Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween

** DARN, I just lost my post because Blogger frozed up!!! Ah!!**

Kay went out for Trick O Treatin with Tyler and Henry. They hooked up at Ty's house at around 6.00pm (I picked her up at 8.00pm) but only went out for about 30 minutes. They decided to cut it short because they wanted to play videogames at Ty's house. I guess she is getting a little too old to go out. But she looked so adorable in her costume...


My Halloween Costume


Left to Right: Vampire E!, Kitty Kat Val, Witch Trish, Gothic Jana

Saturday, October 29, 2005

VSO

This was an awesome symphony and thanks to my friend, Erin for inviting me to see this with her and her husband. I really enjoyed the orchestra and I am thinking about purchasing a series.

Marching to Manhattan with Canadian Brass!
Sousa - Washington Post March
Handel - Music for the Royal Fireworks
Tovey - Manhattan Music for Brass Quintet & Orchestra (WP)
Britten - Young personÂ’s Guide to the Orchestra, op. 34
Bramwell Tovey - Conductor Canadian Brass - - Brass Quintet
Orpheum Theatre
Saturday October 29, 2005 8pm
*Saturday night is the first concert of the 5-concert Musically Speaking series featuring Video Screens, and informal commentary about the composers and their music by the conductor. The Canadian Brass thrills audiences worldwide with their humour and outstanding talent. They will perform the Première of VSO Music Director Bramwell Tovey’s own Manhattan Music for Brass Quintet and Orchestra, as well as a few of their signature solos. Also featured is Benjamin Britten’s landmark composition Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

First Dance

Kay attended her first intermediate Dance last night. She was quite excited although I was a little worried because in my mind she will always be my baby girl. Kay quite enjoyed herself, she had a really great time dancing the night away. Although by the time I picked her up, her feet were killing her. I told her, she is on her way to being a little lady. This is what it's like in my "shoe world". She did insist on wearing those heeled boots and they are quite cute. Actually, these boots are for her Halloween costume. We got them at Value Village for $6.00. She is going to be a little devil. When I arrived to pick her up, of course I was right on time, standing around watching the kids come out and checking them out, I realized my baby was the smallest girl in the bunch. Gosh, I still can't believe she is growing up and will be going to DANCES.... *sigh*


Thursday, October 27, 2005

Surprise! How sweet...



"It's not a special occasion But you're a special person... Always, Me "

Thank you honey! They are so beautiful and have brighten up my week! Love you *muah*

Update on 649

5 - 11 - 20 - 30 - 37 - 43 Bonus 31

One ticket out there has the 649 winning numbers. And it's not a BC ticket. Somewhere in Alberta, there is a ticket not yet claimed with the winning lottery numbers. The jackpot went up today (now at 54 million) because of the volume of sales last night..... OMG, I could use 1 million, I'm not greedy... I could live with 1 million.... sigh....

Muscle Pain

Last night, I went to see my mom's massage therapist. She was awesome. Although, she could not get the shoulder pain out, she took out all kinks in my back / legs. 60 minutes of massage therapy (some of it not too comfortable - more like jabbing at my muscles) did my sore muscles some good. I think I will make an appointment once a month. She is worth it.

The doctor also suggested that I should consider taking up yoga to stretch out my muscles/joints. I told her I started running again and she stressed the importance of my stretching, apparently 5 or 10 minutes is not good enough. I'm not in my 20s anymore so apparently my body can't take the exercise without the warm up and cool down. I will look into yoga at a community centre as I find yoga classes are soooo expensive! Maybe I will get classes for both my mom and Kay and we can do this together. My mom is thinking about taking yoga as well.... we'll see....

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Advil Addict

I have taken 2 extra strength Advils to help release the back / shoulder pain I have... I cannot work like this and these DRUGS ARE NOT WORKING!!!

Life is the sh*tz when your back is out....

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Kay's Updates

D Man

I got Kay to tell me the first letter of her "crush". I had to hold her down and tickel her until she screamed MERCY! hahaha... But all I could get out of her was his first initial. I will get it out of her....

First Dance

Kay's first dance is on Friday. Intermediates only. Which means grade 6 and 7s are the only ones allowed to attend these dances.... gosh.... I cannot believe that she is growing up so fast! It's crazy.... but I know she needs to go and prep herself for highschool. She needs to learn how to socialize and I guess this is eventually going to happen.... my baby isn't a baby anymore....

Allergic Reaction

The cream is working! She no longer has the Hives all over her face! Thank goodness... she's got picture day on Thursday! By that time, it should be all cleared up....

