365 Day Challenge

Day 365: Last posting!!

2011-02-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

Finally my new blog: http://explorelovelaugh.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Day 364: Counting down!

2011-01-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-23T23:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

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

Day 361: 4 more entries

2011-01-19T23:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

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!!

2011-01-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T23:32:00.001-08:00

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

Day 357: 8 more entries

2011-01-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-07T22:39:00.001-08:00

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

2011-01-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Day 352: Quest to find Vietnamese sub

2010-12-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was my girls nite out. It was an Asian theme. I decided that because I'm partially Vietnamese it would be a good idea to bring a Vietnamese dish. There was four of us. I decided on Vietnamese subs. I thought it is easily sharable. I was going to get four different flavours and cut them into four pieces. That way everyone gets to try all the flavours.

I thought it was easy. I just have to go to the store and wait a few minutes while they make my sandwiches. Well, it wasn't that easy. I went to Ba Le at Fraser and Kingsway because it was on my way home. I got in there and was deciding on which sandwiches to get. Right after I decided, the girl at the counter told me they are out of bread. I was floored. This has never happened to me before. A sandwich shop out of their essential ingredient?? I had to decide what to do because I was in a time crunch to get to my friend's house. There is another Ba Le shop in Chinatown. I got the phone number from the Fraser street location and called them. The phone kept on ringing and ringing. I thought they were just busy to pick up their phone. I decided because it wasn't that far away I would just go there. I drove by and saw their 'closed' sign. I pulled over and pulled ou my iphone and did a search for other places that would sell reasonably tasting subs. I got some ideas from a foodie forum. They listed Paris Bakery on Commercial Drive and Au Petit Cafe on Main St. I wasn't sure about the quality of sub from Paris Bakery and it was out of my way. So I didn't go there. I was on Main st already so I headed south to Au Petit Cafe. It is located at about 32nd and Main. I got a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. I peaked at their business hours sign. They are closed on Wednesdays. My last choice was Chong Lee Market on 22nd and Rupert. I have had subs there before and it's pretty good. I was thinking for some reason I couldn't get the subs there I can just get some Chinese take out. I got there and was looking at the sub menu. A lady said HI to me. I told her I wanted some subs. She said they were sold out. How can this be? Four different locations and I couldn't get any subs. It's either super busy for them because everyone wants Viet subs instead of leftover turkey or I have extremely bad luck. I guess no viet subs for us that night. I ended up getting some chow mein, chicken wings and honey garlic spare ribs.

Day 351: Christmas Hangover

2010-12-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

Dec 25
During they day I did some house cleaning and relaxed a bit. We had a small family dinner with just a few cousins and an aunt and uncle. Of course being the non-traditional family, we had a Vietnamese noodle soup which has some veggies and beef. There was also some homemade spring rolls. For dessert we had some vanilla ice cream. With my ice cream, I added some chocolate syrup, blackberries and whipped cream.

Dec 26
I wanted to do some Boxing Day shopping. My first stop was to get a Ryan Kesler shirt for my friend in downtown. That store opened at 9am. I didn't want to lose out on getting a good deal on this shirt. I got there at about 9:30am and there wasn't anyone at the store so I didn't have much competition. My next destination was the Canucks store at Rogers Arena. They had a sale of 20-40% off everything in the store. I got a few things. I had to rest up for my big dinner.

The dinner was at my mom's cousins' house in Burnaby. They live in a nice large house so they can fit lots of people. This was an opportunity to see and spend some time with my second cousins. There was about 30+ people in attendance and about 10 of us were 'kids'. I arrived a bit late because my dad worked till 6:30pm and we didn't get there till about 7:15pm. Once we got there, some of my cousins were playing Funenglish. It is a new game and fun in a large group. I was so hungry when I got there. Luckily the food was ready and everyone there was ready to eat. There was so much food. It was all so delicious. There was spinach dip with garlic bread, green salad with a vinaigrette dressing, green bean salad, Vietnamese beef stew, sirloin steak, potato salad, ribs and fried shrimp. Of course, I had to save some space for dessert. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of main course, but I got my camera ready for the dessert.

The cake was from a bakery. My very talented aunt made some of the desserts. She made the cream puffs, creme caramel and the cheesecake. The fruit was good replenishment after some dancing.

My cousins and I spent our time together playing games. We played Funenglish, Taboo and, the highlight, was playing Kinect. One cousin brought his Xbox and his new Kinect. We played the dancing game (I don't know the exact name of the game). One cousin had to start us off by showing us to to play the game. Once he got going, some aunts and uncles joined in. It was fun watching 50-60 year old people dancing hip hop.

After two weeks of eating and 'celebrating Christmas', I'm suffering from a Christmas hangover. I have to listen to QMFM to get my Christmas fix. Now since I have attended my last Christmas party, there will be no more Christmas cookies and cakes. Next excuse for indulging in more food: new years eve!!

Day 350: Christmas Week

2010-12-24T23:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week for me.

Dec 17
My mom's company Christmas dinner. She retired this year. They also invite their retirees to come join them for Christmas dinner. Because my mom has worked there for almost 30 years, they gave her a special present as a reward for working there for so many years. I have been going to these dinners for many years. It's quite entertaining for little kids. But for someone my age, it's ok. It's more about the food for me. It's at a Chinese restaurant and it's a 12 course meal similar to wedding banquets.

Dec 18
My dinner at Phnom Phenh.
http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/12/phnom-penh.html

Dec 19
Christmas brunch at a friend's house. It was nice to see them again. I haven't seen in a few months. The brunch consists of pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon and some fruit. There were many of their friends that I haven't met before. They had a gingerbread cookie building competition. It was really neat to see people's creations. There were lots of candy that you can use to decorate the gingerbread. One guy used a jelly bean to represent baby jesus. Another guy put two cookies together to make a race track. We stayed there for a few hours then went home to rest.

Dec 20
I got together with one group of friends for dinner. This dinner was about a month in the planning. There is 7 of us and it's hard to coordinate schedules. Dec 20 is a Monday and some of us has Mondays off. It was at one friend's house. We went over to make the dinner. It is fun to learn to cook together and eat together. For dinner we had a salad, mashed potatoes, green beans and a roast. It was so tasty!!

Dec 21
There is a group of friends who we get together every Christmas. This year we had our dinner at Boston Pizza and it was also pasta Tuesday. But I didn't feel like pasta. This dinner was also planned well in advance. I wouldn't think that I wouldn't be feeling like eating pasta that night. I had a whole rack of ribs with a side of veggies, garlic bread and a side salad. I didn't realized how hungry I was. After the rack of ribs, I was still hungry. But I didn't order anything after my meal. We had a small gift exchange after dinner.

Dec 22
I went to a birthday dinner. I was a small dinner. After dinner, we had some birthday cake.

Dec 23
We got invited to another Christmas dinner. The invite said 7 pm. We only know one couple there. We wanted to time it so when they arrive, we will be there too. We arrived a bit earlier than them. We got there about 7:30ish. The party wasn't really set up yet. Not everyone was there. It was supposed to be a potluck dinner. I was so hungry by the time I got there. We didn't start eating till a bit past 8pm. There was some Chinese take out, pizza, salad, pasta, mussels, some Phillipino dishes, fruit tarts and yule log. There was also a gift exchange. We had to leave early because we had to work early the next day.

Dec 24
It was a half work day for me. It was so easy to work a 4 hour shift. After work, I came home and took a nap. I woke up and had lunch. I went to dinner tonight. It was a simple dinner. Future Shop and Best Buy had their boxing day sale start tonight. I bought a few items. It took awhile because they site kept on crashing. Too many people are on these sites on Christmas eve ;)

Day 349: Phnom Penh

2010-12-20T23:50:00.001-08:00

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/12/phnom-penh.html

Day 348: "I Wish You Enough!"

2010-12-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

(c) 2001 Bob Perks

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

Day 347: New Work Company Policy

2010-12-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-work-company-policy.html

Day 346: Family Hot Pot

2010-12-14T22:59:00.001-08:00

Tonight we had a family dinner. It was supposed to be a Christmas dinner. But we don't really celebrate Christmas and we don't eat turkey or ham. Christmas is another reason for our family to get together. We tried really hard to set a date as close to Christmas as possible. It was so difficult with so many people's schedule to work with. Tonight was the night that most of us can meet.

We have the non-traditional Christmas meal. We decide what to eat. It's not always the same meal every year. It's usually a variation of Chinese and Vietnamese food. Tonight was hot pot. There were veggies, which include bok choy and Chinese spinach. There was pork, beef, seafood, liver, tofu and tripe. There was so much food. I would put a little of each type of food in the hot pot and let it cook. A few minutes later the food was ready. We dipped it with a hoison sauce mix. My aunties mixed hoison sauce with some other sauces (I'm not sure what sauces they are). There is a system to cooking in the hot pot. I just thought I can just drop the variety of food in the pot and pick it up when it's ready. When I did that, my mom would be telling me that I did it all wrong. When the water boils, you can put in the veggies, but not with any meat. You have to take out all the veggies then put in the meat. The meat takes just a minute or two to cook. There is also vermicelli and you can eat it with the soup. After the meal, there usually is some type of fruit. Tonight it was pear and baby mandarin oranges. I love the baby mandarin oranges. It's so easy to peel and it's sweet. There was a few seeds in it, but that's ok.

Day 345: Van. Christmas Market / LTS

2010-12-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a busy day for us. We started off at the Canucks store. If you used your mastercard that day, you got 15% off your purchases. I didn't find much that I wanted to buy. I bought some T-shirts for my cousin.

The second destination was the Vancouver Christmas Market. It is based on the Christmas Markets in Germany. It is located by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on W. Georgia St by Canada Post, CBC and the main library in downtown. It was quite neat in there. All the stands are uniform and made from wood. It has a very cozy, intimate market atmosphere. There are stands that sell toys, clothing, Christmas ornaments and food.

There was a gazebo in the center of the market which is the stage with performers. While we were there, there was a group that played percussion instruments playing Christmas music. After them, there was trio of women singing acapella Christmas songs. It brought a vibrant energy to the market.

One item we tried was the "Brataepfel” (the stuffed baked apples, a traditional German Christmas dessert, served hot with vanilla). In the picture above was the man stuffing the apple before baking them. The one we had was stuffed with walnuts and raisins then topped with hot vanilla. It was quite good and sweet. It was the first time I tried something like that. I would eat it again.

We had a small snack and drink. We had a bratwurst. It was very expensive. It was $8 for a bratwurst. But it was filled with their special onion-like topping. It was good. It was getting a bit chilly and I wanted to drink something warm. We had the hot apple cider. It was tasty with the stick of cinnamon.

After eating the food and listening to the Christmas jingles, we spotted Mr and Mrs Gingerbread. I have never met them before and I was excited to meet them. They are so cute. They were at the kids tent taking pictures with them. I had to squish myself in for a picture with them. After the Christmas Market, we were early for our dinner. We decided to stroll downtown. There was the Woodwards window display we wanted to see and the Hyatt's Gingerbread competition.

Some of my friends and I went to the Hyatt Hotel lobby last year where they had the gingerbread house 'competition'. We walked by the Hyatt this year and decided to see if the competition this year. The competition had different divisions against different schools / organizations / groups. There were many schools that competed. They all did a fantastic job. Some of them paid so much attention to detail, it was pretty incredible. It was a very visually stimulating experience. You can donate some money to the Make a Wish foundation and vote for your favourite gingerbread 'house'.

The Woodwards window displays were scattered at a few different downtown locations. There are six all together. The first we saw was at the Vancouver Christmas Market. We were heading to Gastown for dinner. Our strategy was to see the ones at Bentall One and Bentall Three, BC Ferries Vacations, Canada Place then Woodwards last. The window displays were smaller than I expected. It was a lot of effort to see something so small. I think it would've looked better together.

Our last destination was the Long Table Series. They served roast beef, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and carrots that night. Ummmm it was soooo delicious, as usual. There was a group of 5 of us. I finished my plate before everyone else. It is super rare that I finish my food before my friends. It has only happened twice and both times were at a Long Table Series dinner. I love going to the Long Table Series because the food is fantastic, the company is good (I usually bring some friends and usually meet some new ones at dinner) and it's cheap (it was $17 for the entree and beer). Of course, after dinner we ordered some dessert. We shared 3 desserts. It was the perfect amount of food for me.

Day 344: Fortune Sound Club

2010-12-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

Dancer 1

Dancer 2

Day 343: ABC's of friendship

2010-12-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is a test of the
Emergency Friendship System

.....a Friend does most
Or all of these...

(A)ccepts you as you are
(B)elieves in 'you'
(C)alls you just to say 'HI'
(D)oesn't give up on you

(E)nvisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)
(F)orgives your mistakes
(G)ives unconditionally
(H)elps you
(I)nvites you over

(J)ust 'be' with you
(K)eeps you close at heart
( L)oves you for who you are
(M)akes a difference in your life

(N)ever Judges
(O)ffers support
(P)icks you up
(Q)uiets your fears
(R)aises your spirits

(S)ays nice things about you
(T)ells you the truth when you need to hear it
(U)nderstands you
(V)alues you

(W)alks beside you
(X)-plains thing you don't understand
(Y)ells when you won't listen and
(Z)aps you back to reality

Day 342: A Christmas Story

2010-12-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before Christmas--Old Santa was pissed.
He cussed out the elves and threw down his list.
Miserable little brats, ungrateful little jerks.
I have a good mind to scrap the whole works!

I've busted my ass for damn near a year,
Instead of 'Thanks Santa'--what do I hear?
The old lady bitches cause I work late at night.
The elves want more money--The reindeer all fight.

Rudolph got drunk and goosed all the maids.
Donner is pregnant and Vixen has AIDS.
And just when I thought that things would get better
Those assholes from the IRS sent me a letter,
They say I owe taxes--if that ain't damn funny
Who the hell ever sent Santa Claus any money?

And the kids these days--they all are the pits
They want the impossible--Those mean little shits
I spent a whole year making wagons and sleds
Assembling dolls...Their arms, legs and heads
I made a ton of yo yo's--No request for them,
They want computers and robots...they think - I'm IBM!

Flying through the air...dodging the trees
Falling down chimneys and skinning my knees
I'm quitting this job there's just no enjoyment
I'll sit on my fat ass and draw unemployment.

There's no Christmas this year now you know the reason,
I found me a blonde. I'm going SOUTH for the season

Day 341: "It's a small world after all.."

2010-12-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

They say that we are only separated by six degrees of separation.

The other night at my friend's birthday dinner I found two connections. There is my friend's friend who I see once in awhile. The last time I saw her was about 6 years ago. Since then she got married and got her masters degree abroad. She was talking about her husband and where he works. She told me he works at SFU in downtown as an event planner. She told me his name and his name sounds familiar. I deal with event planners and caterers around town. His name sounded familiar to me. She told me that the person who I deal with is her husband. What a small world!

My friend's cousin walked in and she brought her date for the night. When they walked in, I said hi to her and her date. I actually know her date. It was a bit awkward. I actually met him about 10 years ago during my clubbing days. We were acquaintances for many years. In 2006, we worked together at the casino. Last year, we dated for a short time. I guess some people get around..hahaha. Ok, that is quite mean. Oh well, it wasn't very nice of him to break up with me. Yes, he hurt me when he broke up with me. He wanted to be friends right away. But I was very bitter and hurt and didn't want to be friends with him. It would be a few months before I was civil to him. I chatted with him on MSN a few months ago. He was talking to me about who he was dating and I was talking to him about who I was dating. I saw him at one of the Canucks game when I was volunteering. We didn't talk much then. One of my supervisors was right there and he was kinda in a hurry to find his seat. At my friend's birthday we got a chance to talk for a few minutes. I asked him about the girl that he dated when we chatted on MSN. He told me they broke up. That's when I realized that my friend's cousin and him were in the early stages of dating. I got a chance to talk to her about my relationship with him. I guess it's up to her to decide if she wants to continue to date him.

Day 340: Santali Souvlaki House / Lucy's Eastside Diner

2010-12-06T00:49:00.000-08:00

Lucy's Eastside Diner

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/12/lucys-eastside-diner.html

Santali Souvlaki House

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/12/santali-souvlaki-house.html

Day 339: A Real Friend Test

2010-12-03T22:49:00.000-08:00

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real
friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself.

