Windy Hill Open Space Preserve

With my still sore hamstrings from yesterday's hike, the nice weather did drag my ass out for another one, and not to exaggerate, it was one of the best hikes in peninsula. 

I did the loop in the counter-clockwise direction. The first half was totally exposed with steep incline through the whole Spring Ridge trail until you hit the summit, and that is some 2000 feet of elevation. and yes that almost killed me. It took me a solid one and a half hour just to get to the top. I thought i was a piece of dead meat when I realized that was only a third of the total distance of the loop. There were a lot of young groups using the picnic tables near the submit area, and that's where it leads to the 2nd and 3rd sections of the hike, the Lost trail and the Razorback Ridge trail. These two trails are mostly shaded and with streams running occasionally crossed, so it was very nice. I usually sweat a lot during my hikes, and I love cleaning my faces and arms in the stream. Anyways, the rest of the trails are basically slowly descending you back down the parking lot through the woods, so it was definitely easier than the 1st 3rd. Along the way I saw a lot of small lizards and birds. I think it was my 2nd time to see wild woodpeckers. 

The change of scenery from crazy incline to summit views to deep into the woods really make this trail unique and stands out from a lot of other parks around the area. There is also a nice creek, some story-book like old houses and bridges towards the end of the hike, but I failed to take good pictures of them. I'll try harder and share with you next time :)

Trail info

Trail head: close to a small parking lot near 4860 Alpin road, Portola Valley, CA 94028
Difficulty: moderate-difficult, 2000 ft of elevation
Length: 9-mile loop; can be shorten to a 7-mile loop
Condition: dirt/gravel trail; half exposed/shaded
Time: 3.5 - 4 hours
Parking: other than the small parking lot, there are 2 large parking lots, Windy Hill parking lot and one on Skyline blvd.  

The view from the summit

 an old-fashion stone bridge

El Corte De Madera Open Space

A friend and I hiked a 7-mile loop at the EL Corte De Madera Open Space on Saturday. 7 miles shouldn't be bad at all, but it was a pretty tough hike. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, some friends and I run one round of Lake Merced Saturday mornings, which is about 4 miles long. We started the hike after the post-run brunch, and the trails also has a lot of significant elevation changes, so everything adds up and make it pretty tough. On the other hand, this hike does have some cool points of interests as rewards, and they are the million-year-old rock formation, a giant tree, and a summit viewpoint. 

Most of the trails also allow bike rides, so you'll be giving way to bikers from time to time. There's something very weird about this place though. All the trails seem to be well signed, and I've been here once before, still we got lost several times with maps in our hands. We planned to visit the rock formation but we didn't realized we went the wrong way until it was pretty far from the correct trail. We were exhausted to go back, so we just headed back to the parking lot. 

You do can hear the sound of streams during most of the hike, and the blooming of the wild flowers decorated the trails. and even the place is supposed to be an Open Space, most of the trails are shaded. It was a shame we got lost and didn't visit the rock formation, I'll for sure take some pictures of it for the next visit. 

 

Trail info

Trail head: next to the secondary parking lot close to 15600 Skyline blvd                             Woodside, CA 94062
Difficulty: moderate-difficult, a lot of elevation changes and climbs
Length: very flexible, from anywhere 3-10+ loop routes
Condition: dirt trail; mostly shaded
Time: took us almost 4 hours

Parking: The larger Skeggs Point parking lot or the secondary parking lot

 

 

星期六那天我和一个朋友去了一个叫EL Corte De Madera Open Space的公园走了7英里的循环径。7英里本来应该难度不大，但那天走得相当辛苦。我忘记了之前有没有提过，我和几个朋友基本每星期六早上都去Lake Merced跑一圈，大概4英里长。我们跑完步，吃完早餐再去的，但是因为这个公园的垂直差非常大，加起来就变得很有挑战性了。另一方面，这个公园里面有几个很酷的景点：一个几百万年的石头组型，一棵超巨大的书，和山顶的观景点。这些算是爬得那么辛苦之后的奖励吧。

 

公园里大部分的远足径也允许自行车使用，所以时不时你是要让一下骑行者的。这个地方有一个有点不可思议的地方，那就是虽然每条远足径都好像标示的很详细很到位，但是我们手上拿着地图，而且我已经来过一次了，最后还是迷路了几次。我们本来打算去看那个几百万年老的石，但是最后走错了路，还走了蛮远了，再加山我们都很累了，最后就放弃了没去，直接走回停车场。

在公园里的很多地方你都可以听到小溪的流水声，野花还到处点缀。 虽然名字感觉是叫开阔地，大部分的路程还是在树荫底下的。没有去到那个石头的景点真的蛮可惜的，下一次再去的时候一定要照些照片给大家看呢。

远足径资料

起点：15600 Skyline blvd， oodside, CA 94062这个地址旁边的小型停车场

难度：中等-困难，前半部分爬山，后半部分下山，道路非常崎岖

长度：灵活的设计，3-10英里各种不同长度的循环径

路况：泥路，大部分都有树阴

时间：我们用了4小时走了7英里

停车： 以上提过的小型停车场，或者Skeggs point主停车场

 

 

 

blooming wild flowers 盛开的野花

Me inside a tree trunk :) 超大的树洞

The chrysanthemum and the sword 菊与刀

I remember when I was in high school, a very good friend of mine mentioned about a book "The chrysanthemum and the sword" when we were talking about the Japanese culture. "When you're the strong, they pull out the chrysanthemum, and when you're the weak, they pull out the sword instead", he said. I've been quoting this idea with the book for many years since, without actually reading the book. Now 15 years later, I finally picked up this book, and until then did I realized I owe it to myself to figure out what this classic is about and if my friend's theory of the book's title was right. It's about damn time for me to start reading more.

