Summer Blues |07.31.2001|

Hrm. It's the time of the year again. Summer is about to disappear for another year. The sun is starting to setting behind the horizon rather quickly, and the autumn breeze is awaiting, ready to sweep the trees with the colours of--hmm, like a vampire sucking life out of a person--but instead of for blood, for chlorophyll! Well, anyhow, my train of thought just went along the lines of: end of summer. school begins. (groan).

Yesterday's highlight was dinner. Silq, Marc, and Dom came over for dinner. I ended up cooking for 4, which I'm not exactly used to. I hope none of them were poisoned. But then again, Dom had asthma problems, so mebbe . . . :P. Thankfully they came over b/c they helped me clear out most of the stuff in the fridge :). Actually, it's more fun to cook for other people. Cooking for myself isn't all that entertaining for some reason. Maybe it's the anticipation and the suspense of potentially poisioning them. Just kidding. :P.

They studied for their exams (today) and played N64 for awhile. Danny is gonna lend me some really cool games =). Can't wait! I never had the luxury of owning a game console. But it's a good thing, b/c it gets quite addictive.

Weekend |07.30.2001|

Hmm, Elijah fellowship went camping this weekend, but I didn't go. It's a good thing too, b/c I had some business to take care of at home.

On Saturday, I actually spent most of the day shopping, strange to say the least. BUT it wasn't for clothes :). Now why did I go to South Keys? Ah yeah, to look for glow-in-the-dark beads for my cousin, which I didn't end up getting any b/c one small bag was $7! I think I kinda dragged Marc to come along. It's a good thing too though, because I didn't know how to bus it there (and for Dom's info, no, he didn't drive). At think the caffeine in the coffee made me really hyper or something b/c that night, I was being the "me" that ppl see when I'm back home around my church friends (namely Mur).

We bumped into "G" (wow, the guy that J was telling me about the time I went to Hog's Back way back in May/June?), Dennis, and Mr. Clean at the same restaurant. Twas G's bday. The conversation at our table got quite interesting by the end of the dinner; Keith didn't know what a lightbulb was. Thanks to Marc's aunt, I got some real Chinese food (and good seafood: never had "Guai Fa Yue" before but it's very "wat") that I haven't had for awhile :).

We met up w Gravy and Sheree at the Met afterwards, but the driver on the bus must not have driven to Carleton for a very long time, because he took the Dunton Tower route w/o realising that there'd be a fence to block him off. So, he backed up--never sat in a bus that actually went in the reverse direction before. Kinda funny though :). By the time we got there, they were just finishing City Wide Worship, and Gravy quickly drove us downtown to see if we could catch the rest of Benson and Hedge's Symphony of Fire (in Hull--Italy was the country of the evening). By the time we got there and parked, we saw the last 2 seconds of it. Heh. Ah well. And yes, they smoke pot here too when they watch the fireworks, just like they do in 'couver. We inhaled some as we were walking to Zak's. Oh, that must be it! The pot prolly made me high ;þ. I can't believe it. In the 3 months I've been here, it seems like whenever I'm downtown with a bunch of ppl (that's rare), we all end up going to Zak's (this is my 4th time). We almost got into a food fight. Actually, it was more of a Double Bubble gum fight. That's how mature these guys are, and to think that all of them are older than me!

Gravy drove us home, and he ended up missing service the next day. Oops. Heheh. :P

Christmas in July! |07.26-27.2001|

Miscellaneous Remarks |07.25.2001|

Heat Wave |07.23.2001|

Happy Birthday Silq! :) Today is Silq's berfday, but we celebrated it on Saturday instead. Actually, only 1 of us went out of Dom, Marc and I. The rest of the people that went I didn't really know, but it was fun meeting all of Silq's friends (some again, some for first time--prolly spelled some names wrong too): Winnie, D, Will, Hoi, Sunny, Shawna(?), Carly, Sue, Tam, Dennis, Cheung, Cindy, Trent, Alana and a couple of others that I've seem to have neglected I think. People got the berfday people (Winnie, Tam, Silq) some pretty cool gifts like a cell phone, Joy cam, Tommy girl kit, lifesized cardboard version of Sandra Bullock as Miss Congeniality (for Silq of course!) . Marc, Dom, and I got Silq a pretty gift. Uh huh. It's similar to what you can find at La Senza online. Um. Hmm. That's not right. I better take off that link, in case some of you think I'm endorsing soft porn or something. It went along the theme of "getting in touch w his feminine side"--thus, the VHS version of Center Stage, which I later found out that he took ballet lessons and since he enjoys "chick flicks" . . . it's perfect! :) He refused to wear it though, so Hoi kindly volunteered to be our model. The funny thing is that it was my first time purchasing anything at La Senza--and it wasn't even for myself, much less for a girl! ;)

