Bullets @ Pearson

After my 3-day-long-long-long-meeting in YOW....I came back to TO super tired...half-dead, half-sick....with a luggage that's 50% heavier than when I left (unfortunately not from shopping, but from the binder + 50-million pages of handouts + work-to-do's from the meeting). So I checked in my bag...coz there's no way I want to push it up the overhead bin inflight.

The flight actually arrived a little before schedule, which was great...but the wait for my luggage took forever.....after about 20 minutes, the carousel just stopped. Hubby managed to sneaked in the waiting area and wait with me...Some WestJet people came and took everything off that conveyor. Something must be jammed inside...it's past 8pm and I'm getting hungry....C'mon...hurry up!

Another 10 minutes...I asked hubby to walk around the carousel once more just to make sure my bag isn't already out. He came back with some news, "it will not be anytime soon," he said.... Two police officers arrived, a bunch of WestJet people gathered around..A lady from Transport Canada took out her patch-pad and start writing. There were about 20-30 bullets on the carousel conveyor. Just like that, in the open, not in any package or anything.

No one seems to be very alert though...there was not caution tape...we were not asked to stand back or anything, we just stand there and watch. We were not mistaken..those were real bullets..coz we were so close we could hear them talk! What amazed me was, after some questions and jotting down notes, the officers just picked up the bullets and put them in a Wal-Mart bag! Bare hands, no gloves! I mean ... that's not what we see on 法證先鋒?!? OK, I know it's not a murder scene..but, those are afterall, some kind of evidence to something?!?!

In less than 5 minutes after that, the carousel started moving again...as if nothing happened. Makes you think ~ is this just normal? Am I over-reacting? is it just my 孤漏寡聞 at play again? Kinda scary eh?

Anyways...the wait was tiring, but it was kinda interesting (should interesting be the word?) ...I mean, you don't get to see 20+ bullets everyday....you don't get to see any bullet....not that anyone would want to, but still! What a day! At least I was home in time to watch Pocoyo! =) Now I'd like my neo-citron and go to bed, my bed, my pillow + my multi-layer blankets! Oh yeeeessssssss!

Welcome Snowsie!

Snowsie just "showed up" at our house today and quickly became good friends with Snowbie.

You wanna know who's Snowbie? Here you go...

What a nice surprise!
Thanks cdN!

Now...we should start thinking...how shall we dress Snowsie when summer hits ~ guess she can't join us in the patio for BBQ eh? :p

Gingerbread House Building Competition

At lunch time today, we tumbled along a Gingerbread House Building Competition at Exchange Square. At first we thought it's just a kid's thingy, but it turns out to be a media event ~ the teams were from local stations: Omni, Global, CTV, etc... Quite an event with lots of people + reporters.

By the time we were there it was the last 2 minutes of the game...Omni 2's house was almost falling apart...which reminds me of the last time we did it in our place...hehe... (yes, ours fell apart too, the roof was too heavy before the icing dried!)

It was a lot of fun...I was taking pictures around and suddenly one of the lady asked, "Hey, can you email me those pictures... (she gave me her business card) … Arrhhh...why don’t' you take a picture for our team? Would you please?"

Her team member echo, "Yea, we are only on TV, we don't have a camera. HA!".

The lady was MairiAnna Bachynsky, a reporter for CTV...hubby noticed a few other celebrity anchors too...

Fun! And the houses were so creative! I think we should have a competition with b/s too!


A nice touch for the gloomy-wet-boring-sleepy study afternoon...

Pocoyo or No Pocoyo tonight?

I was rather confused last night... Pocoyo wasn't on at 10:20..but 10:50pm when I was about to give up and go to bed!!

I tried looking up the schedule on Treehouse http://www.treehousetv.com/parents/whatsOn/listings.asp ...
Pocoyo seems to be on at a different time every day....well, no, it's not on everyday. The morning show is on every weekday in the 11-1130am slot..but a different time within that slot everyday... the re-runs at night are even more confusing...

Don't children need some kind of routine? Don't parents need some kind of routine to plan a toddler's activities? ... ok.. I know I'm not a kid nor a mom...maybe that's why I don't understand ... but HEY!! I need to know when Pocoyo is on!!!

Ok, here's what I gathered ~ The re-runs are on Tues, Wed & Thurs only:
Tues 10:20pm
Wed 10:50pm
Thurs 10:20pm

I guess one can argue this is some sort of pattern ... just a more complex one to follow than 妙手仁心 or 星期一檔案!!

