[76] Hometown Countdown - 4

Moving Out & Using A Longboard As A...

Trolly

Door stopper

[75] Hometown Countdown - 5

Finished off some work and errands and cleaning today.

Spent a few hours at the library with roommates catching up on some emails and messages.

At night, Jeff, Kevin, and I had Buffalo Wild Wings. SOOO GOOD!!

And even later at night, Jeff, Dan, Hiep & I ended up taking a really long walk chit-chatting and had a great hearts2hearts for like 7 hours. Good stuff.-

[74] Hometown Countdown - 6

-3:30pm

Today has been a super fun day!

I woke up at 9:00 am to Kim putting an oatmeal raisin on my face. It was a pleasant surprise. Kim was visiting and kinda let herself in and woke up Jeff and I. It's all good though. Oatmeal raisin is my favorite and I'll rather be awake and spend some time with them than sleeping.

Afterwards, we were just having a good time and enjoying each other's company.

We've got some down time right now. I'll do some more cleaning and packing in my room.

-5:00pm
Yum yum! Dan, Jeff, and Kim made dinner. As expected, it was fricking delicious!

Garlic Bread

Meatloaf Covered w/ Bacon

Banana Bread Toasted Coconut Frosting Cake

-8:30pm
Continue packing. I repacked my box and organized what I'm bringing home and what I'm keeping here on campus. I also packed one of my backpacks full.

-10:00pm
Jeff bought me to Boltini's a lounge/bar in Champaign. It was really, really nice to chit chat with Jeff, his friend Artie, and Artie's friend Janelle. It was a really good and natural mixture of strangers. It felt really adult. We were enjoying margaritas (my first) and just talking and having a good time.

That's sugar on the rim.
Ooooh...fancy....

[73] Hometown Countdown - 7

In my last few days on campus, I'm spending my days...

Preparing to Go Home
I vacuumed the hallway, living room, and kitchen and then my roommates Swiffered the place up and cleared off some stuff off tables. It's a start, but we've still got a lot to do until we can move out. I packed away half of my room away, but I still more to pack. In this upcoming week, I'll be striving to get all that done.

Running Errands
Today, I had to figure out stuff with volunteering and also take care of stuff for Wing. I think I'll be doing more of that later this week too. I've got a few other stuff to do before I head back home.

Fun
Morning
Fun - Went with Jeff to visit Hiep at work

Afternoon
Fun - Went biking with Dan and Winfield
Not Fun - Popped my front tire
Fun - Jeff picked me up
Not Fun - Got my pants, face, and shirt all dirty and greasy

Nighttime
Not Fun - During work, my left foot got all wet while showering my client making my foot all stinky
Fun - Stayed after my work hours and made a leftover, pantry-food party platter with my clients
Fun - Watched Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox ... GREAT MOVIE!
Not Fun - Stayed up too late and head hurt

I've got another week here on campus before I go back home. There's quite a bit to do but also a good amount of free time to have fun, but I can't wait to be back home. The anticipation is killing me! Chicago, I'll see you soon.

[72] GRE Test Day

Quantitative - 155 (~64th Percentile)
Verbal - 158 (~77th Percentile)

Finally, I am finished with this obsessive studying schedule and done with this GRE. Now, I just have to focus on applications and work and volunteer. Most importantly, I have time at home to cleaaaan!! Yes!!!!
Watch out dust and nastiness, I'm coming to get you! You too, dirt and grime!

[71] GRE Practice Test #3

Quantitative - 162 (86 Percentile)
Verbal - 158 (79 Percentile)

Yes!! I was very happy with today's scores after yesterday's devastating results.
Typically, you need to get at least 60 Percentile to get into graduate school (depending on the program) so scoring by the 80th percentile is good news.

However, I need to keep in mind this is still just a practice test. I did well today, but I've scored much worse in previous practice tests. For the real thing, I still need to remember to try my best and stay focused.

Good luck tomorrow, Henry.

