New Breath of Love

I'll start by saying that I watched this series because of the cast, in particular Raymond. Since his hair-do is the same as in Heart of Greed, I assume that the two series were filmed around the same time. After his tragic death in HOG, I just wanted to see him with the one he loves (in the series).

It was very hard for me to rate this series...I can't give it an overall score so I'll attempt to break it into separate parts...

Casting - 5/5 - Though I was only aware of the existence of Raymond and Alex, it was easy to accept those who were new to me. Raymond did an awesome job playing the playful and creative character of 'Tsui Hoi' while Alex's appearance and tone fit the quiet and accountable personality of 'Ming Ging'. Tammy Chen (played Jing Wai) is a pretty girl, she reminds me of one of the 2R HK pop singers (who knows what happened to them). She fits her role as a goodie good girl but with a hidden personality. Perhaps because she is pretty so I would expect her to be more naughty. Every other character was played by fitting actors/actresses.

Setting/Filming - 5/5 - The Shanghai setting was really cool a depart from the HK backdrop common in TVB series. Love of the Aegean Sea and Channel A both take place in Shanghai. I'm planning to go to Shanghai in 2010 after I graduate to go see the Expo. I really liked the reflective camera angles that reveal both side, I think it was used a lot in the fitness center on the mirrors.

WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW!

Storyline - 3.5/5 - I really don't know, it was a nice story but perhaps the pacing threw everything off. There were about 4 couples in total (Ray and Tammy's being the main), so it was interesting but it also made the overall story feel kind of fragmented because it jumped from one to another and you kind of have to wait and you can't guess who's turn is it next (unlike The Seventh Day) so patience is required. The series explored one main underlying problem in each relationship so there is diversity. There were some down times and many 'false alarms', however, when something did finally happen, it was very good. COME ON, it took Jing Wai long enough to accept Tsui Hoi! But I was really happy for them when they stayed together over night :) Though the characters were all related in an almost impossible way, the story still seemed kind of fragmented. The series kept jumping back and forth between too many different stories and failed to really relate them. Also there were times when I expected something bad to happen (like Jing Wai getting fired or Sophia and Lisa going crazy after being dumped). I didn't predict the abduction...that was kind of random...but at least something happened...HOWEVER, I really enjoyed the changes that occurred in people's personality's. I like both mother's role, though I like Jing Wai's mom better, she went from extremely paranoid to approachable. Tsui Hoi and Jing Wai changed for each other and so did Jing Mun and "Ah Gum".

Characters - 4/5 - I liked the range and diversity of each character's role. Ray's role is a cross between La Femme Desparado 'Chai Foon' and Heart of Greed 'Alfred Ching Leung'. It isn't as 'bad' as Heart of Greed but wasn't as 'good' as La Femme Desparado. Though I don't like two-timers, I have to admit they do exist in this world. I appreciated Sing Hung's affection towards Ching Ling (though she betrayed him). There were some that I hated too...namely Richard (the main antagonist) and Jing Wai's two co-workers. One was pissing me off because she was trying to get Tsui Hoi's attention. The other was a wolf in disguise. However, nothing was really done to settle them and it just died off naturally. Even Richard wasn't as 'bad' in the kidnapping as he could have been, no guns or knives. He was also naive to think that they weren't goin to call the cops. I guess it made no sense to rape a girl that you've been been dating already. It was hard for me to know what exactly he was after, love or money? Was he ever in love with her? Did he just want money all along? In the middle, Jing Wai was getting all stressed because of her and Tsui Hoi's relationship but near the end, she seemed pretty calm about it when they 'broke up'. To me it felt kind of awkward that she changed so much in so little time. Though it seems as though the comments I made appear quite negative, I think they are more realistic solutions to problems faced by human beings and though they are not as dramatic, I still appreciate their new approach.

The Ending - 3.75/5 - It was sad that 'Ah Gum' died, he was so young....but at least he will always be in the heart of 'Jing Mun'. Sophia and 'Ming Ging's' relationship developed quite well. I'm glad that Sing Hung found Ching Ling. I actually wasn't quite as satisfied with Tsui Hoi and Jing Wai's relationship. As the MAIN couple of the ENTIRE series, I was expecting a bit more compared to the others. Perhaps an extra 5 minutes of what it happens after the subway scene. How about their wedding?...A resolution to Tsui Hoi's disbelief in marriage or phobia towards driving? Those things were kind of left up in the air. Then perhaps a 5 years later scene with everyone together again.

Aw... how SWEET

Memorable Scenes

• On the Subway (first scene)
  
• On the train to their outing - they were photographed sleeping on each other's shoulder listening to music :)
• The concert
  "Looking for your boyfriend?" "Yes." "Your boyfriend is wrong to keep a girl like you waiting." "How am I as a boyfriend?" "Sure, more importantly, you came at the right time"
  
• The self shot video
  
• Bed scene - the bed wasn't ready when she finally was.
  
• On the Subway (last scene)
  "Looking for your girlfriend?" "Yes." "Your girlfriend is wrong to keep a boy like you waiting." "How am I as a girlfriend?" "Sure, more importantly, you came at the right time"
  

Overall (average) - 4.3/5

After a day of self review, I bumped up two categories by 0.25; storyline and characters bringing the series to average 4.3/5.

Final words - Patience is essential to enjoy this series. Just hang in there, cause the best is still to come...

I'm finally 20

It's my special day today! I went out with a few friends, bowling, pool then a game of ping pong at my friend's house. I got lots of facebook book messages today!

Boxing Day

This morning, Henry and I got up at 6 and went to Futureshop/Best Buy/ Polo Park. I spent $200 at Futureshop. I bought an external 320 GB portable hard drive for $100, a wireless laser mouse for Johnny $15, a 8GB SD Card $10, a 4 GB sony memory stick/card for $25 (for henry's PSP), 2GB Ram for my macbook $25. Best Buy was sold out of a wireless router ($20). It is something I wanted but it isn't something I need cause we already have one but the range isn't all that good, Having said that I am still able to pick up a decent connection from my work station in the basement. I saw the man grab the last one and you know that you can sense when someone else wants what you have. lol After gazing at him for a few seconds (he was indecisive but our presence made his decision), we just walked away. I went to Mexx and Sport Chek at Polo while Henry went to EB Games. The sales at the mall weren't that good, I bought a T-shirt from Mexx. It has been 50% off the entire store for a week and boxing day was no different. I bought 2 dress shirts (really nice), a sweater, and a tie last weekend because of their 50% sale. I also bought a belt 2 weeks ago but it was only 30% off at the time. After discounts, the shirts were $35, the sweater was $22.50, tie was $30, and the belt was $24. It was good to get the belt hen I did because they didn't have my size when it was 50% off. The shirts are black with grey stripes and a the second is a grey and black striped pattern. I can't describe them but they are really nice. I got complements when I wore the first one to work. The second is slim fit and is more for formal occasions. I really like Mexx clothes, though they are expensive, they are my favourite name brand because they fit me well. I like Calvin Klein as well for that reason. I don't like Tommy Hilfiger, because even their small is too large for me. I bought two short sleeve shirts last summer, my friend works at the store, they were 40% off, but they are a bit loose fitting. I prefer slim fitting (not tight) but I like to go for the tailored look. I only buy these clothes because of the sale. I can't afford $70 for a dress shirt, just yet, lol :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, we had turkey last night on Christmas Eve, our 'western celebration', just with my family. Then today, my cousins came over with their little puppy, Zack...it's a black pomeranian, and he was a really nice dog. I'm not a dog fanatic but I really liked him. He just sat in your lap and allowed you to pet him as you pleased and he never barked once which was amazing because it was his first time in my house and the first time he met us. We had spring rolls that night and the dog really wanted one but we didn't give him any cause it is greasy. So when it was time to go Zack didn't want to (the house smelled like spring rolls) and he wanted to stay. Zack would follow them to the door then run back into the living room and then they would call him and he would come but run back into the living room again. My cousins pretended to leave, like open the door, but it just stayed. My dad had to grab him but he struggling to get free. He was really funny!!! Too bad we forgot to take pictures...

Final Presentations

I had my final studio presentations today afternoon...they went quite well and then we went to Red Cactus as a studio group to unwind.

I just had the toughest weekend of the year...After a 3 hour exam on Friday morning (my one and only :D), things just worsened and intensified. I've had basically no real sleep or meals, sleeping over at school on a couch and I had a nasty cold. My other sick friend and I went through 3 boxes of kleenex over three days. I have bloody red eyes.

The studio was so cold that I brought in my own space heater, along with a sleeping bag and a blow dryer to dry glue quicker...Elmers is great modeling glue btw.

I'm not completely off the hook yet, I still have portfolios to make but that isn't stressful, just pricey to print and bind. My final studio project was over $200.

