I woke up at around 4:30am today cuz I’m just too excited to sleep. We went to church today and talked to Emily and Sharon during the break between Sunday Service and Sunday School. We walked to Costco to try to get a price match for my boots, but since it was over 30 days, they would only let me buy a new pair and return my old one (?). We decided not to do it and just eat the $10 difference because that is just such a waste in resources…wouldn’t it make more sense for me to just take back my old shoes instead of me getting a brand new pair? We then went to Great America and took advantage (16th time on the 2023 pass) of the dining pass and ate at the Sierra Creek Lodge. We got a cheeseburger w/ fries. They have a salad bar with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and pickles, and sparkling water. We went on the 3D ride Mass Effect. There was hardly anyone at GA because of the rain, but I kinda like it that way since you don’t have to contend with crowds. Took a nap and then we’ve finished most of our food in the fridge. Gonna go out for a walk and then probably try to sleep by 10pm…we’re gonna have a long day tomorrow 🙂

Japan is really happening…it’s been a while since we’ve done an international trip. Last time was Barcelona in 2019, then pandemic happened and we’ve mostly only have done road trips or flights to LA. I’m excited yet nervous at the same time. Apprehensive since Japan is known for being more homogenous and not knowing English very well, but we’ll have data and will probably survive using google maps and translate. I bought the JR pass, Disneysea tickets, and a data SIM card. I exchanged $200 to yen, but if we need more, we’ll bring out debit cards to exchange for currency. Anson and I are only going with backpacks and they can only weigh 15lbs if we don’t wanna pay for the carry on. Yes, we’re a little crazy 🙂 but I really believe it’s doable. We probably won’t bring too much clothing besides what we wear on to the plane (granted, I’m planning on wearing 3 pairs of pants), and we’re planning on buying clothes at Uniqlo since they are everywhere and foreigners just need to show their passports to get tax free shopping for goods. I applied for the Capital One Venture X card so that we can have food at the airport lounges before and after our flights.

Like every year, we went down to LA on Thanksgiving day Thursday to avoid traffic that is normally on Wednesday night. Traffic was light and we got to my parents’ place a little after lunch. My mom and I went to Sam Woo BBQ to get our customary chicken and duck (waited 40 mins in line), and at night, we drove them to the Wongs’ house and had both sets of parents there for the first time since at least 2018. The rest of our visit was comprised of going to the Huntington Library, Botanical Gardens, and Art Museum twice; once with my mom and once with Cindy, going to CCAC for church service and getting an impromptu tour of their new and improved A/V control room, eating lunch at The Galleria with Gina and Weber, and hanging out and catching up with Crescentia at a local Starbucks.

When we started coming back on Monday (avoid the bad traffic on Sunday), we started to feel a little congested/coughing/sore throat…I felt like I probably had a sore throat maybe a day or two before too, but when in the car, it started to hit much harder. On Tuesday, we tested negative, and we never had any really severe symptoms, so we thought we had a cold the whole time. We still knew that we shouldn’t be around people, so had to cancel on worship team, Family Fellowship, and choir practice/porridge pop-up (which me and Jean were supposed to be heading up). 

The weird thing was…we didn’t seem to be getting better, so we just thought we should test on more time the following Monday…and tested positive for COVID. This was kind of a shock to us since we didn’t have a fever or loss of taste/smell, etc. Since we did an antigen test, we wanted to make sure, so we did a PCR test on Friday which confirmed our results. It was only on the following Wednesday that I finally tested negative…hooray! I needed to go into work on Thursday to do a small check run and get the mail…and go to Great America to get turkey breast w/ stuffing and pot roast w/ mashed potatoes…hey, I had been cooped up at home for almost 3 weeks…thankful for my company that let me WFH (and also for COVID sick time).

Anson was finally feeling better by Friday…so…we were able to go to Pure’s holiday party! It was located at a sports complex called The Plex in San Jose, which took us 35 mins to get there because of rush hour traffic. They had free buffet dinner consisting of a charcuterie board and all ingredients for various burgers and tacos, free drinks on tap or made to order from a bartender, all you can play arcade games, and roller skating (I liked this a little better than ice staking since I don’t have to curve my feet inwards and it isn’t cold). Like ice skating though, I’m super bad at it and it’s like I’m learning for the first time every time…but I promised Anson that I’d do it…I’m glad we went as the holidays are always a great time for fun and celebration. 

