Sunday, March 26, 2006

S.B.06 - Bye Bye Toronto


a vacant union station on early sunday morning

a bit of a crazy way to end my spring break trip.  originally, i had a ticket for the VIA Rail train to take me back to london, ontario, where i would be picked up by some friends to drive back to calvin.  then, it turns out i needed to return to london earlier, because my friends were leaving in the morning.  i discovered the change in plans on saturday night, and the VIA Rail offices were closed.  i could not call in to change my ticket.  so i took a gamble (they have superb customer service) and got a ride from a pastor jim to the VIA Rail station early Sunday morning in hopes of rescheduling my ticket for the morning train.  i got there at 7:00 am, and the first train left at 7:50 am.  the clerk at the counter changed my ticket, and i breathed a sigh of relief.  drama was not what i needed at 7:00 am.

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/26 at 05:25 PM
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

S.B.06 - xbox360


the 2 games andrew and i have been enjoying on his xbox360

it’s been so long since i’ve had the time for some video gaming.  the graphics on the 360 are really amazing!  it’s even better when you have a big-screen HDTV to enjoy it on, coupled with bose surround sound.  oh boy, i’m so spoiled here.  and u know what?  i like it :)  just yesterday, i finally beat andrew at NBA 2K6 with the new jersey nets.  it felt so good to finally beat him!  the problem is, he’s pretty much invincible with the miami heat.  i think dwayne wade is way too dominant in the game… i mean, he can plow through any defense.  same with shaq.

just today, we bought perfect dark zero, and it’s been pretty sweet.  the campaign was a bit slow and frustrating, but the xbox live environment was pretty sweet.  although it’s a first person shooter, it’s still quite different from halo.  the controls seem more sluggish.  other than that, it’s still sweet.  oh yeah, an odd thing is that you can’t jump.  i found that very strange.  we can roll and crouch, but we can’t jump.

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/22 at 12:22 AM
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

S.B.06 - Andrew’s Crib


andrew practicing his swing

all’s good now, im safe and sound in toronto.  i got a solid 11 hours of sleep last night, and it was the good kind of sleep too.  it’s been two days and i’ve already completed some of my to-do items.  check the list and you can see for yourself.  i also added some more stuff to the list.  i find it kinda funny how toronto’s colder and windier than grand rapids.  most people are at warmer places, and i’m at a colder place.  but i’m not complaining, i just find it funny.  everything’s been really sweet so far.  i’m staying at my friend andrew’s house, and he’s got march break.  so he’s also on holiday (he’s in high school), so we get to chill out together.  he’s got an xbox 360, so we’ve been playing NBA on it.  it’s so sweet!  today, i finally beat him.  that took me many games of hard work, but i finally did it!

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/21 at 01:15 AM
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Saturday, March 18, 2006

S.B.06 - The VIA Rail


coming into toronto

i’m sitting on the train right now on my way to toronto.  the scenery outside is so beautful!  i’ve taken some photos, but none do it justice.  it looks just like a scene from some movie.  if you’ve seen smallville, then you’ll understand what i mean.  it looks like a scene from clark kent’s farm.  i’m so glad that i’m taking the train back!  there are so many shots i’ve missed.  i’ll be sure to get those shots on the way back.

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/18 at 06:07 PM
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Friday, March 17, 2006

Toronto To-Do List

ah, so much to do in toronto and so little time!  this list will constantly be updated to help me keep track of my travels…

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/17 at 04:48 PM
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Spring Break At Last!


toronto, here i come!

finally, a break from schoolwork.  it’s 12:41 am now, and at 10:30 am i will have my last class before spring break.  it’s going to be beautiful!  so this is what i’m doing for the break.  at 4:30 tomorrow, i hop onto a friend’s ride to london, ontario.  then, i switch to the VIA rail, which will take me to toronto.  at toronto, i will travel through the subway system to finch station, where a pastor’s family will pick me up.  i’m going to be staying with them, and i’m looking forward to it!  their son, andrew, is super cool (a fellow drummer, which instantly equals cool) and, weather permitting, i can practice some golf.  that’s one new sport i picked up over the summer.  i have plans to visit my high school classmates, many of whom are studying at the university of toronto.  i also have plans to visit my uncle, and also see some friends i made during the summer.  it will be great seeing my youth pastor friend again, ho-ming.  we met during the summer, and he’s one of the youth pastors at the chinese church i attended.  ah, so much to look forward to!

