All that I got to say...

google spreadsheet

2006-07-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with it earlier today. It's a little slow, and it doesn't have the same functionalities as excel. But the fact that it's saved online, and can be updated from any computer by anyone...well anyone you choose to give access to - that's pretty cool. I approve :)

who cares

2006-07-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

So last week, the only thing radio stations talked about was madonna's toilet seat demands. Apparently she needs a brand new toilet seat at every concert, and it has to have an unbroken seal which is inspected by her people. Hmm ok. Aren't there better things people could talk about? Things that deserve more attention? Like all the atrocities that are still happening in the world...?

celebration of light

2006-07-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have finally unpacked my last suitcase. Yippee! As much as I try to stay on top of things, sometimes they just slip by...and you don't notice until a whole month has gone and all of a sudden you're like, whoa why didn't I do that three weeks ago! I hate procrastinating, but sometimes it just happens...accidentally.

There is never enough time in a day. I've been sleeping less lately. There's that saying: don't believe all you hear, don't spend all you have, don't sleep all you want. I should add to that, don't eat all you want haha. So I have finally lost all the extra padding I gained over the winter. I've never really been too conscious about my food intake in the past, but I think I really went overboard earlier this year with super large portions of pasta and boxes of chocolate.

Last night we went to see the fireworks down at English Bay. Got there around 5, which was too early. You can get there at 8 and still be able to find a place to sit. I took a walk to second beach which was really nice. There were people parked along the water pretty much the whole way. The show last night was put on by China, and although they didn't use a lot of different colours, the effects were quite spectacular. I like the ones that are so big they seem like they're going to fall on you. During the day, we went to Taste of the City down at Plaza of Nations. I had this pesto marinated lamb chop which was yum. The venue was too crowded though; I wonder if they had anticipated such a big turnout! I've been to a similar thing in London and it wasn't that crazy, though you had to pay to get into that one and it was spread out over 3 days instead of just one.

marshmallow & tigger

2006-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

just hanging out...

my dog is cuter than your dog

2006-07-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Fabulous weather = super hot. Not a cloud in the clear blue sky...twas gorgeous...BUT super hot.

Julie arrived late Thurs night...after sleeping in and being woken up by cute-as-a-button marshmallow, we made our way to Lonsdale Quay and had lunch by the water. Then I took Julie to Gastown to check out the steam clock and gassy Jack. After a stroll down Robson... wandering in and out of the many shoe stores, we had a yummy dinner at Zefferelli's.

We watched a beautiful sunset at English Bay... sigh I love sunsets! Esp when the sky is filled with a myriad of colours. How lovely is this: I like the silhouette of those biker dudes on the rocks.

We spent Sunday at Stanley Park. The tall, ancient trees provided shade for us and the gentle breeze from the water kept us cool...for a while. Then we turned a corner...and walked into the blasting sun. We wanted to take the shuttle back to the entrance, but had to walk all the way to Third Beach for the next stop. The view from the seawall was gorgeous though...it was my first time walking along it. I'm definitely coming back here to rollerblade and bike! We saw loads of people walking their dogs...none as cute as marshmallow though hehe.

It was great catching up with Julie...it's funny to think we've been friends for 6 years now! I keep saying this, but it's crazy how time flies!

come on weekend, be here already!

2006-07-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

So I've taken on a temp job for a couple of weeks...to earn some extra moolah...and to pay for my flight back to England! I just booked it for the end of Sept. I'm going back to do grad school. Quite looking forward to it actually...at the end of fourth year I was so sick of school, but after two years of working I think I'm ready to be a student again. :)

My friend Julie is coming to visit me from T-dot tomo! I haven't seen her in two years...so crazy how time flies. It's her first time here so I'll have to show her the sites. After this summer I think I'll become a bona fide tour guide haha.

The weather in Vancouver is looking fabulous this weekend! Hellooo beach...I'll have to remember to bring my shades. :D

my favourite summer song

2006-07-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

It's pretty good, the wine
The way that we look at
Ten to eight in the morning
Just talking, still awake in
Dawn and dew drinking, thinking
Always...

Remembering the laughs, the time
We got high for seven days down
In New Orleans and it seemed like
No one else knew we were just
The moon and sun in fog before the
Heat burned it away and took
The sleep from tired heads on
Beds of reaching hands, of road trip
Breath and long tall freedom

And then you long
For the days of trippin' down
The long road just reading the
Signs that show you the way to
A higher place you meditate to
Feel the quiet of the earth
That was back
When we used to be alright

Another shame, the way
The city smells worse on
A hot day in August...2 PM
Right before us good movers
Move and us shakers break
Our hearts getting home to
Country love and the garbage
Dump by the dried up creek
Near the forest that once had life
And then I turn on the news
Somebody shoot me soon
I'm tired of over heating, falling
Quick to bending knees and
Broken veins, of always needing
Faith to get to shore and break
All the vows I've made

No time or presence
Of mind to wonder why
No time for questions of
Why I wonder why
Something's wrong...again
The noise shakes the ground
There's a rage in
The crowd and I'm a face
In the crowd, what's your name?
You're sinkin' in the sand
Standing next to me, a river
Running through your pants, afraid
To trust me when my hands
Are helping you

Timmies makes me sick

2006-07-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

Sad but true...I had a medium double double and a blueberry bran muffin today and felt sick afterwards. I distinctly remember feeling sick after having a double double in Toronto once... not sure what's wrong. It used to be my fave! Maybe I've been spoiled by Starbucks...after having one too many caramel machiatos.

So after not driving for 9 months, I'm quite relieved that I have not forgotten how! I just have to remember to not daydream at red lights. I had a really embarrassing episode today when I was waiting at the intersection for the light to turn green, not realising it already had. I saw all these cars drive by, then discovered that I was the only vehicle not moving forward. Thankfully there were no cars behind me and because this is Canada, no one honked. I quite like driving, though I hate having to drive the largest minivan in the world. It's so wide...parking's such a pain!

Jackie was here on a business trip earlier this week...I took her around Vancouver on the weekend. It was so lovely...and downtown Vancouver is surprisingly very walkable. On Saturday, we walked from Waterfront to Robson, to Stanley Park, then finally down Denman St. On Sunday we went to Capilano Bridge...it was quite expensive I thought, but very lovely. We spoke to some aboriginals there and learned quite a bit. There are 77 nations in BC but only 14 still practice their traditions. The man we spoke to was from the Haida nation; he said some of their old traditions were now illegal by international law. I asked if it was hunting...he said no, it's slavery! Also, apparently they are trying to get away from using the term "totem poles" - they want to call them "story poles" instead. We then had dinner at the Yaletown Brewing Co. That area's so nice...I want to live in Yaletown! Condos are ridiculously expensive now though :(

My grandma's 78 today! We went out for dinner to celebrate...it was nice to see all my relatives...the ones in Van anyway. My cousin is moving Calgary soon cos her gymnastics coach is moving there...she's so loyal eh! Hmm Calgary...I sure miss that city. The Stampede is on right now!

back in van

2006-07-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home! Got back a few days ago...suffering from major jetlag. I went from 8 hours ahead of London time to 7 hours behind. I'm not able to fall sleep til 5-6 am so I get out of bed in the afternoon. The trip was grand! I liked Thailand and China the best because it was my first time visiting those countries. Here is me hugging a cheetah in Thailand:

China was unbearably hot. Apparently in some cities if it gets to be over 40 degrees, people don't have to go to work. Unfortunately the weather is broadcasted by the government and they are not always honest. When we were in Xian visiting the Terracotta Warriors which were amazing btw, we were told it was about 38-39 degrees C. Only later did we find out it was actually 42 degrees C!! The toilets were disgusting as well...only in five star hotels and really upscale restaurants can you breathe through your nose while going to the loo. Shopping was ok, my haggling skills improved lol. Talked to some people...I'm astonished that there are still people there who idolize Mao. We also went to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou as well as Beijing. Here's the Great Wall!

It really is a beautiful country with loads to see...however entrance fees are everywhere, and they're not cheap. The railway to Tibet just opened...I'd like to take that next time!

Goodbye London, Hello Singapore & Thailand

2006-05-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

London
I left London almost two weeks ago; it was such a bittersweet goodbye. On the one hand, I was fed up with work and the transport system. Buses were slow and half of the tube lines weren't working; they're actually closing down the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line for the entire summer, can you believe it?! I seriously don't know what's going to happen in 2012 when London hosts the Olympics, they can't even handle the traffic now! On the other hand, it was sad to say goodbye to my home for the past two years and the good friends I had made. I miss the theatre, west end and fringe, musicals and plays. I miss the restaurants I had grown to love. I couldn't stay there forever, but a little longer would've been nice.

Packing was such a pain, I threw out garbage bagfuls of stuff and donated what I could. I had a goodbye dinner with my flatmates which was nice, and on the last night I went out with my closest friends for dinner and some comedy. The last act was actually a Canadian which was kinda funny.

Singapore
So I hopped on a plane and 13 hours later, I landed in Singapore! It's so hot and humid here, I think I would die without A/C. Since we've been here many times before, we didn't really do anything touristy. I actually celebrated my first birthday here, many years ago. My aunt has a maid and I have to say it's been kinda nice being pampered haha. She irons all our clothes, I have to say this is the first time I've had my underwear pressed! The only thing we did besides shop (the Great Singapore Sale is on right now) was visit Sentosa. There's a lot of construction going on; apparently they're planning on building a casino there and they've almost completed the monorail. We went up the new rotating tower which gave a rather nice view of the island. The water was so clean compared to Thailand. Then we went luging, and watched the new '4D' film. It was really just 3D with special effects, like water, wind etc. We ate a lot of Singaporean food...a lot of seafood...and drank Singaporean tea (condensed milk is added instead of milk and sugar).

Thailand
My parents and I flew to Thailand last week. Our trip started out a bit rocky as there were some miscommunication regarding our tour, but once our guide was sorted it was smooth sailing from there. He was really nice, he'd pick us up at 8 in the morning and stay with us until 10 or so if we decided to watch a show or go shopping in the markets. We saw all the main sites in Bangkok I'd say. The Grand Palace was gorgeous, it was ALL glitter and gold. There, we saw the Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew. Wat is Temple in Thai and we saw a few others; Wat Arun was quite interesting, we saw the Golden Buddha (don't remember what it's called) and Wat Po which was probably my favourite. The reclining Buddha was huge and quite impressive. My guide told us that different poses represent different days of the week. We saw one with serpants above the Buddha's head, I can't remember if that one was Saturday or Tuesday though... We took a boat ride down the Chao Phraya River and in the little canals where people lived, it was really nice.

On the way to Pattaya we stopped at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo where we saw a Tiger show. I kinda felt sorry for them, it reminded me of the movie Two Brothers which I recently saw. We also saw people sticking their heads into a crocodile's mouth as well as an elephant show. Elephants are so cute! We saw another elephant show at the Nong Nooch Garden which was also near Pattaya. I don't know how they were trained, but they could play basketball, soccer, throw darts, ride bikes, paint and dance! It was quite unbelievable...I got picked up by one with its trunk! Pattaya was nice though there's a lot of prostitution. We went to see Tiffany's which is a transvestite cabaret show. It was um interesting haha. We also took a boat out to Coral Island but it was not nice at all; the beach coast of Pattaya seemed much nicer.

Shopping in Thailand was pretty cheap, I didn't buy too much though cos the clothes I thought 'looked' cheap as well. We went to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok which was huge! Too bad we weren't there for the Weekend Market cos that's supposed to be awesome too. The food was quite good, and I had so many coconuts haha. They're only 20 Bahts each which is like 30p?!

Tomorrow we're flying to Taiwan. Supposedly it's even hotter there!

Flat

2006-05-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

My flat has a rota for cleaning, and it was my turn this week. I zoomed around with the hoover and mop...wiped all the dirty surfaces...some which seemed suspiciously dirty for cleaning to have taken place just last Wednesday...hmm... Anyway I am done! Last time I will ever have to clean this flat.

My flatmates have already found someone to replace me...some aussie apparently. We already had two British in the house so they said no more...any other nationalities were welcome...and they wanted another girl to keep the balance as 3 girls-2 guys. They had quite a few people come see my room, cos in one of my flatmate's words, they didn't want to 'make the same mistake again'. Mistake meaning the One Who Lives Upstairs, henceforward who will be referred to as OWLU. OWLU moved in last fall bright eyed and bushy tailed...way too eager. He proceeded to get on everyone's nerves...perhaps it was the way he would try to crack jokes that just weren't funny...or the way he would say everything with an Italian accent cos he was there for a year...

I can't believe I'm leaving next Friday! So many things to sort through and pack... this will be the 8th time I'ved moved in 6 years.

Switzerland = Gorgeous

2006-05-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

To go from the impossibly turquoise waters which run through Switzerland to the brown murky waters of the Thames was just so…sad. Truly, I did not want to come back.

We arrived in Geneva Friday at noon, dropped off our luggage, and proceeded to meander through the old town. We stopped for some much needed coffee before visiting the oldest house in the city: Maison Tavel. We walked past the Hotel de Ville where the Geneva Convention was signed many years ago, climbed up the tower in Cathedrale St-Pierre, and then went down to the water where Jet d'Eau, the largest fountain in Europe and the emblem of Geneva, was not on. We had dinner at Chez Ma Cousine On y Mange du Poulet which translates to: At my cousin's house we eat chicken.

I just had to take this picture...check out the local police car...

The next day we went to Palais des Nations - it used to be the League of Nations headquarters and now holds lots of conferences - as well as Musee International de la Croix-Rouge (Red Cross and Red Crescent). They were both quite interesting. I attended Model United Nations and Red Cross Symposiums in high school and uni. We made our way down to Pleinpalais where a not so cool Flea market was going on…so we ditched it and decided to do a whirlwind tour of Musee d'Art et d'Histoire. After a short nap, we had dinner at Café De Paris where the menu consisted of just one dish: entrecote with a special buttery sauce. Chris was flabbergasted that a restaurant could get away with serving just one dish. No vegetarian menu haha.

