merry christmas

thursday december 25th

yay christmas! headed out to dim sum with my family near my auntie candy's place. after dim sum, we wondered around western hk, since it was a holiday the malls were packed. not that we didn't want to do some serious shopping, but the sheer volume of people that was packed at a single location as well as the craziness that comes with sales, it was simply not a shopping time for an inexperienced shopper like myself. having spent the day in Tuen Mun area shopping, browsing and visiting my grandpa, we arrived at my auntie candy's place for a family christmas dinner. at my auntie candy's place, we finally got to meet my cousin amanda who i have known all my life, when i was younger she was like the older sister than i never had. and for the first time, we also met her husband eric. it was a super nice family dinner.

friday december 26th

boxing day! it must have been the alcohol or something, i collasped in bed as soon as we got home as usual, but this morning i didn't wake up early as usual. i slept all the way till 9ish until lee decide to wake me up. i was so sleepy still. i had to rushed to shower and junk to head out of the house. the reason for the mad rush so early in the morning is because today we were on a journey to tung chung of lantau island to take this roller coaster ride of a bus to go see the big buddha in ngong pang. the big buddha was really really big buddha. we also saw a very traditional chinese buddhist temple that is located across from the big buddha. as we say farewell to the buddha, we went to tai o to check out the rural village there. there was a really amazing local dessert place here. i got the hot dessert tofu with the orange coloured sugar, which melts as you eat. it tasted delicious, the tofu was so smooth. i wish my skin was that white and smooth, damn i'm jealous.

post a mid day dessert break, we walked all around tai o. both lee and i were amazed with the village of tin shacks located by the seaside. it was mad ghetto. we decided to grab an early dinner because we didn't exactly ate a real lunch. we got seafood and we went to this really local dinner place, where lee learned how about "pee-your pants shrimp". dinner was wonderful with all the fresh seafood and the unique dishes from the restaurant. bus-ed all the way bak to tung chung. tim, lee and i wondered around the outlet mall around tung chung and lee was able to pick up some nice deal on them dried mangos, as well as a sick pair of tims. yay shopping!

time for some mj and sleep.

the meeting

wednesday dec 24th

due to jet lag, lee and i woke up way early like around 7 am, as well as because we both collapsed into bed rather early. after a quick breakfast, tim, lee, my auntie lisa and i headed out onto the mtr to head to chai wan to do some browsing. we wondered along the streets, looked at street vendors which sold old style toys, and waited for my auntie candy, my uncle's wife for our first dim sum of the trip. at the restaurant, i for the first time got to meet my auntie candy. it was nice dim sum lunch, we were able to try out many different new dishes, which we would not have tried in toronto or the quality of the dishes would be lower. after lunch, we browsed through a couple shoe stores because my running shoes were half destroyed and i was desparate for a new pair of running shoes. having not really seen anything that i particularly liked, we headed off to stanley.

stanley is a typical tourist location, its a sea/bay side area where the bay is surround of uber expensive beachside properties. as well as, attractions and eateries that were there just for tourists. it was nice to take a stroll around the beach, but like all typical tourist locations, it was very tourist-y and not very local at all, not what the real hk is like.

we headed to causeway bay after our stop at stanley. the ride to and from stanley is like a rollercoaster ride. as discussed before, the driving in hk is a bit sketchy, so sketchy driving plus intense narrow winding roads makes for a very interesting ride. causebay was literally a shopping paradise for those who enjoy shopping to the n-th degree. it was so crowded there that the fear of getting left behind and be completely lost was so great, i literally hung onto lee to be dragged along in the crowd so we wouldn't lose sight of my auntie candy, who knew exactly where to shop for everything and where we were going for dinner that night. she is an amazing tourguide around hk. at times square, which was this huge mall with 7 floors, i finally bought myself a new pair of pumas and a super nice puma bag. yay, shopping!

dinner was at this northern chinese (shanghai style) restaurant. it was at the 27th floor of this building it was so cool. post dinner, we got took the streetcar over to the place where you hop on the tram to get to the peak. the peak is at the highest mountain in hk, and there is a sky terrace where you can look out over at the skyline of hk. it was so pretty at night, where you can see all the lights that adorn the skyscrapers of hk. as well as the ability to get alway from all the light pollution to see actual stars. the view from the top was just absolutely gorgeous. the tram ride was super fun because of the intense incline that was required to travel up the mountain. lee also have a mini adventure in seach of a bathroom on the peak. (yes, hk publich washrooms are way shady)

tim and i did a mini countdown to christmas. it was nice sitting outside of haagen-daz at the peak to celebrate the first hour of christmas. although, in actuality for a torontonian christmas doesn't really arrive for another 13 hours. it was super nice nonetheless. my grandma's brother who works as a taxi driver picked us and and drove us home. i quickly collapsed into my bed and did not wake up until 8 this morning.

