yoeshi's ocean

I need a new blog

2009-11-14T11:15:00.001-08:00

I look back at my ramblings and think I should create a new blog.....
time to think and process!

First taste of an Asian Kollaboration

2009-02-22T12:19:00.001-08:00

So what's this Kollaboration event that I went to yesterday? It's a hugely sponsored event in LA that encourages Americans of Asian etnicity to show off their showbiz skills such as singing, dancing, magic, comedy, acting, anything that just brings out the inner self. Held in the Shrine Auditorium, it sold out all 6000 something odd seats. I didn't realize it was the home to Emmy's, People's Choice, SAG and Academy awards! It looks beautiful inside.

K9 did a little red carpet event, but that wasn't very well lighted and I couldn't get any good photos of the competitors or judges. I'd really like to see how it is for a big event!

There was a portion that featured contestants that were competing for a grand prize of $3000, second prize of $2000 and most of the contestants were already experienced and famous in their own right, having experience either in other competitions or events, or being youtube sensations such as David Choi and Paul Dateh. Others such as Jane Lui were already weathered performers having toured many countries; Kenichi Ebina who performs worldwide for tv shows and events; or Norman Ng who has competed in many magic competitions.

The above mentioned were my favorites for the night, with Kenichi performing at an above par level compared to many of the performers, thus cinching the 1st prize. He had many moves that I found amazing and surprizing, and his energy and creativeness was so unique and captivating. Following suit in 2nd place was Jane Lui as she engulfed the audience with her piano and singing. I found her to have a pleasant voice that filled the room, with an immense ability to evoke feeling ~ compared to the other singers, her confidence and ability to work the microphone to her advantage showed.

Some honorable mentions for me was David Choi's performance, singing a silly song about youtube (of course with his guitar), and with the calm and confident demeanour he usually portrays in his home videos, he brings it on stage too. I liked how he brought his mac along, not abandoning the roots of how he made it this far. As well, Norman Ng was not just a great magician, he really made me laugh and made me think of how sometimes, childhood dreams can really come true. Finally, the creative Paul Dateh reminds me that most Asians who are forced into doing a fine art that we may not appreciate when we are young, do have the option of 'making it ourselves', as his violin playing is creative and current with positively directed energies.

In between the competition were various special guests which were really the highlights for me. Fanny Pak rocked, and I only have watched a single episode of America's Best Dance Crew, but I think I got to see live, what it is when a crew has crazy dancing skills and compatibility. Boa is someone I've heard of over the years, but not really someone I've followed, but I enjoyed her confidence and dancing skills on stage. Finally Jo Koy was my fave as he made me laugh til tears came out of my eyes.

Last but not least, to add cohesiveness and meaningful messages throughout the show was host PK or Paul Kim who had great jokes given his comedic background, but most importantly really showed me the power of leadership as he helped send vibes of empowerment to the asian community. I started to rethink of how I'm super passive and haven't really done a lot of things to fulfill my dreams or break out of stereotypical barriers. I'm glad that people 'now' can break out of that shell and do things I only dared to dream. A good example is a couple of the freestyle competitions during intermission for freestyle dance and singing,... randomly in the audience were already a handful of talented people, performing with no preparation, with great talent. Kudos to those courageous individuals!

This sort of leads on to the dorky passive ASIAN me... as James Kyson Lee, better known as Ando from Heroes was a judge for the show and came right towards me; now with a camera poised for me to go leap towards him, I only saw myself doing it in my head and was too scared/shocked to approach him. Ugh, what was I waiting for, an invitation?! :( He even stopped to wait for me seeing the camera. Now there are only regrets. Can someone who's a teen fanny bopper like Bev or Nic kill me now? Well I have a blurry photo of him at least...

and memories of seeing him in person :P Anyways, great job on this event to all who worked on it and participated, and I only wish there was something so great in Vancouver. Of course, the show goes to Toronto??! All we have in Vancouver is S.U.C.C.E.S.S galas which are typically of Hong Kong Asian influence and in chinese.

Oh yea, last note is the fact that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayors and other councilmembers gave some encouragement to the Asian community in their printed booklets. I am happy to see this positive support for our minority in LA! I hope this can one day extend to my home town of YVR!

A flu? Thank God!

2009-02-16T11:14:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd be able to blog at least once every 5 days this new year but turns out that a deathly flu, which everyone says is going around the 'world', yes the 'world'! brought me down down down. Thank goodness I've been well for a week now, but it turns out that I've forgotten about my blog... ah the luxury of having too many things to choose from as a pasttime!

I always thought that stress and illness went hand in hand, which is definitely true, but this little flu made me realize how much healthier I've been since I've not been working like a factory worker any more. Being extremely driven brings much reward at work, but it will also hit your system hard - no exceptions. Ironically, during those stressful times, I never really caught the flu, but I may have had some tiresome Sundays - in other words, it was not clearly evident as to whether anything was bad at all. I even thought, wow, my body must be strong because whilst everyone was getting sick around me, I managed to avoid it. However, now that things are slowed in life, I've found it interesting that my body has time to catch the random flu.

I realize now that although I managed to avoid flus back then, my body did take some serious hits and it began to wear a path towards even bigger illnesses - big siren for yoeshi as I know better than to let myself get that sick. I'm glad I've slowed down and have taken a chance to heal. Given recent health issues of big-time corporation players like Steve Jobs, I see how the IT industry can really hurt our health.

I encourage everyone who is just working too hard to ask for a few extra helping hands, or, maybe just to take a vacay. Otherwise, it will be unlikely that we IT folk can sustain in this industry until retirement. Sorry for the bleak blog, but ta ta til next time,
yoeshi

PS look forward to my backblog on Vday soon

Economical Blooms

2009-02-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

So I'm kind of old fashioned and I love Valentine's day because it's all pink hearts, flowers, balloons and chocolates. Even the neighbourhood Safeway (or they call it Jon's over where I am) is nicely decorated and festive. The only problem is the price... I'm sure most boyfriends/husbands/partners who may usually buy the flowers, wish this day was not invented due to their inflicted pocketbooks.

Luckily there is a great economical neighbourhood in LA called the LA Flower District which is a huge and booming flower wholesaler district due to its variety of imports, advances in preservation and air travel, along with vast research in foreign lands. It is the larger than the districts in San Francisco or New York and I believe it is the only wholesaler that allows retail selling to customers like us, in the entire West coast!

I wish there could have been something like this in beautiful British Columbia, because I'd sprout a rose to each of my beloveds: girls and guys, moms, dads, relatives! 2 dozen long stem roses go anywhere from 25-30 dollars depending on the length, and colored roses were 10-15 for 2 dozen depending on the quality and length. I received 4 dozen roses at a quarter of the price of 1 dozen long stem roses in Vancouver.
Not only do you get to get stuff at a great price, you also get to see a wide variety of flowers, different exotic blooms as well as colored roses, so it's a worthwhile visit since botanical gardens usually have pricy admissions. Get in for 1$ each on Saturdays and I believe it's 2$ during regular times. Just remember to get there early, it opens at 6am to the public. There was still a great selection at 7am on Valentine's day.

As I'm a girl that loves flowers, I'm also a girl that loves a deal, so this gift was the best ever.

First day of Chinese New Year

2009-01-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

I remember the days when the first day of Chinese New Year was a big deal in terms of what I wore, ate, said and did. I had to remember to wish everyone a happy new year and recite many happy wishes for the coming year. Also, superstition brought about the concept of wearing new clothes, red preferably, all the way down to my undies. I remember some aunties told me that it was bad to wash my hair or even to sweep the floors. I recall how I cowered in shame as my freshly shampooed hair gave away the fact that I could not stand to be dirty, bad luck or not.

This year, I barely remembered all those things that made it a Chinese new year's day one for me when I was a child...but no worries, there's another 14 days of it to go until the full moon, which is the ever-romantic Chinese Valentines! Too bad I don't get any red pockets out here in this new land.

The past was definitely curious and with the vast amount of information on the internet, I just found out that the first day of CNY has nothing to do with new clothes or dirty hair, but it has to do with "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth". Go figure!

Chinese New Year's Eve

2009-01-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I'm back and it's a perfect time to start bloggin' again as today is Chinese New Year's eve. The regular calendar's new year seemed to pass in a flash, even for someone who's investing most of her time in fine cooking and self enhancement. Still, it seems, I'll get another chance to think of some good wishes for all.

I wish you all Kung Hei Fat Choy in this rapidly downturning economy, as well as Good Health in this deteriorating environment. It's not all bleak, because I also wish everyone Happiness, which I'm sure you'll all find somewhere, if not buried under your favorite rock. Hope to bring better blogs and funner things in the days to come! Let me bury a virtual red pocket in my blog for all too. Happy year of the Ox!

yoeshi

My new house?

