Lila Tran

Transport

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Yes one more entry. Not just another entry, it is unique, might deserve a publish. I said the same to the last ones but they never make it up there. I should push myself, stop this laziness, and just do it. A controlled mind is key to life, a priest advised.

Tonight, it is like this...this can’t be, I don't like it. I wanted this. My mind is changing, twisting, and being difficult. I gave it away, I chose to leave it, why the urge? I simply must let go.

It is quiet, mother is resting while boxes are half full of mostly useless mini objects that I never touch, and somehow they landed in my office…can’t blame them for being here, as innocent as they are, I should let them belong elsewhere.

Bleck, must this song sound horrible? I used to like the rhythm of it. Perhaps, not tonight, something about tonight, it is this place, full of memories, numerous nights of sleeping on this sofa listening to music till the sun shines east.

She’s tossing, turning, the sound of my typing on this cell phone isn't very musical for anyone who is weak and tired at midnight. I don’t want to go to the bedroom, the music won’t let me go. I should stop, this elder deserves the rest of the night.

Imaginations I have, making up thoughts, inventing unique stories to convince a life, writing a book about it I do, not too hard. If combining everything on this cell phone, I can easily publish a book about my nonsense writings. Who will read it? Most likely, more laughers than readers. Ah well, I’d rather not think anymore about this place. A new, empty, and open space for me to keep my hobby going is anticipated, I should be excited, and not contemplating. Many promises and interesting adventures awaiting when you start from scratch. Where can I start? The carpet can be covered with a throw carpet to create different coloring contrast on the floor. The bathroom will have a basket of towels and dish soap this time, not liquid soap in a bottle, a small picture frame is 100% needed. Not to mention the various permutations for the living room, writing all these down would kill the battery on this cell phone.

There she goes again, her random tossing and turning, I should go. My weaken fingers, my over-analyzed mind, I am dropping this phone...good night world...

Random picture for this post…

Ink it down

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:00:00 +0000

I write when the time is quiet, the sun is down, and when the night is calm.

I don’t write long. I don’t describe details.

Sometimes, I stare at objects, pause, and then write again.

I try to imagine life without expressions, without emotions, without feelings when I write….rather weird, but it helps me face the fear of not knowing.

When fear is present, it is the subject of my writing, I capture it as I see it in my mind…and I keep writing…

Suddenly I think about you, I think about us, I think about the world, then I realize we are two specks of sand that matter only to each other…but no one else.

Random picture for this post…

Uh huh

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I can’t sleep...Another night of endless frustration and anxiety. I promised myself my brain would rest before the music is over and the clock hits 3am. Again, promises are made to be broken just like the wise man says. My legs are curled up with my head resting on my knees while the arms pretend to be the best pillows for now...The eyes are closed but the mind is still thinking and contemplating the heavy atmosphere of life...I hate it. I don't like this because it feels like a bruise that only time, patience, and perhaps quietness can resolve. But god damn it! I want to resolve now, what is the answer? Yes or no? Checked or unchecked? True or false? Kill the silence and let us, the painful creatures of this earth remain normal again.

Random picture for this post…

me.next

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Such an entity you are, you refuse to move forward, you refuse to blend in so no one gets hurt. You see one entity, and that entity is you, you respect nothing from me because you know me, yet you respect the new ones because they are new. You are one of those kinds that I’d already seen in the past. Why am I doing this to myself…draining my precious time to a black hole when no such consistent respect has been shown after I am no longer the “new” me…

Random picture for this post…

Why don’t you care?

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:11:00 +0000

So we met again. Our words were not spoken, our actions were segregated, shy, and empty. We viewed the atmosphere differently than we used to , it is natural we demonstrated such awkwardness after one moonlight of closeness and openness that had to end so early.

Moving down the hall, you surpassed my expectations as you walked passed our inflection point without flinching. You wanted to reveal the discontinuity between us but you were too discreet. The continuity of my emotions were not easily revealed…nor was I easily transformed. If only I could differentiate the moment of inertia that passed between us, I hope that someday we can integrate our emotions in order to restore the constants in our lives.

I have one question remaining for you, do you love Lorentz transformations as much as I do?

Random picture for this post…

Why we don’t talk

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:39:00 +0000

You’ve been silent. I’ve been silent because you’ve been silent. You understand the complications of your world and mine. You know we are not meant to be..You desire rich social engagements, you want variety, you want numerous spices in your life. But I, I only want you. But you, you want something that I cannot strive for, both physically and mentally.

