My Blog

Where Are the Auto Emails?

2012-01-26T23:20:00.006-05:00

This afternoon I received an email telling me that I didn't qualify for a position I applied for. It was the typical rejection letter, or in this case email. I'm used to getting this type of employment related responses, so it doesn't sting as much anymore. Besides, I was a little hesitant to apply for this position in the first place because I didn't quite have all the skill requirements they were looking for. Hey, it never hurts to try!

After reading this email, I realized that I don't get these emails that much anymore. A while back whenever I didn't qualify for whatever reason I would get one of those vague emails saying I'm out of the race. Now however, I rarely get any email. It feels like I'm left in the dark. Many say to never call to follow up as it might look like you're pestering them, but if I don't am I suppose to just sit around and wait for that email that will never come?

Yes, they are inundated with resumes and overworked, but is it that difficult to send that auto-generated email? "Dear [name], Thank you for your interest. We regret to inform you that you have not been selected to the next round because [select reason from drop-down menu]..."

If that is indeed too difficult, then how about programming some auto-send response with something along the lines of "Hey, we're still working on this position and haven't forgotten about you. Hang tight!" or "We have decided to put this position on hold while we reevaluate our budgeting needs and will inform you when we will be again actively looking to fill this position" that would trigger after certain amount of time has passed without any activity.

People (me included) will probably feel low, maybe even a bit slighted, when we get the rejection response, and that's fine. They at least they know where they currently stand and not left in some kind of job limbo. There are countless applicant/interviewee etiquette articles, but what about etiquette tips for the other party?

Dragon Stamps

2012-01-25T23:57:00.000-05:00

While running an errand this afternoon, I stopped by a post office along the way. While I was about to pay for my shipment I noticed the lady behind the bulletproof window had a stack of Chinese New Year stamps. They looked pretty cool so I bought two sheets, one to use and one to keep. If they came out last week I would've saved 24 cents per sheet as the Forever stamps were still 44 cents.

The dragon looks really well drawn and is quite colorful. It's a nice break from the usual Statue of Liberty, which by the way I heard is not the actual Statue of Liberty, but rather the one from the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas.

New Yorkers' the Rudest? Nah...

2012-01-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

The idea that New Yorkers are rude is probably as old as the city itself, and a recent article from Travel and Leisure reassured that. As a New Yorker myself I was ready to immediately dismiss the claim once again, but right as this notion crossed my mind, a lady that was walking directly right in front me didn't hold the door for me and I nearly had it hit me on the face. She then continued to yap on with her friend and walked slowly up the subway platform stairs, blocking traffic flow and making people having to walk around them.

To say all New Yorkers are rude is wrong however. For tourists it just takes just one bad incident for them to label everyone here in NYC rude and then pass that isolated experience to all their friends. However, for people that stay here longer they get to see the kinder side of local residents in various forms, whether it be helping someone with a baby carriage down/up the stairs, giving (correct) directions, or giving their seat to someone who needs it more.

Yeah, some New Yorkers are rude, but not everyone here is like that all the time. Stick around for a bit and you'll see what I mean.

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T22:01:00.000-05:00

To all those that celebrate it, Happy Chinese New Year! This year it’s the year of the dragon and for many that’s most special animal in the Chinese zodiac as it represents power and fortune. Because of this, it is expected to be an increase in babies born in China this year. Of course this is all just as valid as astrological signs if you believe in those stuff.

Well so far this year is starting off slow and I’ll take this over the stress I had Chinese New Year two years ago. My parents are currently in China visiting relatives, so it’s just a nice relaxing day at home for me.

A coworker told me that depending on what you do today you will be doing that for the rest of the year. I was about to set up a dentist appointment since I had today off, but after hearing that I decided to delay it yet again. I’ll go eventually! As for now, I’ll just take it easy for the day.

Unknown Destinations Start!

2012-01-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

After reading about an art project called "The Bureau of Unknown Destinations" where participants are given a round trip ticket to a random destination and plan a day around that, I was intrigued and decided to partake this adventure. The trips are about one hour away from New York City and can be completed in a day, so don’t go thinking that the random destination can be some European city.

I stopped by the bureau yesterday and picked up my mystery package with the tickets and a timetable and task instructions. Given that this trip is free I have no complaints about the task. Besides, it’s a fairly simple task. I’m not allowed to open the package until the day of the trip, but what I do know is that the ticket is an open ticket and I can pick a date when it’s convenient for me.

Now I just have to wait until next Saturday when I can open the package and begin my trip. Ah, I can’t wait!

Snowstorm 2012

2012-01-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

So we just had the first snowstorm for this season and compared to what we had last year, this was nothing. To make up for being underprepared last year, city agencies seemed to be over preparing in what turned out to nothing major. I guess it's better to be better prepared than be caught off-guard.

The sanitation department is testing out some fancy new GPS equipment on their plow trucks in hopes to curb complaints from the public constantly screaming at them for unplowed streets. Not sure if it was successful or not.

As for the MTA, certain subway lines ended early while others ran local, and all weekend service changes (except for the 7 train) were cancelled. Most stations posted up flyers saying certain lines, in my case it was the B train, was ending early, but unfortunately I was waiting in one of those stations they forgot to put up any posters. If it was for that conductor on the D train I would've been waiting for a nonexistent train.

Well, as soon as we're all talking about this storm, the snow has already moved out of the area. I wonder when is the next round.

VW/Star Wars 2

2012-01-20T23:45:00.000-05:00

Looks like Volkswagen is back again this year for another Star Wars themed Super Bowl ad. Doesn't have much impact as the first one, but still cool though.

Solo Cooking

2012-01-19T21:31:00.001-05:00

For the next couple of weeks I will be leavingwork earlier than usual as I have to figure out dinner by myself. Have togive myself extra time to prepare dinner now. Yes, I can cook, but realbasic dishes or dishes I wouldn't feel comfortable serving to others. Hey, if I get sick from my own cooking, at least I won't be bringing downanyone with me!

Of course since I work in Chinatown I can easily grab an inexpensive preparedmeal on the go and call that dinner, but I don't think that's too healthy on adaily basis. Besides, these couple of weeks give me the chance to try outcooking some new foods. If it fails, oh well.

This almost feels like living in Japan all over again except that this time Ihave a lot more food options to choose from.

SOPA? No Thank You

2012-01-18T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'll admit I'm not an expert on SOPA (StopOnline Piracy Act) and have not been following it as closely as I should, butfrom the judging from the surface of this matter and general details and infocollected from around the internet, I sense that this is not going to be goodfor the internet.

It's good to fight piracy, but when you want to place general, and oftenover-reaching rules, a lot of innocent people are going to be caught in thecrossfire.

Rather than reading a post about SOPA, watch this video explaining a similar bill trying to pass called the Protect IP Act.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Or if videos aren't your thing, how about this spiffy animated gif courtesy of TheOatmeal?

Famously Angry

2012-01-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's one thing to be famous, but when one iswell known because of his/her temper, as I found out during a dinner outingearlier tonight, I don't think that's something to brag about. People arefamous for all sorts of reasons like their accomplishments, generosity,heroics, etc. Having a short temper though, that falls on the other sideof the spectrum of things to be famous for, like being famous for greediness,tardiness or irresponsibility.

Well, if you want to make a positive spin out of this somehow, you can argue that at leastpeople are talking about you which in a way is a form of free publicity Isuppose.

Late Refund

2012-01-16T21:18:00.002-05:00

Waiting for over three months, I finally got myrefund from the MTA for a faulty unlimited Metrocard I purchased back inSeptember. The card only lasted for a day before the magnetic stripconked out. I've had bad Metrocards before, but this is a record... onefreaking day!

Anyway, I called them three weeks after mailing it back to them to follow up on my claim as it took two to three weeks for my last claim. The nice lady told me that the average turnaround time was now two to three months. I guess it was either due to staff cutbacks or a raise in faulty cards causing the severe backlog, but I want to think it was the former rather than the latter.

Too Cold for Anything

2012-01-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

This was one of those weekends where it was too cold to do anything outside, let alone step outside of the house. I was thinking about heading out for lunch, but the chilly winds quickly pushed me back into the house and persuaded me to cook something instead.

The frigid temps coupled with no direct Q train service to Manhattan this entire weekend meant it was the perfect time to stay home-bound. It wasn't like there was nothing to do at home either. Whether it be cleaning up my room, catching up on some video games, organizing my pictures I was able to keep myself occupied the whole time.

Mario Land 3D Get!

2012-01-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

After weeks of being back-ordered, Best Buy is slowly getting Mario Land 3D back in stock and I was luckily able to grab one at a local store just in time for the weekend!

My first impressions of the game is that it's a pretty fun game. There are some parts where the camera angle is a bit bad, causing me to walk right off the ledge. Other than that though, the visuals, music and controls are good. The 3D implementation is good too, though I don't know if it's healthy to play it in 3D mode for several hours straight.

