The lady who was going to rent her house to us realized that she needed to stay in her house for another year. The government gave her $8,000 to buy a house, right when there was that housing crisis two years back. Therefore, she isn't legally allowed to move!
She broke the news to us and promised she'd make it up to us. Being Taiwanese, she invited us to dinner as a formal apology. At first, I thought this was such an awkward thing to do; however, my friend and future roommate told me that this was something socially acceptable in Taiwanese culture.
We ended up going to Shula's Steakhouse, at Wild Horse Casino (south of Chandler). This steakhouse was super, super expensive. My basic assumption was that it was for people who just won tons of money on a nickle machine. Nonetheless, the bill came out to be over $300 for just four people!
Just a list of things we ate: 1. Sourdough bread 2. Caesar salad + some bleu cheese, tomato salad 3. Lobster cocktail halves 4. Grilled asparagus 5. 24 oz "Cowboy" steak (rib eye) 6. Crème brûlée 7. Häagen-Dazs ice cream in an almond brittle shell
Just an idea of what we ate
Onto the new housing plan:
We're moving into Alta Ravenwood in South Tempe. Closer to the freeway, this townhouse is going to suit our commuting needs a lot better.
I don't want to violate any copyrights, so I'll just post the community's website: Alta Ravenwood Floor Plan
We got a corner lot townhouse with a double garage. I'll be living in the master bedroom. It's nice, because our townhouse is going to have a view of this immense "courtyard," or grass field. It also has a dog park for all of my dog's running needs. The gym is nice, the study rooms are nicer, the pool and bonfire pit are nice, and community grilling will be exceptional. I can't wait to see what it's like to live there.
The only thing I'm worried about is this issue with move-out fees. I've read some reviews about people getting charged up to $1300 to replace carpet after they've moved out. Apparently, parking's hard to find, there is a lot of noise complaining, and the courtyard floods when it rains. I'm not too worried about the carpet, especially since we Asians are generally cleaner when it comes to carpet; parking should be OK because we don't have many friends; and rain only comes a few times a year in this arid place, right?
I'm generally excited to move over. There's still another month and a half.. but I almost want to start packing now ;)
All of this just means I'll be in Arizona for another year.. Sigh.
Our search for renting a house near Tempe has finally come to an end.
We've been looking for houses for almost 3 months now, settling for a rather new house in South Tempe. We saw big houses, small houses, old houses, [relatively] new houses.. and in the end we settled for a new house.
The prices we were looking at ranged from $1000 to $1500 for a 3 bedroom house. Considered extremely cheap for California standards, it seemed about median for Arizona. The types of homes in this range also varied. We saw some run-down places in run-down areas that were going for the same amount as nice homes in nice areas. Of course, living near Tempe was easier for my roommates, since it's closer to school. However, living anywhere near ASU meant sacrificing a nice living space for time and money spent on gas. South Tempe meant newer homes and communities that actually have HOA's.
As for the number of floors... we ended up going with 1 because of rumors that 2-story houses get hot upstairs. Well, half rumor.. since the theory is that hot air rises (hotter air upstairs, cool air harder to force upstairs.. causing higher A/C prices).. but I wonder if it is that big of a difference.
Anyways, the house we chose has a 2-car garage as well. This'll be good since I know I'll be spending a lot of time in there, fixing up my bike. My car will also have somewhere to spend the night :)
As for a backyard, this house has a "desert landscape" backyard. That basically means that the backyard has nothing in it except rocks and dirt. Compared to other houses we saw, this choice is somewhere in the middle. Some houses priced at the same range had large, grassy backyards. Others had small patios. I think it'll be interesting if I ever decide to fix up the backyard with any grass or flowers... never been much of a garden man.
The only complaints that I have with this house is that it's in the heart of the town. Therefore, it isn't near any freeways. It won't be very fun commuting to work! My motorcycle will overheat while driving local in the ridiculous heat. Also, the neighbor is the HOA vice-president or something.. which means we'll need to abide by rules, all of the time! I'm not sure what the rules are yet, but I hope they are crazy about everything like they are in Irvine.
Well, there are the basics: it's hot, sunny, and dry. There are some things you do and some things you don't. Then there are the things that you want to do, but you think is crazy because other people tell you it's crazy. One of those would be riding motorcycles.
