bone chillin...

Back then, whenever Mike comes to Toronto to visit me in the winter, he would always describe the east coast weather as "bone chillin". I always thought he just doesn't know how real winter really feels like. But now I totally understand what he meant. After spending two months of winter in Vancouver, the cold here is definately different. It's kind of a love hate thing for me. I really enjoy how the air is so crisp, sharp and refreshing. But it is also the same sharpness that can stop my heart from beating. The cold does penatrate to the core - which explains why there are so many more homeless people living in Vancouver than Toronto.

North America adventure

Mike and I will be doing some crazy flying the next two months. En route we will be visiting some friends and some new cities. I am somewhat excited. Even though it's in a week, it still seems kind of far away. Will see once it all starts. I will definately be blogging throughout the adventure.

to be continue....

X'mas at home

After much complication at the airport, I finally managed to be home on X'mas to surprise my parents. They were shocked and ecstatic. I've been hanging out with them since.

I haven't begin to venture out on my own yet. 1) because I have to write up a ton of thank you cards. 2) Because I want to spend more time with the family at least until next week. 3) It's been so cold here the last few days that I really dread to spend an extensive time out in the open air.

But the up side of being home is that I now have 3 doggies to play with. Milo, Madex and Truffle. They're all super cute and they all get along great together. I made a suggestion to my dad to start his own dog-sitting business at home. Might as well since we always end up dog-sitting for other people over the holiday or vacation. And the thing is we love them. I think he really like this idea. Maybe next time i'm home, doggies will be up and running around the house.

Beauty of Craigslist

The last few days i've been busy posting various items up on Craigslist. Since the last clean up from my big move, we have accumulated quite a number of things we would like to get rid of but yet with some value. Most of them are new, and yet not something that people would accept for donation. We've actually made an attempt before enlisting them on Ebay. But we end up loosing money (don't ask).

Now that x'mas is near, we thought it would be a great idea to try our luck again with online posting. With no posting fee like Ebay, Craigslist is like a heaven for our goods. We've sold a few so far and hope see some more go out the door.

I think i finally found my calling. cha-ching!

my parents are smarter than yours :P

It's pretty cool yet funny that I chat with my parents now over msn each day. It's not really a surprise with my mom b/c she has always been quite tech savy. But it's quite interesting now that even my dad is on board with this. Let's just say he didn't get a cell phone until a year ago - yes, the year 2005. A month ago, we helped him signed up his own msn and gmail account and now he's up and running on his own. He's goes online more than my mom! But the genius thing is that my parents has now used msn msgner as their version of an "in-home walkie talkie". My dad would have his msn running on his laptop in the living room watching hockey. While my mom also has her msn running on her laptop in her room watching some chinese tv show. When they need to talk to each other or call the other person to do something, they just sent over a message! I don't ever recall my dad has learn something so fast (technology-wise). It's quite funny to see him adapting to the 20th centry..but i'm definately proud of him!

AHHHhhh!

I woke up this morning and this is what i saw out my window. Who wants to go tabboganing?!?!

Who is D. Coupland?

I was browsing around in Chapters today and came upon this book called Microserfs. I read the jacket (below) which sounds pretty interesting. Something out of the norm.

Microserfs: a hilarious, fanatically detailed, and oddly moving book about a handful of misfit Microsoft employees who realize that they don't have lives and subsequently become determined to get lives inside the lightning-paced world of high-tech 1990s'' American geek culture.

Since i'm currently in the middle of reading this other novel, i made a mental note and continue to mosey on. I headed to the third level and notice another potential interesting read. This one is called jPod. To my surprise, it's also from the same author as Microserfs. So who is this Douglas Coupland i ask.

After I got home, i googled him up and found his official website. All i can say is the next novel i read will definately be one of Couplands.

the breakup..

A close friend of mine just ended a long standing relationship. Given our current geographical distance, I became his (the ex bf) substitute as her daily phone companion. Throughout our friendship, we have always communicate mainly via email. We don't really talk on the phone much as we always lived far apart. But once we do, we would rack up a hefty phone bill. For the last few days, I have talked to her quite a bit. It almost feels like we talk more now than all the years we've known each other combine. Our conversation is everything but boring. We would go on and on psycho-analyzing people that we know (or don't know), but in reality we are the two who have issues. I sometimes wonder why we didn't talk more often on the phone throughout all these years. Maybe because now we have grown and truly understand the importance of the people around us. We've learn to engage and commit ourselves to maintain these connections. Regardless of how or why, i'm glad we are becoming more of a regular in each others lives.

Snowing in westcoast..

I was complaining to mike the other day that Vancouver doesn't really have snow in the winter. The holiday season just isn't the same without snow. But low and behold, it started snowing today!! It was great! It started while i was window shopping downtown. Since it was a pretty cold day to start off with, I was already all prepared with my canada goose jacket, fleece mittens, scarf and toque. When the snow started, many people dashed into stores for shelter and running about with their umbrellas. I was walking alone, leisurely, humming x'mas songs under the layers, taking in the beauty of it all. I almost didn't want to leave the streets. The snow feels so warm, so much like home. If the snow only accumulates on the street, i might just lie down and make a snow angel.

