Blue is Me

Tag: dream

  • What woud be your dream speakers or hifi setup?

    I have three main hi-fi setups – my desktop, my home theater and my vinyl/CD so if I had the money here’s what I would get:

    Desktop setup – $25k

    Simaudio 641 integrated amplifier ($11000)

    + Sonus Faber Electa Amator III bookshelf speakers ($10000)

    + Paradigm XR13 subwoofer ($4000)

    Vinyl/CD/streaming setup – $160k

    Linn Sondek LP12 record player 50th anniversary ($50000)

    + Lyra Atlas phono cartridge ($13000)

    + Hegel Viking CD player ($5000)

    + Rega Aura phono preamp ($5000)

    + Aurender A30 network streamer/DAC ($18000)

    + McIntosh C12000 tube preamplifier ($16000)

    + Naim NAP-500DR power amplifier ($35000)

    + MartinLogan Renaissance ESL 15A electrostatic towers ($28000)

    + MartinLogan Balanced Force 212 subwoofer ($4500)

    Home Theater setup – $550k

    Accuphase C-3900 preamplifier ($38000)

    + Pass Labs X300 power amplifier ($85000)

    + Trinnov Altitude 32 Surround Sound Processor ($42000)

    + Burmester BC350 towers ($375000)

    + REL No 32 Subwoofer ($10000)

    Needless to say, these are all true ‘dream’ setups.. unless I win a lottery somehow..

  • What woud be your dream speakers or hifi setup?

    I have three main hi-fi setups – my desktop, my home theater and my vinyl/CD so if I had the money here’s what I would get:

    Desktop setup – $25k

    Simaudio 641 integrated amplifier ($11000)

    + Sonus Faber Electa Amator III bookshelf speakers ($10000)

    + Paradigm XR13 subwoofer ($4000)

    Vinyl/CD/streaming setup – $160k

    Linn Sondek LP12 record player 50th anniversary ($50000)

    + Lyra Atlas phono cartridge ($13000)

    + Hegel Viking CD player ($5000)

    + Rega Aura phono preamp ($5000)

    + Aurender A30 network streamer/DAC ($18000)

    + McIntosh C12000 tube preamplifier ($16000)

    + Naim NAP-500DR power amplifier ($35000)

    + MartinLogan Renaissance ESL 15A electrostatic towers ($28000)

    + MartinLogan Balanced Force 212 subwoofer ($4500)

    Home Theater setup – $550k

    Accuphase C-3900 preamplifier ($38000)

    + Pass Labs X300 power amplifier ($85000)

    + Trinnov Altitude 32 Surround Sound Processor ($42000)

    + Burmester BC350 towers ($375000)

    + REL No 32 Subwoofer ($10000)

    Needless to say, these are all true ‘dream’ setups.. unless I win a lottery somehow..

  • Why don’t we have flying cars?

    The question isn’t that whether or not we can build flying cars – actually flying cars have been built since the 1900s the dawn of cars and planes (isn’t it surprising that planes and cars were invented almost around the same time? given flying is much more difficult than driving?)

    Aerocar – Wikipedia Moulton Taylor built one of the best first flying cars in 1949 – improved upon the design of the Airphibian with actual folding wings – and it actually worked, looked decent, was durable enough and was certified by the CAA. But he couldn’t get Ford to mass produce it.

    there’s two very good reasons why manufacturers have stayed away from flying cars and why we don’t have them en masse:

    1. In order to make a flying vehicle safe enough to fly, you would have to compromise on its effectiveness as a road vehicle, and in order to make a road vehicle safe enough to drive, you would have to compromise on its effectiveness as a flying vehicle. Basically, it would be a compromise all around, would not satisfy the safety requirements of either space, and would be expensive as hell.
    2. the actual logistics of this. In The Jetsons you can see people flying cars in separate air lanes on the way to work and stuff. That’s not really possible in reality. Pilots already have to go through much heavier certification requirements than road drivers do. And they have to pilot the plane in a certain airspace in order to comply with laws and to avoid crashing into other planes. Now imagine your everyday driver, who already have road rage problems or problems driving on the road imagine thousands of normal people in the air piloting planes. That would be chaos!! Adding that extra dimension of movement – can you imagine how many accidents would happen? Not only given the ability to crash from the ground but the ability to crash down from the air too? given how many road accidents we have already? Geez. And oh yeah, let’s not forget about the noise too. Aircrafts make noise – much more so than cars do. Imagine 1000s of them in the air above you and thinking any of them could come down and guillotine you at any time. Not exactly anxiety-reducing.