A simple friend has never seen you cry. A real friend
 has shoulders soggy from your tears.

A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names.
A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.
A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late
to help you clean.

A simple friend hates it when you call after he has gone
to bed. A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.

A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems.
A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.

A simple friend wonders about your romantic history.
A real friend could blackmail you with it.

A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an
argument.  A real friend calls you after you had a fight.

A simple friend expects you to always be there for them.
A real friend expects to always be there for you!

Day 338: The Hormone Hostage / Santa's Reindeers

2010-12-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Hormone Hostage

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/12/hormone-hostage.html

Santa's Reindeers

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/12/santas-reindeers.html

Day 337: My Secrets....at least some of them for now

2010-12-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

This is one of those survey you ask your friends and ask them to send it back to you. So that's why some questions are in reference to that person.

1. First name - Lisa

2. Were you named after anyone? - not really

3. When did you last cry? - never fails when I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition...it's more heart wrenching then Oprah

4. Do you like your handwriting? - Yes, it's legible

5. What is your favourite lunch meat? - don't have one

6. What is your birth date? - the day I was actually born or the day my dad told the Canadian Government I was born? such a confusing question :P

7. What is your most embarrassing CD? - hmm not sure, I haven't seen my old CD's in years. I had my car broken in many times and they took my CD's, not sure which ones I have left.

8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? - of course, I would be my own best friend..hahah

9. Do you have a journal? - does this blog count?

10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? - depends on who I'm with....If I like you, I will use it. That's how you can tell that you are my friend.

11. What are your nicknames? - not applicable..hahah

12. Would you bungee jump? - yes, do they still have the free bungee jump if you jump naked?? haha

13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? - umm..i don't wear shoes with laces anymore. (I only have a pair of runners that has laces) I'm too lazy. They are slip ons or has velcro.

14. Do you think that you are strong? - emotionally or physically??? another tough questions...sometimes I just hate these questionnaires.

15. What is your favourite ice cream flavour? - mango, green tea (just to name a few), when can Ben and Jerry's or Haagen Daaz open up shop in Vancouver?

16. Shoe size - 8.5, I know I have big feet. I can't share shoes with anyone I know.

17. Red or pink? - red. I hate pink with a passion.

18. What is your least favourite thing about yourself? - hmmm....damn, stuck on this question

19. Who do you miss most? - my cousin and my friend. they left us too soon. :(...*cry cry*

20. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? - yes!!!!

22. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing? -im wearing fuzzy slippers and my pj's.

23. What are you listening to right now? - the 11 o'clock news in the background

24. Last thing you ate? - delicious salad I made. It had lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, raisins and walnuts with french dressing.

25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? - does it matter? does certain color get used more??

26. What is the weather like right now? - no idea...I can't see thru the blinds, but I'm going to guess pretty cold outside.

27. Last person you talked to on the phone? - my friend Christina

28. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? -hmmm...their style

29. Do you like the person who sent this to you? - not applicable

30. Favourite Drink? - pineapple juice, coconut juice in a coconut (like the ones you get at Thai restaurants)

31. Favourite Sport? - hmmm...don't have one

32. Eye Colour? - brown

33. Do you wear contacts? - yes

34. Favourite Food? - pho, I prefer the ones in restaurants. My parents don't make it the same as the restaurants. They usually don't like it when I eat it with bean sprouts and hoisin sauce. We are from North Vietnam. They don't usually eat it with the sprouts and hoisin sauce. Most pho restaurants are opened by South Vietnamese people and they eat it with the bean sprouts and the hoisin sauce.

35. Last Movie You Watched? - think District 9. I haven't watched a movie at the theatre in a long time.

36. Favourite Day of the Year? - don't have one

37. Scary Movies Or Happy Endings? - Happy Endings

38. Summer Or Winter? - summer. I can then wear my summer dresses.

39. Hugs OR Kisses? - hugs

40. What Is Your Favourite Dessert? - so many...so little time to share them

41. Living Arrangements? - basement

42. What's your favourite book? - not applicable...haha

43. What's On Your Mouse Pad? - don't use a mouse

44. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? - Glee

45. Favourite Smells? - hmmmmmm

46. Favourite Sounds? - not loud ones

47. Rolling Stones or Beatles? - beatles

48. What's the furthest you've been from home? - China

49. Do you have a special talent? - does talking too strangers count?? hahah..some may say it does...I want to be friends with those people. I talk to customers all day and it develops a special skill.

50. What is your ring tone? - the defaulted one..not too exciting..don't think i want to spend my time and money on changing my ring tone.

Day 336: Bunch of Sickos

2010-11-30T22:17:00.000-08:00

I just checked and the last time I wrote about getting sick was about a year ago.

At my work, I work with 4 other co workers directly. One had to leave work early today because her son had a fever. Another co-worker wasn't feeling well. Another one had a headache. I had a sore throat today. My co workers son probably got something from his friends at school. Kids pass around germs very easily especially since they aren't conscious about always keeping themselves clean. I'm not sure how everyone will feel tomorrow. I hope they don't call in sick. It is better if they stay home if they are sick. If they are sick and at work, it is more likely they will pass the germs to everyone else. It's getting busier at work and we need all of them.

I hope this sore throat goes away tomorrow. It feels like a razor blade in my throat. I was drinking hot water and honey all day today to try to soothe my throat. I have some Chloraseptic that I can bring to work tomorrow. Can't I just help customers by emailing them or writing notes or something??

Day 335: "It's not all about me" weekend

2010-11-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Eventhough it was my bday earlier this weekend, I only celebrated it once (see Day 334 blog posting).

Sunday
I tried really hard to sleep in because I knew it would be a busy day. My first destination was a baby shower in Aldergrove. I have been friends with the husband for many years and I wanted to be there to celebrate the baby news. Of course, me being a Canucks fan, I gave them some really cute Canucks baby items. They are having a girl but the mother doesn't like too much pink items. All the baby girl items at the Canucks store were pink. There was also a yellow baby set but I didn't think it was as cute as the pink ones. I don't think she would mind having a few items that are pink. I bought them an onesies set which has 3 onesies: one is pink, one is grey and one is pink and grey. The other set I gave them has an onesie, a pair of booties and a bib. They all have a Canucks logo on them. It was a pretty typical baby shower. There were lots of appies. The baby's mother opened the presents before I had to go. There was a 50/50 draw. I don't think I won. I was there for a few hours before I had to go to my next destination.

My next destination was an engagement party in Delta. I didn't know it was an engagement party until I got there. It was an interesting party. It was a party of about 22 people made of the host family and their kids and their kids' inlaws families. (I hope that wasn't too confusing.) When I got invited to the party, they told me it was because they had a really large turkey and they needed help with it. I'm all about the food so of course I accepted the invited for a turkey dinner. It was a really good dinner. There was the turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, another veggie dish and bread. After the delicious meal, there was cake. It was a Chinese cake with fruit cocktail in the middle. Of course I had to stay for the cake. I was spoiled. Two days in a row of cake.

Monday
I thought I can find some deal because it was Cyber Monday. I couldn't find anything. It was a mini family dim sum outing. There my mom, one of my aunts and two of my cousins. We went to a small restaurant on 49th and Fraser. It is in the same complex as Starbucks. I have never heard of this restaurant before. None of us have been there before. It was almost full for a Monday afternoon. It was expensive for a small hole in the wall restaurant. The service wasn't every good. The food portion was good. But for that price I would go to a nicer restaurant with better service (eventhough the food portion would be a bit smaller). I like to go for the whole experience.

After dim sum, 4 out of 5 of us went to Metrotown. I need to get boots and to get ready for upcoming snowfall. We walked around and I am really picky on which boot I wanted. My aunt suggested Sears and we went in to see what they have. Luckily for me, there was 50% off on boots today. I found a pair of boots that is fairly attractive and has an attractive price. Yeah for me!

I thought because it is my bday it's a good excuse for us to go for dinner. I went out to dinner with my parents to Tom and Jerry's. Because my dad liked his steak alot from the last time we went there, he requested we go there again. We like to share our food. We ordered different entrees and shared them all. With our entrees, it comes with soup or salad. My mom ordered a veal cutlet with mashed potatoes and veggies and a soup. My dad ordered a New York steak with fries and veggies and a green salad. I ordered a salsbury steak with a baked potatoe and veggies and cesar salad. I was so full after my dinner.

Day 334: Bday at Delilah's

2010-11-28T00:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my birthday party at Delilah's. It was a place I have wanted to try for a long time. It was a reality show Conviction Kitchen for awhile. Conviction Kitchen was about ex- convicts working in the restaurant industry (http://urbandiner.ca/2010/07/09/delilahs-conviction-kitchen/). Then now it changed back to Delilah's. Reservations were for 6pm. We left my place at 5:30 with the intention to be there at 6pm. I don't know what was happening but the roads were super busy and we arrived a tad bit late. About 1/3 of the people were late because of traffic and the lack of parking available. There were 25 of us and we were seated in 4 tables.

The food was ok. We ordered mussels and clams as an appetizer. We shared two entrees. On was the lamb t-bones served with veggies. The second entree was the 3-day brisket. I think the lamb and the brisket were too fatty. It felt like I was eating more fat than meat. The veggies were good. The food was affordable but of course you get what you pay for. They have a great martini menu.

The atmosphere was really nice. It didn't have many windows but it was dark so it didn't matter. It was a very comfortable setting. There was booths with comfortable seating. The chairs were like dining room upholstered chairs. The theme / look of the restaurant is deep dark woods and velvet. It's a bit dark in there but not as dark as a club.

The service was ok. The server was there to ask us for our drink order. They had people replenishing water. For each table, because we ordered at the same time, we received our food at the same time.

The best part of tonight was spending some time with my friends. There were some friends who I haven't seen in awhile. It was nice to catch up with everyone again. I guess with our busy lives sometimes our schedules just don'tjive too see each other more. Some friends I see once a month, some friends I see once every few months, some friends I see once a year. The separate tables worked well because I was able to go to each table and talk to them and focus on them. If it was one long table, I get easily distracted and won't be able to focus on my conversations with them.

Thank you for coming out everyone. I had a great time tonight :)

Day 333: Teachers

2010-11-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

I really admire teachers. They endure so much for so little. I heard it's more about the passion of teaching.

There are teachers I remember and teachers I easily forgot. I remember my kindergarten teacher and my grade 4/5 teachers. I am not sure why I remember my kindergarten teacher. She was a very nice person. She was an old woman with curls. I remember my grade 4/5 teachers because he was also a musician. He played the accordion. He is the only person I know that plays the accordion.

I feel like a teacher these days. My mom has her own laptop. She uses email, Picasa and now Facebook. Since she had her computer, I have been her computer tutor. She has taken a few lessons at a local community center which teaches basic computer lessons. When she first got her computer, I didn't have much time to teach her. Things seemed easy for me. I didn't understand why it was so hard for her to understand. It's kinda hard to translate some items in Vietnamese. I just say it in English and hope she understands. I learned that I have to be patient. I have to do things step by step. I have to see if she understand each step before moving on to the next step. Once she understands, I can move on to the next item. The other day I had to teach my cousin how to use Facebook. I just taught her the basics, like uploading pictures and sending messages. Tonight I taught my mom how to upload pictures on Facebook. She knows about the wall and she reads what her friends are up to. I am offering to teach another friend how to build a website. She's using a site that I'm using so it will be easy for me.

Day 332: 19 Kids and Counting

2010-11-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight after Glee, I ended up watching a few episodes of 19 Kids and Counting. I know it's not a show most people would watch. Its basically about the life of a family who has 19 kids.

This show is fascinating on so many levels. First, is that Michelle (the mom) delivered all 19 kids. I'm scared to have one kid, nevermind even thinking of having 19 kids. I don't know if any woman's body is made to have 19 kids. Second, they are all home schooled. I understand it is logistically challenging for them to drive some of them to different schools at different times of the day. It would be just a nightmare. They have to discipline all their kids to 'go to school' everyday. Thirdly, their income. I don't think they work. They probably have an income from TLC like Jon and Kate. I read that Jon and Kate made $75 000 per episode. How else would you be able to raise 19 kids? There is another family that just had their 18th kid, the Bates family.They also live in the US. They don't have a TLC show. I wonder how their income sustains their family. Fourth, their social life. There are some episodes where they integrate with other home school families and other large families. But what about when the kids are at a stage where they want to date? Because the kids don't go to school and interact with other kids, you seldom see if they have outside friends. Fifth, it brings up more social questions. Are they over populating ? What if there is no more TLC show, how will they get their income? Will all the Duggars of working age have to go to work? Will they have to depend on the government for money?

It would be interesting to see how long this show lasts. I have seen an episode when it was 15 and Counting. When will they stop having children?

Day 331: It's not my fault that I'm forgetful! (Friday night at the Caprice)

2010-11-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

I know I am a few nights late on writing about my Friday night adventure. The last few nights was busy with volunteering at the Canucks game. But my adventure is crystal clear like it just happened yesterday.

Last week I decided to get my sister her birthday present before it is too late. I knew I would have to get it mailed to her. I decided to get it early to have it arrive to her before her birthday.

I got her this mat. I have spent some time with her family. Sometimes she just needs a reminder to gather these items before she leaves her house. Because she has two kids, there is a long checklist of items when she leaves the house. On Friday, when I was talking to my sister, she said the doormat arrived.

Friday night was my friend's fundraiser for his softball team at the Caprice. I bought a ticket and wanted to go to support his team. I was supposed to meet him at 9:30pm. Of course, I procrastinate a bit and was running late. I didn't get in front of the club till 10 pm. I called him to see where he was. He was just getting his coat checked. I was like cool, he was just about 10 steps ahead of me. I was going into my purse to get my ID. I then realized that I forgot my wallet at home. I was chocked. I felt I was smart enough to always remember my wallet. I drove to the club without drivers license. I thought people who forgot their ID's are ditsy. They know they are heading to a club how can they forget their ID? Now I felt I was one of these people. I called my friend to let him know that I forgot my ID. He asked what I was going to do. I told him not to worry because I would figure something out.

I called my dad to see if he can help bring my ID to me. He works in downtown so he is familiar with the streets downtown. I called him at 10pm. I told him to leave the house right away. He did. I was waiting at our designated spot and was trying to be as patient as possible. It was getting cold. It was drizzling and there was a forecast of snow that night. Lucky for me, I was under an awning. I was waiting by a bus stop. Some buses came and went. Everyone at the stop eventually got on a bus. It seemed so empty without people around me. Finally, my dad arrived. It seemed like forever and a day because it was so cold. I asked him to drive me to the Caprice. He asked me how long he took. I told him 30mins. He said that was pretty fast. He told me that halfway to downtown, he realized that he forgot his drivers license and had to drive back home to get it. I was laughing because I realized that maybe forgetfulness runs in the family!!!!

Day 330: Dragon's Den

2010-11-17T22:44:00.000-08:00

I know this show has been on for a long time. I have heard people talk about this show but I have never watched it before. Maybe I just never spent this much time watching TV. I don't follow many shows or record them. I don't have a PVR or anything like that. I just watch whatever is on.

Tonight is the first time I watched Dragon's Den. It's quite interesting. There is a panel of investors also known as the Dragons. They are CEO's of their own companies and are wanting to invest their money in other businesses. Then there are the 'inventors'. They pitch their business ideas to the Dragons. The ideas could be a new idea that hasn't been marketed yet or something that has been in the market for awhile and they just need some injection of money to further their business.

On tonight's episode there was a older couple, from Vancouver, that was trying to get investors on board with their cereal product. They were an older couple which didn't seem like they have much life left. They looked kinda frumpy. Anyways, my superficial judgment aside, they presented their product and let the judges try for themselves. They had some cereal in small ziploc bags and some portions in a container with milk for the judges to try. The cereal looked like bird seed, it didn't look very tasty. The Dragons tried it and one made an offer right away. It was that good of a product. It is sold at Granville Island and I want to try some!

Another inventor was there to ask for money for her yoga clothing like. She wanted to compete with Lululemon. The Dragons asked her some financial questions. She has been in business in five years and hasn't broken even yet. She has been using her own money and family money. Her and her family have invested $750,000 into the business and it hasn't been making any money. I saw some of the items that she offered. There wasn't anything special about it. I don't think she would be able to compete with Lululemon. She didn't get any money from the Dragons.