Us at the UN...Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro both attended a conference in this room back in the late '90s, though they did not meet.

The next day, we caught a train to Montreux and walked to Chateau de Chillon. It was so lovely…different blooming flowers along the way.

The castle itself was awesome; for its age, it was very well preserved. We got to see a lot of it too.

After dinner, we hopped back onto the train and continued on our journey to Interlaken. The path we took was part of the Golden Pass, and a few of the trains had huge panoramic windows. The scenery was incredible. Little wooden lodges dotted randomly in green patches between mountains.

Sunday night was an early night cos we had to get up ridiculously early the next morning to catch the Jungfraujoch, up to the top of Europe (3454 m above sea level). We didn't realize how cold it would be (doh!)…dressed only in a jumper (Chris) and fleece (Sherry) we turned into icicles up in the eternal snow where it was minus 10.

I wanted to go dog sledding but that apparently only took place in the summer months…as did skiing/snowboarding…cos you know they are really summer sports. We got to see the three mountains - the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau - up close and slid around in the Ice palace. Me sitting on an ice chair:

On the way back down we stopped at Grindelwald, a nice little village. We had fondue, ribs and chicken wings for dinner…yum yum.

The next morning, after checking out and locking up our luggage, we went paragliding! You can't go to Interlaken and not do an extreme sport. The drop was very gradual so it really wasn't that scary. Sometimes we'd float upwards if we came across thermal air. The view was fantastic! You could see the two lakes which Interlaken sits between. I got to steer for a bit and at the end the guy did some really sharp spins which felt like a rollercoaster. I got a bit nauseous but only after we landed. A pic of me in the air:

After lunch, we took the train to Bern and spent a couple of hours in the city centre. The cobbled streets and colourful water fountains were quaint. We didn't think we'd see bears on this trip but we did! There was a bear pit by one of the bridges.

We had spent all our swiss francs and had a plane to catch…it was time for us to go home. What a fabulous trip!

Bored at Work

2006-05-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

There’s only so much monotonous work one can do before the brain gets frazzled. It’s such a beautiful day! I sat on a bench by the Thames during lunch, it was so lovely. Looking forward to tonight…Karen and I are going to Ping Pong for some Dim Sum before heading over to the Playhouse to see My Name is Rachel Corrie.

I took yesterday off to apply for my Chinese tourist visa; BUT the embassy was closed, which I didn’t find out until I got there. Most annoying. I took a rain check on meeting up with Sarah yesterday because I was in a rush getting to the embassy. I rescheduled coffee with my manager from yesterday morning because I thought I would be meeting Sarah and getting my visa. Sigh, it was such an unproductive morning. So I made my way over to Leather Lane and had my happy meal: orange/carrot/ginger juice with thai green curry. It cheered me up a bit.

My Plan

2006-04-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight – double bill at Riverside Studios, which has become my favourite theatre/studio in London. Tsotsi is playing tonight and the producer will be there to host a Q&A after the movie!
Last night Chris and I went to see a Korean double bill – Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. They were both really good, though a bit shocking. Not like the Korean soap operas I have seen at all. We also saw The Exonerated a few weeks ago, which is a play about wrongly accused Americans on the death row. Danny Glover was there when we went, along with Sunny Jacobs who’s a real life exoneree. It was quite moving. Lots of celebs have taken part, Kristin Davis (Charlotte from S&TC) and even Alanis Morisette are going to be in upcoming shows.

This weekend – Switzerland! We’re flying down to Geneva early Friday morning, spending a couple of days there and around Lake Geneva before making our way to Interlaken. Can’t wait!

Next week – Apply for my visitors visa to China! That’s right, I’m leaving the UK (though who knows, I may be back)! My parents are planning a trip to Asia and I’m going to join them in Singapore when on the 19th of May. The itinerary then goes: Singapore-Thailand-Taiwan-China (Beijing and Shanghai). I’m quite excited! I’ve never been to China and I recently read Wild Swans, which gives a fantastic overview of what China was like in the 20th century. Thailand will be good too, fresh green curry mhmm. I head back to Vancouver beginning of July.

Cornwall

2006-04-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

We decided to head down to Cornwall for the Easter long weekend. It was fab...and oh so lovely. We went with a tour group called Road Trip which I would recommend. It wasn't as 'fun' as Haggis but I guess there are more stories to tell ie. history, battles, Scottish characters, fairies, up in Scotland. We had loads of free time to wander around on our own which was good. Friday night was just sitting on a coach, the journey was about 6 hours or so.

Saturday was a free day; we decided to check out the Eden Project. Lots of pretty flowers and interesting plants including a pineapple plant which I had never seen before. We went on this flying zip thing which pretty much shot us across the park. We had our first pasties at the park...many more to come, esp for Chris haha.

We went back to Newquay and spent the afternoon shopping in the surf shops. I got a couple of shirts and a brown Animal bag which I love! All my purses seem to be falling apart so I was looking for a new one. That night we had a BBQ at the hostel and went to a local bar and saw a hip hop group from Long Beach, California called Ugly Ducklings (they weren't very good, but the group which opened for them wasn't too bad).

Taken in Newquay:

The next day we visited St. Ives where I took this awesome action shot of a dog running. I just love this picture, not sure why.

There were lots of little galleries which were all superb. Then we were dropped off somewhere and hiked a mile to Land's End. It was a beautiful walk. We went farther down and stopped at St. Michael's Mount. We walked across the causeway but had to take the boat back cos the tide had come in by then...

We stopped at Penzance, picked up some food and saw *drum rolls* Fame at the Minack Theatre! It was an amateur production which was still enjoyable though Chris was not too excited cos he said there was too much dancing. The theatre was gorgeous and right by a cliff so we were able to watch the sunset as the production progressed.

The next day we had to go back to London *sniff* but we stopped at Tintagel Castle for a few hours. It is supposedly King Arthur's birth place though he was born a few centuries before the castle was built.

welcome back fuzz!

2006-04-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

fuzz is back and he's A-OK...so he seems anyway. For those of you who are confused, fuzz is my 12" iBook. I got him after graduating from uni and we have been inseparable ever since. I made him gurgle some water last week...not on purpose I assure you...he whimpered and passed out. Poor baby :( The screen went dark. I got all panicky, I hadn't backed up any of my files! I didn't learn my lesson when fuzz had amnesia last year! Also, this happened to my old cluncker of a laptop in uni...and the whole motherboard was destroyed. Apple advised me to take it down to a shop which I did and was told it would take up to 2 weeks.

Today I got a phonecall saying that the technician had a look at my laptop and he could find no fault with it. The screen was working again! I guess whatever was wet had dried up. Hurray! Though I am a bit wary...because the technician did not do a thorough examination...perhaps the real problem had not been solved. Oh well...I'm just glad to have him back! Life without fuzz is like life without music (I don't have a separate stereo so I play all my music on iTunes)...or TV (catching up on all my favourite shows from back home)...or connection to the outside world (guess this one's not really true haha)...

Scotland the Brave

2006-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a week in Scotland. I decided at the last minute to do the 6 day Haggis tour. It was a great time...the scenery was lovely...we got to stay in a haunted castle one night. And I got to try the bagpipes! After finally figuring out how it worked, I managed to squeak out a note haha.

One of the first lochs we visited...the water is so still...I love the reflection in the water, it's a perfect symmetry.

This is Eilean Donan castle...used in the film Highlander. So atmospheric...it rained every single day...sometimes even when it was sunny!

The viaduct that was in Harry Potter!

Greece

2006-03-18T06:12:00.000-08:00

We caught an early flight to Athens; the flight was about 4 hours and with the two hour time difference, we got there in the afternoon. We jumped on the metro and headed into the city, hopped off at Ominia where our hotel was and checked in. Then we decided to take a stroll, went down to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Everything had already closed (everything closes at 3 in the winter time) so we walked past the Acropolis and saw a wonderful sunset. This is the Temple of Hephaistos in the Ancient Agora:

The next day we took a daytrip to Delphi. All the tours were around 70-90 euros which we thought seemed a bit unreasonably expensive. So we took a coach ourselves and it ended up being around 25 euros roundtrip! It was a three hour bus ride but so worth it! We got to the archaeological site at 2pm, the site closed at 3. We hurriedly climbed up the hill, passing by the Sanctuary of Apollo...kinda reminded me of stacked rolos...

Halfway up was the theatre and at the top was the ancient stadium which we almost didn't get to see because there was a guard who turned people away at 2:30! Disgruntled, we stepped to the side and watched as a large obnoxious crowd of tourists pushed past the guard. After giving the guard the hairy eyeball he finally relented and let us pass.

Afterwards, we descended and made our way to the Temple of Athena:

We walked through the ancient gymnasium..,had a wonderful dinner and caught the coach back to Athens.

The next day we decided to hit the Acropolis first, the entrance was free and we were puzzled as to why but didn't question it. Turns out everything's free on the first Sunday of each month...I think so anyway. Here's me in front of Parthenon.

We visited the Parthenon museum which I thought was interesting. Then we went down to the Ancient Agora, which was the centre of political, commercial, administrative and social activity, and walked around. We took the metro over to the National Archaeological Museum which was amazing though you can probably see most of marbles at the British Museum in London.

We picked up our bags from the hotel and made our way to Piraeuse the ferry port, purchased ferry tickets to Paros and ate some delicious gyros while we waited. The ferry ride was 4 hours long, we slept most of the way. By the time we got to Paros, it was late and dark. We had read that we would be accosted by people offering us rooms so we hadn't booked anything in advance. After standing around for a while, a man came up to us and offered us a room for 30 euros. Chris told him that we had rented rooms in Athens for 25 euros (he didn't know what he was talking about but he managed to successfully haggle!), so we managed to get a room for 25 euros a night! The place was nice enough though it would not be more than 3 stars.

The next morning, we walked around then decided to rent a car. It was 20 euros all inclusive and we drove all over the island, it was great fun! We saw so much...explored lots of little villages. The next morning, we caught a ferry to Naxos. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, but the wind was oh so strong! We decided to just explore the main city starting with the Temple of Apollo. We had really nice food at a local Greek restaurant. We were eager to head onto Santorini so only spent one night in Naxos.

The weather was really bad the next day; it was raining and extremely windy. Even our huge ferryboat was rocking about...thank goodness it was only a 2 hour journey. After we got there, we were picked up by our guesthouse which was really nice. The boat was late and with the crappy weather there was not too much to do, so we went to bed early after a hearty dinner. The next morning, after grabbing a ham and cheese (I had about 10 on the whole trip lol...so good!) we rented a car and drove around the small island. It was beautiful...we climbed a mountain in the afternoon and nearly killed ourselves on the way down by trying to take a shortcut! We managed to get up to Ia for the sunset, which it's famous for. Here is the sun right before it dipped into the water:

Typical greek island pic...my favourite out of all the 'dome' pictures I took:

The next day we took a boat out to the volcano! It was really cool...we stopped by the hot springs as well unfortunately it was too cold. The next day we flew back to Athens, walked around the Plaka, and had our last fantastic Greek meal. We flew back to London on Sunday...wishing we were still in Greece!

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance

2006-03-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

5 stars I say. It was a brilliant book! I didn't know too much about the Medicis, but it was interesting to see how they started out as bankers and went on later to become popes, grand dukes, even queens and kings. St. Peters in the Vatican was in the middle of being built when the Medicis were popes; I had never seen such extravagance in a church before...the wealth which is displayed...you wonder why they don't distribute some of it amongst the poor and hungry in the world. The book also talks about how indulgences were sold to raise money for the pope and how the church just like all the other nations and states wanted territorial gains which they went to war for...just goes to show...

I felt like I learnt a lot about the history of Florence...can't wait to see everything! I liked how Paul Strathern also elaborated on artists' lives such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael. Oh, one of the chateaux we went to visit in the Loire Valley was designed and lived in by one of the Medici Queens (Chenonceau)!

Running Around in Circles

2006-03-15T01:25:00.000-08:00

So I went into work on Monday...no desk for me...no computer for me. I was put at one of the 'hot desks' which only had a phone because they're used by people not normally based in London and who usually travel with laptops. I made a few phonecalls, a few names were thrown around and I was back to square one.

Same thing on Tuesday.

It's ridiculous...I'm supposed to be 'looking for a job' but how can I do that without a PC?! I can't even check my email, which is a whole other story. We have this file we're supposed to take with us which lets us access our work emails. However I sent mine to my work email...which I can't access because I don't have that file! Really silly I know...that will need to be sorted out after I get the PC and desk sorted. Yesterday the facilities guy, which says providing PCs is not under his jurisdiction, managed to remember that someone had left recently and didn't need his PC/desk anymore. So there is some promise there. I will go in later to check.

Trying to get my mobile replaced has been equally frustrating. I went into my network provider and they said I could take out an emergency insurance which would allow me to get a new phone. Great, I thought. Then they realised that because I didn't get my phone from them, they weren't able to provide me with a new one. I went back to the Carphone Warehouse where I purchased my phone; they looked on their PC and said I didn't have an insurance attached to my account. I insisted that I remember signing up for one. The arsehole said that there was nothing he could do because he was going by what was on the computer.

So I went home, found a copy of the insurance form I signed and brought it into a different branch because I didn't want to deal with the same incompetent people again. The lady at this branch was very helpful and very nice. Apparently my insurance had been entered into the system but for some reason had been deleted! She said I had to go back to the branch where I originally got the phone, speak to the manager and they would sort it out. So back I went. After waiting a very long time, the guy who sold me the phone agreed with the insurance company that if I pay the insurance which they should've charged me for the past 5 months, I could make a claim within 24 hours. So I'm going back there later and hopefully I'll have a phone in my hand tonight!

