Yabba Dabba Doo
Hehe.. it just popped into my head. Again, had some interesting titles but again, they have flown out of my head the moment I have to sit down and write.
So its Monday again. YUPPI :P I FINALLY watched Phantom of the Opera on Friday night. It was O.K. I wasn't overly impressed. What really bothered me was that the accompaniment overpowered the singing, especially in the parts that were forte (loud). It was as if the singers were trying to scream so that they could be heard over the music. I know that they probably dub it in after with all this movie editing and such, but still.. come ON, you are ACCOMPANYING the singers.. !! Gee.. rule number 1! I'm sort of wondering whether they actually sang it during the acting or did they dub the music in afterwards? Cuz honestly, there are parts that really don't look like they are singing. You'd expect their mouths to be opened a little bit wider, especially when it's really lyrical. On the positive side, they actress was really pretty.. though I felt she looked like at least three different people in different scenes. hmm.. I admit I haven't watched/read the story line before, but was it intentional that the Phantom be sort of perverted by falling in love with a girl that is only like.. 16?? It was sort of disturbing. Oh ya.. positive thoughts here.. I did think the costumes were really nice and that the scenes were really magnificent. The part where Christine is in the graveyard and the Phantom is pretending to be her father.. did you notice how they changed the colours of the lights to fit the mood? Cool eh? It really made you change your perspective on what you were watching and just because of the lights! Oh ya.. their website is really nicely designed too: http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/ (like most movie sites)
Anyways, this weekend was pretty much no rest. Working on Chinese New Year stuff again. Sort of regretting that I said I'd help :P Perhaps its all the chaos and disorganization that just irks me and makes me feel.. "whatever". Oh well. One more week.
It was a crappy day yesterday. Exasperating and frustrating! Something must have been in the air cuz teaching almost drove me bonkers. Piano didn't go great in the morning and Chinese school was stressful because the kids are expected to know a poem for next week (which we only started to practice this week because I only found out they needed a poem two weeks ago AND last week school was cancelled!) GAH! (now you know why my MSN name said GAH :P)
Weather is warming up nicely here. It's a BALMY -7 or so degrees. WOHO! Too bad I have absolutely no time to go skiing this weekend. Holy cow, I just looked and we actually go up to +3 degrees on Friday!?!?!? Gee.. what's happening to this world.. our environment has gone wacko. :S Oh dearie me..
Alright. That's it for my Monday.
Can't...keep..my..ey..e..s.... op..e...n.....
Wake up, wake up, wake up!! ahh!! WAKE UP JY!!! For some odd reason I'm having trouble sleeping at night again. Alright, not odd reasoning cuz it's a common problem I've been experiencing as of lately. Dang.
So this "nice weather" has been stalking us for the last week or so. It was weird over the weekend. I mean, everyone was talking about this blizzard that was suppose to hit.. white out conditions, 10-15cm of snow (big whoop), freaking cold wind chill and blowing snow, etc. But it was.. calm? We had a few flurries and some blowing snow.. oh ya, can't forget to mention the COLD weather.. but it was as if an invisible bubble had been put over Fton while places all around us were massively hit. I was sort of disappointed that we didn't get much snow. I mean, it's exciting when a storm hits (and of course, when you are in the warm safety of your home :P). It's sort of mind boggling that just 10 minutes from Fton can be hit so much harder than we are, here in the city. I mean, UNBSJ was CLOSED all day yesterday and we had sunshine!? WEIRD! Not to mention that Massachusetts has declared a state of emergency because of all the snow they got (*snort*).
