enjoying the little things in life

It's been a long week full of projects and event planning at work. Haven't had much time to catch up with friends or blogging. Today I brought the camera into work work to give myself an opportunity to get away from my desk at lunch. I have an awful habit of sitting at my desk and eating lunch. This is basically an open invitation for people to come by and ask me to "help" them with something. I think it's because my lunch is so EARLY (10am) that people don't realize that I'm actually on "lunch" and not just taking a coffee break. :-)

Not too much is served at that time in the morning and the parks are quiet. A great opportunity for walking around and looking at stuff without being bothered. Some kids from a pre-school group were running through the playground in the park next to my work building. They all had matching red hats. A very symetrical and bright group. I would have taken a picture but thought twice about it - the probability of an angry parent asking me why I was taking pictures of small children without their permission wasn't my idea of a "relaxing" time. I've seen other pre-school groups tour the Lonsdale Quay area in the past - some groups had outfits that were worthy of a picture. But then again - pictures of children is always a topic that one must approach with caution. :-) I've loaded some of today's pictures into my album - feel free to take a peek.

Tonight I read Shannon's blog about losing a family dog. I felt bad her and their family. There have been a couple of "close calls" for Mui Mui and it would have been heart breaking if we had lost her those times. Mui Mui was running around so I took a few snaps of her - probably out of parental guilt. My dad was BBQing in the yard so we rolled around in the grass for a bit - evading "preparing for dinner" duties. Not too long in the grass though as it's such a pain in the ass to wash Mui Mui (over an hour process!).

I saw a documentary on Discovery Channel (one of my favorite channels) about a hand raised polar bear. He was SO cute when he was a baby! Totally reminded me of Mui when she was a pup. Too bad I didn't take more pictures back then. She was a little ball of white fluff. Absolutely ADORABLE! She's still little enough now to pass for a puppy if need be. Time to ask Santa for a new puppy!!!

weekend blitz

On Saturday I decided take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar by accompanying my coworker for a trip down to the outlet malls. Together with KA & Mike, we head out early intending to beat the morning rush. Pulling up to the truck crossing - the sign said it would be a 90 minute wait. Sure - we were already there - no sense in turning back. Well - 90 minutes their time was actually 3.5 hours! By that time we were too far into the line to get out. So instead of having lots of time - we went across, had a late lunch (as we were STARVING!). Then it was off to the Seattle Premium Outlet for a quick look then back to the car. We were anticipating an equally long wait to get back into Canada. Luckily the line up was much shorter - guess Canada customs aren't that strict!

Sunday I just vegged in the house as it had been a long week at work and late night movies with Chicky had me pooped. It was nice though to just bum around, eat lunch then continue our movie fest.

Coquitlam Clan

So Coquitlam is where it's at! Many friends and family are moving into our neighborhood. Congratulations to Betty & Hanif who has boughten (another) home closer to my house. :-) That's one couple who must love making life changing decisions. Lol - lots of changes to their lives in the last year. They haven't even had a house warming party for their current home and now they're moving again. I guess the good thing is that the good part it is that they don't have to unpack!

bed buddies

As I am sitting in bed reading the latest issue of 24 - something hops onto the page! Naturally I screeched, dropped the paper and leaped out of bed. Upon hesitant investigation - the culprit turned out to be a green grasshopper. So gross! EWWW!!! It was a reputable size - nothing like the locuses of Saskatoon but a contender none the less. Either awed by grossness or the sheer need to document my life pictorially - I whipped out the camera and took a picture of it. :-) I then quelled my inner child from wanting to squash the bug and tried some macro shots. I don't have a macro lens so I tried the technique of inversing the lens and moving backwards/forwards to focus. This causes the lens to bump against the grasshopper's antennae which makes it scurry out of the frame - which then results in momentary panic attacks and a yelps as I quickly back away and look for it. Fear of it jumping towards or onto me keeps me from getting too close. Bugs make such bad camera subjects as they want to run away - what I would do for a big sewing pin! Muahaaa...I have such morbid thoughts. It took every ounce of dicipline to refrain from picking up a tissue and ending it's adventures on my bed! When the novelty wore off - I set the grasshopper free through my window. I then closed the window and pondered what other creatures are living in/under my bed that I haven't "discovered" yet. Too scary to even imagine right now - ignorance is bliss! That's what you get for having windows without screens...