2008-06-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

I am so poor, how about this house everyone?
Something I can afford

Yumm-mee

2008-06-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Sushi rocked! Some new varieties and the freshest Natto I ever had in my life. Next to me two kind people treated me to some interesting sushi from their plates as well as much effort to acquaint me with the food and with the language. Too bad I only successfully completed up to lesson3 which mainly taught " I don't speak Japanese well, do you speak English? "

Being in Vancouver however really helps with the food lingo. Toro? Natto? Saba? Sake? :D

I didn't end up having a boring or lonely night as originally expected. Later I got acquainted with their own little dry cleaner store, very quaint. Then using SMS, they were able to understand my English... time to learn more Japanese so that I can philosophize with my new friends.
May 24

we are we are we are we are

2008-06-11T20:11:00.001-07:00

Interrupting my japan fest updates and now faded memories, work has been a total drag!
Luckily, Mantor has set me laughing with this new joke that will hopefully cheer me up all month; Only special select friends will understand this post. lol

Daio-Wan

2008-05-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yoeshi's arrival into Kansai international is safe and sound; Meeting aisle-mate Haru who luckily was able to speak English and worked with me for a bit on my Japanese - I only made it thru lesson 3, was cool as she was around the same age, super nice & owning super cool studded headphones, yay, ~new idea for something to do with my phone :)

Having a perfect un-smelly and polite seat-mate makes a flight all the better. Too bad the food was pretty disgusting as usual...and why do they always ask "beef or chicken" as if we can read their minds. Technically chicken could be chicken nuggets rather than their gross tomato baked chicken rubber, and beef could be steak instead of some generic brown slivers of something on soy sauced rice. Gross. :(

Back a few years ago, the popular Chinese TV show about pilots had a whole portion on how to make air line food better. Can it ever get worse?????????? Has anything ever been done since 4 years ago? The smell makes me want to puke. I think the best I've had that wasn't smelly was Korea Airline's bibimbap meal.

Going to the hotel wasn't bad - I got to use my Japanese on some people to find the actual JR ticket station was not an automated one. Got in a long line up and got my ticket, then had to wait another half hour for the Rap-it or Rapid to be ready. Hotel room rocks tho, i never knew Audrey room stood for Audrey Hepburn!

Going out to kick some sushi~
yoeshi

Dressing Green

2008-05-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

A while ago I bought a shirt dress from UO that looked quite comfy and stylish. It reminded me of soft PJ's with other soft cotton blends and I found it suited my artsy needs of dress. Only later did I notice the tag which said 'One of a Kind' with a special label of Urban Renewal. Here's some verbiage : "Urban Renewal Collections use Vintage or Recycled Materials. These Garments are re-constructed into Vintage, Modern Designs." Anyhow, I thought this was tres cool; so I'd encourage anyone who wants to contribute to the environment with their wardrobe can go grab a O-O-A-K from UO!

Stride gum: Psychological Mangle.

2008-03-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

After watching a TV advert about the Stride gum which has a super long lasting taste, and also after hearing about how they went all out to advertise at UBC, by giving out free packs of gum and t-shirts, I thought I'd spend the 1.58 to try the "Forever Fruit" flavour for myself. I also gave a piece to each of my two friends after our Diary Queen binge.

My opinion? Turns out that the gum really tastes just as any other gum brand would taste. I started wondering if the company felt that it could make everyone think that the flavor lasted longer with lots and lots of advertising, by taking advantage of the psychological aspect of our fragile minds, via brainwashing? I did notice my 'mouth' being slightly sweeter than normal. And I realize the crazy amounts of different artificial sweeteners that had been piled into the gum probably helped: Sorbitol, Mannitol, Xylitol, Aspartame, Acesulfame-Potassium and Sucralose.

Ummm, absolutely nothing that could be healthy! (Artificial sweeteners do have a propensity to cause disease.)

I caught myself thinking, oh perhaps could the minty flavors be more indicative of their long-lasting campaign? But I realize that the millions of people in the world will cease to bother with anyone's opinion, even their own, and try every single flavor for him/herself to ensure that there is some truth to the lie? Good tactic :S

Overall Score? 2/5 - from all 3 of us. In a word? Overrated.

ikea chair is not me

2008-03-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

looking back in retrospect, my life is a convoluted horror.

as i'm not strong enough to withstand the pounding of the ikea chair test, i think i need a moment of silence.

roast em or toast em

2008-02-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

I want to eat roasted marshmallows.

Wait, is that what you call them? Regardless, I should go to Walmart right now and buy a pack and then burn them over my stove the way me and my cousin Jenny used to. Oh, I also used lasagna trays to toast them in the oven. Yummm-meeeeeee.

I really hate how I am particular about these weird food items. Perhaps that is indicative of my weird nature. I wish life could be simple and particular.

where's the music in my life?

2008-02-06T01:04:00.000-08:00

It feels like I was a kid last when I had the time to listen to random songs, let me think, why'd i stop? The stress relief is immense, and I love hearing my off-tune crackly drawl, but oh yes. i think that the last time i pulled out my ipod, dumb ol' itunes crapped out and overwrote all the songs on my pod. what else is worse than updating a million directories worth of random music?

It is almost as bad as trying to organize all my thoughts.

But good that someone sent me some latest tunes from kuraki mai....'oh that sound's nice, who's that again?' Check out 'One Life' ~ gosh is yoeshi pluggin for someone?

Yawn, send me more songs please and get me out of my tuneless rut!

resurfaced

2008-01-05T02:14:00.000-08:00

wow my working conditions have sucked the breath out of me.

the last post I made to this blog was on the 19th of September -- that was ages away and the beginning of when things starting turning abruptly abnormal at work - so quickly that i could not respond. although now that I recap to myself, perhaps I let it happen in order to forget. kinda like a semi-format of yoeshi.

now I think that it's time to resume the other parts of me, where i feel human, real and expressive.

happy new year to all and to a great 2008! kiss!

Factory worker

2007-09-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

People complain so often that things are made in factories where the conditions are so bad and inhumane. They think that buying the product or using the service will enable the evil to continue. I think that no matter what, there are people in third world countries who would much rather sport a job than to earn nothing at all. Obviously, most people would not agree with me and there is evidence in the number of avid protestors to brands like Lululemon and stores like Walmart.

Lately, I finally find myself in a similar situation to those in that work in a factory. I work day and night in a non-ergonomic room. I have lost my privacy and the time to breathe and work in a quiet space. I also have no phone and I sit in used chairs that seem to have been gathered up from offices that are selling their second-hand furniture. If I didn't take time off on the weekends or some evenings for the gym or just to hang out w/ friends, I'd go Mental!!! AGGG!

Lunch time chews are at the cafeteria table where I sit, while I work. I wolf down my lunch in a manner of minutes while the swarm of people around me ask me questions while I eat anyways. Did I mention that I actually have been moved to an actual cafeteria??? So why did this happen? "Deadline and project bootcamp". I guess that means that out of the goodness of my heart, I need to adhere to the rules of the project and work in conditions that are so measly it hurts. And I'll tell the company, don't worry about WCB for my back, because I have a good heart. No really, it's because, like those people in China, I need MONEY.

But protestors - don't avoid my services, I'm only building one of the largest projects in Canada. I'm actually really okay, really.

Ha ha ha.. how loud is the profanity behind my words? Oh ignore that, just send me a sewing machine so I can get some real work done.

Communal Washing

2007-09-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on a trip and it's time to do the laundry and of course all the drama starts.

So for those that know me, they know that I'm a pretty private and clean person. And probably, it's not absurd that I'd start making fun of three guys washing their 'under-things' together. Still amidst all that of that, it was in good fun; I know guys care less about this sorta thing than some gals might. I definitely wasn't out to hurt other people's feelings.

However, after all the laughter, we all get slightly reprimanded by another female's comments of "what's wrong with it? You fold your Dad's clothing, you fold your siblings clothing, you see underwear." Then she starts to calmly fold all the guys' underwear and it is met with utmost gratitude and thanks. Some of the guys acknowledge our immaturity at laughing beforehand. Still this is not enough.

Her boyfriend pipes in to say something like "yeah what's wrong with it". And the atmosphere in the room chills and is all serious. Then I respond under pressure, "Well, I just don't like washing my underclothes with people I don't know. It's just me. " (boy talk about being questioned about my inner preferences in front of the whole crowd). And then he of course responds " so you're saying you don't know us?". Like what's your problem yoeshi? Don't want to wash your dirty mountain socks and your bra's with our briefs? UGH

Good grief....I know them but REALLY I'm not *beeping* at the stage of washing all our underwear together communally. I may never be. Somehow I feel that I only should fold my family's clothing and I'll leave it at that. And weirdly the dude responds "you're going to have to live with someone someday".

Like what the fuck? As if I don't live with people now or before or won't in the future? As if I don't wash the clothes of my loved ones? So what to people who are raised independently and I just so happen to NOT have a dad to wash laundry for or a mom that would do my laundry -at least not since I was past 10 years old. And because of my own inner preferences I have to get insulted and questioned and made to look stupid and shunned? If there are any friends I'd wash my clothes with, it's not them!

Really if someone wants to do it, and it's not funny if I started saying something, I wouldn't continue down that path to hurt them. But if the room is silent and everyone is acknowledging that some people just are okay with folding other men's underwear, even undies that are not their own boyfriend's, and other men are accepting that their underwear get folded by someone other than themselves and all the guys and gals are okay with washing their clothes together, then good for them! But don't stone me for being the odd one out.

The folding part really irks me because even IF I am ok with washing clothes together, why should I fold other men's clothes? Shouldn't they know how to fold their own clothes? This is a separate issue from communal washing even...

Feel free to post your flame if you all love communal washing. You'd have to pay me to consider it. Rant over ~ yoeshi.

commuting by bike!

