mablog

True Love?

2010-06-03T00:44:00.002-05:00

This happened a couple months ago, but since I haven't blogged in so long, I figure I should recount some of the more interesting things that have happened:

Nozomi and I were taking the TTC to Finch after work one day and we sat at one of the seats facing East. Throughout the ride, we were just having fun reading the Metro, doing the crossword, people watching (there was this guy trying to flirt with this girl and it was painful to watch, but it gave us a good giggle) . At one stop, a woman walks in and sits on a seat across from us. I remember seeing her and thinking "She's prolly a model or something" but didn't really pay attention after that.

When we got up to Finch, everyone got up to leave. As Nozomi and I were about to get up, the woman comes up to us and hands me a makeshift card that you would usually accompany a bundle of delivered flowers. It was blank on the outside, but on the inside it read:

Thank you for reminding me that true love does exist. =)

Keep loving each other!

From someone with a broken heart.

When I looked up again, she was already out the door and on her way up the escalator... ! Nozomi and I were in utter shock. All I could think of was that we needed to give her something back, but we couldn't think of anything. Poor girl..

I have to admit though, that felt like it was something out of a movie!

This Blog is For Me!

2010-06-03T00:41:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged in such a long time, but reading over my previous posts has reminded me why I did it. I blog for myself so that I can look back and see how different I've become.. for better or for worse! I must continue to for my own sake!

Bestest Birthday Ever

2010-01-05T10:05:00.001-05:00

"Wow." I think that word describes what Saturday was pretty well :) It was all so surreal that I'm honestly still reeling from it now. The day was filled (and I mean packed to the brim) with surprises, smiles and laughter and I can't tell you how much it means to have all of my favourite people with me on any given day. You each had a part of what was an intricate mystery that Bev had weaved, and looking at everything as a whole I have to say that it came together perfectly because each piece represented a special part of my life. Let me REALLY dive into the sappiness now :)

(In order of appearance)

Ellen/Na/June
First surprise of the day! I was just standing at the front of the store doing the crossword when I see Bev running up from the corner of my eye. When I looked up it was actually Ellen-san! The thing is, you actually had me going for a moment there saying that it was just a coincidence lol. I loved our little "birthday booth" that we setup. (Na, everyone especially loved my emblem!) It made me feel like we were back at Waterloo, minus June! And June, thanks for calling from HK! It sounded like you were trying to be extra quiet.. was your fam sleeping? (Sorry if they were!) It wasn't the same without all 4 of us being there. I had such a good time chatting with you girls, I really didn't want to leave (and it showed because we ended up staying half an hour past our allotted timeslot which meant everyone else had to wait that much longer.. sorry!)

Tiffany/Sean
My favourite cousins :) How Bev came in contact with you guys was a mystery, but I'm glad she did! Sean, I'm still not sure where you were hiding intially but you definitely fooled me >:) How much fun did we have playing Mario Wii?? With all the jumping, throwing each other and bubbling, I think Mui was laughing more than she was playing lol. I bet you guys are kickin butt in Mario even as I write this email..

Holim/Alice
You know what? I was so stupid to not have realized it by this point, but when I saw you two "making out" at Chapters, I totally thought that it was coincidence! :\ I was so excited about how hard I wanted to burn you two for the PDA that I guess it didn't cross my mind that you were actually there to burn me.... hahaha. Good job on that. Also, I wanted to thank you two for opening up your house to all of us at the end of the night. I think we may have found a new, homey, and most importantly, central location for our games nights :D

Aaron/Carmen
I really have to apologize the most to you two. Your station was right in front of the frozen dessert aisle at Loblaws. I hope you weren't standing there for the entire half hour that I was late! For this leg, I know I should have killed the clue cuz it was all math, but there was so much running around and so much pressure to get it done fast (I wasn't even sure why I had to get it done fast other than to not look slow/stupid) that I was making mistakes left right and centre. Thanks, Aaron, for staying for dinner even though you had another dinner... at 10pm?? Thanks for making it out, Carmen!

Ken Chau
Bah! Of course Bev would make me battle it out with the game master. I was winning too, but I must say that you did pull a highly skilled move to pull ahead at the end there so I'm willing to swallow my pride a bit to tip my hat to you, sir! I really wish we had time for a rematch, though.. in due time :) Thanks for not going easy on me just for the sake of my birthday, although I know that's not your thing anyway. Also, thank you so much for Dominion! I know! We will do our rematch there and surely I will get my revenge hahaha. We'll also have to combine our sets for a super game!

Zenith
You were, by far, the biggest surprise of the entire day! Coming up to the fountain, I was kind of thinking "Sarah's next" and when I saw you sitting there I was floored, dude. I knew you were coming back sometime these holidays but I didn't know when exactly so I was going to call you the week after anyhow, but this was way better. It was good seeing you, good catching up even for a bit. I missed you.

Adrian
Yo, all I get from you is a phone call? I thought you'd surprise me with something decent at least. Zenith flew from France and you couldn't bus it 500km to make it out for your brother? Whatever, man, whatever.

Sarah Fong
Sarah! You know, the moment I caught on that Bev contacted all my favourite people (which, as I said, wasn't till pretty late in the game), I was hoping that she got a hold of you. But by this point, I thought the chances were slim. And then BAM! There you were at HMV holding the A.Keys CD. Well, you weren't there exactly when you were supposed to cuz you wandered off somewhere looking at DVDs (hahaha), but it eventually happened and it was awesome. Also, thanks for helping out with the word jumbles. I think Bev would have gotten frustrated again if she had to give me another answer to her clues. lol

Stu
Dude, at the end of the hunt, I was like "something's missing..". I guess when you're sitting at the top of a fantasy league, you're too good to bother looking down, eh? ;) hahaha. Just kidding, I know you're hella busy all the time. We'll get together for your bday :)

Trace
Whistler, Food, Friends, VANCOUVER!!! Those are the only reasons I'd let you off. You wouldn't even get off with "Kangeroos, Mates, Koalas, Australia" ;) When you're not so sick and have more energy, we shall meet and catch up!

Josh
You were either out closing a huge business deal or in New York City pampering your girl. Either way you were taking care of big things. Too bad I couldn't catch a hold of you. It would have been a blast!

Bev
I know this thank you note is long overdue, but it has also given me a chance to speak with some of the friends and fam that you've planned this all with. The more I talk with people about it, the more I realize how intricate everything was! Other than the fact that we were 30 min late for almost all the events, I think everything went seamlessly. What blows my mind even more is the fact that you've hit exactly the best parts of my life. Exactly! I guess you're 3 for 3 on bday presents now :P I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled this off the way you did. Thank you for one of the most memorable bdays ever!!

[Insomnia] ... why??

2009-12-04T08:38:00.001-05:00

Dec 2 - 600am - 615am - Nozomi - coffee at second cup

Dec 3 - 600am - 615am - Nozomi - coffee at second cup

Dec 4 - 500am - just started day - Nozomi - Taka's bday

She's done it again!

2009-11-27T11:59:00.001-05:00

Last year, Bev got me BANG! for my bday/xmas and that was a wicked present. I played that game countless times and still do til this day. 2 days ago, she got me again. As I unwrapped the RW & Co paper, I started to see a red box.. !!!!

New Super Mario Bros Wii!!!!

I don't think I've been this excited for a game since the remake of FFIV for the DS. In my mind, there hasn't been a good Mario since the one for Super Nintendo. Since this one is a throwback to the SMB of old, it gave me a huge rush of nostalgia. Add to that the fact that you can play with up to 3 other people made me think about all those times I woke Adrian up way too early in the morning to play Mario 3 on our NES together. Most of the time he would just sit and watch me beat the levels, but I still enjoyed sharing the experience with him. Right away, I called up Adrian and told him we had to get it. The only problem was that it was $60 and I wasn't about to dish that out for a video game. I looked around the net to see if there were any deals (eBay, Craigslist) but nothing that stood out. I really wanted to play this game with my brother.

The thing is Bev didn't know any of this. The only thing she knew was that one time we passed by a GameStop and I went in to check out the latest games. We stopped by the Wii station and I picked up the controller to play the first level of NSMBW. I asked her to check out the price while I was playing and she told me it was $60. I told her I wasn't about to get it for that price. That was it. How she possibly knew that that was the ONLY game I would even consider paying cash to buy eludes me.

When I saw what she had got me, I was obviously estatic!! I told her that this present could not be topped, but she didn't believe me. Bev if you're reading this, trust me, for all the reasons listed above, this present will definitely bring me the most joy this year.

Thank you :)

[Insomnia] And on..

2009-11-04T04:16:00.005-05:00

Scissors still under my pillow but I'm up..

Nov 4 - 330am - ? - Nozomi - stupid stupid stupid!

Nov 9 - 250am - 445am - Nozomi - mind racing too much.. think im going to try meditating sometime

Nov 12 - 240am - 445am - Nozomi

Nov 21 - 200am - 425am - Nozomi

[Insomnia] Scissors!

2009-11-03T16:11:00.001-05:00

It worked!! Last night I got home at around 12:30 and I was dead tired. I quickly went and found a pair of scissors and threw them under my pillow. Slept like a baby. I'm happy I got so much rest, but I'll see if this really does work.

For one thing, I was dead tired from not getting much sleep from the past week, but on the other hand, it's not like I had a lack of things to think about. In fact, I probably had 3 times as much to think about last night, yet I slept through. So, we'll have to see about what happens after tonight..

grrr...

2009-11-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

You, miss, are a nut.

[Insomnia] Hope

2009-10-31T08:09:00.002-05:00

Every MWF, Koei makes someone do a 3 min speech about anything they want. I think the purpose is to help us "nerds" develop our public speaking skills. For what? I'm not completely sure, but I'm not against the idea. I hate it when it's my turn, but I generally think it's a good idea. Anyway, on Friday someone talked about having trouble sleeping and her solutions to it!! How lucky for me :)

Her name's Keiko and it started happening around a month ago - same time she joined Koei (hmmmm). She has trouble falling asleep and she finds herself lying in bed for hours at a time. She also has my problem where she will wake up in the middle of the night because of random thoughts, but I think talking to her afterwards her thoughts pretty much centre around work related things.

Solutions! She's suggested sipping a bit of alcohol before going to sleep. lol. That's a good one, but I don't think I'll be trying that one. The one intriguing solution is this old folks' tale that her grandfather told her about. They believe that there are certain spirits that "haunt" you and are therefore preventing you from falling asleep. So in order to dispel these spirits you have to put something with a blade near you when you sleep (ie. a pair of scissors under your pillow). I'll let you know guys know how that works out ;)

[Insomnia] And on..

2009-10-22T08:20:00.004-05:00

Oct 21 - 4am - 5am - TF2 - I tried drinking warm milk to fall back asleep. Worked!

Oct 22 - 3am - 3am - TF2 - I kept a glass of milk by my bed. Drank it the moment I woke up. WORKED!! (or maybe I was that tired)

Oct 23 - 1am - 5am - Nozomi - Just not good sleep at all. Tons of thoughts throughout the night

Oct 24 - 4am - 5am - Nozomi

Oct 25 - 7:40am - NA - Ryan B

Oct 30 - 1:40am - ... - Halloween Costumes

Insomnia..

2009-10-20T03:41:00.004-05:00

So I think I have insomnia because for the past couple of months now I haven't been able to have a straight night's sleep. I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and find myself thinking of random things. It happens every night too! I'm sure it's dulling my mind somehow.