alternatives

In the quest to fine tune my laptop - I've encountered frustrations with iTunes. The product is good for a "first time" type of installation but is unfriendly for situations where you wipe out all the music on the computer and want to transfer them from the iPod back to the PC. iTunes doesn't like that - it considers it as "copying" from another iPod and that's a no-no (probably adhering to some built in copy-right law thing). Plus I'm simplistic and prefer interfaces that are "intuitive". One feature I wish iTunes had was the ability to "search computer for media" to add to the iTunes library. The only way to add new music is to manually select the file or folder from the Windows Explorer.

So what's a girl to do? Lol - well...in my case...if something doesn't work with me - I get rid of it. So bye-bye iTunes - hello what? In need of help? Call on the mighty powers of Google!

Found some forum boards that discussed various skins - nothing substantial. Then came across someone's blog site that did a review on iPod managing software. Check it out:
http://ipodmanagers.blogspot.com/

Now it's time to download....

University Women's Club of Vancouver

Chicky and I attended his coworker's wedding at Hycroft today. The wedding was beautiful - location, food and decor. They had a great blend of Indian and Jamaican traditions. The ceremony and reception was at one location so it was nice - we didn't have to drive around. Only thing was that we had to kill 2 hours between the ceremony and reception. Didn't know too many people there so Chicky and I amused ourselves with taking pictures around the garden/mansion. :-) Good thing we had the camera! I'll load the pictures later.

The food was great - the appetizers that they served to the guests while we waited was delicious (worthy of a couple snapshot!). The open bar helped many other guests pass their time. I really like the decoration of the reception - the primary flower of the wedding was orchids. They were splattered everywhere you turned (even on the ground along the aisle to create an orchid border). :-) I think I'll have to steal some of those decor ideas! Dinner, like the rest of the wedding, was posh. Our plates were about 3X larger than the food that was in it. :-) Chicky was starving but he had filled up a bit on lamb chops prior to dinner (I think he was stalking the lamb chop waiter!). I had a good amount of appetizers before the reception so I didn't mind the portions at dinner either - the appetizers were too good to pass up! Chicky and I aren't drinkers so we didn't get to enjoy the martini lounge, etc. I had a glass of wine and champagne - that was enough for me. Weddings are so emotional. Krishna was teary while doing her vows and Jason tried to make it funny. But then when it came time to do their thank you speech - Jason was in tears and Krishna had to take over. :-) It reminded me of KA & Mike's wedding weeks before - so much emotion from those two as well. I have no doubt that I will probably cry at my own wedding - as I get all teary at other people's!

Monet to Dalí

Henri Fantin-Latour

Marie-Yolande de Fitz-James, 1867

Tonight I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery with a couple of coworkers to see the Monet to Dali exhibit. :-) Every now and then I like to get in some "culture". The paintings were primarily from the "impressionist" era. I like this one as the detail is magnificient (like a photograph but an oil painting instead). Dali's stuff was a bit weird - surealism...he's got some pretty freaky looking "dream" sequences. Makes you wonder what an artist's state of mind is when they create their "work". I enjoyed the history behind the art and reading about the life of the painters as well. Many were eccentric and didn't become "famous" till long after their deaths. The last time I went to the Gallery was in 2002 for the "Carr, O'Keeffe, Kahlo: Places of Their Own" exhibit.

