Breaking and Entering

If you think this is the movie starring Jude Law and Juliette Binoche talking about reevaluation of life after a total stranger breaks into your world and stirs up a huge mess almost impossible to deal with, then you might be disappointed. It's not a movie and it didn't happen in London, it's this totally random thing that I ran into last night and basically there were me, my roommate and a black dude who I've never met before in my life.

It starts with me chilling in my room rapping along with Jin the Artist and talking to my girl when I heard somebody knocking on our door, so I thought it's AJ coming back from a quick bite or whatever, I went to the living room and opened the door and BAM a short black dude was there all wet(it's pouring outside) and looked kinda scared and intense. Before I even asked him anything, he goes "I need to use your phone, I need to use your phone!" and I goes "what's going on?" and just at that moment AJ came out of his room to see what's going on which proves me wrong when I thought he's out. Then AJ goes"How can we help you?" The black dude was still like "I need to use the phone, I need to use the phone!" and he just won't tell us what the emergency was. Clearly he's up to something which can't be known and while he's talking he just barged in our apartment which pretty much scared us! Then me and AJ both went up warning him to back off and get out of our apartment, he backed off a few steps and tried to come closer again, then AJ goes "Hey man, I work here and you need to leave right now!". Knowing that AJ is a staff here, the black dude immediately went out and before we knew it, he's totally gone, we even didn't notice which direction he took. So we followed out to see if he's still around, but he disappeared. When we were back in our apartment again, we felt so lucky that nothing terrible happened and I felt like a completely idiot for opening up the door for him in the first place, I think I just totally forgot the fact that the United States could be very dangerous at night, which is totally different from Singapore, in Singapore, you could just leave the door opened at night, it's the country with the lowest crime rate in the world. Now, think about it, if the black dude was really up to something evil and actually had a weapon with him, he could totally took control of us and even killed us for whatever reason and we would be dead by now! Man! That's really a close one!!!

If you think that was the end of the story, you're wrong again. So the more we thought about it, the more we felt we should do something about it, what if the man kept knocking on other people's door and attacked them. Because AJ is one of the staff at our property, he called the manager and asked her what to do now. Basically the manager told him to go to the club room at our property and ask people who hang out there to go back to their apartments asap in case the black dude showed up again, so me and AJ went to the club room with a knife! The moment we stepped out of our apartment we saw that black dude dashing down from the second floor. We stepped back in our apartment and asked him if he lives here, he said no, we asked him if he knows anyone here, he said no, we asked him what's he doing here, he didn't answer! Since this is already a breaking and entering to a private property, we told him we were gonna call 911. And the moment we said that, he ran away so fast and stormed out of the exit gate! Now, we knew he's bad and we called the cops and told them about everything that had just happened. After that, we headed up the club room and on our way there two trucks with more black dudes came right towards us! A black dude hopped out the truck and asked us if we had seen a black male with a white jersey and red shorts, that's exactly who that guy was, but we wasn't sure if we should tell them because it's likely that these people are his friends or gangs! So we asked them why and they told us that black dude was stealing their trucks and was spotted when trying to break the window. Finally, everything is clear! The black dude we ran into was actually looking for a place to hide, he didn't need a phone, he just wanted to come in so that these people wouldn't be able to find him! Still, close enough to make some real damages! Thank God!

Within the next five minutes, cops were here and they started to search the neighborhood for that guy based on our description. So lessons learnt from this vivid safety lecture are: 1 Never ever open your door for some strangers before you ask them who they are and what they need! 2. Always keep something sharp reachable so that you could protect yourself when necessary! 3. Don't hesitate to call 911, they are always ready to help! 4. It might not be safe when you think he's gone and you are safe! 5. It's such a bless to have a good roommate!! AJ is a criminal law majored at ACC and he's gonna be a policeman when he graduates!!(Dude, you ROCK!!!)

Peace!

Bat Watch

Love you just the way you are!


Look at the sweet couple! I miss my girl!


Does it remind you that famous BATMAN sign?


Jars opened, bats everywhere!


Can you see them hanging upside down?


I wonder if the bats are also looking at us...

Yes! It's Bat Watch! Not Bay Watch! But it's just as hot as Bay Watch!

So we'd been planning to watch the bats since last trip to San Antonio and last week we finally did it! We arrived at the meadow area under the south end of the Congress Bridge around 6:30 on Saturday and started to get ready for the big moment while picnicking. As time went by, the place was gradually filled with people and it seemed pretty clear that we were the only people that didn't come with mommy and daddy! But anyway, it's always nice to be surrounded by kids, makes me feel young again! Meanwhile, Martin and Hana made their way to join us, you should know how hard it is to try to get out of the campus area on a game day! So we chatted, talked and ate, but still, no bats!Though I could clearly smell them in the air! People were getting a little bit of fuzzy as it's almost dark, so did we!