Ruth Benedict, an American anthropology, was commissioned to write a book about the Japanese culture in 1944, so that the allied force can use some good information on how to end the war and how to deal with Japan for the possible occupation. According to the author herself, she's not an expert, never visited Japan; and since the two countries were fighting a war, she can only rely on reading, watching movies and interviewing Japanese in America to figure everything out. The book wasn't published until 1946, and by the time the war had ended. Maybe that is the reason why the first section of the book, which is about Japanese history and culture was 10 chapters long, but the 2nd and 3rd sections where it discuss certain details about Japanese culture have only 3 chapters combine. After reading this book, I found possible answers to many questions that had been lingering in my head for all these years about the Japanese culture.

One of them is why the former prime minister of Japan kept going to Yasukuni shrine to pay his respect to the Class A war criminals of World War II. The Asian countries who suffered the most in the war, including China and Korea, has been infuriated by this act. They consider the visits provocative and mean no respect to all the sufferings and deaths in the war. These unnecessary acts have worsen the already embarrassed China-Japan relationship, where the trade numbers has been increasing year after year while the meeting of top level officials has been extremely rare. According to the book, Japan imported some critical value system from the powerful Tang dynasty of China in the 7th-8th century. They imported "chu", royalty to the emperor, to your lord; they imported "ko", filial piety which means the respect towards your parents and the elderly. However, they never imported "jen" or "jin", which has the meaning of benevolence. Japanese culture has never valued being kind-hearted, instead it values "being in one's proper place". In China, if the emperor is not "jen", it's righteous for the people to go against him, and thus all the changing of dynasties. Such idea is totally against the imperial sovereignty of the Japanese Emperor, and so they banish the idea of doing "jen" and made it similar of doing something outlawed. Japanese history also tells the same story. Over more than 1000 years, even though different Shogun (general) families having political control over the emperor, they never make themselves emperors. With the traditional Japanese culture extremely hierarchical, where you have the Emperor, who is sacred and worth sacrifice your life to, fulfilling your gimu(obligation, duty) to the Emperor means supreme honor. And that was exactly what the Class A war criminals did. Even though you waged a war that tortured and killed thousands of millions of people, you're considered an honorable man because they were "chu". How about all the deaths and sufferings of the victims of the war? Sorry, "jen" is of little value.

I also found possible explanations to other questions of mine. While one of the former prime minister of Germany kneel down to seek forgiveness from the Jews in Poland, the Japanese government has never officially apologize for victims of the war. It shocks me that this actually matches with the Japanese value, giri(obligation, honor). One of the ideas of Giri is not to admit failure nor ignorance. A teacher is supposed to know it all, the plan of a leader is supposed to be always correct, so it's only natural for their government to not admit failure of the war.

The Japanese culture also seeks great respect from other nations, and one way to achieve that is through supreme military power. In 1862, a British man was killed in Japan, and the British bombarded the port of Kogoshima, the Japanese were defeated badly because their older guns were no match to the firepower of the British fleet. Surprisingly, instead of vowing for vengeance upon the British, the Japanese instead seeks friendship and at the end established a college to learn the British technology there. That might explained why Japan never show respect to China even though China was one of the countries who won World War II. It wasn't the Chinese who defeated them.

The reason of the pornographic industry being prosperous in Japan might also have reasons that bury deep into the Japanese culture. To them, though sex should be put in minor place in life, it is one of the good human feelings, just like taking a hot bath or sleeping. To them, a man visiting a geisha house for relaxation and entertainment has nothing to do with him being a good husband or an honorable man or not. Both chu and ko are in the circle of greater obligations since they are gimu, and sexual pleasure belongs to normal human feelings, thus has no moral connections.

I personally also admire how much they value self-control. Differ from the Western culture, where young children should be discipline by their parents, and will have freedom when they reach adulthood, the Japanese culture is exactly the opposite. Children are granted a lot of freedom because they're supposed to know no haji(shame), and until they reach adulthood, do great discipline is required to accomplish one's gimu and giri. Both of these obligations are considered an essential part of one's life.

The book goes into so many more surprising and interesting points from the traditional Japanese culture, and there's no way I can discuss all of them in this article. I did figure out my friend's theory about the title is wrong though. The two objects in the title means the almost bipolar Japanese culture comparing to the Western culture. The Japanese can be violently waging a war to fulfill their obligations to the emperor, but at the same time they can seek no vengeance but friendship from a total defeat to learn from the strong. There are countless proves of this bipolar characteristic in the traditional Japanese culture. Even though it has been 70 years since the book was first published, and I'm sure the Japanese culture has changed quite a lot, I believe this is still a must-read if you're interested in the traditional Japanese culture and values.