[70] GRE Practice Test #2

Quantitative - 156/170 (67 Percentile)
Verbal - 150/170 (48 Percentile)

I think after studying for so many hours per day, I'm burning out or something, because I did pretty poorly on verbal today. I'm in the bottom 50% of scorers that took that test for verbal. I think I'm starting to care less about the GRE because I'm just ... burning out.

For tomorrow's practice test and the actual GRE, I need to make sure I still do my best and stay focused.

[69] GRE Practice Test #1

For the next three days, my days will go like this...

Wake up at 7:30am, do a practice test, study, sleep.
Poop and eat in between.

Here is the score breakdown for my first test.

Quantitative - 154/170 (61 Percentile)
Verbal - 158/170 (79 Percentile)

This is actually a pretty good score. The math is definitely on the lower side, but the verbal is pretty good...which I'm surprised with. The verbal section consists of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Oh yeah! For those who don't know, the percentile tells you, of all the people who took that test, what % scored lower than you.

[68] Beyond Successful!

Woke up - 7:30am
Breakfast - 8:30am
Waste Time - 9:00am

GRE Practice - 10:00 am - 3:00pm

Made food, Made a letter, Talked to Becky - 3:00pm - 5:30pm

CRAVINGS - FINALLY!! SOME CHINESE FOOD!! - 6:30pm

GRE Practice - 8:00pm - 12:00am

I went home and knocked out right afterwards.

[67] YEAHOO!!

*WARNING: ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S GAME BELOW*

*WARNING: ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S GAME BELOW*

*WARNING: ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S GAME BELOW*

✓ studied total of 8 hours today....all reading comprehension and vocabulary

✓ played sand volleyball for 1.5 hours

✓ got sand in a bunch of crevices

✓ going to sleep early 

By the way, here are the answers to tomorrow's game:

The total amt. in that pill box was $14.13

*158 pennies
*37 nickels
*97 dimes
*4 quarters

[66] HOO YEAH!

WHO WOKE UP AT 8AM?

I DID! 

Then, I ate breakfast, studied up some vocabulary words I missed the other day, cleaned my room, started packing for home, threw away a lot of papers, organized my pay stubs and bills, and deposited my coins I've been saving up this year.

Let's play a game!
How much is in here?

These are mostly pennies, nickels, and dimes although 4 sneaky quarters got past me.
I'll post the total amount and break down the coin quantities in the next post.

Also, starting tomorrow, I will be waking up at 7:30am everyday. That's the time I'll need to wake up on Saturday, so I will have 5 days to get used to it. As long as no one makes me up during the night, waking up early shouldn't be a problem. I was actually pretty energized waking up today at 8am and having a full productive day. Oh yeah..after all the morning stuff, I productively ate 42 pieces of sushi at sushi buffet, studied, and then had work again.

[65] Semi-Successful

It was semi-successful day.

After my 16-hour shift from 4pm to 8am, I knocked out when I got home for like 4 hours. I was pretty awake while I was walking home though. It felt really great and refreshing being outside that early in the morning again. I forgot what it felt like. The cool breeze, the smell of fresh air, the warm (not hot) sunlight, and the calm streets. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because fatigue hit me like a truck the moment I stepped into my apartment. It was a weird struggle where half of me was trying to get up and study and the other half was asleep. I kept fighting to get up but my body would just fall back asleep.

Whatever, after waking up though at noon, I made food, ran errands, and studied for an hour and a half before work at 4pm until midnight again.

I got home at like 1am and by then, I was exhausted. I just knocked out. It was one of the best sleeps ever!
...except I was cold.

[64] Super Busy Work Day

It would be wrong to name this a successful GRE day because, frankly, I didn't have much time to study today. I had a 16 hour work day today, and I was pretty swamped. However, just half an hour ago, I crammed a bit of GRE writing tips that train you to write concisely and clearly. I don't know if I have these skills, so I'm writing this with that goal in mind. Normally, I do not think I write very concisely, especially not in my blog posts. Often, they're long and erratic. It'll be a work in progress until the 27th. Then, it'll return to being however the heck I want it to be!