  • The dream is dying…

    These past few days have been depressing, more than usual I guess. I accidentally erased my video logs dating back to late 2013, where I would just talk to the camera about various issues at the time. I would do this at various times between 2013-present and I lost all my video logs back then since I don’t upload those to youtube and they were together on the disk with my other youtube video files so I accidentally deleted them while organizing my files.

    So I had to recollect all my memories from back then and re-iterate them again. But the most disappointing part of being in Korea so far is being rejected by Korean girls, and thats the main source of my depression. I’ve been rejected by 3 girls on the first date in the last 2 months, and thats what spurring this rant today.

    I have posted several times last year about how hard it was to get a Korean girl to like me, and in my total 2 years in Korea I’ve only had 2 girls that have been my official girlfriend, for a total of only about 4 months. Out of 24 months, the other 20 months I’ve been single. I’ve been on many dates, but for some reason the girl always rejects me or loses interest after the first date. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I pay for girls, I treat them nicely, I talk to her about her interests, etc I don’t understand what I am doing wrong on the first date.

    The problem is for foreigners, we don’t have that many ways to meet Korean girls. Most couples that I see on the street, those Korean couples met through blind dating, they had a friend or coworker introduce them. Because I never went to school here or work for a Korean company, I don’t have anyone to introduce me. My Korean friends’ friends all already have a boyfriend or they don’t date foreign guys (xenophobic society I know). Thus we can meet girls only through a few ways, either going to club or bar or picking up girls through “hunting”, using meetups or language exchange apps or sites, or going to church.
    I don’t like to do “hunting” as my personality is totally unfit for it, and its hard to change my personality. Meeting girls at church could be my last resort, but I’m not religious in any way. Using language exchange apps or sites have been the primary way for me to meet girls so far, and out of those girls I’ve met, 70% of them text me for a few days and then eventually stop texting or responding after that. the remaining 30% that are willing to meet me, about 90% of them are only interested in language exchange. So you can imagine how difficult it is to meet a girl on these apps or sites for dating. Its not exactly very easy. And dating apps are a crapshoot as well. Most dating apps are only for Koreans (they use phone verification to ensure only Koreans can use it), Naver cafe dating sites are again, only for Koreans as they use verification. Tinder is a crapshoot since mostly foreign girls use them and the Korean girls that use that only want white men.

    So what am I to do? The last couple girls I have met for dating, all rejected me after the first date, leaving me more or less pretty much guaranteed to be single for my remaining 4 months in Korea. I’ve tried as hard as I can without resorting to going to church or hunting. I know Korean girls care about appearance and cleanliness, so I’ve changed my hairstyle and clothing style, did lasik surgery to get rid of glasses, etc I speak a combination of Korean and English so that they don’t feel too lost when I speak English. I always pay for them when we go out. I don’t know what else I can do to make them interested in me… I’ve tried my best.

    So far I’ve met these kind of girls:
    -left me hanging on the street after I told her that appearance is important
    -called the cops on me because she thought I was secretly taking video of her
    -blocked me because I suggested her to go to a hookah place and she thought it was some kind of dangerous drug
    -blocked me because last time we met I couldn’t find where she was fast enough
    -blocked me because I took 3 days to respond to her message (I was in SF meeting my coworkers at the time)
    -blocked me because I couldn’t meet her for drinking beer the exact day she asked (I was in SF at the time)
    -blocked me because I said her pictures were pretty
    -blocked me because I made a (mild) joke about her ex-bf and learning his language
    -blocked me and went crazy swearing at me because I uploaded a video of us together on my youtube that she didn’t like
    -blocked me because I wouldn’t give her money even though she wasn’t my gf
    -blocked me because I didn’t “satisfy” her enough on our date even though on the date she pretended to like me a lot and I responded to it but I wasn’t “good enough”

    Its like if I even did something like breathe the wrong way the girl would stop talking to me. I have no idea why I am meeting these types of girls while my friends always meets the kind of girls that are sweet and loving and want to be with them. Its like I’m cursed to forever be single or something.

