Wrap It Up

Classes have officially ended for the term and all that await are the dreaded exams.

On a brighter note, that beautiful powdery white stuff that falls from the sky began to pour down yesterday. I love the snow and can't imagine having Christmas without it. Being in the Christmas mood, I went to the mall and purchased the wrapping paper I will be using this year. Personally, I think it matches my sense of what is appealing. It's a cream colour with various fonts of holiday greetings/sayings. Of course, I had to get matching cards which somehow were in the same vicinity as the wrapping paper (Darn you Hallmark).

(Sorry about the horrible lighting)

I know I'm someone's secret Santa and I'm hoping they aren't reading this just to figure out I have them. :/

Hopefully everyone else is having as much fun picking out Christmas-y stuff as me!

No Means No

Today, I was accused of stealing someone's phone.

It was just before my club event that I decided to get a little snack. I headed towards the Timmies in the SLC to grab a doughnut and an apple cider. Seeing as I had roughly half an hour to kill before the meet up time, I grabbed a paper and walked over to a free couch. I started to settle down when a student walked up to me asking if I've seen a phone. I replied with a polite no and kindly allowed him to check the crevices of the seat and surrounding area. He asked me again, this time with a little more force, if I had seen his phone. I looked him in the eye and gave him the same reply. After a few seconds of uncomfortable eye contact, as he was trying to dig a hole into my soul, I resumed my crossword. He left soon after only to come back with some friends. I overheard him and his peers talking about me and how he left his phone there. They immediately made me out to be culprit. Walking over for the third time, he actually accused me of putting his phone into my bag. I told him that it was getting ridiculous and emptied the contents of my bag in front of his eyes. Still unbelieving, he went on to question if I really had it. His reasoning was that in the time he left his phone on the couch to grab a coffee, walk back to the area, see me sit down and get my stuff out, that there was time in that short millisecond that I could have pocketed his phone.

He went to campus police soon after and they came over to inspect the area. I kindly allowed to ruffle around. They found nothing and thanked me for my time. At this point, I was rather annoyed as the surrounding students must have thought I was some sort of criminal. The most incredulous thing was he came back for his final attempt offering me a unlocked blackberry if I would return his phone. Exasperated, I looked him straight in the eye and told him that I honestly did not know where his phone was or where it could be and I'm incredibly sorry for his loss, but there was nothing that I could do. He had the police come over and search the area and frankly, his accusations were getting a little irritating.

I guess some guys don't understand that no means no.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

You hear it playing all around; From grocery stores to shopping malls. The sounds of Christmas music fills the air.

Personally, I love Christmas. It has to be my favourite holiday and I always get super excited months before December actually arrives. This year, I noticed that the Christmas decorations were going up rather early. In fact, the local mall set up their Santa Claus photo booth at the beginning of this month.

It got me wondering, how soon is too soon to start up the Christmas cheer? Many of my housemates and schoolmates agree that the first snow or beginning of December is appropriate. I honestly can't decide when is too early as I get eager for Christmas to come in October.

What do you guys out there in the bloggersphere think? When is it appropriate to set up for Christmas?

California Gurls (Say No to Prop 19)

Tuesday.

Tonight my house would go out for a GreenGiant's birthday dinner. He had a rather difficult time choosing where to go, but in the end, it was Swiss Chalet.

While there, we all ordered our meals until the conversation suddenly took a turn to Prop. 19, the legalization of marijuana. Jolin and PadFeet both were against it, although their arguments were rather vanilla. As you may have guessed, I am for the legalization of marijuana. Now, I know you must be thinking that I have to be a recreational user of this drug and haven't really thought out the legal grounds. You would be wrong on BOTH accounts.

Personally, I believe marijuana should be legalized not for the monetary aspect the government receives--this of course may lead to better funding for education and poverty--but because the relatively harmless effects of it. Looking at it from this perspective, marijuana isn't more harmful than nicotine or alcohol and morally, allowing a "drug" to be legalized isn't a fundamental argument as alcohol and nicotine have been already been legalized. You can see that my argument revolves around alcohol and nicotine because these drugs have been proven to be relatively harmless and by reference, marijuana poses the same risks. There are supporting arguments, but I'd rather not get into them now.

I realize that my opinion is not likely to change your view on the topic, but I thought I'd throw it up onto the interwebs. I mean, that is the point of a blog, right?

In any case, I'd love to hear your opinions on Prop 19. Should marijuana be legalized? California says no...

How about you?

Trick (to Drinking) or Treat(ment)

Saturday.

Tonight is the night of not only my friend's halloween kegger!!!

I arrived in Guelph the night before the actual party and bunked up with my cousin N. There wasn't much to do that night so we ended up playing computer games until early in the morning.

Saturday morning rolled around and we both woke up around noon. I was expecting to go downtown to shop with my cousin Pisa, but due to inconvenient bus times, we decided to stick to shopping in Guelph on Sunday. N and I didn't really have any costumes to attend the kegger in, so we hit up the mall anyways. The mall was extremely packed and there were no creative costumes left. We both decided we wouldn't dress up as we expected a lot of people were not going to (We were wrong).

Since the party was not going to start until 8, N and I made dinner; Spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread. It seemed to be a fitting pre-drinking meal as the carbs would help settle the alcohol. The meal turned out well, but we made way too much. As soon as it was 8, I hit up Rhombus to see when they would be leaving for the party. Mire, Chewbecca, and C were arriving at the kegger for 8:30. I thought this to be a little early, but afraid we wouldn't be able to find them after, N and I left around the same time.

We walked into the house and paid our 10 dollars. The girls put a number on my hand and gave me a classic red beer cup. I quickly found Rhombus as there weren't too many people at that point and grabbed a quick cup of beer. The first swig was not very satisfying as the beer tasted more like water with a strange aftertaste.

I chatted with my friends for a bit until the party started to pick up. We ended up playing flip cup for a while with my team winning about half the time. I surprisingly got better as the games went on while my teammate next to me deteriorated. N chose not to participate in flip cup, rather he headed for the beer pong table. The most surprisngly game was between Chewbecca's boyfriend, Gib, and N vs. Yoshi and Luigi. N and Gib were down by 5 cups with only one left. Somehow, they pulled through plopping in two cups per round. They ended up winning the whole game to everyone's surprise!!!

As the night went on, more beer was ingested and more people showed up. At one point, over 90 people were crammed in that small house. The police even showed up to do noise checks.

Around, 11, Gib got really sick as he drank too much too fast. Chewbecca went to take care of him and fifteen minutes later, I became concerned. Gib was throwing up constantly and definitely not feeling well. We tried to comfort him as he spewed liquid over the porch. We all decided we should get him home even if it cut our night short.

We called for a taxi and literally, after the 90th time we called, we got through. The company was Red Top taxi as no one knew of any other companies in the area. The taxi arrived only for it to be stolen by two guys who bribed the driver with a hefty tip. I was a little outraged as our friend was basically at the point of passing out and these two guys decided they "needed" to get to another party. For all my readers, I recommend not using Red Top Taxi while you're in Guelph because unless you have extra cash to bride the drivers, it'll probably be stolen.

Rhombus ended up taking the bus that was absolutely stuffed. I understood what it meant to be packed like sardines when the bus passed by.

Overall, the night was great although short.

I wish I could have played a few more rounds of flip cup.

Poking Doesn't Only Happen on Facebook

Sunday.

I was planning on growing out my hair just to see what I would look like. However, my hair is rather course and straight and so as it grows, it becomes much like pins poking at my ears and the back of my neck. Thus, I decided to get it cut yesterday at Volum. As some of you may remember, I had visited them once before getting my faux hawk with complaints of blunt cutting. In any case, I was desperate for a cut and so I awoke at 9:30 a.m. and got ready. I left the house roughly at 10:30 and ended up walking to the mall. It took me almost 40 minutes, but I wasn't in an incredible rush.