All in all, another fine installation in the Mario series!

Cat vs. Printer

2012-01-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

I sometimes feel the same way about my own printer. Language NSFW.

On Time Service Change

2012-01-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, the MTA posted on theirwebsite (which I unfortunately forgot to take a snapshot of as evidence) thatdue planned work on the Staten Island Railway, trains would be departingexactly as scheduled. At first I thought I read it wrong because soundedfunny. On time trains is a service change? Yeah right. Aftera second read-through though, it did in fact said that.

Only the NYC MTA would post trains running on time as a service change. So I guess trains running late means that it's normal service.

More Than Just Checking In

2012-01-11T22:47:00.002-05:00

In the beginning I didn't understand why people would like to check in at places, but now I find myself doing it. I guess it's part bragging and part recording my history, well at least for me anyway. Many years from now I will remember exactly where and when I went to various places thanks to all these check-in updates.

Aside from just checking in at various placesthough, which for some are very annoyed with I'm sure, I've decided to take theextra step and add a comment and/or review for each place checked in. That way people get more out of the check-in than just, "Oh, he's at the store again."

Of course, if you still find this annoying you can always block these updatesaltogether. I don't blame you for doing so... I get annoyed sometimes as well!

New Food! Chicken McBites

2012-01-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

McDonald's decided to jump into the bite sizechicken arena with their Chicken McBites. Anyone familiar with KFC'spopcorn chicken will instantly know what I'm talking about and probably evenmistaken this McDonald's version for that.

The taste is nothing new to regulars of this fast food chain. It tastesexactly like their Chicken Selects except that it's obviously smaller. That's fine and all, but like all other bite size chicken out there, each pieceis more flour than actual chicken meat. This is good for McDonald'sbecause that means they're cheaper to make and when priced at $3.49 for aregular (in Manhattan) they can have a larger profit margin for each box sold.

In the end, I think these McBites could adequately satisfy a quick snackfix. If you need more than just a snack, but like their taste, you'reprobably better off getting Chicken Selects instead.

Dodging a Conversation

2012-01-09T21:51:00.001-05:00

Today I ducked out of work early to avoid aclient that was supposed to stop by later (actually I still left late, but thedifference here was that I didn't wait around for my other coworkers to finishup and leave together). I quickly finished up whatever needed to be donetoday and cleaned up my desk for the day. Luckily by the time I was readyto go the person hasn't arrived yet.

There is nothing wrong with the person. Actually the person's quitenice. It's just that s/he tends to be long-winded whenever s/he stops byfor a chat and I wasn't really in the mood for an extra long conversation afterwork today. Today was one of those days where you just want to gostraight home after work and relax.

The person will surely come by again in the near future, but today I'm going tomiss this friendly encounter I'm afraid.

2011 in Unlimited Metrocard Use

2012-01-08T20:38:00.001-05:00

In 2011 whenever I had an active unlimited Metrocard I wrote down daily the number of times I used that card for 30 days straight. I wanted to see exactly how much I was saving (or costing me) by buying an unlimited over the traditional pay-per-ride card. After a year of logging this information, this was what I got:

In 2011:

Bought 8 unlimited Metrocards costing a total of $832 (No unlimited card in Feb, Mar, Apr and Dec)
Took 579 trips using those 8 cards
Average rides: 2.4 per day or 72.4 per month
Average cost per ride: $1.43
Savings (compared to a $20 pay-per-ride card with 7% bonus): $0.78
Most rides in one day: 7
Number of days with no rides: 24

So in the long run I'm saving a little bit over the regular pay-per-ride cards. $0.78 doesn't seem much, but over 579 trips, that's a lot! Of course if I knew I didn't have an unlimited card, I wouldn't be making all those trips (one time I took the 6 train for just one stop to buy lunch!) and the total number of trips would be lower.

Flip Over

2012-01-07T23:12:00.000-05:00

In the continuing series of obsolete stuff, I happened tostumble upon my old Flip camera while looking around for an Ethernet cable.

I don't think I have actually used this camera to recordanything outside of the house. The onlytime I ever really used it was the first day when I got it to test it out. With my point and shoot camera having asimilar function at a higher quality and also being able to take pictures,there was really no need for this Flip. Now with smartphones becoming more popular, people don't want to carryaround a single function gadget like this and I can see way Cisco ended theFlip line not too long after taking it over from Pure Digital Technologies.

I wonder if I can sell this. If not, I guess it's time to recycle thissucker.

Kodak Disc

2012-01-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Kodak, does anyone remember the Kodak Disc? Yeah, me neither.

Farewell Kodak?

2012-01-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

With Kodak being delisted from the stock market,does this mean the beginning of the end for Kodak?

I remember when I was younger and during Kodak's heyday, they were the company when it camephotography and film. I often would pay the premium price to have mypictures developed using that fancy Kodak paper. The photos always cameout better looking on their paper.

However, as time passed I like many other people stopped printing/developingpictures as digital cameras became more common and storing them on our massivehard drives was sufficient. Kodak unfortunately seemed to be still stuck inthe film period. They did try to modernize by creating online picturestorage website and a handful of digital cameras, but the lukewarm receptionsto these innovations didn't help them one bit.

So as Kodak slowly vanishes away, I hope the company will at least retain some sort of presence in photography so the younger generation these days can appreciate the nostalgic process of taking pictures.

Frozen Loogie

2012-01-04T22:15:00.000-05:00

Today was another frigid day. In fact, it was so cold outside that I noticed several spit/loogies hocked on the floor were frozen. It's one thing to step on someone else's spit while walking, but another to step on frozen spit. Imagine if you slipped on some too. How embarrassing would that be when you try to explain to someone that you slipped on spit?

Now that I think about it, it's also quite gross to step on that huge amount of frozen spit to be able to slip.

Cold Start

2012-01-03T22:00:00.001-05:00

Today I overheard someone proclaiming today tobe the coldest day of the year. While this is true, the year juststarted, so that title probably doesn't have much weight. Still, it wasindeed quite frigid this morning while waiting on the elevated subway platform.

Using a term such as "coldest" so early in the year made me realizethat we can get away with many phrases with superlatives like this at the beginning of theyear. Aside from coldest, I can also say today was the windiest day ofthe year. Or how about driest? It doesn't even have to apply tojust weather. Today was my busiest day of the year; he's the happiestperson I've talked to this year; or she's the wealthiest lady I've met thisyear. They might not hold the title for that long at all, but it was nice for thatbrief moment at least!

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-02T20:02:00.001-05:00

New year means new resolutions! I guessit's customary for many to create some resolutions or goals to achieve for theyear, but whether they're actually accomplished is another story. Speaking of that, some choose not to make any resolutions for this very reason,but I say make some anyway. It's not a bad idea to have some kind of(realistic) aim.

My first resolution is about my weight. Unlike others who resolve to loseweight, I actually hope to gain more weight, preferably muscle over fat, thoughI'll be happy with any. My next resolution is to sleep earlier. This is actually a lot harder than it seems for a night owl like me, but I'll trymy best. My last resolution is to simply enjoy life and take iteasier. With more touristy weekends planned for the next season and minivacation(s) coming up when the weather gets warmer, this shouldn't be toodifficult to take these much needed breaks.

Hope 2012 shapes up to be the year I can finally keep all my resolutions!

Looking Back at 2011

2011-12-31T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! That time when videos pop up everywhere looking back at the top things of the year. Below are three of them. Posts resume next year!

Bing

Youtube

Zeitgeist

Convenience Fees

2011-12-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

Move over Federal Universal Service Fee, there's a new strange fee!

I'm usually not a fan of so-called"convenience charge" imposed by companies (who actually is?), and thelatest one by Verizon is no different.

If you haven't read about the outrage on the internets today, Verizon plans tocharge an extra $2 to customers who make those one-time payments using a creditor debit card on their website. Those who pay online using their bankaccounts or through an automatic bill payment system, write physical checks andmail them or pay at one of their retail locations are exempt from thisfee.

What gets me about this fee is that how is this consideredconvenient? From the looks of it seems that some of the fee exempt methodsare actually more convenient than the one-time payment way. What itreally is I think is a credit card convenience charge. Companies getcharged a small percentage whenever someone uses a credit card by that creditcard company. I guess Verizon is tired of paying that fee and is nowpassing it on to its customers. You might be wondering now: "Butwhat about those who sign up to auto bill pay with their creditcard?" Well, the percentage the credit card companies charge foreach transaction is so small that the $2 more than makes up the charges forthose coming from the auto bill pay folks. I wouldn't be surprisedhowever, if somewhere down the road Verizon will add a brand new convenience feeto them as well.

I guess the execs were busy playing with their shiny new iPhones and didn't see the outcome when Bank of America tried to impose a wildly unpopular fee.