So YES, there is Pocoyo tonight (I think...)

Isn't there already too much stuff to memorize for Public Finance! >_<

Pocoyo!

2 more study days to go till the big exam on Public Finance...
How do I de-stress after a long day of work + study + never-ending-DVD lectures?

Well...I had been watching an old TVB soap "the Uncatchable~棟篤神探" for some laughs before bed so I don't dream about Public Finance theories in my sleep... until I tumble across this *amazing* cartoon show call "Pocoyo" on Treehouse (Rogers Channel 65). It's a short 10 minutes starting at 10:20pm.

Absoultely loved it! You must check it out too! www.pocoyo.com

12 Days of Christmas

The first thing I found out is... 12 Days of Christmas is NOT 12 days before Christmas. It's twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th). Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus.

The popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is usually seen as simply a nonsense song for children. But some see it as an educational song for teaching young children.

I have some reservations about its historical and theological accuracy, obviously not all of it is correct…but, take it with a grind of salt….it’s kinda interesting:

First of all, Ture Love if not your boyfriend/girlfriend, it's the Love of God... (I guess I can't ask hubby for 5 x Golden Rings afterall eh? Yeee...Almost got it ma! =p)

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Jesus Christ, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Three French Hens
Faith + Hope + Love

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Four Calling Birds
The Four Gospels

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Five Gold Rings
The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah: 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Six Geese A-laying
The six days of creation

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Eight Maids A-milking
The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
(Matthew 5:3-10)

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Nine Ladies Dancing
The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.
(Galatians 5:22)

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Ten Lords A-leaping
The ten commandments

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Twelve Drummers Drumming
The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8) the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting.

well...I don't agree with all of it...but, at least I now know what the song's about! =)

On the 12th day of Christmas my True Love sent to me...

This was in the newspaper this morning.. kinda interesting :)

Do you know what the song really says? I'll tell you tomorrow! :)

Studying @ Starbucks, again

Today I started my half-day-study-week. Sitting in the same Starbucks on University, it reminds me of the last round of studying at the same spot, when I was studying for my entrance exam a year & a half ago... (I was a little hesitate going in today, I broke their toilet TWICE last round! Hope no one recognizes me! =p)

This time, listening to "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" & "Silver Bells", sipping on my grandé Latté -- it kinda felt different. Haha...I guess, partly it's because it's only a week to fight...and Christmas is coming!!

JOY TO THE WORLD!! I mean, Jesus's Birthday is *BIG*--it's *HUGE*!! How can I be bothered just for an exam, right?

oh bother!! 7 chapters + 3 hours of DVD to go....

The Brain Gender Quiz

My result:

Your Brain is 80% Female, 20% Male
Your brain leans female
You think with your heart, not your head
Sweet and considerate, you are a giver
But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!
http://www.blogthings.com/whatgenderisyourbrainquiz/

Really? I do hope I am tough enough... haha..

容我寧靜

晨曦之中，我尋求神話語
每分一刻感激主多愛寵
日光之中人流離在多變世俗裡
啊聖靈，求你引導我禱！

容我寧靜，聽候在你的跟前
一心一意，願尋求你的旨意
藏你懷內，
看萬事變得空虛光輝不再
願我此刻知你是神，願我得享安息，在你手裡。

Thanks rL! It was such a comforting reminder!

Adiós St.Clair

This still feels very unreal.
We said our Good-Bye to 25 St.Clair yesterday.
When all the boxes are packed and labeled ... Our office is really moving...

This is where I started this job, I remember days leaving that building almost laughing...and days leaving with tears shouting I'll NEVER come back! After 4 years + 3 mos, it felt wierd with that final elevator ride down.

Many "good-old-days" things happened in this area. I miss those days when I lived on Rosehill and walked to work...in bed by 345pm, library right across the street, having every bank (except HSBC) right at that street corner, the midnight shopping at SOBE...the crazy late night meal at Marché & Chinatown...I will miss the Curry Chicken Pai Thai @ SimpleThai, the salad @ Sushi Garden, the Tempura Udon @ Takara (& their slow service), the Lemon Soup @ Circle Thai, the salad @ Broconni's, and of course, my lunch date with dear aL @ Timothy's.

