So busy

oiii... so busy lah~~~~~~~~~~

on the other hand, facebook has allowed me to "blog" bits by bits, that is why I seldom come back here to do a serious blog. hehehe...

We are going away during christmas time, to San Francisco! Yay~~~ hope everything is smooth lah. Will update soon.

公主嫁到

I have recently been watching this HK drama series 公主嫁到. So funny I tell you!!!! The jokes they tell inside the story is so funny~~~~~ Just one thing i cannot tahan, is they clap hands and make slogan. Whenever they do that, my hair on my hand will stand up. Really beh tahan.

It's has now just 大结局, finale~~~ Sob... I will miss this drama~

Speaking of HK drama, there's another one also very funny, it is just 20 minutes an episode, it's called 天天天晴. Damn funny too:) I am now on Episode 77, I heard total was 150 something... Hehehe...

So, besides sleep, yoga, cook, clean house, play iphone, another one of my favorite hobby here is watch HK series drama. ;)

September month 2010

I didn't blog much in September, because I have so much things going on at the same time.

First, I am all pumped up to go yoga at least 3-4 times a week. It started out fine. Then one day, on the way walking home passing through the stores in the mall, I saw a tea store, hiring a sales for 1 month. Why 1 month? because they are moving the store out of the mall to another location at the end of September. I like to drink tea very much, learnt from Jay. Jay likes to drink long jing, tie guan yin, jasmine tea, pu erh a lot in China. I actually can differentiate the types of tea by just smelling the tea nowadays. So, I came home from yoga class, took a shower, sat down and printed out my resume, and I grabbed Jay to go with me to the mall to apply the job. Inside the mall, I made Jay to go into the store to have a look, see if it is a "good" store, what kind of stuff they sell, etc. Jay came back and told me, "they sell ok stuff, not bad. Go do it babe.". So I went. The store manager is a Korean guy. He interviewed me at a cafe shop nearby, some more belanja me an orange juice tim, hehe... anyway, the point is, I got the job! I was so happy. The store is not a bad store, it sells 210 types of tea, from black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, Roibos tea, to herbal tea, and fruit tea. And as a worker there, if the shop is not busy, we will brew tea and drink. I have tasted so many kinds of tea in the store in the past few weeks, and I have to say, I still like green tea and fruit tea the best. I really don't like black tea and roibos. And I have learnt lots of tea knowledge in the past few weeks, thanks to my 2 canadian colleagues, and my korean boss. They are so brilliant in tea knowledge. One guy, his name is Jer, (he looks like a Santa Clause to me, seriously), he can talk and talk and talk about tea for long time. He can be a good lecturer.

The tea shop closed up already few days ago. It's kind of sad. It made me also realized that retail job is very tiring, and the time is very inflexible. I am so glad this is just a one month assignment. They are moving to another place, my boss wanted me to move too, but I told him is too far. Actually, it is not far by subway, but I just don't feel like doing this anymore. And, opportunity arise, my friend's friend know a friend's company hiring in downtown, I went to apply, and I got the job! Monday is my first day of work:) It's a property development company. I will be doing something different from my professional, but it is a start. Who ask me want to migrate to a city where jobs are so scarce leh? See what do what first loh~~~ I always believe in fate. So, let's see how it goes.

Speaking of the tea shop sales, because of the sales and extra discount for staff, I ended up spent more than 10% of my pay to buy the tea pot, cups, and tea from the store! aiyoyo... memang rugi lah~~~  sob!

Update soon, and, wish me luck on my new job!!:)

p/s: at the end, i only did 9 yoga classes for the whole mth of Sept. Yeeeeee..... mission failed again! I planned to do at least 10 times!

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day of Canada, and U.S.

So different from Asia's labor day date.

dim gai leh?

It's a "No Tax Day" in Superstore. I bought the iPhone car charger. Now, if we are on the road, we no longer fear that my iphone is out of battery (especially when we are depending on it's GPS service). Yay. Saved 3 bucks oh. hohoho... If hari hari is No Tax Day, isn't that fantastic?

Also bought a bag of candle, it says "each can last about 8 hours"... I will try tonight. I discovered by accident that a brand I bought from carrefour in Shanghai can last about 5 hours, that's the longest I have seen in market. 8 hours? I first time hear only... duk ng duk gah?