..and since there's no place to go,
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

In search of floor hockey team...

Now that winter has arrived, it's officially hockey season. As i slowly re-enter all my regurlar recreational activities..but there is still one thing missing. Floor hockey! I am in search of a new floor hockey team. I'm missing the interaction, the random sore muscles, the fun, the nerve and the exercise. I've contacted some places, but no replies yet. So if anyone out there know of any floor hockey team in Van, let me know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest mommy. Looooove you! xoxo

Japanese hot dog..

The other day, mike and I had a sudden snack attack while running around town doing errands (actually this happens quite often). So mike suggested we should try Japanese hot dog. I was skeptical at first. Not that i'm not an adventurous eater, but i didn't think Japanese even like hot dog given that i don't recall seeing any hot dog stand in Japan, nor there is any variation of hot dog in any Japanese restaurants that i know of. Thus, the first picture that came to my head when he said Japanese hot dog was Pogo (not the toy that kids bounce around on, but this Pogo). I was thinking since Japanese is famous for their variety of ready-made snack, maybe they somehow fell in love with Pogo when they tried it in north america and decided to name it their own version of hot dog. But that's just my imagination.

Ok, so we got to the stand. i was first surprised to find the hot dog stand guy to be Japanese (i know this may seem logical, but as many of us know, most of the Jap resto in north america are run/own by either Chinese or Korean) and he was wearing this big red chef hat. Then looking at the menu, they are real Japanese style hot dog. I ordered a Terimayo - it consist of an all beef dog, jap mayo, teriyaki sauce, sauteed onions and shredded seaweed. Mike ordered an Oroshi - it consist of a white pork sausage, jap horseradish and green onions. I personally like Oroshi better. Terimayo seems a little heavy for me. Mayo + teriyaki sauce + sauteed onions is a rather rich combination. On the other hand, the Oroshi is much lighter tasting. Simple, not over powering. For those who are not so adventurous, he also offers your regular or "american style" dog. Veggie, all beef, Bavarian, Jalapeno w/cheese, turkey and Bratwurst. I love finding these random food places.

new blog look..

My blog was looking a little dated...thought i would shake things up!

10 lbs lighter....

Ok..so i exaggerated. Maybe one..or maybe even less. This was triggered by Mike a few days ago. He unknowingly reminded me of something i wanted to do after the wedding. It is to get a fresh new cut. Now that I finally found myself a trusted hair-dresser, it is my mission to find myself the "perfect" hair cut. So I called to book an appointment and searched all over the world wide web for the winning cut. I narrowed the gazillion hairstyles down to just 5 after much consultation with various indiviuals. So today, I brought my homework to see my trusted hair guy (let's call him Mr. J). Deep in my heart i wanted a short cut, but due to past bad inexperiences, I aimed to play safe and go for the long-medium cut. But after much assurance from Mr. J that a short cut will be just fine, I closed my eyes and took the leap. I gave him the OK to give me a short cut. After 90 mins of washing, cutting and blow-drying, he is done. And i LOOOvvvee it! I feel alive and much lighter. Now i don't have to dread the thought of washing my crazy long hair after every bikram class. And it sure same me a lot of money from all the shampoo and conditioner i need to use. Ahhhhhh...!

Vancouver winter....

I got my first taste of Vancouver winter last week. For four consecutive days, it rained, rained and rained! Not drizzle..but pouring rain with crazy wind. I know four days of raining doesn't really sound a lot, but given i'm new to the city, it felt like eternity. It was quite depressing. Even though it's not as cold as Toronto, but heck, i rather be freezing my butt off in the snow than being poured on by constant dark clouds. Many people said the winter weather in Vancouver is something everyone just have to get used to. I guess by that time, I will become a true Vancouverites!

Wedding photos are in!!

We went to pick up our wedding photos from the photographer yesterday, and they look GREAT!! We will upload some of those pictures shortly since we have most of them on digital file. Now we just have to pick the winner to use for our Thank You card.

A day at the auto race track...

I went with mike and a few of his friends to a track on Sunday. This is the first for most of us. I wasn't planning to go at first since only the boys signed up for it, but after much convincing from Mike, I went. And I'm glad I did. Even though I didn't get drive and experience the fun and adrenalain like the boys, but being a co-pilot like the ones in rally racing was really fun too. I learned a lot from the course instructors. Ways to drive efficiently on the race track and ways they apply to daily driving. I will be uploading some of the pictures of the day. Next things we need to do now is to get a daily stick shift car!

one more thing to add to the To-Accomplish list:
*learn track driving

To-accomplish list...

During our trip to Portugal, Mike and I came up with a list of things we would like to accomplish together when we return to Vancouver. Here's a few things from the list.