South Mountain
My coworker would always tell me that it would get too hot to ride, and that it would be unbearable. The hot wind like a direct fan on your body, feeling cool only relative to sitting over a burning engine; a dry, tornado-like wind inside your helmet, drying up your eyes; black-top asphalt, at ten or more degrees hotter than the heat; and finally, the smell of the ocean.. something you wish you had and miss so dearly! Clearly, I'm still riding my motorcycle in 100+ weather, and it's not too bad. As long as I'm not sitting for too long, and as long as I have gear on.
One note about the Arizona summer is that there are a lot more bugs. I live by Tempe Town Lake, which seems to be the breeding ground for mosquitoes and bugs of that sort. At night, it's still 95 degrees up until 10PM. With that said, bugs spend a lot more time messing around (maybe until midnight or later). Every light pole is flocked with bugs... it's so bad that if you leave the light on in your apartment, your windows will be swarmed with bugs as well.
Tempe Town Lake at night
As you can imagine, people get pretty lazy in the summer, especially during the day. There aren't too many people exercising like normal Fall/Spring days.. there's a lot less to do here. I can only think of a few things: movies, shooting range, driving range, mall, hanging out at someone's pad, going to the gym... not too much more. Yogurtland's becoming a popular destination.. I've been there quite a few times since the heat hit AZ.
Nonetheless, it's livable. Wish I didn't have to be here, but I don't have much choice, right??
My apologies for not posting for awhile. I've been caught up with work life and life outside of work.
Gym Errands Exercise Meetings Dog walks Vet bills Watching movies Projects at work Chinese New Year Buying motorcycle Fixing motorcycle Selling motorcycle Cleaning apartment ASU basketball game San Diego home trips Santa Clara work trips Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Drinking protein shakes 4x daily Staying connected with my social circle Didn't even have enough time to take pictures...
Well, that worked out nicely! Now you're updated, too!
I'm mildly disgusted by Chinese stereotypes in Arizona--only mildly, but enough to trigger me into writing an entry. Hence, I have a few things to say:
1) The whole gathering-together-in-the-Chinese-market-area-to-boost-sales shindig that went down today worked. Not in my advantage, however. Only my biweekly grocery run, I was coaxed into buying a $5 parking pass to place my car anywhere near the Chinese market near my house. When I got there, it was packed full of anyone other than Asian, trying to indulge in cheap Made-in-China goods, rice hats, and traditional Chinese clothing. I just needed some groceries...
2) We entered a Chinese Go (traditional board game) room, only to find a few obese, Caucasian men staring us down, wanting a battle. They thought we came to compete with them in this event's "competition." Wait a second--how do they know how to play Chinese Go? I barely know how to play. My friend straight-up from Taiwan doesn't even know how to play.
3) The supermarket was packed. They probably made enough money to keep them in business (so THAT's how they keep in business!)
4) Sold rice hats like it was a Dodgers' cap at a Dodgers' game. I can't take that seriously...
5) Some guy was selling traditional Chinese clothing... except he wasn't Chinese. My friend pointed out that he probably had no idea he was wearing a dead person or ghost's outfit/hat.
6) Amidst all of this crisis, there were few Asians to be accounted for.
I guess it was a nice way to show Arizonians who Chinese people are, but it really just reinforced the stereotype. It told them that we are cheap (selling $1-3 made-in-China goods), our people wear traditional vests and dresses, and that we eat orange chicken. What's safer than to prescribe the same medicine, right?
At least the supermarket and restaurants came up on top this weekend...
I've realized music has reflected not only the stages in my life but also the overall mood of that period. Let's run through it:
Elementary school:
We all thought we were so cool, listening to rap... and this song was so popular with all of us kids because it was so funny/racist/obscene. I'm pretty sure we had no idea what any of this stuff meant!
Middle school:
In light of those pre-emo and teen angst days, this song was a good break from rap, which was overly popular. I remember listening to a ton of Usher, on top of the plethora of rap. I still listen to this song once in a while.
High school:
I left rap and entered the emo/alternative scene. I never started wearing the emo/alternative style clothes, but I loved alternative songs... especially the ones that weren't popular.
College:
I somehow went more indie...
Work life:
I'm not sure how this happened... but I started liking the whole ethereal girl voice... and it evolved into house/trance.
>
I'm listening to these three as I write this :)
Conclusion:
I'm not sure how music correlates with how life changes... but it seems quite obvious that the type of music reflected what kind of person I was, whether it be a teenage guy going through angst or a college kid wanting to be himself.
All I know is... music will probably stay with me forever--it's my remedy for everything.
