Destinations...

So I've been thinking a lot about destiny lately and I have a weird story from last Tuesday that reaffirmed my faith in the universe.

Basically, I had a pretty rotten day. I received two additional job rejections to add to my pile (including this one cool part-time position that woulda made me essentially, an Avenue Q consultant-- a person who helps college students figure out their purpose in life and how they want to shape their career). And my friend who was supposed to attend a Tibetan movie premier with me was sick after going through a relapse of dysentery (which she caught in China-- another reason I have no interest in visiting there) or getting food poisoned. In any case, I was left alone.

So I went to the movie premier all by my lonesome and sat in the back corner, since the only people I knew were the hosts of the event and they were too busy to chat with me.

All of a sudden, I turn around and I see an old friend who was just about to tap me on the shoulder and ask, "Excuse me, sir. Is this seat next to you taken?"

What were the odds?!?!?

I went to this one event feeling pretty bad and a random coincidence happened restored good feelings about my world. I feel like this was some kind of wake-up call for me that things would turn out all right... =)

In case you're curious, this was the movie we were watching: Tibet in Song.


Anyway, these ruminations about what's meant to be had me thinking back to my time in Thailand too-- so as promised, I'd like to share some photos of my trip with you.

Here's my first meal of street chicken pad thai and milk tea (also known as a "Thai iced tea" outside of Thailand) next to a small lotus pond on the street. This became my staple food for the entire trip. Yummy and cheap!


This was a monk I saw, lighting a candle in a temple that my first tuk tuk driver took me to (before he tried to talk me into getting a prostitute!).


Shockingly, I was able to meet some chicks whilst touring around different areas by myself. Here I am with my first girlfriend-- Bambi, a pretty tall Japanese girl from Osaka (some of the other friends I made on the trip swore that she must be a model). She wouldn't stop making that annoying peace sign in every photo, though. We toured the floating market and saw a cobra show together--it was definitely love. Unfortunately, I was too stupid to remember to get her contact info after we met! Boo!!


Here's the sign of respect that Ronald McDonald pays all visitors of this land. Heheheh.


The next day, as I was touring the Bridge over the River Kwai, I made a new girlfriend-- a Chinese girl Phoebe who seemed to love me! Unfortunately, her government doesn't allow the zillions of photos she took of myself and her to get posted on the web, so our time together was not meant to be...


Rwaaaarrrr!! I got to hang out with some cool Thai-gers at this temple! I still think they must've been sedated, given how calm they were with strangers coming around and taking photos with them...


And here is lovely Grasshopper, in front of a holy Banyan tree in the Ayutthaya kingdom. The Banyan tree was the one under which the original Buddha attained enlightenment . Over the years, many people have cut the heads off of Buddha statues and stolen them (not really sure what for-- besides maybe displaying in their living rooms). This one head, however, landed on the ground and became encased in a Banyan tree. Another sign of "it's meant to be"?? Perhaps!!


I also had an insanely lucky day this week. I got standby tickets to the Martha Stewart show (even getting ahead of an old lady who was ALWAYS trying to get standby tickets), and I got a pizza from Di Fara's (supposedly the best pizza place in NY) without waiting a minute! On that day, one of my friends flaked out on meeting with me-- but another friend randomly IMed me and we got to meet up! I even tried to play my good fortune by buying $5 worth of lottery tickets-- but alas, that wasn't meant to be... I think my way to earn money will have to be through hard work and not blind luck. Oh well... It was still good that I got some of the things I wanted that day, though!

I've been thinking a lot about my next step in life, though, and I've been getting the idea that Boston or East Timor (or perhaps any other obscure country in the South Pacific) would be good locations. Not sure if this has to do with some songs I've been listening to about those places, though... Heheheheh.

Meditations at 5AM on Sunday night...

Again, I'm having a sleepless night-- I seem to have been having a lot of those lately. Maybe it's all those naps I take during the day...

Anyway, Grasshopper is still searching for his next step and decided to ponder questions about spirituality tonight. That is, I've been listening to classical music on youtube that are accompanied by nice-looking paintings/photos and thinking about what a nice world we live in.

Cheesey? Definitely. But there were actually a few things I've wanted to mention recently and I figure that now is as good a time as any to talk about this.

First, the story of stepping into poo.


A few weeks ago, I went for a walk around Manhattan with one of my friends and nearly stepped into a pile of dog crap. The reason I missed it was that he pulled me aside at the last second and saved me from putting my flip flops into poo in the middle of the sidewalk. Thank goodness!

The next day, I went to view a few real estate properties for my internship and was on my way back to the office by noon. After getting to my desk, I noticed a weird smell... And it was coming from my shoe?