Once in the mall, I expected the shops to open at 11:30. I was sadly mistaken and waited an additional half hour. To make things worse, Volum already had some customers and it would be another hour before I would be able to get in. I agreed to wait and ended up perusing the mall, although to no avail. At 1, I walked in for my "appointment" and it was off to the races.

My hair was being cut by one of the younger looking stylists. I wasn't especially nervous as I knew exactly what I wanted. I gave her directions and she asked for clarification. She even knew that I wanted a jagged cut rather than the blunt chops the older stylists love doing.

The overall product wasn't bad and I'm glad that the poking sensation is gone.

Too bad it's getting chilly here and now I don't have hair to cover my ears.

CD Review: Lungs by Florence and the Machine

Hello again!

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, but nothing especially interesting has happened as of late. However, during my absence, I did discover the CD Lungs by Florence and the Machine.

Its musical complexity is treat for those pop listening who wish to dip their toes into some more indie based music. Florence Welch's voice is no backdrop to the entrancing music, but adds a nice dimension to the songs. I highly recommend checking out this CD as I am confident you won't be disappointed!

Overall Rating:

3.75/5

Sausagefest

Friday.

Spiderman and I decided to go shopping. We headed over to Fairview Park Mall using the 7B which took forever. Once there, we grabbed lunch. I was craving Greek so I opted for Opa!'s platter. It was a lot of food and quite salty, but really good.

After lunch, Spiderman and I decided to check out some of the stores. We didn't find much and neither of us ended up buying anything for ourselves. We took the iXpress to campus and ended up walking back for fear of another hauntingly long trip aboard the 7.

Saturday.

Today, Lapin is visiting! After seeing her all summer, I was really beginning to miss her company in Waterloo, although Spiderman did help to fill the void. She was to arrive around noon and so I woke up at 9 hoping to do a little cleaning beforehand.

Once she was here, JAM decided to head out for lunch. We headed towards Conestoga Mall because we were going to catch the 3:50 showing of the Social Network just before heading to Oktoberfest. No one could really decide what they wanted to eat, so we opted for Spring Rolls, our default option. I recalled they had their dim sum menu on weekends which seemed to intrigue Spiderman and Lapin. We ended up ordering a few dim sum dishes along with pad thai which was extremely pretty. Sadly, we all forgot to take pictures.

We finished lunch around 3 leaving us with roughly an hour before our movie. Afraid it was going to be sold out, we bought our tickets before exploring the rest of the mall. Seeing as most of the mall was pretty common, we left early in search of seats in the theatre all the while wondering why we left in the first place. Overall, the movie was surprisingly good. It left us in a sort of angry state due to Mark Zuckerberg's portrayal. Either way, we ended up rushing back to my place to meet up the housemates before heading to Oktoberfest.

We arrived a little late finding none of my housemates there. I gave them a call and they were already aboard the bus with ALL the tickets and a message telling us to meet them there. Sadly, none of us knew where "there" was, so we ventured off. We made it just in time to meet the cut off at 8 after being led through some shotty directions. I'm not sure if it was "lucky" per se as it was being held in a tent. Yes, a tent.

There was a band that played some "German" music. Overall they were decent however, I'm almost sure they replayed some of their earlier songs when we arrived. I'm sure some people we too drunk to notice, but not I. Seeing as it was Oktoberfest, we were excited to sample some German food. We headed out back because as stated earlier, it was a tent, to a vendor that was selling sausages and schnitzel. JAM ordered a sausage each and a large fries to share. We were extremely hungry and dug in once they came out. Sadly, our first bite gave away the secret behind the vendors. They used sausages purchased out of a grocery store. There was no authenticity in the meal which left us with a bitter taste in our mouth. Pun intended.

After our meal, we decided to see if the beer was any better as the Kitchener Oktoberfest is popular for it's crazy drinking parties among students. For the third time, Oktoberfest let us down. The beer was Molsen; hardly german in any manner. Lapin and Spiderman shared half a cup while I finished the rest.

I suppose the highlight of the night was when the MC of the event pointed me out for not standing during some sort of drinking cheer. He "let me off" saying it was because I probably didn't speak English. Also, he called my hat funny. A little embarrassed and slightly outraged, JAM left early spending a total time of one hour at Oktoberfest.

We caught the bus back and headed towards Spiderman's place to hang out a bit. We talked about things that I usually never talk about. It was sort of awkward and I really didn't know what to say. Around 11:30, we all headed over to my place, including Spiderman, because he needed a place to study free of his annoying next door neighbour.

We ordered pizza and chatted for a while. Lapin and I watched I Love You, Man while Spiderman studied. After the movie was done, we tried to fall asleep, but ended up talking more until finally, we drifted off. Three hours later, we awoke and began chatting again. Lapin had to catch her bus at 9, so we walked her over.

After dropping her off, Spiderman and I went back to sleep.

Not together of course.

CD Review: Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010) - Bruno Mars

I am currently addicted to Bruno Mars' new CD: Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

The various musical stylings of funk, blues, reggae, etc. have kept me tuned in and constantly listening. Although this eclectic selection of styles seems random, the unifying element is his voice. It's smooth enough for easy listening, but has just a smidgeon of grit to offset the sometimes gentle tones of his songs. Not only are the melodies catchy, but the lyrics are very down to earth and at times leave me with a grin on my face.

Overall, I believe music listeners will enjoy Doo-Wops & Hooligans as a whole.

Overall Rating:

3.75/5

Round I: Matt-1 ; Waterloo-0

I am finally done my first set of midterms!!!

I am happy to inform everyone that they all went decently well with the exception of my last one. To celebrate, I believe I'll be going shopping tomorrow. Hopefully, I can pick up some new clothes as my outfits have been worn to death.

Happy to be done and awaiting the next ones to come.

Mid(break)terms

Sorry for not posting. Midterms have been pretty hectic lately and my lack of studying doesn't make me feel any better when I attempt to write them.

I have a midterm I should be studying for, but I decided to take a break from cramming in amino acid structures to tell you a little bit of what has been happening lately.

This past weekend was the Thanksgiving long weekend. Sadly, there was no turkey being eaten as my cousin's had a joint birthday party. As usual, chinese food was served.

On saturday morning, I met up with Rhombus for brunch at Coras. I ordered their eggs Ben et Dictine with asparagus. It was quite delicious and filling. The asparagus was a little stringy, but other than that, it was a enjoyable meal. Feeling as though our hang out time wasn't long enough, we all decided to head over to our local mall. We perused the stores for a while, but I could not find anything. I suppose my shopping will have to wait till after exams when I can explore downtown.

Monday was dedicated to studying for the midterm I have today. However, I did have time to sneak in two movies and two episodes of How I Met Your Mother. I watched Frozen which proved to be more gruesome than I wanted and MacGruber which left me a little disappointed.

Anyways, that's basically what happened last weekend. Hope everyone enjoyed their break and isn't feeling a "turkey hangover" today.

Midterm Jitters

Monday.

First midterm of Fall '10. Seeing as almost no studying was accomplished this weekend, I opted for staying up late and cramming in what I could. Seeing as this late night cram session cut into my bedtime, I didn't feel I could make it to my morning class. I slept till about 9 and was up and hitting the books. I actually finished the material by 2:30, two hours before the actual exam. I took this time to relax a bit and started playing some tunes on my saxophone. I hate to admit it, but I was extremely rusty and glad that my housemates didn't complain.