Maybe it could be the stresses of working at KOEI. I'm not entirely sure, but I definitely want to try to keep this job if I can help it. I've decided I'm going to try to keep track of my journey here because it's easier to track than using paper and pen.

Also, if you're reading this, please keep whatever you read a secret since I'm going to probably divulge some pretty personal information. I'm going to post it anyway because I know of only a handful of people whom I've mentioned this blog to and I trust every single one of you. You can, however, rib me about it :P ORRR if you know about the issue and have any suggestions just let me know your thoughts.

So some of the things I'm going to write about are:

- Remedies that I'm trying

- Thoughts that I've found myself thinking of when I wake up

- (Maybe) Dreams that I can remember as I've always wanted to do this anyway

- Any random theories I have as to why I have insomnia

So I'm going recount over the past couple of night's thoughts:

Format is [date - sleep time - wake up time - thoughts]

DR - Don't Remember

Oct 20 - 1am - 4am - TF2

Oct 19 - 11pm - 1:30am - Agricola

Oct 18 - 2am - 4am - DR

Last week - DR - DR - Nozomi

DR - DR - DR - Work (Dot Product, Cross Product)

Free Hugs pt 2

2008-04-02T22:19:00.006-05:00

FINALLY the long awaited post about free hugs pt 2. This event is so very close to my heart because it's everything that I believe in in terms of what our society needs so badly, especially in metropolitan areas like the GTA where people around you just become a blur...

I first did free hugs back in 2006 when the whole movement started. I did it at Pacific Mall and the reception that I got was overwhelming (esp from an asian mall!). So this time around, I went for the big times... Eaton Centre >:)

Also, from when I recounted the experience to my friends from the last time, I found a lot of people who said they'd be thrilled to do it with me the next time. And true to their words, they actually came! I decided to keep it a small group becuase I didn't know how it would be to do it with other people, so I chose a few of my closest... and I mean like joined at the hip close: waterloo fam + zenith. You can't get closer than that :P

Turns out, Na can't stand having strangers touch her :\ and June initially said she could go, but then realized the day before that she double booked it with a kid she had to tutor, who eventually didn't even show up :\ (don't you hate it when that happens?) It was down to Zen, Elley and I. On the day of December 29th, we set out for the Eaton Centre.

I used my regular signs from the year before, which was the white bristle board with the construction cutout letters; your standard free hugs sign. When Ellen showed up, she had this totally cute sign that was obviously made out of a cardboard box and she used hockey tape to arrange her letters! HOCKEY TAPE, people! genius! I musta spent half a day just tracing and cutting out my letters and in the end, hers was def 100x cooler than mine. She's awesome like that. We knew Zenith wouldn't have a sign, so Elley and I did one up for him in 10 min at the corner in front of H&M. He added his Zenith touch to it as soon as he arrived. As he was doodling, two old ladies asked us what we were up to. We explained the game plan and they were so delighted they wanted to be our first "customers". hahaha. It had begun!

We put our scarfs on, zipped up our coats and nervously walked out onto the streets. I know, I know.. I shouldn't be nervous. I mean, I'm a veteran! But the stage has never been this big. Also, I'm leading two friends who were already apprehensive from the beginning. Ellen is the sweetest girl you'll ever meet. She's got a heart of gold and totally supported the idea of reaching out. However, in the end, she was still a 5 feet tall asian girl in a city that was, let's just say, much bigger. Zen, who I thought would be the most excited cuz he does stupid stuff like this all the time, was the most nervous one of all. All the stupid things that he's ever done were in front of his friends. Free hugs was all about embracing strangers as friends. Different ballgame, different challenge. He was apprehensive about how people would react to our offers. We were about to find out..

I couldn't believe the response. We were hugging everyone from old ladies to 3 year old boys and everyone in between. To my surprise, it was so much easier this time around. I thought that with a 1 person show, I would be in a more vulnerable position so people would be less shy to approach me. But I think it was the fact that we had a group that made it more comforting, that it wasn't just one creep trying to do creepy things. I also attribute a part of it to Ellen-san. Having that feminine presence def lowers the guard any suspecting stranger. Another reason why I thought it was so much easier was probably because when there were lulls of non-hugs, we had each other to fall back on. There wasn't that pressure of needing a hug to validate your presense there.

All the hugs were special, but there were some that were very memorable: - There was this one dude who accepted my offer, but instead of walking over like a civilized man, he charged me like an african rhino and speared me in the gut. Then he proceeded to give me the biggest bear hug. Broke my ear muffs in the process.. That was awesome! - Two mixed asian toddlers were walking up Yonge with their mom. We all offered a hug and instead of being shy and hiding behind their mom's legs, they ran over to us to give each one of us a hug. Cutest kids ever. - At one point in time, one of us, had our ass grabbed. HAHAHAA. I'll let you speculate..

In the end, we all had a great time. Zenith was really impressed about the response we received. Ellen's fingers were frozen to the bone, but she didn't want to quit because we were having so much fun. I was just so happy to be able to share this experience with the two of them..

Dream

2008-04-02T15:29:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a dream about being able to fly. It was the coolest feeling. Basically how it worked was that it was a REALLY windy day and I would be able to catch the wind in my clothes and totally control high far high I'd fly, go left, go right all by adjusting how much wind I caught and at what angles.

Yesterday, it was a really windy day. So much so that I was jogging cuz I was being pushed along. Weird how the mind works.

If I could lucid dream, flying is all I'd do...

Scary

2007-12-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

Today I brought Tiff and Sean swimming along with our other cousin Brian and Sean's cousin, Veronica. So I played with Tiff and Veronica for the first little bit as they were the youngest and I just wanted to get a feel of whether or not they could swim. Tiff was alright. She could do a pretty good backstroke, but her frontcrawl really cracked me up. Her breaths looked like ones from the breatstroke so it really looks like she's struggling in the water, but that's just the way she swims. Veronica was worse, but she was a bit taller and could touch the ground.

The pool was sectioned off and the area that we played in was pretty small. So I got Tiff and Veronica spaghetti tubes and some balls. The boys and I started playing keep up with the bigger ball when all of a sudden I hear "JEFFREY!!!". I look and there was Tiff struggling to keep above water! I quickly plowed through the water to her. She was about 5m away from me. I remember thinking "stay up just a bit longer"... I finally reached her and swiped her up and carried her to the side. A million things ran through my head. What should i do now? She might be in shock. You have to remain calm or it'll freak her out. Hug her. Kiss her. Keep talking to her. Why didn't she swim? Squeeze her close...

She kind of went blank on me and I was hoping that this wasn't one of those incidents that would scar her from swimming forever. But everyone else was really really helplful. They constantly reassured her by joking about how she sounded funny and stuff. I guess kids find that kinda thing funny even in the most dramatic situations lol. Tiff came around after about 5 min of just staring into space and started laughing about it all too.

Man, I'm not sure whether or not I would have done that differently. I mean, yeah it turned into a big thing, but I'm glad we went through that. Because that happened, it prompted us to have a talk about what to do in that situation. And she's now prepared for the next time. I really don't believe in watching your kids 24/7. You do your best to prepare them and then you have to let them make mistakes. She froze this time around and luckily I was there to save her. And the next time, I hope she'll know what to do!

Where to go next...

2007-11-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty swamped lately with my Java cert and all, but that's done and over with! I feel so light and FREEEE! It totally feels like a Friday everyday lol.

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to my PM (Christian) about our travels. He recently came back from a honeymoon to Kenya!

I've always wanted to go to Kenya ever since my friend Shelly (who's from there) put all the visuals into my head with all her crazy stories. She told me about this amazing restaurant called Carnivore where you could eat the most exotic meats, like lion, tiger, elephant, etc.. Also, the safaris and the water activities would alone be worth going for. Love it!

However, Christian's stories were a bit different. He said that things have changed quite a bit over the years. Because the government is cracking down on the hunting of exotic animals (since a lot of the species are on the verge of extinction), that means that the most exotic animal on the menu at Carnivore was Ostrich. LOL. He also said that there are fewer safari trips because the number of animals that were there just a decade ago are drastically lowered. That SUCKS. I feel like I better go somewhere soon before civilization covers the whole globe and we're left with nothing but zoos and national parks.

So I was reading the Metro today and there was a travel section. I usually skip this section but an article caught my eye: Amazon! It's always been on my list of places to go, but after reading this article, I'm totally stoked! Just a couple years ago, if you wanted to visit, you'd have to stay at a village on the edges of the jungle and then make day trips into the amazon. NOW, there are multiple lodges within the jungle that puts you right in the middle of all the action! Now from a purely tourist's point of view, that is amazing. But at the same time, it's pretty bad for the jungle itself. I really hope they built only the minimum and try to conserve what's there, but I have a feeling that they take what they have for granted... Anyway, I really want to go there before there's too much development there and there won't be any jungle left to see.

Now, the next question is WHEN can I go... not next year.. due to the wedding in Jamaica.. and I did promise Zen I'd visit him soon... oh man... :\

In Awe

2007-11-14T15:45:00.000-05:00

Today I was sitting on the subway and right across from me was this Korean girl who was with her dad. She was probably around 15 years old. She pulls out this rubix cube that was scrambled and she starts playing with it. I was really impressed cause within 20 seconds she had a full white side. She then got faster and faster getting the blue, then the green then yellow.. At this point, she went at light speed and it was obviously a sprint for the finish.. then boom.. done! And she smirks at her dad, puts the cube in her bag and then falls asleep. hahahaaha I was totally amazed at this girl! My head was spinning when she was down to her final colours. It's funny cause I know she knew i sat there with my jaw to my knees all wide eyed.. hahaha.. woo hoo Korean girl!

She's done it again..

2007-11-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

I just want you close
Where you can stay forever.
You can be sure
that it will only get better.

You and me together
through the days and nights.
I don't worry cause
everything's gonna to be alright.

People keep talking
well they can say what they like.
Baby all I know is
everything's gonna be alright.

Cause no one, no one, no one...
Can get in the way of what I'm feelin.
No one, no one, no one
can get in the way of what I feel for you...

Gone

2007-09-24T09:46:00.000-05:00

I just got word this morning that my grandpa has passed away. It's sad. It's the first significant death that I've ever experienced. My grandpa from my mom's side died when I was in grade 4 and I was still way too immature to comprehend the gravity of the situation. This time, however, I thought was the ideal situation that my grandpa could have gone. He was still pretty sharp in the mind, family all around him, and I was told he didn't suffer too much on his way out.. It's just weird because I just spoke to him 12 hours ago...

HK - solved!

2007-08-24T19:19:00.000-05:00

I must admit, I'm not having as good of a time in HK as I used to. I wasn't sure why and I was really worried that it was because it was just wearing off on me. However, yesterday I figured it out! These are the things that must happen for HK to appeal to me:

1. Independence - This is the most important component of a wicked HK trip! This time around, we came back to HK for my grandpa. So my dad's actually staying with them. That leaves my mom and I living with my aunt. And that leaves my mom tagging along with me. NOW IM NOT SAYING I DONT LIKE CHILLING WITH MY MOM! She's cool! It's just that now I have to do everything that SHE wants to do. Or if I wanna do something that I wanna do, I have to convince her that it's fun, which it usually isn't for her (ie. reading at the library, going wakeboarding, wandering the streets) So I've spent a lot of time shopping with her (so boring..) and just doing random things like visit her relatives graves and what not.

2. Humidity - It is so freakin humid in this city in August. I hate it. I'm sitting here in an unconditioned room and my arms are stuck to the desk. It's gross.

ALIVE!!