Funk Smell of the Day

2011-12-28T21:56:00.001-05:00

At the 6/J/N/Q/R/Z subway entrance on Centre St,there always seem to be some sort of smell as one walked down the stairs to theturnstiles and to the platforms. Funny thing is that smell is only noticeableduring the evening rush hours.

It's hard to describe the smell exactly too as it changes daily. One dayit smells like a sewage, the next like human excrement. It's kind ofsuspenseful if you think about it. You never know what kind of smell you'regoing to get for the day except that it's not going to be good.

Extra Load

2011-12-27T23:01:00.001-05:00

With one of my colleagues going on vacation, I have assumed a big portion of his responsibilities until he returns. From the looks of it, it's not terribly difficult. I just now have to keep an eye out on some extra stuff and follow up on things he used to follow up on like scheduling and project management.

Not more than thirty minutes after he left however, two things already went wrong due to a typo in the paperwork and a mess of schedule conflicts popped up. I tried to minimize the damage, but because it was already the end of the workday, the other party involved has already left and nothing could be done until tomorrow morning, including how to reschedule everyone.

This is going to be a challenging and interesting two weeks. Just like when I first started working here I was thrown right into the fire after very minimal training. Looks like it's happening once again.

Holiday or Not?

2011-12-26T21:56:00.001-05:00

Today was one of those weird days where it's a Monday following a holiday that landed on a Sunday. In most cases because the holiday was on a Sunday, it is observed on the following day. For others though, only the actual day is celebrated and the next day is back to business as usual. For me and probably several others, it was the latter scenario.

I don't mind going to work on a day like this, but I don't need to be constantly reminded by everybody around me that they have the day off! Also, the trains running on a weekend schedule didn't make things any better either.

Holiday Surprise

2011-12-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

Aside from the fact that this is a cell phone commercial, you can't help but feel a bit warm and into the holiday spirits after watching this.

Catalina Surprise

2011-12-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

Usually at a supermarket when I'm checking out random coupons would spit out from the Catalina Machine. It was usually grocery related or something else I wasn't really interested in. This time however it was different.

Right before I was about to shove it into the grocery bag with my receipt I took a quick glance at it and it read "FREE $15 ITUNES GIFT CARD." At first I thought it was a typo or one of those situations where I would have to make a $50 purchase before getting this offer, but after having read the entire coupon front and back it seemed like there was no strings attached. A free $15 iTunes gift card and that was it.

The next day I went back to the supermarket, picked up a $15 iTunes gift card from their wall of gift cards and proceeded to the checkout line. I was expecting the cashier to say it was invalid or that I had to make a purchase first, but nope. I simply walked out with a free $15 iTunes gift card. Nice! I have to start paying more attention to these Catalina coupons!

Printer #4

2011-12-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

With my new Brother printer arriving today, itwill mark my fourth printer in such a short span of time.

The first one refused to print whenever one of the ink cartridges allegedly ranout of ink, even when I wanted to print something that didn't involve that"empty" cartridge at all. Then the second printer had constantmechanical problems and often would jam or spit out the paper all crumbled andmessed up.

Finally the third printer's fax and WiFi functions broke. Having toconnect to it using a printer cable was a hassle because the cable I had wasnot long enough and everytime I had to move stuff around to connect toit. There was still Bluetooth, but its success rate was 50/50. Itwas great when it worked, but when it didn't work, the paper would get stuck halfwaywith the print job hanging in the print queue. To reset it, I wouldeither force quit the print spooler or restart my computer if the first optiondidn't clear it. Once restarted, it's again a 50/50 chance that the oldprint job would be completed. If it failed again, the printer would spitout that stuck, half-printed paper, load a new piece of paper and get thatstuck halfway. I now have wasted two pieces of paper!

I have chosen this printer after reading some reviews. They were mixed,especially when it came to ink cartridge (or in this case toner) life, but itseems that every printer has this problem. I was a little put off thatthis printer was one of those printers that refused to print whenever that"out of ink" error message appeared, but thankfully users have founda way to override that message.

I won't be using this printer for a while as my old one still have some inkleft in its cartridges, but I hope it works better than the first three!

What Keys?

2011-12-20T22:22:00.001-05:00

Having lost the bathroom keys several times andhaving to pay exuberant prices to have them replaced because they're a specialtype of key, today we were on the other end and found someone else's key in thebathroom.

We could simply return it as I have suggested, but after having been burned somany times, my coworkers think otherwise. Their reasoning was that no onehas bother returning our keys when we lost ours, so why should we be sonice? One time a coworker saw someone with our key, but when confrontedabout it, the person flat out denied it in front of her face. So muchabout being good business neighbors.

So now the plans is to hold the keys until someone asks for it. Comingfrom their point of view I guess this is justified, but still this doesn'tsound right.

Autobiography via Facebook

2011-12-19T22:36:00.003-05:00

Facebook last week debut it's Timeline featurewhere details of an user's life going all the way back from when they were bornis displayed in a timeline format. In terms of appearance, it's well laidout and appeasing to the eyes. As you scroll down it highlights major points ofinterest in each year in the form of pictures, posts, or announcements. In areas where information seems sparse, users can manually enter in missingstuff themselves.

Looking at all the blanks I feel like I should add more information to make thetimeline look more complete, but do I really want to share that much? It's nice to have everything in one convenient place to refer back to in thefuture, but how much detail of my personal life should Facebook have about me?

I do like this idea of creating a timeline for my life, but I wonder if there'ssome offline alternative (doesn't have to be from Facebook) where I can freelyenter all my details without having to worry about people mining my data totarget ads for the sake of monetary benefits.

Nickels and Dimes Worth of Metrocards

2011-12-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

With the current fare structure of the Metrocard, most riders will end up with some small change when purchasing Metrocards with that added bonus. Some will just simply keep refilling that card and add the new amount to the remaining balance. Others however, seeing as how the remaining balance is so small, don't want to be bothered with that and just throw it away. This is where people like me come in to pick up and refill them. It might be small, but they add up! These past two months I have picked up $5.85 worth of Metrocards.

Someone has suggested that I bring them all to a booth and ask the staff to combine them all together. Rather than bother him with this trivial stuff, I grabbed a bag of dimes and nickels, brought them all to a vending machine at my local subway station and refilled each of them myself with enough money for at least one ride. I knew this was going to take a while, so I deliberately waited until Sunday to do this and at the rear exit of my local subway station where there's not a lot of foot traffic. It took me a good 15 minutes entering all those dimes and nickels into the vending machine, but thankfully no one was waiting behind me to use the machine next! I now had six Metrocards with at least one ride in each of them!

Keep those Metrocards with small balances coming in!

Redeeming Them Coupons

2011-12-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

I finally got a chance this weekend to redeem two McDonald's coupons I purchased from living social earlier this month. I'm always a little hesitant using these "free" coupons because the stores usually give a hard time with them. They'll make me jump through loops by saying all sorts of things like they don't accept it, it's not for this particular item, I have to get the manager to approve it first and other limitations in hopes to deter me from using the coupon at all. With these McDonald's coupons however, the entire transaction was surprisingly smooth. They had to ring that order up separately from my other order to charge me the tax due on the Big Mac and fries. Other than that it was business as usual. Now I don't have to worry about redeeming the remaining coupons!

For those of you who are criticizing my eating habits or looking at my coupons with disgust, give it a rest. Like you don't eat some other kind of junk/fast food, hm, Mr./Ms. Perfect Health?

PokeAwesome

2011-12-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

Some of the Pokemon get a little too real. Language NSFW.

End of the Unlimited (For Now)

2011-12-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today is my last day on my 30-day unlimitedMetrocard and after this one I will not be buying another one until March nextyear when the weather gets warmer once again. The weather this time ofthe year is too cold to go out during the weekends on those littleexcursions. Since I'm not taking the subway/bus on the weekends now, itwouldn't make economical sense to purchase a $104 unlimited card when I'm onlygoing to use it on the weekdays to get to/from work.

So what am I going to do now with all that time on the weekends? Finishsome video games (just barely started on Zelda: Skyward Sword), back up all myfiles (it's that time of the year again), clear out the junk on my room (Icurrently look like I'm a hoarder), edit/upload pictures I've taken this pastyear (been meaning to do this) and most importantly catch up on some sleep(very needed).

Unfavorable Position

2011-12-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today while chatting with a colleague, the topicabout our roles at where we worked came up. He told me he wouldn't like to have my position. I believe this was the third or fourth timesomeone told me that they disliked my job.

Is it really that bad? Sure there's the occasional irate customer or theendless paperwork trail to follow, but every job has their bad points. If one can look past these points then it's not that bad at all. It might suck at the beginning, but then you develop your groove and everything works in sync with you (most of the time at least anyway).

It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it can't be no one's cup of tea.

Who Are You Again?