Another investor was there to ask for money for his natural product line. All the products are made from natural products like olive oil, beeswax and cocoa. He bite one of his soaps and said if you can't eat the product, you shouldn't be using it on your skin. He used some product on one of the Dragons, of course the female one. He said the money would be used to pursue one of the marketing strategies; it is to have direct sales people and for them to sell it thru network marketing. The company has been around for 14 years and now wanting to expand their market. The Dragons liked the product and two of them made them an offer. He had to run the offer thru the president of the company, which was his wife. His wife declined the offer because it was too little for their 14 years of their blood, sweat and tears. He came back to the Dragons with a counteroffer. The Dragons didn't accept.

This is a great show to watch. I want to watch more episodes. It gives you a good idea of what ideas work and what investors are looking for.

Day 329: Vancouver...the best place to live?

2010-11-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my friend tonight and we were talking about where we wanted to live. He said he wanted to stay here in Vancouver because it is the best place to live. I told him I wanted to live somewhere warm.

He listed the many reasons why Vancouver is the best place to live:

1) It is close to Whistler, named one of the best mountains in the world. It is a great place for snowboarding and skiing.

2) It has a low level of pollution. Because Vancouver is a relatively 'small' city, there isn't many vehicles to cause pollution.

3) Clean drinking water straight from the tap. He said there are only a handful of cities where it has safe drinking tap water.

4) Four distinct seasons. Some cities are really hot or really cold and no seasons in between.

I think because I have lived here for so many years, I didn't consider most of his points. I don't know how to ski or snowboard so I didn't think much about Whistler. I know some people may laugh that I live so close to mountains but I don't know. It's on my bucket list. I went to China a few years ago and it was really polluted. I know I would never want to live there. My sister lives in Southern California in the boonies and it's pretty unpolluted there. My friend said it is really polluted in LA, probably cause of the gazillion cars there. I never really consider the clean drinking water. I just turn on the tap here and drink the water. I thought everywhere was like that too. In California, my sister was always was giving me bottled water. I didn't realize that their water wasn't clean enough to drink straight from the tap. I thought I wanted to live somewhere warm, on the verge of hot, all the time. I may miss the autumn/fall colors of the trees. I may miss wearing different layers of clothing for the appropriate weather. Who knows? Maybe one day I may appreciate everything Vancouver has to offer and not want to move anywhere.

Day 328: Fundraisers...so many fundraisers

2010-11-14T23:40:00.000-08:00

There are so many fundraisers out there. There are so many organizations needing money. But I have only so much money to distribute.

In the last two days, I gave money to three organizations. After work yesterday I went to Superstore. As I was leaving, there was a young guy outside selling chocolate covered almonds. I only buy chocolate covered almonds from fundraising organizations. They taste better than the bulk ones you buy inside Superstore. I totally forgot what organization he was with. He showed me the box and I was sold. I gave him the $3 for the organization.

Today in the afternoon I went shopping on Robson St. My friend wanted to go into Boys Co. At the cash register there was chocolate covered almonds. But it was different packaging then the one I bought from Superstore. They also had chocolate covered blueberries, chocolate covered nuts and fruit and chocolate covered cashews. So many choices, so little time. I ended up getting the chocolate covered fruit and nut. I decided that I had a box of chocolate covered almonds already and I wanted to try something different. I saw another man purchase a box before me. All he did was put his money in the envelope and took a box. I followed what he did. I was kinda nervous because it just felt like I was just leaving money in the envelope and who knows what would happen to the money. There was a sales person standing by me and she told me that there is someone from the breast cancer organization that comes by and collects the money. I just hope they do because I surely don't want the Boy's Co people to take the money.

Tonight I was watching TV and on my computer when the doorbell ran. I was expecting someone tonight and I thought it was my friend. I looked thru the window and it wasn't my friend. It was two young gals at my door. I opened it to see what they wanted. They were selling raffle tickets. They were from Killarney Secondary School and raising money for their dry grad next year. The girls also told me that their goal is to raise $1000 - $2000 for their dry grad. I live by Windermere, I am wondering what are Killarney students doing in my neighbourhood? Anyways, I forgot the whole list of prizes. But one of the item was a Luongo jersey. Once I heard that, I was ready to give them my money. Really, I didn't need another Luongo jersey, that's ok. I then asked them how many tickets where being sold. I think they said 5000. So, not so bad odds. I bought 3 tickets for $5. I just read the tickets and it said that the draw would be on Feb 14, 2011. Who sells tickets three months ahead of time?

Day 327: Ouisi Bistro

2010-11-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/11/ouisi-bistro.html

Day 326: Live by Chocolate - last class

2010-11-10T23:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my last class at my chocolate class. It was only two classes and six hours long. The first class had 12 people. The second class only had 7 people. I think most of them forgot about the second class. That's ok, that means more chocolate for the rest of us. The teacher told us verbally about the outline of the class in the last class. This class he wrote the outline. It was much easier to understand what was happening.

He started class with a demo of the Chocolate Moka Eclair. Every time he makes something, he makes it looks so simple. The eclair starts with mixing some of the ingredients. Then you pipe them on a baking sheet and put it in the oven.

After it comes out of the oven, you cut them in half to let the steam out. While it's in the oven, you can make the whipped cream and put it in the fridge to keep it cool. Don't forget to melt the chocolate (It's the best part). Then you bake it some more. After it cools down, you put the whipped cream in the middle and drizzle the melted chocolate on the top.

The second dessert we made was the Chocolate Amaretto Biscotti. I never really thought about how people make biscotti. It's a double baked crispy chocolaty piece of bread drizzled with white chocolate. You mix the ingredients and then shape it into a loaf of bread. Then you bake it. After 25 minutes, you take it out and slice it. You lay the pieces on the baking tray, bake it some more. Then after about a few minutes, you flip them over so the other side bakes. After all the baking, you let it cool. You drizzle the white chocolate over the pieces after it has cooled down. If you do it when it is still warm, the drizzle just looks like mush.

The last dessert was the Chocolate Grand Marnier Souffles. I don't usually have souffles in restaurants so I wasn't sure what to expect. You mixed the ingredients together and bake them in a ramekin. After it is done, you sprinkle some icing sugar to make it look pretty. You have to eat it within a few minutes or else it will go flat.

After the three desserts, it was time to go home. I was walking in hallway and saw this sign. I'm so glad I don't go to Eric Hamber, they keep monsters in some of the classrooms :/

Day 325: Oprah interviews Katherine Jackson

2010-11-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

Katherine Jackson is Michael Jackson's mother. Oprah also talked to Joe Jackson, MJ's father, and MJ's three kids. It is the first time MJ's kids did an interview since his passing last year. Last year, I couldn't stop watching all the channels showing his passing, biographies on him and his memorial service. I am sure there are many out there like me.

What is the fascination with Michael Jackson? I first heard him when I was a young girl. My dad bought his LP (do you remember what that is?). I thought he would be a singer that would be popular for a few years and disappear into the limelight. He sang and danced. I thought he was the coolest person ever. His music still plays today at various places. I think his music is classic. There still is an attempt for the largest amount of people dancing simultaneously to Thriller close to Halloween, of course. They don't call him the King of Pop for nothing.

As I got older, there seemed to be more publicity on him. It was not be for his music. It was on his plastic surgeries, his kids and his weird behaviors. When I heard about his passing, of course, I cried. I didn't even know him. I never met him before. It just seemed like a family member passed away. When Patrick Swayze passed away, I didn't shed a tear.

Before his passing, he was preparing for a concert in England. They were sold out shows. If I had the chance, I would go. Next year there is a Cirque de Soleil show coming to Vancouver which will be based on his music. The tickets went on sale a few days ago. I got tickets. This is the closest I will ever be to going to his concert. I'm really excited to go! I'm counting down the days already!

Katherine Jackson talked about how Michael was very self conscious of himself in his teenage years. He thought he was 'ugly'.A megastar still had very real issues. After his teenage years, he had some plastic surgeries done. I think plastic surgeries are a sign that you haven't accepted and appreciated what you are born with. It is a way to make you look like your 'ideal' appearance. I don't think everyone is accepting of all their features. As you grow older, you learn to accept them and maybe even use them to your full advantage. I have very full lips. My mom have always told me that it isn't considered 'pretty' or an 'ideal' set of lips. It is a very negative comment that she had instilled in my brain at a young age. I wasn't going to go and get plastic surgery on them. Angelina Jolie has very thick lips. I had to explain to my mom that having thick lips is considered pretty in this cutlure / society. Some women even have to pump injections in their lips to plump them up. So I have learned to accept my thick lips.

Day 324: Lovestruck Bridal Show

2010-11-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday. I went to work. Just kidding. I didn't go to work. I was just visiting my co-workers who were working today. They weren't working in the office, they were on location at the Lovestruck Bridal Show (http://www.lovestruckbrides.com/) (sorry iphone users, the site uses Flash). One girl was only there till 2 pm and she was in a wedding dress. The wedding dress was borrowed from one of the suppliers of the fashion show. She looked absolutely beautiful in the wedding dress. I wanted to see her in the wedding dress. I made it there at about 1:30pm and saw her last few moments in the dress. The dress was worth $1500.

Lovestruck is one of the many bridal shows around. There are large shows and small shows. Some small shows market themselves as specialty shows. Lovestruck was located in Vancouver Club. It is newly renovated and looks beautiful. They added a wine room and a lounge. For the bridal show, the Vancouver Club was transformed by lots of white organza / white material on the walls to soften the look. There was a fashion show at 1pm and 4:45pm. There were lots of wedding related vendors. There were photographers, videographers, makeup artists, venues, cake suppliers and, of course, bridal dress suppliers. They were located on three floors. For brides, there was a gift pack with makeup items and special coupons.

There are so many suppliers to choose from. If I was a bride, I would be thoroughly confused. Of course there are wedding planners to help you weave thru the maze of suppliers. But there are many of those also. Lovestruck was a small show so there are fewer more select vendors. The idea is to help the bride decide on the suppliers because there is a smaller selection.

I was there to visit my co workers and to see what is new out there. The picture above is of our table display. I walked around to see the vendors. There is not too much new. I didn't get a chance to watch the fashion show.

Day 323: 100 Days

2010-11-05T23:54:00.001-07:00

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/11/100-days.html

Day 322: Live by Chocolate

2010-11-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

My 'Live by Chocolate' class was held at Eric Hamber Secondary School. I have never been here before. I should've allocated more time to get to class. It was so confusing for me. Usually the office is also the night school office and there is also a small concession stand there. I thought it would be like Tech where you walk in the main entrance and you find the office easily. I got to the first floor and I didn't see the concession stand. I saw an engineer and he told me that the office was on the second floor. After I found the office, I found my class room number. It was on the first floor! I hurried to class because I was already 10 minutes late.

When I walked in class, the teacher was already talking. He was talking about the different types of chocolate and where to get them. He was a tall, big Chinese man who has been a VSB teacher since 1981. He has a very thick Chinese accent and I had to listen carefully to what he was saying. After an hour into class, we already were making some chocolate desserts.

He showed us how to make Raspberry Chambord Ganache Gateau. He makes it seems so easy. There was two tables of 6 people. We split up into 3 groups. Each group made a different chocolate dessert. One group made the White Chocolate Cointreau Truffles. Another group made the Toblerone Chocolate Mousse. My group did the easiest dish, Swiss Chocolate Fondue. The groups who made the mousse and the truffles started first. We sat there for most of the time and watched. There was a main theme in all the desserts: it was about mostly melting the chocolate. These desserts weren't difficult to make. When we finished, we had a piece of every dessert we made. I had some mousse and didn't even finish the whole thing. Too much sugar for one night! I brought some fondue and fruits, some truffles and a piece of cake. Tonight was the first class out of two classes. The next class is next week. After 6 hours of classes, we will be able to make so many chocolate desserts.

Day 321: I finally got the courage to talk to a famous person...

2010-11-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

He's not an A list celebrity. He doesn't act or sing or dance. He's a politician. Maybe I shouldn't say that because people aren't fond of politicians these days. Not everyone knows him but he's quite famous in my eyes.

When I was in Chicago, I saw Vince Vaughn at a restaurant. I never talked to him or took a picture with him. I regretted not doing that. I felt like a chicken. But it taught me a lesson. It taught me to not be so tongue tied around famous people.

A few weeks ago I saw the Honourable Larry Campbell. It was at a Canucks home game when I was volunteering. I didn't recognize him. I said something to him about how he was chosen to pick the winning ticket. I forgot what his answer was. After I talked to him, I was talking to my fellow volunteers and they told me that he was the mayor of Vancouver and he is in the senate now.

Tonight I saw the Honourable Larry Campbell again. This time I wasn't so tongue tied. I had a conversation with him. I did say some things that made me sound stupid but that's ok, at least I talked to him. I asked him what his favourite job was. He said being a coroner. Then I remembered that Da Vinci's Inquest was based on his life. We also talked about the Canucks charities and I found out that he is on the board of the Canuck charities. Then I asked him what other charities he's involved with. He is on so many of them that I don't know where he has the time to do everything. He travels between Vancouver and Ottawa. He is a very nice man. Not everyone recognized him. There was one point where a couple were walking by and pointing at him. I think they were the ones that recognized him but was too shy to talk to him.

In case you forgot who Larry Campbell is, here is reminder: http://www.larrycampbell.ca/biography.shtml

Day 320: Dylan and Yuri's Wedding

2010-10-31T22:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend I was in Seattle to attend a wedding. It was a family friend's wedding. My mom is friends with the groom's parents. I have known the groom since I was a little girl. It was really nice to attend this celebration and share this special day with them. It is my first time meeting the bride and she seems like a really fun person.

My mom and I arrived on Saturday morning. It is Chinese custom to have a tea ceremony. It was at the groom's house only. The bride is Japanese and they didn't hold a tea ceremony at her place. The tea ceremony is only for family members. We just hung out till that was finished. In the afternoon we headed to the wedding venue which is an hour away from Seattle. It is called Lake Wilderness Lodge in Maple Valley (http://www.ci.maple-valley.wa.us/index.aspx?page=107).

The wedding ceremony was held upstairs. The groom's father passed away 10 months ago and there were many acknowledgments to him. They wrote their own vows. When the bride was reading her vow it had reference to the groom's father and I'm sure many people teared up. After the ceremony, everyone was directed downstairs for a cocktail hour. While everyone was downstairs, there were people upstairs rearranging the setup for the reception. Cocktail hour lasted about an hour. People were mingling and taking pictures with the bride and groom. The was an open bar and some appies.

The reception was pretty good. The buffet food was a mixture of Chinese food and Japanese food. I heard someone from the bride's side owns a Japanese restaurant and they were they one that brought the sashimi. It was a beautiful presentation of sashimi (as seen in the pictures). I have never seen sashimi at a wedding before and was pleasantly surprised. Another item that I have never had at a wedding is Peking duck. They had two servers preparing the item. The one server took the bun and put some Hoisin sauce and a piece of onion on it. The other server put the piece of duck in it. It was pretty good. They called tables in numerical order to get food from the buffet. There were 25 tables and I was table 21. By the time I went to the buffet, there was no more sashimi. I was so sad and disappointed. I was really looking forward to tasting the sashimi.

After dinner, they had some entertainment. They played the slideshow. They had speeches. The grooms cousins had a special presentation from the bride and the groom. They had a special dance number for them (video to be uploaded soon). Then the dancing started downstairs. I was upstairs at my table and I was talking to people at my table. It seemed like a wild party on the dance floor. The night ended quite early for me at about 10ish. It takes an hour to get back to Seattle and my ride needed to get home.

Day 319: "I don't get any."

2010-10-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

If a family member did something you didn't really like, what do you do? Do you tell them? Do you just move on as if nothing happened? What if an aunt or uncle gave all your cousins a gift but nothing for you? Wouldn't you wonder what you did wrong? Why you were left out? Would you act differently around them because you feel resentment against them?