I was reading a couple of blogs.. and it's interesting to see how different everyone's blog style is. Mine is casual.. rambling on about whatever pops into my head, with absolutely no editing and proof-reading. I wonder if it's possible to change your writing style? I mean, I know that everything I write SOUNDS like my writing.. know what I mean? It's hard to change my style so that I sound different. I don't think I'm a terrible writer, but I sometimes get that "UGH" feeling when I read what I've written. I seem to have a tendency to use my "favorite" words a lot: "such as", "anyways", "I mean", "OK", etc. I already spot two "I mean"s in the last two paragraphs.. AHHHHH!!!!! (but it's not stopping me from going back and editing :P)
OH YA!! GUESS WHAT! PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has finally arrived in theatres here!! I'm so going to go watch it. Even if I didn't feel like watching it, I have to watch it after all the ranting and raving I did about it not being here yet. hahah.. ah, it'll be a good movie.
Recently, I've been contemplating coming out of my "vacation" and finding another part time job. Ya, I need the money. I just ordered a new LCD monitor (17", BenQ FP783)... boy, that put a dent in my pocket (not pocketS, pocket.. I don't have enough moolah to have pocketS). I figure that it's a good investment though. I haven't EVER purchased a monitor. hehehe.. so how do I use my PC?? WELL, all the monitors I've been using are OLD .. castoffs from friends who are leaving town.. hahahah!! What a junkie I am.. but it's recyling.. right?
I'm hoping that the weather will warm up later this week so that I can go skiing. Friday is probably the optimal day. Besides skiing, I just want to crawl in bed with a good book. Uninterrupted laziness. Uninterrupted being defined as no people calling, nagging and no prior commitments that hang over my head for the next few days. Is that too much to ask? (answer: yes :P)
Alright. I'm off. Enough jibberish for now.
The Apprentice III
I just finished watching the first episode of Apprentice 3. At first, the "high schoolers" got on my nervces with their cocky attitude about how they are street smart and how the university graduates are cocky. hahah.. then the university graduates got on my nerves at THEIR cockiness. Ahh.. all those candidates are so cocky! Anyways, by the end of the episode, I was rooting for the high schoolers. hehehe.. maybe it was because the university graduates were doing stupid, stupid, stupid things.. their marketing was hidious, plus, the producers didn't put in anymore clips of the high schoolers being cocky.
After watching the apprentice, I wonder.. how would I fair on that show? I think I could handle some of the tasks, but really, it's gotta be really challenging. Even after all my experience with organizing banquets (yes, I've got it down to a fine art), I think I would probably doubt my abilities. Gah.. the stress of the tasks and add on the fact that all these high powered executives are watching your every move.. oh ya, and did I forget to mention, the rest of North America? :P
Hmm.. most people probably don't know the side of me to be able to know what I'd be confident or unconfident about. I'm unconfident about a lot of things. There are only a few things that I'm confident about: teaching (even though I still occassionally do experience doubts), and organizing events (and ya, I still sometimes doubt myself here too.) I guess I'm just a doubtful person! Just like this past month, there were times when I was doing that. For example, I had been openly telling the executives of MSS to organize a 50/50 draw during the cultural night. They thought it wasn't worth the effort because there was a lack of manpower. Anyways, I had stated a couple of facts that I knew would occur: 1- people expect a fund raising effort for the Tsunami, 2- the types of fundraising that they have already set aren't going to bring in much money etc. After I had said those things, I was wondering.. what if what I said doesn't turn out to be right? I'll look like such a fool! To make a long story short, turned out I was right. I had even guessed the right monetary amounts (from what we'd bring in for the other fundraising efforts). My 50/50 draw doubled the amount to be donated..yuppi! :D (can't forget to mention that the main focus of the Daily Gleaner's coverage of the event was about our fund raising efforts..). I guess my experience with all these things has been a bumpy one. Everyone's opinion is different and everyone believes that they are right. What can I say.. it's a battle to the end.
Uh ya, so this blog was a bit more open than usual in that I don't think I usually talk about personal stuff like this. It was sort of scary. Have to breathe. Gotta go.
