Andrew Ian Chan

I am back home! Actually, I arrived here last Friday and was just not been able to go online and update my blog.

Anyway, I may not be able to update as often as before anymore since I have no internet access. Also, for the people who used to leave me messages in my YM when I am offline, I'd rather have you leave me an email message since my sister's YM is always open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year...

I'm leaving on a jet plane; I don't know when I'll be back again...

I will really miss this place. I will treasure the good times I had with some newly found friends. This place gave me a worthwhile experience that the Ateneo and the Philippines could never give me.

About 6 hours ago, I just enjoyed my last sunset in Beijing. I also had my last meal on my favorite Japanese restaurant with my 2 friends/classmates. In about 2 hours, I will be seeing my last sunrise in Beijing on the way to the airport.

I'm just about done packing all my things now. But I still have 2 packs of biscuits to eat while watching TV. In about 2 hours, I will be walking in the halls of this dorm for one last time before finally checking out.

I'll miss my room, my desk, my TV, my cabinet, my bed, my phone, my internet, and my boring days here in my room. I'll miss the hall, the dorm, and the people who service this dorm, the room cleaners, the not-so-good washing machine, my old neighbors, and the big sign on my room's door. I'll miss this university, it's large size, the cafeterias, the classrooms, my nice classmates, the basketball courts, my playmates, the privilege of biking around campus, and especially the beautiful Tsinghua Park - once covered in a sheet of ice but now covered with layers of lotuses. I will miss this area, the black cars, the bars filled with Koreans, the good restaurants and its variety - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, American, Italian, Thai, etc. I will miss this huge city, the Forbidden City, the TianAnMen square, the WangFuJing market, the XiDan and other popular markets, the popular Peking duck restaurants and other international cuisines like Indian, French, Vietnamese, etc, and most especially the Great Wall of China. I will miss everything and anything as I may never get this kind of experience again. But most important of all, I will miss my camera, which has been my constant company wherever I went.

Well, this is it - after 278 days of living in Beijing, the time has finally come for me to go back to the land I used to call home. I am looking forward to seeing my old friends once again, and celebrate my 21st birthday there as well.

This is Andrew Ian Chan from Beijing China, signing off... *(-_-)*

********** Today's Source of Smile **********
=== Super Mario ===

• Have you ever played the computer version of Super Mario when you were a little kid? Here is level 1 of that game - IN REAL LIFE!!!

* If you wish to view the clips, just click here. LiveJournal does not allow javascript and/or embedding of anything outside LiveJournal.

Beijing was filled with smog today. It was so bad that you can barely see buildings that were just 500 meters away.

Anyway, my day today was filled with mixed emotions. On one side, I am happy to be finally going home and seeing my friends and driving my car; on the other hand, I am saddened that I have to leave this place without knowing if I will still be able to come back. Even though this place has caused me many days of loneliness especially this semester, I am still going to miss it.

Gone are the days of living in a dorm. Gone are the days of hanging out with friends that are from all over the world. Gone are the days when our floor was the party floor of the dorms. Gone are the days when mobile phone was not my main form of communication with friends but the internet. Gone are the days when bicycle was the main form of transportation. Gone are days when I would bike to and from school everyday. Gone are the days of eating dinner outside campus with my international friends. Gone are the days of eating the very oily foods of the school cafeteria. Gone are the days of ordering home delivery for my dinner. Gone are the days of playing basketball with the Chinese students of Tsinghua University. Gone are the days of walking through snow-covered ground. Gone are the days of walking through sand-covered ground. Gone are the days of living in an absolute routine. Gone are the days of having my own internet connection. AND...Gone are the days when I always had my camera with me wherever I go.

Sometimes I just hate it when I am sentimental. But what can I do? It's a part of who I am.

* In about 4 hours, France and Italy will begin their most awaited World Cup Final Match at Berlin, Germany!

********** Today's Source of Smile **********
=== Commercials ===

• Coca-Cola --- Ever wished your coke was delivered to you this way?
• Berlitz --- This commercial never came out in public because of explicity...
  • Ship Captain: Mayday, Mayday! We are 'sinking'!
  • German Coastguard: Hello? What are you 'thinking' about?