Day 318: The Restaurant Experience

2010-10-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

The other night we went to The Keg by Costco by Still Creek. We had some steak. It was a Keg that we haven't been to before. It was really nice inside. It is very modern with lots of dark woods. It was very dark inside. Of course I took some pictures of my food. When I viewed the picture, that was when I saw how delicious my food was. The service was really good. He was very attentive and always refilling our water. We shared a prime rib and a teriyaki steak. The prime rib was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The steak was served with yam fries and vegetables. I had a tea. With tax and tip, my bill came to $87. I was very surprised on how quickly that added up. It was for two entrees and a tea and tax and tip. The price was quite high but it was a lovely experience.

Last night we went to Koon Bo on 41st and Fraser. My mom had a recommendation from her friend that they serve good quail and peking duck. We made a reservation for 6:30 but we were a bit late. We arrived and it was quite busy. All the tables were full. The tables were squished together. It was kinda cluster-phobic. There were only 3 servers for the whole restaurant. In turn, our service sucked. My dad had to go to the counter to get us more napkins. We had to put our empty plates on an empty table beside us. They didn't come to our table frequently to collect the empty plates. We ordered the three course peking duck which came with the skin and the wrap, the meat stir fried and the bones in a soup. My parents also ordered some fried rice, veggies and the quail. The restaurant was filled with noise from people talking. It was too much for me. It gave me a headache. I thought the food was ok. But I think it was effected by my whole experience. If the atmosphere and company is good, my food is good. But if the atmosphere is disturbing or too noisy, it seems like the food isn't as good.

Day 317: Luke Skywalker

2010-10-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

My cousin Luke has twins that just came home from the hospital. Tomorrow my sisters family and my family are going to visit them. My cousin Luke and his wife are Chinese.

I was eating a snack with my niece tonight. I was mentioning to her that we are going to visit Uncle Luke tomorrow. She had this weird face and wasn't sure what his name was. I had to spell his name out to her. Then I said it's like Luke Skywalker. (She is very into watching Star Wars and knows her characters.) She looks at me with this wide eyed face and said 'he's white?' I said no he's not white but he only has the same first name.

I had to giggle because she says the cutest things sometimes.

Day 316: Koko's

2010-10-19T23:26:00.001-07:00

Their mom was going out for dinner and I wanted to take them somewhere they haven't been before. The other night I took them to Crash Crawly's and I wanted to take them somewhere similar. I read on a site where this lady rated all the indoor activity centers. She rated Koko's a 9 out of 10. She only rated Crash Crawly's 5 out of 10. I thought if she rated it a 9 it must be a pretty good place. The price is about the same as Crash Crawly's. We walked in and they already noticed that Crash Crawly's was better. It was ok they made the most of their time here. It was located in Port Moody. It is really close to the Golden Spike Pub. Going to Port Moody wasn't fun in rush hour. We tried to get there as soon as we can so the kids can play longer. It was only opened till 8 pm. Through out the night they had to remind me that Crash Crawly's was better. We took some pictures and had some chicken strips with fries.

After Koko's, we went to White Spot for dinner. It was getting late for the kids but I wanted them to try the Pirate Packs. They enjoyed it. It was a lot of food for them. I had to help my nephew finish off his ice cream. It wasn't that hard to convince me to eat ice cream. When I got home, my sister told me she was taking the kids to meet her friend for lunch tomorrow and they are going to White Spot. Her friend mentioned that they have Pirate Packs for the kids. The kids will enjoy having Pirate Packs two days in a row.

Day 315: Richmond Oval / Rocky Mountain Flatbread

2010-10-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

There was a park that my sister wanted to take the kids to in Richmond last year. Because she didn't take them last year, she wanted to take them this year. She forgot the name of the park. We tried to look for the name online and from her emails. We couldn't find it.

We decided to head to Richmond to try to find the park. Because we were heading to Richmond, we decided to eat dim sum there also. We went to Gingeri Restaurant in Landsdowne Mall. It is good for dim sum. My niece loved the deep fried squid. It came as a surprise to me that my little nephew loved chicken feet. He just took the feet and used his hands to eat it. He ate almost the whole dish.

After dim sum we walked around the mall. My niece (like her wonderful aunt) wanted some bubble tea. In the middle of the mall was a mini train with a Halloween theme. The kids went on the train. Beside the train was a merry go round. My niece wanted to go on it and wanted me to join her. Man, I'm so weak. Just going in circles a few times made me dizzy and nauseous.

My parents suggested going to the Richmond Oval. I have never been there before. I wanted to go. We went there and took lots of pictures. We only paid parking for an hour so we only spent an hour there. On the way to the Richmond Oval, there was a playground by the UBC Boathouse. It was shaped like a boat. The kids loved it there. There was a slide. The climbed up and slide down, up and down, up and down. They did that for almost an hour. It was time to head to dinner.

We went to the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. in Kitsilano. We went there last year. On Sunday and Monday nights the kids get to make their own pizza. My brother in law has two sisters and they have a few kids. We met with them for dinner and my brother in law's dad. It was fun for the kids. We ordered 3 large pizzas for the adults. It was $23 each for a large pizza. I think it is a bit expensive. We ordered a meat lover's pizza which was too spicey for me. I really like the BBQ pulled pork pizza. The third pizza was good. It was a chicken with tomato and spinach.

It doesn't seem like a busy day. By the time we got home at about 8ish, I was pooped. I was ready for bed. But my sister had to make some phone calls, so I had to give the kids a bath. Wow! I have never seen kids so eager to take a bath. When the water wasn't ready yet, they took off their clothes and were ready to jump in. I got my nephew some figurine from Cars which changes colour in different temperature water. It's the coolest thing! They loved playing with the color changing cars. We have glass shower doors. The kids have sponges and they just played 'window cleaners'. They just loved cleaning my glass shower doors. I was happy with that because then I didn't have to clean them myself. It was a struggle today because they were loud and restless. Nevertheless, we got them bathed and dried and ready for bed. Now it's my turn to head to bed.

Day 314: Family Tree

2010-10-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

I originally was planning a get together with my second cousins on my mom's side in the summer. I thought it would be nice to just hang out at the beach and let the young kids play outside. The whole idea is to meet outside of weddings and funerals. Then we get a chance to talk. I found out my sister was going to be in town in October. I decided to postpone the get together till October. I thought it would be nice for her to meet with the cousins as well.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to my mom that I was thinking of doing a family tree for the get together. She thought that was a great idea. I was thinking it would be easy to just put the names and pictures of people and that was it. It was more complicated than I expected. My mom's relatives have a Chinese name and a Vietnamese name. First she wanted to put their Vietnamese names. Then she was thinking of using their Chinese names. Both was difficult because it was about translating into English. Finally my mom decided to use their English name, if they had one. I am really lucky that my mom knows most of her aunts and uncles names.

The family tree is on one of our walls. The other challenge is to make sure we had enough space to put everyone's name. My Grandmother from my mom's side had 10 siblings. Some siblings didn't get married and didn't have any children. Two siblings got married, divorced and is remarried. The ones that had children had 4-6 kids. Those kids now have kids and some of those kids have kids. I tried to include some pictures to make it more interesting. Some cousins sent me recent family photos. Other cousins I just found some pictures on Facebook. Luckily I had space for everyone. Luckily some of my cousins are on Facebook. It made it easier to connect with them.

I think most of my cousins enjoyed learning about their family history. Some cousins didn't know how we are related. But since they saw the tree, they know now! I know most of the significant others didn't know about the linage. It is overwhelming and can be hard to digest.

Day 313: WHY GOD MADE MOMS

2010-10-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-god-made-moms.html

Day 312: Crash Crawly's

2010-10-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

I have seen this building many times when I drive by the No 1 Hwy in Coquitlam when I used to work in Coquitlam. Today at work I asked my co-worker, who has kids, more about it. She said it is a fun place to take the kids. I was really excited because I have never been there before and I thought the kids would like it.

We got there about 6:45pm and it closed at 8pm. It was more than enough time for them to run around and play. It was a really neat place for the kids. It is kinda like a large jungle gym. There are tubes where you can slide down and tubes where you have to climb up. This equipment is made for kids, not adults. I had to crawl most of the time. Some areas where the kids can stand up, I still have to bend down. My knees are a bit bruised from crawling so much. There are several ball pits (kinda like the ones in McD's and Ikea). I was allowed to go climb with the kids around the jungle gym. There was a tube where it was dark and we were a bit scared to slide down. Yes, being the whissy that I am, I did scream. In the far corner at the top there were air guns. You load it with a foam ball, pushed the button and aim! They kids loved it there. I think they spent the most time there. My niece aimed at me a few times and hit me with the foam balls. I'm glad they didn't hurt or else I would be all bruised up.

I can really feel my age when the kids are running around and wanting me to chase after them and I'm getting tired. My 7 year old niece was the leader. She decided which direction to go. My 4 year old nephew followed her. I went last to assist my nephew if he needed a push up or helped carry him down. By the end of the night, I was tired and ready for bed. But our night wasn't over yet. We got some pizza and bubble tea to end the night.

Day 311: showering - women vs men‏

2010-10-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/10/showering-women-vs-men.html

Day 310: One baby, two babies, three babies..more?

2010-10-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

At the hockey game, I was mentioning that Daniel and Henrik can trick anyone and everyone because they are identical twins. I'm sure if they switched jerseys no one would know..or would they?

My brother in law has identical twin sisters and I can't tell them apart. Im sure each one has their own identifying marks. Before they got married, it was a guessing game for me. Both of them are very bubbly. They have very similar demeanor. I didn't see them very often and it made it more difficult. If I saw them all the time, I think I would be able to tell them apart. They made it easier for me by getting married. They didn't get married to identical twins. If they did, boy it would be super confusing for me. Now to tell them apart, I figure out the husband first, then I figure out their kids. One sister has three kids and the other only has two. Then I figure out the twin.

Maybe we have a fascination with multiple births? First it was 'Jon and Kate plus 8'. '19 and Counting' has been around for a few years. I remember watching an episode when it was '15 and Counting'. There was another show where they had 12 kids. Tonight it was my first time watching Texas Quints. It was about a couple in Texas who already had two kids and they wanted one more. They couldn't conceive naturally. They went to a fertility clinic and what they got was quints. Two of the quints cry alot. I just watched an episode and that was enough for me. There was crying and screaming and it seemed like it was never ending. I really give props to the parents. Because the quints are only 3, the mom is a stay at home mom.

I would like to have twins or triplets if I had the choice. Go thru the labour once and get it over with. I heard about really long labour sessions and I don't know if I want to go thru that many times. But my friend brought up a good point. If you are pregnant with a multiple birth, you only get one year of maternity leave. I guess the government sees that as one pregnancy. I would feel ripped off if it happened to me. I would be putting in twice the effort because I would be taking care of two children. It would be great if your maternity leave is dependent on how many fetuses you would be carrying to full term. If I was pregnant with twins then I would be able to get two years of maternity leave.

Day 309: Special number days

2010-10-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Today is 10/10/10. Few years ago the lucky number for Chinese people was 8/8/8. Are these dates really 'special'?

Today we had a birthday party for my cousin. I never remembered his birthday. The only reason I remembered his birthday this year because it was easy to remember. It was fun today because everyone was there and there was lots of food. What's a birthday without balloons and cake? There is a scarce level of helium so it's really hard to find a place that sells helium balloons. We went to Brentwood Mall to try to get some helium balloons. The person at the store said the management of the mall doesn't allow them to sell helium balloons because of the roof. They said I can't get any helium balloons in the mall. Luckily we found Save on and they sold helium balloons. We had a Chinese fruit filled cake. I like Chinese cakes because it is a very light cake with whipped cream. Our cake we had today was filled with fruit. It wasn't the normal fruit cocktail, it was fresh fruit.

I remember when it was 7/7/7 and 8/8/8 there were lots of weddings because they thought it was a lucky number. I know dates like that don't come around very often. Some people think the specific date that they get married will give them good luck and their marriage will be long lasting and prosperous. I am not a big believer of that. I would think I will pick my wedding date depending on my availability and how easy I will remember the date.

Day 308: Thank you Lady Luck

2010-10-09T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the big Canucks opening game. The big 40 year anniversary for the Canucks. The big highlight tonight was the Canucks naming Henrik Sedin as their team captain. It was a very celebratory occasion. Everyone was clapping and cheering.

Because it was such a big game tonight, they had many more volunteers tonight selling 50/50 tickets. There was a short meeting before we started at 6pm. The meeting was held while we were preparing our tickets. We usually get a certain amount of tickets. It usually doesn't take us that long to prepare our tickets. But today we were expected to sell way more tickets. They gave us a bunch more tickets. It took us longer to prepare the tickets. During the meeting, they did a draw for a Canucks jersey. It was all the volunteers name put in a container and drawn randomly. They picked two names. Lady Luck was on my side. They drew my name! I had to tell the staff member what size I wanted, what colour I wanted and the name of the player. I picked a small jersey in blue with Luongo's name. I was told I can pick up the jersey at the end of my shift.

During my shift, I was excited because I was looking forward to picking up my new jersey. I had to focus on selling my ticket instead of my new jersey. My location was 323 tonight. I didn't have to do the stands. It seemed like every 10 feet there was a person selling 50/50 tickets. I was by some concession stands and I sold some tickets there. After the first period, I walked around and I was selling tickets as I go. I was walking up the stairs back to my section and I sold some tickets there. My new friend and I were walking during the second period and I heard someone yell '50/50 tickets'. We turned around and there were people chasing us down to buy some tickets. Tonight's jackpot was $150,000. It was $80,000 carried over from last year and $70,000 from tonight.

It was time for us to finish up our shift. We had to submit our money and our tickets. You put the tickets in the large ziplock bag. You put the money in the small bag. Then you hang out and help rip the tickets to put in the large barrel. After you finish ripping the tickets, then you get to hand in your shirt and see if you get a ticket to watch the rest of the game. While we were ripping the tickets, there was an old man behind us. I thought he was just being nosey and just watching what we were doing. I found out that he was the one that would be picking the winning ticket. Then a fellow volunteer said that it was Larry Campbell, our previous city mayor now a senator. Wow! I felt stupid that I didn't know what our old mayor looks like. His face was so red and he was so round that I didn't recognize him.

I went to hand in my shirt. That is when you find out if there is a ticket for you.They handed me my jersey and told me tonight I didn't get a ticket. I was so sad and disappointed. My friend, who I met since my first day there, said she would rather have the jersey than watch the game tonight. I said, 'I guess so', but was still sad I didn't get a ticket. The new friend I met didn't get a ticket either. I asked him what he was going to do. We ended up watching the game on one of the TV's outside of 101. I saw Fin walking by and I got a picture with him!

Day 307: Large family, small family, close family, far family

2010-10-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

During my grand parents' generation they had a lot of kids. My mom has alot of cousins. Each cousin has a few kids. I have many second cousins. I mostly see my second cousins at weddings and funerals and the rare family get together thru out the year. Because we don't see each other that often, I have decided to organize a get together. My sister is in town for awhile and it is a good opportunity for her to see everyone. Since the last time she was here, a few cousins have had babies.

It's very difficult. I don't see my second cousins very often so I don't have their contact information. Some of them are on Facebook and that is an easy way to contact them. Unless they don't check their FB pages. I have gotten my mom to contact their parents for their contact information. It's really frustrating because some of them don't respond to my emails. I'm not sure if they haven't received the emails or just don't want to respond to me.

Family is more important to some people than others. Some families are dysfunctional. Some families are extremely close. I went to an ex's Christmas dinner and his whole family was 12 people. That included aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. That was extremely small to me. Maybe I'm used to my family functions? My dad has 4 sisters in the states. They all have families and they have families. Every time there is a family function, there is at least 20 people. If everyone can make it to the function, then there are about 40 people.

I think in my generation will have less children than my parents generation. My parents generation had about 6 - 10 kids. I have noticing my generation having 1 - 2 kids. It is very expensive to have children. I think kids are spoiled with more brand name clothing and toys and electronics.

Day 306: Pictures

2010-10-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

When our family came to Canada, my mom wanted to take pictures of us everywhere. She got us to pose in front of everything. In those days there was film cameras. You had to smile and hopefully the picture turns out. We had to be careful on how many pictures we take because it cost money to develop the film. We have tonnes of pictures in photo albums.