2011-12-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

Early this morning I attended a meeting where Ihad the chance to meet certain managers in person. While they were allvery nice it seemed that no one was able to get my name right. I wascalled all sorts of other names before each of them fit it right.

That wasn't the only thing. Although I didn't noticed it myself, mycolleague said that the managers while talking spent most of the time staringat one person and not the other two people (including me) that stoodthere. Was it because they didn't know who I was and were shy, or that Ihad something on my face? I hope it was the former and not the latter!

In any event I wonder why I was that unnoticeable this morning. I stoodthere just like my other colleagues, yet it felt like I wasn't there atall. What I got basically were quick general glances.

Being semi-invisible isn't all bad. The way I see it, the lessrecognizable you are the less susceptible you are to being asked to docountless favors or other unfavorable tasks. Someone else with a morefamiliar name would come up first before yours would. Also, you can getaway with certain things others can't because you're under the radar.

It's good to know people, network and whatnot, but at the same time the lesspeople you know the less problems you'll encounter.

Hot and Cold

2011-12-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

My office gets quite interesting when theweather gets cold outside. Like most places in the northeast, the heaterkicks up once it gets cold enough. However, the table with the computersis placed right above the heater. I don't know whose idea this was as I'msure heat and steam don't mix well with computers, but apparently it has beenlike this for a while.

So because the computer is on this table I usually sit here with my legs rightnext to the heater while I work. Every time the heater turns on, my legswould be warmed up to the point of making them feel real dry and itchy. As the heat is traveling under the table and out the sides, my hands are on topof the table typing away on the computer. I now have a hot dry legs andcold stiff hands situation going on here. My upper body is feeling coldwhile my lower part is warm and toasty. This is feels quite awkward and uncomfortable.

If the risk of getting Carpal tunnel syndrome from typing too long doesn't get me up and out of this seat, then the heat most certainly will!

A New Way to Internet

2011-12-11T23:45:00.000-05:00

Now that I got my parents a tablet, maybe they can enjoy the internet a little better. For non-English speaking people like my parents, finding stuff on the net is hard. Since they speak Chinese they would have to know the pinyin, or Romanized versions of the characters and type that into a search engine. Unfortunately they're not experts in pinyin, let alone the Roman alphabet, so this was not an option.

The next option is to have some sort of writing peripheral attached to the computer so they can write the character and it would transcribe on to the screen. This seemed like a good idea, that is until I actually got those peripherals. They were very janky and worked with certain programs while refusing to cooperate with others. One even came cracked! Aside from all these problems, they weren't cheap. They averaged about $100.

With them costing so much I figured I should just get them a good tablet. I finally got them a really nice one and currently in the process of teaching them how to use it and whatnot. The most important feature is that they can now search the web by writing out Chinese characters. Sure it's slow that you have to write one character out at a time, but it's better than nothing. Once they get the hang of it I'm sure it will flow much smoother.

SantaCon 2011

2011-12-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today while I was shopping at the new Apple Store in Grand Central, which by the way is quite spacious but hard to navigate around because of all the tourists, the annual SantaCon happened to roll on by to thearea and all convened at the concourse level. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people dressed up in Santa costumes and walk around the streets of NYC in this annual tradition. There's no real history behind this event except that a bunch of people "get into the holiday spirit," somemore than others (i.e. drunk), and spread joy and cheer around. If nothing else, this is a great spectacle for everyone else.

Brunchables

2011-12-09T00:57:00.001-05:00

A new concept for you brunch fans!

Analog Afternoon

2011-12-08T22:08:00.001-05:00

With the internet and fax being down pretty muchall day at the office today, I had to resort to doing all my paperwork andother tasks offline and (gasp) the old fashion way of pen and paper. Itfelt a bit awkward not having the internet at my fingertips to instantly looksomething up or reply to emails. Certain things that could've been donein 10 minutes now took twice, and in some cases thrice as long. By theafternoon I finally got the rhythm of this whole analog way.

It was amazing to see how much I relied on being connected to these devices andto the internet. The former way of doing things before the internet seemslow and inconvenient, but at the same time felt like more effort was put intoit because of the manual labor involved. It's sort of like to comparetyping an email to writing a letter. Feels more personal with a letter.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

2011-12-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

Today was one of those days that seem likeeverything was going wrong and I couldn't get anything done. First I getreprimanded for following orders that turned out to be incorrect. Next, Icouldn't get something resolved at the city agency and have to take the longway to get it done. Then when I got back to the office the internet andfax were down and was with Verizon tech support while crawling under tablesswitching wires around. Finally as I was about to leave someone came upto office about a discrepancy in some records and I had to stay late to pullout all the files.

Man, I think I get these days quite often. I bet if Idid a quick search in this blog I'll find a post not too long ago venting aboutsimilar things.

It wasn't a total downer today though. I did pick up about $4 worth ofMetrocards this afternoon in the subway. One free ride, woo!

Too Simple

2011-12-06T22:16:00.001-05:00

Someone today told me that I'm a simpleperson. Not simple like I'm stupid, but rather someone that isstraightforward. Unlike others that may have complex relationships withothers intertwined in a delicate network that the slightest stir can cause a greatripple effect of sorts, I apparently have relationships simply based on facevalue. Was this a compliment or an insult?

I suppose I am a simple person in that regards, but not totally. I dohave intricate networks based on years of interaction and trust, but I alsoadmit it's not as a tangled mess as others have. I guess I'm actuallykind of lucky to have a network mostly free of drama and other problems. I don't have time for this nonsense, so I try my best not to get involved insuch situations.

So to the person that told me I'm simple: Yes, I guess I am a fairly simple guyand I like it exactly the way it is, thanks.

Gameless 3DS

2011-12-05T22:44:00.001-05:00

I finally caved in a bought myself a Nintendo3DS yesterday. What pushed me over the edge in buying one was a Best Buydeal where they gave a $50 gift card with the purchase of any 3DS system. Add that to another $25 gift card I will be getting from using some Coke pointsI saved up and I now have $75 worth of gift cards to use on videogames!

I really want to buy Super Mario Land 3D and Mario Kart 7 (and another game forfree since Best Buy has a "buy 2 games get 1 free" promotion going onthis week as well), but the $25 card from Coca Cola has been delayed (probablydue to the overwhelming demand). I want to wait until I get that card soI can use them all at once, so that means I currently have no games for my newshiny handheld.

I guess I can play some old DS games in the meantime, or take random 3Dpictures with that built-in 3D camera.

New Can Same Coke

2011-12-04T22:32:00.001-05:00

Recently the folks at Coca-Cola has temporarily changed their normal red Coke cans to a white/silver for a campaign to raise awareness and fundraising for polar bears in the Arctic. While this is a good idea in principle, people unfortunately got confused with the new can and some mistaken them with Diet Coke. It may seem like a minor annoyance, but for diabetics this can be a huge problem. That's not the only problem though. Some also claim that the Coke in the new tastes differently than the ones in the old red cans.

As someone who has drank Coke since he was a little kid, I can say that the Coke does not taste differently in the new can. These people that claim it is different... could it be because the whole idea of a new colored can is so overwhelming that it has somehow tainted their perception of the Coke flavor? As for those who mistaken the cans for Diet Coke, I understand the "blind grab" defense, but you're also partly to blame for not actually looking at the can. Doesn't it sound a bit silly to not read something before we put it to our mouth and into our body?

Now that they have changed the cans back to the regular red, does that mean these white cans are now a collector's item? Time to stock up on them!

Browsing DeKalb Market

2011-12-03T23:45:00.000-05:00

No real plans today, so I decided to check out the DeKalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn after a friend recommended it to me.

The market is located conveniently near the DeKalb Ave subway station and is steps away from Fulton Mall. Before heading to the outdoor market, I decided to take a lunch break at the famous Junior's restaurant. I was really to eat one of their delicious cheesecakes, but changed my mind later after the dish I ordered was much larger than I expected.

The DeKalb Market is located in an open area which I believe was the former site of the Fulton Center with the Toys R Us and that sketchy food court below in the basement level. A cool thing about this market is that it is surrounded by cargo bins you usually see hauled by those big rigs on highways. Some of the bins are even carved out to make a little store with windows and a door! Aside from the many craft stores, there are also a large open area for folks to sit down and enjoy the several dining establishments. While you're eating, there is loud indie music blaring from a nearby beat box/music store for you to listen to.

All in all, I think the DeKalb Market is a cool little place to hang out and take a break if you're in the area.

Street View Travel

2011-12-02T23:45:00.000-05:00

An awesome trip using Google Street View that makes one want to go "Aww..."

Self-Spit

2011-12-01T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today after work I noticed someone while walkingdown the stairs to the subway platform spit right in front of his ownpath. I'm not entirely certain, but I think he got some of his own spiton his jeans because he was walking quite fast down the stairs.

