No one at work

Thats not true, there are some people at work, but a lot of the people are gone. So, it is a little boring and sucky when you have a question and just about no one knows the answers or people who might know are out.

Other than that, work is pretty slack, which is not to say that I don't have work. Far from it. It just means no meetings, just do your own work, people coming in late, going out for lunches, leaving early. And going out for lunch is important, they closed off like more than half the kitchen, no choices.

I hope my packages I sent have been received. I've been tracking it way too much. :)
I gotta start packing soon. It'll be nice to be outta here and be someplace warmer.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

Christmas is here

I just set up the christmas tree today. It doesn't take long at all. All the ornaments and the lights were up on the tree in 15 mins. Not bad I must say.
I think about buying new christmas tree ornaments every year but they are quite expensive.

Haven't started wrapping any presents. Nothing to wrap really, but I should start packing. Oooh, I sent out my christmas cards and spent a ton on stamps. Who would have thought that the cost of stamps would be just as much as the cards themselves. :)

Christmas time, its the time of potluck. Its a time for parties. Have fun everyone!!

Long time

No see.

Its been so long since I have been here to check blogs or to write something. I have been insanely busy and even when I am not working, there's just been so much stuff going on.

First, it was organizing a friend's b-day. I think it went pretty well. Didn't get to surprise him of course, since people talked, which I knew was bound to happen. I hope he liked the gift. The dinner place was kinda far. It took me forever to drive there and its not a fun drive, when its dark and cold and rainy. I liked the place a bit, except, its a little far for me to get there.

There were friends in town, I met up with people I haven't seen in a while, went shopping, ate and ate. :)
Its good to be not working late nights.

Has everyone done their christmas shopping? The malls are insanely packed with people, especially when you go on wkends. Everyone drive safe and shop safe. I need to start wrapping some presents.

Days merge together

Thats what happens when you work days and days and wkends too. I was so sure today was Wednesday. Not that I want my days to go quickly because I still have things to wrap up and I really need the extra time. At the same time, I want to be not as stressful. If you wonder how I have time to write this blog, its because I write snippets of it, between the time my code is compiling.

Christmas is right around the corner and if you go out shopping to malls or downtown, you will see and feel it. Other than that, its the same. If you're in university and you live on/near campus or if you're at work, you don't get a sense of christmas spirit unless you go out.
But there are tons of things happening, potlucks, dessert parties, holiday parties. :)

Merry Christmas shopping to all and don't get too stressed out by the huge number of people who are running around in shopping malls. :)

Workaholic

What happens when all you do in a day is just work? You become a workaholic. I am a workaholic right now, but hopefully not for long. Does that mean I am a true workaholic?

I went to get some flowers today. Quite a bit of hassle, I must say. There were these bunch of tulips, not a lot of variety, but they came in a bunch of 5 and I wanted a bunch of 6. Those flower people told me I had to buy 2 bunches and put them together myself then. So, I browse around some more and see these cala lilies. Very pretty, not in full blossom yet (this is good, because I want them to bloom when I put them in water). I ask if they can put together 6 for me. "Sure, we just haven't taken them out and prepped them yet, so give us an hour or two, come back and maybe we'll be ready to put them together for you". Now, I wanted the cala lilies but I don't want to wait, so I go to another store, no cala lilies, but the girl was nice, she tells me to go to this other florist, close to their shop. It was closed. So I am back at the nice girl, asking her if she can put together something else for me. I pick out some tulips, a bunch of 10, she picks out 6 and wraps them in coloured paper tissue for me and charges me for only 6 instead of the whole 10 of them. :)
I'm pretty happy with my tulips, but just the whole me running around wasn't so fun.

Btw, Illuminations candles are awesome!

Girls Nite

I like having a girl's nite. I went over to a friend's place last night because a high school + univ friend was in town. There were 4 other girls there and 2 of them cook really well. So, they just prepared a meal for 6 ppl and we just sat and ate and chat. It was fun. Oh yea, the 6th person was a dude. Friend's bf and yes, its a girl's nite but we needed him to help move some stuff, since my friend was moving. And who better to help you move other than your bf. :p

The food was really good and I think its such a good idea to have someone cook, while the others help and all eat together. Feels very wholesome and homey. :)

After, I was just listening to chatter. Sometimes, its fun to just sit back and listen. There's always so much to learn, not that I pick up things all the time or do what I believe in. Its tough sometimes.