Yeah, the BBQ was pretty good. At the beginning, when there were only a few of us, some psycho woman was sharing the gazebo (or as Silq calls it: "Gazobi") with us (b/c twas raining for a bit). A couple of them were throwing a vball around and the a lil oversized lady starts to stare at us, repeatedly saying, "play ball . . . this is a gazebo . . ." At one point, this woman (not a lady, my mistake) starts making a gun gesture to her head in a "you're cuckoo" motion and then taking her paring knife and making stabbing motions towards Silq :\. Not long after she walks off (b/c she can't stand us I'm sure), some wedding party arrives and stands around for say 45 mins, before a couple of them guys came up and said that they had a permit. Dennis or Lana asked to see the permit (we have the right to, and because they didn't say anything before, they just stood around so we already set up and all), and the white guy was nice about it and tried to let us know that they were not going to be long, cept the Italian looking dude (one of the groomsmen/best man), comes up to us and says, "If you don't move your stuff now, I'll move it for you." Yeah, like we're really scared. Since they have a cheap wedding ceremony at Andrew Hayden Park and all, it won't take much to dirty their suits. Personally, I don't have anything against them, cept for that guy, and the 2 women who stared us down when we were walking away. But if I was to get married, and even if I was to have a small wedding (which I probably wouldn't mind, as long as it's not in a courthouse, city hall, or a small park), I would not take pictures or hold it at a place with a bunch of Asians in the background having a BBQ. :P

Yesterday's heat was worse than the day at the BBQ. I thought it was humid and hot enough, but yesterday was 34C, and today is 42C with humidex. Rollerblading at that heat wasn't a very good idea, but it was nevertheless fun, and there was no major wipeouts (well 1, but that was b/c there was a bump on the road and I wasn't paying attention to it--I was too busy avoiding the cyclists). Marc and I bladed around the Carleton/Rideau Canal area--hope the self-taken photos turn out :). The tunnels at Carleton are awesome for blading tho (illegally)! :P The last part--the "lil hill" that Marc warned me of, wasn't as "l'il" or "fun" as the other ones. The other hills are nothing like the ones in 'couver. I do not accelerate on them to a point where I cannot stop so it's rather fun. But the last one I kinda went out of control (side entrance to Carleton), but good thing there was grass to stop me! Helped paint my relatives' kitchen after--looks really refreshing now in that mint green :)

Girls' Night Out |07.19.2001|

Whoosh! |07.17.2001|

Wow, I haven't shot hoops in many, many years (since Grade 11/12 or 1st year). I think the only vivid memory I have of the last time we played basketball outdoors was in Chinese school, w/ a bunch of our guy friends, and my sister (senior high). In early second year, Ben A and Vonne shot some baskets in the gym but it's good to be shooting again :). Also beneficial that my cousins have a mobile basketball net in their driveway! Yep. Aaron (contrary to Dom's belief that I was w Marc this evening :þ) came over to shoot some baskets until we got infested by mosquitoes. Apparently, mosquitoes are attracted to CO2--or at least according to Silq (which would explain why we all got stung at paintball, since we pumped out CO2 from our guns. Silq's style of play (dribbles, rebounds/lay-ups), reminds me of how my brother plays.

Actually, I enjoyed 2 good meals today that were from generous hearts--Thai food (again, same restaurant) from my company b/c it was the VP's birthday, and Chinese food (at Chu Sing) from Aaron. MMM. Thanks Aaron! :)

The Thai culture has some really strange tea. It's quite tasteless, but it smells and has a taste of Mr. Clean (not Simon, but the real thing) or some household cleaner. Very strong, but tastes diluted. I'm not too fond of it, even though I do like lemon in water. I ordered Pad Thai this time, some fried noodles that have remnants of Hoisin sauce (which may very well be, considering Chinese people run this place on Carling Ave.). I think they forgot to put the spice in it b/c it wasn't spicy at all. I think I will stick to the curry next time ;).