Back Home

2006-03-13T02:52:00.000-08:00

Pottering around the house this morning...took a sponge bath (hot water not working)...did the rest of my laundry...made some dumplings and ate them... Don't really want to go into work but will have to at some point today. I'm 'on the bench' right now, which means I am between assignments. This is the first time it has ever happened to me and I intend to take full advantage of it hehe. This means more time for training (though it will probably be computer based) and job hunting...and shorter days hopefully. I don't even know if I have a desk/equipment...will see when I go in. Don't even know if my work pass will work!

It's kinda depressing to be back...I have loads of errands to run...including getting a new mobile because mine was stolen!! The worst part is I don't even know how it happened and it's the most expensive mobile on the market right now (300 pounds). Hopefully my travel insurance will cover it.

The vacation was oh so good though. :) Will write more about it later.

Dance & Opera

2006-02-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend sick in bed. I managed to drag myself out of the house on Sunday afternoon and attended a hip hop class taught by Ryan Chappell! Apparently he is an international choreographer and has worked with the likes of Jamelia and Danni Minogue. He was an amazing dancer but it had been so long since I had been to a dance class, I had trouble remembering new routines!

Woke up this morning feeling a lot better but it got worse steadily throughout the day. After work, I took myself to see Wozzeck (my first opera!) at the Royal Opera House. I managed to get a seat in the Stall Circle for 10 pounds with the Travelex Student Special. It was very intense and the music horribly dissonant, but quite impressive. Especially at the end when Wozzeck (Johan Reuter) 'drowns' and is submerged under water for what seems like ages!

Chateaux Pics

2006-02-24T14:47:00.000-08:00

As promised...here are pics from our trip to the Loire Valley...

the chateau we stayed at, it was so nice. Two dogs also lived there

in front of Leonardo Da Vinci's house

gorgeous chenonceau...

we found our way to the middle of the maze!

the biggest chateau Chambord! covered in snow...isn't it pretty?

James Blunt

2006-02-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

Saw James Blunt last weekend! He's a brilliant live performer. The opening act was Jason Mraz whose name I recognise for some reason. He was really good as well.

James Blunt playing the piano and singing Goodbye My Lover. It was beautiful.

Sweet

2006-02-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day...we went to a thai restaurant called busaba eathai in Bloomsbury. It was SO good! We had eaten there before, but this time we sat across from these Japanese people and we copied their orders. Busaba has large square tables which they seat people around, so you share a table with strangers.

We got some spring rolls which were a tad on the small side. That's the only thing I wouldn't get again. Tandon Chicken - marinated chicken wrapped in leaves with soy sauce. It was SO tasty. We also got spicy prawn fried rice and pad thai. The people across from us ordered this steak which we just might try next time. Easily one of the best meals in London...definitely at the top of our list with Mem & Laz. In fact I might go there for my birthday dinner!

We went to see Walk The Line which was pretty good. I've heard Carlene Carter's music before but didn't know she was the daughter of June Carter.

I picked up Ben's Cookies from Covent Garden which were yum. Chris drew me a picture of a stuffed animal he had given me..it was so cute! He also got me a really nice necklace which I love...but was a bit too big. He's going to exchange it, but I felt really bad. He ordered it online because he didn't have time to go to the store, but he said if he had seen it in person first he wouldn't have gotten that size.

Eight

2006-02-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

8 legged creatures are starting to turn up in my room again! Ahhh it's still February and much too early! Thank goodness both times when I noticed these ugly things, one of my guy flatmates was home to help me get rid of them. Ugh!

8 more days til the project ends...I absolutely cannot wait! There's so much to do until then...including appraisal stuff. Oops I mean 8 working days, we've been keeping a countdown at work. So just under 2 weeks now. Actually, two weeks from today I'll be packing to go to Greece!

It is 1 am

2006-02-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

But I don't feel like going to sleep for some reason.

Haven't blogged in a while...I'm still alive people!!

Egypt was fantastic...I'll post pictures soon. Chris and I went down to the Loire Valley a few weeks ago, it was so pretty. It actually snowed, which apparently only happens every 6 years or so. We got some great photos of the chateaux covered in snow. We actually stayed in a chateau which was lovely. Had some gorgeous food and discovered a love for Vouvray wine!

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things...Rach and I went to see a play called the Sugar Wife at the Soho Theatre last Thursday. On Friday I surprised Chris with tickets to Les Mis! I saw it 5 years ago in New York and it is still one of my favourite musicals. I grabbed some kleenex during intermission cos I knew I'd be sobbing by the end. Then on Saturday Sarah and I went to see a Buster Keaton film down at the National Film Theatre: Our Hospitality. On Sunday, we met up with Karen and Dan, had lunch at Mem & Laz (YUM) and rushed across town to Royal Albert Hall. We got tickets to see Allegria (Cirque du Soleil). It was really good; I can't believe how flexibile those gymnasts are!! Really, some of the stunts were unbelievable.

I have to watch myself though, because it's so easy to spend pounds in this city. And I have trips coming up! Well only one confirmed so far...we just booked our flight to Greece. We're going for 9 days in March which will work out better for both of us. My project will be done by then and he will have his passport. He had to get it renewed earlier this month and we were afraid he would not get it back in time. But they seem to be quite speedy.

My project is ending in two weeks!! Cannot wait, seriously. I have been too frustrated and stressed about this project for much too long. I need a break.

Queues, queues, queues...

2005-12-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

I decided to venture out of my flat today...I couldn't stand the thought of all those good deals not being had by me. Is there another time of year when I can save so much money...really! So I decided to hit Oxford Street...I didn't get there til 2:30 which was well planned I assure you...as the more time I spend in the shops, the more damage I do to my bank account. Let me just say, madness it was! I had to walk out of a few stores because I just couldn't be bothered. ALTHOUGH I didn't have to stand in any queues to get INTO stores like we do back home.

I made a few purchases...got some stuff from la Senza...a funky off shoulders sweatshirt from Bershka. Um ok it's more like a top in sweatshirt material. I liked it. Then I went into Top Shop...cruised the first floor, bypassed the second floor (below ground..really it's -1 Floor) because it was just nuts! The very bottom floor (-2 Floor) had some cool stuff...and I got the most beautiful top ever. It's brown and has embroidered flowers all over it made of lace, fabric and beads...the bust is princess style in chiffon and the bodice is kinda like a corset with a bit of boning. Lovely I say. :) Then I went into the Body Shop and picked up some honey shampoo and conditioner along with some other yummy smelling products.

My shopping actually commenced last Friday when I decided on a whim to treat myself to Mary Stuart and found that I had 3 hours to kill. What was there to do but shop! I picked up a couple of nice tops that night.

Mary Stuart was really good; it's about the two queens Elizabeth and Mary and takes place in the last three days before Mary's execution. It was my first time going to the theatre by myself and it wasn't so bad. Though I think I caught something that night, sitting in a confined space breathing in germs for three hours. Yesterday I had a headache most of the day and was sneezing and feeling a bit congested. I took three naps...hadn't slept so much in a long time. I feel much better today.

Yesterday Chris (my boyfriend) called me as soon as he woke up. It was really sweet. Sarah called from Halifax too! It was great catching up with her. Got a few texts which were nice. I spoke to my mom as well...apparently someone bought marshmallow a dress. Poor him!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

It's midnight here...so it's officially Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone. :)

It's odd to be spending Christmas by myself. Usually it's a big family affair with all my family and relatives, loads of food and presents under the tree. No presents for me this year *sniff* (although I didn't have to buy like 50 presents this year which is always a good thing) and Santa probably isnt' going to visit me. Sigh.

I spent the day organising my room. Ok just my desk and shelves. I threw out a bunch of stuff; my clutter has decreased insignificantly. I started a new project: creating a scrapbook! So far it's pretty fun and it's nice to put all my ticket stubs and brochures in a book instead of stuffing them into an envelope. I've also been catching up on some tv drama. I've finished the second season of the OC now and man are things dramatic!

Tomorrow I am most likely just going to stay home as everything will be closed and public transport won't be running so I won't be able to get anywhere even if I wanted to. I'm trying not to think about it and to not feel sorry for myself. I'm taking these few days to relax which I rarely get to do! If Christmas wasn't tomorrow - today - I wouldn't care at all. My friend Jo is flying in on Tues...we're going to drop her luggage off before checking out the sales. Then on Wed I have to pop into work....pack...and then we're probably going to take the last tube at midnight to Heathrow so we can make our flight. It's at 6:25 which means we'll have to check in 4ish. Can't wait for Egypt!

And then there was one...

2005-12-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

On Monday, my team all six of us were at work. On Tuesday, there were 5. Yesterday there were 4. Today there were 2...and tomorrow there will only be me. Great. This is what I get for using up all my holidays. AND not only do I have to work right up until the weekend, I have to go in for a day next week! I'll make sure it's as short and painless as possible...I am very tempted to just sleep in...

So I'm the team leader now, of a team of 6! I think some of my colleagues are starting to see me as more of a team leader. I think I'm starting to feel more like a team leader too. I still need to work on my assertiveness and confidence but I think that'll come with time. Some members of my team will happily report to me what they're working on. But I have to ask some of the other members for quick summaries on statuses of their work. It's funny, people will tell me if they have to leave early or if they're taking a late/longer lunch. My usual answer is just 'ok'. I don't really have a problem with things like that if I feel like they are putting in adequate time and effort.

On Monday I ran the first team meeting with all six of us. People above us decided all of a sudden to throw two more resources at us, for which we're grateful but a little more warning and consideration would've been appreciated. I had to scramble around to get work for them. In a way it was good I suppose, because I feel like we have made quite a bit of progress and now that there is serious pressure to finish the project by end of March I am starting to feel like it's achievable.

It's funny I was thinking the other day, when I first joined the company just over a year ago I told my manager that I wanted to go into project management. He said usually you need to have experience in a technical role and to have moved around a bit before you can go into project management. A year later, I am managing a project! My colleague who is co-managing the project with me has been incredibly supportive. We have both gained a wealth of experiences and knowledge I think. I didn't get any additional training nor any reward...or even acknowledgement! But I am not complaining too much because I think the experience is worth it. Perhaps it's still new and fresh to me.

Like when I joined the project last year, my team leader gave me a lot of the really monotonous and tedious tasks. But I didn't mind doing them, because I felt like I was 'learning'. To my new members I have passed on some of the tasks which perhaps had been put on the back burner for a while because I didn't want to do them. I don't think they minded doing them because they were still 'learning'. I like delegating work...sometimes it still feels a bit weird because I'm so much younger than everyone else on my team but they can't really say 'no' I suppose.

I have a feeling people think I am older than I actually am. I don't think anyone knows or remembers that I only joined as a graduate last year. Half of my team are twice my age or older. I don't have a problem with it...but I am hesitant about revealing my age lol...for some reason 23 just sounds too young.

Still haven't heard back from my manager. I wrote him a really nice email yesterday, asking if he could chase up his management and updating him on the project since he's still my line manager. I really wish I could have a line manager who wasn't so busy. I understand that he has a lot of obligations and responsibilities...but we have had maybe 2 one to one meetings this year...and both times I called for them because I had specific things to discuss with him. So if my company isn't willing to help me get a new working visa, I will probably have to leave come May. :(

msn

2005-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

The mac version of msn has finally been upgraded! Actually it came out a few months ago, I just haven't bothered to upgrade mine til now. I can see pictures again! How fun. I clicked on my mom and she has a picture of me and marshmallow up! Awwwwww....

gluhwein in blue boots

2005-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Chris and I along with his flatmate and friend went to see Stars. They're an emo band from Montreal and apparently they're pretty well known. It was fun times, the venue was small and the music was good. I decided to support them and bought a t-shirt.

The next morning, we caught an early flight to Germany. Upon arrival, we hopped on a train which we thought would take us to the main Koln train terminal. However we didn't get off at the stop we were supposed to and ended up going to Dusseldorf! Thank goodness it wasn't too far away, it was only about 20 minutes or so. We managed to figure out how to read the timetable and eventually found our way back. After checking into our hotel Wasserturm which was SO nice, and resting for a bit, we decided to grab food at a local restaurant. We had these gargantuan portions of ham hocks with sauerkraut and mash. It was really good, but I was only able to eat about a third of mine! We had Reissdorf kolsch beer which was brewed locally, possibly in the very place we ate! Afterwards we went for a stroll through the Christmas market by Dom, the famous Cologne Cathedral. We got these little blue mugs which were shaped like boots (so cute!) and had gluhwein. Yes there were lots of small beeswax candles and tree ornaments made of straws...but there were loads of other really cool things as well!

The next morning, we had breakfast which was really good but even this five star hotel could not compare with the buffet breakfast I had in Stockholm. Man, that place had fresh waffles, fresh OJ and about 20 different kinds of yogurt! Mmm...but I digress...So we walked through a small market on our way to Dom and had more gluhwein. We wanted to catch a tour but it was cancelled, so decided to hike up the Dom tower instead. After taking pictures and me almost losing my mobile sock, we headed to the Christmas market which was on a ship! We had some brotwurst, curry wurst, pomme frites and more gluhwein...the sausages were yum. I got these cookies called Spekulatius; they're only made around this time of year and they're delicious.

On the last day, we decided to head down to Bonn, the nearby town where Beethoven was born. We didn't have too much time to check out the market there but we had time to go on an old crickety ferris wheel. Me and my sweetie...

Then we visited the Beethoven haus, it was really interesting...there were instruments which he owned and played, his writing desk, horns made to aid his hearing after he started going deaf...there were even locks of his hair! Here's a pic of me in front of it!

I didn't want to come back to London, but we had to. Our flight was delayed because of weather conditions in London. There was a big explosion close to London on the weekend, we had no idea until we read the paper on the way back. Man I love Christmas markets...and gluhwein...sausages...roasted chestnuts...sigh. :) And Chris saying was ist das here and there lol.

On Tuesday after work we went to see the new Narnia movie, which was really good I thought. I read that book in grade 2...um I mean my teacher read it to the class...so I didn't remember too much of the story. On Wednesday we went to see A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart. He adapted the novel for the stage himself and plays all the characters (about 40 some of them!) including Tiny Tim haha. It was really good, I did fall asleep for a bit but I tend to do that.