Sunny Days Make it Freaking COLD
Well! Yesterday we were hit with a blizzard.. finally. Hahaha.. I am openly admitting that I enjoyed that nice big storm. We haven't really had a decent one this year. Its sort of weird though, people freak out over a forecast of *gasp* 15cm. Give me a break! We used to think 30cm was a big deal.. 15cm is for wimps! Tisk. What's happened to people? Anyway, it was a rather heavy snow fall.. it just coming down.. it was impossible to completely brush all the snow off my car!! I went for a nice tramp through the snow too yesterday.. I felt like a kid all over again. Had the urge to start making a snowman or go sliding.. but I thought that I'd better act my age in case any of the kids on my street saw my behaviour.. how'd I ever act like a teacher again? :P
Today was DANG cold. Tomorrow it's going to be EVEN MORE cold. The windchill is suppose to go down to -38 in the morning.. BRrrrrrrrr.. shivering just thinking about it! Man, anyone want to rescue me and take me to a tropical paradise?
Today, I had the opportunity to co-interview for a work-study student. The second person we interviewed was really impressive. For one, the guy walked (probably a good 10 min walk) with only a spring coat on (well, ya, pants, shoes, and gloves, but no hat). SPRING COAT in -36 degree weather?! He said his roommate said it was warm and he believed him because the sun was out. Well.. ok.. I'll give him a break cuz he's not from Canada, but a hint to people out there: when the sun is out in the winter.. it's COLD! We WANT snow so it'll be WARM! This brings me to say, winter isn't just about the white snowflakes that romantically fall from the sky.. but winter is about learning to find out how cold it is before you go out (and make sure you know the WINDCHILL temperature, not the actual temperature which does squat for you!), learning to look like snowmen and be like "who cares, I'm not freezing my a** off" (no more of that I-want-to-be-cool-so-I-am-only-going-to-wear-a-tshirt-outside junior high school attitude - I'd rather dress like an old nanny and be warm :P), and learning to walk (yes, walk.. black ice can be extremely devious).
You know what bites?! My car. If I can get away with it, I'll never buy a cavalier. The car is now making extremely LOUD and embarassing noises. The muffler is messed up and there may be something else causing the car to act funny. I seriously thought it might explode or something. Anyways, that means I have to get up early tomorrow morning and take it in to get fixed .. :( there goes sleeping in. *sigh* not one day a week do I get to sleep and sleep and sleep til I FEEL like getting up. Bah HUMBUG! Especially in this weather, who wants to get out of your nice, warm, soft, warm, cosy, warm bed!? Double bah humbug!
Alright. As you have just read, I have to get up early tomorrow and it's nearing 1am. BTW, my body is only starting to get back on track after that 4am-er last Friday. Pathetic eh? Oh ya, one last rant about the weather tonight.. if it's going to snow, at least be warm for a day or so that I can enjoy the snow and go skiing? come'on .. give me a break!
Gnite.
Garlic Fingers Smell
Ya-ya-ya-ya. I am re-using my MSN nickname as a title. Sort of. Anyways, to explain why garlic fingers smell.. have you tried to de-head, smush, peel and blend 8lbs of garlic in one night!? YUCK!! This year's MCN (Malaysian Cultural Night)'s cooking was sort of crawling.. but I guess that's cuz they didn't have enough man power. Anyways, I went down to starting helping with the cooking at around 11pm (after hearing that Kwang was starting to go nuts from peeling all this ginger). Started off by de-shelling the hard boiled eggs, followed by a massive amount of garlic. Garlic took us a few hours to complete.. *sigh*.. I can still smell it on my hands (it might be my imagination, but I hardly think so). My hands were so sticky that when I tried to use a spoon to scoop out more garlic from the blender, the spoon was stuck to my hand.. EWWWWw... plus, my finger was starting to sting. Oh ya, to make matters worse, Kwang had finally switched from ginger to onions in the kitchen (we were in the living room..watched a whole ten yards twice :P)!!! OH MAN. Onions. It was overwhelming. We were a bunch of crying people peeling garlic. HAHAH! Anyone who came into the apartment would start to tear up.. it was hilarious cuz by that time, we were all used to it.