After indulging in the art and gift stores - we headed over to Robson street to join the locals in some shopping therapy. Then it was off to fill our tummies with sushi. After that we stopped by Robson Square to check out the UBC dance club strut their stuff. BC's top ballroom dancers were there as well doing a demonstration. It's amazing how they glided across the floor. Again - another opportunity to take action dance pictures...but no big camera. Sarah and Sillian - wonderful dancers/performers. I was mesmerized by the gown she wore for the waltz and he looked pretty sharp in his tails. Makes me want to buy tickets to the 2008 Snowball Classics! Lol - now...to convince Chicky to go.

After 2 hours of hanging out near Robson Square, I was in full dance mode and had all kinds of ideas on how to revive the interest within the group. That or impose my interests on others at work! :-) Maybe the social club could put together a little dance group! On top of the entertainment from the ballroom dancers, there was a lady who was performing on the side with glow-in-the-dark hula hoops. She performed like a Cirque Du Soleil gymnist. :-) She had other props as well that she could twirl/throw/swing with ease. Behind us on the steps were people from Sprint taking picture for an ad. We noticed them as there as a girl dressed like a ninja runing back and forth with a mini flashlight. A strange thing to see if you're not use to it. At first I thought it was a photography class (as we did something similar to that in my photography class). I explained what the photographers were trying to capture to my coworkers (light waves only - hence why the girl was in black and RUNNING around - only still objects are exposed and thus seen on the pic).

picture this

Tracey came over tonight to hang out. We took some pictures of her wedding ring and shoes for fun. :-) It's good to hear that her wedding plans are on track. She's got lots of good ideas for the wedding and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action. I may have convinced her to buy a bigger camera as she interested in taking more pictures. Realistically - I think the little cameras take more pictures as they are more readily available. :-) Nevertheless - I didn't refrain from promoting a super-zoom camera for her needs. Who knows...maybe she'll get one later!

fire in the sky

The commute to work was even slower this morning. I discovered that the smoke in the air was from a fire burning at the corner of Hastings & Willingdon. I felt so bad as that's where my parent's friend's jewelery store is. Poor Chu Paul. On the way home from work the firefighters were still working on controlling the cinders. As I drove up to the intersection I saw a firefighter manning one of those huge water guns. He was at the top of a SUPER long ladder aiming the gun across the sky - a very cool image. So I quickly whipped open my purse, grabbed my baby camera and took a picture as I drove by. :-) I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't crash into the car infront of me while I did this. :-) I did get a funny grin from the driver next to me as he saw what I was trying to take a picture of. I wish I had the bigger camera with me and time to pull over to get the whole water stream.

ms bike tour

2007 MS Rona Bike Tour

This is my 4th consecutive year participating in the MS Rona Bike Tour benefiting the MS Society. As always it's a last minute decision to do so. Last night I pulled out my bike from the corner of the garage and cleaned the cobwebs off of it. I truly believe that I own that bike for the sole purpose of this event. :-) Training? None needed. This year Tracey joined us in the ride. This is Frank and Kevin G's second year riding. Everyone did a marvelous job. I was very proud of Kevin who improved in endurance - he actually survived the UBC hill. Tracey rode equally well for her first year. The weather was perfect this morning - cloudy with a hint of rain. It made the ride cool and enjoyable. We opted not to do the 60km route this year as it took too long last year (those that did it with me that is). I don't know if I'll continue with this tradition as the commitment for participation has increased (to a mandatory $100/rider). :-) Too many charities to give to - have to spread out what little "extra" money I have. Plus the number of friends still interested in riding is diminishing (either a lack of interest of a lack of a bike). Mother nature was kind to us as well. When we were hungry and took a detour off Broadway to find food - the rain started coming down. The monsoon didn't hit us till we were under the safety of the Steamrollers canopy enjoying some much needed grub. After we finished our wraps - the sun came out and it was time to ride again!

maple ridge campsite

This weekend my sisters and I went camping at Golden Ears in Maple Ridge. Technically we were at the base of Golden Ears as it's the long weekend and we weren't able to get 2 campsites in the main park.