Thank goodness we have digital cameras! We get to pick and choose what pictures we develop. With digital cameras we can shoot away and not worry if the picture turns out or not. It's so easy to delete pictures. After someone takes a photo of me or people with me, I check to see if our eyes are closed. If someone's eyes are closed, we take that shot again. With a film camera, there is no way to see if someone looks funny or their eyes are closed. I can take hundreds of pictures and don't have to pay for developing the images. I download them into my computer and post them on online photo albums. It's easy to share my pictures with family and friends.

I am now grateful that my mom loves taking pictures. Without her pictures, I would not remember those events. Once I see the pictures, it jogs my memory of what happened in and around that age / year. Pictures capture moments. She knew that early on. She loves to travel and takes pictures. My sister is the first to get my mom's photography genes. Once she had her daughter, she wanted to capture every moment of her daughter's life. Her daughter is comfortable in front of the camera. She smiles and poses when the camera is pointed at her. Her son will smile at the camera, but not for too long. He's still young and figits.

I like looking at pictures. Whether it be old family pictures, friends wedding pictures or just friends hanging out. A picture is worth a thousand words. I know it's a cheesy saying but it's true. There is a story behind every picture. My favourite pictures are candid pictures. I have a friend who is a wedding photographer. I have seen many of his pictures. His candids are my favourite. I like it when people are natural in their pictures, not so posey. It may be action shots, but there is more of a story. There is also more emotion. Maybe I am just more of an emotional person.

Day 305: Bras

2010-10-04T23:24:00.001-07:00

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/10/bras.html

Day 304: CIBC Run for the Cure

2010-10-03T23:22:00.001-07:00

After doing the 10K Vancouver Sun Run, I was ready for another run!

I am in charge our company Facebaook page. I was surfing Facebook one day and saw that one of our clients was running the CIBC Run for the Cure. She had breast cancer and was asking if anyone was interested in joining her in support of breast cancer. I showed my boss that posting and he suggested that we support her and form a team. He designated me as the team captain. I have never done anything like this before. I was a little bit nervous. We decided to form a team in August. To form a team, there has to be a minimum of 10 people. I managed to find enough people to form a team. It included people who worked at A&B and their significant others.

September rolled around and the run was just around the corner. I had to submit our registration as a team by mid-September to get our name on printed on our t-shirts. By the end of September, our t-shirts were printed and I picked them up and distributed them to our team members.

I didn't practice for the run. One team member had a pub crawl the night before and she wasn't going to run. We came to the conclusion that we were going to walk. Once we told our other team members that we were going to walk, everyone else decided to walk. We tried as much as we can to walk as a team together. The 5km route that we walked was a bit around the Tinseltown area, 2nd ave to Cambie Bridge back to Expo Blvd to the finish line. Most of the time we were split in two groups. Luckily one guy in the group that was walking ahead had a magenta umbrella. It was sprinkling a bit when the run started. After a few minutes, it was sprinkling a lot. We used our umbrellas. The only way to find the other group was to find the magenta umbrella. Eventually by the finish line we were all together. Some people wanted to go home right away. But I saw the team photo tent and wanted to take a team photo before we split up. It was a mementos moment because this was the first time our company did something like this since I have worked for the company.

After doing the walk, some of us went for lunch. Concord Pacific is close to Chinatown. We wanted to go somewhere close because some us were tired from walking. We originally wanted to go to Hon's. I suggested Hon's because it's relatively close, it's affordable and fast. On our way to Hon's, I asked my team mates if they wanted dim sum. They said yes. We were at the corner of Columbia and Keefer and Floata was right in front of us. There was 8 of us. We had various dumplings, BBQ pork buns / pastries, spare ribs, and deep fried squid. Chicken feet weren't too popular with them. After we stuffed our faces with dim sum, it was time to go home!

A huge thank you to my friends who donated money to breast cancer research :)

Day 303: Stupid computer!!

2010-10-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

In my journaling class the other night, one of the first things my teacher taught us was to write about our feelings, whether it be negative or positive. It makes the readers see you as a more rounded person. It seems like I try to write more about things that are happy or in a good light. There are a few posts that were pretty negative. I don't want to delete them. After I wrote them, I didn't want to write about negative things anymore.

Today is a new day. I'm going to rant. It's not really negative about anyone or about myself. It's just trying to relieve some stress. Tonight I stayed home. It wasn't very relaxing. The other night my dad said that his laptop wasn't loading up properly. My cousin installed a Chinese program on my dad's computer to watch Chinese movies a few months ago. Since then I tried to clean my dad's computer by running Spybot, Avast and Adaware. I noticed that after that program was installed the 'cleaning' programs don't run properly. They just stop suddenly. I had a feeling that his computer will eventually crash. When he told me his computer wasn't working, my first instinct was to run the cleaning programs. The operating system (Windows 7) wouldn't start up. One of the screens gave me the option to start in safe mode. I have had other computers that wonked out on me and I have had to use safe mode before. I ran Spybot in safe mode last night. It didn't find much. I thought I can spend more time on it tonight. I wanted to try to clean it as much as I can before I remove the Chinese program. I tried to install Malwarebytes via USB. That didn't work out too well. (I know you computer people may say that is an easy thing to do). I tried to just deleted the program via 'Uninstall a program'. That didn't work out too well either. In safe mode, it wasn't going too well for me in the beginning. The left button became the right button. That got really confusing. Because I am so used to 'left clicking' but now I had to 'right click' instead. Once I figured that the mouse buttons were backwards, things became a bit better. There wasn't a Disk Defrag button / option / program available. I don't know where it went and I didn't know where to find it. The Disk Cleanup worked. I tried a system restore and that didn't work. I didn't know if I had the Windows 7 disk for me to reinstall it. I pushed some buttons and managed to find a way to restore the computer back to it's factory settings. That was my last resort. I told my dad that he may have to reinstall the Chinese programs at a later date. It took a long time for it to set back to it's factory settings. After I did that, it worked. I managed to find the website where he watches the Chinese movies. I don't think he has to install that stupid program anymore.

Day 302: Journaling

2010-09-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took a continuing education course on journaling. It took place at Van Tech. It was my old high school.

I expected the course to be more a creative writing course. It wasn't like that at all. The teacher taught us different techniques for thinking about journal topics / ideas. She taught us about four different techniques. Some are better than others. It was a three hour class. I wish the class was longer to have more time to work on the techniques she taught us. We only got to practice two techniques. You may see some of techniques used on my blog in future postings.

After class I just walked the hallways. On the first floor of the school close to the office, there are pictures of previous grad classes. I found my grad class. I was looking at everyone's picture and thinking of what they are doing now. There are some people on my Facebook list. Most of them are married and some with kids.

Just being there brought me back down memory lane. I saw the picture of my principal. I remember she was the only female principal in the history of the school. I remember she drove a Toyota MR 2. It's a little sports car. It was weird seeing a very tall 'proper' old school woman driving a 'cool' young sports car. The Boys Citizen Award went to my friend Chia. I am not sure what the qualifications are to win the prize. He won so many awards during his high school years. A few years after graduating, he is no longer with us. I can't believe it's been 16 years since I graduated high school. Only four more years till my 20 year reunion. At my 20 year reunion, I need good stories to tell them.

Day 301: The Reef / Sweet Revenge

2010-09-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Review: http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/09/reef-sweet-revenge.html

Day 300: Engrish Signs

2010-09-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

I'm at my 300 post! I'm almost done. To mark this achievement, I've decided to post something humorous.

I think these signs were posted on engrish.com at one point. They were emailed to me and I've decided to share them with you!

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/09/engrish-signs.html

Day 299: Mexican words of the day / The Middle Wife

2010-09-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

Mexican words of the day

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/09/mexican-words-of-day.html

The Middle Wife

http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/09/middle-wife.html

Day 298: My first time selling Canucks 50/50 tickets

2010-09-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

I was nervous because it's my first time. It's like starting a new job or new relationship. You don't know what to expect. The instructions told me to meet at a gate. I got there and saw some people waiting outside. I wasn't sure what they were waiting for. I walked thru the doors and told the guy at the desk that I was there to volunteer. He told me to wait outside with the other people. When I am nervous, I tend to talk to people to break the ice and to make myself relax. I started talking to this guy who looks very eccentric. He was wearing a Canucks flag as a cape, a sparkly blue wig and a hat. Once more people arrived, they were talking to each other so they have worked together before. We just waited outside the gate till a Canucks staff came outside to check us in. At that point, they asked us if they have any extra tickets if we are interested in watching. I said 'yes'. After all the volunteers were checked in, we went inside the arena. We hung up our jackets. We had to give them our ID's and they lent us a volunteer shirt. It's a red long sleeve fleece shirt with '50/50 volunteer' printed on it. After we got our shirts, we were split up into two groups; one group are the newbies, one group experienced people. Of course I was in the newbie group. In this group, we had a staff member explain to us about the 50/50 program, the tickets, how to sell them, some perks and basic housekeeping / common sense rules. They then assigned us a location to sell the tickets. I was located at Gate 2 tonight. There were four of us there. We sold tickets from 6-7 pm and at the first intermission. Then we submitted our money and our left over tickets to the staff.

After my first shift, I have learned:

- don't be afraid to ask questions. That's how I managed my shift. I didn't know what was going on and I just asked people around me.

- one perk is getting food at 1/2 price, as long as you are in your volunteer shirt. A White Spot burger is more delicious when it is $4.87 for a burger and fries.

- there is no quota. It's not like a sales job. You sell what you can.

- you get to enjoy the game when you finish volunteering. They only have certain amount of tickets per game. I think it is random on who gets the ticket. Because it's a preseason game, I think all the volunteers got a ticket. But once regular season rolls around, I think it will be more of a luck of the draw on who gets a ticket. I managed to watch the second half of the second period and the third period. That's ok for me. That is the exciting part of the game anyways.

Day 297: Union Gospel Mission Orientation

2010-09-21T22:58:00.001-07:00

It took about three months before I made it to an orientation. My friend wanted to come with me. The orientation is only on Tuesdays. In July and August our schedule didn't jive to attend the orientation session. Finally we made it tonight.

We parked about 20 feet about the entrance to the building. Like usual, there is a line up outside the building. We went through the front doors and they directed us to the third floor. We went pass the second floor and it said 'do not enter'. Because it was of secrecy, we were more intrigued to find out what was on the second floor. We got there early and just hung out outside till it was time to sit down. We went into a small room with theater style seating. The seats are quite comfortable. It seemed like they were custom made because they had the table extension on them. The orientation was 1.5 hour long. There was a pamphlet on the table and they explained the information the pamplet.

I do understand that they have to clear out the weirdos as volunteers. There are pretty strict rules to follow. One of the guidelines is 'do not give out your address, email address, phone number or invitations to join Facebook to clients'. I understand about the address, email and phone number thing. It's a safety precaution in case they are weirdos. But the 'invitation to join Facebook'? Is a homeless person really a person I would like to add as a friend on Facebook? Will they respond to my 'friend request' or check my status to see what I'm up to? I do know they have access to the internet for free at the library. It's a sign that companies these days are aware of the impact of Facebook in our lives. Facebook is a form of communication like email or phone.

There are so many UGM locations with various activities at each one. They have locations from Mission to the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Their services include drop in services, lunch meal, dinner meals and alchohol and drug addiction recovery programs. There is also a Mobile UGM. It's a van that drives around the Lower Mainland and provides homeless people with food and socks and other goodies. They also have special dinners where they need volunteers.

To be a general volunteer, you need to attend the orientation seminar, fill out an application form, go to an interview and sign an agreement form. This process is very extensive. There is also a 3 month probation period. It's like a job!

Day 296: Potential Volunteer opportunities

2010-09-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for some volunteer opportunities for some time now. I haven't been actively looking, I think passively looking (if there is such a thing).

Tomorrow night I am going to the Union Gospel Mission's orientation. The volunteer position is serving food to the homeless in the downtown Eastside. I used to live by the downtown eastside and it was a scary place. Maybe it's not so scary anymore? Maybe you have to learn about the people who live there to be comfortable in their surroundings? A few years ago, my workplace had a group of them going to the downtown's soup kitchen. I didn't think that was practical volunteer experience. At that time, I wanted to volunteer somewhere I can gain more practical / office experience. But now I think it is a rewarding experience. I am getting older now and don't need to gain more experience. Volunteering to give food to the homeless is more about giving back to the community.

I am a Canucks fan. (In case you didn't notice my Canucks jackets, hats, jerseys, necklace and socks). A friend of mine, who is also a Canucks fan, told me about volunteering at Canucks games selling 50/50 tickets. At a Canucks game you can buy 50/50 tickets. The winner gets 50% of the money. The other 50% goes to Canucks charities. When you volunteer to sell the tickets, you are allowed to watch the game. The price of Canucks games have gone up from last year. Last year, I spent close to $100 on a game nite. It includes the ticket, maybe some mini donuts, maybe a drink or hot dog and gas / bus fare. As the price increases, the less I am able to go watch and support our Canucks. As a volunteer, I am supporting the charities and supporting the Canucks. I have sent the email to the volunteer coordinator with my contact information and availablity. I am waiting for their confirmation if I am accepted as a volunteer and what nites I will be volunteering.

Day 295: Blues and Chili Festival

2010-09-19T23:29:00.001-07:00

I first knew about this festival because one of the organizers came to the company I work at to rent some items. Because I didn't know about it last year, I thought it would be neat to check it out this year.

It took place today, Sept 19 from 11 am to 7 pm at the 200 block of Abbott St. There was a stage where they performed blues music. I have never really listened to blues music. It's pretty good as background music. I had a notion that it was depressing music. It's not all about being depressed. I don't think I would run out to go to a blues concert. But I wouldn't mind if I went to a restaurant playing blues music.

I knew there was a cost to trying the chili. Their tent didn't have real visible signage. I ended up asking some random people where to get the tickets. (I've been known to talk to random strangers.) The tickets to try the chili were 3 for $5 or 10 for $15. We were there to try the chili. There were 14 restaurants offering chili. We shared the chili that we tried. Luckily for us it stopped raining and it was starting to clear up. It was a good day to be outside in the afternoon. There were two restaurants that shared a 10 x 10 tent. I guess it would be kind of squishy for them. That's why they ordered the skinny tables from us.

I never really tried chili before. I don't think Wendy's chili counts. It was very interesting. Each restaurant made chili a little bit different. One restaurant added boar meat to theirs. Another restaurant had bison. Some had beans and meat. Another had just meat (the Texan style). Most of them were spicey. Some were too salty. Some had suckling pig. You get to vote for your favourite chili. We didn't vote. By the time we finished, we forgot about voting. Overall, I don't mind chili if it isn't too spicey. I don't think I would eat a whole bowl of it myself. I realized I like the chili with some beans and some meat.

There are so many restaurants in the Gastown area. We found out that Kirk McLean (Canuck alumni) has a restaurant in Gastown. That was our first chili stop. They had flyers and their business cards. The flyer had Kick McLean's picture from a hockey game. My first thought was 'why are they allowed to use his picture? isn't it copyrighted?' But I saw the business card and the contact was Kirk McLean. Who knew he had a restaurant?

Day 294: Vancouver Fringe Festival

2010-09-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to see two Fringe shows. The Fringe festival is all about alternative theater. Some shows are good and some are bad. You never really know until you watch the shows or read the reviews or hear a review from your friends.

The first show was at the Carousel Theater. It was called The Exquisite Hour. It started at 6pm. We managed to get there just in time. From the write up, it seemed like a very thought provoking play. The play takes place in 1961. There is a man seemingly innocently wanting to enjoy a lemonade in his back yard. Then suddenly a woman shows up in his yard. She eventually tells him that she is selling encyclopedias. As a part of her 'sales' pitch, she gets him to pretend how much information he knows to impress woman. At the end, she reveals that she wasn't really there to sell the encyclopedias!

The show was only an hour long. There was a lull in the middle of the show for me. But it was a surprise ending (that's why I didn't write about it).

The second show was at the Wicked Cafe called Wicked Shorts. The name peaked interest for us. We got there 45mins before the show started. There were two tickets left and we managed to buy them. I was so surprised that 45mins before the show that it would be sold out. We were so lucky to get the last tickets. It was an interesting play. It was actually 4 smaller plays in the one hour time slot. It was performed by two actors (one male and one female). The four plays are totally unrelated to each other. It is a very small cafe and the actors use the counter space and the washroom as part of their play. The first one is about a couple who are one a blind date and it ends bad. The second one is about two servers in a restaurant who watch guests on dates in their restaurant. The third one is about a brother and sister who don't really get along. It was kinda hard to understand. It seemed like they have an incestuous relationship. The fourth one was the funniest and the best one.

