Life is experience. Experiencing your life.

Birding in the Bay area

2011-12-04T16:09:00.001-08:00

I went to the shoreline baytrail to watch bird today. It's my first official birding experience and I enjoyed it. We've found: willet, pintail, american avcocet, coot, sandpiper, red tail hawk, seagull, northern shoveler, cavanasback, blackneck xx, A lot of birds were found today, a unique and unprecedented experience.

99个宋词常用语密码在手三秒作诗赋词

2011-12-01T21:39:00.001-08:00

99个宋词常用语密码在手三秒作诗赋词网友制作的宋词高频词汇和数字代码1 空 21 一笑 41 深处 61 一片 81 不是2 东风 22 黄昏 42 时节 62 桃李 82 时候3 何处 23 当年 43 平生 63 人生 83 肠断4 人间 24 天涯 44 凄凉 64 十分 84 富贵5 风流 25 相逢 45 春色 65 心事 85 蓬莱6 归去 26 芳草 46 匆匆 66 黄花 86 昨夜7 春风 27 尊前 47 功名 67 一声 87 行人8 西风 28 一枝 48 一点 68 佳人 88 今夜9 归来 29 风雨 49 无限 69 长安 89 谁知10 江南 30 流水 50 今日 70 东君 90 不似11 相思 31 依旧 51 天上 71 断肠 91 江上12 梅花 32 风吹 52 杨柳 72 而今 92 悠悠13 千里 33 风月 53 西湖 73 鸳鸯

Canadian Buy Car in the US

2011-11-10T14:21:00.001-08:00

I just came to the US from Canada since Sept. 2011 and I bought my first new car at the end of Oct. with 36 months 0.9% car loan. It's an Acura TSX 2011 model with technology package. It's not an easy process to get a new car in the US without a credit history, even though I have a good credit history in Canada. I did a lot of research myself and my friend had recommended a company to me for

CIBC Sucks!!

2011-08-04T22:28:00.001-07:00

This following is the letter I wrote my branch manager recently. I have to say CIBC sucks!! It's so stupid to be a loyal customer of CIBC. Let me escape from it. ------------- Hi, xxx, This is Hao Chen. I want to check the status of my refinance mortgage application for my property of xXx. I came to you on March and April for this mortgage refinance. You guys told me there is no problem

Greedy CIBC!!

2011-07-27T16:25:00.004-07:00

CIBC is so greedy! They are gouging you! If you have a mortgage with CIBC, and while the mortgage is expired, CIBC will automatically renew your mortgage with a 6 months fixed rate open mortgage, if you forgot to respond their renew letter for whatever reason. The interest on this mortgage is almost the highest among most of the open mortgage. It usually prime + 4%. Other financial

Rental dispute

2011-06-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

We have rented out our condo on Burnaby mountain for another year from July. There was a dispute pending resolution. A FIC student signed the lease with us, but she didn't want to rent just one week after. That left us only two weeks to rent the condo for June and we had a loss of one month rent. We had to apply for a resolution from BC Tenant Court. The student has to pay at least one month

Invasion of Raccoon

2011-06-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

We have successfully defended our home from the invasion of a family of raccoon this week. The invasion might have started in the winter time. The door of the small secondary shed on the side yard was accidentally opened in the summer/fall time. The raccoon mother found this cozy and warm place in the winter time and decided to occupy it. This Monday, my father happened to find the raccoon mother

A very good article to discredit Chinese Traditional Medicine

2011-01-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

I don't believe the Traditional Chinese Medicine. This article just provides me some evidence. http://xys.org/xys/ebooks/others/science/dajia12/zhongyi2942.txt

当我老了请理解我

2011-01-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

Found this poem online. When you have kids, you start to love your parents more.当我老了，不再是原来的我。请理解我，对我有一点耐心。当我把菜汤洒到自己的衣服上时，当我忘记怎样系鞋带时，请想一想当初我是如何手把手地教你。当我一遍又一遍地重复你早已听腻的话语，请耐心地听我说，不要打断我。你小的时候，我不得不重复那个讲过千百遍的故事，直到你进入梦乡。当我需要你帮我洗澡时，请不要责备我。还记得小时候我千方百计哄你洗澡的情形吗？当我对新科技和新事物不知所措时，请不要嘲笑我。想一想当初我怎样耐心地回答你的每一个「为什么」。当我老了因疲劳而无法行走时，请伸出你年轻有力的手搀扶我。就像你小时候学习走路时，我扶你那样。当我忽然忘记我们谈话的主题，请给我一些时间让我回想。其实对我来说，

新闻联播30年超浓缩精华:经网友总结仅20句话《转载》

2011-01-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

1.今天是____年__月__日，农历_______，距离______还有_____天。今天节目的主要内容有：_____、_____、______。下面请听详细内容。 2.____在钓鱼台国宾馆亲切会见了____，双方进行了亲切友好的会谈。____高度赞赏了____,并对____一贯坚持“一个中国”的原则表示感谢。 3.____出访____，会见了____，_______高度赞扬中__两国关系，对____表示欢迎，并强烈谴责了___国家____的做法。 4.______会议在北京隆重召开。_____致开幕词。____以____票支持、0票反对、1票弃权通过一项____决议。 5.外交部发言人____就____发表声明，对____表示遗憾，提出**，并将继续关注。 6.______就____向______致慰问电，对_____表达诚挚哀悼. 7.“__五”期间，我国____重点工程，突破_

menu system on iPad for high end restaurant

2011-01-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

I read the following report about high end restaurant using iPad to display interactive menu system for ordering. I had exactly the same business idea last year when iPad was released. Seemed not a bad idea as restaurants are already utilizing the power of multimedia menu system. http://mitbbs.com/news_wenzhang/ScitechNews/31194429.html It could be good niche market for iPad app development.

