Weekend -- Shopping and Huntington beach

This weekend, I have spent a lot of money for shopping hehehehe in order to preparing my next week trip in Seattle ^^. Oh!! I am so happy about that hohohoho.

On Friday night my shopping campaign was begun with a cutie Guess shoes. Then, we (my brother, my sister in law and me) went out for dinner at 9:00 pm. Every weekend we have a crazy time line. We stay up late at night and will not wake up until the lunch time of the next day so that every weekend we just have 2 meals per day instead of three like the week days.

But, this Saturday was an exception. We woke up sooner at 9 for the shopping campaign ^^because Macy had a one-day sale program. I have been very satisfied with Macy kakaka. I bought one Roxy bikini and one O’Neil short with a good price. Then, we went to Circuit city, Ritz camera, Irvine Market place to look for the camera and camcorder. Right after finishing the lunch at Sam Woo restaurant, we went to Costco and came back home at 5. I could not believe that we spent almost all day for shopping – eight hours – can you believe that? My legs were totally exhausted. However, I felt relax and happy by spending time with my sister and brother.

Today, Sunday is an excited day. We planned to wake up late this morning but a stupid car of some stupid man howl out loud outside at 9 and woke us up. Hum..A bit angry becoz of that … however, we had a interesting plan today that is a trip to Huntington beach hehehe. We had KFC, Coke. Sun-bathing fully stretched out on the beach is the most interesting thing ^^ oh I love beaches!! I prefer Huntington beach than Corona Del Mar which I visited last month with ALP. because Huntington beach have a bigger sand-bank.

After enjoying the sunshine, it was time for duty ^^. That is car washing ^^

We came back home around 6 and my brother cooked the Japanese Misu soup for dinner.

What a wonderful day is!

13 - Aug - 08 hang out with friends

My creation ^^

Yummy!!!


hey, Michelle you are so lovely with this way ^^


Vanessa, what are you thinking??
opp!! she is looking at the counter guy ^^


I love this moment





After the slide show at Yogurt Passion we went to the Block for a walk hihihih
Do you know what time it is?
It was over 7:00pm
nice weather huh!!

my writing

Oh God!! I forgot that I still have one journal. even it was late but I still want to post it on.
My writing is getting better now, I think. At the beginning of this semester, I can even write something in English because I afraid of wrong. Then, with the pressure that Vanessa gave us ^^ I am improving. I love to write journal but in Vietnamese. I have another blog in Vietnamese and I write every day. I love writing so I will continue this blog hehhe.
Last week, I send more English email than ever. I send to my Uncle who lives in Seattle. I send to my sister who lives in Canada. I send to my friends in Vietnam by English too. I recognized that writing English and using English instead of Vietnamese or Chinese come naturally. Even though I write a letter for my Vietnamese friends, I start with English ^^.
I know I do have a lot of mistakes in using English. However, I feel that I am improving hehehehe.

computers and hi-tech in our life.

The youth people like me and my generation are living in a digital world and our life are depended more and more on computers and hi-tech. For example, I cannot comfortable of I don’t have my notebook with me. Every day, the first thing I do after getting into my house is turn on my laptop. Some time I have nothing to do with it, but like a habit I must turn it on. I online, chat, blogging every day. If one day I have not done these stuffs, I could not sleep. In addition, my cell phone is the second important hi-tech thing for me. I always put my note, my family and friends’ number, birthday in it. One of the most important duty of my cell phone is remind me about the day, the things that have to be done.
However, we can not negate the benefit of computers and hi-tech. Can you imagine 20 year ago when there is no internet and cell phone? How inconvenient it is!!! For instant, I am studying aboard now, if it were not have internet how can I share my picture with my family at home and chat with them, and see them on the webcam. Moreover, since cell phones have been more and more popular, our life is more organize. We can connect to everyone right away no matter where they are.
Everything has its good and bad side. It depends on how we use it.

free journal -- my second family in US ^^

[pix: Rebecca and Tony]