2007-06-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I biked to and from work. I have to say to and from because 'to' already felt like a big accomplishment. And, I really did not want to finish the 'from' part after a hard day's work. Hilly YVR was quite hard on the indoor gym gal who only had 2 or 3 intermittent bootcamp classes outdoors. So it was really quite rewarding and a great workout -- only outside!

On the way back, I swear, I thought I wouldn't make it past the first two major roads. But later as I got into the groove, it felt much better. I hope that one day it'll be a breeze to me! When I get better at this, I'm sure I can do the GG better too.

A few things to work on :

Changing gears - left gear needs a hard press
Making my bum not hurt - why do biking clothes cost so much? Should we build in our own diapers?
Going uphill
Going downhill faster with no thoughts of - 'if I die now, I think I'll have a broken head'
Signaling (maybe this should be at the top)
Riding better in a straight narrow line - this counts especially on Boundary where a lot of people seem to like driving in the non-lane curb lane
Avoiding hand burn on the handle grips
Trying not to enjoy the scenery so much and go really fast when the light turns yellow, like everyone else.

environmental chaos

2007-06-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not so much a fanatic as I am only an admirer of fashion. So when someone told me about the designer environmental bag that Anya Hindmarch came out with, I was open to looking and getting it for that friend, but was not too distraught about getting it for myself until I saw the real thing. Seeing as HR opened at 10am that Wednesday, I thought that getting there at 945 that morning would be sufficient.

Boy was I wrong.

Not only did I go to the wrong doorway, but when I approached the main entrance on Granville Street, there were one million people lining up to get this crazy bag. Ok, not one million but pretty close. As well, as we started talking and scoping around, turns out the first people in line lined up at 330am, and the 'for sures' were anyone who lined up from 630-730am.

It really bugs me that every other city had a limit of 2 per customer and then HR decides to do 3 per customer, maybe because they are lazy to ring up so many transactions? Or maybe they want to save their own bags? But really when families are going with their grandfather's and dads and mom's and son's and daughters and leave with 15 bags, it's really sad. What are they really going to do with them? And wasn't the whole message of this 18$ cheapo bag for the environment?

What ends up happening is that everyone sells it on ebay like this moron.
On average they are going for 250USD. So what does Anya Hindmarch's website say about this? "At first we were upset when the bags appeared on e-bay but then we realised that this is to be expected when there is so little stock and so much demand and this has led to creating more awareness which was the purpose of this project. Unfortunately we have no control over bags appearing on eBay. Please note that this bag is not a charity project so charities are not losing out."

Um yeah ok. That's a super lame comment. I still think that it defeats the purpose of the message. If people so want this environmental bag, then they should line-up themselves to get it and 1 per customer seems quite fair for that. But now there are many familes ending up with 15 bags each and only about 50 people ending up sad because thats the total headcount that was left in the lineup who didn't get one.

As well, you get some crazy lunatics screaming in HR and tons of security and a big lineup and tons of unhappy customers. Yeah, those 830am people got 'tickets' that semi-ascertained their claim to a bag, but then later were told that the line cut off. That's after lining up for 3 hours. So a dude screams 'HOW HARD IS IT TO TAKE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND DIVIDE BY 3?????!'. Yeah it's true, but no need to get worked up either.

Anyways, the whole thing was an interesting experience for me, but....next stop HK? Good luck. I'm betting that the families out there will ask their maids to line-up overnight. Maybe someone should make this a real venture instead of a fad gesture to make their namebrand look good. Because limited edition anything, even at a low-price point is not environmental or meaningful, it's just sad because we should be able to grab that reusable grocery bag from a store and know that someone made it for a good cause. (Not just for fame and buzz)

Sicko

2007-06-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

So I never get to watch Oprah because I seem to work 24-7 but I got to catch it at midnight on my little Hawaii trip one evening. I'm glad I did because she showed snippets of a new film called 'Sicko' by Michael Moore. Being a person who feels a bit too much empathy for others, the parts I saw really moved me and I hope to see the film when it comes out.

For those who are interested, it's a documentary on the health care system in the United States. The work and the thoughts and the conclusions Moore was able to paint with the film were real and ugly and true. I wonder if the whole film will be just as in your face and captivating. I really admire those who have the ability to paint a view to the world in mass formation.

Of course, due to the controversial subject matter of the film, the government is now investigating him. I wish him all the best and I do feel that his film will make a difference. Movement can occur with the first push and in this case it's a big huge shove!

Insomniac

2007-06-09T04:55:00.001-07:00

I am an utter insomniac.

I can't sleep and I have no wings. Today the wind flutters by but it has no strength to lift me or my hair ends.

The ocean is black at its deepest and when it's dark. Why does it turn blue in the sunlight?
If I walk closer, it looks a murky grey.

Will I remain black and never turn blue again? Or perhaps I'm grey inside too.

As an afterthought, smiles are overrated.

A How to on Respect

2007-06-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

Boy, do I need to get some lessons on - how to inspire respect from people.

I find that over the years because I'm such a softie at heart, (yea believe it or not those who find me cold and cruel), that I end up giving up what I may feel strongly about to just to appease people and make things better. Some people know me as one that stands strong, but those who know me better realize that I usually don't pick a lot of battles and I just hope things will march on smoothly. I just always wish that every argument can end with a hug.

But this has come to bite me in the butt time and time again. I really do not know how to inspire people to respect what I value. Instead, I find that people step on me A LOT because I tend to appease, but if I start standing up for myself, I end up losing, because I'll lose those I care about. I have a lot of people always threatening me that what I stand for is not worth much. I never know how to change.. someone help!

AMO Complete Contact Solution

2007-05-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Gosh - time for a quick blog post.

Well, last night I ran out of my regular contact lens solution and I remembered that I had a new bottle stored away in the cabinet. That solution was one that I found slightly irritating to the eye and I found it dried my eyes a bit. I had purchased a 2-pack, but I had used only one because of the discomfort and I left the remaining 1 bottle stored away in times of emergency. So I opened it up to store my LAST pair of contacts last night.

Then oddly enough I wake up to hear about that solution having a recall and causing blindness!!?? Man, luckily I heard about it but how on earth do they regulate solutions that touch our eye (very important part of our anatomy) and also how do they think we'll hear about this? Based on the article, it says that I should throw away my case, contacts and give back the solution as it causes a painful eye infection that could cause blindness : Acanthamoeba keratitis. There are over 100 cases and it's really hard to treat - with only drugs available overseas.

I say that if things irritate us, dump it. Don't wait for these things that festered since 2005 with over 100 cases for them to actually do a relevant study and recall. Grumble, grumble.

Link to one of many news stories.

conversational analogy on fries

2007-05-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

I feel like doing some hypothetical and boring conversational analogies. None of this is exactly true, but it is just analogous to the experiences I'm having lately.

Acquaintance: Yoeshi, I hate you because you are so difficult to please.

Yoeshi: How so?

Acquaintance: Well, you seem to hate eating fries because they make you fat, but you end up eating them all the time!

Yoeshi: Well, not always, I do sometimes know when to stop eating fries. Espcially if I gain tons of weight. But other times, if the fries do make me happy, I think the weight factor is not as important. But now that you mention it, you seem to confuse me because you always complain about fries too, but you pig out on them all the time!

Acquaintance: Well, I'm ok to do it because I'm so skinny. I have no need to cut down. Also, its too tiring to always think of what bad things the fries can do for me. Plus, I'm so caring that I can have some faults, but you can't afford that Yoeshi.

Yoeshi lives a life where she is often criticised by those who suffer the same faults. Anyone want to eat fries with me?

new plates

2007-05-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just noticed a week ago that BC has new license plates. It says "the best place on earth"....kinda nice and sorta looks pretty close up, but from afar, I can't really see the plate ID.

So I imagine myself being knocked down in a hit and run accident and going waaaaaaaaaaah? when I'm trying to read the plates. Lol

What does everyone else think about the new plates.

manners and etiquette

2007-05-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Canadian society, I've come to expect things such as manners and etiquette from society, especially friends and co-workers. Unfortunately, because we are a multi-cultural bunch, I would have to say that the level at which we have knowledge of what proper etiquette is, or at which we feel the need to practice it, very much differs from race to race, or from each upbringing or culture.

To me, I am appalled that if someone were to antagonise me on MSN because they already have an opinion different than mine, and yet they feel they have the right to tell me the following:

"You better behave yourself", when I oppose their views.

This is coming from someone born and bred in Hong Kong, which truly defies the efforts of the many around him that actually are trying to work at having better manners! And to think that it is a co-worker at best? Things like this shouldn't even be spoken in the workplace.

Then further words such as "Don't talk shit to me, if you want to talk shit, talk to someone else".
When this coworker started the conversation.

So yes, I feel antagonised and I feel a loathing for those who do not respect the culture or who do not feel the need to practice etiquette. Nor do they know that they are causing the discourse. Perhaps they are overly arrogant, but I am sure this attitude directly reflects how this co-worker actually performs at work. Good luck in society, be glad that I did not complain to your manager.

a filtered viewpoint

2007-04-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

It was nice walking down robson with sunglasses on. Everything looks only slightly altered than what it really is. Someone reminded me of a high-school student and on closer glance appeared to be a busy father. Blemishes are slightened, blondes dulled, and many things blurred into perfection. It was fun looking thru the panes of my new dark lenses seeing smiles, laughter and life. I felt protected; an observer of things rather than one participating in the crazy jungle of humanity.

a new word

2007-04-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

The tale of despereaux was an enjoyable read and because I have such a limited vocabulary, I was happy to learn a new word. That word is perfidy.

