I have no comments, except...

life as a bum who tested the waters of P90X this morning

2012-02-09T14:09:00.003-05:00

Round 1 - Time Elapsed: [2:00]
Guy on TV:"Let's do squats!"
Doremish does squats.

Round 2 - Time Elapsed: [2:45]
Guy on TV: "let's do easy single-footed-pushup!"
Doremish: "Hmm... let me try do my pushup from the knee until the next round"

Round 3 - Time Elapsed: [4:00]
Guy on TV: "let's start this banana-back-flip-squat-pushup!"
Doremish: "Alright... let me try and do some more knee-pushups until the next round."

Round 4 - Time Elapsed: [6:00]
Guy on TV: "let's do this running-while-turning-around-banana-sideways-pushup! YEAH!!!"
Doremish: OK **** this.

I can't f-feel my f-fingers

2012-01-29T11:27:00.000-05:00

I'm so ccccold here in facking m.dot.... My parents keep the thermostat at around 17 degrees and wear a goddamn jacket around the house. Lol asians in montreal. So here i am with my cardigan and scarf, freezing. I wouldn't even type if not for the area heater thats sitting right in front of me now. I didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets the whole morning. I sure hope i don't need to poo or pee anytime soon.

So I left my job, I feel happy and relieved in general, but it hasn't really sunk in yet, and i know precisely what time it will start sinking in, i.e. tuesday morning the day i would normally be at work. Then i will probably put on some boomboom music, pour myself a celebratory whiskey and wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle yeah.

(I just turned a quarter of a turn so i could get toasted evenly.)

Hopefully find something suitable soon. Got biiiills to paaaaay.

whoa guys I just had the most craziest day at work ever

2012-01-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

All I'm gonna say is the most dramarama that I've ever seen or heard in a professional setting, happening to yours truly.

i can smell that last straw it is close.

it's TAIWAN, not Thailand, you ignorant fool.

2012-01-04T15:57:00.005-05:00

So several times a year, I get asked where I am from and whether or not I'm Chinese. It used to be that Quebecers would ask me first if I was Vietnamese, due to the large french-speaking Vietnamese population in Quebec and lack of french-speaking-other-asians. But that was excusable. And for the record, I don't mind the question at all.

But when I answer soberly, and clearly enunciate that I come from Taiwan (and trust me, depending on the audience in question, I often slow down and do a TaiWAAAN), and you get back to me and tell me all sorts of boners you have for curry and ladyboys from Thailand... congratulations, you've just earned yourself a big bright star in my book of ignorant fools. In this book, you're just as good as the American that claims his family's going overseas to Canada for a trip in the South.

That’s like me saying "Oh you’re from Sweden? Man, I loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!" When you’re from Switzerland. (The previous claim is usually followed by "Oh it's a book? What's a book?")

"Indonesia? I loved Slumdog Millionnaire!"

"Oh Austria? Gosh I love kangaroos, mate."

"Oh Pakistan. Damn those Jews!"

Wait hold on that one works....

Com'on people. It's geography. It's not that hard. How do these people not end up attacking their allies’ home base at RTS?!

I once had someone telling me how they loved their trip to Thailand and it was enlightening, and they learned a lot about another culture and country. They got edumacatated. Well sir, you apparently have not learned where it is, and that it doesn't have a second name pronounced differently.

Yes, yes it is my pet peeve... and seriously it would be anyone's pet peeve. You don't know where my tiny-ass country is? That's fine, you only have to let me know and I will nicely give you a judgment-free Taiwan 101. But don't go ahead and assume that it's the other country that sounds good-enough-similar. Use the internet, or be humble and honest. That'll impress me more than going "Oh cool what's a good Thai restaurant around here?! I looooove sushi!".

RRRRRAGE!

(Don't worry guys this is NOT the annual new year blog, that one's still in the works and far less emotionally driven, LOL)

...some things never change.

2011-11-30T23:48:00.012-05:00

The Internet has come a looong way. I was too young to remember its early years what with the IRC stuff and all that, but I was right there in the thick of action during its teenage years, and that was when people still used to go to chatrooms, and use ICQ (uh-oh!) and all that. I had been the first person to register my Hotmail account in my name. Yes, the Original Gangsta, the non-extra-numbers-attached-to-my-Hotmail-address person. All that 2 megabytes of space, belonging to the first doremish to ever claim the account.

I have to say, I am glad that my lack of originality for a clever name is now indicative of foresight. Talk about dumb luck... As any geek would understand, there's always a bit of pride when you are the first one to get your name registered. Forever and ever a big eff-u to all the people of the same name.

Then, slowly, everything required registration. Hotmail's ironically puny inbox started filling up with dozens of emails per day questioning the size of my manhood. If not that, then it's this distressed Nigerian prince that seems to constantly get himself in trouble (well gee if you can't learn from your first mistake, I can't help you, there's no bail out in my book of principles... all about tough love). Next thing you know, Reader's Digest tells me I'm winning millions every day, too. Done are the days of eagerly waiting for one new unread email to pop up - new mails were popping up everyday, and most of it was junk.

An then GMail came along with, gasp, one whole gigabyte. So guess who again eff-u'd all the later-adopters-of-gmail-of-the-same-name? Yeuuuup. So the perfect arrangement was born. An email was sent out to all the 15 whopping contacts in Hotmail to officialize the transition, and it seems to be responded by as many people requesting the sought-after-Gmail-invite.

And Mish called the new gmail account legit;
and the old hotmail account garbage bin:
and Mish saw that it was good.

Alas, insert that same stupid cliché about history repeating itself (if you are bored, wiki Historical Reccurence like I just did, that's another interesting time sink). Even with my best effort of keeping random registrations to Hotmail and real life impacting registrations to Gmail, there are all those "subscriptions" that end up going through Gmail. You want to create a profile on the career website? Sure, we'll send you a Newsletter for some crap every week. Honestly, I think the best way to ensure people don't read the content of your email, is by having "Weekly Update" or "October Newsletter" in your subject line.

My problem now is that, after finding that minuscule link buried in the 176523 words disclaimer that says "unsubscribe", and doing what is necessary to tell them to stop, I keep receiving some of those boring crap.

For me, lately, Internet has been lackluster. There was a long drought of more of the same stuff, and BAM prolification of user-generated contents and everybody's grandmother is on Facebook and following your tweets. But really, except for going to reddit and reading wikipedia, there's hardly anything that gets me excited to go online anymore... my routine became that of cleaning up my inbox (gotta be diligent or otherwise it gets 716523 groupons and travelzoo deals) and a quick scan of facebook (that replaces calling up friends to catch up), maybe the frontpage of reddit.

Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy, and change resistant. It's sad to see that with all those changes, the only thing that stayed with me through thick and thin is that my email inbox is still questioning my manhood (but now it's actually grown to 7GB - the inbox, not my manhood), and Nigeria still has very distressed royalties. Gone are the wild wild west days of Napster and easy p2p sharing, the intimacy of an ICQ Chat (not the uh-oh! one, but the real time one), dingey home-made HTML angelfire websites and the anonymity of your online persona (damn youtube celebrities breaking the 4th wall!).

I kinda miss the good ol' days. What do you miss the most about Ye Olde Internet?

Everyday I'm Shuffling

2011-11-14T23:22:00.003-05:00

Every evening I leave work with my work-in-progress file folder, so I can do some reading or some light review work at home.

Every morning I pick up my purse near my door, with the same file folder intact and untouched from the night before, on my way back to work. I don't know why I still kid myself every evening and bother bringing the file back.

On my way to work, I use roughly 6 minutes to imagine what it would be like to win the lottery. After I pass by the lottery booth (another 6 minutes left!) I can't help but think about the to-do list and reaffirm to myself that, since I didn't win the lottery this week, they will be completed.

"I'll be extra efficient today and go through all that in the morning, leaving my afternoon open for the conf call".

Obviously reality begs to differ. The doremish hamster runs in the wheel again, and again and again.

Anyhow, while the long term plan of getting out of the rat race is still under development, I need to take care of what is going to happen in the next few weeks first. My hectic month is ahead, now that we are getting pretty close to closing date for the condo. I need to find a tenant, fix my blinds in my condo, pack and take care of about a gazillion little things while keeping my sanity at a workplace that demands about 45+ hours of my week.

I don't know how that is going to work out, but it'll have to... :(

...with the next exhalation, let go...

24 months, and I'm packing again!

2011-11-01T21:26:00.000-04:00

I'm moving again to a new home, after 24 months of living the downtown life and enjoying this little place that I have come to love as a home. I think anyone who's ever been to my place would agree, it's very much cosy and made to be "mine", despite the little messes here and there. It definitely has a feel of intimacy to it, well, all those pillows and blankets in the living room may have something to do with it (TV blankets are up there in the list of items that make up an awesome living room, right after nice TV, couch and pillows).

But it is time to say goodbye. In roughly 30 days from now, I will be heaving boxes of my belongings into a new home. The question is, what makes it into the boxes?

Moving always makes you question what is necessary for your living. And I'm going through my things and finding out a bit more about myself, what are the indispensables? Condo living made me learn to edit my belongings, but even that, I still manage to accumulate a lot of unnecessary items. For example, clothes - I have a closetful and a dresser: who needs so many clothes?! Apparently, people have way more than that. How do you live comfortably having so many things around?

So here I am with my big garbage bags again.

Edit: OMFG STRINGS. Why do I have so many?!
Edit: OMFG SINGLE SOCKS.

waiting for those goddamn updates / iTunes makes me cringe every time I open it.

2011-10-24T23:50:00.002-04:00

There used to be a time where things were much simpler. Your computer wants to tell you something is wrong? Big blue screen of death. You get a dozen of those a day? Format C:\. You have your trusty little boot disks, and drivers on neatly labeled floppy disks, in a box. You made copies of those things and that was your backup. And life was long and arduous, modems disconnected when people picked up the phone, but life was simple.

Now I have a computer that is 187623615273x more powerful than my first computer, an iPad and a Playstation 3 all of which are hardly anything I could have imagined 10 years ago. But what do I do whenever I turn on anything nowadays?

Facking update prompts. The boot time is reduced to virtually zero for the iPad to less than a minute for the other machines, down from the 15 minutes that I used to use to take a shower, while waiting for my computer to boot. But instead now after everything is opened up, I need to install 65412654 updates on Windows 7, on the PS3, on the iTunes because if you don't update iTunes you can't update iPad and if you don't update your iPad you can't update your 40 apps that have newer version to be compatible with the new iPad OS.

Now every time there's a new version of the iOS out, it has become one of those things that I need to do and keep postponing. Like a paint job. But it has 16523 prompts from different apps that I open to remind me to get the latest stuff. Then I'm forced to open up iTunes. Gaaaawd I hate iTunes. What a ugly slow snooty piece of sheet. It takes forever to complete the entire process and restore the content (this update just took me 1 hour) and that's only half the battle. After that I will have to proceed to install all those updates on the apps, some of which won't work as good as before after their updates...

It's great that we have all those nifty gadgets nowadays, but honestly if I need to do all this to get to use it for what I want it to, there's still too much work to be done by me. Com'on wizzes of the IT world... do something.

(Just in - "iTunes could not restore doremish's iPad - error occurred during the restore, backup corrupt"... &!#&^@ you piece of shit you're the one that backed up my effing iPad!@%$)

Being Grown Up, 1983 style.

2011-10-17T22:33:00.003-04:00

I'm 28 already, and my mom had me (her second kid) around my age. It's so hard to imagine that people born a mere generation ago, are usually married with kids by the time they are my age. Is it just me? Or are we actually an entire generation of late bloomers?

A few things in life makes me feel uncomfortably "grown up". Say, for example, the title "manager". When I think of a manager, I think of the pointy-haired-boss in Dilbert. I'm so completely unmanagerial - perhaps it's because I haven't grown into my role, or something, but it is one of those things that make me wonder if I should be more mature than I am now. Especially when every time my own pointy-haired-boss speak to me, every sentences must start with "At this level now, you are expected to..."

Well. Gee. Keep expecting.

What are the managers expected to be like, out there in the industry? Note that I'm not talking about accounting firms, where really no one cares what you do as long as you put in 60 hours a week and get your shit done. Out there, on the almighty Bay Street (which was poorly occupied by that Occupy movement, epic fail Toronto protesters), here's the general blanket desired profile, based on my observation.

They are responsible people, they know to do and say the right thing. Preferably family people, or married, shows that they are settled and know commitment. They can gather up people when people are clowning around too much and herd them back into the right direction. They are usually smart at least at something, but are able to share relevant insight or seemingly great ideas, and can crack a few politically correct golf or car related jokes. They never run, or hop - they walk. They own a Blackberry.

Weeeell let's look at how I, circle, fit into manager, square. I still make poop jokes. I make sounds like "huhuhuhuh", sometimes in my head and sometimes not, when I read a funny name on a business card (Mr. Assman, huhuhuh). I still skip when I walk around on the street. I hate and do not own a Blackberry. At work, I always have to try really hard to suppress my tendencies to clown around and think of immature and politically-incorrect jokes. But without that personality I'm just a boring, and bored, existence in the room.

Deep down inside, I know that it's probably not a matter of growing into a role, or anything like that - I simply do not have the personality trait that fits the typical manager image companies look for - not in my industry anyway. The whole "at this level"-expectations are largely restrictive on the way I act normally and naturally...

And this is probably just how the Workplace is. And this is where you should, I guess, compromise.

So why bother putting in more than 7.5 hours a day pretending to be someone that I am not? Give me a 9-5 job. Give me a role right below Manager. And let me have the lack of exposure because it means at least, I get to act like who I am, and feel a bit less like a sell-out...

the curse of the black thumb may have been lifted

2011-09-17T13:53:00.001-04:00

My parents both have green thumbs. My dad grew up in a farming family and growing plants and food comes naturally to him - when do you need to water plants, how deep do you sow the seeds and what kind of food they need. Do you plant these in the shades or in the sun, when and how to fertilize. My mom could have grown up on a farm. Any half-dying plant that she adopts eventually start astronomical growth and producing flowers and fruits and seeds, some of which develop gigantism.

Apparently the green thumb is not genetic, as me and my sister have the legendary ability to reverse my mom's process on very resilient plants. Personally, I think my sister still had some tint of leftover greenness in her thumb. On my end? I'm pretty sure the exceptional ability to kill a cactus and those bamboo things that grow in any type of environment would have made me a witch in another era.

But here's a chance for my reputation to be saved!! A year ago, I had attempted to plant herbs from those herbal mini-kits so that I don't have to buy an entire bunch of parsley and basil that supermarket sell to giant Italian villages. It was sadly, a fail - a few weak-ass sprouts well, sprouted, and they almost died as soon as they sprouted. Not even an epic fail, it was more a whimper and sputtering out fail. My dad's diagnose was that I didn't water and I didn't fertilize. So basically, it wasn't my fault. Effing high maintenance bitchy herbs.

So this year I water. I fertilize. Have them get sun. Over the entire summer. I even play piano for the goddamn plants and don't swear around them and flip them over every 2 hours so they don't get bed sores. AND I MADE IT HAPPEN. Ladies and gentlemen brace yourselves. This is a jungle compared to what it was last year. I had even gotten enough to yes, yes dare I say - cook with.

We got Thai basil on the left side and some Italian parsley on the right hand side. In the back of this vast and extremely dense forest of abundance we have some mint and cilantro. "Oh my dear modern day Demeter, what are those things on the upper left corner, amongst the bountiful bush of basil," you ask.