I left for school around 3:15 so I could get a seat and sneak in a quick review session. My timing was impeccable as the bus arrived just as I did. Things seemed to be looking good. As the test neared, I quickly skimmed over more of my notes until all the major points had been covered. This surprisingly took very little time and I ended up relaxing for about twenty minutes. At the 5 minute mark before the start of the test, my heart began to race. It seems I also was a little out of practice for writing exams. When all the tests were handed out, I began scribbling down my answers onto the scantron card.

The test turned out to be quite simple despite the amount of time I spent studying. I finished in 45 minutes although we were allotted 1.5 hours. With the dawning of a successful exam, my stomach began to ache and growl. I quickly scribbled down the answers that I passed over while going through it the first time and handed it in. I'm almost sure that the girl writing next to me was relieved that she wouldn't have to suffer and be distracted by my stomach noises.

To celebrate this victory, I headed over to Grab-a-Greek and got a chicken gyro. With the burden of the first midterm off my shoulders, I decided to walk home. Once there, I popped open a can of Frutopia and chowed down.

Sweet satisfaction.

Hitch Hiking to an Early Thanksgiving

I left Friday night after my lab for home. I picked up some hitch hikers (i.e. Spiderman and Sanyo) on the way back. We ended up getting dinner in Markham at Sushi on 7. The food was pretty good and we definitely had our share. Afraid of what might occur due to my lactose intolerance, I eased up on the ice cream. After dinner, I dropped off the two passengers and headed home with my Brother Bee.

We ended up doing nothing that night and just went to bed.

Saturday.

I woke up rather late compared to my normal school routine. I lounged around a bit until Sanyo called asking if I was free to chill. He came over soon after and we hung out. Around 2, I needed to get groceries for the dinner I was making for my brothers. Sanyo agreed to come with me and so we headed off to Sobeys.

The dinner tonight consisted of:

Turkey Pauplettes with a Cognac sauce atop a squash puree and brussel sprouts.

For dessert, a double layered pumpkin cheesecake.

Everything turned out really well with the exception of the sprouts. It was my first time cooking them so I wasn't positive about the best way to go about it. Either way, turkey dinner was a success.

Can't wait for the real thing!

Douche-tastic

Saturday.

Today was the Jersey Shore party Spiderman and I were invited to. Spiderman felt obligated to go as he hadn't seen his first year floormates in a while. I decided to go with him expecting not to be there too long.

I picked up Spiderman around 9:30 and went back to my place to change. I didn't really have anything that I wanted to wear that suited the theme; Wanted being the key word. I ended up throwing on a dress shirt--popping the collar of course. Underneath that went a wife beater that was clearly visible as I left three or four buttons undone. I finished off the look with a guido front flare and oversized prada shades that I "inherited" from my older brother. Douche look complete.

The overall party seemed to be a bit slow although we were an hour late. We met some amusing people including a totally wasted brown guy. He had a permanent smile on his face and taught us the word "clutch".

Seeing as we weren't in a huge mood to party, Spiderman and I left, but not until he took 1/3 of a shot of apple Smirnoff. With Spiderman tipsy, fun times were had just chillin'.

A Chinese man can say a lot of stupid **** when drunk.

T.G.I(ghtis).F.

Friday.

The only class I had today was my Histology lab. Overall, it wasn't bad and I did get to meet new people.

Prior to the actual lab, I boothed for HAPN which didn't have too much traffic as most of the students went home for the weekend. My shift ended at noon and I met up with Spiderman for lunch. He was wearing sweats and due to the extremely unexpectedly warm weather, he was sweating. We ended up heading to plaza for lunch at Seoul Soul. I got the japchae while Spiderman got the staple bulgogi. I found my dish to be a little on the sweet side which was good, but I wished for it to be a little more savoury.

After lunch, we hung out of Tathum Centre until it was time for my lab. We arranged a time after my lab to meet up and get groceries. My lab lasted about two hours so I ended up calling Spiderman to tell him that we could leave early.

Grocery shopping didn't take us long and I didn't end up spending much. Spiderman and I had arranged plans to hang out that night, but due to my ightis that occured from stuffing myself full of delicious quesidillas, I was unable to go.

My night ended with an uncomfortably blissful tasty explosion...

And then sleep.

Grey

School hasn't been too hectic lately, but I still don't seem to find any time to write these blog posts other than in class or just as I'm about to go to bed. This week hasn't really brought about anything new.

Monday.

I missed a class due to MegaCreep taking over half an hour in the shower. Other than that, Monday was pretty regular. I made a margarita pizza that night using naan bread, roma tomatoes, dried basil, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese. I ended up topping it off with red chili flakes and oregano. The final product wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping for.

Tuesday.

Tuesday proved to be another showerless morning. I didn't wake up in time to hop in despite the fact MegaCreep did not have classes. I attended class as usual and tried to pay attention.

Wednesday.

My full day on campus. 8:30 class rolled its ugly head around the corner. I dashed in the shower before hand to ensure I had time to shower. I refuse to be on campus all day being that dirty. Class was uneventful again with the labs being slow as well. My embryology class wasn't as long as the previous 3 hour lecture the week before.

Waterloo doesn't offer much action.

All I have are these grey walls, grey thoughts, and grey life.

Another Day, Another Dollar (Spent)

Saturday.

Errands, errands, errands. I woke up early today to take my younger brother and his housemates grocery shopping. I took my time getting ready and was prepared to leave at 10. Sadly, my brother and his housemates were just waking up and asked if I could postpone the trip until 1:00. I agreed even though I was already bored out of my mind.

Once 1 came rolling around the corner, I headed over to pick him up. I had to wait even longer for them to get ready which lead me to playing some games on my younger brother's computer. I was happy to see that my cousins were online as well, so I decided to chat and play with them. After roughly an hour, they were all set and we were off.

We took another hour or so grocery shopping. Once at the check out, I realized I hadn't really bought any "real food". I suppose it can't be helped as I had no idea of what I wanted to make this week. At any rate, my younger brother and I decided to pack the groceries while the lady scanned the items. However, the Classico pasta sauce that we packed slipped out of the bag and completely shattered on the ground behind us. Extremely embarrassed, we apologized. The cashier was extremely kind and just told us to get a new one and not to worry about it. I quickly snagged a new bottle and paid not especially wanting to spend another second in there.

Once out of the store, we began joking about it. Glad that all was well, I dropped the kids off and then headed towards Wal-Mart. On the way there, I noticed a new Dollarama opened and made a detour to explore what was inside. I was distracted by the dinnerware and ended up buying only ramequins after my brother nagged me about spending money on useless things.

Finally, I made my way over to Wal-Mart in order to purchase the necessary shoe rack, strainer, towels, and of course, Strawberry Pocky. I made my way over to the household section and explored the aisles. We found the strainer, but ended up skipping it as it costed $10. I'm not sure if this is a normal price, but I didn't feel it to be worth that amount for a plastic bowl with holes in it. I picked up towels on the way into the centre aisle for housewares and made my way over to the closet organizers. My brother found the shoe racks and I quickly snagged the cheapest one. The last thing to get was my Strawberry Pocky. My younger brother seemed to be getting a little sleepy, so I quickly perused the snack lane, but to no avail. I gave up on finding them and headed towards the register.

Once we arrived back at the apartment, I taught my younger brother how to use the laundry machines. Sadly, the equipment there isn't the best so his clothes ended up being damp even after drying. I took my leave after all the clothes were folded eager to munch on some pizza that was awaiting me.

The pizza was cold when I got home, but still satisfying. I definitely ate too many slices and the ightis began kicking in.

With stomach full and bank account cleared, I was ready for bed.

GPS in Bulk Please

Friday.

I finally got to sleep in!

After a tough week of morning classes, I finally enjoyed more than 7 hours of sleep.