我记得在读高中的时候，有一次几个同学在谈论着关于日本文化的问题，当时好像是博士还有班长卓权提起过“菊与刀”这个书。“如果你是强者，他们就会拿出菊花，但如果你是弱者，他们就会拿出刀。” 他们说。我一直没有去读那本书，而这么多年来，我时不时都会毫无专业精神引用他们这个观点 :p 到了15年后的今天，在偶然的机会下看到了这本书，突然想到“出来混，迟早是要还的”这句话... 好吧，也是时候自己去读读这本经典，也好看看他们说的关于题目的观点正确与否呀。李小龙都说了嘛“我读得书少，你不要欺负我”，还是多读点书吧哈哈。

这本书其实是美国政府在1944年交给美国人类学家Ruth Benedict的一个任务。当时美国政府对日本文化还是非常陌生的，所以他们需要知道一些日本的文化和历史，才可以知道如何打败日本人，还有衍生出来的如何处理占领日本的问题。作者自己说，她并不是这方面的专家，也从来没有去过日本，而当时日美交战正酣，所以她只能通过阅读，看电影，和跟在美国的日本人交谈来收集资料。当这本书在1946年出版的时候，战争已经结束了。可能这就是为什么书中介绍日本历史和文化的第一部分有10个章节那么多，但是在讨论更细腻的第二和第三部分的时候，加起来才只有3个章节。我脑子里一直有许多关于日本文化的疑问，而当我把书读完之后，我相信我在其中找到了很多可能性较高的答案。

其中一个我怎么也想不通的问题，就是为什么日本前首相一直不停地去参拜靖国神社，而大家要知道靖国神社是供奉二次大战甲级战犯的地方。在亚洲，中国和韩国可以说是二次大战的冤大头，而两国的政府和人民都对这一举动非常震怒。中韩都觉得此举动就是直接挑衅行为，对战争中的受害受难者极端的不尊重。这个完全没有必要的举动把本来已经非常尴尬的中日关系推到低谷。两国之间的贸易额每年都在增加，但是双方高层的会晤基本是不存在的。书中说道，在公元7-8世纪的时候，日本就从中国（当时是唐朝）引入了一些关键性的价值体系。 他们引入了“忠”，对上级，对天皇的效忠；他们引入了"孝“，对父母及长者的关爱尊重。但是，他们没有引入”仁“，相当于仁爱这个概念。 慈悲仁爱在日本文化当中没有任何地位，他们相信每个人只应该做对自己的地位相应的事。在中国，如果皇帝残暴不仁，平民百姓起义去推翻这个政权是正义之举，所以中国一直出现朝代更替。这个概念在日本文化是绝对行不通的，因为天皇拥有着至高无尚的地位。所以日本把仁这个理念踩在脚下，把它归类于接近犯罪一样的行为。看看日本历史就知道，不同的幕府将军家族执政的1000多年里，只有大将军在一直换。天皇虽然没有实权，但从来没有被改朝换代，还一直保留至今。日本传统文化有着极端分明的等级制度，在金字塔的顶端就是天皇，而可以效忠天皇，甚至为其牺牲性命，那就是完成了人生最重要的使命，实现了日语当中的”义务“。这就是那些甲级战犯的所作所为啊！虽然他们在这几十年的腥风血雨中杀害了数以千万计的受害者，但是因为战争是效忠天皇，是义务所在，所以他们就是忠诚的大英雄。而那些死于这场残酷战争的受害者呢？不好意思了，仁是没有价值的。

我也在书中找到了很多其他资料，解释了不少一直存在的疑惑。一边前德国总理在波兰跪在犹太人墓碑前请求宽恕，而另一边的日本政府到目前为止都还没有对二次大战的受难者有过官方性质的正式道歉。令我吃惊的是，日本政府的行为其实是符合日本文化价值观的，就是日语中的“义理”。在义理中有一个重要的理念，就是不能承认自己的失败和无知。 教书先生是应该无所不知的，领导者的计划是应该完美无缺的，所以日本政府不去承认战争的失败也是合情合理的态度了。

日本文化非常看重其他国家对其的尊重，强大的军事力量就是达到这个目地的方法之一。1862年，一个英国人在日本被杀，英国纠集了舰队炮轰了鹿儿岛港，当时日本的葡萄牙式旧炮无法与顶尖装备的英国舰队抗衡，被打得落花流水。当英国人都认为日本肯定会发誓报仇的时候，日本政府却向英国寻求友谊，最后在鹿儿岛建立了一所大学，学习英国舰队的先进科技。这也可能解释了为什么虽然中国是二次大战的战胜国之一，但日本从来没有给予真正尊重的原因：毕竟打败他们的并不是中国人。

日本色情产业如此兴盛的根本原因，也很有可能涉及到日本的传统文化。在日本文化当中，性爱虽然被放在并不重要的位置，然而它被归类为良好的人类情感，跟浸温泉和睡觉没什么分别。对于他们来说，一个男人去艺伎的地方寻欢作乐，和这个男人是否一个好丈夫或者他光荣与否拉不上半点关系。忠和孝都归类于最重要的义务的范畴里，而性爱的欢愉则归类于普通情感，两者之间谈不上联系。

而我自己也很佩服日本人的“忍”，就是自制力。在西方文化中，小孩子是应该收到父母的约束，而当他们长大后才可以拥有个人自由。日本文化刚好相反，小孩子被认为是不知道羞愧的，而当他们长大成人后，义务和义理才成为他们受到约束，而他们也把这些约束当成是人生最必不可少的部分。

