wine country

On Sunday KA, Michael and I visited Mission Hill Winery. I had watched a bit of Chicky's first race on sunday but KA had said that she wanted to visit another winnery then head home - so I went with her (as they are my ride).

Mission Hill was wonderful. It's been so long since I've been there (last time was for Cindy's bachelorette party). We had a delicious lunch on the outside terrace facing the vineyard. The food and view was spectacular. It was a bit chilly out but the restaurant was "classy" so they turned on the outdoor heaters beside our table. They even offered some of the guests blankets. :-) I would have loved a blanket!

I had the lunch special, which was bison steak with some vegetables. It was more about presentation than quantity of food. But what we got was absolutely yummy! After lunch we had lots of time to kill before our wine tour so we had dessert. Creme broule...mmm. Micheal and I wanted to gobble down our food but KA made us slowly eat it so that we could sit in the restaurant longer. Too bad Chicky wasn't there to enjoy the food. He didn't have too much luck with steaks all weekend - the bison steak was succulent. Check out the pictures.

We did the $5 wine tour. It came with a video about the proprietor of Mission Hill and a tour of the grounds. Afterwards we tested 3 different wines. I was feeling quite warm after my second glass and couldn't finish the last (which was a vibrant red wine). KA bought a couple of bottles of the wine we tasted in the gift shop. I decided to run up and down the outdoor theatre (which is basically made of grass) to get a few shots of the buildings at different angles. My head was spinning and my heart was racing when I ran back up to KA. I giggled and said that I felt like I was having hot flashes (from the wine and running around). I'm a cheap date!

Kelowna asian-invasion

On Friday afternoon Chicky, Nick, Julie, Aiden, KA, Michael and I headed out for the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival. KA and Michael decided to go at the last moment (they booked into the motel the night before). I was actually happy that they came because Nick ended up renting a PT Cruiser (which the company said was their "full size" category) and that car had no room for the 5 of us. Julie's son (Aiden) is only 4 years old so his car seat took up most of the room in the back. I went in Michael's courtesy car. It took us nearly 5 hours to get to Kelowna as we had to have frequent pee-breaks for Aiden and couldn't drive relectlessly because of him. On the way there KA volunteered to drive a portion of the trip, Michael and I cringed, so he let her. We traveled for about 5km when she decided to press the buttons in the car. She disengaged the trunk hood while driving at highway speeds. That freaked me right out and we had to pull over - thus causing our entourage to wait for us to catch up.

We got to Kelowna at nearly 8pm. The team had booked rooms at the Kelowna Motor Inn. It's not exactly a 5 star hotel but it's clean. For some reason Chicky and I ended up with the smallest room out of the 3 couples. Our bathroom door banged against the tub each time you opened it! KA's room was like a mansion compared to ours - and they got a cheaper deal. Lol - I told Chicky that his team must have gotten the "corporate" rate.

That night we went to Kelsey's restaurant for dinner. The wait was horrendous and when we finally were able to get a seat (we had to break apart into 2 groups so that they would seat us faster) - the food took nearly 2 hours to get to our table. This was the beginning of a trend for the rest of the weekend. Darn those dragonboaters!!! They really put a damper on getting good food/service.

On Saturday we got up early, joined the obnoxious line up at MacDonalds to get our breakfast of champions before heading over to the park to check in with the rest of the team. The weather was cloudy and windy. I had to bundle up in 3 layers just to keep warm. I watched the Ritchie Bros. Auctionauts race. KA and Michael cheered on their own friends, on team "SGL" (So Good Looking) and "Dragon Hearts". Their teams are competitive teams so it was fun watching them as well (see what a good team looks like). I took some pictures of the festival - when don't I take pictures! Though I did grumble the whole time about lack of zoom! Chicky and I did our own thing most of the weekend. I was being a bit anti-social and not wanting to converse with his co-workers too much. I'm not very fond of what they remind me of - plus one of the girls made a snide comment to me which made me totally not want to hang out with his girlfriends at work. Yes - I insecurity issues that stem from experiences in the past. Saturday night - while waiting for Milestones - I bought a book at Chapters. The store was so nice - much bigger and had different stuff then the one near my house. It was fun to kill time in the bookstore. I wish books were cheaper. There were lots of photography books that I wanted to buy if only they were below $50!!!

online accounts

Thank goodness for online accounts. Sunday night I decided to reactivate my caller ID. Instead of calling Telus directly and having to explain to the agent the circumstances to why I deactivated my account and want to reactivate it 4 days later - I logged into my online account. Lo-and-behold there was an option to "add" features to my phone. I added the "special" pack that was on sale and my ego is still in tacked!

insuring for tomorrow

Tracey stopped by tonight. She was a bit tense as she had just come from a meeting with Cliff (our financial planner). Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing what to do with Cliff. Some people have expressed a concern in his financial abilities. I haven't taken much thought to Cliff as unlike Shannan or Tracey - I don't have high expectations of Cliff therefore I haven't been disappointed yet. :-) The main reason for Tracey's visit tonight was to find a "tacky tourist" costume for her work function on friday. Since I love to play dress up and am building my own little "tickle-trunk" - I offered her some help.

Instead of discussing what constitutes a tacky-tourist outfit we discussed her meeting. She has a lot of questions that were not answered by Cliff and I think that this is main cause of her distress. The main concern is her contribution to a life insurance plan which may not be suitable to her needs at this point in her life. The problem is that if she cancels now - she will only get back half of the money she invested in it. All this talk about life insurance made me curious on the topic. So I ran some Google searches. There are 2 types of life insurance - term vs permanent. I think before we can broach the subject of whether or not we've been screwed over by Cliff - we have to understand what it is that we've boughten into. Both of us have "term insurance". The difference between the 2 can be found here. I think Tracey and I will continue our conversations on investment as it's a good way to learn from each other - plus it also gives her a chance to vent and get things off her chest. In the grand scheme of things - money is not the most important thing in your life so don't let it stress you out.

string of bad luck

Poor Michael - today he and KA got into an accident which might make his car a write off. That vehicle is not even a year old yet. It's had a string of bad luck since the day he bought it. Then again - the circumstances in which he bought it was bad karma too. His original car had died on the way to Whistler so he had it towed to North Vancouver. He was forced to buy a vehicle that day as the dealerships in the AutoMall would not allow the tow truck to dump a car in their lot - understandable. He bought the Mazda 5 within a couple of hours. I got to participate in that stressful situation with him. :-)