2007-08-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

For the first time since I got here, I feel invigorated. It is as I should feel in my fave city. Today, HK is mine!

Summer Love

2007-07-20T15:58:00.001-05:00

There are so many different kinds of love in the world. When we think about the word love, most people think of it in the romantic sense. But there’s also love for a friend, a brother, your parents, the weather and even a calculator. Today, what I love most is ellen-san! She makes me smile a lot.

Accumulation of posts

2007-07-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

I know i've been ultra lazy lately. I'm not even that busy from the new job really. I've just been really lazy about blogging..

So topics I wanna cover today (i better make a list or i'll never get around to it..)
- update on new job
- update on the move in
- different walks of life
- pet peeve: joy for others

Update on New Job
So it's almost been three weeks and work's pretty cool still. The people are still wicked but I feel like I haven't gotten into the groove of things. Maybe because I'm still in training. But honestly, training sucks. I'm in information overload mode right now. So much so that I have to write everything down now, which I think I should have done from the get go, but for some stupid reason, I thought that the logic of it all would just seemlessly seep into my mind and I would know everything from the top of my head for the rest of time. idiot. Anyway, so yeah, there's no flow. I find myself thinking every morning. "okay so what should I do today?". It's a bit strange. The people are still great though and I def could see myself working here for a long term deal! :) Best parts: Close proximity of all my friends, poker lunches, and coworkers.

Update on the Move In
So when I last left off, I had to cajole my parents into thinking that it would be a great idea. Turns out, I just kept bringing it up as if it were set in stone. I'd be like "SO YEAH, I'LL SEE YOU IN 2 MONTHS!" and they'd be like "You're not going" and then I'd be like "so I know you'll miss me and all but if you really wanted you could cook my lunches for the week just to keep that caring feeling in tact!".. it went on like this for 2 days and eventually they just gave in. Curious! So I'm moved in since Sunday night. Odd thing is I haven't chilled with Stu yet. For some weird reason, he just keeps going out with his friends or playing vids all night. I usually end up just watching him. It's weird and I'm not sure what's going on. The whole thing wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't canceled all my plans to go out just to chill with him for the entire first week!! I'll continue to leave my nights open just in case he breaks out of this weird spell. But starting next week, it's over. I'm going all out. Other than that, I LOVE living "by myself". It's such a great feeling of anticipation at 4:00pm when you can do anything you want to do. love it.

Different Walks of Life
So I was on a friend's blog last week and the blog was about how her relatives were disapproving of her decisions in her goals. I really gotta say that I'm not a fan of conservative thinking. I don't REALLY know what went on between my friend and her fam but I guess I'll just branch off into my own little rant from here on out. So there is obviously a conventional way of living life. Within the Chinese community parents love the security factor. That's why you see them pushing their kids into the maths and sciences so that some day their kid can grow up to become accountants and doctors. That really frustrates me. I mean, I understand that you don't want your kid to be a bum and just float through life and not be able to support her/himself but I think that in the case of my friend, she had a plan that was just less than conventional. And for that, she got criticized. Now I'm not against criticism either. I think that you must be critical of new ideas as to not be naive, but you can't be cynical about it. And that's very important when it comes to life in general. The best example about a non conventional path is with Janice and Aaron. This is a couple who got married and then started teaching internationally. I think their living expenses are paid for by the organization that they are apart of and they get paid a salary on top of that. All of this while experiencing new cultures and really broadening their horizons. I love it. And it just proves that if you have a free enough spirit and you plan something out carefully that anything can work out. That's what's so amazing about this life of ours. We all can live amazingly if we just put a bit of effort into getting there.

Pet Peeve: Joy for Others
One of my pet peeves is when I see that someone cannot be happy for others unless they themselves are happy. Is it selfishness? Is it that that person can't empathize? Or is that the person is just that self absorbed?

New Beginning

2007-06-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't updated my blog in quite a while with a real post. So I'm just going to touch on a few things here and there.

Farewell:
Coming down to my last few days at MFX, people stopped making it such a big deal. But in general, my team was sad that I was leaving. I told them all that I would try to join them in their corporate event, which is going to be at the bowlerama. It's all good :)

EnergizeIT:
My bro and I have been selected as one of the groups presenting our game at Microsoft's EnergizeIT convention on June 16th. We did our dry run presentation on Sunday and let me tell you.. IT SUCKED. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for being so unprepared and we are... We def have to fix it up before this Sat. The one good part about it is that now MS has low low expectations for us. The bad part is that we could still very well meet those expectations :\

Cherubs:
I didn't blog about last weekend's games but seriously.. we've got a rockin team. My assessment is that we've got great skill although we kinda cave when there are good good plays. For instance, could we really beat the miracles? How would we even practice under those conditions? Maybe a scrimmage? Not sure.. anyhow, I'm loving the team for all the right reasons: spirit and attitude (and coaching.. THAT'S RIGHT KEN CHAU).. we are def going to have a great season!! imagine when emily gets back.. that's another trunk!! love it..

New Job:
So here I am! Downtown. Amazing people. Great work. I'm seriously loving this. Right off the bat, you can tell the company's mindset is already completely different from any normal company. People here understand and RESPECT the personal lives of their employee. In return, the employees respect the goals of the employer. The result is an environment that thrives. On my second day of work, my boss comes up to me to see how things are going so far. Then he mentions "So last night there were some people who stayed a little late. Just wanted to let you know that that is NOT the norm. It just so happened that there were some urgent production issues. Don't worry, Jeff. We usually leave at 5." .... wow.... WOW... those of you who have ever worked at a non-bank environment (particularly in the software industry) know what I'm talkin about. This is incredible. Anyway, I hope to get all set up and start making a difference already!! I want to get involved in this Metavante movement :D

What's Next:
So now that I'm working downtown, I'm starting to think... thinking about MOVING IN with my buddy stu! he lives right off the subway station and to be able to commute so closely would just be FREAKIN awesome. I've got the ok from him already and now all that's left is to cajole my parents into thinking that this would benefit EVERYONE. Muahahahaaha...

Let the burnin' begin!

2007-05-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

What else do you expect right? There's nothing better than making the coworker who's leaving your team feel the absolute bitterness of guilt. For the following two weeks, I will be that target. So I might as well start tallying these accounts as best I can :D

Here is a legend:
Ellen - beloved team lead
Derek - software architect
Sav - project manager
Danli - intermediate developer
Huijie - team lead
Vince - intermediate developer
Carmela - HR manager

Friday, May 25th, 3:13pm:
(Derek comes back from a meeting where Ellen's told him and Sav about my departure)
Derek: Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey... (sigh)... you bastard.

Friday, May 25th, 3:15pm:
(Derek and I are on our way out for some Timmies when we cross paths with Sav and Ellen)
Sav: *slaps me on the arm*
Ellen: *slaps me on the arm*

Friday, May 25th, 5:25pm:
Me: Oops, I forgot about that part.
Huijie: I know, you were probably too happy thinking about other stuff.

Friday, May 25th, 5:45pm:
Me: Well I didn't want you to be the last to know or to find out from somebody else so... I've found another job..
Danli: No! Not you! Why?
Me: Yeah.. I'm so sorry..
Danli: Who's going to do all your work??
Me: OH I SEE WHAT'S IMPORTANT!! HAHAAHAH

Monday, May 28th, 10:34am:
Ellen: Hey Derek, you want to go for lunch with me today?
Derek: uhh... I don't want to hear anymore bad news..
Ellen: Unlike Jeffrey, I haven't updated my resume yet, so you don't have to worry.

Monday, May 28th, 10:41am:
Margaret: YOU!!!!
Me: You what??
Margaret: YOU!!!!!!!!! (poke poke)

Tuesday, May 29th, 11:02am:
(Derek walks in from getting his coffee)
Derek: (sigh).. everytime I look at you, I'm filled with bitter regret...

Tuesday, May 29th, 4:34pm:
Me: So how was the interview?
Ellen: Oh, the candidate wasn't bad. I just try to scare them as much as possible before Derek rips them apart with the tech interview :)
Me: You weren't that scary when you interviewed me.
Ellen: Yeah, I try to be nice to you but in the end, you don't even like me...

Tuesday, May 29th, 5:32pm:
Me: Yeah, I have to stay late today cuz I came in late.
Huijie: Do you even care anymore??

Wednesday, May 30th, 2:56pm:
Derek: Man Jeffrey, I'm going to miss you, dude.
Ellen: Yeah, I'm going to miss you too. Actually, I already miss you.

Thursday, May 31st, 9:50am:
Ellen: Jeff, I'm going to miss you.

Friday, June 1st, 3:25pm:
Derek: Yeah, the market's really hot right now. Everyone and their cousins are becoming programmers, right? On top of that, now everyone's a contractor. Why make X number of dollars when you can be making twice that? No one's going to apply for full time jobs... like you.

Monday, June 4th, 2:18pm:
Ellen: Look at Jeffrey, he's all relaxed.
Danli: Hahaha.
Ellen: You know, whenever someone leaves, they always have a bigger smile on their face.
Me: I don't have a big smile!!
Ellen: Yes, yes you do.

Tuesday, June 5th, 10:31am:
Camela: Who am I going to give advice to now that you're gone?+

Tuesday, June 5th, 2:15pm:
Marcia: Sneaky sneaky sneaky.. look who's jumping ship!

Wednesday, June 6th, 1:00pm:
(at the team farewell lunch)
Ellen: Toast to Jeffrey. It's a small world. When you become manager one day, remember that I've always been so nice to you.
Team: Cheers!

Thursday, June 7th, 9:29am:
Suzanne: What's this I hear about you??
Me: What ever do yo.... ALRIGHT ALREADY!!
Suzanne: Everyone's leaving!!
Me: Yeah, it sucks.. but you know there will be new hires!
Suzanne: I DON'T CARE ABOUT NEW HIRES!!!

Thursday, June 7th, 10:35am:
Carmela: Who's going to be in charge of making me smile everyday when you're gone?

Thursday, June 7th, 10:37am:
Carmela: Alright, so you have your exit interview at 3 today. I'll see you then.
Me: Okay thanks. Bye.
Carmela: DON'T you say bye to me!

(I'll keep this updated)

...........

2007-05-25T13:39:00.001-05:00

i don't know why i'm so upset about this.. i just told her.. and i don't feel like she knows how much she's meant to me.. i feel like i've used her.. she's been so good.. too good.. to me and now i've just left.. feel a little empty..

i remember the look on her face as she said "im happy for you".. it surely wasn't a happy face.. it was blank and empty as well..

anyway, i have to somehow let her know that i appreciate what she has done..

thank you, ellen zhang!

MESSAGE DRIVEN BEANS!!!!

2007-05-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited!!!!! My boss gave me the task of implementing the message driven bean :D :D That probably means less to most of you than public health to McDonalds, but I'm TOTALLY STOKED! Just now my boss was like:
"Well since Danli has got such and such defects on her list, you can take over the message driven bean if you'd like."
"YEAH!!!!!!", I scream in his face.
HAHAHAAH love it. love the trust. love the challenge.
Alright, now down to business....

up... down... up!... down... UP!... down...

2007-05-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

WHATS UP?!?!?! So stupid.. I hate all this drama.. and I hate not knowing.. but I suppose it's all apart of the game.. so i guess i'll have to play it..

