Kids

I’m surfing through facebook adding friends that I haven’t met since high school. These are people I haven’t seen for over 10 years. Their pictures come up and most of them proudly display photos of their wedding or kids.

I don’t know why it should still surprise me. The fact that most people are getting married or having kids has hit me and passed already. But still, just this Saturday while spending an afternoon at a friends’ housewarming the place swarmed with infants and toddlers and I had mistakenly thought the kids belonged to the hosts aunts and uncles or something. They were all children of friends.

Then on Sunday we went to a baptism followed by a reception. More kids! Loud screaming kids. Some starting to walk, some running. Some run and scream, it's a team of mobile surround sound stereo system featuring: scream as loud as you can.

I smile and laugh.. oh how cute. How else are you supposed to respond?

Last night I passed out at 9:30pm and got up today at 7am. That's a good 9.5 hours of sleep. I'm still tired. I can't imagine how mothers deal with kids. If I have kids, I'm going to build a sound proof nursery room. screw the investment on Winnie the Pooh decor and get some good solid sound proofing walls.

bad english

This is what happens when you send out emails late at night, very tired.

Dear Hannah,

CB and I have a few things we hope you could start looking into.
In addition to the flowers. I'm thinking of going with Pink Flora. Could you ask Tita Pinky if we has any ideas for flowers to match blue and espresso colour motif? Please take pictures and email them to me. I'm looking at setting the flower budget at under 50K. Currently I have no preferences for flowers. But I would still like to see them first.

We also need a Mandarin speaking translator. Could you please help us find one?
We'll also be need some form of transportation for our guests.
Do you know who the cake maker is for Shangri-la? Is there cake good?

finally, do you have any pictures of Wenwen Zaspa's work? If you don't have any, I'm sure s/he has somek, please ask him for some so I can take a look.

thanks much

Headdump

more lost items

I don’t understand how things disappear. I can’t find my camera. Where’s my camera?
The last time I used it was in Vancouver and I can’t remember where it went after that. Did I bring it back? WHERE AREYOU??

In desparate search for this camera I spent the whole day cleaning the house. It was more organizing things than cleaning. Cleaning would require pulling out our wonderful Rainbow vaccuum, putting on those yellow gloves with a sponge and cleaning spray in each hand.
I didn't clean. I threw papers away, re-folded my clothes, put away my winter sweaters and pulled out my T-shirt. Went through all my luggages hoping I may have left the camera in there and somewhat organized our little bookshelf. Camera is still not found. I'm feeling so unlucky lately.

Water Taste Test

I had to do this test. I've always liked the tap water in Vancouver. It tasted sweet to me. After walking home from school I'd head straight to the sink, turn on the faucet and drink right out of the tap. This was my smart way of not having to grab a cup and wash it after use.

Since moving here I've been drinking bottled water or filtered water. Sometimes it's $0.39/gallon, sometimes it's $5/bottle.



Water: it's Free or it can be $5.99/750mL

I wasn't tempted enough to try the $5.99 water from Mount Expensive but I chose the ones below.

The test: Not your scientific double blind study of course. The best I could do was use my talent of being forgetful. Labeled the bottles 1-5, labeled cups, pour and put the bottles away from sight. Norvin was the true taste tester.

Volvic- my favourite. It's hard to describe the flavour of water, as they're not supposed to have flavour. This one tasted clean.

Crystal Geiser- This one was clean tasting too but not as smooth, if that makes any sense.

Smart Water-I like this one too, couldn't tell much difference between Smart Water and Volvic

Arrowhead- this one's ok, it actually has a flavour to it.

Evian- This was nasty, maybe it's the bottle but without the taste test I never realized Evian tasted this bad.

Filtered tap water- This was CB's favourite. :)

goodbye to a few more items

My car got broken into a few weeks ago. Those guys jimmied my drivers and back passenger window. I was able to see the scratch marks. I don’t know why they picked my beat up car. I guess it is the easiest car to break into, compared to the Porsche in front of me, the BMW to my left and Jaguar to my right. That just pissed me off (again). Standing outside my driver’s door looking at the mess they made inside my car staring in disbelief, wondering how could this happen to me again. Why my car? Farewell to my Maui Jims, you served me well for 5+ years. I’m not too pissed because I used you so much and scratched the hell out of you that I don’t mind getting a new one. But with the morning sun blazing into my eyes, I still miss you when I’m on the road.
So long Oakley’s, you fitted so well around my ears and nose and helped me through one marathon and a few half marathons and 10K’s, but your lenses were quite the disappointment since I first tried you on that I spent my first running hour with you in complete regret of purchasing you on FINAL SALE, NO RETURNS. With you gone, I now use that as an excuse to run indoors. Lastly, my glasses, you were such a hit when I first got you. Everyone loved the frames and you made me look smart. But now with you gone, I can’t see at night, I can’t see the signs in the grocery aisle, I can’t see period.