Ultimate Crime Fighter (UCF)

The Ultimate Crime Fighter is beginning to air on Thursday, October 23, 2008 on Fairchild after Phoenix Rising. UCF is not the greatest series...so many things went wrong and so many things could've been done so much better...it could have been easily mistaken as an "ATV" series. I was pretty disappointed at this series when I was watching it, to the point it made me stop watching it and skipping episodes which is extremely rare for me to do. Besides the obvious like Kevin killing Gigi and Moses killing Kevin, I can't remember exactly what I proposed as changes, but I think it was something like Kevin should have faced his past and admitted to it rather than killing Gigi. It was Kevin and Gigi's second collaboration (first was Life Art) and they took their endings to the two extremes. Moses shouldn't have gone 'insane' and him and Yoyo should've ended up with more. I didn't think "the ultimate crime fighter" was established in any one of the characters in the series, so the series doesn't fit the title....We'll see if I have the time to watch this one again...

My TVB Award Prediction

Best Actor - Ha Yu
Best Actress - Michelle Yim
Best Supporting Actor - That 'old guy' I voted for?
Best Supporting Actress - Fala Chen
Favorite TV Male Character - Raymond Lam
Favorite TV Female Character - Susanna Kwan
Most Improved Actor - That 'younger dude' I voted for?
Most Improved Actress - Tavia Yeung
Best Host - Super Trio Show
Best Series - Moonlight Resonance
Best Information Show - Super Trio Show

My TVB Vote

Best Actor - Kevin Cheng
Best Actress - Louise Li (LSK)
Best Supporting Actor - Louise's father in Moonlight Resonance - He was pretty funny
Best Supporting Actress - Tavia Yeung
Favorite TV Male Character - Raymond Lam (Moonlight Resonance)
Favorite TV Female Character - Myolie Wu (War of In-Laws 2)
Most Improved Actor - That guy on the right...Mikako Leung(梁珈詠)...He's the best of the five...I don't like that short guy...too short
Most Improved Actress - Selina Li
Best Host - Amigo and that girl (JSG is the only show that I've really watched)
Best Drama Series - The Seventh Day
Best Info Show - Strictly Come Dancing

October 7th Crits

Tonight, I just feel like turning back in time, I really wish that was possible. Because the crit today was somewhat informal, I didn't prepare what I wanted to say on paper or on cue cards and I just thought out loud last night. When I got up to speak about my 'back wall project' today I didn't know where to start and blanked out and then got nervous and it was probably one of my most unprofessional presentation. The studdering, and the ums and the ahs...I tend to think out loud too and that didn't help, lol.

Okay, so here is what I wanted to say...

"This mesh in here represents the partitioning the man tries to hide himself behind because that was a key element of my story. My story has a sense of squeezing and closing in on the space and I communicated that feeling in my wall by creating this small, tight space with the walls of the drawing 'ballooning' into the space and the mesh arching over. The openings in the mesh are small to allow only little amounts of light in while still preserving the visibility of the 'man' and the '2 girls'. Collision is a recurring theme in my story, with the briefcase, man griping hand onto rod, and holding his other hand on his chest, so I took that theme and captured a 'collision' like a series of frames in my wall design. I played with subtlety and elements at the end are split and ripped apart from their regular forms. Finally, all that happens on that end is hidden from this particular view where everything is smooth and peaceful which is deceiving just like how the man entered the booth on his own will not knowing the consequences."

"My section in the Army Surplus Building has no basement and I only have a crawlspace and since that crawlspace was dark and isn't accessible from directly within my site, I focused on the roof and main floor. On the main floor I spent my longest time in this office space which I enlarged on this poster and on my drawing because the atmosphere was comforting. There is also this interesting colliding of different materials in this one corner that I could tie to my back wall. The back rooms were the complete opposite and the spaces were daunting. On the roof, I cut through the lattice structure that holds up the billboard and in order to experience my site, I had to go over and under and so I represented it in a series of plans that are stacked on top of one another. I organized them as ground level, waist level, and arm's reach. Any questions?"

October Already?

Well one month down and seven more to go! As I would have come to expect, I only made a handful of posts last month because of school.

Steps ending on Friday and Channel A ended on Saturday. The ending of Steps was good, better than Brink of Law. There is an obvious relationship between the two series with Steven, Bernice, and Kate in both. Though the ending was better than Brink of Law, I found the time after competition to the time of the proposal a bit draggy. I mean I knew it was going to happen but they put it of until the absolute very end of it. I wish they showed scenes of the wedding or them getting prepared for it or something. I didn't like Steven's character very much, he seemed to be the playboy type and didn't take the relationship seriously at first and was in denial and then he was hesitant to marry Bernice even when she ask. Bernice was really "hun ga" (eager to marry) and it was funny to see a girl be that way. So 3.75/5.

Channel A was one of my favourite ATV series, no crazy people killing each other or ghosts/goblins. It was a nice romantic series. Having said that, there is still room for improvement...I really liked the beginning but near the end, many new things were introduced and corners were cut. I wish they had developed the relationship between "Sum Keet" and "Ching Jee" a bit more. At first they started because they both felt betrayed, but then realized that that wasn't true love and split. Though I missed a couple of episodes because I was in Toronto, I don't think they showed their point of realization that true love does exist between them. "Sum Keet" seems to like the artist way more than "Ching Jee", and only chose "Ching Jee" because she didn't want to be a work of art. I can see how Ching Jee likes Sum Keet but not the other way around. Anyways, time fore bed...So also 3.75/5.

Moonlight Resonance Finale - Viewership Ratings

The results are in....the spectacular ending rack up 50 points at its peak and 47 points on average. I think by 'points' they actually mean 'percent', so that would be more than 3.5 million viewers in HK but that is not including those who reside outside of HK. There has never been a thread on D-addicts with more than 165 pages and counting! As of now there are no plans for a HOG/MR 3.

Predictions for TVB Awards 2008

Best Male Actors

• Raymond Lam (depends on the rating of 'The Four')
  
• Ha Yu (MR)
  
• Roger Kwok (DIE)
  
• Kevin Cheng (depends on the rating of 'Last One Standing')
• Bosco Wong (War of In-Laws II and The Seventh Day)
• Steven Ma (A Journey Called Life)
  

Best Female Actresses

• Tavia Yeung (MR)
• Louise Li aka LSK (MR)
  
• Linda Chung (MR & A Journey Called Life)
• Niki Chow (The Seventh Day)
• Myolie Wu (WOIL2)

Most Improved Actresses

• Natalie Tong (The Seventh Day)
• Selena Li (The Seventh Day)
  

Most Improved Actors

• ???

Best Series

• Moonlight Resonance (MR) - As much as I would like The Seventh Day to win this award as well, predictions call for MR to win since HOG won last time
  

Moonlight Resonance Finale

After two long months (beginning on July 28, 2008), the series has come to an end. It was a very, very good series indeed and it brought back many of my childhood memories from the 90s. *Spoilers**Spoilers* My predictions were bang on! Damn I'm good! The ending of Heart of Greed had left me with ??? and came to an end too abruptly I thought. The ending of Moonlight Resonance had a nice pace and didn't feel rushed or draggy (even though it was a 2 hour special). I didn't like the accident that killed Raymond (aka Alfred) so I'm really glad he and Linda ended up together. It makes sense because even though Bosco had a reason for giving up on Linda, their relationship is part of the past and Linda has already moved onto Raymond. He should have been aware of the consequences that could arise from his decision. Linda made the right decision to stick up for justice and say what she 'did' and 'didn't' see. In comparison to HOG, I think I like Linda's role in HOG a bit more than MR, I guess I pity her more in HOG and I feel that she had changed (matured) a lot from start to finish. As for Raymond, I think it is pretty much equal, I like him being a lawyer on one hand more than a baker but on the other I like his honesty and loyalty to Linda in MR (and the fact he doesn't die), he is the Moses of HOG. As for Bosco, I think it is pretty even too, I didn't like his attitude in HOG but I didn't like how he complicated things by getting too close to Linda when he had a girlfriend. It is hard to say when Kate decided to turn around or if she was ever truly on Michelle's side, but I think she realized after her mother saved her from that van. I always find these scenes funny, I mean the driver had seen the pedestrian from far aways and there are no other cars on the road so even if you can't brake in time can't you just switch lanes and divert around the pedestrian, I mean you do have a steering wheel. In any case I didn't really like her all that much in this series, but her decision in the end prevents me from hating her. I really liked Tavia in MR, she had a role as big as Linda's (if not slightly more) and she had a lot of crying scenes. Linda did too, but some of her crying scenes were pointless, but every tear of Tavia was very emotional. As you probably can guess, I like Tavia so much better in MR than in HOG, come to think of it, it seems like she was the Linda of HOG, I really pity her at times, she was abandoned by her parents and was teased about it by Sa Yee and Kate. On to Moses, the ill one, it was nice to see him mature and learn to stay away from gambling. He did the right thing when he chose to dump Kate (Ga Mei) but he was a little moved again at the hospital. It was obvious that Tavia had a crush on Moses, but I can't seem to figure out when Moses began falling for Tavia, they just seemed to have started at the last episode, though it was heart warming to see him live on and have kids with Tavia! I found Moses' role a bit annoying in HOG and I didn't like his image, so I would say that I prefer him in MR even though he did chose Kate, he realized that he made the wrong decision and had hurt the one who truly loved him. Another relationship that began in a blink of an eye was Chris Lai and Kate's relationship, hard to say whether there was true love between them or was everything just based on looks (I don't think Kate is incredibly HOT). Chris had a considerably smaller role in MR than in HOG so I like him better in HOG, he had a much more difficult role and position to play and he did it well. Fala's best role was in MR, major improvement in acting and speech. HOG was one of her first series and I can definitely see the improvement. As mentioned a month ago, she has moved up my list. I won't go too much detail about the 'older generation', some is obvious. Jo Bow (Ha Yu) was better in MR, though he made a mistake in the past, he is willing to admit it and make up for it. In HOG, he was idiotic at times and in MR, he was smart! Louise Li was awesome in both, but I liked her better in MR, because she didn't die. Susanna Kwan was evil in HOG so I didn't like her, and in MR, she was annoying (especially at the beginning) so I didn't like her too much either. I don't think she will have a chance this year at the awards. Michelle Yim had an evil role in MR, so obviously I liked her better in HOG! I think Ha Yu and Raymond have chances at winning best male actor/role (sorry Moses, but you got it last year :D) and Tavia may end up in the final five for best female actress/role. Linda may be nominated for best female actress for her roles in MR and A Journey Called Life. Fala may/will get most improved actress.