Posted by Nehe555 on 03/17 at 01:40 AM
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Sparky the Dog


sparky, the chinese “puffy-lion dog”


sparky and friends


the literal translation of this dog’s chinese name is really “puffy-lion dog”.  me and sparky go waaay back.  i think i met him when i was only a child.  we hit it off really well, and he loved it when i petted him.  he belongs to my aunt who lives out in san diego.  sparky’s really special because he shares the same birthday as me, july 4th.  yup, independence day!  he’s also a light-colored chow chow, and this breed comes from china.  usually chow chow dogs have darker fur, but sparky’s dutch :-).  we’ve both grown up now, and i havent seen him since.  he’s now in his 80s (around 13 human years), and from what i hear, that means he’s pretty old.  he still looks fine in the picture though.  perhaps i’ll be able to see him again before he gets too old.

Posted by Nehe555 on 03/14 at 09:00 PM
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Spring is Here!

or is it?  the past few days have been beautiful!  since i don’t understand farenheit too well yet (i’m still functioning in celsius), i’ll explain the temperature in normal english terms.  in the mornings, i can go outside and breathe without seeing my breath.  so it’s that warm!  it’s also been sunny, which is kinda rare for the grand rapids winter.  it’s usually overcast, so whenever the sun comes out, it’s an event worth celebrating!  our floor did just that.  nathaniel, a buddy of mine, took my idea (without permission too!) and organized a study session on the sundeck.  people from the entire beets-veenstra dorm were invited, and we had a solid group of around 15 people.  it was pretty sweet sitting out in the sun with all your friends while studying.  makes studying even more fun!

Posted by Nehe555 on 03/14 at 02:16 AM
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Sunday, March 05, 2006

Q & A on Favorite Bands


Q.  What are some of your favorite bands?

A.  Music is huge in my life, especially when you can use it to block out noisy distractions as you’re working on your homework.  Believe me, there are plenty of noisy distractions in the dorms.  Just the other day, some guy was playing a trumpet for fun in the hallway.  I had a feeling that he couldn’t really play, but was just proud that he could make a somewhat musical noise.  But that’s not the point.  I’ll list some of my favorite bands below…



it’s kinda ironic how i got to like this band.  back when i started listening to music in grade 6, i only liked rap.  my friend bradley told me about P.O.D. and lent me the satellite album, which went double platinum.  i popped it into my computer, and i briefly played a few seconds from each song.  that’s as far as i got.  i hated it.  distorted guitars and yelling weren’t my thing, they just hurt my ears.  several years later, after going through punk and rapcore, i started listening to rock.  that’s about the time i picked up P.O.D. again.  i borrowed the satellite CD again, and i was hooked to it.  i went online and watched their music videos, and i loved it.  they instantly became one of my favorite bands.



i know a lot of people bash this band, but as a drummer, i just have to admire travis barker.  i mean, blink 182 is completely drummer-driven, and their success with that has been phenomenal.  not a lot of bands can pull that off, and it means something that blink 182 did.  sure they have catchy lyrics and all that, but their drumming is just nuts.  the creativity, precision, and live performance is just inspiring.  i recently bought their older albums, Enema of State and Take Off Your Pants And Jacket.  impressive stuff… and i love it!



my favorite piano-driven band.  i had the opportunity to see them at calvin when they visited last month.  it was great, they played superbly and i loved it!  some of my friends in hong kong introduced me to this band, along with mae and waking ashland.  we loved their music so much that we covered one of their songs, Testing the Strong Ones, for a gig.  the lead vocalist has a great voice.  i like how he switches between normal voice and falsetto.  it just shows a lot of talent and versatility.  their latest album, In Motion, is one of my favorites.


         


Posted by Nehe555 on 03/05 at 05:06 PM
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The Sunday Routine


click to visit the mars hill church website

i’ve found a church now, and it’s called mars hill.  it’s one of those megachurches with 3 services every sunday.  they meet inside a rented shopping center, and the take up one of those really big department store spaces.  the room is pretty cool.  the stage is in the middle and the congregation sits around the stage.  the place has not really been decorated, so it looks pretty industrial.  you can see all the support beams in the ceilings.  it’s a big change from my home church in hong kong, Emmanuel English Church.  EEC is much much smaller, with a current Sunday attendance of around 100 people.  i’ve grown up in small churches my entire life, so mars hill with its several-thousand-member congregation kinda blows me away.

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/05 at 04:30 PM
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Saturday, March 04, 2006

Craziest Week To Date


spring is coming!

so i thought that i’d planned ahead for this.  i guess i didn’t plan far enough.  two midterm tests, three major papers, one week.  yup, a lot of stuff to do in a week.  i’m glad it’s over, i need the break!  i won’t bore you to death with the details, im just proud that i’ve gotten through it.  i feel good about all my work too, so that’s a bonus!  aaah, beautiful weekend… they are so glorious.  oh, but there’s more to my week.  read on for tales of adventure and remarkable courage!

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Posted by Nehe555 on 03/04 at 10:18 PM
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