Sorry for going missing for errr... practically 8 months? I didn't really realize how much I blogged here before.. The whole entire reason why I went missing is of course... WORK.
I managed to find a job that is what I like to do and have thought of doing, which turned out to be great. It was a whole new experience, but I settled in very quickly. I like the paperless environment, non-personal communication. I can't say that I like the early hours of 6am, but I can't say I dislike getting off at 2pm.
Making more money makes me realize how busy life can get, and earning money is not the main purpose. We have to get out and enjoy life, breathe the crisp air and bask in the beautiful sunshine. Money is also meant to be spent, and I did that with a lovely 2-week vacation back home. It was a short time, but it was enough to make me realize Vancouver is the place I want to be.
Many many life realizations have come to me in the last few months, but I haven't had any time to pen down my thoughts. Maybe I ought to start again, so that one day I can look back and wonder why I was at that stage and learn lessons from myself.
Off to meet some friends for dinner! But I will be back! I have all these thoughts in my brain that I would like to declutter and sort them out. Till next time, ciao!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
The rest of the 30 Day Challenge
Oops, 3 months later, and I continue my 30 Day Challenge.. LOL! So much for doing it every day!~ Let's just do the later half all at once now! I am so funny~~
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
I don't listen to music on my iPod.. I listen to music on the radio :D
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Too lazy to post pics already :D
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Hmm, this is interesting to think about.. I cannot think of any right now...
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Learn Italian! Learn Korean! Get married! Be Canadian! Take great photos with my (new!) DSLR! So much to do, so much laziness :S
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Chunz: The secondary school gang; we all have some part of our names, and we add a 'z' to the end.. Just sounded so much cooler yo. And then we used Zebra marker to write it on the cement floor at the "hole", our secret hideout during recess.. Sadly we cannot go to revisit these memories, since the old campus has been torn down..
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
I don't want to jinx it.. Y'all should know who it is ;)
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
No pictures, but sunshine and blue skies make me happy :)
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
I don't like things that are too popular... Examples would be Jay Chou, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga..
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Sushi! Chocolate!
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Hi parents,
We sure are an odd family.
Love, your only child
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Wallet, 3 X Lanyards (one each for camera, keys, bus pass), phone (but usually in my pocket) -- these are the standard things..
Not-so-standard things range from: Candy, tissue, pad, lipstick, phone charger..
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Friends? What friends?
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Wanted to test my perseverance (obviously an epic fail), thought it would be an interesting road of self discovery, and boredom.
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
My looks haven't changed much.. I have opened my heart to love again and I now feel like the luckiest girl on earth ;)
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
- Jobhunting is not easy.
- Having endless jobless days is torturing.
- Unemployment is not fun.
Day 30- Who are you?
Why do you want to know who I am? I don't even know who I am.
HAHAHA DONE! Half-arsed answers, I know! I just want to get this over and done with!!! :P
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
I don't listen to music on my iPod.. I listen to music on the radio :D
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Too lazy to post pics already :D
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Hmm, this is interesting to think about.. I cannot think of any right now...
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Learn Italian! Learn Korean! Get married! Be Canadian! Take great photos with my (new!) DSLR! So much to do, so much laziness :S
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Chunz: The secondary school gang; we all have some part of our names, and we add a 'z' to the end.. Just sounded so much cooler yo. And then we used Zebra marker to write it on the cement floor at the "hole", our secret hideout during recess.. Sadly we cannot go to revisit these memories, since the old campus has been torn down..
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
I don't want to jinx it.. Y'all should know who it is ;)
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
No pictures, but sunshine and blue skies make me happy :)
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
I don't like things that are too popular... Examples would be Jay Chou, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga..
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Sushi! Chocolate!
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Hi parents,
We sure are an odd family.
Love, your only child
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Wallet, 3 X Lanyards (one each for camera, keys, bus pass), phone (but usually in my pocket) -- these are the standard things..
Not-so-standard things range from: Candy, tissue, pad, lipstick, phone charger..
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Friends? What friends?
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Wanted to test my perseverance (obviously an epic fail), thought it would be an interesting road of self discovery, and boredom.
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
My looks haven't changed much.. I have opened my heart to love again and I now feel like the luckiest girl on earth ;)
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
- Jobhunting is not easy.
- Having endless jobless days is torturing.
- Unemployment is not fun.
Day 30- Who are you?
Why do you want to know who I am? I don't even know who I am.
