2005 - Oh What A Year!

Time: 1:20pm
Mood: Sleepy *yawn*
Song of the moment: INXS - Pretty Vegas

Wow time for my yearly end review already? I can't believe it's already been a year since I started this blog on Blogger.com. Time has definitely flown by. I feel like I'm sitting in a convertable :S haha!

This year was the year of extremes. I think I've felt every extreme emotion life has to offer. I experienced great happiness and entered a new phase in my life when Jimmy proposed to me. I knew he was the one for me, but this got the ball rolling (if you know what I mean! hehe). I also FINALLY finished school, got that Masters degree I've worked for for 2 years. Definitely a great accomplishment! And I entered the working world, which I'm still debating whether it should be on the good or bad list of 2005. I got to travel to new places this year and explore my roots in China with the person I love most. That takes me one step closer to my goal in showing Jimmy the world :D On the flip side, I experience the most heartwrenching of all emotions: watching my grandmother go through a gazillion tests and numerous days in the hospital to find out she had cancer, then for her to pass away 3 weeks after finding out. I am so lucky to have had the chance to spend quality time with her, and to say good-bye to her. Although she has gone, she still lives in my heart. I miss her so much.

So what has this year taught me? God works in mysterious ways, everything does indeed work out in the end and love prevails over death. I've also learned that friends are always there when you need them the most. Life is definitely a tension of opposites, but it's your prospective on life that determines how much stress and strain you experience.

To all my friends, both here and out in the blogger world, I wish you a very happy and wonderful new year. May 2006 be spectacular for everyone :)

-Kare :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Time: 5:57pm
Mood: Cheery (and tired..)
Song of the moment: ...every x'mas song except for the one by The Beatles *shiver*

Merry Christmas everyone! I have to admit, Christmas isn't as exciting as it was when I was a little kid. I remember being super excited on Christmas morning that I would be the first one up. Now, I'm always the last one to get up. Hahah funny how things change!

I got some pretty kewls gifts this year. I got a wedding scrapbook from my sister, clothes from my parents and from Bashar, a set of Japanese bowls from Flo and a whole whack of stuff from Jimmy. He was only supposed to get me snow tires for my car this year, but he went beyond that and got me pretty much everything materialistic I wanted to buy myself this year. He actually gave me a business card case with my name engraved on it, and when I opened it up, there sat 3 coupons that entitled me to a set of snow tires, a leather jacket and a Coach purse!

For those of you wondering, I got Jimmy an electric shaver :)

My last few days leading up to Christmas break was alright. My work week was pretty slow because I'm so damn efficient! I went out to a couple of lunches (the funnest one being with the lab techs.. oh they're such good people). I did get a little pissed off on my last day, when a co-worker (whom I've been helping out a lot the past couple of weeks, is pretty lazy AND in my opinion not too clear on what his job entails him to do) asked me to store some already tested parts for him. I told him no because I'm working on a bunch of programs, and that my desk area will become really cluttered, something I don't want (and he doesn't want either b/c he was complaining last week of his desk being cluttered). Then he said what just ticked me off. He said "It's YOUR job to keep the parts".

*blink blink*

Excuse me? It's MY job? Coming from someone who isn't too clear on what his job is, and a person that likes to pass on jobs that he doesn't want to do to other people. First off, it isn't my job. I'm not a storage facility. Secondly, I'm not a co-op student, you can't just off-load your work on to me. So yeah.. I'm not too impressed with this guy. And ppl warned me about him too!

Alright, got my rant out of the way and out of the system... back to celebrating Christmas! Horray! OOooh time for dindin :D Yum turkey!

I Have A Curse

Time: 11:00pm
Mood: crappy.. you'll find out soon enough
Song of the moment: Darren Hayes - California

Ok I'm OFFICIALLY cursed when it comes to cars. Yesterday I got into an accident.. I was making a left hand turn and the light had pretty much turned red, and this speeding car that tried to make the light hits my back bumper (Summer... I know how u feel now after u got into an accident w/ ur car after u got it.. *sigh* we're just 2 peas in a pod aren't we? haha). Anyway, the guy told me it was yellow.. I was argueing it was red. So w/ no witnesses, I knew if I reported it to the insurance companies I would be at fault. I guess we were pretty upset about the whole ordeal, but we were really civil about it. Me and the dude had a really good talk and just agreed to pay for our own damages. I think in the history of all accident-related discussions, this one should be placed in the top 10! Because my friggin back end of my car is slightly bent (oh it hurts just to write that), my trunk popped up and wouldn't go back down.. he offered an old t-shirt of his so that I could tie it down. That's how good it ended. The repairs.. aren't as much as I thought it was going to be, but I've pretty much killed what I earned. I guess I'm really lucky cuz I'm not hurt.. it coulda been worse (I coulda been t-boned). I won't be boxing day shopping this year :( Boy has this been a terrible month for me :( For some reason I feel really unfazed about this whole ordeal, maybe cuz the other guy was so nice or maybe because I am still getting over my grandmother's passing that it just seems so insignificant. But don't get me wrong.. I'm still bummed.

My Arrested Development quote of the night (this one cracked me up)

Michael: So, this is the magic trick, huh?

G.O.B: “Illusion,” Michael. A “trick” is something a whore does for money... or candy!

Eh what the hell.. I'll add another one:

Narrator: But as it turns out, the fair had two Startled Straight tents. And George, Sr. had wandered into the church-sponsored one...

George, Sr.: Do you want to become some guy’s girlfriend?

Narrator: ...intended to scare gay young men into a heterosexual lifestyle.

George, Sr.: You want to have some guy reach around you in the middle of the night, start messing with your junk?

Teen Boy #1: Is he ugly?

George, Sr.: No, it's pitch black. You don't see him, and it never stops, guys. And everybody acts like it's no big deal.

Teen Boy #1: Is there a cover charge?

HAHAHA :D

Tipsy-Topsy-Turvey

Time: 9:51pm
Mood: semi-sleepy (slowly getting there...)
Song of the moment: Darren Hayes - California

There's nothing better than working a hard week and having a great weekend to follow it. My weekend, like all weekends, started on Friday. I headed out to Burlington to celebrate Jen's birthday. Since I would have been back-tracking if I went to Hamilton first, then Burlington, I opted to meet the gang @ the bar (Emma's Backporch). Like most cases, I was early, so Jimmy and I sat in the car and waited for them to arrive.

Funny enough, two guys stumble out of the bar and started walking towards the truck that was parked beside me. Did they get in? No.. it wasn't their car. Instead, they proceed to take a piss right behind my car. I guess they had no idea Jimmy and I were sitting in the car going "wtf is that guy doing? is he.... HE IS!!". I was SO tempted to start my car and scare the piss back in him (haha) but I didn't.. cuz I'm that nice :) LOL

So finally the gang arrives (minus Jen... she got tied up and showed up a bit later). Cool thing was I bumped into an old classmate of mines from Waterloo that recently got married :) It was a little strange bumping into her in (out of all places) a bar in Burlington. Yeah.. it wasn't too much of a dance-happenin night.. they had a live band playing un-dancable music, so we all just sat around, chatted and drank (and watching the Sens lose to the Canucks in a shoot-out, which was just as fun! LOL). I think I drank too fast cuz I got pretty tipsy :S Jimmy had to drive home that night.. and during the ride I passed out! :S

The following night we went out w/ Flo and Kin to celebrate Kin's birthday. We headed to Wegz Stadium Bar (which is around the corner from where I work!) to catch some Leafs action (they lost.. booo!) eat and drink beer. I drank on an empty stomach.. and got tipsy pretty fast. hah! Oh my and my low tolerance :) Cheapie drunk I am! We were supposed to go to k-tv but Jimmy was sick so we called it an evening.

Ahh I'm almost done x'mas shopping.. I bought Jimmy's present on Sunday while he was playing hockey. I'm not gonna say what I bought him b/c I know he reads my blog from time to time (geez hun I already tell u everything.. must u read about it? hehe). But I walked around the friggin mall for an hour and a half *grr* I was looking for something specific but I gave up cuz I couldn't find it. Oh well.. this gift is almost as good :)

2 more weeks of work (minus one day) til x'mas break... 9 days (the countdown is on!)

...30 More Years of THIS?!?!

Time: 6:30pm
Mood: Exhausted
Song of the moment: Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Going Down

I havn't had too much time to blog because I've been just exhausted every day from working. I started work last Monday and already the work is starting to pile. I'm already having people fight for my time :S It's been ok working but the hardest part was trying to get into this routine. I'm so used to waking up whenever I want.. and unlike school, if I don't feel like coming in to work I'm sure to get fired! haha! Ah I miss school...

As I mentioned before, work has been ok. So far everyone I work with are very friendly. My office is an open concept so it can get a bit noisy sometimes (what bugs me the most is those ppl that HAVE TO listen to their voicemail msgs on speaker phone. It's like "Thanx buddy!" lol), but I like it. But I do feel like a co-op student. Why? First off.. I don't even have a proper desk! Even the co-op student, who sits beside me has a proper desk. All I have is a table... and a crappy computer that sits on my desk and takes up room. Luckily I don't use that computer, however, I am using a lender laptop until my new one comes in. And this thing is chunky.. and a bit slow. File folders and binders are starting to pile up on my desk. It's so hard to get organized (and my job requires me to be organized! eeks!). I hope my desk and the laptop comes soon...

