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To those of you just surfing onto this site, this is Mission 100 & it's basically a task of 100 things to do in 1000 days. It's just a project I created in order to learn more about myself & to experience life. If you would like to join me on any of these tasks or help me (like send me a postcard from wherever you are from, help me break a world record, or help me fold paper cranes) please do (: Anyhow, enjoy! If you're not interested, no worries, my daily tabs are below this entry so just scroll down (:

*note, I unstickied the original Mission 100 entry & just copied & pasted the Mission 100 tasks so that people don't have to read through the quotes part constantly*

The Mission: 100 things in 1000 days

 

Starting: June 6, 2005
Ending: March 3, 2008

 

The 100 Tasks (in no specific order):

 

1. Go abroad-Europe/Asia/Australia/Africa for an excursion Went to ASIA: Bangkok, Macau, Hong Kong, Beijing, Manila, Taipei, & Tokyo! (Summer 2006)
2. Watch every movie in the Harry Potter series in 1 sitting MISSION COMPLETED!, 11/17-11/18-and spend a good 2 hrs in a movie theater awaiting the midnight showing of GoF w/ my bestests and played charades! Can't get much better than that, can it?
3. Try out for a reality TV show MISSION COMPLETED--thank you Real World
4. See a show... on BROADWAY MISSION COMPLETED! 1/20/07 WICKED!!!
5. Road trip around Rhode Island-Visit EVERY city in 1 day (MISSION COMPLETED 5/26/07 w/ Albert & Duncan)
6. Surf @ at least 5 beaches (MISSION COMPLETED: Surfed Wrightsville @ Public Access #4, 6/13/2005, Surfed Wilmington Beach, 6/14/2005, Surfed Narragansett, RI 9/24/2005, Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong 6/30/2006, San Francisco! 1/26/08)
7. Complete a triathlon
8. Finish LindaKTong.com
9. Go dancing in the rain (MISSION COMPLETED: 10/4/2006-dancing in the rain w/ Travis imitating THIS video)
10. Make a wedding cake
11. Build a bar
12. Send a message in a bottle
13. Sell something on eBay for more than $10 (MISSION COMPLETED: concert tickets for Sia
14. Use only public transportation for a month (MISSION COMPLETED: Thailand/Hong Kong/Asia Summer--May 25th-July4th, until Aug 22nd)
15. Run across the TD courtyard, barefoot (MISSION COMPLETED 5/1/2007-TDDDTD DAY!)
16. Have a waterballoon fight
17. Memorize every state & its capital in the US (MISSION COMPLETED 5/29/2007)
18. Go skydiving & bungee jumping (Bungee jumping in Canada 8/13/2005 @ Great Canadian Bungee--HIGHEST jump in North America)
19. Go scuba diving
20. Make a wish in 30 different fountains (Southpoint Mall Fountain, 6/17/2005, DC, Georgetown Mall, Cleveland, Crabtree valley mall--all over the summer, will post the pics of each one soon + stuff in 2006: Spring Break--Dallas malls, Summer in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Cali, Rhode Island Fountain (RI Mall)-5/26/07)--a couple in Boracay--will post soon.
21. Go camping (MISSION COMPLETED Aug 3-8, 2005 in Moab, Utah--Canyonlands National Park & Arches National Park)
22. Collect every state quarter that's been released (I'm working on my collection now... I have all but 1 of the quarters currently released... still awaiting, I believe they'll all be out in 2008)
23. Write a song & perform at an open mic night MISSION COMPLETED: Performed at Vanila 8/19/2006, Performed "CDO's: what are those?"
24. Road trip to a White Castle MISSION COMPLETED: w/ Samarth & Joel in WISCONSIN! 6/3/2007 pic is in THIS post
25. Get a postcard from every state in the United States (Utah-Brian Hill, 6/17/2005 & California-MikeyMike, 6/18/2005, Idaho-Brian Hill, 7/18/2005, Washington-Bert, 7/23/2005, Illinois-Julie, 7/24/2005, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee 8/2/2005-8/9/2005 (during Utah Roadtrip), New Hampshire-8/15/2005, Louisiana-11/16/2005-from Catherine!! Hawaii-11/24/2005-from Bert!!!, Nevada/Las Vegas-11/29/2005--from Catherine!! Washington, New Jersey, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Colorado--Will, North Carolina-Craig, and although these aren't US States, I still want to thank: Caroline (carecare)for her BEAUT postcard, Joel for the postcard from Spain, and Laura for the 3 postcards from various places during her summer travels in Belize!) Thanks to Catherine for a beaut. postcard from Oklahoma--1/13/2007!, got postcards from Pennsylvania, Ohio, & Washington D.C. during winter break while flying to interviews!) and I have a bunch at home I never updated on--oops--will do that soon... here's the official list