Neck Pain

Oooh... this is not good pain. Neck / shoulder pain. My neck started throbbing when I got off the bus. I think my posture is really messed up. I spoke to a friend (who has back problems) and he thinks my spine is unaligned and the stress from jogging the last couple of days may have caused it to shift. He tried pushing it back into place but it didn't work. Ugh, this is painful and this is bad pain......

649


40 million dollar jackpot!

My office was inspired by the current winnings of the lottery by co-workers who pitched their twoonie in a pot to buy lottery numbers for the 649. Maybe we will be the next group to win! Wouldn't that be sweet, 26 divide by 40 million is still about 1.5 million each. I could live with that.... Hey, you never know.....

**lotto stats have shown that BC is on a winning streak, couple of last jackpots have been won in BC**

P.A.I.N.

OMG, my legs are very sore.... I think the pain is now catching up to me. It was so nice to be able to run without getting any cramps or soreness but now I can feel it. It's like the first couple of days, Kay & I biked all over the city. Didn't feel the pain until a few days later...... but it's good pain....

GOOD PAIN...GOOD PAIN.....

Monday, October 24, 2005

Monday....

Monday Blues

The ladies in the office were having a blue Monday. It might be the weather change or maybe the stress levels we had in the office last week. But we all seemed to be feeling tired and blue. As if we were on the verge of catching a bug or something.

I decided to run off the blues. Right after work, I got into my running clothes and went over to Douglas Park and ran 2 km. I love running in autumn, the crisp air and the leaves falling at my feet. Beautiful.

BREATHE...

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Jogging

I decided to get up and go jogging this afternoon. I did close to 2 km. I need to learn how to breathe but I think I did pretty well considering I have not done any jogging or exercise (not including biking) since June. I think I need to pick up yoga too. I would like to learn how to relax and breathe. I also weighed myself and I could lose 10 pounds. I would be happy with that.

One day at a time....

Halloween Costume Shopping

Value Village

This is the best place to pick up costumes for Halloween. Every October, they carry a huge selection of Halloween items and you can pick out your outfit in their selection of vintage clothing or pick up something in their spooky Halloween aisles. Kay is going to be a little devil this year. We picked up her horns, tail, and pitch fork. She also picked out red tights and we found some really cool black knee high boots to finish off her outfit. Her girlfriend is going to give her a red dress / sweater to complete the outfit. Gosh, she is going to look cute this year!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Kay's Allergic Reaction

Last night, after dinner, Kay and I headed over to the medical clinic to get her hives looked at. Boy, was the doctor shocked to see Kay's face, all swollen, bumpy, red, rashy, and pussing (a little). She prescribed some antibiotic hydrocrotisine cream for her face, gave us some Dove Gentle wash to wash off her face. Instructions: 3 times daily. Hopefully, it will get better within a few days as it's starting to look pretty nasty. Doctor says stay out of the sun (like we are going to see any.... forecast, rain all weekend) and hopefully, no scaring. My poor baby. I felt so bad for her but hopefully, she will remember now - Never use cream or lotion from anyone but yourself or from your mom!! Esp. creams from Asian countries!!

There was a Canuck's home game going on last night and traffic was incredibly congested on Cambie Street. I normally do not leave the apartment after I get home from work unless I was going across the street to pick up something for dinner but there was an urgent need to fill the prescription. London Drugs is not that far away but I was trying to figure out which back routes I could use to get there without using Cambie. It would have been easier to bike and great exercise but Kay was worried that I would get hit by a car as it was getting quite dark outside. Thankfully, there wasn't a long line up for drugs, only about 10 minutes. I strolled around the store and found this pretty nailpolish with sparkles for Kay. I figured this would cheer her up and it would be something fun for her to do today as she is stuck at home. She was suppose to attend a field trip with her afterschool care but due to the CUPE strike, community centres are closed in support of the BCTF. Which means her field trip to the pumpkin patch is cancelled. But that's alright because she wouldn't have been able to go due to her allergic reaction, too much dust and dirt flying around. I think that is probably not good for her skin at the moment. I will try to plan something for her next week so she and maybe a friend can go on their own little field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Poor baby.... how swollen her face is.....

Thursday, October 20, 2005

New Boots


These are my shiny new black boots and they are so beautiful. I fell in love with them when I finally tried them on over the weekend while shopping at Metropolis. Over the past couple of weeks, I have walked past these boots while walking Robson Street (downtown - that is a huge disadvantage about working downtown - the shopping!!). I have been debating whether I should consider buying them as I figured these boots would probably be very uncomfortable. But what did I do? I tried them on anyways and they are not the bit least tight or not walkable. A new feature Aldo has added to their beautiful boots are padded lining which makes them super comfy! The heels are not too narrow and are 3 inches in height. I love 3 inch heels, they make me 5'10". And noooo they are not too pointy!! As per Rich, who thinks they are going to squish my toes. My toes are quite happy in them :o) *sigh* I love being a girl ....

