how to have a 9-day vacation for $500

With recession going on, everything needs careful planning. Following is how I spent my Christmas.

Dec 20:
1. Go to Berkeley. Gas cost $6. Carpool (5 ppl: me, A, X, Y, Z) to Vacaville Outlet, went back to Berkeley and had dinner together ($15 including bridge toll). At the outlet, spent $26 on a CK jeans(50% off), and $25 on a JCrew sweater(50% discount with an extra 20% off). Lunch at Taco Bell ($5).

2. Slept in a sleeping bag at friend A's house for free.

Dec 21:
1. Another friend B's flight was delayed by 1 day (he was flying in from east coast), so schedule was pushed back, needed to stay at Berkeley for an extra day. Lunch free. Dinner in Chinese restaurant ($13).

2. Picked up friend B at SFO. Parking cost $6.

Dec 22:
1. Carpool from Berkeley to LA. $21 gas shared by 3 ppl, each $7. Stop by Coalinga for lunch ($9 McDonald).

2. Slept at friend C's house in LA for free for 3 nights. Needed to sleep on the floor.

3. Bought Universal Studios ticket at student discount for $46.

4. Had dinner at LA new Chinatown for $10. Met up with friend D, went to Hollywood Blvd.

5. 3 days at LA would cost an estimate of $16 of gas. Shared by 4 ppl, that's $4 each.

Dec 23:
1. Spent the day at Universal Studio with A, B, C and A's friend E. Lunch cost $9. Parking $12 shared by 5 ppl, $2 each.

2. Dinner at a Guangdong restaurant for $10.

3. Went to Santa Monica beach.

Dec 24:
1. Bought EBay Disney tickets for $50 each. There's risk, but the tickets worked. Parking $12, $3 each.

2. Spent the whole day at Disney, with A, B, C and B's friend F. Very short lines. Parade. Fireworks. Breakfast at McDonalds for $4. Lunch and Dinner at Disney cost $16.

Dec 25:
1. Rainy day. Went to Rodeo drive and Beverley Hills. Had lunch in the same Guangdong restaurant for $13. Dinner at Chinatown restaurant for $10.

2. Picked up E at his home. Carpool (me, A, B, C, E) to Vegas, gas $4 each.

3. Checked in at Vegas Bally's. $250 for 3 nights. Shared by 5 ppl, that's $50 each.

Dec 26:
1. Went to Spring Mountain Rd Chinatown for lunch. Worst Shanghai restaurant I've ever been to. Very bad experience: long lines, bad taste, 15% tip included in bill. $9 each.

2. Waited 2 hours for Paris Le Village Buffet. $27 each for dinner. Overall good.

3. Started from Bally's and visited most of the casino on South Strip. Lost about $25 playing slots ($20 at New York New York).

4. Went to a strip club after midnight, with B and C. Play it Again, Sam is the nearest one we can find, just opposite the restaurant we had lunch that day. Admission $10. One soda $7. Tips for the Dancers $4. B paid for a private dance for $20 plus tip. None of us had previous club experience. I had to ask the cashier at Bally's to change 3 $5 bills to 15 $1 bills...

Dec 27:
1. Had lunch at McDonald's for $7.

2. Went to Hoover Dam. Parking $7, shared by 5 ppl, $1 each.

3. Had dinner at Hacienda? Casino Buffet, near Hoover Dam. $10 each. Visited casinos on North Strip.

4. Went to see Jubilee! with A, B and C. Used 2-for-1 coupon, $47 each. Table seat right in front of the center stage.

5. Played slots at one of those QuickHits machines in Paris. $20 came in, $115 came out in just 30 mins. Meanwhile, E won $500 playing maximum bet wheel-of-fortune slots at PH. Others all lost small sum of money.

Dec 28:
1. Met up with friend D before lunch. Had to cram 6 ppl in my Civic sedan.

2. Had lunch at another restaurant in Vegas Chinatown. It's good this time. $13 each.

3. Hotel check-out. Played slots again for 2 hours. Lost $45.

4. Had dinner at Panda Experess for $7.

5. Dropped off B at Vegas's airport. He's heading back.

5. $2 iced coffee before going back to LA. $15 gas in Vegas, shared by 5 ppl ($3 each). Trip back to LA cost $4 each.

6. Slept on the floor at C's house.

Dec 29:
1. Dropped off C at his LA office. Had breakfast at McDonald's for $4, including an iced coffee. Refueled car, then started heading back to Berkeley.

2. Drove from 10:30am to 5pm. Stopped by Coalinga for lunch at Subway ($5). Gas shared between me and A. $10 each.

3. Drove back to home after dropping off A at Berkeley. $6 gas.

Total Cost: $494+($6 for bottled water etc.) = $500.

PS. Car front bumper scratched a really high curb. It would cost an estimate of $200 to repaint.