today is finally christmas! i am celebrating christmas with my josh groban noel cd in hk! so excited. lots to do today, and i simply can't wait.

flight across the world

dec 20th saturday

finally, it was the day before the much anticipated trip to hk. lee and i both woke up early get the day started. even with this early start, to my dismay, lee was totally unprepared in that he, as of saturday afternoon, have yet to pack his luggage. but we were able to complete all of our last minute shopping, which was achieved under extreme stressful circumstances. that night, we went to ada ee's house for dinner, a gathering for our group of friends for a family style dinner. the food was amazing, we had steak, lobster, mushrooms, and fried rice. the dinner was super fun and filled with laughters. i couldn't ask for a more enjoyable way to spend my last evening in toronto for the next bit.

dec 21st sunday

lee and i having gone to bed late saturday night from packing and all the pent up excitement, woke up really early to get ready and to head out because of the impact of the snowstorm, which could potentially delay our schedule. alex came over extra early to pick us up, we got to the airport a little bit later than expected but we got through customs and security super quickly just like the trip to disney. thus, we were waiting for an hour and a half for our boarding time. as expect because of the weather conditions we were delayed for about 2 hours. our flight was suppose to depart at 11.30 but we weren't able to board until noon. by the time we arrived at newark, it was already pass the boarding time, once again we were dashing through the newark airport just like disney to our gate. when we got the the gate to ask the man about boarding. his reply to us was, "what? hk? this is a flight for honolulu. i think the gate for hk is down there." thankfully, the gate for hk was nearby, and they've only just finished boarding for first class, otherwise with this sudden switch-a-roo, we could have been in such a doo doo situation.

dec 22nd monday

the flight to hk was quite uneventful. as usual time spent in the cabin was like a sauna, everything just got super dry, and i learned the art of putting on cream like a mad woman. lee and i also realized that when someone is hungry enough, airplane food can actually taste decent. since there was no time in between our flights, we were unable to get a lunch from the early morning in toronto to the afternoon in newark. to put it light, we were beyond famish. the last meal before we landed was kind of strange. we got the omelette "breakfast" along with our meal was a little packet of soy sauce. i looked over to lee to see if they simply made a mistake in giving the soy sauce, maybe it was supposed to be a ketchup packet. but no, lee got a packet of soy sauce too. so i aske lee whether he ate omelettes with soy sauce, he no, and i definitely don't eat omelettes with soy sauce. so i asked him, so why the hell did they give us soy sauce? do they like expect us to feel all foreign and excited about the exotic-ness of asia by giving us soy sauce with our order of omelettes? and to this moment, i am still baffled.

tuesday dec 23

having not really slept at all on the flight to hk, i was able to manage the whole jet lag situation fairly well. since when we landed in hk, it was night time, and i was exhausted from barely sleeping at all during the 15 hour flight.

the today, i woke up at 7 to get ready for my appointment to get my updated hk id. the bus ride to the building was quite exciting. having to sit and wait around for people to call your number totally sucks, the people working there was way rude, and i was just generally confused with the sudden increase of chinese everywhere. after going through the entire bureaucratic process of getting a new id, tim, lee and i began our afternoon of wondering around the dragon centre (this huge 9 story mall) and the streets nearby. it was fun and such a struggle getting food, looking at a menu that contain no english, and trying to figure out how to pay for the meal. wondering around was also exciting, crowded but exciting nonetheless. it just nice to just be browsing through street vendors and stores, not really into shopping today because it was really hot and stuffy. the subway ride home was really neat, both lee and i are rather impressed by the extensive public transit system here in hk.

on our way home, we made stops at my old primary school, asbury methodist primary school. for the first time in my life i learned the name of my school in english. we also stopped at my old kindergarten. things have definitely changed a lot, in my memory, my elementary school was like a super shady and child-enslaving kind of school. yet, going back today the school was all renovated with pretty colours, real doors, and an actual ventilation system with like a/c and heat. the school building itself was also enlarged. as lee said, i was seeing my childhood through adult eyes, every was different. many of my childhood views about even the most mundane things are challenged. things i used to think were huge are now tiny, and those that i think is amazing is no longer as incredible. as well, things i never knew before are coming into my realm of knowledge. so many things in my mind is changing all at once, this feeling is overhelming to say the least.

