Living at the Wong's...

Here's the weekend up date...

Last Thursday, I purchased a computer. The specs are pretty outrageous. I'll post an article on that when I get around to it. For preview, it's a Dell Dimension 8400 - 3GHz P4 with 2GB RAM. That, my friends is outrageous! (At least to me).

Yesterday (Friday), I came back from work and started developing new features for [NG] NY. I will write an article on this as well. The neat thing about it is that it will (for the most part), mimic Xanga functionality. Well, not as elaborate, but the neat thing is that I will be running it without the use of a database connection. What does that mean you ask? Well, since my web hosting doesn't include a database package, I will be using PHP to create and write to files on my server. Still don't get it? You'll see soon enough. I will call this system xa[ng]er. Indeed!

I'll implement features of my new xa[ng]er system as I finish developing them.

Test Entry

I am developing a new system for [NG] NY

If you see this message, that means it works!

Have a good weekend everybody!

I didn't go to the park to exercise today. Felt lazy in the morning, and snoozed in till 9. I was up till midnight last night watching The Final Combat. This is one of the earlier mini-series with Stephen Chow a.k.a. Chow Sing Chi. Speaking of Stephen Chow, if you haven't yet seen Kung Fu Hustle, go check it out. I enjoyed the movie, as with most Stephen Chow movies, and thought the message of the movie is interesting. There are advertisements in the subway carts for this movie, which is great! Ng Man Tat, who is in almost every one of Stephen Chow's new movies, is not in this movie though, so that was kind of weird.

After work, I tried to go running to make up for the lack of exercise today, but that didn't go too well. I just felt sort of tired and couldn't run long. That and it's like in the 80s today I think! So spring is finally here, yes indeed! But I hear it'll be in the 60s tomorrow, and that it'll probably rain this weekend. New York weather is sure erratic. Must be from the pollution?

On another note, I'm going to try to buy a Dell 8400 desktop tomorrow. This is a dramatic upgrade from my old computer. I'll have to write an article about this later. For example, we're talking upgrade from 96MB RAM to 1GB RAM!

It's actually Wednesday, so I'm writing about yesterday. I didn't want to miss a day of writing down what I do, so I figure I would write late entries and it would be OK.

Started the day with morning exercise at the park. Today's exercise was not bad. I did some stances to get really warmed up. I find that stance work, although it gets boring pretty quickly, always gets a sweat going. Stances are definitely something that is appreciated in the long term. I'd make the analogy that if your looking for a one night stand, you do tricks and jumps... but if your looking for that long term relationship, you do stances. I should add that to my martial arts history page. Speaking of that page, I've been meaning to write the next three chapters on FSU Wushu, but have just not gotten around to it. Since those chapters are quite dear to me, I want to have at least some inspiration to write before I write them in order to capture some true feeling.

I also wrote in my Xanga for the first time in over 3 months. I hope to continue to write Xanga entries to detail my daily training rambles.

Since I'm starting my new job today, and I don't have to wake up as early. Work starts at 10, so I decide to go to the park to exercise. This is my first time going to the park on a weekday morning. And to my surprise, even on weekdays, there are lots of people there doing taiji and exercising. I think I'll start going to the park every morning as part of my "get back in shape" training.

So today was my first day at my new job. The work wasn't too bad, and I learned more about various e-mail clients today than I ever did before. So if you ask me how to create a POP3 or IMAP account on Mozilla Thunderbird, for example, I could tell you step by step. The work environment is hot though. I should wear light clothes from now on. I hear it'll be in the high 70s and even 80s this week. Spring is finally here.

After work, I decided to go running. I used to hate running. But as with many things, if you just do it and not think about it too much, you'll get used to it. This too will be part of my "get back in shape" training program. I should start charting my training again like Chu Tan, a colleague and martial artist at Florida State University. I sure miss practicing with the Florida State University Wushu Club. Even though there weren't that many people and we didn't practice as hardcore as we should have, it was still good times.