My dear lovely yellow sofa, why are you not satisfied with only me? Then so, I let you go. But forgive me, I never forget you, you are now with someone else, and so am I. My new lovely orange sectional sofa, who I have shared most of my moments with since you, is now loving me as much as you did when we first met at Modern Art Gallery Furniture.

Seeing I again

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:20:00 +0000

Note: People’s names are changed for reasonable purposes.

A bag of sleeping clothes ready to crash the night away at Lacy’s apartment after numerous hours of feeling escaped from the world. I was invited to an experience that helped me see myself again.

We are at Main street waiting for the green go, like always, Seattle never rains heavy like in Vietnam, the whole day has been on and off with little drops from the sky. While Lacy goes on complaining about some guy she met a week ago, an image I stole resides with me forever. How could I forget once upon a time, a young man with baggy pants, long black shirt, listening to hip hop music from his CD player while crossing the street? A mother of two carrying groceries while her husband is on his cell phone doing the gangster talk with his friends? A homeless man sitting near the bus stop munching on a hard piece of bread while crying for each penny he can get from this run down neighborhood, the only place that will accept his existence?

“You’ll have to push it hard, no one here wants to fix this crappy door anymore”, Lacy complained to me as she turned her door key.

While I was removing my boots from those tired feet, a lady in her early 60’s welcomed me with a cozy smile that I haven’t experienced for a while. As proper standard Vietnamese tradition where the youngsters respect the elders regardless of appearance or social status one person may carry, I slightly bent over and returned my welcome smile. My eyes quickly became busy observing the environment that I was once raised in since coming to America; a small kitchen stood next to a living room with a single sofa for a family of seven, yet, still very neat and clean. A beautiful song played while a brother was taking a nap and the mother was cooking home-made congee soup.

“Lila! Come on! Let’s go change and get ready before it’s too late.”

My mind quickly switched gears and completely forgot the main purpose of being here with Lacy. As her fast legs ran up the stairs, I followed behind her, yet at the same time, looking down to the greatest image that reminded me of my second childhood’s beginning.

Random image for this post…

Variety

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Multiple thoughts running through my head causing my mind to attempt the impossible of solving too many variables all at once. I am near to the solution, but, still not yet to the final destination. I vigorously refuse to acknowledge there are no answers to why people partake of natural social activities that the humans chose to play against each other. Perhaps, I should embrace one thought per moment, rather than compiling them all together at an instant?

What I have inscribed above relates to recent activities of my various engagements. Each event surrounded me with characters that may or may not play an important role in my life, but somehow everyone is disconnected... Absolutely, I have tried my hardest to connect them all, but continue to fail horribly...It is quite possible that the fault lies with me, for, I have created such gaps between parties within my life.

I have learned that living/breathing/thinking is more complicated than I could imagine when I allow such complications into my life. Perhaps, this entry should not be written, for, it has no answers to my questions. Avoiding to lay out confusions publicly, I try to do when writing, but here they are...I could not hide my weakness...

This is the random picture for this post…

Withdraw steps

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Every human is an individual. Everyone develops overtime through various experiences in life. At certain instances, one will pursue an "item" that is desired, but once the chase is done, curiosity has been sated, disappointment will set in, and one must learn to withdraw slowly. Realization then comes, that time should be dedicated towards goals that will progress towards a positive future.

In other words: You've done enough, let the third party initiate (if not at all), then move on! wohoo!!

April goals

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:20:00 +0000

Buy digital piano
~~Do Tax~~
~~Finish Fallout 3 DLC~~
Party once
Party twice

Walking/biking to work schedule
4/01 - 0.7 mile
4/02 - 0.0 mile (drive - late)
4/03 - 0.0 mile (drive - doc's appt)
4/06 - 0.0 mile (sick)
4/07 - 3.0 mile (bike)
4/08 - 2.5 mile (walk)
4/09 - 0.0 mile (sick)
4/10 - 0.0 mile (sick)
4/13 - 1.5 mile
4/14 - 2.5 mile
4/15 - 5.0 mile + 1 hour of step class
4/16 - 1.5 mile + 1 hour of kickboxing class
4/17 - 0.0 mile + 1.5 hour of dancing
4/20 - 0.0 mile + 1 hour of step class
4/21 - 1.5 mile + 3 hours of badminton
4/22 - 0.0 mile (just being lazy)
4/23 - 0.0 mile + 1 hour of kickboxing
4/24 - 0.0 mile (party)
4/25 - 0.0 mile (nothing)
4/26 - 0.0 mile (nothing)
4/27 - 0.0 mile + 1 hour of step class
4/28 - 0.0 mile + 2 hours of badminton
4/29 - 0.0 mile + 1 hour of step class
4/30 - 0.0 mile + 1 hour exercise