These purple things, my little grasshopper, are the reasons why there were Adam and Eve and the big bang. Flowers, my dear. Flowers.

I think this constitutes overwhelming evidence contrary to the claim that my thumb is unable to grow organic things. And so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.

i have a weird condition

2011-09-15T01:05:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've been getting extremely sleepy and tired starting from 4:00pm until 7:30pm --- and then wide awake when it's time for me to sleep. Feels like I'm running on Asia time or something.

Point in case, it's almost 1AM and I know I will suffer for it tomorrow morning when my alarm rings.... but here I am blogging away.

Am cleaning up my condo today and tossing stuff out, I realize, I have a LOT of junk. And I'm also more a packrat than I think I am. In fact, I'm all talk about being able to pack a bag and go. I have an entire box of old letters and odd mementos I received from various eras of my life, some of them from people I don't even talk to anymore. And I still can't bring myself to throw them away...

I'm still kicking myself for having tossed out the first diary I've written (when I was 9, my aunt Jo gave it to me right before I left for Canada and so it chronicled my first couple of years in Canada). It was tossed away in a teenage angst moment when I tried to pretend I can live without frivolities such as diaries, especially ones that contain evidence of my childishness. Yeah, teenagers are dumb and I hate them too.

I've still kept letters from high school, memos and cards from back then, the more prolific contributors even have their own envelopes. I think I can find birthday cards from as far back as elementary school? Not sure though, ever since that one time I had thought seriously about tossing the cards away, I don't remember if in fact I did or not. It was right after I heard about how people usually throw away birthday and Christmas cards, and that completely baffled me. Prior to that it was inconceivable to me that these things would be thrown away - I always thought they are meant to be kept, to commemorate that particular event. In my mind, people all have a box of these things either with them or in their parents' basement or attic. I just assumed that my parents don't have that because they don't do letters and cards and besides, were forced to part with them when they emigrated.

Now I throw some Christmas cards away, but still, most of the cards I receive... I still keep around. I don't know, am I crazy?

i promise better content in the next post, today i'm whining again

2011-09-14T00:27:00.002-04:00

I don't know why but ever since my migration to blogspot, most of my posts have been either sentimental or about some kind of resolution or whatever is happening to the sucky life of mine. They've lost the old glory of the xanga posts, for some reason. I have no idea why the content is dwindling - probably because I suck and I used to be better-more-awesomer before. I can't believe you peeps are still reading this thing... ain't nothing profound going on here, either. It's not like I have life inspired epiphanies or anything. Just plain old bitching and not very creative ones at that.

It's just a lukewarm soup of meh.

Anyhow, that aside, I've got the p90x package today and step one was to take "before" pictures and it was quite the shocker.

Self-confidence is sexy and these days, well, let me share a wikileak secret here - yours truly is definitely not after looking at those pictures. I should have taken those pictures before I ate my dinner-that-could-have-fed-a-country (a large chicken breast and carbonara pasta, and a sweet belgian waffle as dessert, I won't even bother with the calorie-counting at this point, since I also ate throughout the entire day). It would have scared me into non-eat. Just like how every time I - try to - buy swimwear I turn effing emo, this picture-taking is quite the hit on the ego.

The thing is, there's a constant struggle for me between being lazy versus being vain.... seriously, I don't know if I have it in me to work out hard enough to get toned and lean, ever, even if it's on the bucket list (and considering how much I eat, I have to work out very, very hard).

The saddest part is that I recognize my laziness and can't do anything about it (too lazy to do anything about it? it's getting very circular here). Next thing I know, Lazy Doremish is listening to the inner voice saying "embrace your beautiful curves, you're gorgeous!" à la Dove commercials. I laugh at the implication of "gorgeous" every time I see those ads. The cynical in me can't help but think about how a "gorgeous" woman wouldn't be part of a campaign to stand together naked in defiance and be called gorgeous. Yes no doubt they're "beautiful" in some ways, but the undertone is that they're not beautiful in conventional ways and they need a kind of validation.

Bah. Anyhow, so basically, I go through a bit of weight loss and then feel justified to eat more and exercise less again. It wasn't bad before, but my Asian genes can only save me for so long. I think the metabolism is becoming whiteified as I age and my friend Tummy Le Flubber looks like he's gotten comfortable and settled on me. I guess I just need to suck it up and work out more - i.e. consistently - and be patient (uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh). Folks, and I say this with a sigh, this thing is turning into the hardest effing resolution ever.

Meeeeh.

en français, j'appelle ça un agenda...

2011-09-08T17:58:00.001-04:00

I finally bought a weekly planner. I love my stationery items and weekly planners are just one of those things I used to love getting the first day of school. I would eagerly fill it out with all the 30 birthdays that I could remember and the to-dos of that day. It kept me organized and it kept me from being bored at times in classes, since I'd spend time organizing stuff or doodling in it. Actually still kept me organized until 2 years ago when I stopped using it, and started becoming geriatric.

So I swung by Chapters in this week and bought a piece of my youth back. And I filled it in with all the 5 birthdays I remember. :)

Ti-what?

2011-09-05T23:34:00.001-04:00

Ahhh the much dreaded end of Labour Day weekend is drawing to a close and of course with the weather I'm experiencing the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and PVS (post vacation syndrome) and whatnot. On the other hand V is thriving in the crisp autumn weather and getting giddy for the upcoming football season. Well at least one of us loves it.

So the condo hunt this weekend is another fail... while we did have more criteria to narrow the selections down, which means that nothing is going to be found anytime soon. On the other hand I'm still on my quest of happiness trying to find out what causes all my SAD and PVS...

The weekend is slow and relaxing, mostly reading and cooking and walking around. Meeting up with old friends and BBQ'ing with V's parents. One of our buds went to NYC this weekend with a long-time girlfriend and made a stop at the big T (Tiffany's) - and tried to keep their lower jaws secured while trying on rings and asking about prices. These things go for $30K+.... is this the price range we're looking now to express whatever eternal love? I gotta say this is the most successful marketing schtick ever.

Sure there's the very childish and shallow side of me, the same side that makes me want to get a nicer computer or something, that wants a respectfully sized ring, but this is a dangerous game we are playing. Working in an industry where millions are referred to as "dollars", there's simply a distorted vision of what respectful means. That stupid rule of thumb that says you need to get a ring worth the man's three months salary is ridiculous. But then you almost feel pressured to keep up lest be judged as cheap. When it becomes this kind of a game ("Well I'm gonna prove I'm not afraid to spend on her and she's worth it") it's pretty darn sad. I certainly hope I'm worth more than a rock...

My parents don't even have rings and they've been married for 36 years and counting - sure there has been up and downs and some near misses, and it's not all perfect (one can argue that it only made the 36 years seem even more like forever). It's symbolic, and a nice gesture, to have rings and to exchange them - but what is the point of the engagement ring - wouldn't the wedding band itself be enough?

Anyhow, when our buddy jokingly said yeah, what if you get a thousand dollar ring, I didn't know what to answer and just laughed. But that is a good question - wouldn't that be enough?

Updates on life

2011-08-31T00:17:00.001-04:00

After last wednesday's crazy thunderstorm, things weren't the same anymore. It's like summer officially left... Sure we get some hot weather in the 10-18:00 window but it's definitely gotten and getting narrower. Did I also mention that Fall makes me sentimental? It's like a giant PMS season for me (v i hope you are reading this, you've been warned). But i need all the energy and drive i can harness for this Fall, because, brace thyselves people of the blogsphere, this Fall is gonna be effing bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

First off i have finally done the proverbial gathering of shit, and is on full-fledged flight-mode with respect to getting to the next stage of my career. There is working hard and there is taking abuse, and somewhere between the last post and this one, the line got blurred. I will expect change to happen, well, that is if the market stops looking like a dried pond with couple of dead half-rotten fish. Which, according to an insider and close-friend of Market who asked to remain anonymous, is going to happen in Fall. Yay Fall.

Second big thing, the search for a place big enough for two small egos (albeit owners of tons of random crap), is also on. This should be significant as i will without any doubt, be sad to leave my current sty. But, on the other hand, there will be a new place waiting to be loved, a new sty to break into, and turn page, new chapter blah, blah, blah (shouldn't we update this cliché a little? Like, "click the Enter key onto a new website of life" or something? I digress).

So there you go, my awesome trailer of things to come in Fall 2011. Let's hope it's not another Indiana Jones Crystal Skull. What a disappointment that was, after a big trailer and so much anticipation. I want my life to be frigging Dark Knight! Live up to the hype!

I need to force myself to do things

2011-08-09T22:20:00.006-04:00

Some people go through life and they're full of energy. They can sleep for 5 hours and wake up, go work out, be chirpy and sharp, and do everything that's required of them at work. They go home at night and are still able to complete the chores, keeping their place clean. Have a 6-month-old baby that cried all night long because it was sick? You wouldn't even be able to tell.

Aaaand that's not me. I tend to follow Newton's first law, sometimes referred to as the law of inertia. For this reason, I need to force myself to do stuff constantly otherwise all I would do is passive activities, such as read, watch TV, sleep and even being fed (as opposed to feeding myself, I would probably have instant everything). Ladies and gentleman, the manifestation of my constant struggle to become "that energetic person that gets stuff done" is clear through my mundane and irregular blog updates. "Must... try... to... writeeeee" - I have to tell myself, even though I profess to enjoy it (it's true sometimes!).

Baaah, I just reread my first two paragraphs and got bored by my own post. Have fun reading this POS, I'm off reading Hunger Games (it tastes like freeeeee).

i'm staring at the blank page and going guuuh...

2011-07-26T22:37:00.005-04:00

I know I'm due for an update of this thing, but contrary to my bowels as of late, my creative juice is not flowing. Faced with this huge blank square, it feels like I'm back in high school again with a 2000-word essay to write on something that I'm not interested in. What do I talk about? About my day? My day was not all that exciting. About my life? My life is shit. Ranting? That's about the only thing I do all day long. The details of my daily decisions (hmmm... should I make a 30 seconds detour to the convenience store to grab today's Metro? nah....) as you can see is completely uninteresting (if it interests you, let me know, i can even tell you things like how i paid for my lunch today using my mastercard and the machine at Thai Island doesn't accept chips so I had to swipe it and sign even though there's a freakin' chip slot!)

So I'm just going to pick whatever and talk about whatever. Call it the blogpost where anything is more interesting then the on-goings of my daily life or musings, and this will be probably the first of many more to come.

Aaaanyhow, let's talk about elephants (first word that popped up in my mind). I don't know what you guys' opinions about elephants are (like if you had any beef with them before, like one of them stole your girlfriend or something), but I *personally* think if a zoo doesn't have elephants then it's just a petting farm or a circus, wait no - circuses need elephants too, so there - it'd be just an animal gathering ground, or a very very bad zoo. Elephants are big goofy animals, and awesome looking, not to mention there is never any evil elephant in cartoon or other depictions (look at Stampy! he was just grumpy but so nice to Bart). They can't jump but are immensely powerful, extremely smart ...to the point they have death and mourning rituals. Completely exotic, too - which is what zoos are all about, anyway. No one goes there to see them pigeons. Of course there are other essential elements of the zoo like the tigers, lions, lemurs, pandas, bears, giraffes --- but if I buy tickets to a zoo, and it doesn't have elephants and it's not clear that they wouldn't have them on the get go, I'd a bit peeved (I'm looking at you Central Park Zoo NYC).

Yay for elephants!

my last post was really lazy

2011-07-19T00:45:00.005-04:00

Mr. Burn's diseases

I'm sorry fellow readers to subject you to a mundane piece of update that's not even worthy of a Facebook Status. The point is, I had a good weekend, it was stuffy as hell downtown, and grumpy doremish just felt like a thousand words wanted to come up but they all got stuck at the door like Mr. Burns' viruses. Maybe the topics hadn't mulled in my head for long enough (the danger of letting ideas mull in my head is that sometimes I forget them, ahem "first cruise ever" post that never got published).

Anyhow... The danger of a good weekend is that it makes the Monday next feel like shitting a pinecone. This morning as I was stuck behind a mob of people at an intersection on my way to work, I appreciated the analogy V made the other day about how it looks like a herd of cattle. I was part of that herd, mooing and obedient, on my way to the slaughterhouse. For those that know me in real life know that I have about as much patience as a potato chip has nutritional value. Being stuck behind suits made me want to go all Keanu Reeves on those Mr. Smiths. Start of a great week, if you must know, but I didn't start the post to whine about my Monday again (I totally just did. Hah).

So new development this weekend, V has met with a mortgage specialist which I suspect may kick start his moving out in a more concrete way (well, more concretely than it ever was). That, coupled with my recent visit to an ex-coworker's humble (read: not humble at all) abode in a rich Missisaugan neighbourhood made me wonder about homes: do you prefer a spanking new house or something with a bit of age and character? Heck it got me thinking, and I don't even know. An old house if well renovated, could look like something out of a magazine - the romantic side of me thinks that I can decorate it with junks I bring back from around the world (hello drum from aggressive vendor in Jamaica!)... it would have terracotta ceramic in the kitchen, a well stocked garden for me to kill, and trees tall enough for a treehouse and hammocks. On the other hand there's the thrill of designing and having a spanking new big house - a proper dining room, family room, and all that stuff. It's all about suburbia and landscaping... yes it's comfortable, but somehow, feels a little - generic?

I don't know if I will want to deal with the old gas pipes and all the hidden problems of an older home, but if there's one that just has character but proper innards... well, it'd be like finding the perfect guy that's also not gay. One can dream...

when you don't want the weekend to ever end.

2011-07-17T23:44:00.001-04:00

Ding Tai Fung, working out, golfing, Harry Potter 7 and great weather, great company - it seemed like 12000 things got done this weekend.

Weekends are awesome when you wake up early enough to enjoy more of it!

eHow just shattered some twinkle of hope

2011-07-08T09:27:00.002-04:00

Quote:
If you are a woman with excess back fat, you can lose it by simply losing weight in general. The only way to spot reduce body fat is via cosmetic procedures. Otherwise, you'll need to follow a dedicated diet and fitness regime to lose your back fat.

Read more: How to Lose Back Fat for Women | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5148414_lose-back-fat-women.html#ixzz1RWHuQQci

Stupid back fat roll, so easy to get, so hard to get rid of :(

on that forgotten resolution

2011-07-07T16:31:00.006-04:00

I don't know if anyone remembers (I certainly have forgotten about it for a bit), I've decided to be healthier in general this year, sometime during new years as a resolution. Until now I haven't really done anything substantial or taken any steps towards that goal. Last week however, I have started taking the baby steps.

I am proud to announce that I'm going towards a low carb and no coffee diet - I hate to call it a diet, because that sounds so temporary. This is more of a permanent thing. Gone are the days where I pig out on Mckey Dees! Eventually I want to become one of those people that work out regularly, and look fit and happy.

I recently joined a recreational beach volleyball team via my friend J, and yesterday was my first game. Although i thoroughly enjoyed it, it was all in all a sometimes sedentary sport. I'm a stereotypical Taiwanese girl in that the only sport where I'm willing to run for hours for, would be badminton - unfortunately I'm not particularly good at it nor played it in ages, and there doesn't seem to be any affordable resources to play it in Toronto. But that is not all - Saturday mornings are now dedicated to hot yoga, and Tuesday afternoons are brisk-walking sessions. That's quite a bit of exercising compared to my prior life as an amateur channel-changer.