I do get stressed sometimes though. I know they don't expect me to know everything related to my job, but they talk to me as if I should know. And that kind of freaks me out. The learning curve is definitely steep :S But in all honesty, this is not really what I want to do with my life. I'm a validation engineer, but I want to be an R&D engineer. I work with already manufactured plastic parts... I want to work with producing plastic parts. *sigh* The problem is I just started this job... and quite frankly I need the money. I feel I kind of jumped the gun when I took this job. Well.. another 30 years of working right? I'm sure I'll probably end up where I want to be (hopefully!)

The good thing about working, of course, is getting paid! I got my first pay cheque yesterday. And I think I already shopped most of it away on the weekend. Oops :S Hey it was for x'mas gifts.. sorta. That's not a bold face lie.. it's just the partial truth. Actually I spent most of the money on myself. I bought myself new dress pants (cuz I need to dress business casual @ work), a new pair of shoes w/ a lower heel cuz shit.. driving in 3" heels is NO FUN! I was having so much fun shopping!

Hey, am I the only one that thinks x'mas music is annoying? For some reason, I only enjoy x'mas music maybe a week before x'mas day. Oh wait.. I should be calling it "holiday" music (to be politically correct...)? Anyway, it bugs the crap outta me sometimes. 3 weeks ago I went shopping @ Markville mall during the day (when everyone was at work) and the mall was kinda empty, and they were playing x'mas music in the mall.. I swear to God I felt like I was in a Tim Burton movie (like Edward Scissorhands or something). So eerie! The worst song of all is that x'mas song by The Beatles... "simply haaaaving a wonderful christmas time" ugh what a horrible song *shiver*. haha now it's in your head now :D Enjoy!

TGIF tomorrow!

Farewell Pau Pau

Time: 9:40pm
Mood: Sad beyond belief
Song of the Moment: Darren Hayes - So Beautiful

My Pau Pau passed away today. No words can describe the way I feel right now... I guess for starters.. I feel really sad. I found out this morning she had passed away. But I take solace in knowing she passed peacefully around people she loved. My mom, my aunt and my uncles were by her side when she passed. Although I am filled with so much grief and sadness, I am glad. My mom called me this morning and told me about the last few days of my Pau Pau's life, and I know that God's plan for her was carried out flawlessly. I know in my heart God is taking care of my Pau Pau.

Pau Pau, I just want you to know I love you, and I miss you with all my heart and soul.. and I know one day we will meet again. Rest In Peace.

I'm Employed! Yay!

Time: 3:53pm
Mood: Happy
Song of the Moment: Darren Hayes - So Beautiful

I got the job! The one that I was interviewed for last week.. I got it! They called me yesterday to offer me the job! I start monday :D Yay! I can pay my bills :D and afford x'mas gifts! It was funny.. when the HR lady asked me when I wanted to start, I told her Monday, and she said "Are you sure you don't want more time off?" haha! I'm so sick of staying at home I really don't mind starting work on Monday :) Hooray! I really thought it would take me longer to find a job.. I'm really surprised I found a job so soon. I really am lucky :D

Anyway, so I found out yesterday that Darren Hayes has a new single out, which is through the Savage Garden greatest hits album that's not out in North America yet (but it's available in Europe and Asia.. blast! If I only knew.. I would bought it in HK!). I love the song.. ahh Darren .. I love you! haha! :D

Hehe here's my Arrested Development quote of the day (this one's my favorite!):

Lindsay: How do you think I feel? Bob Loblaw’s a handsome, professional man and I’m only used to... well, none of those things.

Tobais: Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over— an analyst and a therapist. The world’s first analrapist.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH jokes!

Tobais: No, no, it’s pronounced a-nal-ra-pist.

Job Hunting

Time: 3:39pm
Mood: Blah
Song of the Moment: Savage Garden - Affirmation (my "feel good" song)

After taking a week off to recovery for the vicious case of jet lag that I had (geez.. the first time I get jet lag and it has to be this extreme). It seriously took me a week to get over it. Now I'm back to my regular routine of sleeping at ungodly hours and waking up just in time for lunch.

I've been keeping to myself since I got back.. I havn't really made the initiative socialize and go out to see my friends. I'm still going through some rough times. I have good days and bad days. Today I guess is a good day even though I'm bored out of my mind. I've finally realized today that there is no way in HELL I can ever be a housewife (take note of that Jimmy!).

My job search.. has been interesting. I started my quest to get myself empolyed last Monday. I'm happy to say I've already had one interview :D I applied to this job early Wednesday morning, they called me late Wednesday morning telling me that I was under qualified for the job I applied for, however they had another position opened that I might be interested in. We scheduled the interview for Thursday (the next day). Right when I got off the phone w/ the HR lady I realized something: I had nothing to wear :S So what did I do? I quickly went to the mall and found myself a nice suit ($400! Oh I hope I find a job soon b/c I donno how I'm gonna pay it off!!). I think the interview went well.. they asked me for my references the day after my interview. Is that good? Geez I have no clue.. that was my first job interview in over 2 years! And I've never really applied for a full-time position before. Haha I guess you can call me a full-time job virgin :P

I had my convocation last Friday. I finally got that piece of paper I have been working for over the past 2 years. What a sigh of relief! The ceremony wasn't too bad.. not as long as my Waterloo one :S But then again there weren't as many graduates!

My mom left today for HK along with my uncle. They were planning to go next week but my Aunt Fanny said that my grandmother isn't doing well and that they should try to hurry back. *sigh* I'm having a hard time grasping the fact that it was only a little more than 2 weeks ago that I saw my grandmother.. how could she have gotten this much worse so fast? It's like she gave up. I had a really bad day the other day when my mom told me that my grandmother was back in the hospital and her health is declining rapidly. :( this.... truely.... sucks.... :(

"No Touching!"

Time: 4:45pm
Mood: half 'n' half (happy/sad)
Song of the moment: The Acarde Fire - Wake Up

I woke up this morning to find that my absolute most favorite show Arrested Development has been cancelled by those stupid dumb FOX Network executives. It's sad because this show is truely the best show in television right now (if not ever!) and not a lot of people have caught on to this hilarous smart comedy about a dysfunctional family. I think the main problem with this show is that you sort of have to watch previous episodes to actually get the jokes (many jokes are either reoccuring jokes or play off other jokes in previous episodes). So first time viewers are most likely not going to give it a second chance. I was just surfing the show's message boards today and one of the posts I came across asked fans to list the top 10 things they love about Arrested Development. Here are mines:

1. Tobais' ambiguously gay remarks ("Even if it means taking a chubby, I will suck it up!" or "I just blue myself" or " Well, Michael, you really are quite the Cupid, aren’t you? I tell you, you can zing your arrow into my buttocks any time" LOL)
2. "No Touching!"
3. Loose Seal = Lucille
4. When G.O.B finishes his magic tricks w/ a "Ta Da!"
5. Bob Loblaw the lawyer (his name cracks me up!)
6. Photo of Tobais' balls being mistaken for pictures of Iraqian terrain
7. Chicken dances
8. MR F
9. Lessons that involve someone loosing an arm
10. Tobias' nude phobia (never-nude)

Ah there are too many to count!! I just bought the Season 2 DVDs and geez.. I can watch these episodes over and over again and not get sick of them! I've already watch the Season 3 episodes 3 or 4 times already! Oh A.D.. I will miss you lots!

I've had quite the productive day. I've called the church to book the wedding but I have to go in and pick up a package first.. so I gotta do that tomorrow. I've applied to 3 jobs so far :S I'm going to search for more and see if I can apply to any more tomorrow, but those 3 are actually jobs I might be able to get.

I've been having a rough time w/ this whole jet lag business. When 8pm hits I'm completely exhausted and sleepy.. to the point where I can't even function (I can't stay awake.. which is odd.. I usually can always stay awake at night). *sigh*

My Edge Playlist

Looks like Edge liked my playlist... they posted it up on their website :D

My Playlist

The fact that I said I was from HK probably tipped the scales in my favor :D

The Reality of Sadness

Time: 6:56am
Mood: Sad.. and tired (f--k this jetlag!)
Song of the moment: Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot

I havn't updated this in ages I know... but I guess I've been either too busy or too consumed with dealing with life. I'm going through a difficult time right now. The day I got back from China is the day I found out what is really wrong with my pau pau. She has cancer. And there is nothing that me, the doctors or any medical treatments can do. She's already in the later stages. They can't pinpoint the exact location where it began, nor are they even bother going to find out. All I know is, it's invaded her bladder and intestinal tract. This time around it was really hard to leave HK, because in leaving, I had to say goodbye to my pau pau.. and it wasn't a "I'll see you next time I come to HK" goodbye.. it was goodbye, the last time I would probably ever see her alive. It was the hardest thing I had to do. The last time I saw her, her eyes.. the look of sadness. It's like we both knew this was goodbye, both of us were sad but didn't want to show it. Seeing her in that hospital bed, weak and tired... my heart broke. I'm very lucky Jimmy was with me when I found out, and he was there when I said goodbye to my grandmother. He's been my rock through this entire ordeal and I'm so thankful for that. I'm so glad she got to meet him too. She really likes him.. she told me she thinks Jimmy's a great guy.. very polite and sincere. I know she knows I'm going to be taken care of. Before I left, I gave her a hug, and told her to just be happy. The moment I left her hospital room I fell apart.

