Heroes

There are some benefits to working at Fairchild. 

For example, I get 15% off at St. Germaine Bakery (30% for mooncakes). If I don't fancy a St. Germaine mooncake, because you know, life (and mid-autumn festival) is too short to eat stunted traditional mooncakes and non-inspiring icey mooncakes, I also get 30% off for De Fresh mooncakes and Pine House mooncakes.

I also get 20% off (30% if I play my cards right) at Chic Label - my new favourite boutique. 

I work next to a food court that serves 雞蛋仔

Anyways, you get the idea.

I was going to say, that one of my favourite benefits of working at Fairchild is that I get to do the Arts and Culture Segment. Occasionally I get horrific stories that my boss makes me cover (honestly, does anyone care that the 東莞同鄉會 is staging a talent show to showcase its children's choir, painted on rosy cheeks and all?), it's usually stuff that I love and am interested in seeing. Last month, I got to visit the UBC Anthropology museum and spent 2 hours looking at Buddhist art. And if I really like the stuff, I actually get to ask for free tickets.

So tonight's one of those nights where 鄭少 and I took advantage of this benefit and saw Heroes, an engaging play for "three older gents" (as they call themselves). More than a century's worth of acting expertise congregating on a stage, held together by an engaging and hilarious story is a great way of spending the evening. And although the story was about three WWI veterans in the 1950s stuck in a soldier's home, I can't help but resonate with some of the things that they were saying and identify with the feeling of being stuck.

No one likes to be stuck. But if Henri could, in the end, see the poplar trees, I'm sure I could some day too.

Now listening: Porcelain - at17 (Yes, my music selection is the same after all these years). 

Pale Blue Dot

I found this on (where else?) Wikipedia today with the accompanying description:

"Pale Blue Dot" is the name given to this 1990 photo of Earth taken from Voyager 1 when its vantage point reached the edge of the Solar System, a distance of roughly 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometres). Earth can be seen as a blueish-white speck approximately halfway down the brown band to the right. The light band over Earth is an artifact of sunlight scattering in the camera's lens, resulting from the small angle between Earth and the Sun. Carl Sagan came up with the idea of turning the spacecraft around to take a composite image of the Solar System. Six years later, he reflected, "All of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, which is our only home."

So when you think about this - the fact that "all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, which is our only home", this insignificant pixel in the whole of things - why do we still bother with wars and conflicts? I mean, natural disasters cause human suffering and death, ok, we can't avoid those, but the results of wars are man-made suffering and death of our fellow human beings.

Lest we forget.

SFU Convo

Today I attended Benny's SFU Convo (CONGRATULATIONS!) Although the warmth of the occasion did warm my heart, I was still shivering under the two shawls that I had wrapped around myself.

But thankfully, I am off tomorrow to the warm and sunny east coast!

Laziness, beef, pork and "voice-capability crises"...

i don't know what's wrong with me.

Lots of times in my everyday life, things would happen to me or I would see something or a thought would come up in my mind and I'll go "hey! I should record that down in my blog tonight" but when I go home I just forget about it or (worse yet) remember it but just be too lazy to type it out here. The result is that 1. I forget most of what happens to me and 2. This blog is stranded for weeks at times.

Anyways...

I've managed to gone one full week (minus Sunday) without pork or beef to celebrate Lent. Frankly, I am quite proud of myself because it is a very difficult feat for a foodie like me (esp. tonight when my mom made my all time favourite 鹹蛋豬肉) but I've managed thus far. I do get really hungry at night since some meals I just eat vegetables and rice but other than that, I've been okay. Just a bit more over a month to go...

Another thing that's been bugging me for the past week is my singing. As a general rule, I try to avoid listening any recordings of my own singing (unless I'm part of a choir in which case I won't be able to hear my own voice) because, honestly, I hate my singing and if i can avoid listening to it I won't suffer from an voice-capability crisis like I am right now. Really I am not even exaggerating or being cocky. On Sunday as I sat there and listened to my own voice I can barely kept a straight face because it was like torture. I simply cannot stand it and I felt sorry for everyone else in the room who has to endure 3 minutes of this (for lack of a better word) crap. And I am quite convinced that it was not the song (actually the song itself was great) because this is not the first time I've heard my sing and thought to myself "Wow 3 years of training and so much money for this bs?" (not that my teachers were, in any way, bs because they are awesome singers)

Which begs the question, are you actually good at something if you yourself don't think that you are?

The holiday mood

today i woke up at 9:22am when i was suppose to be at work at 9:00am.

Ahhh now I know I am definitely in the holiday mood.