Odd, I thought. I never had foot odor before. What was going on?

I turned over the sole of my shoe and noticed that I had, in fact, stepped into dog poo. And I spent the next hour scrubbing off my shoe, as well as the carpet that I had walked on (not to mention, also buying disinfectant and cleaning everywhere I had been in the office!). Not fun...

But this provided me with a lesson of destiny. The night before, my friend had rescued me from stepping into dog crap-- but I couldn't avoid it the next day.

Perhaps this challenge was meant to be and my fate was sealed. Or I just need to be more careful about where I step. Nonetheless, it was food for thought...

The other story I wanted to mention was about the Buddhist figure with whom I feel most closely associated, Avalokiteshvara.


The details of his story vary a lot by where you hear it from, but the version that I originally heard (and like the most) is that Avalokiteshvara was a prince who sought to cure the world of all its misery. He swore, "if I fail, may my head break into 10 pieces!"

As he helped people along, however, he noticed that once one problem was fixed, another would immediately arise and he began to despair. The second he lost hope, Avalokiteshvara's head broke into 10 pieces.

Seeing this, the Buddhas decided to help put the pieces back together as individual heads, and gave him a third eye on each head and an eleventh head above the original 10. This way, he could always see the sufferings of sentient beings around the world.

Additionally, the Buddhas gave him 1,000 arms so that he could lend a hand (so to speak) to everyone in need.

Today, the Dalai Lama is considered a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara (or "Chenrezig" as his name is called in the Tibetan language), the Bodhisattva of compassion.

And all of this reminds me of my trip to Thailand, but I'll have to share actual photo highlights in a separate post.

Suffice it to say that it was really while I was in Southeast Asia last summer that I got this idea of feeling at peace with myself.

One night while I was traveling, I just imagined what it would be like if I were to die in my sleep and whether I'd be upset looking back on my life.

Somehow, I came to the realization that I was pretty happy with the way I have lived up until that point and I've made it a fairly common practice to reflect on everything every once in a while-- because you never know what'll happen.

I guess, although I'm still unemployed and I haven't had a chance to raise a family or do some other big things in the world, I'm pretty satisfied with what I've accomplished in my years on Earth and would feel comfortable knowing what I'm leaving behind-- even if it's not a legacy that people will necessarily remember in generations to come. My friends and family all know how much I appreciate their love and support, and I hope they know that I would gladly do the same for them.

All we really have is the present moment and it's important to really live.

So on that note, I bid the world good night!

I'll try again not to sleep through all of tomorrow. Teeheehee!

Another new start...

So it's been almost a year since I've posted and I'm happy to inform anyone who happened to stumble on this blog (I doubt any of my original 3 readers are still checking this site...) that Grasshopper finished his graduate degree!

After spending 2 years "studying" for my MBA, I walked across the stage right into funemployment land! Well, I interned for 2 months and spent my last month job-searching-- but I've pretty much been a useless blob.

Anyway, I have to admit that I never felt quite at home as I was pursuing the MBA, as it was some weird world where people acted like they were in high school or college, but were really in their late 20's/early 30's. There would be constant parties until 4AM each night and scandalous encounters would happen after I had already exited each event. People clawed after one another for a spot at the coveted McKinsey or Goldman Sachs companies. And a supposedly "popular" crowd of people, who acted like they were BFF's since the first day they met, basically set the tone for the school's culture. Definitely not a great place for someone who's socially awkward and doesn't like most people. =P

I also have to admit that my creativity has really been stifled over those 2 years (I'm sure many people can see that business school is all about conformity), so I haven't had many interesting thoughts to share.

I do, however, still need to post photos sometime of my travels. During the past two years, I had visited, but not posted photos of:

• Costa Rica
• India
• the Philippines
• Thailand
• Singapore
• Canada (Toronto and Vancouver-- for the 2010 Olympic Games!)
  
• Nicaragua
• Austria
• Hungary
• Slovakia

So there are definitely a lot of travel updates I need to make!

And now, as I enter a stage in my life-- where I am searching for the next big thing, I feel like I can start blogging again about all that's going on.

In addition to my internship and job search, I also moved three different times to new sublet arrangements in the past few months (i.e. I've been "grasshopping" across Manhattan). Once to a former classmate's/ex-friend's apartment near my old business school. Once to a boarding house in midtown east. And now, I shall be moving onto an apartment share in a luxury building on the crookedest street in the world (hint: NOT Lombard Street in San Francisco).

Give up? I'm moving to WALL STREET!

Yep, Grasshopper is going where the sharks swim and living in the crucible of all evil. It'll be an interesting time, if anything...