The day was rather uneventful as I didn't have any classes. However, my housemates and I did decide to head over to Costco in order to pick up some essentials. It was an adventure once again as we decided to take a different route towards the bulk items store managing to get there an hour later -_-. The trip was made bearable due to GreenGiant's iPod loaded with "old" tunes.

Our time spent in the store was half that needed to actually get there. The essentials were easily spotted and picked up which afforded us a little extra time in the store. We perused the aisles for junk such as pop, baked potatoes, and bags of jerky...

Jumbo size of course.

Avacado Sammich

--Matt Messing in the Kitchen--

I was messing around in the kitchen today trying to conjure something up for lunch. I had a surplus of avacados because I had planned to make a mock cob salad, but soon realized I was missing eggs. Not knowing what to do with these buttery green fruits and already starting to stale Italian bread, I put my culinary mind to work andgrabbed a few more ingredients. I don't have any of the exact measurements as I eyeballed everything, but this is basically what I used:

1 Avacado

4 Slices of Italian bread

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Honey

Cayenne Pepper

It must sound extremely strange, but I actually liked the final product. I suppose you could equate it to a grilled cheese sandwich substituting cheese for avacados and then dressing it up.

More, hopefully tasty, creations to come.

(G) - Shocking

I finally did it. I gave into the trend of Casio G-Shock watches.

I have been admiring these watches for quite some time, but felt that they didn't really suit my personality or style. However, I've come to realize that I'm not even sure what my style is at the moment as I change from week to week according to my preference.

Either way, I made my onto eBay searched for the cheapest one I could find. Of course I had to get the white colour as it is the most popular and probably the best looking of the G-Shocks. Although these watches seem awfully childish and perhaps like something you would get out of those toy dispensers you see outside of stores, they have a sort of refined hipster feel. At any rate, the person I purchased it from is located in Hong Kong so I'm a little skeptical as to the authenticity of the watch.

I suppose only time will tell.

Rain Rain Go Away

Thursday.

Today was rather gloomy. I awoke to the pitter patter of rain and cold gusts of air sweeping through my window. I reluctantly got out of bed and headed for the shower. Luckily, MegaCreep didn't have class this morning meaning the shower was free for use. Around 8:10, PadFeet, GreenGiant, and I left for our 8:30 class. The parking lot seemed to be empty and I guess it had something to do with the cats and dogs falling from the sky.

Class seem to drag on and when it was finally over, we headed towards the SLC. GreenGiant decided to buy a caramel apple pie which turned out to be lacking in the crust department--or so I was told. We left campus soon after and headed home.

Once in the door and away from the rain, I poured myself a bowl of multigrain Cheerios and tucked myself under the covers. I finished my short anime while spooning the rather bland circles into my mouth.

12 o'clock rolled by and I decided to make lunch. I made soba noodles with veggies and tofu in a soup. I was pleasantly surprised with the overall outcome. The subtleties of the tofu came out amongst the other flavours.

The rest of today will be spent trying to find a new anime to enjoy while school is still relaxed.

I apologize for the rather depressing post, but the weather seems to be getting me down.

Hello! (Again)

Hey everyone.

I realize I have been rather absent from my blog. Hopefully the hollow echoes of this space did not leave you in dismay. As you may have guessed, I will be starting my blog once again. This time around I hope to share my opinions on topics along with the usual day to day entries.

More to come.

A Quickie

Sunday.

Pretty uneventful once again. My housemates and I decided to go see Salt as that was the only movie none of us had seen. I found it to be extremely predictable unlike my housemates who questioned the truthfulness of my statement. Either way, it was overall okay.

I also decided to do a little baking because if you've noticed, I've sort of had a muffin phase as of late. I wanted to try making lemon cranberry muffins and so I went to Sobey's and picked up the ingredients needed. Overall, it was simple recipe so I had no trouble following it. The batter was a little more "soupy" than I was used to, but this led to a fluffier cake-like muffin. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The lemon really came through although the cranberries were especially tart. I'll definitely make these again.

Monday.

Nothing particularly different happened today. I woke up, went to class, had my meals, and then went to bed.

Tuesday.

Today was the HAPN end of term dinner. Lapin had volunteered me to go grocery shopping with her and a few other execs. We planned on having BBQ with just the usual burgers and hot dogs. We ended up finishing relatively quickly which gave us time to relax before setting up for the event. I headed home as it wasn't far from the house where the event was to be held. I started watching anime--OHSHC, an old favourite of mine--until it was time to head over. I wasn't feeling particularly well as the lunch I had contained rather a large amount of cream and seeing as I am partially lactose intolerant, it just wasn't sitting well.

Lapin basically forced me to come and I did. When I arrived, most of the preparations were finished and we fired up the grill. A surprising number of people came despite our RSVP list. I was scared that we wouldn't have enough food, but Lapin stated that they should have RSVP'd. Luckily, we had just enough as another package of burgers appeared. The execs decided to watch Jeopardy with me and we were quite excited when we got the correct answer.

After the program finished, we tidied up and went our separate ways. I watched some more anime and then went to bed.

Wednesday.

Last day of classes for the Spring '10 term! Overall, it proved to be a boring day. The course material was finished and so it was left to open review. The rest of the day was spent relaxing as tomorrow is the start of cram week.

Exams, here I come.

Summer Snow

Saturday.

I woke up a little later than expected after turning off my alarm and falling back asleep. I'm trying to get my system used to waking up consistently, but so far it seems sure to fail. When I finally awoke, I realized that the house was oddly quiet. I realized that MegaCreep was at StudentLife 101 and Jolin went to work. Having the house to myself seemed weird, but got me motivated to become productive and study. After showering, I cracked open my psychology textbook and began reading for my midterm of Tuesday. I was interrupted with the arrival of PadFeet. We caught up for a bit as I watched him play Red Dead.

We continued to catch up when my parents and younger brother came knocking. My brother, Bee, also has decided to come to Waterloo and was attending Student Life 101. The reason for their visit was to help me paint my dungeon room here in Waterloo. I was a little surprised as it was out of the blue, but I accepted their offer. We headed to Canadian Tire and chose the colour. The choices were narrowed down to 4 separate light shades. However, Bee wanted me to get either Snow Scape (grey) or Marianna's Aria (blue). I decided to go with the grey even though my room already appears to be a dungeon. My dad and I began putting on the first coat as soon as we got back and I was surprised that it seemed so white. I decided that I would need to allow it to dry to fully be able to discern whether it was too light.

Once the room was finished, I realized that the paint was extremely light compared to the colour sample. Luckily, my furniture is black which makes the overall theme a black and white room. Something seemed off and I made this known to my parents. My dresser, which is pretty old, was a different colour from the rest of the decor. I joked with my mom that it was an eyesore and threw off the chemistry of the room. My dad offered to get me a new one once the new term started. I thanked him as I've been wanting to change it for a while now.

Now, I know you're not supposed to stay in a room that was just painted, but I didn't want to sleep on the couches. I chose to stay in my room, despite my better judgement and even fell asleep. Hopefully, I'll be able to retain the information I read up on today.

Although the walls are sort of plain, the room seems less dungeony somehow. I can't wait to decorate it for the term coming.

This just might make school more bearable.

Man Up

Friday has come at last. However, it did not start off well. I awoke to heavy rain which seemed to lull me into a deeper sleep causing me to miss my morning class. Instead of getting ready, I decided to lounge around which proved to be a big mistake. I heard MegaCreep crawl into the bathroom and I knew that I would be waiting a long time.