21嵗

i used to get really excited about my birthday: dinners, gifts,　利是, friends, cakes. But to be honest, in recent years (perhaps the past 2 or 3 years?) i would get really upset about my birthday. Of course, I still enjoy the presents and the company, it's just that when i really sit down and think about it, I am not all too excited.

Birthdays sometime seem to serve as a reminder to me of the fact that I'm 'aging': that time is slowly slipping away and that I haven't done a lot of things that I think are worthwhile, that I have wasted a lot of time committed to things that don't really mean a lot in the long run, and that I am not where I want to be. Maybe I am paranoid, but time is so important to me. After all, this is suppose to be the prime, the time where everything happens and new experiences are everywhere and yet, in the past few birthdays, i have always felt that i've missed out on some things that are meant to be mine by now and all the while doing a whole bunch of things on the side that probably won't mean much ten years down the road. I've felt mediocre at best and I hated that word.

But this year, I feel differently. Maybe because in the past year (while I was 20 years old), I have finally done some things that I'm really pleased with and proud of myself for accomplishing: going to China, living independently for 6 months, traveling solo, meeting new people that are from different cultures, working a 9-5 job at a law firm (albeit only an internship but still, i finally got to fulfill my childhood fantasy of working at 中環), really finding out who I am. Of course, I am not completely satisfied yet (I have yet to join a full-scale musical production) but I know I am getting there somehow.

And this birthday, this 21st year of my life, I am challenging myself to make this year even better than my 20th. I know that as May rolls around and I graduate, nothing will look like what it had looked for the past four years or even for the past 17 years that I've been in school. Next year, as I sit here and write my blog to celebrate my 22nd birthday, I would not be anticipating my final grades like I am now. Maybe I will be working a 9-5 job. Maybe I will be filling out grad school applications. Maybe I will not be in Vancouver. Maybe I will be unemployed. Who knows. But if anything, this 20th year of my life has taught me that I should not be afraid of the unexpected, that i should be ready to make life more exciting.

Next year has to be as rewarding as this. Cheers to being 21.

Joint Birthday Dinner 2009

For our annual joint all-out birthday dinner this year, 鄭少 and I decided to go back to the Cannery. If you're looking for great seafood, great service, lovely ambiance, a great view of the Port of Vancouver, and have a bit of money to spare, you should totally check this place out. Unfortunately, it's also closing down after the Olympics (their location is right at the Port of Vancouver and after the Olympics, they won't be able to renew their rent). So if you haven't been to this Vancouver establishment of 38 years before, do go take a look before it becomes history!

As for me, I've already made reservations to go back in less than two weeks for a Sunday brunch. =)

Today we ordered Lobster Bisque and Grilled Mussels for appetizers, Salmon & Mahi Mahi Duo and Salmon Wellington for entrees, and Creme Brulee and White Chocolate & Blood Orange Cheesecake as dessert.







Two other things of note: 1. We saw Princess and the Frog too. I am glad that Disney "went back to its roots" but honestly, the story isn't that great especially compared to the really great ones recently (i.e. Wall.E, Up!, Nemo, etc.) 2. I have finally busted out my last resort to fight really dry and cracked up winter face skin - the big tub of Vaseline.

the weather and my new nail polish

I never knew that Vancouver can be this cold. Of course it snows but mostly, even when it snows, i don't think it's really THAT cold at all. But today, it seemed really really cool (even when I had all my "gear" on). 凍到入骨! According to weather underground, it's -8C outside right now but with windchill it's actually -16C!

Thank God there's no UBC tomorrow or I would not even bother going and walk around campus in this frigid weather.

I bought a new nail polish today (yes again). I am still searching for the perfect i-am-not-wearing-nail-polish-but-i-actually-am colour. This new one turned out okay but Karen says it 'looks cheap'. It's Sally Hansen No Chip 10 Day nail colour in Tough Buff, only 2.99@Zellers today. Maybe I should stop cheaping out and actually go get an OPI or something for $12 (argh almost $10 difference).

After finals are over, I will go get a full set manicure and pedicure treatment. That would be this year's christmas present for my hands and feet =)

and i just watched Love Actually for the 3892708979078th time in my life.

The Start of Christmas

Finally one semi-sunny day after weeks of rain and disgusting-ness; I can finally wear flats instead of boots to school and wear a long coat, not a waterproof jacket. Next week is already the last week of term 1 (so quick!). I promise I will not skip a single class.

Had the opportunity today to take a brief excursion into Metrotown after having dinner with Irene at the Cactus Club across the street. Took 10 minutes to find a parking spot, no wonder Christmas shopping is so stressful for everyone. The mall was so crowded and it was so Christmasy. I really hope I have time to leisurely shop somewhere for Christmas presents soon but I guess this will have to wait till at least after Dec 21st...that's when my last exam is (UBC finds a way to screw me over annually).