I've also been going to the gym a lot lately and I swear that my newly washed grey polo shirt didn't fit as easily around the armholes as before. Either the shirt had shrunk or my biceps have gotten bigger. I'd like to imagine it's the latter. Teeheehee!

I actually realize that the last time I had such an insane dedication to swimming and exercise was another period of unemployment in my life... Perhaps these sad bouts of being completely useless just bring out the most physically active side of me. Who knows?

OK, it's 6AM and I still haven't slept. Not really sure why I'm so awake (unless you count the fact that I woke up at 11AM this morning, watched online videos, went back to sleep and got to the pool only at 5PM), but I should really try to get rest at a normal time. Don't wanna turn into a vampire! Hahahah.


Good night, world!

Lost and Found...

Oddly enough, I had this weird experience today that has me jarred-- and this is sort of a follow-up to last week's posting...

I had a meeting with a client for one of my classes today and I lost my glasses in the haze of the morning. When I got home later in the day, I was sad to find my extra pair of eyes gone. :(

So of course, I passed out at 6PM on my bed and woke up an hour later with an irritation in my eye. I rubbed it briefly and then it was gone-- but so was my left contact lens, I noticed.

So the universe was playing some sort of strange game where it wanted me to be blind...

And a few months ago, I put these two Buddha paintings in a bag, where I meant to give one of the paintings to my Mei-Mei and keep another for myself. But I lost them and couldn't find them!

So here's the strange part...

I suddenly had a thought to look in this brown paper bag for the Buddha paintings-- and there they were!

Then (although I had already combed through my apartment with a flashlight-- and even dug through my trash, looking for leads!), I saw my glasses hanging on a window curtain string in the bathroom!

AND I found my contact lens on the floor next to the bed, where I had ALREADY looked earlier in the day!

I was wondering if this was some weird poltergeist playing a prank on me, but I'm not really that insane. Hahahah!

It is a weird coincidence that I had a bunch of lost things found today... I just wish I could think of more things I've lost, so that I could find them now.

I'm on quite a roll as of the past 2 hours!

(And now, I think I'm finally over the Fray song, since I'm experiencing the founding of lost posessions...)

You Found Me

We had a conference this past Friday at school, and I was losing a ton of sleep planning things.

Over the week, there was also a lot of stuff due for my classes and usually, I don't get so stressed out about academics but for some reason, I completely felt like I was drowning.

This song by the Fray was on my replay list all week and I'm still listening to it all the time now.

i wonder when I'll get sick of it...

Exploitative?

I just read a blog on MSNBC where some critic is ranting about why he won't see Michael Jackson's "This is It" movie concert (which is basically a bunch of clips from MJ's rehearsals, pieced together to look something like an actual concert) and it's leading me to post my own whiny rant.


The whiny blogger says, "Perhaps to some, it feels like a way to celebrate a great entertainer. But if so, why not just air it on television? Why charge admission?" and the whiny commenters on his blog all seem to agree (http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/26/2044676.aspx).

Now I personally agree that the Michael Jackson movie is slightly exploitative, but let's not forget that MJ had hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and the concert promoters took a huge loss when he passed away-- so it completely makes sense for them to strike while the iron's hot and try to cut their losses (possibly even turning a profit).

The reason I'm annoyed, though, is that there seems to be more outcry over this movie than there was over another set of movies about a sensitive subject that I don't like to think about (or even really talk about) too much: September 11th.

When they made two movies (i.e. "United 93" and "World Trade Center", which starred that horrid Nicholas Cage) about the 9-11 attacks, I found it incredibly distasteful and was pretty angry when critics gushed over how well-made the movies were. (FYI, I refused and still refuse to ever watch those movies.)

As a New Yorker who attended school just two blocks away from the World Trade Center and continues to fast each year on 9-11, I found the idea of Hollywood profiting off of the attack-- just five years later (in 2006)-- to be in extremely poor taste.

I asked the question, "If these producers really wish to educate the public about 9-11 and want to honor the victims' memories, why not create a documentary or movie that can be seen on network TV and available to the public?"

I find it extremely disturbing that the public could be so outraged over a concert film about a pop star (and let's not forget that people who wanted to see the concert would have had to pay a ton more than they would for a movie ticket), but have no such protest for films that are clearly trying to profit off of one of the most horrific events in American history.

I'm seriously hoping that at least the dollars will speak and that the MJ movie will gross significantly higher sales than the two 9-11 movies did.

But on a happier note, the Yankees just beat the Boston Red Sux. Go Yanks!!

The Witching Hour

It's past 4AM on Friday night and I'm unable to sleep.

