The Times and Tribulations of JY: August 2005

The only picture of my Apt that looks neat

Another Day View

Day view

Morning view from the balcony

Nice moon!!

The other side of the balcony

Taken from my balcony

Semi-Settled in Ottawa

I'm BAAAAAAAACKKKKKK!!! Heheh... boy, not having the internet really limits your abilities! Anyways, let me start from the beginning.

We departed late on Thursday morning - we were more tired than anticipated and my parents insisted we sleep enough before hitting the road. Anyways, it was all very sad when it came time to leave. I miss my family, my house, (not my bed as it came with me ..heheh), and just Freddy Beach in total.

We didn't really speed so it was slow trucking the whole way. We did end up stopping in Drummondville for Dinner (that was around 6ish) and went to Wendy's. Afterwards we stopped at their Loblaws for some milk, bread, and orange juice (severe "hot air" was settling in because of the tiredness and stress, hence the large jug of orange juice).

Upon arrival (around 12:30am - we were pretty delirious with exhaustion by then), I discovered that my phone was NOT working *growl*. Typical. Well, let's not obsess over that as my first glimpse of the apartment was sort of a dream like state. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the view from our balconey. WOW. It's really nice, especially at night with all the lights. We're living in a residential area and just below us are townhouses and across from us other high rise condos or apartments. In the distance, you can see the Parliment and the Chateau Laurier. One of the main terminals is also very nearby so you can see the comings and goings over there. (I'll post pictures later on). My room itself is also very large but I'm a bit disappointed over my walk in closet. It's not that big and there isn't much shelf space. Oh well.

Everyone was wondering why we weren't picking up the phone..hehehe. My parents were calling, our friends in Ottawa were trying to see whether we had actually arrived or not.. aiks. On that rainy Friday morning, we were trying to move in all the stuff from the truck (it was painful because we were so tired and there was just two of us (my BF, Chien Ee & I) vs. a ton of stuff. We had a 14' U haul truck that was stuffed to the max. Basically opened the door, looked in and all you wanted to do was shut it and walk away :P Anyways, we moved half of the stuff out (basically enough stuff so that when we drove around things would be slamming all over the place) that morning and decided to go to the St. Laurent Mall to find a pay phone. On top of that, my rental company says we have to find out the phone number of the previous tenants to get the phone dc.. what the!? How the heck are we suppose to get that information?? BLEH. Anyways, on with my story.. we called Bell who said that there was most likely a physical problem with the line and they would send someone in on Saturday between 8am-5pm *Gasp* to fix it.

We had lunch at the mall and I really can't remember what we did after that :P I do remember coming back to the apartment and collapsing for a nap until 4pm (which was when the service elevator was booked again). We proceeded to move the rest of the boxes/beds up to the apartment. All the moving took about ~3 hours.. pretty impressive if I do say so myself! After that, we had the issue of finding a parking spot for this large vehicle (someone stole our spot which is designated for larger vehicles). To make matters worse, the entrance key was LOST (later found that it was underneath the UHaul truck seat) which made me so annoyed and upset. My friends arrived to take us to dinner and we were still searching for the key. Not anticipating their arrival, I didn't bring my wallet downstairs and nor did CE so we had no money at dinner *hehehe*. Oh well... that's what friends are for?? (LOL, I'm just kidding!)

We had dinner at a restaurant that I've been to at least 3 (or 4?) times: Lichee Restaurant. I do believe we are going to be frequenters to this place while staying in Ottawa.. food is good and not too expensive. Anyways, it was all good.. nice little reunion with everyone. After dinner, it was nearing 9pm and Costco was closing so we decided to try our luck at Ikea. No such luck - it was closing too.

Saturday included waking up late (YEA!!) and doing not very much. One of my friends had left his cell phone with us which we brilliantly turned off to save power and couldn't get back into because it had a PIN which we didn't know. I guess by this time they must have all be ??!?! is with these two?? They never pick up the phone!! (my phone line was ringing properly on the outside end but we heard no tone and couldn't call anyone on the inside end). Just as we were about to go downstairs to report the missing entrance key, the Bell dude walked out of the elevator. Me being slightly "blurred" walked into it even though I saw this dude with a toolbelt walking out *rolls eyes*. Luckily CE knew better than to follow :P Anyways, it took him all of 10 minutes to fix the problem and we were free to leave without worries! Yuppi!

