The Disappeared

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin

Wow, what a powerful story. Kim Echlin (Canadian author) wrote a love story about two people from different worlds, an age gap, culture clashes with distances in between and in time while the main character tries to find him. The story is written in a very poetic and magical, the story continues to draw me in with descriptions of people and places so visual that it's in my head as I read it. A lovely story this is a definite must read and an addition to your Canadian author collection!

Busy Busy Month End!

What a month! It's been a crazy and hectic month of packing, moving, packing, more moving, giving away stuff, going through stuff, and I can't believe how much STUFF we do have! Hopefully, we will get all our stuff out by the end of the month but it's not looking like it. If Kay could hurry up and pack up her room, maybe we'd get some stuff done!

On another note, it will be a great relieve once we get everything into the Burnaby condo and out of the east side basement suite that is much too small for the both of us! Plus it'll be nice to have our own bedrooms, a real living room and nice sized kitchen and not to pay any rent!! Hopefully, these savings will help pay off my last owing credit card debt and save enough money for a near future trip to Asia! Wish us luck!

Metrotown Shopping and Movie Night In

This afternoon I headed over to HonHon's condo so I could move a few things back to his closet as he was worried his parents would be upset with me moving all his stuff to their closet *rolling eyes* I also cleaned up "the mess" I made while cleaning out his room. After finishing up at his place, I went over to Metrotown to pick up a few items. First stop, Sephora for their branded smoothing primer, this primer is awesome and I love it cos it keeps my eye make up on my lids all day long! Shopper Drug Mart for some eye make up remover and I wanted to buy my fave body lotion by Avalon Organics but they did not have mine in stock, must try another one tomorrow or Monday. I wandered over to Saje to pick up a couple of items, a serum for my face and an essential oil blend roll on for stress. Winners for Hello Kitty undies cos they are so cute and comfy! Old Navy to check out their new yoga / gym wear, my co-worker had mentioned she picked up some great stuff and at a reasonable price, I found a pair of black jogging pants for only $20! I didn't really check anything else out cos it is way too bright in that store, gives me a slight headache! I stopped by Qoola before hitting Future Shop cos Kay told me they now offer Self Serve Frozen yogurt and it was the yummiest frozen yogurt I've ever had! I love that I can add as much or less toppings as I wanted and there are so many frozen yogurt flavours like mango, country vanilla and green tea! Of course I had chocolate and country vanilla with frozen strawberries, raspberries and raspberry sauce! Sooooo good and only cost me $5.00! At FS, I picked up a couple of pairs of earbuds for Kay and I, heartbeats by lady gaga and I must say these are the BEST earbuds ever! Before heading home, I picked up a couple of movies at Blockbuster to watch for the weekend, Spread with Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McCongaughey and Jennifer Garner. Seems like a long day but not really, I still have boxes to pack!

heartbeats | lady gaga

These are the BEST EARBUDS ever! They were a bit pricey (priced at $120) but these are so much better than the apple earbuds! Plus they are so pretty and RED :)

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Tonite, I went out for dinner with Rhoda and Val, both whom I have not seen in ages! We headed to one of our fave and inexpensive places to dine, Lao Shan Dong in Burnaby for comfort food. It was great seeing both of them and catching up plus the noodle soup is so yummy! I can't believe how quickly the year, 2010 has gone by, it's already March and Rhoda is leaving for HK in less than 2 weeks! How exciting! As always, food was great and the company, the best! We must def do this more often and more so before Rhoda leaves for Hong Kong at the end of the year for good. It'll be really sad when she leaves but I'm happy to see how excited she is to start a new chapter in her life out there. There will be visits I'm sure on both sides :)

Bestest Daughter EVER!

The past two days, Kay has come by to visit me at the office since she is on Spring Break and she didn't come to the office empty handed, she came with treats! She is the sweetest daughter ever and I was so happy to see her since she hasn't been home for the last two days! On Monday, she came by with a Starbucks and Tuesday, she picked up m fave donut from Timmy's, a double chocolate donut :) I love and adore her so much!