Of course, I know exactly why. I woke up this morning in order to make it on time for a client meeting (from one of my classes this semester), spent an exhausting day walking through the site and collapsed as soon as I got home at 7PM-- only to re-wake myself at 9:30PM to go to a good friend's birthday party on the Lower East Side.

Now, I'm back at home, awake and annoyed, because I need to meet someone else at 8:30AM.

Another friend, who I'm meeting at noon, just texted me and my neighbor is playing his cello.

So odd that there are so many random people awake at this hour, but none of us are actually interacting with others...

For some reason, my imagination is starting to get the better of me and I'm thinking of ghosts and other supernatural beings.


And this is all reminding me of being back in the Philippines this summer...

For a strongly Catholic country, there were definitely a lot of superstitions going around.

As an example, this one rural village in the mountains that I stayed in had a creek where people would bathe. But nobody would go there after dark, due to the frequent sightings of ghosts there. The story went that there was a scorned woman in that village, who ended up hanging herself on a tree in the mountains. Now, she appears as an attractive ghost to unsuspecting men that follow her-- ultimately off the edge of a cliff, meeting her in the afterlife.

And I also met some other interesting folks who actually said that they were able to see spirits-- similar to the kid in "The Sixth Sense".

Imelda Marcos-- the crazy first lady of the Philippines from the 1960's to 80's-- did some horrible things to people in her country and there are tons of stories of angry spirits still restless in certain areas of Manila.

Oddly enough, some of the Filipinos I know who have visited NY haven't noticed anything strange at the World Trade Center (i.e. 9-11 attacks) site.

They theorize that perhaps the way that the country united in the immediate aftermath calmed the souls...

Strange late night ruminations I'm having, huh?

Grasshopper's Role Models

All of this advising first year students has also got me thinking about who my idols are and it's interesting to see that they're all a bunch of odd couples from reality TV! (This is in addition to the list that includes Martha Stewart, by the way).

First up: P!nk and Carey Hart

It takes real balls for one to write really edgy songs about not fitting in at high school, questioning the crazy president's policies, or not putting out and P!nk does just that!

Even more fascinating is the fact that she comes across as being really level-headed, despite her crazy stage persona. I kind of wish I could have her courageous outspokenness, commanding stage presence and rational thoughtfulness...

And I always thought that P!nk was a lesbian, but her boyfriend, motorcyclist Carey Hart, was actually one of the star particupants of "The Surreal Life: Season 5".

What impressed me most about Carey was the fact that underneath his uber-tattooed exterior, he was a super chill guy who remained very nonjudgmental and pretty calm (even when he had to deal with jerks like Jose Canseco and crazies like Omarosa and Janice Dickinson).

Carey's cool demeanor, juxtaposed with his insane exterior, makes him a pretty cool foil to Pink and a nice role model to kids out there. I really wish I had his type of management skills.

Secondly: Christopher Knight (i.e. "Peter Brady") and Adrianne Curry (i.e. America's Next Top Model)


I know this looks like the portrait of a washed-out old man with a gold-digging supermodel wife, but Chris and Adrianne had one of the coolest and most hilarious love stories in "Surreal Life" history.

It was so obvious during season 4 of the D-list reality TV show that the producers wanted Adrianne to hook up with the male Calvin Klein model, but I was pretty shocked when showed that she cared about more than looks and fell in love with Christopher Knight instead. It was seriously the sweetest pairing I've ever seen-- and it provides hope to many of us ordinary guys out there!

But it's more the individual personalities of Chris and Adrianne that make them my celebrity power role model couple.

In addition to his former stardom, Chris is a successful businessman and really showed himself as caring husband with a lot of foresight and intelligence.

And Adrianne, while being slightly offbeat, really came across as being incredibly caring and supportive of her crazy housemates and demonstrated a lot of depth when she thought long-term and hooked up with the stable, dependable man, rather than the underwear model.

This couple gets my best wishes for their future in expanding their family!!

And finally: Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla


Dr. Drew is probably the most articulate, analytical psychiatrist out there and he shows a genuine concern and tremendous wealth of knowledge to every patient he comes across.

Adam Carolla (who was also the voice of Spanky Ham in "Drawn Together"!) was an awesome wing-man to Dr. Drew on "Loveline", always cracking hilarious jokes with impeccable timing.

I hope that others out there also strive to have Dr. Drew's knowledge and Adam Carolla's sense of humor.

Wow...

So I have to say that I'm pretty impressed by how quickly the summer went by. My time in Manila (followed by a week in Singapore and Thailand) ended in a flash-- but more on this later. Right now, I feel like reflecting on the past week of my life.

It was over a year ago that I entered the crazy world of business school and began to feel completely incompetent, compared with many of my more talented peers. In an effort to fit in, I started attending a bunch of drinking events that were totally out of my element and realized quickly that it wasn't my thing.