书中还阐述了很多日本传统文化中其他有趣的或者惊人的地方，在这里我就不一一谈到了。我最后倒是知道了我的朋友们关于书名的理论并不是正确的。 菊与刀这两个物件代表的是日本文化接近于两极分裂的极端性。 他们能够牺牲一切效忠天皇，挑起残暴的战争，但同样地他们也可以在被打败后不求报复，而是虚心地向强者学习。此种两极性在日本文化中不胜枚举。尽管“菊与刀”出版了70个年头了，而且日本也变化了许多，但如果各位对日本的文化有兴趣的话，我相信这本书仍然是必读著作之一。

Wunderlich County Park / Wunderlich县公园

A lot of the times I hike by myself, and differ from popular opinion, it has been doing me some good. I tend to speak a lot, and hiking alone forces me to be silent, other than saying some hellos to fellow hikers. But today I was lucky enough to drag a friend with me. This friend is not just anybody, I consider him a mentor of mine. 

 

I've known this friend since college. He has an entrepreneur's heart and he's done things that was way more sophisticated and cool for his age. I invited him to skydive with me, he just said yes like that, unlike a lot of my other friends. After that he persuaded me to run a marathon with him, though I hesitated at the beginning, we did accomplish it back in winter 2014. I've learned the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone, and I've also learned a lot of ways to improve myself from the guy. He's been the one who broaden my view of the world, and I'm very grateful for all the knowledge and inspiration he's given me. 

 

We had a good conversation, and it made the hike a lot easier. We hiked a solid 10-mile figure 8 loop, started from the parking lot on Woodside road, hiked all the way following the Alambique trail to Skyline boulevard, and make our way back through Skyline trail then the Bear Gulch trail. The trail itself is board, well maintained and well signed, mostly shaded with dirt surface. Because of the rain we had this year, you can hear the sound from streams and it was so much better than when I was here the first time last year with bone dry creeks. My friend and I have done way harder day hikes, so we never mind doing a 10-mile hike. We also barely stopped, and it took us 3.5 hours to finish the whole hike. In case you're looking for a shorter/easier hike, you can always turn back when Alambique trail first crosses Bear Gulch trail, which is the cross point for the figure 8, and that will give you a good 5-mile hike. The trail is pretty popular, I learned that if you arrive at the parking lot after 9 am, the chances of finding a parking space in the lot will be slim, and both of us did just park alongside the Woodside road. Most of the trails are also for equestrian, meaning horse riding, so you'll see some horse dunk along the way (trust me it's not that bad). 

 

We also had an honor to bump into a special hiker. We were just talking about if they allow camping in the park, then we saw this lady with full camping gear on her back. After talking with her, we learned that she's training for tougher hikes, and amazingly she did part of the PCT trail. We've learned some useful information from her and the timing is perfect since I got interested with camping recently. I just bought my first tent and sleeping bag days ago, and I hope they will carry me to some small adventures in northern California. I really look forward to it and I can't wait to share these amazing things with all of you.

 

Trail info

Trail head: Parking lot close to 3972 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062
Difficulty: Moderate, incline 1st half, decline 2nd half, with about 1500 ft of                      elevation
Length: 5-mile loop or 10-mile loop
Condition: dirt trail; mostly shaded
Time: 4-5 hours
Parking: Free parking lot or along Woodside Road


很多时候我会一个人去徒步，而且跟一般人认为的不尽相同，这样对我而言反而有点好处。不好意思地说一下，我很多时候话很多，而一个人的徒步迫使我除了跟路人打声招呼以外就只能安安静静了。但今天我很幸运地把一个朋友拉下水了，而且这个不是一个普通的朋友，我一直把他看成我的导师。

他是我大学同学，有着一颗创业的不甘平凡的心。他的经历对于他的年纪来说可以说成熟太多了。当我邀请他和我一起去跳伞，他二话不说就答应了，而其他朋友都基本没有这个胆量。他也说服了我在2014年底参与了我人生第一个马拉松，虽然答应之前我还是很忧郁的。(会不会跑完就挂掉哈哈) 我在他身上知道了突破自己和自我改善的重要性。跟他谈话改变了很多我的世界观，从他那里我也得到了不少鼓励，所以我真的非常感谢有他这个朋友。

一路上跟他聊天，真的可以说是快乐不知时日过。整个徒步是一个8字型的，16公里左右的循环路线，我们从停车场旁边的Alambique trail一直走到Skyline boulevard, 然后再从Skyline trail 和 Bear Gulch trail 返回。 整条远足径基本上是非常宽阔的泥路，维护工作做得很好，路标也很清晰。因为今年雨水充足，我们一路都能听见小溪流水的声音，跟我上年第一次来这里看到所有干枯的小溪好太多了。我和朋友一向徒步路程都不会近，所以我们才走了16公里那么远。而且我们基本上没有停下来过，所以我们大概用了3个半小时就完成了。如果你觉得这个路程太远了，你可以选择在Alambique trail交接Bear Gulch trail的时候回程，就是8字型的中间那点，这个的话徒步路程会变成大概8公里，就是一半的路程。这个公园其实还是很多人来的，早上9点之后才来到的话，停车场里面是基本不会有位置的了，但是可以把车停在woodside road路边。公园里面大部分的远足径也都可以给骑马者使用，所以在路上你会看到很多马儿的便便。味道不会太重的，没问题啦哈哈。

