1st/ 2nd road segments

Started my roadtrip to Washington state yesterday. Need to get there fairly quickly and the weather has been alittle bad with rain, snow and ice. Didn't know exactly how long it would take to get there but I gave myself a week... just in case. If it were summer, it would only take 1 1/2 days... but snow in the mountains make traveling alittle different. And it's been awhile since I've driven in snow.

Anyhow, I decided to take Interstate 5 all the way home. Got just out of Los Angeles on I-5 and all of a sudden I was in Bakersfield. Had really no idea how I got there... but I guess I took a wrong turn - ah, the scenic route... so it was about an hour out of my way. Must have gotten used to Cali commuting where you grab your tunes and just drive. After returning to I-5, it only took a few hours to get to Gilroy... spent some time with some friends.

Day 2

Left later than planned but that's ok. Was hoping to get to Portland but was willing to stop in Medford, Oregon if the weather was bad. Didn't get there either. Actually still in California - spending the night in Yreka. Been raining suppose to turn into snow and ice... and the roads are suppose to be shut down.

Tejon Pass, California

Gilroy area, California

near Mt Shasta, California

near Mt. Shasta, California

beautiful people

So these are the closest friends I made while here from work - just in the past few months too. You know how you can be hanging out with people and you realize they are cool and enjoy hanging with them? It's kinda subconscious but then something happens and you realize wow, these people are not only great to chat with but are also really beautiful people - like you see them all in a different light. Yeah, that was tonight. We all hungout as a final farewell. I just realized tonight what beautiful people they are... kinda difficult to explain. But it's like you've known them longer than you have. It is really rare I get that feeling.

It's like the timing is just perfect - to have met and befriended them. It just always amazes me to find other people that I really like and "click" with because not only am I reserved and have a quiet personality, but I am also quite picky about who I socialize with. Which makes it really difficult to make friends. For the longest time I just thought I was anti-social prefering to hang with animals (mostly cats and dogs) or solitude. I probably still am.

When I meet these kinds of people, I just want to get to know them more. It really fascinates me - to find people I really like and figure out what it is that intrigues me. A lot of times it's their personality that interests me, sometimes their life story, their travels and of course, most times I have no idea but am just glad we are friends.








Wendy, June, Lek, Jack, me










So I figured it out. A friend of mine asked how many Asian friends I have. I had to think really hard. Come to find out (and it really surprised me) I just have one and she's an email pen pal - never met her before. So this group of Asian folks are my only Asian friends. Kinda interesting. It's also the first time I've been submerged in an Asian community for an extended amount of time. I mean, almost everyone at work is Asian - Japanese, Thai or Laotian. It was a bit of a culture shock for me since I'm used to being the only Asian or one of a few in places where I work and hangout with.

good luck

Wow, so I put in my resignation yesterday for this fast food sushi restaurant. It was kinda sad leaving the place since I've begun to make friends at work. I think that made it so much easier in staying there since the job position was only fast food. One of the girls gave me a going away present - a jade elephant charm. It's suppose to bring good luck. Now, to be stereotypical ( I know, I'm bad), I can fit right in the Asian culture by having a charm attached to my cell phone.

Then she also gave me a dzi necklace. It's really cool - it's a Tibetian bead (agate) that brings good luck. I was trying to find the meaning and this link gave the best description.

http://www.dzicrystal.com/eng/resources.aspx

I've seen these kinds of necklaces before but never knew the meaning of it. Wow... I just thought people wore it because they liked it. Hmmm, now I'm enlightened. Interesting stuff to know. That's just so amazing to find out about other cultures.

seasonal trail yo-yo

I feel like a yo-yo. I'd forgotten this part about the seasonal trail. Things change in an instant. Everything is last minute and to go where you really want you have to be really spontaneous and super flexible.

So I'm on again for the cruise. Spoke with the cruiseline and got my flight itinerary, class schedule. Everything is set IN STONE. I fly out to Honolulu on the 8th... my training starts on the 10th. I'll be on the Pride of America. Still kinda in shock as far as getting the job, not getting it and getting bumped up to a different class date. I was a bit worried.

Means I'll have to be quit fast food sushi (yahoo!) in the next couple of days in order to pack up and move out. I had planned on moving by the end of the month anyway... hmmm. Guess everything worked out afterall.

I'm kinda dreading the move - I just made some really cool friends. This is the difficult part in seasonal work too. Meet cool peeps then move on. As far as career though - it's a good move. Has all the criteria that I want - let's just hope I like the position.

all in a day's work

A mild setback occurred...

In summary, I thought I got the position on the cruiseline - making sushi in Hawaii. My other job offer was on a tallship off the coast of Connecticut - traveling along the East coast for the whole summer. I had to choose and I chose the cruiseline... As much as I didn't want to, I turned down the tallship offer in order to remain in the sushi world. Then the cruiseline cancelled my class. They are still trying to place people from the ship the company moved from Hawaii to the Carribbean - some people didn't want to transfer with the boat.

