http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:MandarinManMark&section=today deviantART RSS for by:MandarinManMark en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:42:54 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/27566425/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/27566425/ Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:32:32 PDT
]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/25099181/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/25099181/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:01:23 PDT
I feel very out of touch for not really seeing my dA account or updating my travelogue for 8 weeks, but on the other hand, I got some really cool new photos and new experiences I can share with all of you (not that I don't already have thousands of photos to upload and weeks of adventures still to write about in my backlog).

Anyway, I hope I'll feel a bit more back in touch in the upcoming weeks. I already miss travelling and the amazing food I've been having (now that I have a job, I can afford to eat lots of delicious food while travelling instead of whatever is cheapest), but I'm also glad that I'll have some time to myself now... and I'm looking forward to my first real weekend in six weeks coming up in a few days!

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Check out my travelogue:

http://mandarinmanmarktravel.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

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Clubs I am a part of:


]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/21431280/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/21431280/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:08:23 PST
Here it is!

http://mandarinmanmarktravel.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

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Clubs I am a part of:


]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/21163875/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/21163875/ Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:47:22 PDT
I've also been very busy with the police report of my bike accident. The end result is that they found me at fault for "entering an intersection in the wrong direction," even though I was riding my bike on a two way off-road bike path across a private driveway and not into an intersection. When I questioned the police on this, they bounced me around different city departments then refused to answer me, and now appear to be ignoring me. When I asked lawyers using their online free consultation things, they all told me that it is common practise for police (at least in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area) to make reports that are clearly contradictory to the laws. I have also learnt from the lawyers that San Mateo County has a very strong bias against cyclists. I'm still shocked after finding out that police often do not heed the laws they are supposed to uphold, but I suppose that is the situation of today's society. I think I will try contacting the media on this as I feel we should all be working for a better society, but if it's common practise, I'm not sure if anyone will listen. I don't know what else to do about having a police report that lists me at fault when it was not. I'd be glad to hear any suggestions. Hopefully after tracking down the officers so that I can add my final addendum to the report that they previously told me they will accept, I will be able to put all of this behind me. Although I am sure the bitter things I have learnt about society will follow me forward, hopefully I will not dwell on it and it will just be another lesson in the reality of life.

So, onto happier times, and hopefully I will get back to my passion of sharing my photographs from around the world!

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Check out this great photography club that lets everyone share their work. If you haven't joined it, you should!


]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18619999/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18619999/ Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:17:47 PDT
It turns out I have a pretty badly torn MCL ligament on the inside of my left knee. But this is the least of my worries. I also ended up with a tibial plateau fracture in the same knee, apparently one of the worst kinds of fractures one could get. My knee joint has a crack and a dent on the weight bearing surface. I think I will be on crutches for a few months, which means I will completely miss out on summer activities this year. Still, this is not what worries me. The doctor says that because the injury is inside my knee joint, I have an extremely high risk of developing arthritis in my left knee within 10 to 15 years. This worries me very much. I do not want to get arthritis starting from my 30's. This would mean the end of what defines me. My two greatest passions are being outdoors and travelling. If I get arthritis and have trouble walking, I will lose much enjoyment from these two passions. The MCL tear will also result in a weaker and less stable knee. The next time I'm climbing up a steep rock surface with a cliff under me, I will be very afraid of my knee giving out on me on a vital step. That would be disastrous. This same instability and arthritis risk might also make it difficult for me to pull off some of the more intense kung fu moves when I practise, and I know I will never be able to strain my joint as much as I have been able to before, putting a hard limit on what I can do. If I develop arthritis, I will also not be able to travel the way I have been, walking, and sometimes, running all day with heavy packs on my back to catch trains, find food, and find a place to sleep for the night.

All in all, disastrous news to me as it means I will be less and less able to do the two things that I love most and define who I am.

But, I guess that's life. I will try to keep active and my knee healthy and hope for the best. It just shows how everything is transitive in life and you need to appreciate every moment for what you have. Things can change at any time, and one needs to learn how to let go of things that were previously important and adapt to new circumstances. Things are only as important as you let them become.

