sonychak's Xanga

Vlog 2: One Year Anniversary

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:57:28 GMT

On December 26th, it was my one year anniversary with Michelle. We have successfully reached the one year mark and we both wanted to be together on our day. I was originally not in the same city as her due to winter break, but since it was our day I decided to drive back to San Francisco for her. Also on this day, Michelle had a surprise event for our one year.

Later Days...

P.S. Bay Area Xanga Meet entry will be up in a few days... the latest hopefully Jan 2nd.

Chicken Adobo (Instruction Video)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:55:05 GMT

Since I have been playing with my camera ever since I got it a few days ago, I decided to make a video of me cooking chicken adobo. I notice I cook this dish a lot and have mentioned it in my blogs a few times yet never really had any instructions on how to cook it. I also remember Alex telling me how he thinks I am probably a better cook than him at cooking chicken adobo even though I'm not and he is (It's a Filipino dish). Therefore, I decided to make a video and share it with you guys.

(Actually I did this as an excuse to play with my camera)

Later Days...

Vlog 1: Testing out the new camera

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:09:45 GMT

Alright so I finally uploaded my first vlog from my new camera. If you did not already know, I just got a Flip Video Ultra HD camera for Christmas/Birthday (Jan 3rd). Ever since the beginning of the semester I have been working/editing videos for xanga and work. Due to that, I have been wanting to make vlogs about my life. I know my life isn't the most entertaining, but I feel that it would be fun to do especially since it is so similar to blogging.

Due to that I made my first recording last night when I went out with my fried Matt. It isn't the best/most entertaining video so I don't care if many of you Xangans get bored watching it. I mostly wanted to test out the recording and editing on my computer.

It actually took me awhile to upload this because if you did not already know my Microsoft Movie Maker was making it difficult by now processing my video. It was so frustrating that I decided to use a different software called, Pinnacle Studio 12. It is a similar software, but better.

Remember this is my first video so my future vlogs will hopefully be better and more entertaining.

I just need to get more comfortable recording, hearing my voice, and editing in Pinnacle Studio.

I figured this will be a learning process for me like blogging was when I first started out in 2003.

Later Days...

Bay Area Xanga Meet (FINAL Update)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:14:17 GMT

Original Entry on the Nor Cal Bay Area Xanga Meet (Posted Oct 20th)
Potential Bay Area Xanga Meet (Update 2.0) (Posted Nov 2nd)
Potential Bay Area Xanga Meet (Update 3.0) (Posted Nov 16th)
Thu's Entry on Bay Area Xanga Meet for Dec 27th (Posted Nov 16th)
Potential Bay Area Xanga Meet (Update 4.0) (Posted Dec 7th)
Bay Area Xanga Meet (FINAL Update)

So the time is here... the Bay Area Xanga Meet will soon become a reality. In the beginning, I wasn't going to make another update, but Alex asked since some sudden news came up.

If you are going to the meet and is unaware. Thu aka elelkewljay is unfortunately unable to make most of the meet due to personal reasons. Instead she will only be joining us during lunch time on December 27th at San Jose. Therefore, on the day of December 27th, I figured we can wing it and explore the rest of the day on our own. No clue what exactly we can do, but if we come with no ideas then we can just head back to San Francisco.

Here again is the schedule that is planned for both December 27th and December 28th:

December 27th is leaning toward an event that looks like this (FYI this event would be in San Jose):

Meeting spot is at Santana Row at BORDERS. 1pm-ish

3055 OLIN AVENUE SUITE 2100, SAN JOSE, CA 95128

Afterward, shopping around Santana Row or the Westfield, Valley Fair Mall

December 28th, looks like it will be something like this (FYI this event will be in San Francisco):

People meeting at DC Bart would be meeting at 12 PM

For those who are bringing cars on December 28th and parking their vehicles at the Daly City BART, I recommend to park in the back lot off of St. Charles. There is a garage, but it tends to get full so if you have to just park back there.