At Chu Sing, I think the waitress expected me to know how to read Chinese b/c she had "tou-chan" (set menus) in Chinese for me to choose from (A-D). I didn't take the time to guess at all the dishes to choose from, but I did recognise "ging-dou-yok-pai" and b/c Aaron says that he eats that stuff, it would be something we know, so we ordered B :). Sigh. I really need to learn how to read and write properly :P.

Ouch. *moan, groan* |07.15.2001|

Warning: speedbump ahead. LONG read.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"--before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.

Wow, yeah, it sure is hard to appreciate anything when you're old (just like what Ecclesiastes 12 [NIV] says). I, amongst many others, felt so sore in our quad muscles today, that we barely were able to climb up or down a set of stairs. We felt so old. I had no desire to walk about the neighbourhood, or even walk home from the bus stop. And right when I reached my final destination, I crashed on my bed, and didn't wake up til at least 3 hours later when I had to feed the dog.

Paintball. All worth it; although I spent 30 dollars in total and voluntarily obtained some bruises (at least 10, with one the size bigger than a toonie that resulted most likely from a wipe out and 4 mosquito bites--2 on forehead, 1 on chin, 1 on hand, and one painful bite from something on my thumb) Thankfully, there was no major injuries on me--unlike welts (w blood) on Matt, Aaron, Andy, Garvin and some others. There were 20 of us in total, mostly from Elijah Fellowship. We played 6 fields (I stayed for 5 fields, totalling 9 games) but I don't know who I exactly nailed (though I know for certain that I solidly sniped 2 players). I know for sure that I managed to hit Ben Allen smack in the face, when he was defending the fort in the tower for one of the games (didn't know it was him til after the game). Actually, that was sweet. Although our team lost, the adrenaline in that particular one somehow actually led me to attempt to attack the fort (w the knowledge that it was 1 girl vs. 6 guys or so). That game was weird though b/c all the guys ended up getting shot on my team and only Chau and I were left (the only 2 girls out of 3 that went). She attempted to get in at first but had to surrender. Eventually, I was the only one left, and the ref said that there was only less than 30 secs left. Since I had nothing to lose, and that it would look really cowardly if I didn't try to do anything, I decided to make a dash for it. The opposing team ended up ended up wondering why the 30 secs didn't expire but the ref said that since I was attacking, he'd continue the game :).

That round, I got one of my first bruises. Some guy ended up nailing me in the shoulders through the crack in the wall. For a moment, I thought that I was out, but the ref said that it didn't count (yeah, I forgot about that rule: no cheapshots through cracks). I eventually found out that Andy was guarding the entrance and I think he was the one who ended up nailing me both through the cracks, and when I moved to enter. Twas a good game :). The rest of the games, I either died by getting shot, we won, or I ran out of ammo (last game). Okay, enough limelight on me.

Often I got hit, but the paint didn't splatter but I keep forgetting to check, and because it's more painful if the paintballs don't break on impact, I think that I'm "dead" but by the time I walk to the dead zone and discover that, it's too late to go back in). What I don't appreciate is when people don't play by the rules. There were a couple of instances when my teammates complained of cheapshots through cracks, or even more so, when certain people (well mainly 1, in the fort game), walked to the dead zone with his arms raised in the air (when we all had a good opportunity to fire, but we didn't seeing that he was "dead") and later commented to one of the "dead": , "oh look! i don't have any paint on me!", walked back in w/o a gun, and took the flag. Later on, the ref brags to his co workers by saying, "this was the first time i saw someone do that. he had no gun, and he wasnt running in. he walked in; he looked like he was limping in, as if he had no purpose in life!" Heheh, I thought that statement was rather funny. The ref told Andy that he was lucky and that he better watch his back from then on. I think the ref was right b/c I saw him today with a big welt (giant zit!) on his forehead; think he ended up getting killed in one of the last games (after I left).

I had a really good time with my co-worker on Friday. She's a really cool gal. She took me out for some Thai food (yummy!) down the street and we ended up talking a whole lot. I think she was a really good teacher when she did teach b/c she's such an encouraging person :). I remember that when she first joined the team, Andy and I didn't know what to think of her b/c she's a take charge/initiative-taker type of person. She's one of the younger ones there (28), if not the youngest after Andy. Let's just say that my actions at work don't get unnoticed by others. She said that she'd keep me if it was up to her. Well, it would be extremely nice to continue working with them, and entertaining too. Some people at work just amuse me.