Anyways, this is all the time I have to write today.

Good night, all!

[63] Success Day #3 - Ruby Tuesday's

Guess what time I woke up today. Guess.

(You're not really going to guess, are you?)

I woke up at 9am, sucka! That's an hour and a half early than I did yesterday. Henry Guan is making good progress. After waking up and eating breakfast, I studied exclusively vocabulary and reading comprehension for 4 hours! Well...kind of like 3.5 hours. I think I took a walk as a break for like half an hour. But anyways, that's pretty good considering I was avoiding studying for reading comprehension for soooo long.

I just came back from Ruby Tuesday's as a last day for a friend who won't be at Urbana anymore.

NOTE TO SELF: Really good food. For $1.99, you can go to a salad bar as much as you want. Worth it. End of story.

Also, I saved half my meal and brought home a ton of salad too. Henry Guan is, once again, saving his food. Is this not my proudest moment ever?

And now, I'm about to head out to study more at the library. 

paece! 

[62] Success Day #3 - Laundry Day, Pt. II

Today was basically the same as yesterday. I woke up at 10:00am, did laundry again (went with Dan today) and studied for 3 hours while the laundry was running. Afterwards, I came back home and made food then studied for another hour or two before going to Illini Tower to teach Jenny the rest of  the dance. REJEkTeD SYNDiCATiON is gonna be a real thing. ;Þ Just kidding. Finally, at nighttime, I studied at the library again until closing time. When I got back home, I wanted to study just a little bit more but by then, I was so tired that my brain really wasn't working anymore. I got like 6 consecutive math questions wrong. It was time to call it quits until the next day.

gNite!

[61] Success Day #2 - Laundry Day

Dan and I have been watching improv shows Whose Line is It Anyway? and Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza and we're so impressed with how well fricking Wayne Brady raps. That man is an improv genius and his improv sounds like REAL raps. They're BETTER than real raps.

Today, we tried really hard to rap about everything while walking around and while in the house and it didn't work. But whatever. To keep up with my theme for today, I'm going to try to rap about my awesomely productive day.

Mic check, mic check one-two, one-two.

I woke up earlier today, who woulda knew?

I'm a lean, mean, waking up machine.

Set alarm for ten thirty, woke up at ten SIX-TEEN!

Got up, got dressed and made breakfast

Ate it, did the dishes and made a mess.

Cleaned it up, packed my clothes, and went out to Tree's.

I was able to get in, because she gave me her keys.

Knock, knock to see if the roomie's home.

Coast clear, stepped in. I guess I'll be alone.

Washed my clothes there and studied--I was really in the zone.

Multi-tasking, yo, two birds with one stone.

Got back by 1pm and got my spaghetti on.

I had a little down time, but I wasn't down with that.

Sorted my clothes, pens, and other knick knacks.

Shampoo samples, old bracelets, and my assorted hats.

Counted my earrings, tried a few on, and put them all right back.

By this time, it was 4pm and I had to go.

Met with my client to sort out a few financial woes.

In my bank account, I only received so-and-so dollars.

Where's the rest? That's a lot. I had to holler..

At DHS - Department of Health Services.

Cleared it up and got rid of my nervousness.

Okay, finna wrap this up, but imma put it down.

Like Dan & I did when we were walking around town.

Rapping and walking to I.T.

To work out for an hour with our friend Jenny.

Sweat it out, work it off, stretch - more and more.

By the end, for some reason, my back was sore.

Home and hungry again, made pasta with lots of green.

Healthy dinner - nutritious and lean.

After dinner, I went to the library until closing time.

Now I'm done with my day and my rap, this my closing rhyme.

Gosh! I'm sorry for a terrible rap.

[I just read it aloud to Dan]

Hm... it wasn't that bad. But you'll probably read it differently than how I read it. I got the flow all in my head. And that shit is tiiiiight!! sbnl (smiling but not laughing). I'm quite amused with myself. Anyways, here's the long rap short.