Confusing Lifestyle

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:54:00 +0000

Yes, I am old enough to understand my lifestyle, yet, I am still confused what exactly is a normal lifestyle. I am at a stage where I am either really happy or really confused. Not sad, just confused. One example, when I'm with my friends, I'm a perfectly normal person. I do the standard, girly stuff where everyone is happy throughout the day. It just comes naturally to me when I'm with my friends. Here comes the funny part, when I'm all by myself for a few days, I tend to develop this interesting behavior of taking long naps, wake up, stare out the window for about 30 minutes, listen to the same song over and over again, sing the same song over and over again, walk to my office, check my email, turn on the same song on my computer, leave my computer, turn on my Xbox, listen to the same song from my Xbox, and then back to staring out the window. Now, I am writing this post and thinking to myself, wtf is happening to me?

Having described the situation, let's analyze what is going on with me. I don't think this is a behavior of being alone, there's a few variables that can be analyzed, maybe the song is just too f*cking good, maybe my place is just too f*cking comfortable, maybe I'm designed to listen to music on highest power consuming devices possible.

Or maybe I'm just finally turning weird(er)...

Another one of those nights

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:40:00 +0000

I am sick and I should be in bed by now, but I keep on browsing the web and trying to think of other things to do besides going to bed. Even though I am sick, I feel great! Covered in my blanket, with my cup of tea (no caffeine), listening to No Ordinary Morning by Chicane repeatedly. Great song by the way.

It's funny...I've been listening to this song for the last three hours, but I still cannot remember the lyrics completely. Maybe this is another indication that I need to get lots of sleep.

As I'm singing half way through the song, I suddenly have this image that if God would define a day to be 48 hours so I don't have to sleep so early, I would give him half of my checking account. I couldn't help but laughing out loud because the image of me driving God to BECU to do a withdraw was ridiculously funny. As we left the bank with a bag of money, instead of dropping him off at his place, which is heaven, I dropped him off at a bar upon his request. Thus the title of this post, "Another one of those nights"

To continue my hair cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:24:00 +0000

After one year of straight hair, I'm pretty bored of it. Here it is again, the cycle of my straight and curly hair continues. Surprise!

Another awesome picture of the little stinkers

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:46:00 +0000

After a nice full breakfast, it's time to cruise the city.

Huge Development in Redmond Downtown

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Below is a map that shows the upcoming development in Redmond. I believe the following projects are already started: Park N Ride, Alexan, Old Town, and Park Place.

A lot of these are "mixed use" - meaning they could be condos, apartments, and business on the bottom floor.

I'm excited to see how the competition turns out when this is all completed. I have no doubt that most of these were originally planned as condos and are now converted to as "mixed use".

Final Update About My Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:25:00 +0000

During this difficult time my family would appreciate any possible help with Duy's medical bills and funeral fees. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

On Thursday November 7, 2008 at 6pm, my brother left his family and friends behind.

The past few days have been rough for me as I keep going over memories of my brother. The picture of us below is one that I love the most, it is my first birthday and Duy is trying to tell me to look a the camera and smile. As a brother, he was always protective, caring, and watching out for me.

In my family there are five of us, two sisters three brothers. We have been happy, mad, and crazy together, growing up it's always been the five of us. Now that Duy is gone, family gatherings will be quiet, cold, and empty. Sometimes I am not so sure if the closeness of Vietnamese families is a good thing or a bad thing, but I know it makes it really hard when death stops by.

Below is a picture of the whole family when we were in Vietnam living in a brick house with a small TV covered in fabric behind Bao. Of course, I'm the small girl standing in front of my sister and Duy is in his white shirt standing next to mom. Looking at this picture, I realize that death has taught me to respect and treasure every moment that is spent with those I love, because one day they may pass away and I will never get that chance to tell them how much I really love them. Now, I learn to hate death even though it is a part of our lives, but why did it have to come so soon for my brother like this...