HAHAHA DONE! Half-arsed answers, I know! I just want to get this over and done with!!! :P
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Goodbye, 2010 ♥
Happy New Year to all!!! It's 2011, and today's a special day: 1/1/11!!! :)
Let's recap 2010, shall we? I'm sure everyone agrees with me that it went by way too fast! First of all, I am so glad I had someone special this year and it's been wonderful to have someone beside me and there for me.. Thank you and I hope 2011 will be another great year for us!
Let's do a recap...
January
Spent time with a very special person, whom I grew more and more fond of, and had the most number of birthday meals ever (4! with different groups of people!).. It was a memorable birthday year, turning 22!
February
Olympic Games or the start of a very special journey, I can't decide which one is more life-changing.. Haha... It would be the first (and possibly last) time I'll ever have such an opportunity to see the Games very up close and with my own eyes.. And earn money while doing that! And it was a very wonky Valentine's Day, but I'm glad everything turned out great.. Also the year that V-Day coincided with the first day of Chinese New Year..
March/April
Went on with school, not much exciting things and exams were BLAH. Almost thought I was going to fail the course my favourite professor taught, was very relieved that my student life at UBC had ended on a graceful note.
May
The first time going to the Canadian Rockies, saw many beautiful natural sights, mountains, glaciers, lakes.. I HAVE TO GO BACK during the summer some day. It would also be a first vacation together for us, so it is especially sentimental.. Really wish I can go to explore more of inner BC's nature..
And of course, my graduation ceremony! It was drizzling a bit but it still turned out picture-perfect! It is a siginificant milestone in my life, isn't it?
June
Spent the sunny days going to many places around Vancouver, seeing more new sights and hidden gems in the city. Explored a lot, took a lot of pictures; this is just one of them. Many beautiful sunsets, endless blue skies, cotton white clouds...
July
Finally found a place I now call home, living with the best family anyone can ask for (3 young kids, and the cat above who sits in the flower box). I have a nice big room to put all my junk, and it screams LOCATION all over! Nice neighbourhood, 10 minutes to groceries, 10 minutes to UBC, direct bus to Downtown, I don't want to move out anymore!
August
Alone in Vancouver for a month, spending evenings on Skype. (Thank you technology!) On the bright side, time passed fast with my first full-time job, even though it was a temporary one. I settled well into it, tried not to make too many complaints and stay positive, ended staying there for 4 months instead of 4 weeks.
September
Baked a cake and celebrated a special 21st birthday for the special someone, it turned out semi-disastrous but still edible. Hey, it's the thought that counts right? :D
October
Not much happening, just regular work and date nights on some weeks. What a bore work turns you into huh! Actually lost my job for the long weekend and then they called me back. That was something. Oh, got a short short haircut too! Hello bangs again!
November
Got our first crazy Vancouver snowfall, ridiculously sub-zero weather for a couple days. It was sunny and snowy, too bad didn't get to play in the snow at all. But everyone was thankful when the snow was finally gone, as it was becoming quite a nuisance than a pretty sight.
December
The month for joy and festivities, and my job assignment ended. I try to stay positive and enjoy it as much as possible. Ate lots of good food, went to lots of good places, visited many Christmas sights in the city, met up with some friends. It was a great month!
My 2010 was the best year anyone can ask for, all I hope that 2011 will be even better or equally as good! :)
Let's recap 2010, shall we? I'm sure everyone agrees with me that it went by way too fast! First of all, I am so glad I had someone special this year and it's been wonderful to have someone beside me and there for me.. Thank you and I hope 2011 will be another great year for us!
Let's do a recap...
January
Spent time with a very special person, whom I grew more and more fond of, and had the most number of birthday meals ever (4! with different groups of people!).. It was a memorable birthday year, turning 22!
February
Olympic Games or the start of a very special journey, I can't decide which one is more life-changing.. Haha... It would be the first (and possibly last) time I'll ever have such an opportunity to see the Games very up close and with my own eyes.. And earn money while doing that! And it was a very wonky Valentine's Day, but I'm glad everything turned out great.. Also the year that V-Day coincided with the first day of Chinese New Year..
March/April
Went on with school, not much exciting things and exams were BLAH. Almost thought I was going to fail the course my favourite professor taught, was very relieved that my student life at UBC had ended on a graceful note.
May
The first time going to the Canadian Rockies, saw many beautiful natural sights, mountains, glaciers, lakes.. I HAVE TO GO BACK during the summer some day. It would also be a first vacation together for us, so it is especially sentimental.. Really wish I can go to explore more of inner BC's nature..