Every where is on sale for Labor Day. I think after tomorrow, the kids will be back to school. Yay... everything will be back to normal, no more stupid college kids lingering in mall at day time (they look very 颓废). I also bought another pair of sun-glasses from GAP yesterday at downtown. I get 20% off if I signed up for their membership wor, so why not? Plus, they have this cool service, if the item you bought is having another sale within 15 days of your purchase, you will automatically get the difference credited back to your account. This kind of service, I 1st time hear. So considerate. I like it.

Love Hate Relationship

I am bored. I am going to apply for the volunteer job from canadian red cross. They asked me to do criminal record check because the volunteer job will include contacting the children who are in disadvantage or vulnerable.

I discussed with my fren Hosea. He said criminal record check need $$$ one... and not cheap. I said, "wah.... I free labor also kena pay meh?? I dun believe. And if they want me pay, i no do volunteer liao."

Hosea asked me call the RCMP directly... i very very very very scared... immediately in my mind I picture those mata we have back home... the impatient face, the "bagi kopi duit" face, the "don't ka-ka cau-cau" face. I very hesitate to call. But, I don't want to go all the way there to find out one simple answer "if i do volunteer job and they want me provide criminal record check, do i have to pay or not?"

I called... the automated machine put me on hold for a while, which made me more nervous -- "means they are busy leh... and they will answer this phone and realize it is a small matter like this and waste thier time, will they get mad??? oh dear... should I hang up?"

Just when I was tempted to hang up, a lady officer answered the phone. I told her my question, she answered very professionally (not rushing me to hang up) and explain very detail. Apparently if I am doing this for non-profit organization and if they gave me a letter, I won't have to pay. And she even advised me what to bring to do that. Wow... I am so motivated after the phone call. I love Canada! hehehe...

Even with this criminal record check done, it does not guarantee me a volunteer job. You see... this country is so lurn si... no job, even if it is a volunteer job, you need to be on wait list loh.

Love Hate Canada.

Save some trees, would you?

I signed up for a month unlimited passes to Yoga. It is a community recreational center, very very very near my house... so, why not?:p

Anyway, there's an incident happened today and yesterday (at bank), that makes me 感慨万分.

Yesterday, at bank, we are opening a new account, something like FD in Malaysia. So, the financial planner asked me, "do you want us to mail you the monthly statement? Or do you like to go paperless and view it online?". I have had terrible experience with HSBC on e-statement, I damn scared. I told her I want the monthly statement mailed and also i want to be able to view online. She a bit boh song wor... she said, "ok.. just thought will give you an option to save some trees... hehehe." I totally don't think it is funny loh. I want to tell her my bad experience with HSBC... but I refrained. I want both options still, i told her.

Today, at that recreational center, I changed something on my pass. So the guy at reception helped me changed in the system, and then asked me if I want to print out the statement (after he made the changes). I said, "yes, why not?" Then he pushed his computer screen to me and show me the changes were done, implicating there's no need to print it out lah. He said, "so.. do you still need the print out?". I felt pressured. I said, "fine, no need then." Then he like very happy, and he said, "great, we saved a tree!"

I have no problem in saving trees. But the "saving trees" and "HSBC bad experience" kept haunting me. They are like twins, whenever people said "save a tree", I will think of the bad HSBC. eeeeeeeeee....

I need to do more yoga to calm myself. huhuhuhuhu~~~

Okanagan Trip (Aug 13-16)

Some Pictures of what we took in the okanagan trip. A trip full of wine drinking/tasting/buying/vineyard photo taking, beach photo taking, our friends skinny deep diving (with clothes on though), staring at milky star sky at night, staring at RV and making the sound "ooooh... what a cool life style", etc etc.This is Suki, it is the first time she met Jay but it seems that she is very manja-ing Jay. Look at her.... so manja! She belongs to the vineyard called Forbidden Fruit.At a cross road...At a beach. No, it is at ONE of the beach, we visited so many beaches this trip, but Jay and I didn't go swim, we didn't bring swim suit!!First time see real grape in whole vine yardMore grapes...3 Men fantasazing at this "Dirty Laundry" vineyard. Can you see there are 13 women in this poster? This vineyard is called "Dirty Laundry", it has a story... hehehe... dirty story?:p Don't tell you.Hans caught a glimpse at this little bug and he picked it up, got bitten, but he said it is fine. While he was doing all these, we 3 asian went to shop for grocery, and bought sweet corns!! Damn nice sweet corn, better than those we have in Cameron Highland.Cool RV Van eh? They will be stationed here during the summer and when winter come, they will move down to Arizona. Even though this is not exactly a house, they still have to pay for property tax. How brilliant is canadian government?