It was easier saying goodbye to my gung gung, which was strange because he's my world's most favorite person, and I thought it would be hard. But I think it's because my gung gung is scatterbrained and spent the whole night making me laugh (he spent the whole night talking nonsense.. at one point he told my uncle to f-off hahaha). I also gave him a hug before I left.. a hug I regretted not giving him when I left HK the last time I was there.

My mom is having a rough time dealing with it. 2 weeks ago one of her closest friends passed away from ovarian cancer. So it's been rough on my mom. And the fact that a couple of days after she found out her mother had cancer, my dad had to leave for HK to pick up my other grandparents (my grandfather got sick while in HK and my family thought it would be best if my dad came and escorted him home just to make sure he was ok during the flight). So my mom was pretty much alone. I was actually planning to stay in HK longer, but after having a talk w/ my uncle, I thought it would be best to go back home and keep my mom company.

I've never had to deal with this before. And I don't know how to deal w/ it. I guess there's no right or wrong way. I cry about it almost every day at least once. But it's getting better day by day. It helps that my mom's with me to deal w/ it and that Jimmy's there by my side. I feel so unmotivated to do anything right now but I know if my grandmother knew her condition was causing me to be in this state of mind she would be very upset. Plus I'm getting over this jetlag.. which I've believe it or not, never ever experience before :S I never get jetlag.. until now :P

I'm beginning to think this entry is getting a little long winded but I still have to write about my China trip (which was amazing by the way! The tour was excellent and it was partially due to the actual people on my tour.. they were are so great! We all got along so well!). Here are some of the highlights (and some pics!)

Shanghai

• Walking along The Bund during the day & at night.
• Taking a gazillion pics of the Pearl TV Tower.
• Nanjing Rd, the pedestrian street full of stores and restaurants.
• Being able to walk around and find random cultural experiences. I can't count the number of times I've walked in a park and found a group of people playing chinese instruments or a tai chi group or found a pedestrian street that brought be back into time to the 50's or 60's.
• Taking a ride to the Pudong area in the Psychadelic Bund Tunnel.. the cheesist tourst trap I've ever been on!
  

Suzhou

• The gardens.. althought it was gloomy and rainy (it was on my birthday too!) they were absolutely beautiful.
• Going to the water town of Zhou Zhuang and getting to ride a boat along the canals
• Taking an overnight train to Xi'an. It was fun :) Jimmy and I taught Deirdre and Kate to play Euchre.. and Kate just kept buying those huge cheap beers!

Xi'an

• Renting a two person bicycle with Jimmy and riding around the city wall (took us an hour and a half! What a huge wall!)
• Visiting the Terricotta Warriors museum.. it was spectacular! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
• The taxi ride to the train station: Natalie, Jimmy and I got into an illegal cab, and the cabbie only took us to the city walls (the train station was outside the city walls). 3 of us were pretty pissed so Natalie said not to pay the cabbie.. plus she was ripping us off anyway. We got out, yelled at her and started to walk away.. she chased ME down, grabbed me and started to yell at me.. she was probably telling me to pay. I was soo scared! But I yanked my hand away, yelled @ her in English and walked away. Freaky...

Beijing

• Visiting the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square the morning we got to Beijing. I loved Tianamen Square.
• Walking the Great Wall of China. It was mindblowing... that wall is massive!
  
• Visiting the Summer Palace, then meeting up with Rob afterwards (we almost didn't find him!!)
• Getting a traditional Chinese massage. Why havn't I gotten a massage before? 5 of us girls went: me, Ciara, Kate, Karen and Natalie; all of us were in the same room so we got to chat. Afterwards my feet were so comfortable.. I felt like I was walking on clouds!
• Watching Jimmy eat a fried scorpian.. yes a scorpian :S That crazy guy!
  
• Eating Peking Duck... soo goooood!
• Taking a tour of the Hutong area, and getting to play with kids at the local kindergarten.. the kids were absolutely adorable!

For more pics, click here. Just a warning.. there are over 600 pictures!

Worried....

Time: 3:00pm
Mood: Very worried
Song of the moment: Foo Fighters - February Stars

My pau pau has been feeling under the weather lately, in fact, I took her to a couple of specialists to run some medical tests. It's been difficult seeing my pau pau like this. She's constantly tired.. even too tired to go visit my gung gung @ the nursing home. She's constantly worried.. I see it in her eyes. She was supposed to go see her doctor today to get her test results but they're not ready yet, so it's another day she has to sit and wonder what is really wrong with her. And it's hard. It's hard to see her this way. She told me yesterday this has been the most difficult time in her life: she's suffering from constant stomach upset, and she's always tired. Not only that, she's in a constant worried state, both worrying about herself and those around her, mainly my gung gung and her younger sister, who was hospitalized earlier this month.

All I can do is wait... I know that. I hope my pau pau is ok.. I'd give anything for her to be ok. Worrying about her consumes me at the moment.. I can't think of anything else.

For Every Bad Thing a Good Thing Occurs

Time: 7:47pm
Mood: Upset and happy.. all at the same time
Song of the moment: Black Eye Peas - Don't Lie

I havn't blogged in a while! I guess I've been out and about.. havn't had much time to blog!

Let me see? Where to begin? I guess I should start with my normal format: the backwards recap. Today I spent most of my day w/ my pau pau. She hasn't been feeling too well lately, we don't know what's wrong with her, and her doctor suggested that she should get a variety of things tested. I took her because all my aunts and uncle's were working, but honestly, I would have done it regardless just to spend some time with my grandma. I took her to 2 different clinics, luckily they were withing walking distance of each other. That took up the first half of the day (we had to do a lot of waiting :S it was crazy...). After that I met up with my uncle to go get my camera fixed. Yeah you heard right.. my brand NEW camera is busted.. the LCD screen is cracked. I donno what I did :( I don't remember hitting it against ne thing :( Anyway, it's gonna cost me $480HKD to fix.. quite a bit of money but considering they were planning to charge me $900HKD for it.. I'm not complaining too much. *sigh* so that's the bad thing. The good thing (it's good there's always a flip side) is that I just found out Rita's coming to HK for a couple of days! Hooray! We're both going to my dad's cousin's wedding. She's going for that, plus she really wants to spend time with our grandparents, who flew in from Toronto on Saturday. I'm looking foward to see Ri and our grandparents on Thursday (the day of the wedding).

Yesterday was quite eventful. I went on my first ever boating trip with a bunch of Freddy's friend's friends. It wasn't too expensive either.. $140HKD for the day including food :) Nice! The boat took us out to this beach area where people either chilled on the boat, went wake-boarding or went swimming. I opted for swimming :) I took my friend Johny along for the ride. it was kewls.. we ended up meeting some fellow Torontonians.. Tiffany, who just finished her undergradate degree and Stephanie, a girl doing an internship in Japan. I spent most of the day hanging out w/ Freddy, Steph and Johny.. fun times :D I think I got darker.. which sucks cuz I just bought foundation for my face. probably doesn't even match my face ne more! haha! After the boat trip, I rushed home, took a shower, then ran to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet up with Nancy and Masa. Masa came in from Japan for the day (it was his long weekend.. he flew in Sat nite.. and he left this morning!). We went to this really nice restaurant called Habitu, which was right by the harbour so we got to see the HK island night view (well.. sorta.. haha). I guess I was pretty dehydrated from the boat trip because after taking 5 sips of a martini I was DONE! haha! That has never happened before! I was red from both embarassment and the alcohol! haha! It was definitely great to see Masa and Nancy again :) I havn't seen them in a long time!

Last week my mom took me to Macau. It was my first time going :) People mainly go there to go to the casino but my mom and myself are not big time gamblers. So we walked around and saw the historial sites... mainly churches. Still intersting though.. it's very european because it used to be a Portuguese colony.

omg I still feel so dizzy... :S I felt like this yesterday at the restaurant when I was w/ NC and Masa... I felt like I was still on the boat.. and I still feel that way :S maybe I'm just tired...

As for pics.. here are the links:

Daejeon

Seoul

Macau

Hong Kong

I'll be updating the HK album from time to time ;)

WAH! Fireworks!!! :D

Time: 9:03pm
Mood: Laaazy..
Song of the moment: Foo Fighters - Big Me

I finally bought my camera! Hooray! I ended up getting the Pansonic Lumix DMC-F9. It's a purdy camera :D Cost me a bloody arm and a leg.. but it's so damn nice! I've been playing around with it all day :D My Uncle Daniel and I headed up to Causeway Bay (again.. I swear I've been there every day I've been in HK!) to buy the camera. After shopping around, we found a place that gave me the best price. They even threw in an umbrella as a gift! HAHA what a bonus! LoL!