However, this past week, I was an advisor to the new first year students and had to attend many activities at which I spent only a few minutes the previous year. This series of events brought me back to confronting my social awkwardness and I somehow feel like I've grown by repeatedly being forced out of my comfort zone...

Here is some photographic evidence that I was actually doing my job, by socializing with the new kiddies (this is a one-armed shot of one of my advisees with me):


I still can't fully articulate how I've changed through the week, but it was really something for me to have the opportunity to practice my public speaking and leadership skills in front of a big group of students.

One student from China actually told me about how she's used to a more "elegant" manner of socializing (by the way, she wasn't using the word "elegant" to imply that her culture is better than the western norms-- it was just an uncommon choice of words...) and I could totally understand her feelings. She mentioned how in China, they don't usually do small talk the way Americans do; they try to actually get to know a person and talk one-on-one for an extended period of time-- and there isn't this emphasis on these superficial features, such as one's job, the weather, etc..

And this got me thinking about my Asian values again.

I always see some Asian Americans who can "work the room" really well and I've never been one of those people-- so I've never really been able to blame my lack of social etiquette on Asian culture. I always just thought that I'm a big dork! But I'm beginning to wonder if I'm just an odd hybrid of Asian and American values that left me as a socially awkward person, who judges others pretty harshly when they act out of the norm.

Hmmmm...

But in any case, I feel inspired right now to spend more time helping the quieter kids fit in and feel like they're really a part of my business school community. I think it's important for everyone to feel included during their first weeks at school.
__________
In related news, there was this fellow advisor with whom I was working that everybody thought was gorgeous. The thing that surprised me, though, was that none of the first years seemed to be able to provide her with any feedback about her work as an advisor, besides "you're hot".

And funnily enough, this girl also has stories of people who've drunkenly walked up to her and said "you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen!" only to run off a second later.

I have to say that I still envy people with such superior looks, but it's interesting to see the challenges that one faces when nobody is able to get past one's looks.

What an interesting week I've had...

Proud to be an American (Grasshopper)

So after we elected the first African American to be our chief executive (on a night when I was furiously working through a horrid Operations Management case, by the way), I decided to pay a visit to one of my dear friends in Washington, D.C. to see the inauguration.

And I have to say that it was a FRIGGIN' AMAZING DAY!!

We woke up at 5AM to take the metro towards the National Mall, and it took us over an hour to get there, cramming ourselves like sardines in a completely packed train-- which kept making every stop, despite the fact that nobody was getting on or off. The weather was insanely cold, with everyone's fingers and toes nearly falling off from frostbite. And we couldn't even get to see Mr. Barack in person-- only a video on the jumbo tron in front of the Washington Monument!

But with all of that said, I can't even begin to describe the electricity in the air and all of the hope and excitement that we, as an American people, felt that day.

With all of the challenges we faced during the previous eight nightmarish years, the difficulties of a single day could be overlooked. I don't think people even realize how much it means that we have not only elected an African American, but an extremely accomplished and capable individual who will truly drive our country towards a better tomorrow.

Luckily, some of my friends were smart enough to bring a camera and take a few snapshots from that day.

Here's me with a "President Obama - Yes we did it!" hat, standing alongside a college friend:


This was the actual view we had of the jumbo tron from our position on the National Mall:


And here's our group, standing in front of the Washington Monument, after the official inauguration ceremony ended (please ignore my hat hair):


It was really an incredible time...

[By the way- I'm writing all of this from an apartment in Manila, where I will be for the next two months. More on this abroad trip later!!]

What did I say?

This posting is quite a few months overdue, but I just wanted to praise my good judge of character in the world of baseball.

Did I not sing praises to Joe Torre back in the fall of 2007, and bid a "so long! we won't miss you" to A-Rod?

Of course I did!!
http://yellowamericangrasshopper.blogspot.com/2007/10/something-is-rotten-in-state-of-yellow.html

And now look, Joe's had his 13th playoff and the Dodgers just swept past the Rockies for the second time this season, and A-Rod's under fire for being a cheater (in more ways than one)!

I'm just that intuitive!!

And I also wanted to quickly mention that for Halloween 2008,Grasshopper dressed as Doug Funnie (as promised!!)-- and I even brought along Porkchop!


I think I'm finally accepting my inner dorkiness and looking to dress only in costumes that match my personality!

Ideas for next Halloween:
- Sherlock Holmes
- Spock (I LOVED the recent "Star Trek" movie-- but I might not be enough of a trekkie to pull this off...)
- The Doppler Effect (as Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" did-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J43lAESftPs&feature=related)

An American Grasshopper in Paris

One of the pre-MBA trips I took was to Paris with my family and I got to spend two pretty fun weeks there.