It's the first short trip we have in Canada. We stayed in different motel for all the 3 nights, the motel is exactly what I imagined (and i get the imagination from watching movie) and I kept thinking the police will come knock on the door and said "POLICE! come out with hands up!!", only people on the run will stay in motel in the movie ger mah, right?:p We each day spend like 3-4 hours driving on the road, it is a great experience. end up the motel is the biggest chunk of the expenses, the petrol is really cheap. 4 days 3 nights tour we only spent like $98 in total. And really appreciate our fren Hosea for contributing his car. hehehe...:) And we have had great fun - peach picking and tumbled into graveyard next to it (eeeeeeerie), and ended up picking at the wrong spot and got the small peach instead of the big ones, we are so blur! - driving at night and suddenly i saw so many stars in the sky, i was so excited! And Hans suddenly pull over the car, we thought he wants to go "sing song" (shuuu shuuu), no, he purposely pull over the car to let us enjoy the milky star! hohohoho... At that moment, I really thought we are the only creature on earth, the feeling is very 原始, dunno how to describe.

Taste Bud changed

I still remember when we first moved to Shanghai, we thought the food there sucks. It was too oily, too salty, and too sweet. But then slowly, we found restaurants that we love the food there. And then suddenly one year, when I went back to Malaysia, I excitedly go visit those my favorite stalls for chaw kueh teow, laksa, dim sum, and I ended up feeling very disappointed --- they no longer taste good. The cook has changed?

No, it was our taste bud has changed. It has been accustomed to Shanghainese/Chinese style and it strayed away from our Malaysian style slowly.

I think the same thing is happening to me again. Yesterday, Hosea brought us to this Malaysian restaurant. He said the laksa is damn nice. I was so excited. Went there, put the first spoon of soup inside my mouth, and I was totally disappointed again - Not nice one!!! But then Hosea finished his whole bowl of soup.

Jay and I tried out this Sichuan restaurant 2 days ago and we ordered the spicy froggie. I have never tasted such undelicious froggie... :( Obviously the froggie is not fresh and it was from frozen food. We were both disappointed.

Jay and I haven't really found any good restaurant that we both think it has good food. So far, whenever we go try out new restaurant with excitement, it always end up with disappointment. Sometimes I will murmur to Jay, "I cook also taste better than them... yew..." =(

Maybe it takes time?? So far, I really think I cook better than any food we tasted outside. This feeling is no fun. I am very 泄气. By the way, I am not a fantastic cook. I am just a normal cook, so, those cook outside can easily surpass my level, but no, the food tasted not nice one!

Help~~~~~~~~~~

p/s: The only thing that does not fail me yet is the Japanese restaurant here. Japanese food here tastes so much fresher and so much better than those in Shanghai. Of course lah, the salmon fish is from here leh..

My plant

Remember I had a plant 2 months ago (2 chives, 1 chilli)?

After I returned from Shanghai in August, they already not quite happy, especially the chives. But surprisingly the chilli is ready to harvest. I had harvested 2 chilli and cooked it with meal, it is very spicy! and nice:)

Lately, the plant have another 2 chilli, but they are half-blackened, not sure what happened. But this morning, I saw another baby chilli coming out. Hohohohoh...

I decided to gave up on the chives. It's too messy lah... 东歪西倒. Not pretty at all.

Jay said this is my another "3-minute passion" example... arrghhhh...

Refund Policy over here...

As you all know, America and North America have excellent refund policy. This is very good to consumers like me, who always change mind after buy the things. I always change my mind about stuff and if it happens in Shanghai, I can only continue using the stuff I suddenly don't like, or I throw it away. But here, if I don't like what I purchased, I can always return them and get refund.

