Day 364: Counting down!

I will be continuing a blog. I won't be everyday like this blog. It will be whenever I have time and whenever something interesting happens to me. I don't know what to call it yet. Any suggestions? I haven't thought about a name yet because I have been too busy on my quest for a new car. I found one today.



Its something like this one. It gives you an idea of the car I'm getting. It's 148 horsepower!

Day 363: 2 days left

This is so exciting!! Only two days left till the end of my 365 Day Challenge.

It's been a really difficult year and a half writing these entries. It was originally intended as a 365 day challenge but it became a 365 entry challenge. I wrote everyday consistently for about 6 months. Then it became really difficult. It was hard to think of topics to write about everyday. I started slacking because I started becoming busy at nights, when I usually write my blog. I am finally near at the end of this challenge. So after a year and half, what have I accomplished?

1) took Level 1 of swimming lessons
2) took an aqua fit class
3) went rollerblading
4) walked the Vancouver Sun Run and CIBC Run for the Cure
5) took one level of Mandarin class
6) took a pilates class
7) visited Chicago, Illinois
8) visited Hawaii
9) growing my hair to donate it
10) donated blood twice
11) go seadooing
12) went on the Sins of the City Walking tour
13) go go-karting
14) went to Cultus Lake
15) start and continue a blog about me and my thoughts

15 out of 48 items completed in a year and a half! That's pretty good.

Some things I would like to work on this year:

1) learn to cook- one step at a time to learn gourmet cooking

2) help my friends achieve items on their bucket list - I have a group of friend where we shared each others bucket list. Hopefully by the end of the year, we will have crossed off some of the items together.

3) go horseback riding

4) go to a cornmaze

Stay tune for tomorrow's posting of the 365 Day Challenge to find out if I will continue a blog......

Day 362: Cooking: Dinner for Jan 14 - part 2

http://lisahealthwellness.blogspot.com/2011/01/cooking-dinner-for-jan-14-part-2.html

Day 361: 4 more entries

I guess I've been slacking since I know I am almost done. No more pressure. I still have to post the second part of my first cooking session.

It's been a busy week for me. I have been looking into cars. I have the rental car from ICBC
till the give me my payment. It's so confusing. So many cars out there. My budget is $15,000 to $20,000 for a new car. I have narrowed it down to a few cars. There are so many things to consider. Last Sunday we went to the Richmond Auto Mall to check out what they have. The first stop was Hyundai. The car I wanted to test drive was the 2011 Elantra. We were looking at the cars on the lot when the young salesman approached us. He is very friendly and upbeat. The Elantra was a very nice ride. It was very smooth. We told him that we were still gathering information and if we have any questions we will contact him. We then moved on to Nissan. The rental car I'm driving is a Nissan Versa. I am not totally impressed with the Versa so I wasn't too excited about going into Nissan. We just looked at the cars in the showroom in Nissan. There wasn't anything that impressed me. We moved on to Toyota. My aunts and uncles have Toyotas. I know Toyotas are very reliable vehicles. I wanted to see the Corolla and the Matrix. I saw the interior of the Corolla and wasn't too impressed. It looked very basic but it had a higher price tag than I expected. I didn't see the Matrix there. It was busy there. I know all the salespeople were helping people but I would've felt better if anyone who worked there acknowledged me. No one helped us so we left. Our next stop was Honda. The Fit fit my budget. We looked around at the other vehicles to see what they had available. Honda was very busy also. I was standing by the Fit and there was another young male and his father standing by the Fit. The salesman started talking to him and didn't even acknowledge me. The young man started asking the salesman questions. I just listened in because those were the questions that I would've asked anyways. We ended up leaving Honda because no one helped us either. We moved on to Mazda. I wanted to test drive the Mazda 3. There was a circle of salesman and the Chinese one helped us. It didn't make a difference to me, I don't speak Chinese very well. I drove the Mazda for a few minutes. The ride wasn't as nice as the Hyundai Elantra. We went on No 3 Rd and checked out Suzuki and Kia. There was a hatchback Suzuki that was in my price range. It had a very small trunk space. The price of Kia fit my budget. I guess you get what you pay for. The ride wasn't very good.