And of course, my graduation ceremony! It was drizzling a bit but it still turned out picture-perfect! It is a siginificant milestone in my life, isn't it?
June
Spent the sunny days going to many places around Vancouver, seeing more new sights and hidden gems in the city. Explored a lot, took a lot of pictures; this is just one of them. Many beautiful sunsets, endless blue skies, cotton white clouds...
July
Finally found a place I now call home, living with the best family anyone can ask for (3 young kids, and the cat above who sits in the flower box). I have a nice big room to put all my junk, and it screams LOCATION all over! Nice neighbourhood, 10 minutes to groceries, 10 minutes to UBC, direct bus to Downtown, I don't want to move out anymore!
August
Alone in Vancouver for a month, spending evenings on Skype. (Thank you technology!) On the bright side, time passed fast with my first full-time job, even though it was a temporary one. I settled well into it, tried not to make too many complaints and stay positive, ended staying there for 4 months instead of 4 weeks.
September
Baked a cake and celebrated a special 21st birthday for the special someone, it turned out semi-disastrous but still edible. Hey, it's the thought that counts right? :D
October
Not much happening, just regular work and date nights on some weeks. What a bore work turns you into huh! Actually lost my job for the long weekend and then they called me back. That was something. Oh, got a short short haircut too! Hello bangs again!
November
Got our first crazy Vancouver snowfall, ridiculously sub-zero weather for a couple days. It was sunny and snowy, too bad didn't get to play in the snow at all. But everyone was thankful when the snow was finally gone, as it was becoming quite a nuisance than a pretty sight.
December
The month for joy and festivities, and my job assignment ended. I try to stay positive and enjoy it as much as possible. Ate lots of good food, went to lots of good places, visited many Christmas sights in the city, met up with some friends. It was a great month!
My 2010 was the best year anyone can ask for, all I hope that 2011 will be even better or equally as good! :)
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Just for fun
My List of Christmas Wants
(they are rather essential things which will be useful to my everyday life.. Highly doubtful I'll get many of them..)
1. A DSLR (to capture the beautiful moments in life)
2. A watch (prefer digital as always)
3. A backpack (must be pretty enough for my standards)
4. A new hard drive (to store my gazillions of photos)
5. More shelves / storage space for my junk at home.
6. More pretty work clothes
My List of Christmas Places to Go
(hopefully all will be attained.. depends how much stamina we have, and also depends on the weather..)
1. Christmas Lights @ Capilano Suspension Bridge
2. Christmas Lights @ Van Dusen Botanical Garden
3. Body Worlds @ Science World
4. Queen Elizabeth Park
5. Movie outing + Greek food
6. Boxing Day shopping @ the mall
My List of Christmas Desires
(the things that money cannot buy..)
1. A new job where I will enjoy myself much more, and less brain-degenerating
2. To keep my room in a more presentable state (nearly impossible to achieve)
3. Eat lots of good food and not get fat (HA! first part will be achieved but the latter is hard.. so hard..)
4. Find new TV shows to watch (my mum already thinks I am a "TV Queen" but I don't seem that addicted yet...)
5. Learn Italian again (I am so sad, I have forgotten almost everything I learnt one year ago.. which is really sad..)
6. Spend time more effectively on more things and people..
Just a boring post, my blog is getting pretty dead.. I keep starting new posts but never end up finishing them~~ Sigh..
(they are rather essential things which will be useful to my everyday life.. Highly doubtful I'll get many of them..)
1. A DSLR (to capture the beautiful moments in life)
2. A watch (prefer digital as always)
3. A backpack (must be pretty enough for my standards)
4. A new hard drive (to store my gazillions of photos)
5. More shelves / storage space for my junk at home.
6. More pretty work clothes
My List of Christmas Places to Go
(hopefully all will be attained.. depends how much stamina we have, and also depends on the weather..)
1. Christmas Lights @ Capilano Suspension Bridge
2. Christmas Lights @ Van Dusen Botanical Garden
3. Body Worlds @ Science World
4. Queen Elizabeth Park
5. Movie outing + Greek food
6. Boxing Day shopping @ the mall
My List of Christmas Desires
(the things that money cannot buy..)