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Updates

BCTF still on strike

Yes the teachers are still on strike, this is the second week and it's not looking like the government and teachers are close to resolving this matter. This situtation is very concerning. My daughter has now missed two full weeks of school. She's getting bored and passing her around to friends and family is getting difficult. This needs to be resolved and it's not fair for the children. Ugh, how frustrating! Now, CUPE members are taking one day strikes in different cities across the Province to protest with the teachers. Riduclous. It is scary how much power the union holds in this province. They can shut down a city for a day. Scary....

Work

Been busy at work but this week my project director is onsite. Tuesday and today, I was home sick, I had this terrible migraine and a slight fever, was pretty much in bed for a day and half. But I'm fine now and will be back to work tomorrow.

Hives?

Kay's got a huge bumpy rash on her face. We have no idea how it started but we have an idea on why it has spread across her forehead and on her nose. She has a slight itch on her forehead and her friend offered Kay some cream, and when she put it on, her face became tight, swollen, bumpy and very itchy. Ugh, why did she do that? She knows better than that. This has happened before. Let's hope, this is a lesson learned.

Movie

Caught another movie at the VIFF, last week. Called "Stolen Life", the show we caught was an extra show because of popular demand. It was very good and very well written. A little scary that something like this could happen. It won a Tribeca Award, see website for details: http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/filmguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=1581&FullNote=1

That's about it, I think.....

Sunday, October 09, 2005

News

Teachers On Strike
Teachers went on strike on Friday. Hopefully, this will be resolved this upcoming week. But I don't think so. I hear some teachers were passing out homework for the next month. Ugh... that is NOT GOOD.

Friday
Hung out with Vin and we went to Vogue Cuisine for dinner. Checked on my dad's place. He put a lock on his bedroom door so I could not look for my mother's dvd. After dinner, we were going to have bubble tea but there was no parking so we ended up at Aberdeen and had Starbucks.

Saturday
Went over to mom's place to help prep for Thanksgiving Dinner on Monday. We ran errands, picked up some veggies for dinner. Help prep for soup.

Sunday
Watched "Three Times" starring Shu Qi.

On Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_times/
From VIFF:
Three Times Zui Hao de Shiguang [THREE] Taiwan, 2005, 131 min, Color , 35mmIn Mandarin with English SubtitlesDirected By: Hou Hsiao-HsienPRODS: Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hwarng Wern-YingSCR: Chu Tien-WenCAM: Mark LeeED: Liao Ching-SongMUS: Lim Giong, Li Kuo-Yuan, K-B-N, The PlattersCAST: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Mei Fang, Di Mei, Liao Su-Jen, Chen Shih-Shan, Ko Yu-Lun

Shu Qi, in tight, lime-green satin pants, cleans up the pool hall and impulsively pots a couple of balls; on the soundtrack, The Platters are singing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"... Three Times is Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s most seductive film in some while, full of small, magical moments which capture fleeting pleasures and transient emotions. Hou says that the film’s Chinese title (it translates as "The Best of Times") has, for him, the specific nuance that evanescence is precisely what makes experiences special: we cherish memories because they come from a past that has vanished.Each of the film’s chapters ­ all three starring Shu Qi and Chang Chen and with the same supporting cast ­ is set in a different year. The pool hall turns up in 1966, and it’s easy to figure out that this represents an episode from Hou’s own adolescence: Chang Chen is a kid on his military service, chasing Shu Qi from one pool-hall to the next. In 1911 (the year of China’s first revolution) she’s a tea-house courtesan worrying about her prospects of marriage and he’s her regular customer, an activist who visits Taiwan between fund-raising trips to Japan and dangerous forays into China; he turns a blind eye to her needs. And in 2005 she’s a bisexual rock chick (actually a singer who keeps having epileptic episodes) and he’s a photographer; both are involved with other people when they begin their dangerous liaison. Fashions in "love" change through the years, Hou suggests, but love stays the same. Selected Filmography: The Boys from Fengkuei (83), A Summer at Grandpa’s (84), The Time to Live and the Time to Die (85), Dust in the Wind (86), A City of Sadness (89), The Puppetmaster (93), Good Men, Good Women (95), Flowers of Shanghai (98), Millennium Mambo (01), Café Lumière (03) Sponsored By Fairchild TV