I would like to thank Alex Gilman who literally risked his life to save my brother, a man who Alex did not even know. My sincere thanks also goes out to West Seattle Blog and its readers for their kindness and support. Their excellent job of reporting about my brother was a great help in keeping my family informed during this time of tragedy.

An update about my brother

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:51:00 +0000

After some tests, the doctors told us that there is zero hope for recovery. At this point, the machine is keeping him breathing but his brain is completely gone. Of course, we were asked the question, but my mother is still looking for the one tiny hope that he will wake up by the end of this week. The doctors accepted her wishes and they will move him to a long term care facility.

My brother

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:14:00 +0000

My brother, a 30 year old man with two super awesome kids suffered a severe brain damage after a diving accident on Saturday 11/1/2008. Currently, he's still in a coma and may or may not ever wake up... It took the medics 30 minutes to bring his heartbeat back but no one knows how long he was under water for...

Whatever happened down there, I'm asking the world to grant me one wish and only one wish is to bring my brother back to a state that he can see us again and talk to us even if he does not remember who we are.

Dear Intracorp Employees

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:56:00 +0000

Who currently work for the Element town homes, please try to make your fake posts even more obvious just in case there is someone who can't see through them already. http://lilatran.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-visit-at-element-redmond-condo.html

First off, the Element is ridiculously and poorly designed. Not to mention that the units are priced starting at around $450K for a two bedroom plus monthly HOA fees that covers just the exterior of the buildings.

In 2007, I stopped by to take a peek and one of the sales folks there said that if I don't hurry, price will go up and these units go really fast. This is now 2008, and you are getting really desperate. You throw in a free Honda Element (a stupid promotion for a city that is the bicycle capital of NW) and you lowered the price by about 10%, yet you still cannot sell these units fast enough. You are in trouble, you are still slimey, and your floor plans are no longer catching the eyes of (recently bankrupt) investors.

May I give you one piece of advice and at the same time, do myself a favor: If you're going to buy another parcel on the east side for a new complex, please take a class from these guys and do not waste time and other people's money making silly four story floor plans that do not make any sense. You will be able to sell your units, and maybe, you will even deserve some respect.

For reference, when real architects design a house, this is what you get:

Source: http://www.elementalarchitecture.com/projects/multi/southparklofts.html

776 sqft, actual modern design included.

The Cleveland Condo Interiors

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:36:00 +0000

Instead of buying a condo from the Cleveland I am renting one. Yes, I agree it's a very smart choice :)

No secret here, rent is $1450, it covers WSG. Each unit includes one parking space and one storage. The condo also comes with a gym and break room that you can reserve for big parties. For owners, they pay an average of about $400 per month for HOA (way too high btw).

The unit that I am living in is about 800 square feet, quite small for a "two" bedrooms and 1.75 baths, the owner was unable to sell at priced of $380K thus the renting.

Let's start with the narrow hallway. I hate to introduce the worst part of the floor plan, but you can get a feeling that this hallway is way too long for a ~800 square feet condo. Basically, this is a waste of space!

The kitchen is open to the living room but you'll seriously have problems if two people are to be in the kitchen at the same time. This particular floor plan has an island just so you can pay more money and get less space.

Living room is very small, I had to sell my three piece set and bought the smallest sectional from HY Furniture in South Center. There is no way you can fit a two-piece or a three-piece set in this living room. However, I appreciate the high ceilings in this unit :)

Here comes the worst part. My TV is front of the fireplace and it has to be in front of the fireplace since there is no other space for it. On top of the fireplace is a shelf designed for your TV, but that's too high and there are no plugs there so I used it as a bookshelf. Not completely useless but it does look very weird to cover the fireplace with the TV though.

Let's go to the dining room. Look, it's carpet in the dining room, it's not fair that the Element gets hardwood floor and the Cleveland doesn't, both are done by IntraCorp right? What is supposed to be here is hardwood floor because it only makes sense. I also had a very difficult time looking for a dining table that would fit in this tiny kitchen. Since it's a rectangle (a very narrow rectangular shape), I had to push the table against the wall to allow walkway to the kitchen.

These are the blinds that they have in the living room. When I first saw this, I almost rolled on the floor and started to LOL. Apparently, Intracorp has not heard of vertical blinds for storm windows.

Office size is good, they call this a second bedroom. I'm not exactly sure how this can be made into a second bedroom, but I call it an office like everyone else.

