THE SIMPLE LIFE

Here a brief glimpse:








































Who needs to go to Europe? I got the same thing without leaving the continent!



















The so-called pirate show @ Treasure Island that I missed.

























The Venetian. They had canals inside the hotel - how cool is that? Apparently, the gondolier sings too!



















The Superbowl!! Showing our support in true Vegas style =P




















Money, Money, Money! It's everywhere you turn!



















Boards Review workshop...Here we're learning about lenses. Dodge needs to be more concave but Paul's convexing pretty well - hee, hee!



















Since we stayed at the Luxor, we had an Egyptian theme. See how the Pharoah invited us to his pheast? (I know it's corny but that's the name of the restaurant: "Pharoah's Pheast") Buffet was delish! Ah the gluttony... =)

*Photos courtesy of my awesome suitemate Melissa*

Back in Chicago now, went to Vegas for a conference.

Likes:
- Favourite hotel was New York, New York; it even has a rollercoaster (the Manhattan Express) Granted I skipped a lot of the hotels though – heard The Venecian was very nice.
- Saw the water show at Bellagio just like in the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Litearally water dancing, very choreographed & very pretty. Didn’t see the pirate show at Treasure Island (Miss Congeniality 2) but my friends said I didn’t miss much cuz it was pretty much a skin show with the ‘sirens’ in bikinis fighting pirates.
- FREE STUFF!! It’s crazy to see all these sponsors pour all this money so we would be interested in their products. Pens, notepads, shirts, drops, solutions, food, alcohol…you name ‘em, I got ‘em.
- Seeing people from undergrad. Crazy to think that at one point, we were all competing against each other and now, we’re getting ready to be colleagues. It’s so exciting to see that we’re all in something that we’ve wanted to do for so long.
- Learning new things. Didn’t get to do as much of this as I wanted though.
- Meeting doctors. Didn’t get to do as much of this as I wanted either.
- Superbowl (competition between 17 schools to see which representative had the most & quickest eye knowledge). Berkley won but our rep held his own…I was impressed. I was even more impressed by the fact that some schools had body paint and bull horns to cheer their favourite nerd.
- Canadian luncheon. Hearing things from a Canadian perspective. Still don’t know which direction my future’s heading after these next 3 years though.
- Summer nights.
- Got to know the person I was rooming with better. Actually got to have some good & deep conversations.



Dislikes:
- Going to Vegas is not what I would call a vacation. There’s stimulation everywhere – the lights, the sounds…it’s in-your-face and it never ends.
- Too hot, too dry, and too gaudy. It’s the desert…my eyes were constantly red regardless of how many of the free drops I put in. The drink servers were costumed in such a way to match the hotel theme & of course, to catch your attention. Even I stared for a moment and I’m not even a guy.
- The hotels were like individual cities; there’s no reason for you to ever leave. They want your $$ and ALL of it!
- People were just handing out flyers for escort service everywhere along the strip. At first I was confused and slightly offended as to why they were skipping me and just handing it out to guys.
- People should not bring children to Vegas, especially newborns. This is not a place for family vacation, besides, it’s so smoky everywhere.
- Going to the student workshops made me feel like I was back in school. Next time I go to one of these things, I’m going to go to workshops that I actually want to learn more about.
- Large groups. Too many people everywhere. Guess I’m not as much of a people person as I thought.
- Disappointed with myself. “Beer before liquor and you’ll never get sicker”. Brought back memories of first year orientation week.
- How everyone kept drilling into our heads the slogan: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” That’s just a recipe for disaster.

Odds & ends:
- It’s legal to drink on the streets. It was a little odd to see a woman walking down the busy street with a glass of wine in her hand.
- Walking out of the plane and seeing rows of slot machines. In case you needed a reminder that you were in Las Vegas.
- Lots of weddings. Saw so many brides. There’s a wedding chapel in every hotel I think. I would never want to get married in Vegas.
- My 2 favourite days were spent i) vegging inside my hotel room & ii) eating buffet/watching Mama Mia with friends. Both of which could have been done anywhere other than Vegas.

Overall, I wouldn’t choose to go to Vegas again but I guess at least I can say I’ve been there now. As a friend put so eloquently: “It’s a place that satiates all worldly desires – sex, food and money”.

FAMILY

Had 2 visits in the past 2 days from people in Toronto. It's so nice to have family, biological & spiritual.

So several people from RHCBC (the church my parents used to go to) came down this week for an arts conference at Willowcreek. It weird cuz I never met any of the younger people and I didn't know the Auntie & Uncles well at all. And yet, they drove in traffic for 1 hr each way from their hotel just so that I could have dinner with them. And they greeted me like family.

