My Thoughts on Volunteering

I always strongly believed that it's important to give back to our community. I don't always have the money for it, but I do have the time, energy, and desire to be involved in my community.

None of my friends have ever encouraged me to take part on a volunteer opportunity. To my knowledge, none of my friends are a regular volunteer. I've had some friends and/or family members who keep asking me why I need to volunteer. Some have even suggested that I quit it because it takes time out of my busy schedule. But, I feel that I want to volunteer and I try to make room for it. Volunteering is something I started around high school and wanted to continue from then on.

I've always tried to look for opportunities I enjoy on my own because it's my time and my choice where I want to spend my time. I've volunteered in gardens, botanical conservatories, and greenhouses. I like volunteering in places that allow me to grow plants and provide a relaxing atmosphere. I really like being surrounded by healthy beautiful plants and vegetables. Somehow, it always makes me feel relaxed no matter how tired or stressed I am that today. I've also volunteered for the food bank, youth programs, and museums. I admire what those organizations are doing for the community. I really like those volunteer opportunities because those programs are really striving to do something for the community and I get to be a part of that. I'm so glad that I made the decision to be involved in them.

I find that I like volunteer opportunities that are more long lasting and not a one time thing. I like that I will always have the chance to meet new volunteers and now more about my responsibilities. I also like going back to the volunteer "home base", which I refer to as the place where I come back again and again to volunteer. I like that volunteering allows me to escape from my other responsibilities for a short period of time. I like that I sometimes get to serve members of the communities, which is something that I wanted to do whether it's a career or not.

As of now, I'm currently in a volunteer program that I enjoy and hope to be a part of it as long as I can. A few years ago, I decided that I want to find a volunteer program that I can be part of for a long time and I feel that the one that I am in right now meets that goal. I decided that when I'm older and retired I want to be one of those people who volunteer and help out others in their community.

California Bucket List

Even though I live in California, there's still many places I haven't been to yet. There's still plenty of things I want to do.

I think it's a good idea to create a list, so I can remember everything I want to do and it might even help others with travel ideas in California. I'm also going to list stuff I've already done, but can't wait to do again. I'm well aware that the list won't be completed within a few years or at all.

Places I have yet to go...

• Klamath’s National Forest, Yreka, CA
• Pluto’s Cave trail, Mount Shasta, CA
• Redwoods National Forest, Eureka, CA
• Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, CA
• Universal Studios, Universal City, CA
• Santa Catalina Island, CA
• California Adventures, Anaheim, CA
• Stanford University, Stanford, CA
• Charles M. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa, CA
• Monterey Bay Aquarium & beaches, Monterey, CA 
• Yosemite, CA
• Coronado Island, Coronado, CA
• Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Lancaster, CA
• Legoland, Carlsbad, CA
• Sequoia National Forest, Visalia, CA
• The French Laundry restaurant, Yountville, CA
• Natural Bridges, Calaveras, CA 
• Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, CA  
• Daffodil Hill & Black Chasm Cavern, Volcano, CA 
• Apple Hill, Placerville, CA 
• Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA

• San Francisco, CA 

1. Twin Peaks
2. Stow Lake 
3. Walt Disney Family Museum
4. Mosaic Stairs
5. Painted Stairs
6. Legion of Honor

• Los Angeles, CA

1. Venice Canals 
2. LACMA
3. University of South California (USC)
4. Asian History Museum 
5. Japantown

 Places I want to return to...

• Morro Bay, CA
• San Luis Obispo, CA
• Carmel, CA
• South Lake Tahoe, CA
• Hearst Castle, San Simeon, CA

I want to say that just because a place isn't listed here, doesn't mean I don't ever want to go there or that it wasn't special to me. When I created the lists, I imagine myself pursuing these places and things to do mostly within the next 5 years. After all, I did title this post "California Bucket List". It's not a rank of special places since I never been to all the places. Not all of my favorite places are listed on this post. I chose to keep those places in my mind longer and revisit them at a much later time. I will also discuss some of my favorite places in a later post.

I want to...

• go horseback riding on the beach
• wagon or Horse riding in the snow
• be in a place that's covered with snow and while it's still snowing
• go dog sledding
• visit more beaches in California
• eat ice cream & BBQ on the beach
• have more potlucks or food gatherings with friends 
• go on a nice boat ride
• try more different foods and popular dishes from places all over California
• go on scavenger hunts
• go whale and elephant seal watching
• beach bonfire
• camp bonfire

There's some things I already did on the list of "I want to...". The reason why I listed some things I already did is because that's one of the things I really love doing. It's too bad I don't get to do most of these activities often. Some of the stuff listed might be expensive and/or far. But, it's always good to remind yourself of your goals and to do things that keep you happy.

UC Davis China Summer Abroad 2010 Reunion

Since we last studied abroad together in 2010, we managed to have some reunions with most of the group. I've also had other classes with the group and saw them on campus. However, as time passes, we all went our different directions.

But, no matter what, I will always remember all the good times we spent there. It definitely called for some interesting stories.

Wang Lin (Michelle) who was our tour guide and interpreter in China made a trip to America. Upon her visit, Adrian coordinated a reunion meet up in San Francisco. I struggled with the decision of whether to attend or not, but decided I should because it's not often I would see old friends. So,  I decided to drive to San Francisco all by myself for the first time. It was alright, but I hated that traffic delayed my arrival.

My first stop in San Francisco was Purple Kow. Afterwards, I drove to B*Star to eat dinner with the group. It's the first Burmese restaurant I ever been to. I actually wanted to try Burmese food since my last time in San Francisco. I knew I had to try Burmese food in San Francisco because of its diverse populations and the high ratings for the Burmese restaurants. The first time I heard of Burma (Myanmar) was when I was studying abroad in China. Regina told me that her family is from Burma and some other background of Burma. Regina, Shoun, and I also visited the Myanmar pavilion while we were at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010!

I ended up ordering the Pork entree with vegetables. And, it was unbelievably delicious. The meat itself was the best part. I especially loved the skin. I like the rice and bok choy that came with the dish. The soup that was shared among us, I didn't enjoy it that much. I will definitely have Burmese food again. I'm looking forward to trying their curry, desserts, and some other dishes :).

When I arrived at B*Star, everyone else was already there, but didn't order yet. It was nice seeing everyone again. Everyone looked the same to me.

I was able to meet Matt's girlfriend at the restaurant, who helped us take some photos.

It was great catching up with everyone. I had a really good time hearing everybody's stories of how they been and just catching up. I hope we have more reunions in the future. I also hope Wang Lin comes to California more, so we can see her.

After finishing dinner, we walked to a boba place since Michelle wanted to try boba in San Francisco. We also meet Andrea at the boba place called Little Sweet. I'm glad that a good number of us managed to meet up for a reunion. I understand it always gets harder as people move and have too much commitments.

While we were at Little Sweet, we had a discussion of the boba place we used to go in China that was near our hotel. We knew that the name had the word "girl" in it, but forgot what it was. I thought it was "ok girl". I remembered having a photo of it and its "My.girl".

Ah, good times :). I can't wait for the next reunion we have together. Maybe next time, I will see more members of the group.