Too bad there aren't really big Christmas markets here, but I guess there are still lots of markets about. Tomorrow we're going to the Frost Fair down by Bankside...there's a tall ice slide which sounds uber fun. Then we plan on heading down to Kew Gardens and checking out the Chihuly exhibition.

Turner Prize

2005-12-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

So Simon Starling won the prize this year. I thought he had a pretty good shot...he took apart this shed and used the wood to build a boat, paddled it down the Rhine, then he took the boat apart and turned it back into a shed. Darren Almond was ok; I liked Gillian Carnegie's Black Square paintings....didn't like Jim Lambie at all. It was between Simon Starling and Gillian Carnegie for me.

After checking out the Turner Prize entries at Tate Britain last Friday night, I went to see the Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition. Last week at my drawing class, we used pastels. So I was looking pretty closely at all the pieces that had been done using pastels. I bought some prints afterwards...two Degas and two Toulouse-Lautrec. I can't wait to put them up when I eventually have my own place! I also got a button that said 'future artist' which I'm going to wear to my class on Thurs...muahaha.

On Saturday, Karen and I took an early coach to Birmingham...and landed near the city centre where the Bullring was. We did a bit of shopping, then went to Clotheshow Live at the NEC. Did more shopping there...I got a Paul Frank t-shirt...the Cozy Molars...and some other stuff. Then we saw a fashion show which was kicked off by the Sugababes which is um a female pop group? The show was good, there was a lot of dancing which I enjoyed. It made me want to take dance again!

Flying Trapeze

2005-11-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

I took Chris to Circus Space on Saturday; it's one of the top circus schools in Europe! You can actually get a degree, as in a BA in circus! His birthday was last week, and this was my birthday present for him. It was so much fun, we got to try acrobalance, static trapeze, juggling and flying trapeze! The static trapeze looked easy, but it was actually quite difficult. I don't think I have hung upside down since elementary school. The flying trapeze was super cool...my hands hurt so much! We're both so sore today. I want to take the trampoline course... tumbling would be cool too.

After resting for a bit, we went to check out Ministry of Sound! It's a London institution and now I can say I've been there. Cover was expensive as expected, but the drinks weren't too bad...compared to some of the other really posh clubs anyway. The music was pretty good and I had fun dancing. Their 24 hour liquor license had just kicked in I believe, and the place was open til 11 AM. But we were tired by 4 AM so decided to head home. Slept the day away...but it was worth it. :)

Carcassonne

2005-11-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a last minute weekend trip to Carcassonne in the south of France...couldn't resist the 1p flights! So lovely it was. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is thought to be the oldest walled city in Europe. Fortified on a hill top with crenellated walls, it's the kind of castle that you'd imagine fairy tale castles to be like. In fact, it supposedly served as inspiration for Walt Disney's castle in Sleeping Beauty. Not the one in his theme parks, as I learned. That one is in Germany somewhere; I had been spreading wrong information oops!

We arrived Friday night at the Carcassonne aeroport. It was so tiny! There was only one terminal, and it reminded me of the Kingston airport. We checked into our hotel, Les Oliviers and proceeded toward La Cite for some dinner. We wandered around looking for the local dish cassoulet, which is a stew of white beans, duck confit, ham and sausage. All the restaurants were empty which we found quite strange; turns out they don't open until at least 7 pm. We finally found a place around 7:30 and it was packed. Cassoulet was ok, but the red wine we had was fantastic.

On Saturday we spent much of the day walking around La Cite. It's really quite amazing. You can walk in the lists, which is the area between the two outer walls; on the walls, through the cobblestone streets. We had yummy crepes, la complet (jambon, fromage et oeuf) and chocolat. There were lots of little white dogs walking around, with people of course. So cute...reminded me of Marshmallow.

Today the weather was crappy, it wouldn't stop raining. We tried to go to the Musee des Beaux-Arts but it was closed. Had lunch at this dodgy vietnamese place, then caught the plane back to Stansted.

The whole history about the Cathares is pretty interesting. Basically, they were a Christian group who went against most of the Catholic doctrines. So in 1209 the Pope sent a crusade group to the area and bad things happened.

Here's the castle again, a night shot taken from the new bridge:

Hear You Me

2005-11-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get an inexplicable urge to hear a certain song...it'll keep running through my head until I finally go and um find a way to obtain it! I am currently obsessed with Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World. It's been over a year since I listened to them...

My other favourite song at the moment is Bowl of Oranges by Bright Eyes.

So that is how I learned the lesson that everyone is alone. And your eyes must do some raining if you are ever going to grow. But when crying don't help and you can't compose yourself. It is best to compose a poem, an honest verse of longing or simple song of hope. That is why I'm singing...Baby don't worry cause now I got your back. And every time you feel like crying, I'm gonna try and make you laugh. And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad, then we will wait for it to pass and I will keep you company through those days so long and black. And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole. But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall. Then I think we would see the beauty. Then we would stand staring in awe at our still lives posed like a bowl of oranges, like a story told by the fault lines and the soil.

I bought leg warmers!

2005-11-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Uh oh...and Sherry's shopping spree continues...

I also picked up a 2006 diary from Paperchase. Now I can start planning my trips for next year muahaha.

An Early Christmas Pressie

2005-11-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

Pour moi! I walked into Jigsaw last week...with no intention of buying a wool coat...a wool coat that was 10% cashmere...no sirree. But I did. It's a lovely shade of brown (may look purple in some lights but it's really chocolate!) and goes down to my knee. I've never had a coat that long! And most importantly it's warm. So excited I was walking out of the store...I completely splurged and now am poor. But I love it. Love IT. LOVE IT!! :)

Bright Lights in the Sky

2005-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

For brunch I had...a waffle with vanilla ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce.

For dinner I had...this Italian cake (which tasted like a hot cross bun) filled with ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce.

I can't remember the name of the ice cream place but it was on charing cross road. They had ice cream that looked like spaghetti...pizza...lasagna...fried eggs. I have to admit it was a bit strange but Rach and her friend assured me that it tasted good. I'll have to try next time.

I did have something that wasn't entirely junk today. My sweetie made me my favourite juice: carrot (75%), orange (25%) and ginger (medium strength).

Yesterday we went to see Richard II at the Old Vic Theatre. It was fantastic. They changed it so it took place in modern time, but the dialogue remained shakespearan. There were a few comical moments, like when the mother of one of the dukes came out in a motorcycle jacket and helmet. Kevin Spacey was good; I have to say that I felt a tinge of sympathy toward his character. I also really liked Ben Miles and Peter Eyre.

Then we went down to Battersea Park (along with 40,000 other people) and saw a superb fireworks show.

Today I went to the Harry Potter premiere...I'm super excited about the movie now! It comes out next Friday. I'm going to continue my tradition of seeing Harry Potter movies on their opening nights.

Boss

2005-11-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

I'm the team leader! Muahaha...actually I was a bit hesitant about taking it on. I wanted to, but I was scared. My colleague said she was perfectly fine with it; she also said she thinks it would be a great opportunity for me. Seriously, she has been super supportive, considerate and kind. So much more than *ahem* ever was. And we work really well together.

We interviewed another lady today. She will most likely be joining us next week. We might even have a 5th member! We're meeting another candidate on Monday.

Parachute

2005-10-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I'm currently reading What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles. It's pretty good so far...I'm still waiting to learn how to do a life-changing job-hunt. At the end of chapter 6, he says: 'You only have one life here on this earth, and that life is yours to say how it will be spent, or not spent. Parents, well-meaning friends, etc. get no vote. Just you.'

My parents aren't exactly thrilled about me being here, but right now I love my life. I love living in London, there are always things to do/see and it's super convenient for travelling. It's expensive and I wouldn't live here forever, but it's good for now. K my job is not ideal BUT I can come in whenever I want in the morning, as long as it's before 9:30; I take my lunch break whenever I want, I can even go over and no one is around to keep track anymore; I get to prioritise my own day; and my salary though measly pays for my travels. Speaking of travels I am SO stoked about my plans for the next few months.

December: Christmas Markets in Cologne...it's going to be SO amazing. There are four Christmas markets in the city and we are staying at Wasserturm (popularity index of 3 on tripadvisor!). That's right...a 5 star ex-water tower. Woohoo!

Christmas/New Years: Egypt! We finally booked our tour and flight, I was getting a bit worried! We're going to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan...see the great Pyramids, Abu Simbel, the temple of Horus...take a donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings, a horse-drawn carriage ride to the Karnak Temple, and 3 days cruising down the nile. It's going to be awesome!

February/March: 2.5 weeks in Italy and Greece! We're flying out on my birthday actually, and land smack in the middle of the Venice Carnival! We plan to travel around Italy and then take the ferry over to Greece...check out Athens and a couple of the Greek Islands.

I love having things to look forward to.

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

No trick or treaters yet...phew! I wouldn't want the dodgy kids in my neighbourhood knocking on my door. Earlier this year I was robbed of my ipod mini only minutes from my house by some stupid kid on a bike. Scenarios such as this are also not uncommon:

Little Toddler - (sitting on a ledge) Give me some money.
Me - (look of disbelief)
Little Toddler - Give me some money!
Me - No!
Little Toddler - (holding up a rock) I'll throw this at you.
Me - (walking away at a brisk pace)

Little monsters they are...hmph

And...let there be light!

2005-10-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I reached to turn on my light, there was a flash and then all went dark. The lightbulb's burnt out, I'll just replace it, easy 30 second job. Mais non! I could not remove my lightbulb for some strange reason until finally I pulled it out along with the metal thing that holds the bulb. Lightbulbs are not just screwed in here. I fiddled with it for 1/2 hour and could not for the life of me get it back in. Frustrated and late, I left for work.

Work was ok today. My colleague and I have taken over most of the project management duties. We had our first look at the project plan only a week ago (I know, ridiculous ain't it) and not only was it unkept, it was inaccurate. I had Microsoft Project installed on my PC and I'm currently going through and updating the plan. It looks like the finish date is going to slip some more, but we can't be blamed for the previous mismanagement of the project. Looking at the work that's been handed over, I have to shake my head. I knew my team leader had not been doing much, but I had no idea how LITTLE she actually did. We're currently training a new team member and I have to say, it is taking up a lot of time. I think I expected her to pick things up a little quicker; maybe I just don't realise how much there is to learn and know. Anyway I have decided that I hate my company and I'm leaving them. I just have to find a new job first.

Had lunch with Chris today at Leather Lane. Yummy, yummy curry...seriously the best green curry I have ever had. I decided to add celery to my usual cup of fresh juice. I think I like it without, and a bit less ginger too. After work I stopped by Sarah's to visit. The poor girl, in one month she has had a kidney infection followed by a knee dislocation. Her work contract is ending in a week and a half; but she's now in a cast and can't go in.

So I finally made it back home around 8. My wonderful, wonderful flatmate 'borrowed' the lightbulb metal thing from somewhere in the house and now I have light in my room again. :)

Lost My Iron Ring

2005-10-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've lost my iron ring. Sadness!! Today I went on a daytrip to Rye with Sarah. When we got there, we stopped by the information centre and that is when I looked down and saw my right hand sans my iron ring! There was nothing on my right pinky, where my iron ring had been for the past 1.5 years. I never EVER take it off, but I play with it a lot and have found it off my finger a number of times. Once when I was at work, I left my desk for a bit and when I came back, I saw my iron ring on my desk. I didn't even remember taking it off. Scary eh? I didn't remember taking it off my finger yesterday or today. Sigh...now I have nothing to show for my 4 years of hard work. My right hand feels so very naked.

Musicals!

2005-10-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am musical-struck...in the past little while I have seen...

Guys and Dolls
This was fantabulous! Front row seats, though off to the side, the view was amazing. We could see the beads of sweat on Ewan McGregor's face. Jane Krakowski was Adelaide, and she was awesome. I remember her mostly from Ally McBeal. She was really cute, and she really sounded like she had a cold! Douglas Hodge played Nathan Detroit and he was really good as well, absolutely hilarious.

Woman in White
This is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and it totally reminded me of Phantom of the Opera. I really enjoyed it, both the music and storyline were good. For some reason I knew the song I Believe My Heart, must have heard it somewhere.

Fame
This was a fun musical, loved the dancing! It was funny to see some of the actors trying to put on a North American accent. Some were good, but some couldn't get rid of their Liverpool accent (that's right I can distinguish between some British accents now).

Next on my list: Billy Elliot, The Producers, Mary Poppins..I wouldn't mind seeing Les Mis again.

Next month I'm going to see Richard II at the Old Vic Theatre. This will be the third play with Kevin Spacey I'll have seen! Please note: I am not a huge Kevin Spacey fan or anything. I liked him in The Negotiator and um that's about it.

Painting Calms Me

2005-10-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

I painted for the first time today since elementary school! It was fun. The theme was summertime and we used acrylic paint on canvas. I liked mixing colours, pushing the globs of paint around, blending and creating different shades of blue, green, orange.. My painting was inspired by the night photo I took in the Cotswolds. I used a beautiful dark blue...then I tried to add stars but they didn't look too good so I turned them into clouds. It's not done yet, I'll continue with it next week.

Today was my team leader's last day! We got her some pretty good leaving gifts, my colleague had to make the speech because I really could not think of anything (nice) to say. I mean these few days have been better, and maybe who knows, we may keep in touch. But I had been unhappy for so long.

Tomorrow a new starter joins our team. I helped interview her and basically gave my approval because a) she's keen and b) these positions need to be filled as soon as possible so I can make my escape. This lady has 27 years of working experience...that is more than my current age.