I found the special show put on before the ending really entertaining. For example, when Sa Yee's husband expressed criticism to Raymond's song "letting out the dogs" (Fong Gou) ('dog' [gou] sounds like 'regret' and 'letting go' [fong] was emphasized multiple times in the song). Another was the debate, "Who should Linda choose?" They threw in facts about their personal 'real' life as points, Raymond being rich (I've read that his father is like the "Lee Ka Sing" of Guang Dong or something), Bosco having a girl friend Myolie (rumoured girlfriend) and a evil mother Lisa Wong (from War of In-Laws), and the fact that going out with Ray will result in an 'underground relationship'. BTW, I was able to guess those "golden sentences" before that man did :D I should have been up there!

Now for my rating of the series as a whole...what should I give it...I most definitely gets into my top 5. It does top Life Art, War of In-Laws I & II, Step into the past, but does it surpass The Seventh Day? It is a hard decision to name a series the top of the top, it took me a while to give The Seventh Day that title. I feel like I'm comparing apples to oranges. TSD was calm and relaxing but attention was put on every single detail, there was a lot of pondering and reflecting (as you may have readin my blog). In contrast, MR was exploded with events so it was very engaging, but since so many things happen there was too much to focus specifically on one thing. Out of 5, I would give it a 4.75, so I will tie the two series simply because they were both very very good. The criticism, being too much going on in one and not enough going on in the other...I'm still waiting for that perfect series! As there is no such thing as Utopia, is there a such thing as a perfect series?

Lastly I would like to say thank you to Waiteng and Voteforme (and others) from D-addicts for giving an opportunity to those who do not reside in HK to watch such a wonderful series.

Moonlight Resonance Finale

Moonlight Resonance will officially come to an end tomorrow in a 2 hour special. I've heard there are 3 different endings. Here are the questions to be answered...

• Will Moses die? Will he end up with Tavia?
• Who will Linda choose? Raymond or Bosco?
• And last but not least, who's hands would the company fall into? How with Ha Yu, Louise Li, and Michelle Mi resolve their relationship.

My predictions (or what I want to happen)

• Moses will not die and will end up with Tavia.
• Linda will choose Raymond.
• Michelle put into jail for lying so much!
  

Finished The Seventh Day

I finished The Seventh Day for the third time, I saw it from the beginning to the end in two days (beginning Saturday afternoon). It has been a couple of months since I last saw it but it was just as good as the first time!

Tips to installing XP MCE (3 discs) on a Mac with VMWare

Tip #1 - Do not use the easy installation option, you must do it manually.

Tip #2 - Re-insert Disc 1 after Disc 2 finishes installing.

Tip #3 - Install VMWare tools

Tip #4 - To access your Mac Files on your virtual Windows machine

• Click the '+' under settings and add shared folder
• Enable it and name it what you want
  
• Double click the VMWare icon near the time display on your windows machine
• Follow instructions under the Sharing Tab
  

VMWare Resolved!

Finally, I figured out how to install XP MCE with VMWare, it turns out I just can't follow poorly written instructions. I needed to re-insert Disc 1 after Disc 2 finishes installing. So now everything works but I still need to get AutoCAD and the U of M bookstore has sold out of them. I'll try the bookstore at Red River College tomorrow, hopefully they will sell it to me...Today's digital drawing class was an introductory class. Next week we will need AutoCAD installed on our laptops for class. They're actually going to teach us this time!

ED3 Begins!

I just received notification from our advisor that our drawing class will begin tomorrow afternoon before studio begins. I originally thought we would get Friday off and then not start until Monday afternoon but I guess I was wrong... Oh well, I don't even know what to bring for tomorrow (sketchbook, pencils and an eraser?) but some of us may miss it if they have interviews...

ED3 Interviews

I had two interviews today, one went very well (12:20 PM) but the other went okay/good (1:00 PM). Luckily the one that went very well was my first choice and the one that went okay was my third. The interviews were running on time and I was done at 1:15 PM.

ED3 Presentations!

School officially starts tomorrow but school won't officially start for me until next Monday afternoon. Yesterday I went to school for studio presentations, each studio prof gave us a presentation on what they plan on doing in the coming year, their interests or if they plan on going on any trips. Today I went to make my choice and tomorrow I have interviews. I could have scheduled the interviews for tonight but they begin at 6 and I didn't want to wait around for another 4 hours. Tomorrow my interviews are at 12:20 and 1:00. I think they will look through out portfolios and just ask us questions...I'm not too sure, but we'll see. It's a pretty easy start, a lot of transition time.

During the presentations a prof showed the Toronto beach picture and Andrew and I were like "we were there!" but that studio is only for the higher grades. We got to listen to ALL 15 studios but we could only pick from 5.

Two of our choices involves working on this flim. It is a partnership with the faculty of Film and Music. One choice involves designing the bedroom and the other is the kitchen. The kitchen studio will be going to Paris, but I'm not sure about the other. Unfortunately they were not my top 3 choices. I don't think it will be as straight forward as 'set design' and I'm not much of a movie goer. I like them of course but I'm not very good at analyzing the setting and stuff...I am good with the plots though! Plus traveling to Paris is expensive! Plus they tried to explain the general plot of the movie...but I didn't really get it...it's one of those 'artsy' movies, not a TVB drama, lol.

So here are my choices... Number 1 went to this studio that will focus on both theory and representation of architecture and thinness rather than bigness. Number 2 will focus on how time affects and changes architecture. Number 3 will focus on exchange, how our various ways of exchange is incorporated into architecture and will include a trip to Montreal for some cultural exchange. Topic wise I like number 2 the best but I didn't want to put it as number 1 because the prof who will be teaching the studio is unavailable until next monday when studios will start. His presentation was given by another prof because of his absence and there are no interviews as a result. Number 3 interests me the least but I like the trip to Montreal, not a too expensive trip. I understood Number 1 the best, she had the best communication skills and the topic is reasonably interesting.

When a Dog Loves a Cat

I just finished When a Dog Loves a Cat. This series really resembles The Seventh Day, though I did not enjoy it as much as The Seventh Day of course. Finally there is a TVB series that I can compare The Seventh Day to. Both series had animals. Though 'Jack' had a smaller role in The Seventh Day in comparison to the Gallen's pets, Jack was more enjoyable to watch with Niki and was very realistic. I don't like the talking animals, kind of cheasy. Gallen had cancer and died in the end. He fell in love with Myolie and but found out he had cancer and resented from dating her. He avoided Myolie feeling that they have no future...After Myolie found out about his terminal illness, he faked his death for some reason (don't know why), but then Myolie found him and they spent their last days together. The ending really is a complete knock off of The Seventh Day but the story ends and nothing seems to have happened. In the Seventh Day, at least they married and had a girl...and Kevin and Niki had so much more chemistry than Gallen and Myolie. I would give it a 3.75/5. 

Bird's Hill

Today was a very beautiful day! Chad called me at 11 in the morning and ask if I was going to Kaycee's B-day party at Bird's Hill. I has told about it before but I had forgotten about it until he called. So Chad, Jay, Mike, and I went together. Jim had work so he couldn't come. It was my first time going to Bird's Hill and it is a very nice park with a small beach and close so it's a nice alternative to going to the beaches. We did go into the water but spent most of our time on the sand looking at my iPod and talking. After all the fun we had...I noticed something on my car when I got home...someone thought it is cool is key someone's car after slamming it with a door. They keyed 'MORON' on MY CAR. I told my dad about it, I thought he would be madder than he turned out to be, but it seemed like I was the one who was most pissed off! Though they did have their speech that they had to recite...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We're going to get it fixed...but the timing couldn't be worse, school is just around the corner! ARGH! You're the MORON!