After that I met up with Freddy and we pretty much spent the entire day together. We stuck around Causeway bay. He took me to a lot of small malls that I would have never went to myself.. they sold strange stuff.. fobby stuff :s haha! We met up with Johny later that evening to catch the fireworks. Yesterday (October 1st) was China's national day, where they celebrated the founding of People's Republic of China. With any big Chinese celebration comes a huge fireworks display the night of. We headed to Wan Chai after dindin and OMG just the amount of ppl there was just insane! I felt like a cow being herded into a barn.. just massive amounts of people. It was so hot and humid too.. I just felt bloody uncomfortable. But man it was a great fireworks show! It was hilarous, before the fireworks started, Johny told me that Chinese people had a tendancy to say "WAAAH!" during the fireworks show.. and they say it in unison. He wasn't kidding. I found this quite entertaining and I even joined in.. partially to mock them but some of the fireworks were pretty spectacular! I love a good firework show (right Jimmy? heheh ;D). After the fireworks, and being herded out of the harbour area, we met up with Freddy's friend Joyce for dessert. It's good.. I got to practice my Chinese with her. I'm slowly getting less timid about speaking Chinese, but I still feel a bit uneasy :S

Today I was supposed to meet Johny for dinner but I had to cancel. Why? B/c it was SO friggin hot today! and smoggy.. I took a walk outside with my mom this afternoon and I felt so nasty! And it was a bit hard to breathe. So I wanted to just stay in and chill. It doesn't look to smoggy now.. it just rained (actually it began to T-storm right after I got off the phone w/ Johny! hahah). I donno what to do tomorrow.. I was thinking of chillin' but I did that today. Perhaps I should go make-up shopping tomorrow... :D

I'm really beginning to miss Jimmy a lot. His internet is down.. so he's never online :( And we talk on the phone.. probably every other day but not for too long.. I can't wait til he gets here! 17 more days til my baby comes to HK! Hooray! :D

Half and Half

Time: 9:50am
Mood: Happy (I went shopping yesterday!)
Song of the moment: Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To

It's almost been a week since I've landed in the motherland (haha) and finally the weather has been co-operating with me. The first half of the week has been rainy, the second half, rather sunny and damn humid. I'm still getting used to the humidity although my skin is loving it here (it's so smooth!! yea!). I've spent the past few days mainly with my mom. On Wednesday I went up to the Yuen Long (the New Territories) to visit my grandpa's younger brother (suk gung) and his family. I found out very quickly he's very knowlegable in ancient Chinese history because when he found out I was going to China, he gave me a brief history lesson. I must say it was quite interesting (I was surprised I understood 70% of what he was saying! haha).

Thursday I headed out w/ my mom to see her old violin teacher and his family. They're still pretty good friends after all these years.. in fact he even came to visit us with his family in Toronto many years ago. I re-met some of his kids.. his son Henry works at Disneyland and he told me he could get me into Disneyland for free! Hooray! haha! His sister Helen is an airplane stewardess for Cathay Pacific, and told me she would take me to one of her yoga classes! haha! :D! That evening I met up with Frankie and Bernard for dinner. I hadn't seen Frankie in a while, so we caught up on each other's lives :D ah it's so fun meeting friends in another setting :D

Yesterday was my major shopping day! My mom first took me to see her cousin and an old highschool friend she hadn't seen since HS graduation. It was fun listening to them ramble on about the old days. Made me wonder if I'm gonna end up doing that too in my later years. I probably will! haha! We headed to "Women's Street" after lunch to do some shopping and boy did I shop! I managed to buy 3 handbags (1 is for a friend), 4 messenger bags (2 for my sister), and... I don't remember what else I bought, but yeah.. I think I spent a total of 250HKD! not bad not bad! Still got the bargaining skillz! so much better than in Seoul.. because when you walk away, these Chinese vendors actually try to get u to come back by lowering the price! Excellent! haha!

Oooh gotta run! gotta meet my uncle.. he's takin me camera shopping (finally! hooray!)





Me waiting to get on to the MTR. It's my "I hate crowds" look. Thanx Freddy for the pic! hehe :D

In HK

Time: 9:46am
Mood: kinda sick..
Song of the moment: Mariah Carey - Shake It Off

I'm finally here! Hong Kong! My birthplace.. my motherland.. whatever you want to call it! And I'm loving it so far! Just being here makes me happy! The moment my plane landed I felt a sense of being home. Aside from my 9h layover before I went to Korea, the last time I was in HK was 7 years ago. Things havn't changed too much since I was last here except the fact that my grandparents don't live near a MTR (subway) line :s just makes getting around a little bit harder.

I've been here for 3 full days now (this is my 4th) and I've done quite a bit. The first two days I spent with my Aunt Fanny and Uncle Daniel (my mom and my Pau Pau went to Shanghai for a couple of days). I also spent some alone time window shopping for a camera and my soon-to-be Coach purse :D Now that my mom's back, I've been pretty much spending time with her. I'm glad she's here, because I can actually visit relatives without feeling a bit awkward. It's not their presence that makes me awkward, but the language barrier. My chinese is a bit rusty to begin with, and I'm still quite shy about speaking chinese. In fact, I spend most of my time conversing in english, except to my grandparents. so it's good my mom is there because she can do most of a conversing.

Yesterday was the most eventful day so far. I went out with my mom to apply for my HK ID card. I'm eligible for one because I was born here :) We had lunch at Causeway Bay and did some window shopping before she went up to visit an old friend. We spent quite a bit of time in Sogo, where I bought myself a new bikini! It was $100HKD! Sweet deal! After Sogo, we headed to my mom's friend's place. This friend was her old accupuncturist teacher.

After leaving her friend's place, we parted ways. She went to see my Gung Gung (I've visited him quite a bit since I arrived in HK). I went off to meet Freddy. I havn't seen Freddy in years.. and it was good to see a friend in a different surrounding. We went to Starbucks to just chill and catch up on each others lives. He had to go teach english on the Kowloon side and was wondering if I wanted to ride the MTR over there with him. I thought, why not, because I was supposed to meet Bernard (my other friend), and I knew he lived on the Kowloon side. The MTR ride there was just crazy.. so busy because it was rush hour. I was just sandwiched between people :s Before we got on the train, Freddy and I having a debate. HK follows certain British-isms such as driving on the left side of the road. So while on the escalator, we noticed that people stood to the right and people passed on the left. We found this peculiar. He told me that someone told him in the UK, the passed to the right, but I told him otherwise. While on the tightly packed train, we noticed 2 British men standing near us, so to indulge our curiosity, Freddy asked them. Turns out the they stand on the right, pass to the left! hahah!

I met up with Bernard in Mong Kok. It was 7:00pm and the streets were pretty busy. Bernard took me to this local restaurant for chicken and rice.. it was pretty good! He took me back to his apartment because he had spilled ice tea all over his pants (aww hahha that really sucked!) and he needed to change.. and man! His apartment was sweet! not because it was spacious (because it was pretty small). But all the rooms had a bed that was stored in the celing! He showed me... the bed is suspended by these thick conveyor-type belts and it slowly lowers from the celing. it was crazy! most awesome thing ever! haha! Afterwards, we went out for dessert, then I had to head back (didn't want my mom and grandma to worry. for flips sakes, I have a curfew here! I havn't heard that word in so long! and I'm 25 *grr*)

I'm going to visit my mom's aunt today.. apparently she's not feeling to well (she's a bit under the weather). Gotta rap this up (my mom is impatiently waiting for me!)

Seoul

Time: 8:59am
Mood: Tired
Song of the moment: Bon Jovi - Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

So I'm @ the Seoul Incheon Airport right now waiting for my flight to go to HK. I managed to switch my flight from a flight w/ a stopover in Taipei to a direct flight to HK. It leaves a little later but it arrives a bit earlier.

So this means the end of my time in Korea.

Rita and I headed to Seoul thursday night. I got to ride a bullet train for the very first time! Quite exciting! We were going so fast my ears were popping (is that normal? haha). The ride to Seoul was super fast.. I think we got there in under an hour! Seoul was a lot of fun (if you exclude some of the rude ppl we had to deal w/). It was spending going to various markets (we hit Namdaemun & Insa-dong markets) and I got to see the the Gyeongbokgung, which is one of the most famous palace in Korea. Pictures are definitely to come!

The shopping here is just crazy, but I didn't buy too much.. must prefer to shop in HK where I can actually bargain w/ the vendors. I found here in Korea, no one really cuts you a deal. Esp if you speak english (so English speaking travellers BEWARE!). One incident we had, Rita was looking into buying a purse for her sister Wendy. We went to this one stall, and she asked the vendor in Korean how much the purse was. He said $20. We walk in the store to check out the other purses.. then walked out. We began to look @ the purse again and another vendor (same store), told us it was $25.. just because we were speaking english. So we yelled at him, telling him his friend told us it was $20. Then we walked away because we were so not impressed. And everytime we asked them to lower the price, they didn't. See.. in HK, if you start walking away they usually try to reel u back in by lowing the price even more. I guess it makes me appreciate HK so much more...