The first month that he owned the car - it was recalled for a fire hazard. He got it back months later (with a cheque for the dealership for the inconvenience he experienced - sweet!). A month or so after that his mom crashed his car and it was "almost" a write off. That was another stressful experience for him. Now he's got to deal with a driver who decided to turn left behind them (while they were turning left) and in doing so; plowed into them. I feel bad for him - hopefully all will work out. The two of them have enough on their plates right now with the planning of their wedding so they don't need this.

the future is not friendly

I just got off the phone with a Telus rep about my cellular contract with them. For once in a couple of months I actually opened my (paper) bill to find that I owed them nearly $100. I was pretty choked by this because I'm on a $20 plan! I know I talk a lot on the phones but this was ridiculous! So I called them up to have them explain to me that I went over my limit. I told them that I had unlimited evenings and weekends so why am I being charged weekend minutes?! The girl had to go consult with her coworker for that answer. She came back onto the phone and said that there was a mistake in their coding and that I was charged by mistake. I have an "old" plan that doesn't match their code tables correctly therefore causing the "discrepency" in billing. I was furious. Patience is not one of my virtues - especially not with retail staff (as some of you have already experienced with me). I demanded a reconciliation of the current bill and any others that they mistakenly charged me for. I don't normally look at my bills as I'm an avid internet user and have set up my bills to automatically be debited from my accounts. She proceeded to elevate my blood pressure by telling me that she can not correct the past bills as they can not change the system when a "bill is printed". That's absurd and she knows it. It's digital data for goodness sake. What's worst is that I've paid this insane amount for the last 3 months!!! So in my highly irrational and irritated state I demanded to talk to a "client care" respresentative (you know...those people that you call up when you're negotiating a new contract) - she said that they were all busy (of course) and that she could put me into the "queue". I'm not dumb...I know how that works, I'm a call agent myself! So I told her that I am very unhappy with Telus' service and that I would never sign with them again. I asked her how long I had left on my contract (note to everyone - it's never worth it to sign a 3 year contract) and she said 17 months. I grunted and told her that I want to cancel the plan. She smurked (or I imagined she did) and said that I would have to pay a penalty. In retalliation I repeated my distaste for Telus and told her that it would still be cheaper to keep the Telus plan and not use it while signing up with Rogers. She said in a challenging tone "it's your choice". I took the bait. I told her that I would do it and to emphasize my vendictive behaviour I told her to cancel all feature bundles on my phone and have it at the bare-bones plan. :-) Lol - so now that it's been a couple of hours and I've received 2 phone calls, I realize caller-id and voicemail isn't so bad after all. So there we have it folks; I don't have voicemail or caller ID. Maybe one of these days when I pull my foot out of my mouth I'll reactivate the caller ID and voicemail.

You know what the truly ironic part about all this is? I'm taking a tour of the new Telus Call Center at the end of next week. I get to spend the morning job shadowing one of their agents to compare their job with ours. Aparently we are the "industry leaders" in the world of Help Desks so their center is sending staff over to job shadow with us as well. :-) Learning from "the best". Lol - wouldn't it be just "swell" if the agent I sit with is "Victoria" (the poor girl that had to deal with me today). Ah - life is funny.

going with the flow

Today I attended a yoga Flow class. It's been two months since I've done yoga so I felt out of shape. I went back to Yogapod and had Todd as an instructor. Todd enjoys "enlightening" us and in doing so I end up performing acts that defy gravity and saneness. Today we practiced Sirshasana which made me weary as it's the same pose that cause the big bruise on my leg in the summer. This time around torture-Todd decided to "help" us by binding our arms and making us hold foam blocks. It could have been a scene from a sadistic yoga movie. :-) Not surprisingly when I tried to raise my legs, while trying to keep my arms in the binds and holding my foam block, Robyn assisted in me plummeting my face into the foam which cause a sensation of someone punching me in the nose. I prefer carpet burn over this. Grunting, I got up, took off the ropes around my arms and said "your turn!" with a mischievious grin on my face. Robyn declined. She's a smart cookie. My nose still ached so I sat on the floor and pretended to play with my yoga straps while the other students in the class made repeated attempts at the hand stand. I was done with the whole "trying" thing - I was into my "give up" stage.

the movie critic

On Sunday Chicky and I went to a family bbq in North Vancouver. It was for his side of the family. We had some good satay and sauce - the main reason why Chicky wanted to go. The usual family members showed up. I got to play with Brandon so that was fun. Michelle is looking great in her second trimester. It's funny how everyone wants to rub a pregnant lady's tummy (sometimes without even asking them).

After the bbq Chicky and I scoped out a movie. We've been seeing a LOT of movies lately. More than usual and that's saying a lot for us. We average 1 "in theatre" movie per week. This week it was the "Covenant". I've decided that I'm going to start listing the movies that we've seen - just incase you're interested in knowing if it's worth watching in the theatre or not. The rating are purely subjective so don't take me seriously. Check out the movies that I've seen under the movie-mania category in the side bar.

Par 3

This morning we went out in the dreary Vancouver weather to try a few rounds at pitch n' putt. My social club hosted a tournament at West Vancouver's Par 3 course. There was a great turn out (14 teams) despite the wet weather. Robyn (a coworker and fellow Social Club Executive) and I took registrations, handed out goodies and made sure that everyone had something to drink or eat prior to their tee times.

I wasn't sure this morning if anyone was going to come but was happy to see the first team show up on time. During the 3 hours, I took some pictures of the various teams and chit chatted with the players. Though this was mainly a work event, I asked our friends to come play as well.

Kel, Chris, Toshiki and Kevin G. were one team. Frank, Tracey, Kevin K. and Keith were on a team. Wilfred, Cindy and Gabriel formed their own team.

Kevin G. got the best score for the day (out of 14 teams) but everyone else did really well too. I'm very impressed with everyone's overall enthusiam.

