Now go out and get her - random thoughts

Only a scant two weeks until my under graduate studies are finally over (and it only took five years!). I had a feeling this month of May will just fly by, and indeed even though it has only been the fifth day, it feels like things are quickly coming to an end. But no time to reflect on anything because I still have at least three major projects that I still need to get started (?) on! Haha it is so hard not to let apathy set in and just be like fuck it, I am graduating for sure now anyways, so why bother. But of course I am not that kind of person, and to be honest if you are that kind of person, you don't deserve your degree.

Anyways, at least I got my fun out of the way this past weekend (funny right, fun before work - the American mentality?) when I went down to LA for the Korean Music Festival. Now that I think about it, it is a shame how there is no Chinese equivalent of it. Nonetheless, I had a great time enjoying the weather (though absolutely dry) and some good music (and a chance to fanboy out loud for a bit haha). Speaking of fans, do people not have manners? I understand that may be your favorite singer singing the Korean national anthem, but have some respect and not SCREAM and YELL the whole time. 

I don't think I can live in Southern California in any permanent fashion at all (and not only because of my undying love for San Francisco). The air is just too damn dry, and it wrecks havoc with my skin. I have grew up amongst humidity all by live - South East Asia, and San Francisco (three sides water). Hence I guess I have evolutionarily adapted to having water in the air? You know you've got a problem when you have used twice as much lotion as normal and your skin is still not hydrated. I mean sure it may be nice to not be freezing all the time, but not at the expense of dehydrating your skin (and body too, drink water by the megatons). Anyways, the first breath of air I took back in the Bay Area was refreshing to say the least. 

And of course I can't live in LA because I would get beat up by a Dodger fan.

I came back to San Francisco on Sunday evening to the great news of the death of Osama Bin Laden. Personally I don't get why is his death worth so much celebration. Sure the families of the victims of 9/11 gets a measure of closure, but heck his death will not bring your love ones back, so anybody that actually derives satisfaction over Bin Laden's death is just being selfish. Trotting over the ground zero and raising a ruckus and being all patriotic is kind of excessive - it is not like we WON the war. This is not World War II, and Bin Laden is not Hitler (symbolically speaking, not in terms of being a douche). Hitler's death meant the end of the war in Europe (too bad he shot himself, no glory kill for US). Bin Laden's death as of right now means NOTHING. America is still in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Al Queda still exist (do you feel anymore reassured about our national security?)

I cannot possibly be the only person seeing the death of Bin Laden as the start of the domino falling instead of closure. I am glad that the implications of Pakistan is not escaping the mainstream media. It is more clear than ever that Pakistan did hide Bin Laden within their country, and certainly they cannot be happy about the US coming in unannounced and having a fire fight in on their soil (next Call of Duty game?). Think about this, if another country have helicoptered in a squad of elite soldiers into one of our cities (without telling us) and open fire on a suspect on their most wanted list, I don't think we would be all too happy either (Roman Polanski should be shaking in his mansion in France). How convenient the mainstream press ignored that the US basically disregarded the national sovereignty of Pakistan and just went in there (like a boss!).

It is definitely not the end of it. US - Pakistan relations, and the entire Middle East region will come to a head really soon, especially the role the West is playing (revolution!).

I have to say, having a smartphone with a data plan really boost my productivity. Not to say that I do anything important with my phone (maybe...). It just that having the phone allows me to do all the frivolous social networking and texting during times that I would otherwise have not the ability to. So instead of wasting time, I get to do my Facebook, twitter, and mail checking done and over with, giving me more productivity for when I do get situated at a place of work. Imagine all the time wasted while walking from the car - now I can check all my stuff during the walk so that once I reach home I can start doing productive stuff. So basically it is spreading the non-productivity to other times where before it would not have been possible. They say time is money, and smart phone data plan have allowed me to use it more wisely (because really, who is going to stop social networking and checking news online?)

Oh yeah, loving the weather this week. It really feels like summer is here (even though I no longer have a summer break of any kind). And of course it is the San Francisco kind of hot so it is just perfect. And of course when the girls dress in their summer clothing, it is just the best. Hot weather also makes people go out and exercise. You know what makes a hot girl even hotter? Regular exercise. It just adds mega points to the attractiveness factor. 

Asian languages: similar, but not the same

During one of my many outings around the city, I noticed one particular Japanese restaurant that just bothered me somehow. And it was not the food because it was just like any other Japanese restaurant out there (and I'm not referring to Benihana.)

Anyways the name of the restaurant was "Mikado". Now one would expect, like the usual restaurants, the signage in the front would put "Mikado" in Japanese (ミカド) and then the English name under it. My understanding why this is done by ethnic food restaurants is because it brings a little authentic-ism (and to teach people a word in another language). 

Confusingly, this particular restaurant had no Japanese characters adorning its facade, instead as I gazed upon it while eating at a restaurant directly across it, I saw three Korean words printed on the signage (미가도). Indeed the owner (safe to assume Korean) decided to use the Korean language instead to spell out "Mikado".

Now I have no problem with people opening up ethnic food restaurants that are different from there own, because let's face it that person cooking your pad thai is probably Mexican anyways. What I found wrong with that Japanese restaurant using Korean characters in the signage is that it just gives out the wrong message.

Picture someone not familiar with Asian cultures and all its nuances (okay basically anybody not Asian) patronize said restaurant, knows that he or she is eating Japanese food, thus would likely assume that those Korean characters he or she is seeing are in fact Japanese. 

So my initial thought was "man, pretty soon they are going to think we all have the same languages too". This of course stems from the stereotype that we Asians all look the same ie. hard to tell apart between the nationalities and regions. It might not be too long before someone picks up something written with Chinese characters, and then proceed to ask a Korean what does it mean.

Of course the fact that the three major Asian language share a set of characters compounds the problem. Chinese characters, no matter how you say it (hanzi, kanji, hanja) are either being used or have been used in both Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

As someone who had either learned or tried to learn all three major Asian languages, there are indeed plenty of similarities between the three. I am a firm believer in that once you learned one of them, the other two will come quite easier (or more confusing as things intersect haha). 

So I guess what I am saying is the term "Asian" will always be a broad brush unless you physically live in Asia then the differences are much more apparent and appreciated (such as everybody hates Japan except for their electronics).