We’ll probably do a zoom dinner with Anson’s parents and my parents at some point since we won’t be going down for Christmas, Aaron’s family might come up for the week to stay at our place, making Anson go to Gen on one of our holiday days off, and of course, Winterfest at Great America (cuz hubby got free annual passes from Blue Board…such a good worker)!

I was about to book flights to Lisbon, Portugal in July when I found out that my passport expired a few months ago =( I filled out an application and sent it to the US Department of State around July 20th, received an answer on August 31st that I had filled it out incorrectly, had to resubmit it, and finally got an email last week that my passport is being shipped to me and should arrive on October 5th…finally!!!

During that time, flights to Lisbon from SFO got more expensive (from $330 to $505), so I was searching on google flights for other places, and I’m now VERY interested in going to Japan. Flights are around $469 nonstop from SJC for the colder months in Feb/Mar, though some flights are getting more expensive and might now be $575 (wah!). I get this way in which I do lots of research and get really into looking at where to go and what sites to experience. It’s a little much…should try to taper down since I haven’t even received the passport yet…

…but it seems like a sure thing that we will be traveling…cuz I got the hubby to get a new credit card which includes Priority Pass airport lounge access. I haven’t entered a lounge since the pandemic, and they say that international lounges are soooo much better than their American counterparts. The card he applied for is the Capital One VentureX card that has a $395 annual fee, $4k spend, 75,000 points, $300 travel credit, and lounge access. The more I look at this card, I feel like I would actually want to get it at some point and (gasp) KEEP it (so that I have priority pass access forever haha) If renewed, they also have a 10,000 point anniversary bonus (like $100), so with the $300 travel credit and the $100 bonus, it pays for the annual fee every year…for now. Lounge life!

Today is Sunday, September 4, 2022. I’m down in LA and currently at the Wongs’ residence and staying the night. Anson didn’t come down since he doesn’t care to travel as much. I just wanted to come down to see parents and friends. My parents got me from the Burbank Airport last night at 5:30pm. Southwest had a good deal on flights and it was less than 1900 points for this Saturday flight ($19!). My mom brought home food from the breakfast at the deacon’s meeting and Newcomer lunch, so we were set for dinner. I’m happy when I don’t have to go out to get food after my flight. I had drink coupons from Char, but didn’t end up using them since I would have received the drink late and I was the one who would be driving back to San Gabriel. My dad has been not feeling well (like for years), and I don’t always know how to help him. I need to have more patience with him and show him love rather than anger. I’m not…worried or anxious, per say, but maybe that’s also just cuz I don’t see the effects as much as my mom, and hanging out with him, I just attribute some of his behavior to short term forgetfulness. I take after him a lot more than my mom, and I think we both have some mental health problems that we struggle with.

I went to New Life for church today. I ate lunch with Aaron and Lauren…for like 10 mins lol. New Life has church lunch on the first of the month (kind of like how RBF has it on the 2nd of the month). They had KFC chicken with mashed potatoes, garlic bread, salad, and fruit/ice cream for only $3. Very economical! Aaron and Lauren had to leave early since Jacob was acting up, but it was a blessing in disguise as it gave me time to talk to Coli (seminary student who will be going back to Estonia in January and whose wife just gave birth to their 3rd child) and Debbie (middle aged woman who’s had much experience and feels like she has to fight for certain things in life and has different questions about the Bible…it was very truthful and I appreciate her struggles with belief and acceptance). Later, I went to Target to buy my parents a tower fan since I would like to use it tomorrow and also got an AHA sparkling water for the overpriced amount of $2.19 (CUZ IT’S 115 DEGREES!!!), then headed over to Boba Snow House (which according to Google, I visited here with Crescentia 5 years ago…no recollection whatsoever :). Caught up with C for 3 hours until 5pm, then headed over to the Wongs’ house and had dinner (Corner Kabob…recommend!) Tomorrow, I’ll be having breakfast with Gina and Cindy at Porto’s (finally gonna visit the Northridge location!), and then go back to my parents’ condo and have lunch with Jo-Ann.