2 months in US
In 2 months I have experienced a lot new things. I have a chance to learn about American culture. I have a chance to challenge myself. Before I was here in US, I thought that it would be a very hard time in my life because I live far from my family and my country. Fortunately, now I feel enjoy on my journey.
I have my second family here. My cousin and his wife take care of me. My cousin Tony has left Vietnam for 20 years. It means that I have not seen him in 20 years. But we are getting along well together. Moreover I really appreciate my cousin’s wife Rebecca, she is very nice. She is a Canadian and she cannot speak Vietnamese. She always takes care of me. My friends told me that I was very lucky because I had my second family here. We go out for every week end for dinner. Tony and I love the Japanese food and we always get in line almost one and a haft hours in front of the Taiko at Irvine. He and I also like the Kim chi from Korean. We live in Garden Grove – Korean town. Every week, we finish a jar of Kim chi ^^. Rebecca is very love Vietnamese food especially PHO. In general, my family here loves to enjoy the food from different culture and area. In these 2 months, I have chance to taste Vietnamese food, Korean food, Chinese food, Taiwanese food, Thai food, Italian food, French food, American food, Mexico food, Japanese food and my favorite yogurt in Yogurt Land ^^. Last weekend, we went to LA to take part in a yogurt seminar. It was so funny and interested.
Last month, we went to Las Vegas for vacation. It was a amazing trip. Hehehe I love Las Vegas. I did not gambling because I did not want to waste my money on that. Rebecca and I went shopping all day and night.
And this month, I am going to visit my uncle in Seattle- Washington State. I will be there for one week. Tony and Rebecca cannot go with me because they have to go to work every day.

Journal # 10 Beach Party

Last Friday, I had a chance to join the Beach Party which was organized by ALP at Corona Del Mar Beach. That was the first time I went to beach since I have been America. The beach is very beautiful but the sea is so cold. That’s why I could not jump into the water and swim. However, I had a very good time there. I took a lot photos for Michelle and Vanessa (my friend, not our teach ^^). We went to the pier and took photos then; we walked around the neighborhood there to see the beautiful houses there and took pictures. Around 5pm, it was time for the Barbecue party. So pity that Michelle could not join with us because she had a appointment with her friends. We enjoyed the hot dog very much. Thanks to the ALP’s Staffs and ALP’s Teachers for their hard working on the party in order to has a very exciting party for us. During the party time, we has been interviewed by the ALP’s cameraman, so much fun and joys ^^. After that we played volleyball. Before we left, we had taken a big photo for all ALP’s teachers and students there.

LIFE

from internet
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. ! The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into ! the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the ! golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand" One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend." --->>I like this sentence and always do like this ^^-- hahaha

Journal # 8

After staying here for 7 weeks, I realize that there are a lot of differences between the California and my home city.
First of all is the traffic system. The US has a very huge freeway system. I was surprised by the highway here, the speed is very high. Moreover, the transportation here in California is very convenience. At the first week, I could find the bus route to go to school by myself on internet. In Ho Chi Minh city, buses are always late and they are not very convenience. The roads in Vietnam are much smaller than in US so that we always have traffic jam which can last for many hours.
Secondly, the food is so different. In Vietnam we always have rice for meals in contrast US always have bread for their meals.
Thirdly, teaching styles in US are much different to Vietnam. The teaching method that I am studying here is very integrated. Using a lot of new technology in teaching is effective. For example, in the Advance Grammar class with Mr. Sean, all the notes in class were typed in Microsoft word and were posted on the Backboard. It is very easy for us to review the lesson. In Vietnam, most of professors use the passive way to teach. They come to class and talk about the topic of that day and students are working very hard in order to take note. It made me pay less attention to what my professor are saying and have no time for question.
They are some big differences between Vietnam and US that I have learned since I was here.

IYC introduction in 2007 ^^

free writting ^^

I have been in US for almost on month and will stay here for a long time. Looking the photographs that I toke in Ho Chi Minh city remind me a lot memories. I miss my family and my friends so much. I miss the Vietnamese food. I have tasted the Vietnamese food in Little Sai Gon but it is not the same.
My home town is Ho Chi Minh City which is considered the biggest city and the most dynamic city in Viet Nam. I miss my city so much. There is a big park in front of the Independent Palace where I use to hang out with my friends every Sunday morning for coffee. Then, we went shopping in Diamond department store on the opposite side of the park.
I use to take part in the International Youth Club – IYC, a voluntary club, in Viet Nam. That is an amazing organization. After one year being a member in IYC, I grown up a lot. I have learned a lot from the activities of IYC. Through the exchange programs with the volunteer students from America, Singapore, Korea and other Asian countries I have chance to learn about other countries culture. We also do some social work together. I have lot of foreign friends. Until now, we still keep in touch with each other even it will be very hard to meet each other again.