By this time, it was time to go to Ikea and Costco. Our friend picked us up again and we drove the Uhaul to Ikea. OMG, never go to Ikea in Ottawa (or maybe all Ikeas) before school starts on the weekend!!! It's a ZOO in there!! It was so packed with people and I felt crazy. It was basically see something, grab it and go.. no time to ponder.. there was no ROOM to think!! I grabbed some important goods and left. Our visit to Costco was impressive (merchandise way, but not good in the $ sense). We bought everything from toothpaste to garbage bags. Everyone was predicting how much we the cart was worth.. it ranged from $150-220. HAHAHAHA.. it ended up to be $351 (ok.. actually, thats not funny at all!!!). Oh well, its going to last us a long time.. I mean.. we're probably not going to be able to go through some of this stuff in a year anyways!

After Ikea...we went back to my friend's place and waited for another friend to become available so we could pick up some boxes from his place (I had left some of my stuff at his house on my apartment hunting trip in June). We waited, and waited, and waited til we were just too hungry to wait any longer. Ended up ordering KFC (yum, but Ugh on the arteries and the bad on the diet). By that night, we had most things collected but still had quite a bit left to purchase.

Sunday morning included going to Loblaws for groceries, Ikea for some more things (and having their $1 breakfast - not bad!!), Chinese groceries & Walmart. I didn't go to the latter two, was just too kaput. They were all led to believe that I had a headache (because CE told them I did) and kept asking me if I was OK later that night. I did get an order of #S4 Vietnamese Soup at this restaurant in China town that we also frequent. Yummy! It's got a whole bunch of greens, noddles, and shrimp + Cha Shao (pork) in it.. mmmm *drool*

That evening, they had an impromptu BBQ which was really good. We went over to one friend's house (they just bought a new townhouse about half a year ago which is in a new neighborhood) and afterwards watched Sin City. hmm...that movie was really rather interesting. The way they shot the movie and told the story was really well done. I didn't like the actually story much since I'm not all that into crazy dudes that have scary looking eyes that kill people. :P

Oh man.. this blog is going to be so long. I think I need to make this less long winded now. Ok, summary of this week has basically been more cleaning, more tidying up and a bit more shopping. It hasn't been all that eventful. I'm glad to be back online (at least we can check the bus schedule and look things up!!) and also glad to have the chance to SLEEP.

Last, I just want to thank everyone for their goodbye messages and their best wishes (and calls ^_~). I was really touched - and it meant a lot to me. Thank you guys!

Alrighty, catch you guys later. I hope this entry wasn't too tedious to read ;)

It's Time ....

Well, the time has come to shut down my computer and to pack it away (it'll probably be the 2nd thing I unpack - first will be the phone).

I'm finding myself in an emotional turmoil today at the thought of leaving this city, my friends (well, not all since some of them are coming with me!! How lucky am I!), and mostly, my family. Ah well, I know I'll get over it after a while (not that I'll stop missing people - don't get me wrong!) but maaaaaan.. it's hard! I think it's mainly because I know I won't be back for a long period of time after I leave.

Alright, I must go. It's time to do the inevitable *sniff sniff*. My blog will return in a few days broadcasting from Ottawa!! Toodles!

Roses from CCANB

yard sale!

Plain Old Tired

Ooo la la.. it's moving week! Boy.. time goes too fast. In another 2.5 weeks, classes will start :(
Everything is pretty much ready to go..only need to pack up a few more items and load them into a truck. I even have a phone # and it's going to be activated before I arrive.. excellent planning if I do say so myself ^_~

We had a yardsale over the weekend.. the weather wasn't very cooperative but it didn't seem to make a difference (we had it under our carport). Lots of people came and we made around $300+ selling off our junk. I was pretty pleased with the amount that got shipped out of here though there is still quite a bit remaining. Yardsales & moving make me think twice of purchasing "junk".. it's such a pain in the neck to get rid of things that you'll never use!!! Plus.. the money that could have been saved ....

I don't remember if I blogged about this, but on Friday, we had our recital at summer camp where all the kids perform dances and sports that they've learned throughout the week. I knew they were going to do some sort of thing for me, I thought it would be just a card and some gift but instead.. they gave me three separate gifts! I got a bunch of roses (with carnations and baby breath mixed in there), a card & gift certificate & a t-shirt with all the kids and organizers names (with some comments) on it. It was really sweet!

THEN, we had a banquet afterwards at Jubilee restaurant. I knew that the bunch of YG people were up to something because they kept asking me whether I was going to attend or not..Anyways, they presented me with a beautiful napkin card (heheh) and a generous gift certificate to either Chapters or Starbucks. Boy, did I feel loved that night!