It's one thing to spit onto the floor, but do you have to spit right in frontof where you're walking? Was it that bad that you couldn't wait until youhad clearance? Oh yeah, you look real cool spitting on yourself.

I'm totally against spitting in public, but this self-inflicted shot wasactually a little hilarious. Maybe this is the way to teach spiters howdisgusting this habit of theirs really is.

I'll Pass on the Shoving, Thanks

2011-11-30T23:03:00.001-05:00

Tonight was the tree lighting ceremony atRockefeller Center and I thought about heading up there after work and checkingout the festivities in person instead of watching it on TV. Then Iremember that this was a popular free event with guest stars and located in atouristy area. These two things meant that the venue area was definitelygoing to be extremely crowded. Add that with the president in towntonight as well and you have one overcrowding nightmare! Seeing as how Iwasn't in the mood of being packed in gated areas and shoved around all nightby strangers, I decided to skip this event again.

I think I have pretty good patience for these type of situations and for themost part don't mind being in heavily crowded areas. However, there'salways at least one person who has to ruin the whole experience by having anunfortunate BO problem or rudely shoving/elbowing people acting like it's otherpeople's fault for getting in their way. I have absolutely no patiencefor these folks.

So for the sake of my own sanity I avoid events like these (if possible) ifI know attendance is going to reach crazy levels and the chance of doucheypeople attending is very likely.

Gift Card Deadline

2011-11-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

This morning I was greeted with news of AmericanAirlines' parent company AMR filing for reorganization under Chapter 11. I don'thave any gripes against AA. Nothing really stands out about them based onpersonal experience. Seems like a pretty average airline to me.

What I'm really worried about today's announcement is that I still have some AAgift cards to use! They say it's still business as usual, but for howlong? Worse case scenario they can't pull themselves out of debt duringthis reorganization period and then decides to null all gift cards and other rewardredemptions to cut further costs. That means I could potentially be out of luck.

A similar situation, but not as dire, happened to me before with a Walmart giftcard. After shopping trip at Walmart with a gift card, I had a smallbalance left on the card. I figured I would use that remaining balance ontheir online MP3 store and discard the few cents left. That way I didn't had to go to a physical Walmart location and save some time. I keptprocrastinating until one day Walmart decided to pull out of the MP3business. Now I was stuck with this card. To use the card I now hadto either purchase something else on their website and pay a shipping fee (the fee which came out to more than the amount left on the card), or buy stuff from the nearestWalmart which is a 20 minute drive or 90 minute bus ride. To this day I still have the card and still have not decided what to do.

So not to repeat my mistakes I better figure how to use up the AA gift cards soon, even though I have no time to go anywhere.

Drowsy Monday

2011-11-28T21:52:00.001-05:00

Today's unusually warm weather coupled with thefact that it's a Monday right after a holiday weekend made me really drowsy allday. Whether it was waiting at the Buildings Department, walking out toget lunch, or finishing up midday tasks, I felt really sleepy. I dosometimes get that afternoon tiredness by midday, but today it felt a little different. Mycoworker felt the same way.

You know how some people complain of acheswhen it's about to rain? Is this one of those things? Is it one ofthose incidents where one's body acts/behaves a certain way because of theweather?

Today's temperatures fell right around the comfort zone for me, and probably for many others as well.

Blast to the Past with Zelda Anniversary CD

2011-11-27T20:34:00.001-05:00

While taking a break from Skyward Sword I started listening to the extra musical CD included with the game and I must say the orchestrated remakes of popular music from various Zelda games areexcellent! Each song takes me back to those games and the countless hours I spent on them running around towns, crawling through dungeons, collecting heart pieces, etc.

I can't believe this series is 25 years old. I still remember the first time I played aZelda game. It was "The Legend of Zelda" on the NES. Something aboutscrolling through the screens and listening to the midi music loop continuouslywas fun. Like all players I initially thought Link was Zelda, the person named on the front of the game box like how the little plumber in red was named Mario, heh.

However, it wasn't until "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" for the SNES that I really got into the series. It was the overall enjoyment of that game that me a fan of the series and actually RPGs in general. It was also the very first Zelda game I finished all by myself! That in itself was very gratifying.

Happy 25th Anniversary! I wonder what the next 25 years will bring!

Zelda Weekend

2011-11-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

It might be a week late, but my copy of Zelda: Skyward Sword finally arrived after waiting all morning for the mailman. I also went ahead and purchase the Wii Motion Plus attachment earlier this week in anticipation of this game. I'm all ready to go ahead and play this game!

Judging from the various reviews, this looks like quite a meaty game with total playtime for one run-through averaging about 40 hours. Looks like I'm going to be indoors this entire weekend at least getting into this game.

Waiting Because I'm Creative

2011-11-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

A new commercial mocking the iSheep, I mean die-hard iPhone fans. It's not the first one, but it is a funny one!

Quiet Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving I'm taking it easy. No waking up early and taking the subway at 3in the morning to see a bunch of huge balloons float by Times Square thisyear. No riding some stinky Chinatown bus to Atlantic City to catch a concert with a singer who I don't really know this year and then making that 4 AM return trip. No going to a relative's house and seeing people who I haven't talk to in over a year.

Nope. Nothing of that sort. I'm just going to lounge around home and catch up on some sleep. People are thankful for different things. I'm thankful for having time to relax.

Amazonian Surprise

2011-11-22T22:24:00.001-05:00

Much to my surprise I received an email from Amazonsaying that one of my orders qualified for a promotion that wasn't mentionedearlier when I originally placed the order and gave me some credit towards afuture purchase. If it was any othercompany I would've been out of luck, but Amazon included previous all previousorders.

This is why I love shopping at Amazon. They really look out for us customers and many times more than necessary go that extra mile. Their workplace environment though might be a different story and not as cheery based on things I've heard about them.

Shut Down Again

2011-11-21T23:45:00.000-05:00

With news of Di Fara, a very popular pizza joint in theMidwood section of Brooklyn, closed by the Health Department the first thingthat came to mind was, "Again? Huh. Took a bit longer this time."

Don't get me wrong. I love his pizzas and will still patronize his restaurant whenever itopens back, but let's face it, the guy's not running the cleanest restaurantout there. The interior designing andway he prepares the pizza will probably turn some people off, but that's all partof the experience. Besides, I've seenworse at other restaurants and they still manage to stay open somehow.

Anyway, I wish Di Fara the best of luck in fighting to gethis restaurant back open. Even with allthese problems he still charges a premium for a slice and people still flockthere to get one. Just shows that hispizza is really worth it.

Sunday Morning at Terminal 4

2011-11-20T23:45:00.000-05:00

Woke up early (at least for me it's early) today and headed out to JFK's Terminal 4 with my mom to pick up a cousin from China. We got there about 30 minutes after the plane had landed and figured that would be enough time for her to go through immigration and baggage claim.

We stood around for half an hour and still didn't see her come out. By now all the Asians waiting around for that flight have left and is replaced by Hasidic Jews waiting for an El Al flight. Another half an hour passed by and now the Hasidic Jews were replaced by Germans and Singaporeans waiting for a Singapore Airlines flight. We began to worry as various scenarios played out in our heads. Maybe she was detained by immigration for not answering all the questions properly, followed some stranger who offered her a "free ride," or maybe she got on the wrong flight and is now in Europe it some other country.

After waiting almost 90 minutes, I got a call from my dad who got a call from my uncle in Guangzhou. It turned out that my cousin never made it on the flight because she mixed up the departure date. She was now back at the hotel with her mom waiting until the next available flight.

I'm glad that she's safe, but why didn't she bother calling us when she didn't get on the flight? She had a whole 12 hours to call, but didn't bother giving us that courtesy. If it wasn't for my uncle calling, I still wouldn't have known where she was and continued to wait at the airport.

I really don't want to call her a country bumpkin for being so ignorant, but I can't think of any other reason for her not giving us a call ahead of time and not making us waiting at the airport for an hour and a half and spending $12 in parking for nothing.

Brooklyn Navy Yard

2011-11-19T23:45:00.000-05:00

I started out rather late in today's outing to Brooklyn Navy Yard, but it turned out okay since the new BLDG 92 museum in Brooklyn Navy Yard didn't open until noon anyway. I got there around 2 PM and still had plenty of time to see everything.

Being on my "must visit NYC locales" list for quite some time now, it was difficult to visit the area if one wasn't on a bus or bike tour. I didn't feel like lugging my bike all the way up to Vinegar Hill nor did I want to do the bus tour because based on reviews you stay on the bus more than actually walk around the area. With this new museum that just opened in the vicinity however, I can freely visited a piece of the yard without having to join either tour.

The museum goes into great detail about the yard, its history, present state and future plans. I was surprised to learn about all the things that are happening within these grounds and never knew so many companies call the yard their home (for their businesses that is).

After visiting the museum I walked passed Vinegar Hill back to DUMBO where I checked out some stores there before ending the day at Brooklyn Bridge Park where I caught the sunset. Not bad for a half day outing!