I've posted more pics from the day in my image gallery.

baby number 2

I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Mary and Peter who are expecting their second baby in May 2007.

marketing 1120

Tonight was the first day of school for me. This semester I'm taking Marketing 1120 (intro to marketing). The wonderful thing is that it's at the Coquitlam campus (which is like 5 mins away from home). I came home from work, gobbled down dinner, made a big pot of coffee and grabbed my school supplies. Got to school, went to the bookstore, handed over a wad of cash for a textbook the size of a receipe book (man...books are WAY too expensive) then went searching for my classroom. The students in the class appear to be young (like half my age!) and eager to learn. As I sipped on my coffee I watched some of them read the textbook (keeners!) and other engage in mindless chit chat with friends. Everyone seemed eager to chat on their cell phones when the opportunity arose.

The instructor is this cute Indian lady. She tried to crack a joke at the start of the class and I think I was the only one that chuckled (must be an age thing). She then had to tell the class that it was a joke - ah...how embarrassing. As most "first-day" classes go, we went over the "important" stuff such as how we will be evaluated, distribution of marks and the course schedule. I heard the dreaded words "group term project" and groaned silently to myself. I'm not fond of group projects. They remind of the ones where I would basically LIVE with my schoolmates on the weekends trying to get something accomplish and ending up just having the bunch of them waste time by socializing. :-) I'm a social creature but I value my "free" time as well. My eyes did twinkle with delight as I heard the magical phrase "all the course material will be available online". Once those words were spoken, my mind wandered off to more interesting thoughts such as "what I am going to eat for lunch tomorrow?" Somewhere during the lecture I felt guilty for staring blankly at the teacher and not writing down anything (as some of the students beside me were busy scribbling incomprehensible notes into their neatly organized binders). I figured I'd better fein interest and hold a pen in my hand just incase the instructor looked my way. :-) I've become a lazy student over the years and rely too much on technology. I'll just download and print the notes tomorrow.

The class was short and we got out early. I headed to the library to get a new sticker for my student card. Without the "semester" stickers I wouldn't get the "benefits" of half-price parking. :-) I'm cheap. While in the library - the librarian asked me if I wouldn't mind filling out a survey. I said "what the heck"...and filled it out. Because my veins were pumped with 3 cups of coffee from dinner, I was "chatty". I began asking retorical questions like why they had to hand out the survey because some of the questions on the survey were redundant (information that can easily be obtained if you run the right SQL statements on the database - yes...geeky Kim emerges). The librarian - being the helpful person that she is - begins to tell me that they gather this information for a "fact" document. Me (hyper from coffee) decides that I want to see this "fact" document (more out of pleasure of tormenting a librarian then from genuine interest in the document). She takes me around the library and can't find the booklet (of course - who the hell even looks at student stats for "fun"!). I decide that I'm still hyper and want to bug her some more so I began asking her why they can't obtain the information on the survey from the Registar's Office. The librarian admitted that she's never read the survey and gets her coworker to come over and go over the survey with her. So now I'm really amused as I've got 2 people to torment instead of one! So the 3 of us read the survey and I point out the sections that can be obtained from the master database. These 2 people are more "book" people than computer people so I lost them somewhere between database and queries. After 10 minutes with the 2 of them I laughed and told them that I would leave them alone. I don't think they were as amused as I was (as I was being loud and obnoxious in the library) but they were friendly and smiled politely as I left. Ah...school is so fun!

Emerald City

On Thursday Chicky and I took a little trip to Seattle. We woke up at 5:30am intending to get across the border before the line ups got bad. But breakfast at IHOP distracted us. Didn't get to the border till nearly 8am.

Highlights of our trip:

• Pike Place Market - I wanted to go see the famous fish market that inspired all the "Fish" books. We found it but they weren't throwing any fish around. It was still fun to take pictures of the seafood though. I got a picture of a monk fish - they are so ugly looking!!
• Seattle Public Library - yes...we're geeks. I heard that this library had a cool structure so I dragged Chicky to go see it. We had to ask a bus driver how to get there. I really wanted to ride transit - don't ask me why. Instead Chicky wanted to walk around downtown Seattle. Eventually we made it to the library. The library has 11 floors - each of which has a different theme. The architecture is interesting as all the floors are slanted at a 2% gradient. Check out the pics of the "red floor".
• Fish 'n Chips - we ordered this on the Pier. The Halibut was breaded instead of battered so I was really disappointed by its taste. Plus it was like $9 (US) for 3 pieces of chips and 3 pieces of fries. The fries were gross (soggy) so we didn't even eat them.
  
• Unbelieveable traffic jams at 2pm. The traffic in and surrounding Seattle is horrendous. We were on an 8 lane freeway and it was back to back traffic at 2pm. We went to pick up some stuff for Chicky and basically drove out and back into Seattle twice.
• Seattle Premiere Outlet - have to do a bit of shopping before we go home! Chicky bought a lot of clothes. I didn't see any "great" deals for girls. I did pick up 2 pairs of Sketcher shoes though. Shopping in the US is better for guys - as there's not much stuff for them here.
• By the time we went home it was nearly 9pm. It was dark out and the traffic was backed up again. I took Chicky on a "scenic" detour. I was thinking that we'd try the Truck Crossing. So I pointed to Exit 256 - which had a sign that said Truck Crossing. We drove on that for awhile and I didn't recognize anything. Soon we saw a sign that said "Sumas". We knew we were lost but didn't know what to do - too late to turn around by then. So we drove on. I saw a sign that said "Abbotsford" (yah - a Canadian city) so I made Chicky turn around and follow it. Chicky found a "BC" plate to follow after that and I mused that this might not be a great strategy as the guy could be a US resident who has not surrendered his BC plates yet. So we drove through Sumas. There was one point where we saw a sign that said Mount Baker - uh oh...wrong way! After a long tour of duty - we saw city lights - yah! Finally got into Canada at nearly 11pm. I had to work early the next day.
• We had a late night dinner with KA and Michael. Both of us were tired and had to go to work the next day.
  