我们在路上也很幸运的遇到了一个特别的徒步者。我们正说着不知道公园里面能不能露营，所以当我们看到她一身专业的露营装备的时候，我们就好奇的问起她来。跟她聊天才发现原来她走过我梦想中PCT Trail的一小部分，也从她那里知道了很多有用的露营信息。我上周才刚买了我人生第一个睡袋和帐篷，就是打算以后要去露营，在这个时候碰到这位有经验的徒步者却是太幸运了。希望我的帐篷和睡袋会把我带去北加州各种小小的冒险吧 :) 我真的很期待把以后我的露营经历跟大家分享呢。

 

远足径资料

起点：3972 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062 这个地址旁边的停车场

难度：中等，前半部分爬山，后半部分下山，500米左右的垂直差

长度：8公里或者16公里循环路线

路况：泥路，大部分都有树阴

时间： 4-5小时

停车： 免费停车场，或者停在woodside road路边

 

A huge tree 一棵大树

This is what the trail looks like 远足径的样子

 An open space located on the Bear Gulch trail

在Bear Gulch trail上有一片很大的空地

American workaholicsm (like there's really such a word lol) ? 工作狂是一种美国文化吗？

Some friends and I went out and had a great dinner last night, it was at a well-known buffet style Brazilian barbecue restaurant. Probably because it was Saturday night, the place was packed from the 1st minute we walked in till the time we left. They have someone playing some Jazz/R&B and also someone singing probably in Portuguese right next to the waiting area. I love the whole experience, and I also met a new friend. 

While we were busy stuffing our faces with the delicious and seemingly non-stop-delivery-to-the-table style BBQ, I asked the new friend what she does. "Oh I'm going to graduate after summer, and I work 3 jobs." She said. "Woo, I'm impressed, you must be very, very busy, maybe you don't have time to sleep?" I was trying to make a joke. She smiled, "I'm not working all these jobs because of the money, I'm trying to get more experience, so I'll be more prepared for the future." She said something like that. While I was trying to think of what to say to that, another friend asked me, "so Jun, what have you been busy doing"; "uh, nothing much, just regular work, plus some exercises after work on weekdays, and some hiking during the weekends. I'm not busy at all", I replied. While I said it proudly, and always put work/life balance as a priority, I had a feeling there's a slight chance that maybe I'm the one who's being lazy and not working hard enough? Or is it that America has always been a workers' nation?

Two of those friends are a married couple, and we hanged out at their house after dinner. While we were having a great time, we came to the topic of this theory about guys tend to cheat on their wives when they become rich. The husband said "you're probably just saying it because you're jealous about guys making more money, while you're spending your husband's money (his lol) on the weekend". "I don't care about your stupid money, my job is the most important thing, as long as I have my job, I'm good. Iiiiii doooon't caaaare" she replied. We knew each other for a long while, and I always tend to express what's in my head, I said to the wife "oh come on, of course your husband and your two kids are more important than your job. If you lose your job, you can always find another one, but not the other way around, so trust me." I said something like that. She kinda looked confused, and staying firmed with her theory. 

This work/life balance question has been stuck in my head for quite some time now. I still remember when I was in college, in an Auditing class, the professor asked one guy something about his experience working with a major bank, he proudly said "oh I work 3 jobs, and I'm certified." Even though that has nothing to do with the question, the professor praised him with a big smile. I also remember the professor teaching managerial accounting also claimed he always work multiple jobs. Teaching was supposedly his side job. I had also been reading some articles about this possible trend at the time, while meeting more and more people who also were very proud to work their jobs/careers as their lives, all the way from my college years till now. I couldn't help but ask myself this question, is it really that Americans are workaholics, or maybe it's because of the prioritizing of their careers before everything else that makes this country great? (well, other than the cancer-like medical system, drug and gun problems)

I have been trying to figure out the answer to this question. Some of my friends love what they do. They say that as long as there's space for them to grow in the industry, new things to do and more latter to climb to the top, they'll be fine with working 6 days a week, 10 hours plus a day. Some did mention that if there's an option of reducing his work time by 20% and reducing his salary also by 20%, he would choose that anytime of the day. Some do say that they are doing it just for the money while they struggle to find themselves a career. "If they pay me less, I'm just not gonna do it", one friend says on the phone, "Sorry man I gotta go, I'm gonna do my 3rd job now" then he hang up. While so many of my friends are this busy, there's also friends of mine that work only one 40-hour-week job, does not seem to exercise or have a lot of social life, claims to be busy all the time. "I gotta do my laundry", one said. Maybe to some people, doing laundry means a major event of the day. 

Everyone seems to have a different idea about work/life balance, and for me, I always try not to put my work as my priority. I'm not saying that I don't work hard, in fact I think I'm one of the most hardworking in my office (my boss might see this, okay?), but I always try to do things that interests me in my free time, and go on a vacation whenever time and money permits. Even though I have my own exercise routines/interests, and been thinking about trying for a 2nd job, I've never worked 2 jobs at the same time so far. I can honestly say that I do not LOVE my current job , but I do work hard at it. I feel lucky that I'm starting to realize where my passion is, I'll talk about that some other time.