It sounds nice against my tongue but I will have no chance to use it out loud. It is more a word that I imagine to curse under my breath or to think in my head endlessly while I lay on the floor of a forest path.

Words are so silly and evoke more emotion than is needed.

saturday the fourteeth

2007-04-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

Today was an immensely crazy day where I witnessed a couple of odd events. As I was washing my mini-bun, I heard a loud bang in the parking lot's entrance gate to the apartment. It sounded like someone had collided with the metal-iron gate and tried to get in without using the key-fob. But soon, the second gate, which was further in the parking lot, and quite near to where I was washing my car, was the next target of that car's front-bumper. I jumped and shrieked in fear because the bang was much louder this time and I thought the car was going to go right through and kill me.

The lady hops out of her car and starts cursing. I wasn't sure what had gotten into her and if she was just trying to illegally get into the building? In any case she looked as though she had a key-fob and was quite disoriented.

Later on the man I saw at the strata meeting who was vowing that he was the world's handiest fellow, went and decided to push the 2nd gate up so that it did not impede people from going to the lower parking levels. But in doing so, the pulley that operated the gate would not stop whirring and it started giving this high-pitched sound that sounded as though it would fly off and kill someone by lodging in someone's neck. But that did not seem to be an immediate worry; instead the pulley and wire started smoking and everyone started worrying that it would light on fire. AGGGG

As I walked towards the car to go grab the lady's license plate - just in case - she suddenly pulled out of the parking lot...and I missed it and the concierge mentioned that they gave the wrong apartment # when they reported the accident? But what kind of weird accident would really cause someone to ram into 1 gate after another and total them? It must be thousands of dollars in damage! There's only one gate left and a passerby said 'we better keep her away from this gate!'. (no kidding!)

I took a bit of a rest at home after that and upon my next excursion of the day, I had not left the apartment for 200 meters when I saw a motorcycle take a relatively straight road and the guy just crashed sideways to the ground and he himself flew across a series of cars and traffic! The driver flew off the bike and I basically swerved to park and some others just stopped in the middle of the road to go see if he was OK. Another biker wheeled the damaged bike to one side, and a car full of people in a Mercedes came out where there was a girlfriend already sobbing hysterically. There was blood on the ground and I think the guy broke his leg but other than that he seemed OK. But boy, he did not want ambulance even though 6 of us asked, and I could not understand what they were saying in Korean...but I really think he needs motorbiking lessons? That's so super crazily dangerous!

Then a bit further along my drive, someone in the opposing traffic rear ended someone....I thought that was more normal, but given the series of weird events...it seemed super unfortunate. I only vowed to drive more safely along the way.

Luckily its the last half hour to this Saturday the Fourteenth and I hope everyone else fares the rest of it safely.

Tata-yoeshi

presentation woes are over

2007-04-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

I always get giddy and lightheaded and my heart races pretty fast when I have to do a presentation even though I full well know that I should not be this way. If I'm well prepared and I know my topic and I'm the expert, what should I be worried about right? Unfortunately my brain and my body does not seem to be in synch when I tell it something!! Like - don't worry yoeshi, it'll be OK, stop shivering!

Well, in any case, I'm glad it's over...it went OK..I rushed a bit at first but later eased into it. I only felt the questions were a bit crazy, and by parents no-less.

I'm quite happy that I received a photo-frame, and no I will not call it a clock because clocks are bad luck! LOL.

Phew - I am SO glad it's over.

fb-ing to death

2007-04-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yes my dear blog, I have forsaken you to spend time on the all-intrusive application that affects my daily life and that is - yeah everyone knows what it is. Boy is it an addictive, insane app that is utterly over-dynamic and integrated? At first I didn't find much joy in it, but as it gets more active and more people join, the page never seems to stay put and that's a pretty good yank of web2.0 coming into play.

Now as things slow down, I have time to do some more blogging......................

the real thing

2007-04-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

So this whole new season of bootcamp did not seem to be working out great for me -- first it was the great collapse, then it was a sickness, then i had that hip flexor injury.....and no, they weren't excuses, I really was pretty much dead or I would have still sucked it up.

Say today I had a fever, but I still made it - even with my spinal bruising and all!! And LUCKILY i was able to make it to the class today because it was outdoors and boy did that make a world of difference. We got to run outside towards Central Park...and it really has been a while since I've run. There were pushups on the baseball diamond, chin-up station, running lunge station on the picnic bench, crab-walk tag, cranking game to move the 4 gals from one platform to the next, and a race. Oh not to mention more pushups and running up and down the hill 5 times, oh wait and how about sprinting across the bridge and running back? I felt I did pretty well, but I was tired near the end of the class and my running pace slowed...which I'm disappointed about. (Time to train....zael will be happy to hear this part)

I'm happy that Jen and I won the race against 2 others tho! I don't want to slack off so much that I lose my last bootcamp advantage! LOL

But boy did we have to suck it up...the gravel, or the wood chips against the hands during pushups were quite painful and the grass was just a tad muddy when we had to crabwalk down-hill.....I think I ended up with just a couple slivers of wood in my hands and a few scratches....but it did force us to do full-body push-ups which is quite funny. I hope next class is outside again, the weather is so beautiful lately...

We were told next time to bring gross clothes so we can do some trench activity...i dont mind the mud but really the dog poop has got to go!

a struggle on patience

2007-03-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been lucky enough to land not one but TWO speeding tickets within 2 weeks. I heard a few comments as to how I seem to drive quite fast .... but the reason why is simply because I was happenin' in within areas that I do not normally venture. So to mitigate this problem, I completely changed my driving habits to stay within a cruising speed of 49km/h - 60km/hr. It makes me feel sleepy as I lightly tap the gas pedal...and I feel as if I, along with my car, are both heavy and bloated. S I G H. Ok, I mean, we feel like we are happily obeying the law - lol.

Although I thought it was location dependent, later I realized that even in areas that I would not normally find police cars or radars, I am now seeing them. Fortunately, my new cruise speed lets me watch them squat and point the radar at other people instead.

So, I have concluded that along with the parking ticket + broken mirror, my mini bun is in dire need of a new "something" to get rid of it's bad luck and attraction to radars and officers. Maybe a car wash? Or how about a new paint job on the roof? A new crystal necklace? Hee hee....in any case, this whole ordeal is a really good test of my patience and I find myself reaching a very cool zen while I drive.

At least I can enjoy the scenery....especially on these nice days of spring.

child @ work?

2007-03-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

Time for a controversial post - what do you all think about bringing your kid to work? So it was the all-famous spring break week last week and I thought the fellow in the next cube suddenly lost his voice because he sounded like a 6 year old girl. But it turns out there really was a littlegirl who came to the office for a few days while she had spring break - I guess mommy has to come to work so where else to bring her?

But after the third day she started grumbling loudly and growling like a caged animal. She even slapped the table and started making smalls shrieks. I suddenly felt really bad for her, even worse than I felt on the Monday because it was so much more horrible than staying home or having a babysitter...or even going to school! Talk about a traumatizing and sucky spring break....

I wish that parents could spare the buckeroos and grab a sitter or arrange with an at-home-mom to have the kid over in exchange for a cake or something. I worry that kids will develop with a lot of problems when they get neglected like that....

food disappearances common in the IT field

2007-03-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

LOL - who's been eating my food?

I got this off DP's blog and it's totally relevant! Turns out it's common for IT pro's to eat other people's food!!! Even Dilbert's laughing bout it.

Yoeshi

u drinkin' my juice?

2007-03-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

So I decided to bring a carton of my Oasis Antioxia juice that contains omega-3 to work. It's 2L is large but convenient enough that we have a fridge. However when I hopped over to have Reggy give it a try with me, I saw that the carton was already opened in the inner seal..........I did not remark on it right away....as I thought perhaps Aaron drank it? But he didn't so...............UGH!

It's not the first time that someone has mentioned losing their 'food' or other 'items' off their desk...but drinking a sealed carton of juice that does not to belong to oneself is really really really odd! I remember DP said that someone ate some crackers from his cubicle and left the crumbs all over his keyboard and desk!

I just can't imagine any IT professional needing to eat other people's food or taking the time to break the seal off a container to do it. B I G SIGH. ~work woes makes wonky wobegone yoeshi~

the sweetest thing

2007-03-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it does help to wait a bit after something bad has happened to you.

Not that I was mad or needed to let off any steam, but it was upsetting to find that my Mini Bun's passenger side mirror was yanked off my car with it dangling by the ends of its wires. The plastic was gone and I probably would need duct tape to secure it if i did not want it to dangle while I drove.

Rather, it made me wonder what drove people to do the things they did. At first I thought someone wanted to replace their own mirror with mine as theirs was broken? But they only managed to take the plastic and they did break the mirror unnecessarily. A drunk person wanting memorabilia? A silly dare? I think it's easy to destroy property as it could be many other reasons including what I listed above.