after relaxing a little at home, i headed out again with my aunt lisa to do grocery shopping for the night. it was really cool walking through a traditional style grocery market. the place we went to had like a different level for different food groups, like a floor for veggies, meat, and seafood. as usual it was crowded, and instead of saying excuse me and sorrys, people just shove and push to get to where they want to be. i think i am too polite for hk. overall, it was nice to do grovery with my auntie. the smells of the grocery market brings back memories. so far this trip is turning out even better than i could ever anticipate. obviously, talking with kelly again in person is as always super awesome.

britney spears

i think that i am can say that most people within this generation has been caught up one time or another with the rise and fall of the life of britney spears. with her second come back attempt, (remember that cd blackout that no one bought?) post the kevin federline situation and her two babies, her new album circus has been a huge hit in popular culture.

althought i can't help but notice along with a lot of others that britney as a performer is no where near the standard that she was performing at pre-kevin and babies. i suppose the most cliche term must be used in this context that the extra sparkle in her eyes are gone. i guess drugs can do that to a person.

on top of that, her mtvs and her recent choreography is filled with these awkward filler walking moments. like i thought she was a dancer and she was into dancing, but being a non-dancer, i obviously didn't realize that walking in a very rushed and un-sexy manner was part of dancing. could have totally fooled me. a comparison between her mtvs at there peak of her career as a performer, and her new string of mtvs and performers the walking in these performances probably increased like 200%. (numbers not based on actual calculation)

still, tickets to her new tour is on sale. should i too buy into this irrational attachment to the circus act that is britney?

twilight & dim sum

last friday the phenomenon that is twilight finally reached its logical conclusion. kelly and i thinking that we were so super intelligent went to go see the first show of the day thinking of no high school kids would skip school for a freaking movie. o how wrong we were. by the time we set foot inside stc, we could already see a huge line-up outside the theatre for twilight. i laughed so hard at them, it was just utterly ridiculous. we arrived at stc at around 11 and the movie started at 11.50, because of my absolute refusal to stand in line with a whole bunch of fanatic high school children, i went to timmy's to get some coffee. getting coffee before noon was the quintessential thing to do in the life of a college student, and obviously i needed some caffeine to keep me awake and functioning through the movie.

as we got our seats inside the theatre, we discovered that in front of us diagonally to the right was like this teacher and her class. we had a serious wtf moment. like how did that teacher manager to convince the school principle to let her take a class to go see twilight first thing in the morning? its not like the book is a classic, its not even a book that is that well written, like wtf. nonetheless, they were there. eventually, the theatre filled up your typical gushing high school girls for their daily dose of robert pattinson, and a sprinkling of guys who either were there for their girlfriends or on a dare or they really “like” twilight. there seemed to me to be a lot more movie trailers shown before twilight, or maybe it was just me. but the trailer for the next harry potter movie looked really good, hopefully that would be a good indicator of the quality of the actual movie. without any expectation for twilight, quite frankly it wasn’t surprising to me that the movie kinda sucked. kelly and i just laughed our heads off throughout the entire movie. we even laughed really hard in the supposedly romantic parts too. i don’t remember that hard in a movie in a long time. although, its not an amazing movie, if you read the book or just curious, i would still suggest you go see it just to be in touch with this new cultural reference.

after twilight, the weekend was spent being supremely unproductive. even though i had like 2 huge essays due, i only got one of them done, which inevitably led to a mad dash to the finish as usual for both essays. but i am proud to say i finished both essays and handed them in on time this week.

wednesday, i woke up early to do my crim essay. thinking i was so studious i set off to work. after an hour of somewhat studious work, i got a call from calvin. i was so confused considering this was way early in the morning, it turned out that calvin like got grace and tommy to have lunch with us. this was just an idea that both calvin and i had from tuesday night after work. because we both have Wednesdays off we were just thinking about what to do for lunch, and how funny it would be if we could get grace and tommy to eat with us. and it actually happened! so the studious facade came off, and i quickly went to get ready to go for dim sum. calvin came to pick me up, then we drove to grace’s house to follow her to tommy’s.

omg. grace was driving like a madwoman the whole way to tommy’s. she like peeled off from her side street in to the main street in the most aggressive left turn ever at like 80. by the time we reached ellesmere we were going at 100 on a 60 street. i have never seen calvin so nervous going fast before. we were so nervous we had our eyes in all direction for the lookout of cops. and we’ve never been so happy to see traffic and red lights just to slow grace down. eventually, calvin just pulled in front of grace to slow her down. when we got to tommy’s, calvin and i were like spies parked in front of someone else, eyeing their front door intently. it was too jokes. dim sum was lots of fun, lots of laughs, finally got to meet tommy and make fun of grace as well. overall, my impression of tommy is that he seems like a nice guy, pretty easygoing, and if grace is happy with him, i think we can be too.