Next Monday we will be at a very different area. It feels like waiting for that first day in a new school. Same classmates, different environment, with some new classmates....very soon we may have a new teacher too...things will not be the same.

Adiós St.Clair! I'll miss ya!

Encouragement SOS!!

I always knew ... effort don't always equal results ...

Yes ... I know ... but still...

確實蠻失落...
怎麼可以振作起來??
oh man ... I need some 鼓勵 - BIG TIME!!!!

YM Reunion?

A YM Reunion may be a "GO"... will it really work out??

Will the 淹悶一族 get to 淹悶一番 again for real?

So excited!!

Never Give Up!

"Pain is temporary

Quitting lasts forever"

~

Lance Armstrong (1971 - )

U.S. cyclist, 7-time winner of the Tour de France

Cancer survivor

~

Jokingly I use this phase all the time...

Today I found out where this quote came from...

which I guess adds another fold of meaning to it

thank you...

Pride in your eyes, 為我改寫下半生

眉目裡　找到我　失去的　自信心

才明白　被愛的

能活得這樣勇敢

榮幸眼神能替我　雲上旅行來點燈

~

See me fly, I'm proud to fly up high　

不因氣壓搖擺　只因有你擁戴　

Believe me I can fly, I'm singing in the sky　

假使我算神話　因你創更愉快

~

Pride in your eyes, 為我閃爍像最初

唯獨你　欣賞我　比我　更多

埋頭做　願你可　能為我驕傲更多

無論有誰嫌棄我　投入卻無人可阻

~

我盼有一天將你抱入懷

昂然地對著宇宙說　

是借著你的風

~

Let me fly, I'm proud to fly up high

不因氣壓搖擺　只因有你擁戴

Believe me I can fly, I'm singing in the sky

假使愛有奇蹟　跟你創最愉快

~

我覺得光榮　因有你　擁戴

-

我的驕傲

作曲：陳光榮 填詞：黃偉文

(our duet gift from vW & mC 730 days ago...)

thank you!

更像我恩主

CLBC SR 2006 Theme Song - 更像我恩主

再聽見 親切的詩
曾經立志 總未能完成所承諾
只感歉意 不願提起

~

再一次 忘了自己
曾定意說要活得更像我恩主
懇切地

~

讓我再領會
主的恩典
為我捨命
讓祢主導我生命
現在活著的已不再是我

~

主，再次懇求祢
使用我一生彰顯祢名
不願再冷冷地去傷祢的心
只願能 更貼近 祢的性情
張開我一雙眼睛
關懷受傷的心靈
實踐祢託付我的使命

作曲:+ x
填詞: kL ,+ x
曾參與製作: jL, kZ, fC, rL, & SR Committee

I thank God for my talented b/s.

Thank you for a "home-made" SR song every year,

I know it's a special gift & privilege, not a right.

Proud of you! Praise to the Lord!

~

Looking forward to a fruitful retreat!

August 3, 2006 無奈

原來, 無奈的感覺是蠻失落的...

很重, 很sad,也蠻好笑...

很疲倦很疲倦 ...

Hot! 好熱好熱!! 熔0左!!

The mercury reached 36C on Tuesday, heading to record breaking territory, as humidex values soared to nearly 47C.

Last night, sweaty Torontonians experienced the hottest night ever recorded in the city. The temperature went 'down' to 27 C overnight, the warmest low in Toronto since people started keeping track of these things way back in 1840.

You don't really need an expert to tell you how hot it is. But what does the humidex value really mean? Here's the chart from Environment Canada:

Humidex value: 20-29Feeling: Comfortable
Humidex value: 30-39Feeling: Varying degrees of discomfort
Humidex value: 40-45Feeling: Everyone feels discomfort
Humidex value: 45+Feeling: Potentially dangerous levels. Many types of outdoor work and exercise should be restricted.

I think we should all just stay home! If extreme weather in the winter calls for days off work/school, why are we still going to work today?!

爸爸說縱是熱, 也還不及香港, 上海熱喇
我卻覺得一樣, 甚至更熱, 更快熔掉!
哈哈! 因我只會感到這兒讓人透不過氣的熱浪喇!

水浸花

C'mon! Stop calling it "水浸花"! >_<

原本多麼浪漫的 Centre Piece, 總該有個漂亮點的名字喇!!

Hhhmmm.. How should we call this then...?