It was wonderful weather for some good old fashion tenting. The location was about 45 mins away from home so Chicky and I only slept in our tent one night. The rest of the time we drove back to the site to bbq. Carol's tent was the most impressive with it's remote control interior light and a mattress made for a king! :-) The washrooms near the site were consistently cleaned so it made "camping" much more enjoyable.

We spent most of the weekend eating, playing cards and playing badminton. It was nice to get in at least one family camping trip before season's end.

rainy day bbqs

Yesterday the kids and I figured we'd head out to Cultus Lake for our annual family bbq. Mother nature didn't agree with us. When we woke up - the rain was coming down! This really sucked as I was looking forward to lying on the grass and engoring myself with food.

We headed over to Betty & Hanif's new condo instead. They've just moved in and are still in the process of unpacking. How sweet of them to host us. The condo is really nice - it has a great view and I love the floor to ceiling windows. Plus the convenient part is that they are across the street from their old place so they can run back and forth between locations.

This weekend I had an impromptu garage sale as well. Was trying to clear out a basement full of furniture so that the students can move in. Thomas and Doreen (the students) stopped by on Saturday to get keys, etc. This was the first time I met Doreen. During small talk I found out she's in grade 11!!! My mouth almost dropped to the floor. I knew Thomas was young (19) but thought his girlfriend would be the same age. So I had to get her parents information as she's under age. The last thing I need is some old east indian man banging on my door wondering where his daughter is. :-) It should be interesting with this couple. They've only been dating and now they've moved in with each other. Plus she starts grade 12 next year. Wow - so young! Oh well - as long as they are good kids - that's all I care about.

The sun is starting to shine. I crave outdoor activities but haven't had a chance to plan a hike or something. Maybe our next girls outing will be a stroll around the lake. :-)

a quick glance

Hundreds of pictures from multiple cameras to filter through. :-) Family weddings are always amusing. So much sorting and organizing to do. I took a stab at loading a few pics tonight. These are only the ones that Chicky took. Just posted 50 pictures out of 300 that he took. Have a peek at my web album if you like. I'll see if I can load the "professional" pictures on the weekend. KA is ahead of the game and has already printed many copies of pictures from the family cameras to give to the "important" out-of-town guests. Lucky for them! :-)

some R&R

Whew! The last of the overseas family has gone home today. As much as I love having the extended family around - they were emotionally and physically draining . :-) I can now put away my ear plugs and sleep "normally". The weekend was very hectic with family dinners and going to Nick & Lisa's engagement party. Lisa's family hosted it at their beautiful home in West Vancouver. The couple are to be married New Year's Eve 2007. Chicky is one of the groomsmen. He's happy to get to share in the celebration. It's amusing to see the friendship dynamic that he has with Nick & Lisa. They are close and tend to joke around with each other - not the same way that Chris does with him but equally amusing. The most popular question to Chicky that night was "when are you moving?" :-) I think he has pressure to find a place soon (before Nick's wedding). Who knows - maybe he'll even cave in and move back to Coquitlam. That would save us from commuting back and forth on the weekends. He's resistant though as he currently enjoys the short commute to Richmond and is unwilling to sacrifice it to be closer to friends/family.

Now the "fun" part begins. We have till the weekend to clean and organize the house. The kids that are renting next semester move in on the weekend and right now it's a mess down there. Did I tell you that the next set of kids is a couple that is 18 years old, works at the mall and have only known each other for a year. :-) They're going to have a rude awakening with living each other for the first time! Oh well - that's the life when you rent to students. Plus I've got furniture coming out of my ears! :-) I think the cars will have to be evicted from the garage just so that we can store some of the furniture. Anyone interested in turning their home into an IKEA showroom?!

exciting news!

We're going to have a baby join the family! That's right folks. Carol and Minh announced on Saturday night that they're expecting! Wow! That's so cool. Carol didn't want to steal Kim Anh's thunder by announcing before the wedding. So nice of her. :-) Carol is 4 months pregnant. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet - she's going to find out as it's her second child. Congratulations to their family!!

