Friends and "Friends"

It's getting close to the year 2007 and the days leading up to the New Year have been a dvdfest of Friends and more Friends. This year has also been the year of getting to know some of my high school friends better. It's really great that I have them or would have gone bonkers. So a shout-out to all those frisbee folks and dinner folks.

I also finished Final Fantasy XII recently and I have to say that the game is completely rich and dense but not fully fleshed out. The story is grand but really different from the others. It's not as epic as the previous games. They have the save the world. This is one is just save a country or land. I think something closer to FF Tactics would have been better. There are so many unanswered questions. Just like Dreamfall...

Resident Evil... 4!

I have been playing Resident Evil 4 for a while. I have to admit that it is a pretty fun game, but as of right now, it's getting kind of difficult. I wonder if I should have gotten God of War instead. That also seems like it would be a very fun game. People have said that Devil May Cry was suppose to be good but I never got the hang of it and could never beat the first boss. Damn giant fire spider.

Anyways, all of this is a distraction from my training materials. I am about 4/10 of the way through my first book and I have seven more books to go. I just have to press on a little each day. I really should start to do the Google thing again. My money is depleting faster than usual because of my spending for the holidays. Hopefully, I can hit four hours today using my special method. Hohoho.

I have been watching Friends the last week starting from season three. I am now at season seven and damn some of the material is really funny. And it definitely helps that these characters are relatable. Sometimes I wish my life could be an episode of Friends.

Culebran Cobia

During my nightly owl sessions sitting in front of the TV watching World News Now on ABC, they had this Nightline playback segment on future fish farms. By the way, if you are ever up late at night, WNN is a great program. They're funny and light-hearted but not stupid and cheeky like the morning programs.

Anyways, back to the fishfarms. They were spotlighting these new eco-friendly fishfarms or Open Ocean Aquacultures. It's being introduced by a company called Snapperfarm and they're cultivating a fish called Cobia or Black Salmon. The flesh is suppose to be white but whatever. When they talk about the old fish farms and how they pollute the oceans, it makes me kind of sick. So this is how most fish farms work today. They are close to the shore and bred in captivity. That's all fine and good except that in the shallow waters, there are no strong currents. With no strong currents it's easier to manage and swim with the fish but the tepid water allows the growth of algae and bacteria due to the accumulated waste from the fish. And these are the fish we eat. No wonder most sushi restaurants are not very good. It's because the cheap fish they buy swim and 'breathe' in their own filth. Plus all this filth destroys the surrounding atmosphere. These sustainable aquacultures are raised about 2 miles away in the open ocean where there are strong currents to keep fresh water flowing into the fish cages. It really just sounds like a good idea and much more appetizing than the old method.

I wonder when I'll see Cobia. Probably not soon since I'm going to Beijing. I wonder then when CA will have Cobia as a regular fish.

Check out the site. http://www.snapperfarm.com/

Holiday Thoughts... Past and Present

The way things are turning is kind of weird. If someone told me a year ago that I was going to go to China to work, I would be highly skeptical about the notion. I mean from what I hear Beijing is not the ideal city for me. Even before I saw the job opening I was skeptical about visiting Beijing as a tourist. I mean the biggest disappointment is the constant air pollution. I have always thought that I would end up in San Francisco. The city is nonpareil to all other cities in the world. I mean London has its great walking streets and neighborhoods. Amsterdam has its unique water canals. But San Francisco is the city I fell in love with. It's just like Tony Bennett said. I left my heart in San Francisco. The clean air. The winding hilly streets.

Anyways, back to Beijing. The pollution, overpopulation, and destruction of historic neighborhoods. Let's hope it will get better and better as it approaches arrival day. I'm still waiting for the training materials to arrive. Although, USPS is extremely busy this time of the year, they better get my stuff here soon damnit.

Now... back to the original topic. The holidays this year is kind of weird. My sister is going off to Yosemite to the cold and damp. My brother is going to be in Taiwan. This is going to be a Christmas reminiscent of the previous Christmases I had. There have only been a few Christmases that were really special. Last holiday season was great. IAESTE had a holiday party and we had blast. Appetizers, good hearty german food, awesome pastries and apertifs. It was definitely great. The company of good friends and pals. This year will probably about sitting in front of the TV and watching Charlie Brown Christmas.

Oh my... This is sad... But let's see what I can do to make it better. ^_^

Career!

So I've finally accepted the offer from Aragon Consulting Group. I think the thing I am most worried about is having the support structure in Beijing. When I went to Germany, I knew that I was going to be taken care of. The local committee of IAESTE of Stuttgart is one of the bigger ones and I got a lot of help with bank accounts, bills, and all those sorts of things. So Beijing. Kinda scary. Plus, three years with a couple of trips home. Beijing will become temporary home for three years. Scary. haha.