* If you wish to view the clips, just click here. LiveJournal does not allow javascript and/or embedding of anything outside LiveJournal.

 Finally, my plane tickets are now confirmed and everything is going as scheduled. Here is my schedule:

• July 11, 2006 (Tuesday) @ 8:00am --- estimated Beijing departure time
  • I will be signing off 4 hours before the flight and won't be able to go online for several days.
• July 11, 2006 (Tuesday) @ 11:25am --- estimated arrival at Hong Kong
• date & time hidden --- my flight from Hong Kong to Manila

Well, I just prefer not saying my Manila arrival date to surprise people. Another reason is because my mobile phone is completely not working anymore so I don't think I can send and receive SMS to/from my friends when I arrive. I have to get it fixed...

********** Today's Source of Smile **********
=== Soccer Bloopers ===

• This is a reminder of what is NOT soccer!
• Not enough? Here's more soccer flops!

 "Always look on the bright side of life."

* If you wish to view the clips, just click here. LiveJournal does not allow javascript and/or embedding of anything outside LiveJournal.

Right now, the schedule is almost ready for my return to the Philippines. I'll say it's about 80% final. What happened to the 20%? Well, I am still waiting for a representative's call to confirm my plane ticket to Hong Kong. So here it is:

• TUE, 11 July 2006 --- Flight from Beijing to Hong Kong to leave at approximately 7:50am.
• FRI, 14 July 2006 (tentative) --- Flight from Hong Kong to Manila to leave at approximately 5:30pm.

Everything is still unsure so I'll be posting again when all is settled.

Now, time to blog about yesterday and today's events. Everything that happened these past 2 days can be summed up in 1 word - BORING. I still badly miss my camera.

By the way, I saw the university's huge lotus stacked in layers, and I am just so sad that I cannot take pictures of them to store in my album and share to all of you...

********** Today's Source of Smile **********
Sorry for the language barrier (Filipino)

This came out in an episode of GMA-7's Bubble Gang exactly 2 weeks ago, guaranteed to make you "Roll On the Floor Laughing"!!!

• Original --- Narda by Kamikazee
• Spoof --- MAMAW by KayoKasiEh (Lyrics by Michael "Bitoy" V. for Bubble Gang)
  • Pls turn up the volume to MAX to enjoy this clip!!!

I have a few more days left here in China. By next week, I will be back to my own room in the Philippines, not knowing what else awaits me in my return. Only one thing is for certain though, I might not be able to surf the internet as regularly as I do here.

Anyway, today was an ordinary day. I watched the World Cup match between Germany and Italy which was at 3am this morning. It paid off because I saw a quality match won in the last minute of the extra period! After that, I did a few things and then slept at around 7am.

I woke up at 12noon and had a quick lunch before heading back to my room to surf the internet. I did my usual routines, and then updated a few of my other sites. It was pretty boring but fun nonetheless. I am playing the F1 fantasy GrandPrix and I won yesterday's race by a huge margin! Now it's back to business for the next race.

I had an early supper and then now I am updating my weblog. The sky looks gloomy here, seems like it's going to rain again. Anyway, I couldn't care less as I wouldn't be going out tonight anyway.

**********   I M V U   **********

The greatest instant messenger on Earth is now available in 3D. Yes, you can now chat with your friends in a virtual 3D environment. Each user is given access to his own personally customizable 3D avatar to boast to his friends when they chat online. There are also scenes of all sorts where you can engage your conversation, from the famous BuckStars Coffee to the sunny outdoors like forests, beaches and parks. You can also take your friend to new heights with scenes that feature airplanes and hot-air balloons! Plus, your avatar gets to do a lot of actions which 2D chatting cannot give users. You can greet your friend with a high-five or simply a shake hands, hug him tight or blow them a kiss, you can even watch your avatar as he brings your friend to the ground with sweeping kicks and mighty punches!

If you want to experience this whole new messenger service, just click here and it will take you directly to the page where you choose your avatar's default look and outfit! The IM service is completely FREE and fun to use. What are you waiting for? Join the IMVU community now! Remember, registration is free so you can opt out anytime if you don't get satisfied.

* IMVU is still in the Beta stage, and more developments are still underway.
** No member really knows what IMVU stands for...maybe Instant Messaging Virtually United?