My team leader's parting words to me were that the manager was considering promoting one of us (me or my colleague) to her old position. He hadn't in the past, because he thought someone was coming in to replace her. I'd like to put my CV forward, but I'm kinda scared. I now have the most experience on the project and I can lead a team, but I don't know about managing people. I have been talking to my colleague but I'm not sure exactly how interested she is in the role. And if we both apply for it, then it might change our relationship...or maybe it won't...but it'll be direct competition! Sigh, I've decided that I have been in my position for almost a year now (my anniversary is a week today!) and I'm ready for new challenges, whether that means moving up or moving somewhere else to another team.

I need a new mobile!

2005-10-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

So I had my eye on the Sony Ericsson W800i. It's got a 2 megapixel camera, an MP3 player which comes with 512 MB of memory and an FM radio which I can use when I commute! That is the main appeal of the phone...so I won't have to get a separate mp3 player!

Then I started to consider the Sony Ericsson K750i which is practically the same phone but cheaper. However it doesn't come with that much memory which I'd have to upgrade, and it doesn't have a one touch button which takes you directly to the mp3 player but I have been told it can be programmed. On the good side, it's black (which I like) and similar to the W800i in that it has a 2 megapixel camera and FM radio.

THEN I saw the Samsung D600 which is just so cute! It has a 2 megapixel camera, however no radio or large memory. But it looks so good! And I think I can get a decent contract.

THEN I saw the Sony Ericsson W550 which is even cuter! Well maybe...it's definitely a strong contender. It's only got a 1.3 megapixel camera but I have my digi if I want to take nice photos anyway. This is a swivel phone and only comes with 256 MB of memory, but I can always upgrade and it comes with FM radio too. It's not out yet, so I'd have to wait a little while longer. I recently cancelled my current contract (hurray) and have about twenty days to transfer my number.

Came across a funny article on How Steve Jobs snookered the entire cell phone industry.

Busy Week

2005-10-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

It's been an expensive couple of days. People leaving means cards, collections, lunches, dinners, drinks etc. Yesterday my colleague had her baby shower, which was a lot of fun. Apparently it's a North American thing, people here don't really baby showers. My colleague had some of her school and uni friends there; it reminded me of my own girlfriends back home. They were all very nice...my team leader oh my goodness. I don't like being at social events with her, cos she embarrasses me! Without trying to...or maybe trying to. Meh. Anyway, everyone there was in their thirties except for me. I read in the paper the other day that women now are not getting married or even having children til really late in life, if at all. And I definitely see that. One of my colleagues said that you're only as young as the person you date haha...

On Thursday, my team went out to Dion, a champagne bar near St. Paul's for lunch. The food was ok, I had prawn skewers and curly fries. We had champagne, which was 10 quid a glass, but sigh it was very lovely. Then my team leader had her leaving do. I had originally planned on going for an hour or two max, but ended up staying til the end. I was chatting with people I used to work with, a lot of whom have moved on now. I was kinda mixing my drinks...had a smirnoff ice, then some cider, then bacardi and coke...then cranberry juice but an ex-colleague poured champagne into it without me knowing. It was a good time. And I felt surprisingly well the next morning.

On Wednesday I went to the Alumni's Night at Canada House. Lots of Canadian grads...I talked to people from other universities, even this professor at Imperial College who went to York. But the Queen's grads who were there...they were kinda blah. There was a guy who had just flown in from his ten year reunion. I asked him how it was...his response: I was drunk...yah...happily drunk at AJs... I don't know...those events seem like such good ideas at the time. But I rarely find people I really connect with.

Tuesday was the No Fit circus down by Tower Bridge. It was really neat...artsy I'd say, not traditional at all. You could basically stand anywhere you wanted, and all the acts/shows went on around and above you. I had not been to anything like that before, so I thought it was pretty interesting. The popcorn there was good too haha.

I managed to drag myself out of bed this morning around 10ish and did some laundry. I'm going to meet up with Rach down in Angel a little later, and do some shopping. Then tonight I'm checking out China White! Apparently it's got a bit of a reputation...I haven't gone out in a while so it should be fun hehe.

Lovely

2005-09-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday I went to 100% East with Karen after work. It was fun...some of the designs were creative, some were ok, some were grotesque. I liked Linde & Linde, Staple and the tape from rAndom International.

Had a wonderful weekend in the Cotswolds...Chris and I took the train to Oxford. Then picked up a silver Golf which we drove around Northern Cotswolds. The countryside was beautiful...open spaces, stretches of green, scatters of sheep. We started off in Burford which was really nice but a little too commercial. Too many cars on the high street...getting in the way of my wonderful photography. This was taken from a bridge in Burford.
Then we stopped in Bourton on the Water which was so quaint and so lovely...the river Windrush running through it...and the bridges.
We picked up the key to our B&B so we didn't have to rush back later that night. Then we were off to Stow on the Wold. It was nice but it wasn't my favourite. We stopped by a well...then the Four Shires Stone. In our guidebook it was described as "a striking 18th century monolith surmounted by a sundial and a ball. It makes the original point of conjunction of the counties Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire." Well, it was neither striking nor....monolithic. :/ Anyway from there we continued up to Chipping Campden, which was my favourite village. We saw the most photographed house...and photographed it some more.
Walked around and soaked up the loveliness of the village. We decided we wanted to see the Broadway Tower, even if it was just from afar. By the time we got there, the sun was already setting. On the way back to Bourton, we passed through the Slaughters. A night shot:
We didn't go for dinner til past 9, by then most of the restaurants had closed. The only place open was this Chinese restaurant...which was good, but we got too much. The next morning, after a quick brekkie we drove back to Oxford to return the car. Then hopped on a bus to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.This is where Winston Churchill was born, and where he proposed to Clementine. The weather wasn't as gorgeous on Sunday, but we still saw everything. The Duke of Marlborough wasn't there so we got to see his private quarters. I really enjoyed it cos usually you only see the State Rooms which may or may not be decorated and most of the time it just feels like a museum. Walked around the gardens, then the maze which was supposed to be second largest in the world. We solved it in merely 15 minutes...the sign said it would take 25. Muahaha. Then we hopped on a bus back to Oxford, had dinner and took the train back to London. A lovely, lovely weekend.

Today I went into work at 9 right on the dot. And no one else was there to see it. Doh! My team leader leaves in 7 days...CANNOT WAIT seriously. I have so much frustration and pent up anger/resentment towards her. It's like this huge ass negative energy ball...sitting beside me at work. This Thursday is her leaving do...I'll be the happiest person there haha.

those electrical engineers...

2005-09-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Girl #1: I remember being really up in arms when we had to learn imaginary numbers in high school. I was like, "Why do I need to learn these if they don't even exist?" So my teacher at the time told me that they were pretty much the basis for all of electrical engineering, and that was a good enough answer for me.
Girl #2: Frankly, that's why I didn't want to go into electrical engineering. I'd end up with a whole degree based in something that doesn't exist. If I want degrees in imaginary things, I may as well major in unicorns. Maybe I could get a minor in fairy dust and cold fusion, while I'm at it.

overheard at western

Thames Festival

2005-09-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

"It only takes a split second to take a photograph, but you've got the rest of your life to admire how crap it is."

I need to figure out how to use my camera...the night shots aren't turning out right and I want to take those special black and white pictures with one other colour.

Anyway I have pics! It's so great how blogger allows you to upload photos. These are from the Thames Festival on Sunday.

Flying umbrellas at the Night Carnival!

This may look like the Green Giant that makes peas and such...but it's actually a manmaid! or er merman? It has two tails.

Fireworks! Yippee!

A spectacular finale :)

It's a sand sculpture...isn't it amazing!

Come Out And Play

2005-09-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Offspring concert was awesome!!! We got there a little after 7, already there was a huge queue that went around the building. The interior of the Brixton Academy was super nice, the sides were all lit up; I think it used to be a theatre. We were in the stalls which wasn't that big, and the floor was sloped so there was a chance of having an almost unobstructed view anywhere you stood. However as the concert progressed, my view deteriorated as we somehow ended up moving closer to the front where the floor wasn't so slanted and a few tall guys appeared out of nowhere.

The opening bands were rubbish, I don't even know who they were. But Offspring was amazing live! Dexter's got such a good voice. They played a lot of their singles...a lot of their old songs, and my favourites: Bad Habit and The Kids Aren't Alright! I was surprised they didn't play Original Prankster though. Here are a few photos I took:

brrr!!

2005-09-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today was really cold. Fall is here :/

It's been a busy week...on Tues me and Sarah had coffee at Tinderbox. They have these airplane seats that are so comfy haha. It was nice to catch up as we hadn't seen each other in over a month! She plans to move to Scotland next month...I'll miss her!

On Wed I went with Chris to see a play called What The Butler Saw. It was playing at Hampstead Heath before it moved to the West End. Absolutely hilarious! The acting, especially the doctors (Malcolm Sinclair and Jonathan Coy), was superb. The ending was a bit strange though...it got incestuous.

Thurs was karaoke at the Pint Pot...I hadn't been back there since last summer. Stopped by the hostel...and it looked different! Some painting had been done. So Sarah got to sing a song but mine was never called cos I didn't submit it early enough. Oh well, I was still coughing. Still AM coughing... *cough*

Just watched the season premiere of Gilmore Girls. SO good. I love that show! It's the only one I keep up with over here. I can't wait til Desperate Housewives starts up again!

Punctuality

2005-09-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I'm going to be punctual from now on...in all aspects of my life. I used to be known for being punctual! Not sure what happened. But I think it's important so I'm really going to make an effort now.

I was 20 minutes early for work this morning! I was so proud of myself :D You see, this has happened like...only once before! Of course, my boss wasn't there to see it cos she came in late. Dammit! Oh well...I'll show her. I'm going to be on time tomorrow too.

My team leader finally uttered those three little words I thought I would never hear...'I have resigned!' She has resigned! I was surprised of course...but I am happy for her. 'Work gets in the way of my reading' she says. She's sold her flat and plans on travelling and moving in with her mother. She'll only be there for four more weeks! Gosh, now we have to replace two people on our team. That's 50% of our team! I might get to help out with interviewing potential candidates, just have to come up with reasons why. On the downside, I will most likely be stuck on this project until it finishes. On the upside, our client expects us to finish by next February. Our original target was end of December. Frankly, I doubt we will be anywhere near completion by next Feb.

Exhausted...Back in London

2005-09-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

One of my flatmates is turning 30 next week...she's an aspiring dancer/actor/singer. Really jolly, really great. But she was a bit emotional on Saturday night...especially after she had a few drinks. Along with flatmate M, we stayed up til 5 AM talking...she was dancing and singing. I had to drag myself out of bed at 2:30 pm on Sunday or else I would've slept the day away.

I finally saw the Notebook! I read the book last year and it made me delirious about love. There were major waterworks. The movie I thought wasn't as good. But the movie for A Walk To Remember was better than the book...it may have something to do with Shane West though lol. Uhh Ryan Gosling just does not do it for me.

Last night I went to bed around 12 and woke up in the middle of the night. I thought it was around 5 or 6 o'clock, so when I looked at my watch and saw 3:30 I was shocked. I couldn't go back to sleep...not until 6. I was knackered the whole day...and for some reason my tummy wasn't feeling too well either. :'( Flatmate M gave me this mulberry drink which is supposed to help my stomachache and cough...so far it seems to be working!

iPod nano!

2005-09-09T00:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe I have been out of the loop, cos I had no idea this was coming out! It looks really cool...smaller than the mini and way better than the shuffle! Comes in black as well. I have definitely missed my iPod mini; how simple it was to upload songs with iTunes, the click wheel...the nano even comes with a colour screen! It's making me re-think about purchasing another iPod.

For a while, I had been thinking about getting the Sony NWE-507. It's small, has 1 GB of memory, an amazing battery life (~50 hours) and an FM radio player. And it comes in a very pretty pink haha. But then I heard about the Sony Bean that's supposed to come out later this year...I guess the specs are all the same but it's much smaller and um cuter?

Decisions, decisions...

me and marshy

2005-09-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

an old poem

2005-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

It's funny coming across things that one has forgotten about...old photos, conversations, even poems! They really bring you back in time...looking back, things were so wonderful. Even though it didn't seem that way at the time...This was written by me in 2003.

Waiting for the words you're never going to say
Time is running out, soon I'll be far away
Will I ever know, do my feelings show
Is this it, will I really be okay

I know there's something more than what it seems to be
You can say whatever but you can't fool me
I'm not oblivious, cos it's obvious
You try to hide a part of you but I still see

Happy go lucky, you're never without a smile
So sweet and sincere, you'd like to stay a while
You are afraid, perhaps this shall fade
A friend you are to me but your number I can't dial

2 AM

2005-08-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

and I am still up. I was really tired earlier but after talking on the phone became wide awake somehow. I'm still a big jetlagged...I get tired early in the night and wake up early in the morning.

Today I went down to a new factory outlet mall in Washington with my brother, mom and aunt. I love factory outlets lol...I miss the ones in California. Picked up a pair of pumas (had been looking for ages!), a pair of cords, a tank top and some underwear. Then we went to the nearby casino and had dinner at the huge buffet there! It was really yummy, but I wasn't too hungry.

My cousin's wedding this past weekend was lovely. She got married in the Dr. Sun Yat Sen garden. It was short and sweet; the reception was entertaining. My relatives from the states came up so it was great to see everyone.

I've had some yummy yummy food here in van! It's what I miss about this city...

I finally met Marshmallow!! He is ADORABLE!! Maybe I'll post some pics later...

Kensington Roof Gardens

2005-08-21T04:05:00.000-07:00

Jo is here from T-dot! She slept over on Friday and we spent the whole night just catching up. On Saturday we went to Camden Market and got these clubbing shirts and bags. I was pretty happy with my purchases. Then I went to my hair appointment; I was getting highlights. It ended up being 3.5 hours long because they put in the wrong colour. I was going for more of a caramel but they put in red and couldn't change it. Oh well...I'll get used to it I guess. I never want to go back to that salon ever again.