Moxie meeting

Last night I went out with some good friends for some yummy food and fun conversation. We went to Moxie's on Broadway. The ambience in the restaurant was . As the other posts from Shannan and Tanya - the bathroom was the best part of the restaurant. I took pictures of everything. Frank commented that I never leave home without my camera. I like taking pictures of the food I eat - more so then eating the product itself. See the rest of the pictures from Moxie's here.

attempted dog-napping

On Sunday night I came home and found out that Mui Mui was almost dog-napped! She had wandered out of the back yard when my dad was working in the yard and left the gate open. My mom was inside the house and heard her barking loudly. She looked out of the balcony and saw a van and 2 boys. One of them was saying "here doggy..." and was trying to lure Mui Mui towards the van. Luckily Mui Mui is a mean-little- doggie and doesn't like strangers (especially boys) so she was barking and backing up from them. My mom - startled by the whole situation - yells from the balcony "what are you doing? That my dog!". The kid looked up, panicked, and tried to grab MuiMui. She was too quick for him and ran around barking even louder. So my mom comes running out of my house barefeet and sceaming "that my dog" (in wild and frantic broken english). The kid that was on the lawn gave up and jumped into the van and they drove away - the neighbors were getting curious with all the noise. My mom grabbed Mui Mui and ran back into the house. I don't know if she was more upset at Mui Mui for leaving the backyard or the boys for trying to dog-nap her. :-) I was worried for Mui Mui but couldn't help but chuckle when imagining a little asian lady running across a lawn in her pjs and barefeet yelling at some punk asses in broken english. Knowing my mom - she was probably waving her arms franticly and shrieking.

family fun

This weekend was a bit hectic for Chicky and I. On friday night we had dinner at Thai Son and then went to see "Snakes On a Plane". Believe it or not but that movie was my pick. Chicky groaned but enjoyed the movie nevertheless. It's good action but don't expect too much of a story line.

On Saturday night Chicky had another dodgeball tournament. I played the supportive girlfriend and went along with him. I sat on the sidelines, cheered and took some pics. The room was really hot and the team didn't have any subs so everyone was tired. For some reason there were even more younger people at this tournament. I guess it's because it's a regular game and not a charity event. Chicky's team is called the "Blue Ballers". Team captain is Nick (Chicky's roommate). Hightlights of the night included the team's war cry of "no balls in the face!" prior to each game, one of the kids from team "Redemption" pulling a groin muscle and Chicky showing off his amazing acrobatic skills when he did a double summersault while try to dodge 2 balls. I was very impressed - too bad I didn't get a pic of that.

On sunday we went over to Michelle's house for her birthday bbq. She's looking great with her tummy bump. There were a lot of Michelle's family there - with all their kids. Chicky and I were bombarded with kids and babies - which of course turned everyone's attention on where our relationship is going. Lol - aren't family events fun?! On the fun side - I got to play with Avery and Brandon who were very good and friendly. Chicky and I also got our e-tickets for Singapore from his dad. We went over the itinery so that was fun. We will arrive in Singapore on a sunday at midnight. So now we have to book a hotel room for the night as I don't want to disturb his cousin. Chicky's parents offered drive up from Kula Lumpur to meet up with us. I gave Chicky "the look" when they said this. I'm not keen on spending every minute of our vacation with his parents. :-) I was hoping for a week on our own first before meeting up with them. We'll have to see as his mom wants to drive up more than his dad.

new camera release

So I was looking at the new release for the Canon Rebel XTi. It's an upgrade from the current Canon Rebel XT. I've been waiting for this release for a couple of months now (as I heard it on the grapevine months ago). I figured the release would lower the price of the current Rebel but it's only forcasted to go down by $100. The new model is suppose to be retailing for $899. Which is still under the $1000 mark. :-) I'm excited but I want to see what the reviews say about the upgrade - is it worth the extra $200 difference? Then again...what's $200 for 2 more megapixels right. Yes - I know...life is not about megapixels. Life is about splurging on gadgets!

from trashy to productive

I've been sleeping more and more on my commute. I don't think it's a lack of sleep as I'm getting into bed at a more decent time (around 10:30pm). Usually I read the 24 or one of the trashy magazines that my coworker offers to me.

I should go back to "reading" books. When I say reading, I mean listening to books. I did a whole series of audio books when I drove into work this summer. I was able to finish many great novels in a week. Much faster than traditional reading. Now that I have the IPaq - I should just copy some new audio books onto the SD card. In the past I useed my MP3 player to listen to music or books - but that's another item that my bag doesn't need. I still have many novels that I haven't listened to yet (there was a period of time when I went crazy with the downloading). :-) I like suspenseful stuff so it keeps me awake and wanting more!

more expectant parents

I just wanted to say congratulations to Betty & Hanif. They are expectant parents. Thier baby is due to arrive January 28, 2007.

Another congratulations to Jackie & Lim. They are expecting their second child at the end of March 2007.

Wow - that's 4 babies for me to visit for the first quarter of 2007! Lol - 2006 is not over yet so there is still time for more "announcements" from my other friends. Ahem...you know who you are! ;-P

congratulations Chris & Cindy

Today we had our monthy dim sum outing with the girls. There was only 3 of us that showed up this time but it was nice and intimate. I ordered WAY too much food though so we had to take leftovers home. My eyes are bigger than my tummy.

There was great news all around. First I would like to say "congratulations" to Chris and Cindy as they are expectant parents! Cindy looked so cute as her tummy has already begun to show (and she's only 3 months pregnant!). I'm looking forward to playing with another baby next year. Cindy's due date is mid-March 2007.

Josie and Jonathan are still working on renovating their new home - busy busy couple. Katarina is as adorable as ever. She's so chubby and cute! Makes me want to just pinch her cheeks - but I refrain in fear of the "wrath-of-Josie". Lol - I love to pick her up and carry her around though. I only get to see her once a month so try to shoot pictures whenever I can.

Charlene is moved into her condo and I got a chance to see it today. She lives in the Tamarisk building in the new Poloygon complex near my house. I can't believe she's less than 5 mins away from my house! So cool! It's a beautiful place and I'm sure she's loving the independance. I've been hinting that she should have a party so that everyone else can come over to see it. I'm looking forward to next months dim sum outing and catching up with everyone.

beach bbq

On Saturday I went down the Spanish Banks for a bbq on the beach. Shawn was in town so some of us wanted to see him. It was a gorgeous afternoon and not too hot. That morning I had went out for breakfast with Kevin K. at a restaurant called the Elbow Room. It was the strangest little place. The restaurant prides itself on how rude the waiters can be. There was a bit of cursing from the waiters as they took your orders. I found it quite amusing as the waiters were these old (and gay looking) men in flip flops and shorts. The food was good though - my meal was too big for me to gobble down by myself. Of course I had at snap a few shots of my food. You'll find them in my image gallery.