********** Today's Shared Video **********

• A cat with a Russian accent gives the dog a relaxing massage...

* If you wish to view the video, just visit my Xanga Weblog. LiveJournal does not allow javascript and/or embedding of anything outside LiveJournal.

Indianapolis, USA --- Michael Schumacher proved to the world that no one can beat the red Ferraris in Speedway, Indianapolis as he cruised his way to the chequered flag. Felipe Massa took his Ferrari in second to complete an amazing Ferrari domination. Aside from a 1-2 in qualifying and race, the red cars also took the top-2 fastest lap times of the race. Such was the domination of Ferrari that all the competitors could do was sit back and watch Ferrari runaway with a victory.

The race was filled with drama right from the very start. Juan Pablo Montoya made a small mistake that nudged the back of teammate Raikkonen's car, but that mistake was enough to nudge Kimi's McLaren into a collision course with Mark Webber, that in turn hit Nick Heidfeld's Sauber and sent him into a wild barrel roll. Meanwhile, another collision occurred simultaneously and this time, the victims were Scott Speed, Christian Klien and Franck Montagny. For a moment, it looked like a demolition derby, and prompted the safety car to be out for 5 laps. On the 1st lap alone, 7 drivers retired from the race.

The drama never ended as apparently, Jenson Button also sustained damage in that lap 1 incident and therefore had to retire after the 3rd lap, leaving 14 cars on the circuit. When the safety car got in on lap 6, Tiago Montiero and Takuma Sato got entangled on the very same corner that took out the 1st 8 cars. Sato sustained heavy damage and was forced to retire immediately while Montiero followed him 3 laps later. This again reduced the # of cars to 12. That was the end of accident-caused retirements, but not the end of other-related retirements like engine, transmission problem and hydraulics problem. The victims of these were Jacques Villeneuve, Christijan Albers and Ralf Schumacher.

At the front, it wasn't a perfect start for Michael Schumacher as Felipe managed to pass him into turn one while Alonso also managed to get alongside him. But that was the closest the Renaults were able to manage because after that, Ferrari just kept pulling away from the rest of the pack. Fernando Alonso finished a disappointing fifth while his teammate Fisichella somehow salvaged the 3rd step of the podium. Splitting the two Renaults is the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, who ran on a one-stop strategy. Rubens Barrichello finished 6th, while David Coulthard had a fantastic race with a 7th place finish, thanks largely to his one-stop strategy. He did not refuel until lap 47! Vitantonio Liuzzi scored the final championship point for Toro Rosso, which is also their first Formula One championship point. Nico Rosberg was the only non-scoring runner at 9th, and yes, only 9 cars finished the race - only 3 more than last year's 6!

The win brought Schumacher within 19 points of Alonso. In the constructor's race, Ferrari also managed to cut the deficit to 26, while McLaren is now 40points behind second place Ferrari.

It is an F1 tradition that during the trophy presentation, the National Anthem of the countries where the winning driver came from and where the winning team is based is played. In this case, it was the German national anthem (Schumacher) and the Italian national anthem (Ferrari). On the eve of July 4, 2006 (Early morning of July 5 here), the same two national anthems will be played in succession. Why? Because, on that day, the first World Cup semi-final match will be played and it will feature a clash between Germany and Italy!

• Race Results:
  • Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) ----- 1:34:35.199
  • Felipe Massa (Ferrari) -------------- 1:34:43.183 [ +  7.984 ]
  • Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) ------ 1:34:51.794 [ + 16.595 ]
• Fastest Lap:
  • Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) ----- 1:12.719

• As Felipe Massa leads the pack into turn 3 of lap 1, chaos unfold behind them. The Airborne car is the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, helplessly cartwheeling across the track. REUTERS/John Sommers II

Indianapolis, USA --- Michael Schumacher dominated the qualifying session with the 67th pole of his career to boost his chances of a record fifth victory at the Speedway. Felipe Massa enhanced Schumacher's advantage by qualifying alongside him in second. This is only the second front row lockout of the season for Ferrari - the other one was in Bahrain.

Ferrari's closest challenger was the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella but he was 5 tenths of a second behind. Championship leader Fernando Alonso had the worst qualifying session of the year as he just managed to qualify in 5th. Sandwiching the two Renaults is the Honda of Rubens Barrichello. Alongside Alonso is the Sauber of Jacques Villeneuve, who was just 3 hundredths of a second behind Alonso.