One of my biggest fear is experiencing a difficult child birth, and also subsequent to that become a pudgey mom... hopefully the baby steps are going to lead me to a healthier lifestyle from now on and throughout my life. Besides, I also want to be all dopey from those endorphins and become one of those eternally chirpy people that annoy the feck out of others in the office. Why be the annoyee? I'm tired of being the Annoyee. I'll talk your heads off during watercooler chats and elevator rides! Raaaaarg.

on limitations of blogger, and quick tips

2011-06-17T11:34:00.004-04:00

As an ex-Xanga user, I have to admit that the features in Xanga were more intuitive and useful than Blogger. However as nice as features were, they didn't drown out the loud and ugly ads that were rampant on the website, and there was no way I was going to pay for my blog when my reader base is a total of maybe 10 people.

Anyhow, here's a little list of what used to be available to me but isn't anymore, and some work-arounds that I've found while snooping around Blogger Forums.

1. The reply button - the most intuitively feature of them all, and to this date I don't understand why it is lacking in Blogger when everyone else offers it. The reply button is usually next or below a comment and allows you to, well, reply to comments.

How-to: Here is a little widget that adds a reply button to your blog comments:

http://blog.thisischen.com/2009/04/how-do-i-reply-to-comment-on-blogger.html

2. Something to notify you when someone replies to you on their website - so you left a comment, how do you know if the author replies to your comment? As a blogger who cares, and replies to reader comments, what if my very witty and insightful responses never get to my flock?

Whereas Xanga automatically notifies people of replies made on their comments, unfortunately you have to opt-in this option in Blogger if you want more of my wisdom.

How-to: When you're commenting, click on the Subscribe by e-mail link underneath the Comment Box, this will send new comments to the particular post to your email. Unfortunately, the replyer to your comment (e.g. me) has no way to enforce this on you. So if I call you a dumbass in my reply it's because you wanted the insult.

This is obviously annoying. If you're a preacher, you should defect and use Wordpress or something.

3. Direct link to the commenter and follower's blog - So I click on your little picture, because you're following me and as a curious cat, I want to read your blog too and show some support. If you are one of those people that forgot to click a little box in your profile "display my blogs", then I can't find your blog. Not unless I know your very clever blog name, or that 18 digits blog ID.

Even if you do, after I click on your name it shows me a list of blogs you have, and then I have to click on your blog link. Ugh.

How-to: Go to your profile, choose to display your blog in your profile - you'll get more readers!

last night's game

2011-06-16T10:59:00.005-04:00

So the Canucks lost, everyone's sad. Did you watch the game? I did – it sucked, I hate Ference and hoped he would get a stroke on ice and die. I can’t believe the Canucks lost it without a decent struggle after coming so close (read: not even).

I understand the riots in the city, seriously, why are people surprised that angry fans and a couple of trouble makers are going to start a riot when your important championship game goes down the crapper? You’re embarrassed by your city, really? Then you clearly don’t understand human nature. When was the last time Vancouver had a riot? 1994 – that’s a lot of bottled up anger, man. Better be like Montreal, small spurts of riots every year to keep the police on their toes and the people unfazed.

Can you imagine if Toronto won/lost a Stanley Cup championship? I’m dreading even the day that they make the playoffs, never mind the finals. They don’t even have to go through the first round, their hoard of annoying fans are going to unleash all the abuse they’ve taken over the past years and be unbearably gloating. They already gloat when they have a streak of 3 wins like they’ve won the Cup and it becomes impossible to put them in their place (luckily the Leafs does that pretty well by shutting them up quick with screw ups here and there).

You don’t see me go right up in people’s grill when the Habs kick ass – I’m just happy for my team. Then again, my team doesn’t get years and years of insults for sucking and being greedy (and who's fault is that).

Habs for next year!

the grind

2011-06-15T12:34:00.001-04:00

I made some serious kickass beef stew last night and it just made my lunch-eating-at-desk a lot more bearable.

==================

On my walk to work today I was pondering about the reason why I ended up where I was - walking to work and dreading the arrival. It is hitting me more now due to my daily dealing with wealthy individuals heading into their retirement. It's obvious that people think success is how high you climb up the ladder and how much you end up with in your pocket... and success is synonymous with happiness. I think we're all just aiming to one day be the envy of other families talking about us during their dinner, and we're convinced that to achieve that you have to pay your dues now. One day one day.

One day I'll wake up 40 years old, as an upper-middle-management, and still complaining about the same shit as today. I have no idea what happened to my ambitions - I hate the rat race, the sucking up, the face times and the optics. It looks like everyone else hates it too and yet we're all attending networking events and talking to the douches (as my friend A says, those that go "Hi I'm Reginald from Merril Lynch").

What I could was to get into this rat race and safely earn moolah, which I did, as most sensible people. What I wanted to do (freelance graphics or something other artsy-fartsy or techy stuff) will in no way guarantee me income or success or happiness.

I have no solution whatsoever - having a stable income provides me with the basic needs of food and shelter, and a certain lifestyle, I can't go back to learning the fun stuff and going entry-level. In the mean time pride pushes me along - you get there just because you don't want to be left behind when all your friends move up.

I think this is how those Bitter Female Managers came to be.

I got new barstools!

2011-06-02T22:48:00.001-04:00

I had forgotten how it feels like to sit somewhere that's facing nothing in particular and not a wall.

I've also finally taken the time to put something up on my wall and gotten a small patio set - my place is feeling not just like home, but like a refuge. I love how it makes me leave my work and all the wariness at the door. Love the way i can wedge into my couch comfortably, put my feet up and watch tv while playing fruit ninja during commercial breaks. Of all the condos i've visited, mine would be, in my own very biased opinion, the most personal and comfortable... I've somehow made it into a ultra large bedroom with a kitchen (which would explain why it feels almost weird to have people over sometimes...)

But I'm also thinking about moving on, as weird as it sounds. There are two buildings coming up that may eventually block me in where i can now see the highway and more importantly, the sun. I can see myself wanting a bit more space in a year or two - i was right, afterall, when i first were condo hunting, to say that my timeline would be 3-4 years. Hm.

So what is next. Well i just changed job and it's got its up and downs, and although there are opportunities out there right now i think it might be a little too impatient for me to change. But as always, i don't know if i'm saying that because i'm afraid to change and am getting complacent, or that i actually am starting to see the good sides of things. I know that there are things that are definitely putting me off right now, and i'm also the type of person that give things a little too many second chances.

Well, at least now i have a barstool to sit on and think about these big life decisions while sipping tea. Now, let's get this pros and cons list started!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm completely addicted to my ipad...

2011-05-27T00:05:00.001-04:00

Apart from the few minutes I spend on the newspaper's crossword puzzle everyday after work before giving up, i hardly ever do anything without paddy. I work out with it, i watch tv while playing mindnumbing games on it, i read on it and heck i even put it on the pillow next to me... It's the first thing i touch in the morning and it's the last thing i see before i go to sleep. Worst of all I've downloaded so many apps that i don't use.... And i've picked up twitter.

With all the connectivity i have you'd think that i'm an information junkie. Au contraire, all i've been doing is pretty much looking up celebrity gossips, play asinine games and reading extremely lengthy fantasy novels. I even have a backlog of such novels. I've vaguely heard of that missouri tornado but apart from that i don't really know what's happening out there nowadays. I even missed out on the entire Arnold saga because of crazy work hours last week, and had to read a summary timeline on the weekend to catch up - by that time i've obviously already missed out on all the late night show jokes :/

I can certainly catch up on all those late night show episodes, but what about those glee, modern family and big bang theory episodes that i missed, too? I've got several months of magazines i haven't read, and i've been ignoring raphael (my ps3) for months now. Piano and guitar are collecting dust and i'm ashamed when guests ask about them - if not because of lack of space i wouldn't even put them in display.

Looking around, i guess i have come a long way in terms of knowing how to deal with time by myself and entertain myself... Or maybe it's just one of my people-hating-phases.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

on why I'm dumber during spring and fall

2011-05-26T00:21:00.006-04:00

Stupid allergies constantly making my nose itchy and runny - I'm sometimes so clogged up I feel like a retard. It's been annoying me for a while now and none of the OTC drugs are doing what they promised, whatever those dancing-into-a-field-of-dandelions-ads want me to believe. Hmmmm.... this was supposed to somehow segway into the next topic, but I can't remember how.

I've lived most of my life without having to attend any weddings - my parents socialized mostly with people their age whose children are mostly younger. Being a first-gen fob, I didn't grow up going to families' weddings and generally lacked exposure to all things wedding-related. Interestingly, Quebec doesn't seem to have a strong wedding culture either as most people I know choose to common-law it or are engaged for a million years. The rest of them are still in school "figuring out life".

Ergo, in the pre-Toronto era of my adult life, I've only been to my sister's wedding. Apart from dressing the part, I was obviously the most clueless maid of honour ever... I think the lamp post at the front of the hall may have been more useful.

Suddenly turning into my late twenties and meeting V, I've got a myriads of weddings to go to as part of my girlfriend duties. All of them I attended as the remote-yet-slightly-amused bystander, the plus-one. A couple of churches and a temple. Speeches long and short, in English, in Chinese, in Hindi. Ubiquitous powerpoint presentations, endless Michael Bublé songs and marriage jokes. Food, glorious food, and drinks that rained.

The great thing being a random person is the lack of self-conciousness - there's a lot of room for food and drinks if you're strategic about it. And you get to spend all your time thinking of ways to get more of that (I usually figure out the middle of where hors-d'oeuvres come out and the bar, and station myself there), and generally act like a vulture because nobody knows who you are. Also, I guess if you are single or in a non-committal, weddings are decent places to meet people (that you never call again? haha). The not-so-cool part is the awkward "I have to figure out how to spell the bride's name when I sign in the photobook" moment. Or when you're sitting at the randoms' table and have to act like you care about your neighbour that you'll probably never meet again - worse than a bus ride, if you hate people like I do.

I got another one coming up this week-end. It'll be 2 hours of preparation, feeling fat in that gown-I-used-to-fit in (note that this doesn't stop me from finding the best way to stuff the most food in me, later on - it's about the principle), feeling inept while trying to do my hair (I have the hairdressing skills of a 3-year-old boy), bracing the street in that only pair of formal silky-but-oh-so-effing-uncomfortable shoes I have. I'll be ready to sit through another set of rituals, maybe with slight variation, of celebrating two people's union (ooh... aaah.... i do, i do, kiss the bride, sign that paper, tadaa you're husband and wife! and V starts wiping tears). I've braved the other ones, I'll brave this one, knowing that, *sigh*, at the end of the day, a party is a party is a party and a chance to look hawt (thank you spanx and wonderbra) and eat my heart out.

It's a lazy Sunday

2011-05-08T17:13:00.002-04:00

The sky is blue as ever outside - a truly gorgeous weekend day and here i am, sitting with a bunch of macbook-toting yuppies in a starbucks, blending in with my own ipad and half priced frappuccino. Blame the numerous patios that remain closed and lost out on my business for the second beautiful weekend in a row... In fact squeezing through the crowd that came out of the rogers center after the jays' game i get the feeling they lost a bit more than just my gracious presence.

Anyhow, saw people walking around with half wilted roses in their hand, no doubt got reminded of mothers day at the game and paid an arm for it. Meh my mom being in mtl and your typical pragmatic asian (not to mention a good gardener) will have no use for flowers. It's all about food and cash in their world.

So here i am doing what i do best, i.e. sitting around staring into general nothingness in between reading random crap. I picked up a copy of Renters Guide to check out the market right now... V and i have talked about the eventuality of moving in lately, but that general idea alone brought out many finer questions to answer. I guess we'll take some time to find resolutions first - but stuff will sort themselves out, anyway. In the mean time maybe i'll put down Renters Guide, take a sip of the frappuccino and continue reading Name of the Wind. Mmmm lazy Sunday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

on those wacky lists people come up with.

2011-04-14T13:49:00.000-04:00

So as part of my job deals with people who are in their 60s – 70s and that have been married for a gazillion years. One of things we do is that we look up how many years they’ve been married and congratulate them or something, you know, year 25 is the silver anniversary, year 40 is the ruby anniversary and the like, and people are supposed to give each other rubies and stuff.

So I’m looking up this one who’s in their 44^th year and what do I see as “modern gifts”? Groceries. REALLY?! Fourty-four goddamn years and all you get is a bag of rubatagas? How do you go from ruby to groceries... apparently a bunch of jewelers or librarians came up with the list. They must be pretty drunk at number 44.

////

Speaking of groceries, I dreamt I was in the world's most luxurious buffet ever last night. Live seafood everywhere you can choose from and fresh mushrooms you pick from the tree trunks. Clams from as small as a penny to as big as my head with pearls that come with it. I woke up before I got to eat anything though :/

Disadvantages of vacays

2011-04-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

Those vacays you come back and feel like you need another vacay from your vacays... those that take a toll on you instead of making you feel rested (and sometimes even, eager to get back into work/school/whatever sh*t you were complaining about before you left).

So I came back from one of those one that seem to suck away your energy. And then work sucks away my energy... and i'm going through this phase of hermitage as means of giving myself treats. And the more I stay in my condo the more I like it. I'm turning into a cat lady.

Countdown to Asia and Miscellaneous

2011-03-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

I caught up finally with my bro Alex after not seeing him for more than a year (case in point of how horrible I am at keeping in touch). What did he ask me when we sat down at the pub? "Hmmm by the way... what's your boyfriend's name?" It's just one of those wow, who the hell are you kind of moment - like he's close to me, but I've not seen him for so long that he seemed like a stranger. Anyhow I miss the good old days when we used to hang out together a lot more, in Montreal.

My next job, I'm going to make sure I'm not working with Asian females. They are loads of fun and the nicest people, but they're also reeeeeally hardworking. I want to be the one with the most work ethics in my group, goddammit.

I bought a curling iron the other day, meaning to try and curl my hair up all pretty and nice. Little did I know it takes patience (my genetic defect) and involves some thought process around how to part your hair to best uniformly curl it. So I do what everyone does when they need to learn something nowadays - I youtubed it. And there I was, taking advice from some ditzy chick who doesn't speak proper English and a lady with a trailer park accent and guess what? It worked! Never judge a book by its cover, aye, aye.

I don't know what to wear for my birthday party tomorrow. I don't want to wear the same things I wore before but that's all I have - didn't have time to shop. Meh I wish I was skinny and fit so I can throw on any tshirt and just wear bling. Ahhh steak and bacon, how I love thee, how I loathe thee.

I found the perfect pooping stall at work the other day. It flushes for like 5x longer than the normal toilet... so you just flush it when you're ready to go and when it finishes flushing you're done. Automatic and continuous courtesy flush. So clean, so elegant.

Boooooo

2011-02-23T23:41:00.001-05:00

We're well into february and this is only a second blog of the month... Things are not looking too great for my relax, sit around-have-a-sip-of-coffee and-stare-into-space-side. Summer oh summer free time oh free time, where the EFF art thou. Honestly, i don't know what i really want out of my career now, but i wish i can soon find the goddamn balance between getting bored at work and working 12-14 hours a day.

Work drains me so much that lately i've got the habits of a 40-year-old loser when i'm not working... I tend to eat instant noodles and other junk food in front of the tv, and sit there watch shows for hours, even if they are reruns. During commercial breaks i play angry bird because thats easier than to reach for the remote (and having to aim) and pressing the button. Garbage in, fat growing out. I have been literally donating to my gym and not getting receipts out of it... And haven't even got time or energy to go cancel it. Moo-moo is somewhere on the horizon on the road where i am.

I flipped open my new app on designer runway photos today (it's called The Cut... not really worth checking out tho) and it startled me how many models are pretty darn hideous. I mean, that just tells you when someone says they're dating a model, he or she could look like well, this....(left).