Actually, last week was pretty tiring. I was low on energy and I think camp just drained the remaining adrenaline out of me. On the other hand, I really missed seeing the kids everyday and seeing the YG members. *Sigh*.. those kids can melt your heart too easily!! Especially when they give you hugs and say that they love you.. *awww*

Alrighty, I'm off to pick up my mom from work..Ciao

Cute Kids, Lots of Energy

It's summer camp week. Boy.. I'm exhausted.. and sore. Sore because all these adorable little munchkins have been jumping on my lap with their bony butts! We come home covered in their sweat (and our own), their spit.. and who knows what else! But.. they are still adorable. It's those times when they come looking for you because they want a hug or they come and cuddle with you that you really go "awww.. that's why I love working with kids!". Yesterday I was thinking about it and there ARE many days when I think !)(@!#!)@(# .. I'd like to spank some bottoms and glue some mouths shut, when you wonder "WHAT WAS I THINKING AGREEING TO THIS!?". Then there are the days that give you the answer, the days where they show you why you are working with them.. the days that they accomplish something and make you proud or the days/moments when they come over to you and tell you that they love you. It just melts me!

Time is flying by. In another week I'll be ready to move. It's hard to believe that in two weeks I'll be in my new apartment in Ottawa (blogging from there!). Ahh.. and in another 3.5 weeks.. I'll be in classes :S AHHHHHHh.. I'm not looking forward to classes.. the LONG and boring lectures.. loads of reading and studying... ugh! I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but I have classes M-W that begin at 8am!!! :( Most of my courses are 3.5 hrs LONG.. hmm..well, it could be worse, I could have 4 hour night classes like I did with CS & Business.. ah well.

For someone's reading pleasure (he complained about something on my blog today): YG people are great and I love you guys even though you guys kept me awake with the door :P ;)

Sun is going down but the sky is still breath taking

Duck Prints!

Beautiful day on Brackley Beach, PEI

Jar Yee Tan is Tanned :P

Hehehhe.. I have become darker than ever (well, for me that is!). We spent a beautiful weekend at Brackley beach, PEI. I haven't been there for a few years and it brought back lots of memories of our previous trips there for the dragon boat races.. I was really missing you oldies ;)

Back to what I was saying.. we had a very late departure on Saturday morning due to *ahem* some disorganization and lateness (nothing to do with me!!). On top of that, the van I rented had a tire problem so I had to take it back to the rental company to get it checked out (they said there was nothing wrong with it but on Monday the "check tire" sign came on again and we discovered that same problematic tire was getting low on air). By the time we hit the road it was already 11:30 (we were suppose to leave at 10:00). The weather was beautiful and it was a great trip into the island. Our camp site was pretty quiet but had a whole wack of misquitos.. *ugh*.. I'm still trying to overcome their feasting. We were down to the beach in the evening and it was great. The sun was still up and there was a nice breeze and the crashing waves made an extremely picturesque view.

This year's camping trip was not like any other. I think it was because we had so few people plus many of them were quite young.. the comraderie wasn't as strong as before but I guess they are in the middle of a flow of "new" blood. Anyways, it wasn't a very comfortable night the first night because some of them were still up and were slamming the door to the kitchen area (our tent was right in front of it) so I would be startled awake every 10 minutes :S To make matters worse, some of the girls woke up pretty early and were chatting away at 6am.. so I think I got about 4 hours of disturbed sleep *sigh*... I think I was getting to be a pretty cranky chaperone! We spent pretty much the whole day at the beach on Sunday and thats when I got so dark. I learned a lesson about sun tan lotion though: make sure you don't miss ANY spots!!! I did a half-a** job when near my feet and now there is what looks like a red port wine stain type of suntan mark on my leg! I also got burnt in patches.. gah. But I must admit, I think I look much more healthy and athletic with my tan..hahahah!! (so much for this "whiter is better" ideal of Asians!)

Overall, the trip was pretty enjoyable. I think it's great taking camping trips because it a) brings you closer to nature, b) you get to enjoy the beautiful scenary and c) you appreciate the comforts of home more when you get back!!

These last few days have been relatively slow for me. I'm starting to get ready for our yardsale because I'll have absolutely no time next week to do any of that stuff. Also trying to get myself organized for the move which will happen in 12 days. There's so much to do!! Our basement is a huge mess too!! Summer camp is this coming week and I also feel a bit insane because of it.. totally not looking forward to the exhaustion feeling from it.

I'm also scheduling get togethers with my friends next week.. hope to stay in with the family the week I leave.. you know, quality time ;)

Oh ya, I forgot to mention.. my itchy heels are now gone *knock on wood*. I think it was athelete's foot..after using the spray it helped a lot.. (Travis, you might want to try some of that stuff!) Ya! Now I just gotta find a way to even out the brown and the white markings on my feet.. bleh. Wear socks!

Ciao for now.
JY

The Times and Tribulations of JY

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Semi-Settled in Ottawa

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

It's Time ....

Monday, August 15, 2005

Plain Old Tired

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Cute Kids, Lots of Energy

Friday, August 05, 2005

Jar Yee Tan is Tanned :P

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