i'm not very good at writing this 'about me' page. i never have been, i never will. but yet it's an obligation of sorts since this must be one of the most clicked on pages in any given website. afterall, we all want to know about the author and creator of a personal website without having to read years of actual archived entries right? we all just want that simplified, concise, cliff notes version. unfortunately it doesn't exist here and yes, you do have to read my archived entries to get to know what i'm all about. there's about 8+ years worth of writing here, so i hope you have a lot of time, patience and caffeine.
but what i will tell you is that i'm rather honest, sarcastic and have very real emotions. i like to believe that i am funny but i won't pretend to be the happy go lucky type because i'm not. i do use profanity to a certain degree so if that offends you, i'm sorry, but that's how i am. i will write based how i feel on any given day and won't compromise to be anything else but living in this very exact moment of life.
and i am not your typical asian girl next door.
feel free to email me with questions or comments should you have any.
thank you for visiting and reading,
profile basics
name: winnie
dob: march 1, 1970
place of birth: hong kong island, hong kong
current location: los angeles, ca, usa
ethnicity: 1.5 generation chinese american
languages: cantonese, mandarin, conversational japanese &
korean food dishes
what does 'aiyah' mean?
if you're chinese and if you don't know that means, then you ought to have your foot bound and have wooden sticks shoved under your fingernails. "aiyah" is a very colloquial and common Chinese exclamation or phrase which is somewhat equivalent to: "oh no!", "oh shit","oh geez", "eeck", "yikes", "oops".....i'm sure you get the picture. you've probably heard it before when you showed your A-minus report card to your feather duster beating, ruler slapping parents. it's highly indispensable and although "aiyah" is mainly said by Chinese folks -- there are people of other asian ethnicities who do have something very similar to this also. spelling may vary depending on user.
the inspiration this time around?
since my love for hawaii is such a prevalent part of my life, i decided to use a partial photo of myself looking out onto waimanalo beach as part of the layout this time. the photo was taken during november 2005 and each time i look at this photo, it evokes a very serene yet deep in thought type of feeling. the ocean & water has always done something for me and perhaps being a pisces, this is part of the attraction that draws me to places surrounded by this life source.
as a kid, i always like to doodle with colored pens and draw artsy borders around things. i guess these things carry over into adulthood as well. the shimmery blues & aquas of the ocean and the golden tan colors of the sand brings about a spring summery feel for me that allows me to feel like i'm there year round.
i still like my anonymity but i am getting bolder by showing more of myself than i ever have. of course i wouldn't hold my breath for any further revealing photos of myself because i doubt if that's going to happen.
site basics
this personal website and online journal was launched on february 1, 2000.
some tools that i used to create this site are: handcoding in notepad, dreamweaver mx and photoshop cs. but it is mainly made from a lot of blood, sweat, tears and love. so please be considerate and don't steal. go buy a book and learn it like i did, through lots of trial and error and late nights in front of the computer. :p
most of the photos on this site are taken either with the Canon S110, Canon S400, Canon SD800 IS, Canon Digital Rebel XT or Canon 40D. and occasionally, my Sidekick 3. some other photos that appear here were taken with my prehistoric Sony Mavica, PhoneCam or my WebCam.
all writings and photos herein belong to me, unless otherwise noted.
gratitude
thank you to everyone for coming back to visit my site day after day, even though i'm not updating as much as i used to. i appreciate all the virtual and real life friendships forged from the result of having this site and for all the kind people out there who support me and my site, in good days and bad. thank you for all the positive things that so many of you have said about the site and my writings and making me think that i really am deserving of them when i'm only just a simple girl living a simple life telling it to the world behind a very simple computer.