Sunniers from Korean and IYCers - Viet Nam

The "Green Voluntee Campaign" in Ben Tre with the international students

view more -->> http://www.flickr.com/photos/creation/sets/72157602144696909/

and my IYC

We are IYC ^^

IYC aslso mean I and You Connect!! that's our slogan.

view more -->> http://www.flickr.com/photos/creation/sets/72157604527820938/

journal #6 national holiday.

"HCM Television Cup"


The Independent Palace

In my home country, the biggest national holiday is the Independent day on 30th of April. In 1975, the South of Viet Nam was liberated from the puppet government. Since 1988, the Ho Chi Minh city Television has organized a bicycle race called “HCM Television Cup” to celebrate this national holiday. The route of this racing is often from Ha Noi ,the capitol of Viet Nam, to Ho Chi Minh City. Usually, the winner finishes the race in front of the Independent Palace on 11:30 AM. The race started in the early of April and finished by the 30th of April. During that month, the people of where the race goes though celebrated for the race and for the athletes. After twenty years, the “HCM Television Cup” becomes the icon of the Independent Day in Viet Nam. Beside this activity, the HCM community organizes the meeting for veterans on around the country to help them meet each other and review the memories.
The next day of the Independent Day is the International Labor Day, so we always have a long holiday. In almost shopping centers, it is the seasonal discount time. People do shopping everywhere. At night, there are some outdoor stages in the center of the city for the music shows. A lot of people hang out and the streets are very crowded. We have lot of fun on this holiday.

Knott's Berry Farm.

Vanessa and Rachel

In front of the Camp Snoopy

Knott’s Berry Farm.
Last Friday, all ALP’s students were offered a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm which is considered “America first theme park”. That is nice place to go in South California beside the Disneyland. We gathered at CP-100 at 9:45 and then started at around 10:30, however it just toke us 15 munities to get to the park by bus. Everyone looked very excited. Then, we got the tickets and started a wonderful day at Knott. We also toke a lot pictures there beside enjoyed the extremely crazy games there. I was going in group of four Vietnamese students who are my close friends here in Cal Sate. Two of us did not play any games because they were scared by the fast and strong rosters. The other two, including me, enjoyed some games hi hihi. I had tried the Log Ride first and I had pay $10 for the key chain. It was so excited but I got wet after the ride. Because of the wet clothing my friend and I tried the Perilous Plunge and we totally wet at that time but it’s funny. We toke the Calico Railroad to go around the park and found out a lot of games were waiting for us. After that we went to the Ghost Town and the Indian Trails to create some awesome pictures. It’s time for lunch, we tasted the Mexican style fried chicken which are sour and hot. It was not a good choice however that was an experience. Then, Vanessa and I played some small game and we had won 2 little yellow cutie ducks. That’s the only present I got at that day. We walked around the Fiesta Village and the Camp Snoopy to take photograph and enjoyed the Snoopy show. I had taken some picture with the Snoopy dog and his friends. Due to the bad lunch we had tasted, we decided to try the Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. On the Knott’s map printed that “no visit is complete without a piece of our famous fried chicken or boysenberry pie” and I totally agree with that phrase after my dinner. We finished our dinner at 6:40 and it was the time to gather at the flagpole to come back school. My brother picked me up at CP-100 right after the bus arrived. It was a tired day but I had a lot of fun there. That night I had a good sleep.

Vietnamese cuisine - "Canh Chua" - Sour Soup

"Canh Chua" in English is Sour Soup.
Vietnamese Sour Soup is the famous soup of the Mekong river religion of Southern Viet Nam. It is a healthy dish which made with fishes and various types of vegetable. I do not know much about the history of this dish because it has been became a very common dish in our Vietnamese family meals long time ago. Sine was a little child; I have loved this dish very much.

In different areas in Viet Nam, there are different recipes of Sour Soup. And time by time, people have created a lot of new kind of Sour Soup such as Chicken Sour Soup, Shrimp Sour Soup, and ect. But I still like the Fish Sour Soup best.

Catfish Sour Soup recipe (Sai Gon style)
(Severing 4 person)

½ kg Catfish
200g Tomato
200g Pineapple
100g Okra
200g Bean sprouts
10g Tamarind
20g herb, long coriander
Spice inclued salt, sugar, chili and fish sauce.