Zelda Rap

2011-11-18T23:45:00.000-05:00

To celebrate the release of "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" this weekend, here is a uh... rap by Link himself.

Popeye's for Dinner

2011-11-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

When I told people that I was having Popeye'sfor dinner tonight, I got quite a few weird looks and chuckles. Whenpeople think of dinner, Popeye's isn't usually on top of their list I guess.

What's wrong with having Popeye's for dinner? It's not lunchtime, butit's still a meal. Granted it's not the healthiest choice, but it getsthe job of making one full done.

Popeye's and other similar fast food establishments are a nice break from thetraditional dinner outings so many are accustomed to. If everyone isenjoying the meal, I don't think it matters whatever's for dinner.

Those were some really drumsticks!

New Feature for HD7?

2011-11-16T22:35:00.001-05:00

Just when I thought my phone didn't have anymorenew features, I read on Engadget today that there's a Windows Phone updatepopping up that enables mobile hotspot ability on the HTC Mozart and HD7 (the phone Icurrently use).

It has slowly started rolling out to markets outside of the US and it's stillunknown if T-Mobile will give this update the green light, though I have astrong hunch they will not allow it through as they may cry fear overthe possible surge of additional data usage on their network. I personally don't know when I'll ever use such a feature, butit's nice to have just in case whenever the situation arises. So may Iget this update T-Mobile? Pretty please?

Two Hour Morning Commute

2011-11-15T20:45:00.001-05:00

This morning I made a new non-weather relatedsubway delayed commute record: 2 hours! I started out on time, but woundup extremely late. Apparently there were signal problems at the ProspectPark Station and the problem was compounded when a train's emergency brakeswere tripped several times.

After having stood on the platform for an hour I contemplated about switchingover to the other side, take a train to Coney Island and catch the D or N trainthere, but by the time I wanted to walk over it looked like service wasrestored as a Manhattan bound B train pulled into the station. At leastit seemed that way at the time.

A Q train eventually arrived and I was surprised that it was semi empty. I sat down as the train made its way toward Manhattan. As it reached thetroubled spot from earlier there were delays once again as all the backed uptrains slowly cleared the area one by one alternating between the B and Qtrains. We eventually got through and resumed speeding after leaving theProspect Park stop.

I didn't get to work until about 10:30, but thankfully I didn't have anymorning appointments today. However, my boss decided to call office againthis morning and I wasn't there to answer it. The days I'm there early hedoesn't call. On days like this when I'm running late due to reasonsbeyond my control he decides to spot check on me.

Oh I'm going to have fun time trying to explain this one to my boss when he gets back.

Adieu McRib

2011-11-14T22:33:00.001-05:00

Today I believe is that last day that McDonald'sis selling their McRib sandwich and will probably bring it back again next yeararound this time. I usually thought they end their promotions on a weekend,but I think my coworker was right in saying that they're ending this on aweekday instead to give people going to work on Monday one last chance to savorthis artificial pork sandwich.

It's strange how they sell the McRib briefly and then take it away for ayear (or years). Is it because they're afraid people will get sick ofit? The Big Mac's been on the menu forever and no one seems to be sick ofthat. Even if some are tired of eating that, they can always ordersomething else like chicken nuggets or a fish fillet.

In any event, until next time McRib.

Touring Queens Blvd

2011-11-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

This week I attended another NYC Transitevent. Today was a walking tour of the Queens Blvd corridor from JacksonHeights-Roosevelt Ave to 169 St station. This particular section wasfocused on because it just so happens to almost be the 50th anniversary thatthis section was in service.

Starting at Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave station we first visited the unusedpart of the station which the station manager kindly let us access to. After that we hopped on and off the E/F trains with multiple stops along theway. At each stop the guide briefly told us the history of the stationand the surrounding area (there was quite a lot of farmland in these areasonce) and how at some point in time they serve as a temporary terminal as theline continued to extend to meet the growing needs of the new neighborhoods poppingup along the line.

Like all the other tours, I learned quite a lot and always find the littlerandom facts I never knew about pretty interesting. However, this tourdeserves some extra points as they provided us with a radio receiver andearphones so we could better hear the guide whenever he spoke without having toconstantly crowd around him.

That's it for Transit Museum tours for this year I believe. Can't wait tosee what they have planned for spring!

Tanooki (Tanuki) in Times Square

2011-11-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today Nintendo held a pre-launch party for Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. Usually they hold events in the open area next to the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center, but they decided to hold this in Times Square instead.

In Times Square they transformed a part of it into a life sized Super Mario stage. People were able to run around the stage grabbing coins, hit "?" blocks, slide down a pipe and reach a flagpole at the end. To add to the experience they gave out tanooki ears and tails for people to wear. It look a little silly, but it's a cool collector's item. If running around the stage wasn't your thing, there was also several kiosks set up for people to try out the new game and an area for people to take pictures with a tanooki tail and ears.

As in all Nintendo events, the area was packed with kids and general Mario/Nintendo fans. However, because it was in Times Square there was also a flood of tourists mixed into the bunch. As a result they exhausted their tanooki tail/ear handouts and wristbands to enter the obstacle course in no time. It also looked like they had some crowd control issues, but that's what you get when you do something in Times Square aka "Tourist Central."

If you looked pass the people constantly elbowing you and kicking your shoes it was a nice event. It was cool to see how they were able to set up such stage in the middle of NYC. It was also neat how they took over the ABC News ticker with a giant ad for the game. As for the game itself, it looks like another great Mario game and I do really want it, but I do not own a 3DS and am still on the fence whether to buy one or not because there are simply not enough interesting games to entice to buy one at the moment. I guess I'll continue to wait.

Super Mario Beads

2011-11-11T21:45:00.001-05:00

These stop-motion Mario animations never cease to amaze me!

More Work

2011-11-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

I figure with the boss away it would be more slow at the office, but instead it's quite the opposite! There's a more relaxed atmosphere yes, but it's hardly slow.

From the multiple tasks with close and tight deadlines popping up randomly to surprise errand runs, I notice that I have more work than if the boss was actually here! It also seems that more problems arise when he's not around. They're all manageable until he gets back, but why didn't they occur when he was here? They could've been taking care of immediately instead of being put on hold.

By the time he's back things are going to slow down again and he's going to think we didn't do much.

Difficult to Focus

2011-11-09T22:57:00.001-05:00

Nothing like an irritating event starting right off from the morning to throw one off for the rest of the day! For the entire day I was unable to focus all thanks to that. The constant reminder throughout the day wasn't any help either! I tried doing other stuff to distract myself, but then it would just came right back up to my face.

Only got to finish half of what I wanted to do today all because of that. Ah, when is this week over?

New Food! Pumpkin Cheesecake Kit Kat

2011-11-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

The many flavors of Kit Kats never seem toend. Kudos to my friend for sending this to me all the way fromJapan! This is a special Halloween pumpkin cheesecake flavor Kit Kat.

After taking the first bite, I noticed a creamy taste that tasted morelike milk chocolate than cheesecake. After that there was very slightdifferent taste. I think that was the pumpkin, but it was hard to tellbecause the initial taste was so strong. In the end the two sticks tastedmore like the cookies n' cream flavor instead. If it wasn't for theHalloween themed wrapper I couldn't even tell it was pumpkin cheesecake.

Still, it was a very delicious snack and I enjoyed every bite of it!

New Chicken Joint! Peaches HotHouse

2011-11-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

Located in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn,Peaches HotHouse was dubbed by the New York Post as having the spiciest friedchicken in NYC. With such a claim like this, you know I had to try outthis place myself!

First off let me talk about the neighborhood. Contrary to popular belief, the restaurant is located in a neighborhood thatdoesn't look shady at all. This is due to all the gentrificationhappening I suppose, but I felt totally safe walking down the surroundingstreets. Nighttime is a different story, but then again one has to becareful in any neighborhood during the evening hours.

Back to the restaurant. The place is rather cozy, and by cozy I meansmall and tables really close together. This isn't necessarily a badthing though. Upon entering I noticed a welcoming and warmatmosphere. Complete strangers were talking to each other like if theywere friends. Even I wound up talking to the person next to me!

Now to the food. I was bummed to find out that they did not allow mixingof the chicken and had to choose only one spicy level. I was reallytempted to try the extra hot, but at the same time was a little nervous. If they were indeed super spicy, I would be stuck having to finish all threepieces (the meal came with three pieces and a side) by myself. I likespicy, but not crazy spicy though. Not wanting to take that risk, Iultimately picked the regular.

The regular was not bad at all however. In fact it was rathertasty! The chicken was cooked just right with optimal tenderness,juiciness and seasoning. It was on the level of Buttermilk Channel or Pies-N-Thighs. The black eyed pea salad was a nice complement to the meal, though after having tried the fries from another plate I should've ordered the fries instead.