Other than the rude vendors (and some rude ppl on the street), Korea's not too bad. But I can't say I'll ever come back. The country is definitely full of culture and traditions that they take pride in, and I respect that.

well, my time is almost (I paid for internet!). Pictures to come.. I know i've said that before.. but i'll put some up soon!! :D

Land of Kia's & Hyundai's

Time: 9:00am
Mood: Hungry.. gotta eat breakfast!
Song of the moment: Coldplay - Fix You

I finally have time to sit down and blog! Rita's @ school right now so I'm home alone *AHHHH!* haha! Korea's been fun so far but I've been spending most of my time just realxing and chilling.. havn't gone out too too much.. feel kinda like a homebody right now.. and it's a good thing Rita's like that too. I think I'm still exhausted from school and the travelling!

So I flew out of Toronto Friday night. It was hard saying bye to Jimmy.. I'm not going to see him for a month! :( I miss him so much already! I was on the plane for 21 hours... it was a flight to HK with a stop-over in Anchorage, Alaska to refuel. our stopover was only supposed to be an hour but it ended up being 2 b/c an exit sign on the plane wasn't working :S The plane ride was just brutal. But I met some pretty interesting people on the plane. The person sitting beside me was a Montrealer that owns a business manufacturing bras. He was travelling to China, and apparently he travels there quite often. Behind me was a retired Fillipino couple that, I found out, used to go to the same church as me. They were sweet :) In the row side me was a Vietnamese family with a little boy that came over at one point during the flight because he wanted to look out the window (I had a window seat). Oh he was adorable! We landed in HK around 7am (surprisingly ontime considering we were delayed in Anchorage) and the moment I got off the plane I began to sweat like you wouldn't believe.. it was just hot and humid. I guess it didn't help I had my sweatshirt on! haha! I gave my mom a call to let her know I've landed. She was supposed to come meet me at the airport and keep me company, but when I called her she told me that my Aunt Fanny was on her way to come get me.. she was gonna come take me out to HK Island to have lunch w/ my relatives.

Oh I'm so glad I left! It was definitely a good break from travelling.. and a heck of a lot more fun than sitting in or around an airport for 9 hours :S My Aunt Fanny took me back to my Pau Pau's place, where my mom was staying. So good b/c I got to relax and take a shower (which I was incredibly grateful for! I just felt nasty!). After making phonecalls to my dad and Jimmy to tell them I arrived safe and sound into HK, my mom, Pau Pau, Aunt Fanny and Uncle Daniel headed out for lunch. My Gung Gung even joined us for lunch (my Uncle had to go pick him up at the old age home he was staying at). My Aunt Fanny brought along her son (my cousin) Justin, who I havn't seen in 7 years. He's so big now! He's quite the spunky kid.. but he didn't talk to me that much cuz I think he was afraid of me (cuz i spoke english! hahaa). Anyway, the big thing was I got to see my Gung Gung... and when I saw him I felt a little sad. He looked so different.. he was in a wheelchair.. his cheeks sunken in because he can no longer wear his dentures... and he was so thin. He doesn't remember me at all. But the good thing is he's still here :) I'm glad I got to see him :) After lunch, I headed back to the airport.

My flight to Seoul was a bit delayed.. which wasn't good news for me. Originally my flight was to land at 8:50pm, and then I was supposed to catch the last bus going to Daejeon at 10:10pm. I thought it was going to be a bit tight b/c I had to go through customs, grab my luggage, exchange money, buy a bus ticket and call Rita to tell her I was ok. A lot to do, but I figured an hour and a bit would be sufficient. But my plane landed late, and we arrived at the gate at 9:20pm. The whole entire flight I was in a panic. I was absolutely exhausted from travelling (I had gotten a total of 2h of sleep over a 48h period) and I just didnt' want to deal w/ what I would have to do if I missed that bus to Daejeon. So I just kept praying for a miracle. So I got off the plane at 9:25.. sped walk past the ppl in business class that got off first, made my way to to customs. I got past customs at 9:35, sped walk to get my luggage. Unfortunately for me, because I arrived in the HK airport quite early, my luggage was probably one of the first pieces to be put in, therefore it would be one of the last to come out. I finally got my luggage at 9:45, exchanged money, then ran to the bus ticketing booth, paid for my ticket, and called Rita.. and I had 10 min to spare! WHEW! When I got on the bus I was incredibly relieved!

So far I've been enjoying Korea, and spending time with Rita. We're best friends and everything, but this is the first time we've actually kinda travelled together. It's strange. But It's been fun! I've taken a few pics.. I'll upload some once I download them from the camera. :D

In Korea

Time: 5:46pm
Mood: Happy!
Song of the moment: ...this stupid song they were playing @ E-Mart

I'm in Korea! I made it alive! I almost didn't though! But I don't have too much time to write... I have to help Rita w/ dindin :D But yeah.. getting here was VERY exhausting.. I'll blog about it soon!! :D

Btw... E-Mart is this department store in Daejeon, Korea.... they sell everything and it's open 24h a day! They were playing this song... it was of these kids singing.. so annoying! It reminded me of something out of Stepford Wives... it was eerie!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Time: 7:09pm
Mood: Tired from packing
Song of the moment: Sloan - Try To Make It

I'm leaving in a couple of hours and to be honest I'm not quite ready to leave... mentally. I'm pretty much packed and ready to go.. but I don't know about you, I usually have to be mentally prepared as well. It just seems all so rushed.. I guess it has been rushed. I usually have a good while to get excited about my trip.. but this time I only started getting excited yesterday after I submitted my thesis to the School of Graduate Studies (yea! I'm officially done!!).

Yesterday was nuts.. I was working off of 45 min of sleep (I couldn't sleep!!) I finally sent my thesis out for binding and said goodbye to everyone. The hardest good-bye was to my officemates. I almost started to cry.. I'm really going to miss them. I had such an awesome office :D I swear, we did more chatting and beating up on each other than working! Despite getting only 45 min of sleep I manged to stay up and watch Jimmy play ball hockey, and chill w/ Flo and Kin. I got to bed around 1am.. after I killed a mosquito that was buzzing around my room. It bit me on the cheek :P S.O.B mosquito!! haha now my cheek is swollen :(

I found out yesterday that instead of a 5 hour layover in HK before I head to Seoul, I now have a 9 hour layover :S Holy shit! They changed my flight last minute! So I was contemplating what I was going to do for 9 hours.. I mean it's bad enough that it's right after a 17 hour flight :S Luckily, I got an email from my mom today and she said she was going to come to the airport and keep me company (she's arriving in HK Sat... I'm arriving Sunday). So I feel better about it :D

Alrighty.. gotta get some last minute stuff done. I can't believe I'm going soon! The hardest part is leaving Jimmy for a month.. I hate leaving him :(

I Finally Get To Relax!

Time: 9:00pm
Mood: Brain-dead.. but happy!
Song of the moment: Sloan - Try To Make It

My brain has turned to Jello... I can feel it jiggling around. After 2 crazy days of fixing up my thesis, it's finally done and ready for print & binding. I can finally start getting excited about my trip!

Well I'm stuck in Hamilton right now. I had hoped to get my thesis ready for binding today but after starting a meeting w/ my supervisor (he had to look over my corrections to make sure they were alright) I realized it just wasn't going to happen. I had minor changes still left to do AND I had to run around and get a bunch of signatures for my "department check-out" form. They just wanted to make sure I cleaned up my lab, desk and returned all equipment before I left. I still have to print out my thesis and get it bound, which I'll do tomorrow. I'm just crashing @ Kathy's tonite.. and I just realized I forgot a toothbrush.. and a pillow... aw man!

I found out today Jimmy's able to join me for HK and China! I'm super excited about that.. and I feel a bit better about travelling to China. I wasn't too keen on doing the tour on my own even though I was in a tour group.. it's just always better when you have someone with you that can look out for ya. So yeah.. really excited about him meeting my relatives in HK. They're gonna love him.. I know it! He's such a likeable guy (just the other night, when I was out w/ my Mac buddies Jen tells him that out of all the boyfriends her friends have, she liked him the best! hehe).

Oh! so last week I went downtown to pick up my package from the travel agent, then I walked over to UofT to wait for Jimmy so that we could take the subway back up together. UofT was having their frosh week, so all these froshies (first year university students) were roaming around the street cheering. So anyway, I dropped by Jimmy's office, dropped off my bag and went back out to get a hot dog. While walking towards the hot dog stand, I heard music. I knew that Sloan was going to play a concert for the froshies but I thought it was at night. But as I listened to the music, I thought to myself "Wow! that sounds an awful lot like Sloan!" So I followed the ears to the source of music and lo and behold.. SLOAN!! Of course I stayed to watch! Ohh they're so good :D They have such a Canadian sound to them.. I love that! hehe! Man did I feel lucky that day.. stumbling across a concert by one of ur fav bands.. haha :D Awesome!