Click the image to get a bigger view

Remember parking costs $3 for 24 hours

Therefore, if you are meeting at Daly City BART please be there at 12 PM.

Address: 500 John Daly Blvd
Daly City, CA 94014

Lunch at Mood Thai Sushi and More at 1 PM

My girlfriend made reservations for 25 seats just to be safe.

Night tour to Alcatraz at 4:20 PM or 5 PM
My plan after the Night Tour to Alcatraz for people to drink/dinner

(8:13:46 PM) Sonlay Vorachak: there is a bar called Underdogs right next door to Chug Pub... they serve burritos, tacos, and beer
(8:13:49 PM) Sonlay Vorachak: they let underage people in
(8:13:57 PM) Sonlay Vorachak: so we planned that we could go there immediately after
(8:14:17 PM) Sonlay Vorachak: then the older ones can split at one moment and walk down a block to Chug Pub so I can introduce the Xangans to the chug tower, then after we can head back to Underdogs
(8:14:38 PM) Sonlay Vorachak: and since Underdogs closes at 11 that day I figured if it was cool with Terrence, we can head to the hotel after and chill there

Basically everyone will be on the 4:20 PM Boat ride, but Gian and GodaiTheRonin will be on the 5 PM boat ride. Luckily the Boat rides only take about 15-20 minutes. Also my friend Gian will not be joining us until about 2 PM that day so hopefully he makes in time. He will be driving up from LA on that day at 6 AM.

Public Transportation for December 28th will cost close to $12 so make sure to bring some change.

Also for those who are traveling to the Bay Area, please remember to print out your tickets for the Night Tour. Don't want to be stuck on the dock waiting for us to return.

Current list of Xangans who have confirmed:

- Sonychak (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- Sonychak's Beezy aka girlfriend aka Michelle (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- Sonychak's Homie aka Gian (Pronounced John) (Night Tour Ticket Purchased for 5 PM)
- RoadlessTaken (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- Elelkewljay (Only doing SJ Day)
- jeannie_dot_com (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- flipguy31o (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- xLove_Me_Alwaysx
- subaru3169 (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- xchinkylaydee (Not doing Night Tour)
- snapeful (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- GodaiTheRonin (Night Tour Ticket Purchased for 5 PM)
- runaheadofme + 1 guest (Night Tour Ticket Purchased)
- YoungAznTiger
- Bigaslives

Btw, I just got my Flip Video Ultra HD in the mail so I will be making a Vlog of this whole event. Hopefully, the others will be bringing cameras and taking photos. I mostly want to focus on just recording.

Later Days...

P.S. If you have yet to give me your number please PM it so I can give you mine in return. I just want everyone's number to be safe in case I need to contact any of you or if any of you need to contact me.

Why I want to become a high school counselor

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:33:25 GMT

If you did not know, I just sent in both my applications for the Master's in Counseling programs for San Francisco State University and Sonoma State University. I am often asked by friends and family on why I want to become a counselor one day, specifically a high school counselor. No one from back home or high school saw me wanting to take this route after high school. People saw me as the party animal, the wise ass, but never the counselor prodigy. In fact, my parents I think are a little clueless on why I chose this route. They are happy that I am, but just a little clueless on why.

That being said, I decided to share my Personal Essay that I sent for both of my graduate applications. I know there are some xangans that know I want to become a high school counselor one day, but many of them that are still unaware of why. Hopefully this can answer these questions.

FYI This is long and I don't expect many of you xangans to read it all, but if you do... thanks.

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Ever since when I was a child, I have always wanted to help people in any circumstance. During elementary school, I would always choose different careers every year when asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Every time I was asked this question, I would respond by naming a different occupation that dealt with helping others. For instance, I would name any profession from being a firefighter, helping children with getting their kittens down from a tree to being a reporter who gave the daily news to viewers informing them about the local traffic problems in the area. I even remember one year actually telling my classmates and teacher that I wanted to be a Taxi Driver when I grew up so I can help people get to their desired destinations. After graduating from high school, I experienced three events that impacted my decision of becoming a high school counselor for a future career. The three events that assisted in contributing to what I want to pursue in my life as a career is my appreciation towards my high school after I graduated, the first in my family to graduate from high school, and the opportunity of visiting my family’s mainland, Laos.