Last Day at CBSA

Well, today was my last day at CBSA...it was a quiet one (until the very end of it)...I didn't get too many emails today, so I just spent the day cleaning out my desk and tying any loose ends. I didn't want to start anything...I went to get a Tim Horton's Chocolate Brownie Ice Cap Supreme for coffee with Flory and Tammy. At around 3:00, we went through our pile of applications and found many items loose items during the mess that happened on Monday and Tuesday while Kim and I  were away. Kim and I spent some time going through them and I sent emails out requesting additional information. We have a gigantic pile that is to be sent off on Tuesday. After that running around my last hour at CBSA went by so quickly. When I took my last trip to HR and finally met Nicole (not the person I pictured), I got many "thanks" and "thank you's" from them and I was quite touched to know that I made a large difference at CBSA this time. I've bonded with the agency much more than last time. Right before Kim left, Flory and her presented with me a card from ATS, I didn't want to open it until after fearing that I may get a bit emotional. After giving my email access to Kim and Flory, my job at CBSA was officially over. The thank-you (good bye) card they gave me was very nice and everyone wished me well in school so I wish to do the same here. I know they will have a tough time without me but I wish them all well in the coming fiscal year. I'll be back next May 2009!   

2nd Last Day

Today was my second last day at CBSA, things have calmed down a bit from yesterday and Kim and Flory treated me to lunch. At 11:30, we went down to Corydon to this Greek restaurant called Niko's. We got there before the big rush so we didn't have to wait to be seated. Too bad the weather wasn't nice enough to sit outside on a patio like we did last month at Monviso's. The food at Niko's was excellent! I ordered a chicken platter that came with the most delicious salad I've ever had and hand cut french fries. The chicken was a little salty but that is part of the Greek Cuisine! I'm open to most different flavours (except super spicy) so I found it very good. Of course, Flory and Kim treated me to lunch, very nice of them. Though we were stuffed, we went for some Gelati afterwards just across the street...I got Rasberry and Oreo, very good and their portions were very large for $4 compared to the place just down the street beside the Dollarama where we went to last time at our French meeting. We got back to work at 1:30... so I took a yummy 2 hour lunch :D

1st Day Back

CRAZY, INSANE, HECTIC, INCREDIBLY BUSY! I was only away for 2 days and I got 28 emails! OMG, that is an email every half an hour! I even had my out-of-office on too! I basically spent the entire day getting caught up on my emails. Kim was away sick the days I was away too, so poor Flory who had 2 days of training was doing 3 people's work. I don't know if I will be able to get back on that filing project for the Security Specialists... :S

Post Trip Reactions

Though this was my 6th time traveling to Toronto, this last trip to Toronto was the most satisfying. Besides getting to see Raymond and Linda, I found that my relationship with my Andrew, Liz, Raymond, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, have strengthened over the last four days. I feel a lot closer to my extended family in Toronto, I now have their cell number and they have mine and we though we didn't see other very often, my aunts and I would talk about just about anything. Liz and I got quite close and we even made a deal just before taking off. She will be studying aviation and she will give us cheap flights while I will design her home. I can't wait until we're all grown up, and each have our own life. We'll be able to use our expertise to help one another and give each other deals :D

Day 5 - Toronto - Tuesday

Because we were to fly around 4 in afternoon, we planned to go to the airport around 1:00, so we could explore the airport and so we decided to stick close to home that morning. Andrew and I walked to the near by shopping centre and though nothing was opened when we got there at 900 we wondered around until some shops opened at 930. Andrew had been looking for a messenger bag throughout the entire trip but could find one he liked, he is very picky and doesn't want to spend a lot. We told him that they are very hard on shoulders but he didn't care. There was one where he tried on at Pacific Mall and he didn't get it because it looked too much like a purse and it was on the pricey side for Pacific Mall aka 'fake/pretend' stuff. We went into Luggage City at the nearby shopping centre but still no luck, he wanted a natural feeling material and not something synthetic looking. Then we went into the Beer Store and and Liquor Store, but he didn't buy any booze to take home because it was expensive. I think the only province that has cheap booze is Alberta. At about 945, we hopped on the Viva Orange and headed to IKEA which was just one stop away and we paid $3 for the ride. It was our first time inside an IKEA store and so we took their measuring tape and pencils as souvenirs. They do have some pretty nice things for reasonable/student prices. I bought a $8 birch round turntable that is meant for cheeses but I'm going to use it for design. We have this square one that the school charged us $20 for and it is MDF and DIY assembly. The corners of the square always got caught you needed a lot more space to turn the turntable. Of course Andrew played Devil's Advocate, but I bought it in the end anyways just so that I could have one at school and at home. I also this 4 level shelf for $20, I got as far as writing down the aisle and shelf numbers but I couldn't think of a place to put such a thing in my basement so I didn't get it. Funny, how they had one half as wide, but for $15! We bought a hotdog each for the ride home for $0.50 each, super cheap! Let's hope they are affected by the meat recall or anything. Our transfers were still good so we didn't have to pay again. When we got home it was 12 and grandpa had went out to buy BBQ pork and chicken for our lunch. We had it with rice and then we had to quickly finish packing. I didn't have room for my turn table so I had to shove it in Andrew suitcase. He really didn't buy much...I had a suitcase full of stuff...the dried pork for my aunt in Winnipeg took up the most space in my suit case. I had to stuff both my backpack and suitcase up to their fullest. Liz and Ray and their dad came over at around 1:00 to come to drive us to the airport. Liz brought over her USB with Chicago pics and she transfered them to my USB. One day I hope to go to Chicago and New York (again). So we headed to the airport together and we got there around 2:00. When we got to the airport, we realized that we had not taken any proper family pictures with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles so we quickly took a few with Liz's dad and the four of us 'kids'. We checked in at Terminal 3 and Andrew and I couldn't get a spot together but we got the same row, the two middle seats. We did a tour of Terminal 3 and then rode the monorail to Terminal 1, it was a very cool experience. Terminal 1 is bigger and airy and open like the Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok airport with no pillars in the centre. The structural members were amazing! there was this piece of artwork hung on the wall that documents by photography the experience of traveling from Pearson to downtown Toronto. We think that the airport authority has no idea what is implied in the art, I think it is dissing the city, a victim of globalization withe several Shopper's Drug Marts and Starbucks shown. Then we went to inquire about Terminal 2, and how to get there but we all found out that there is NO terminal 2, just a 1 and 3. So I tease Liz, "and you call yourself a Torontonian!" Then we headed back to Terminal 3 and then said our goodbyes and we went through the gates around 3:30. My camera batteries finally died as well. We were assigned the gate B27 on our boarding passes but when we got there there was only a flight to Ottawa at 630 and our flight is to Winnipeg at 445. "So I guess we were gong to Ottawa!" Then we checked the screen and saw that we've been reassigned the gate C39 and we had to walk back the way we came basically to the opposite end of the airport. When we were finally at the right gate, it was about 4:00. I sent a text message to all my aunts and uncles and Liz to say 'thanks' right before we boarded. The flight home was a lot more comfortable than our flight into Toronto and we just sat back and enjoyed the ride home... 