Anyhow, back to surviving another day....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

January should donate a day to February

2011-02-09T00:34:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and weekend are quickly being booked up from now till my asia trip... And there is still SO many things to take care of before I leave - expiring health card, expiring license (although still looks fairly new), maybe a visit to the doc for some booster shots... Between that and working till late hours when the building escalators are shut off, I'll have to figure out what and how to get V his gift...

People at the office are incredibly disgusting when they think they can't get caught. Someone had used the microwave for their spaghetti and meatballs lunch and decided to share half of the sauce all over the inside of the microwave. It's not that freaking hard, cover your lunch or wipe it off, tabarnak.

There is even a sign in front of the fridge asking people (in capital letters) to eat their own lunch. Apparently, the lunch stealing problem is more universal than I thought when my coworker at the old job told me he had his BBQ pork stolen from his lunch. Beggars can't be choosers but evidently thieves can, since his rice and baby bok choi were left alone.

I wonder what I'll do if I was ever to catch those office nasties red-handed. The non-believers of courtesy flush are obviously lost causes, but what about the lunch stealers and microwave slobs?

Microwave slobs, chances are they will clean up if someone else is around, anyway - but if I ever catch someone eat my lunch... Can't promise there won't be blood!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A thought about Chinese astrology signs

2011-02-03T17:45:00.011-05:00

Well, I'm glad that that month was finally over (shhh don't let January hear us).

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone, by the way - I wore this Chinese-y top to work today but it was a little bit too sexy (a nice way to say it's too tight because I whaled-up) so I had to wear my newly dry-cleaned jacket on top. It's really warm where I sit and well let's just say I'm thanking myself for having the foresight to use some of those lady-stick things, otherwise it was gonna cost me another $6 to clean the damn jacket.

It's the Rabbit year and so the kids born this year are supposed to be more docile and tame. I don't really believe in these things but let's just say, bunny rabbits are not exactly the coolest animals around. I recall my cousin F's exact words were:"Grandma, I don't wanna to be an Ox. I'm a Dinosaur. Or. A Crocodile."

Unfortunately our choices were kind of limited - they must be scraping at the bottom of the barrel with the Pig and the Rats in there. Why wouldn't there be a Phoenix but there be a Dragon? Who came up with these?

The story goes that the gods held a race in the kingdom of animals, and the first 12 were the chosen ones. I have my own theory that this is only part of the truth. I can picture that it actually happened but, was probably some China-wide gambling event set up with a bunch of random animals with odds attached to them. The dragon was probably actually a lizard or a wall gecko. This would explain why there isn't a "phoenix" as they wouldn't want an animal that flies to participate and mess up the odds.

So there you go, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse (shame on you Horse for coming in sixth, shame), Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. If I had the choice I would still stay a jolly pig...

======
Note: edited Cow to Ox... they're the same animal in my head....

Unwinding........

2011-01-27T01:26:00.001-05:00

It never occurred to me when I was younger how good life was, to be sheltered from the pressure of sustaining myself. I can't believe i used to bitch about it, either...well that was when I was seven. The fact that one day I will have much more to worry about than a final project presentation seemed pretty improbable at the time. Anyway now I look at what stresses me at work and I tell myself, well at least i'm not saving a life... It always helps me put my job in the financial services industry into perspective - it is not a medical, life-death situation... The only thing I might kill is my job...

My mind works in a funny way, too - I'm probably the type of person that is more receptive to placebo effects. The fact that I have savings in my bank accounts (doesn't even have to be a lot) makes me more relaxed. It has an effect on me once I realize it. In the back of my mind where logic and reason don't like to hang out, if I can sell my condo, pay off debt and survive about six months then somehow i feel like I'm quasi-invincible. That's why sometimes to calm my work related nerves, I play a little game of "wonder how long can I survive if I lose the job". Well, except it didn't work the first couple of months after I bought my condo with all my savings :P The mental calcs during that period were depressing as hell.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad... That's right!

Tired but sleepless night

2011-01-26T01:10:00.001-05:00

Found this neat little App that allows me to update my blog using my iPad (i.e. on my bed lying down....). This is definitely MLEP approved.

My procrastination has finally done what it's best at doing: bite me in the ass. In the last couple of weeks, I was supposed to read up, study and all in preparation for my new role. Instead, I spent my time mostly taking it a bit too easy, and then falling sick. Today is basically a full frontal collision with whatever shit I needed to do... We're talking about a twelve-hour day, then home for dinner, then 2 additional hours of reading during which i realized that about 3 hours of my work during the day was useless. Even in the shower I was thinking about work. And as I finally lie down, tired as ever on my bed, I can't. Frigging. Fall. Asleep.

So here I am, blogging about it at around 1am in the morning knowing very well that I will be profusely expressing regret tomorrow morning with the use of the snooze button...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pogos??

2011-01-22T12:33:00.003-05:00

Ahhh... this is what I call sleeping in. I just woke up!! 11 hours of solid sleep, with some usual screwed up dreams... I dreamt I was taking a bath in a palace washroom, it was huuuuge and I was happy. (And then there was arabs attacking ... I had to dress up in those flowy roman robes and send messengers to the emperor and then there was full out war while I then run to tell women and children where to hide. All very exciting.)

Anyhow, waking up to reality is a bit harsh after that. January 22, we're in the thick of the Winter now. I'm down with a cold although recovering steadily - my condo is full of germs and will need a complete anti-bacterial hose down today. The whole me is very lethargic in general. I'm still gobbling strepsils like they're corn dogs (I luuuuv corn dogs)

I'm hungry but don't know what's good to eat. A corn dog would be good now.... why do we only get to eat it during summer... we need a corn dog vendor here in Tdot, stat. And no. Pogos aren't corn dogs.

Boooo

2011-01-12T23:28:00.001-05:00

A Record Equalizer

2011-01-11T23:42:00.002-05:00

Last January I had 6 entries total. This year we're only at middle of January and I'm already doing my 6th, I'd say it's looking pretty good!

Quiet day today, at work - it was mostly training and we all know that training isn't really work. I'm not feeling too well and am overall very lethargic... although I did discover a way to get from my work place to the gym today, completely indoors... that hopefully will motivate me to go more often.

I don't really believe in Astrology and Horoscopes and all that since they are kept vague to apply to everything. However I do like to read them because sometimes, like today, they strike a note of encouragement.

Pisces - It may feel as if you have one more chance to reach for the golden ring and your time is quickly running out. However, the sense of urgency that you're experiencing is based on a false assumption. Your current actions seem to wield more power than usual, but pushing too hard in the present moment can stir up more resistance than you need.

Sundays, curious Sundays

2011-01-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

Sundays are curious animals... they often start out decent or even great, and get shittier as the sun goes down and Monday's arrival loom closer and closer. If I can draw a comparison, Sundays are in fact like horror movies: start out great and normal, but you know something's about to go wrong. The rest of the time, there's this mounting unnerving suspense which is often more unbearable than the actual object of horror. I don't remember how many times, during my pre-sleep reflections, I've wished for an overnight snowstorm to paralyze the city (in Montreal this used to be a wish that made me believe in the power of prayers). That was comforting enough for school days. After I've started to work, the disaster spells I try to cast became a bit more devastating and permanent (think fire)... which I guess are not condoned by the Higher Power or not in the checklist.

That being said, I might be affected by the fact that I haven't got anything important done today like I had initially scheduled. My new role has changing job description every 3 hours, although it doesn't make any difference to me as I have so much catching up to do. I just lack directions and need to sit down calmly and work out a study plan. The fact that I've been meaning to do it the entire weekend to instead spend it on making a dent in my couch, eating junk food while watching NFL playoffs may have something to do with me being bitchy and worrying about my week ahead now. What can I say, there's a reason why the elimination of procrastination is not part of my new year resolutions ---- it's simply unrealistic.

Potential start of another newer job?

2011-01-05T23:11:00.005-05:00

Had an interview for something internal today and well, I don't know... on one hand I'm glad to be considered and it would effectively be a promotion, on the other it is completely out of my comfort zone. Normally you would expect that given my lack of related experience I wouldn't be hired - but apparently there is a big chance as they are desperate for a French speaking person.

I guess life sometimes decides its own course - we'll see what happens.

The new work environment is definitely more fast-paced, with a lot of delegation and decision being pushed downwards. A fellow newbie and I were assigned to do some work and I was a bit surprised to be told that the allocation will be up to us two. Kind of shows you how brainless I've become as even the tiniest of decisions needed approval previously... (my boss 3 levels up used to correct my grammar mistakes by leaving me a note to add a comma or period...).

I am still a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of things to learn (and excited), but if I take on the newer role the learning curve will be even steeper - I think I would be downright intimidated.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Damn disappointed today by that Stupid. World. Junior. Hockey. Chokeship. How can you have a meltdown of such epic proportion. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians just saw their favorite sport being pooped on tonight. POooooop.

Start of a new year at work, new job

2011-01-04T00:19:00.000-05:00

This past two, three weeks have been extremely restful and one of the reasons why I now find holidays to be a blessing. I don't remember the last time where I rested enough to lose track of the days of the week, or the time of the day when I wake up naturally. All that is ending tonight. Tomorrow morning, when I wake up, it will be to the sound of the alarm and I will be going into a new job where I will have to learn a lot from scratch. Obviously, I'm feeling a little bit apprehensive about entering a new chapter again and having to prove myself all over again. Talk about getting out of the comfort zone...

Well, all that would be a little bit better if I hadn't procrastinated that much on reading up a bit more on the intricacies of Tax Planning which is going to be central to my new position. I guess some things never change and I'd have to play some catch up on the first week, hoping that everything will be slow enough still for me to spend several nights studying. I don't know how long my luck is going to last... it's dangerous to be toying with Murphy's Law.

Thinking about a trip to Asia somewhere around March, probably going to have to exhibit Vinny in a zoo to the relatives, but I don't know if it's good to take vacation so soon after I start, for a good 2 weeks.

The 2011 Annual (duh) New Year Blog

2011-01-01T20:12:00.008-05:00

So the Cuba post below was actually written somewhere around Boxing Day... but then procrastination got in the way, as usual.

It's also that time of the year where I go back to the January blog and try to find out what my resolutions were last year, time for a little bit of retrospective. Apparently, I was supposed to be more independent (drive myself, etc) this past year and do more charitable works. I'm actually impressed by the sensible resolutions I made... although I haven't really been that independent. BUT I have been giving back a bit more and volunteering a bit more in 2010 - it's not much but it's a step forward in the right direction, now that we're in 2011 it doesn't mean I'll stop trying to be more independent and volunteering, it will just become a habit.

What new habit then do I want to introduce in my life for 2011? Well the resolutions are going to be simple and sensible again:
- eat healthier and have a healthier way of life
- develop a financial plan and stick to it

It's going to be quite challenging because both require self-discipline, which is something that I'm learning to develop. As it turns out, self-discipline only kicks in when I live by myself, as a key survival skill. Another secret resolution I had in 2010 was to be more open to new activities and experience more new things, be more of a yes-person. I've did quite a bit, actually, with that, and am glad that I'm filling up my year with lots of memories. Be they good or bad, they make up a colorful year. I wish I had realized this a little bit earlier in life. I saw some articles about writing to your 16-year-old-self today on the Montreal Gazette and found the idea really interesting. Here is what I would write to my 16-year-old-self.

Hello 16-year-old-me

You're now finishing high school and moving onto a new chapter in your education. You've spent that last five years focusing on academics, reading novels, day dreaming and maintaining a busy online social life - you've been told and convinced that Phys Ed is not important throughout grade school. Here is the truth - it is important. It's important for you to develop self-confidence, and truthfully, you're really not that bad. Pick up a sport, any sport, and practice it. You will be happy you did while lessons are deeply discounted for students in Quebec. You'll be happy to have a reason to regularly exercise for the rest of your life.

About your social life. Take your time - I know you think the people you meet now mean the world to you. The reality is you will have friends that are close to you in different stages of life. They will make you learn more about yourself, and you will figure out what works and very quickly, what does not work for you. Be bold, be truthful to yourself, and do not waste time because you are afraid to hurt other people, it doesn't get better in the long run.

So, do say yes to trying out new things. Get out of your comfort zone, be less of the cynical person you are and meet new people.

What will you be? You will be glad to know that you've grown a bit more thick skinned and no longer have the pimples you thought were never going to leave your face. You've still never really figured out what to do as a career but you've ended up in a good place, although you used to think accountants are boring people doing things that will eventually be performed by computers. Your Least Effort Principle still works and serves you well, and you are happy to count your blessings since even though you've had a few regrets, you've turned out just fine. It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride, everything everything will be just fine, everything everything will be alright.

Your 27-year-old-self.

Back from Cuba!

2011-01-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, needless to say, it saddens me to unpack and put away my sandals, swimsuits and all those colorful sun dresses - thus marking the conclusion of my first vacation to the South with V and also almost the end of 2010 (I'll save the discussion on new year for a little bit later).

It almost seems like a rite of passage for a relationship to go to a beach vacation as a couple.

Despite all the beach and the sun and that sad goodbye, I'm still grateful to be finally in the comfort of what I've made in the past year to be some sort of a home. It does feel like home, now - the relief that washes over me as I step into the condo can testify. Heck, I can even say that the relief started when the plane touched the ground at Pearson. The return to civilization, readily available hot water, limitless supply of asian food and then spending a wonderful Christmas Day with what every person living by themselves far from their family must find - an adoptive Christmas Family. Harry Potter had Ron's family, and I have V's family once again this year... Turkey, champagne, gifts and great company.

So here I am, in my new pajamas, freshly out of my hot shower, perfectly content to be back from Cuba.

more Christmas stuff, and tired but can't sleep, etc, etc.

2010-12-07T00:06:00.004-05:00

Mon beeeau sapiiiin roi des forêt... Que j'aime ta verduuureeeuh....So I couldn't resist and got myself a 4.5 foot tree this weekend - I figured if it's going to make me happy every time I look at it, then it's a great investment. It's the prettiest thing in my condo now - all gold, silver and glass. Took me several hours to put it up and it'll be hell to take it down, and my shitty picture-taking skills can't do it any justice but there it is, in all its shiny glory. Sis... put yours up already! Need any help... I volunteer... Let's do Pink Silver and White!

Anyhow, I wonder why I'm so gun-ho about Christmas these past 2 years. Maybe because we've never celebrated Christmas, or any major holidays very seriously with lots of traditions ever since we moved to Canada. When I was little we used to celebrate all the major Chinese holidays, red envelopes, firecrackers, sticking the poems on the door, going to temples and looking at temple parades, making offerings to random spirits/ancestors, etc (might be a reason why I like crowds and noises?). I used to love the "winter vacation"... it was nice and cold outside, I had a million uncles aunts and cousins around, and firecrackers are awesome.

After we came here there was of course none of that. I look at our fellow immigrant families and some of them have decided to start going to Church and quoting the Bible all of a sudden, which I found silly - did they even believe it? So fake. I could bullshit my way through Sunday classes, but there is only so much hypocrisy I could do before I had to face the fact that I just didn't buy it from the people that were preaching it. There was no role model that could earn my respect enough to make me hear what they had to say.

So that was Christmas down the drain, for about 18 odd years...People who have always celebrated it probably don't know how boring it is for those that don't. Obviously, with all the expenses that comes with Christmas and typical western holidays (decorations, gifts, etc) it was probably also because we needed to be economical. Every Christmas, we'd do a hot-pot as a family... and celebrate spring with the Taiwanese spring rolls, and sticky rice balls. That's why Moms are great. Moms are the perpetuators of family traditions. They try and make do, and make sure it's still part of us somehow, modestly celebrating or not.