I'm not so sure how I rate this movie as yet. I really went to watch the movie because of Shu Qi and it was on a weekend. The Vancouver Film Fest is almost over. Last day is October 14. I almost want to take a couple of days off so I can catch a couple of more films. I went with Hannah and Vin. She is such a sweet girl. I can not believe how grown up she looks. The first time I met her, she looked like a girl and now she's looking like a young woman. After the movie, we went over to Oakridge to kill some time as Donna and Zamyla invited us over for Thanksgiving Dinner. They have a 20 pound turkey. That was really nice! As Kay and I are going to miss out on turkey as my mom did not want to make turkey this year. Kay was quite disappointed. So it was perfect. And we have not seem Donna / Zamyla in ages! It was really great to see them. We were so stuffed! We only had 1/4 of the turkey. There were 3 adults, 2 teens, and 1 child. Only a quarter of the turkey was eaten! But it was so good. Gosh, we are pooped!

Sleeping
I haven't been sleeping well. The last couple of nights, I have been falling aslep around 2am or 3am (that was last night). I have been thinking about my dad and his stupid friend Thomas. Teachers being on strike. Property in Vancouver is going up again! So many things on my mind. It sucks when I can't relax. Oh well, I will try to get to bed earlier tonight. I need to RELAX.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Liars!

OMG, Fido lied to me! They never fixed my phone! I just called them and they have finally fixed the problem but this whole time, I thought it was fixed! Gosh... this is a week from hell.....

Televisions

Hitachi 42" Widescreen LCD HDTV

The more sales I see in the papers, advertisements and on the TV, it pisses me off that Thomas (my father's supposedly best friend) would RIP MY FATHER OFF by selling his old USED TV for 2 Grand. I could have purchased the Hitachi for 2 grand and it's a bigger screen and it's BRAND NEW!! Ugh, I am so angry with him, I am totally ready to kill him. The more I think about it, the more pissed off I am and what a F*#$% @sshole he is. The TV he gave us, is acting a little sketchy. For example, the picture sometimes fuzzes out (little spotches on the screen) and it makes a buzzing sound after you turn the TV off, this can last up to a minute. Strange.

Spoke to a co-worker about the screen/sound, he used to deal with Electronics so he has some sort of idea of what is going on. He just told me it would cost about $300-400 to service my TV. It's not worth it. Something to do with the magnetic field on the screen and the buzzing sound is just a part that could fix it. But that is stupid because my father should have NOT PURCHASED the damn thing!! PERIOD. Oh, I am going to hunt down the jerk and KICK HIS @SS!

*fuming*

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Wireless

Pay As You Go - Fido

My phone is finally working! My new wireless account was not receiving any calls since I activated the account on Friday. But I spoke to a representative and they were finally able to fix the problem. He had to call the Tech department to see what the heck was going on with my connection. But it is suppose to be up and running now. Hmm... I should probably test it. I was probably on the phone with this guy for 30 minutes, RIDICULOUS. The rep on the phone kept telling me to go into the "options" tab in my phone but there is NO OPTIONS tab in my phone. The poor guy, he kept asking if we were talking about the same phone and we were. I did eventually find the area he was looking for but it was in the "Menu" or "Options" area, it was in a very different place. But even when we got there, it still did not make any difference, he could not get through to my phone. So he ended up contacting Tech Support and they figured it out. Thank goodness...

I am still thinking about what I am going to do with the other wireless number. I think will give Kay the SIM card for her cellular. She got a cellphone from my mom (it's an old phone with limited features / options). I think it might be handy for her to have one, now I'm thinking if I should keep the old number and give her this one or if I should keep this one and give her the old number. I'm not so sure. But I really don't want to cancel my contract and pay $200 up front. Ugh, contracts!

Yahoo News!

Taiwan tells Google it is not a China province

Tue Oct 4, 6:24 AM ET


Taiwan's government has asked Web search company Google Inc. to stop calling the self-ruled island a "province of China" on its Google Maps service, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.


China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to attack the island of 23 million people if it pushes for formal statehood. The two split in a civil war ended in 1949.

Taiwan maintains it is a sovereign, independent state that is officially called the Republic of China.
"It is incorrect to call Taiwan a province of China because we are not," foreign ministry spokesman Michel Lu said. "We have contacted Google to express our position and asked them to correct the description."

The foreign ministry has not received a response from Google.

The small pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union has urged the public to write a protest email to Google, demanding the search engine describe Taiwan as "an independent state in Asia."Taiwan is recognised by only 26 states in the world and has no seat at the United Nations.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Sprint, Fido and NOW ROGERS!