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18453317/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18453317/ Thu, 22 May 2008 19:13:08 PDT
They found a torn ligament and a fracture in my tibia. I had no idea I had an injury this bad as I'd been walking, or rather limping around the past few days (with occasional knee give-outs). I thought the pain was just due to some stretched tissue and swelling. This gets me very worried since it is extremely important to me that my knees are strong as I do a lot of kung fu. I also need a lot of flexibility in my knees for meditations. I like to do a lot of strenuous physical activities to keep healthy. I heard that torn ligaments may never heal and may cause weakness and severe problems in the knee in the future. I'm also supposed to fly out for a trip to Portland tomorrow, which I'm considering not going on, which means I throw away a $340 plane ticket. I've also been losing more and more hours at work and spending more and more time and money in hospitals (thank goodness I have insurance and only have to pay the co-pay amount). All of this means I'm not in a very happy mood and I'm very worried for the future of my knee. I'm going to see a specialist soon, and I hope that I can get more information about the exact extent of the injury I have. I really hope I can recover to full strength like before the accident, but I'll have to wait and see what the specialist says. I can't imagine recovering to full strength with a torn tendon though. I'm sure some of the fibres arent' going to connect back up and remain as scar tissue.

At the same time, I realize there are still many people in a much worse situation than I am, which makes me feel like I'm being very selfish worrying about myself while there are much bigger problems out there. Anyway, I am worried for my current situation (I have to be honest), and I have also always felt the pain of others. This serves as a good reminder to me as to what life is truly about, and I will renew my pledge to help others in times of need.

This is a good time (well, any time is a good time) to stop and think about what's truly important in life. It's not about money, competition, and power. It's about friends, celebrating each other's efforts, learning each other, and helping anyone who needs it. If you agree with this message, please post a reply! That can be your pledge to never be disillusioned to the point where you forget what's truly important, and your pledge to help the world become a better place, even with people who may seem difficult at first. Never judge others and try to see the world from their perspective. You may just learn something new! To a better world for all!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18424325/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/18424325/ Wed, 21 May 2008 00:08:02 PDT
After a short while, a police car arrived on the scene and asked me if I was ok. From here, I started saying, "I think I'm ok" whenever someone asked me a question since I don't like making a huge deal out of things. An ambulance arrived and they held my head, told me not to move, and started asking me if I knew where I was, or if I knew what day it was. They started poking me and asking me if it hurt or not. It was just like you see in the movies, the sun glaring in your eye so you can't see their faces clearly, everyone stooped over you and examining you. Through the entire event, I kept saying "Really, I think I'm alright." To which they just told me not to move and kept examining me. I mentioned that my left leg hurt, to which instantly I felt my left pant leg be cut open and my leg examined. They also took off my shoe and sock, and told me to wiggle my toes and move my foot around. They ordered a spine board, to which I exclaimed "Really, I think I'm fine, just my leg hurts!" After a while, they were convinced I didn't have spinal injuries and they sat me up and examined me a bit more. I saw the firefighters examining the van. I saw the police examining my bike, which I later found was very scratched up. The front wheel was severely deformed, the spokes were sticking out of the wheel, a part of the tubing was torn, and a part of the rim was snapped. They helped me stand up on my right leg, put me on the stretcher, and took me to the ER. I had a very interesting and fun chat with the paramedics on the way. They loved to joke and play tricks with each other and the hospital staff. They seemed to know how to do their job well and make their patients feel comfortable. I also liked seeing the conflicts between the the different departments. The paramedics glaring at the police and shoving them out of the way when they were assessing me as the police tried to get a statement from me between the questions from the paramedics. The way the paramedics thought the firefighters "always loved to exaggerate things and make them look worse they they really are." At the hospital I got a few x-rays of my leg, and luckily there were no fractures found. They wrapped my leg to prevent swelling, and asked me if I felt like I needed crutches. I decided against them since I like doing everything the natural way (although probably not always the smartest way), asked for some gauze I can put on my scrapes so the wounds on my feet won't stick to my socks (which I never got to use), and limped out of the hospital... and went to work.