This place is definitely worth a repeat visit as I need to come back with a couple of friends and try out the extra hot chicken. If not, the regular chicken alone is worth the trip. In any event, when I do come I need to be prepared to wait.

I'm sure you have heard of the "slow-food" trend. Well, this place apparently takes that idea very seriously. It took nearly 30 minutes for the food to arrive. If I had a group it probably would've taken even longer as they like to have everything come out at once. I guess they cook on order which is a good thing in terms of freshness, but make sure you everything you want in the first run. Otherwise if you want something later on you're going to have restart the waiting clock.

Power Tour

2011-11-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

This weekend the MTA held another one of theirsubway related events. This weekend was a tour of a powersubstation. I've been meaning to go on one of these tours for a whilenow, but it was always sold out by the time I found out, that is until thisyear when they implemented an online reservation system and added an extra tourdate.

Meeting up at one of the system's many power substations, our tour guide was aformer supervisor and was quite informative and knowledgeable about thesubject. It's always good to have a guide that also genuinely showinterest in the subject he/she's talking about.

After an extensive conversation about this particular place and everythingthat's in it, including past items, we ventured off in Hell's Kitchen where wemade several stops that provided some great photo opportunities. We endedat the former IRT 59th St Powerhouse and learned about the history andsignificance of that building.

All in all I had a great time on this walking tour. By the end I learneda great deal of how this massive transit system is powered and the operationlogistics that's sure to intimidate the even most skilled engineer out there.

Mosquitoes in Fall

2011-11-05T23:45:00.000-04:00

Am I the only who's still having to deal with mosquitoesat this time of the year? Usually by now mosquitoes are in hiding or are frozen to death by the crisp cold NYC weather. This year however, I'm finding myself running around chasing mosquitoes in my room after having buzzed right passed my ear and ruining my sleep.

This year seems to be a larger than usual number of mosquito sightings for me, especially during this time of the year. I wonder where are they coming from. I hope this is not going to be a yearlong nuisance. I freakin' hate mosquitoes!

World Order

2011-11-04T01:59:00.001-04:00

A rather interesting music video. Those guys have some pretty cool synchronized moves! It's sort of like watching synchronized swimming, but without the water and bathing suits.

Overseas Spot Check

2011-11-03T22:11:00.000-04:00

My boss has been on vacation for just a littlebit over 24 hours and he already called back to the office! I couldn'tbelieve it at first, but I quickly recognized his voice.

He didn't really called to check on us per se. Instead, it appearedthat his phone wasn't working properly (he was using someone else's phone) and wantedus to call his phone to check. I called his phone back and it worked perfectly fine.

His whole story smells fishy to me, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean it's not the first time he's had trouble with a mobile phone. If he calls again tomorrow with the same story then I call "BS!"

Vacation Feeling at Work

2011-11-02T23:45:00.000-04:00

Starting today my boss is away on vacation forthe first time in a last couple of years. He's not really a vacation typeof person, so this is a big deal for him.

As for me, I have so much work that I'm set for the next couple of weeks. I have records to manager, clients to follow up with, errands to the BuildingsDepartment, etc. In other words, no slacking off for me!

Well at least I won't have that feeling of my boss continuously watching overmy shoulder for the next couple of days. That is of course except when hecalls back to the office randomly to check on us, which I have a feeling hecertainly will do.

Mandatory Free Lunch

2011-11-01T23:45:00.000-04:00

I know I shouldn't complain when there's freelunch for the day, but when I can't refuse the offer and have no other option,that's not right.

Once again I was treated to lunch today. I was grateful for the person'sgenerosity, but I politely declined when I heard where they were going toeat. The food there is average, but ultimately I just don't like havingChinese during lunch. My repeated "No thank you" wasuseless. I even said I was willing to pay for my own meal at my ownplace, but they insisted that I join them at for lunch. In the end I hadno choice but to join them and pretended the whole time that I was enjoying thefood.

Next time I think I'm going to just say that I already bought lunch to betteravoid this confrontation.

Ghost Tour

2011-10-31T23:45:00.000-04:00

Today after work I attended a ghost, murder andmystery tour, and being that today was Halloween it was the perfect timing forsuch a tour. I've been on many other types of walking tours around thecity, but this was the time I've been on such a tour like this.

Starting off at City Hall we walked around Lower Manhattan and stop at variouspoints of interests. At each stop our guide told us stories of horrificdeaths and ghosts wondering around. The website was right in that thistour is not recommended for young kids. Some of the stories were quitegruesome and graphic! Even with chilly temperatures and winds it wasn't adifficult walk at all.

We ended on a more positive ghost story near the Staten Island Ferry on WaterSt about two hours later. I was amazed at all the things I learned aboutLower Manhattan that I never realize despite the countless times I've walkedpassed these spots. It was a cool way to learn about NYC history throughthese creepy stories. I'm sure if they taught it this way in schools kidswould pay more attention, though I'm sure parents would be in an uproar overthe graphic details.

Sunday at the Post Office

2011-10-30T23:51:00.001-04:00

With my original plans today cancelled dueyesterday's quick moving snowstorm, I had nothing else to do recently anddecided to head out to the James Farley Post Office up in Midtown to mail some thingsout. I could wait until tomorrow during work to mail the stuff out, butsince I have time now I figured I might as well get this over with.

Unlike other post offices, this one is open 24 hours. Well, that is itused to be open 24 hours. After several rounds of budget cuts, the USPSdecided to cut back the hours of the office being staffed to help customerneeds. Other times now it is still open, but you're limited to automatedpostal services only. Nevertheless I believe it's the only official postoffice open in the city on Sunday. Being as such, expect lines if you decide to come here on a Sunday. I stood on line for a good twenty minutes before walking up to a window and getting help. Then again it is a post office, so lines are expected no matter where or when you go visit one.

On the plus side, having used this post office so many times, I never once ran into people (usually elderly folks) complain about the slow/poor service that I do at my local post office. I guess people in Midtown are more civil?

Merry Halloween!

2011-10-29T21:04:00.000-04:00

Usually it begins to snow around here towards the end ofNovember, but this year it seems that Mother Nature decided to jump the gun and let it snow at the end of October! It was a nice mix of snow, rain and wind. At times it was snowing in big chunks! Regardless I still went out for some lunch just for the sake of getting out of the house for a bit.

Fortunately this autumn snowstorm is short-lived as it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and the temperature remaining above freezing.

Mistaken Identity

2011-10-28T22:59:00.003-04:00

I have to admit that when I first a Legend of Zelda game for the first time, I originally thought Link was Zelda too, heh.

Old Habits

2011-10-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this guy! He's only beenhere a little over three months and he's already back to his old ways. Itwas this very thing that got him into a crapload of trouble back home. Hebarely knows anyone here, yet he's causing headaches for everyone.

Addictions are hard to break, but he has to try. Keeping him occupiedwould help, but even when offered a job he refused and instead lie (badly)about what he's up to.

Unlike home, no one's going to help him here. He better change his waysor he's going to suffer and have no choice but to go home.

TICK-TOCK!

2011-10-26T23:45:00.000-04:00

For the past month I had to endure the loudtick-tocking clock I bought at Target. I sort of knew this would be anoisy clock in the beginning when I looked at its price, but since it was socheap it wasn't such a risky investment.

I usually am a heavy sleeper and can sleep through most things. Heck, Ieven lost count of the times I fell asleep with all the lights in my room stillon. However, there are some nights when I just want a totally silentroom.

After looking around for a bit, I found a clock on Amazon that is said to besilent and the customer reviews back up that claim. I received ityesterday and immediately replaced the noisy one on the wall and placed thatone in the living room. So far it works like a charm and is extremely quiet. I can't even hear it at all as the second hand moves around. Let's hopeit stays this way!

Foliage Weekend

2011-10-25T22:53:00.000-04:00

This weekend was two separate trips to upstate New Yorkto check out the fall foliage. Accordingiloveny.com this weekend was peak foliage in Hudson Valley, so it was optimaltime to see the leaves change color up there.

Saturday I took the Metro North up to the Walkway Overthe Hudson in Poughkeepsie. I always like taking the Hudson Line as the trainline runs along the Hudson River and offers some spectacular views. During this ride riders were treated to anawesome color transition of the leaves, from the greens in NYC to the reds,yellows and oranges the further north the train headed. When the train finally arrived inPoughkeepsie I was treated to some nice fall foliage scenery walking on thewalkway and later while on a sightseeing cruise boat. It didn't really look like it was at peak (interms of fall foliage), but there were quite a few spots that had a nicedisplay of autumn colors.

The next day I continued my fall foliage outing with ahiking trip with a couple friends up in Sam's Point Preserve in Cragsmoor. We arrived around 10 AM and spent pretty muchthe entire day exploring the various trails. In the course of seven hours, we hiked down to an ice cavern, throughforests and wild shrubs littered with rocky paths and up to the top of awaterfall. We hiked a total of sevenmiles... not too shabby for us newbies.