When I was touring the rest of the condos, all of their heaters use the most energy. Yah, this really helps your heater bill.

The washer/dryer are from the 50's. Where can you find something like this anymore? Extremely loud and hmmm..cheap looking for a condo that is supposed to be "luxurious living". I also had a wonderful experience of having to plug in the dryer vent myself because it was NOT plugged in when I moved in. Do these people even test their shit? First off, it took me an hour to move them out of the small closet space and then realized that the dryer was not broken, the vent was not plugged in the first place!

Dishwasher was not installed correctly, leaves lots of scratch marks when opening and closing. Yet, the same question being raised, "Do they test their shit?"

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the Intracorp style of shower door. Don't worry, water won't leak out when you take shower. Just use lots of towels wiping the floor when you finish, plus your floor gets cleaned up every morning when you finish showering.

Master closet is really small, it can barely fit my clothes. Every time, I open the closet, my shirts always get stuck in the closet door.

Last but not least, I call this "pole on air". As you can see below, the deck is not touched with the pole. Overtime, the deck sinks a bit lower, if I place a ball on the deck, it would always fall toward the right. They might have messed up the support for all the cornet units because I could feel the deck is not even when I'm standing on it.

Overall, I'd give Intracorp a 2.5 out of 4.0. A lot of their flaws can be easily fixed such as the shower door, the washer/dryer, and the carpet in the dining room. I took 2 points away for the bad design and .5 for the "pole on air" since that's really common in Seattle because of wet land.

Bad floor plans ^_^

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:29:00 +0000

What is wrong with builders on the east side? Floor plans are horribly designed, extra space that doesn't even make sense to add in the floor plan. Builders, where is your common sense in designing a condo?

I used to live in a condo that is 850 sqrt, 2x1, it probably is the best designed condo I've seen. For instance, most condos nowadays don't even believe in a space for a dining table and four chairs. Yes, I do like breakfast bars, but I'd prefer to have friends over and sit in an open area where we can socialize.

And what is wrong with builders putting in carpet in the dining room? A little hardwood floor is appreciated, come on, I'm willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the condo, can you at least think about designing my dining room correctly? This is assuming that they even include a dining room, some plans are ~1500 square feet and do not even include a dining room...Yes, it can get pretty moronic...

Also, don't forget about the kitchen. It's hidden from the living room, why do they even have the kitchen hidden in the first place? Wake up, this is not the 50's anymore, women ARE allowed to be seen outside the kitchen.

Finding a well designed floor plan on the east side is almost impossible. However, I found a good a builder (http://www.elementalarchitecture.com/index01.html) located in Seattle. They are exceptionally unique, but their prices are a bit high. Below is a cost estimate for a 2000 square feet home with a two car garage. Remember that these guys are really good architects so a 2000 square feet home will be more livable than the current poorly laid out McMansions.

Awesome picture!

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:39:00 +0000

Before bedtime, my niece and nephews make the perfect image!

Circle of my hair

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:08:00 +0000

2003 (Straight)

2004 (Curly)

2006 (Straight)

2007 (Curly)

2008 (Straight)

My name lives again! (at work...)

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:30:00 +0000

My name has always been pronounced "Laila" *cough* by white people, and I've been pretty used to this pronunciation ever since living in this country, from then on, I always accept people pronouncing my name as "Laila". If someone actually calls me "Leela", I'd be very surprised, but I rarely get that anyway.

Being at Microsoft, things are a bit different, people are rather diverse, they come from all over the world, so my PM figured out that my name is actually pronounced as "Leela" and consistently wanting to call me "Leela". At our team meeting, he called me "Leela" just to confuse the living crap out of everybody. So the next day at work, everyone was calling me "Laila", followed by, "Leela". Just in a matter of two days, they are now pretty used to calling me by my actual name, Lila, "pronounced as "Leela".

Just to add more confusion, my parents call me "La" if that spices things up a bit.

Urbane Apartment Conversion

noreply@blogger.com (Lila Tran) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:34:00 +0000

Urbane was one one of the condos that was on my list to visit. When I was set to go one Saturday and then the rain started so I never really bothered to go back. A few weeks ago, I learned that Urbane was converted to apartment from word of mouth. I wasn't fully convinced so I visited their website, the first thing I saw was "Now Leasing". Being pricey and all, I'm actually not too surprised they decided to convert to Apartments.