Defense = DONE!

Time: 1:18am
Mood: Exhausted!
Song of the moment: Sloan - She Says What She Means

I had my defense yesterday (the 12th). I'M SO RELIEVED! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. My supervisor told me after my defense that one of my committee members went a little hard on me... but that's ok.. I survived! :D

But I'm still stressed.. I have corrections to do for my thesis.. and I have to finish them by tomorrow night! Why? Because I have to have it ready for binding before I leave for my trip! I leave Friday night (my flight out is at 11:40pm)... so I have to get my corrections done by tomorrow, head to Hamilton again Wed and meet w/ my supervisor to look over my corrections.. then right after that get it printed. I don't think I'm going to get it printed before the Grad Studies office closes on Wed.. so I might be crashing overnight @ Kathy's and submitting it for binding on Thursday. :S

I'm working off of 3 hours of sleep right now.. I couldn't sleep last night b/c I was in a state of panic. And now.. I'm staying up to work on my corrections. I'm so tired but I know it has to get done :S

I hope I get it done.. *stress stress*

But most importantly.. I passed my oral defense! Hooray me! haha! "I am so smart.. s-m-r-t .. i mean s-m-a-r-t" HAHAH (it's a quote from the Simpsons hehe)

Hubert & Elizabeth's Wedding

Time: 12:35am
Mood: Meh..
Song of the moment: Backstreet Boys - Just Want You To Know

Saturday was the big day for Hubert and Elizabeth.. they got married! I had told Elizabeth I was willing to help out on her wedding day b/c I figured since Jimmy was a groomsmen, I wouldn't be doing much during the day anyway. Boy it was an eye opener! I realized really how much went into a wedding! But I also took some mental notes on what I wanted for my wedding :D

I arrived at the church before the bridal party arrived. I was helping out with the reception table where I was recieving the gifts and getting them to sign this huge framed portrait of the bride and groom. When the bridal party arrived, I got the first glimpse of my Jimmy in a tux.. oh he looked so handsome :D *giggle* I was definitely all smiles after seeing him :D hehe! The ceremony was sweet. Hubert cried when Elizabeth was walking down the aisle (I didn't get to see this.. I was fixing Elizabeth's dress before she walked down so I didn't catch ne of it.. I saw it in a video they played later at the banquet). Awww :D I don't think Jimmy's gonna cry when I walk down the aisle. He's too much of a manly man to do that! haha! But we'll see.. :D Kin predicts he's gonna tear *lol*.

After the ceremony, a whole whack of pictures were taken, then the bridal party was off to take pictures downtown. I stayed behind to clean up, then I headed home for some R&R, and to get ready for the banquet that night. Again I showed up at the restaurant early to help with the reception table. My goodness they had so many ppl @ the banquet.. there was around 360 ppl there or something! Jimmy and I both agreed.. our wedding is not gonna be that big! haha! After seeing how much goes into a wedding Jimmy and I concidered just going to Vegas or buying one of those wedding getaway packages.. makes it so much easier! LOL! We're both so lazy! haha!

The banquet was a lot of fun! For those who don't know much about Chinese banquets, we tend to play a lot of games.. some of which are kinda peverted. But it's the only time you can get away with it. I think the worst one I've seen is the bride had to push an egg up the grooms pant leg.. up one pant leg and out the other without using her hands! Anyway, Hubert and Elizabeth's banquet games were kept clean! haha! Jimmy and I got called up to do a few games. The first one was this mirror game.. where the bride and groom had to copy whatever the couple in front of them were doing. When we got up there, Jimmy askes Hubert "How bad do you want it?" haha! Then Jimmy pulled me into a kiss and dipped me! It completely threw me off guard.. I had no idea he was gonna do that! haha! After dinner was the dance. The guys acted like complete idoits (as expected). What surprised me was Allan.. one of Jimmy and Hubert's hockey buddies. I swear I saw the side of him I've never seen before.. absolutely hilarous! hahaha! Hubert got totally trashed on wine.. his best man did too.. started to cry haha! Weddings really bring out the best in ppl :) I guess through the whole fiasco I made some new friends and I had an awesome time :D

I'm not looking forward to planning my wedding :S

12 more days til my defense. I'm not feeling it quite yet... I havn't done much planning yet. I think I spent more time thinking about my wedding & planning my upcoming trip :D

Speaking of my trip.. I've inquired about my tickets and tour.. and I'm booking everything tomorrow! I'm leaving on Sept 16th for Korea to visit Rita.. heading to HK on Sept 25th.. my china tour on Oct 25th, back to HK Nov 5 and heading back to Toronto Nov 7th. Wow I'm gonna be gone for a while! The sucky thing is that Jimmy found out last week he can't book time off :( I'm so upset over that :( oh well.. shit happens right? His department is doing some restructuring right now, and they're short a person. We agreed that if later on he finds out he can get time off, he could just come to HK cuz I really want him to meet my relatives.. and I'm sure my relatives want to meet him. *crosses fingers* I hope he comes.. a month and a half w/o my Jimmy? eeks!

Here's really bad pic of my tattoo. Hey.. it's a webcam.. my tattoo is on my lower back and w/ poor lighting... it's tough!

Time to get my lazy ass into gear & BLOG!

Time: 2:26pm
Mood: Lazy...
Song of the Moment: Oasis - Roll With It

As you can see, I've really been lagging on this whole blogging business. I have to admit, I've been lazy. Ever since I submitted my thesis it's been lazying around and hanging out. I had plenty of time to blog.. but I just didn't. I've just got so much to write about.. you can pick and choose what you wanna read about :D

Foo Fighters Concert
Dude.. by far one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I actually enjoyed their concert more than the Coldplay concert... but I think I'm slightly bias in the sense that I'm a bigger Foo Fighters fan than a Coldplay fan. I took a fellow Foo fan w/ me.. my sister Kathy. First off, I wasn't really intersted in going to the opening acts? Why? They're usually not that good ('cept for when Sloan opened for Oasis.. now THAT was awesome!). Kathy was dead set on catching the opening act. She told me she had no idea who the opening act was (which was a bloody LIE.. more about that in a bit..). So we got down to the Molson Ampitheatre, and before we took our seats we checked out the merchandise stands. I did a double take. Not only did they have Foo Fighter stuff on sale.. they also had Sloan stuff on sale. Ahh :D Sloan was opening for the Foos! That's when my sister said "Surprise! Actually I forgot who was opening for them, but I knew it was a band you really really liked" hehe :D Awesome! Actually they had 2 opening bands.. The Constantines (they were... ok...) and then Sloan came out! Ah they're always great to watch! Then the Foos came out w/ a vengance. Oh I was in heaven.. they sang "Up In Arms".. my favorite Foo Fighters song! It was definitely a rockin concert! Would I see them again? Hell yeh!! haha :D

Wedding Dresses
Before Rita left, she told me she wanted to take me dress shopping. I guess it's never too early to start looking :D Anyway, so we booked an appointment at this small little boutique in Main St. Markham called Patricia. Let me tell ya.. it was SO much fun! I thought looking for a wedding dress would be frustrating but I had a lot of fun! I tried on a whole bunch...the one in the picture was pure silk... it looked like a cake! And man are they heavy! The ones w/ the long trains.. it was like dragging a child around! haha! But man I can't wait to go again!!!

Submitted!!
I finally submitted my thesis on Thursday. After months of hard work and grueling hours in front of the computer straining my brain to find the right way to fit all my experimental data into one neat semi-organized thesis, it's done. The day before was nuts... I couldn't get my glossary to work (I was using a program to format my thesis).. but it worked out in the end. All I have to say is... FIN! haha :D But I still have the defense to go... Sept 12 :S

Jehnan's Visit
My friend Jehnan, along with his friends Claire and Emma, came up to Toronto for a mini-vacation on Thursday. Jehnan came up from Toledo, Ohio where he's studying medicine. Emma and Claire were from Terre Haute, Indiana. It's funnie... Jehnan and I have managed to see each other almost every single year since our Taiwan "Loveboat" study tour! Anyway, their visit was in pefect timing considering it was the day I submitted! They met me in Hamilton and I took them out for dinner. Then we headed into the T-dot and went out for bubble tea. So it was a pretty laid back day.