I like being in LA. I do have more closer relationships with some people down here, but I also know that I don’t try as much in the Bay Area. Maybe I have a sense that I don’t fit there? That the dynamics of people in NorCal are different? That the make up of the church is either couples with young kids so that their lives revolve around them or younger couples that I don’t have as much in common with. I know that I can love all peoples and we are the family of God. I just wish I had some one that I was closer to there. I don’t want to feel sorry for myself, and I hope to try to love on those that are around me (find a need or reach out to a person and show love? Care and participate in Family Fellowship, Hang out with some ladies and try to develop deeper relationships) and serve in a capacity that helps the church (church lunch: bean counter and check provider of Venmo…we’ll see what the tax situation come next year, finance ministry: sometimes a little hard to remember what to do when this is once a month and only a few times a year, worship: think we’re not the best players and are just grandfathered into the teams…should evaluate this at some point).

I guess I am a theme park enthusiast 🙂 I guess I never thought that since I grew up in LA and went to Disney and Universal every once in a while. I got that annual pass for Universal once and went with Tracy, Gina, and some RBF gals one year, went to Disneyworld a couple years ago, Knott’s before the world shut down in 2020, and Disneyland with the hubby for Thanksgiving 2021. I believe I’ve gone three time before in my years in the Bay Area: once as a BWC event, once since it was the gift from Pure, and once from yelp for Winterfest…so I guess we never paid for them…until now 🙂

I spur of the moment bought an annual pass to Great America…I mean, it’s in the backyard of Santa Clara and only takes 10 mins to get there. It’s in the same brand as Knott’s so they have the characters from Snoopy in their shows and walking around. I also got the dining pass so that I can have 2 meals spaced 4 hours apart at certain restaurants. I have gone twice…once on 12/22 and once on 12/31. 12/22 had fewer people since it was raining on and off. I watched a bunch of shows and I loved seeing all the lights. 12/31 was much more crowded since it was New Year’s Eve, but I enjoyed the fireworks celebration. I got my meals both times. Went to Maggie’s 3 times and Panda Express once. They give you so little at Panda…grr. I like the food at Maggie’s, but I should try to venture out to the other restaurants around the park.

Why did I get this pass you ask? Why pay almost $200? Well, for one thing, I think it’ll pay for itself even from the food (besides Panda lol). I guess I also know that we will not be traveling as much this year, so the thrills on rollercoasters will get some of the antsy-ness out of my system. Besides the roller coasters, I also just thought that the production of the shows was pretty good and actually better handled than some of the new marvel shows at Disneyland. Now that I don’t have the Panera coffee subscription anymore, maybe this will be my new go-to place to hangout…just for the year. It’s sort of an experiment, and hope I can use this pass well.

This year has been sort of an eye opener. In some ways, from the time of working at Bill Wilson Center, most of that time was very calm and not much changed for 7 years. I felt very safe and had a lot of stability. That changed when they hired a new CFO who tried to change things to, yes, make them better, but the way she interacted with people made it very difficult. I started working from home in April and my last day at the company was May 13th.

Because of the pandemic, I think people have been focusing more on mental health and whether their lives should revolve around work. Because I’ve been reading more about the FIRE movement, it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that work doesn’t complete a person. God even said that work will be hard and you may work the land all you want, but it doesn’t always result in producing fruit.

I was fun-employed for about three months (huh, it actually seemed longer). My second home was at Panera to do devos (with my free coffee subscription). My goal is to do 10,000 steps a day, so walking to Target, Walgreens, Safeway, or CVS has become commonplace. We also took up the pandemic hobby of gardening. We have about 40 green onion plants (most are dying though since these are from 2020), a couple chard plants, and a bunch of kale. It’s nice to see the fruits of your labor and is saving costs on organic veggies.