After reading some articles on the internet, I learned that America is close to the top of the list of most workaholic countries. A lot of the articles claim that Americans are working more and more hours, while taking less and less vacations. They show statistics that only about half of the Americans will take all of their paid vacation time. That's right, half of us go to work instead of taking a day off even it's paid! 

I think my own opinion is the most important this time around, nevertheless I'm the one who's living it :) Remember the name of the topic? work/life BALANCE. In my opinion, a lot of the ancient knowledge will work till the end of time, and the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang is one of them. I believe that unless you really love what you do, meaning that when you wake up everyday in the morning, you can not wait to get up and go to work (yes, there are people like that I know of), the job is not really your passion. That is a sign you shouldn't put your job as your first priority. So when you're not doing what you love to do 40 or plus hours a week, you should definitely at least try to do what you love to do after work, no matter it is exercising, or just sit at home writing silly articles like I do. While working multiple jobs do give you more experience, they do not necessarily give you the right or matching experience for your career. And working a job is not the only way to gain knowledge and experience. Travelling, socializing, taking a class, reading a book, these will all give your knowledge and experience, and sometimes they're for the better since you're not always stuck in one location or environment. I'm not saying that working hard towards your life goal (for some people that's money) is bad, but think of it this way: everyone has a limited amount of time and energy, and while our life is so short, why not spend it on something that's more important to you, someone who you can share the love with, or do something that makes this ugly world a little better, even just a little bit. 


昨天晚上我和几个朋友去了一家巴西烧烤餐馆吃晚饭。 大概是因为星期六晚上吧，餐馆忙得不成样子，等候入座区从我们进去开始一直到吃完为止都是满的。这家餐馆还是算不错的，在等候入座区设了一架钢琴和一个麦克风，有人在弹一些舒服的爵士啊，蓝调音乐啊什么的，也有人唱一些大概是葡萄牙语的歌曲吧，我听得很入迷。除了蛮喜欢这家餐馆以外，昨晚还认识了一个新的朋友，真是很开心。

当大家正在低头努力的把不停地搬到我们桌子上的烧烤肉塞进口中的时候，我随口问了一下这个刚刚认识的朋友她的工作是什么。 "过了暑假我就毕业了，现在嘛做三份工作“，她说。”哇，好厉害，那你不是连睡觉的时间都没有？“ 我尝试说个笑话。她笑笑说”做那么多工作并不是为了钱啦，而是为了可以学多点东西，有多点的工作经验，是为了将来啊。“ 她大概说了差不多的话吧。我还在思考应该怎么把话题接下去的时候，另一个朋友问我 “阿俊，这段时间都在忙什么呢”， ”没什么特别拉，就是上班啊，下班了就去做做运动啊，周末去爬爬山什么的，我很有空不忙啊。" 我很自豪的回答着朋友的问题，但很奇怪地，在我心底有一个奇怪的声音响起“会不会是因为我很懒，不够勤奋工作才会那么有空吧？到底还是美国其实是一个具有工作狂文化背景的国家呢？

其中两个朋友是一对夫妻，我们吃完饭就去他们家里坐坐聊聊天。 我们吹水吹得正欢， 妻子那个突然讲到一个理论，就是“男人有钱就变坏”，意思就是会出轨，包二奶之类的事情。 丈夫说“你这么说其实就是妒忌男人比女人赚得多吧，你平时不花钱，周末话老公（就是他自己哈哈）的钱，自己钱哪会花得多啊。” “我才不管你的那些钱，我的工作是最重要的，只要我还是有我自己的工作，我才不管你去泡什么妞呢, 我才不理你” 妻子回答。 我认识他们两夫妻已经很久了，加上我一般都直接把想法告诉我的朋友的，所以我也开门见山地跟妻子那个说“别玩啦，工作当然比不上你的这个会做饭的老公，还有你的两个小朋友啊。工作如果丢了还可以再找另一份，人可不能这么说了。其他我没经验，这个你真要相信我” 我大概说了类似的话吧。 她给了我一张不知所措的脸，继续坚持她的理论。

其实这个工作和生活的平衡问题已经在我脑子里面很久了。我还记得在大学的一堂审计课上，教授问妻子其中一个学生关于他在一间主流银行工作的经验，男生很自豪的说“我做三份工作哦，而且我还是注册了的（会计师）。这个回答跟问题怎么看也拉不上什么关系，但教授仍然笑着赞赏了他。 我也记得当时教管理会计学的教授跟我们说，他从来都不会只有一份工作的，其实教书是他的一个副业，云云。那时候我已经有读到一些描述工作狂的文章，而我认识的人当中，也不乏有一些把工作看得感觉比自己生命还要重要的人，从读书那时候一直都现在也是。问题来了：美国人到底真的是工作狂充斥的国家呢，还是因为美国人把工作看得非常重要，才把这个国家建设得现在这般伟大（除了像癌症一样治不好的医疗系统，毒品还有枪支问题，美国也算伟大吧）？
  
我一直在寻找这个问题的答案。我有些朋友是真的喜欢他们的工作的。 有一个说，只要在业内有发展的空间，在职位上有新东西学，还有向上爬的可能，那么他是不会介意每天做10小时以上，每周上6天班的。有一个就说，如果可以把他的工作时间降低百分之20，而把他的工资也降低20%，那就最好了。有些还在寻找一份好工作，他们说“钱给少了就立刻不做",朋友在电话里说“不好意思啦，我现在要做第三份工作啦”然后挂了。 尽管有些朋友忙成狗了，我也有一些朋友只是做一份普通的每周40个小时的工作，既看不到他去锻炼，也看不到他有什么社交活动，但却长期说忙的。“我要洗衣服拉，没空拉。” 他说。可能对于他来说，洗衣服就是那天的重要节目吧。