Moving

This morning, I received some pretty disappointing news about my moving plans. Normally I would get very upset, freak out and be really pissed off but this yoga is def helping me cope and deal with issues that come up in my every day life. In fact, Kay and some of my friends have noticed how calm and relaxed I've become. Since I have started up yoga and adding an extra cost to my already stretched budget, I realize you cannot put a price on your sanity and well being. This is def worth the $99 plus taxes that get deducted off my credit card monthly! But back to my issue, I've found out that HonHon's parents are in town next week for at least a week and now I need to postpone my moving. I also need to move items back to where they were so it's not too obvious that I am about to move in! This means, I am now doing three times the moving cos I had already cleaned and cleared out a couple of closets and cupboards for myself and moved items to store but now I am need to put those items back to where I found them until his parents have left. HonHon has suggested that I try to live with as minimal as I can and go back and forth to my storage for items that I need as I need them. IMO, this would be a waste of time, money and gas! I am a little bit disappointed but I understand as he is not quite ready to tell them we are moving in. Now I must come up with a new plan and rethink my moving as I am going to lose an entire week of moving and my friend can only help me with my moving during this month as he is off to Europe for a month long vacation! Breathe, relax and rethink..... to be continued..... (thank goodness for yoga tonite!)

Bikram & Cobre Restaurant

This afternoon, I decided to head over to Bikram yoga in Kits cos I wanted to check out the studio and my fave instructor would be teaching a 4pm class. I'm so glad I did cos I didn't realize how much larger the Kits studio is and the washrooms are so much bigger than the downtown location! I arrived a bit early so I walked around West 4th to check out the boutiques, luckily I did not have that much time so I did not end up buying anything! It was a great class and I do really have to say that he is def the best in the business! As he should be since he is the one who brought Bikram Yoga to Vancouver! After my class, I quickly headed home to take a shower and get ready for dinner with Charly. We were meeting up for dinner since we had not seen each other in such a long time plus he's my foodie buddie since he enjoys dining out as much as I plus he enjoys trying out new restaurants. I really wanted to try out Cobre Restaurant as I heard some interesting things about this place. The restaurant interior is rustic and warm with lots of dark woods and cream coloured walls. It looks as if the building was once a loft which has been converted into a restaurant; with 3 main levels, the bar and kitchen on the second level also ground level, a basement which looks like it's used for private parties and the top floor with a few more tables for dining, all open concept which made is look very spacious. We ordered a few dishes to share as the menu offered a selection of tapas and is meant to be shared. The dishes were very tasty with many lovely flavours throughout each dish that we ordered, the fusion of the south american flavours with north american dishes like BC sable fish with chili salsa and fry bread or the maple chipotle wild boar belly or the pulled duck charred scallion with garlic taqueria (also know as tacos) were very unique and flavourful. Great combination of tastes with the different types of meats and SA recipes. Although I found the dishes uniquely delicious, I would probably not go back for dinner unless I was with a larger party and we were coming back from drinks or lounging. The dishes were quite small and the two of us were still a bit hungry after our meal. Esp myself since I had finished a 90 minute hot yoga class and was starving. We ended up picking up a cupcake for dessert as we were in the neighborhood of my office to pick up more boxes for our move. It was really nice catching up with Charly and I hope he has a fabulous trip to Europe next month, lucky guy, he's gone for the entire April!

He's Just Not That Into You

This is a really funny and cute movie! A must watch esp for all those women who are wondering WHY they are NOT that INTO you! LOL

Lululemon

At lunch, I went over to Lululemon to purchase a larger yoga mat carrying bag as my smaller one does not fit all my yoga essentials! I have spent a bit over my budget this month on yoga items but I think it'll be worth it as I plan on taking this up for the long term. At least a year of Bikram yoga and maybe I will look into other types of yoga. Over this past week, my purchases have included 2 pairs of yoga shorts from One Tooth on Robson street ($30 each compared to Lulu's price at $45 - 60 each) and now this huge yoga bag for another $60. I would also like to purchase another Hot Class Tank from Lulu but it is sold out online and none available in the store. I find after trying a couple of different tanks that this is the best one to be in while in the hot yoga class altho I notice many of the women in the class tend to wear bra tops or something similar. I am way to shy to wear just a bra top and I need a bit more coverage so I am really glad that I found this tank, I think it's def the best and most comfortable tank top to be in. As soon as it is available, I'm def going to order another one!

Bikram's Yoga

First Bikram yoga class and gosh was it ever tough! 90 minutes in a room set at a temperature of 40C plus a room full of sweaty people is not my idea of a workout but gawd, was it ever DAMN HARD. Even tho, it's stretching and low impact, it really makes a hard impact to your body. I didn't realize how stiff my body is and it's going to take many many classes to give my body more flexibility and probably years of practice to even to do all 26 intermediate poses. The goal for tonite was not to leave the room in the middle of the class, not to faint or to throw up and if I could manage more than 20 poses, it was great accomplishment. I did manage to try 24 poses and I had to lie down for 2 of the poses cos I felt a bit dizzy. After the class, my entire body felt like I hiked the Grouse Grind, it's an amazing feeling!!! I am looking forward to more yoga classes this week and I hope that I can make thru it! If I can, I will def look at signing on for long term commitment.