At the beach Toshiki had a bee sting him in the mouth - poor guy. Doctor Shawn provided great medical insight such as "are you allergic?" and "you'll live". Lol - he wasn't on duty. After that Toshiki's luck didn't seem to improve as he scraped his knee while playing volleyball.

The beach was fun, the food was great (the veggie burgers were pretty popular) and as always the company was the best. I had to go home and take a nap after all the excitment. I'm getting old! Lol...just can't party like I use to! Check out the beach pics.

blogging buddies

It appears that blogging is becoming quite popular within my group of friends. People that I thought wouldn't like the idea have now set up their own blogs to share their lives with the rest of us. New to the blog scene is Chris & Cindy. It's interesting reading other people's blogs and once in awhile getting to put in a few words to show that I'm interested.

wish I was cruising

I was sitting on the WestCoast Express this afternoon, waiting for the train to depart for home, when I decided to take out my camera and snap some shots of the cruise ship next to the station. Every summer these massive ships dock for a few days and it's always nice to see what types and size they come in (I like looking at the "structure" of things). It all makes me want to go on a cruise though. I think I would like to try one of those Carnival cruises. I heard it's more for the 'younger' crowd.

Today was silly picture taking day - took pictures of my lunch, cruise ship, coworkers and even the chair across from me in the train. Yes - I was bored. I should get a book or something to read. Ah...my daily 3 hour commute sure does give me time to ponder all kinds of superficial things. :-) Like what would happen if I just stood in the middle of one of the transit stations and took pictures of people/stuff around me. Would people react? Lol - the person sitting in the other aisle was curious as to what I was doing when I was taking pictures of the boat (from inside the train). I kept banging my camera lens into the window pane as I was preoccupied with looking at the LCD.

back to school shopping

I had a great time at Superstore tonight. So good that I'm going to blog about it! Lol - I love that store. Anyhow the fall semester is upon me and alas I must put on my "student" hat and play the part. It's been wonderful having 2 semesters off from school - yah...felt so good not to worry about homework, etc. But going back is exciting as well. I like the whole "back to school" shopping. I was amongst the youngsters there purusing the isles for the perfect binder, pens and accessories that would make me look 'cool'. ;-) I after trying out a few binders I decided to go with more versitality this year. I got a binder with a zipper and MANY pockets. I love storing stuff. All that school stuff made me want to visit a stationary store - I love stationary! Now all I need is a back-to-school-outfit. :-)

home sweet home

I just wanted to say congratulations to Josie and Jonathan on the purchase of their new townhouse. Richmond is an awesome place to live (close to Josie's parents). Looking forward to the house warming party after you guys are all settled in!

more gadgets?

I've been looking at dSLR cameras - in particular the Canon Rebel XT. I haven't quite justified buying it yet though. Chicky thinks I should just settle for the Canon S3 - as my need for "zoom" superceeds my lack in funds. The total cost of owning a dSLR is crazy - don't know how some of my friends can do it.

As I looked at CNET to see what's new in the world of gadgets (I'm a gadget whore) I came across a laptop that I want. The Lenovo 3000 V100. It's so PRETTY (and functional). I don't actually need a new laptop as the one I have works perfectly fine. I just like the idea of having something smaller that I can carry with me. Soon I'll need a super-large backpack to house all the gear that I lug around. :-) The iPAQ has been fun but I'm finding that it's weighing down my bag. On an average day I have my digital camera (which I never leave home without), wallet, change pouch, iPAQ, cell phone and all the other garbage that I've interpreted as "essential" to my daily commute.

I should stop it with the computer-hoarding. Some of my parents friends that have come to the house and wonder if us kids are crazy as we have more computers in the house than we do people! It's actually gotten really bad as we're starting to use MSN Messenger to talk to each other (from different rooms in the house). One day I'll have no social skills left and the only friends will be ones that have access to a computer. So you guys are my only friends! ;-)

Malaysia 2007

Last week Chicky and I bought our tickets to go to Malaysia! We depart on March 10, 2007 and return March 30th. Part of the trip will be spent with his parents but a majority of it will be just us. It's a nice 30th birthday present for the both of us. I'm really looking forward to it - another big trip to go on (South-East Asia part 2!). Plus it gives Chicky and I something to discuss in our leisure time. So far we've got airfare to Singapore and a place to stay in "KL". Now we just have to work out the details of where to stay (and for how long) in Singapore. Once we're done with Singapore - he and I have to make our way down to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with his parents. His parents will be in KL for the whole month of March - doing some family stuff. I think at the end March there is a memorial service for his late Grandmother in KL.

Yesterday Chicky said he wanted to drive from Singapore to KL; I cringed. I'm weary about his driving around town - don't know if I'd be keen on him driving us around in a foreign country. I don't have enough medical coverage! :-) I'm leaning towards taking a train to KL as I've never been on a train before. I'm all for an adventure. It's been a couple of years since Chicky and I went on vacation (last vacation was Puerto Vallarta) so it'll be interesting to see how we cope with each other.

One of the things I want to see in KL is the Petronas Towers. Maybe because they were in that movie Entrapment. I will research more things to do while in KL and Singapore as I don't know when I'll be able to visit those cities again.

Vancouver scenic city tour

On Sunday, August 13th Wilfred, Kevin K. and I participated in the MS Bike Tour. This year we did the short route (30km) instead of the usual 60km ride. It was nice to actually have other riders around us. :-) I think each time I've done the long ride - I've always managed to get lost in the Queen E. park area and end up finishing hours later. After a nice 3 hour ride we finished at Science World and congratulated each other on another successful event. Kevin has recently returned from a visit to Japan and all the talk about Japanese food made me crave it. We went to Gyoza King on Robson Street for lunch. The food was good and I've never been therefore too so it was even better.
While purusing the streets of Robson on a hot sunday afternoon - I couldn't help but walk pass the Lululemon store. To my delight Lululemon has purchased their own spokesbear. So infront of the store is one of the famous bear sculptures that you see litered across the downtown area. The Lulubear is wearing a classic yoga outfit. I couldn't help but be a tourist so I made the boys stop and take a picture of the bear and me. Because I got to indulge in my bear fun - we made a stop off at the Vancouver library for Wilfred's curiosity. That library is gorgeous. I would have loved to take some pictures of it's structure. But my camera's battery was almost dead and I wanted to conserve whatever power I had left incase I ran into a movie star on the way back to the car!