But today when I got closer to my car, I saw a shiny silver object sitting on my broken side mirror. I found out upon closer inspection that it was a Hershey's Kiss! It takes much more effort to find the time to do something nice for someone, especially a perfect stranger. Thank you so much whoever took the time to put the Kiss on my car. It makes me feel much better.

XOXOXOXOXO from yoeshi

Happy Birthdays

2007-03-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

Talk about March being a birthday Month! Not only is it DOIDs bday today...
I believe Grace and David just delivered a baby boy today at 7lbs 14 ozs.
Happy happy and Congrats.

Happy Birthday Edwardo

2007-03-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Mr. Vasquez, hope u have a wonderful birthday even though you said u wouldn't celebrate til you hit 40!
:):):)

Happy Birthday Zael!

2007-03-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

Boy is Zael a super popular guy...22 people all in one table at TomoKasu...and what yummy all-u-can-eat thanks to great planning by Nic. Just thinking of all-u-can-eat makes my mouth water. And Qui did an awesome job of ordering when he didn't blow my eardrums off! Zael's speech was cool, only I think he mentioned something about people ditching his shopping trip. I hope he didn't mean me! I think he needed Mo more though - something about guys and designer jeans... :) Anyways, you are not that OLD but you are WISE now,..Happy Birthday!

DFO Dimsum

2007-03-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Dimsum with the DFO guys was fun. So what is DFO? Department of Fisheries and Oceans, boy did we have adventures there. Thanks for setting up Dimsum Ed (although you pretended to be Anthony, we all still came out) It felt like ages since we've gotten together!! SSW on Main wasn't bad I guess, but I still love TopGun the most. Photos were funny because Jag had a problem keeping his eyes open. Finally he did it by closing his eyes til Charlotte counted to THREE and he opened them in the 4th photo, LOL. It was really nice to see you guys...thanks for lunch Kev and anyone who wants to buy/sell a house, Kev is there for ya. Hope to see you guys all soon....

natural pain relief

2007-03-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm so lucky that I had such a quick recovery to my flu. Tons of liquids + a good nights sleep on a really good pillow helped. I also for some reason bought cape gooseberries to munch on and boy did I feel better afterwards. So I went to read up on whether where were any side-effects to cape gooseberries (as you can see i'm a half empty type of person)...and I found out some really great benefits to them :

Natural pain relief medicine.
Cape Gooseberry plant - Fiji's strongest natural medicine.
Helps with: All strong body pain, migrane, cramps, fever, neuralga, muscle pain, acute arthritis, back pain. In Fiji, it is also used to kill viral infections such as: Dengue Fever, Leptosporosis and Malaria.

Headache and fever is definitely much better!

the squat-technique

2007-03-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

So last time I went out with the gals to have greek, we had a lot of toilet talk as mentioned in my previous blog; but I was more educated on the many ways in which people liked to *go*. They said the first time they learned of the 'squat-technique' was when they walked into the washroom and noticed someone *there* but then they didn't see the feet.

Alpha mentions that perhaps they were kicking up their feet.

But in my naivety, I asked
"What do you mean you didn't see any feet?" I thought to myself, were they speaking of ghosts?
"They put their feet on the toilet seat."
"What for??"
"That's how they go to the washroom!"
"Don't they use toilet seat covers?"
"No yoeshi, they'd slip ha ha"

So man, I thought that was tres unsanitary :( Anyways, I was glad it never happened in my workplace and that I only had to hear about it happening elsewhere. Just when I was giving kudos to my coworkers for adhering to this western culture of sitting on toilets, I walked into the workplace washroom stall to find in dismay shoeprints on the seat !! Yikes, I freaked out. This was too much for me, I think I need to make a sign or something to relay that this is not a good way to *go*.

Alpha suggested putting footprints on the ground and a sign saying "Place feet here" ... which seems like a good idea. At first I was worried that I would be insulting certain cultures but Reggy made a good point in that this is a slight insult to our culture. Suggestions? Solutions? Help the way to a better washroom experience!

do not click on the link sent to your MSN by me

2007-03-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

My little cousin sent me a link and I wondered what a 10 year old was doing sending pictures of Bush being naked. Of course it was a virus and I am infected. So I am going to stay off MSN until I fix it. Sorry and for anyone who has not yet clicked it, do not click it!!!

yoeshi

hug time

2007-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

What is a hug? Wiki Definition of a Hug I kinda like this definition...(although I did not have a chance to look too much into what an Australian backward hug is). I really like how they mention that hugs give "emotional boost and the ability to keep going". On the other hand, it can be as simple as an "exchange of warmth arising out of joy".

When Nic and I talked of hugs and hugging emoticons on MSN, we recall our high-school days where we'd always hug our friends. I remember I'd hug everyone hello and everyone good-bye every single day. Probably even when we didn't see each other for a while during the same day too. It was such a free, happy and unhindered process.

So I think I am deciding to start it up again....at least with females. So next time I see you and if you are a galfriend, I am going to "Grab You" as Nic says. Ha ha....."do not be frightened, I repeat, its only a HUG" (For the definition of a hug, please read above)

dental torture

2007-03-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today I spent 2 hours at the dentist because I had to get my regular teeth cleaning and as well I broke two of my molars during my late night grinding sessions. :( Normally it is not so bad, but due to stress I guess things were amplified. One was a simple case of fixing the hole I chipped but the other one needed a bit of cavity work as I cracked it pretty hard. Boy do I *hate* the sound of drilling against my tooth for a long period of time. :( :( :( :( :(

After the ordeal I was completely drained. Still, l went and headed to the gym for groupSTEP because I am such a routine robot lately. And when I got there, I realize my mouth hurt, head hurt and body still ached from the 2 hour workout I did the night before. Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through torture, and do I enjoy pain?

No, the pain at the dentist is something I hope never happens again. SIGH. 3 Anasthetic needles and my face was numb from my lip to ear to my BRAIN. I actually wondered if my brain would be permanently damaged.

Today Yvonne mentioned a groupSTEP Instructor Training session...maybe we should join! (Nic?? Jennifer??) I am a little worried about videotaping myself though.

But back to the dental work......I think my brain cells are now drilled away into oblivion. Maybe I am no longer a T type because I lost too many cells. Now I'll be a floaty feely yoeshi person............ someone save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Share your Myers Briggs with me?

2007-02-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

Lately by coincidence, many people have been talking about their Myers Briggs personality type with me. I took it a good 9 years ago and I remembered it, but I did not think much of it. Now as it is coming up at work, and even when people talk to me about how I handle things, I started reading some of the psychoanalyses of it and they are uncanningly accurate. I think for those who have not yet taken it, it is definitely something to take.....For those that have taken it, there is a very good confirmation exam to confirm your type.

If you take the test 'correctly' , then your type should never change. What I mean by correctly is to answer the questions truthfully and not in the way you'd like yourself to be. The only time it may change is if you score 0 on any one type and it differs by a 'single' exam question that could be affected by mood. The analyses can tell you everything from strengths and weaknesses in personality traits as well as best-suited personality types for your relationships. I think it's important to at least delve into what your partner's type is in order to understand them as well. What I specially like about the confirmation is that it tells you what type you strive to be and I think that is tres cool.

For those who havent taken the test, try this out : Myers Briggs
and for those who would like to confirm go here : validate your MB type

Mine is extremely accurate. Care to share yours with me?

Collapse?

2007-02-25T15:43:00.000-08:00

So I did end up joining the new season of Bootcamp at my fitness club...
seriously the gym is becoming a huge part of my life it seems.....because it's devotion never dies away :)

But anyways today was Session 2 of bootcamp and I was all hyped...got in at 8:08 am just 2 minutes before starting and any minute late = 10 pushups..but all was good and after the stair station, squat station, then crazy running-5-weight-balls station, my stomach felt an impending cramp and doom.

I ran to find painkillers and none were around.. I am so so so so so so lucky that a fellow bootcamper had the 'fast relief advil extra strength gel capsules' on hand. She saved my life. I basically took it and collapsed. I basically lay on the ground in pain, cold sweat, on some mats with a very course fleece blanket provided by my gym and some water and OJ and after 45 minutes, I was able to drive again.

But boy does that give me a lesson in "Always carry painkillers with you or you'll end up in the hospital!"

Sigh yoeshi signing out and resting up..............

Cardiothon

2007-02-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

So yeah! I did the Cardiothon on Saturday plus my accumlated crazy work-outs during the week as my contribution to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Everyone I talked to was so generous, and I wish I had the time to approach more people. I only had 2 days but I did manage to raise a small 200$. Perhaps if you still want to help out, my online pledge sheet is still open for donations! We even received juice packs and energy bars afterwards -- talk about spoiled work-outs for charity :)

It was fun doing it w/ Nic and Jennifer.....maybe we should do SunRun too...hmmmmmmm

Kung Hei Fat Choy from yoeshi

2007-02-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

Best wishes and prosperity to all my friends and family this Chinese New Year! As it goes, it is traditional to give wishes each CNYs.

WISHES FROM yoeshi

For everyone: Wishing you health of the body and of the mind. As well happiness and yummy food. (OK - I added the last part in for fun)
For my married friends : Tons of lovin' and tons of kids! (yeah that wish is such a Chinese thing)
For those of a business mind : Make tons money. (nicely put, eh?)
For all the women in my life : Wishing you eternal beauty.
For those in school : Do better in school. (haha this one sounds like a command from our parents :P)

May all your wishes come true and "Mahn Si Yue Yi!"