TL;DR: Breakfast, did dishes did laundry while studying at the same time, came back and folded laundry, ate leftover spaghetti, organized a bunch of things around the house for like 2 hours, met up with my client to clear up some business about me not receiving all of my paycheck, rapped with Dan while walking to and fro I.T. (Illini Tower - an apt complex), worked out for an hour with Dan and our friend Jenny, made dinner at home, showered, then studied for an hour and a half. 

gNite! 

[60] Success Day #1

In order to congratulate myself for waking up earlier, I will start counting my successful days and blatantly bragging about how on-task I am. I really don't mean to sound like an ass but at this point with the test two weeks away, I need to manipulate myself for my own benefit as much as possible. Oh yeah! And I will conveniently leave out most (if not all) of my irresponsible moments. By the end of this 2 weeks, you will think I'm the epitome of a responsible adult. Don't worry though; afterwards, I'll be sure to post about the flaws and flukes in my life. Gotta stay balanced. ;]

Well, after waking up late yesterday, I made up for it today.

Ate breakfast.
Smells funky but tastes great and is great source of fiber.

Picked up health records.
I need them for my volunteer application at Provena Hospital in August.

Studied for GRE.
Math ✓
Vocab ✓
Even Reading Comprehension ✓

Picked up Box.

Left it at the AAA office since April.

Took a picture of Wing's boxing bag
Special request from Wing and I am at his service.

Cooked dinner.

The most amazing part! I even saved half of it for the next day. 

If you know me well, you know I hate saving food and just eat all of it.

Right then and there.
Yep.

/applauds self

OOH!

I can use a GRE word here!

"Though you may think it silly, I believe this accomplishment was quite laudable."

[laudable - adj - worthy of praise]

Went to library and studied more.
I studied for another 2 hours or so until the library closed at midnight.

[59] I Ruined My Sleep Schedule And My Wake Schedule Is Still Ruined

Oh wait! My sleep schedule was always ruined. I ended up sleeping at 5am, but I had a well-worth-it catch-up with my sister, Beeckity.

And I failed with my plan. I woke up at 1:30pm or something.

[58] Fixing Sleep Schedule By Fixing Wake Schedule

I realized yesterday that it's too hard to fix my schedule by sleeping earlier. Clearly, since I was still typing up a post yesterday at 3:30am. If I just lay there at midnight anyways, I'll either just end up napping or laying there restlessly.

So, here's how I am going to fix my sleep schedule....by fixing my wake schedule. "TA-DA!" /jazz hands.

 No matter what time I go to sleep, I have to wake up by noon. No naps throughout the day. So hopefully, I'll be genuinely sleepy by nighttime and THAT'S how I'll fix my schedule.

[57] No More Late-Night Biking

I realized today that my GRE is only two weeks away!!!!, I gotta wake up at 7:30am that day and that's the time I've been going to sleep!! (Well...between 5am and 7am)

That's nuts! So, I made an executive decision: I can no longer go on these lake night bike rides or walks. Yesterday, we went on a walk from 2am to 5:30am...wait... I think TECHNICALLY that was today. Anyways, and we went biking the day before and a few other days throughout this summer too. 

..a few minutes later...

Dan just left to take a bike ride...it's 3:30am... I'm typing this right now.... I'm so tempted to run out and chase after him. 

Dang it. 

[56] Insomnia Bike Ride #2

Last time, we biked 8.52 miles on our insomnia bike ride. So naturally, this time we gotta go bigger, right?

We ended up biking 10.73 miles. Whoo!! We went super duper far west looking for a Wal-mart. It turns out, I suck at leading. It was an exciting adventure though biking miles and miles into pitch dark, unfamiliar roads.

Lastly, before heading back home, we hung out on top of this parking garage and just chitchatted and danced and laughed a bit.

:D

[55] Yummy Dinner!

After a whole day of studying for the GRE, I was so glad to be able to have some decent food!

I'm not usually very happy about my own cooking. Although I post about random dishes I put together, often times they're not that good--they're alright. I just need food to eat, and I like to play around, nawwmeeen?

This time around though, I was very, very pleased with my dish.