Working late nights all week this week. Am pretty sure, I will have to work both days this wkend too, in order to get my work ready for next week's deadline. Yay, me!

Dolphins are dying

We always hear about protecting the environment, saving endangered species and while I could debate some points on that, this article about dolphins washing up the shores is mysteriously scary. Well, maybe scary is not the right term, but its just odd. I would really like to know whats going on and how they ended up there. I like dolphins, I don't want them to die.

Tired now, even though I didn't work that long today. I think its the jet lag and the lack of sleep thats giving me a bit of a headache. Oh well, I need to merge some stuff and get something out to my co-workers today.

Back!

It went by so fast, my vacation. I miss the warm weather. It was good while it lasted, but now, back to work, for another month before I take off again.
I am going to be bummed from working late nites and taking off again soon. But I am definitely looking forward to it.

One thing I learnt from travelling, which I should have known by now, is, pack light when you go somewhere. Bring abundance of underwear, but don't worry about t-shirts + pants as much. You always end up shopping + have lots of souvenirs + some gifts to bring back, so make sure I have lots of room to bring things back. :p
Also, carry an extra empty backpack, easier to walk around instead of carrying so much stuff, when touring + more space for bringing back stuff.

Highlights of my trip
- snorkeling, awesome awesome, to be swimming with fishes
- sun + sand + water
- attempts to ride the wave
- food
- pineapple
- tanks + shorts + air-con
- limos + convertible (taking a limo to airport was cheaper than a taxi)
- massage
- lots of fun pics of course.

Happy B-day, Sly!!

alright, no more slacking. work work.

No work

I am supposed to be working this wkend, a lot!
Reasons:
1. I am behind on schedule, so need to catch up on work.
2. Going on vacation, so need to make up for lost time
3. In bug hell

Friday nite: went for dinner, shot some hoops (i'm getting old, getting tired so easily), watches some movies with bunch of co-workers and before you know it, its so late already.
Btw, when we went for dinner and came out from restaurant, I swear, the temperature dropped like 5 deg C. So cold.

Saturday: woke up late, got a free movie ticket so watch "National Treasure". It was entertaining and pretty good. :)
Then had a house party at a friend's co-worker's place. Huge huge house, more than 4000 sq feet and I got some Thai spices + recipes. hee hee

Now: back home, fixing some compile errors. yes i know its late sat nite. :p

New Cdn Bill

Canada has a new $50 currency. I want to see what it looks like. Wonder if its going to be difficult to get. Should be ok, if I go to some Canadian bank.

On a different note, my sty is better, my weight gain is not. Last time I went to the gym and weighed myself, oh my gosh!! F-A-T!

chum, chum, let me know where you are going to be christmas time. Haven't seen you in ages!! :)

Sty

I got sty in my eye. Left eye. Been checking out too much "ham sap" stuff.
Went to check with the doctor today. Haven't been to a doctor in a long long while. Somehow I always get recommended to a chinese doctor. I don't think I've been to many non-chinese family doctors in Canada or US.

So stuffed again. I eat too much and get stuffed like a pig. No wonder I am gaining weight like crazy. Why do I like food so much? Cos its yummy. :p

Steamed juicy little buns

Went to chinese restaurant this wkend for a friend's b-day for lunch. Different kind of lunch. I had hot soy milk, never had that before, it was pretty good. We ordered a bunch of "siu lung pow" - steamed juicy little buns. So yummy. Its funny how the transalation turned out so different from the real chinese name, but it was pretty appropriate.

So many b-days this wkend. Friday was another friend's b-day and I went out even though I didn't know him too well. Funny to watch a bunch of them drunk. I think the night scene is getting pretty boring here. I want to go somewhere new.

I was pretty moody this wkend, for no good reason too. :p

Oh, I went to watch a magic show this sat. Very good, very very impressive. Some of the tricks were ok. You wonder if there were sensors there or wonder if they folded some things someway. Overall, it was really entertaining and the disappearing tricks never fail to amaze me. And the magician cracked a lot of jokes. Some of them were pretty mean, but hilarious, nevertheless.

I got myself some suitcases this sunday. Need them for my travelling trips soon. :)
I wonder if I got ripped off. haha.. I hope not.

So much going on this wkend. I was supposed to work and I did do some work, but not much at all. This is bad bad bad. Instead, I went swimming, play squash, go out eat, watch this/that, become fat. hehe
I gained 2 more lbs. :(
I think that summarizes my wkend.