Two hours later and roughly forty five minutes prior to my math class, MegaCreep was still in there. Our house has a running gag where we try to guess what he's doing while in the washroom. Nonetheless, I didn't want to miss class and so for the first time, I knocked on the door and requested for him to pick up the pace. He kindly agreed and allowed me to get ready as he exited. I quickly showered, brushed my pearly whites, styled my poor excuse for a haircut, and then changed. As I left for class, I was almost positive that MegaCreep crawled back into the washroom. Seeing as the bus was coming in roughly 5 minutes, I would not have time to make or pick up lunch. Of course, I was annoyed. I ended up running to catch the bus which just happened to not see me. I waited another 10 minutes for the next one and it was then I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat until after class.

Math was boring as usual, but something was different. I had a major headache. I attributed it to the lack of sustenance. As soon as professor excused the class, I was out the door and running to Tim's. I browsed their rows of baked goods and decided on a blueberry muffin. It was good, but didn't really fill me up. As soon as I got home, I started munching on snacks which I'm sure I'll regret later.

I had some time to kill before meeting up with my friends for dinner and I decided to finish the anime I had started yesterday. Lapin seemed to be extremely distracted as she continued to send messaged to me on MSN. I replied during each of the breaks in the episodes. Our conversation led to me heading over to meet up before heading our to dinner. I was excited because Lapin saved me a slice of her cheesecake. It was surprisingly good for her first time, but I agreed that the texture was a bit off.

We left for the bus stop a little earlier than I expected and arrived at Spring Rolls even earlier. The hostess asked if it was dinner for two and we replied four. She confirmed our request in such a way that made it sound as though she was surprised which in turn surprised Lapin and I. Tank arrived not too long after we were seated although Ketchup ended up ditching. Our server took a while to get back to our table and so we chatted amongst ourselves as we waited. Once he came over, we ordered:

Me-Shanghai Noodles with BBQ Pork and Shrimp

Lapin-House Pad Thai

Tank-General Tsao Chicken

Before Tank had arrived, I asked whether it would be appropriate if I got a rather fruity and girly drink. Lapin teased that it wouldn't really surprise her. Of course, I didn't want to make our get together dinner a "girls night out" so I decided to order a beer with my meal to man it up.

Sadly, the meal wasn't that great and I was rather disappointed with Spring Rolls. The shanghai noodles were dredged in soy sauce making it hard to discern the other flavours. However, it was a night out with my friends and I was glad that we could finally catch up.

After dinner was finished, we decided to depart ways and not go out for drinks as we all had to catch up on studying. I caught the same bus as Lapin so we could chat a bit more and I'm almost positive everyone on the bus was eavesdropping on our conversation. We later agreed that it was because we were relatively loud. Lapin and I got off at the same stop and headed to our respective houses. Sadly, I forgot my sunglasses in her purse.

Now how will I look cool?

Bong Bong Bong

Thursday proved to be unproductive.

Lapin and I decided to get lunch before heading to the gym as per usual. We chose MeetPoint as we get a 10% discount because of our HAPN membership and we've never been. The inside was nice although I'm almost positive that the decor consisted of several bongs. I'm not exactly sure what they were trying to show, but it left me a bit skeptical as to the food that would be served. The last thing I would need is a trip to Highsville. Nonetheless, we ordered. I decided to get a sausage pide which is apparently a pizza made on flatbread while Lapin chose some kind of spiced beef sandwich. The pide was just a glorified pepperoni pizza which was a little disappointing. It had a few bold flavours, but they didn't seem to meld together into an extremely enjoyable experience. Lapin found her "sandwich", which miraculously turned into a wrap, satisfactory by her standards. We left a little disappointed as the place was highly recommended by Jolin. Apparently, Lapin and I have too high of a standard.

Either way, we decided to reschedule our gym session as Lapin left out her butter for her cheesecake. She was so flustered that I insisted that she go home. While at home, I decided to start a new anime which I found to be quite funny. The rest of the day was spent in such a manner.

Hopefully tomorrow will prove more productive.

Knight Life

Wednesday proved to be a mess. Our plans for an Asian Invasion hang out session ran amok. We ended up moving the day to Friday so more on that later.

In the morning, my final biology assignment was due. I didn't intend to hand it in as I was extremely tired from the days prior, but being the keen student I am, I began the assignment anyways. I decided that I would hand in whatever I had done. Surprisingly, I managed to finish the assignment despite the small amount of time I had to complete it and without sacrificing any sleep.

As I handed in the assignment, we were told by a friend that there would not be a quiz in the tutorial this week. I asked GreenGiant and Jolin if they wanted to skip out as there was nothing left to do. GreenGiant asked us to stay for a bit just in case. I was a little annoyed as he was wasting my time. After five or so minutes, we asked again, but he was still skeptical. I decided to push him towards leaving by actually doing it. GreenGiant conformed and tagged along. Sadly, we had to hear him worry about whether a quiz would be given or not the whole way home.

When we finally got home, I went to my room to watch a movie and relax a little before dinner. I decided to watch Knight and Day which proved not to be that great. It was soon time for dinner, but having not pulled anything out to make, I decided to go out. Lapin kindly agreed to accompany me, but blamed me for ruining her congee later on. Apparently I owe her a case of "pei dahn."

I decided to get Korean even though I had it earlier this week. I even ordered the same dish, except this time Lapin suggested I get sashimi. I have to say, having it the second time made it even tastier. Personally, I think Lapin made the right choice in leading me to sashimi as the fish complemented the cold spicy noodles. I tried to devour the meal quickly as Lapin wanted to meet with her friends for bubble tea. She invited me to join her and I accepted as I knew both of them. I ordered the lychee bubble tea which turned out to be extremely sweet. I was a little disappointed that the tea didn't come through a little more.

Finally, Lapin and I had to attend our weekly HAPN meeting. Apparently, Turn Key lost our schedule and we were out a room. We requested another one and he gave us a key. Sadly, that room was occupied by a guy saying his friend returned the key early, but they had the room booked until 10. A little annoyed, we decided to have the meeting outside. The meeting was extremely under attended as most of the executives were not present as per usual. I find it a little upsetting that I, of a lower rank, show up for the meetings and do more for setting up and planning than most of those above me. Either way, I am glad this was the final meeting and the only thing left is the End of Term Dinner.

The meeting ended and I realized that I was extremely lethargic. I'd like to believe it was ightis, but my carbohydrate intake wasn't huge. I decided it was due to the large amount of food I ingested. Feeling too tired to walk with Lapin, I decided to wait for the bus. I almost fell asleep waiting, but managed to stay awake long enough to get home. I quickly scrounged up into bed and just before I caught some z's, I imagined Lapin's congee.

A solid brown block.

An Ohm-pen Private Lesson

Class was cut short because our TA was lecturing. He seemed a little nervous and went through his slides very quickly. I didn't complain as I headed out to get a little breakfast. This time, I chose to eat a fruit explosion muffin from Tim's. Not feeling any of their hot beverages and wanting to stay somewhat healthy, I opted to purchase a water from the science CnD. Lo and behold, MegaCreep was there and eying me down. A little startled, I entered, bought my water and left after a very short greeting. I finished my breakfast outside in the sun and headed back towards the lecture halls. Biology class was boring as ever. Lapin and I scrambled to find a place to have lunch as I ditched on our plans of going to MeetPoint as I didn't feel dressy enough. We decided on William's for some cafe food.

I had a hankering for french onion soup so I ordered just that. Lapin played it safe and got her chicken caesar wrap. I asked if she wanted to split a dessert with me and she agreed. Seeing as it was a warm day, I chose the key lime cheesecake. I realize cheesecake is a little on the heavier side, but the key lime was just screaming out to me. The overall meal was a little strange, but everything tasted fine.

As it is Tuesday, Lapin and I went for our routine gym session. It was a little bit on the lighter side of our workouts, but we knew we had yoga later on. We departed soon after only to meet up a few hours later.