wednesday night, calvin, alex and i went out to timmy’s to get coffee, food and to talk to about our dim sum experience with grace and tommy. it was so funny. calvin was able to categorize grace’s expression into 2, which is the happy one and the upset one. with 3 reaction under each category, calvin’s imitations was absolutely hilarious. hopefully, calvin will scheme again to do stuff with grace and tommy. fun times.

later days

celebration

life have been awfully hectic, thus the neglect of this blog once again. even though i am only taking 4 credits worth of school, maybe its the first time i am dealing with only taking half year courses, mostly 300 level courses and the increased level of laziness, which is causing the constant back-log of work and readings. i suppose the 12 hour work day of saturdays definitely does not help.

there is a lot of celebrate in life. one of which that was super special is the baptism of lee. writing this down would definitely help me remember this unique occasion on sunday of november 2nd. although it was only attended by a small selected group of people, it was actaully quite an intimate and cozy ceremony. lee was finally able to share his testimony with everyone including myself. this is something that lee wanted to do for a long time, and for him to be finally be able to perform this act of public declaration of this faith is quite exciting. almost like how we finally got to go to disney about all the talk and discussion. definitely need to thank god for his grace for providing lee with this opportunity to be reconciled with his love and salvation.

lately, because ben's parents are gone to hk, i think. we have been taking over his house as the eatery on the weekends. its so fun cooking, laughing and eating together. then again everything is more fun if you do it with friends. this reminds me of all the laughters i shared with them during the disney trip. i couldn't imagine a more hilarious disney trip even if i tried. we watch hancock after dinner. i didn't go see it in the theatre because lee said it got some pretty mixed reviews, which i totally understands why is not a great movie. but it wasn't quite bad though. the plot twist at the end adds a level of humanity and depth to the plot. it has a bit of a bittersweet ending as well. i would totally recommand this movie if you want a movie to just kill some time.

to do:
-ethics paper
-youth justice research essay
-phaedrus paper

wedding season

another realization of the aging process within the society, is the sudden spike of invitations to a billion and two weddings. as i jump full throttle into this year's wedding season, i found myself feeling a mix of indifference, and slight bit of fear. the significance of weddings in general have faded to a point that the decision making process of "um... what should i wear to this wedding?" has become way too easy. with the renewal of people marrying at an earlier age, this has manage to indirectly put pressure on the rest of us to find "the one" and tie the knot. fortunately for me and, maybe unfortunately for those people giving me "the look" when i go to these weddings with lee is that marriage is possibly the furthest thing from my mind, almost as far as tiffany becoming a mathematician.

according to my counsellor, there seems to be this one track life pattern that cbc parents drill into the minds of cbcs that a cbc must a) complete university in one of many asian fields like business, engineering, life science, etc. b)upon completion of university, the cbc must quickly acquire a good paying job to save up money for certain properties of their own. for example, a car, a house, etc. c) meet "the one" and get marry asap. cuz we all know how badly all asian parents are dying to be grandparents, and how your parents know just how badly your grandparents want to be greatgrandparents. d) make some babies! (refer back to one of the fundamental truths of chinese culture)

having that said, congratz to adrian and kitty. may god continue to bless this union of love.

and a toast to all of us we are still unmarried, the time of getting shitfaced, punking in random locations, and passing out on the bathroom floor is not over!

this past sunday was one of the most activity filled sundays in a while. church in the morning. the sunday school movie in the morning was super awesome! yay to sermons in lecture style with a structure of a perfectly written philosophy paper. complete with a sound and valid arguments straight out of a philosophical logic text book, to prove the conclusion. i nearly fell out of my chair from all the excitement. lee merely thought i was a high philosophy student, cuz i was the only one freaking out over such insignigicant things. lunch with my church friends are always a blast. watching the olympics with them only makes the experience all that much more exciting. then the noon-k was extremely relaxing. haven't been to k in a long time, it was definitely a nice change of activities. then dinner was a mix of serious conversations and more random yet hilarious chats. i love spending time with friends.

a nice surprise was also waiting for me at dinner. running into vanessa was definitely very nice. it was wonderful to see her doing so much better. must do something together before summer is over. continue to send her much love, and keep her in my prayers.

thinking... post on the olympics?

severe thunderstorm alerts...

later days