Rather than boring you guys with photos of myself and family near the big tourist sites (e.g. Versailles, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, etc.), I'll share with you a few random interesting things.

A cool highlight during the trip was when I started scoping out these Orangina Naturellement Pulpeuse ads and taking photos with all of the ones I saw!

Here's a doe (a deer, a female deer) with Grasshopper:


A tanned and muscle-y Grasshopper (hahahah!), holding a water bottle and baguettes, with a sexy dolphin:


That same sexy dolphin with me, a kinky panther, and a ravishing palm tree:


Me and a sultry giraffe:

Me with an athletic surfer jellyfish:

A hibiscus version of Marilyn Monroe with your's truly!


And a revealing zebra on top of me!


Another funny ad I saw was this one for a conference about talking to kids about puberty and sex:


While at Napoleon's Palace, I stood at attention next to the cannons:


But nearly got my head blown off by one!!


We took a day trip to Rouen to visit Joan of Arc's place of death. This is the spot where she was burned at the stake:


And Grasshopper paid his respect to the fallen, cross-dressing saint by lighting a candle in her helmet-shaped church:


In addition to posing in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine...


I tried climbing a portion of it!! (although my fear of heights seriously caused me to have some vertigo...)


Here is Grasshopper trying to imitate the Borghese Gladiator in the Louvre:


And here I am, with a look of "triomphe" on my face as I do my best arrogant American impression:

Back into the blogosphere...

Hello to any readers who are left on this blog!!

I have been unfortunately lazy and somewhat preoccupied with school, so I again fell into blogger negligence.

But now that summer is upon us, I shall be back with a vengeance and I promise that I will update back topics that I've been meaning to write about for a while!

Just to give a few quick recaps on my life:

• Orientation happened in August of '08 and it was a giant blur to me.
  
• Some of the core classes I took at b-school (e.g. Corporate Finance, Accounting) sucked the life out of me, but I did have an awesome learning team and I got to go to India for Spring Break with my Global Social Marketing Class (I will definitely post separately on that).
• I tried not to be a total lemming during the on-campus recruiting process, but did interview with one very socially responsible, large financial services company-- and got dinged!
• However, that was likely a blessing in disguise as I am now going to work in the Philippines for two months this summer with a community development organization.
• I've spent the past month being a total bum, doing absolutely nothing (besides some swimming/running-- I'm qualified and signed up for the NYC Marathon this fall!) and am leaving for Manila in less than a week.

One pictoral illustration of my time at school is as follows (and in case anyone doesn't remember how I look/can't tell the difference between Asian guys-- I'm the one on the right; and yes, that is beer spilled over our shirts):


As I am halfway through my graduate school experience, I have to admit that I haven't quite felt like myself in a while. In some ways, I feel like this last year was a lot about fitting in and I'm really hoping to snap out of the whole elitist, judgmental mentality that has been so strongly ingrained in my life up until this point.

I guess being in business school doesn't really help that... but I'm pretty confident that I'll reclaim my individualism soon.

In any case, you can all rest assured that Grasshopper is alive and well!!

Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Wall

I found this Alvin & the Chipmunks video off youtube late last year and wanted to share it with everyone.

I remember watching this episode as a little kid...

Alvin, Simon and Theodore are traveling with their father, Dave, to Germany to play at a concert in Berlin (either East or West-- I can't remember).

They meet a little blond girl named Katrina who throws a ball-- with messages taped onto it-- over the Berlin wall each day so that she can communicate with her brother, who's on the other side of the city.

Somehow, the Chipmunks end up on the other side of the Berlin Wall and start playing their concert (in this video). They sing about the Wall falling down and the reverberations from their music causes the Wall to collapse. We see Katrina reunited with her brother, an old man brought back together with his granddaughter, and the Chipmunks with Dave.

The episode ends with Alvin waking up on the airplane, which is just landing in Berlin-- the entire scenario had just been a dream and the Wall is still standing.

Alvin thinks back to that image of Katrina hugging her brother, though, and the vision of hope lives on...

Apparently, this episode was aired BEFORE the Berlin Wall actually came down-- so maybe Alvin & the Chipmunks inspired history.

Here are the actual lyrics to the song:

<<Far from the battlefield, far from war,
We've got to look for an open door,
All of us working, all of us searching for peace.

We dream of a time when we all are one,
Clinging to hope under Earths bright sun,
So lets get together, things will be better if we try, hear our cry.

Someday the pain of war will be healed,
Someday we'll mean and speak what we feel.
Let the wall come down, tumble to the ground,
and love will live in peace all around.