the BIG day

Sunday, August 6th

• didn't sleep at all (busy working on the photo slideshow)
• ran over to Betty's early in the morning for hair/makeup
• biggest accomplishment is having to parallel park the Durango (they rented 2 Durangos for the wedding) infront of her place in one try...YAH!! I'm ready for my own big-ass-SUV now!
• went back to Betty's townhouse for the tea ceremony
• played some games when Hanif and the boys came over to get Betty (nothing too big as we were rushed for time - as people were late showing up for the ceremony)
• "lateness" became a theme for the whole day...everything and everyone came late
• Betty made 4 outfit changes throughout the day
• Betty's most horrifying moment was at Queen E. - her white wedding dress busted. We had to do a quick pinning job in the middle of the park. Mental note to self....buy a wedding dress with a corset (string) back and not zipper...
• The wedding ceremony itself was 10 mins long - so strange. Reminded me of signing papers at a judges office.
• Bello Wedding World provided the hair/makeup/photography and videography for the whole day. 2 photographers was nice. Video guy was taking all kinds of shots.
• it was SUPER hot that day - we were melting in the garden of the temple (where the wedding ceremony was held)
• near-death-experiences along Kingsway as the Durangos raced each other (with wedding party members hanging out of windows/sunroofs)...take a look at the pictures...
  
• chaos at the reception - no seating plan...Betty's mom "winged" it and walked people into the room and put them where she thought they would like to sit
• no projector at the reception...so my 4 days work on that slideshow went to complete waste (I'm going to revise it and give it to her as a gift)
• the reception was held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond - the facility is brand new so the ballroom was really beautiful
• wedding reception went pretty smooth considering all the things that were not taken care of or missing
• Betty had belly dancers entertain the guests at one point in dinner - very cool and sexy to watch
  
• Noella (Betty's friend) coordinated most of the wedding (Betty forgot to thank her in Hanif's speech - OUCH!)
• Hanif's side of the family sure are partiers! They danced the night away to indian music. The DJ was this lady - good spinner.
• hour 36 without sleep and I was still going strong (thank good for Red Bull and all the caffeine I had ingested)...come hour 40 I began to yawn and wanted to sit more often :-)
  

separate parties

Friday, August 4th

• priorities for the day included talking to my co-MC to work out some kind of schedule for the reception
• learning that Rahim (the other MC) wanted to do an indian skit and that I would play a part in it...time to break out the Hindi-movie-moves!
• that night Hanif's mom hosted a big Mehndi party for Hanif's side of the family. Betty didn't attend (she wasn't invited either).
  

Saturday, August 5th

• Betty's mom to host a big dinner party at Dai Tung chinese restaurant. Hanif wasn't invited to this either.
  
• There were 6 tables of people and we ate tons of food. Chicky and I sat with the main bridal party. He thought that he had scored big time by sitting with all the girls but he was wrong. These girls ate more than he did.
  
• Our table even started stealing food from other tables that couldn't keep up. Yup - at one point in the night Chicky asked some of the girls how they ever managed to get boyfriends (because they were pigs!). :-P But it was fun that everyone can eat. Fighting over food is much more fun than sitting there quietly and staring at it.
  
• Realistically we took a lot of the food back to my house for the all-night-poker-game that was about to commence.
• The hubbies and boyfriends played poker at my house till 7am (Sunday - wedding day).
  
• I was suppose to sleep over at Betty's but spent the night on the phone with Rahim working out the glitches to the schedule then finishing Betty's powerpoint show.
• I'm really proud of the powerpoint show. I used MemoriesOnTv - it's a good piece of software and has wonderful transitions and zooming. I recommend it for others who want to do photo slideshows.

bridal shower bash

On Thursday night I hosted a bridal shower bash for Miss. (Betty) Boo. It was nice to see the girls come out. Lots of family friends I haven't seen in like YEARS! Sort of a Vietnamese Saskatoon reunion. We ATE and ATE and ATE. So much food! Basically a repeat of their engagement party. Boy can Jackie and Pauline cook! Then we played some games - the usual stuff. Everyone had fun. After the bridal shower officially ended - family members stuck around to watch Betty get her henna done. Hanif's aunt didn't come till midnight. By the time she was finished with Betty's hands - it was 2am. We quickly each had one hand done then went home as it was nearly 4am and we couldn't wait for the lady to finish Betty's feet. Having the henna done was a great experience. I like indulging in other people's customs. The color on my henna came out nice as well - very dark. Check out the image gallery for pics.

Congratulations Betty & Hanif

Betty and Hanif got married on Sunday, August 6, 2006. Congratulations to the both of them!

It was a fun and chaotic party - just like those 2. We started the partying on Thursday last week and it didn't end till early Monday morning. :-) I'm still recovering from the festivities. I think I slept a total of like 6 hours in 3 days. There was a lot of food and family for the last 5 days. Entertaining guests from abroad, etc.

Don't forget to check out the image gallery for some pictures from the wedding. I haven't had a chance to put them all up yet so give me some time. :-) Don't worry - I'll just put up a few to highlight some of the events that occurred.

There's too much to tell about the wedding so I'll break it down into smaller posts.

emotionally detached

I feel emotionally detached lately - well...more so then I usually am. Of the girls in the group - I don't think I'm the one you would run to if you needed someone to cry with or share your emotions with. This week a friend has been reaching out for someone to "be there" for her and I feel like I've failed her. I feel so sad for her but I don't know what to do. I don't believe in sitting around and having crying-fests but there are certain friends that don't like doing things when they are depressed. My strategies for coping with stress are different from those around me so when I'm confronted with a friend who needs emotional help and is turning to me for it - I feel like I have to do something. But what? My daily life revolves about being objective and hearing all the facts before making an informative decision. I live in a box and can't think outside of it. I feel that when I try to be supportive, I end up not fulfilling their need for comfort but just aggrevating the situation even more. I will always be there for all my girls and they know that they can count on me for getting things done. Ah - it breaks my heart to see her so sad. I wish there was something that I could say or do that would brighten her spirits.

new bloggers

I guess more people are interested in blogging these days. :-) It's a great communication tool for those of us who are unable to keep in touch on a regular basis. I just want to let you know about 2 new bloggers. I've added them to my Friend Finder links.