I feel better now, although I have quite a few large bruises, scrapes and a good amount of swelling. My neck, shoulder, and of course my left leg still hurt along with some dull pains in different parts of my body, and still have a pretty bad limp. I still can't seem to bend my leg very much, and have swelling around the joints. I am still oozing blood from some of my scrapes so that I have a dull red patch on my socks at the end of the day. Still, I had less scratches th... ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/15815630/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/15815630/ Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:48:25 PST
There was a time in Morocco where we got lost on a hike up a mountain and ended up in a giant marijuana plantation with me accidentally tripping over and breaking their irrigation system (which I frantically fixed) O_o. We finally escaped the situation by climbing down a precipice while getting scrapes and scratches all over. Another involves people on a Romanian train giving me money for food and water since I didn't have any money with me... I must have looked starved that day... Being surrounded by four large men on a Bulgarian tram pretending to be ticket inspectors and demanding money from me after dragging me off the tram...swimming up to a hot spring after jumping in the ocean off a boat in the volcanic island of Santorini, Greece... sleeping under the most brilliant stars and dunes in the Sahara desert and getting in and out on camel...Staying with a man I met on a train on the way to Bucharest, a city everyone warned me to avoid...Helping an Australian activist (who seemed to think he saw secret agents photographing him) track down a girl he can't get his mind off of in Transylvania...following sketchy looking teenagers down empty streets in Marseilles desperately seeking a hostel before sundown...waking up to the call to prayers in the middle of the Medina in Fez...being swarmed by "camera salesmen" in the run down Mafia city of Napoli... feelings the emotions from seeing Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius...eating dinner and viewing the Bosphorus, Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sofia from the roof of our hostel in Sultanahmet in Istanbul... Uncovering a creepy cover-up in Corfu about a string of violent attacks...Having an ape jump on my back on top of the Rock of Gibraltar... Seeing the awe-inspiring Sagrada Familia and Alhambra in Barcelona and the Catalunya region...the richness of Monaco...drinking moonshine with Romanian farmers...chatting with the owner of a brand new hostel in Lisbon, Portugal over a beer and a sizzling plate of Portuguese steak in a crowded local street diner... all priceless experiences.... too many to recount at once.

Anyway... I've moved to San Francisco (any dA people want to meet up here?) and started a new job at Electronic Arts. I've already changed teams, so I still haven't had time to settle down yet, especially with meeting new people and exploring the area. Hopefully I'll have some time to start editing and posting some of my new photos soon... Hope everything is well with everyone, and see you all around again soon!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/13095077/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/13095077/ Fri, 25 May 2007 23:34:01 PDT
My commencement is in two days... and my parents are coming up tomorrow... it's the end of my university career. So... to celebrate, I'm going to a very long backpacking trip! I had so much fun in the winter that I decided I had to do again. I'm leaving in a week, and won't be back for over two months until August, so you won't see much from me in that time. I'll still sign on when I can, and take a look at your works, so I'll be around. Drop me a message sometime, it'll be good to hear from people when I'm travelling.

I'm backpacking from south Morocco, up to Spain, through Andorra, France, and Italy, Spending some time in Greece, possibly Turkey (if my travel buddy for that part of the trip decided he's not afraid of the terrorism and political unrest there anytime soon), up to Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and finally, Portugal. I'm also going to try couchsurfing at [link] , a wonderful idea that I think everyone should be a part of. Hopefully I'll stay safe, and if I do, it'll be the adventure of a lifetime (at least up to now), so I'm really looking forward to it! For updates, you can visit my travel log at [link] . Look for the entries with the label med1, these are the entries relating to this trip.

See you around!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/13011335/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/13011335/ Sat, 19 May 2007 09:24:08 PDT
]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11848534/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11848534/ Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:07:05 PST Unfortunately I am at school in Ithaca, NY, and not back home in Toronto, so I will not be able to enjoy the New Year's festivities, but I will be celebrating it in spirit. This is one of the strange years where the lunar cycle actually falls within one hour of the change in date in China and many countries in Asia, so Lunar New Years will actually be celebrated on different days this year. For China, using standard (costal) time, it will be Feb. 18, but for many other Asian countries such as Viet Nam, it will be celebrated on Feb. 17, as the official new moon happens after 11pm but before 12am in that time zone. Strange, but true! Guess I'll be celebrating two Lunar New Years this year with my friends from different countries!