=========================================

I had a zombie dream but i'm too tired to type it out.... that'll be tomorrow.

Zeh jiiiingles... I love zem dis yeeear!!

2010-12-02T00:24:00.010-05:00

As you've noticed, I've been pretty bad with my blog, I haven't updated it since Halloween... (see last blog) - although I very much doubt that Santa gives two shnitz about people updating their blogs. Oh wait there's no Santa. Ha.

Fact is, dear faithful readers (all the 2 remaining ones, i guess) there is such thing as having too much procrastinating to do, between going to NYC and fattening myself up, and getting my first platinum trophy (thank you, thank you), reading novels, I was just too busy doing pretty much nothing very productive to mankind....

But I'm getting ready lately, to go to a resort for the first time with V! Unfortunately, it also stresses me. The problem is that the most resilient thing on/in me, is those rolls of fat that hang over my pants. I really wish that I could have persistence as a trait of my character rather than that of my adipose cells.

That and my recently acquired taste for Christmas jingles and holiday spirit do nothing to help. It's like my brain cells suddenly register the music for the first time of my life... well, actually no - it all started last year with that tree at my sister's place that I helped decorate. In all its sparkling glory, so beautiful... sigh. And everyone is so happy around this time... you need this, I think, to dampen the effect of the stupid cold weather. Anyhow, all that to say, Christmas music and the whole festive atmosphere has all of a sudden the effect of making me hungry all the time.

So I'm dealing with the continuous Want of Eat due to becoming a Christmas Sap. The transformation is however not complete - I still can't watch the typical Christmas movies (romcoms are fine) like Grinch or... well that seems to be the only thing on TV on Christmas. Gah.

Quote Unquote Halloween, 2010

2010-10-30T04:02:00.003-04:00

Is it old age or is it just one of those off days? Just came back from a night out at the club, for some reason I couldn't really enjoy it. I mean, I had the same amount of drinks that I would normally have gotten, and the music was better than what it sounded like the last time I was in the club.

But I just felt the whole experience not as enjoyable as, say, chatting over dinner and just hanging out at some place quieter, watching a game, playing a game. I was even feeling annoyed at the crowd and finding the whole thing a little bit of ridiculous in an out-of-body kind of way.

Is it possible that in the last 6 months clubs have turned from Yay to Nay for me? Is the phase of elbowing and being elbowed while screaming on top of my lung to be heard over for sure, or will I eventually see redeeming value? Granted, I didn't have a witty fun costume, or a costume at all... I guess we'll have to see the next time around if that truly affected my ability to enjoy this party.

I'm still tempted to say, I think this phenomenon is there semi-permanent basis now. At some point your eardrums are going to say enough is enough and crave for peace and quiet. So this is what it feels like.

12:12

2010-10-27T00:14:00.001-04:00

Not like the time has any special meaning, beside the fact that I am still up and awake....

I got an update today about why I was not the ideal candidate, something about my business case not being focused on recommendations but instead, had focused on the why and how I got my mathematical answers. On one hand I can give myself the excuse that the questions that was sent out specifically asked for my input on the rationale on how I came up with the answer. On the other hand, I should have been able to see that whatever the question was asking, I needed to deduce what the hidden question was. What makes it even more depressing is the fact that I had actually seen the hidden question and discounted it based on the fact that it wasn't asked and I should stick to what is asked and not lose focus. That just made the truth that much harder to swallow. Utter, gross misjudgment on my part for being conservative at a time where I had nothing to lose - they did the right thing hiring the other person.

Anyhow, a closure is a closure, despite the fact that it can't always be the answer and the excuse you give yourself. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time.
Honestly, I might have been more disappointed about how I handled this news then I was actually about not getting the job.

=======================================
In need of warm weather, happy times, stroll in the park.

Mish@(T-1) is smarter than Mish@T

2010-10-18T23:58:00.008-04:00

I've finally taken some action on all the bitching I've made on my job - I've applied to a job that I pretty much liked in all aspects: the level, the exposure, nature of the job, location, and even potential salary. Anyhow, after 3 rounds of interviews (all of which were pleasant and positive), 2 business cases and total of 2 months later, I got a call on a beautiful Friday morning telling me that they decided to go with someone with more experience in the specialized field, although I was in the Final. Gracious and classy as I was on the rejection phone call, after I hang up I was completely deflated.

The end of the year is fast approaching and people are getting promoted and receiving good feedback. Me on the other hand, being labeled a disloyal now, the world could be a lot less rosy for me. I'll be looking forward to feedback speaking of average, coupled with maybe insignificant, low exposure projects. Pride aside, though, the advantage of being an optimist is that looking at my current job, it pays the bills and feeds me. The question of survival is answered, and I guess I shouldn't be greedy. The system has a cunning way of making one dissatisfied with the current stage and constantly want to compete, and stay on top of the curve. I've always been in the trap (and still is, otherwise I would sound much less bitter now), but a reality check from time to time gives a healthy dose of ambition softener and probably lowers expectations and saves me from many more disappointments.

That being said, I wish the dose was administered in a quick pain fast death kind of way, instead of 8 weeks. My self-esteem is probably close to all time low now, as I feel that there is no prospect anywhere, on top of feeling sluggish both above and below the neck, unhealthy and failing utterly at keeping up my work out. Also being frustrated by a 2-stars-out-of-5 Sudoku does not help. What happened to the 23-year-old brain that Brain Age used to tell me I had? That was only 2 years ago! It's probably going to tell me my brain's 64 now...

Case in point, I'm constantly (and need to) idiot-proofing my future-self: extra money in back pockets, extra keys at work, putting my sister's phone number up on the billboard, setting up reminders in my email for all sorts of bills.... If each and every person had a stock, I'd probably short my own.

One third of my life feels miserable right now

2010-10-13T23:12:00.001-04:00

Feeling edgy today, spent the entire day working and feeling pressured to finish something that I don't even enjoy. Looking forward, it looks like there are weeks of the same old boring shit coming ahead. Also feeling the pressure of the results of my interviews, which in total was a 2-month-process. It's year end performance evaluation again, and I've pretty much given up on receiving recognition this year - a reality pill that is pretty hard to swallow because of a good rating last year. I take consolation in the fact that there is at least my life outside of the cubicle that makes me happy. Sleep. Time spent with friends. V.

Bleh, work. That 1/3 of my day used to be better, for about a year, it was the part that felt less miserable. You know they say that it's all about the people - it's true. Right now I feel so distanced from everyone because of where I am sitting. Because some friends left the group. No one talks in our pod. No one is chatty, or sometimes, present. It just makes hours seem longer.

-------------------------

Wanted to get a bunny because they look so adorable. Read up on it and just gave up on the idea. It's not a dog but still a lot of responsibility. And it's dumber than a dog so probably won't be toilet trained. I don't think I can do that now, if I'm too lazy to take care of myself. I guess I'll just keep watching youtube clips of happy cuddly rabbits hopping around and go to pet stores.

---------------------------

Christmas is coming up in 2 months. In the grand scheme of things, time flies. In the scheme of gift-giving, time effing flies.

---------------------------

I sometimes wonder when I will go back to Taiwan again. Every time I think about spending 1300$ on airplane tickets I get hesitant - I can spend the same amount of money for one week in Europe including airplane and hotel, and there are so many other places I haven't seen yet. Then again - Taiwan has family and makes me think maybe I should bring V, get him to know a bit more about me - but I guess we should start with somewhere closer like Montreal since soon enough, I would have lost touch with my friends in Montreal, and forgotten all about the festivals, and the summertime...

---------------------------

Speaking of trips. I've pretty much given up on having a beach vacay this year. My muffin-top agrees.

Sleepless in Toronto

2010-10-09T01:52:00.000-04:00

It is now 1:34 AM Saturday morning and I live on the 15th floor of a condo - from my balcony I can see the construction sites beside my building and at Union station. I just spent about 30 min unable to fall asleep because of continuous, loud beeping sound of heavy machinery at the Union Station site. The beeps comes on whenever the machine moves from one point to another, which is about 5 long beeps for every 30 seconds or less, accompanied by occasional honking. We have a by-law that prohibits noise level and construction from 11PM to 7AM in the city - but how do you enforce this when there is no one to respond to any complaint within that time? The 311 tells me it's going to be investigated in FIVE business days, and that it mostly seem to be Exempt.

Exempt? These are not tracks that are used during the day that they're working on. These are the new friggin' track part of the new station plan. As far as I know if residents cannot make any freaking noise between 11PM to 7AM then the city or whoever is renovating the tracks should be subject to the same fucking by-laws. Make the beeps sound weaker. I don't know. What's the point of prohibiting every clown from partying till 3AM when I can't sleep because a fucking truck is beeping its way back and forth a 20 meter distance?!

As you can see I am grumpy when I can't sleep because of RETARDS.

Missed some anniversaries

2010-10-05T23:32:00.003-04:00

Sometime mid-August 2008 I moved from a french-speaking town of 70 000 people in Suburbia Montreal to Toronto.

It has been two years!

Sometime late-September 1992 my family emigrated from a crammy city south of Taiwan, to Suburbia Montreal.

It has been 18 years!

On randomly choking up...

The weirdest thing about going back to Taiwan, 13 years after I left, was when I stood outside of my grandparents' old house where I had spent a lot of time when I was tiny. I was looking at a brick wall where my cousin Felix and I used to pretend we were making Chinese herbal medicine from the flowers growing there. We picked leaves and rubbed them on the brick wall, making messes of green smudges - I vividly recall being yelled at because my grandparents couldn't rinse them off. When I went back, for some reason, seeing that messy old brick wall with the green smudges still there made me choke up.

On childhood friends that you will probably never see again...

Also, my aunt took me to where we used to live right before we emigrated. I still remember the night we got on Uncle Frank's van and the entire neighborhood was there to say Goodbye. When I went back 13 years later, my childhood friend's family still lived there and I always wondered what happened to them - It was very surreal to pass by a place you dreamed about revisiting, especially when it did not change a bit - I was sort of disappointed that no one was home. It felt like I will never see them again.

On the dinky places you miss...

The first place I stayed at in Toronto was a spacious two-bedroom, but the plumbing was old and funky, the floor creaked and all my furniture were hand-me-downs from my parents. That place was full of drama, to say the very least, and I'm glad I moved out. But I sometimes miss the window that I could open when I showered (it opens to nowhere, lets in a cool draft and sunshine). Also those trees around the block whose leaves I could hear when wind blew. My spare-bedroom-aka-studio. My tiny twin bed.

On the places and people you know you will miss...

I've started to look for a job recently and every time I get a call for interview, it dawns on me that I will have to restart socializing with new coworkers in a new work environment again. As much as I have completely lost steam on my current job, I've grown quite fond of the people at work. Sure there will always be office politics, but I find each character endearing in their own way, even the ones I hate working with. Besides, I met V there, and won't have the convenience of seeing him whenever anymore. I don't know what is harder - seeing someone from our work clique leave, or leaving the clique.

I Hate Money and Crowds

2010-09-25T18:32:00.010-04:00

I went to the L'Oréal Warehouse Sale this morning... to make me drag my ass up at 7:30AM on a Saturday to hoard makeup products took two factors - very very deep discount, and fear of very very long lineup.

My friend A and I successfully beat the crowd, getting there at opening time and got in with no lineup. I had maybe 10 min of leisurely browsing before the place started to get crowded. Next thing you know some 40-year-old mainlander was blocking a whole section, chatting loudly with her consorts and shoving packs after packs of boxes-of-six shampoo into the cart. Why the hell would you need so much shampoo? I'm so convinced that's going into a Convenience Store downstairs from a condo and selling at a 100% margin. People really have no manners. Wanted to elbow them in the face.

Fast forward a nice greasy breakfast and a bit of nap, I biked to my backyard Eaton Center to do some weekend shopping, stock up on my Fall clothes and whatnot. Now I'm used to downtown and especially Eaton Center being crowded, but for some reason today, was a whole new level of crowdiness. Entirely my gross miscalculation in not taking into account the University Fair this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Hoards of Ugg-footed suburbanites and parents roamed the town. Hollister, AE and the like were clearly not prepared for the influx of the Costco-crew... the stores were a mess, clothes were on the floor, over the racks, all over the place... pretty much looked like Zara on a normal day.

So that was a big turn-off, although by some stroke of luck I was always the first to get into the fitting rooms and came out to long line-ups of frustrated teenagers (lol life lesson 101 - it sucks). The amount of teenagers well exceeded my tolerance threshold and made me pretty grumpy, I didn't want to speak to salespeople that much today whereas I'm usually pleasant to deal with (I'd like to think). This chick in Fossil kept asking me questions, after I made it pretty clear that I was not going to be having a conversation about the meaning of life with her.

Salesperson - "Hi",
Doremish - "Hi"
Salesperson - "How are you doing",
Doremish - "Good thanks"*goes opposite direction*
Salesperson, from behind - "What brings you to our store today",
Doremish - "Just browsing" *walking away*
Salesperson - "How was your shopping so far"
WTF STFU!!!

Anyhow, bought a bunch of crap today that African kids don't need, and got fed up by people. To summarize:
Makeup: $160,
Clothes: $70,
Zooming past all the drivers on Yonge St while they got stuck in the afternoon traffic: Priceless.

Cost of Living

2010-09-24T10:01:00.000-04:00

LOL, I use one exclusive credit card for food to track my food expense, and do you know how much I frekking eat every month? 550$. That's FIVE HUNDRED FREKKING FIFTY dollars. That’s a shitload of food money. But then when family comes I pick up the bill. But still, even taking that into account I think it's still averaging around 400$.

I looked into the details to try and find out ways to cut down on it and if it is even realistic. In 3 months of tracking it doesn't seem as though I can cut it down any further than that. It's about 2 dinners out (probably weekends?) and maybe buying lunch just a couple of times during the week - seems to be reasonable.

So there you go, if you live by yourself and have a couple of dinners out a week in downtown, 400$/month goes in your tummy.

Waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka

Those Family Vacations

2010-09-15T13:52:00.010-04:00

Last night, I remembered my dream for the first time in what seems to be weeks. I miss remembering my dreams - I used to remember them vividly almost every other night but they died down in the last couple of years. Anyhow, I dreamt that I was living in the house I grew up in, and the family is preparing to go on a vacation with my aunt’s family. Some kind of camping / roadtrip.

It was morning and we were all packing, the front door is open and sunlight was coming through; I can see from the staircase where I was sitting that the sky was crisp and blue outside. It was warm, felt like the beginning of summer. There was a lot of traffic in and out the door, people putting things in the car trunks. There is just a kind of excitement in the air about the journey and the day that was ahead of us. Felt so optimistic.

It blended a number of nice memories - memories of being young and carefree, the old big house I grew up in and really liked, going to a trip, being surrounded by family, the beginning of summer, warm weather.

I wonder if people who win lottery or make it big, sometimes go and buy back the old house they grew up in, just for kicks?

Updates!

2010-09-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

Wow I haven't been diligent with my updates, at all, have I?

Blame it on being busy the last month - I didn't have much time to sit around the computer and just think and do nothing. Actually might have bitten off a bit more than I can chew with my activities, lately... Monday and Wednesdays bootcamp, Tuesdays piano, and Sunday afternoon Dance.

I think I really need to find something and just stick to it... Spanish was pretty much a waste of money...

i'm making some use of my piano

2010-08-25T23:17:00.005-04:00

People who've known me for a number of years, know that I've always had a piano - I had even moved it all the way from Montreal to Toronto; and when I bought my box in the sky, I had planned my furnitures around it.