We finished that around 4am .. I've discovered I'm too old for this. I could usually handle going to bed at 4am and getting up 4 hrs later and still be able to keep going through til midnight (or close to midnight). This year.. whoa man.. 2 days later, I'm still trying to recover from Friday night. Gah. Perhaps I run on adrenaline each year.. the stress just keeps me going.. with none of that this year.. I feel OLD. But boy o boy.. coffee saved my life this weekend. No coffee = no consciousness.
Hmm.. we had a nice little storm yesterday. I'm sort of disappointed though. It wasn't as big of a storm as it could have been. Poor Halifax.. they have had it really bad for the last two years. First the blizzard that knocked out their power for a week last year, another one around Xmas time that knocked out the power again.. and now ANOTHER blizzard that dumped 40cm of snow on them! Man.. we could still see GRASS a few days ago. The snow doesn't even go up to your knees here!! Hmm.. actually, it's sort of disturbing to see winter this way. I remember when I was in elementary school, the snow banks were really, really high. Yes, I do realize I was shorted back then, but the difference between the snow banks now and the snow banks back then is really HUGE!
I blame it on global warming.. our environment is so screwed. I pisses me off too when I see that the city doesn't want to invest more on the recycling program. Yaya, it's expensive, but HEY.. it's our EARTH!!! Once it's gone, no more. Kaput. That it. Finito. End. Fini. Mao la. Mei You liao. Have I made my point?
*Yawn*. Another hour before I leave work. I wish I could go on vacation. I really would LOVE to go somewhere tropical right now. My ideal vacation at the moment would be to go to Hawaii or something and just lay on the beach and read. Ok, maybe not only lay on the beach and read, but maybe do a little bit of sight seeing.. or something S-L-O-W. Of course I'd still love to go to Europe and Asia.. but I find that going on vacation to visit a country or place can be exhausting! At least that's what the trips to TO were like for me. On the other hand, I had to drive and people were expecting me to plan the trip and figure out where we were going. Bah Humbug. *Yawn* ..sorry :P
So ya, I still haven't had the chance to go skiing. Perhaps I'll go this weekend (or not). aHHHH..time is running out!! I feel like every weekend has been busy. Why why why why!?!?!? If I don't go this weekend, I probably won't have time to go until mid February. Who knows if we'll still have SNOW then!?
I am trying to get all the students at Chinese School to sing the Gong Xi song for the CNY performance. Two weeks ago, they were awful..nobody was singing. This week, some of the kids had actually had two of the verses memorized! I'm soooooooo impressed with them. I love it when they do that (actually study/practice).
Another big piece of teaching news is that the kids in my class are now starting to be able to piece together sentences. It's awesome! Some of their pronunciation has improved too. Ah.. I'm so proud of them.. (I know how corny that sounds or how much I sound like a parent or something, but I can't help it!! It's such a great feeling when they accomplish something because I know I was involved with getting them that far!)
Alright. Thats all now. *YAWN* *HUGE YAWN* oh man.. I can't stop yawning.
Bye
JY
Tick.......Tock.......Tick.....Tock
This week is s-l-o-w-l-y crawling by. Actually, I should say that work is slowly crawling by. It hasn't been all that busy lately .. *sigh*. I'm sleepy too. Ah.. torture. I wish I was busy, busy, busy.. I hate idle time.. I really don't know how some people can go to work and twiddle their thumbs all day and be happy with their jobs. I would go mad within a month (or less)! Maybe I just work too fast.. I should find some way to do things at turtle speed.. hmm.. type with my eyes blindfolded? Write with my left hand? hmm..
Anyways, after reading Jeff's entry.. I'm supremely jealous that he gets to watch Phantom of the Opera!! For me, the memories of this musical are also from childhood. I remember it being popular when I was in grade 5 or 6.. so around the age of 10-12 years old. Anyways, I was in the band at that time (playing flute) and one of the songs we learned was the main song from Phantom of the Opera. I'd LOVE to see the movie in theatres..*sigh* ..what a pity I can't :(
Speaking of band, I haven't ever told my band stories. We were awesome! We placed first place amoungst most of the competitions we entered, and keep in mind we were competing against junior high school bands because we were the only elementary school band in the province!! :D We had these wine colored (school colour) bow ties, cumberbuns and suspenders.. we really looked very cool. lol.. actually, they really did make us look good as a concert band. We detested the suspenders and were always torturing each other by pulling and letting go ..ouch!