Friday was the major tourist day :D It was also the day that Toronto got it's first tornado warning since.. I don't even know when! I mean tornados do happen around here.. just not in Toronto. Anyway, we spent the whole day downtown. The day started pretty good.. took them down to UofT and met up with Jimmy for lunch. We had downtown hotdogs.. a must have when you're visiting Toronto! haha! So good! By this time, the sky was getting pretty dark, but that didn't stop us. I walked them to Chinatown, then took a street car to the CN Tower. By the time we got to the CN Tower the sky was just dark.. there was thunder and lightening right above us but still no rain. We went up the tower and I pointed out some landmarks.. went to the glass floor (Emma got scared! hahaha!). After that I took them down to Yorkville were we met up with Jimmy. While in Yorkville we got a bit of rain.. not too much though. After walking around and showing them where all the rich ppl shop, I took them to Eaton Center, where we did some more shopping. We met up with Rob later on, and he told us how bad the rain storm was in Markham. Apparently it was just HORRIBLE.. our highways flooded.. roads got ruined... crazy! Rob described it was "Typhoon-type rain". I guess we were really lucky cuz we hardly felt rain the whole day! Loverly! haha! Later that evening, Rob left to meet up with some other friends, and we met up with Vivvie for dinner. We took them to Springrolls, a popular Pan-American restaurant. I love their Pad Thai :D

Saturday I took them to Pacific Mall and Market Village.. I guess it's a must if you're Chinese. haha to me it's like a freak show (who wants to play "guy-girl".. the game where u guess whether someone's a guy or a girl.. hahah!). After the over-exposure of Chinese pop-culture, I took them out for sushi buffet :D yum! We hit the CNE later that day. We were gonna go on the ferris wheel but shit! it was $6 to go on! haha no THANKS! Later that evening, we headed to Main St. Unionville to Jake's for Rob's farewell party. Rob's planning to study Chinese in Beijing.. he left just this past Monday. *Sigh*.. Taiwain crew... and then there were 4 :(

Sunday we went out for dim sum.. just so they can get their last bit of Chinese exposure before they head back to the States. They said they had fun.. I'm so glad! haha! I'm always up for showing ppl around good 'ole T.O :D See you next year sometime Jehnan! haha! Some pics below :D





Jehnan's doomed hotdog





Me and Emma on the glass floor @ the CN Tower (Emma looks scared... the picture doesn't show how tightly she's holding my arm! haha








Vivian, Jimmy, Me, Emma, Claire & Jehnan @ Springrolls








Claire, Emma, Me and Jehnan @ the CNE









Rob & Jehnan @ Jake's







Jimmy getting a big 'ole wet drunken kiss.. by me :D hahah






Vivian, Me, Jack, Vince (what's left of the Taiwan Crew...) & Jehnan. Rob's missing due to excessive puking ... he had to go home! (he got so drunk that nite!)


Retard Doctor
Just a funnie story I wanted to share w/ u guys. So I went to the doctor about a week ago because I was suffering from a nagging cough that just wouldn't go away (I still have it... but I'm getting better). My family doctor shares a practice with 2 other doctors. But when I called, my doctor was on vacation, so I opted with an appointment with Dr. Chan. I have been to him before and he's a bit sketchy.. but hell I was sick and I wasn't getting any better. I went to my appointment on a Saturday morning and waited what felt like an eternity. I hate waiting for the doctors.. there's never enough seats and you're in a room with sick ppl :S So I finally get in to see the doctor. I tell him what's wrong w/ me. He feels my neck for any possible signs of inflammated nymph nodes.. his fingers get to the bottom-back of my neck and he says "Oh.. you have a lump" I'm like "Excuse me?" Cuz I know for a fact what he's feelig isn't a lump. He says again "You have a lump.... oh wait sorry that's your spine" HAHAHAHA this is a DOCTOR that's mistakening my spine for a LUMP! HAHAHAH

Thesis = DONE!

Time: 12:20am
Mood: Exhausted
Song of the moment: The All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret

AHHH I FINALLY finished my thesis! I'm formally submitting it tomorrow!

Gosh I'm so braindead... this is all I'm gonna write (must be my shortest entry yet!)

You Know You're From Toronto When...

You Know You're From Toronto When...

A really great parking spot can move you to tears. You can recommend about 3 good body piercing parlours. You make well over $100,000 and you still can't find a nice place to live. You realize there are far more rainbow flags in the city than Canadian Flags. When the temperature rises above zero degrees, you yell "Woohooo! Patio weather!" You enjoy watching channel 47 multicultural TV You're guaranteed to know at least one person on every episode of Speaker's Corner. You haven't been to the CN Tower since you were six, but still have nightmares about that damn turbo elevator. You've had at least 3 bicycles stolen in the past 10 years. You've partied with at least one of the members of The Kids in the Hall You've fantasized about having sex in Casa Loma At least 3 of your friends have moved to Vancouver You turn your nose up at any establishment frequented by the S&M crowd. (Scarborough and Mississauga) You never, never, never swim in the lake You know "The Beaches" are really called "The Beach", but still say "The Beaches" just to annoy all the nitwits who live there You ever had a birthday party at the Organ Grinder or The Mad Hatter You can say "world's tallest freestanding structure" ten times fast You know the correct answer to "Where do shopping carts go to die?" is "The Don River" You speak better Chinese than French The word "cabbagetown" doesn't strike you as particularily amusing Castle Frank subway station remains one of the great mysteries of the universe for you. You know what the bathrooms in the First Canadian Place are REALLY for You don't know where Fort York is, but have a vague recollection of being there in a past life You know the Demic's song "I Wanna Go To New York City" was intended as sarcasm, not a weekend getaway suggestion You know where to find Dim Sum, Sushi, Curry, Pad Thai and a dildo at 3 am on a weeknight For the last time, it's pronounced 'TRONNA'! You consider eye contact a sign of hostility and an invasion of your privacy. It takes you half an hour to get to work by TTC and you are the envy of all your friends. You mourned the death of the Spadina Bus. You know someone who went to high school with at least one member of The Barenaked Ladies or RUSH You laugh heartily at people who refer to highway four hundred and one. You've taken the vomit comit. You can manuver your bike across Queen st. without getting caught in the streetcar tracks. You know the difference between souvlaki, moussaka and spanakoptia. You can name at least three locations of The Beer Store that are open till 11 PM. You have NEVER been to the Hard Rock Cafe You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Toronto.

HAHA It's scary how most of this stuff on the list is true... hooray Torontonians :D

Thanx Summer for the link to this website :D it's fun :D

Q&A

Time: 4:12pm
Mood: Sick :(
Song of the moment: Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine

So I've been asked why I got a cross tattoo. Initially I was gonna get last name chinese character tattooed on me. I liked this idea because it really truely represented me... it's my family name and it's chinese :D But then one night after having an ice-cap from Timmies, I couldn't sleep and my mind started swimming with the thoughts of getting a tattoo. Then suddenly a cross appeared in my mind.. and I really liked it. The next day, I drew it out and I loved it! I figured (and this will give you a taste of my twisted logic), Cross = Jesus.. I can't hate Jesus, meaning I can't hate the cross, therefore I wouldn't hate it if it was tattooed on me. LOL see.. I'm just downright strange :S

So the day I got my tattoo I drummed up the courage to tell my parents. I figured I would tell them after I get it done b/c well.. they can't do ne thing about it after the fact! I was actually considering just letting them find out on their own (personally, I think they would have never found out). I actually consulted my Aunt Virginia (Rita's mom.. for those who don't know, Rita's my best friend AND my cousin) about this. She found out because she overheard Rita talking on the phone with me about it (after getting mutilated together *haha* Rita and I picked up my aunt to go to Pacific Mall to run errands, and as my aunt got in my car she says to me "so.. I heard u got a tattoo!") Anyway, so my aunt told me to tell my parents as soon as possible. *eeks*

So my mom gets home from work around 5pm. I had this feeling she was gonna completely freak out on me, so I was prepared. So I told my mom straight out I got a tattoo. I was expecting her to go "HAH???" in that chinese motherly "I'm in disbelief" kinda voice, but instead she says to me "Tattoo? You've probably got AIDS now!!". HAHAH that comment made me laugh so hard! hahaha So not what I was expecting my mom to say. hahahah!

*side story*

Jimmy and I went to play snooker w/ Flo and Kin Saturday night. As we were backing out of our parking spot, this fob guy pulled up beside the parking space.. he wanted our spot. So Jimmy finishes backing out, but that stupid retard fob loser didn't give us enough room to drive forward and leave. So Jimmy backs up a bit to give himself more room and the idoit moves forward. So finally Jimmy gets enough room to move, and as we're driving by, I looked right at the idoit driver and mouthed "Are You Stupid?!?". He responded by yelling "WUDDAFUAAAA!!" out the window. At first I was like.. what did he say? what the hell is wuddafuaaa? Then I realized.. the retard was saying "What the fuck" HAHHAH stupid fob!

Officially Inked

Time: 12:33am
Mood: kinda sick.. :(
Song of the moment: Coldplay - Fix You

So I'm officially inked!! I finally got the tattoo I've been wanting for so long! I thought about getting one for a while now and I finally built up the courage to go get one. But it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be...

I actually was supposed to get it 2 weeks ago in Hamilton. Laura was gonna come with me but the day we were supposed to go she asked me if I knew the reputation of any of the tattoo places in Hamilton. She told me it was better to get one done at a place that had a good rep (preferably where my friends got theirs). So we decided to get it the day of the Coldplay concert.

I decided to go to WayCoolTattoos, the place where Mel got her tattoos done.. she told me they were pretty good. I checked out their website and thought it was a pretty kewls place.