Soo much stuff

How big is the web? This was a question that came up when I was reading an article on search engines. I think the only safe thing we can say is that its constantly growing. There's just so much information out there and so many different point of views on things.

Btw, Scott Peterson found guilty by the jury, for anyone thats been keeping track of the case.

Gunk!

Its like my word of the week or something. I keep saying "Gunk!" or "All these gunk!"
Anyways, I went to watch "Return to the Forbidden Planet" today. Its a musical thats not really well known in the US. It wasn't as good as expected. Maybe I had un-realistically high expectations of it, since I watched "Guys and Dolls" last year and it was pretty awesome. The cast wasn't as good and there was just too much singing.
Btw, this is not done by pros. The cast/director all have other full time jobs and they are doing this out of hobby/interest. So, the amount of work they put into it is pretty impressive.

Tried out my pork chop recipe the other day. I thought it might get too tough, with too much cooking. I can't usually tell, but the recipe said cooking it for 8-12 mins and it seemed pretty cooked after 8, so I took it off. Turned out pretty good. Honey pork chop. :p

Most of you might not know about the trouble in J&K in India. But Pakistan and India have been fighting for the longest time and the area most affected is J&K. But good news! Indian PM is going to reduce the troops in that area. It reminded me of a movie I was watching the other day, called "Main Hoon Na", which was about Indian making a first move to start peace talks. It was a pretty good movie. :)

Picture Up!

This is me!

That was to replace the last one. I think I look much much better on this pic. :p

Crazy Gamers

Its funny to see how Halo 2 has got the gamers so excited. Maybe its because I don't play the game. Either ways, its insane.

*yawn*. I was such a lazy butt today. Alarm went off, snoozed it twice, then promptly shut it after and went right back to sleep. :p
Good to sleep. Becoming a bad habit though that I am picking up from a boy.

Haha... I was talking to a friend about an interesting topic today. Rolls, and no its not a food roll. Its rolls of fat that you see on your body. An example would be the tummy roll. This came up, because if you noticed, I'm getting fat and the rolls are coming. Hehe...

Oh, passed by a tub of chocolate covered pretzels and popcorns today at work. I refrain from it yesterday (hehe.. mostly because I didn't notice it), but today, I dipped my hand into it. Took a couple of popcorns. Pretty yum..

My pants are tightening. :(

Tired..

I'm pretty tired these days, I dunno why. Fell asleep so easily the last couple of days. Its pretty good to fall asleep instantaneously, but I also feel tired during the day, which is not so good. Found a recipe for honey pork chop today. I wonder how its going to turn out, marinated for overnight. Also, got a canned curry mix. :)

mota, moti
oh, so cutey
eating lots
getting fats

Thats a dumb poem for me. Why? You guessed it, I'm becoming fat.

Incredible

Went to watch The Incredibles today. It was good. Not as cute as Nemo, but definitely hilarious. Very very creative.
Today, I witnessed a fire alarm at a movie theater. I wasn't watching movie int that theater, just went in to get tickets, but theater was closed. They ushered everyone out, to stand in the cold for a bit. There was a lot of people, esp since it was saturday evening. If it was a prank, horrible prank. Good thing was, people were guaranteed the movies will continue in a bit and they would get a free ticket for another time.

I cooked today, after a long long time of no cooking. The most I cook these days is to bake a pizza, make instant noodles or bake chicken wings or tenders. It was good to eat some manchurian chicken and home cooked veggies. I should cook more, it helps me relieve stress. I made sago today. Been wanting to make it in a while. hehe..

Removed

I am just testing this out. :)
Where do you store your pictures on blogger? Right now, I am using Hello to upload this picture. I look at the HTML and it says the image is store in some photos.blogger.com
I guess I should investigate further.
Btw, this pic is not new.