* learn to speak Japanese
* learn to speak Spanish
* take dancing lessons and when we are good enough - enter competitions
* go swimming on a regular basis
* take bikram lessons together
.....

Life is short, we should seize the day and do something that we really enjoy.

Back to reality

Mike and I are back in vancouver. It was no easy flight back. Even though we fly business class for both ways, it's still quite exhausting. Our itinerary is to depart Lisboa at 12:30pm to Newark NYC. Have a 2 hours lay over there, and then to Toronto, and have a 3 hours lay over there, THEN finally head to Vancouver. But that only happens in a perfect world.

But in reality, when we got to Newark NYC, we realized our original flight to Toronto got cancelled. So we have to re-schedule to a later flight, which now become a 3 hr lay over in Newark, and we have to connect to the flight to vancouver right away. During the original 3 hrs lay over in toronto, I was hoping to meet up with my parents at the airport to see them before i got back, and give them the tarts and gifts we got them in portugal. But we have to text message them to cancel.

We finally boarded the flight in Newark to Toronto, and it welcome us with one delay after another. We didn't take off until an hr after the scheduled time. When we arrived to toronto, we rushed through custom and baggage. And on the way to catch the shuttle to the next terminal for the connecting flight, the staff told us not to bother as it will depart in 5 minutes. There's no way we can make it there on time. So we have to re-schedule once again. Now we are to fly out the next morning at 9am. I was actually glad we missed it since I really want to see my family. I miss everyone and milo. And I know they want to see me just the same. I called my parents to pick us up at the airport. At home, we showed them all the pictures we took during the trip. We chatted a little before we head to bed.

We got on the flight this morning and finally arrived in Vancouver. It took us literally an entire day to get back. All i can say is we are totally exhausted.

Last 3 days in Lisboa

I'm back in Vancouver! I know I haven't update all of you regarding our last 3 days in Lisboa. Reason being is that our hotel in lisboa is charging us $22 euro per day for internet!! I would imagine internet access would be more rare and expensive in small towns in Portugal. But apparently Lisboa is the most expensive. The other 2 towns we were at prior to this only cost $10 euro/day and $5 euro/day. Go figure. Thus, i'll do the update of the last 3 days in this post.

We drove into Lisboa from evora. We returned the car in the city since Lisboa is afterall the capital city of Portugal, which mean they do have subway and transit systems. But overall, I can probably sum up our stay in the city in two words. Walking and Tourist. Maybe we have been spoiled by the ruralness (not sure if there's such a word) and the rawness of the portugese culture the other 2 small towns had offered. It's like we were the only ones there exploring the country. Whereas lisboa is a whole other story. It is just like another european big city to us. Tons of tourist, urban, cars, subway and locals that speaks english. It was a little dissapointing. We didn't really feel so inspire to explore the city. B/c all we really have to do is follow where the crowd of tourists goes. We have also retired our portugese phrase book as most locals speaks english to us automatically.

Most of our touring were done on foot. As our hotel was located in part of downtown, we walked to all the tourist spots aournd and also to get ourself oriented on the first day we got there. The second day we did a walking tour following our Lonely Planet Guide book. Despite it's a WALKING tour and they have given us a map and written directions of where to go and what to see, we still managed to constantly get ourselve lost! We never ended up finishing the suggested 2 hours walking tour. It took us that amount of time half way. Then we got totally lost and end up taking a short cut to the final point of the walking tour. Roads in Portugal are not tourist friendly. But we did make a detour to this thing call Theives Market. They only have it on saturday. It's like a big garage sale in this square. There are both new and old things at the stands. But I'm not surprise if some of them are actually theives. Some of those people looks like the type that you would find on Hasting Street in Vancouver. The last day, we got ourselve a one day transit pass. Took the tram to yet another tourist spot, where they are famous for the Portugese custard tart. We bought 1.5 dozens. Mike ate 8 of them. I had 2. The rest were for my family. After that, we took the tram + subway to Oriente where this famous stadium (equivelent to ACC for toronto) and this big shopping mall located. Then we hop onto the subway again to Baixa Chaido. This cool, hip area to with small boutique shops and interesting restuarants equivelent to Queen Street west in toronto). Since it starting pouring out, couldn't really do much walking. So we went back to the hotel and chillax until dinner time. Then we went back to Baixa Chaido to find a cool dinner spot for our last night there. Ended up going to the Brazilian restuarant. Mike had duck meat and I had fillet mignon brazilian style. For dessert, I had a creme w/ passion fruit/ginger/peach, and mike had a pear sorbet with vodka. The food is pretty awesome. We didn't really buy anything in portugal. Our expenses were only for 3 things. Transportation, accomadation and FOOD!!! We spent $3 euro for sight-seeing. It's the entrance fee to the bone chapel in Evora. All the other stuff is either free There's really nothing much there is to buy. Their stuff is not exactly cheaper nor nicer. Nothing that i can't get in North america. Plus we're not really a shopping travellers.

Overall, i really like portugal. Food, people and culture. I would definately go back again. This time to the northern cities.