每个人对工作生活平衡都有不同的看法，而我自己是从来都没有把工作放在首位的。我的意思不是说我不努力工作，事实上我觉得在办公室我算是最勤奋的一个了（老板可能会看到我的文章拉哈哈哈）但是我从来都是在休闲时候去做我自己喜欢做的事情， 在时间和预算允许的情况下，还会出去旅行一下。 虽然我自己平时是有锻炼习惯啊，兴趣什么的，其实我还是有想过再多找一份工作尝试一下，但我暂时还没有同时做两份工作的经历。老实说，我并不热爱我现在的工作，但是我工作还是很努力。我觉得自己非常幸福，因为各种原因，我现在慢慢开始找到了我的热情所在了，找个时间再聊那个话题吧。

想不通当然就问“狗狗”(谷歌)网站啦，在读了一些文章之后，我发现其实美国在众多发达国家之中其实算是很有工作狂文化的国家了。很多文章写到，现在美国人的工作趋势是，工作时间越来越长，而休假却越来越没有人利用。文章引用了些数据，说经统计，大概有一半的美国人会用完他们的有薪假期。对了！就是说另外那一半放弃了自己的有薪假期而回到办公室继续上班。

其实呢，关于这个话题，我觉得我自己的想法才是最重要的，到底我的生活是要靠我自己才能活出来啊哈哈。大家还知道我们一直在讲什么话题吗？工作生活 平衡 啦。 我一直相信有些古老的哲学是万世皆通的，其中就包括了阴阳协调的哲学理论。我相信，除非你真的非常热爱自己的工作，意思是，每天早上你一起来，你就已经急不及待地想去上班开始你的工作了(我遇到过这样的人)，如果不是这种情况，就基本说明你的真正热情并不在这份工作上，也说明了你不应该把这份工作放在第一位。在你的工作之余，你应该尽量尝试去做一些自己喜欢做的事情，无论是体育锻炼，还是像我现在一样胡说八道一下。同时做多份工作可能真的会帮助你增长见识，但并不是所有的工作经验都会适合你的将来发展，或者说对你的职业生涯有帮助。而且增长见识并不只有工作才可以学到啊。旅行，交际，上堂课，读本书，也都可以丰富你的知识和智慧。这些很有可能会比工作经验更好，因为他们非常多样化，而不像有些工作一样只涉及某一样专业知识。我并不是告诉大家，努力向前（钱）看是错，我觉得应该这样想吧：每个人的时间和精力都是有限的，人生苦短，为何不把有限的生命用在真的对你重要的事情上，用在可以跟你分享爱的人身上，或者做些事情把这个丑陋的世界变得好一点点呢？那怕只是一点点。

San Bruno Mountain Summit loop / San Bruno山顶循环径

This is one of my favorite hikes close to home. $6 parking fee if you park in the public parking lots, since I hike this place quite often, I have a way to get free parking. And that's parking around Crocker Ave cross S Hill blvd, where there's a paved path leading to the entrance of the park. It's a 1 mile extra walk, so if you're going there for a barbecue party, it's a better idea to pay for parking and not drag all your food and stuff for 1 mile :) And you're right, there's barbecue stoves and tables close to the entrance of the park, as well as a water fountain and public restrooms. 

The route is well signed and very simple to navigate. Since I always wanna go a little extra distance, I normally add the Dairy Ravine trail into the hike. Basically start with Dairy Ravine trial and hike up the hill, until you hit the summit loop trail. Simply follow the summit loop trail from there, going towards the top of the mountain of course, and you will be right on track. You will have a great view of San Francisco on the Dairy Ravine trail on a clear day, all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the east bay. 

There's also a ridge trail starting close to the summit, but I'm not gonna do it today. The whole trail is pretty well maintained, 1/3 of it are gravel/rocky roads, and the rest are mainly dirt. It's a good 6 mile hike with a good 600 ft of elevation from the street level, normally takes me about 2 and a half hours to complete without stopping. With it's location so close to the San Francisco urban area, it's a perfect and easy hike for the weekend before a good meal.

Trail info

Trail head: next to one of the parking lot
Difficulty: moderate, 600 ft of elevation
Length: 6 mile loop with out and back
Condition: dirt/gravel trail; mainly exposed
Time: 2.5 - 3 hours
Parking: $6 parking lot or free street parking


San Bruno这条上山顶再下来的循环爬山路线，是在我家附近我最喜欢去的一条路线。 如果你拍在公园的停车场，周末一般都要$6的收费。但因为我时不时都会去那里，然后我发现只要把车停在Crocker ave夹S Hill Blvd那个地方就好了，是免费的街边停车位，有一条很好的柏油路连接着公园正门，虽然要多走大概1.6公里的路程。如果你是要去哪里烧烤什么的，有一大堆东西要从车里面拿出来，建议还是拍收费停车场吧。公园里有烧烤炉和长凳/桌子提供，还有一个公共卫生间，非常方便。