Started the day with the morning exercise at the park. There were a lot more people than usual today, so I couldn't "kick around" my usual practice area. The old people at the park sure do gossip a lot. That's just what old Chinese ladies do I imagine.

I then went to the student orientation at Poly Technic University with my cousins and uncle. It's a pretty decent school. We went with the Humanities group to learn more about that particular program. It was interesting. I like how one of the digital media professors talked about how there is a push towards having a sort of programmer/tech person who has the artistic creativity or the artist who has a strong technical background. I think this is true. Websites programmers, video editors, etc. will all need to have familiarity in both fields in order to succeed in this industry. This professor also emphasized to the prospective students that what they think they want to be doing now will most likely be different from what they want to do 4 years from now. This again is true. If I were to start college over again, knowing what I know now, I would have definitely majored in a different field (i.e. more emphasis on web programming, video production/editing and film).

Besides the free breakfast and lunch, I got to see some of the martial arts clubs doing demonstrations for the new prospective students. The tae kwon do club and the judo clubs were present. Sorry, no kung fu or wushu. One of the tae kwon do green belts was demonstrating a straight punch by breaking two boards. He tried several times and could not break them. Then they changed it to one board, and he broke it. I can't but help to feel bad for this guy. Something like this, although it may seem minor, will be a moment in his martial arts career he will never forget. Hopefully he will be able to use this experience as a learning factor and not have it be a regretful memory. That's just the thing with martial arts, sometimes you fail, but you can not let it consume you. You just have to smile, let it be part of you, and move on.

After that, I went with my cousins to visit my other uncle and aunt. And to visit my little brother and little sister. I have a little brother and a little sister?! Yes, it's surprising to me too. I have much to say about them, but we'll leave that for an upcoming article. They live in the apartment home my family and I used to live in... say about 20 years ago. I didn't really recognize it at first, but as I walk into the living room, some memories came back to me. Mostly because I remember the photos we took in there. I'll talk more in depth about this experience later too. It was quite an eventful day.

As with every weekend, when I have time, I go to the nearby park to exercise. This park is nothing like anything you'll find in Florida (that I know of). No, it's not that it has different types of playground equipment, nor does it have state-of-the-art facilities. The fascinating thing about this park, and I imagine with a lot of parks in ethically diverse cities (Chinese specifically), is that there are a lot of old people practicing tai-chi in the mornings. This might not impress most people, but to me, it's pretty awesome. This type of environment, where people practice taiji and other kung fu openly in the public, is like a diamond in the rough. Although almost everybody there in the morning is old and you don't really see many wushu athletes or hardcore kung fu practitioners, it is still move-like to me since I am not used to this.

But since I'm the only youth, I am apprehensive about practicing at times. I don't know taiji. And practicing tricks or something in this setting would seem rude? So I just try to keep the dynamics to a minimum. Like today, I did some butterfly kicks for the first time in like 3 months. I just did a few to see if I could still do them. It's like I miss doing them, and there's a longing in my heart to butterfly kick... if you can understand that. I definitely need to get back into a regular practice routine.

I will be starting a new job with on Monday. I am nervous and anxious at the same time. I am nervous about how the work environment will be like and how demanding the job will be. I am also excited about the opportunity to learn while I work. Hopefully, things will work out alright. If things work out, it will definitely be a new phase in my life. I have been in New York for over two months now, and I am really looking forward to having a steadier job that I will enjoy. I really hope this is it.

I am looking to join a wushu school on Monday as well. The school is in Chinatown and is taught by Sifu Chen Ying. I called the school the other day, and the lady told me it would be $120/month. Although this is quite a bit, I am willing to join because I am really looking forward to getting back into training. I had watched a video made by this school, where students talk about the training there, and it seems like they have good instruction. Jason Rotunno, a wushu practitioner, recommended the school. Also, another wushu practitioner, Y Chan, who is a avid poster on popular wushu forums such as jiayo.com, is a student at this school.