Waiting For My Legs To Break Off

2007-05-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

i want to kiill someone.. my browser just crashed JUST as i was about to finish my huge post.. and i lost everything... on top of that, i thought blogger auto saves.. but apparently IT DIDNT!! this retarded...

im gonna sum up everything now..

i did everything i scheduled for this long weekend except for the gym workout on friday..

sat i went to zoo.. fav animals were rhinos, orangutans and wolves.. walked for 6 hours +

sun had practice.. best practice since seraphs 2k1.. i attribute success to 1) coaching 2) team attitude.. that night, i went clubbing.. i was out of style for sure with my tommy sweater and white khakis.. everyone was in collared shirts and jackets.. ugh.

mon went to lunch with george.. that was good.. then went to golf with parents.. my chipping and iron shots suck.. but hopefully my putting put me under adrian's score.. i will calculate tonight..

me = tired and sore.

this post was maybe 1% as rich as the other post was but this experience has definitely put me off blogging for a while......................................

May 2-4

2007-05-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

Here we go! It's the Friday before May 2-4 and we've already got good news... OFFICE CLOSES AT 2 TODAY!! WOO HOO!! So here are my plans this weekend...

Fri: Get off at 1 (gotta have "lunch" ya know..) and meet les at Goodlife and show her how to use all the machines. Rest of the day involves les cooking for her fam and then us going back to eat with my fam. night: TBD

Sat: Toronto Metro Zoo! I haven't been there in ages. What's there to do at the zoo?? but in any case that's what we've decided to do because it's going to be SUNNY all weekend and you can't waste that!

Sun: Softball practice and then going to celebrate Josh's birthday at night. Citrus Party or something.. I haven't gone clubbing in literally 3 years!! It was uncomfortable and not fun back then if I didn't have the right people, but this time I know NO ONE.. It could turn out that Josh has some pretty cool friends.. it'll be interesting to say the least!

Mon: Going to golf with my parents and Adrian! A nice family day outing. I can't wait actually, but i really only wanted 9 holes.. Maybe I could get a refund on the back 9....

Anyway, hope everyone has an AMAZING long weekend!! Drive safe and watch out for the inevitable blitz this weekend!!!

CHEERS!

Busy Busy month..

2007-05-10T09:49:00.000-05:00

i haven't posted in the longest time and i'll tell you why right now:

1) coding
2) tutoring
3) more coding

i'm just going to detail about the coolest part which is a game developing event that i attended with adrian. it's called TO Jam (tojam.ca) and it is a 3 day event in which your team must pump out a game by the end of it. adrian attended the year before and created Glucose Maximus which was a decent game using C++ and the irrlict graphics engine. the game was decent and the most impressive part was that they had a fully functioning game within 3 days!

so this time i suggested joining again this year and asked adrian if he wanted to join with me. i also invited george to complete the 3 man team but he got pulled into work at the last minute. so adrian and i took on the task. man, the event was HELLA FUN. we must have programmed for a full 60 hours between the two of us and in the end we were able to produce our game named "Tomorrah's Grub"!

Premise:
you're a hillbilly and your goal is to feed your wife and 27 children by collecting tomorrah's grub from a nearby farmer's market. the farmers aren't going to just hand the food to you for free - at least not the fresh ones. your job is to collect as much of the rotting foods at the market as possible before the day's out!

Game Play:
you arrive at the market with your GRUB basket and are ready to start collecting. to maximize your time you can throw your fruit into your basket instead of having to walk all the way back to your basket. each type of food has different weight which will affect your throwing range so be careful when you're judging your distances. you also have special hillbilly powers such as "pa's spectacles" or "banjo rhythm" to help you collect more grub for your family!!

Release:
the official date that our game will be posted up will be may 21st. lemme know what you think!!

Funniest conversation

2007-05-10T09:37:00.000-05:00

so i was talking to my coworker today about smoke breaks and how they were unfair.. you know the deal.. smokers zero hassle for taking half hour breaks multiple times throughout the day, but if a manager catches you reading a news article or something you're slacking. ridiculous. then we started getting into the health issues and here is how the conversation went...

derek: "there is just no justification as to why you would smoke"
me: "you're right. none what so ever."
derek: "you're ingesting harmful smoke into your body of which zero percent of it is beneficial. that's like me saying 'you know, i have to have feces all over my body 3 times a day. i know it's gross but it just makes me feel good to start rubbing feces onto my body'"
*me cracking up endlessly*

HILARIOUS

YAHOOO!!!!

2007-05-10T08:55:00.000-05:00

They didn't reject me! They didn't reject me! They didn't reject me! They didn't reject me! They didn't reject me! *dance dance dance*

La Cité Détendu

2007-04-16T12:10:00.000-05:00

If New York is the city that never sleeps, then I would dub Montreal as the city that sleeps during the day. Montreal's the closest to a European city as you can get in Canada. I love it. So relaxed and easy going during the day and lively and populated during the nights, Montreal is probably my perfect place to hang out. Add on top of that the fact that Zenith was there to party with me at nights and you have one great vacation!

I hopped on one of those carpool vans that run back and forth between the two cities and saved myself about $100 because they only charge $40 one way. If anyone ever needed a cheap and efficient ride, I'd recommend "Express Ride" to anyone. They are the safest rides and they've been around for years now. I personally know a coworker that uses their service 4 or 5 times a year to get back to her hometown once in a while (actually, as I write this, she's "stuck" in Montreal cuz of "bad weather conditions".. lets just say that I got back in recording time last night). Check it out!

I knocked on Zenith's door at about 11:30pm on Friday night. (His company opted to get him a room in Hotel Le Germain. Check out the rooms.. BEAUTIFUL www.hotelgermain.com) He was hella tired from the day's events but he wanted to go out for eats anyway (what a trooper). We strolled along Maisonneuve for about 5 minutes and found a Nickels (I think Celine Dion owns this). At 12am in the morning, this diner was packed! We ordered a poutine and wings and just chilled for about an hour before crashing back at his place.

The next morning (or afternoon) I woke up and was ready to tackle the streets of Montreal. Zenith left for work at SIX AM that morning so I had to plan out my trek for the day ahead of time. I first went to the famous Schwartz's for the their smoked meat sandwiches. WORTH IT. When I got there, there was a lineup outside the restaurant. Five minutes later, a waiter came out looking for a party of 2. There were none. The guy in front of me was a lone ranger like me so we paired up for the kill >:). We got seated at the bar and immediately in front of the bar were about 6 or 7 slabs of meat. I desperately wanted a chunk of that. I ordered a smoked meat sandwich and scarfed that down. The dude beside me ordered a pickle and so I got one too. Man, this was a meal to remember! The meat was so tender, fatty and juicy. I wanted to eat another one, but I've got a stomach the size of... well, one sandwich apparently :(

Next up, I went to Saint Denis and walked down that path. Saint Denis is a lot like Queen street. Lot of stores on the side and a decent amount of people crowding the streets. Eventually, I came up upon a cafe that I liked the looks of and planted myself there with a green tea and read a book. I loved it. I think that's what I would do everyday if I could help it.

At night, after Zenith came home and took a massive nap, we headed out for Vieux Montreal (old montreal)! We were determined to have a romantic dinner with candlelights and wine (sorry les ;)). We eventually found this Polish restaurant (don't ask..). They didn't have the Wild Boar special that we both wanted so we settled for some veal and some sort of mushroom patty. No, we didn't make out, but we were close. Right after that, we to Chinatown to fill the rest of the gaps in our stomachs. I promised before I left that the trip would consist of me kicking his ass in vids. So to vids we went! The final tally:

Initial D - me
Time Crisis 4 - me
OutRun 2 - zen
Guitar Hero - me

BOOYA!! :D

The next day, he had to go to work again and I woke up at around 1pm. So I just searched the net for the best poutine in Montreal. They directed me to a place called La Fleur. Seriously, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. What a jip. And I ordered a medium too! So I had no room for anything else that day since my ride was leaving at 4:30pm. You know what the worst part is? I was walking towards the metro station and I found this place called Frite Alors. I went inside and their fries looked AMAZING. C'est domage.. Next time I go, I want to hit up Frite Alors and this other place called Une Crepe?.

All in all, I had a blast. Thanks Zenith for letting me stay with you. It was damn good seeing you, as always. Miss you most definitely.

drop everything and go!

2007-04-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

so i log on one day and i see on zen's msn name "meet you in montreal!!" so i ask what's up? apparently he going to montreal for work the very next weekend and he's got this sweeeeeeeet hotel room to stay in..

"wanna come?!!?!?", he asks.
"done."

so that was that and now im here, on the day that im heading off to montreal. WICKED. i'm hella excited. i dunno what we're gonna do there, but i have a feeling it's gonna involve me kicking his ass in street fighter 2 .. and daytona .. and initial d .. and ddr .. and guitar hero .. and then we'll see if he's crying before i beat him in air hockey too.

OH SHOOT, i forgot to pack some clubbin clothes... stupid stupid stupid.. and my camera.. ahhhhh dang........

anyway, excited to chill with zenith this weekend.. always good times with him..

CHEERS!

Note to Self...

2007-04-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

gotta get my act together. wasted so much time already and now look at you. well, it better that you go in for a spankin now than later, huh? alright, lets do it!

Editted Post

2007-03-29T11:05:00.001-05:00

I've added pictures to my Free Hugs post labeled "Slow and Steady..." under the Jan 2007 archive.

Weird Test

2007-03-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

So I've gone on this rampage of doing iq, eq, personality tests.. came across this one i found on josh's blog... Power Colour?? It's supposedly for women, but i did it anyway.. what are you doing with your life josh??

Your Power Color Is Blue

Relationships and feelngs are the most important things to you.
You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict.
If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well.
You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What's Your Power Color?

Hahahaahhaha.. yes, im a feelings kinda guy.. sounds a bit creepy.. but i realized that a while ago anyway.. i am more intrigued about people than i am about career, money or anything else.. so what's your power colour?

charisma >> intelligence??

2007-03-23T07:48:00.000-05:00

after the work xmas dinner last year, my boss told me that if her son grew up to be like me at my age she would be happy.. i was really taken aback.. seriously, being the 'junior developer' on the team, i always feel like i held up the team with my constant questions and reccuring 'junior' mistakes.. i really felt like the boss side of her regretted hiring me, but the social side of her kept her from getting too angry at me (dunno if that made any sense to you).. so when she made that remark, i was deeply complimented, but i didn't know whether it was on a personal level, a business level or both..

yesterday, i had a conversation with my boss about the workplace.. she said that looking at a lot of companies, most are run by sales people.. her theory is that no matter what your level is in the corporate chain you will have to deal with people.. the higher up you go on the ladder, the more important it is that you are interpersonal and charismatic.. in the end, she concluded that she doesn't care whether or not her son is the smartest and brightest in the class.. if he is socialable and interpersonal then that is all she thinks is needed to be successful...

so i guess what she said last xmas is a little bit of both.. personal and business..

IQ Tests

2007-03-23T07:34:00.000-05:00

man.. i had to drop off my parents at the airport this morning at 5:30am!!! i got to work at 6 am and i am trying desperately to find anything that'll give my brain a boost (barring caffeine).. so here i am, posting on blogger.. you know what really works? (and this is for my future reference also if i ever reread this..) iqtests.. i just took a 13 minute test and the amount of adrenaline that was pumped into my head allowed me to work full out for another 30 minutes!! hahahahaha.. sad..

this brings me to the main point... IQ TESTS!! i don't know why i love them so much.. actually i do.. it's because most of them are logic and math based and that being my strength, i naturally excel in them.. if you have the time, go here: www.cbc.ca/testthenation/takethetest/ .. this one was a lot different from the usual ones you find on the net.. there are 6 sections so on top of the logic and math sections there's language, memory, visual memory and patterns (i think).. i thought this was hella innovative and is a better judge of IQ..

i scored lower than my 'usual' score, but i can dig that.. my memory is horrible and my languages are even worse.. haha.. but i think that this test is more of a well rounded test.. now if they can only incorporate a creative/imaginative element.....

happy testing!