1. A new job where I will enjoy myself much more, and less brain-degenerating
2. To keep my room in a more presentable state (nearly impossible to achieve)
3. Eat lots of good food and not get fat (HA! first part will be achieved but the latter is hard.. so hard..)
4. Find new TV shows to watch (my mum already thinks I am a "TV Queen" but I don't seem that addicted yet...)
5. Learn Italian again (I am so sad, I have forgotten almost everything I learnt one year ago.. which is really sad..)
6. Spend time more effectively on more things and people..
Just a boring post, my blog is getting pretty dead.. I keep starting new posts but never end up finishing them~~ Sigh..
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Advice on Cooking
My style of cooking; it's a very strange combination of skill and laziness.
I call it "skill" because I have watched tons of cooking shows during my 2 years of living at Gage in UBC, where I was blessed with a TV in our living room. Sad to say, now I don't have a TV and my only complaint is I cannot watch the Food Network anymore~~ Even though I'm working during the hours that my favourite shows are on, I would still like to have a TV.
And I have picked up a lot of tips from watching all these cooking hosts. Like what are the "standard" seasonings for different kinds of cuisines, important theories, what to put together and what NOT to put together, so much more! I could write an entire book on what I've learnt just by watching...
And laziness? That's pretty self-explanatory. Or you could also define it as I-am-so-cheap-I-refuse-to-get-the-expensive-ingredients-like-the-pros-do. I pretty much use whatever I have on hand, and whatever I have on hand is what I "happen" to pick up at the supermarket for that week. There are rare times where I would specially buy specific items for whatever I am making though, depends entirely on my mood.
With this combination of knowledge and non-specificity, I sometimes come up with random recipes. No actually, make that ALL THE TIME. Especially my "Chinese" cooking are the simplest things I usually cook. My usual is a tiny portion of meat, either ground or in small pieces, with a range of 2-5 types of vegetables cut up. First I fry the meat, and then toss in the vegetables. The meat may or may not be pre-marinated, but I have learned to "season every layer of the dish", but I usually put so little seasoning it doesn't really taste very strong anyway. I think this is a healthy diet, especially when served with rice. My meat-to-vegetables ratio is usually 1:3, and I'm proud of that.
When I encounter certain things I feel like baking or trying out, I hunt for the recipe on ever-trusty Google, and then I modify it to whatever I have in my fridge. Except you can't really mess with the chemistry of baking, so I don't alter proportions and try to follow baking measurements to a T. I'm a lot better now, at least my landlord has measuring cups and spoons which I can use, which I never really used in the past. The actual baking time and temperature and oven will definitely not make my baking turn out perfectly, but I have learned to live with such imperfection.
Today, I made hummus. The traditional recipe calls for chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sesame paste and some spices. I have only the first 2 on the list. Well, I guess I can make do, since chickpeas is the key ingredient in this. I was hesitant to chop up garlic at first (because I was oh-so-lazy) but finally gave in because according to my landlady, "hummus is not hummus without garlic!"
So I blended the chickpeas and garlic together with only a little of the liquid from the can (with my lovely $7 mini food processor), and then added sesame seeds (to replace the sesame paste), and --- oh, that's about it. I added salt and black pepper, and I also decided to be brave and add curry powder. I did not add olive oil because seriously, I don't see the need for it (and I didn't want to scrub a greasy food processor). The curry powder turned out to be a great choice, and after I spooned everything into a container, I swirled in a couple drops of sesame oil to enhance the aroma.
And boy, did that taste good! So, I conclude that you really don't need all the classic ingredients to make a good hummus. And really, that applies to pretty much everything that is not baking.. I suppose if you are really professional then you can fiddle around, but I'm not there yet..
My advice when it comes to cooking: Be adventurous, be flexible, and most importantly, be LAZY! :) Happy cooking everyone!
I call it "skill" because I have watched tons of cooking shows during my 2 years of living at Gage in UBC, where I was blessed with a TV in our living room. Sad to say, now I don't have a TV and my only complaint is I cannot watch the Food Network anymore~~ Even though I'm working during the hours that my favourite shows are on, I would still like to have a TV.
And I have picked up a lot of tips from watching all these cooking hosts. Like what are the "standard" seasonings for different kinds of cuisines, important theories, what to put together and what NOT to put together, so much more! I could write an entire book on what I've learnt just by watching...
And laziness? That's pretty self-explanatory. Or you could also define it as I-am-so-cheap-I-refuse-to-get-the-expensive-ingredients-like-the-pros-do. I pretty much use whatever I have on hand, and whatever I have on hand is what I "happen" to pick up at the supermarket for that week. There are rare times where I would specially buy specific items for whatever I am making though, depends entirely on my mood.
