry. Most probably I still haven't notice the missed calls or sms or whatsoever. I will, just not yet.

Like what Yoda said, patience you must have.

Pilgrim of an Olympic Fan

Like what I said a year back, I am a huge fan of Olympic games. I love the wonderful opportunity to look at the physical and cultural aspects of our world. I love the true meaning of to train, to commit to an activity, and healthy sense of competition. I love the diversity of our world.

In year 2011, I had the "Pilgrim" at Barcelona, where my all time favorite Summer Olympic being hosted.

In year 2012, I finally have a brief visit at the place where it begins.....

The Games of the XXIII Olympia stays forever special in my heart. It was year 1984. I was 8 years old. I knew nothing about Olympics but I decided to wake up very early to watch the opening ceremony together with my uncle, just for fun. And I was hooked to Olympics ever since. Maybe because we can remember better when we were young, or maybe because this is such an unique experience for me, I have vivid memory of the jetpack, of the pianos and choir, and of how the "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" was played (it is until I when I wrote a blog about John Williams that I noticed this was composed by him. No wonder I love this piece so much :p)

So, before I departed LA for San Diego, I purposedly drove all the way (when I said purposedly, I meant it! LA's traffic is horrible and I didn't mind the countless traffic lights along S. Western Ave just to get to this place!) to the LA Memorial Coliseum.The weather was great and I love the fact that the coliseum stands out in the pictures with my favorite California blue sky as background.

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Behind The Scene

It is hard not to plan at least a hint of Hollywood in your itinerary when you visit Los Angeles.

Hence, even I'm not a big fan of theme parks, I can't help but allocating one full day of my precious West Coast moment to "Universal Studios". We went there early, when the park just open. Walking from the car park to the theme park through CityWalk is a pleasant experience. We did have great time doing window shopping and per-decide which shops to go after we are done with the theme park.

Before we visited the park, we imagined there will be long queue everywhere and hence we have planned our strategy very well. We have only 3 must-do in the theme park: Transformers: The Ride-3D, Studio Tour, and WaterWorld.

We heard the Transformers ride in Singapore is super hot so we decided to run all the way to lower lot once we get into the park, focus on Transformers ride, and tackle the rest one by one.

To our surprise, there's no queue at all. We didn't even have to wait in the line. We walked in to the building and got on the first car we saw, and we had the ride! Well, it was actually an awesome ride. It is amazing how real the 3D technology can become. I salute to all those have contributed their effort in making this so enjoyable!

Even I am not a fan of Transformers, still, how can I not take photos of Optimus Prime? :)

Now we learn that Universal Studio is not half as crowded as Disneyland, we were so relax!! We changed our plan and decided to take a few more rides at the lower lot before we go for studio tour.

Well, in this case, I MUST go to Jurassic Park! Watching Jurassic Park in the cinema 20 years ago (yes! it was almost 20 years ago!!) is one of those memories that stay vividly in my brain. I remembered my uncle and all the cousins went to cinema in Sunshine Square for this show. It was mind-blowing then with all the computer-generated imagery. I remembered how we screamed and laughed, and I remembered how scared we were during the build-up to the appearance of the T-Rex, with the water vibrating in the glass on the car's dashboard. Oh, and that is the first time I learned the word Velociraptor, and I love the idea of having smart-ass creature as vallain in box-office movies :)

During the beginning of the ride, it is quite relaxing and I can still manage to take some nice photos of smiling dinosaur with my handphone. However, the tension built up, and I have to hold the seat so tight and shouting non-stop during the treacherous drop at the end. We ended up all wet! But loving it!

The little girl then insisted to take the mummy ride. I think it was quite boring based on my previous experience. So, while she went for the ride, I took some time to visit the NBC Universal Experience. I really think there are rooms for improvement for this little museum. The props and costumes are very limited, and I think the visitors can hardly feel connected / excited at all.

Embarrassingly, I was more excited with the stand up cutouts of the Apollo 13 crew than visiting the NBC Universal Experience.

Oh, and how can I not trying to hi-5 with Iron Man?

My favorite experience of the park is of course the Studio Tour. Though this is my second visit, I still enjoy go behind the scene, exploring Hollywood's most famous backlot of movie studio, I still love how everyone shouts when The Jaws appear, I still cannot believe how a small Spanish town can have a flash flood in minutes, and I am still very excited to see THE DeLorean from Back to the Future! This time, the Studio Tour experience is even cooler with the King-Kong 360 3D. Peter Jackson made this so believable that my heart actually pounded everytime the T-Rex came near us.

Entrance to the coolest ride - King Kong 360 3D

Another pleasant surprise is The WaterWorld. Even when I was the fan of Kevin Costner, I never love the movie. But the stunts and actions that they planned in this show is great and fun! The fact that an actual small aeroplane flew in is fascinating :)

Concluded the visit

Due to there were basically very few visitors on the day we visited Universal Studio, we actually finished all the rides and shows that we wanted-to and those we never-planned-to, much earlier than we expected. We then spent our time shopping for souvenirs at the CityWalk and the little girl had her first ever Taco Bell as dinner.

As if we didn't have enough dose of Hollywood, we continued our journey at Hollywood Walk of Fame and The Grauman's Chinese Theater, a must-do for tourist around the world. I was not thrilled since there were no actual stars at sight, but I still love taking photos with the Star Wars folks :)