Philippines - HK - Vancouver

2007-03-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Again, I love HK.. third time in 3 years. However, this time I managed to stop by Philippines with Les, Darlene and Vince and then drop by Vancouver to see my bro on the way back.

Philippines was up first. Other than one of the stops, most of this trip was about meeting Les' family. It was strange because everyone in TO was trying to make it seem like such a big deal. They telling us horror stories of the aunts barraging us with questions and the grandma chastising us about every little detail. In the words of Baby Denise (Les' cousin who really isn't a baby anymore at the age of 19), "OH MY GOD, I'm SO scared for you!". But actually none of that stuff happened. In fact, I met a really nice family who treated the four of us like kings and queens. We stayed at a house that had 5 maids servicing us (they even offered to carry our backpacks down to the car even though we were headed there ourselves.. pretty ridiculous), were chauffeured everywhere in air conditioned cars, were treated to some pretty crazy foods (8 lbs lobster anyone?), and met some really cool people and had really fun conversations (lookin at you utsi bien, utsi patty and utsi candy!!). I didn't really get to see as much of the city in terms of culture mainly because I was so jetlagged for the first week, but overall, I had a really good time meeting everyone. Thank you for your hospitality.

HK was amazing as usual. I hate going back for so little time, though (5 days). I barely squeezed in anyone. My grandparents got 2 meals, coworkers got 2 meals (although I only had time to see 2 of them), mom's side got 1 meal, cousin that I stayed with got 1 meal and the rest were scattered here and there with Les and crew. I couldn't even show Les the craziest street foods that are the jewels of HK! But we definitely made the most of our time there. Got our shop on for a couple of the afternoons. Spent most of our time in Causeway Bay, went to Ocean's Park for a day (I got a crazy video of Les and Darlene on the rollercoaster) , and went to go sightseeing for a day (which I thought was the most boring part of the trip).

Next time we come back to HK I'm going to have to bring you to Wan Chai port at night because looking across the harbour is just the most beautiful thing HK has to offer. I'll bring you to eat the dirtiest street foods in the market places of Wan Chai, but they'll be the most delicious and satisfying meals you'll have. Next up, we'll chill in a lounge on the 13th floor where we will be able to have a sweet night view of the streets of TST while chuggin back your beloved bubble teas. After that, we'll just start explorin the streets of mong kok cuz who knows where that will take us! MAN, can't wait :D

Vancouver was also a fun part of the trip. I mainly went there to visit Adriano and visit I did! First night, we ate dinner with my cousins and then we bussed back to Adrian's pad so that the next day we could get an early start at the EA building for some MAD GAMING. ADRIAN, however, didn't feel the need to reserve the best game on the market right now (gears of war) and we ended up wasting about an hour on trying to locate a copy. (actually, he tried, but his friend forgot to bring it... LAME!!!). We ended up playing Resistance of Man for 5 hours straight before going to one of the best Japanese restaurants ever - Guu. And I'm not talking good as in best tasting sashimi or whatever.. I'm talkin about innovative cuisine at its finest! We had this appetizer that was diced sashimi chunks of salmon which was then mixed in with raw egg. Then, we would stuff that into shrimp chips before stuffing it into our mouths. Another appetizer was this hard boiled egg which was surrounded by cooked pumpkin flesh topped off with some sort of cream sauce. After that there was seared tuna steak, odin, eggplant, another lightly seared fish, and a pan fried udon dish. All this for about $70 for 5 people. Amazing :D

The next day, Adrian and I went to Whistler. It was RAINING. Well, in the morning it was only raining on the bottom of the mountain, but then as the afternoon crawled around, I was water logged. Even though the conditions were so miserable the skiing itself was awesome! I slowly found my rhythm back after a couple years without skiing. However, my quads were on fire after about the 2nd hill! (Know that these hills take you about 20 minutes to ski down. Add to that Adrian's wipeout times and you've got 30 minute hills :D) I really hope that I can experience Whistler on a day with better conditions when we can go to the very top (the upper part of the mountain was closed off due to high winds.. and rightfully so. the winds were so strong in the middle part of the mountain that it felt like it was whipping BB pellets at your face. And this was when we were just on the lifts)

Well, that's another trip for the books. Better start saving for the next one.. Maybe I'll taste a little bit of Africa or South America next!

Uh oh.. it's surfacing again...

2007-02-20T18:59:00.001-05:00

Once in a while I get into these philosophical routines where I start to question my life.. a lot. What triggered it this time around was a beautiful speech spoken by Steve Jobs at a Standford University commencement.

It spurred on inspiration and motivation as well as a lot of thought and reorganization of my life. Steve Jobs asks himself everyday in the mirror:

"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today?"

Here's the caveat. Of course you cannot live everyday as if it were the last day of your life. That would be unrealistic and unreasonable. However, I would try to live my life around that concept, in that I would live my life with an ambition and love such that I would never have to regret anything that I've done or have not done. That is the goal, anyway...

I love speeches like that. Another good one that I refer back to every once in a while is the essay by Albert Einstein: "The World As I See It". There is a shortened version on the internet, which is really only the first page of his entire essay. This piece of art is something that I will never forget. I remember I was on coop once when I first read this essay. A coworker of mine (also a coop) and I read the essay and spent the rest of the afternoon deciphering his message. It was awesome! I now have so much respect for Einstein. Funny thing is, it's not for his scientific genius, but for his philosophical and ethical view on life. Here are a few favourites:

- Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own.

- I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality.

- It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man.

- Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

- The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

Einstein was such a promoter of the imagination. He preferred it even over the likes of science and knowledge, which is hugely ironic. Einstein's thoughts also coincide with what Jobs says in the end of his speech: "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish". I can only imagine that he meant for us to never have to conform to dogma. I think that too many people these days are too mature for their own good. Too many people are focusing too much on knowledge and information that there is little room for the creative mind. I know that I have been moving in that direction and it scares me to think that I'm going to become one of those dads who are all business. Imagination is what makes life fun and ever changing. Without it, I think I would die of boredom and monotony.

Maybe that's why I always complain about the TV. You sit there and are fed the creativity to you. And maybe that's why I like to play with my kid cousins so much. Because kids are 90% imagination and the creative world is not lost to them, yet. With that said, I think I'm going to play with my lego tonight... :)

Like a Machine!

2007-02-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

I just found out yesterday that I needed an additional 6 months left in my passport from the day that I return from my Asia trip in order for immigration to let me fly out. So if I return from Hong Kong on March 12th, the expiry date on my passport would have to be AT LEAST September 12th. WOW. Unbelievable. Why did my travel agent not tell me this?!?!?! How did I not know this?? How did my travel agent not tell me this the last FOUR times I've travelled??

I quickly went online to find out how long it would take to process a passport renewal: 20 days. They mean working days too. On top of that, plastered on the front of their webpage is a disclaimer:

Passport Canada is experiencing a sharp volume increase in passport applications in all of its offices, by mail and through its receiving agents. Please note that we are also experiencing, up to 25 business days delays, in addition to our service standards when delivering your new passport.

I didn't have two months to spare. I had 9 working days. So I looked further for alternatives and there was! There was express processing in which they would do a rush job to get the processing done within 2 to 9 days. And then there was the URGENT processing which they could get done within 24 hrs. Dang..

The next 5 hours happened like this:
- Rushed through traffic to get to my travel agent's office before 5:30pm to pick up tickets (I'd need it as proof of travel in order to get my passport Expressed)
- Went to Walmart to get my photos taken.
- My mom picked up the passport applications from the post office
- I filled out the application using Les and Sarah as my references
- Went to Shopper's to photocopy my driver's license but they had the worst copier ever
- Went to my aunt's house to get her to sign everything as my guarantor (She's a CA!!) and thank goodness they had a photocopier in the house that was SHARP.

This morning, I woke up at 6 and got ready to go down to the Passport office. The office opens at 8, but I've heard enough horror stories to know not to show up too late. My mom knew a friend who waited for 6 hours to be served! I was determined to get there at 7 to line up. Not knowing what to expect, I prepared for the worst. That means one hour outside in the -17C (-28C with wind). Two pairs of socks, sweat pants underneath my dress pants, 4 layers of shirts, scarf, head band, gloves and a coat. I was ready!

When I got there a little bit before 7, there was already a line up outside the government building. I was pretty shocked because I thought I would be the only one crazy enough to stand outside that long. There were about 40 people in front of me. So I stood there about to take out my newspaper when someone from the inside opened the flood gates. Everyone poured in and quickly rushed to the 3rd floor. It's funny because you know how people are trying to act civilized so they try to look as calm as possible, walking at a civilized yet brisk pace. For me, I had none of that. I broke out into a full out dash for those doors. I wasn't gonna wait an extra hour because I wanted to save face. LOL. When I got to the office, there were about 20 people in front of me. It was awesome. The time was 7:15 and when I looked back, there were around 30 more people behind me. By the time 7:30 rolled around I couldn't even see the back of the line anymore because it curled to the back of the hallway and around a corner. I got my number and it was number 19. SWEET!

When it was 8, they herded everyone with numbers into a separate room where the agents were to process our applications. I only waited 20 min before I was called up. The person at the counter was this really soft spoken women. She seemed so gentle and harmless. She asked for my proof of travel when I asked for the Express process. When I gave her my plane ticket, she took a moment to look at the Date Issued, which was back in December then she chastised me in a way that I never thought possible with such a tiny voice. "You bought this in December and you're getting your passport now??" Man I felt like an idiot. I stumbled my reply and blurted something out. She just went back to processing my application, but I felt so ashamed. Darn you, lady, for making me feel stupider than I already feel!! I was out of there by 8:37. By that time, the room was packed with people and there was still a line up outside to get the initial number. I really felt sorry for those people because I could imagine them waiting for hours on end. This experience has really taught me something. Sometimes if you sacrifice a little at the beginning, you could reap huge benefits. Getting up at 6 seems well worth it now that I've saved potentially hours of my time.

Call EMS!!!

2007-02-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

Third post! Wow, this *is* working. (for today at least)

This past weekend, Les and I took a 2 day first aid and CPR course. I mainly took it cause Les wanted me to accompany her. She needs it for her ECE. But also, I wanted to know what to do in those crucial moments when something bad happens. I've taken up to Bronze Cross before and I vaguely remember the basics, but that certificate has expired years ago. Maybe even a decade ago...

All I have to say is MAN what a refresher! I learned so many things and now I feel a lot more confident if anything were to happen. I find myself mentally prepping. While I'm driving, I think of morbid scenarios to car crashes and then I think of my 123/ABCs. I wonder if I'll freeze up in the heat of the moment or whether or not I'd be able to help out. This thought only drives me to think of more scenarios and that's how I've been passing my time lately.

I also talked to my admin head on Monday and I asked to see the company's first aid kit. I just wanted to check out what I would have to work with if there was ever a situation. We talked for a bit and now I'm apart of the health and safety committee. Also, I'm a fire warden :| HAHAHA.. funny! I later checked out the first aid kit and it was rubbish.. no breathing masks, only one pair of gloves, not enough gauze, and everything was just scattered. I made a list of recommendations and now I think they are in the process of purchasing more wares..