Day 4 - Toronto - Monday

After spending the entire day with us on Sunday, my cousins decided not to come with us that morning so Andrew and I headed out to the Downsview subway station via Viva Orange. The ride seemed to be longer than it was on Saturday night and it seemed to take a lot more turns but we got to the subway station at around 9:15. This time, we bought unlimited travel for the day on the TTC for $9 per person, we weren't taking any chances. TTC transfers are only good for connections from Subway to Bus and you technically cannot re-enter the subway station and it is not meant for 'stop-overs'. Last night we were forced to leave the subway station at Union because there were only washrooms at the GO station, but it didn't matter because we had the pass. Back to today...when we got on the subway at Downsview, an older Chinese lady comes to me and asks me how to get to Chinatown (Spadina). She speaks Mandarin ONLY. So I freak out...well kind of...I try to tell her to get off at the Spadina Station but she tells me she doesn't understand english. I tell her that I don't speak Mandarin very well and I speak Cantonese...oh it was pretty funny. I'm trying to say "get off at Spadina and then walk down the hall to the street cars" but I wasn't sure if all street cars go down Spadina. I'm just a tourist myself! A local Filipino lady steps in and gives directions but in English. I don't know how much of it she understood...but we continued to communicate, I tried my best in Mandarin...it was REALLY funny...at times I had to repeat myself but she understood me eventually. It is easier for me to understand her since she spoke slowly and with short sentences. She kind of implied that 'all Chinese people should be able to speak Mandarin as it is the official language'...well, I'm learning and trying! She and her husband did commend me on my efforts and said that most Cantonese people have trouble with Mandarin. They got off at the Spadina Station and said 'thank you' in Mandarin (and replied 'you're welcome' in Mandarin). I always wonder, do I look 'that' Chinese? I think I'm pretty Canadian, and I'm darker than most Chinese people from China, how did she know I was Chinese? We got off a few stations later at St. Patrick Station. We saw signs that would lead us to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) so we followed them to Frank Gehry's building of Toronto. As far as I know, Gehry's is an addition to the existing AGO. AGO is quite hidden in run-down old neighbourhood with narrow streets and power lines dangling everywhere and in comparison to Gehry's other big projects such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, there is no room for the building to breathe. The glass cladding is a very unique form but is unfitting with the context. The design is best suited on a waterfront or on a busy intersection such as the WAG in Winnipeg. It needs to be exposed and not buried away. It should be reopened in November 2008 so we didn't get to see the inside. The Ontario College of Art and Design was right behind it and so we didn't even have to look for that. We remember seeing a building with a cube sticking out of its side when we were up on the CN Tower, and it was just a block west of the College so we walked to find it. The streets were kind of creepy...I thought we were in drug town or something, nobody was around and the graffiti made me feel unsafe. This was probably the most threatening part of our trip. When we did find the cube building it was another disappointment, it was just a extensively commercialized concert hall with company labels and brands painted all across it...not very cool at all! I took a few pictures, Andrew didn't take any at all and we headed back to the College. We took some neat pictures, I tried to be funny in some. There is an art store right beside it and we went in and I bought tracing paper 18" wide x 50 yd for only $6, that is dirt cheap...They even gave me a discount even though I told them we're students from U of M. The bookstore at the U of M would easily charge over $12! Of course, Andrew played Devil's Advocate and so I resented from buying more rolls. After we went inside of the College, we told the reception guy that we are students from the U of M Faculty of Architecture and how we found their building so much more interesting (than the U of Ts). He was very nice and welcoming and so we roamed around the building and took pictures. I don't think the College teaches architecture but probably design such as graphic, fashion, etc... Next stop was the Ontario Science Centre! We caught the subway and got off at Eglington station and then we were feeling hungry so we bought stuff at Cinnabuns (or something). I bought Cinnastix and Andrew bought a Cinnabun. Mine were easier to handle so I was able to have them on the bus 34 that took right to the Science Centre. The Centre was neat but there were too many kiddie things and the kids were ruining it for everyone. Andrew and I had fun there but it was more of a bonus...had I known what was going to happen after I may have chose not to go...we were supposed to meet my Aunt Sandy, Liz and Ray at about 1 in the afternoon at First Markham Place. The original plan was to bus to the nearest station Don Mills (at Fairview Mall) and then catch the Viva Green to First Markham Place. We took the 25 to Fairview Mall (just passed Sheppard) only to find that the Viva Green only runs during peak hours from 4 to 6 in the afternoon and it was only almost 1 PM. We saw that the map and found out the 25 goes north all the way to Steeles. I called Aunt Sandy and ask if she could meet us at Don Mills and Steeles and that was the new plan. So we got onto the 25 again (good thing we bought those day passes) and then headed north. We both heard the intercom say "next stop, Steeles" so we pulled the trigger and requested the stop...only to find out we were on McNicoll and the map says we were still a few more stops from Steeles. So we had to wait for the next 25 to come and good thing those buses ran so frequently we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for one to come. After taking three 25s, we finally made it to Steeles and Don Mills and met up with my Aunt and cousins at the Esso gas station. My Aunt took us to Swiss Chalet for a late lunch and we had their chicken with their famous sauce. It was good but a bit on the expensive side...$8 for 1/4 of a chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy. We had talks about the 'good old' days when we were younger, how Liz used to follow us wherever there could be fun involved but would ruin the fun for everyone. After we ate, we went back to Splendid China Tower for the Press Conference / Autograph Session of Raymond, Linda, and Bernice. We arrived right when it started at 4 and there was a pretty good turn out at the mall given it was a Monday at 4 in the afternoon. Bernice actually didn't show up and I was slightly disappointed as I was hoping to see all three. We found spots on the side, and though we were closer to the stage, I didn't get very good pictures of Ray because he had his back turned on us and he was wearing sunglasses. Funny, I noticed he wore shoes without socks on...kind of gross and uncool in my opinion...Linda looked better in person than on camera but clearly Raymond was favoured by the fans who were screaming and yelling and we stood there quietly taking pictures :) They seemed friendly but they didn't do much, they just walked out on stage, and had a little bit of Q and A going, and then some photos and then began the autograph sessions, I was hoping to hear a tune or two but I guess that was reserved for the concert. Right before they were about to being autographing a boy near us fainted and his mom pulled him out of the crowd to get some air. There was piled of yellow bloop on the floor and I stepped on it and it was gross! It is probably puke and the boy just had bubble tea or something. It didn't seem like a drink because there was no 'cup' at the scene of the spill. To get autographs, I think either you had to have tickets to their concert or go there early enough because it seems like those who got signatures had special stickers on their shirts. Seeing that we couldn't get autographs, we left for Pacific Mall. This time I bought DIE and When a Dog falls in love with a Cat. They were priced at $10 each but I talked my way into getting a 10% discount at $18 for two :D I was getting pretty good at the bartering. Then I wished I would have said $16 for two, oh well...We went for bubble tea and got a buy 2 get the third one free deal and we ordered 4 drinks. The bill came to $18 so it was still like $4.50 per drink but it was good but expensive. Liz wanted to buy a PS2 DDR dance pad and she eventually found one at this store for $18 each. She got me to try to barter again, and I proposed the deal, 2 pads and the game for $40. The game is $8, so really we were only saving $4! That is like 10% off but she said "No, I don't make a lot off these"...I'm like "It is only $4!"..."That $4 makes a huge difference"...so we ended up only getting the pad. After that it was about 7 PM and suggested going to MHQ Karaoke for 2 hours since we were getting picked up at 9 PM. It is so cheap there, 2 hours for $6/person and you get a drink. In Winnipeg, the places are dated, small and expensive, and they make you buy drinks. However, Jimmy wasn't there and there were no other Karaoke fans amongst us besides me so we wandered until the Mall closed at 8 PM. I bought an SD card reader for $8 because MacBooks don't have built in card readers. After the mall closed, we wandered off to a nearby Wendy's/Tim's and it was cold night....and they were beginning to regret refusing to go into MHQ...Liz and Ray told us horrible stories about their experiences working at Tim Horton's, how everything was frozen and/or covered in flies. There menu is a little different, they don't have the Premium Hot Chocolate or Premium Mocha or Ice Mocha but luckily they had the Chocolate Brownie Ice Cap Supreme and I ordered that. There is no PST on food, so it was cheaper at $3.35 compared to $3.46 here in Winnipeg for a Medium. We also got some Hamburgers from Wendy's...and we sat and ate until Liz's dad came around 9 to pick us up after getting off work. We got home at around 10 PM and showered and ate a bit of rice and then went to bed for the last night in Toronto. 