I’ve learned that there is much more than working full time…and we do not lack much and I feel like I should use my time to focus on others (something I should my remind myself every now and then when I am too inwardly focused). We are in a good financial position, so I was looking for a part time position, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work at CityTeam, a Christian nonprofit that did around the same kind of work as Bill Wilson Center. The position was as a full time Staff Accountant, but after a couple weeks, I could tell that I wasn’t happy. I gathered the courage to ask to become part time. Approved! It is still pretty busy, but I don’t think I should complain.

We went down the week before Thanksgiving (to go to Disneyland…more on that later) and for Christmas hanging out with family and friends. Hmm…come to think of it, I actually went down to LA a lot. I drove down by myself in July and flew…twice? Thrice? It helped to see family. I think I’ve been feeling a little down for not really any compelling reason. I know that I have so much more than I could hope for.

We have enough food, money, a roof over our head, etc. I have a pretty easy life and I don’t know much adversity. But the reason I think I’ve been feeling down is because I feel like I can’t relate to my peers anymore. It wasn’t as apparent until now. We are in different life stages compared to others in our small groups. We will probably not have kids when that is what all our friends’ paths will take. We want to retire in hopefully 9 years, and that is definitely not the norm. But I know that I am also scared of it since I do not know what I would retire “to”. Am I really using my time in the best way now? And if I am not, why would I think that I would know in the future? How do I practically glorify God in my life? Find ways to partner with nonprofits to give them resources that they need? Make them food? Find ways to help bless people in our church?

this year has definitely not been how i thought it would turn out to be…

in case ya’ll are wondering, it’s year 2020…the year the coronavirus stopped the world. we’ve been sheltering in place for over 2.5 months now. you can’t go out to get groceries/supplies without masks, movie theaters have been shut down…disneyland is closed!!! The Dow Jones went down to 18,000 from a high of almost 30,000. when walking down the street, if someone is coming toward you, we walk into the street in order to keep 6 feet distance. i had planned a week long trip to LA for our anniversary/my birthday in mid-May. we were gonna use the LA pass to go to universal studios, do studio tours, all things Hollywood…the pass and flights would all be free using my points…but all those plans changed. just glad that these were refundable.

many people have lost their jobs especially in the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, etc). our renter lost her job at a restaurant and is now on unemployment.  thankfully, anson’s and my workplace are considered essential services (mine dealing with the poor and housing and his with providing storage to other companies that are essential). i kinda had to fight to be able to work from home a couple days a week. Anson has been working from home to the point that he is almost short of going stir crazy. he’s even started a garden in the back (40 green onion plants…I like :), has been working out with weights, weeding, and filling in gaps in the patio with polymeric sand. he’s glad his workplace will try to start bringing people back in in mid June and he’ll be part of the first wave to test it out.

all in all, not how we thought this year would start out, but we definitely don’t have it as bad as some others. it seems that the fed is making sure we don’t collapse into chaos. the government took swift action and sent most people checks for $1200 (we didn’t qualify) and those on unemployment get an extra $600/week. we’ll get thru it; I don’t doubt that. they’ll find a vaccine and at some point, we’ll be able to shake hands and hug again without a feeling of trepidation. I worry a about our economy though and how small and big business alike will close it’s doors for good. what is waiting on the other side of this pandemic seems like it’ll affect us for years to come.

so…since my birthday plans were derailed, how did i celebrate? we don’t do anything elaborate, but it’s just nice to have it acknowledged. memorial day fell on the 25th this year, so it was nice to have the day off. anson and i walked to starbucks for my free drink (venti mango dragonfruit) and then to safeway to get a free movie from redbox (jumangi: the next level). courtney came over to drop off my chick fil a card, homemade cookies and bread, and jada came right after to give me two tomato plants and a baby maple tree (hope they don’t die by my hands:). for dinner, we got takeout from outback steakhouse since i have two gift cards (one from victoria and another from chase ultimate rewards).