26. Walk a mile backwards (MISSION COMPLETED: Thailand trip--1/23/2008)
27. Break a world record/Create a world record MISSION COMPLETED (but still going to keep going... yeah IN know)--Part of the largest simultaneous READ for JumpStart)
28. Knit a scarf (MISSION COMPLETED Started 11/21/2005, Finished 12/23/2005)
29. Learn the lyrics to REM's It's the End of the World as we Know it.. & be able to sing along
30. Go clubbing in NYC (so much cooler in HK) MISSION COMPLETED! HK summer of 06, NYC fall of 06 w/ Novantas peeps--in Bar
31. Carry groceries for an old lady (MISSION COMPLETED: 1/17/2008--she bought me a soda haha
32. Learn how to golf & go 18 holes
33. Throw a party & bartend MISSION COMPLETED 10/27/2007--Birthday/Housewarming/Halloween FANTASTIC--we also featured Peppermint Patty shots, Apple Pie shots, & body shots... along with fantastic drinks courtesy of yours truly
34. Get a pen pal in another country & write him/her (MISSIONCOMPLETED 10/14/2006--Michelle in Malaysia is my pen pal!!!)
35. Donate hair to Locks of Love MISSION COMPLETED 6/20/2007 my new short do? check it out in my Asia photos soon to be put up
36. Go running along the beach (MISSION COMPLETED-Wilmington Beach 6/16/2005)
37. Do graffiti art somewhere (legal)
38. Play mission impossible in a Walmart
39. Make a pizza & spin the dough on my hand like a pizza dude
40. Do something nice for 3 people & tell them to pass it on--Pay if Forward (MISSION COMPLETED Took care of stranger's baby on airplane flight-2.5 hrs!!! 8/15/2005, Paid for a strangers tank of gas 8/15/2005, Paid for a stranger--Red Ford Focus--$2.00 toll on Garden State pkwy on the drive up to Yale, 11/25/2005)
41. Go stargazing & find 10 different constellations
42. Build a 3D puzzle
43. Make a Build-a-Bear (MISSION COMPLETED--in Canada @ the Tremblant Ski Trip 2006 w/ the Yale Ski Team. I made a moose called: Oozing Sores & he has a pink star inside him!--completed 1/7/2006)
44. Learn the names of all 206 bones in the human body
45. Play croquet
46. Make a pinata & bust it open w/ friends
47. Go to a costume party MISSION COMPLETED 10/26//2007 & 10/31/2007---holllla Redwood City & GoooG
48. Read DaVinci Code MISSION COMPLETED 7/5/2005
49. Throw a football the length of the Timothy Dwight courtyard (MISSION COMPLETED 5/22/07 w/ Sherm/James/Charlie)
50. Go to the Frick museam (MISSION COMPLETED: 4/21/2007; post JPM trip)
51. Read every Calvin & Hobbes book (Went through: Lazy Sunday Book, Calvin & Hobbes, & There's Treasure Everywhere on 6/13/2005 Revenge of the Babysat 7/25/2005, The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes 12/23/2005)
52. Build a tower of playing cards
53. Learn how to play the drums I've begun--thank you Rock Band
54. Go to a dealership & (pretend to be interested in buying cars) & test drive cars (MISSION COMPLETED: although, I wasn't pretending to be interested... considering: civic hybrid, prius, escape hybrid, or just a mazda 3)
55. Go to Vegas & beat the dealer (MISSION COMPLETED 2/22/08-2/24/08 won @ Poker, Pai Gow, Black Jack, and CRAPS!!!)
56. Have a sleepover... like when I was little (MISSION COMPLETED 3/30/2007 w/ Alison & Illana)
57. Go to a wine tasting (MISSION COMPLETED 2/16/08-2/17/08--went to Napa w/ Nate & Family & Friends--LOVED the Malvasia @ sterling & EVERYTHING @ Hanna!)
58. Make 30 free throws in a row (made 21 in a row, 6/7/05, MISSION COMPLETED 6/10/05)
59. Play a game of monopoly all the way through following all the rules (Did this over Thanksgiving w/ Bert, Kenny, & Jenny--who killed all of us with a Red monopoly on Indiana, Illinois, & Kentucky, MISSION COMPLETED 11/23/2005)
60. Watch the sunrise & sunset in 1 day (MISSION COMPLETED 8/4/2005, 8/5/2005, 8/6/2005, & 8/7/2005 & 8/8/2005-in Moab, Utah, Vail, CO, & St. Louis, MO)
61. Attempt every song on DDR (dance dance revolution on PS2) (MISSION COMPLETED 12/27/2008--although I failed @ most--this is from DDR2)
62. Build a snowman (MISSION COMPLETED 2/12/2006, Timothy Dwight Courtyard--picture in 2/13/2006 posting)