    Its ironic that I would have the most trouble getting a Korean girlfriend in Korea, the land of Korean girls. I want to keep trying though, since I am very devoted and loyal to them (haven’t dated a non Korean girl since 2012) and I am confident I can find the right girl, but maybe she’s not in Korea. Maybe I have to go back to USA or Canada to find her, as crazy as that sounds. I know those girls are more likely to be harder to get (more competition from American guys) and harder to find (less Koreans obviously) and probably going to go back to Korea at some point (exchange student), but what can I do? 2 years in Korea, and still nothing. I was too picky last year I know, but this year I’m not picky anymore, and I still can’t find the right girl. I am highly doubtful in the next 4 months that anything will change. I am close to giving up on finding a Korean girlfriend in Korea at this point. Its just torture seeing all these beautiful girls outside being really sweet and loving to their boyfriends, and knowing that I have no chance of getting those kind of girls to even respond to my messages let alone meet them and be in a relationship with them. Its like sitting behind the bars of a jail cell watching delicious food go past while you are hungry and starving, and unable to get those foods. Its within your reach, but you can’t get it. I’m about ready to leave Korea at this point. 4 more months of agony, out of my 20 months of total agony and I will finally go back to the USA, where I will still be lonely but the agony won’t be as painful because of the lack of Korean couples.

    Some people ask me why Korean girls ? If you have so much trouble why don’t you marry a Chinese girl or Japanese girl? They don’t understand that
    1) we are attracted to who we are attracted to. I can’t help who I like, why force myself to like girls who I don’t like?
    2) Korean girls have the perfect combination of appearance and personality for me. Everything from their facial structure, way they dress, put on makeup, treat their boyfriend etc is perfect for me. Most Korean girls out there, care about their appearance a lot, always have good fashion and check their makeup wherever they go, are really sweet and loving to their boyfriends, nice and polite, loyal to Korean men (I’ve had several girls straight up tell me they only date Korean guys), very feminine and cute personalities, and on top of that do the cooking and cleaning and take care of children after they get married. The sad thing is Korean men don’t really appreciate those attributes, still cheat on them a lot and go for foreigner girls and have high standards for Korean girls. I don’t really understand that. Korean guys take what Korean girls do for them for granted… they don’t understand how amazing and perfect Korean girls are.
    3) There’s vast differences between the 3 different races especially between Chinese and Korean girls. I’ve made a video about this before.
    4) I don’t like it when people tell me this. It’s almost as if they think that Korean girls are out of my league and I should go for a “lesser” girl. Why don’t Korean guys or heck white guys get asked why they like Korean girls only?
    5) I spent the last 4 years of my life focused on Korean language, culture and living in Korea. You think I would throw that all away and end up marrying a different kind of girl? That makes no sense.

    But since its the last goal I really have in my life, I already have a stable job and an apartment, I need to devote all my resources to achieving this goal, and if 4 years of my life wasn’t enough (2 years studying Korean, 2 years spent in Korea), then we’ll keep going until this goal is achieved. As long as I am concerned, its either get the right Korean girlfriend who matches with me and marry her, or stay single forever. There’s no other option.

  • Finally moving to Korea

    It’s been a long time coming – but I’m finally moving to Korea. Yes, this is the moment I’ve planned for for over a year. It took me a while to get here, but from stubborn determination I was able to do it.

    I’ve had a lot of good memories in SF, especially in 2012, and I’ll never forget that. But it’s time for me to move on to the next step in my life. I’ve been preparing for over a year for this moment.
    After I came back from Korea in Sept 2013, a place that fit me to a T, I promised myself that no matter the cost, I would find a way to be there. I would learn another language, I would give up my job, I would give up living in SF, I would give up making lots of money.. for a chance to be in the place that I love, for a chance to find a girl I love. That’s not a crazy thought – it’s who I am, and what my destiny is.

    This year was a year of enlightenment – I didn’t have any crazy trips like in 2012, or go to crazy parties like in 2013, this year I focused on one thing only – getting to Korea. I continued working at BitTorrent for over a year to get experience, I lobbied hard at Walmart to get a remote position, and I re-dedicated myself to Korean, attending two semesters at Sejong Academy and 3 months of Korean tutoring.

    I learned that experience is more valuable than anything. I was spending crazy amounts of money over the past year and a half – $30k in shopping expenses – about 30% of my total income was being spent on unnecessary things, and this year I’ve learned more than ever that money was not the key to happiness nor was owning a lot of things. I’ve sought this year to keep my spending to a minimum – and I’m happy to say that last month I’ve reduced my shopping expenditures to a mere 9% from 25% a year before. Experience is what counts – not owning things.