I liked the Wicked Shorts better than The Exquisite Hour. Yes, there was alot of swearing, but that was ok. The short plays get to the point quicker. It's interesting to see how the actors become different characters.

Day 293: I'm dreaming about chocolate already...

2010-09-15T23:18:00.001-07:00

I received the continuing education flyer for Burnaby and Vancouver. I thought because most of the courses I was considering in Burnaby are also offered in Vancouver I ended up taking the courses in Vancouver. I am interested in the culinary courses, photography courses and writing courses. I ended up signing up for the one or two session courses.

I registered for two courses:

WRITE: THE POWER OF JOURNALING: AN ADVENTURE IN SELF-DISCOVERY
Journaling allows us to absorb information more effectively. It also helps us be more focused and creative. It awakens a new level of awareness. It creates more space for deeper thoughts to come through. Our minds work at about 1000 words per minute. When we write, the mind slows down to about 100 words a minute. This course brings in an additional element by using images with words to bring balance to your right and left brain thinking. Join us to explore the power of different journaling tools and experience new ways of thinking. A VSB Fine Arts Diploma course.

BAKING: LIVE BY CHOCOLATE
Join Chef Clarence & "live by chocolate" in this great hands-on class designed for true chocolate lovers. He will share with you his prized chocolate making techniques & recipes that you can use to celebrate any special occasion! You will learn to create your very own chocolate buffet with an array of tempting favourites such as: Chocolate Fondue & Dipped Fruit, Chocolate Orange Souffle, White Chocolate Truffles, Toblerone, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Eclairs, Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Cake, Chocolate Amaretto Biscotti & more! Expand your knowledge of chocolate & learn where to buy the very finest. Bring an apron.

I chose the journaling course because hopefully it will help me with my 365 Day Challenge. It is only a one day (night) course. If it is a good course, I will be able to continue my blogging after my 365 days.

I chose the chocolate course because it's CHOCOLATE!!! I don't need to explain..hahha. It sounds really interesting. It's probably not intense but you get the idea of how to make all the yummy chocolate items. It will be a good chance for me to learn about chocolate before the chocolate festival starts in October!

Day 292: What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . / Yin Yoga

2010-09-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

Funnies:
What Love means to a 4-8 year old . .
http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-love-means-to-4-8-year-old.html

Health and Wellness:
Yin Yoga
http://lisahealthwellness.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-27-yin-yoga.html

Day 291: CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS.... / Hot Yoga at Yyoga

2010-09-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

Funnies:

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS.... - http://lisasfunnies.blogspot.com/2010/09/congratulations-to-all-kids.html

Health and Wellness:

Hot Yoga at Yyoga - http://lisahealthwellness.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-26-hot-yoga-at-yyoga.html

Day 290: House of Wings / Museum of Vancouver

2010-09-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

House of Wings
I started my day with lunch at the House of Wings. I was having lunch with a couple of friends. One friend wants to sell some comic books and the other friend is a comic book lover with a large collection of comics who may be able to help sell the comics. Comic books is a whole different language for me. I was happy to connect them.

I have never been to House of Wings before. It is located at Highgate Mall. It used to be Applebee's. After Applebees closed down, it was another restaurant. It has only been House of Wings for about six months. With a name like House of Wings, the wings better be good. The wings were on sale today for 37 cents each. We shared a few plates of wings. There were so many flavours to choose from. We ordered 4 plates of wings: tropical BBQ, honey garlic, unltimate pineapple and ginger sesame. There were interesting flavours such as chocolate, peanut butter and jelly and honey cinnamon. I liked the tropical BBQ and the honey garlic. The ginger sesame was too dry. I didn't like the ultimate pineapple flavour. I usually like pineapple flavoured food but not these wings. It was the cooked wing covered with a pineapple syrup.

Museum of Vancouver
I wanted to see the Fox, Fluevog and Friends exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver. While there, I noticed they were also exhibiting Home Grown. Fox, Fluevog and Friends is the history on John Fluevog, Peter Fox and Ken Rice. They are local shoe designers who became popular. They exhibit ends on September 26. Home Grown is about sustainable living which includes community gardens, composting and growing your own vegetables.

The layout of the museum is quite interesting. The museum is quite small so they didn't have a floor plan to give guests. I asked the cashier for a map but she said they don't have one. She showed me a floor plan of the museum. Once you pass the cashier the exhibits are on the right and the left. On the right is the Fox, Fluevog and Friends in the middle. The Home Grown exhibit surrounds the Fox, Fluevog and Friends exhibit. On the left is the History of Vancouver. The Fox, Fluevog and Friends exhibit is quite interesting. There are old drawings of their designs, old family pictures and, of course, the shoes. Some shoes are so unique that it would seem impractical for everyday wear. Home Grown was quite interesting. I am not about growing my own vegetables, but many people are and this exhibit shows this.

The exhibit I enjoyed the most was the History of Vancouver. There were big posters and old artifacts. There was a section on the Japanese history and the Chinese history in Vancouver. There was a section on the 50's and the 70's. We were only at the museum for little less than 2 hours.

Day 289: I am addicted to.....

2010-09-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

... bubble tea. I know they are about 500 calories a cup with pearls. When I'm thirsty, I am craving a bubble tea. I feel very bloated after I finish one myself. If I share one, it's ok. I have been having one an average of one every other day for the past two weeks. I detour to the nearest bubble tea place if there is one close by. I was at Metrotown the other day and I made a detour to Little Tea House. My friend lives by Highgate. Recently when I visit him, we hang out the Estea which is a few minute drive from Highgate.

At Estea they offer soya pudding with a choice of beans (red, green, or mixed) and pearls. The first time I had soya pudding with taro with half pearls and half coconut jelly. It was in a takeout cup with the sealed lid. It was layered: bottom layer was the pearls and the coconut jelly, the syrupy sugary liquid layer, then there was the soya pudding, the top layer was the chunk of taro. Taro is kinda like a potato and they just put a chunk of taro in my cup. It wasn't even in a liquid form where I can sip it with my straw. How would I get the taro out? I had to wait till I was finish the liquid and open the lid to eat the taro. The other two times I went to Estea I ordered the mixed beans with half pearls and half coconut jelly. We stayed in the restaurant so my bubble tea was served in a bowl. It was kinda weird eating bubble tea with a spoon. Not many bubble tea places offer soya pudding. Because I was at a place which offered soya pudding, I will order it.

I prefer the fruity slush flavors, like mango and papaya. I had watermelon slush for the first time the other day. It was refreshing. I tried grape slush. It wasn't very good. It tasted like a grape slurpee with pearls. I don't like the mixed fruit flavours. I tried strawberry and a bunch of other flavours together. It was just one big mush. I couldn't distinguish the different flavours. I dated a guy who would deliver me a mango slush bubble tea about once a week for a span of a few months. I guess I was a bit spoiled. Now I have to get my own bubble tea. There aren't that many bubble tea places close to my work or else I would have one every day. The closest one is the one in Tinseltown. It is kinda of a pain to go there because of the parking situation and it is upstairs in the food court. There are other bubble tea places that we know of but they don't open till about 2 pm. That's too late. Because if they opened earlier we can go get our lunch and detour to the bubble tea place. The coffee shop across the street from where I work started to offer bubble tea, but it's powdered and they don't mix it well so it's crap. In the summer time, I prefer the cold flavours. When it is cooler outside or when I need to warm up, I order the hot flavoured teas.

We were at Seattle Premium Outlets a few weeks ago. There was a small bubble tea stand. I saw all the powder flavour containers. They did offer a few fresh fruit flavours. I ordered a fresh fruit flavour. The young guy cut the fruit and put it in a Magic Bullet (http://www.buythebullet.com/). We have a Magic Bullet at home and I thought about making my own bubble tea. I think about all the work involved in making the bubble tea and that thought passed quickly.

I know it's kinda of a rip off cause I can probably get a big bucket of soya pudding for $5. I guess bubble tea is a rip off. The ingredients cost almost nothing and they jack up the prices for the customers. I think it's kinda like coffee. People are willing to spend $4-$5 on a coffee. I am willing to spend $4-$5 on a bubble tea. I think you can buy the ingredients and make it at home. It's like drinking home made coffee versus store bought coffee. It's not the same.

Day 288: Blood Donation

2010-09-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

After being rejected at Canada Blood Services a few weeks ago for donating blood, I attempted to go again.

This week I had Tuesday off because Monday was a stat holiday. Canada Blood Services on Oak street is closed on Sundays and holidays. I didn't know if I would have time to donate blood on Tuesday. I went to dim sum with my Dad then I went for bubble tea with my friend. After all that food, I drove home and call Canada Blood Services to see if I can do drop in or if I can make an appointment. Lucky me, there was an appointment slot available. I made an appointment and drove there right away. On the phone, the lady said to make sure that my blood sugar level was good and to drink lots of fluids. I got to the Oak Street location and noticed that my blood sugar was dropping. I know it is low when I get weak, cranky and moody. I asked the receptionist if there was a vending machine. She asked me what I was looking for. I told her I needed some sugar. She said I can take some cookies from the refreshment station. I grabbed some Oreos and some Fudge-o's. I felt much better.

I had to do the process from the beginning. They had to check my iron level. I was confident my iron level was good. A few weeks ago I went to my doctor to get a check up done. I told him I get cold easily and he suggested that I get my iron level tested and my thyroid tested. Those test came back fine. Then I had to fill out their questionnaire with the million of questions. Make sure most of your answers are 'no' or else they will prob more on why your answers were 'yes'. Next step is where I was rejected last time. This time it went fine. They took my blood pressure and heart rate. I think this time my heart rate was about 93, not 103 like last time.

There is a small waiting area you have to go before you get to sit on that comfortable chair to give blood. In the waiting area, there are about 9 seats in a 'U' shape. The TV was on the Food Network. I like the Food Network, except when I'm hungry. The food makes me hungry. After waiting for 10 minutes, it was my turn. They ask if you prefer to give blood on your right or your left arm. I chose my left arm because I am right handed and my right hand is my dominant arm. If I have pain on my left arm, that's ok. It's easier to rest it than my right arm. On my lounge chair, I can still watch the Food Network on TV. The most painful part is when they insert the needle in you. It is a pokey feeling. After it is in your arm, it is a bit uncomfortable. Canada Blood Services lets you back out from donating blood at any time you feel uncomfortable. I was thinking since I'm there already, might as well go all the way. I sat there on my lounge chair for about 10-15 minutes before they took out the needle. They escort you off the chair and to the refreshment area. They have juice and cookies. You can sit there for as long as you want until you feel well enough to leave. I had my juice and lots of cookies before I left.

They suggest that you don't do any strenuous activities for 6-8 hours after blood donation. I just came home and rested. I felt quite light headed and weak for the rest of the night. It is good to know that your sacrifice of an hour of your day can save up to three lives.

Day 287: Many Munchies at Milestones

2010-09-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

In the last week I have eaten at Milestones three times. The first time was on a Monday. The second time on Wednesday. The last time was Sunday.

My adventure on Monday at Milestone's was with two girl friends. We were at the Cambie and 8th location. On Mondays at Milestone's they have a Girls Nite Out deal. I met the gals at 3pm so we didn't know if the special was valid during the afternoon. I called to double check and they do serve that deal all day on Mondays for girls. The Girls Nite Out deal consists of 4 appies and 4 bellinis for $40. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip, yam fries, the flatbread plate and honey phyllo shrimp. I did eat before meeting the gals. But with all the food we ordered, I ate some more. I was in the mood for the spinach and artichoke dip. Boy, was I stuffed by the end of lunch!

On Wednesday I went out with my male friend. We had the date night special. No, we weren't on a date. We went to the Lougheed Hwy location. Both of us are dating other people. It was $50 for the deal and it included one appie, two entrees and one dessert. For the appie, we had the honey phyllo shrimp (sounds familiar). We both had the angus beef top sirlion. It was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The steak was unique becuase it was served with three different dipping sauces: house made Worcestershire, Kobe mustard and gaucho sauce. We ended our meal with the caramel gingered apple crisp. It was good.

The third time to Milestones was to attend my friend's birthday party. We went to the Yaletown location. It wasn't very busy for a Sunday night. There was a private room that wasn't being used. We asked if we can use it for the birthday party. Luckily for us, the manager approved and we had our dinner at the lovely private room. For dinner, I had the slow roasted AAA prime rib. It was done medium rare and served with mashed potatoes and some vegetables. There was a bit too much fatty parts to my prime rib but overall it was delicious.

Day 286: Review of Tom and Jerry's

2010-09-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/09/tom-and-jerrys.html

Day 285: PNE

2010-09-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

PNE is a Vancouver tradition. I used to work at the PNE for 5 years in a row. The first 3 years I worked at a concession stand. We sold foot long hotdogs and sno cones. The last two years I worked as a hostess. We were basically roaming guest services. After I stopped working at the PNE, I would go to the PNE at least once a year. Last year they had a promo where if you were a Gold Card member, you can get in for free. A Gold Card is a casino loyalty card. This year there wasn't that promotion, but I had some of my friends send me their promo codes so I could save $5 a tix. I didn't end up using the promo codes, I managed to get free tix. I went to PNE three times this year.

The first time was right before the Bryan Adams concert becuase our concert ticket included gate admission to the PNE. We only spend about 1.5 hour there. We had to strategize on what to see in such a short period of time. One thing we wanted to see was the prize home. We walked by and there was a long lineup. We didn't want to spend our time in line. So we skipped the prize home. I heard about this new candy exhibit that started this year. We found it. It is called Candy Nation and it is on the concourse of the Pacific Coliseum on the right hand side. It's a really neat exhibit. There is all kinds of candy for sale. There were also old candy dispensing machines. There was also a history on the various candy makers. I am kissing Elvis! The Elvis poster is made from jelly beans.

One thing I have to do at the PNE is to play the games at Playland. I know it's a waste of money but it's a lot of fun. Most of the games are too hard for me or they are games of chance / luck and I don't always have luck on my side. The two games I have to play are the 'horse racing' games. One is the one where you throw the ball into holes and the holes determine how fast your 'horse' goes. The fastest 'horse' wins a prize. The other one is like a pinball game. We won a prize playing the first horse racing game and we also won a prize playing Whack-A-Mole.

The second venture to the PNE was Friday night. PNE this year has a line of performers on their mainstage. On Friday night Cyndi Lauper was performing. She had a few hits in the 80's. One Cyndi Lauper favourite song was 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'. It's a classic party song. In the 80's, she sang pop songs. Now she is a blues singer. She did sing her 80's pop songs near the end of her performance. While she was singing her blues songs, we managed to see the PNE Prize Home. It was nice. I always find the bedrooms too small in the prize homes. The washroom in the master bedroom upstairs was the highlight for me. It had a TV and a hot tub. It is nice and spacious. The last show we watched was Kaboom! It is a pyrotechnics show with dancers. It is quiet neat. Because this is PNE's 100th year, they had clippings (video and pictures) from the various era's.

Today was my third time at the PNE this year. I wanted to see some of the things I didn't manage to see the other times I went. We went to see the Superdogs. It's a cool show. They take dogs out of the SPCA and train them to be Superdogs. Being a Superdog entails being disciplined and fast. Some dogs are faster than others. The Superdogs show is basically a dog race. Its fun because there is lots of audience participation. One the way to the Superdogs show, we picked up some little donuts and a whale tail. We got a whale tail with rasberry jam.

After the Superdogs, we were going to watch the mariachi band. We got to the location and watched for a few minutes. It is a very small space. We wanted to head to the Agrodome to watch the horse jumping show. Once we got there and sat down, they made an announcement saying that the 2:30 show was postponed to 4pm. We couldn't make it to the 4 pm show so we just left. We ended up going to the Marketplace. It's a place where they sell lots of stuff. The gals I went with liked to stop and look at many of the booths. Each of us bought something from the Marketplace.