We (junior band - grade 5 & 6) travelled once a year.. the first year we went to Moncton (oh yeee haw.. but we did place first!) and the second year we went to BOSTON!! Little 12 year olds going to Boston as a band trip..talk about a big thing. I had also went back to Msia for Chinese New Year..heheh lucky little devil I was that year. Anyways, back to Boston. We were entered into the Boston Heritage Festival in which we received a Silver Medel. I remember the adjudicator's tape saying 'cymbols..careful...CYMBOLS.....CAREFUL!!!" lol.. I also remember rehersing in the bus, watching the red soxs and white soxs baseball game (utterly boring for me), going to the aquarium, bickering that went on between some of the girls (whoa.. that was rather nuts) going on some tour and something to do with a Molasses spill.. hmm.. oh ya.. the Montreal Canadians were staying in the same hotel as us so that was sort of cool (even though I didn't follow hockey (still don't)). Ah.. the fond memories..
I think besides playing Phantom of the Opera we played Beauty and the Beast and also Aladdin..Aladdin was really fun because "Friend like Me" has a lot of cool sounds in the percussion.. lots of fun sound effects. We also did some jazz because our band director was really into that kind of music.. (he had (s) his own jazz band). We played so many pieces! Our band director is actually the father of one of my brother's friends... he left our elementary school at the same time we did to go to FHS (high school).. cool eh! I remember seeing him around FHS and he would always be asking me.. "why aren't you in band??" .. hmm.. I had really wished I had gone back..but was just too busy during high school.. (stupid kumon).
Being in the band wasn't only about the trips.. most of the time it was just a real good feeling to be playing music with a group of people..many playing different types of instruments.. I'd love to do it again someday..
Tomorrow is Friday! Yuppi.. (sort of).. it's not really a break this weekend.. MCN and teaching are probably going to leave me exhausted for Monday.
Alright. ciao.
Sho-w/p-aholic
I'm so bored and restless right now. It's another one of those "I-don't-have-any-incentive-to-find-something-to-do" days. Bah humbug!
Anyways, as you may see my very interesting title says I'm a shopaholic and showaholic. I don't know how it happened, but shopping became an addiction over the past few years. Maybe it's the joy of finding a wonderful discount on an item that you want.. who knows. It's a disease. A very serious disease that affects the wallet and bank account. Tisk.
Another addiction .. tv shows! Woho! I watch way too many. My latest can't-wait-til-the-next-episode show is the Amazing Race. I'm sort of surprised. I watched it for the first time last season and am now completely addicted. The people in the race this season are absolutely bonkers. We have a pro-wrestling couple, a model couple (actually models), and an entrepreneur and his wife that have MAJOR issues. The last couple I mentioned.. the husband is psycho. I've come across some magazines that have been saying "is this emotional abuse?" duh.. of course it is when he keeps yelling at her. He actually had the guts to say "be a woman and be quiet" and "this is the reason women don't rule the world" etc.. on national television. What a tard. Ah anyways, the thing I like about this show is what we get to see of other countries. I can't imagine what it'd be like to run that race.. I guess it would sorta suck that they basically run through the countries and don't really enjoy the time their there cuz they are so stressed out and exhausted. But it does make me want to go and visit the places they've been. Oh ya, that reminds me.. one of the models (the girl) actually said "Why does these people keep reproducing" about people in Africa.. it made me hate her to say the least.
So what's one show. I've sort of been saving the OC until the season finishes. I hate waiting for new episodes.. :P Alias finally started their new season (weird.. what's with the queer season schedules these days??) .. I sort of forget what's going on.. it's been around 8 months since the last episode!!