The day of the Coldplay concert.. by this time I've managed to recruit Jenn and Rita to come with me (Rita wanted to get her nose pierced). But plans totally fell apart. First off, Jenn said she couldn't make it, then when I called the tattoo place they told me I had to come into the parlour and book an appointment, and that that day was completely booked. AGH! At this point I was pretty frustrated and unsure whether a tattoo was worth all this trouble. Anyway, so Laura was coming into T.O early that day and was gonna take the subway up and meet me @ the tattoo place... so when she called I had to tell her the bad news.. I wasn't gonna get it that day. So there was no point in her coming all the way uptown, then going back downtown for the concert. So I went w/ Ri to book an appointment. So I booked an appointment for Friday afternoon.

Finally Friday rolls along and I finally get my tattoo :D It kinda hurt.. but it was tolerable pain. And it only took 10 minutes (mine's pretty small... actually I was watching the new reality tv series on TLC called Miami Ink and the tattoos ppl were getting on that show made mines look tiny! There were ppl on that show getting body tattoos.. omg! haha!). Rita got her nose pierced that day too.. it looked fab :D haha! But anyway, my tattoo artist Jen was the nicest person ever! When I looked @ her pic on the website I thought "omg she looks scary!" but she was so down to earth and made me feel comfortable about getting a tattoo.

Throughout the day I began to regret my tattoo.. and I couldn't even look at it b/c it was bandaged. But when I took off that bandaid and got a good look at it again.. I loved it! I'm so glad I did it :D

For those of u wondering.. I got a cross... and it's on my right lower back :D Pictures to come.. after it heals a bit more :D

So that night Jenn and I headed to Hamilton for some girls night out action. We started the night @ Jen's place (as usual) and I got pretty drunk there. We headed to Koi that evening, which was a lot of fun on a Friday night :D We spend the rest of the evening dancing it up, playing "boy bingo" (we were each given cards w/ guy names, and we had to run around and find guys w/ that name) and just having fun :D Ah I love girls nites :D

Coldplay was AWESOME!

Time: 4:41pm
Mood: going nuts (still writing..)
Song of the moment: Coldplay - Fix You

I went to the Coldplay concert yesterday and it was bloody AWESOME! It felt really short though.. maybe it's cuz I had such a good time! You know when it's a good concert when you walk out a bigger fan of the band than you were before. Their concert was like a light show, but the lights complemented the songs sooooo well! Chris Martin actually screwed up "Fix You".. so during the song he stopped and said "Oh I fucked up!" haha! Then he started the song over. Haha usually artists wouldn't admit to sing a song wrong.. they would try to continue as if nothing was wrong.. good to see he actually cared :D! haha! I was freaking out though.. after their set was finished, I realized they didn't play "In My Place" yet.. my favorite song. I LOVE that song.. I was obsessed over it.. if there was a song I could marry, it would be that one! But then they came back for an encore (which was expected) and they played it during their encore set :D I was in heaven :D haha!

So yesterday there was this plane crash between the 401 and the airport which made world headlines. I didn't hear about it until I got downtown and Laura told me about it. At first I thought it actually crashed on the highway. I thought "That's f**king crazy!!" I know that highway like the back of my hand.. I used to drive though that area on my way to and from Waterloo. Then I found out it actually crashed into the ditch, and that no one was hurt and I was totally relieved. Apparently the pilot overshot the landing :S That's crazy.. and SO scary!

So I moved back home from Hamtown on Saturday. I figure, I spend most of my time @ home writing ne way, and I don't go to school that often, so I might was well save $ on rent and move back home to Markham (I hope that answers ur question Summer! haha). That's an extra $325 I can spend :D yippee! haha! Jimmy came down to help me move.. and thank God he did! He helped me pack my car :) Lucky for me I moved a few things back last week (including my desktop computer) cuz my car was packed to the rim! It took me 2 hours to move stuff to my car.. but it's gonna take 2 weeks for me to fully unpack (I'm still doing it.. my room is a MESS!!). *sigh* it's so hard combining 2 sets of everything into one :(

Sunday night I met up with Rob, Jack, Vivvie and Vince to celebrate Rob's birthday. Man I havn't seen them since... before I got engaged! haha! It's been a while! We went to this french restaurant for dinner called Le Select Bistro, a cozy restaurant on Queen St. The restaurant had a nifty idea of hanging bread baskets above the table so that it wouldn't clutter the table, and you could lower the basket when you wanted bread. After dinner we headed back to Jack's placed and watched a really ghetto old chinese slapstick kung-fu movie made in the '70s.. OMG it was hilarous! So much cheese! haha :D

The weekend 'n' stuff....

Time: 4:17pm
Mood: Restless (can't seem to sit down & write...)
Song of the moment: Bush - Machine Head

Weekend @ the Cottage

Last weekend Jen invited a bunch of us to her cottage up at Muskoka Lake for the weekend. I drove up with Jimmy, Art and Marta Friday afternoon and lucky for us there wasn't too much traffic :) We were the first group there (we had planned it out so that some of us arrived there at 3, and the rest at 4 b/c Jen's dad had to take us to the cottage by boat.. it's on a island!).

This was my first time going to a cottage (most of my friends are asian.. go fig azn ppl don't own cottages! haha! I want to be the first! haha). OMG I LOVED it! It was the perfect getaway... it wasn't too far that the thought of driving all that way would give u a headache, but it was far enough to get away from your everyday life. I felt so relaxed the whole weekend. I stayed out all day in the sun and in the water... I got quite dark (darker than I am already... I thought that wasn't possible! haha). The water was sooo awesome! I coulda stayed in it forever except the fact that I hate it when I turn all pruney... ewww.. hah! I spent the evening with some good friends drinking it up and playing silly games. The first night we were there we played Pictionary.. and the team I was on actually won! haha! We got some pretty strange ones... like masseuse.... and illusion.. we managed to draw those & guess it somehow! hahah! it was hilarous! The second night we made a nice camp fire and sat around roasting marshmellows :) yum... campfire marshmellows are the best :D Oh if Jen does this next year I'm totally going!! :D

The boat ride back was brutal! Alex, his brother Andrew, Jimmy and I were the first ones to leave (haha all the azns got voted off the island! haha) and we took a water taxi. the waves were kinda high and we were on a speedboat.. Alex, Jimmy and I were sitting at the front of the boat.. man we shot at least half a foot up in the air when the boat hit a wave. I was giggling the ENTIRE time... it was fun but holy mother of god it hurt! haha! Needless to say, after that boat ride back, the drive home seemed uneventful! haha!

Last Week in The Hammer

I'm moving out this Saturday so this is my last week living in the Hammer... Steeltown.. Hamtown.. whatever you want to call it. I was excited about it except I started to feel sad...

Since Alex and I are moving this week (actually Alex left today), my friends are so sweet and planned two nights of fun as a kind of farewell to us. Tuesday night me, Laura, Jen, Alex, Mark, Andrew, Nadira, Cecilia, Art, Marta and Derek headed to the very first Timmies ever opened (Store #1). It was sort of uneventful.. I think we totally built it up as this big thing... but it wasn't... it looked like every other Timmies :( After, we headed to the theatre to catch "The Island" on the big screen. HAHA Laura, Jen and I had quite a adventure getting to the theatre. The theatre is located up the mountain in Ancaster, so we thought we would try to take side roads to get up the mountain. We ended up driving around this neighbourhood and getting nowhere! haha! We FINALLY found a road that went up the mountain.. haha! Anyway, we managed to find our way to the theatre! hooray! haha! So before we went in, Laura and I thought it would be fun to play Dance-Dance-Revolution. OMG it was HILAROUS! Our friends started taking bets to see who would be the better dance.. I was an obvious disadvantage b/c I had a busted knee AND Laura's the tap-dance queen. haha! We started out easy and it was good... then our friends told us to go for the "moderate" level...OMG I made a complete ASS outta myself! haha! It was so fast... and I think I spent more time laffing than actually dancing! hah! Eh it was all in good fun! The Island was a really good movie! Go watch it!! :D

Last night my friend Jenn came to Hamtown b/c I told her my friends were heading to Hess, and she told me she wanted to go out so I invited her to come along :) We started the night at Koi, a pretty pricy bar (but it's nice!). Sometime during our time there, this fat old drunk man came up to us and started talking to us. He told us he had ESP and that he could prove it to us. He said he was gonna turn around, and we had to do something silly behind is back, then he was gonna tell us what we had done. So he turns around, we did something silly, he turns around and says "I know what u did... u did something silly!" HAHA then he walked away! hahh! oh drunken old ppl are hilarous! Afterwards we headed to Elixir for some dancing.. it was so packed :S Made me remember why I'm not too fond of clubbing ne more. Geez am I getting old?

So this morning Jenn and I went out for breakfast in Westdale and that's when it hit me... I'm gonna miss this place. And I felt sad :(

Well back to my thesis writing... I'm strugging with one chapter.. my supervisor keeps sending it back to me telling me to add more. AGH!! :( It's due tomorrow... but I don't feel like writing....