In true hayking's blog style

Wrote this at the beginning of the year, but didn't publish. Ratings after reviewing the actual movies may vary.

description plus anticipation from highest(5) to lowest(1)

English movies:

indianna jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (the 4th installment) 5
Wall-e (pixar animation) 5
hellboy 2 (from the one and only guillermo del toro) 5
10,000 B.C. (pre-historical mammoth) 4
iron man (superhero movie) 4
speed racer (the wachowski brother/sister return) 4
kung fu panda (panda rules) 4
the happening (shyamalan returns) 4
the incredible hulk (hulk played by edward norton) 4
wanted (action with jolie, mcvoy and freeman) 4
hancock (will smith) 4
the dark knight (batman vs. scary clown) 4
the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor (jet li and michelle yeoh star) 4
babylon a.d. (vin diesel) 4
valkyrie (controversial tom cruise movie) 4
body of lies (dicaprio and crowe, shud be good) 4
james bond 22 (007) 4
madagascar: the crate escape (madagascar 2) 4
harry potter and the half-blood prince (dark sequel) 4
the day the earth stood still (we come in peace) 4
revolutionary road (dicaprio, winslet and sam mendes) 4
australia (the aussies rule) 4
coraline (inde cg-animation) 3
cassandra's dream (woody allen doing another british drama) 3
john rambo (this year's die hard 4?) 3
cloverfield (too much hype, unlikely to deliver) 3
fool's gold (sahara meets how to lose a guy in 10 days) 3
my blueberry nights (wong kar wai's english debut) 3
vantage point (crash deja vu) 3
the other boleyn girl (strong cast with portman and johanson) 3
semi-pro (will farrell!) 3
pride and glory (edward norton and colin farrell) 3
run, fat boy, run (Ross directs) 3
leatherheads (it's football time) 3
smart people (CMU prof in love) 3
forbidden kingdom (jet li and jackie chan) 3
harold and kumar escape from guantanamo (asian rule) 3
the list (sex-club) 3
sex and the city: the movie (date movie) 3
starship dave (sci-fi with eddie murphy) 3
get smart ("michael scott") 3
the love guru (mike myers and jessica alba) 3
what happens in vegas (stays in vegas, diaz and kutcher) 3
tropic thunder (ben stiller and jack black) 3
mamma mia! (musical) 3
step brothers (will farrell!) 3
the x-files 2 (the first one sucks) 3
death race (jason statham) 3
he is just not that into you (barrymore, aniston, affleck?, connelly) 3
bolt (disney 3-d animation) 3
seven pounds (will simith drama) 3
the curious case of benjamin button (pitt and blanchett) 3
bedstime stories (adam sandler) 3
fame (musical) 3
star trek (movie version) 3
marley and me (aniston and owen wilson) 3
the women (star-studded) 3
you don't mess with the zohan (adam sandler) 3
igor (cg animation) 3
funny games (psychotic) 3
the brothers bloom (rachel weisz) 3
one missed call (americanized jap horror) 2
27 dresses (too cheesy for katherine heigl) 2
mad money (cute scientological Katie Holmes) 2
the eye (yet another americanized jap horror, with jessica alba) 2
definitely, maybe (reynolds with 3 delicious girls) 2
jumper (sci-fi with sir samuel jackson) 2
the spiderwick chronicles (children, let's enter yet another new world) 2
my mom's new boyfriend (what's this? Meg Ryan?) 2
penelope (fairy tale for ugly ppl) 2
the accidental husband (uma thurman and colin firth) 2
the bank job (jason statham) 2
horton hears a who (cg animation with funny voices) 2
shutter (jap horror with american actors) 2
21 (counting cards in vegas with kevin spacey) 2
stop-loss (war drama with good young actors) 2
nim's island (children, let's enter jodie foster's lesbian mind) 2
the ruins (horror in an exotic land) 2
college (springbreak time) 2
prom night (sadistic killer horror) 2
midnight meat train (prefer this to narnia) 2
forgetting sarah marshall (with kristen bell) 2
nights in rodanthe (old couple romance) 2
eagle eye (shia labeouf) 2
the pineapple express (seth rogen comedy) 2
the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2 (1st one was actually good) 2
south of the border (disney animation) 2
case 39 (typical fall horror with zellweger) 2
I know what boys like (anna faris as a playmate) 2
inkheart (... new world...) 2
city of ember (teen sci-fi) 2
the express (sports movie) 2
soul men (another samuel jackson movie in 2008?) 2
motel hell (horror) 2
4 christmases (holiday movie) 2
twilight (teen horror) 2
rogue (croc horror) 2
trick 'r treat (halloween horror) 2
step up 2 the streets (dance sequel) 2
amusement (horror) 2
first sunday (time for another black comedy) 1
untraceable (high-concept spy thriller) 1
meet the spartans (golden raspberry) 1
made of honor (mcdreamy in sweatshirt?) 1
welcome home roscoe jenkins (yet another black comedy) 1
college road trip (martin lawrency comedy) 1
drillbit taylor (the suicidal owen wilson) 1
superhero movie (spoof) 1
the chronicles of narnia: prince caspian (children, let's go back to narnia) 1
my best friend's girl (dane cook) 1
nowhereland (another new world) 1
saw v (horror sequel) 1
big stan (rob schneider) 1

华语电影

贵族（海龟vs土鳖）　5
长江七号（周星驰）　5
赤壁（选角让人存疑，上下集？）　4
双雄会（贾樟柯，张曼玉）　4
画皮（陈嘉上）　4
鬼吹灯（杜琪峰）　4
梅兰芳（陈凯歌，选角存疑）　4
李小龙（关锦鹏）　3
飞鹰计划3（成龙）　3
江山美人（陈慧琳，战争场面审美疲劳）　3
银牌车手（疯狂的石头续作）　3
三国之见龙卸甲（刘德华版赵云）　2
大灌篮（周杰伦）　1

The 80s

My boring life gets interrupted today.