We went to Kensington Roof Gardens which is a really exclusive club. Jo's friend managed to get us on the guestlist...we still had to pay for cover which was 20 pounds. It was really nice though, the garden was lovely. They even had a barbeque going on lol...eating burgers and sausages at a club. The music was good for a couple of hours, then it sucked for the rest of the night. I felt nauseous near the end...not sure why. I had less than a glass of wine! I'm feeling better this morning. Haha that was the first time I had gone clubbing in months!

Good Day

2005-08-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today I stayed wide awake the whole day...my concentration only faltered a couple of times. I had coffee in the morning...and tea in the afternoon. :) I'm really enjoying the course I must say...I wish I could take more! From talking/listening to other people, I have found that a lot of the frustrating things I encounter at work are pretty universal. Which means you probably can't escape them wherever you go...unless you are really lucky.

I went to Starbucks after my course ended and did some revision for tomorrow's exam. It's funny, I felt like a student again. Someone on the street thought I was a university student! I didn't want to go to my project's team drinks but was informed that they had placed a bet on who was most likely to not bother showing up! And everyone picked me! So I had to drop by and say hi...ended up staying til 10:30.

Going home, one of my colleagues who lives around the same area took the bus with me even though he hates it. He hates buses like I hate the tube. I was about to go upstairs when he looked at me, terrified, and said 'You go upstairs too?' I was like, 'uh no we can sit downstairs.' He's really tall so he had to slant his legs haha. 'Another reason why I don't take the bus.'

Too Comfortable

2005-08-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get too comfortable at home and forget my appearances haha. Like just now...my housemate came home, and we were chatting...all of a sudden he's like
M: What's that on your face?
Me: huh? nothing
M: no, it looks like food!
Me: oh it's just cream.
M: no, it looks like skin or something!
Me: no it's cream!
M: no it looks like...
Me: it's pimple cream!
M: oh do you have a spot on your face?
Me: yes *exasperated sigh* you had to make me say it!
M: oh ha ha...sorry

Sometimes I DO like shopping in London!

2005-08-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

Most of the time I just feel completely overwhelmed...which is odd cos I am such a shopaholic back home.

Today I was in a shopping mood, so I headed over to Tottenham Court Road after my course. I didn't even make it to Oxford Circus before the stores started closing. Man they should really stay open til later! I got a couple of good deals! Picked up this funky green skirt for only a fiver! It was originally 40 quid! I also got a plain cotton shirt from Mango for only 4 pounds. There are tons of sales going on right now...I hadn't really checked them out so felt like I was missing out! I might go shopping again this weekend.

Looking forward to shopping back home too....one week from today.... :D

In Training

2005-08-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

I had my first day of training today. My company is sponsoring me to take a business analysis course, which almost didn't happen because it took so long for them to approve it. By the time they did, the course was already full. They somehow managed to arrange it though...It was all very last minute, but I'm glad because I don't have to go into the office for the rest of the week. Yippee! It's pretty useful and very relevant to what I do. Everything we've gone over so far I feel like I understand and can apply to my current role. There is an exam on Friday. It's open book so hopefully it will be a breeze. I almost fell asleep a couple of times today...it's the whole classroom setting thing. I drank a couple of coffees and managed to stay awake. Most, cross that out...ALL of the other participants are older than me. By at least 5 years. I guess I should just get used to it. I don't work with anyone my age...don't train with anyone my age. Bleh.

Less than two weeks...

2005-08-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

'Til I go home!! So excited I am...cannot wait! :D

I have been so busy lately, I haven't even had time to check my personal mail. Now that is rare. Tonight I am taking some much needed rest...just chilling at home...watched two episodes of the OC. I am so addicted; I bought the first season on DVD and have been watching it whenever I can. I am now on the last disk and episode 25.

I got a brand spankin new virgin passport; it now has two stamps in it! I went to Copenhagen last weekend with Karen. This time I remembered everything, and I was super careful with my bag. It was a really nice city; we did practically everything there was to do lol. We saw two palaces which weren't that impressive...national museum where they had really cool prehistoric stuff...tivoli the great amusement park...christinia the alternative lifestyle place which was um interesting...we even went kayaking, but we had to do it in the rain. It rained practically the whole weekend, even when it was sunny. I had quite a few hot dogs...and danish pastries of course. So far I have seen three of the four scandinavian capitals; I think my favourite is Stockholm.

I finally saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...none of my friends would come see it with me, but Chris agreed to. It was his first musical in London lol. Tomorrow we're going to a BBC prom which is the greatest classical music festival in the world; a real british institution. I went to a couple last year, Yo-Yo Ma performed at one of them. This year I'm going to see Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. Next weekend I'm going with Rach to see Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor with a couple of other orchestral pieces.

Right Now

2005-07-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am listening to James Blunt...his cd is AWESOME. My favourite tracks are You're Beautiful, Goodbye My Lover, High, Tears And Rain, Cry...actually all of them!

I am reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It's hilarious...in the beginning he's a little boy who has a lisp so he avoids the s sound whenever possible. Yes becomes correct...school becomes learning academy...
Teacher: So, what are your plans for the holidays?
Him: Well, I usually remain here and, you know, open a gift from my family.
Teacher: Only one?
Him: Maybe eight or ten.
Teacher: Never six or seven?
Him: Rarely

One of my favourite parts is when he pretends to be a figure in a daytime drama...making emphatic pronouncements...to get what he wants. He turns to look at the loft of the guy he likes and commands 'You will be mine!'

Contrary to Popular Belief...

2005-07-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Sherry is not that great of a cook :(

Incident #1 - Attempting to make a hard boiled egg
Water is boiled
Egg is dropped into the pot...a little too hard...oops
Yolk and egg white start leaking out
Crap

Incident #2 - Making kraft dinner
Macaroni is cooked and drained
Milk is added
A heaping spoon of butter is added
A glance at the carton of butter says....Expiry Date: June 15, 2005
Crap

The Horrors of Thursday

2005-07-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

First of all...I am ok. Thanks to everyone who contacted me to check if I was alive, especially those I haven't heard from in a long time. I was the first thing some people thought of when they first heard the news....awww :) It was quite a scary day. I was still on the bus travelling to work when it all happened. I had to transfer buses as you do and there were loads of people around on the street. I didn't know why until I got into the office. At first everyone blamed the explosions on power surges...but I had a hunch it wasn't. Me and my colleague were like, thank goodness we don't take the tube anymore. Then we heard that a bus had exploded in Russell Square. Seriously, that bus could've been ANY bus.

I didn't do any work the whole day, we just read bbc on the internet and watched the news on telly. They told us to remain where we were and to not go anywhere. The canteen in our building soon ran out of food...it was a good thing I bought my lunch at 12 even though I wasn't hungry at the time. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to get home. I left around 4:30 expecting to be walking for at least 2 hours. I was expecting a warzone lol...but it wasn't too bad...just loads of people walking on the street. Apparently some people were giving rides, and some of the cabs waived their fees which was really nice. I had walked for half an hour when buses started running again. I decided to take it, scary enough. I felt funny about it though and hopped off...but it was too long of a trek and my feet hurt so I hopped on again. I made it home safe and sound...and so did my housemates.

I got to stay home on Friday, which I was really glad about. Not just cos it was a day off work, but I was really genuinely scared. I still can't really believe what happened...I don't think I'll be taking the tube anytime soon. I still try to sit on the bottom of a doubledecker when I can.

I didn't leave the house until 4:45 pm yesterday lol....for Sarah's birthday celebration! We went to Mem & Laz for dinner...yum as always...saw Madagascar ha ha. Then we went down to Clapham and had beer with some fellow Canadians. We stopped for Jerk Chicken on the way back...decided to grab some coffee and watch the sunrise from Tower Bridge however our plans were thwarted by the clouds and smog of London.

tick tick boom

2005-06-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

I had meant to lie in yesterday, but my internal clock woke me up at 8 am and I could not go back to sleep. So I got out of bed, ran a few errands and went to the Billion Dollar Babes fashion sale with Karen. It was ok, I didn't really find anything I liked but I had some free beer. Then we had lunch in chinatown and wandered around soho where we stumbled across a fruits and veggies market. I got myself some papaya and peaches...and a bagful of lindt balls.

Sarah and I went to see Tick Tick Boom, a musical written by Jonathan Larson who also wrote Rent. It was in a fringe theatre by London Bridge and there were only three people in the show, one of them being Neil Patrick Harris aka Doogie Howser. Ya I know, I never knew he was in musical theatre either but I was SO impressed, he has such a good voice!

On Friday I went to the kathmandu store where they were having a summer sale. After 1.5 hours of deliberation, I purchased a travel pack! I got the longhaul in the triple layer waterproof material. I LOVE it...it's got so many features. I can use it for the rest of my life. :)

I finally had a talk with my team leader, and it went a lot better than I thought it would. She complete backs my decision to move off the project. One of my colleagues is going on maternity leave in September, and as my boss is thinking about leaving as well, she wants to move me off the project soon so I don't get 'stuck'. The only thing is, there aren't that many opportunities in London within my company. And I really don't want to commute everyday to another city or town. I am still looking for other jobs, though it's difficult without fuzz. I had an interview last Thursday with a small company. They think I may be more suitable for another position that's open so I'm going to meet a different manager tomorrow.

On Thursday, me and Sarah went to Wimbledon!! We managed to get seats for center court; we saw the match between Andy Roddick and Daniele Bracciali. It was so AMAZING...truly an experience.

my baby is sick

2005-06-26T04:05:00.000-07:00

fuzz is sick. It happened more than a week ago. I was busy doing my job applications online when all of a sudden the new lifehouse song I was listening to stalled and itunes froze. I had to reboot. And it happened again. The next morning I was not able to even start him up. So I made an appointment with a mac genius at the apple store and I brought him in. I explained the symptoms to the genius and he told me the hard drive was dying. I started to panic. I had not made a backup of any of my files, not even my travel photos. Would they all be lost?? It's a 50-50 chance, he told me. Luckily, I had purchased applecare when I adopted fuzz. Luckily still, I remembered to register him when I received the applecare kit.

Last time I checked (Friday afternoon), the data transfer was still in progress. I am optimistic. I hope my baby comes back soon!

Monopoly

2005-06-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Monopoly has been updated!! No longer do you get $200 for passing go...you get 2 million pounds! No more boots and top hats...they've been replaced by inline skates and mobiles. Goodbye to King's Cross Station which used to cost $200...hello to Heathrow Airport costing 2 million pounds. Hmm I don't even remember the old Monopoly...I'm sure everything was in dollars. There are also big changes in the Chance and Community Chest cards...you can make moolah by winning a reality TV show or be fined for talking on a mobile while driving. LOL! I want to get my hands on one!

Today was an ok day...for a Monday anyway. I got lost during lunch trying to find a M&S...they were giving out free fruity water haha. Then I had an hour long meeting with clients I wasn't sure would show up because not all of them accepted my meeting request! Well one did...one didn't receive it so I had to verbally inform him...and one just could not be found. Sometimes I think about my position and it's so crazy! I regularly have meetings with senior level management...and by this I mean Directors, AD's (Associate Directors), even Executive Directors! Most of them are old men. Then there's me...this little graduate. I'm getting along with my boss better...she's planning a trip to LA, Chicago and New York in July. I can't wait!! I am considerably less productive when she is not there. I saw Vera Drake at the Prince Charles theatre after work. On Mondays, movies are only a pound for members. Yippee! I had mixed feelings about the film; I found it a bit irritating in the middle.

Yesterday I met up with Andrea and Smitha who were passing through London on their way to Paris. It was nice to catch up...they're so hilarious! Then I met up with Sarah and we went to Mem and Laz...my new favourite restaurant lol. We had a three course meal; I had fried cheese for starters, grilled lamb, rice and salad for my main course, and homemade apricot and peach, crumble for dessert. SO yum.

On Saturday I went with Rachel to Canterbury. It was a really nice quaint little town. The cathedral was really pretty and it was interesting to learn about the history. We did a bit of shopping; I got some new curtains that are just GORGEOUS. It's kinda orangey and green, a crinkley material, made in India. It looks heaps better than my old curtains. We then walked to the castle ruins and this park where we found a whole bunch of used condoms scattered all over the grass. It was so disgusting. At least we know people in Canterbury practice safe sex...still...UGH.

On Friday I had lunch with Patrick. It was the second time I had seen him in 6 months. Our schedules are so crazy. Then after work I met up with Bally and we went to a burger joint called Tootsies that had amazing milk shakes. Mmhmm yummy in the tummy. We were going to see House of Wax but it was late so he decided to take me to the most haunted place in England. We got lost along the way and I fell asleep. I don't even remember what that place was called!

Radio

2005-06-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

So I got some rechargeable batteries...and my crappy little radio works! Woohoo! The earphones that came with them were horrible...so I threw them out and plugged in my white apple earphones. Those little brats will probably try to steal my little portable device thinking it's an ipod now... People who own ipods replace their white earphones with normal ones so people don't know they have ipods. Then there's me with a crappy little radio and white earphones... I'd use something else but I don't have anything else. Oh well...at least I'll have entertainment on the bus now. :)

Today I went into a fcuk store and saw the shirt I bought from petticoat lane...it was 20 pounds! I got it for only 5 pounds. Yesss.

I bought a weekly bus pass yesterday without realizing that the one I had from the week before was still valid. So it overlapped by one day. The guy at the station wouldn't exchange it for me, even though it was an honest mistake. Booo.

what a day

2005-06-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

I had a nice and easy day at work...I love it when my team leader isn't there! lol. My interview was ok...it was my first one in about 10 months. I met with three different people...separately. Which meant I had to explain everything three times. It took about 1.5 hours...not sure how I did. Don't feel superb about it, guess I'll find out in a few days. Sigh!