Note: pic removed. :)

Airlines going bankrupt

I keep hearing about airlines going bankrupt. Most of them quoted rising fuel prices as the main reason. While I understand the short supply with the heavy demand of fuel pushing the prices up, there is a reason why more fuel are needed. Obesity. Haha, bet you didn't think associate airplane bankruptcy with obesity. Its a faint link but a link nevertheless.
Talking about obesity, I am getting fat, SO fat. I need to start slimming down so I can look ok in my bikini, in 3 weeks. :p
So tough, I am a junk food addict and have a super sweet tooth. I eat snacks like crazy, oily, greasy snacks. yum yum.. Anyways, this morning, I had a craving for snacks/candy. So when I went out during lunch, I was gonna get myself a bag of gummies + some chips. But I passed by the bikini section before I hit the candy section. It made me turn around, no candy, no chips. Pretty proud I didn't grab them. Lets see how long I can hold off.
I had a cup of tea early this morning. I used to drink a cup everyday, haven't done so in a while, so when I had a cup this morning, I was so jittery. I didn't even finish my tea, maybe I should drink it up now. I don't know how people can drink so much coffee everyday. I guess you get used to it. :)

House-warming

Whats a good house-warming gift? Should it depend on the person who's throwing the house-warming, ie, house owners? I guess in a way it should since it depends on what the person has/owns and what he/she needs. I always thought kitchen appliances would be a good idea and/or some cool display sets which can be used as well, like a fancy bowl set for parties, some decor around the house.
Of course, chinese parents tend to think differently. Get things that are useful and can be used, which does not include decor stuff. hehe... maybe they are right. How do you know what their tastes are, unless you know them pretty well?
2 house-warming coming up. Well, one I cannot make, the other... dunno if its really happening.
I need to get my own place.
Chums, if you are reading this, get well sooon. Take care in Jpn. :)

Oh I have to post this article up, its sooo funny. Be sure to check out the video, you can't really hear anything, but its worth the watch. :p

As per request

I am going to put down more personal stuff. This one is for you, Tey!
I like colouring. I am becoming a kid. I don't think I liked colouring much as a kid. I remember not having the patience to sit down and make sure I didn't colour outside of lines. I used colour pencils and some areas became too dark, while other areas were too light and I was displeased with my uneven colouring. I didn't like crayons because they felt greasy. I don't remember why I didn't do water painting much.
But now, I like colouring. I don't know if I have the patience to sit and colour properly, but at least the interest is there. :p
Maybe I can use colouring to train my patience and try to extend it. haha...

I am becoming so lazy or so americanized. I had to correct myself each time I typed in colour, because I kept writing colour without a 'u'. Seems like my fingers are getting themselves trained to type "color". :)

One of my friends made a comment that I am writing my emails in codes. haha... its so bad. My work is spilling over and taking over my life. Its funny though. I like using codes, because its more short and to the point. :p

Pain

Or the lack of it, is bad.
Take this little girl, who doesn't know what pain is. While most of us at first would think it is a good thing, on further reflection, the consequences are pretty bad. If you read some of the things the girl does and how she doesn't understand its pain in scary.

Canada is coming out with the first coloured coin. It has a poppy in the middle to pay homage to Canadians who died in service for the country. I wonder how the coin is going to look like. Its a quarter. Is the toonie not considered coloured? Its only available at Timmy's, so grab them hot off the plate. :p

More weight problems

It may seem like I am obsessed with weight problems and in a way, I am. Very concerned about overweight issues. Research shows that obese women labour longer. Maybe its because I see the concern bring brought up everyday, but its very in my face. What worries me most is not just the adults who are overweight now, but more importantly, the kids who are overweight as kids and growing up to be obese. I used to believe in eating what you want and enjoying life. I can't say I am a strong believer of that anymore. Sure, you can eat and enjoy but its important to know your limits, be healthy.

Weight aside, did anyone check out the news/details from the Cassini about Titan (Saturn's moon). Its sooo exciting and I want to know what they find. But I like conclusions or something I can lay my eyes on. I don't know how to explain it. I think I'd be more satisfied if better pictures came out, more data were collected and scientists could say with more certainty about whats there. I don't like wishy-washy. Take for example, Mt St Helens. Brooding for so long, having everyone eyeing it, thinking its going to erupt anyday and what happened? Blew out some smoke and went back to sleep. Hehe... I know volcanoes are not good, causes a lot of destruction, but I think its cool, as long as I am not affected, of course.

Cambodia has a new king!! I think Cambodia would be a cool place to visit. Maybe I'm being naive and don't know much about how life is there, how safe it is, but nevertheless. I feel I want to visit these South-East Asian countries that are not as advanced, to see the lifestyle of people. Is it early mornings, is it more laid back, etc.
:)

Mice on anti-depressants

Testing antidepressants on mice is done for research purposes. Its scary that they grow up tp be more depressed and anxiety prone. If the same results can be applied to how anti-depressants will affect humans, thats horrible. Instead of making you less depressed, it will make you more depressed in the long term??