The problem, though, is that the piano is never really used for something serious - it's like having an intuos tablet, only to doodle on it (oh wait, would you look at that... I have an intuos tablet...).

All that is going to change! (for the piano, the tablet is going to still be collecting dust -ha!)

I've taken my first piano lesson in something like 10-12 years yesterday... and will be trying to see if I will be taking the RCM exam. I got a lot of homework, I'm practicing scales, my wrists hurt, my job search is on hiatus, but I'm having loads of fun (...for now, until the pressure hits and I start wanting to bail)!

the importance of family, and random things

2010-08-23T00:44:00.000-04:00

I never knew that I was a sleep talker until recently when I started to nap more than I used to. It seems as though during my afternoon or car-ride naps, I am prone to some mumblings that tend to be quite comical...
V told me today that he had an entire conversation with me during my sleep, and also I was talking about some unicorn in a glittering sand box.... "so much sparkles... 5 more meters"

One of the dreams I had was about me living in the old house on Savard St. when I was growing up in Brossard. I seem to dream about that house alot - childhood memories. I was a younger version of me, in the family room alone at home. I was waiting for anyone to come back home - a bit anxious maybe, because I was feeling lonely and longing for some company. I distinctly remember that feeling of waiting for someone to enter the door and for all the noises to rush in and fill the house with life. I heard a car coming into the drive way and ran to the door to see that my sister was visiting me, with my brother-in-law and the dog...

I woke up with the lingering feeling of being happy seeing family and having company. Waking up sucked... made me realize how quiet it is around me.

living for the weekends

2010-08-16T00:48:00.018-04:00

Last weekend, V and I went to Niagara-On-the-Lake with friends for some get-away.

It involved an immaculately kept B&B place with seriously-I'm-not-kidding-3-course-breakfast, drunken sing-along at local pub, a bike and wine tour around town, amazing dinner at a vineyard during which mosquitoes feasted on my feet (21 bites), and capped off with a play at the Shaw Festival (An Ideal Husband by Wilde - such a good play and some guys would say it's full of useful advice).

Amazing weekend you ask? Thumbs up weekend I say!

But of course, no trip would be complete without creative use of camera and what nature offered.

We were only able to come up with this four letter word despite collective effort of trying to think about something else - although, I have to say, my K is pretty nicely done.

To be fair, it's not all about dirty words, there was also some yoga poses.

We were so in-one-with-nature and all. Check out my warrior pose right there.

This warrior would have chopped down that Tree anytime, yo.

Sadly no one had volunteered for the downward dog.

And 6 bottles of wine later (purchased, not consumed), that was last weekend - all fun and dandy, before my brutal return to work on Monday (the better the weekend, the more brutal the return to work - although even a terrible weekend makes the return that much more brutal simply because you'd not feel rested before being pitched into the mess again). This weekend was a lot more physical, as I survived the 2010 Toronto Mitsubishi City Chase... blog and pics to come later!

What good is a Friday when.

2010-08-06T11:19:00.005-04:00

It's Friday and I had some serious work to do this morning - there was even a meeting called which of course led to nowhere, and generated more questions than answers.

Some people don’t understand what Fridays are for. Fridays are for outstanding lists, winding down, expense reports and chilling/talking with coworkers - it’s admin and team building day. It's implied, it's better for the morale. You can even do announcement meetings - who gets promoted, who is leaving, etc. Helps keep the gossips flow and the team-building conversations afloat.

Some places grasp this quite well... examples include those companies I've heard that has beer carts on Fridays. Another one has every Friday afternoon off from May to September. They don't kid themselves, they know nothing is getting done on a Friday afternoon, anyway. Also - there shouldn't be a deadline on Friday; deadlines are more of a Wednesday / Thursday type of animal. No one enjoys staying till 7PM on a Friday when the cleaning lady comes by at around 5.

But as you know, some genius up atop will not understand this concept. There would be some important questions posed in the morning, and the crap will trickle down the ladder, leading to unnecessary stress in the system. The trickle down effect looks like this when translated into reactions:

Genius Up Atop: "OMG so exciting so many questions. I think I just peed in my pants from excitement, now get it resolved before I finish changing my diaper. "

Second in Command: "Ok guys, I'm clueless about what's happening, but please expedite this so I can cover my ass."

Suck up and Overachiever / Credit Hog / Top Upper: "Great question! Also we should consider this and that, oh lord we have MORE questions Yay! Pass me a diaper too."

Me: "Well, F............"

Some Down Time

2010-08-05T15:37:00.001-04:00

Taking a little afternoon break while listening to Vampire Weekend ...

I sit right in front of the two big bosses offices and while I had spent most of the time complaining about such arrangement prior to the move, I am definitely seeing the advantages of the setting now.

First, my fine ears are able to hear evil witch sounds that come out of the boss' office usually indicative of bullshit work being concocted, and therefore am able to warn to some extent my fellow coworkers of upcoming crap about to be dropped on our desks. Other uses including gossips, knowing who are the suckups, and who's getting an earful... Information is important at this time and age, my friends...and gossips/dramas seem to push the day along.

Today, however, the activities seem to be pretty darn scarce and I'm sitting here anxiously tapping my feet looking at the clock going backwards. We lost another coworker who happily spent his 2 last weeks working out a Rubik Cube - it was the going-away-drinking last night... maybe it's just my imagination (probably is just my imagination) but there is a bit of melancholy and death-associated-boredom in the air. Seats get emptied, seats get refilled. New people get screwed over. Story of corporate life.

Just Meh

2010-08-03T21:31:00.002-04:00

feels like one of those alone days is due.

Jump Up Jump Jump Up!

2010-08-01T13:20:00.007-04:00

So... I did it and took my Painting Classes.... and then I did it and took my Spanish Classes... I'm catching up on all the fun classes I had missed out from taking all the stupid extra credits at school (Organic Chemistry II? Seriously?).

What else can I try?

Dear Mishell, This confirms your reservation for Jazz (Absolute Beginner) on 8/22/2010 to 10/17/2010. This class occurs Sunday from 1:00PM to 2:30PM .
-City Dance Corps Staff

W00tw00t. I'm also considering restarting to take my piano lessons seriously... Let's see how this Dancing thing is going to work with my two left feet. It could be frustrating for me and hilarious for you!

Anyhow, it's Sunday afternoon on what looks like to be a gorgeous, gorgeous alone day. I'm taking Patrick out for a walk and hopefully have some sangria under the Sun.

what a sucker!

2010-07-27T23:41:00.003-04:00

Got a refurbished dyson, and it delivered yesterday!

V helped me carry it for the entire 30 minutes walk from the Purolator office to my place... and vacuumed too... :) This stuff cleans the carpet, it's crazy... it was just like new - I would never have guessed it was refurbished had it not said so on a big orange sticker on the box. Anyhow, my carpet did get its fair share of dyson-love and the canister got filled really quickly. V decided not to empty it to see how much it fills up - it's waaay beyond the max line. All that was dust inside my carpet and probably enough hair to make a full wig. The carpet even changed color when the vacuum passed, from slightly gray and yellow to white. Amazing. Well worth the $300...

an excerpt

2010-07-25T00:19:00.002-04:00

Before we emigrated, my aunt had given me a gift that would since then last a life-time. She gave me my first diary. Ever since then I've never stopped keeping a journal - although it's not everyday that I write in it. I write in it when I have something to say but no one to tell it to, and being someone who likes to bottle up feelings, it was a good way to vent. Most of the time it's something, a feeling, some thought that has been following me during the day and only gets sorted out at night before my sleep.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote last week, in one of those quarter-life-crisis moments.

Ways to being happier
- sleep well
- eat well
- exercise
- get a job doing something I like... probably working with people, planning and analyzing
- learn to dance, cook, taste
- laugh
- spend enough time with loved ones versus alone
- being honest
- not take myself too seriously
- be in love
- be in touch, read, talk
- get a job paying me more

those harebrained ideas

2010-07-05T20:47:00.008-04:00

Lady and gentlemen... I'm proud to present tonight's candle light dinner - survival mode.

The GTA was experiencing some major power outage later this afternoon, and everyone went home early... it was something like 35C with humidex.
The problem was dinner. I was hungry and I had NO IDEA how long it would take for the power to come back up. What if it lasted until tomorrow?!?!?

Luckily, I had some scented candles, a kettle, and lighter at hand.

What would McGyver do!?
McGyver would ask himself WHAT WOULD DOREMISH DO!?!?

That's right... that's totally how I made my dinner... please ignore the fact that the power came back on about 30 minutes later, and focus on the genius of the idea, and the extra sausage and BBQ pork I cleverly put in my broth.

I win at survivor.

summertime, suburbia Montreal

2010-06-29T00:31:00.012-04:00

So it's been 2, 3 days that I've been in Montreal and I still haven't spent much time downtown yet... some of because I wanted to spend sometime with the parents, a lot of it because I'm just lazy, and also I blitzed through some 800 pages kung fu novel in 2 days... funny how I can get influenced by books. I always have a 1-2 days of speaking the language of the book / movie that made a strong impression. I was speaking kungfu talk with my mom today. It's like speaking in shakespearean ways. Gets on people's nerve. I love it.

Anyhow, Brossard is pretty boring, with generic stores and restaurants everywhere. I wonder how it is to live in Montreal city... and if I had stayed. Although I probably would have stayed with my parents until the sad age of 27 and still never have experienced / enjoyed the city life. It's probably a good thing that I had gone to Toronto.

Twenty-seven! When I was 15 I thought people 18 and over were old and boring to hang out with. When I hit 18 I thought everyone above 25 would be married, staying at home looking at their kids play lego and getting fat. And now I'm too far from both teenagers and the married-with-kids crowd, and especially don't even know how to hang out with kids - the 3 to 12 year old range scares me. Babies are fine, man, they just cry, expel things, and giggle (and look generally yummy). Toddlers 1-2 are happily running tiny things that don't really need respect (and look yummy). But the 3-to-12-year-olds..... they're like a smarter breed of monkeys. Freaky. And I think they can detect and are attracted to the scent of fear.

Last week I was just thinking, about No Exit by Sartre, how hell is other people. Anyhow it's mainly because I was working from home and feeling extremely depressed by the 4th day because I realized I needed company of people walking around and being around me, and therefore I need an office environment (definitely can't be a freelance), and to get out of the house at least once every 48 hours. I told V that prison is for someone like me - lock me up and it'd be hell. To push this idea a little further, I think my hell would be a prison filled with the smarter breed of monkeys, and their parents judging eyes. I mean, dropping a baby is fine, I'm sure they get dropped all the time (right?). BUT, make a 5 year old cry and the shrieking thing will make sure the world knows you ruined his/her childhood.

in 2 hours I'll be on the buh-buh-buh-bus

2010-06-25T21:46:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to go home to Montreal, this G20 atmosphere is suffocating me.

I just went out for a long walk to Chinatown in search for the Owl of Minerva to satisfy my pork-bone-soup craving, and came back with a borderline obscene satisfaction. And what do I see on my way back? Popos. Popos eeeeevery-friggin'-where. In cars, on motorbikes, on bicycles, hoards of the riot-preventing types on mega buses, horses, standing around, walking around. It's like the popos decided to close off downtown so they can have a huge popo-party. They even get catered, there are little food trucks and yummy-filled-golf carts driven by "Police Logistics" people, handing out food. As far as I know they might just as well have "Santa's Little Helpers" on their t-shirts. The atmosphere is, surprisingly, almost a bit festive. I betcha they're shaking it aaaaall niiight long.

On my tax money. And that fake lake looks so sorry and so sad too.

And all this at the same time I received the stupid HST pamphlet telling me that dry cleaning is now 13% tax instead of 5%, so are my massages, golf and gym membership, all sports lessons, theater tickets, magazines, and internet - I am not Sherlock Holmes but my guess is that the Ontario government doesn't want its population to have a healthy or cultured lifestyle.

Anyhow... it's 1.5 hour till I'm out and I'm still procrastinating on my packing... sigh. I feel bit sad leaving my little cute condo that is my castle. Then again, mom food awaits! W00t w00t.

the goddamned g20...

2010-06-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

Who knows, I might just get pissed off enough to join the protesters. The disruption this crap is bringing knows no bounds - first I am forced to work from home and then I'm forced to stay-in. Now I am scrambling to find a change of schedule to my trip to Montreal. Gah.

Anyhow, verdict of working from home? Yay for maybe 2 days a week. I need human contact - be it strangers or not, to roam around me.

Korean tonight, w00t w00t. Owl of Minerva is now open in Dragon City.

i'm working from home for the week!

2010-06-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

Well, you'd think I would have slept more, but noooo, stupid construction had to start with the drill bright and early at 7AM. Although with my dead-sleep skills I still managed to snooze till 9AM. Hah!

So I pretty much ate my day away... I discovered that I am waaaay more productive in the morning. Hm, never thought I'd be such a morning person. I'm probably going to try and wake up earlier tomorrow...

1 hour of my life just disappeared

2010-06-16T22:04:00.001-04:00

I passed out in front of the TV while anticipating So You Think You Can Dance. I woke up and it was the end of the show - I have no idea what happened in that hour, at all.... could it be that I drugged myself in those steaks... could it be that a rosemary and soy sauce combination produces bear-tranquilizer-grade-somnolent?

I did wake up with an even more severe back sore. So yesterday, the Guilt had made me do some lame half-assed stretching / weight stuff in front of the TV and today my back is sore as hell. Let's just hope it's a sign that the backboobs are being totally annhiliated in their birth. Backboobs scare me to death.

Up to the last month of this year, I still had some hope to be promoted this year. Now, I think my chances are nearing zero since for most of the year I would have worked under someone who has waited a long time before being promoted. These people are never too happy to give opinions that could lead to a younger person being promoted to their level, not to mention that we're talking about a credit-hog. Anyhow, it's going to be a long shot, wondering if it's even worth the while.

parents wishful thinking

2010-06-16T00:53:00.002-04:00

I find myself introverted these days, for unknown reason - I feel like being left pretty much alone, not that talkative. Let's just call this a rare occurrence of doremish's "hermit mode".

So in the shower today (where most of my thinking happens...), I wondered about the whole learning curve / learning speed concept. I think 99% of people say they're fast-learners somewhere in their résumé (which makes me wonder if this is one of those things that get only get noticed if they are not done). As a matter of fact, I do too, but then, I have a little confession to make.

I don't think I'm a fast-learner - well, not in the traditional fast-learner type of a way. I'm sure some phd in Psychology is writing up a thesis and publishing another 800-pages-2-volumes useless HR Management book on this already, but there are probably different types of learners. You got the Can't Learn for Shits, Painfully Slow, Slow but Steady, Moderate, Fast, and last but not least, I think my category is Fast and Sloppy (to which I'm going to give another name by the end of this blog).

But of course I'm generalizing myself - from my experience in trying to learn fighting games, going from Fast and Sloppy to Can't Learn for Shits is entirely possible depending to the subject matter.

The point is, I'm frustratingly bad at learning during my first few attempts. I'd be one of those who make every single mistake or make it a worse case scenario, without even trying. Now a true fast-learner, imho, would first learn the rules, ponder and plan and think about it, and execute. There will be some mistakes for adjustments but it will take a few tries to make it right. In my case, I just dive in and execute in what I think is probably-right-kinda-like-this way, which most of the time leads to, depending on what I'm doing, a long-and-frustrating-losing-streak, wasted food ingredients, burnt things, etc, etc.