The life drawing course I wanted to take is full! Oh man...how disappointing. I tried looking for tap shoes after work, but all the dance stores were closed. Then I went to a slideshow on the Trans-Siberian Express...I am so excited, I really want to do it!! It's the longest train journey in the world, spans 7 timezones. It leaves from Moscow, though you can start your trip from St. Petersburg if you want...I would definitely start there...goes through Russia...it passes by the largest fresh water lake in the world, apparently its area is larger than this island I am currently on. It goes through Mongolia where 80% of the population still consists of nomads...and carries on into China following the great wall of China to Beijing. How cool is that?! Apparently Russia is the only country in the world where your visa is not only date specific, but it's also city specific; so if you say you're going to be in a specific city at a certain time you damn well better be!

Then I came home and found out one of my housemates has the mumps. I'm nervous...I hope I don't catch it from her!

Chapter One

2005-06-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Staying in London for the weekend is turning out to be just as costly as going away. Today me and Sarah checked out a couple of markets by Liverpool Street. We got some good deals at Petticoat; we bought musical soundtracks and pretty Indian sequin slippers. I managed to find a portable radio which will be handy as I take the bus everywhere now and can get reception (I have become a true londoner - no more tubes if I can help it) and a funky pink shirt. I really hope my radio works...I don't have any AAA batteries so I can't test it. I'm always a bit skeptical when I buy cheap things from markets. Then we sat through two really bad/cheese/disturbing movies. Mysterious Skin was disturbing and The Pacifier was cheese. I have a headache now...the everchanging weather in London does that to me sometimes.

Yesterday I finally uploaded my first batch of pics! My first trip this year, Dublin...it took me all morning. Yay! Then me and Karen went to see Blood Brothers which was pretty good. For some reason I thought their accent sounded Scottish...turns out it was Liverpool as my housemate kindly informed me haha. She played me a couple of tracks from the new musical Wicked which is currently in Broadway...they were amazing!

On Friday night me and Karen went to Brick Lane, had a fantastic Indian meal for so cheap! Then we checked out this designer fashion sale. I found a couple of tops I liked...I got a blue long sleeve shirt and this beautiful green silk one shoulder top for going out. They were really reasonably priced. I've been to a few other designer sales where the prices were still way out of my range. This one was just right!

Last week was pretty emotional for me...professionally and personally. I have been having issues with my team leader...I had a talk about it with my staff manager as well as a fellow colleague. There's no way around it...I'm going to have to talk to her. She's been bothering me for a while...I guess I feel unappreciated. I have been snowed under with work lately and it's really difficult to stay motivated when your boss sits right beside you and spends most of the time surfing the internet and making personal phone calls. Then she turns around and makes it seem like I am not putting in the effort and makes me feel bad about taking my lunch hour when I am fully entitled to it. It irks me that she is the team leader yet she knows the least about our system and the process/procedures. She is supposed to know them better than anyone, she's not supposed to ask us how things work. I am truly fed up. As soon as I returned from my trip last weekend, I started to apply for jobs immediately. In fact I already have an interview! It felt really good to be proactive...I talked to my staff manager about possibly switching projects or moving onto a different team but that seems to be tricky and difficult. There aren't too many opportunities in London...which most people find strange but that's my company. I don't want to commute. Also I have decided that I am not getting paid enough. I am getting the average graduate's salary...however people are still shocked when they find out what I am making. I need to find an in house position!

I finally told this shameless hussy what I thought of her...I can't stand outrageous flirts who pursue people that are already taken. It disgusts me. I hope karma brings them what they deserve. I have decided that although I have been unlucky in love...for a while now...something amazing is going to come my way. It's ying yang...something fantabulous is needed to balance all the crap I have been dealt with so far. I've spent two years on an unfaithful sham and the two years before that on a fickle pickle. No more says me.

Tinderbox

2005-05-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't tired...then I remembered. I had coffee earlier tonight. Sherry + Coffee at night or even late afternoon = bad. It was a very nice cup of coffee though. I had Caramel Latte...there was a leafy swirly thing imprinted in the foam. There was also live music that was very nice and soothing.

Here are my reviews:

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. It was terrif...the play was powerful and the acting absolutely superb. I was moved to tears more than once! The view from the first row wasn't so great, too many times a table would obstruct our view and we'd only see legs.

Hotel Rwanda. Everyone should see this movie. Enough said.

The Chorus. A french film about a teacher and his experiment to discipline troubled boys by making them sing in a choir. I really enjoyed it, it was so cute!. It reminded me of another film...can't remember what it's called tho.

Fun Day

2005-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost the end of May! Where has this month gone?! Yesterday Jo slept over; I made some yummy noodles and we watched Sweet Home Alabama, one of my favourite movies ever. She brought some cheesecake from M&S that were to die for! Then this morning we went down to Soho and managed to get tickets for Death of a Salesman for only 10 pounds (regularly 45 pounds...this is how I am able to feed my addiction to the theatre). We're in the first row so we'll probably be able to see Brian Dennehy's pores if we wanted to. My dentist appointment was cancelled, however this was not made known to me until I had made my way over to West London. Most annoying. Then I went up to Stokie and met up with Rach for lunch at this fantastic Turkish cafe. I checked out her place and we just chilled til I had to come back. Can't wait for tonight! After the play we are going to this Martini Mixer at the Canada House. It'll be my first time there. :)

Fast Paced Life

2005-05-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Man there is always something to do here...and I have trouble deciding which! Like this Wed: Jo has Orange Wednesdays which means two movie tickets for the price of one, so we usually see a movie every week. This week we are thinking about seeing the Edukators. LSE is having a Human Rights Public Debate that sounds SO interesting. The National Gallery is only open late on Wednesday nights, so if I ever want to go after work it would have to be a Wednesday. The Caravaggio exhibition is ending soon...I'm running out of time to see it! Ahh so many decisions...and whatever I choose to do I have to be home by 10 in time for Desperate Housewives! Speaking of Desperate Housewives...I managed to 'acquire' last week's episode. Can't wait to watch it!

I went to LSE after work today...walking around the Old Building, seeing the bulletin boards brought back memories of Queen's. Sometimes I miss school, and I've thought about going back. But unless it will really aid me in my career I'm not sure I will. It's still an option...I might have one less option now. I looked into getting a Highly Skilled Migrant Visa, and after some calculations I discovered I may not have enough points to get one! The only way I can qualify is if I get a higher paying job. So I might have to leave next May...so crazy! My life is once again so very precarious. Maybe I'll go back home...or to the States... But now that I'm thinking about going home, I've realized that there's still so much I want to see here! Not that I've been slacking or anything...I've done quite a bit of travelling the past few months...but I know I won't be able to fit everything in. I don't think I would lead such a fast paced life anywhere else haha. The LSE lecture I went to tonight was quite good. I bought Fred Halliday's book '100 Myths About the Middle East'.

This past weekend was nice. I caught up with Karen and we went up to Highgate Village for lunch at a pub called Flask. Then I went with her to check out a flat cos she's looking to move again. We then caught Kingdom of Heaven which was ok. I fell asleep...as I do. Then on Sunday I cleaned the house and went shopping with Jo. Shopping can be so exhaustive and frustrating here. You never find what you want. I never recall having such problems back home. And this whole peasant/Sienna Miller look...I just don't think it's me. A lot of the stuff in the stores right now are kinda ugly.

I Hate Waiting For Buses That Don't Come

2005-05-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today I met up with Brice and Derek after work; they are here for a couple of days before they jet off to mainland europe. They looked like twins when I saw them...they both had on blue jeans and a black fleece...matching backpacks lol! It was nice to catch up...and to hear about what happened to other people we knew. They are staying with one of Brice's high school friends...I went with them to the apartment and it was SO nice. The location was fantastic too, but the rent was approximately ten times what I'm currently paying for my place. Sigh...I'm in the wrong field!!

So I got another rejection...from the same company. I guess getting rejected twice by the same company isn't AS bad as getting rejected by the same company on two different continents. Oh man...I need to start looking elsewhere...

I missed Desperate Housewives! *gasp* Tomorrow I am going to see the musical Far Pavilion. Should be cool!

Hurray for Electricity

2005-05-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

So today I got off the bus and started to walk home...only to realize that the block I lived on was eerily dark. None of the streetlights were working and all the houses were dark. Scary! Turns out someone blew some sort of a fuse and it affected the whole block as everyone is connected. It got fixed though...about an hour later...thank goodness!!

Alex left early this morning to fly back home...I was sad. I miss him more than I thought I would. Work was dull, as usual. After work I met up with Sarah and we did some shopping. We spent about 2 hours in Top Shop lol...there were some good sales! I picked up a couple of tops which were quite reasonable. We went to Soho for dinner, a little place called the Stockpot. Cheap grub.

I really enjoyed my trip to Prague; it was more leisurely, unlike my other trips. The baroque architecture was lovely...I got to visit a concentration camp, and I ate a lot of sausages. I will write about it later when I have more time.

Squeak

2005-04-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

Oh my god! My housemate who lives above me has been stomping around and squeaking for the past 2 hours. I know the floors are really squeaky...this whole house is squeaky but can't he hear himself?? I mean I am quite aware of the noise and will try to step lightly or around spots that I know are prone to be squeaky so I do not disturb my housemates who live beneath me too much. Ahhhh!! And this is every morning! I do not need an alarm clock at 6 every morning that has no snooze button...who walks around that much anyway?!

I don't really want to say anything...because maybe it'll get weird and change the friendly vibe. Sigh...I guess with everything there is the good and the bad....

Workin' Hard

2005-04-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, what a week! Work has definitely been interesting, and not in the good sense. Our project has undergone a few process changes, most of which I am not happy with. People we have to work with are difficult and stubborn; if they would just try to cooperate things could be a whole lot simpler. My team leader was even thinking of quitting! She beat me to it lol. I updated and jazzed up my CV yesterday. It took me the whole night! But now it's done, and I can start applying to other companies. Nate's going to refer me to his company...he also said he would help me with my CV...not that this has anything to do with the 10% he'll get if I land the job lol.

I had lunch with a couple of colleagues who work in another building. One of them is a new grad as well and he has already landed another job elsewhere. Apparently everyone on their floor is applying to jobs. There is no loyalty to my company at all! And I don't blame them...one of the guys told me that they don't mind when people leave, because they will just hire someone else in India and pay them a fraction of what they have to pay workers here. People are bitter because they are promised payrises/bonuses but never see them. My financial advisor...yes I have a financial advisor lol! I recently switched banks because my current one refuses to give me a credit card, but I digress. My financial advisor told me that the inflation rate in London is 3%. So every year when people don't see any payrise, they are in fact making less than the previous year. How sad eh!

Sadness

2005-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

My mini ipod was stolen by some stupid kid on a bike today. I had it in my hand and the next thing I know it's gone! I thought he knocked it to the ground but I looked around and saw nothing. Then I looked up and saw him pedalling away, looking back at me. That's when it sank in; I tried to run after him but he was too fast. He turned a corner and was gone. I walked around dumbfounded...and sad. It had sentimental value...that was a christmas present from my parents. Sigh! The kids here are absolutely horrible...seriously. Then my housemate and I saw police people walking around our area...it was all very eerie. Today in the Metro I read that some terrorists had been making deadly poison to spread around an area that was a little too close to where I live. So scary!!

Fringes

2005-04-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

I finally got a haircut! For the past few months, everytime I looked in the mirror I thought: 'I need a haircut'. So I did something about it today! I went out to zone 3 in west london...I was almost at Heathrow. My friend recommended the salon, and it was economical (for Londona anyway). So I got my layers redone...and I now have fringes! They're long and only on one side haha.

There was a bug in my room just now. Anyone who knows me would be so proud. I pulled out a book and prepared myself for battle. With my heart pumping, I held my ground and swung mightily at it. I couldn't get it however, so I opened my door and tried to shoo it outside instead. I don't see it anymore, so hopefully it's gone.

A card that someone who was very dear to my heart gave me just fell off my wall. It's a sign; yes I do believe in signs. I remember in third year, my ex had given me this little bag of sand from Cancun which was where he went for spring break. I kept it on my shelf, and one day it fell off and broke. Sand went everywhere and the little seashells in the bag tumbled out. That was the biggest sign if there ever was one. Me and him never did get back together.

My fabulous fabulous housemate spent the last hour helping me put together my chest of drawers. It's almost done, the back just needs to be nailed in. It was too late so decided to finish tomorrow lest we wake up any angry neighbours. I'm so happy! I can't wait to move it into my room, it looks SO much better than the little one I have right now.

Anyway, I need to catch some zZz's so I can get to work on time.

P.S. I just want to say...people suffering from hangovers do not get any sympathy from me. Their misery is self-inflicted!!

Relaxin'

2005-04-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Italian Show was awesome! We tasted wine, salami and cheese, went to two cooking demonstrations and a cooking class! We made Pici pasta from scratch...literally just water, flour and an egg! It's apparently very old and very Tuscan. We also learned how to make Pesto!! YUM :D The Italian chefs were all so gregarious...the Celebrity Chef we saw, Gennaro Contaldo was SUCH a hoot! And they make everything look so easy!

This is my first weekend in London in a month! Next weekend I am going to Berlin...should be a good time. It's nice to relax and do nothing. I actually have a lot of organising and cleaning up to do, but I've been procrastinating a bit. Watching a little Gilmore Girls...and deleting them because I am running out of space on my hard drive.

It's been more than a month since I've moved in. My wardrobe needed to be replaced BADLY...it was tipping over and the doors wouldn't close. It's probably older than me! I hadn't unpacked my gargantuan suitcase cos I didn't want to move everything twice. My housemate said he would contact the landlady and ask if we could get it replaced. So I waited and waited...and waited...and no replacement came. He couldn't get in touch with her. I said f*ck it and ordered it from Argos on Wednesday night, and it came yesterday morning! I was so excited, I feigned a sore throat to get out of my team drinks. But when I got home and opened the box, I nearly cried! I hate DIY...my brother and my dad always put together our IKEA stuff. Thank goodness my housemates offered to help...we were a bit short on tools. I had to use the end of a screwdriver as a hammer but it all worked out. I managed to move my old wardrobe out of my room today and drag the new one in. By myself. I feel like such a strong independent woman! LOL! I also bought a chest of drawers...that still needs to be assembled.