Day 3 - Toronto Trip - Sunday

My cousins Liz and Raymond came over and the four of us ventured our way to Chinatown Sunday morning at around 10:00 AM with grandpa. My grandpa had this Dim Sum lunch to attend to, so we were to split once we got there. Liz's mom gave us all a ride to the nearest subway station Downsview so that saved us $3.00 on the Viva. At the Spadina station, Liz, Ray and I recalled the moments when the moving 'sidewalk' was there to link the subway train to the street car, but that has been removed. We used to sit on the rails because we thought we were cool by doing that when we were younger. After arriving at the Dundas stop (Chinatown), we remembered that we forgot to get TTC transfers...oh well, what can we do...We got there a little early, it was before 11 AM and nothing was really open because it was Sunday. We walked into the two malls (Dragon City Centre and Chinatown Centre) but nothing was open. We decided that we would come back later. We saw the CN Tower from Chinatown and decided to walk to there, we didn't want to take the street car because we would have to pay for that short trip. We passed by an MEC building on the way. I took some pictures but I think ours in Winnipeg looks way cooler. We finally got to the Roger's Centre/CN Tower at around the noon hour. There was baseball game, Blue Jays versus Boston, and people were everywhere trying to sell us tickets to the ball game, of course that wasn't the purpose of our trip. We had trouble locating the main entrance to the CN Tower and we took these stairs that brought us all the way around the CN Tower whereas we could have just kept going straight and we would have seen the entrance....oops! We got to the ticket booth and saw this City Pass deal that included multiple attractions in Toronto (CN Tower, ROM, Castle Loma, Ontario Science Centre, Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Zoo) for $64 so we got it. They told us it would be a 80 minute wait to get to the top but took no longer than 45 minutes to get the elevators. The last time I was in Toronto in 2001, we waited for hours to get to the elevators because it was in the afternoon. Only Andrew and I went up while Liz and Ray sat and waited outside and had hotdogs from the hotdog stand. We took pictures from up above and it was neat to see the city that way considering we were at ground level all Saturday evening. We saw these interesting buildings and we tooks pictures and vowed to find them once we were back on ground level. We took a few pictures for one another and then took a picture together. Then came the glass floor...I've been on it before so I wasn't freaked out and just stepped right on it and even jumped a couple of times but I could tell that Andrew was a little freaked out and so I took a picture of him and his reluctance. He eventually got on the glass and we took a few cool photos. The line to get back down was a half hour wait and while we were going down it began to rain outside and it was sunny when we were up. We grabbed some pizza from the little cafe on the main floor and ate lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. The rain stopped (but I had my umbrella out just in case) and we ventured to the nearest subway station. It was already 1:30 and the next two attractions, ROM and Casa Loma both close at 5 PM so we didn't have time to spare. It took us a while to find the subway station, we eventually found the Union Station but there was a closer one that we couldn't find...oh well...ROM is located just above the subway station "Museum" so that easy. We got in and had to turn in our bags. There was a huge line up at the ticket booth but seeing that two of us had passes and two of us didn't, the very kind lady allowed my cousins to jump the queue and we got in as soon as we got there! The place was quite interesting particularly the Michael Lee0Chin Crystal by Daniel Libeskind was really cool and we got some great pictures of us (me) being stupid with it, lol...we were quite close to being kicked out...lol...In the dinosaur section, they had a giant turtle and fish hung in the exact same way as in the Wallace building at the U of M and we think they are massed produced and if you buy the turtle, you get the fish for half price or something. We weren't really there to learn so we just took pictures of some interesting artifacts and skipped much of the descriptions :D My batteries were dying by the end of the museum and I forgot my charger at home so I had to buy 4 AA batteries for $7 at the souvenir shop! I also bought souvenir edition of Bold Visions - The Architecture of the Royal Ontario Museum and that has come in handy already while I'm typing this up. They also had a lot of beautifully designed pieces of souvenirs but they were really expensive. For only $99, you can get this lemon juicer that I'm pretty sure Sharon Ackerman showed us in her Theory Class, that looks like a 3 or 4 legged spider. After ROM it was 3 PM, and we were getting hungry so we bought hotdogs at the hotdog stand...for $3 and a bottle of water...because we forgot to grab them from home. While we were eating, there was an olympic parade with Chinese Canadians celebrating the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in their BMWs, Acuras, Mercedes, Lexus, etc... We asked the ladies at the backpack pick up to see how we get to Casa Loma and it was only a few more subway stops north. So we paid again for the fare for the third time that day. After we got off the subway we still had to walk another 10 minutes to get to Casa Loma. We followed these signs on the road but they were meant for cars so we took this big detour when there was this other 'pedestrian only' route. It was hot and humid and we were going up hill. On top of that, the castle had no A/C (duh) and had these huge fans to cool the building off. The place was nice but I found every room similar, the highly decorated Victorian style that I'm not much of a fan of. We had these hand held that served as our guides. We didn't have much time left so we had to rush through our trips in ROM and Casa because they close at 5 PM. The tunnels at Casa were cool (both ways) but were smelly, lol. After Casa, I couldn't take the sun anymore and I had to take my umbrella out and use it for shade, and Andrew made fun of it and called it my "Michael Jackson Umbrella". We walked back to subway station and inquired about the family pass, we were shocked to find out that for a flat fee of only $9, we could've rode the TTC for unlimited number of times! The TTC employee wasn't very helpful at all...The sign was confusing it said...$9 at the top... and then at the bottom it listed "2 adults and up to 4 children" or "1 adult"...the guy was quite rude to me when I asked what the difference was...he said he didn't understand my question (Though I had been using Chinese fairly often in Toronto, I was speaking English at the time)...then we paid closer attention and read the fine print...On weekends, the pass is good for a family, but on weekdays it is only good for a single adult. After all that, I left him with the words "And here we are paying for the fare for 3 times without anyone telling us about it" and I walked away... Later, Liz told me he had this "well, good for you" look on his face. I was in a bad mood after that...It was about 5:45 PM. We headed back to Chinatown to find food...Charlene recommended Gold Stone so that was where we were headed. We passed this 'Watch Repair' store that sold TVB Series for only $4 each. It was funny because they just had this old guy with a table set up at the store window but inside it was all DVDs. I tried to bargain some more but she said no. Liz said she saw it in my eyes that I was going to get them anyways. Andrew said my hands were shaking when I went to grab them off the shelf. Whatever, it was such a deal! Then we went to Gold Stone, we sat down and had the recommended BBQ Pork Rice. Since I got such a deal with my DVDs I decided to treat my cousins! We were being cheap, I asked if we could order two plates for $5 something and then got four extra bowls to share it. The waitress told me "okay, but the minimum spending is $3 per person ($12 for the group), so could you just get a drink/pop?" I'm like "okay". It was really good though probably full of MSG. I left $10 on the table and Andrew left $5, so we left a $2 tip for them. After we ate, we rode the street car down towards the lake front and we took photos there. They had this man made beach and boardwalk which was nice, but seemed really really fake...After that we took the subway back uptown to Queen's Park where the U of T is. We saw the Ontario Legislature building and we wanted to see the U of T Faculty of Architecture building to compare it with ours. After wandering around finding a map, we had to hurry as it was getting dark out. We found the building but only to be disappointed. U of M's is so much better looking and bigger too. They only have one old building to house the entire faculty including landscape architecture too. Even there biomed buildings look nicer than their architecture building. After that, it was dark and we hoped on the subway again and headed for the Downsview Station. Liz's parents came to pick us up from the station and we headed out for Pho (Vietnamese) for a late night snack and Andrew and I got the "Special Pho"...it was good and I was so close to finishing the soup but my uncle told me to stop fearing that I would burst (I knew my limits, I could have finished it). Then it was home time when we showered and headed to bed...End of Day 3...

Day 2 - Toronto - Saturday

Sunny, hot and somewhat humid, but the air quality seemed to be better than it was the last time I was there when a layer of brown haze was noticeable. We began the morning with breakfast and just working our way into the routine. We played with my Pokemon obsessed cousins. Then my aunt Carol came over and we headed off the Splendid China Mall...for you guess it...Raymond, Bernice, and Linda...at about 11 AM. We took Pricilla with us. We got to the mall and I saw a notice stuck on the door. It translated to "Due to the intense storm in Hong Kong, our special guests will not be able to appear as scheduled, and the autographing session is cancelled until further notice." Feeling a little disappointed, we when to this Shanghai restaurant inside for Dim Sum. We wanted to order the Shrimp Rice Rolls but she couldn't find it on the menu. Because my reading abilities are a bit better than hers, I took a look too but I couldn't find them, so we decided to ask the waiter. Here's the funny part, both Aunt Carol and I have limited communication abilities in Mandarin and the waiter was Mandarin. We used a combination of Cantonese, Mandarin, English and body language to describe it and we got what we wanted! After the meal, we took a quick stroll at the Splendid China Mall but didn't buy anything and then we went to Pacific Mall which is just across the street. Though Splendid was sitting empty, Pacific was crowded and we had a real tough time finding a parking spot. As scheduled, I met my friend Jimmy here at P.M. and we hung out. I bought an official version of the Seventh Day because it was on sale ($15) and then a copy of War of In-Laws 2 ($16), also a few English titles for 4 for $10 (most places were selling them for 5 for $10 but I didn't know at the time) Last year, it was 3 for $10 and 7 for $20. Andrew, Jimmy and I hung out at the mall, had some bubble tea while Aunt Carol brought Pricilla back to Splendid to meet with Aunt Sandy. Since the autograph session was cancelled there was no point in staying at the mall for much longer so Andrew and I soon got a ride to the nearest subway station (Don Mills) from Aunt Sandy and Uncle John and Jimmy went back to his family who were eating out at the time. Andrew and I went downtown Toronto! We took two subways to get to the Dundas station and spent a long time at Eaton's Centre. In comparison to our Portage Place, this mall is bigger and was FULL of people inside. I spent over $120 at the Apple Store, though it was under renovations, it was cool anyways. I bought a MacBook Pro Skin ($50), iPod Touch Skin ($25), and Keyboard Skin ($35). The MacBook Pro Skin is sold out everywhere, I couldn't find it at Best Buy or Future Shop and the Bookstore on Campus is sold out of them too. The iPod Touch skin sells for $35 at Best Buy and Future Shop so Apple was selling them fore quite cheap. The keyboard skin was also $35 at Best Buy was only available in Black, I got it clear at the Apple Store. We went into many other stores too. I saw a pair of shoes at Sketcher's that I liked, but I just bought my shoes less than a year ago and the ones I saw were $105. I tried on this polo at Zara, it was $40, so not that expensive but it looked really nice. It was a clearance item so it was only available in Medium and Large. I tried on the M, and it was small so I tried on the L, and it was still small, it was so tight that I had a hard time to take it off (plus it was hot and I was kind of sweating). However, the tighter fit, did look good thought, it made my body look built, lol, too bad it was too hard to take off. If it shrinks anymore than it will be way too small. If it was $20s then I may have got it but $40 for a shirt that isn't my size isn't worth it. I went to Hollister and I wanted this polo and I was about to make the purchase until I saw the line up. There were like 30 people in line from the back all the way to the front of the store. Then we went to this other store called RW & Co and each bought a polo because they had a deal if you bought two. It worked out to about $30 each. I like it, it isn't too loose but isn't too tight to take off. After shopping at Eaton's Centre, we went over to Dundas Square (across the street) and they had these fountains coming out from the sidewalk and a mini market set up. Then we walked to the old and new City Hall and they had this Cuban fest going on and we each grabbed a pita and enjoyed the festival. People were singing and dancing (cha cha I think). After that, we went to Buskerfest down on St. Lawrence and saw this fire show. We couldn't stay for all of it because it was going to get dark soon and we didn't want to find the subway when it was dark out. The two maps we had were helpful in trip planning but didn't help finding the station entrances downtown. One map had the stations listed and routes but no streets, the other had streets but no stations, just the route traced out. So after looking around and asking several people, we caught the subway and headed home. We got from downtown to the Downview station in about 30 minutes and then we caught the Viva Orange and got to Weston and Hwy 7 a little passed 9. We were home at about 9:20 PM. I thought we were going to be the last ones home but we weren't, my uncle, aunt had taken my cousins out and weren't home yet. We showered and ate and went to bed...End of Day 2...