More good news - on top of being an expecting mom, Carol has also won a scholarship to the Registered Nursing program at her school. Beating out 124 applicants - what a smart cookie! So she'll be leaving the Licensing Practical Nursing program (which is too bad as she's only weeks from completing the program) and going up the medical-totem-pole to hang out with the RN's. Of course this won't start till after the baby is born. I'm very proud of Carol and all that she has accomplished. She's had her share of life challenges but has managed to make the best of every situation and not only excels at all that she endeavors but also exceeds the expectations of others. I don't think many of her peers can say that they've accomplished as much in a short period of time. Good job Carol!

That being said there's been more added pressure from the visiting family for me to "do something with my life". Lol - apparently not being married, being a nurse, owning a home or having kids is a "bad" thing. Both of my sisters have set the bar pretty high and it's going to be a challenge to be par to them. Doh! I'll just have to bask in their glory for now. :-) I love them both to death and am happy to be able to be there to share in all the happy moments. Can't wait to play with the baby!!

Club ESL

My family from Hawaii is still with us. We've been trying to entertain them long after the wedding. My dad took my uncle and aunt to Prince George to visit some other cousins. Their son decided to stay behind. I've been trying to keep Nong - my cousin - entertained. Poor guy has been living on the internet since arriving here. He's thankful we're fully equipped to entertain him electronically!

Since going back to work this week, Nong has been at the mercy of the old people. He's 20 and gets restless. Thursday night I was fixing the computer downstairs and looked over to see him dying in boredom. I had taken down the internet for a day to fix it and forgot to tell him. So he had nothing to play with for a whole day. Plus he was stuck with my mom all day, who was 'mothering' him. :-) Feeling sorry for the guy, I look up and said "let's do something fun!" His eyes lite up. I'm pretty much pooped after work so I didn't know what to do. Good thing there's Google! I went searching for something that would appeal to his age group.

Well - Thursday nights are "international student night" at Aubar. Perfect...a bunch of kids that don't speak english well. He should fit in just fine. We headed out to the club at 9pm. I haven't been clubbing in AGES! Things have changed. We lined up for 1.5 hours. Thank goodness it wasn't raining. I tried to be social and spark up conversations with the people around us. There were so many languages being spoken. It was so interesting! I love hearing other languages. We befriended an italian girl and 2 mexican guys. While in line ClubESL was trying to sell tours to everyone. Another interesting thing was the dress code. Some people looked like students - backpacks and all. All the way to girls decked in true "clubbing/trashy" gear. Aubar had cheap drinks so it appealed to all the students. Lol - after talking to some of them - I found that my english began to degrade. At one point I was pretending to be an international student as well just so that we'd blend in. :-) My goodness...I felt like their den mom! So many YOUNG kids!!! Hahaa....

Once inside I showed Nong how to do some shooters and dance it up on the dance floor. I was a bit concerned about parking and having to work in a few hours. :-) Living on the edge...only need 2 hours of sleep before work! The music was a bit hard to dance to - trance mixed with latin music. Plus Nong felt awkward. Hahaaa...don't know how cool it is to go clubbing with your older cousin and trying to meet girls. :-) I tried to get in with some Japanese girls for him but they were snobby and didn't want to talk to me - too bad for him! After 45 mins inside we called it a night.

wedding bliss

A year of preparation has accumulated to this weekend's festivities. I'd like to welcome Michael (officially) into our family. We're so happy for the KA & Mike!

It's been a week of rushing around and getting things organized and ready for the "big day". KA had her share of challenges along with Mike. In the end it all came together and they survived the family madness.

There's too much to write about so I'll just do a short summary. The ceremony was held at Queen Elizabeth Pavillion (just built this year). It was beautiful with the flower arrangements and String Trio playing in the background. KA looked gorgeous in her wedding dress. The picture above is compliments of Chicky. I want to thank Chicky for helping out tremendously at the wedding. He provided both technical and muscle support. ;-) His photos definitely rivaled the main photographer's! In some instances they were better too as Chicky was running around and climbing over things to get different angles.