For starters though, I got my first Christmas present done today (and I even gave it to the person already). Every year, my family would go through a draw where we draw out each other's name. With the name, we buy a Christmas present for that person (so, like Secret Santa). This year, I got my mom. Just so happened that I found out Karen got dad so we secretly did a deal where we would buy tickets to go see 張偉文 for them. Dad almost got the tickets but he didn't want to spare 38$/ticket to go watch. Finally, we used Benny's credit card to get the tickets for them via ticketmaster and it wasn't even the $38 ones, we got them the $89 ones. Hopefully they'll have a great time.

Last week, I started writing down everything I spend on. In a matter of a week, I spent $200...half to my ridiculous Rogers bill ($90, I didn't know that they started charging for RECEIVED text too) and the other half on other 'student neccesities' like food and Starbucks. It's sad that I can easily spend that much money in a week whereas my dad 不捨得 to spend $38 to see a singer that he really wants to see. I really should reign in my spending. I think for starters, I should stop drinking starbucks and bring my own tea. Secondly, I should stop eating bought food and pack my own snacks. I already bring packed lunch to UBC daily (my mom packs my lunch) but, for anyone that knows me, I am always hungry so I always end up buying a chocolate bar at the vending machine or a cookie from Blue Chips. I should pack my own food...healthier food too. Stuff like crackers and apples.

偉大的祖國, 生日快樂 !

Looking at all the pictures and videos of Beijing's celebrations for the 60th birthday of Communist China makes me miss my China days a lot especially the folks in Beilun and the 3 weeks wandering around China. I just realized that I never posted any of my China trip photos here, so here they are, three months belated...

He is risen indeed!

First time went to a local Chinese church in Ningbo today for Easter service and their praise section of the worship left me a little bit confused. Essentially, they had a "worship leader" who sang one line and then the congregation repeats that line. So, for example...

Leader: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"
Congregation: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"
Leader: "That saved a wretch like me"
Congregation: "That saved a wretch like me"
Leader: "I once was lost, but now I'm found"
Congregation: "I once was lost, but now I'm found"
Leader: "Was blind, but now I see"
Congregation: "Was blind, but now I see"

They didn't actually sing "Amazing Grace" but it was a very popular traditional hymn. The hymn actually had 3 verses (and the chorus) and they did that for all of the verses AND all three times of the chorus. When I thought that we could finally sing the song through without repeating, the worship leader said "我們再來一次！" We ended up singing this ONE song for close to 40 minutes.

Things I noticed:
1. 我從來不覺得原來唱歌可以令我那麽累．
2. 我從來不覺得原來唱歌可以令我那麽悶.
3. Even though we've sang the song for the Nth time already, the people were still singing loudly and quite enjoying themselves (except me and my international friends)
4. I wonder what would happen if I led worship like that at PMPGMBC.

I received a very special Easter gift from Gary, my pastor here. It was a gold medallion (imagine an Olympic gold medal) with a cross on one side and five horses on the reverse. It comes with a very special story to remind us that we are messengers of Christ and we're on this earth with a very important message: He is risen.

He is risen indeed.

Dine Out Vancouver 2009 之第二回

Who: 鄭少，my family and I
Where: Mistral French Bistro (West Broadway)
$: $28

This is actually an early birthday dinner for my mom (since I won't be around on her actual birthday). The stuff is pretty good (Karen: "WHOA this pea soup tastes like there's MSG in it!") and the surroundings are nice. I had duck leg for my main course but to me it tasted like chicken anyways. However, maybe classic French food is really thick and rich (esp. their sauces) we were all kinda sick of our food by the last bites haha. AND they charged me $3 for my Earl Grey at the end of my meal. FYI, Gourmet only charges $1.50 for Orange Pekoe Tea.

Finally bought everything I need for my trip from Superstore today. Right now, there are small piles of things waiting for me to stuff into my suitcases tomorrow. Things like clothes, toiletry, water bottles (two of them actually), gifts for relatives, shoes, jackets, books, etc. It seems that I'll be packing my entire bathroom and 1/4 of my closet into my suitcases. I honestly hope I'm not missing anything but foreseeing 4-5 months into the future is not my forte.

Today is Chinese New Year but the only CNY-ish thing I did was get 利是 from my parents and my tutor student's mom. Hopefully I can make up for the lack of atmosphere when I'm in HK. I haven't been to a 花市 since forever.

祝大家：
心想事成！
新年進步！
(one year someone wished my dad 不勞而獲 and he thought that was a good one haha)

currently listening: 漣漪 - 陳百強 (makes me wonder why singers that sound good usually have untimely deaths)