So okay, I decided I wasn't going to return to the seasonal trail. I would remain in SoCal and continue my apartment hunt in Long Beach... then the store manager who is training me for the new store informed me that her bosses decided to go with seniority and give the Long Beach store to someone else - who's only worked at the restaurant 2 months longer than I and has less experience. Strange though that I just spoke with one of her bosses - the guy that hired me for Long Beach. He didn't say anything about not taking over the store - just that it is now behind schedule for opening, perhaps in June or July.

Regardless, it's time to move on.

job offer

Since the other day's ordeal, I went job hunting. Back to the seasonal trail. I think perhaps I was getting abit too comfortable living here and of course, can't let that happen just yet. So I found this seasonal gig working on a pirate ship. Yeah, it's something I've always wanted to do! Really, don't laugh - I'm serious. I never knew people could work on them so I never applied for a job. Anyway, it's not in the sushi field at all but I'd be the lead cook - well, the only cook aboard. It's a really cool program for teens and the crew would be teaching these kids how to sail, build confidence, learn teamwork and independence, etc. They even have an adult women's program as well.

I'm not so sure about the kid thing but the pros of this job is I'd learn how to sail, I'd be working on a tallship and be on the East coast (never been there before). The cons are leaving the sushi field and going into home-cooked meals... nothing fancy at all. It'd be more like several steps backwards in my goals. By the way, I got the job.

Then I heard from the cruiseline. They would like me to start next month. The pros - it's in Hawaii (never been there before), it's in the sushi field and there will be tons of people around. I've been noticing for every seasonal job I've been reducing the number of people I socialize with since the locations are remote - there just aren't very many people to hang with. Kinda going in the withdrawl hermit stages and I'm a bit young to start that. The cons in this position are crazy hours - well, considering it's seasonal work, I'd be returning to the 50+ hr work week (more like 80-90 hrs for this job). I have been bored with the 30-35 hr work week.... that's probably why I've been getting into so much mischief - too much free time.

Big choices. I think working on the schooner would be an awesome adventure. But perhaps another time. Who can turn down sushi? Of course, I'm going to choose that position. So I leave next month for Honolulu. Packing up and heading back to the parents place after my marathon.

Oh yeah, so my roommate is into these marathon things - this is her year of races. We signed up for a 1/2 marathon. That same roommate I did a 5K with couple weeks ago. We have about a week left in training for this one. Just going to be walking the 13.1 miles. Nothing too hardcore. It's on the beach so it can't be that bad, right? I'll definately have to let you know how it goes...

re-evaluation

Everything going so fast makes it difficult to think. I'm really enjoying my time in SoCal. The location and the people make me want to stay here and live indefinately - just need to find a really good job to go along with this place. Thanks to yesterday's work though - it gave me the kick in the pants I've been needing to put everything back into perspective.

I've come to realize I was starting to settle for a job - a job I don't even want. My whole purpose of remaining in SoCal is for sushi - to gain speed and better technique in making nigiri-zushi (little rice balls with fish on top). Looking at a nigiri, one would think easy - just roll rice in a ball and serve. Believe it or not there is actual technique and I have yet to practice. I try to at work but I'm faster at rolling sushi so the store manager insists I roll or be the cashier. Sure I'm getting some training with management but so far, I haven't learned anything new - just a different computer system. Ordering food, supplies, managing people and customers are still the same as previous management positions. Nothing special about that and realistically quite boring.

I timed myself the other day. It took me 15 seconds to make a tuna nigiri and 45 seconds to make a kappa (cucumber roll). I had to do it a couple of times because I thought the clock was broken... but it wasn't. And they weren't even pretty - I was rushed. How disappointing. I'm slowing way down. While in school, I was at 8 seconds/ nigiri and 30 seconds for a kappa - and that was really slow. Ideally, a nigiri should take 3 seconds and a kappa 10 seconds, if you're good.

I've been getting sidetracked alot lately - there's so much to do, things to see, places to go, people to meet, etc that I've been getting comfortable living here. Been staying so busy there's no time to think, no time to just sit back, relax and take a breather to plan out future events. I'll just leave the excuse to big city, too many options for stuff to do. It's a nice feeling but I'm not ready to plant roots yet - even if it is Long Beach (a really awesome place and a runner up from Austin on places to settle). There is still so much out in the world to experience and I cannot give that up - I just don't want to yet.

Anyhow, a long time ago I worked at a fast food pizza outfit where I would hold an advertisement banner trying to get passersby to enter the store. I promised myself I would never do that again. Making pizza, answering phone orders - no problem but holding a sign? That's a definate no go. This sushi job is similar to that - make sushi and answer the phones... I had previously decided to stay with this job because of the management position and considering it's fast food, the pay is decent... but those excuses are wearing thin and yesterday was the finale.