Okay, so, here's what we'll do for today's post. I will teach you how to make today's dinner.
Instead of separating it based on ingredients and dish, I'm going to separate it based on...


OVEN
What You Making?
Baked fish fillet and sausage

How?

1. preheat oven to 350 deg
2. defrost however many fillets of fish
3. make a cute little baking pan out of aluminum foil
4. olive oil up that aluminum foil baking pan
5. place fish on pan
6. olive oil up that fish
7. spice it up with lemon pepper, lemon juice, and creole seasoning
8. place sausage on pan
9. bake for 15~20 minutes

POT

What You Making?

Egg noodles with soup base made from scratch

How?

1. boil water
2. dump in egg noodles
3. once cooked, turn down the fire to just a light boil
4. drain water so there's just enough to cover noodles
5. put in 2 tbsp of gojujjang (Korean hot pepper paste) and miso paste
6. stir into noodles and water
7. keep for about 2 more minutes

SAUTé PAN or WOK

What You Making?

Broccoli

How?

1. heat up pan...if you sprinkle some water on the surface, it's hot enough when it goes "sss-----"
2. add just enough oil to coat pan
3. throw in broccoli florets
4. cook for a few minutes..iono...just eye it... 6 minutes?
5. squirt some sriracha sauce and oyster sauce and stir
6. pour in just like half a cup of water just to let it cook the veggies a little more
7. once the water's evaporated, serve

BON APPéTIT! 

Oh garsh, I'm thinking about dinner right now. Drools. I'm going to make the same thing tomorrow. Too bad I only have 1 more fish fillet left. 

[54] Wingus.

I woke up feeling so sore from working out two days ago and dancing yesterday.

This made it a really long, tiresome work day.

After work, I was gonna just feed Wing's cat and then go home to sleep. I was so exhausted.

To my surprise, Wing was already home and we ended up talking and hanging out until 6:30am.

It was good stuff. I miss these kinds of hangouts. I don't get to see this kid often.
 /long spiel about how much this guy means to me. I would include a long spiel for real, but this kid knows how much I love him and I'll rather spare you readers...all 3 of you. HAHA.

He'll be going back home to Chicago this weekend.

I can't wait until I get to go home too.

Until then.

Bye bye.

I miss you, home.

[53] REJEkTeD SYNDiCATiON

It's been such a long time since I danced, and I really missed learning choreography.

Today, a group of friends and I decided to learn something. And I wanted to learn something good.
It was like coming out of a dancing fast. I've gotta break it with something good, right?

This is SELEkTiV SUNDiCATiON's set from Urbanite 2012. Low-key: I'm like a super-duper big fan. I watch their sets like every other week, and their choreography to "Black Magic" by Rick Ross at 02:15 is one of my favorites.

So I decided to learn it. WARNING: Profanity. 

When I got home today, I was taking a dump and I wondered...

What if we learned all of SELEkTiV's sets and we formed our own group. We'll be like a SELEkTiVtribute dance crew. Our name will be REJEkTeD SYNDiCATiON.

HAHAHA!

[49] 4th of July - Bro Day

Hiep, Victor, Darren, Eric, Winfield, and Joe. Bro day.

Outback Steakhouses - eating steak like bros do.
Meijer's - Grocery shopping like bros do.

That's about it. I'm sure everyone else's holiday was more celebratory or eventful, but we had a lot of fun.

Ooh! AND I bought bro hummus on sale for only 2 bro dollars.

Haha.

[48] Unicycle

Wing got a unicycle from his co-worker, so we spent like two hours trying to learn it.

Holy crap is it hard to pick up. The whole time, I've just a handful of good tries. The rest were the epitome of pathetic. Get on, pedal, fall...all in like a blink of an eye.

I think a big problem is that we have to pedal in such tiny circles, which  we're not used to. The wheel is like 16" compared to a bike's 26" or so.

Hopefully, the next time, it'll be more successful. FIGHTING!!

When starting, it's good to have the support of a pole first so you can sit on it without falling.