The wires to my car alarm were all snipped. AAA did not hesitate to replace the alarm and fix up the windows. I kindly asked if they could just give me the money to compensate for the items they don’t cover. What good does an alarm do anyways? Has an alarm ever helped anyone? Of course, AAA preferred to fix my alarm instead. Stupid people.

Homebody

I have this complete lack of interest to go out. My ideal Friday night is the chance to cook something decent without the rush to clean and wash up so I can hit the sac by 10:30pm. Saturday mornings I want to sleep in and watch TV in bed. Then go for a run in the afternoon and then passout till dinner time. Cook, Eat, read or watch TV then sleep in Sunday. Not very exciting. But if feels so good.

Family Politics

CB and I sent out our save the date postcards a few weeks back. I figured a few people might miss the postcard and mistake it as advertisement, which is essentially what we're doing. We're advertising our date! Even the mail man knows and the people at the post office knows.

I have to admit, I was a little lazy when it came to calling up my aunt and uncle to get their address. Since they live close by, I figured it would be nice to take them out for dinner and introduce them to CB. (correction.. introduce CB TO them) My laziness continued and I received that scolding phone call sooner than expected. "Headdump! why didn't you send a postcard to aunty? Everyone was on Skype yesterday and all the other aunties got it but her!" "That is very disrespectful, I say Headdump is a goodgirl, I don't know why she forget, why did you forget? and why did you make it into a postcard? some aunties thought it was advertisement, and there's no Chinese on there! They don't understand it, it looks like a Christmas card"

sheesh, I was just trying to find an affordable way to make an announcement, something more than an email.

moving along

bad week.

I couldn't wait for Chinese New Year to come. This year is supposed to be great for DRAGONS. This year is good for anything that requires dealing with people.. such as relationships, business ... um, pretty much everything isn't it? When do you not deal with people? That's the problem with fortunes, they can be so vague and stupid. But I still believe them.

So with last years forces still working against me, CB and I just found out that a Manila TV personel, ???Montenegro?? decided to get married for the second time and took the booking off our hands. That's just F-ed up. I can see why they'd choose to accomodate him and his 400+ guests but now we're left with the smaller ballroom, or to just change the date. I'm not sure I want to be stuck in a hotel with another wedding party blocking the beach and ballroom. We're still debating on what to do.

some good news..The wedding bickering has finally stopped between CB and I. The bad news...It took one big public argument in a restaurant and a dramatic display of temper that I'll never forgive myself for to finally calm us down.

good news...My dress is being made by Lorymer, CB's cousin. It's good in a way, because it's out of my hands and there's no point worrying about it. Problem is, the guy never checks his emails. What are you doing with my dress buddy?? He came highly recommended from his relatives, but it never occured to me to ask him if he even wanted the job!
It's ok. I've got a back up dress.

bad news.... we've got ants in the house. Those ant traps never work. They don't even crawl into those things! It gets worse everyday, now they're all over our pantry!

arrr.....

gown shopping

I thought wedding gown shopping would be fun. How can it not? I get to shop and try on pretty dresses and feel like a princess. But then I discovered that I can't just walk in to a bridal salon and shop, I have to make appointments. So in preparation I flipped through magazines and checked out some designer runways to find dresses that appeal to me, but I kept in mind that I don't have mile long legs and I will not be walking down the aisle like it's a catwalk. Regardless, the first time I tried on a dress I was floored at what a bustier can do for the body. That, plus cut of the dress... check out those curves! Damn, I'd have to say I look pretty damn good. But what's up withe the price? $3000-$5000+ WHAT?
Not having a clear idea of what I want, every dress looked nice except for the price!!
I checked out David's Bridal too, which has less pricier gowns, but the material is not the same. mmm...That silk charmeuse sure felt nice.

Now I'm stuck trying to justify spending that much on a dress that I'll only wear once. Of course it's my big day and it only happens once. But does anyone really remember what the bride wears? And what am I going to do with that thing the day after? The sentimental sales lady will tell you to preserve it for your children. One day it could become their "something borrowed".

I highly doubt that will happen. Now I'm banking of having a girl? A girl who will be my size and have my style? Would any of you want to wear your mom's dress?

I can't, I can't justify the cost, it's just retarded. My other option is to have Lorymer, CB's cousin make the dress for me in the Philippines. The idea is nice, to have someone in the family make the dress. Not so nice if the dress should arrive ill-fitting and well, ugly. Fashion in Asia is just not the same. Sadly, I'd have to say Taiwanese people have the strangest ensembles.

hmm...maybe I should be carried to the chapel in a Chinese bridal chair.

still planning

holly F*** we've been "discussing" every night,
this is really picking my ass

another night:
-we need to decide on a location-if we keep stalling we're never going to send out save the date cards and people need to know exactly when, to take time off.
-well we need to factor in cost and stuff
-forget about cost first and tell me what you want(repeat 'one night')

a different night:
-have you called to check availability?
-well, have you decided on a place yet?(quick repeat of 'one night leading to a repeat of 'another night)
-how can we not worry about cost?