It totally has to do with impatience and wanting to just take information and run with it (sometimes, not waiting to have all the information before I start running with it). The redemption, is that when you make all the serious mistakes, it's pretty darn memorable and is probably pretty good lesson for learning.

This is also probably why, if today I was on Reality TV, I'd be screwed - I'll probably be eliminated in the first episode. But if I survive, in the subsequent episode, I think I'd do above average.

I'll call this a Second Chance Learner.

Wow, I just noticed that my post doesn't have ANYTHING TO DO with my entry's title. Meh.

meh

2010-06-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

there's an expression in Chinese that compares something to a chicken rib - too bland to chew on, and too wasteful to throw away.

That feels like my job right now. I live my days for the weekends and highlights of bank holidays and employee appreciation days. The rest of the time? Too bland to talk about, too wasteful to quit.

Maybe it's just me, always wanting something to happen and to be happening and bored easily.

wanted : sunshine

2010-06-13T10:13:00.001-04:00

I know, I know. Pretty useless and ancient to be complaining about the weather. Next thing you know I'll be sitting on the front porch, waving my fists in anger to get kids off the lawn.

Sitting in V's room now and it's whole lotta mess - I don't think there's a filing system in place, and I wonder where all the important personal documents sit and if it is not in that dusty pile where he puts his gifts, some still in their original wrapping....

Which makes me wonder - of all the condos I've visited during my house-hunt, almost every single one of them were staged for sale and the people probably already moved most of their belongings out (otherwise, the lack of books in these units is an alarming sign). They were spare, and perfectly decorated. When the place is functionally-oriented and people are living in them, then we're talking about a bit of a mess and itsy bits of ugly-but-functional-storage-pieces.

Condos are interesting because it's limited in space, and editing is necessary (unless you're the dude that lived in my unit before me, who didn't need much but a desk and a bed). Now I pretty much have a permanent clothing storage problem and when I look at the IKEA closet system, it seems as though I'd be sacrificing a lot of storage for the ability to find one pair of socks... honestly, I don't even think IKEA samples are very realistic. Their living rooms always assume that there is no window, no A/C vent, no electrical outlet, no thermostats on the wall and unlimited supply of studs. A common condo-dweller's options are extremely limited... sure I don't think my place is ugly (it does urgently need some dyson-love, I shed like a mofo), but either I live a more simplistic life style or I save up for a bigger place in the future.

For now, I'm happy to accept the challenge... eventually, my vote is that greed & sloth will probably win.

stupid legs

2010-06-01T20:23:00.002-04:00

Sunday is the big day for Ride for Heart where I'm going to go for the (now) annual 50 km ride up and down the DVP again. Last year, I felt really tired but at least I was able to do it.

This year though, I don't know if it's my age (only 1 year, shouldn't make that much of a difference?) or all that crap I've been eating - up to now we've had 2 trainings of roughly 25 km each and I am having a ton of hard time riding.

Having music should help, though. I need to upload some decent mp3s into my phone, anybody's got good ideas for songs?

////////////////////

So I've spent roughly 700$ on furnitures again, this time for all the storage that I've been missing in the condo including shelves and chest of drawers, etc. That put quite a bit of a dent on the wallet, especially when the day I went to IKEA had to be the day where their machine are b0rken and couldn't accept gift certificate. Boo IKEA.

There were about 10 man hours spent on shopping then assembling all that stuff, between me and V. Tonight it looks like I'm going to clean up my entire place, too, that's a lot of time. What's worse? I'm not even done yet. There are many more things to buy, including patio set and a loungey-chair for the balcony. But then I'm making my place pleasing to live in - that's a price I'm willing to pay...

///////////////////

Speaking of spending. I stumbled on a crumbly piece of receipt today and saw the 64.99$ that I had spent on Final Fantasy XIII. That was a waste of money - I think I'll have to finish it just to make it worth the while... nobody wants to play that now.

i'm talking about food again, totally unintentional :/

2010-05-27T23:48:00.000-04:00

I made some curry fishballs today, it was yummy. I think it's a nice solution for potlucks if anyone is in a pickle for ideas...

I'm parking this idea aside but I should write a little something about street food!

taking chances

2010-05-17T20:18:00.003-04:00

So I've got some lemongrass from the supermarket the other day, before my trip, and have been just aching to use it along with the half bottle of green curry that was left over from the week before.

Today, I finally got some time to cook and have also remembered to thaw the chicken thighs, so I put everything I needed in the pan, including the lemongrass, and took the bottle out of the fridge to read the instructions to make sure I got everything right, and notice these words:

"After opening, refrigerate and use within 3 days"

Three days? That bottle had been sitting in the fridge for 3 weeks! But then, there goes a pan full of nicely deboned chicken, lemongrass perfume off the roof, all the neatly chopped bell peppers and my personal touch of red pepper. Anyhow.... I took a sniff of the content and it smelled okay, and, after some hesitation, I figured I'm the only one that's eating it and I do have a Taiwanese stomach. Besides, the heat should have killed everything, right? Anyhow, I dumped the whole bottle in and the stuff still smells like heaven. I just had a bowl to test it, and I think it might be psychological but my tummy feels funny now - please call me in 5 hours to make sure I'm not dead...

What would your mom do?

it's always a balancing act

2010-05-17T00:53:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to write more blog, but every day i seem to be doing things that get in the way. Sometimes I have a great idea and I forget about it. Sometimes I wonder if I should write about what happened today, or think up some topic that's more relevant in the long term - this lasts about 2 seconds before random thoughts come up again.

So apparently I sleep-talk, which is surprising because I don't think I've ever done it before... I guess when I catch a quick nap and I try to stay awake-ish, that could potentially happen...

Reorganizing the closet for seasonal changes is so frustrating... it also reminds me how little space I have versus the mortgage I'm paying. Salt on my freaking wound!

In Bruges

2010-05-11T23:06:00.000-04:00

Half way through the movie, and stopping to play Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 with the dudes. Such a good movie, so quotable, so funny... like the black comedy.

one more day, and lots of sunshine

2010-05-05T22:06:00.003-04:00

So it is... Friday will be the first trip to Las Vegas with my two girl friends. I haven't taken any vacation ever since Christmas and it is about time to board the plane and fly somewhere nice and warm. Nice and warm indeed -- the forecast says it is going to kick some serious ass... just in time because the last couple of weeks have been less than bearable in terms of work, a bit of stress, a bit of change in environment, nothing too happy. I already know it's going to be a pretty darn difficult return to reality on Tuesday.

Anyhow, here I am trying to pack for 4 days and 3 nights - goddammit I've been to trips before, and every time, I keep reminding myself that I need to make the list in Excel so I don't have to think about it again every time I go on a trip - there is one standard set of items one needs when it's a 3 days trip, as well as the 7-days trip. It's been 5 frigging years now that I pack the 7-day-trip at least twice a year, and somehow I still don't learn to write it somewhere more permanent than a random scrap piece of paper...

Will upload when the list is complete (if ever)...

deciding what to wear...

2010-05-03T22:35:00.022-04:00

Growing up in Taiwan, deciding what to wear had once been easy - I had about 3 sets of clothes that pretty much covered all the occasions: uniform for school, that one dress that made me feel like a princess for weddings and all other important occasions (including road trips), and tracksuits of random knockoff cartoon characters for weeknights and weekends (checkout those cool ~~Power Rangers~~ Elite Xtreme Warriors!). It was a no-brainer, and no one was really judgmental because how can you play bbguns with the boys in a banana trees forest when you're all decked out in Gap Kids?

But everything in life grows complicated when you grow up - one day, came the job interviews, and doremish had her first pair of high heels, which brought a ton of pain and made her kick them off and walk barefooted on the pavement on her way home from the job fair. Then she discovered a new expression which still doesn't quite make sense: "business casual". I remember looking at my first job offer and googling it up - and playing it safe by wearing a suit the first day (read: week). Slowly, the business-casual-monster ate up my closet, my wallet, and an entire precious 10 minutes every morning during which I never seem to find the appropriate thing to wear for work. Every time I pass by the stores (RWCO, BR, Dynamite, Jacob...), a stress signal reminds me of its constant need of being fed: "Hmmm, I guess I should get something for Business Casual on my way back."

After a couple of years, I've narrowed it down to a couple of favorite pieces like back in high school when you used to be recognizable with that t-shirt...that hoodie, etc. I've finally attained a comfortable plateau; the monster is now middle-aged, has a relationship belly, and pretty much settled. Then all of a sudden, people around me start getting married, they stop being too cheap to pay a toonie for Jeans Fridays, they start having big parties and dress up, and they start dressing up on weekends to go shopping to dress up on weekends so they can go shopping.

But now, I open my closet, and all I see is business casual. I find myself pondering - is a pencil skirt too "business-like" to attend a birthday party that specifies no-jeans? (answer is yes). Do I wear this work top with jeans for Jeans Friday or are nice tee-shirts allowed? What kind of shoes goes with this outfit? Is this dress more for work, or is it more for a wedding? How can I slut-this-up without people asking me for quotes on my way to the club or the bouncer wondering if I am there to audit their ass? (never happened, I walked the line pretty well!)

It's all fine lines, though, and although I spend quite a few hours every week tidying up my place, one simple dress code text message ("semi-formal", "dress up", "dressy casual tonight!") can wreck serious havoc as I try to throw something into the definition - and all over the floor. Of course, a part of me wants to secretly cheer "Nailed It!" when I happen to put together something nicely, but in those moments before I figure things out, I dream about a world of just good old fat robes.

eating could be an expensive hobby

2010-04-24T11:23:00.002-04:00

I guess it could be worse, since some people like cars, antiquities, stamps, etc. So I was thinking about knowing more about whisky and there is the Annual Spirit - Whisky Gala at the Roy Thompson Hall just up the street. Looked it up online and found out early bird tickets cost 120$. That kinda weeded out newbies like me.

//////////////////////////////

Woke up at 10AM today with a weird dream that I was on vacation. I went to South Africa and the ocean / beach is very different from Atlantic. It's the Indian Ocean, and odd fishes and creatures of seas were unafraid of human and came up near. The sea shells were big, colorful and absolutely fantastic. For some reason I had my purse with my passport and everything inside, and I had put it on the sand next to me. I turned around to tell my sister about this pearlized shell I collected, and realized the tide was coming up very quickly. I looked back and I couldn't see my purse anymore - in a moment of panic I dived under, and started digging and finally found it. After I yanked it out from the sand, i started looking for my passport inside as I heard my mom's voice:"What are you looking for?!" And I was too scared to say that I have brought my passport with me and was careless...

Anyhow I found the passport and it was soaked and torn in half :(

///////////////////////////

I am a little stressed for work lately - I have something that's due by the end of next week and I couldn't manage to get the information quickly. This week has a conference on Monday therefore I might not even be able to advance on it... Sigh.

/////////////////////////

My kitchen smells like garbage and I don't know why, I wiped it down on Thursday night and I was sure it's completely clean - I'll take the recycling bin down and maybe it'll be fine. I hate the garbage smell, hate garbage juice. In the old dinky apartment I used to rent, the plumbing was not very well done therefore water would accumulate in the bathtub when you showered. The kitchen's pipes would let out this foul smell that only massive amount of Febreze could mask - not to mention little fruit flies that climbed up from the pipes and lounged on the counter. I didn't like to cook at that place.

///////////////////////

Kick-Ass

I wanna be Mindy :(

one fail a day....

2010-04-20T22:44:00.004-04:00

keeps the doctor away...

I started the wrong cycle on my washing machine, it's on the longest one and warm-warm, while I had only 1 bathrug in there with cold wash detergent.

Stupidity 1 - Energy saving 0

/////////////////////////////

Frustrating dreams

I once had this stressful dream where I needed to call home urgently and kept punching in the wrong digits. I'd try to dial quickly a lot of times, fumble a lot, and then, taking a deep breath I'd enter everything slowly, until the 7th number -"ok only one more digit" - and screw it up again.

Another frustrating dream had me trying to patch up some toxic leak with scotch tape, except I can't find the start of the tape. Run my finger over the roll, can't find it. Use my nail to try and scratch quickly over the roll, find it, scramble, drop it on the floor and lose the start of the tape again.

///////////////////////////////

Bought too many chicken drumsticks and eating Popeyes tomorrow. I don't know what to make with them... (No curry or soup, already made those today).

hmmm my room is a sty

2010-04-17T14:07:00.004-04:00

i found my slingshot next to my bed today - almost forgotten i had it... lemme explain why i have a random slingshot.

i had the great idea, a while ago, when we went to that big fishing/boating gear place at vaughn mills, to get a slingshot (my sister should remember this, my brother in law was laughing at me and amazed at my logic) so i can hit switches at home without having to get up.

but my switches are flip switches, not tap switches - fail
and i can't aim for shit - double fail

it's next to my bed under the radio ( i think i thought if a robber came in i can shoot him too )

I am full of great ideas like that.

keep those emails comin'

2010-04-08T22:52:00.003-04:00

I love long emails.... they do more than help me procrastinate. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like having a new episode of How I Met Your Mother I downloaded and still haven't watched. It's having 1 month of Penny-Arcade to catch up, and 2 volumes of Full Metal Alchemist, or have finished the first book in a super good series knowing that there are 2 other volumes out there (Golden Compass!).... my heart (yes i do have one) does a little w00t w00t when I glance at my scrolling bar, and there is still space below :)

werking out!

2010-03-30T23:27:00.001-04:00

Alright alright alright alright alright.

May 7th, Vegas trip is booked. Which means, bikini body is not an option but a requirement for the summer... no I didn't work out enough last year for Jamaica - too busy with shit and stuff. But everything is set this year for discipline and results...!

So the plan is to work out about 3 times a week - but not having to commit an hour, because that's just unrealistic and silly. More along the line of a minimum of 30 min - majority of which is going to be cardio, and some of it will be the usual crunches / plank crap that hurt my tummy.

Breakfasts are going to be full and yummy, dinners shall have fruits. This is going to go for about a month. Oh and minimization of alcohol because hangovers are gross.

I don't think I'll have problems carrying out the plan since FF13 isn't really keeping me on the couch...

i'm in suspension / liking this snapshot

2010-03-30T00:07:00.012-04:00

For those who've had to learn a new language... you know there's always an awkward plateau where you start forgetting the old language and haven't yet mastered the new language. Currently, that's exactly how I feel towards my friends. It seems as though I'm slowly losing touch with the friends in Montreal, whereas I don't really know anyone well in Toronto yet. Kinda makes me wonder if I really have any friends. Every time I go back, I just feel more and more like a stranger to the city - things change, buildings go down, buildings go up, shops and stores close, people leave, people come.

And then I realize, I've always thought I loved changes.... 2008, 2009, everything was changing in my life. I had gotten my designation, moved to a new city, gotten a new job, friends, relationship, and a place to call my own... but in fact, I think I don't really like so many drastic changes. I remember having thought, back then when I was finishing undergrad, how nice it would be if time just stopped and I stayed 22 forever - living with my parents, doing well at school, young, energetic, meeting up with friends from time to time, and getting every Friday off.

Then some dude above took my snow-globe and shook the hell out of it.

It really took a while for everything to start settling, (some for the better, and, well, like I said, social aspects still requiring some more time) - and I'm going into my irrational stasis stage again. I look at my life now, I got a nine-to-five job that's boring but pays the bill, fun coworkers, good boyfriend, my own condo, a sister that lives "near", a dog I can visit, my ps3, and quite frankly, I don't really want anything to change. I have been putting off looking for a new job even though this one probably leads to nowhere, and I've been secretly happy that no one in the work clique has left yet... knowing that it won't last. A little apprehensive for the year to come... why can't we have save points in life?

the original role playing game, ps3 initiation... she should talk about something else.