63. See every Adam Sandler movie (watched Billy Madison, 6/8/05, 50 First Dates, 6/13/05, The Longest Yard, 6/17/2005, Big Daddy, 6/19/2005, Spanglish, 6/20/2005, Happy Gilmore 6/21/2005, Punch Drunk Love 7/12/2005, Waterboy 7/12/2005 Airheads 7/25/2005 Little Nicky 10/23/2005 Mr. Deeds 12/3/2005--Yeah TBS for playing this movie 3 times in a row! Anger Management 12/24/2005)
64. Make a music video MISSION COMPLETED 12/8/2006: Label by Travis Nelson
65. Help build a house with Habitat for Humanity (MISSION COMPLETED--3/24/07-3/25/07 New Haven chapter)
66. Have a caricature done of myself
67. Carve my initials in a treeMISSION COMPLETED 12/17/2006 at East Rock--the picture will be uploaded ASAP!! PROMISE
68. Get a hot dog from Gray's Papaya in NYC MISSION COMPLETED 2/10/2006 @ the Grays on 8th & 36th
69. Find a waterfall & shower beneath it MISSION COMPLETED 7/3/2005- @ Hanging Rock in NC
70. Ride every rollercoaster in an amusement park MISSION COMPLETED 3/9-17/2007 in Orlando (Island of Adventure, Magic Kingdom, & MGM)
71. Spend a night in a 5 star hotel MISSION COMPLETED--Shangri-La (I actually went to the SL in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing, & Manila!)
72. Throw a mystery party (like clue)
73. Go on a blind date
74. Find a 4 leaf clover MISSION COMPLETED! 7/11/2007 in Temple of Heaven, Beijing see here
75. Ride a mechanical bull MISSION COMPLETED 4/26/2006 @ Yale--Silliman Day--See 4/27 post for pictures!
76. Buy a lottery ticket & choose numbers by the first 6 people I see MISSION COMPLETED 6/7/2007 in OHIO--yyyeah lotttto tix
77. REALLY celebrate a holiday (i.e. go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Pamplona for Fiesta de San Fermin-running of the bulls, Ireland for St. Patty's Day)
78. Go to Hooters--FOR THE WINGS MISSON COMPLETED 3/11/2007 in Orlando!!
79. Fly a kite (MISSION COMPLETED: 9/22/07-@ Fort Mason right off the water yeah SF!)
80. Eat every food on the BBC's top 50 things to eat before you die-http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/50eats_index.shtml (MISSION NEARLY COMPLETED! Ate everything except Haggis)
81. Go white water rafting (MISSION COMLPETED 8/5/2005 on the Colorado River w/ Tag-A-Long-class 3-5 rapids!)
82. Get my belly button pierced or get a tattoo... (MISSION COMPLETED 1/28/2006, at: The Edge Tattoo & Piercing parlor in New Haven, CT!!!!)
83. Go windsurfing/wakeboarding
84. Go to one of those human fly places & stick to the wall in a velcro suit MISSION COMPLETED 4/26/2006 @ Yale-Silliman Day!! See 4/27 posting for pictures!!!
85. Build a time capsule, fill it & bury it
86. Make 1,000 paper cranes (362 of 1000---NOW IT'S 847 of 1000!!--as of 2/25/08)
87. Buy a meal for a homeless person (MISSION COMPLETED flower lady @ABP 5/24/07)
88. Photocopy my bum
89. Go on a cruise MISSION COMPLETED 6/24/2005--Henrietta on Cape Fear River w/ Pico vs. Island Trees (:
90. Make a sand castle (MISSION COMPLETED--Myrtle Beach! 5/16/07)
91. Sleep on the beach (6/15/2005-6/16/2005) MISSION COMPLETED @ Wrightsville Beach, NC
92. Kiss a crush under the moonlight MISSION COMPLETED 8/17/2006... can't give these details out... but yeah (:
93. Laugh so hard I cry (MISSION COMPLETED 3/30/07 w/ Alison & Illana)
94. Taste every item on the menu @ a restuarant (MISSION COMPLETED--although it was easy, thanks to In-N-Out!)
95. Jump into a body of water fully clothed (MISSION COMPLETED 8/5/2005 in the Colorado River)
96. Write & Illustrate a children's book (MISSION COMPLETED 12/1/2005, wrote a book for "Make a Book, Teach a Kid"--for Cambodian children. It's a book called A Penguin's Tale. It's about a penguin, Brian, that travels all over the world--it should be available online to download and we'll be binding it and sending it to Cambodia to help children learn to read!)
97. Learn Java
98. Make a snow angel (MISSION COMPLETED! 12/4/2005, in the middle of some strange field after the first snow of 2005 in New Haven, CT... pic soon)
99. Befriend a stranger (Tallullah (: Thanks for helping me out! MISSION COMPLETED 7/1/2005)
100. Go an entire day simply being happy (MISSION COMPLETED: sooo many times! I've realized I'm a rather happy person and I'd love to complete this one over & over again )