running with caution

2010-10-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

I went out for an easy run this noon. As I was a bit lightheaded this morning, I still felt a bit of disoriented when I set out. I was adjusting my Garmin 305 and suddenly I hit the road, BANG! I had some bruise on both of my knees and the chin. I had to stop running and went back to the office. This is a good lesson. Listen to your body. If you didn't feel well, then you have to be cautious

business trip, long run, and others

2010-10-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

I went to San Jose two weeks ago for a business trip. I stayed there for two nights. Some interesting things in this trip. First of all, I almost missed the departure flight because of the traffic on 99N to airport. I left home at 6:30am for the 8:00am flight. With the unexpected traffic jam on the Massey tunnel, I choose the 99->91 route. As I have to park my car in the long term parking and

Sleep training

2010-09-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

I decided to start Alrisha's sleep training tonight. She fell asleep shortly after the feeding. However, She woke up in about ten minutes. No matter how I cuddle and walking, she didn't seem to Sleep and want to play. I put her down on the bed. After a few minute, she start to cry. I was sitting besides her, but won't be seen by her. She was crying and coughing. I comforted her after a few minute

Quantum Physics Adds Twist to Chess

2010-09-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting article about scientist adding new twist to traditional chess game. The twist is to change the role of the piece unpredictably. You won't know the role of the piece only until you touch it. It's an interesting idea. This idea may be used as a mechanism in designing board game. Sign, I really should start designing my own board game.

yardwork, a lot of

2010-08-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

The past weekend was a super busy and rewarding weekend for me. I did a lot of yard work, a lot, really. It is the first milestone of my backyard renovation project. Every big project starts with a small step. I started to trim a few branches out of the trees just outside of my backyard fence, as the trees were growing rampantly blocked a lot of sunshine and wind to my yard. You know, once you

stress

2010-08-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Read an article today discussing the cure of stress by science. It starts with a story about a professor in Stanford to inspect the stress of baboon in Africa. The professor found that the ranking of baboon in their highly hierarchical society can great affect the level of stress. The result is also confirmed by other studies of rat, civil servants in England. Some interesting findings say that

iphone4

2010-08-12T12:01:00.001-07:00

I plan to upgrade to my cell phone to iPhone 4, but it is hard to get one right now in Canada. The hungry marketing of Apple is so successful. Everyone has to be patient to get the latest model. I come up with a Haiku for iPhone 4 on the bus this morning. ---------------------- slim sharp stylish retina display has more hold with fingers

running, immigration

2010-08-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've done quite a lot of reading recently during commute. I was reading Runner's World, Business Week, and The Economist. One article on the August's Runner's World about the life of two running coaches with the background of new illegal immigrant law in Arizona did touch me. The life of the illegal immigrates in the states are really miserable. The poor kids from Mexico were brought to the

Tang Jun - the celebrity liar

2010-08-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

The story about Tang Jun's fake education has been populated on the Internet for a while. I had no interests in this liar, and no need to add some fuel to this fire. However, when I was reading "The Economist" yesterday. This cheater's name was mentioned in one article about the corruption in education and publish in China. He was depicted as a celebrity executive got less swanky degree from

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

2010-08-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

I had read some posts recently about the 7 habits again. So, maybe its a good time to refresh my memory about the 7 good habits. be proactive begin with the end in mind put first thing first think win/win seek to understand, then be understood synergize sharpen the saw The first 3 is to get yourself independent and the next 3 is to get interdependent. The last one is the way to keep improving

de-weed

2010-07-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

I was fighting with weeds on backyard tonight after dinner. It's not an easy task, I realized it when my legs were numb and heavy. I love the experience and I found the fun gradually. The joy especially come when I got rid of the weed by following the leave to stalk, from stalk to root. I learned how to debug in computer, and I learned how to de-weed in backyard. :-) They are similar, indeed.

First time driving a cargo van

2010-07-06T00:16:00.000-07:00

I had rented a Penske cargo van in the last long weekend to transport some furniture I bought online. It's my first time driving a cargo van, which is much bigger than a minivan. It's a full-sized van, like Ford E250. The experience is precious to me. There is no rear mirror in the van, only side mirrors are available. As I am used to checking on the rear mirror when driving, I have to be very

beautiful arts made from Chinese characters

2010-06-29T14:25:00.001-07:00

http://www.popyard.com/cgi-mod/newspage.cgi?num=553593&r=0&j=0-- Hao Leo Chenhttp://leochen.net

move into new house in South Surrey

2010-06-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

We have moved into our new house in South Surrey at the end of May. Finally got almost everything unpacked and arranged. Moving feels like a change of your life. It is indeed. To move into a new neighborhood, new area, new city. It takes about 3 weeks to get the Internet up and running. When I have to cuddle the baby at night, I remember I was walking into every room of the house and felt a