I guess that sums it up! All the telephone calls sound like that to me :) Oh, when passing by the Buddhist temple tonite, I was pretty impressed with how the incense was so pungent that I could smell it seeping into the car 2 blocks away. It was quite calming. It's been a while since I've gone into a temple for CNY.

happy valentines day

2007-02-14T23:32:00.000-08:00

love day is one of my most favorite occasions of the year.. i guess it helps that i love pink and hearts and everything that is sappy and romantic :) i hope you all have a wonderful love day! check out my singing balloon :

gals eat greek

2007-02-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

having a gals nite out is always a fun and relaxing event for me. all us gym buddies decided to mix it up a bit and go to the restaurant *next door* to the gym instead of going to the gym. lol! we even printed out a coupon for a free appetizer. most of the talk was washroom related i found..

for example - spraying from one stall to another, smearing poop, and squatting on the toilet seat (feet on the seat). yuk - NOT US OF COURSE! i guess we also talked about the gym and all the people and events that occur in our classes. :)

a recent event : not too long before this outing, we had an interesting experience where a few of the women in our class became mysteriously catty and started yelling because there weren't enough weight clips. how miniscule is that? since im a weak yoeshi, im glad i didn't get yelled at or else i'd probably start crying. :)

but yeah, the gym is usually a safe haven for a worry-free time slot....catty women would make it suck. next time ill just fight back karate chopppp!.

but back to the outing - it was definitely a much needed break from stress and even from the gym! hope to see you gals all again soon, in fun-wear and not gym-gear.

sabrina's so cute!

2007-02-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

little sabrina can already walk. shes so cute. awww.

too much of a good thing

2007-02-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

We all discuss once in a while whether something is good for us or bad for us. Those who know me well know that my answer is always, 'the crappy stuff is okay as long as it's only once in a while and as for the good stuff - don't have too much of it!'

Seems like this 'never have anything in excess theory' is really applicable to the recent tragic death of the Californian woman who drank too much water and died from water intoxication in a win a Nintendo Wii contest. Apparently she drank over 2 gallons of water. It's really sad that this actually happened...but it is a good wake-up call to those of us who don't pay attention to this theory. Unfortunately, her situation was of immediate result whereas we usually lose sight of regular situations because they trigger long-term issues.

Here's a link for those that are interested in Hold Your Wee For A Wii.

yoeshi goes snow-tubing

2007-02-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

I admit that at first I was pretty freaked out to go tubing...speed and danger really make me fearful, im such a bok-bok. ha ha...but then I thought, what the heck?

So on one of the steeper hills, the guy asked if I wanted a 'pooosh' as he's labelled the 'crazy-french-guy' by my coworkers and anyways I go "okay" and before I know it I'm flying over the hill at crazy speeds...I was so freaked out but wow was it fun. I was especially freaked out when I turned backwards...ha ha...

Soon after I thought, but why be scared? And we started doing some nice group circles (I think we did had 9 at one point), twosome spins and head first fun. Altho it was mentioned that my headfirst stance was really weird because my body was all wrong and my legs were hanging off the tube. ha ha. The most exhilarating was the twosome thing, and I swear Regan almost hit her head on one of our last runs. What I really couldn't do and didnt get was when going head first, the french guy said we have to flip over midway back onto our backs while we are halfway down the hill. Isn't that even *more* dangerous??? Eeek. I couldn't do it anyways because I was positioned all wrong.

The two hours flew by pretty quickly and I thought it was a nice team bonding event.

un-mii-able

2007-02-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

im unable to mii myself...i think my eyes nose and mouth arent defined enough or something because i cant find anything matching any part of me. with a few people helping out, i have various versions of yoeshi...... which looks closest? i really like my friend's mii's btw, so cute!

Evil hand stamp

2007-02-06T00:04:00.000-08:00

Jennifer and I were contemplating the evil happy face stamps we get for signing into every single gym class we take. Typically we'd go 4-6 times a week, 6 would be actually Jennifer (or me when I'm crazy) but more like 4 for me. Anyways each time we take 2 classes - so these red smileys are pressed into our skin twice a night..and they seem to kinda get absorbed and dunked into our skin...

Jennifer's quote today was "It's red anyways and it would go undetectable into our blood stream". Maybe I should offer a low toxin ink for them to use on us...Imagine us going to the gym til we are 60 and we stamp our hands 8 times a week...so that means 416 times a year YIKES!!!!

To join or not to join?

2007-02-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

The new bootcamp starts in a couple weeks....I wonder if I should join.
I wonder if my measly body is able to do it....sometimes I just feel as if I can not go through with it. I always feel so incapable. I think I do things based on sheer will. The last one was pretty tough but the final results were so satisfying.

I thought I'd show off my bootcamp certificate and our photo above. Notice me carrying the big weight - bottom row, second from the left, trying to look strong? :)

WBC count - 2nd Try

2007-02-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

I went to the doc's personally to check it out and its back to exactly normal @ 6.3. Thank God! Not sure if cutting the chicken and beef out of my diet helped...and I'm also a full time drug-addict (vitamins that is) once again, but at least I am not going for any crazy tests anymore! Yay yay yay.

For those who'd like to try my diet for preventative measures of cancer and other related diseases, try to cut out chicken wings, non-organic milk, preserved foods, bamboo shoots, and load up on your antioxidants! Ask me more, I have tons more things I have discovered.

Yesterday a friend asked how many years free I was and it's 10 years, but never another year without fear is what I think.

~yoeshi

where's the adult in the house?

2007-01-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

the thing i dislike about telemarketing is not even the stream of useless information they try to feed into my head, but rather the fact that they call at all hours in the day, without respect for who they may be calling or whether the person even wants to listen. they never ask, would you like to hear what I have to say? or anything that would deem that you are a person that should be respected. so over the years, I have learned that I do not need to respect such individuals in return - individuals who I've summed up to be robots working for something they do not believe in anyways...and the solution I've taken to in these recent months has been to hang up.

yup, i basically hang up when i hear them talk about things I don't really want to hear. I don't want to hear even the remainder of their speil or even waste time holding my phone to my ear a moment longer, or stop what I was in the middle of. most of the time i actually am busy..and if they don't ask, im not sure why i need to wait there patiently...

in any case, it started feeling really good because it was a simple way to get rid of a simple annoyance. today however, the telemarketer had the oddest voice and was trying to speak like a computer generated machine. so i hung up because i could tell the fluctuations weren't really consistent. then she called back and i hung up even faster after recognizing her voice. finally the last time she called she said, 'could i speak with an adult in the house?'

so is it really that childish to hang up? maybe i have the voice of a child and should pretend to be a kid next time someone calls. i do remember last time i just woke up and they said 'is your mum or dad home sweetie?'......hmmmmmmmmmm

dineout @Watermark

2007-01-24T15:48:00.000-08:00

watermark kind of made their "mark" on me because their service was similar to a Chinese restaurant, not something classy but something more like Hon's, where the service goes unnoticed because maybe it didn't exist. maybe because im brought up with such service after growing up and dining in so many cheapy chinatown joints or wonton noodle places, that it didn't irk me too much. Afterwards it was more like surprise than discontent. i remember finishing my water after the spicy appetizer which was a full dimsum container worth of prawns. i also realized after 3.5 hours that my glass never was refilled for our entire sitting.

the prawns were definitely a good deal, well spiced with shell and enough for 2. my veal was also satisfactory and my cheesecake was cut in a cute brick shape - with, of course, a cape gooseberry on top. ( can someone pick a new berry ? )

pow man's food consisted of the lobster stir-fry which did have a few lobster pieces, and tons of bok choy...and even a pair of chopstix. his brownie came in a mousse-like mound and tasted more like a mousse cake than a brownie to me.

overall id recommend this place for the view - if only the window seats weren't hindered by an extra layer of outdoor seats that went unused - so maybe a summertime seating? and also for some of the fusion items, if one did not mind the lack of service. maybe we should have waved our hands and say "MM GOY" like how we yell "thanks and get your butt over here" in Hons.

dineout yvr @NU

2007-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

"the naked and casual dining experience" nu offered both a 25 and a 35 dollar menu which can be found at Nu's site. The food is quite similar to C restaurant and I think elena mentioned they sport the same chefs? Lobster bisque was slightly less than warm - which was the same experience as C. ~perhaps that is the preferred way of serving? As we were seated at high stools by a small table - typically used for drinks or desserts, we could view the food that was being served. Based on that, I was able to choose the salmon taster, duck confit and creme brulee for my 3 items. The salmon taster did not disappoint me, but I felt that elena and aaron weren't too impressed by their cocktail lobster claw. The bisque, as mentioned was tasty but warm. Finally it seems the most impressive dish was the duck with its' two large drumsticks, mashed potatoes and a very tasty apricot chutney. (As well, it was served hot) :)
creme brulee was a bit creamy for my taste, but it sported the very beautiful cape gooseberry. It's just too bad the timing was all off. Appetizers slightly overlapped while there was a huge lag whilest awaiting the entree. Isn't timing supposed to be everything? There'd be a big yell fest if it were Hell's kitchen.