    I’m doing all this because I was tired of living in America, in Canada, in western culture. The so called “American Dream” is really just making a lot of money, and owning a lot of things. In SF, all the politically correct nonsense that people have to put up with (Gamergate being the latest example of nonsense caused by feminists and the media). All the tech companies here are filled with 70% tech-obsessed males who live and breathe code like some kind of zombies. When I look at Korea, I see a country where they value being together. Being with others. Drinking fun with your friends. Eating with your co-workers. Taking cute pics with your boyfriend/girlfriend. That’s what life is about. Not about owning the latest 4K TV or smartwatch. But being with people.

    Everything I have to do myself. Just last month, I had to call up Blue Advantage Arkansas to manually send me my health insurance card (Shouldn’t Walmart have done that?), I had to pay $200 to see the doctor (because Walmart didn’t mail me the insurance card on time), I had to pay $2500 to get rid of bedbugs from my apartment (left me with tons of scars and got in trouble with the condo management), pay $50 for someone to unlock my iPhone and they never called me back, pay $260 to mail back my passport in time (passport renewal failed because my passport photos weren’t correct which also wasn’t my fault), pay $200 for a background check for my soon to be tenant (my old high school friend), help set him up with an interview, do the paperwork, unit inspection, etc. I had to pay $600 in towing/parking fees to the SFMTA even though they wrongfully towed me (I mailed a towing dispute 3 months ago with no response), I have to call up everyone to confirm things that were supposed to be done weeks ago. I have to find an apartment in Korea, pay a massive deposit (Korea’s deposit is a year of rent), somehow find health insurance there, live like a vampire (work SF work hours), transfer my money over, buy furniture, etc.

    As you can see I’ve been quite stressed last month. I’m sick of it, frankly. I need a fresh change. I realize the life in Korea is not perfect. They have to study from a young age all the time, be competitive all the time, study hard, get into a good school, find a good job, work long hours, live with their parents, marry the right person, etc. Conversely, I’ve been living by myself since I was 18, paid for my own tuition working part time and the PEY internship, paid off my student debt within a few months of graduation, found my own full time job in California right after I graduated making more than my parents, and have never been unemployed since. I did this all with very little help from my parents. They helped me look for a place initially, and helped finance my current home, but everything else was mostly my own doing.

    And now once again I’m on my own to move to Korea. And I will do it. Because unlike many people, I have the ability to focus when I need to. I have my mother’s stubbornness and my father’s talent to thank for that. This is why I can’t play games or watch TV for long, because I can’t do anything unproductive for sustained periods. I have to be productive. So I make videos. So I study Korean. So I play guitar. So I read Wikipedia. So I blog. So I do programming. And so on. I have to do something with my time that’s worthwhile. And I believe when you really really want something badly enough, you will find a way to do it. No matter what obstacles are ahead. I’ve always believed this. Human willpower is a very strong thing. As long as you have something to motivate you, a passion for it, an absolute desire for it, then it’s like Michael Jordan going in for a dunk; nobody can stop you.

    난 비생산적인 하는걸 싫어서 오래동안 티비랑 게임하는거 할 수 없다.
    매일매초 생산적으로 해야된다. 그러니까 동영상를 만든다, 한국어를 공부한다, 기타를 친다, 위키피디아를 읽는다, 블로그를 쓴다, 프로그램을 한다 기타 등등. 어떤 뜻있는 일을 해야된다.
    만약에 어떤 걸 진짜 진짜 원하면은, 어떤 방법을 찾아낼 것이라고 확신해요. 아무렇든지 방법을 강구할거예요.
    내가 인간의 의지력을 항상 믿는데 동기를 주는게 있고 열정 있고 의욕 가지고 하면은, 아무도 못 말려요.

    Edit:
    I can’t help myself but complain about this issue: Mark Zuckerberg speaks Chinese and all the Chinese girls on the internet praise him. How come no one ever praises me for speaking three languages? So Zuck speaks one other language (and not that fluently FYI) and gets praised for it, while I can speak 2 languages fluently and one at an intermediate level and I get nothing. Is this because Asians are expected to know more languages and Westerners are not? Why the double standard? Ok I’m done ranting with that.