I won't even begin to write about what happened after that. Let's just say we've both developed a sudden talent for sarcasm and quick come backs.

Tonight
-Do you want to send pictures as thank you cards?
-No, our thank you cards are part of our invitations, it'll cost more to make separate orders blah blah blah I'd rather spend the money on making our guests who've travelled far comfortable than something people may lose or throw away blah blah blah..
-could you stop being so long winded

then I got the LOOK

oops
heh heh..that wasn't a smart comment on my part

The end before the beginning

Wedding planning aka catalyst for arguments.

So many things to consider, so many people to please. Everyone has an idea and everyone wants an input. I watch these people speak Tagalog. I hear churches, hotel names, so and so's my flower girl.

-who?
-do you want to be a flower girl? or bridesmaid?
-no, she's too old, she'll have to be a bridesmaid.
-Headdump, show S0&So the dress you picked out for the bridesmaids, show her which one she's wearing.
-what dress?
-the brown one.
-of course, lemme see if I can find it again in the magazine, you asshole.

I don't think I'm being a bitch when I say I don't want some girl I've met 3 times my whole life to be my bridesmaid. I don't even care if the mention of her was just out of courtesy because your relative is in the room. The fact that I had to flip through pages to pretend I found the dress just boils my blood.

Sitting in a room dominated by the majority. I need back up. Back me up CB or you won't sleep well tonight.


on one night:
-I want you to have the wedding of your dreams.
- =) I want it in Boracay
-except for Boracay
-???????##@??????
-The church has to be in Cebu.
-I'm sorry, what did you say? a wedding in my dream?

Visitors

The only reason why the house ever gets cleaned.

Halo

I've never been a big fan of video games. Never had that hand eye coordination. I think it all started with Zelda. I'd go over to Winnie's place in Grade 7 and after an hour I'm happier being a back seat driver.. "turn left, you've gone right already.. open THAT box!" . Then my uncle brought over Atari, I actually liked the games we had on that then the machine broke because my cousin Felix got pissed on a level and decided to do some real damage. Then there was Tetris and Bommerman and Bombliss. ooh those were my favourites. Street Fighter and Mario Brothers? mmm.. no, what's up with those combination moves?? couldn't stand it. A few years ago I got a good laugh with Super mario cart and that was the last of it.

This past weekend CB pulls out Halo, I had to spend a day just so my man doesn't walk around in circles with his head down. CB had to partner with me just to keep me alive long enough to develop a learning curve.

Now I can walk decently, the aiming is very off, but I'm starting to like it more.

CB was so patient teaching me the buttons and all that good stuff. He even waited for me to walk up to his player (which took a few min) after I crashed my hover thingy because driving THAT is worse than walking. After 3 hours I got a little addicted and tired. Then he said to me " when I get the new game, just ignore me at night time, I'll be playing till I pass out"
well, can't I join you?
"no, I'll never improve if I play with someone who's..... not as good as me."

I miss you

It’s easy to tell CB I miss him, it comes out without hesitation when the feeling comes to me. I tell my family I miss them too, but I usually let the feeling build up a bit before I utter the sentimental words. We’re just not the smooshie type of family, quite typical of Asians. But we keep in touch with regular emails and adequate Skype time (with video) so I’m a safe distance away from breaking down and saying I miss you.

My close friends? No problem. If you’re reading this and I haven’t emailed or talked to you in a while… I miss you.

Then there are those friends who I’ve lost touch with. We were close at one point, saw each other frequently then we got busy, parted our separate ways and don’t even chat online to say hello. I see their names online, it’s highlighted, I know they’re only a click away and I think to myself “at least I see their name light-up and I know their still around” What kind of thought is that? Am I waiting for something bad to happen before I hit that button on the mouse? Some of these friends I haven’t spoken to in years, and we used to drive 40min up to SFU every morning then 60 min on the way back down. Then we’d head over to each others’ house to study after dinner and have sleepovers during exams. We used to know all about each other and after so much time has past saying I miss you just feels awkward. So I won’t say those words, it just doesn’t make sense to say I miss you and I’ve seen you online so many times but I’m just too damn lazy to hit the button to start chatting with you because I’m busy surfing online on four different web pages and adding another chat session would just slow me down. But I do miss you.

Chinese Fortune Telling

To all Dragons out there (born 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988) look forward to better luck next year. This year has just been the shits for me. Crap keeps happening to me, starting with my car getting broken into, (this monitor just went blank, followed by me pissing off, but now it’s ok) losing stuff left and right, CB’s car having problems after the break-in when it was under my care, the house having issues and on and on.. I was told this year would be bad for dragons, so I faithfully carried a little jade Rabbit to ward off evil and misfortune, maybe I should’ve adopted a pet rabbit instead.