weirditity

2007-01-19T23:19:00.000-08:00

often i will blog upon a request of an idea or a topic that i chat about with my friends or peers. the last request was for a blog on weirdness in people. back in high school, i made a word called weirditity and labelled it as an attribute of people that i knew. typically the friends i hung out with rated very highly on the weirditity scale. i think weird was also a word commonly associated with yoeshi :)

since weirdness isn't all bad and probably is preferable to monotony, let me know your weirdest attribute.

hugs ~ yoeshi

how do you stop an exploding man

2007-01-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

monday at 9!!!
im excited about the new season of Heroes. who else is a fan?

herbal essences fun

2007-01-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

for some reason the herbal essences site has a funky fun page where you can answer some quiz questions and compare your answer to the majority. oh and herbal essences happens to be the shampoo that i use so i was checking out their new 'flavours'. some questions that i found interesting were :

a. tons of money / b. tons of friends
a. kiss a frog / b. kiss a pig
a. smooth peanut butter / b. chunky peanut butter
a. psychic powers / b. healing powers
a. allergic to ice cream / b. allergic to bubble baths
a. remember nothing from the past / b. remember nothing from the present
a. never eat / b. never sleep
a. flowers / b. candy

fun eh? lemme know your thoughts!

tortuga caribbean rum cake

2007-01-19T13:43:00.001-08:00

thank you so so much jennifer for the rum cake you gave me from the cayman islands...it tasted SOOO good. i noticed the box says that it ships to places worldwide...but i've never seen it locally in stores..boy i think i am craving for more..if anyone sees this cake, tell me where to get it!

the smell of rum was pretty nice..and banana flavour was really good. i pretty much wolfed the whole thing down. (well i shared a little bit too). i think this is the only non-apple dessert i've eaten in the last couple months!

Yummmmmmmmmmm. I think I'll get fat if I always eat it, but I suppose we work out so much that we can afford to eat one or two rum cakes once in a while. Hee hee

the dessert berry

2007-01-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

they always serve this berry with the nice desserts in christmas and it's always the common question as to 'what is the name of this berry'? trevor was pretty sure it was a gooseberry, but the wikipedia showed the oddest photos of gooseberry's...

i found out the real answer, what do you think it is?

who's cow is this?

2007-01-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

did someone leave this cow at our house?

tulip filled

2007-01-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

today a very nice lady was giving helen and yurika flowers after our conference at westin. then as i wistfully looked after them, she offered me some too. i was pretty happy. i love receiving flowers. here is a photo of them - they are colorful and fresh.

im crazy about

2007-01-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

im crazy about apple pie. i'm not really sure why....but it could be because of wayne and how he ordered the apple pie from joey's. then i started thinking of apple crumble because my friend made it...or upside-down apple tart from feenies or apple strudel from safeway or even apple pie from mcdonalds. i'm going apple crazy!!

today at blue horizons they served apple crumble for the lunch-time dessert...i wonder if this craving will go away.

power outages

2007-01-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

boy power outages are kinda blah. everything needs power...we called mom afterwards and she said, "if u have a power outage, you should make a hot bowl of noodles in order to keep warm!"

lol

but yeah no power from 8pm til 5am actually did end up being kinda cold....and it kicked off my cough. sux

New Years brunch - globe@yvr

2007-01-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

more food more food, so much more food

thanks to jack for some of the photos. he did this interesting little b&w artistic photo of me when i was busy photographing my mini tabasco sauce. i kinda think i look odd though. but yea, i guess we all know how it is when we see ourselves or hear ourselves on tape. and usually yoeshi is the photographer!

NYE @ feenies

2006-12-31T22:27:00.000-08:00

i really enjoy going to feenies because they always deliver such yummy food. excitingly, they served sablefish...it's one of my favorite fishes. i remember this gal at the next table was soooo reluctant to try it and ended up with the spaghetti and meatballs.. but i would guess that feenie would do a good job of that too. the miso sauce on the fish was so good. my buffalo carpaccio was quite exotic but super yummy, especially with the reduction...so tasty! the raviolli was good as usual and the dessert was so super pretty and made with APPLES of course!

gift exchange @melsons

2006-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

our italian theme at mel's turned out pretty well. we realized that its always the usual chefs when it comes to cooking tho. i think next time we'll have the other non-cookers take over :)

the kids really looked cute in matching sweaters.

christmas eve dinner @herons

2006-12-24T22:17:00.000-08:00

as its tradition to pig out over the holidays, we searched for a semi-affordable buffet in vancouver and decided on herons for christmas eve dinner. other choices were pan pacific, globe@yvr and opus. seafood sounded appealing so here are some photos (the lazy way to blog.......since holidays are pretty food infested for moi)

the other cute thing is that we received some christmas crackers and they contained crowns, sometimes with a toy and a little joke or quiz. everyone in the restaurant was in the spirit as they donned their paper crowns.

happy holidays

2006-12-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

i can not believe time has already brought me to the end of 2006! the holidays have already begun and i am anticipating that the year will end before i know it.

looking back, i took a few holidays this year - connie's wedding in repulse bay in march, june honeymoon in europe (italy, england, france), and jenny's wedding in jasper in october... i feel lucky that i was able to venture to a few remote lands and that i was celebrating with friends

i was able to synch up with lots of my friends at the wedding too, and i also thank everyone for their good wishes. for those i didn't see, i hope to hunt you all down and catch up over coffee...even if it means going to Toronto or somewhere foggy.

but for this holiday, i hope to relax and rest. maybe i can get some snowboarding in if i can get my bum up the mountain. :)

finally, i hope that all my friends will have a safe holidays whereever you all are and have a very very wonderful start to 2007.

Big Hugs ~ yoeshi

POV

2006-12-10T00:40:00.000-08:00

i find that the most distinct points of view can sometimes be seen from those most innocent or at peace with themselves. in chinese i would call it 'heart-water-clear'. it is rare but special that i know more than a few with this quality. :)

as well, it is really enlightening talking to different people - even the muddiest minds :) (j/k!) and having them share their views. i find that in that way i can learn more and more each day.

i thank all my friends who have enlightened or shared lately as i value all your thoughts and i cherish you all in my heart.

blank

2006-12-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

Adjective

blank (comparative blanker or more blank, superlative blankest or most blank)

1. Without color; lacking characteristics which give variety.
2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot.

11 hours of hell

2006-11-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

it was a toss-up of whether we should head back to vancouver early to cautiously battle the snowstorm on the highway or go back after dinner when the roads would be more surely salted..

since we were cautious about freeze-over we left at 3:15...and rode steadily at 40km/hr until exit 240. at that point, i wasnt sure if we were moving.... i think i was in a surreal dream for about 5 hours and when i awoke, i was at exit 243 - perhaps we did inch forward at times? I could not tell....talk about amazing torture.

we finally made it to the border at 1230am...whereupon i could finally release my PEE - boy did i not want to go over the shoulder like dan :) (the utter inconvenience of being female... :P) and then i gulped down another chocolate milk because i was so hungry - thank god for that last minute costco run!

they did not sell chains but at least we had chocolate milk. and i think i can recite all road conditions and accidents as clearly as the repetitive news 1130...........

gainage and toilets

2006-11-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

I have gained so much weight, I think I am the heaviest I have ever been in history! So now, I'm no longer yoeshiblah, I am more like yoeshi-baluga!!

ha ha ha.

so now that I'm yoeshi-baluga, I guess I should blog about the Fish'n'Flush toilets that nelly furtado, paris hilton and lindsey lohan received after seeing them in the gifting rooms of the world music awards.
fish loo info

i think that's kinda weird, I think i'd rather have a Japanese toilet for warming, washing and drying our bums: my kinda toilet

yoeshi blah

2006-11-22T22:23:00.000-08:00

the more i live, the more blah i become.
i am no longer yoeshi but i have become yoeshiblah.

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah
yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah
yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah
yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah
yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah yoeshiblah blah
yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah
yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah
yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah
yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah yoeshiblah

parched

2006-11-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

we only notice when we dont have it.

when the water in the lower mainland warning came out Boil Water Advisory, it showed us all the ways in which we really need water. even after seeing the warning, i forgot and used the water to brush my teeth and it made me feel super queasy all day long.

so will we be even dirtier after showering a cascade of bacteria onto our bodies? perhaps we should just take mud baths instead.

im so used to the luxury of washing my hands, drinking filtered tap, and even washing my face without thinking id be putting bacteria near my eyes or mouth..

hopefully things will get better, and maybe i should take the advice of everyone in adding bottled water to yoeshi-mart.

unconditional love

2006-11-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

someone once told me that there is no such thing as unconditional love. i decided to look it up on wiki to ponder whether my thoughts on it are the same as what it is defined to be.

the definition is accurate to my belief....and it makes me wonder why there is thought that it does not exist. surely, it should not be too hard to love someone unconditionally....at least i do not want to believe that when i give love, i should get something back in return for it. i would want to do it with no qualms, and with my whole heart.

i guess wanting unconditional love back makes it all conditional though..ha ha. i can only say i would be happy to have someone love me unconditionally? how confusing...

Wiki on Unconditional Love

unconditionally..... yoeshi

Poll : ham or eggs?

2006-11-11T00:43:00.000-08:00

are u the ham or the eggs in your relationship?