Yoga began at five and being forgetful as I am, I was late. I bolted out the door and ran to campus. As I entered the PAC and headed to studio 1, I was afraid that I'd be disrupting the class. Sadly, as I entered the studio, I only found Lapin, the yoga instructor, and another executive sitting there. The class had not started and the turn out was low. Seeing as we were all there, we began the session.

Yoga is a lot harder than it looks and with each stretch, I could feel myself loosening, but at the same time tensing due to the strain of holding each one. I suppose the lack of using the muscles which were being stretched didn't help and my arms began to quake. A little embarrassed, I finished the session. We thanked the instructor for her time and left.

Lapin and I talked about the poor turn out as we headed for dinner. She opted for subway as she had a class soon after. While in line, we bumped into Tank and her boyfriend, S. We chatted and ate dinner together trying to arrange plans for a more official hang out. Soon, it was time to depart and I headed home.

Namaste.

Pressure

Monday, back to Waterloo. A little upsetting as math assignments are always due at noon. Of course, I didn't have much time to work on it over the weekend and so I ended up scrambling up the answers and handing it just in time. To add some more pressure, our BIOL 241 lab exam was later tonight. I suppose I was lucky that I had bits of free time where I read over the 20 or so labs performed this term. I knew that our lab coordinator was very picky about details and made her answers extremely tricky. I met up with Lapin and A in order to study. Lapin was being a mega keener and even made her own study questions. -_-

Soon, it was time to write it and we wished each other good luck. It was over as soon as it started. The 55 multiple choice questions were tricky as suspected, but decipherable. Let's hope that I see through the smoke and fog and get a good grade.

Congrats "Little" Bro

Saturday was my younger brother and cousin's congratulatory dinner for graduating high school and getting accepted into University. It seems they've come such a long way and I'm glad that I got to watch them grow up into fine young adults. Wishing them all the best.

Bon Appetit!

Despite having a horrid haircut, I was very excited for Auberge. Sadly, I caught the stragglers of rush hour on the way home which left me little time to prepare. I quickly ironed the outfit that Lapin and I chose and threw it on. I was still happy with my choice. As I placed the finishing touches on my outfit, Lapin bombarded me with texts asking if arrangements were made to meet her and Spiderman. Sadly, Spiderman isn't the quickest answerer of texts and so we were all lost. I finally agreed to meet them at Scarborough Town Centre after being "rushed" by Lapin. My mom threw me some money and then I was out the door and booking it on the highway.

I arrived at Spiderman's place instead, switched over to his car, and then off to get Lapin. I had never seen Lapin's place and as we neared her residence, I knew she would have a house as such: Mega Asian. Lapin, with her need to get everything done early attitude, was of course waiting outside leaving us no opportunity to see the inside of her house. After that, we were on the highway and off to Auberge.

Sadly, none of us knew where the exact location of the restaurant was and so a U-turn was required to actually reach it. We spotted it and made a quick left turn into the establishment following the parking signs which turned out to be underground. After parking, we walked up a very sketchy stair well that led above ground just outside the restaurant.

We were seated shortly after and met Rob, our server for the evening. We ordered drinks, Lapin and Spiderman getting virgin raspberry mojitos and a white wine for myself. Both Lapin and I knew what we were going to order as we checked over the menu in biology class in our zealous excitement. We allowed Spiderman to mull over the options and waited for Rob to return. Spiderman, not being confident in his french, pointed to the items he wanted where Lapin and I tried our hand at it. Sadly, I was a little nervous speaking french to a complete stranger and fumbled a few things. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Our orders seemed to take long to prepare and even the bread came extremely late. On top of that, our table was the last to get our bread and appetizers and Lapin and I mused it was due to our young age. However, it was well worth the wait.

To start, we were given french bread with whole olives and an artichoke spread. The simple combination of flavours made it rather tasty although the pits of the olives were left in. I'm still wondering if there is a polite way to remove the pit from your mouth discretely.

Next, we were given black truffle quiches, compliments of the chef. Merci beaucoup.

Finally, our three course meal began to arrive. We each tried a different appetizer.

--Lapin's Salade de Saison--

Organic leaves with a lavender peach vinagrette.

--Spiderman's Brandade due Morue--

A platter of cod brandade, smoked salmon, capers, radish, olive oil, and french bread.

--My Veloute aux Petit Pois--

A chilled green pea soup with poached shellfish and lemon crème fraîche.

It was rather tasty even though it doesn't sound like it. It had an interesting flavour that I've never encountered and it was definitely refreshing.

Soon after, our main course was served. Spiderman and I both chose to get the tuna while Lapin chose to the tried and true beef.

--Medaillon de Beouf--

Extremely tender and velvety. These angus beef medallions were too good. I'm so glad Lapin let me have a bite.

--Thon à la Provençale--

This tuna was amazing. Poached and lightly seared on the outside while leaving the middle raw. It was served with spicy chick peas which had a sort of thai flair. Spiderman and I both were pleasantly surprised as we've never had tuna like this. If you're wondering why I chose white wine as a drink, it was to pair with the fish. I'm still trying to train my palette to distinguish enhanced flavours using wine.

Finally, it was time for dessert. We all chose to get the lemon cake as none of us were really in the mood for mousse.

--Voila, Cake au Citron--

We were intrigued by the "fruit" that came atop of the cake and asked the waiter what it was. Apparently, it is an orange candy made from the rind cooked in simple syrup. I got to try making these one day as they were very good.

On top of this fabulous meal, the pâtissier decided to spoil us with more goodies. A chocolate cake ball with caramel was served last. This was so delicious. The chewy dark chocolate cake with the sweet and gooey caramel was just a bite of heaven.

After the delicious meal, our little group was not ready to go home. We all decided to head over to Spiderman's place to play a little pool and hang out. Some riské photos were taken.

Merci Auberge du Pommier pour le repas délicieux.

Preparations for Hair Disaster

Friday had finally arrived. I woke up in time for all my classes despite wanting to sleep in. I have a good feeling about today as Lapin, Spiderman, and I were to attend Summerlicious at Auberge du Pommier. My excitement made the day go by slowly as I continuously glanced at the clock. Finally, when classes were done, I rushed home in order to pack. As if on cue, my father arrived just as I finished and we were off.

While driving home, I realized my hair was getting a little long and so I asked if we had time to get a hair cut. My father said if we went somewhere closer to home and not downtown, we could make it as it was around rush hour. We decided to head to Market Village to try out the hair stylist my dad went to last time. After a very relaxing and feel good scrub down of my hair, I sat down and pointed out the style I wanted from my GQ magazine. If you have seen the cover with Jake Gyllenhaal, you'll know the cut I'm talking about. Its a simple look, short on the sides, a rough chop in the top--also short--and gelled to appear moving to one side. It was foolish of me to believe that a simple cut like that could be done anywhere. The stylist said that since I have asian hair that it couldn't be done exactly the same and I agreed. He said he'd try to do it, but a little different. Sadly, I suppose the asian "a little different" is a lot.

He took off a tiny portion off the top and trimmed the sides to make it seem very straight. Apparently, chinese hair dressers haven't heard of clipper guards and merely use combs. I didn't get the #2 length I was used to and instead got an estimated measure of what he thought it should be. Not only that, but the stylist cut horizontally making my hair seem extremely blunt on the top. Being used to going downtown and having it textured by a slanted cut rather than blunt ends, I could tell this was not going to end well. After he completely finished, I allowed him to style my hair to see how it should be. Alas, it was no where close to the picture. My brother and I later joked that it looked like Ted Mosby's hair from How I Met Your Mother. -_-

I don't think I need to say that I won't be going back anytime soon.

Low Fat Nothings

Thursday turned out to be a whole lot of nothing.