这条远足径的维护做得很不错，路标也做得比较清楚。 我平时爬山都喜欢多爬一点，所以会把Dairy Ravine远足径加入其中。基本上，先从Dairy Ravine爬山径开始，当碰到山顶循环径的时候，就顺着它一直往上爬就正确了。在Dairy Ravine径上面可以看到三藩市市中心在东边，西边是一望无际的太平洋；天气晴朗可以看到非常好的景色。

在山顶附近还有一条哦啊叫山脊远足径，今天我就不走了，留下一次吧。整条远足径的路况都不错，1/3 是石子/碎石路，剩下的都是泥路。这个路程大概10公里，我一般会花大概2个半小时才能爬完，200米左右的垂直差也算是有点爬山的味道。 这个爬山径的地点非常靠近三藩市，交通方便，很适合周末随便走走，然后去找好东西吃呢。

远足径资料

起点：San Bruno山公园停车场旁边

难度：中等，200米垂直差

长度：10公里，循环/来回 混合

路况：碎石/泥路；基本上没有树荫

时间： 2.5 - 3 小时

停车： $6收费停车场 或 免费街泊

The view on Dairy Ravine trail 

半山腰可以看到三藩市市中心

The view on the outlook close to the summit

山顶附近观景点

Hot pot celebration 火锅之夜

My friend has 3 cats. You heard me right, not 1, not 2, but 3. You might have an image of an old crazy cat lady in your head, or not, but she's none of that (okay, maybe she IS crazy in a way lol). I don't exactly remember how she got 3 cats, but basically there was something crazy going on and she can't just let them go to shelters. My friend ended up adopting all 3. The story should have ended like " the crazy lady since living happily ever after with her 3 cats". Well, lets just say life is never this easy.

One of the cats, named Fatty, got sick last week. He was named Catty at first, but he got so fat, that my friend changed his name to Fatty. After the diagnoses, SPCA decided to operate on him. The story then should have ended here, something like "the crazy lady brings Fatty home, and they live happily ever after". No, it got me involved. My friend has a job that puts her out of town constantly, and on the day SPCA planned to discharge Fatty, she happened to be out of town. She rang me up. 

It was raining cats and cats when I was on my way to pick up Fatty. I was a little nervous, since I have never own a pet before. I even ask my friend if there's a cage to carry him, i mean, what kinda question is that? (oh and it's not called a cage, it's a carrier! lol) Turned out Fatty had a fat liver, and it prevents him from digesting fat. They put in a feeding tube inside his stomach, and it took almost an hour for the technician to explain everything to me from how to do tube feeding to all the details about applying the medicine. They prescribed 6 different medicine for Fatty, and the details was 2 pages long. 

Fatty's fine now. He still has the feeding tube, but he's been able to move a little, and I believe he will recover fully soon. And to celebrate good life, we decide to do hot pot, yeh XD. I haven't seen my friend in quite a while, and it was some good times catching up. I do take this as a sign that I need to keep up with my healthy eating plan and exercises, or one day I might end up like Fatty. It's already 11:30pm and I'd better get my beauty sleep now lol

我的朋友有三只猫，三只大肥猫，嘻嘻。千万不要以为我朋友是个孤独的疯婆子，人家的生活不知道多么的精彩。我忘记了为什么她要收养三只了，大概是收拾别人的烂摊子一类的说，我朋友心肠太好不忍心送猫猫们去宠物庇护所，所以就把他们都留下来了。大家可能觉得“这有什么好讲的“，故事还未开始呢。

其中一只猫猫，名字叫“肥佬”，上星期病倒了。猫猫本来是叫“猫仔”的，后来发福得太厉害了，朋友就把他改成现在的名字，太没人性了哈哈。经过诊断，动物医院决定要帮猫猫做手术。大家可能又要说“那做完就好了嘛“。好啦好啦，本来呢，事情并没有那么难，但是我朋友因为工作需要，很多时候都不在三藩市，而猫猫出院那天我朋友刚好不在。所以就出动到我了。

我去接猫猫的时候，雨下得可以用粤语”落狗屎“来形容。其实我蛮担心的，因为我从来没有养宠物的经验，我还问朋友到时候有没有一个笼子来放猫猫进去。（好吧，我确实是胆小了点，但作为一个控制狂，我真的想把事情详悉了解所以才能不辜负朋友的托付阿好吧，好回到主题）原来猫猫患了俗称的脂肪肝，不能吸收食物，所以他们放了一条喂食管通到猫猫的胃了。技师整整和我解释了将近一个小时，才把所有药物的用法阿（6种好吧），怎样照顾猫猫阿，各种详细情况跟我说清楚。觉得”肥佬“好可怜，好吧，因为他几天没进食，瘦了一圈，还是把”猫仔“的名字还给他吧。

猫仔现在状态不错呢。虽然身上还是插着喂食管，他已经可以周围走动一点点了，相信很快就可以完全康复了吧。而为了庆祝猫仔手术成功，救回9条猫命，我们决定用吃火锅来庆祝。 其实我跟朋友已经好久没有见面了，虽然猫猫遇上不幸中的大幸，其实也算是聚一下聊聊近况，我好久没有吃晚饭吃得那么开心了呢。再回头想想，我自己也应该继续坚持锻炼身体以及健康饮食计划了，如果变成猫仔一样的经历，那就惨了。大吉利是，努力加油阿！

 

Fatty 猫仔

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