無論何處去

無論何處去我心已備妥
主你帶領絕對絕對無差錯!

When I first received this music score, I feel this song is just sooooooo lo-to!!... but Thanks wF for your sharing tonight...it is indeed a good reminder....

Viva Italia!!

Dad has been complaining he misses the hot World Cup Fever in HK. So we suggested they go feel the Toronto World Cup Fever with the different ethnic neighborhood, which can be very interesting too.

So mom & dad went to Little Italy (around College / Bathurst) yesterday for the Italy:Germany game. I joined them after work shortly after the 2nd half started.

Initially I really don’t care who wins. (well, Sweden’s + all our underdogs are out already!!)…but as the game moved into Extra Time, I really really wanted to see Italy win! Gooooshh...it’s so rare we are there at such occasion --- I really want to see some celebration!!

And oh boy!! Talk about celebration!! Italians are truly passionate about soccer, you could sooooo feel the emotions in the air and you can’t help getting teary eyes with them! My hands were shaking with the camera!!

It was sooooooooo much fun!!! I was standing right beside the Global News and CTV camera men…(tiny me with my tiny camera beside the big & tall men with their huge professional cameras!!) It was definitely the best position for some great fun shots!!

Soooooooooooo much fun!!! I think it was totally worth the trip & traffic! After the cheering and yelling and jumping up & down…we were totally exhausted!! Mom slept till pass 1pm the next day!

Check this out!
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2104568497&code=22971034

Watermelon Soup

I first heard about this from Lkc. I used to laugh at the idea.

But I walked into the kitchen today to see a pot of soup boiling its way.
"Hey! There's soup today eh?"
"Yeah, it's watermelon soup," my mom *casually* replies.

Hhhmm...I guess it's must be a new fab among mothers, or is it my 孤漏寡聞 demonstrating itself(again)?!?! Wanna be "in"? Try this:

西瓜馬蹄百合湯
西瓜 一斤半
馬蹄 十二個
百合 一兩
雪耳 半兩
瘦肉 八兩
鹽適量


Believe it or not, it actually taste "normal" & pretty sweet. I blind-folded hubby to try..he couldn't tell apart from the 雪耳..hahahaha..how fun!

It's supposedly very good to 清熱下火兼養顏 ... let's give it a few days to see if it helps my 豆豆 >_<

Hey...next time you got a watermelon that's not sweet enough to eat, or too big to finish before it goes bad, dump it into a pot and boil it.. haha..this can probably be applied to any fruit!! haha =)

Sweden's Out..let's shop (& eat)

Blame in on the cough syrup, I slept right through the game on Saturday; which might be a good thing.. =(

Echoing what hubby said today: Sadly, Sweden's out, but IKEA is still our favourite store.

Most of you know we love to eat there. I don't see how can anyone not like their food, especially their yummy Swedish meatballs...You can even buy them frozen to cook at home (2.5lbs for $8.99--don't forget to pick up the lingoberry jam too, it's just not the same without it) yyyuuummm...

Speaking of IKEA, did you know that the first IKEA in Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tusi) was opened in 1975? Even earlier than the one in Canada (Vancouver Richmond,1976).

Ok..I don't own the IKEA (it's not even a public company)....but! Did you know that IKEA is indeed a franchising business? Maybe I should start saving some $...haha...

p.s. just a reminder to hubby <+any interested parties>...the IKEA sale is on now till July 9th..hehe

Our June Getaway

It has been over a week since we came back from our little getaway...I had been so busy catching up on sleep and recovering from my cold that I haven't had a chance to put my thoughts togehter for it...now, where do I start...

Day 1 - June 10th
Eventually we didn't get to Collingwood until way past 7pm. On the way we dropped by jM's new model home site...it is NICE... Congrats girl, feel happy for you! Can't wait for you to move in to see the 'real thing'!!

Day 2 - June 11th
Our first stop was Sunday worship at the First Baptist Church. It was a very old church with about 50 people, mostly eldery. We felt so welcomed there, everyone was so nice. They give out little handmade welcome kit, so sweet! The pastor talked about their challenges as first churches in a quiet old town. I was touched that they maintained a "children's story time" during worship eventhough there were only 3 kids in the church. A lady shared a story about a sister who recently passed away, I could really feel the bond they have, they must have spent most of their lives together...the atmosphere is just so different in a little town like this.