I've had some pretty delicious food in the past few days, so I wanted to recap. 

Wednesday: Michael Mina (http://www.michaelmina.net/)

Had this delicious 5-course meal:

Osetra Caviar Parfait

Sashimi of Hamachi,Dashi Gelee, Meyer Lemon,Shiso, Seabeans

Breast of Marin Sun Farm's Chicken, Leg Roulade,
Adriatic Fig, Brentwood Corn, Sauce Perigordine

Brant Farm Dry-aged Ribeye and Shortrib,
English Peas, Morel Mushrooms, Bernaise Emulsion

Strawberry Shortcake, Basil Syrup, Grains of Paradise Cream

It was delicious to say the least. There were these 2 basil leaves with the chicken that were absolutely delightful - like so incredibly tasty... I'm not normally one to eat leaves/garnishes, but in this case, I ate everything on my plate. 

 

Friday: Dim Sum (Fu Lam Mum)

Haven't had dim sum in a long time.. and this place rocked out on some clutch dim sum dishes:

Siu Mai (my fave)

BBQ Pork

Red Bean Sesame Balls

Rice in banana leaves

+ more...

and we even ordered egg drop soup - haha - and it was pretty damn good. 

 

Saturday: Nepali Food

Lamb Curry

Saag Alu (Spinach + Potato)

Chicken + Spinach

'Butter Chicken' - amazing, obvi!

Roti

 

Saturday Night: Ice Cream - Bi-Rite Creamery

Toasted Coconut

Balsalmic Strawberry

 

Who wants to guess how muh weight I've gained over the course of this week?

 

So 2 random moments in Hawaii today I felt like tabbing about:

 

1. Virgin Girl: Here I am, walking through Waikiki towards Nike Town when this girl hops in behind me, chatting up a storm with her BFFL. What does one talk about @ 4:00pm in the afternoon as you walk through downtown Waikiki? Well, for her, she decided to share her tale of Virginity to not-so-Virgin-dom. Yeah, I heard everything. I even sped up to get out of hearing range, but for some reason, she tailed me like none other. Why she had to go over each and every detail was beyond me... it was rather graphic and completely awkward for all of the people around her. Especially me.
   
2. Angry Grandma: I was in this airport shuttle (aka a taxi that someone organized to have 6 people in it & charged $12/person) and there were 2 kids in the back, a grandma & her daughter (like ~50's so when I say daughter, I mean: old woman), & some rando dude. The grandma seemed quite displeased to be sharing a taxi with so many non-white people. The daughter kept hushing her and covering her mouth and making her whisper. To say the least, the rest of us were incredibly uncomfortable. This also renewed my dislike of old people stuck in their old beliefs. Ick!

Aside from all this? Hawaii = FANTASTIC. Unfortunately, I'm in the airport on my way back to SF - which BLOWS.

 

le sigh

peace<3chiLL~linda

is AWESOME!

I went surfing. I'm burned. Life is good.

So tonight I went to see Step Brothers with Ed. I've kinda been dying to see this movie, so it just had to happen before I left for Hawaii.

We met up @ the theater, got dinner, watched the movie, & proceeded to laugh our arses off. It was hilarious - granted, it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, it was definitely something in the 'appreciated by Linda' category.