New type of schools. Its a funny article about people learning. haha and i like one of the quotes made about women being machines. sooo funny. hehe.

Scary dates

Check out this article on scary dates, stories from the girls. Its pretty funny. I don't doubt some scary stories from a guys point of view would be funny too.

Cute Egg Song

http://www.iloveegg.com/winopen_ani/eggsong.htm
Its cute. ^_^

Hobbits existed? Read for yourself. Its a wonder how much has been discovered via bones and fossils of thousands of years ago. How did humans evolve? How are the different types of homo different? Did they evolve different? From different monkeys? Never fails to amaze me.

A taller but overweight America. Eat less people, me included. I've gained so much weight since I moved to Canada, US. I have to get off my butt and do more exercises, burn some calories.
Its a big concern for me, this obesity going around. Its going to be a big killing factor soon, though I am not certain it will ever overtake tobacco. But think of all the health problems related to obesity. Diabetes, heart problems, etc. Think of the future generation. Do we want to be know as the world of rolly-pollies?

Skydiving is bad

It can kill you. I was never one for skydiving. Sure, there's the thrill, but I don't understand the concept of putting your life at risk for it. All for what? One fall? :p

I don't know whats wrong with me. I am so mean today. Maybe it'll pass or maybe I'm just mean.

Crime rates

The most violent crimes have decreased in the US. Thats a relief, but did you check out the statistics? There are a lot of hate crimes, 32% of females were killed by husbands/bfs and there's child + elderly assault.

On a lighter note, check out how drunken bees behave. "Some of the bees became so drunk they ended up flat on their backs." - thats hilarious. Not, that I think bees had a well thought out path, they are always buzzing around, moving a little sideways, front and back. Apparently, there's been more than 1 article published on bears drinking beer. Seems like alcohol is getting popular with the animals as well. The bears even had some brand they prefer. :)

Expensive Restaurants

The Most Expensive Restaurants in US just shows how ridiculous somethings are. Be sure to check out the slideshow that come with pictures of some of the most expensive restaurants.
I know someone would have told me "Can you even digest this food, thats worth so much?"

Go to Forbes if you can't find the slides.

I do admit that I like poshy places too, but sometimes the prices are just too insane. I don't think I can justify a $150 meal on myself, not yet anyways. I better be super duper hungry and that meal had better be good. Talking about food, I'm hungry.

Too tall? Take some drugs

This is the first time I have heard about taking synthetic hormones to prevent girls from growing too tall. Of course, as it turns out, there are short term effects such as weight gain and menstrual problems. Its only recently, that a long term effect is starting to be recognized.
Growing pains over hormones will give you more details about the long term effects.

I guess it could be a pain and really awkward esp when you're a teen to be towering everyone else. Would reducing their growth hormone have helped?

Is it genetics? If so, then if you're a really tall person, then even though it makes sense for you to be with another tall person, maybe it is better to be with a shorter person, for your children's sake. Haha... on the other hand, this will look a little funny and there is no proof this works. Just a thought.

Words of the day:
mochiron - of course
zenzen - absolutely (must be used negatively)

:)

More OJ?

I hate getting a cold. The nose gets all dry from blowing, you wake up in the middle of the night because your nose is blocked and you feel lethargic all the time. I thought I had a pretty good immune system. I was not prone to falling sick, until lately. I think one of my medication is affecting my immune system, or maybe I'm just thinking too much. :p

People say Vitamin C is supposed to help prevent the cold/flu. I never chew Vit C tablets and I haven't been drinking much OJ lately. Does OJ really help? I avoided OJ, mainly because OJ tends to be cold (from being in the fridge) and I had a sore throat before I caught the cold. You should see me in my office, all bundled up under my fleece blanket. Its quite a sight.

Taj Mahal is tilting?

Check out this article.
I've never been to the Taj Mahal, but I've always wanted to and still want to someday. Is the Taj going to be like the leaning tower of Pisa? I hope not.
You should check out some of the photos from the link. Its one of the forgotten wonders of the world.

I've heard the beautiful marble is a little washed out and yellowish now due to acid rain. And over the 350 years its been standing, its been plundered and the jewels from the walls stolen. Its kind of sad.

There's a movie coming out on the Taj Mahal end of this year. I'll probably check it out.