The day was COLD and I was with my long winter coat when we got upto Blue Mountain. I thought I must be CRAZY with my coat but goooshhh.. you really needed it, it was soooooooooo windy! It's funny to visit BM when it's green. The place have been totally reworked by Interwest, which we don't really like. It's nice but it's just toooooo similar to Mont.Tremblant la.. such cookie-cutter!

We drove up to BM and the views are so nice...Moutains and greens and...well, a drive through the hills that all guys enjoy! >_< Day 3 - June 12th
We were almost home! haha... we were crazy enough to drive back down to spend a day at Wonderland. It was nice...we always wanted to go on a weekday where there's minimal line-up!

Day 4-5 - June 13 & 14th
This is it!! Our plan for Lkc! They were camping at Algonquin since the friday before. Meanwhile, M&T arrived TO on Monday and our plan is to surprise Lkc by showing up at Algonquin to give her a birthday surprise!!!

bF took Lkc for a hike to keep her out of the campsite. We met up with M&T at the park office and drove into their site, hide their car at another campsite and set up the balloons & our tent before they came back. Our plan worked!!!

It's soooooooo nice to spend some times with them! It was m's first camping expereince and we had a BLAST! We did a trail in the afternoon, canoe, then BBQ & chat at the campfire. It's really our first good chat with the 3 couples together, campfire is always nice to getting to know each other. It was not until 1am that we turn into our tents.

Almost everyone were sick the next morning, along with tons of insect bites....yyyeeeekkkkkkk!! "Lim-Chee-Um", "Cold&Flu Liquid Capsules" + "Mo-Bay-Dic"(a superb afterbite med) were part of the breakfast buffet! Blame it on the cold weather, or blame it on M, or bF who attracted all the bugs...hehe.. just joking..

Thanks guys for allowing us to have some girls-only time. The girls just gotta catch up, it's not everyday that we get to be together like this!!

En-route home we stopped by Webers for the BEST hamburgers! Thanks m for introducing us there!!! Too bad bF's sore-throat was so bad he couldn't enjoy the yummy fries...next time!!

Day 6 - June 15
I still can't believe I slept the whole DAY!! Felt such a waste!! But my body really needed it. I was sooooooo drug-out with the cold & cough. Felt so bad to have left hubby alone...He said it gave him a good day to watch the world cup and video games.....I hope he really did enjoy the day in.

Day 7 - June 16
We got back to TO today. Rented AV equipment for a wedding on Saturday, along with a visit to Dr.Chu's office. Enjoyed a nice 'bor-law yau' afternoon tea before picking up my prescription....hey....is that home? Is that the end of our vacation? NO WAY!

The rest of the weeknd (& the following week) was spent inbetween 2 weddings and me sleeping endless hours with my cold...

I'm ready for another vacation. NOW!!

Great Game

June 20,2006 -- Sweden:England 2:2

Did you know that May 20, 1968 was England's last victory against Sweden in the past 12 matches they played?

Yesterday's was a great game! I watched the last 30 minutes standing outside the BellWorld store at Cummerland near Bloor/Yonge subway station. It was kinda fun watching with 20+ odd strangers cheering...kinda fun...

Some re-cap for the record (excerpt & photos from FIFAworldcup.com):

England had gone in front on 34 minutes through a spectacular strike from Joe Cole. Marcus Allback headed the Swedes level at 1-1 six minutes into the second half but substitute Steven Gerrard restored England's advantage when he headed in their second on 81 minutes. (by this time I was thinking....goooshh..no chance la...BUT!!) Sweden hit back to claim a late draw at 90 minutes as Larsson stabbed in from close range just ahead of Mellberg from a low throw-in that England's defenders failed to deal with.

In conclusion: England have still not beaten Sweden since 1968 but, as group winners, they will be happier to be facing Ecuador and not Germany in the Round of 16. Sweden's performance in the second half here, however, should give them confidence ahead of their meeting with the hosts.

Hhmmm... it will be a difficult one on Saturday...but GO SWEDEN GO!

Day 7

Today is already Day 7 of me living with my tissue box!

Been to the doctor, taking my meds on time.. sleeping hours & hours.. drinking glasses after glasses of water....

Goooshhh.... If anyone sees my 'voice', please ask it to come back!! ... you can take my nose away.. it hurts!!



I want to stay in bed!
Why did I come to work?!?!?!??!


...sniff.. sniff... sniff....