Anyway,

HAPPY NEAR YEAR TO ALL!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11562771/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11562771/ Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:17:39 PST Thanks to everyone who's visited and thanks to deviantART! Anyway, I'll use that as encouragement to keep uploading more photos, as I have tens of thousands of photos, but never seem to get the time to upload... . Well, thanks everyone and I'm glad to be part of the dA comunity!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11492845/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/11492845/ Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:08:45 PST
]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/10147277/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/10147277/ Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:04:11 PDT . Anyway, I just got an offer yesterday from Amazon, so I'm happy about that, although I'm still wondering if I should stay for a Masters... or possibly even a PhD. Not sure yet, have lots of thinking to do. Anyway, good to be back! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/9215653/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/9215653/ Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:49:44 PDT
I have been getting a lot of photos, however, so when I get a chance to get them on deviantART, I definitely will. For the while being, you can take a look at some of my photos on flickr:

[link]

Cool! I'll eventually find some time to get some good photos up on deviantART, but for now, I can't miss my opportunity to enjoy this wonderful place! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8894552/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8894552/ Sat, 27 May 2006 16:15:42 PDT ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8636410/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8636410/ Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:34:18 PDT
Well, guess what's done is done, so on the brighter side...
It IS the end of the semester, and I'm looking forward to working as an intern at Amazon.com in Seattle this summer! I finally got my paperwork nearly done (since I'm not a US citizen), and I just found out I'll be working in the Bank of America Tower, the tallest building in Seattle. (And I'm a sucker for tall buildings!) Plus, the pay is great, so I'll be able to do a lot of fun stuff in Seattle. I'm really looking forward to it since I love urban enviornments, and since I came to Cornell, being stuck on campus on the top of a hill with forests surrounding it (It's actually really scenic, with gorges and waterfalls cutting through the middle of campus)... I'm starting to miss city life. Well, I guess it's a bittersweet end to the semester, and I feel a lot better writing this here, since I haven't really told anyone what I've been feeling all semester. I don't care if anyone reads this, (I don't really expect anyone to), but it's helped me collect my thoughts. Well, see you all in a month when I'm done with exams and am in Seattle! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8371958/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8371958/ Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:58:00 PDT
And more uploading to devART! I hope the break doesn't cause me to lose steam... ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8180137/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8180137/ Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:55:34 PST
Thanks to for the avatar!

And thanks to for making another terriffic avatar (Sorry I didn't use that one, this one was closer to my original idea!) and giving me so much support through her comments!

Well, I guess I'll make another upload today (and one extra to make up for the missed day) but I'll probably be gone for about a week since I'm going home for spring break, and I'm not online as much as when I'm at school!

Thanks everyone and see you around! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8163010/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8163010/ Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:58:30 PST
]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8154014/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8154014/ Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:10:56 PST
Ok, for the last time:

DeviantART Rocks!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8150279/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8150279/ Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:28:03 PST
Time to party!



]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8124755/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8124755/ Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:30:13 PST Thanks everyone for looking!
Coming up soon.... I'll be celebrating one week of uploads on the 13th!
And I thought that I'd be happy just getting one view by then, guess it shows how connected the DeviantART community is! Now I wish I had uploaded my stuff much, much earlier!
Thanks everyone! I appreciate everyone's visits and comments!

]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8107421/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8107421/ Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:02:05 PST
Thanks again everyone! Any comments at all are very much appreciated!

By the way, I do have larger versions of everything I upload (2880x2160), so if you want the larger versions, please don't hesitate to contact me! And e-mail me or message me at any time! Although I signed up for DeviantART a long time ago, I haven't looked at it until this week, so I'm completely new to it, and would love to meet everyone here!

Thanks, and I hope you like what I'm putting here! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8084096/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8084096/ Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:16:56 PST Hope you like it! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8081996/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/8081996/ Mon, 06 Mar 2006 08:58:22 PST Well, lots of stuff has built up, and now that I'm better at time management (but have a much heavier course load) I think I'm ready to finally start submitting stuff... The only problem is that I have between 10,000 to 20,000 photos to select from, so finding the right photo's going to be chaotic...
Well, maybe you'll start seeing my first posts within a week hopefully! ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/2146987/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/2146987/ Sat, 03 Apr 2004 21:06:52 PST
I'm looking forward to when I have some time to upload my stuff... ]]> ~MandarinManMark http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/2146962/ http://MandarinManMark.deviantart.com/journal/2146962/ Sat, 03 Apr 2004 21:02:04 PST ~MandarinManMark