I bought electronic hand held mixer, mixing bowl, and angel cake pan 2 days ago. Today, I refunded the mixing bowl and angel cake pan. But I am a bit bad person today, I actually used them and realized I don't like them, and I repackaged them nicely and have them returned. The mixing bowl, I decided I wanted the stainless steel type instead of the hard plastic type. And the angel cake pan, I returning them because I failed to make good angel cake, I threw away the angel cake I baked 2 days ago, it is that bad. So I cleaned up the pan nicely and sticked back the sticker onto them and refund them... and I have prepared so many lines in my head of the questions they might ask. Worst come to worst, I will become a mou lai, tell them "I don't care, I have the right to return the stuff I bought within 14 days, so just processed my return!" But they didn't ask anything. They just ask for my credit card to charge it back the amount to my card.

But actually, they have no lost also lah, I will buy the stainless steel mixer bowl and another loaf pan from the same store again. Yes, this time I can confirm stainless steel mixer bowl and loaf pan are what I indeed want to have. No more return lah.

I want to bake sponge cake. Anyone has any good recipe to share with me?? The guai low style of sponge cake (apparently they called it "angel cake") is really lousy, the recipe I got is too sweet and the taste is awful! yucks. I want sponge cake!

Going back to Shanghai

Going back to Shanghai for few days! Yay!

I am debating with myself, should I bring Lee Kai Fu's 世界因你不同 to continue finish reading it, or the novel I bought in KL's mph "Dear John".

Dim leh???  Probably Dear John because it is lighter, and because I want to slowly read this great book written by LKF. Some of his childhood stories made me laugh even when I was bangsai-ing.... haha~~

Hooray~~~~~

Warming Drawer

I am very 孤陋寡闻，only today I realized the existence of such appliances, named "warming drawer". Quote from a website "Warming drawers are the perfect solution for keeping dishes warm while you're waiting for guests to arrive or putting the finishing touches on the rest of the meal. "

They are not cheap!

Look at that! It's really a perfect solution to keep your dishes warm while waiting for your other dishes to complete cooking eh? For me, I always have this problem -- i like to cook, then only take shower before eating the meal. So by the time I finished the shower, some of the dishes are already turned cold, which I really don't like. But there's no way for me to eat first and then shower later because that will mean I have to shower much later - 2 hours after the meal.
 
I want this "toy" when we have our own house next time. It's such a cool feature!

Inception

I had so much expectation towards this movie Inception after I saw its trailer 2 weeks before it's show time.

I went for a movie last night, to watch Inception.

The outcome --- not quite I expected. First of all, the movie have this jap guy right called Saito - without subtitle of the movie in the cinema (I miss those english movie with subtitles in china and in KL), sometimes I don't know what is he talking about with his strong accent. And the dying father of Fischer, the last word he muttered "disappointed....." the "....." is so important, but again, I can't hear it, neither can Jay nor my English speaking friend. Arghh... a bit frustrated on that part.

The whole movie is too "intelligent". I can't understand some of the part, like the part Cobb told Mal they did grow old together.. and the 50 years they spent in their dream, then how come they not old one?? OMG, it's killing my brain cells so much. I have to come back home and googled for "inception explained" and got some of the answers (not all).

Overall, I don't quite like it lah. It's not my cup of tea I guess. I like to watch something I can understand with my own intelligent level. But I get to know that the director of this movie Christopher Nolan, he himself have this experience and fantasy to control his own dreams since he is young. But have to admit his plot is very very sci-fic loh. And the "effect" is very "real" in some part. I like it when Arthur walks in the hotel upside down and sideways. Hehehe... very cool. :p

Recently also watched Clash of Titans (downloaded). I find it quite nice. Not super nice, but not that bad also lah. I don't know why most chinese in China do not like the movie. They said the movie very childish. I find it quite OK, i will give it 6.5 out of 10 loh. haha.. The chinese only give 4-5. I also "accidentally" watched andy lau's 未来警察, because it is starred by Andy Lau, I thought it is a nice movie. But I was totally, absolutely, miserably disappointed by the whole movie. It's cheap, childish, and totally without nice graphic effect except for Andy Lau's police outfit. Damn, wasted my 1.5 hour. I was very angry after I watched it.

Composting

Just get to learn new vocab as I researching on composting method:

- straw: 稻草
- bark: 树皮
- sawdust: 木屑
- manure: 肥料

And apparently coffee grounds contain high level of nitrogen which worms will find it tasty..