Even though I was happy to finally graduate from high school, I still have much appreciation towards my years spent in this institution. One of the influences that assisted me to become a high school counselor was the enjoyment I had while attending it. During my graduation, I was excited to finally be a high school graduate and to experience the real world outside of high school. Although after graduating from high school, I started to notice how much I really appreciated my time there. In my first year of junior college, I was undeclared and unsure of what career I wanted to pursue in. I did not know whether I wanted to work with people, be an actor, a teacher, or anything. However, I did realize that whenever I contemplated about what I want to pursue in life, I would always reminiscent about one memorable event from high school. Some for example: when I shook the hands of my teachers when walking down the aisle, when my drama instructor complimented me for my attempt to take the leading role, and when I received an A for my group video of combining Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and MTV’s ‘The Real World’. These memories helped develop my consideration of possibly pursuing in a career of becoming a high school counselor.

From looking back at these memories, I gained interest of wanting to help teenagers in high school. These memories encouraged me to help allow these students to experience the same opportunities I had back in high school. My recollections of high school made me realize that high school was one of the most important four years of my life. Looking back, I wish that I did not take high school for granted, which is why I want to help students to not regret their high school years. I want to be an individual that helps them achieve these great experiences.

As a first generation high school graduate in my family, I am the only one to ever receive a high school diploma and attend a four year college. My parents, unfortunately, never received a good education while growing up. When they both immigrated to America from Laos, the only course they enrolled in that was considered higher than their education from their homeland was an ESL course they took in a local high school. Through their hard work of picking up random jobs and raising a family in America, they were still capable in giving me the education they never achieved.

Because of this, I am tremendously grateful of the education that I have and the sacrifices my parents did in order to help shape my future. They worked hard in adjusting their lifestyles in America just so my life will be more structured with more opportunities in the future. I was not only grateful that I finally graduated and had the opportunity to walk across the stage wearing my cap and gown, but also because I was able to fulfill my parents’ dream of bringing the diploma home to the family. I remember that day when my parents took millions of photos of me in my cap and gown. They were so proud of me that when we arrived home, they immediately emailed our family and friends pictures of my graduation. It was an accomplishment that we all did together. Through their hard work I was able to receive the education they did not receive back home in Laos. Ultimately, I wish to inspire and provide assistance to future high school students in order for them to graduate from high school like what my parents did to me. I want to be an impact on a student’s life and give them the opportunity to walk down the aisle with their cap and gown and to see them receive their diploma. By becoming a high school counselor, I can continue what my parents did for me. If I were to become a high school counselor I can help future students be able to receive their diplomas that might lead to more opportunities for them after high school, such as attending college.

After visiting my parents’ motherland, Laos, I became even more grateful of my education here in America. Before my visit to Laos, I was still unsure of specifically what I wanted to do after college. However, I did know that I wanted to pursue in a field relating to counseling. I did not know what specific counseling field I wanted to pursue in until I finally stepped foot on Laos’ soil. After visiting Laos, I immediately knew that I want to become a high school counselor. One of the differences that I saw in Laos on my trip was that many children and teenagers stayed at home rather than attend school. These children and teenagers were not staying at home because they felt like ditching, but because they were trying to help support their families at home. From witnessing and learning about this, I began to feel sympathetic for them and I wished that I could help these children in some kind of way so that they can receive an education. I felt helpless because I was not able to provide support for these children and teenagers.