Day 1 - Toronto - Friday Evening

I got to the airport at about 7:30. We had checked in online the night before to ensure we were sitting beside each other. It turned out our flight was delayed from 8:30 to about 9:15 PM. We entered the gates at about 8:15 so we still had about a 45 minute wait inside the gates. I failed the metal detector test and required an intensive scan. When we boarded the jet the skies were dark and everything was okay until we hit some turbulence on our flight. The turbulence was so sudden that a flight attendant was sent flying into the wall. The captain immediately told them to sit down and they did so hastily. The seat beat light remained on for much of the flight. They were originally getting ready to serve the buy on board items. They recommended this mango smoothie ($3) so I decided to give it a try but it was too warm for a smoothie and it was HOT in the cabin. When ask, I told them it was good just to be polite. We arrived quite late and it was passed midnight and we were waiting for our luggage to come down. We were welcomed by my uncle and aunt who picked us up from Pearson International Airport. We arrived to their home in Vaughan and grandpa was waiting for us so we quickly changed and ate and then went to bed, it was 1:30 AM local time when we settled down. I slept on the sofa the first night while Andrew got the sofa bed. We promised to alternate.

Only 20 Hours Left!

Only one more week left of summer and 20 hours until take off! Work has been really hectic lately and has really kept my mind off school, but today we had this director come it from Calgary and he made fun of our 'skywalks'...'oh you mean all three of them?" he said, and i'm like "no, all 5 of them (sarcastically)" lol...but of course we know what's wrong with their +17 walk system ;) I got my macbook last week on Friday and I've been trying to install XP Media Centre on it since Monday but I've encountered a few problems with it and it works but the Media Centre portion won't install...I've been trying and trying and it is really stressing me out...I don't think we'll need CAD the first day...but CS3 runs great on it! Gotta get back to packing! I found this 2005 travel guide that I will bring with me and we'll look it over while we're on the plane!

Shopping list

Toothbrush - Done
Toothpaste - Done
Long distance phone card - No Such Thing - I will rely on Texting
iPod Touch Case - Apple Store - Eaton Centre

Sketchbook for Andrew (Bring mine too) - Grand and Toy 

Sent from my iPod

VMWare Issues

The OS came in three CDs (Part 1, 2, and Updates) yesterday. I've been using this VMWare wizard to set up Windows. After putting the first CD it installs fine and then it restarts and a VMWare Tools error message does come up...

"Error 1500. Another installation is in Progress. You must complete that installation before continuing this one."

It doesn't ask to put disc two in or anything and finishes. I tried to put disc 2 in and nothing happens. I test out windows and it is lacking programs such as internet explorer, media player, or those 'games' (solitaire, free cell, etc)

The manual says that VMWare can create a Virtual Machine from the Boot Camp Partition...I'm thinking I may give that a try...Is it easy to set up with Boot Camp?

Trip to Toronto!!!!

It worked out! I just bought my plane ticket! I'll be leaving Winnipeg Friday, August 22nd, evening and return Tuesday evening! This will be my first time traveling without my parents, so it'll be exciting going with Andrew!

Saturday - Let the fun begin - meet up with Jimmy and cousin - Shop at the Asian Malls in Markham - See the Ray, Bernice, and Linda @ Splendid China Tower - Karaoke?

Sunday - Downtown Toronto! Chinatown? Apple Store?

Monday - Downtown Toronto! (With Andrew) Architecture! Museums/Galleries!

Tuesday Morning/Early Afternoon - Suburbia? Last minute shopping?

The Seventh Day - Episode 9

At the end of this episode the narrator quotes the following...

"Separation is to wait for reuniting,

Love that has experienced hardships,

is permanent,

and is the beginning of true love"

The Seventh Day - Episode 20

This is a translation of what the billboard says at the end of the series...

God created everything in this world
And he created seven days
He placed the most beautiful things in this world
Before our eyes
Therefore, while you are alive
No matter what you experience
As long as you know how to cherish it
Then everything can be the most beautiful

*credits to "tzxsimple" on D-Addicts

What he said here makes complete sense to me and brings the entire series to a nice close.

Trip to Toronto

WestJet has once again lowered their prices! OMG this is so exciting...but I still can't get a hold of my manager! WHERE ARE YOU CLAUDE?

The Seventh Day - Favourite Scenes

I'm watching The Seventh Day for the third time... Here are my favourite scenes from the series...

• *Episodes 2-3 - Kevin and Niki being chased down and Niki taking care of Kevin's wound.
• Episode 4 - Buying grandma's present (in the jewelry shop)
• *Episode 5 - Kevin's realization and finding Niki under the Wishing Tree
• Episode 6 - Kevin and Niki's first 'official' date up on the mountain
• *Episode 6 - Kevin and Niki's gift exchange on the beach and their first on-screen kiss ;)
• Episode 7 - Interviews at the cafe
• Episode 7 - Niki visiting Kevin on his first day as a waiter
• Episode 8 - Natalie buys those stuffed toys for Bosco's car
• Episode 8 - Natalie goes to Bosco's house for supper
• Episode 9 - Natalie and Bosco have their on-screen kiss in the car watching the sunset on the mountain
• Episode 9 - Bosco goes to Natalie's house for supper
• Episode 10 - Kevin changes for Niki and begins designing again
• *Episode 12 - Japan - Kevin and Niki meet across the bridge
• Episode 13 - Japan - Niki tries to find Kevin, but Kevin is following her
• *Episode 13 - Japan - Kevin tells the story of his ex to Niki
• Japan - Bosco finds Natalie and they spend the night together
• Kevin designs their dream house and emails it to Niki (I am a designer myself)
• *Episode 18 - Kevin and Niki re-unite
• Episode 18 - Proposal
• *Episode 19-20 - Kevin and Niki's time spent living together

*Favourite of the favourites!*

Trip not working out...

WestJet has increased their prices significantly and it is now $500 to fly to Toronto. My manager has not responded so I've been waiting for his approval before making the purchase...We were only one step away so I'm a bit disappointed...

Embracing Air - The Seventh Day Subtheme

最美麗的第七天片尾曲 - 抱著空氣 by 鄭嘉穎 (Kevin Cheng) and 周麗淇 (Niki Chow)

K:談情時太美妙 但是已經告別了
Our love was too magical, (MV - Have you kissed me today yet? [Niki]) but it has now come to an end.
痛愛每天困擾 是沒法可預料
The annoyance of painful love everyday was so unpredictable.

N: 愛上你太奧妙 為甚要開這玩笑
Falling in love with him was too subtle, why is this joke being played on us?
看痛苦的破曉 伴著我的合照
Seeing pain’s daybreak and becoming a part of our picture.

KN:*曾快樂曾相戀 曾擁抱吻著你 曾吵架曾生氣
We were happy and in love. We kissed when we embraced. We argued and we got mad.

N:如今一一記起
Now, I remember our every moment

KN:如果心仍不死 容許我 掛念你
If my heart still beats, it will allow me to remember you

K:明知道迷戀你
You know I’m deeply in love with you.

KN:而可惜沒法擺脫別離 抱著空氣*
Too bad there is no way to avoid our separation….we embrace the air

(MV - If I'm not here one day, will you fall in love with someone else? [Niki])
(MV - Of course ... {nodding head} .... not! [Kevin])

K:說再見那暗示 現實要捨棄情意
Saying good bye is a hint, reality wants to give up our love

N:但是我想你知 事實我很在意
But I want you to know that I do really care.

Repeat *

(MV - Have you ever thought about our future)

This MV and song goes really well with the series and together we appreciate both the series and and song more. It has been viewed over 300 000 times on YouTube and that is the highest ever on TVB's YouTube Channel and the themesong video has been viewed over 100 000 times, the second highest! From this we can see the popularity of the series in the younger population since it is us who log onto YouTube and watch videos. I can see this series not really appealing to the older population which drew the viewership rating down...but I loved it so much.

The Seventh Day - Theme Video

最美麗的第七天 by Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎)

在這天這一分鐘遇你
On this day at this minute I met you
望向街中的感覺很美
Looking into the street, everything felt perfect
下一秒 未準備
At the next second, without any preparation
未適應兜兜轉轉像戲
Not accustomed to going around in circles like a game

越過空間差一些運氣
Walking through spaces without much luck
下意識的心想碰到你
Hoping to bump into you
剩低我 在這地
Leaving me alone in this world
離別終捉到珍惜道理
Separation has enabled me to understand the meaning of cherish

＊七天空間交錯　似千次遠離
7 days have passed, it's like a thousand good byes...　
一天呼吸使我在回味那空氣
Breathing a day of fresh air allows me to recall the air　
七天終必希冀　記憶再儲起
The end of the seven days will be magical, and saved in my memories　
心中一生的美是曾遇你 ＊
Beauty in my life lies in my heart because I met you.

在你身邊匆匆的掠過
Passing by your side hastly,
未有開口擔心會出錯
Worrying about saying the wrong words,
未敢愛 再等待
Don't dare to love so I'll wait here
重疊的空間終雙覓愛
Spaces of overlap end this seeking relationship.

Repeat＊

花一生的福氣為重遇你
Spending the fortune of my entire life to meet you again.