After the movie, we split and grabbed buses home. My bus was unusually packed for 11:40pm, but then again, everyone was drunk, so maybe not that big of a surprise. Across the aisle, there was a guy just sitting there sorta taking in the hilarity that was ensuing on the bus. There was a drunk girl standing between us (and it really looked like she was about to topple over on me, so I turned in a fashion such that if she did topple, she'd hit my shoulder first and probably crumble back her way as opposed to on top of me).

Once the drunk girls got off, the guy across the aisle turned and just struck up a conversation w/ me. Unlike me, he saw a crappy movie (The Mummy 3... I mean, really?). We chatted about movies (ones we recently saw, ones we liked a lot from awhile back, and ones we want to see that are coming out in the next few weeks). Before I knew it, I was at my stop. I got up to leave & in that split second, I hear, 'You have great taste in movies, we should go see one together' (at this point, everyone on the bus was looking at us and sorta enjoying the what could very well have been some sort of missed connection posting on Craigslist) - I turned and was like, 'Sure.' He reached out to shake my hand nad was like, 'btw, my name is Mike' -- 'oh hey, yeah my name is Linda.' Then I proceeded to push the button to stop the bus & he pulled out his phone and asked for my number. Everyone around us sorta gave me this thumbs up + smile and I figured, what the hell & gave him the digits.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't give out my number... ever. I usually give out my Grand Central number & send it straight to 'this number has been disconnected.' I'm not entirely sure why I gave him my number... I mean he seems harmless, but then again, I had a 20 minute conversation with him on the bus home so who knows? Is this sketchy? Usually, I'd say yes... tonight... I'm not entirely sure.

He called me when I got to my front door just to tell me he had a good time chatting on the bus and that he'll call me tomorrow.

What a random night...

I do have to say, it was rather funny; I think everyone on the bus was rather amused as they watched the two of us converse & then see it turn into an exchange of numbers. I believe I heard one guy say 'you go girl' as I got off the bus. I had to laugh at that, I mean, come on!

 

peace<3chiLL~Linda

but Seattle/Kirkland was awesome!

Saw Ned & Michael (MSFTers) & all the Googlers on my team which is always fun I stayed in this awesome apartment in Kirkland (across the street from the office!) & went for these epic runs every morning down by Lake Washington - which is absolutely gorgeous. Kirkland is a bit yuppie for me, but still... I'm not gonna lie, it was really nice

I also got to check out Seattle & see Pike's Place, eat delicious sushi at Umi's (omg, the Seattle Crunch = to die for) & the bought cheese at Beecher's (I got the smoked flagship, mmmm)!

Overall... this was just awesome... I'm happy being back home, but man... I could totally see myself living in Seattle...

 

2 days till Hawaii!

So I'm sitting in SFO right now - awaiting my flight to Seattle (I'm working out of the Kirkland office for a few days this week).

 

I'm totally stoked to be hitting up Seattle - I haven't been back since I flew out there for my MSFT interviews (whoooa). San Francisco is absolutely fabulous and totally a place I have grown to love - but I will admit, there are some things in Seattle that just make me smile

Nothing too big to update on... life in SF has been grand. My new roommate is awesome - we've been staying up playing video games every night. I think this has been a match sent from heaven. (Oh yeah, I forgot to note, 2 weeks ago we went on a shopping spree and I bought an XBox, Rock Band, and controllers... and he got stuff for his Wii (we now have Mario Kart for the Wii!) & XBox wise we've got Gears of War (AWESOME!), Halo 3, & Rock Band... next game: GTA.

Our last roommate is moving in on Monday (she's really cool - Irish girl, also a co-worker). It's pretty exciting... so many changes and all.

I really have little to complain about... work is good (a little stressful, but that's ok) & life is chill.

So I'm off to go enjoy Seattle!

peace<3chiLL~linda

Heath Ledger was fantastic. It was such a fantastic movie... and in IMAX! Wow

The only thing I have to say that was negative is that I wish I saw a little more Morgan Freeman.

 

Oh and also... there's this great shot of the entrance to Citigroup (that Alex & I saw)... the same Citi entrance that I used to take every morning as I walked into the office... oh HK, how I miss thee.

Go see the movie. It's great. Period.

except in july...

and instead of basketball, flag football.

Our team (My Lil Pwnies) was the ONLY co-ed team in the league. Our season was a little sad (0-10) and people sorta laughed at us. Like all the time.

Tonight was the playoffs. We playde the #1 team in our division (Microsoft... ugh)... and WE WON OUR FIRST GAME EVER!... and we continued on in the playoffs to win the entire thing. I'm currently being fitted for my championship ring.

WE ROCK!

woot.

peace<3chiLL~linda