Have you ever tried to play cat and mouse? It's a very fun game to watch. You know how a cat, before eating a mouse, plays with their prey and taunts them? Well, it seems to be a very effective, even if the cat isn't too active about the whole thing (ie. not even wanting to eat it or play w his prey)--just the fact that it's a cat and b/c of him being a cat, it intimidates the mouse whenever he senses the presence of the cat. Very amusing.

A realisation hit me today. I have less than 4 weeks left with these people. Wow. I may never see them again, and this summer has gone by soooo quickly! I think I want to come back next summer ;). I like it here more than Toronto. Even though I've never been there for an extended amout of time before.

Eerie! |07.12.2001|

Monkey see, monkey do! |07.10.2001|

Hehe, I think my cousins are starting to warm up to me and vice versa. I spent my evening w them yesterday playing (or learning to) tennis. I don't know why I've never actually picked it up as I like to play most racquet sports (even table tennis though one uses a paddle instead). There's a court in the park that's right near our house, but we got kicked out after awhile, when the monitorees came by to check if we were members :P. As the rest of them went home, I wandered around the block and discovered 2 sets of monkey bars at the elementary school. :). Hehehe. I think JJ knows what I'm up to. Anyhow, I'm nicely a tad sore today. It feels good. =).

They discovered my Painter program on my computer and took turns (as much as kids can take "turns") on using it; trying to see what kind of games I had (none), and watched bits and pieces of my DVDs/VCDs. The boys were in awe of my lava lamp--which they commissioned me to buy for them. Hehehe. Strangely enough, I miss hanging out w real kids. :) I'm starting to remember my French now too, which is a good sign.

Profanity and the works. |07.10.2001|

If it weren't for verses like Ephesians 4:29 or Ephesians 5:4 (NIV),

"Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

I'd prolly be more liberal in my language. Sometimes, milder language just doesn't accurately depict the picture you want to paint. Saying that something is fudged or screwed up, just doesn't sound as extreme as reality; the clash of sharp ice hitting against the burning flames of fire when it's not meant to be. However if I was to use this "dialect" of English/Chinese, unless someone is really an illegitimate child, a donkey, or a female dog, I would prolly not call them that. The coarse joking . . . hmm . . . hence I stay away from movies like There's Something About Mary, AP2, Me, Myself & Irene, American Pie. I hear jokes in real life enough, why waste $ and indulge in more of them on screen? :P And if I lived out both, my mother would prolly have my head and say that I'm no lady.

Ah yeah, on the topic of being a lady. I think it's partially my upbringing as a child. My sister useta be the tomboy in the family, but she's more into the whole "girl" scene than I am. I don't understand how people can shop with other girls for 3 or more hours (and try on everything!), or find makeovers fun. I might check out the makeover thing next week for the pics, but yeah make-up on a regular basis? Okay, yeah it highlights your features nicely if it's put on properly, but to find good quality make-up that doesn't destory your skin in the process is quite a costly HM thing to do. Funny though, as a 12 year old, I wanted to use make-up and get my ears pierced and the works, but for some reason, now I don't really care anymore. Maybe it's b/c my parents said that I wasn't allowed to use any til I was 16 and no piercing til I was 19. Or maybe I'm just an impatient person and looking at myself at the mirror isn't to appealing to begin w. Admittedly, I probably know the least of everything when it comes to cosmetics.

Yeah, that thought hit me esp when Gravy made a comment about how painful mascara must be to put on (re: Mel Gibson trying on mascara). I didn't really make a reply to his comment b/c even though I'm positive I've had experiences w mascara (wedding, grad, etc.), I just can't remember the last time I've put it on :P. Okay, enough of this part of my life. ;) You prolly think I'm a really unattractive person now ;P ah well. I'll just let God do the work :). After all, what could be more beautiful than His creation (well, until we go screw it up as we always tend to do).

I noticed yesterday, that my HTML table coding was all wrong (I mixed up the orders of "TR" and "TD") so when I went to fix it, my font face messed up into this fat Tahoma-looking font (which I now believe it's the right font face, but not right size). Hopefully, it would be fixed soon [once I discover how to do it--unless one of you readers can help me? :)]

Dial-up |07.09.2001|

Wow, feels like I haven't been on dial-up for so long, when it was only in April that I last used it (at least it's stable--more stable than my cable modem connection in June). Tis such a big relief to be able to use my computer again w.o having it crash on me w a VXD error for every 2 or more programs I open. We were waiting for MJ to help me reset the BIOS settings that one of us messed up or troubleshoot why my computer refuses to restart/shut down properly. In my impatience, I suddenly realise that my TYAN manual might give me a hint. Although it did not fix my problems right away, I used my old method of trial and error (usually it's either a) it works perfectly again or b) i've screwed myself over) and consulted the MS troubleshooting tech help pages that Andy found/printed for me awhile ago. Turns out that after I deselected the autoconfig.ini and autoexec.bat and whatever else files, it restarted just fine (and consequently, upon reselecting them, my computer was okay w it too)! :). Glad that I didn't haveta wait for MJ--b/c he's been so busy recently w his gf coming back and all :P.