The fortune has been released for next year and it looks like Dragons are going to have a 180 on their luck. This luck seems to center around relationships. If you’re single, you’ll get hitched, if you’re coupled, you’ll develop many new relationships. That’s nice to hear, but at this point I’d be happy to just recover my losses.

Double Standards

Last night CB and I were a the Grand River Hot Pot on Clement. Chinese hot pot typically means you grab your food at a buffet table and bring it back to grill or boil in broth. The place smelled great but it looked like a BBQ hot box. Do those vents hanging over tables ever work? The chairs and tables were sticky, probably from fumigating in that smoke all night long. The buffet tables were a mess. With the smoke and all it looked like heaven for roaches and that's what we had for company. About 30min into our meal CB starts brushing something to the right of me. I see a 2 inch cockroach running off the edge of the table. I didn't budge and CB continues to eat. Then I leaned back a bit just incase that thing crawls up from underneath. I said it went over the edge, but it's not like it fell off the table, it's probably crawling around the underside. 5min later it crawled towards the food again, this time I waved over a waiter who pulled out his towel as he walked towards us, I pointed and he grabbed. He knew exactly why he was being called. No apologies given, instead I said thanks. Anywhere else I would have demanded our meals be taken care of and then some bitching. But I would feel almost embarrassed to even bitch at a place like this. It just seemed acceptable for crap like that to happen here.

lost items

*sigh*
I think it's time to update my lost/stolen items list.

Red Roots CANADA T-shirt
TOMTOM
Rayband Sunglasses arrr.. almost had the luxury of forgetting about that one too.

ok, I can't go on with this list anymore I'm all irritated. what's pissing me off the most is that it seems like i'm losing or having things stolen from me that's particularily sentimental in nature.
Specifically things given by CB or the one incident TOMTOM that I gave him. What a friggin shitty year. I've never lost so many items in one year before.

Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels

The other night I had the Food Network on TV in the background. It's pretty much my default station when there's nothing to watch or I just want background noise. I figure cooking is something I could brush up on.

Rachael Ray has several shows of her own, meals under 30min, $40 a day and probably some others that I don't know.

On Oct. 24 Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels " Rachael’s taking us on a pub crawl across the country, without washing down a lot of dough" That caught my attention! Sounds like my kind-a-gal, let's just hope she swings by San Francisco. "Rachael starts us out with a trek through the Pacific Northwest for the best in brews from Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. Then we climb over to the Rocky Mountains and from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, experience some pubs with rock-bottom prices. And "pubbing" isn’t just for the west! We’re gonna get our drink on in the East Coast as we sample libations from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. And finally, where else does everybody know your name than Boston? "

Did you catch that? If you're not Canadian, you don't know what I'm trying to point out.

let's do it again..

Rachael starts us out with a trek through the Pacific Northwest for the best in brews from Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. Then we climb over to the Rocky Mountains and from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, experience some pubs with rock-bottom prices. And "pubbing" isn’t just for the west! We’re gonna get our drink on in the East Coast as we sample libations from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. And finally, where else does everybody know your name than Boston?

So, she missed SF. That's fine, but she ends up hitting my hometown which IS NOT part of your country missy! Do the rest of those viewers know that? or did you expect to drive up there across the 'stateboarder' carefree as long as you carry no fruits and meats.

Lucy Mae Brown is her pub of choice in Vancouver, BC. I wasn't sure if I should be proud that we once again made a hit in an American show, or annoyed that once again, they didn't care to make the distinction that we're not part of them.

It's My Birthday

some birthday statistics.

Oct. 2000
drunk after one beer then passed out completely after a smoke my friend brought back from Thailand.

Oct. 2006

Everyone thinks I did pretty lousy job but I think I did pretty well.
2 Glasses of Champagne during dinner
then starting @ 10:45pm
Kettle Soda
A shot of something sweet and good
glass of Champagne
Chilled Crown (as if the 'chill' really made a difference)
soda
Crown
Crown
12:30pm. Passed out on the couch then some bitch tried to wake me up, didn't she know it was my birthday?

That's pretty good for 2 hours!!! I'm so proud of myself.

Shiny or Dull side

Aluminum Foil.

There is a shiny and dull side which occurs during the manufacturing process. Which side do YOU use? I believe the shiny side reflects heat better so to keep food warm I face the shiny side INSIDE. That's just the way I feel about it and I do it all the time! I came across some resistance to my preferred method of cooking this past weekend. Which, led to a series of loud/heavy "discussions" until we finally had access to outside knowledge....we decided to ask a Scientist but the answer was still vague.... maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm still sticking to my theory.