Finally, the hidden bats were tired of watching people and decided to roll! Not as what I'd expected, they didn't just rush out at once! A few pioneers was sent out first, then here came the best part, hundreds of thousands of bats flooded out forming a bat net in the sky. Jessica told me that they are about 1.7 million bats live under the bridge, but what I saw could easily top that number, I don't know, there were just so many of them! The bats just circled around the bridge and it lasted about half an hour! If you think about it, it's really amazing that so many little "blind" flying things could congregated in such a limited space and never hit one another! That could be one of the most organized performance in the natural world and the Olympics opening ceremony just looks like childish play compared to them!

Pics up again!

The Mary Bridge


Look closer! There might be your ancestors!


River Theater!


An old church!


This is my favorite! Imagine the winter time with a cup of hot tea behind those windows!


Soaring to the sky!


Best bar on the River Walk to me!


Jason's power nap could be everywhere!


While I was gone...


Feel it


The "Red House"


Super Fun Jessica!


I see a senorita at the fair,haha


"Knock knock!"

San Antonio BABY!!!

So let's go back to the start! As clearly as I recall, I set the alarm clock to 6:30AM when I hit bed the night before my adventurous trip to San Antonio, but when I woke up saturating in morning light, I knew something was not right. There's no way that Austin could be this bright at this hour of the day, so subconsciously I took a glance at the alarm clock, it was 8:12. The bus to San Antonio was scheduled to depart on 8:30, so, 18 minutes left, for crying out loud!

Time to multitask! I turned on my laptop and started to look for any number I could find to reach anybody at the International Office. I explained what's going on while pack my stuff and put on my shirt. I brushed my teeth while knocking on my roommate's door asking him this crazy favor to drive me to school. We rushed to the car both without a proper shave or any shoes and socks on...Finally I was there to see the bus, it was 8:37! I just wanna apologize to everyone here for me being late that day, I understand that it's a 7 minute cut off from that day of fun!

The first stop in San Antonio was the Institute of Texan Cultures. It was a fabulous place with rich, diversified and interesting cultural exhibitions. Lots of precious historical legacies were there to show the Texas today what it looks like a hundred years ago. It's amazing to get to know all the people from all over the world who once made their ways to this land, which just makes me appreciate the Texas that know even more. The best part of the guided tour was to see the old lady who dressed authentically old-fashioned fabricating cotton cloth using a shuttle. People don't get to see this kind of practices nowadays as everything is mass produced by corporate machines. It was such a memorable experience to see that warm sweet scene, it was simple and peaceful, really makes me wonder about the old days of Texas.

Leaving the institute, we headed up El Mercado, the Mexican Market. Just not as what I'd expected, it was not a very big place. You know how people always say about the culture at those markets, but what really attracted us was the food! Anyway, food "eats up" a huge portion of the culture, isn't it:) I definitely enjoyed the tacos and sausages over there, 100% Mexican! I like the bean sauce in the taco which is not found at Taco Bell. After lunch(we didn't sit down in restaurants, just some food from carts, but that's what the market all about!), we browsed through the market of Mexican arts which is really impressive. Then we crossed a few blocks to the Spanish Governor's Palace. It's really a small piece of Spain there, cozy, comfy and fancy! There's also a beautiful church and the county court house, which by the way is also known as the "Red House", across the street. Of course, we wouldn't miss the Alamo, the shrine of Texas independence from Mexico. We listened to the story of all the battling and defending, sacrificing and winning! It's such a beautiful place with such a sad but glory history!So, hats off to the heroes!

Now, comes the best part of the day! The San Antonio River Walk. Totally awesome!! It's not just good, it's SONIC good!(Man,! can't get it out of my mind recently!) The boat ride was truly breath taking! As we cruised along the river, it's literally like floating down the history of San Antonio with all the rise and fall of the past century! The narration from the captain taught us so much about the historical facts of the architectures on both sides of the river. Tons of shops and cafes and restaurants caught our eyes while we were on the boat. As we proceeded, modern gradually replaces classic, at the end they just melts together and forms such an unbelievable yet coherent combination. I'm pretty sure that I'll go back to San Antonio in Fall just to ride the boat again, it's gonna be all golden and bright with the falling leaves and amazing autumn breeze. Can't wait to have that!

Almost everyone fell asleep on the way back, then before we knew it, it's home sweet home Austin again! I took a power nap when I reached home and went down to the 6th around 11 with AJ and Brizida, we hit a couple of clubs and bars and had a very reasonable amount of drinks. It was such a great day. As we were walking down the 6th, I found the night wasn't just getting darker, but nicer, cooler and tender!