I definitely recommend EVERYONE to take this course. It's definitely worth the $100 and you really never know when you'll need it...

stay safe everyone!!

Gramps

2007-02-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

My dad recently told me that my grandfather is sick. Well, he's been sick for a while, but lately it has developed into something far more serious. It's really sad because I've been so so so so lucky in that I've never really experienced a death in my family except for when my mom's dad passed away when I was in grade 4, but I was far too immature to really grasp the weight of the situation.

Stu and Ivan were supposed to come over that night to play. My bro and I were so excited and were running all over the place. When I reached the living room, I saw that my dad was hovering over my tear struck mom. I asked what was going on and my dad told me that my grandpa died. I knew that was a bad thing so I gave a momentary sad face. The very next moment, though, I was at the windows waiting for Stu and Ivan to come again. Later my dad told me they weren't coming and I was more upset over that than anything else. Stupid.

This time around, my dad's dad has prostate cancer and it's spreading. My dad has consulted his siblings, doctors, friends, and even Wiki and has finally come to the decision to have my grandpa go through Chemo. There are also a variety of pills and medicines that my dad has instructed my aunt and uncle to feed him. Even after all that, the doctors predict around 6 months to a year left. The worst part about this whole thing is that my dad just has been the same (understandably). He hasn't had the same focus as before and that saddens me to the core. He is my pillar and it's always tough to see him down. I want to be his pillar, but I don't really know how..

I'm going back to Hong Kong soon so that gives me the opportunity to do something for my grandpa. I want to make a card for him. I've asked Les for her expertise and actually, she brought so much to the table! (literally and figuratively) From a normal two page card, it is now going to be a 6 page mini photo album/scrapbook! I've asked my dad to translate some phrases into Chinese and I've drawn and cut out the phrases. Each four letter phrase takes me an hour to do. It's nuts!! But the end result is something that I am proud of. My written Chinese can never be this good.. hahaha.. anyway, I'll try to post some pictures up sometime. Even though this "card" is for my grandpa, secretively it is partly for my dad. I think he was very happy to know that someone else is just as concerned as he is and is doing something about it. :)

Little by Little...

2007-02-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Okay! I'm going to try something new. (Let's see how long this lasts...) I'm going to try to post little tidbits at a time so that I'm not overwhelmed by one REALLY HUGE long post and then end up not posting for 4 months. So we'll see how this goes :D

Slow and steady wins the race

2007-01-17T10:24:00.000-05:00

Really, there's no race.. but ya know!

WOW, I've obviously been so so lazy.. with a lot of things: going to the gym, work, and of course, blogging. lol. I think it started with when I got back from HK. With the holiday seasons (decembers are always crazy... great! yet crazy...) and all, I just didn't feel like doing any of the other stuff..

So let's see.. a couple important things that I SHOULD have blogged about just got procrastinated and never got the attention they deserved.. Stuff like FREE HUGS, birthday stuff, the holidays, side projects and other stuff.. I guess it's too late to go back and talk now... OR IS IT?!

I'll just do the recap on FREE HUGS:
Man, this was an awesome movement. If you don't already know, this guy in Australia one day decided to go to a mall with a sign labeled "FREE HUGS". He just stood there all day and gave out free hugs. Simple. Compassionate. Giving. I love that stuff. Of course, eventually a band saw him doing this and it inspired them to write a song/compose a video for him. They posted that on youtube and voila!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

So this, in turn, inspires people all over the world to spread the joy around their local area. (The movement.) And I myself was so inspired i swore that I would do it, too. Stuart and I were initially going to do it that very weekend. He chose Pacific Mall. However, come the day of, I think either he was busy or something or other. Nothing happened that weekend. Or the next. (although I did work on the poster, which les helped me tremendously with.. and this took way longer than i thought!) On and off, I had asked people to either do it with me, or to come out and support, but I kept disappointing every week with some kind of excuse (some were actually very valid!!). So, I did what I had to do.

One Saturday I decided that it had to be done. I was adamant. Leslie was on board. I got George to come out too. We got to Pacific Mall and I went to scope out the scene. I really wanted to do it in the centre, but I knew that adventure would be kinda like a fight between Bruce Lee and Urkle; It'd be amusing for the first little while, but it'd be short lived. As we scouted the mall, there were a few decent places, but there was always something wrong with it. We had to find an area away from all the guards, but still with a decent amount of traffic. Finally we came upon an entrance on the southside of the mall that was like a trench, in which we had to use an escalator to enter the mall. Perfect for war. And I was ready to do battle.

At this point, George and Les decidedly started to ease away from me. I think they were a bit doubtful about the reception of the public. They gave me their good luck smiles along with the "don't go up in flames" eyebrows as they were intent on staying at the top of the steps... behind a wall... out of sight. (hahaha) I walked down the steps with the signs in hand. When I got down to the bottom, I could tell you that my heart was pumping at an alarming rate. I circled the area in front of the door contemplating how i would do this. People were staring at me probably wondering what I was up to. I looked back up to my support group and I saw two heads popped around the edge of the wall giving me supportive smiles. I could only beam a squiggly smile equivalent to the one you see on MSN :S. I looked around one last time, took 2 deep breaths, overrode any resistences in my body and held up the sign.

At first when I stood there with the sign, my head was kind of swirling. Everything seemed to slow down and I felt like every pair of eyes in the room were on me. Lots of stares. A lot more smirks and giggles. I kept a warm smile (or as warm as I possibly could..) on my face so that people wouldn't think I was a creep. People would go up the stairs and they would stand at the top staring back at me with inquisitive faces. I tried making eye contact with them hoping I could lure them down for a hug, but each time I looked at a group, they would quickly divert their eyes or turn around to leave.

To my surprise, in the first couple of minutes a group of three girls (ages around 16) came down the step. Two fell back and the one girl came up for a hug. I asked the other two if they wanted a hug too and they shyly came forward. They giggled as they ran back up the stairs. Finally! That felt good. I looked back at the my support group and gave them a big smile. They had now stepped from behind the wall and shot me back big smiles. Then, as if the initial girls had opened up the flood gates people starting coming down for hugs. People of all ages, race, sex. I was surprised! I felt more and more comfortable in that spot. New shoppers would come in through the double doors and I would still get the smirks and stuff. Some would end up coming for a hug. One girl dressed in black shouted to me from the escalators asking why I was doing this. I replied back "why not?" She thought for a sec. "I'll ask for a hug when I come back". This was turning out to be quite fun, actually.

After about 20 minutes of giving hugs on and off, a security guard walked towards me. "What are you doing? What is this?"
"Exactly what it says on the sign. Just giving out free hugs"
"Who sent you to do this? Who are you working for?"
"No one. I'm not soliciting anything. It's nothing dirty. I'm just giving out free hugs to whoever wants one."
He had to think about that one for a second. Just then, the girl dressed in black came rushing down the steps towards us. "Excuse me, he's not bothering anyone. We like him! Can I have a hug, please??" She gave me a hug and then asked her friend to take a picture of us. So we took a picture while the security guard was standing there and waiting. HAHAHA. That cracks me up. She continued, "see?? He just made my day. Thank you!". At that, she ran back upstairs. That girl was hilarious and I really want to thank her for coming to my aid. After that, the security guard calmed down a lot. "Alright well, you're not selling anything?"
"Nothing at all. I don't hassle any of the shoppers. They come up to me when they want to"
He started looking around as if he were trying to figure out a way to let this happen. "Alright listen, I personally don't have a problem with this, but I mean I have to ask my supervisor."
"That's fine, you can ask him." Man I was excited! Looks like the security guard was on my side.

A few minutes later, the supervisor came and he came at me firing questions at a hundred miles an hour. This guy wasn't pleased about it and eventually I convinced him to take me to management's office to ask whether or not it was possible for me to continue free hugs in the mall. The supervisor and I walked through the parking lot and he was lecturing me in a condescending tone about mall etiquette and all that jazz. Man, I wanted to punch him in the mouth to tell you the truth, but that would have easily ended free hugs (not to mention probably go against the whole concept of the movement). I talked to management and she was adamant that this was against the mall policy. So I told them I'd stop. It was a good run while it lasted and I was happy with the results. So I went back by myself to join Les and George at the south entrance. When I got back, I saw the first guard there talking to Les and George. I told them the bad news about management and the guard told me that's what he expected... "again, if it were up to me, I'd let you do it. If there's anything I can do to help you with this let me know. Try Market Village." HAHAHAHA. That was hilarious! I appreciated that so much.

So we set up to leave the mall and Les and George were telling me that as they were standing at the top, they overheard a lot of the comments of people passing by. Of course you had the jokers with their witty comments, but for the most part there were really touching and cool remarks said about Free Hugs. Some that were hilarious too! It has definitely taught me that people are always reaching out for compassion. And since we all have it in ourselves to give it, why not?

Greatest City in the World!

2006-10-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

Okay first of all, I realize that I haven't been to all the cities in the world. Actually I only been to the following:

North America:
- Vancouver, BC
- Banff, AB
- Various cities in ON
- Montreal and Quebec City, QB
- LA, Seattle, Chicago, Washington, Vegas, San Fran, Orlando, Miami, Grand Canyon, NYC, various others in the US

Asia:
- HK, Beijing, Shanghai, Guang Zhou, various others in China
- Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya in Japan
- Singapore, Singapore
- Some island in Malaysia

Europe:
- Malaga, Spain

Africa:
- Tangier, Morocco

Zilch in South America and lets not even consider Antartica or the North Pole.

This is definitely not even close to the coverage needed to even award the "Greatest City in the World" but I'm going to do it anyhow. Annnnnnnnnnnnnd the award goes to.....

........... HONG KONG!!!

Yes, folks. HK is by far the best city in he world. You've heard that NYC is the city that never sleeps. Well, that's true if you were to get your ass robbed and/or beaten to a pulp by street thugs or if you were into interested in the world of unmentionables. Not to disrespect NYC because I also love that place, but you can get even more high on the streets on HK with all the different things you can do there.

I can honestly go on about HK for hours, but I shant do it here as my main purpose is to tell about the recent trip that I came back from. There were two goals of this trip: 1) celebrate my grandpa's 80th bday 2) go on a trip to Jiu Zhai Gou (a conservation area with arguably the most beautiful scenary of lakes, ponds, waterfalls, mountain range).

The first week of the 2 week trip was scheduled for the trip to China. I went with my dad, mom, aunts, and a couple other family friends. It was one of those guided tours.

<--- break for a couple week --->

Oh man, I've been so lazy about posting. On top of that, I've had so much work to do lately. And on top of that, the immensity of this post scares me away. For that last reason alone, I am just going to speed through the rest of this post and then edit it if I feel the urge to (which I probably never will)

The place that we hit in China was amazing in terms of the landscape and view. I was incredulous at the sight of all the waterfalls that we passed by and the colours of the water. There was this one point of the trip (4th day) where we got this local tour guide for the day to take us through her village. She was quite pretty. And apparently everybody else thought so as well because as soon as we got to the first site, everyone was asking her to be in the picture with them! I was crazy embarassed because it was my parents who were the first to ask!! We had two main tour guides, one male one female. I felt really bad for the other female one because no one ever asked her to be in a picture with them and she was so nice. The guy tour guide also asked me to help him take a picture of him and the pretty one with MY camera. And he didn't even care to find a scenic background. He gave me his email and was like "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to send that to me!! I should get on that.. LOL. Anyway, I thought that 1 week of China was a little too much. I would have rather spend three days there and then had more time in HK.