Charlene - just moved into her new place! Congratulations to her. I suppose this is the beginning of her 'new life'. It will be interesting to see what types of adventures she'll be up to now.

Kim Anh - has set up a blog dedicated to her wedding planning. It's communication central for the wedding party and any friends who are interested in seeing where the planning has gone so far. I must say KA is very organized (must run in the family) and I have no doubts that her wedding next year will go smoothly.

looking mighty sexy

So my bruise is not healing as fast as I would like it to. Instead it has manifested into an ugly (and noticeable) work of art on my calf. Betty's wedding is next weekend and I'll be showing off my leg to out-of-towners while trying to look "girlie" in my dress. Now they can all point out how tall I am and that I have something on my leg. Then again it should spark some interesting conversation. They will ask "how did you get that?!" and point at my ugly leg. In which I'll get to respond with "while doing Yoga!" :-) Didn't you know? Yoga is a full contact sport!

non genuine Windows warning

Do you ever have those days when you say to yourself - "Duh! I should have done it the legit way!" Well if you were me; then that statement would be a permanent part of your vocabulary. As a pretend-techie I pride myself on finding the most "creative" ways of acquiring technology. This includes having an array of software that didn't come from a store.

Yesterday my laptop decided to install a Windows Update which in turn caused it to have the notorious "non genuine Windows" warning message. If you have this message - here's how to get rid of it. The funny part of it all is that the "fix" actually comes off of Microsoft's own Knowledge Base.

I like the message though:

This copy of Windows is not genuine.
You may be the victim of software counterfeiting.

Yah! I'm the "victim" here. :-) Will that work in court?!

your 2 cents worth

Since there have been more people viewing my blogs. I'm now going to allow you guys to comment on the stuff I post. So what's your 2 cents worth?

a little birdie told me

On the way to do the Grouse Grind today - I came across a girl with a bird. I thought the bird was so pretty so I asked her if I could take a picture with it. Amazingly the bird was really tame and had it's wings clipped so it couldn't fly away.

The Grind was brutal today. I felt really unmotivated to go and while doing it felt as if all my energy was drained from the weekend. I was still recovering from Saturday. After the dodgeball tournament Saturday - I came home to a house full of people. It was most of the couples from the BBQ. The girls were in full wedding talk - as 3 of them were brides-to-be. The guys opted to amuse themselves with poker. So of course that being said - everyone was up till 6am the next day playing poker. We didn't sleep very much on the weekend - maybe a couple of hours at most. One of the people at the house was Jason - who turned out to be Cindy's old classmate from SFU. He's now a friend of Michael. What a small world.

summer hits

On Saturday night Chicky and I participated in another dodgeball tournament. We played on separate teams. I played with "Fire in the Hole" while Chicky played on "The Blue Ballers". We had a fun time in the gym. The heat was overwhelming (almost comparable to hot yoga) but the enthusiam never wavered. The Blue Ballers won the Most Spirited Team award (earning them another gift certificate to a restaurant). We had a couple of new players on my team - including Wyn's sister and Clay. The Blue Ballers did well and made it through the playoffs coming in 3rd place. Hopefully we'll see more friends come join us in some dodgeball fun.

Lakeside party

On Saturday we celebrated KA and Michael's engagement party at Cultus Lake. It was a gorgeous day and the party was great. There was lots of food, games and guests. We had it pretty organized. KA, Michael, mom and I spent most of friday night and (really) Saturday morning cooking food for the party. It was BBQ style but there were some side dishes that we had made as well. Check out the party pictures.

protruding parts

Our yoga instructor yesterday thought that it would be a good idea to start practicing our hand stands on our own (using the wall to brace us). The level 1 classes have been populated with more and more advanced students who want to "kick it up a notch". :-( So Rav and I were weary about all this (as we can't even do the hand stands with partners!).

Anyhow I took another bad tumble - this time around instead of plow-driving my head into the ground (as usual) - my legs went all over the place and I must have come down at a bad angle. Obviously I get headrushes from handstands so I was a bit stunned. :-) I sat there for awhile and caught my breath. Then took a survey of my legs as I felt a burning sensation. This doesn't really phase me as the room is already near 50 degrees celcius and I'm feeling the burn all over. My leg looked kind of funny - one side of my calf was puffed out. So I stretched out my other leg next to it to compare. There was something definitely wrong with my left calf muscle - there was a huge bulge near my knee. Not a good sign. Oh no! It's my "bad" (snowboarding accident) leg - which already looks funny as the ankle bone doesn't stick out like it does on my right leg. I'm lop sided!! I showed Rav my leg - he said "what the hell?!?". So I didn't know what to do but to massage the muscle back into place and continue with the yoga session.

The bulge is gone but in it's place is a nasty looking bruise. I figure it will be palm size by the time it "fills in". It's still a bit tender so I wince when something presses against it. Thank goodness my bridesmaid dress is long! I think Betty would KILL me if I was sporting an ugly bruise for the wedding. :-)

big birthdays

On saturday we celebrated Charlene's 30th birthday. 30 is a good time to re-evaluate what's going on in your life. :-) I think I want to spend my 30th birthday traveling. I figure if I'm not married, having kids, buying a home or meeting a new man then I might as well have a list of interesting places that I've travelled too. Check out my image gallery for pictures from the party.

signs signs everywhere are signs...

There were some new signs on the Grouse Grind today. The quarter markers are much more visable now - big blue squares nailed to tall trees. Probably a good idea so that people will know exactly where they are on the mountain.

Unfortunately none of the signs were encouraging. The one at the base of the mountain now boasts "you must be physically fit before attempting the Grouse Grind" - well...doesn't that just make you want to go forward?! I read that sign after looking at the "last bear/cougar sighting at..." sign. :-) If the hike doesn't kill you, then the critters will.

At the quarter mark - when you've realized that the hike is not a walk in the park - another unencouraging sign pops up. If you can't read the sign in the picture above, the last 2 paragraphs say:

"The remainder of the trail is extremely steep and difficult. Proceed at your own risk."

I think they need to employ motivational speakers to re-write some of those signs.