So lets raise our voice so they all can hear,
Over the wall, they will raise a cheer,
All of us clinging, all of us singing the cry, we will try.

Someday the pain of war will be healed,
Someday we'll mean and speak what we feel.
Let the wall come down, tumble to the ground,
And love will live in peace all around.
Let the wall come down, and tumble to the ground,
And love will live in peace all around.>>

Still with the New York Giants...

OK, a new rant (and this time-- at 3AM in the morning!!) for the new year.

I'm hearing a bunch of sports commentators say that Sunday's Super Bowl was the "greatest game ever" and that it was even better than last year's Giants' win over the previously undefeated Patriots and I think that's total BS.

Sure, it was an exciting final 10 minutes and it was fun to watch overall, but I can't believe that people would dare compare it with one of the biggest upsets ever. How often does an underdog wild card team beat the undefeated opponent in the biggest game of the year?? And how is a game where the heavily favored Steelers basically dominate throughout comparable to last year???

I was reading some news article in the NJ Star-Ledger about David Tyree's helmet catch vs. James Harrison's 100-yard interception touchdown and this one poster said it best:

<<The knee-jerk reaction to coronate this game as the greatest thing in sports history is both laughable and pathetic. This was a snoozefest for 50 minutes with the Cards shooting themselves in the thigh at every opportunity while the Steelers wouldn't take it away. Harrison's run was a great play but it was also a horrendous effort by AZ to make a tackle. George Martin's return in '86 vs. Denver was a better play let alone "The Catch" from last year. That one occured on the game-winning drive that defeated "the Greatest Team Ever" had the Patriots won. Last time I checked the Cards were a 7-time loser this year and easily the worst team entering the playoffs.>>

- jintfan76

I couldn't agree more, man!

And to all you jerks in the news media, who are trying to diminish the Big Blue: get a reality check. =P

Next year, G-men. Next year...__________

On another sports rant, I just wanted to mention that I find it very unsurprising that Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has been outed as a pothead. He was always incredibly arrogant and condescending, and I'm not surprised that he thought that he could also get away with doing illegal drugs.

I find it pretty standard that the media built him just to tear him down. Now watch him be the big story leading up to the London games in 2012-- even though he won't win another 8 gold medals. And then the controversy will pour in over whether he's lost his edge and the cycle will continue.

OK, bitterness be gone! I need to go into this Chinese New Year with a clearer mind...

Let's Go GIANTS!!!!!

Watching part of the NY marathon and then seeing the Giants DEMOLISH the Dallas Cowboys got me really pumped up today.

So at around 6PM, I decided to go on my usual 5-mile run through Central Park with my gym buddy-- but it turned out that there were still marathoners running (it started at 10AM this morning!!).

Instead of finding an alternative workout or doing my corporate finance readings, my marketing case study and my accounting problem set, I went surfing on youtube and found this video of the NY Giants Superbowl win to the song "You're the Best Around"-- from one of Grasshopper's favorite, most inspirational movies, "The Karate Kid".

Enjoy!

14 Life Lessons From He-Man

He-Man was my FAVORITE cartoon in the 1980's (along with "The Bionic Six"), so I was surfing youtube for some cool clips and I found this gem with life lessons from each episode! (I had no idea Teela was adopted!)

I'm really impressed by how the morals of these episodes run the gamut from family values, to health & fitness, to learning from your mistakes, to judging people fairly, to long-term perspective!

I love how socially responsible He-Man is!!

I have the POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Complaining about complainers...

I have a new rant now-- people who complain about their lives, when there's really nothing wrong with it.

I understand that everyone feels stressed out for different reasons and it's human nature to complain, but this is something that's really been bothering me lately.

Being in business school for the past few months, I admit that there's been a lot on my plate.

But people who talk about how "horrible" their lives are-- because we have recruiting events, homework, midterms <>-- really annoy me.

Coming to b-school, didn't they realize that there would be recruiters and that taking classes would require us to do homework and take exams?

And in this economy, shouldn't they be grateful that recruiters are still coming to campus at all??

I'm having a tough time feeling compassionate for these people who feel that they're the helpless victims of "horrible" circumstances...

__________
I also had another talk this weekend with some friends that kind of annoyed me too.

This guyI know received a soy sauce chicken from a woman who wanted to thank him for writing a recommendation for her son.

So he was complaining about how weird that was (since it's such a burden for him to carry around a soy sauce chicken)-- and other people were actually agreeing!!

I'm not sure what culture this Chinese American dude grew up in, but as far as I can remember, food has always been a pretty good gift to receive.

There are some cultures where food is very scarce, and believe it or not, there are some people who actually don't have the luxury of having a good meal every night.