Like in Poughkeepsie, the fall foliage colors werespotty, but enough to make nice a contrast from the greener trees. Regardless of the foliage, it did not takeaway any of the numerous breathtaking views.

Did a lot of walking and leaf-watching this weekend. I think I had enough foliage for one seasonalready!

Where's the Hello?

2011-10-24T23:45:00.000-04:00

Whatever happened to common courtesy? I was walking back home from the train station today and saw my neighborhood two houses down watering her vegetable garden out in her front yard. I figured I would say hello since she saw me and I saw her. I said hello and nodded slightly, but she just stared at me and gave me this nasty look like I ran over her dog or something.

This wasn't the first time either. Back during the summer I saw her walk down the driveway as I was walking up. I said hello then as well, but once again she just gave me that look.

I think I'll just give up on being nice to her and just give her back that look as well.

Burnt Out

2011-10-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

After a seven mile hike today in Sam's PointReserve, I'm too exhausted to do anything... eating, talking, blogging, etc.

Throughout the entire trek I felt fine and was still able to hike some more atthe end. However, it wasn't until the car ride home when I sat down thatI felt the aches and tiredness.

Pics and recap will have to wait. Right now I just want tohit my bed and call it a night!

Fall Foliage Hudson Weekend

2011-10-22T23:45:00.000-04:00

This weekend is a back-to-back trip upstate to check outthe fall foliage as it is the peak time this weekend. Today is a trip up to Poughkeepsie and a walkon the Walkway Over the Hudson followed by a cruise along the river. Tomorrow is a trip to the other side of theHudson for some moderate hiking at a mountain site that I can't remember it'sname at the moment.

It's a fall foliage twofer this weekend!

Built for Comfort

2011-10-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

After visiting the TWA Flight Center last weekend in JFK/Idlewild Airport, I dug up some old TWA commercials from Youtube. There might be any individual entertainment system on the back of the seats, but steak dinners!

Nighttime Horsie Ridding

2011-10-20T23:45:00.000-04:00

Earlier tonight I met up with some friends inDUMBO and visited Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I seen thecarousel several times on the subway as it crossed the Manhattan Bridge, buttoday was the first time I've gone up close. So close that I could rideon one of those horses... which I did! It was fairly inexpensive at only$2 per person per ride and because it's in a temperature-controlled room, thechilly winds from the waters did not affect us. It was a bit weird seeinga bunch of grown adults riding the horses by themselves, but fortunately therewas almost no one there and there was a group of us it didn't felt as awkward.

This was also my first time in Brooklyn Bridge Park at night and there were a lot of great photo opportunities, including one inside an outdoor glowing cube artwork. The pulsating lights were a bit much at first, but once you got used to it, and sat down, it wasn't too bad. Definitely not recommended for people with epilepsy!

The night ended with dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria. It was a bit touristy and we waited about 40 minutes for a table, but in the end it was worth it for us first timers. The pizzas were good initially as it was still hot, but they couldn't hold their tasty value long as it cooled down compared to other pizzas. If there wasn't a line, I wouldn't mind coming back to try again.

Can't Trust 'Em

2011-10-19T23:45:00.000-04:00

Today during lunch we had several heatedconversations, one of which was about cell phone stores in Chinatown. Notthe official carrier stores, but rather those authorized retail stores.

After getting burned once on a rebate, I vowed to never trust these seedystores. A lady at one of these stores in Chinatown promised me a rebatein mail if I purchased a particular phone, but then did a 180 after I left thestore and was halfway home by leaving me a message saying that she made anerror and didn't qualify for the rebate. Since I already signed acontract and activated the phone I was pretty much stuck with it.

My coworkers told me I should've been smarter and ask for the rebate upfront. If they say that it will be mailed and this cell phone store openednot to long ago, put down the phone and walk out for they could conning you andby the time you realize what's going the store will already be gone. Theyalso recommended asking the sales rep (nicely) if there are any discounts orpromotions going on because they don't always advertise everything.

Even after listening to all these good tips I still can't help but feel waryabout these stores. I for one will be sticking with official carrierstores and mainly Amazon. It might not be as cheap, but at least I knowthey won't close up shop on me and can track them down if a problem shouldarise.

TWA Lives!

2011-10-18T22:44:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was Open House New York, the annualtradition where various buildings and points of interest around the cityusually closed off to the public are open for people to walk around and take alook. Most places required advanced reservations and like every year mostof them were sold out on the first day. I was able to reserve a spot on aNewtown Creek walking tour and the TWA Flight Center, which didn't require anyreservations.

In the Newtown Creek tour, we explored around the area surrounding this superfundsite (Long Island City, Sunnyside and Greenpoint) and were led by an expert ofthe area who was actually quite knowledgeable all arpund. There weresurprise guest speakers and plenty of photo ops along the way. The tourdescription said there were some rough terrain to trek over, but it turned outnot too bad at all. We finished at the Newtown Creek Water Pollution Control Plant and by then knew an extra slice of New York City history.

After taking a little break in Greenpoint, it was time to head on over to JFKAirport and visit the former TWA Flight Center. The front part of theterminal pretty much closed after the company ceased operations, but the backpart has been renovated and is now home to jetBlue. Thankfully theydidn't demolish the front and people can still enjoy its futuristic (at leastit was back then) design.

Upon entering the terminal I was immediately brought back to the 90s when Iwaited with my grandma for her TWA flight back to Los Angeles. Iremembered walking over the archway looking down to the first floor and sittingon those red plush seats in the lounge area. I was surprised that thoseseats held up this well for this long!

The terminal was quite packed, but it was expected since this was one of thefew OHNY events that didn't required a reservation. Plus most attendeesthere were polite when we got into each other's photo and were noticeablysmiling a lot while admiring the terminal, so the crowds were bearable.

I had a great time at these two locations and got some nce pics. Wishthey held this event more than once a year and that there were more venues.

Cold Days, Colder Subway

2011-10-17T23:45:00.000-04:00

Lately it has been cold in the morning and evencolder on the subway with the ACs set on cool and on full blast. I guessit's to provide relief to a packed train with all that body heat, but even thenit's still too cold. I would board the trains prepared with long sleeveshirts, but every now and then still shiver a little when a stream of cold airfrom the AC blows in my direction.

Then by the afternoon it gets warm enough to the point that I'm fanning myselfto keep cool. When it's time to go home I get cold again on the subwayride back home.

I could wear layers to adapt to the varying temperatures, but I'm not really a layer-wearingkind of guy. I guess for the time being I should sit at one of the endsof a car and away from AC strips bellowing cold air.

New Chicken Joint! Pudgie's

2011-10-16T23:45:00.000-04:00

This new chicken locale was first brought to my attention by a friend who remember seeing one these places a while back during our school days. In fact Pudgie's did make a brief appearance in the NYC metro area, but due to mismanagement (according to the news article) they had to scale back the stores. Now with some new management and franchise opportunities, they are ready to try NYC once again and the first one is here in Woodside, Queens. The store is conveniently located on Roosevelt Ave and 61 St, right off the 7 train or the LIRR Woodside station.

Once you walk in and up to the counter you are presented with the usual menu items you would find in any other fried chicken place, though they also had a "skinless" menu. That's for the more health conscious people I suppose, but if you're really that health conscious you wouldn't be walking into a fried chicken place. I opted for combo #1, which was two pieces, bread, side and a drink.

The chicken was seasoned just about right for my tastes. This compensated for the slight dryness of the white meat, though I like it that way so it wasn't a problem. For some reason, the taste reminded of the chicken you get at other places like Crown or Kennedy Fried Chicken but without the overboard saltiness or grease.

The bread was okay, but the coleslaw needed work. I usually like to eat coleslaw, but they added too much spice of some sort that in turn gave me this weird taste in my mouth every time I took a spoon full of it. I can't exactly describe the taste, but it's sort of like eating ginger.

Overall not a bad meal for the price. Definitely wouldn't mind a repeat visit, though next time I might want to avoid the coleslaw and choose another side like fries.

Cosplaying in the Subways

2011-10-15T23:45:00.000-04:00

With the New York Comic Con going on at the Javits Centerin Manhattan, subway riders this weekend will no doubt run into some cosplayersgoing to/from the convention via the subways. For those unaware of this event, they'll probably think Halloween iscoming early this year. For touriststhey'll laugh and think it's just part of the ordinary NYC scene.

So far I have ran into some wearing capes and plastic gearlike swords and hats, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures. I'm sure they've gotten many photo requestsat the convention. The last thing theywant is to have more requests on the subway ride home.

Broken Magazine

2011-10-14T23:45:00.000-04:00

This is both cute and sad to watch. Is this the future of our children?