I am trying to access my wireless account through Rogers (was Sprint Fido then Rogers bought Fido but Sprint Fido is not part of Rogers, it's RogersTelecom...) and when I finally got to someone who could pull up my account (this is 5 transfers LATER), they told me in order to cancel the "wireless" part of my bundle, I would have to pay a $200 fee as I have not finished my "contract". TWO YEARS? I am sure I was only suppose to sign on for ONE YEAR!! OMG, I'm so PISSED. I worked out the details and I think I save about $100 if I cancel now but I'm thinking, it's $200 up front and I don't want to pay it!! Argh! I have to go and look for my "contract" in my files but I'm sure I did not get a copy as this was done over the phone!! Should I cancel and pay up front? Or should I just keep the phone and wait until the contract is finished?

On another note, my Fido Pay As You Go number is not receiving calls. I can make calls out but no one can call in. Apparently, you get a "busy" signal but I have voice mail so if I was on the line (which I'm not), it should go right into my voice mail. I do not want to be stuck on HOLD again so after work, Kay and I are going to the fido stand at Oakridge to get this fixed. This is RIDICULOUS.

October Already!

Wow, I cannot believe it's already October! The weather is changing, it's getting colder, the sunsets are earlier and in the morning, day doesn't break until I am ready to leave the house for work! Ugh. I hate waking up in the dark.

Sunday
Went to visit my mother/grandmother. I do this almost every weekend. Kay had to come with me this time because she is grounded so she could not make plans with her friends and skip this visit. Now I know where she stands when it's her turn to come and see me. I will NEVER see her. The day is spent by having lunch together, chatting away about what's going on, helping out with chores (like grocery shopping or running errands), and helping to prep dinner and eating dinner. Nothing extradionary and normal things we do whenever I see them. Except this time around, my grandma insisted on taking me around the house to show me her antiques and valuables. She wanted to make sure that when she passed, both my mother and I were aware of what "junk" and what was not. She has many pieces of art on the wall and a lot of porcelain vases and little antiques all over the house. I was trying to remember everything she pointed out but in the end, I told my grandma I should probably bring a camera and a notebook to log all her valuables. Of course, some things are obvious to me, the difference between a print and an original. But she has a lot of stuff. I do have my eyes on a few pieces of artwork that she has hanging on the wall and I know my mother is not really interested in these particular pieces of art. She's a little more modern where I like the traditional Asian arts. We never discuss death in the family as it brings bad omen / vibes. You also don't want to deal with the fact that your parents are going to one day die and you need to go through their estate. I hate discussing these things, even though it is necessary. Because in your mind, your parents will always be there.

Sony 36" TV
I am so angry with my dad and my dad's friend, Thomas. He is such an @sshole. He sold my father his USED TV (yes yes yes, it's a great TV and will last many years - quoted by my father and hubby and best friend) for $2000. The current market value for this TV is $500-$800. I told my father NOT TO PURCHASE this TV until I looked into it. But Thomas knew I would not allow this exchange to happen if he did not push my father, so my father ended up paying for this USED TV and instead of CASH, he used his credit card towards a NEW PLASMA TV that Thomas had his eye on. Now my father is in Hong Kong and although, this deal was made between my father and Thomas, I am going to hunt this @sshole down and get him to take the TV back and to give me the cash back. Of course, he is probably in hiding now. He is going to try to avoid me at all costs and wait until my father gets back because my father as gullible as he is (some say he's too nice), will not ask for his money back or make it into a big deal. But if my father wants to throw $2000 away, than throw it toward your kids or your grandkids, not to some @sshole who calls himself your friend! Am I right? Arrrrgh... I'm so FUMING..... ok enough venting ....

New Baby Girl!
On a happier note, my friend Bren, just had her baby girl! 11 days ago! Bren is doing really well. She's healing faster than a normal woman would and she's walking around with no problems. I remember being out for three weeks after Kay was born! I can't wait to see the baby girl in the daylight (we dropped by at 9.30pm on a Friday night). She is doing the Chinese Tradition of not going out, not taking a shower and eating ginger for a whole month until Moon Yuet (Baby's One Month Day). Ugh, I didn't last more than 3 or 4 days before I had to take a shower and I had to get out of the house within the week I was home! Good luck to Bren!

Saturday, October 01, 2005

A History of Violence


I went to see this movie on Friday night and I found this movie quite entertaining. It had a good story plot and some great actors performing in this movie. The story line was easy to follow, exciting and some really awesome @sskicking moves to bugger off the bad guys! Although, Vin expected more, we agreed it was a pretty good movie and worthwhile to catch.

Official Site:
http://www.historyofviolence.com/

See reviews from Rotten Tomatoes Critics/Users:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/history_of_violence/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/history_of_violence/reviews_users.php