After the ceremony we headed over to Sun Sui Wah (Richmond) to set up for the reception. KA has many good friends who were always ready to lend a helping hand. This was great as there was much background work to be had. The reception went well. In good old Chinese tradition - there was tons of food. I think everyone as full after the 8th course. It was wonderful seeing family from afar come to attend the wedding. They are still with us so it's been partying non-stop. :-) Too bad I have to work this week! I've been getting by with very minimal sleep (even for me) and the use of ear plugs. Lol - I'm thinking I need a holiday after all this! KA and Mike went to the Bahamas for their honeymoon and won't be back till the end of the week. We're looking forward to seeing the pics, etc. Till then I won't be able to post any more pics from the wedding as there's no time to upload them. :-) The great thing about the wedding was that we were able to instantly upload the images from the primary photographers and friends (with the use of our laptops, etc). We went back to their bridal suite that night and looked at all the pics. :-) There was no romance on the first night as the whole crew crashed on their floors. That's alright though - KA had passed out from exhaustion long before and Mike entertained us. I think other couples feel the same way after their weddings - too tired to even talk and just want to sleep.

Kwik-E-Mart

On the drive home today I was astonished to see the 7-11 on the corner of Guildford and Lansdowne had turned into a bonafide Kwik-E-Mart. I've heard rumors of the Simpson-mania but never thought that it would be so close to home. :-) Time for a squishee! I should have taken a picture (like everyone else) - oh well...maybe on the weekend.

more than meets the eyes

How can I not blog about this?!! Just got back from a pre-screening of Transformers. This much anticipated movie has been whispered amongst die hard fans for 2 years now. I first learned of it from Ben - who is a true fan like no other (he decorates his cube in the figurines). Frank and I sought out to buy tickets for the pre-screening before the long weekend. I wasn't sure if we'd get them. So Chris, Toshiki, Tyson, Chicky and I joined Frank, Kenny and their crew at the theatre for some reminiscing about childhood cartoons/toys. Thinking that an hour before the show should be sufficient time - we were wrong. Amazingly many others were already camped out in the line up. :-) Reminded me of when I lined up for the first release of Star Wars Episode 1! The movie was 2 hours of action packed fun. The audience was primarily guys who grew up watching or playing with Transformers. I did my "homework" the night before and refreshed my memory by watching the old cartoons. There was unanimous applauding at the end of the movie - a sign that the movie is going to be a summer blockbuster! Too bad the girls didn't want to see the movie. Oh well - not everyone likes CGI movies. :-) I won't say too much about the it - so that those that haven't seen it can still enjoy it.

Coming out of the movie - my only thought was "I wish my car could transform!". Why can't they make an AI robot for the consumer market?! :-)

lets get this party started

Saturday afternoon my sister had her bachelorette party. We went down to Joey's on Broadway. This is my first time to the restaurant and it was wonderful. Beautiful atmosphere, great food and a spectacular bathroom! :-) Yes - I enjoy bathrooms as much as the main restaurant itself (those that have been to Moxie's with me can attest).

We had lunch with her friends. KA's bridesmaids planned a fun filled long weekend for her. After lunch was an appointment at Pure Nail Bar for some pampering before heading up to Whistler. Carol and I didn't go to Whistler - we decided to stay in town and do chores instead. I haven't talked to KA since she's been back from Whistler - her schedule if pretty hectic. I hope she had a great time. I did get a chance to see Michael this weekend and he had a great time at his bachelor party. I believe they went paintballing, out for dinner then to TheatreSports on Granville Island. These pre-parties before the big day are so much fun to participate in. The girls that went to Whistler had a red and white theme (in alignment with Canada Day) and KA had a nursing theme to her outfit. I like the little party favors that Christine made for everyone. :-) Water bottle with personalized labels, bandaids and red pill looking candies - staying within the "nursing" theme of the stagette. We'll have to get the juicy details of Whistler later. :-)