Though this themesong isn't as catchy as the theme of Under The Canopy of Love, it is still very good. I didn't like it as much at first, but then it does really catch on.

The Seventh Day

After seeing how much Linh liked the series, I'm watching the series again for the third time...all the episodes are on my iPod now... :D

Trip to Toronto?

WestJet prices are fluctuating...my manager still has not confirmed my request to take the two days off...and my dad though he is not against this trip, he is not very supportive about it...I wonder how Andrew is doing?

Trip to Toronto?

After realizing that 3.5 months have gone by without leaving the city of Winnipeg, Andrew and I are planning a trip somewhere...We would leave Friday night and return Tuesday night. I would only have to take two days (Monday and Tuesday) off work. At first, we wanted to go to Chicago, because it is rich in architecture, by driving to Grand Forks and taking the train to Chicago, but my mom turned me down. She suggested Calgary or Vancouver, but Vancouver is too expensive and Calgary does not interest Andrew and I that much...it is a city we built in 10 years and we will be able to see only one type of architecture. Then I did a search on WestJet and they have a seat sale for flights to Toronto and it only costs $330 to fly to Toronto... I could even go see Raymond, Linda, and Bernice in T.O. and visit my grandparents, uncles/aunts, and cousin...best of all it is free to live there...

It Came!

My MacBook Pro finally came...it was so easy to set up and it only took 15 minutes to get everything up and running...so, so far so good...It thin and light and looks great! XP MCE isn't arriving until Tuesday...

MacBook Pro Didn't Come Today

After delivery my iPod Touch a day early, FedEx has now let me down...my MacBook Pro did not come this morning even though they promised delivery by noon August 14, 2008. I wonder if Andrew got his package today...At least I got my iPod...I'm in the process of loading The Seventh Day onto my iPod because it was so good...My iPod is getting scratched on the back already...I better get the cases this weekend...

Best Bussing Experience

I had my best bussing experience yesterday. After shopping at Staples I took the bus after the one I usually take that is ten minutes later but it got me home before my regular usually does because the were very few people on the bus and better yet it was air conditioned and it was a hot day.

Sent from my iPod

Dentist appointment

I had a teeth cleaning appoinemt on Wednesday. No cavities so that is good news but my teeth are beginning to ache after the cleaning. After my dental appointment, I bumped into the mother of a Chinese classmate from architecture school, Elaine, the mother was next in line. I also know the mother from Chinese school because she is a teacher as well. Funny, Elaine and I didn't know we were connected until after reading week. We were not in the same studio group but she is with my good friend, Andrew, who works for Service Canada right now. Then when I walked outside into the parking lot, Jay's sister and brother drove by slowly in front of me and we waved. As a side note, the daughter of my dentist was a student of mine last year.

Sent from my iPod

First iPod Post

So I found a way to resolve the issue I had with blogger earlier. The solution us to post via email. This will do until blogger makes their site compatible with iPhone and iPod touches.

Sent from my iPod

Forensic Heroes II - Ending (Warning Spoilers)

I finished it! It took about 2.5 weeks to watch the 30 episodes. I had watched the last three episodes today thanks to the convenience of my iPod though the last two episodes didn't play quite properly...oh well they played fine the laptop...I think I liked FH2 as much as FH1, though they are sequels the style of the 2 drama series are different. Both series had a lot of Forensic Sciences involved and made the show scientific. FH1 had a lot of family issues with Tim, Sui Yau (Yo Yo) and Sam, whereas FH2 had Belle's family situation but that was a cliche and not very interesting...FH2 focused on the love triangle relationship between Belle, Ivan and Sam and I think that is where this series shines. In FH1, the relationships started slower and the producers took there time at building these lasting relationships in the hearts of the viewer. However, in FH2, the relationship between Ivan and Belle developed rather quickly and I was somewhat 'unconvinced' at first...perhaps that was what they were trying to achieve inorder to introduce the triangle relationship. Sam was the 'third person' but really he wasn't because he didn't have feelings for Belle, Belle and Ivan's relationship became convincing to me (and to themselves as well) after the first explosion. Thank goodness, Sam did not fight Ivan over Belle breaking their friendship! That is the way it should be! Also, after loving "Ding-Ding" (Linda) so much, it would be awkward for him to just pick anyone and fall in love with that person. In the end though, I'm glad Sam found someone that he may begin his new "big project" on. Though she isn't Linda, she is to him, though I guess that isn't really fair for the girl but it's hard to say whether it is right or wrong to 'love' someone because they remind you of someone else. I was very pleased with the ending. Perhaps my only criticism is that the series was too series at times and lacked some comedy to spice up the romance a bit. I don't mean 'stupid' comedy but even some chemistry perhaps...perhaps that is what is missing (Kevin and Charmaine worked together as a couple in Food for Life, but I didn't like the triangle relationship in that series)...now if only Belle was played by Niki...now that would be interesting! Bed Time!

Ipod and Canon Printer

They came in the mail this morning a day earlier than expected. The touch is best device invented! It is awesome! I can go on Facebook but I can't seem to make a post on Blogspot...Oh well, maybe I'm just stupid or something. I can't link to my hotmail account becaue they have disabled POP3 but I can connect to Gmail and U of M accounts. It took a google search to figure out how the stand is used. The Canon printer is much like the printer featured at the lab on FH2!

Moonlight Resonance Episode 10

Today's episode of MR was really FUNNY! I found it hilarious and bursted out in laughter when Sa Yee asked "Which one suits me more? The pink? or the Blue?"....when they pretended to be at the soccer game...Jo Bow's imitations...Everyone's response to Sa Yee's "Let's Duet"...I think she was referring to the chinese version of "My Heart will go On"...I prefer Moses' style in MR more than HOG, he's actually kind of cool :D

New TVB Series - Slicing of the Demon

The series that is replacing Heart of Greed is "Slicing of the Demon" starring Bernice, Sunny, and Michael Tse. I don't think the series has aired in Hong Kong on TVB yet because it isn't listed on their website, it must have been warehoused. It is an ancient drama series (with demons and spirits) and though Bernice is in it, it just isn't my cup of tea. On the plus side, I need the extra time because school is around the corner and there are things to prepare for. My Macbook is coming on Friday!

Forensic Heroes II - Triangle Relationship

The triangle relationship between Kevin (Ivan), Frankie (Sam), and Charmaine (Belle) in FH2 is very similar to the triangle between Raymond (Alfred), Moses, and Linda in Heart of Greed. Both have two friends falling in love with the same person. However, they handled the situations differently...well so far anyways...Rather than cheating on Ivan, Sam and Belle chose to stay away from each other to prevent the affection from deepening...However, sometimes the more you try, the greater the reaction if something goes wrong...for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Oldies - Heart of Greed

Old songs featured on TVB's Heart of Greed...I have heard of most of these but some of them are new to me. I particularly like numbers 2, 3, and 11...but they are all good. It is definitely one of my favourite scenes of Heart of Greed.

1. [陳百強] 漣漪 (Ripple)
...Life was calm and quiet like the lake waters, but you've induced some life into it. Because of the ripple you have caused, smiles and laughter have appeared...
2. [許冠杰] 難忘你 (Hard To Forget You)
...It's hard to forget your posture and movements, the concentration in your eyes. It's hard to forget your teasing smile, like spring's sunlight, and your backside moving quickly...
3. [趙學而] 每隔兩秒 (Every 2 Seconds) - Trivia: She played "Moon's" (2nd Son's) first wife in Virtues of Harmony
...I think of you every 2 seconds, but I don't know how to make your heart happy. I think of you every 2 seconds, completely forgeting about myself...
4. [陳百強] 戀愛預告 (Love's Advance Notice)
...I hate you because you don't know, but I'm willing to remain in a lover's dream, leaving a lasting mark. Outside the window, the clouds in the sky are full of enticing musical notes. In the night sky, the stars say to the moon, sweetness is love's advance notice...
5. [蔡齡齡] 細水長流 (For Eternity)
...If your eyes are like the deep sea, you've already sank me deep down. Who made fall in love? Do you know?...
6. [譚詠麟] 情是永願著迷 (Love is Always Attractive)
...Only because I have you, everything seems to be perfect. Love is eternally attractive, never destructive. Only because I love you, sweetness fills my heart. Willing to hold the sunset so it can be together with the night wind...
7. [張學友] 暗戀你 (Crush on you)
...Who is able to give you warmth and comfort every night? When I am silently in the darkness? Reality is like that and dreams won't have it any longer. As long as you know, it is enough...
8. [林志美] 偶遇 (Meeting)
...Watching, watching at you, coming and going, just like a rainbow disappating. Which day will enable us to meet once again?...
9. [張學友] 月半彎 (Crescent Moon)
...Allow me to rest upon your shoulders, allow me to speak the words at the bottom of my heart, the beauty and warms of love. My dreams are all about you...
10. [陳百強] 有了你 (With You)
...With you, I feel more joyful. I want to see you everyday, even in the wind and rain, in the fierest thunderstorms, there is a sense of loneliness if we see each other even one second less. With you, I feel relaxed and leisured. Even falling becomes funny when I'm happy. My heart wants to become birds and fish with you to live in an open and free world. My heart wants to become birds and fish with you to live in an open and free world...