So back in HK, most of my time was spent with my grandparents (on my dad's side). It was good! Another good thing about it was that my bro joined us for this last week. So we were chillin in HK. I had a talk at the beginning of the week with my dad about the schedules (dinner dates, dim sum dates, visitations and such) to make sure that I wouldn't be double booking myself with my friends. As the week came along, he kept eating up more and more of my time!! It got to the point where I would be getting ready in the morning to meet my ex-coworkers for lunch and he'd be like "Okay, so let's go dim sum with yea yea!" and I'd be like WHAT?!?!?! And I would end up going to dim sum (which I think is the worst). The thing is I don't mind chilling with my grandparents, but just tell me ahead of time so I wouldn't have to cancel on my friends!

Anyway, I managed to squeeze in time for the more important friends, but I saw a lot of people who were like "let's eat dinner sometime!" and I'd be like "yeah okay!", but I never called back .......................... YIKES! I should probably email them back and apologize.

The best part of the trip was one night we went to a hotel buffet to celebrate my cousin's bday. That was the greatest night because I just had an amazing time chatting away with all my cousins. It was cool. We're currently trying to convince them all to come to TO for a fam reunion next year. :D

So that was about it for my trip to HK! Next up: Phillipines?

Wooo hooooo: One Year!

2006-10-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted in a while.. however that is thanks in large part to the fact that I was halfway around the world staying in the best city in the WORLD!! (but more on that later...)

So I promised I would tell you about my crazy plans for the one year and here it is...

I decided after many many hints from Les (in all actuality, they were blatant requests.. lol) that I would make jewellery as my one year present to her. The Tan-Man sisters are, in general, very into arts and crafts; More specifically, beading. The reason why I chose to bead her a necklace can be illustrated like this: A Canadian isn't going to impress a Brazilian much with his puck handling skills, but if the canuck can out maneuver him on the soccer field then that will turn some heads. So I guess it was about time I took the ball into Les' home court to see what I could do.

I decided on a necklace because I've never given her one and necklaces are a main showcase in the world of beading. I quickly came upon my first road block: I didn't know how to bead. So one afternoon I went to Michael's Arts and Crafts store to check out the scene. I mosied into the beading section, grabbed an "intro to beading" book and spent 2 hours absorbing every little piece of information that I could possibly fit into my brain. I got quick lessons on crimping, looping, wiring, knotting, etc.. along the way, I picked up a pattern that I thought would be perfect! The book costed $40 and I wasn't about to shell out that kind of money on a one time deal. So I decided that I was just going to come back with a camera and snap the two pages of instructions needed for that pattern. ahahahah..

Next up were the tools. For this, I needed the help of Darlene. She was more than happy to help and I'm so glad I went to her because on top of lending me a whole kit worth of tools she pointed me in the direction of BeadFX, the beading store that Les goes to regularly to buy her materials. I checked up the location of the store and (BOOYA!) it was only two blocks away from my work. So during one of my lunchtimes, I set out for BeadFX. It turned out to be a quaint little store with all different kinds of beads lining the walls and tables. I took the picture of the pattern thinking that surely I'll be able to find what I need in here! After about half an hour of searching, I could not find even one of the pieces from the picture. So I started settling for even pieces that were similar, but I couldn't find anything that I liked. (funnily enough, I found out from Les afterwards that the ladies of the store used the word "meticulous" to describe me) After about an hour and a half rummaging at the store and finding nothing, I had had enough for the day.

I had to come up with a new plan. I didn't think that I would be able to find the exact pieces that were illustrated in the book's pattern, but I still loved the design. So I decided that I had create a necklace with a similar look (the chain and the layout), but with different rocks and beads. First, I had to get a pendant because it was teh centerpiece and this piece would dictate the style that the rest of the beads would take. I went to Pacific Mall on a lead from a staff at Michael's. There is a crystal store on the first level with hundreds of unique cuts and colours for pendants. I finally settled on a light pink in the cut of a wavy diamond shape. So now I could go back to BeadFX and choose beads and rocks that would accentuate the pink centrepiece. With the aid of some of the workers there (and about three more visits to BeadFX) I finally got everything I needed to start the assembly of the necklace!

Assembling the necklace actually wasn't actually as hard as I thought it would be. As a rookie, I think I did pretty well for myself. I completed the necklace in just over an hour and added a pair of earrings to round out the end of 2 hours (perfectly timed as 40 Year Old Virgin had finished around the same time :D) Woohoo!

A couple days later, when the time came for present exchange.. well, let's just say that although I'm no Ronaldhino, my performance was good enough to win the cup :)

Happy Birthday, Babes!

2006-09-12T17:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted in such a long time. I can't really remember what I was doing in the past week, but I have a feeling it was all devoted to Les.. LOL.. So here, I will give an account of what I've done. Les' bday is on the 11th and our one year is on the 15th so needless to say there was a bit of pressure to implement all my plans >:)

I am a person who loves the element of surprise. Although it takes ten times extra work, a good surprise is worth a million bucks! So for Les' bday, I got her three DS games: Super Princess Peach, Bomberman and Animal Crossing. These are three perfect games for her for the following reasons:
1. Super Princess Peach - this is actually a game that she wanted for a long time now.
2. Bomberman - we've played bomberman before on her comp and we are totally obsessed with it.
3. Animal Crossing - i've heard anough good stories about this game that i knew it would be the right fit for her.

Getting these games were also a part of the fun! Because these games are so expensive (up to $50 each), I couldn't afford to get her so many games at that price. So instead, I kept an eye out on Craigslist and eBay for great deals! This took months of planning because I would constantly be monitoring these sites for good deals. The first game I got was Bomberman. This game is discontinued meaning you wouldn't find it in stores and if you do, it because they had extra stock from a long time ago or they are just repackaged used games. So I found this one on eBay and won the auction on Aug 27th. The next game that I got was Animal Crossing. This popular game was easy to find but harder to obtain. I found a posting on Craigslist saying that some girl wanted to sell it for $30. I talked her down to $25 but the problem was that she lived downtown and she attended U of T. Conveniently, I was speaking to the one and only EMILY FAN on MSN and I realized that it would make much more sense if SHE picked it up for me :D. She agreed to do it, but I was so scared for her life. Em didn't seem scared at all. She dished out her name and her phone number in the blink of an eye! : We eventually found out that it was an asian girl named Bev Ho so that relaxed me a bit. They met up at a second cup (full of people in broad daylight) and Em told me she was actually really timid and straight forward with the transaction. That's cool :D THANKS EM!!! The third game was a bit trickier. I needed this Super Princess Peach game but I only had 1 week left (not enough time to wait for an eBayer to send to me). However, I got lucky! There was an eBayer that was located in North York!! I jumped on that auction and got the game for pretty cheap too!

So at this point, I had the presents ready. Now, for the presentation. I scouted out her house and looked places to hide the presents. In the end, I hid one present in her library, one present in Misty's cage and the card in the arms of a stuffed animal on her bed. The other present I would present to her with a clue. That clue would lead her to the next present, which would also have a clue and so on. It worked out REALLY well in the end as she was both surprised by the presents and she had tons of fun searching around the whole house. Btw, she absolutely loves each game and is currently ignoring me because she needs to make more bells by fishing (Animal Crossing).

On Sat, we did a big cherub + em party thing at D&B. I must say that their food is EXCELLENT. If you ever go, try out the Honey Mustard Spinach Salad. WOW.

On Sun, I took her to this restaurant recommended by my friend Francis. It is called Lobster Royale. Ladies and gentlemen, if you EVER feel the need for some lobster, screw Red Lobster. GO TO LOBSTER ROYALE. For $34 a person, you get a choice of the most RICH seafood soup (lobster bisque or clam chowder), delicious homemade garlic bread, salad, and a 1 lb lobster (steamed or broiled) + a drink! Look this place up if you are interested.. trust... trust..

On Mon, I fell sick. I couldn't make it for the family dinner. Instead, I drag my diseased body over to their house for cake afterwards.

Overall, I would say that she had a good time :) Wait for my next post when I'll let you know how the one year goes ;)

ADRIAN!!!!

2006-09-01T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yo Adrian, you're gay.

Congrats on the job man. YOU'RE LUCKY! But you're also quite hardworking I must say... prolly more than your own good. But if you screw this up..... BAM!

Later, ya panzerotti!

Lost

2006-09-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

I went to the CCSA banquet last night. Wow, I am a lost cause. Can someone out there please tell me how I'm supposed to think and feel?? Actually, I know the proper way but I just cannot get myself together to act in that way. I know I can do it, though. This step is one of the biggest moguls in and of myself. If I can climb this obstacle, then I will come that much closer to my destination. (Although I understand that it is an ever changing destination, I know it is at least a leap in the right direction)

Focus. Please focus.

CNE! phat lootz

2006-08-29T09:07:00.000-05:00

not this sunday, but the sunday before this one i took les to the CNE because my bro had free "come back tickets". i had originally thought that these tickets would expire by the end of the weekend but later i found out that you can use them at anytime until the end of the season! oh well..

that sunday was pretty hectic. we had a church in the morning, and then a family friend's birthday dinner at 4:30. by the time the dinner ended it was already 8pm. les was quite tired but i was determined to go so i told her to sleep in the car while i drove. now i know what you might be thinking. the park closes at 12 so by the time you get down there, park and walk into the park it'll be 9pm. plus with parking costs, is it really worth being there for 3 hours?? regardless of that, i wanted to go because if we didn't go tonight, who knows when we'd be able to set aside more time to go!

off we went.. i got us down there in 20 min and then we had the arduous task of finding parking. my hunch was that parking would be $15, but if i could find hourly parking, i could probably get away with $10. the first parking lot i found was machine based lot and there was ONLY flat fee $20. ridiculous! so i kept going west on lakeshore and eventually hit the official CNE parking lots. no surprise that was $20 flat as well. went across to ontario place, $20. so i went back east on lakeshore hoping to find something hourly when i saw a huge field with two softball diamonds on the south side. there was a cresent street that hugged along the south side of the field which was lined with cars. i had just missed the first entrance to that cresent so i had to go in thru the next one. when i came up to the other side, a sign loudly spoke "DO NOT ENTER" signaling that it was a one way street. (of course... booo) so i had this brilliant idea of backing up along the one way. so i pulled in front a little and starting backing up along this narrow cresent street. funny enough, a black bmw followed suit and so we were both backing up along this street. it felt like a scene out of tokyo drift or something! hahaha.. it was a one lane street (+ the parking lane) so if there were to be a car coming our way, the plan would be spoiled. as i was thinking that, sure enough i see a van on coming. shoot! but just around the bend there was a little pocket (like the ones you see on the street for buses to stopover) so i slipped into that pocket and i left some room for the bmw to come in too. a van and another car passed us and i was off again. about 20 cars later i finally found a spot! WOO HOO! i eased into the spot quickly and parked my car. the bmw kept going back looking for a spot. i went over to the parking machine and lo and behold, it was hourly! the best part was that it was only $1 an hour! hahaha victory!!! i paid for my ticket and a couple seconds later, the bmw zoomed by shouting various obsenities closely followed by another car :) poor dude..

les and i proceeded to the CNE which was only across the street. i was laughin inside! we arrived and it was just as it was a year ago. we stopped by the animal farm and checked out the little goats, the pigs, the cows, the chickens and the horses. on our way out of the "barn", there was this food stand with a curious menu. "elk sausage", "ostrich patties", "bear meat"?!?!?! "uhh.. cute names. they aren't real are they?", i asked. "they are" O_o"

next up, it was on to the carnival games. we saw a bunch of different ones and all their prizes were pretty cool. all i could think of was how hard these people tried to scam us of our money. but hey, this is how they make their living and i'm sure they weren't getting terribly rich off this. there were dart throwing games, bottle breaking games, skee ball games, etc.. but what i had set in mind was whack-a-mole!! that is my ultimate game! i rarely lose in that game so i told les that every other game would have to wait. we walked through a couple lanes of games, zig zagged through a couple more aisles and finally found my whack-a-mole. the prizes were really disappointing. one win gets you a toy the size of your fist. but that didn't really matter. it was my pride on the line. 2 minutes later, les was the rightful owner of whacky the mole to add to her collection :)

we dabbled around in a few gambling games, rode on the ferris wheel (which costed $6 each) and eventually it was close to leaving time. les played the weight game but the guy guessed well. so i vowed to try to get her something else. next up: basketball. we had seen some of the prizes that were at the basketball games and there was this one booth that had a prize of HUGE basketballs (imagine a pilates ball with a felt lining). that's what les wanted. i got 4 balls for $5 and off i go.