Day 284: Fraser River Gold Panning Championships

2010-09-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Troy was at the Fraser River Gold Panning Championships this past weekend. I met Troy in 2004 while working at InfoNet (http://www.infonet-tech.com/). I was a marketing assistant and he was a computer programmer. Most of the employees at InfoNet didn't speak English that well. After Troy got hired, we hung out at lunch time and during work hours. He would get in trouble because we were hanging out too much during work hours and his boss didn't like that. After a year of working there, I decided to go back to school. At around the same time I submitted my resignation, Troy had enough of the place and decided to move on to other ventures. It was Facebook that reconnected us years later. He just emailed me today about his adventure at the Fraser River Gold Panning Championships. It is very interesting and I've decided to share it with anyone who reads my blog.

Hi guys,

This past weekend I got back from the Fraser River Gold Panning Championships. A 4 day camping trip up at Yale,BC. Thursday and Friday was gold panning tutorials/demos down by the river (and yes, we all found flakes of flour gold!

http://www.yukondan.com/
http://www.yukondan.com/home.php?page=championships

Saturday and Sunday was the Championship itself. There's some serious events, but there's some really fun ones too. Here Brenda and I took turns in the blindfold event. Oh sure... find some flakes of gold in a bucket of dirt while blindfolded... goooood luck! :P

There were a lot of older fellas out there are wearing their prospectin' hats and whatnot.

Check out this guy's truck. It's from 1940. He said he tried to buy a vintage trailer too, but it never worked out so he made that trailer you see below.

This is the guy himself and his wife. There's a core group of these gold panners that are right into these competitions!

They also had great events for all the kids. Amanda was in something called the "Mini Miners" and "Mini Miner Gold Rush" events. All the kids under 7 won prizes too.

When getting ready for the trip, I figured I could use a satellite dish to get a cell phone signal at the Yale campground so I threw it into the trunk. Later, I duct taped the antenna to the dish. But no luck :( I couldn't get a signal to save my life.

Well, it turns out one of the contests is called "Anything but a gold pan".

People were coming out with frisbees and frying pans and hubcaps. One guy used a big chunk of tree bark and actually did really good.

I figured this contest would be the one where everyone would get to know Troy :D

Night before I pulled the stand off and made some other slight mods and voila...

The younger teens and kids thought it was hilarious and it got lots of laughs from people. But the "Professionals" were all quite interested in my "pan". One of them suggested I switch to the big tubs at the back of the field. and 2 others came over to give me a crash course in something called "flat panning" which is what the experts use for "speed".

I got 6 flakes of gold out of that crazy pan. Took me 6:08. Turns out everybody else only got 5. Ah, but there were only s'pposed to be 5 in there and extra flakes don't count. Is too bad, if everyone had gotten a 3 minute for a missing flake I would've won it! Still though, whatever... the satellite dish is actually pretty effective for panning although it is a bit heavy on the arms... even with the extra handle.

Although there are several fun events, the teen, adult, professional and flat-panning contests are all really serious. Some of the pics I took really show how serious people take these events.

Game-Face Robin. This guy is a serious prospector. He'll tell ya tips & tricks, but not his special places to go looking :) (He's a super nice guy, don't let the expression fool ya).

This one here was called "Grudge Match" maybe? I call him HipWader Willy on the left and Castlegar Sam in the back. getting ready. Ted Turner in foreground. Notice the pins in their hats?

HipWader Willy so calm, so cool. I had invited him and Sam to our campfire the night before and we had a great time talking about gold prospecting. I had no idea they were such high-calibre panners. At the bottom of the screen is Ted Turner who drives the red truck. Not until I started looking at the photos did I realize how competitive these guys are!

(Hip Wader Willy won the prestigious flat-panning competition!).

I had a really lucky moment on the first day in the Adults competition. After shaking the gold to the bottom of the pan, I over-sloshed the pan and lost almost all the rocks and dirt in one go. Figured the gold was gone :( Heart sunk. I kept at it and "whattyaknow? I found 4 of 4 flakes in crazy fast time! I came in second in the qualifying heat of the Adults category, one category below the "Pros".

I figured best to enjoy it that night though, cuz in the final heat on Sunday I was sure to get blown outta the water.
That night we had a salmon BBQ across the street at the Hope River Esso-General Store - native style. Was good eatin.

On Sunday the same thing sorta happened again... I'd gotten down to a much smaller amount of dirt in the pan really fast, but I was too adrenalized and sloshed too much out again! Crap!

Suspect this was the moment of disaster :( Too much sloshed out.

But then -hey! I saw 4 flakes of gold!

I was about to call "GOLD!" (Your timer stops the clock and whatever's showing in the pan is what counts). Then I remembered that there might be more in the pan!.... oh crap... little swishes now but so hard to be steady. Lost one back into the dirt again."crap" - couple more little swishes and I had 7 flakes pushed off to the side, good enough "GOLD!". Was a fast time... 2:03. Really fast.

But then while waiting in line to report to the judges I heard people saying they got 8 flakes :( Means I took a 3 minute penalty so 5:03. Too bad eh? The rest of these guys are all really good and lots of people started calling "gold" so that's it, with the 3 minute penalty I was out of the running for sure.

After lunch this girl Cheryl (who had provided critical tips about panning on Thursday and Friday) came over and gave me a hug and said "Let me be the first to congratulate you".

What? What the hell for? I walked over the office where results were posted.

Third??? !!! Just unbelievable. I was just walking on air after that!

I had the trophy sitting on the dash of the RV as we drove out of the lot. Yukon Dan laughed when he saw us pull out with the RV later.

Pretty good for my first time out eh? :D

Thanks for lettin me bend yer ear guys,
Troy

Day 283: Landmark Education

2010-09-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

A few months ago a friend of mine mentioned to me about Landmark Education (http://www.landmarkeducation.com/). I have known him for a few years. But I didn't know him that well. One day after so many years of knowing him, we went out for dinner. He started to open up to me. He told me about how he was depressed for years and was taking antidepressants. One day his friend took him to show him about Landmark Education. My friend decided to sign up for the course. The beginner course is only four days long. At the dinner, my friend said the four day course changed his life. He is much happier. He has more focus in life. He enjoys his job. He found the love of his life. To make such an impact on someone's life, this is a pretty good course / seminar.

Another friend took the beginner course and it made an impact on her life. She just graduated from the advanced course. She is very excited about the positive changes she is making in her life because of this course. Because of these great changes in her life, she wants to teach / mentor others on how to live a great life.

When I went to the seminar last night, it gave me an introduction on what the program is about. It is about learning about yourself, your feelings and emotions to live a better life.You learn to analyze various aspects of your life and how to improve them.

Day 282: Food, Food and more food...

2010-08-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

I ate so much food today I felt like I was going to burst!

For breakfast at about 9:45am, I had half an egg sandwich. I was in a rush so I didn't have time to make much. I just toasted half my Portuguesh

For lunch at about 1pm, I had pho and bubble tea. My friend lives by Highgate Mall. We used to have a favourite pho restaurant on Kingsway. It was called Pho Saigon. But just recently they changed management. Now the decor is different and also the pho. When it was Pho Saigon, the pho was delicious. Now, the pho is ok. The soup base isn't as salty and tasty. I understand the management is new. The service needs help. We ordered beef skewers, a large bowl of pho with raw steak and meat ball and a small bowl of pho with beef brisket and meatball. The dishes didn't come at the same time. At pho restaurants, they usually give you the bean sprouts and lemon before your pho arrives. At this restaurant, they give you the pho first, then the bean sprouts. The small bowl of pho and the skewer came first. Then came the bean sprouts and the large bowl of pho. Like every other sunny day, I was in the mood for bubble tea.

We walked across the street to Estea. We ordered our bubble tea. I had soya pudding with mixed beans with pearls and coconut jelly. I am used to drinking my bubble tea. I guess becuase we were staying in the restaurant, they served my order in a bowl. It was kinda weird eating my bubble tea with a spoon. It was good. The bowl had soya pudding then the mixed bean, pearls and coconut were on top. Right when I finished my bubble tea, my friend called me to join them for a girls nite out deal at Milestones.

For my afternoon snack, I was at the new Milestones on 8th and Cambie. It was really nice and modern inside. I am so glad they have a small patio. It was such a beautiful day today. I have never been to this location before and I was impressed. I was there from about 3-4pm and there weren't many people. The customers all sat on the patio. There were only 3 of us. We had the Girls Nite Out deal. It is 4 bellinis and a choice of 4 appies from a selected list for $40. We had spinach and artichoke dip, yam fries, goat cheese and flatbread and phyllo shrimp. I didn't want to eat too much because I just finished a bowl of pho and bubble tea. But because the food was there, I kept on nibbling. The crispy honey phyllo shrimp arrived first. It was really tasty. It is crispy on the outside and cooked shrimp on the inside. It is served with a honey chipotle glaze for dipping. The second dish to arrive was the spinach and artichoke dip. It was so warm and comforting. I kept on nibbling on it. The third dish was the yam fries. I like yam fries better than regular fries because it is sweeter. The last dish to come out was the baked goat cheese and slow roasted garlic flatbread plate. The presentation was beautiful. The fig jam and the cranberry relish were in small bowls. The slow roasted garlic was still in it's shell. After my afternoon snack, I was almost ready for dinner.

For dinner at about 7pm, I made perogies with bacon and sour cream. I didn`t time it properly beccause I have never made this combination before. I made the perogies first then I made the bacon. I should`ve made it the other way around to keep the perogies warm. Because I made the perogies first, when the bacon was done, the perogies were cold. I had to pan fry it to warm it up (I dont have a microwave downstairs).

For dessert at about 9pm, I made a sundae. It was a banana with Oreo ice cream with chcolate syrup. Such a good way to end a day!

Day 281: White Spot Car Hop

2010-08-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

I have ever been to a car hop before. A car hop is an old tradition of driving to a restaurant and eating in the car. There aren't that many car hops left. It's gone in the way of the drive - in: extinct. There is a girl that works with me that worked at a car hop. It was her last day at the car hop the other day. I wanted to go visit her at work and it was a good excuse to go to a car hop.

We just finished dinner when we headed to the White Spot car hop. I was really excited. We managed to get there to be her last customers. Because we just ate, we only ordered dessert. We ordered a chocolate shake, blueberry pie and chocolate brownie. It came out in the long tray that goes across your car. On the tray, they automatically put on the ketchup, salt and pepper. It was kinda weird getting dessert served with ketchup, salt and pepper. But that was ok, it just took up space on our tray. The chocolate shake was served in one glass. In the restaurant it is served in a milkshake glass and a stainless steel cup. It just seems like there is less in the one glass than in two cups. The blueberry pie is fantastic, as I always remember it. It is filled with whole fresh blueberries. It is topped with a small serving of whipped cream. The brownie wasn't that good. It was a square chocolate brownie cut in half to make two triangles. It was drizzled with chocolate syrup and served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The brownie was too dry for me. It would've have been better if it was warmed up to make it more soft and chocolately.

It was a neat experience. I think it is a good romantic thing to do on a date. But it is kinda uncomfortable because it is kinda squishy. It is good if it is the destination. It is the only place you will be going. Then you will enjoy the experience more. But it isn't a place to go to after a long drive. After a long drive, I would like to stretch my legs and have a change of scenery. I would rather go inside the restaurant to have my meal.

Day 280: Salmon and Bannock

2010-08-26T23:54:00.001-07:00

A first time at a First Nations restaurant: http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/salmon-and-bannock.html

Day 279: Bryan Adams / Seattle

2010-08-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the day of my very first outdoor concert seated on floor seats. It was very exciting. I waited a month for this concert. It was for Bryan Adams and the Beach Boys as the headliner. It was the best $40 (plus HST, of course) I've ever spent. The Beach Boys performed for 2 hours. It was like a mini concert in itself. There was a short break between the Beach Boys and Bryan Adams. Bryan Adams made a very quiet entrance. No announcement, no loud racket...just walked on and the crowd went wild! I was bobbing with the music. Every other song was a song I can sing along with. It was just so exciting to be there at the concert! After the concert, we headed straight to Seattle.

Because I booked Saturday off for the concert and I usually get Sundays and Mondays off, it was like a long weekend. We decided to go somewhere far to take advantage of the time off. We arrived on Saturday night and just relaxed.

Sunday was a busy day for us. It started off at EMP (Experience Music Project)
The EMP is all about music. I'm not a huge music buff but this place seems really interesting. There was room all about Jimi Hendrix. It has the history of his music career. There was also a room with various guitars. It was really neat to see all the various guitars. The special exhibit was on the Supremes' costumes. It showed the different costumes they wore at different appearances. It was all showmanship; lots of glitter, sexy form fitting dresses, feathers. There was also a section where you can learn to play different instruments. I had a short tutorial on how to play the piano.

Attached to the EMP is the Science Fiction Museum. It was very interesting. It was all about the science fiction genre. There were books, artifacts and costumes. The admission price included EMP and the Science Fiction Museum.

After EMP, we headed to a tour of Safeco Field. It was really dependant on the weather on which day to head to the tour. For EMP and Safeco Field, we had coupons in the Entertainment Book. It was really neat to see the field, the oppponents dressing room and the press room. I never watched a pro baseball game before. This is the closest thing to it.

After 2 hours at EMP and an hour walking tour at Safeco Field, it was time to eat. We planned it so we can make it to the Brooklyn (http://www.thebrooklyn.com/) for happy hour. Happy Hour was from 4 - 6 pm and has a special menu. Appies were $5 or $6 each and raw oysters were $1 each. We ordered 12 raw oysters, steamed clams, wild boar quesadilla, rosemary parmesan fries and mini steak sliders. It was a good combination. My favourite dish was the wild boar quesadilla. Maybe I was hungry, maybe it was the taste of the food? It was something different.

Monday was all about shopping. We went to Wal Marts, a few Ross', Payless Shoes and finally made it to Seattle Premium Outlets. There wasn't as many sales as I would like but I did end up buying a few items.

Day 278: Life's Directions...

2010-08-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

You only have a small time frame to do what you want. If you don't do it, does that mean you missed your opportunity? I would like to finish my bachelor's degree. But I heard that you get free tuition when you are 65 and older. I can postpone it till then. I would like to live in my big house and be a billionaire. But will that happen sometime in my lifetime? Can I start from stratch at my age? Or do I just live the rest of my life and go another direction? Do I just think of it as a missed opportunity?

Most people decide what they want to do in high school. Pick the courses they want to take to pursue their career in post secondary. Then work their way up the ladder. I didn't do things that way. What I took in high school, was totally different then what I took in post secondary school. I didn't go to post secondary school full time right after high school. I wanted to be so many things after high school. There was always a reason for not pursuing that career path. It wasn't what I want to do anymore. It costed too much money for tuition. I didn't want to go to school for that long to pursure that career. Mentally I feel like I'm still in my 20's and deciding what to be when I grow up.

Some people have several careers in their lifetime. Maybe it's never too late to do what I want to do? I don't think I have found my 'calling'. If there is such a thing. Maybe I haven't found my passion? Maybe it's both? Maybe I'm just going to live on cruise control and see what happens? Or maybe I have to make things happen for myself?

Day 277: Video Games

2010-08-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

Most people think only guys like video games. I like video games. I would like it better if I was good at it. I don't like all video games. I like fighting and shooting games.

Last night I hung out with my friend and we spend some time playing video games. We went to Circuit Circus (used to be Lester's). Playing arcade games isn't as cheap as it was when I was young. It used to be 25 cents a play. Now it's 50 cents. We played a racing game against each other. We played a few shooting games. I played pinball also. It's quite challenging now or maybe it was the game that I played. At one point there were 4 or 5 pinballs coming towards me. After spending some money at the arcade, we went back to his house to play more video games. He has a Playstation 2. It is relatively old but that 's ok. He had Street Fighter (the orginal one). It reminded me of when I was in grade 7 and just started learning how to play Street Fighter. I didn't have a strategy. I just pushed the buttons and hope I am attacking my opponent. Now I still play like that. I don't know what buttons does what. I just push the buttons and hope it does something. We also played Tekken 4. It is a more 3-D realistic fighting game. I guess not playing video games for a long time, I am a bit behind in which games are 'cool'. It is a good way to get some anger out!! I got some sore thumbs but that's ok, typing all day doesn't make it better.

Day 276: Latin Festival / Outdoor Movie

2010-08-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a busy day for me. In the morning and early afternoon we went to the Latin Festival. In the evening was an outdoor movie.