The next day my dad and I went to some more dealerships. We went to the dealerships on Kingsway and E 12th Ave. We started at Honda. I saw the Fit again. I realized that the back seat folds down flat. My dad said that I would be able to fit in there. I climbed in there and I fit! The next place we went to was Toyota. We ended test driving the Matrix. It's pretty nice inside. The ride is ok. The back seat folds down flat also. I can fit in there if I need a place to sleep. I also showed my dad the Elantra. He thinks it's nice inside. He still is very against me getting a Hyundai. He prefers that I get a Honda, Toyota or Nissan. I still want to test drive a few more cars before I make a final decision.

Day 360: My first time blogging about my cooking

There will be more bloggings of my cooking, this is the first post:

http://lisahealthwellness.blogspot.com/2011/01/cooking-dinner-for-jan-14-part-1.html

Day 359: Damn snow, you made me hit a car!!

It was a snowy and slippery night. It was less than optimal driving conditions. It just started snowing an hour prior. I was driving west down E 29th ave towards my house on E 28th ave. I was trying my best to go slow and being careful. I couldn't control my car when I pumped on the brakes to try to slow down. My car swerved right and bumped into Darlene's car. My upper right bumper hit her left back signal lights and managed to break it loose from the car (but it didn't fall off, it's . Then my car went forward and scraped the left side of her car. It stopped there. I was going about 10 km / hr.

When I hit her car, no one was in the vehicle. When my vehicle stopped, I got out of the car and walked towards the house that it was parked in front of. I noticed someone peeking out the window and they opened the door. I walked towards the door and told her I was so sorry about her car. She told me the first thing I should do is pull over so I won't cause another accident. I moved my car down the hill so it is out of the way of traffic. After I moved my car, I went into her sister's house and we exchanged information. She told me that she is from Squamish and comes to visit her sister regularly. />
We wanted to check both our cars to see the damages. We walked around her orange car first. We both had cameras and took some pictures. I only had my iphone with no flash and it was dark so my pictures aren't the best pictures. She had a camera with a flash and she took some pictures. After we finished checking out her car, we walked to my car. It was hard to tell because my car is black and it was kinda dark. We both noticed the front hood was popped up a bit.

I managed to slowly drive my car back to my house, which is three blocks away.

Day 358: All You Can Eat Hot Pot

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2011/01/all-you-can-eat-hot-pot.html

Day 357: 8 more entries

Just a reminder that I have 3 other blogs.


Health and Wellness
http://lisahealthwellness.blogspot.com/
- reviews of yoga studios
- any exercises I participate in
- this helps me keep track of my fitness activities and keep me accountable of my goals

Funnies
http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/
- jokes and anything funny

Restaurants
http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/
- restaurant reviews here in Vancouver and when I travel

Day 356: 9 more entries

I don't have to think so hard about blog topics anymore. I can write short postings and not be worried about it. I'm glad it's almost over because there was so much pressure to write something everyday. I've looked thru my emails and I'm running out of jokes to fill in my 'writers block' postings.

To my blog readers:
- should I continue my blog?
- if I continue my blog, what topics to you want to read about?
- what should I name my blog?
-or are you sick of my blog and want me to stop ( if you are, don't worry I'm almost done)
- what was your favourite posting?
- what was your least favorite posting?

Day 355: Four things about me

Four things about me that you may or may not have known not in any particular order.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1) McD's drive thru coordinator (ooo what a title)
2) telemarketer
3) guest services at Boulevard Casino
4) customer service at A&B Partytime Rentals

Four movies I've watched more than once:

1)AI (Artificial Intelligence, with Jude Law)
2) Blood Diamond
3) hmm.. I can't think of any others (I guess that is only two..most movies are not worth watching more than once)

Four Places I have lived:

1) house in Chinatown (it was the only house on the side of the street)
2) ghetto bachelor suite by Davie St (my first place by myself)
3) one bedroom apartment on Jervis and Davie (what a fantastic view! I started taking the Aquabus and walking to work. That's when I realized I could lose weight by walking to work. )
4) house by 29th skytrain (still here)

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:

1)Glee
2) Big Bang Theory
3) depends on what time I am home...(that is only two shows..this should be the TWO THINGS LIST about LISA by the way this is going..haha..)
4) it's good I don't have a PVR, then I would end up watching more TV than I should)

Four places I have been:

1) London (England) - 1994 with my English Lit class
2) Hanoi (Vietnam) - 2006 with my parents to see my homeland
3) Beijing (China) - 2006 with my parents
4) Palm Springs (US) - many times to see my sister and her family

Four Favorite Foods:

1) pho
2)Viet subs,
3)bubble tea
4) fried noodle with beef (Chinese dish) (these answers shouldn't surprise anyone)

Four Places I would like to visit:

1)Paris (France)
2) Carribean
3)Tofino
4) eastern Canada (not very high expectations)

Things I am looking forward to in the coming year:

1)relaxing
2)getting more sleep
3) learn to cook
4)eat less chocolat
5) eat more healthy foods
6) do more yoga
7)get more exercise (I have a Wii Fit Plus now...I should use it!)
8) continue crossing items off my bucket list :)

10 more entries till the end of this 365 Day Challenge!!!

Day 354: Quest to find a storage box

I was living in my parent's one bedroom suite. Now I am moving into the two bedroom suite. I didn't think it would be much of a move. Boy, I have so much stuff. I have lots of my stuff in the garage. My parents were bugging me to clean out my stuff in the garage. I decided to bring all my stuff in the garage into one of the bedrooms. The stuff were in banana and orange boxes. It just looked so ugly. I needed some storage boxes. I saw some boxes at my friends house that I thought would be suitable. Those boxes were about 2ft wide x 2 ft long x 2 ft tall. It had a black base and the lid had some graphic designs on them.

My quest started at Superstore. My friend said she got her box at Superstore but she said they don't sell it anymore there. Because I'm fairly close to Superstore, I decided to give it shot. No luck at Superstore. My next location was Wal Mart. I only saw containers that were transparent or Rubbermaid plastic containers. Those weren't what I was looking for.

I decided to go to Richmond to check out Daiso, JYSK and Ikea. Ikea had some boxes that were similar to what I was looking for but a bit smaller. It was a bit pricey for my budget. It is cardboard in solid colors. They are about 1ft wide x 1 ft long x 1 ft high. I took it into consideration. I thought because Daiso was the $2 store that they would have something. I went there and was disappointed. They only have small gift boxes. They didn't have large boxes with a lid. I went to JYSK at Lansdowne Mall. They had wicker baskets with a lid that would work but it was a bit out of my budget. It was getting late and I had to get home. I had to decide what to get. I decided on the boxes from Ikea. They work perfectly for what I need them for. The boxes that I originally wanted would've have been too big. In some boxes, it would be too heavy. I am a pack rat. I tend to keep things as souvenirs: things I have bought from my trips, letters and cards from friends, old clothes that have a story to them or was bought for me. Oh, of course I love my pictures, picture frames, candles and candle holders. Tomorrow will be another night of cleaning up, sorting and moving.

Don't forget we are giving furniture in our back lane. If you are interested, please msg me. First come, first serve.

Day 353: 2011 New Years Resolutions

Every year the resolution is usually the same, eat healthy, exercise more, blah blah. It's hard to measure 'eat healthy' and 'exercise more'. It would be more measurable goals if I said 'I will go to yoga once a week' or 'eat salmon twice a week'. I will write those specific goals in my Health and Wellness blog. Check back often for updates!

I am combining items on my bucket list and some new items on this list. This list is a list of items that I want to accomplish within 2011.

1) try various places for their Viet subs
- Tung Hing Bakery - 1196 Kingsway
- Pho Gizmo - Oak and King Edward

2) take the second level of swimming lessons
- I have taken the first level last year. It will be weird going back swimming again. I have been away from it for what seems like forever.

3) go horseback riding
- Im sure there are some riding places around town.

4) learn to play tennis
- I may think about taking some lessons this summer.

5) learn to cook
- This is the item which I would be able to start soon.
- I have some recipe books which I can learn from.

6) go to a cornmaze
- Fun summer activity

I'm sure I will update this list thru out the year.