I'm still watching "War and Beauty" .. on episode 25 now.. 5 more to go. It's sort of frustrating to watch because the chinese is so formal, I only understand 60% of what they say. Maybe less. *sigh*. Chinese is so hard to learn well. It seems near impossible for me to have the proper pronunciation, understanding of idioms, and being able to read and write.. ha! I guess the fact that my parents are from Malaysia and the Chinese that my family uses is a mix of Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien and Malay doesn't help... plus the fact that my mom is deaf in one ear and mispronounces things..which in turn, I learned improperly.. oh man. Well, I'll keep trying my best. Speaking of all these dialects.. I discovered I know more Malay words than I thought.. it's all rather funny.
I remember something that happened a few years ago.. I was with a bunch of my Malaysian friends, more specifically I remember SJ being there. Anyways, they were teasing me for some reason.. and I decided to pull out this Malay swear word out and say it. Hehe.. funny thing, my grandpa taught that word to me when I was really little. I remember learning it when I was maybe 7 or maybe even younger than that... I was sitting in the backseat of the car and he said that word.. I remember thinking it reminded me of the word chocolate for some reason. Anyways, when I said that to SJ, he was sort of dumbfounded.. hahaha.. it was hilarious for me to turn the tables on him like that because it was completely and utterly unexpected..lol
hmm..seems like one topic is leading to another. Well, I just had another idea pop into my head. The topic of swear words. People seem to love to learn swear words eh? I actually found a website that listed Chinese swear words when Jeff and I were talking about it. Actually, upon arriving at UNB I was pure.. not a chinese swear word in my vocabulary. Now.. it's a different story.. hahaha.. the friends I hang/hung out with had a wide range of swear words in their vocabulary. Hmm.. so now I can swear in English, Chinese, French and sort of in Malay. How cool is that!!
Alright. That's all for now. Bye!
Brr ..It's Cold.
Ah people. Back to work. Bah. I should probably find something else to do this term.. but my mind is sort of whirling with all the volunteering activities I would like to be involved with. I think I am going to volunteer at the playhouse (hehe, ya-ya, I'm in it mostly to see the free shows :P), and volunteer for the Music Festival. That'd probably be enough when I add on teaching.
Anyways, the Tsunami in Sumatra has been the big topic of discussion everywhere you go these days. I was watching CBC News last night, and it still makes me teary eyed to watch the people suffer. Some of the stories are just so heart breaking. A prof that works here in the faculty was saying that he thinks that these Tsunamis are caused by nuclear testing underground. Apparantly there's a guy at U of T in bio engineering or something like that that is studying this theory.
** (5 days later)
Ya, sorry.. I didn't finish my entry. I had an anti-writing week. Anyways, here I am. Umm.. I had a really nice idea for a title last night while I was trying to fall asleep.. but unfortunately, when it comes time to actually use it, I can't remember what I thought of!?!?! I seem to be at peak creativity just before sleep. Not exactly the best timing. What can I say, I'm weird.
Anyhow, this past week was semi-fast yet semi-slow. I guess that's the holidays for you!
Our preschool decided that we were going to help some of the students who are fund-raising on campus (their families were actually affected by the tsunami) by doing a penny drive and a bake sale. The head organizer came and talked to us and also had the children down at the HIL to look at maps of where the tsunami occured and to talk about it with them. He was so quiet and it seemed like he was still walking around in the state of shock. I almost cried when he said "My family lost everything." I wish I could do more. It seems that everywhere we go, there's something going on to aid the relief effort. It's very touching to see the generosity of our fellow humans, but on the other hand (and the other extreme), it's mind boogling to see how humans can treat one another. Umm.. maybe that didn't make very much sense.. but I hope you know what I mean! (I'm starting to feel really sleepy and I'm too lazy to fix my sentences).
Besides that.. not too much excitement has been going on. I guess this isn't the best time to be writing my blog since I've not incentive to ramble as my bed is right next to me and is calling my name.. gneh, time to give in. Gnite.