From visiting and seeing these common patterns in Laos for three weeks, I realize that the counseling field I want to pursue in is School Counseling. From finally experiencing an environment similar to this, I want to attend school and help students with these difficulties not only in Laos, but in America too. Specifically this was an experience that had to be seen in person, it could not be experienced from reading through a book. Hence, why it gave me that final influence on why I want to continue my education after college and pursue in the field of school counseling. If I were to enter the program, I believe that I will be capable in accomplishing this goal of helping students receive the education they seek.

Furthermore, I have been trying my best to get associated with the counseling field as much as possible after deciding that I want to become a high school counselor. For this reason, I am currently in two organizations that deals with the counseling related field. One of the SFSU programs I am involved in is called the GatorAider program. This program is where I get to work for the SFSU New Student Programs during the summer as a peer advisor for incoming freshmen and transfers. I heard about this program through a mutual friend and decided to apply for the after hearing that I would get the opportunity to help students with their academics. I was very interested in this program and I believe that it would give me the chance to practice on my counseling skills. I have now been associated with the program for almost a year and I hope to continue to work for it during the incoming summer.

The second counseling program I have become associated with is the CEASE program on campus. CEASE is an acronym that stands for ‘Creating Empowerment through Alcohol and Substance Abuse Education’. It is a student service program located on the SFSU campus that helps students, staff, or faculty who are facing alcohol or drug related issues. I have been a peer educator for the program for almost a year. I have participated in activities such as tabling around campus, present workshops in classrooms to students, and even given personal speeches of how I have been impacted by alcohol and drugs. Through this program, I have grown the ability to work with individuals and groups on campus.

And finally the last thing I have done to help my counseling skills was declaring my minor as counseling. By declaring my minor as counseling, I have been able to take counseling courses to help my counseling skills. I enrolled in courses that taught me about multiculturalism, different fields of counseling, and an introduction to peer counseling skills, which has allowed me to practice my counseling ability in mock dyads with classmates. By declaring counseling as my minor, I have learned a lot about the counseling field and through these courses I believe I am well prepared for the counseling courses in graduate school.

As a result, I have been trying my best to gain a better knowledge of the counseling field ever since I have decided on what I wanted to pursue as a career. I am trying to learn as much as I can from the programs I have been associated with and the counseling courses that I have taken in order to gain more experience and insight in the field. From what I have learned from my classes and organizations, I hope to reach my goal of being accepted into graduate school. By reaching this goal I will be able to achieve my career goal of becoming a high school counselor, which will allow me to help students to be able to graduate from high school just as I did when younger. Therefore, I wish to be accepted into your program because it will help allow me to get another step closer to becoming a high school counselor one day.

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If you just finished reading this... thanks again for taking the time to read this long essay.

Later Days...

I always babysit the children when family guests are over

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:51:09 GMT

Everytime my family decides to invite friends over, they always ask me to take care of the children. I don't mind kids, but damn children have a never ending amount of energy.

Here is some photos of me with the family child guest, Cameron, and my brother, Billy.

Later Days...

Lip-syncing Hero

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:45:00 GMT

This was recorded yesterday, but sadly I couldn't get this video up until late last night... which is why I decided to put it up now.

The video is of me lip-syncing to the song "Hero" by Enrique Iglesius. I originally filmed this because last night I was studying for my last final and I didn't want to anymore. So I decided to film myself singing "Hero" to release the stress and to get distracted from studying.

Hope everyone digs it!

Later Days...

P.S. I would like to apologize to Wendy and Lisa for taking so long to putting this video up.

P.S.S. I would like to dedicate this video to James because I told him that I would start doing videos even though this isn't my new camcorder yet. Either way I dedicate it to him!

I used to never know that the word "an" went before a vowel word.

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:32 GMT

I will admit that back in high school I was a terrible writer. In fact, today I still find myself not a strong writer. However, back then I was the worst in my education essay career.

I am guessing you want to know how terrible I was? I was so terrible that I used to never know that you put the word "an" before a vowel word instead of an "a". Instead I thought you just throw that randomly in front of certain words.

i.e. a apple an apple.