on wednesday when i went back into the office, nancy gave me donna karen body lotion, jada gave me garden tools (she really wants me to become a gardener during this pandemic), and sheri had baked a red velvet cake in which nancy supplied the strawberries on top. since it was wednesday, we had free oatmeal, and since our co is non profit with no money, we also received donations of Mediterranean food for lunch. my coworkers are so not adventurous, so i was able to bring home more food for dinner. yay! yeah…i know i have a funny way to celebrate. i find joy in getting things for free…i think it’s a much better way to enjoy life…and you can probably retire sooner too lol. i hadn’t checked our finances for the last few months since i was afraid, but the market is coming back up, and all in all, we’ve only lost 5% of our total monetary assets. if you calculate anson’s RSUs and the appreciated value of the house (which we’re gonna refi since rates are drastically low right now), we’re actually in the green too. always best to play the long game…and in the short term when things are crumbling all around you, look away and try not to cry…happy bday 🙂

Wow, it’s been a year since I blogged…so bad of me 🙂

…but I had to write an entry about a monumental event…we finally after 8 years of attending RBF had a Christmas Choir!!! Stacy Wood was our conductor and she has the skills! Vera was our pianist and she did a phenomenal job…she only had 1 week to learn a complicated song called “O Joyous Christmas”. It was a compilation of Christmas hymns “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, and “Joy to the World”. A smaller group of us also did an acapella version of “Silent Night”. Anson didn’t really want to do this in the beginning, but I think he had a good time. Props to Jonathon Wood for using garageband to input all our parts so that could practice the songs on our own. We performed the songs at the Christmas Party on Sunday, December 15. I stood beside Vivian and Jennifer. It was fun to feel the camaraderie of learning the parts together and singing as one with four part harmony. It’s been a while and I’m really glad that it happened…hopefully, this isn’t a one time thing for our church 🙂

Saturday, 12/22/18: We flew down one last time using the Companion Pass (bogo flights) at 9:35am-10:30am. My dad picked us up, we got groceries from 99 ranch, and we went to the house. Uncle Daniel was there taking some of my dad’s tools in the garage (they’ve officially sold the house!). He brought my dad to the condo. In the afternoon, we walked to Aaron and Lauren’s from Sprouts (I got hangry). They’re now back in the valley for Lauren’s new job. Claire is getting big now. She can walk! Aaron brought us back to Sprouts, we bought groceries and made dinner at home (tofu, salmon, etc)

Sunday, 12/23/18: We went to New Life Church this time. They had an all ladies Christmas Choir. We then went to Galleria and had lunch with Gina and Cindy. Anson had poke and I had a spare rib soup (it was okay…tough meat, but liked the clear soup. Raymond and David Wei came to the house in the afternoon and we went around Balboa park twice, then went for boba and Bounce Boba Loft (I got some sort of milk froth custard drink…ehh). We then had dinner with my parents (egg/tofu, pompeo fish, duck)

Monday, 12/24/18: I walked with my mom one last time around the neighborhood…it’s so weird to think that the house is no longer ours. Marc, our real estate agent, came over at 1pm and they signed the final paperwork, and all the money was in their account when they checked (woohoo! i like money!). My mom and I then went to 99 Ranch to get asian pears and to Sam Woo for a chicken and a duck. We filled up the car with more stuff (junk!), and all went to the Wong house in Northridge and had our annual Christmas Eve dinner. After dinner, we headed to the condo and dropped off their things before heading back home for one….last…night ;(

Tuesday, 12/25/18: Merry Christmas! We went to Griffith Observatory (closed on Christmas) in order to park there and hike to Bronson Caves (where they filmed the 60s Batman TV show). We helped my parents with some of their finances, cancelling internet, etc, but many companies were not open because of the holiday. At least Anson was able to uninstall some spyware on their computer. Raymond and David Wei came over again in order to look at an antique-ish rifle that my dad got from kmart for much cheaper 30 years ago. Raymond was happy 😉 he also took some things from my dad’s garage as did Anson (guess it’s a guy thing). We had our last dinner at the house (leftovers from Christmas eve dinner), and my parents brought us to the airport. It was a bittersweet time. I will miss the house that I lived in for 26 years of my life. You will not be forgotten. You have served my parents well 🙂