OFF TOPIC: There was a girl on the trail behind me that said "Hi Kim!" when I turned around to see where my hiking buddy had run off to. I had no clue who she was. She turned to her companion and said "I went to SFU with Kim" (I think she did that for my benefit as well as I must have been sporting the dumb founded look on my face). It's amazing how people remember names and how I'm plain out awful at it. After walking with her for a bit I didn't get her name - again my bad. All I know is that she's some spunky chinese girl from one of my biology classes 10 years ago. Her laugh is very distinct (in an evil witch/warlock kind of way) so it did trigger some memory but not enough to form a name for her. Oh well...just goes to show that I've got to work on my people-skills some more.

Gung Ho

Today I have been working on my social club duties. For the corporate club - I researched into go carting and white water rafting. The social club for the corporation has more funds for me to play with. I also finished my book Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard. This book has the same name as our departmental social club. My department has low enthusiam for anything. Whether it's work or one another. It makes our high stress jobs even more unbearable some days. But I've been actively looking for ways to improve that. Right now my ideas are coming from management books. Guess where my career path might go?!

I went over to Lougheed Mall today and bought some decorations for the luau potluck that we're going to have next week. The departmental social club has limited funds (mostly supplimented by our recycling program) so I shop at dollar stores for all their "goodies". I don't feel that social eventhough I chair one committee and belong to the executive of another. I think I just like to plan stuff and that's what keeps me on these teams. :-) I'll be peer pressuring my friends to attend some of these larger events with me though so it should be good. I had a great idea to lure in new members to the club - offering them cheap movie tickets. Yup - I'm now going to be a movie ticket supplier. Before I was just a mass buyer (as I see at least one movie in the theatre a week). With the middle man out of the picture - I have unlimited access to the tickets. Only crappy part is that I'm buying 300 of them at a time - quite the pinch on the wallet. Oh well - all for a good cause I suppose. Too bad we can't make our social club members sign 2 year contracts. :-) But my task is to increase new membership - not keep the ones we already have. One step at a time....

ranting lunatic

I just wrote a REALLY long blog under this title but I hit the wrong button and now it's all gone. Boohoo! Maybe it's a sign that I need to flush it out of my system. Anyhow - I'll give you the Coles Notes version. Here goes. Tonight I got into a tiff with some dumbass man who parked his car too close to mine at the Fitness World in Coquitlam. He ended up putting an impression of his plate into my vehicle. In my rage over having my car damaged, I was on a quest to hunt down the driver and MURDER him. Unlucky for him I spotted him by accident as I was leaving Fitness World (I went in there to have him paged). Anyhow I sprinted across the parking lot, created a huge scene (imagine a tall asian girl that knows how to project her voice crusing at a short white man who had an immigrant look to him). Obviously playing the crazy-lunatic got me nowhere (though it did serve to get my adrenaline pumping and make me talk faster and louder). The conversation with him only proved to make me angrier. He reacted to my behaviour and the situation escalated. He and I exchanged many not too friendly words which I won't repeat as this is a G-rated site. There was more than once where I imagined myself slamming his head against my bumper because he didn't "see" the damage. I think a more "up close and personal" look may have changed his mind! I didn't have the fore thought to take a picture of his car against mine. Which is silly as I carry my camera with me everywhere (for just these kinds of moments). In the heat of the moment I lose all sense of logic and go on pure emotion. This is not very good as I tend to have thoughts of violence when it comes to people vandalizing my car. Must be emotional baggage from the numerous times the Civic damaged in the past. Mental note to yourself here: don't mess with my car if you don't want to deal with Krazy-Kim. So now it's going to be in the hands of ICBC to determine whether or not he will be liable for the damages. Realistically I don't think I will fix the bumper if he doesn't fess up. I'm not going to put out money unnecessarily. I'm just disappointed as this car is not even a year old and I might be filing a claim against it. I don't want it to have the same claims-track-record as my Civic. :-( I think I was the only person in my group of friends with the highest number of claims against a 5 year old vehicle - the poor Civic. The Civic as bad luck (but GREAT on gas)...this car is suppose to be my good luck charm. :-)

baby world

I had dim sum with the girls on sunday. It's a monthly thing that I like to do just to keep in touch with them. We're getting older and everyone is in different stages of their lives so it's nice to just catch up on a monthly basis. Plus getting together gives me (and the others) a chance to see Katarina (Josie's daughter). She's the first baby in this group. She's such a cutie pie! :-) Makes me want to have a baby too! These last 2 days I've been feeling my maternal clock ticking. I'm not the only one though - Cindy is in the process of trying to get pregnant so I'm expecting to hear "good news" anytime soon now.

I went to visit Brandon on Sunday as well and it was good to see that he's doing better. He's growing up so fast as well. He's now 5 months old and getting ready to crawl. I didn't have a chance to take a picture of him though. Before I know it - these 2 kids will be running around. It makes me miss the old days when Angelina was a baby and we would get to play with her a lot. Now Angelina is a little girl (age 7) and has a personality of her own. She is no longer mesmerized by us. Sometimes she prefers her little friends over us too!! Ah...Baby (I still call her that) is getting so old now - soon she's going to be giving me fashion advice. :-) She's quite the girlie-girl.

To counter balance the baby-booming couples are the newly-in-love couples (such as Tanya and Charlene). It's refreshing to hear their stories about the men in their lives. I'm always grinning when I see the excitement in their eyes when they talk about what or where they've gone to with their beaus. I'm really happy for them as well. Charlene is taking the fast lane into her new life. She's in the process of purchasing a townhouse. She did well with the sale of her last place so it's a good time to buy into something and start over again.

Last but not least - I just wanted to say congratulations to Andy and Michelle Wong. They are expecting their first baby in February 2007. Chicky's family is super happy and looking forward to another grandchild to play with Brandon.

Varekai

I went to see Cirque Du Soleil - Varekai this week. The show was spectacular! I was awed by the amazing acrobatics, contortions, areals, and music. It was the first time I've seen a Cirque Du Soleil show so I didn't know what to expect. We watched the show inside a giant tent so that was pretty cool. They didn't allow pictures in the area but I snuck in a few on the outside of the tent. I don't want to say too much about the show incase you're going to see it soon. But I would highly recommend that you experience a Cirque show if you've never seen one before - well worth the money!

a fishy story

Chicky went fishing at his company's resort the last 2 days. It looked like he had a great time and the resort was beautiful (in the pictures that he brought back). We're so proud - he caught some salmon (14lb, 18lb and 20lb). He was sweet enough to share the fillets with his coworkers, friends and family - there was enough to go around. So it's time to throw a salmon on the bbq!