1st ball: fell short and hit the rim.
2nd ball: right amount of strength bit too left. off the rim again
3rd ball: short. off rim
4th ball: too left. hit the rim. bounced high. hit the right side of the rim. swoosh.

WOO HOO!! the guy looks at me, shakes his head in disbelief. now les has a dallas mavericks white n blue basketball!

after that, she wanted to get something for her sister so i competed against her in this horse racing game where you roll a ball into the "fast", "faster" and "fastest" hole to move the horses along. she creamed me. she got a curious george doll out of it :) hahaha.. and then she decided to give curious to me lol.. thanks!

as we walked out, there were fireworks going off. a nice way to end the evening. all in all CNE was all about phat lootz.. and i had an awesome time from beginning to end.

The Ambitious Cleaning Lady

2006-08-18T17:52:00.000-05:00

I must admit, my desk is quite the mess at the office. Looking around right now, I have piles of paper everywhere, candy, chocolate, utensils, mugs, cups (yes, both), pens, highlighters, CD cases and a can opener (i kid you not). Another thing I have on my desk is a bottle of water. Due to my laziness, I try take one trip to the water cooler per day. In order for me to do that, I have my mug, which I drink from, a styrofoam cup and two bottles of water. On my trips to the water cooler, I would empty the remaining water from my bottles into the mug and cup and then off I go to refill them for the day. That guarantees that I get 4 cups of water and change to drink for the day. It's a great system! However, on multiple occasions now, I've noticed that there this ambitious cleaning lady who always throws away the empty cups and bottles!! First of all, that's just a waste to the environment. Secondly, I have to keep replacing the missing containers, which is annoying. Now I have to make sure that the bottles are filled before I leave for the day, which really defeats the purpose of having only to take one trip to the water cooler per day...... darn you cleaning lady!!!

waterloo fam

2006-08-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

last friday, I went to eat desserts with my waterloo family.. MAN, do i ever miss them. we went to a place called Sugar at finch and leslie. food was pretty good, place was nice, company was the best. i don't think you can string together 3 more inspiring people. we had such a great time just chatting about what's been going on in our lives, laughing about stupid things. in the end, it just feels so so so comfortable chillin with these girls. i wish each of them the best!

23 years of being oblivious!

2006-08-16T11:04:00.000-05:00

the strangest thing happened to me yesterday.. i went to get my photo taken because i need a picture for the China visa.. the guy takes two photos of me and asks me to choose one. immediately i noticed that the pictures were skewed! my left eye was smaller than my right and it was slanted. so i told the guy and i was like "hey, does my left eye seem smaller in these pictures??" "why are you asking me? i don't care. just pick one!", he responds rudely. so i told him i wanted him to take another one. the guy snapped two more and AGAIN i saw that my eye was smaller. "buddy, there's something wrong with your camera. it's skewing the photos!" "there's nothing wrong with the camera." so i run to the mirror and i measure up my face. FREAK!!!! my left IS smaller than my right!! what the heck?? i've been looking at my face for 23 years and only now have i noticed this freak defect! i'm flippin out at this point so i go to the guy "my left eye is ACTUALLY smaller than my right!!!" "hey, i don't care about your personal issues. i'm just here to take your photos. i don't care about your flaws!!" man, i wanted to punch him out at this point. but instead i half heartedly selected one of the photos in which i attempted to enlarge the left and squint my right.

i called up les and she said that she noticed it from the beginning.. how the heck did i miss this?!!?!? strange.. quite strange.. well, i don't really care too too much. i am just more shocked than anything that i never noticed it. anyway, now you all know :D

War

2006-08-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

Something that's been on the corner of my mind lately is the war in Lebanon right now. Being halfway around the world really puts a lot of buffer between you and something so tragic. I don't think 90% of the people over here think about it more than once outside the newsarticle that they read about here and there. But something my close friend told me recently actually hit me a little harder. Now I don't mean that it hit me so hard that I'm balling night in night out. It hit me such that it left an impression in my mind about how real it is. My friend's boyfriend is from Israel and he had served in the army only year ago. He was a medic. He had already serve his time in the army and was already moving on with his life. However, because of predicament in Lebanon right now, there is a chance that he could be called back. Also, since he is a medic, he is definitely needed. My friend is pretty upset over this because regardless of the politics going on, war means death. With this connection of my friend and her boyfriend, the sense of tragedy has reached me and it finally feels real. Let's all keep in mind the lives of everyone involved.

Annual FOB trip

2006-08-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

Every year, my FOB friends and I go on a cottage trip and this year was no different :) We've totally mastered the art of logistics when it comes to camping! For example, we usually have a list of things to bring like the usual cooler, ice packs, games, etc.. but even when we forget things from the master list, people just randomly remember to bring things like extra plastic bags (man, you can never have enough of those!), paper towels ... TOILET PAPER! (thank goodness we didn't have to leave that task up to our creative minds)

Some notable events were the BBQ we had on the first night, beach volleyball, poker and the MAD DS playing (particularly the Kart racing... TOO MUCH FUN) For the BBQ, we set up two stoves: one for the chinese style/skewer technique bbq and the other one for the canadian version (which i manned most of the night). This was the greatest idea since I absolutely abhor the idea of sitting in front of a dinky fire with skewers meant for food items the size of marshmellows roasting a chicken wing for 20 minutes only to find that it was charred on the outside and bloody nasty on the inside! At that rate, my stomach would run up my esophagus just to slap me for entertaining that cooking method in the first place! No, this time, we solved the problem once and for all. VK and I were cookin up a storm on the canadian end pumping out plates of tender porkchops, steaks, ham wrapped salmon chunks, butter garlic shrimp. All the while, the girls were havin their fun at the Chinese end mindlessly twirling their little sticks. To each his/her own, I suppose :D

Beach volleyball is always a fun time. You add that to beach volleyball at Wasaga and you've got yourself a guarantee! Even though the FOBs weren't too good (although Wingo really surprised me) we were able to make some pretty impressive plays. All in all, I think everyone had a good time.

We played a round of poker. It was a $5 buy in. I'm not very good. I actually suck to tell you the truth, but there were some mad noobs there that night and I was able to capitalize early on, BIG. I also got lucky with a couple of hands and the rest was history. I won $25. hahaha

Now for the DS talk. Man oh man. This was the X-Factor of the whole trip. We thought that the DS would be the after thought and the fallback to a weekend of outdoors, but man were we ever wrong. The DS is a powerful powerful machine. When we got there, we whipped out the Mario Kart and from then on, it was over. 4 DSs; 8 people; 1 Mario Kart game. We played that thing into the ground! We started off with 4 karts in free for all races. The game is designed so that those who are in the lead don't get very good items (bananas, fake items, green shells) and those who are in last get WICKED items! For that very reason, I like to stay behind a little bit just because with some of these items you can do a mass amount of damage in a short amount of time. For example, if you stay back and you get a golden mushroom, you have enough speed to boost yourself ahead of everyone and then some. The star is also a force to be reckoned with as you can knock people off their high horse while disarming their item in the process. However, my all time fav has got to be the rocket! This primo item allows you to morph into one of those Super Mario World style bullets and rockets you faster than any item in the game at the same time crush anything in its path. Also, it helps steer you along the road so that you don't end up in the water or sandpit. We brought the game to another level when we decided to play for dibs on rooms. First couple to 100 points gets first pick (unfortunately I was "coupled" with Wingo :\) of rooms. It was an intense game and also very curious. After the second game, we were all tied at 11 points each! We were very neck-and-neck when close to the end, we all ended getting 88 points each!! The race to the finished was heart stopping but Francis pulled out with 105 points, while Wingo and I came out with 102 points, then it was Magno with 99 and VK with 96. LOL. Good times, good times..... The DSing continued throughout the weekend. We even brought them onto the pontoon and played through ziplock bags! hahahahahaha. That was something I joked about before the trip, but Oli and Francis made it happen. Hey, I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to give my precious some protection ;)

Overall, the trip was another success. I must admit, I don't give my FOB crew enough credit, but they really know how to have a good time :)

Cheers!

Greed

2006-07-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

It's really astounding how greed seems to be a defining factor of human beings. Why can't we just be satisfied with what we already have and appreciate everything that we already have?

No, I can't generalize my own issues to everyone else. So I should ask myself, why the heck am I so greedy all the time??? I think I just might be one of the luckiest people in the world! (Not kidding) I have always gotten everything I wanted (well, nearly..) and the life that I have led has not been very difficult (thanks in large part to my family and friends -- esp my dad). I should be on top of the world. Yet, I am not... I sit and brood over little things that are still not the way I like always expecting more and more from you...

I'm sorry. I wish to change. And I hope I do.

"Am I last?"

2006-07-24T16:46:00.000-05:00

finally arrived! i think i'm possibly the last person to have created a blog, but that's cool.. it's better late than never..

i'm actually not too sure why i created this blog.. i find it kind of strange publishing my thoughts to the world.. i've never really accept the whole concept of blogging.. i mean, you're posting your thoughts and experiences on a website.. i've always wondered why people would expose themselves like that!!.. and on the flipside, who the heck would waste their time reading about your thoughts?.. even if you did want people to know about your thoughts, why not just pull your closest friend aside and tell him/her?.. the whole posting thing seemed ostentatious to me..

the other day, my softball team's governor, holim, opened my eyes to a close friend's blog.. holim read out my friend's post that detailed some thoughts and feelings that really shocked me.. i kind of knew my friend was in this state of turmoil, but i've always denied it for some strange reason.. i denied it until i heard the post.. the next chance i got, i went to his blog and found the post.. it was deep.. and it moved.. i ate up the rest of his blog as well.. soon enough, i found myself clicking on other people's links and gobbled those up.. it was strange!.. it felt like the exact opposite ostentation.. it was humbling.. humbling in the way that these people were sharing their sadnesses, their successes, their battles, their struggles, etc.. to know that all these people around you who put on their facades in public are really brewing up a storm inside..... it's incredible..

this blog concept (and i know i'm laggin behind) is not just a place for people to brag about their victories in life or for people to spread gossip... no, it is a place for people to connect deeper with each other on a whole new level.. it's incredible..

(dang.. what a poor ending.. but it's not completely my fault!.. i'm being rushed!!.. but this reminds me of my essay writing days.... just wrap it up, jeff.. just wrap it up!)

IT HAS BEGUN!! WOO HOO!!