I don't blame the professors or the system for my poor writing back then. I instead just blame myself for not knowing the basics in English.

Now I am guessing you want to see an example of one of my poor writings? Well here is one that I wrote back in high school in my junior year. It was from the website urbandictionary.com. As a joke during class I decided to enter my name on the web site as a slang word... and sadly to my surprise it was accepted and finalized on the web site.

The sad thing is that I haven't been able to edit this terrible mistake. Therefore, as long as this web site stays alive... my stupid improper grammatical joke will be there forever.

Ohhhhhhhhh.... FML

Later Days...

A Special Thank You To Jacquie/Jackie/Cookie Monster

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:25:30 GMT

A few weeks ago I was in Xanga Zombies talking to the usual Zombies. We were all taking, joking, typing... then all of a sudden one of the usual Zombies, Jackie, talks about drinking her new hot chocolate.

I am personally not that huge on hot chocolate because I tend to always burn my tongue when I try to sip them fast. I am aware that they are hot yet whenever I smell the chocolate in my warm hands I tend to want to sip it very fast in order to get the flavor.

Well, back to the purpose of this blog... Jackie was having hot chocolate and it wasn't a regular hot chocolate. Instead it was one with a crazy name that I cannot recall. After I heard her name that crazy name, I asked her what the rest were from her new package of hot chocolate. This made me very curious on how they tasted so I casually jokingly ask her to mail me some.

... and to my surprise she AGREED.

As you can guess I gave her my mailing address and it went from there.

Weeks passed and the package didn't arrive yet. During the wait I was worried that I wouldn't be able to receive them before I head back to Petaluma for winter break, but to my surprise I saw a package at my doorstep last night when I was about to head out with friends for a few drinks.

It was Jackie's Package

As you can tell, this package went through bloody hell to reach to California from Canada.

After comparing Canada's addresses with America's for awhile, I decided to open the package and oddly found tons and tons of hot chocolate packages.

I immediately spread all the packages of hot chocolate and say out loud "Holy Crap!" I was shocked and amazed because originally I told Jackie that I just wanted two of the flavors she named, but instead to my surprise I found the whole chocolate family.

After staring at all the potential flavors I can have over the next few weeks I also found a letter in the package...

Jackie is my home girl and apparently I am her little brother look-a-like, but better looking. If you are unaware of who she is, check out her page. She posts food porn like no other so many of you will dig her page.

That being said, Jackie since I am so grateful for your gift... I decided to send you a gift back. I just shipped it just now so you can't argue your way out saying that you don't need a gift in return. Therefore, expect to see my gift in the mail in a few weeks. Hopefully you can receive it before Christmas.

Thanks Jacquie/Jackie/Cookie Monster

Later Days...

P.S. I recommend to check out Xanga Zombies, there are great people in there.

Drunks' Favorite Karaoke Song

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:45:00 GMT

Throughout my experience of alcohol, parties, and karaoke... I notice there is always one song that drunks always enjoy singing when intoxicated.

This song is one that everyone knows; a song that males and females cannot control themselves, but have to sing; a song that people enjoy singing drunk or sober.

That song is...

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Don't Stop Believing by Journey

I don't know how this song urges people to immediately sing it when hearing it in the background, especially to drunks.

I am even a victim to having the urge to sing this song when intoxicated or not.

I don't know about you, but I even make sounds with my mouth when the song goes into the guitar solo.

There is something about this song that takes over us. I secretly believe Journey saw a witch doctor and made this song addictive for people.

Even though I am still unaware of why people get the immediate urge to sing this song... I am still going to be sing my ass off the next time I hear this song playing in my car radio.

I bet you just clicked play and got the urge to sing along... or sing along with the instruments.

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F.Y.I. this was originally going to be a future post. Therefore, I uploaded the song the day before this post was originally going to be up.

And not surprisingly, people commented on the song proving my point on how everyone loves it, haha.

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Later Days...