This sushi restaurant is trying to maintain store goals the headquarters has challenged. It's always within reach but just high enough where we cannot meet the goal. We need sales. The sales goal is the 2nd highest in the company and it seems impossible. So the store manager had asked for ideas... my idea was to place a sandwich board sign outside during rushhour (5-7 pm) when people are driving home and give those customers a discount for ordering at that time. I was informed that we are not authorized to do that - it's a headquarters decision, not ours. Instead, the store manager wanted to use the idea but have someone hold a sign. Yet the only signs we have are from the grand opening that just says we are now open. The manager wanted to give it a try and see if it would be effective. It wasn't, primarily because all the other Asian eateries along the street have discounts and various specials and we all offer similar menus - just different prices.

Everyone was excited to go outside and hold up a banner. Everyone had a turn at it and yes, I too. That is where the line has been drawn. This position has sunken down to the bottom depths of - well, lets just say it gave me the motivation to move on. Forget about the management position and new store. It was enticing to be sidetracked for abit but I know I really need to focus on why I decided to remain in SoCal. Experience gained. Now it's time to move on.

2008 plans

I've decided I'm going to hold off on the cruiseline. I really thought I'd be leaving in January but it won't be until late Spring/ early Summer and even that is tentative. Instead of waiting around for the position to open up, I've concluded that I should stick with what I have and take on the management position at the fast food sushi place. This new store is running ahead of schedule and should be opening in late March. I'm not sure if it is set in stone so to speak since the current restaurant I work at was suppose to open last April and just opened this past November. Regardless, it will be interesting - at least for a little while. So it looks like I'll be staying in Southern California for a bit longer than planned. I'm actually looking for a new apartment as well in the Long Beach area.

In the meantime, I have a few other job offers coming in. Flights of fancy that make me want to drop everything and jump back on the seasonal trail. These jobs are not in the sushi field so although it's very tempting, I'll wait it out. I'm actually looking forward to opening this new store and will wait until it has opened and perhaps a few months after before I move on. Originally, I planned on staying a year but that travel bug is really beginning to itch again. Everything is in the air. I'm not really sure of my 2008 plans as far as jobs go. Life is a bit hectic in civilization - kinda makes me want to return to a slower pace of life (seasonal trail) just to sort things out then return and take on the whole world.

Working seasonal gigs always makes it difficult in making friends and when I do it makes it difficult to leave. I'm just starting to make friends after 5 months of being here. Good thing I've decided to stay longer.

Orange County 5K

With a new year, my roommate has a resolution to be in as many races as possible. As a side effect, I'm tossed in the middle of it being her 'battle buddy' so to speak. We had signed up for the Orange County 5K and luckily enough another friend joined us. Just so you know - tall people walk really fast... short people don't walk as fast. I was tired just trying to keep up with her. I think she thought we were racing or something. I might have just ran the whole thing. Then the other friend takes a speed walking class every weekend so she's used to walking really really really really really fast.

I think I like the leisurely pace - like a stroll in the park. No rush. Enjoy a breath of fresh air (or as much of fresh air as the air pollution allows), enjoy the company of friends, etc. Course it was 8AM when it started. I'm usually still asleep. Kinda made me grumpy to walk that fast still sleepy.

There was also the 1/2 and full marathon. The 1/2 marathon (13 miles) started before us and the first people to arrive were running in at 90 minutes! Whoa... that's fast - that's abit under running 7 minutes per mile.

The 5K ended with the same route as the marathon so of course, we had our pic taken at the mile 26 marker.

Karen, Carrie and I - near the finish line.

shipping delayed

Made a few phone calls to figure out if I'm actually employed or not on the boat. I am but will not be shipping out until late Spring/ early Summer. Whoa... that's kind of a long wait. Due to the holidays and government agencies being closed, my paperwork has not been processed yet. So I'm waiting for that as well as a position opening since one of the boats is being transferred to a different location.

pink slip?

I'm not sure if they still call it a pink slip since the paper I recieved was white. Got a letter in the mail from the cruiseline. Not so good news... they had 3 ships but after the new year, they were going to downsize to 2 and transfer the other boat to the Carribbean. So that's 1,000 employees displaced after Jan 1.

Still no word on when I am set to leave. I'm not even sure if they will be calling on me now since there are only 2 boats working the Hawaiian islands. I'm not even sure if I still have a job with them. They might have too many employees.

In the meantime, the new fast food sushi restaurant is ahead of schedule and is set to open late March (instead of April). We'll see if that actually happens since this current store I work at was 6 months late in opening. Anyhow, I'm still assigned that new store so either way my options are still open. I start prepping for that store with hiring employees, organizing the kitchen, interior design, etc next month. Kinda exciting but not as much as traveling.

This cruiseline stuff is taking a long time. (Did I mention that I'm quite impatient... still?) My paperwork is complete and I'm just waiting on their go ahead to pack my bags.