National Anthems

2005-04-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

I saw National Anthems with Jo after work today. I thought it was pretty good. The critics didn't though...they gave it 0 out of 5 stars lol. It got pretty intense near the end of the play! We had amazing seats...second row centre. I could see the lines on his face haha.

I don't know how it happened, but I have managed to completely fill my schedule for the rest of this week! Tomorrow night I am going to see Maria Full of Grace with Jo. It looks really good. Then on Thurs I am going with a few mates to The Original Acoustic Night at the Ginglik which is part of the Hammersmith and Fulham Festival. On Friday I have team drinks. I don't particularly like going to those, but I figure I shouldn't be too anti-social. Me and Jo are going to La Dolce Vita on Saturday, which is a festival on Italy. I'm looking forward to the cooking classes, they sound like fun! I haven't decided yet if I want to go out on Saturday night...and Sunday I will probably just relax, maybe do some shopping...

Today my team leader pulled me into a meeting room and asked me all these questions about what happened and how I felt over the weekend...why I couldn't come in yesterday...I was really starting to get nervous. Turns out she's worried about my health, so for the remainder of this week she says I can come in at 10:30 instead of 9 AM. Woohoo!!

A Vacation from Vacation

2005-04-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how crazy and hectic the past few weeks have been. Seriously, I need a vacation from my vacations! I intend on doing absolutely nothing this coming weekend and I am so looking forward to it!

Edinburgh was a lot of fun too. It was gorgeous as well and very easy to get to know. Our schedule was pretty jam packed; we only saw Edinburgh Castle cos we didn't have time to see any other castles or palaces. We went to the Museum of Scotland, Mary King's close which is this street that is now buried beneath the city, the Scotch Whiskey Centre; we also went on a haunted ghost tour that took us into this tomb where poltergeist activities were known to happen. It was scary, Edinburgh is supposed to be the most haunted city in Europe. We went on a Haggis day trip out to Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine. It was so nice, we even took a little hike. We also passed by Stirling and the Wallace Monument. Our tour guide was hilarious. The weather was atmospheric, a wee bit dramatic lol. The food was good...yes I tried Haggis. I also had some Scottish beer and whisky. The guesthouse we stayed at was really nice, we had a triple room. But the owner was quite rude, we were quite indignant by the end. My friend Sarah wrote a review which pretty much sums up what happened.

Dublin was nice too. I stayed with my friend Thomas and it was nice to catch up. He lived in an area where grown men will cross the street if they see a group of 10 year olds lol. We went to Trinity College and saw the book of Kells, stopped by St. Stephen's Green and the Shelbourne Hotel, took a quick walk through the largest mall in Dublin at Dundrum and had dinner at Johnnie Fox's . I also went to St. Patrick's, Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. We went to Temple Bar at night and I had Guinness! There was a fun fair which Thomas was really excited about. We went on this spinny ride which usually lasts about a minute but because there weren't that many people there in the afternoon it lasted about 3 minutes. I guess we got our moneys worth but my tummy didn't feel too good afterwards. Oh and we saw Oscar Wilde's house which was cool!

So far April is looking to be just as crazy as March...

North London Girl

2005-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

I moved into my new flatshare today. So far it seems ok...except for my wardrobe which is practically falling down but hopefully the landlord will replace it soon. I'm still getting used to the area. My friend Rachel met me here after I had settled in and she had picked up mail from her old flat...we tried to find some pub grub but was unsuccessful. We ended up at this Chinese restaurant that had blue lighting and oversized fish in a smoky tank that didn't seem big enough.

I stayed with a friend last week in West London. It was nice, I like that area...Kensington, Hammersmith, Fulham. IF I move again (please god don't let me have to move again) I will definitely consider moving to West London. It doesn't take me that long to get to work...although District is one of the most unreliable lines. Speaking of the London Underground...it is so friggin annoying. Trains are more likely to be delayed than not...there is always construction going on...at least one trainline or part of one is always down...not all stations have escalators so if you have luggage it's a royal pain to have to drag it up and down the bazillion flights of stairs...it's crowded...it smells bad...and in the summer it can get quite suffocating as there's no air con.

Anyway...my room is a bit cold. There is a cold draft coming from my window. :( At least my duvet is warm.

The Move

2005-02-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

It will happen. Soon. Very soon. My landlady found someone to move in on the 26th, which is next Friday. I've been frantically trying to flat hunt. I may have found a place in North London...met the housemates and they all seem nice. It's a pretty international crowd. The only issue I have is with the bathrooms...there is only 1.5 that's one full bathroom plus one separate toilet for 5 people. It could be tricky...but doable. I mean I lived in a hostel sharing a bathroom with 15 other people for a whole summer! The rent is super cheap...so I'd be able to save some money. And it's close to Highgate and Hampstead, which are supposed to be really nice. Hmm decisions decisions...

My friends here have been pretty amazing...really supportive. They've offered to help me move and to let me crash at their place if I need to. Seriously having good friends makes all the difference in the world...the few that I have here haha. My friends back home are pretty amazing too. Julie made me a winnie the pooh cross-stitch for my birthday, it's so cute! I have it sitting beside my monitor at work and looking at it makes me smile. I just got a package from Karen today...she sent me the latest Oprah magazine haha (she loves Oprah) and the sweetest bookmark. Awww =)

Flathunting has been taking up all my time. I took tonight off for myself cos I was feeling so overwhelmed. I really need to pack and clean. Can't wait til this is all over...then I can start living my life! I have so many things I want to do, I feel like my life is so unbalanced right now. I haven't taken a dance class in ages...I want to volunteer...become a trustee for a charity...take some classes for fun...read and write more...join a choir...go shopping lol. I also need to start planning some trips!! My friend Thomas is in Ireland and I said I'd go visit him. I saw him last weekend when he was in town...always nice to see a familiar face. Me and Jo are thinking of going to Rome for Easter! That should be fun... Olivia's coming to Europe tomorrow! Hopefully we'll get to meet up somewhere!

Pigeons are Stupid

2005-02-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

I got shat on by a pigeon. This happened not in Trafalgar Square but in an underground station!! It was horrible and if it had happened to someone else I probably would've laughed, but I could not run to the toilet fast enough. Why do they go to the loo when they're in flight anyway?! Another reason for me to not like them. They are constantly flying up in my face and just generally annoying me with their very existence. Ugh!

I finally saw Meet the Fockers tonight. The movies here are so behind North America. I remember watching Vanity Fair back in September and it just recently came out here. Anyway it was pretty funny haha. A guy did that 'I see you' thing to me at a bar last week, except at the time I had no clue where it was from and I thought he was nuts.

The Lion King

2005-02-06T05:18:00.000-08:00

I'm going to see it on Tues!! Yippee!! I'm so excited...every time I think about it, The Circle of Life starts playing in my head.

Moving

2005-02-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

I have decided to move. I cannot live with someone who brings such a negative energy to my life. She is one of the most unpleasant and miserable people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. This time I need to be really picky not only about where I'm living, but also who I'm living with. I'm going to see my friend Sarah's new place tomorrow. There might be a room becoming available there soon so I'm going to check it out. But it's not really close to a tube station and she lives with an Irish mom. We'll see...I have to call a few places too. No more procrastinating!

Yesterday me and Jo went to the Burberry outlet. I got a few things for my family haha. The clothes there were wack. Then we went to Primark which was on the opposite side of town. I'll definitely have to go back there after I move and pick up a few things. I got two pairs of fleece gloves for a pound! They have cute PJ sets for four pounds!

The Drinking Culture Here...

2005-02-05T01:30:00.000-08:00

I just cannot keep up! Thursday night I went out with a few colleagues to this tsunami fundraiser concert put on by my colleague's friend. It was a good laugh. People do very funny things when they're pissed. I sipped on Archer's all night, my colleague's husband kept coming over with them. I had four which was quite a bit for me considering I usually only have one or two. Still I was called a lightweight! Grrr...oh well I am. I was told that North Americans on a whole drink a lot less than people here...if the British went over there and drank the way they did here, people would think they had a problem. But I don't know...I think they just have more pubs here. Practically every street corner has one. And they're thinking about implementing a new law that allows people to drink around the clock. Seriously! *rolls eyes*

I met up with a couple of girlfriends last night and we were supposed to go this bar that looked really cool. But it turned out to be a gay bar...not that I have anything against them, but after my experience at G.A.Y. in soho I was not too keen. So we ended up at this other bar called Pitcher and Piano.

guilty or not...

2005-01-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

So Michael Jackon's trial starts this week. He stands accused of licking a sleeping boy's forehead during a flight on his private jet, and he admits to it...but he says that he was only attempting to keep the boy warm after his clothes 'fell off' during rough turbulence. Wahahaha....

laziness

2005-01-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

This country allows you to be as lazy as you want. Everything at the grocery store comes pre-packaged, pre-washed, pre-cut. It's great! I just made chicken chow mein and all I had to do was throw the already cut and sliced veggies into the pot...stir them for a minute or two...then dump the noodles and sauce into the mix. After a few minutes...voila! Dinner is served. I love it.

I'm sick again. It sucks a big one. I can't breathe through my nose. Argh! I wasn't even healthy for that long. :'(

take care of the golf balls

2005-01-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar..and the coffee... A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions -things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else -the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Contemplating...

2005-01-30T05:58:00.000-08:00

moving again. I think I know why I feel so homesick sometimes...it's cos the place where I'm currently living doesn't feel like home. I don't particularly like my housemates...well one hasn't been here and the other one I don't even talk to. I stopped making an effort so we didn't talk for a few days. Then yesterday she finally said something to me...and it was about hair in the bathtub drain. Blah. My TV doesn't really work either...we have an aerial but everytime we change the channel (we only have 5) we have to re-adjust it. The reception is crap...our sound is fine...but our picture ranges from slightly fuzzy to very fuzzy. I like my room though...and my rent is very reasonable. For London anyway.

I'll see how things go...but I was thinking if I'm going to be here for another 11 months, then it might be worth it to look into living somewhere that makes me happy.

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

2005-01-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

Wow it is almost Feb. Hmm that means...tomorrow's payday!! Woohoo!

I went to see Whose Life Is It Anyway? with Karen yesterday. We got a couple of half price tickets from TKTS, and they were pretty amazing seats...stopped by Borough Market for lunch...then took the tube to Leicester Square. It was really good, Kim Cattrall plays a paraplegic so she is in bed for the whole play. Her character reminds me a bit of Samantha Jones haha. The rest of the cast were all brilliant as well. It's definitely one of the better plays I've seen here. It was about a pretty serious topic, but they injected a lot of humour into it. Like there was part when Claire Harrison (Kim) was talking about things that she could do..."John says that I can move my head" so she turns her head to the left and then to the right..."I can be a tennis umpire!" Then she moved her head faster..."and if I get really good, I can do ping pong!"

Then I met up with Rachel and we went to Brick Lane for some curry. I had sag lamb which is lamb with spinach. It was yum. We ended up at Angel afterwards for a pint. There was a bar there called The Green which looked very nice...will have to go back sometime. Drinking is such a big part of the British culture...I'm definitely drinking more here than I did back home...I think my tolerance has gone up lol.

On Friday I went to see Closer with Nate. I thought it was ok...a bit sad but that's reality for ya. Good intentions and reality can be two very different things. Natalie Portman says in the movie...that there is always a moment when you can cave in...or you can resist. And that's so true...so many times people make the wrong decision...and end up hurting someone they love. Is it worth it in the end...probably not.

I'm having such a lazy day...going to to see Birth tonight. ISH was supposed to have shown it last week but they were having technical difficulties. We ended up watching American Pie 3 instead...slightly annoying but it was a good laugh.

Nature's First Green Is Gold...

2005-01-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

When something's been a certain way for a really long time...sometimes it's hard to believe when you see something unexpected. When you come to depend on someone's unwavering presence...and the comfort they give...it can be a real jolt to suddenly see the whole picture...the good and the ugly. But when someone constantly lies to you and does things that make you sad...they just can't bring out the best in you. Even I have started to dislike myself...for who I have become. Sometimes I think if my heart were to break one more time, it would shatter. Funny how history repeats itself eh. To love someone despite all...is that unconditional love? Or is that not loving myself enough?

Itchy!

2005-01-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have a skin reaction right now and I'm so itchy!! All over!! I went to see a doctor today and she gave me some anti-biotics cos she thinks I have a baterial infection. Hopefully I'll feel better soon. =(

Right now at work we are rolling out a new system so we have to go to these 'training sessions'. So far I have fallen asleep in every single session...tomorrow is the last one. I don't know why...I even drank tea! It's just the atmosphere I think...very soporific...reminds me too much of school and lectures.

Speaking of which, I've come to the very sad realisation that I'm not a student anymore. Which means...no more student discounts. Technically I haven't been a student for about 8 months now...but I still had my ISIC card so could pass as a student. Now I have to pay 'adult' prices for everything!! Wahh!! It's like when you graduate from a child to a teenager...suddenly - no more kids meals and child prices. I am now at the apex of the paying hill...no more breaks til I become a senior citizen (37 years to go).

Jetlag

2005-01-15T01:17:00.000-08:00

So I managed to stay up til past midnight yesterday...and I woke up at 8:30 this morning! Woohoo! The past couple of nights I've been sleeping at 8 PM and waking up at 4 AM...I even fell asleep at work which was bad. I got dragged to a colleague's leaving do on my first day back at work and got sick after only one drink. I'm not usually such a lightweight but I was drinking on an empty stomach and was SO ready for bed. I found out that people at my company DO socialise outside of work haha...just not in my dept.

I'm feeling slightly better now. I was really homesick when I first got back. Sometimes I really wish I had my own place. I've decided that one of my housemates is miserable. I tried being nice to her and engaging her in conversation, but she's the unfriendliest person ever. We still don't have a router yet...so only one person can use the modem at any one time which is kinda annoying.