2010-03-24T22:17:00.007-04:00

Went to see a musical adaptation of A Journey to the West, called "Monkey King"...it's a very loose interpretation and story was somewhat lame, but it did remind me of the novel itself. Suddenly during the show, it occurred to me that it's basically an rpg story and the author's a nerd. Check this out, it has all the required basic elements of an rpg, precisely the following recipe:

- Some shit happens and world needs to be saved. (Usual chaos, monsters running wild)
- The legend says of a hero capable of doing so. That's our main guy (That wussy monk)
- The hero meets his companions along the way. (Monkey, Pig, and that dude with a beard)
- Hero even gets his ride (that white dragon horse!)
- Hero defeats monsters, and gets mega-magical item to save the woooorld. (The demons, the scroll at the end)

See?

///////////////////////////

So, invariably, this is what people say, in this exact order, when they learn you have a ps3.

- "oh cool"
- "what is your PSN name"
- "how many trophies do you have, let's compare"
- a short comment about their number of trophies (e.g. I have platinums / I have the most amongst my friends at 827 / most of my trophies are gold, numbers don't mean much / etc, etc.)

Notice that "what game you're playing" / "what games have you played" / "what games do you have" do not come into the conversation until later, in chitchat mode, as people aren't really that concerned about these topics as the top 4 comments above.

Smart move by Sony knowing their target demographic thrives on comparing "e-penises" from things such as TV screen size to post counts in forums, and providing exactly the tool to do so on Playstation...

////////////////////////

I feel fat.

God of omg kill should be a mystery character in Soul Calibur V

2010-03-23T00:19:00.014-04:00

Yes yes, I have seen that comic strip on Penny-Arcade as well... PA has been so good lately, I keep quoting it to the point I feel sorry copy-pasting it to start convos in every chat window (I don't know why I feel bad, it's not like I'm repeating it to the same person)...

So gaming mode is still on, although it died down a little bit.

I was thinking about starting a blog to review games but from a chick perspective. The idea seems great since I just googled "chick" and "game review" and all that turned up is this casualchickgamer reviewer that does the puzzle games and makeup games on the DS... nothing in the Action Adventure area. But then I realized that my online persona does not exactly translate into a chick.

I'm sure some 40 year old dude posing as a chick is stealing my idea as we speak :(

////

Tried out some Soul Calibur IV today, they changed the costumes a little bit but I started out with Taki of course, got a bit bored and switched it up for Xianghua and boy I'm willing to bet that she's from the Mainland... I was using her and thinking ok ok this is pretty fast and suddenly after I switched to Kilik I almost abandoned the "I only use female characters if possible" Policy, he is so much quicker and deals much more damage than his comrade. The moves are also easier - I don't think I'll ever be able to go more into depth than button mashing at fighting games, all that H/M/L punch kick etc is too much thought process. All I do is keeping pressing the trusty good old L2 button which is set to "special move" (read: cheap move). I think I'll unlock Talim which is the most bearable girl and have a few more hours of fun in this game, hopefully get to enjoy it before I start getting frustrated and throw my controller (why do they make these things wireless?! it has a real possibility of landing on my tv).

uuuugh long rolling credits

2010-03-22T02:29:00.003-04:00

So it's 2:30AM and I finished God of War 3 on time. I've got to say, I was pretty fed up at the end, lol.... the combat never ending, etc. Apparently I missed out on about 3 godly possessions... that kinda sucks.

----

Repoman - watched the movie today and absolutely loved where and how they put in the music. I want to download the soundtrack but it's not just the soundtrack, it's when and where they were placed in the movie. It pretty much translate my imagination of what songs should play when events are happening.

staying up late with no purpose / revelation, yo!

2010-03-20T02:42:00.003-04:00

So for some reason, we're Friday, the weather is absolutely beautiful, and here I am, tired and non-motivated and having the blues.

Things are just not really happening. Need some human interactions.

---------------------------------------------------------------

This just in... so I'm not that bad.... - double jump in GoW3 is an universal problem

---------------------------------------------------------------

Another DAY!

Just occurred to me, because I've got lots of time - I think the world needs a montage of Kratos vs. Wimmens, on a backdrop of 50 Cent - P.I.M.P.

Yes?

the extended period of absence

2010-03-17T23:27:00.003-04:00

Playng God of War 3 now and just finished the most annoying boss sequence ever... stupid Hermes.

Give me a 2D platform and I'll do all the fancy jumping and dangling you want, but I think I died at least 20 times on this boss, not because I needed to hit him (he's really just a quick wuss, killable by dinky arrows), because when Kratos got his wings he didn't learn how to FLAP it, and he's probably two times as heavy as the previous owner.

Stupid wings just glide... and fail.

Anyhow, they should have made Hermes at least respectable looking, why is it such an ugly little bastard with a really gay voice? He's supposed to be good looking and all, according to the mythologies. Helios, Zeus and Poseidon were all pretty spot on, I just thought Hermes should look nicer... instead he gave me the Elijah Wood in Sin City vibe.

Interesting enough, I'm now considering keeping this game instead of Final Fantasy 13 (shh fanboys, shhhh) which, after letting the hype cool down for 3 days, felt like a little bit of a let down. They should just stop trying to revolutionize the battles and cut scenes. What's with the rose petals, fireworks, and all... as for characters, we have an annoying dumbass that's also a pedophile, a whiny little wuss, a token black dude that is the merger of all black stereotypes (and also a wuss), an airhead, a dyke and the main character. What gives?!

There's a reason why we all loved the old ones - I hope they make another medieval themed FF with modern graphics, and make the men look like men again (and not like pedo-douchebags).

On this note... let me go rip off some more heeeads....

Unexpected usages

2010-03-13T14:05:00.003-05:00

Most people have two sets of computer routine - a precise order of applications they need to launch/sites they need to browse everyday, one for work, one for home.

My work routine is usually Outlook, Lotus Notes, then News.

My home one used to be Gmail, Facebook, Messenger and Hotmail. Recently, I've added e-Harmony in the quest to check my yellow-match count (which is still at zero, curiously enough). As I go through these people's profile, there is always the same things people like to say about themselves. "Things you are most thankful for", will always have Family/Friends/Health and or Education. People always notice people's smiles first. After a while, every Mike/Taylor/Steve/Edward all merge into one single stereotypical white dude in the 30s working in Finance that loves his friends and family, is not religious but spiritual, maybe wants kids one day and loves outdoor, exploring new parts of the city/world and eateries.

Except what they read.

While most of them quote Freakonomics and/or the Malcolm Caldwells as their latest enjoyment (yawn), and I had one dude saying he read auditing books for fun (seriously, he must be the nerdiest black dude ever), some people have other books that seem to be more interesting. I find myself skipping their profile and to their book choices now...

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins
Tell Me No Lies by John Pilger
Youth in Revolt by C.D.Payne
Etc, etc, etc.

Who would have thought that e-Harmony is an excellent way to find good books to read?!

Wassup March

2010-03-11T22:04:00.002-05:00

So far it's been quite a dreadful month - lots of things to do and nothing seems to get done. My birthday party is coming up and I am not that looking forward to it, for some reason. The prospect of having a whole month without statutory holidays, coupled with the worst project I've ever been assigned, and the fact that the bf is going to a business trip for 3 weeks, we have what seems to be a recipe for big bowl of bleh.

Anyhow, so I'm counting on Raphaël (my ps3) to entertain me for the rest of the month. I have FF13 until the end of the week before I return it to my friend, and so far the characters have been annoying... good looking, but extremely annoying. Their conversations actually make me miss the time where I can just quickly press X to skip over the reading. I'll update my character preference order later on when I'll have them all - it seems as though I'm missing that dykey looking girl.

I love the breeze that comes through my window... something about the sun hitting my face in the morning and the breeze that cools it down simultaneously. Also, there's always a kind of fresh breezy smell in the air when the room is nice and cool. Hard to describe, but it used to make me daydream all day long during summer time when I was younger.

So out of curiosity, I tried out the e-harmony questionnaire for free. They match your answers with that of other peoples - but to get any communications, you need to subscribe (read: pay up). So whatever, I just tried the questionnaire but didn't subscribe. There were more than a hundred questions about preference types, personality, desired traits in partners, etc. Bizarre thing happened about the background of the people I get matched with - majority white non hispanics, a couple of latinos, maybe 3-4 brown dudes and one african-american. No yellows. Totally weird. I thought it would have been the other way around. Maybe it's the thing asian men have towards calmer girls...?

Yummy yummy

2010-02-28T22:24:00.010-05:00

Had a chance to try out Kazu... Izakaya in Montreal... frigging stuffed my face even when I was full from a day of munching (a large pho, 1 and a half crepe filled with chocolate and icecream, 1 mango salad, 1 grapefruit salad, countless vietnamese shrimp chips -addictive as hell- some curry, etc.). Really pleasantly surprised... haven't had decent jap food in Montreal... and this is just in a league of its own now...

Decor - my dad built the wall! And chef Kazu made the lantern...

A huge lantern above the bar... made by the chef too... quite interesting

Stupid cousin... haha

Apps, some homemade pickles, refreshing, crunchy, full of flavour. Had some beer too, was good idea to have that (you'll know why later)...the chayote in the middle is marinated in miso, just the best tasting chayote I've known.

Some tuna for apps... fresh and yummy. Cut is the flank. Drool.

Some well cut sashimi with seasoned flavours to be different from the usually Montreal crappy sashimi-with-muscles. The secret flavour is in the cucumber.

Something good is coming up...

The noodles are made from scratch. Reeaaaaally tasty stuff. A layer of olive oil on top to keep the soup boiling hot... and the beer comes in handy now.... BBQ chicken made in a tajine... tender and full of flavah!

Mmmmm... will come back to try teriyaki burger and 48-hour pork....

Oh yeah forgot to take pictures of the soft milky ice cream at the end, was too eager to eat it....but here's a pic of the Li family gobbling up pre-opening style.

I have an aging body...

2010-02-23T21:53:00.004-05:00

I have a huge bruise that's as big as half of my left upper-arm. It's creepily purplish-gray and not very painful... I don't event know where it comes from - potentially the same snowboarding trip that nearly broke the same arm...

Instead, I just hurt it enough to have some hilarious effect. I can just barely hold my hand over my shoulder - it's like having your funny-bone hit ten thousand times over right now. I can't hold anything tightly without hurting. Usually, I fall smartly - by instinct, I fall forearms protecting the head, duck and roll. Somehow this time around I decided to reach my arm out to a world of ouch. Guess who's not gonna be scrubbing her back for a while.

I just went to the dentist today, first time in over 1 year and a half, and got scolded by the hygienist because when she asked "how often do you floss", I said... "maaaaybe once a month?". Poor girl said she couldn't get all the tartar buildups and will have to do that next trip... also the silver fillings I got back then when life was poorer, were crappy fillings that caused bacteria to be able to lodge and eat away my teeth. Looks like some minor repair and maintenance work will be required.

I feel saggy and faaaat. I'm going to work out. Tata.

she had some ramen again...

2010-02-19T00:44:00.003-05:00

Met up with a friend today and revisited Kenzo Ramen at Yonge and Dundas... Yummy "King of the Kings" ramen and takoyakis as a side because I was really hungry. It was so satisfying. Next time, I'm going back to try the breaded pork chop platter... and yes, the ramen I had ordered actually looks exactly like the picture. None of the Mcdonald's-hey-that-looks-good-on-the-pic-wtf-is-this-in-my-hand crap.

I bought some reed diffuser today, it smells like orange and sandalwood inside my apartment now. I love the smell of sandalwood... it's so soothing. It also reminds me of the cavernous temples my mom used to bring me. If you want to see groups of asian people all hush-hush and quiet, I don't think you can find it anywhere else. I used to look at the buddha statues and the carvings on the structures for the longest time because they are so intricate and colorful, while I was supposed to close my eyes and mumble prayers for good health, fortune and grades. And the sound of the wooden fish, going toc, toc, toc. Temples are so fun when you're a kid and don't have to worry about behaving.

Today's such an asian-day...
Tomorrow is a frenchie-day!

eventfulness, or lack thereof.

2010-02-18T00:26:00.004-05:00

It seems as though ever since last year, I have been really busy everyday... mostly afterwork and during weekends. Between classes, yoga, tv, chores, spending time with friends and family... I wonder how people can squeeze in so many workouts in a given week? They probably wake up much, much earlier than I do.

If I wake up early, I'll just make a bigger breakfast instead of working out. It doesn't work.

I still haven't gotten my shelves and bookcases. My books are just stacked against the wall, ghetto style. I still haven't bought my PS3 either... not to mention I haven't got around to catch up on the last 3 months of Full Metal Alchemist - it's only this week that I booked my dentist in more than a year, and found myself a family doctor, and I'm finally getting new glasses after The Tale of Drunken Flying Eyeglasses in November.

(The Tale of Drunken Flying Eyeglasses: Doremish was very uncoordinated, in a crowdy club and tried to point to a direction when enquired upon. Her index finger caught the side of her glasses and flicked all 500$ of it into the sea of furiously stomping dancing torontonian gorillas, never to be found again. Ze End.)

So why is it that the crappiest looking pieces of paper I find in my purse/ pocket, are always the most important ones? Like my eyeglasses prescription, the little paper where I jolted down the contact and appointment with my newfound doctor, the receipt for that piece of clothing that is a bit too expensive and too tight, the other receipt whose back was used to right down a couple of important contact infos of peeps in Taiwan...

I've been saying for the longest time that I need to digitalize my contact list, but... yes, again, I just never got around to do it! And it's not like I'm having stories to tell every night, or anything. Time just fliiiies.

Priority for me now though, is to get around to plan my vacation.

WEST COAST OR EUROPE?!

Purtty purtty

2010-02-14T00:04:00.001-05:00

The prettiest bouquet I've ever received :)

No glutinous new year dumplings for mish this year :/

february is a short month supposedly

2010-02-13T00:35:00.003-05:00

I am le tired of Winter...

I have not been writing the blog lately because for some reason, I have been looking for something interesting to say on my blog... but really I should just keep writing whatever goes on in my life, the chronicle helps me figuring out my timeline and what have I been doing with my life.

Anyhow the house in montreal got broken into yesterday - I don't know if I should be sad or happy for the fact that the thieves couldn't find anything to steal. They even left the papercrane that my uncle made out of a $20 bill... and my big piggybank is also left alone. They must have been pissed going through our stuff, especially my parents' closet, thinking what kind of poor ass people live in this place.

To quote my dad:"Hey I've been looking for these belts!"

Watched Step Up 2 today. In terms of acting and storyline, honestly, one of the worst movies I've ever burned my retina with... I mean I wasn't expecting much already, but damn, I just can't tolerate storylines that don't make any sense, some really bad acting and bad dialogs. Why would a director of a dance school abandon his most important fundraiser to see some expelled students dance in the streets? Why the hell would a crew be "like a family" and not let one of their members go to school? Why would the techie-dancer be outcast enough to go into the new crew? It's got so many clichés and coincidences just to get the story going... the big talks, the speeches, the weather...just a horrible mix in general.

But not everything is all that negative... the dances were absolutely amazing, the lead actress is cute enough, and my two favorite things about the movie is the latino family party and Moose... :)

It's a busy weekend ahead, with the Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Family Day all 3-in-one. It will be hard to go back to work on Tuesday...