It's getting hotter everyday, and finally reached the 80s this weekend. Heat doesn't just make ppl horny, it also burns up my car.

I was driving out for a few minutes to pick up my dinner. The air is stifling in my car, so I had to turn on the A/C even if this means extra gas money. Then I smelt burning on my way back. After I parked my car in front of my apt, I saw smoke coming out under the hood. So I popped the hood, and FIRE! It was small and confined to the bumper area, but it was starting to spread with the influx of air. One of my neighbors suggested calling fire dept, but I have to act quickly, otherwise, who knows what wud happen (car blown up maybe? This thought made my cringe). Lucky for me, there's a water horse (sorry, water hose, lame attempt at a joke) nearby, and I used it to extinguish the fire. (I do have an extinguisher in my glove compartment, but forgot it at that moment.)

When I had enough time to calm down and write this blog, it occurred to me that probably I was driving while my car was already on fire. Scary...

Now I have get rid of this second-hand car immediately and buy a new car this week. I'm think about going stereotypical, which means Jap cars.

Prediction Result

16/24 = 66.7%

My 2007 Top 10 Movies

1. Zodiac
1. Once
1. The Man From Earth
4. There Will Be Blood
5. No Country For Old Men
6. 3:10 To Yuma
7. Eastern Promises
8. Lust, Caution
9. Bridge to Terabithia
10. Stardust

Last Min Oscar Prediction

Best Motion Picture of the Year
No Country for Old Men

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Julie Christie

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Javier Bardem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett

Best Achievement in Directing
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
for No Country for Old Men

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Juno : Diablo Cody

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
No Country for Old Men : Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best Achievement in Cinematography
There Will Be Blood : Robert Elswit

Best Achievement in Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum : Christopher Rouse

Best Achievement in Art Direction
There Will Be Blood : Jack Fisk, Jim Erickson

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Elizabeth: The Golden Age : Alexandra Byrne

Best Achievement in Makeup
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End : Ve Neill, Martin Samuel

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Atonement : Dario Marianelli

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Once : Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová(“Falling Slowly” )

Best Achievement in Sound
The Bourne Ultimatum : Scott Millan, David Parker, Kirk Francis

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum : Karen M. Baker, Per Hallberg

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Transformers : Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Ratatouille : Brad Bird

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
12 (Russia)

Best Documentary, Features
No End in Sight : Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld : Cynthia Wade, Vanessa Roth

Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf : Suzie Templeton, Hugh Welchman

Best Short Film, Live Action
Tanghi argentini : Guy Thys, Anja Daelemans

I hate ppl with bad memory

I know I'm probably being hypocritical, but I do hate ppl with bad memory.

1. I don't feel respected. Most of the time, I can remember important things they said a few months back, but they can't even remember what I asked them to do a few days ago.

2. They make me repeat something I've said/mentioned to them many times before. This gets boring after a while.

3. If my work is depending on them remembering to do necessary things, I'll be screwed. And most likely they'll be annoyed if I go checking on them too often.

This is NOT BSO.

Lust, Caution

I went to see Lust, Caution last Saturday at Embarcadero Center, SF. It is very similar to Paul Verhoeven's Zwartboek: WWII, espionage, full frontal nudity... Zwartboek is very good, Lust, Caution is even better. The story might be a little weaker, but the acting in general is a lot better. It does not have explosions or car chase, but there are several very tasteful love-making scenes. Most of important of all, Lust, Caution has a non-Hollywood ending that left me in sympathy of the characters. Ang Lee seems to be still using his usual techinques of film-making, and he is good at showing the subtle feelings of characters. Its chances of major Oscar nominations (except Foreign Language) are slim, judging from its NC-17 rating and the lukewarm reviews of western critics. Overall, this is a very decent period drama. 8/10.

Bleeding nosebleeding

I wasn't aware of the dry heat until recently.

The heat is bearable, since most of the time I stay in A/C rooms.

But the humidity in Folsom is constantly below 20%, compared to the above-70 percentages in Ann Arbor and San Fran. The dryness combined with my recent cold has inflicted me with several most unfortunate nosebleeding already.

The internet is a good thing. It explains the basic info I need to know about the cause of and dealing with nosebleeding. So tomorrow I'm going to get a humidifier at Walmart.

People, don't set an auto desktop lock for some nonsense ergonomic reason. It won't let u return to your desktop until your eyes have some "proper rest". If you have a heart attack, you need to use the internet to look up the symptoms.

Aside from the drab preaching above, I really have nothing to say. I'm merely trying to leave a post for July.