Had a great time chatting with Pastor Mpindu who's new to the church, Uncle Phil whose one of the deacons, and some other adults. The younger people were great too - so funny and SO FOBBY. Speaking chinese with them all night made me realize how much I miss my Asian side. I also finally got to meet Leo from Synergy Ministries and got to talk about social justice for a bit. I have some things that need to be worked through internally but hopefully I can blog about it next time.

My Uncle Ray & Auntie Linda came down for a visit as well; just to reassure my mom that things are fine here (at least that's my personal opinion =P) I'm kidding - they had other reasons for being in town but it's so nice to spend time with just the 2 of them. Normally, my parents or other family members would be around so I got to interact with them like an adult instead of as a kid. Plus I got to see how they interacted with each other as husband & wife. Whenever I see them I laugh cuz they are the oddest match and yet they work well enough together to be married for 27 years! =)


Quotes of the Evening:
Uncle (while drinking a fruit bubble tea over dinner):Did you know that papayas make your boobs bigger?

*Pause.* Then turns to my Aunt.

Uncle: Honey, would you like some more?


Later on during dinner...

Uncle: Here - a pineapple, your favourite.

Proceeds to feed my Aunt the fruit.
She makes a face.

Uncle: Oh. My mistake. It's a papaya.


HAHAHA! Welcome to a typical family dinner...I love the Wong's side of the family - everyone's so open; the humour reminds me of my grandpa.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SUMMER…

…that makes you feel energized. So I went for a walk/“jog” this morning with some friends. It really was more walking for me…the jogging came in when I tried to catch up to them. I felt like one of those little runts that tag along with the big kids *laughs*

It was awesome though…getting up at 7:45 in the morning on a day you can sleep in was hard, but I feel so awake now (and very much in need of a shower).

I realized that I am more active during the summer than I am in the winter…and all forms of physical activity are usually initiated by someone else. It’s so bad. Maybe I need to live on the West Coast; everyone seems to be more health conscious over there.

I thought I was so out of shape (well…I am) but turns out those shooting pains in my shins are not completely due to the fact that I’m lazy. Apparently I may have weak ankles and I’m not walking properly. I knew I should’ve paid more attention in gym class =P.

Any way, all this beautiful weather is making it very hard for me to start studying…both for my classes and more importantly, for my boards. It’s less than a month & a half away! So I have a favour to ask…although I hate saying it - if you see me procrastinating, please tell me straight up. Remind me that after I get through this little while, I can have as much fun as I want – but I NEED to get my butt into gear RIGHT NOW.

Thanks bunches…miss you all! =)

FRIENDS

Just got off the phone in a crazy-long conversation. You know what I love (besides good conversations)? Good friends. I love that fact that I have such awesome friendships with whom you can turn to no matter what, share no matter what and you just KNOW that you'll always be there for each other. And while I wish I was with all of you, because there's a certain closeness that only comes with frequency & proximity, I also appreciate the fundamental level of care that transcends both time & distance. I look at all the people I know and I am so blessed because I feel this unspoken level of closeness with so many of you. *hug* *tear* Hopefully, you'd feel the same way about me too. =)

I was asked today what God was revealing to me. I'd like to add that I am so thankful for all of you (and I'm pretty sure I know who visits this site!)

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MOTHERHOOD

On a completely different note. Something that's been on my mind recently was motherhood. Not that I am ready for this by any means, but in some of the readings that I've been doing and people I've been observing, this has come up a lot lately for some reason.

Perhaps because I'm always watching out for qualities that I could admire in people (especially women) and perhaps learn from. I've been reading about this mother who took an entire weekend retreat to just pray for her son and then wrote out very specific goals on how to raise him. I think that's a pretty amazing thing for someone to do for another individual, especially a woman for her child. I guess it's cuz I usually used to seeing a harried mother instead of a peaceful one.

Sometimes I think we neglect the impact parents have on their kids. I am still taken aback when I come across a certain situation and I recall what my parents would say. After all these years of learning to 'think on my own', they still have a huge impression on what I contemplate and how I act. At times this is good and other times it is not so good. As parents, that is a great responsibility - one that I think we don't consider nearly as much as it warrants.

This idea came up when I was reading about voting in the early 1900's. How they didn't believe that women needed to vote because of their ability to influence their family. That eventually, everyone would vote along the same lines as the mother. Such was the power of a woman over the following generations - based on how they raised them.

I had never thought of a mother's role in this manner and I'm not at all saying that I agree wholeheartedly with the above thoughts. Obviously if this were the case, there really is no need for women to vote. But I think, as with most things that don't sit well with me, there's a nugget of truth in that statement. That a mother's influence on her family is far greater than she potentially realizes and it's important to acknowledge this early on because it's something we will eventually be held accountable to. All the more reason to ask for guidence - it's certainly not something I can claim that to do on my own.

Oh, and not to belittle the father's role in raising a family...but I can only write things from my perspective and it's limited at that! =P