Lapin left me after classes to head home as she doesn't have class on Friday. She kindly agreed to head over to get a muffin with me at Tim's. I was having difficulty deciding, so she decided on a low fat cranberry muffin for me. It turned out to be the right choice.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

Can't wait for Auberge tomorrow.

Lectured Success

I awoke for my morning biology class only to find that I was the only one headed there from my house. I suppose the guys were up late playing SCII. Class was rather boring and I didn't show much interest in the topic the professor was ranting about. I decided I would begin editing Lapin's philosophy paper instead. I sat in class reading over her work and adding small notes fixing some grammatical points. The class ended not too long after and it was then that I headed home forgetting that I wanted to pick up breakfast.

At home, I munched on some cookies and sipped on a boathouse smoothie--strawberry-banana. There doesn't seem to be much to do, so I decided to play some online games to entertain myself until my next class. I found my cousin, N, to be on and we started up the game we were playing last night. It was soon time for class, math class to be exact, and I left in a bit of rush.

The midterms were being handed back today and I am happy to say that I received an 85%. I thought I would do slightly better, but I am nonetheless satisfied with my mark. I'm glad to see that the my labour bore fruits. The rest of class was simple and most of the students seemed to be in a pleasant mood as the average of this test was quite high meaning most of the students did well. Since I was no exception, I soaked in and contributed to the atmosphere. Math class ended with an evaluation of the professor and I rated her extremely well. She has a way of making math interesting and interactive which I found to be a breath of fresh air from the style of learning I was accustomed to.

Today ended off with another giant waste of time as our mandatory biology tutorial proved to be a bust. Not only did the quiz not work--it is online--but the computer I was using would not turn on. Seems that the mouse and keyboard ran out of batteries or had their wires disconnected.

Seeing as I woke up for class, I believe I will leave this post as it is now.

Blog to you tomorrow. I'm off to catch some Z's.

Mistaken Identity

On Tuesday, Lapin and I headed to the gym as per our schedule. Sadly, I missed my Psychology class so I ended up taking the bus later than expected. I ran into Lapin on the bus to school and we talked about our usual failures of the morning. Class was boring as usual, but we paid greater attention to the lesson than usual. Perhaps this was due to our lack of having to decide where to eat lunch. When class was finished, we headed over to the plaza and while there, we saw our friend from HAPN, DC, walking as well. He was further ahead so we didn't bother him. Lapin and I entered one of our usual spots for lunch, Iron Chef, and were seated by the wall. Soon after, DC dialed-up Lapin and hinted that he saw us in the plaza. He further went on to hint that Lapin and I were spending a lot of time together. Finally, he blatantly exclaimed that he believed that Lapin and I were an item. We both cracked up laughing at this because Lapin is currently in a relationship with a guy who is in my psychology class.

At any rate, Lapin and I both noticed that we have been spending a lot more time together since we first met, but that is to be expected as we are gym buddies, lab partners, and have a course together. Not only that, but the summer term causes our friends to be scarce as they are enjoying their vacation.

Back to lunch. I ordered the unagi don while Lapin got california and unagi rolls. The food was good, although I remember the unagi don being better the first time I had it. Lapin enjoyed her maki rolls and even let me have one of her California. We paid for our meal and were off to the gym after that.

The gym was nothing new. The treadmills were completely full and having tried my hand at running and reading, which failed, I opted that we use the elliptical machines. Overall, our workout was normal, if not under par, but we were both tired. We departed ways soon after.

A shower was definitely in order.

Would You Rather...

Monday was the start of my week without any pending midterms or assignments. Since Lapin, Spiderman, and I are headed to Summerlicious on Friday at Auberge du Pommier, I needed an outfit to wear. I didn't find any of the clothes I had at Waterloo to be appropriate for the type of restaurant it is. After our morning classes, Lapin and I hopped onto the bus to head over to Fairview Park Mall.

Both of us were hungry as it was nearly lunch time and we decided that we would eat before attempting to shop. I had a hankering for a salad, but ended up getting a souvlaki platter at Opa. The portion size was huge and I barely managed to finished it. I found the greek potatoes to be a little on the salty side so I refrained from eating them. After scarfing down lunch, we headed over to the stores stopping in almost all them in search of something business casual. Fairview really only proved to have one contender: Mexx.

Lapin and I both agreed upon a grey pinstripe dress pant accompanied with a solid purple dress shirt. I tried the outfit on and decided it was decent. I did like the grey dress pants, although I wasn't crazy about the shirt. I suppose I enjoy the neutral tones for plain dress shirts because I find that shirts that have a certain pop draw too much attention. Although getting looks is a good thing, you don't want it to be for the wrong reasons. I decided that I would put the outfit on hold until I could make a decision.

Lapin was getting a little restless and I decided that I would not get the outfit from Mexx. Although it did look alright, I couldn't see myself wearing it other than that occasion. I asked Lapin if she would accompany me to Conestoga Mall and to my surprise, she agreed. We hopped onto the next iExpress and made our way over. While on the bus, to kill the time, we played "Would You Rather..." I really enjoy this game as some of the silliest choices can come along. At first, Lapin and I stayed to the more common choices and as we drew closer to the mall, the choices became a little more erratic. I suppose the highlight of our game was the final choice. The question posed was as such: "Would you rather be a woman with a man's private part or a man with breasts? Giant ones." Just the thought of these two possibilities, more so the man than the woman, tossed us into a fit of laughter. Lapin found it hard to walk as we both were in stitches.

After we calmed ourselves down and allowed the people tossing us strange glances pass us by, we headed into H&M where we found the outfit I am going to wear on Friday. Lapin found a striped dress shirt that she thoroughly enjoyed although I found it to be "nothing special." We paired it together with beige dress pants and voila. Although the look is rather simple, it screams summer. There is a simple and subtle brightness to the whole outfit that I think will work nicely with the atmosphere of the restaurant. Having decided on my attire for Friday, we perused H&M further. I picked up a few more items including a new black messenger bag which I am currently using as my school/book bag.

Having finished digging through the racks of clothes, I headed up to the cash register to pay. I believe the lady standing behind the counter though that Lapin and I were an item. I was skeptical on spending so much money on clothing having ordered from asos.com not too long ago. Lapin argued that she'd rather see me buying clothes than my usual items of interest that will not be disclosed due to its nerdy disposition. I agreed with her as I understand how nerdy my hobby seems.

With everything settled and our Waterloo group eagerly awaiting Friday's arrival, there is only one thing that needs answering.

Would you rather...

Lapin's Dinner

I woke up early on Saturday in order to head to the grocery store. I needed to get supplies in order to prepare Lapin's congratulatory dinner. She had succeeded in getting a co-op placement with Suncor and as such I was to cook her a nice dinner. She had chosen a recipe out of the cookbook I had purchased a while back and it seemed easy enough. The menu was rather simple, although it lacked a binding theme:

Because it is summer, I decided to try out a refreshing drink to go along with dinner: a mint iced green tea. I brewed the tea and added it into a pitcher and added fresh mint leaves and sugar. After a few ice cubes were added, it was off the fridge where it would continue to cool. Hence, the iced portion of the name. The aroma was just intoxicating. The subtle hint of mint seemed to cool the body as it enveloped the senses and it did just that as Lapin and I sipped away at it during dinner.

Dinner started with a very-berry balsamic spinach salad. Although Lapin despises vegetables, I take it upon myself to show her that not all of them are bad and can be rather tasty. I chose this spinach salad because I really enjoyed it when my cousin, Pisa, had made it for me when I visited her in Guelph. Although I was unsure of the exact recipe for the dressing, I took a stab at it. Overall, the salad came out extremely well. The craisins and strawberries helped offset the spinach flavour by adding a fruitiness to it. This was further enhanced by the dressing that simply complimented both the spinach and the berries. Lapin and I were both quite surprised that she enjoyed it.