'Famous' bowl

2006-10-28T22:12:00.001-07:00

Okay that was gross. I just saw a commercial on TV on KFC's 'famous' bowl. It zooms in on this bowl and they start pouring some corn in it, and then some mashed potatoes or something, then fried chicken bits, then 3 cheeses and then they say "topped with our famous graaaaaaavy" - and they kinda swirl tons of gravy over all that food. Like - ewwwwww? I actually laughed out loud....can it get any grosser or fatter?

I searched on this 'famous' bowl & KFC had a press release on it. Somehow, their survey brought about this result : Americans' top choice for lunch would be mashed potatoes and chicken, selected by more than a third of respondents - over other lunchtime favorites, including cold cuts and last night's leftovers.

Wow what a finding......sound like a bunch of baloney?

But Um, i guess it does say "Americans". (Ok seatac friends don't kill me)

IKEA Appendage?

2006-10-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

so i heard about the 2007 ikea catalogue from a friend. as it happened to be lying on our coffee table, i went to take a look at it and it indeed looks as if a human appendage had been photoshopped into the dog's leg?

i searched quickly and found the article on ctv.ca titled 'Unfortunate' photo wasn't tampered with : IKEA but it sounds quite suspicious. how did the innocent photo somehow turn into a rumour that a disgruntled employee had pulled a stunt and got fired for it?

interestingly enough the article also mentions some odd books and mysterious pictures in prior publications.

i'm sure for those of you who have not yet seen this, after looking, you would agree that this is not merely a leg, but some pretty funkee tampering.

Cost incurred

2006-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

The total cost incurred from the estimate is 2319.91, and he added "so far". Wow..but that was pretty much my guess too.

Boo - i think i have a freebie though. phew,
yoeshi

Top Gun Dimsum

2006-10-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Even though the tealeaves are now presented in plastic disposable pill cups, the dimsum at top gun is still my favorite - especially before 11 with 30% off. The quality still is quite consistent and even though I've cut chicken out of my diet, I could not resist the stuffed chicken wings!!!

Thanks to all the seattle gals n guys and also arthur&xiao for trekking out so early and for the pretty wristlet, GC game, and the tokidoki purse! i momentarily was able to forget about my car.

< group pic will be coming soon >

crushed

2006-10-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

i must have been too shaky after bootcamp...im so sorry mini-bun -
ive crushed your left panel against the post. i totally did not look
and assumed it wasn't there.....and now u are damaged.......booo :(

im also sorry the first scratch had to be so bad..or more like the first
big hit :S and i promise in the future to unwind before driving.

:( :( :( sad yoeshi

strawberry green tea

2006-10-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

i have so many good friends that are still celebrating my birthday! it makes me feel like october is birthday month! last thursday - thanks mo for the flowers and a very prepared eats at Guu. Tonight, Melson's housewarming was awesome, and really nice new place - congrats guys! and i totally loved the cake mel chose for me...............it was so yummy - strawberry creme and greentea and low fat option too wow!!! thanks mel! thanks grace for hand-sewing blythe clothes, thats really amazing, even i can't have the patience to do it. and lululemon rocks morlena and calex :)

im stuffed from all the food and sleepy too.

Yoeshi-mart

2006-10-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

i like eating so much that i opened a snack store right next to my cubicle. So far there isnt much in it - - just peach cups, pocky, rice krispies, chips and cup noodles. seems like my workmates are not into spending TOO too much so the rice krispies are going strong :)

ha ha.

i think ill put some cute things in it and add new items as time passes. ill post a pic soon. :)

Happy Birthday Bro

2006-10-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

May u grow wiser with age,
your sis - yoesh.

Bootcamp!

2006-10-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

okay - its jennifer's fault!

haha, okay it's not really your fault jen wink..I was tempted to join it at first because working out lots is already addictive and something named 'bootcamp' is super tempting. (tempting in that it seems cool to torture myself in unknown ways with other girls) but since youre going too jen, how can i resist? - it's torture by peer motivation

so every sunday at 815 yoeshi will be bootcamp-yoeshi..i need to stay motivated and wake up bright and early! every minute of lateness is 10 push-ups! kill me now.........................

t minus 9 hours til class 1.

The dreaded WBC

2006-10-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

So i sauntered into my doctor's office for the second time this year, following my 'yearly' checkup to do some post checkup detailing. The checkup was actually the first I'd done in 3 years. ha ha.... Since I had a blood test, my doctor wanted to talk to me about it.....man I hate it when they want to talk about the tests.

In any case the WBC - white blood cell count was higher than normal. Apparently if this persists after 2 months, I gotta go back to the BCCA. After exactly 10 years of being cancer-free, it's a bit of a shock, and I only hope I had a little bit of an unknown infection at the time of my blood test. (Yup, in 1996, it was also in October that I was diagnosed......) Still in looking back at past blood tests, the WBC was low - which is a result of treatments...so I think I need to search for my tests prior to all my treatment.

Ironically, a couple weeks ago some of us at work were talking about Lance Armstrong and how it's his 10th year as well. I only strive to break through whatever this is. I read somewhere that it could be due to physical activity and stress....hopefully it really is because I'm working out too much. Time to do some yoga!

happy birthday to Me!

2006-10-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Another year has passed and I'm another year older, BOOOOO.

Thanks anyhow for remembering my birthday everyone. Especially when I'm so bad at remembering everyone elses!

~time to look into anti-aging

Thanksgiving BBQ

2006-10-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Jennyhead - your house in Edmonton is hot!...too bad i cant afford something that nice in Vancouver. Thanks for hosting the thanksgiving BBQ - boy do i love aunty kimi's chicken wings........

The Sulphur Skyline Hiking Trail

2006-10-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Luckily that J&M asked us all to go hiking...this was one hike that can not be missed by all gung-ho hikers :)

We took our time to go up and it was a nice 2 hours with breaks and picture taking...
The switchbacks made the first 3 quarters really easy to hike. If there was not snow, it would be even more leisurely. The last quarter is a steep incline and with the snow its amazing to climb. One ends up really on top of the world in this last stretch. The panoramic scenes from above are amazing..!

If doing the whole hike continuously, it can be quite strenuous - but it's definitely worth the trek and can be enjoyable fast or slow. If i head back to Jasper i want to go back!

Im so proud of my aunt and hope that when I am an aunt, I can do the hike just as well as she can. It was also such a special place to reconnect w/ Ronnie/Bnet/Jenny and also to get to know Karen/Les a bit more :)

This hike comes highly recommended by Yoeshi...If going in colder months, anticipate a big contrast of snow, mud and trail depending on where the sun hits. Use hikers and cover your ears and wear mitts. Coming down can be a bit of a slip and slide as we all know :) Layers help too...
Some info can be found here: Hike Jasper

Happy Wedding M & J

2006-10-07T01:40:00.000-07:00

wow what a special ceremony in jasper international park's little church. so many different family members and friends came to join and u guys' wedding really brought us all so much closer together. it was truly warm in jasper's winter chill.

the reception in overlander lodge was so cozy and fun.....and malcolm, your performance of now and forever truly rocked! we'll watch the videos of it every year!

congrats to a perfect couple~
luv,
yoeshi

overlander

2006-10-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

~the air is amazingly fresh and crisp ~my surroundings are still in the way i feel only mountaintops are ~ because the stillness makes quiet...and i truly feel at peace. i'm sitting in a lodge am able to blog in front of a fireplace ~the scenery is amazing and i'm surrounded by family...what more could a gal ask for?

when we first arrived, i noticed that the smell of the wood was so amazingly strong and fresh.......

okay now to blog on some key moments: the 4 hour ride from edmonton consisted of eating eating and more eating. we even stopped at this nifty diner called smitty's. i was sure that it was american owned :) after a fruit bar, and 2 chocolate bars and pringles and tortillas, we made it to overlander mountain lodge. the tempurature dropped about 10 degrees and we felt the chill in our noses. we checked into extremely quaint rooms...very homely.

after resting a bit we headed towards jasper national park where we had to pay a slight toll for dropping in for the evening. the wedding rehearsal was there and it took a very scenic 40 minute drive to get in. the water was amazing....in some parts it looked like a mirror reflecting the mountaintops..and the scenery was literally engulfing and close. later, the water was bluish green...definitely surreal.

we shopped in town while we waited til 8...and even dropped in IGA. me and karen decided to make smores for tonight and bought all the goods. my dad wanted to buy spotted bananas and it made the van smell. we also bought some normal bananas so that we could eat some too.

the rehearsal was nice. i was nervous about my reading and i need practice in smiling and looking happy while concentrating :) jennyhead cried already! - tommorow will be so emotional...im so excited for you jennyhead&malcolm!

afterwards at dinner we all had something called strawberry salmon. it's actually salmon with strawberry sauce lathered on top and i can't say what my exact feeling about it is. ha ha. the drive home was eventful because my water bottle was not fully closed. i managed to pour the whole bottle of water onto me and the car seat. wet jeans in a 0 degree environment did not feel great! 40 minutes later, i was able to jump out of the wet clothing..the key moment was that we saw a moose cross the street quite elegantly.

during that 40 minutes tho, my mood wasn't dampened. even in the dark, the scenes were amazing. mountains were large and ominous...the sky was dark but clear. roads looked long and forlorn...but approachable. as well the moon in the sky was full and clear - a perfect mid-autumn's night.

ta ta - yoeshi signing off from overlander mountain lodge