With this combination of knowledge and non-specificity, I sometimes come up with random recipes. No actually, make that ALL THE TIME. Especially my "Chinese" cooking are the simplest things I usually cook. My usual is a tiny portion of meat, either ground or in small pieces, with a range of 2-5 types of vegetables cut up. First I fry the meat, and then toss in the vegetables. The meat may or may not be pre-marinated, but I have learned to "season every layer of the dish", but I usually put so little seasoning it doesn't really taste very strong anyway. I think this is a healthy diet, especially when served with rice. My meat-to-vegetables ratio is usually 1:3, and I'm proud of that.
When I encounter certain things I feel like baking or trying out, I hunt for the recipe on ever-trusty Google, and then I modify it to whatever I have in my fridge. Except you can't really mess with the chemistry of baking, so I don't alter proportions and try to follow baking measurements to a T. I'm a lot better now, at least my landlord has measuring cups and spoons which I can use, which I never really used in the past. The actual baking time and temperature and oven will definitely not make my baking turn out perfectly, but I have learned to live with such imperfection.
Today, I made hummus. The traditional recipe calls for chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sesame paste and some spices. I have only the first 2 on the list. Well, I guess I can make do, since chickpeas is the key ingredient in this. I was hesitant to chop up garlic at first (because I was oh-so-lazy) but finally gave in because according to my landlady, "hummus is not hummus without garlic!"
So I blended the chickpeas and garlic together with only a little of the liquid from the can (with my lovely $7 mini food processor), and then added sesame seeds (to replace the sesame paste), and --- oh, that's about it. I added salt and black pepper, and I also decided to be brave and add curry powder. I did not add olive oil because seriously, I don't see the need for it (and I didn't want to scrub a greasy food processor). The curry powder turned out to be a great choice, and after I spooned everything into a container, I swirled in a couple drops of sesame oil to enhance the aroma.
And boy, did that taste good! So, I conclude that you really don't need all the classic ingredients to make a good hummus. And really, that applies to pretty much everything that is not baking.. I suppose if you are really professional then you can fiddle around, but I'm not there yet..
My advice when it comes to cooking: Be adventurous, be flexible, and most importantly, be LAZY! :) Happy cooking everyone!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Another weird conversation
(Person A) and I were talking about this guy who might be interested in her. Major 180° change in topic as we switched to talking about (Person B).
(Person A): I introduced him to (Person B) -- she's desperate for a boyfriend...
Me: How desperate is she?
(Person A): She asks me and *other friend* to introduce guys to her...
Me: Okay, I should introduce *my boyfriend*'s friends to her then..
*Person A*: Oh really? Please do!! I have introduced all my good friends to her...
I show *my boyfriend* the above conversation.
*bf*: LOLOL! My friends are study dudes, they won't be compatible.. And they are shy too, not "on the bed" type...
Me: LOL! My sentiments exactly!
ROFL. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for (Person B). FYI I have top-secret access to such information. :D
(Person A): I introduced him to (Person B) -- she's desperate for a boyfriend...
Me: How desperate is she?
(Person A): She asks me and *other friend* to introduce guys to her...
Me: Okay, I should introduce *my boyfriend*'s friends to her then..
*Person A*: Oh really? Please do!! I have introduced all my good friends to her...
I show *my boyfriend* the above conversation.
*bf*: LOLOL! My friends are study dudes, they won't be compatible.. And they are shy too, not "on the bed" type...
Me: LOL! My sentiments exactly!
ROFL. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for (Person B). FYI I have top-secret access to such information. :D
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Words of Wisdom
(meaningful phrases from country songs)
Life is not about the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away...
I don't want a man I can live with; I want a man that I can't live without...
I believe in angels, 'cause my angels believe in me.
I wanna put you in a melody, so you'll be stuck in my head all day. If I could press play, rewind a couple million times; so let me put you in a song...
You make me smile like the sun, forget how to breathe.. Just the thought of you can drive me wild, oh you make me smile...
I'm gonna change your mind, I'm gonna make you love me...
Life is not about the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away...
I don't want a man I can live with; I want a man that I can't live without...
I believe in angels, 'cause my angels believe in me.
I wanna put you in a melody, so you'll be stuck in my head all day. If I could press play, rewind a couple million times; so let me put you in a song...
You make me smile like the sun, forget how to breathe.. Just the thought of you can drive me wild, oh you make me smile...
I'm gonna change your mind, I'm gonna make you love me...
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