And then, there are those specialize compost bin for sale one, and they are not cheap. This is so new to me.

Have a little faith

I have become Mitch Albom's reader after my dad passed away in 2008. His books soothe me in some ways, not spiritually, just something I cannot explain. And also most of his stories are true stories, real life stories.

I bought this book in Chicago Airport last year, when I was transitting the flight to Virginia to meet my family for the vacation. And I only get to read it early this month. I finished the book this morning, as usual, his book always leave me with teary eyes at the end. I am easily touched by emotional sentences in the book, especially when it is death related, because every death related incident made me think of my dad, and I miss him so much, still do, every single day.

At first glance, it is a book of religions. After my dad passed away, I believe in no religion at all, for if something so powerful named God, I am sure he wouldn't make somebody as nice a person as my dad to leave this world so abruptly. This is unfair, and I still hold grudges towards Him (if he is out there). I don't care if I go to hell after I died, because I am losing faith that there is a Heaven anyway. Anyway, why do I still buy this book even though at first glance it is about religions? Because I believe in Mitch Albom the writer. Well, he proves me right again, this is aother good book written by him, after Tuesdays with Morrie. I have 5 of his books, and I still think Tuesdays with Morrie is still my favorite. I have to "murder" 2 tissue papers when I read the last chapters. It is that moving.

Just like to share some of the good books I read recently, now that I have so much time on hand for reading.

My first attempt on muffins

My first attempt on muffin. Turns out quite good and Jay is loving it:) It is his birthday today. This is his birthday cake so to say:)

Making muffin here is so easy, they already premix some ingredient and sell it in pack, u just need to add 2 eggs, some water, and some blueberry:) And baking time needed is only less than 20 minutes.

I want to learn how to bake cake next!

The Christmas List

I haven't had this feeling for very long time, too long that I don't even remember when was the last time - to finish a book within a day because I simply can't get my hands and eyes off it. I borrowed "The Christmas List" from library yesterday, and I was having such a good time reading it. At some chapters, i will laugh out all loud, some chapters I will laugh cynically, and towards the end of the chapters, I was crying and Jay was so worried he asked me what am I reading, is everything OK?

This is a book of love, friendship, father & son, betrayal, redemption and repention, etc. Oh.. so emotionally rich! Towards the end of the chapters, I was first crying because I was feeling so romantic and touched, then I cried because I felt sad because his wife is dying, then I cried because I felt happy for him that he has changed to a better man!

I am seriously thinking of buying this book to keep. Jay said I crazy, it will just collect dust on our bookshelve and I won't even read it second time. Maybe he is right. Anyway, I can picture how great a movie will the plot from this book make. Not sure if they made it into movie before?

bui bui's "new" bike

Bui Bui's "new" bike. We bought used one advertized online. He joined a gym lately, the gym's location is not very far, not within walking distance either, so, driving is a waste and parking is a hassle. Instead, biking is the best option. But we very giamsiap on spending. New immigrant mah, get used one loh. It is selling for $100. It took us forever to get this bike fit into our car, and at the end, scratches our baby (our honda) a bit on the trunk. Bad boy! It had better worth all the effort in getting it. It is now sitting in our store-room. Bui Bui is lazy, he should have brought it to pump air in the gas station nearby, but instead, he goes to take a nap. He very 吊儿郎当 sometimes.

In order to bike "legally", he also made an attempt to buy a new helmet, and a new lock. We were so startled when we went into the biking store, it has so many biking related stuff that we will never even think of. Sports is a crazy industry and good business in BC. 

The used bike, as advertized, it is a "18-speed Sportek "Mud Dawg" Full Suspension with Shimano Altus parts". Without the stickers though.

It's a bright sunny day @ Stanely Park

We didn't have a swim suit when we visited Stanley Park yesterday (I totally forgotten Stanley Park has a beach), so we just chilling under a big tree, and playing with jay's phone's camera;)

new hobby

I bought chives and superhot chilli (指天椒) and transplanted them to small pot at my balcony today. Jay commented sarcastically "let's see how long will my honey's new hobby last this time". Hmmmmm....

I forgot to get any furtilizer... yiu.... have to go back to the farm again?