Next came the main, a roast chicken with country sage stuffing and roast vegetables. I had bought a whole chicken that morning and spent a good 10 minutes trying to find the courage to de-giblet the bird. After removing all the giblets, I cleaned the bird and got to work on preparing the stuffing. It was simple enough and after Norman, the name I had given the chicken, was stuffed, it was off to the sauna for him/her. I couldn't serve the chicken alone and refused to bring potatoes into the mix as they're really starchy and the summer heat wouldn't make that any better. I went with a medley of broccoli, zucchini, and eggplant. Alas, the vegetables were left in the oven a little too long and ended up a little more crisp than I had intended them to be. After the veggies and chicken were finished, I tossed in two garlic and parmesan dinner roles. Again, having lost track of time, they came out a bit crisper than intended. Although not burnt, they had an extra crisp crust. Aside from the vegetables and dinner roll, it was a success. The chicken was moist and flavourful and although crunchy, the bread was really tasty. The veggies were a tad cold from sitting out, but I still enjoyed them. Lapin on the other hand squirmed as she ingested the zucchini and eggplant.

Finally, to end off the night, a traditional strawberry shortcake. The cake portion was more like a scone and not like the normal every day fluffy spongey cake. I hand whipped the cream which took quite some time as my arm grew weary. After assembling the cake, it was almost a shame to think that we'd have to eat it. I was extremely proud of how it turned out and the only thing left to do was to see how it tasted. Both Lapin and I were surprised by the biscuit like quality of the cake. A little disappointed by this set back we continued to eat. Surprisingly, I found that it got better as I ate more. I believe my palette became more accustomed to the expectations of a biscuit and subtle hints of sweetness came roaring by. I even got seconds which turned out to be a bad decision as I was already stuffed.

Dinner had come to an end and Lapin left happy with her dinner.

I, on the other hand, was left with the dishes.

b(u) + ri(to) = Gas

Last Friday marked the end of my midterms. That day, I had finished writing my math midterm and I'm glad to say that I believe I aced it. I suppose the scare from the previous one really took it's tole on me and I studied diligently and often. Hopefully, when the tests are marked, my efforts will show.

After the midterm, my friends from class showed me a "shortcut" to get from campus to Lester. This shortcut apparently consisted of cutting through WCRI, a rather sketchy part of our off campus housing. I was amazed to find that they knew about this path and even more that they were willing to take it. I suppose the worst part was a giant hill that needed to be climbed. I swear, that hill must be at a 90 degree angle as everyone had difficulty. What's even worse is it had been raining that morning and so the moist earth made it quite slippery. My friends, being professional shortcut takers by now, made it up the hill rather effortlessly. I on the other hand, tripped a bit and had to use my hands to cushion the fall. I made it up the hill, but at a price. With my hands covered in mud, we arrived on Lester and separated ways to head to our respective houses.

As I walked home, Lapin called me, wondering how I had done. I informed her and she was quite glad that she wouldn't be receiving emo abuse from me. She joked at the possibility that I could still have done poorly and that my initial excitement was a little foolish. I agreed, but I was so glad that I understood all the questions and even managed to finish them.

When I arrived home, I realized that I was quite hungry. I suppose all that thinking really used up all my energy. I called Lapin up and asked if she wanted to head out to dinner with me. She agreed and suggested we go to the new Burrito Boys on King. At first, I was a little skeptical and not in the mood, but went along anyways. We perused their menu and ordered. I got a halibut burito with everything and Lapin ordered a steak burrito (minus most of the veggies). We asked about the franchise and the girl at the counter was kind enough to explain. I found it quite interesting and I believe she liked telling us.

As we waited for our burritos, we chatted a bit about school and life in general. It seems that we're quite boring and our typical behaviours allowed the other to tease. Soon, our burritos were ready and we dug in. Although they were tasty, I found that there was a lot going on and my palette was having a hard time differentiating the flavours; it all seem to combine into a mash of things. Nonetheless, I finished it and was very happy to have a full stomach.

After dinner, we both headed back to my place to chill for a bit. Sadly, chill is probably a poor choice of words. The heat wave that had struck Ontario was still around and it didn't help that my house doesn't have AC. We entered and instantly, the air became more humid and warm. Lapin described it as a sauna and I agreed. We went up to my room and turned on the fan which didn't seem to do much. We chatted for a while longer and called it a night. Lapin rushed home and I sat around with my hands around my stomach.

Perhaps the burritos were getting the better of both of us.

Back From the 'Loo

It's been a long while since I've last blogged. Midterms here at Waterloo have been taking up all my time and I've been finding it hard to find the time. At any rate, this post will be the beginning of the return from my hiatus.

Consider this my return from the 'loo.

Featherizer

I'm still in a bit of a shocked state as I just witnessed an atrocious event. For those of you who are easily disturbed, please refrain from reading this post.

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I was walking home from the HAPN meeting today having just missed the bus. I was walking along Columbia, just outside of campus by the railroad tracks. I spotted a mother duck and her ducklings walking across the street. They were extremely cute and small and I couldn't help but smile. A car drove by, but dodged them just in time and I couldn't help but cringe as he neared them. I was helpless to do anything to save them as the limit is 60 km/h. As the car passed and no "squish" noises were heard, I let out a sigh. However, fate is a cruel mistress and she would have another car test the fates of those ducks. Fate was not so lenient this time. The car spotted the family of ducks a fraction of a second too late and all that was heard on that quiet street was the screeching of breaks, a popping noise, and then silence. The driver, realizing the devastation he just imposed, scurried away. A flurry of feathers trailed behind him as if trying to chase him down. Like I said earlier, I cannot describe the state I was in except for this: shocked. An uneasy wrenching of my stomach occurred and my eyes could not avert themselves away from the darkened mass of down. The worst had come to that family of ducks.

Not knowing what to do, I walked home in silence, mourning the loss of innocent animals. My readers, I hope that you would sympathize with me and give a moment of silence for the ducklings and mother duck. I hope none of you are too offended. I meant to put this post as a warning to prevent something like this from happening again.

House Bound for Father's Day

I was house bound this weekend. I spent most of Saturday driving around with my parents doing errands. While driving, I tested out my new Wayfarers which are pretty ballin' if I do say so myself. They're black with a metro map interior. I can't wait to show these bad boys off on campus. At any rate, my parents, my younger brother, and I decided to grab some lunch at Congee Queen. We ordered the seafood super bowl congee, their new Empress fried rice, shanghai noodles, and XO fried turnip patties. The meal was so good and it made me extremely glad to be home. I over ate as is the usual case when I go home. I suppose I'm fearful of how long it'll be before I get to savour this kind of food. Waterloo does have Chinese food, but it's nowhere close to Toronto.

Today, Sunday June 20th, is Father's Day. My older brother couldn't do dinner with the family, so we all headed out for dim sum instead. We got a table at Ginger and Onion, one of our favourite restaurants to eat at. It has been a while since I've had their dim sum and boy, I missed it. My family scarfed down the food that arrived at our table. We finished our meal and my older brother ended up picking up the cheque. The rest of the day was spent spending time with the family and visiting my grandfather's grave. I visited him the last time I came home, but since this was Father's day, my family agreed another visit was in order. I sat in the grass beside him, enjoying the summer air. Sadly, this was interrupted by my allergies. Having a fit of violent sneezes, I had to leave. We said our goodbyes and left for home.

I'm not sure what else to say. I want to thank my dad and grandpa for teaching me what it means to be a man and I hope someday that I'll be a great father too...

But for now, I'm wishing them a Happy Father's Day.