Latin Festival
The Latin Festival was held on Sunday, August 15 at Trout Lake. It only took a small portion of the park close to Victoria Drive. We met at Broadway Station and walked to the festival. We were hungry and thirsty so we checked out the food area first. We walked back and forth several times before we decided what to get.

I wanted a drink but wanted something different. The picture above is of one of the drinks I bought. It is sangria flavoured soda. It sounded interesting. It sounded like sangria but without the alchohol. It tasted like a mixed fruit soda. It was cheap at $2 each.

This was our first treat. It looked like a apple turnover from the outside. We had to ask them what it was. The lady told us that it is a guava flavoured turnover. That sounded interesting. For $1.50, it was worth trying. It was pink inside and looked like strawberry rhubarb. It was quite tasty and really tasted like guava.

We got to the festival quite early and we ordered from one of the booths. We ordered sardines. It was bbq'ed sardines and you eat it with the bread, like a sandwich. When we ordered the sardines, their bbq wasn't up and running yet. We had to wait a really long time. The portion was supposed to be 2 sardines and 2 buns. I guess they felt bad that we were waiting for a long time, they gave us an extra piece of sardine. It tasted different than the canned sardines. I think they just put the sardines on the bbq and serve it on the bun. I was expecting the bun to have some kind of sauce to make it more tasty. But it didn't. It was just sardines and the bun. I didn't want to fill myself up with so much carbs so I didn't eat much of the bun and only picked at the sardines.

This is plantines. It is served with a coleslaw with a tomato sauce. It is plantine chips. The coleslaw is a bit different with the tomato sauce. With the tomato sauce on top, if you didn't eat the plantines quick enough they got soggy. It was different.

This was tortilla with filling inside. On this plate one tortilla was fillled with beans, pork and cheese. The other tortilla was filled with pork and cheese. The tortilla was made there. They shaped it and stuffed it then panned fried it. They were also offering tortillas which were grilled on the BBQ. It is served with the coleslaw and tomato sauce. It wasn't as tasty as I thought. It wasn't spicey, it wasn't salty, it wasn't sweet, it wasn't bitter. It was a bit bland. Thanks to the coleslaw, it tasted a bit better.

After 2 hours in scorching sun and after seeing all the merchandise, I was ready to go. I was sunburnt :(

Outdoor Movie

This is the first time I went to an outdoor movie. It was held at Swanguard Stadium. They were playing How to Train Your Dragon. I thought it was free but they were accepting donations for Kidsports in Burnaby. I would feel bad if I just walked in without donating anything. I just gave them $5. You were allowed to sit on the grass or on the bleachers. We decided to sit on the bleachers. I was worried about mosquitos and I brought some lotion and spray to deter the mosquitos from eating me alive. The movie started when it got dark about 9:30pm. It was really hard to concentrate on the movie. There were still kids running around and making noise. There were ambulance driving by. The movie didn't have good color contrast and I couldn't see part of the movie. By the end of the movie, I didn't get attacked by mosquitos and got a jist of what the movie was about.

Day 275: Fish and Tamarind (cha ca)

2010-08-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to a family dinner. We had crab and 'cha ca'. The crab was broiled. There was a fish sauce mixture available if anyone wanted it. It was our appetizer. I didn't eat very much of it because I'm very lazy to pick out the meat of lobster and crab.

The main dish was 'cha ca'. There is a street named Cha Ca Street in Hanoi, Vietnam because most of the restaurants specialize in this dish. Because I eat this dish at family gatherings, I am not sure if they serve this at Vietnamese restaurants. A family member made the dish for us. We just had to heat it up and eat it. It is a fried fish dish flavoured with turmeric, dill and oil.

The fish is cut into small bite size pieces and then fried. It is then put in a ceramic pot with oil, turmeric, dill and other ingredients. To heat up the fish in the ceramic pot, we just put it in the microwave for a few minutes. The ceramic pot is then put on top of a holder of tea lights. It is similar to a potpourri holder. The cha ca is best served hot. The tea lights keep the ceramic bowl hot. It is served with vermicelli noodles, basil, cilantro, vinegared onions, peanuts and a shrimp paste sauce.

Day 274: Experimenting with Food ; cooking/baking and eating it

2010-08-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

The other nite was the first time I made the No Bake Chocolate Blueberry Cream Pie. It was pretty good. This picture is after we had a slice. It isn't a perfect pie. I didn't follow the instructions completely. I messed up on a step. I improvised and continued the recipe. I could've also made the sides a bit cleaner. That's ok, I forgive myself because it was the first time making it. Practice makes perfect, right?

The other night we went to Bouzyos and I tried a new dish. Every time I go to a Greek restaurant I usually go for lamb; lamb roast, lamb chops or lamb soulavi. As in my Restaurant posting, I ordered the Mediterranean Prawns and Scallops. That was delicious. Tonight, my dad and I went to Sfinaki (thanks Entertainment Book). My dad told me tonight that he has never tried Greek food before. Because he hasn't been to a Greek restaurant before, it was up to me to decide on the dishes. I wanted to be experimental and try new dishes that I haven't tried before. I, luckily, had a good experience at Bouzyos and now I am hoping it will be a good experience at Sfinaki.

I ordered the following dishes:

Mousaka - classic casserole dish layered with spiced ground beef, eggplant, zucchini and topped with creamy bechamel, served with rice pilaf, roasted potato, greek salad and pita

Sfinaki deluxe - medley of lamb sausage, beef and chicken stir fryed with mushrooms and onions in a tangy tomato sauce, served with rice pilaf, roasted potato, greek salad and pita

Overall, I am glad I ordered these dishes. They were both great. My dad has bad teeth and some of the beef chunks he couldn't chew. But for me, it was fine. My dish has ground beef. My dad's dish has lamb sausage, beef and chicken. My dish was baked. My dad's dish was stir fryed. Greek food is more thanI about souvlaki and lamb. There are so many other dishes. Maybe souvlaki is the 'Westernized' version of Greek food? There are some 'Westernized' Chinese food; sweet and sour pork or chicken, etc. But there is so much more to Chinese food than the 'Western' dishes. There are some Vietnamese dishes that are on every Vietnamese menu; spring rolls, salad rolls, etc. What my parents make at home is totally different than what they sell at the restaurants. Maybe those types of food don't sell? I don't like fusion Chinese and Vietnamese food. I have to pay more to eat that type of food with a Western flair and usuallythey are smaller portions. I like the authentic dishes. Growing up, my parents always got me to try the different dishes. You know the ones with tripe, chicken feet, brains, liver or intestine. Sounds great, huh?

I got a great idea. When my parents cook, I should write down the recipes and learn to make the dishes. I can experiment with traditional dishes.

Day 273: Cooking / Baking

2010-08-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't know how to cook. I didn't want to learn how to cook. I moved out and lived on my own. At this point, it was to my advantage to cook. Eventhough I was living right by Davie St and there were many restaurants to choose from, it was nice to stay in sometimes and on top of that there were times I was too lazy to go out to get food. Since then I have learned to cook a little bit. It's been fun and adventurous. If I have to cook for myself, I have to plan on my menu for the rest of the week. I have to buy produce that can be used in a multitude of dishes. It doesn't make sense for me to buy something for one dish. I don't know when the next time I will be cooking that dish and that food will go bad and I will have to throw it away.

I dated a chef a few years back. It was a good experience because I learned alot about cooking. He had his own catering company. When he cooked, I would ask him about cooking techniques. It was kinda like free cooking lessons. Since we are not together anymore, I have to pay for cooking lessons. :P..

One of the items on my bucket list is to learn gourmet cooking. I am not sure when I will start that yet. I don't really like cooking for myself. I think it's more fun and satisfying when I cook for others. There have been a few potlucks where I brought a dish I made. One entree I made was actually pretty good. I have never made it before and I just made it up. It was like a pasta casserole. It was macoroni and cheese on the bottom layer. Then the next layer was green peppers, I think there was mushrooms too, and onions. Then it was salmon. It was topped off with cheese and baked in the oven. Last week I brought a dessert I just learned about. It was a Philipino fruit salad. It was super easy to make. It was pretty good. It is a mixture of cream, evoporated milk and fruit cocktail. I adjusted it a little bit and added jackfruit and toddy fruit.

In terms of baking, I used to make cupcakes. I thought it was delicious. But now I think it's too fattening. Buttercream topping is made mostly from sugar and butter. I need to watch my calories as I get older and globs of sugar and butter won't help. Every once in awhile I will make my signature cupcakes. They are mini cupcakes topped with chocolate and have letters on them. Some of you have seen them at a birthday party or at another occasion. Tonight I just did some more baking. Ok, it's not really baking. It was a non-bake raspberry cream pie. I went to Superstore to get the ingredients. Raspberries were super expensive. Blueberries were cheaper. It now became a blueberry cream pie. I couldn't fine creme fraise so I substituted it with dessert topping (like Cool Whip). It's in the fridge chilling now. We will see how it turns it out tomorrow.

Day 272: Bouzyos

2010-08-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

Best Greek food I've had so far: http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/bouzyos.html

Day 271: Outdoor Go - karting

2010-08-08T23:17:00.000-07:00

My friend organized to go outdoor go karting. When I got the invite, I was excited because go karting is on my bucket list. I read the details of the invite and wasn't so excited. It was at 10am on a Sunday and in Tsawwassen. I wasn't keen to waking up early on a Sunday morning to head off to Tsawwassen. I told him I would come a few days ago. But this morning, I woke up and it was a gloomy and wet Sunday morning. I thought it would be dangerous to be go karting in the rain. I messsaged my friend to see if it was still on. He was really eager to go go - karting so it was a go.

Tsawwasen seemed so far away. In the morning I checked my iphone maps to see how long it would take for me to drive there. It told me 30mins with traffic. Sometimes these maps judge the time inccorectly. I left my house late so I thought I would be late. It took me 30mins to get there so the iphone map was right. I got there at 9:58 am and even got there before the staff. We went outdoor go karting at F440 in Tsawwassen, across from Splashdown Park.

There was four of us that went go karting. Two of them rides motorcyles. The track had a lot of turns and it was a bit challenging. I had a feeling that the motorcyle riders will go on the track faster than myself. I felt like a grandma on the track. I was scared to go really fast. The first lap I was going really slow. I had to get used to operating a go kart. Then I had to get used to going on that curvy track. Then I challenged myself to go faster. We raced three sessions of 15mins each. In each session I was last :(. The first session was so uncomfortable for me. It was drizzling so my helmet was wet. I pushed my visor up a little because I couldn't wipe off the rain drops. But once I did that, dust particles were flying in my face. By the third session, I was comfortable with using a go kart in the rain and going on the curvy track but my kart wasn't going as fast as I would like it.

Overall it was a fun experience. Maybe I would go faster if it wasn't drizzling. It was a bit expensive but I had an Entertainment Coupon and I saved myself a few dollars.

Day 270: Marmalade

2010-08-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Mediocre restaurant: http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/marmalade.html

Day 269: I feel so rejected!

2010-08-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Today I had an appointment with the Canadian Blood Services (http://www.bloodservices.ca/) to donate blood again. I was early for my appointment. They let me proceed eventhough I was early. After I checked in with the receptionist, I went to the next counter where they checked my iron level. To check the iron level, they poke your finger and collect a few drops of blood and put it in a machine and the machine spits out a number or it says yes or no. I'm not exactly sure what it says, but the attendant then tells you if your level of iron is acceptable. If your level is acceptable, then they give you a long questionnaire to fill out. You are only allowed to fill out the top half at this stage.

The questionnaire is another screening process before you get to actually donate your blood. You have to respond truthfully in this questionnaire. It is beneficial to the Canadian Blood Services to make sure they have clean (untainted) blood. In the questionairre there were questions such as if you have had sex for money in the last 12 months, if you were in Africa in the last 3 months, if you had any dental work done in the last 3 days, if you had any tattoos or piercings done in the last 6 months and other similar questions. After you finish that questionairre, you go into a small room and you see an attendent (I think it is a nurse). The nurse then asks you the questions from the bottom half of the questionairre. There are questions such as if you had used drugs with a needle in the last 12 months and other similar questions. While in the room, the nurse takes your blood pressure and your heart rate. The blood pressure and heart rate has to be a certain range for them to let you proceed to donate blood. My blood pressure was fine. My heart rate was a bit high. The nurse asked if I was nervous. I was nervous because I remembered the last time I donated blood. I remembered I felt the needle in me and it felt uncomfortable for the 10 minutes the blood was coming out of me. The nurse tried to calm me down a bit then took my heart rate again. The first time it was 107. The second time was 104. I asked what it had to be for me to proceed. She said it had to be 100 or lower. She said I can come back tomorrow or another day I am free. I was rejected from donating blood because my heart rate was too high :(

Day 268: Powell St Festival / Chinatown Night Market / Van. Vietnamese Restaurant

2010-08-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

Powell Street Festival

This festival took place from July 31 and Aug 1 at the renovated Oppenheimer Park. We couldn't go on Sat, July 31. We ended up going on Sun, Aug 1. We didn't get there until 4:30pm. It ended at 7pm. There many events happening in and around the park area. We parked close to the Japanese Language School. We found out later that there was an exhibit on the atomic bomb and some historic information on the Japanese people in Vancouver.

We walked on one end of the festival and they were selling food; BBQ salmon, sno cones, corn on the cob, spam sushi. We wanted to walk around to see what else the festival was offering in terms of food. We walked across the park viewing some of the merchandise the vendors were selling. Once we got to the other side we saw some more food booths. They were selling octopus balls, gyozas, dessert with red bean filling and tofu items. We were lining up for the red bean desserts when we saw our friends (Hi Laura and Carlos ;) ). They were lining up for the octopus balls. We made a deal with them. We gave them money to get us the octopus balls and they gave us money to get them some red bean dessert. While we were eating our dessert with red bean and octopus balls, there was a drumming performance on the main stage. After that food, we were on a search for more food. We walked to the other side to see what else we felt like eating. We saw a friend of mine and he said there was an exhibit in the Vancouver Buddist Church. We walked in to see what it was all about. The most interesting thing were some minimalistic flower arrangement (see attached picture).

Chinatown Night Market

We left the Powell Street Festival and were heading towards Main Street for some dinner. We drove by Chinatown and noticed that the night market was just starting up. We decided to check it out. Our first destination was bubble tea. While drinking the bubble tea, we walked the whole market, which was only a block long. They were selling the typical night market stuff: ipod / iphone covers, belts, toys, underwear, shoes, clothing, DVD's and Chinese food. We were only there for about 20mins. There was a stage there but we didn't stay for any of the performances. It was dinner time and we were hungry.

Vancouver Vietnamese Restaurant

Full review : http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/vancouver-vietnamese-restaurant.html

Day 267: Kids Say the Darnest Things !

2010-08-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

My mom is currently visiting my sister and her family. She is spending a few months there to help my sister take care of her kids during the kids' summer break. I talked to my mom and my sister earlier today. My mom told me about a situation that happened recently.

My mom is pretty old school. She was raised in a 3rd world country and food was scarce. There was no wasting food. It was about living in a large family and every morsel of food was spoken for. If you didn't finish your food, there was someone else in the family that was more than willing to finish it off for you.

The kids (my niece and nephew) are 'Americanized' (if that is even a word). They were born in California. They were raised with numerous fast food joints in their surroundings. Of course there is always the odd visit to a fast food joint (with a coupon, of course). They live in a very comfortable house with a swimming pool. Each of their parents has a car. They have closets full of clothes. They have lots of toys. They live in the suburbs so they always have to drive every where. Because they live fairly close to Anaheim, there are frequent trips to Disneyland.

My mom and the kids were sitting eating pizza. The kids didn't eat the crust of the pizza. My mom said to the kids 'you have to finish off all your food'. My mom followed up by saying that there are many kids in Africa who don't have food to eat. My nephew, age 3, said to my mom 'then they can go to Costco to buy their food'. My mom and niece giggled at that comment. They know that African kids can't just drive to Costco to get their food. That comment from my nephew shows his innocence and Americanization.

Day 266: Les Faux Bourgeois

2010-07-29T23:55:00.001-07:00

This wasn't my dish, it was my friend's dish. But it looks great and it was probably tasted good..

More review and pictures:

http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/07/les-faux-bourgeois.html