So suffice it to say that I find it annoying when people bitch and moan about really trivial things (although I guess I'm being hypocritical by complaining about them, and thereby becoming a mindless complainer too!).

Halloween Treat!

In anticipation of Halloween, here's my favorite song from an AWESOME movie-- "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Here's "Kidnap the Sandy Claws", by Lock, Shock and Barrel.

(And to people who actually check this blog-- I swear, I'll actually try and post something soon.)

Melange à Juin

OK, I know-- I've been a bad blogger again. =P

Hopefully, my extra-long (and extremely random-- i.e. a "melange à Juin", a mix of June) post today will make up for my near 2-month absence.

Now that I've quit my job and am chillin' out until business school in August, I should have more time to put up updates on my life!! (That is, unless I end up actually travelling the world-- which will only happen if I get off my lazy ass and do some real planning. heheheh.)

Anyway, I had several experiences that have reminded me of "The Wizard of Oz" and so, here's a photo of me with the Scarecrow costume at the Smithsonian Museum back in 2006... (The Scarecrow was always my favorite character and I always fancied myself to be his protégé)

A few months ago, I lost the cable service to my apartment and it was a sad day. :(

I used to wake up to reruns of "Saved by the Bell" on TBS, but that was no more an option...

So I started watching only basic TV channels and READING books! (which is totally unlike me-- since I hate reading.)

BUT then I realized that I just glitched my TV setting-- I had had cable all along! And it reminded me of the last scene in Oz...

Dorothy realizes that she always had the power to return to Kansas, but she needed to figure it out herself and ultimately, use her own ability to return home-- and that's exactly how I felt about my situation with cable! =D

Yesterday, as I was visiting at Tibetan Museum on Staten Island, I couldn't find my ATM card and so, had no cash to get into the museum.

Luckily a stranger I met on the bus was nice enough to take me in as his guest (he worked for another museum and therefore, got into this one for free), so I didn't have to pull out my credit card to pay the $5 admission.

When I got home, I looked through my apartment for the ATM card but couldn't find it. And lo and behold, it turned out it was hidden in another compartment of my wallet all along!

So perhaps the lesson from "The Wizard of Oz" is that we needn't look very far to find what we're looking for...
__________

One channel that I did not have during my cable blackout was the Food Network, and I have to say that it was not a big loss. =P
Although there's definitely a smidge of fine programming on the station (all of my friends know that my favorite show to wake up to on weekends is Giada DeLaurentiis' "Everyday Italian" , and I'm a HUGE fan of Michael Chiarello) and I've been advocating for them to represent minority cultures FOREVER, the Food Network's recent attempts at "diversity" have been so overdone that it's offensive!

Their most recent "Down Home with the Neelys" show features a black Southern couple, cooking barbecue and Mrs. Gina Neely is about as stereotypical as one could imagine. Her endless use of the “Hey Girl”, “Girl” , and “Girlfriend” lingo is obnoxious, along with her loud laugh, constant sexual innuendos and over-the-top actions.

I'm not trying to knock the Neelys, but the lady has definitely got to tone it down if she's wants her show to be watchable.

Sunny Anderson's "Cooking for Real" show is somewhat more enjoyable, but I feel like the "fo' real!" language is another exaggeration of a minority stereotype. =P

And as before, I'm still wondering why there aren't any Asian-themed shows.

Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, etc. food is HUGE-- yet it still goes unrecognized on the Food Network.

The battle wages on...

__________

Another television cook (who is NOT on the Food Network) is actually one of my role models-- Martha Stewart.Most people might knock me for looking up to an ex-convict, but I have to say that I never quite believed she was guilty and I don't think anyone can question her genius in rebuilding her image after being released from prison.

One thing I know I'm going to constantly face in the future is failure; it's a sheer fact that we can't succeed in everything we do, and life will have its ups and downs.

I can only hope that I will be able to face my setbacks in as dignified and tenacious a manner as Martha did with her dilemma...

As the adage goes:"When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade"-- OR you can make a new cocktail I discovered, which bears my name!!

THE GRASSHOPPER!!
According to Wikipedia, the ingredients are equal parts green Crème de menthe (i.e. mint cream!), white Crème de cacao (i.e. white chocolate cream!) and fresh cream.

Mix those ingredients with some ice in a shaker and you get a delicious, refreshing grasshopper!!

Cheers!!

But speaking of things that bear my name, there's apparently a Chinese boy band that bears the name Grasshopper...

According to my friend, who is an expert in Chinese pop culture, these guys were huge back in the '90s and are now doing a reunion concert called Forever Grasshopper.

I've never been a fan of boy bands or Chinese music, but let's hope that these guys do the grasshopper name proud!