McLaren Mercedes had an awful performance as shown in Raikkonen's 9th place finish. Juan Pablo Montoya was more disappointing for not having made it into the top-10. Williams also struggled as both of their drivers failed to make the cut. Mark Webber finished in 12 behind Montoya while Nico Rosberg spun his car and never made it out of the 1st session. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing also had their moments as both drivers qualified 16th and 17th with Christian Klien edging out teammate David Coulthard. Jarno Trulli of Toyota suffered a rear suspension problem and had to be content with 10th row start.

Obviously, Ferrari have benefited from last year's race in which the Michelin runners pulled out because of safety concerns. Kimi Raikkonen also pointed out that Bridgestones runners might have a slight advantage on this type of circuits. Renault were also quick to admit that they were stunned by Ferraris pace this weekend.

By the way, the Formula One drivers may have also caught up with the World Cup fever. Here are some statements from the Ferrari drivers:

~ M. Schumacher: "...it would be hard to expect better this weekend...yesterday, Germany and Italy got through the World Cup semi-finals, today I got pole with Felipe alongside me."
~ F. Massa: "It was a very good day, which I hope will be rounded off with a win for Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals."
* Brazil lost to France 0-1 just a little over 12 hours ago.

• Qualifying Results (Top-5):
  • Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) ---- 1:10.832
  • Felipe Massa (Ferrari) ------------- 1:11.435
  • Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) ----- 1:11.920
  • Rubens Barrichello (Honda) ------- 1:12.109
  • Fernando Alonso (Renault)  ------- 1:12.449

The past two days were gloomy here in Beijing. Clouds ruled the day while thunderstorms dominated the night. Today however, everything seemed to change as we had a bright sunny day, and there is no sign of rain in the coming hours.

So what did I do the past 2 days? Nothing. It was so boring... Aside from surfing the internet, I had nothing else to do but walk around the campus and watch TV. By the way, I watched the quarterfinal match between Germany and Argentina yesterday and it was a great match decided by penalties! The home team Germany won the penalty shootout 4-2. I also began to set up my MS Excel programs for the 2006-2007 NBA Season.

I wasn't feeling well since last night so I just stayed home today. As usual I was internet surfing but this time; I browsed through YouTube to amuse myself with funny videos. Later tonight, I am going to watch the quarterfinal match between England and Portugal.

F1 Update --- The F1 United States Grand Prix Qualifying session will take place today, July 1, 2006 @ 17:00 UT (July 2 @ 1:00am Hong Kong time).

********** Astronomical Events **********

Early on July 3, 2006, a large asteroid will make an exceptionally close fly-by to Earth. However, there is nothing to worry about as there is absolutely no chance of a collision. Here are some details about the asteroid:

• Catalog Name --- 2004 XP14
• Distance at close approach --- 0.0028898 AU which is equal to 268,624 miles (432,308km)
• Time of close approach --- July 3, 2006 @ 4:25 UT
• Visibility scope --- North Americas, Western Europe and portions of Northwestern Africa.
• Magnitude --- 11.0 (requires a good telescope and very dark skies for viewing)
• Position in the sky --- Moving northward through the constellation Cassiopeia ("W")

* End of the World? --- On April 13, 2029, which by the way happens to fall on a Friday, an asteroid much larger than 2004 XP14 will be making a much closer approach to Earth. During its approach, the space rock will be just 18,600 miles (30,000km) from the Earth's surface and will be easily visible to the naked eye. As of now, the object is listed under NASA's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and could possibly pose a threat to our planet. However, scientists say that there is nothing to worry as we still have plenty of time to gather more data in order to more accurately predict its trajectory.

********** Today's Shared Video **********

• "A dream of every golfer, weekend or world class."

Which Superhero are you? I took this test and here are my results:

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Your results:
You are The Flash

The Flash 80% Spider-Man 75% Superman 70% Green Lantern 60% Hulk 55% Iron Man 45% Robin 43% Supergirl 38% Batman 25% Catwoman 15% Wonder Woman 13%

Fast, athletic and flirtatious.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test