1. Purify all the fish and vegetable
2. Boiled 2 liters water in a cooking pot
3. Add the tamarind to make the sour taste. Cook in 2-3 munities and then, fish out all the tamarind.
4. Add the catfish and the tomato to the pot. Cook in 10 munities
5. Add 2g of salt, 10g sugar, 2-3 spoons of fish sauce into the soup
6. Add the pineapple, okras, bean sprouts which were cut in to smal pieces and cook till it boilded again.
7. Add the chili and the herb on top.
8. Sever with rice or vermicelli

journal #3 My trip.

Last summer, my mother and I spent a good time in Thailand

Just six days in Thailand but in that short time, I had many "first time" experiences. It was the first time I traveled alone with my mother (before, my family always went together). It was the first time to see many different animals at a very close distance. At Safari World, we saw tigers, giraffes, crocodiles, camels and stags, etc. However, the most interesting thing was that I had the chance to embrace a real tiger

The first day, I just went to the airport to fly to Bangkok then went to the hotel room to sleep. The tour schedule is 6 days 5 nights but in fact, it is a five full day tour.

The second day, we traveled to Pattaya. On the way, we visited the Safari World. It is such a big park with many kinds of animals that are being kept in a natural environment. While we were taking a tour around the park to observe the wild animals, I snapped many photos. After that, we had lunch at a very big restaurant that could serve more than 2000 people at the same time. Then we went to see the sea lion show and the cowboy show.

For me, the best day is the third day, that day we went to the Coral island at Pattaya which have a very beautiful and clean beach. I love beach. I love swimming. I went up on a speedboat parachute there. Moreover, my mother and I enjoyed grilled cuttle-fish, which was very fresh and tasty. I have paid for a bushing tattoo there. Wow, it was so cute hehe. Then, we enjoyed the Thai traditional massage at night. It was very soothing after an exciting day at the seashore. That night we got a good night's sleep. Based on the tour guide advertising, we paid over 100 $ for the sexy show. Uhm… It was a big experiment.

The most boring day is the fourth day, all that day the tour guide took us to some store such as jewelry store and snake farm. It was tedious. I think that the tour guide must have received a commission from those stores.

The fifth day, we went to see the Tiffany show which is performed by transexuals. They are beautiful. I had taken a photo with one of them. At dinner, we tasted the Sayuky hot pot. It is a kind of buffet hot pot, but you have to beware, because if you can not eat all the food you have take they will fine you 500 Bath for each person.

The last day was a free day for us to go shopping. I went to the MBK Shopping Centre. We spent almost all day in MBK for shopping. Hee! I spent almost 300$ for shopping. At night, some tour mates and I went to the night market of Bangkok called PatPong for shopping but I could not buy something more because of the unbelievable price of goods there.

Traveling can give us many joys. Therefore, I am going to plan for my next trip. I think I will visit Hawaii after accomplish this semester. Do you want to join with me??

Journal #2 My best gift

It was a sunny day on October of 2007, and my birthday was coming .My father came home after work and bought to me a big heavy box. When I still wondered what it was he asked me open it. Then, I opened it curiously. That’s a 10.1 megapixels EOS SLR Canon camera. When I found out what is was, I shouted out as happy as the day is long. As you know that I am kind of person who really love to take photos and want to be an amateur photographer. With that camera, I can take more high quality photographs. How interesting is it!!! My first digital camera is a 5.1 megapixels. It was small and did not have enough functions for me. The EOS SLR Canon is my dreamed camera. It has more flexible functions and we can use as an auto camera or a manual camera. It gives me more space to create the photos. That’s the best birthday gift I was given so far. You can take a look on some first photos which was taken by this EOS SLR Canon at the flowers festival in Da Lat on December 2007: http://www.flickr.com/photos/creation/sets/72157603544923900/

journal #1

My name is Rachel. I come from Viet Nam and my Vietnamese name is Nghi. I just have been in US for 15 days. I am living with my brother in Garden Grove. It takes me almost 1 hour to go to school by bus.

I love to travel. until now I have visited 4 countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Hongkong and US. I also like to be a photographer. I have a photo account on Flickr where i can upload my photos and share with my friends. You can check it out at : www.flickr.com/photos/creation