Cats and Dogs. |07.06.2001|

Some of the movies that are out there these days are just plain stupid. I guess as time goes on, man becomes dumber and it takes only so much to amuse them. Talking animals. First it was Babe, now Cats and Dogs. Speaking of which, my house has 1 dog, 2 cats, a fish, and a bird. I see them getting along just fine.

AH yeah, speaking of fish. Yummies! I haven't had such good meals in sooo long. We had Japanese food (Moocher, Mumbles, Silq, Leith, and myself) downtown. And speaking of food, I haven't warned you about East Side Mario's salads yet (esp the one in Kanata and if you're ordering the same as another person at the same table). Yeah, so one time, Andy, myself, and 4 others from the company went out for lunch and 3 of us ordered the same SoHo salad. Well guess what?! The first place was kinda oily. The second was with a puddle of oil, and mine? I think I got the bottom of the "mixing bowl" -- because my greens were soggy with oil dressing and I had a flood at the bottom of my plate!
Now I know why Marc doesn't order the same dish as another person at the table.

See Food. |07.04.2001|

Woohoo, happy Independence Day (US) . . . ha, they don't have a long weekend ;).

MMM. Fresh seafood for two days in a row! (and more to come, when I eat Japanese food tonight w Marcy and Silq. heheh). Marc kindly invited me over on Monday night (after seeing Atlantis w Dom and him) for some BC crab (yummy!) w his family. Yesterday, Mir and I went to Café Crêpes de France (or something like that) and had 6 plates (amongst the 2 of us) of all-you-can-eat mussels for only 12,95$ (per person)! We tried all 4 sauces and liked the curry sauce the most. Yesterday evening was highly interesting, because strange to admit, that was my first night out (in Ottawa) spent w a girl exclusively. At least I think t'was.

Atlantis was a surprisingly good movie. I don't tend to watch very many Disney movies anymore (yet my all-time favourite is still Beauty and the Beast), but this one was very amusing. I could tell from the start that Milo was voiced by Michael J. Fox. Silvercity made a booboo though. They started showing Evolution instead and everything was all squished together. All the characters in the previews and the movie were all short and fat. ;).

Canada Day Weekend. |07.02.2001|

God's sense of humour in action yet again. Although Dom prolly doesn't think so. He prolly will blame it someone else. No, it didn't rain on Canada Day, but the winds did pick up--to the point where the fireworks were cancelled. AND the temperature dropped down to ~6C from 20+ C. Most of us, except for Marc (who brillantly [in this sense] somehow ended up in the Museum of Civilisation), froze our butts (and the rest of our body) off for 2 hours waiting in vain for the fireworks.

Ben A. came up for the weekend (along w a whole bunch of others). We spent Saturday in Montreal avec Josh and Dom. That's the furthest east in Canada that I've ever been. Montreal isn't too "exciting" (during the day I suppose). Thankfully, they came along so we didn't get lost :P. We endured the heat at St. Joseph Oratory (not St. Thomas as J thinks), but when we got to Mont Royal park, it started pouring. We met up with Karin (finally!), Stephanie, Rebekah, and Patrick. They took us to the Old Montreal port. The streets reminds me so much of Gastown in 'couver. We had lunch in Chinatown and dinner at Schwartz`s--some place that sells really good smoked meat.

What I still don't understand, is the Catholic tradition. Why do they charge people $1 for offering candles (or whatever they are), but they charge $4 for healing candles? Does God really care how much you pay for your faith?! The reason I'm mentioning this is because I saw the walls of crutches, symbols of how many were healed. St. Joseph's is massive btw. I would not want to be the one kneeling up the steps in prayer on a rainy day.

I won't mention about the lecture I received from the landlady. Let's just say that although she is concerned about the affairs of other people, she really has no right to play the role of "mom" in this sense.