Sunday, May 30, 2010

Pizza-Love

Yesterday was the HAPN drop-in tennis event. I decided to leave my house around 4:00 to help set up. I arrived at the UW tennis club only to find out that I did not know how to even get in the giant white dome. Lapin had given me directions earlier about how to arrive at the dome, but never of where I was supposed to meet everyone. A little panicked, I called her only to get a chuckle in return. I soon figured out where I was supposed to go and met up with the other execs. The overall club had a sort of toned down refined look that I enjoyed until we went to go into the tennis bubble. The pathway was like a hallway inside a space ship coated in some kind of aluminum foil looking material. The dome itself was very humid and warm despite having a sign stating that the AC was on. We had booked the last two courts so no one would see us play as we were expecting some inexperienced players like myself. I wanted to practice a bit, but was suddenly thrown into a game. I was almost positive the guy was going easy on me and my suspicions were right as I saw him playing later on with more experienced people. After switching courts and playing with new people, I was exhausted from playing roughly two hours. I suppose I'm glad I went to the gym with Lapin on Thursday to start my cardio or else I would have been huffing and puffing the whole time. Overall, I didn't play a bad game although I was extremely rusty. After the event ended and collecting the balls, I headed towards campus to catch the bus home only to find that Lapin had also caught the same bus. We chatted for a bit before my stop had arrived. When I returned home, my housemates were there to ambush me with questions about dinner.

Earlier that day, I had suggested we order pizza for dinner as I had been craving it all week. Two of my housemates agreed and the third was a maybe. We all decided to get our usually combo, shrinking the pizzas to large. Before I go on, you should know that I tend to choose very strange pizza toppings that no one seems to appreciate. I ordered a sundried tomato, broccoli, and garlic pizza while the others got a pepperoni, mushroom, and pineapple pizza, and the other, bacon, pepperoni, and ham. The pizza came later on while I was studying for my psychology midterm coming up. I was eager to try this interesting combo. I took a bite being a little disappointed. The overall combination of flavours was a bit off and I was expecting the garlic to have more of a punch. Although the sundried tomatoes and broccoli complemented each other well, the tangy tomato sauce threw the balance off. The garlic did not play a huge factor into the flavour as there was not much on it and what was there was minced finely leaving on to wonder why it was a topping in the first place. I finished my portion a little disappointed, but overall it quenched my craving.

I think the next time I'm craving pizza, I'll go to store to get the ingredients to make it myself trying newer and stranger combinations. After all, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore...

Oh wait, that's just indigestion.

Pudding Up With Dinner

Friday evening, Lapin finally got up the nerve, and the time, to cook dinner for me. During the years we've known each other, it seems I would be the one always cooking for friends to come over; not that I minded it. I went over to her place around 7:00 bringing my sesame oil as she was out. I think I looked weird walking down the street with a bottle of brown liquid inside.Either way, I reached her house a little while later and entered. She had basically done most of the cooking beforehand which made me a little sad as I wanted to observe her cooking skills. Either way, she whipped up the last minute touches and voila, shanghai noodles with chicken and bak choi. It was surprisingly good for her level and what was even more amazing was her baking. For dessert, a blueberry pound cake of sorts. I was delightfully surprised that her threats of me having to use peptol bismol after dinner did not come true.
Both Lapin and I had made arrangements to meet up with some friends for bubble tea to catch up. We all arrived a little later than expected, but we ready to order when there. I decided to try their new caramel pudding bubble tea as it looked intriguing in the picture and even more so in concept. I plunged my straw into the drink and took a big swig only to be disappointed. The drink was not very special nor very good. The jelly bits that were supposed to be the pudding ended up skewing the bubble tea flavour that was hardly caramel or pudding. I ended up finished the drink as it was a small size, regretting my choice throughout.

Lapin left a little early to play some poker, but I decided to stay back and chat a while longer. We all left around 11:00 and I ended up catching the bus soon after. I began texting on the bus having nothing else to do all the while planning on what to cook for Lapin.

This meal might get interesting, so bring the pink.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Pumping 8 Balls.

Yesterday I fulfilled my goal of going to the gym. I was extremely excited when Lapin suggested we should go together as I hate working out alone. Before we could head over, we grabbed some lunch on the way while doing some errands for HAPN. I had never been to the gym here at Waterloo so I definitely needed Lapin to guide me around as she is my personal navigator. Having not brought a lock, I required Lapin to put my stuff with hers in the girl's change room. After signing out a towel, we headed towards the treadmills. We did cardio for roughly half an hour with me taking more breaks than Lapin. Luckily, I was watching Jeopardy while jogging and I believe that took my attention away from my fatigue. I usually hate doing cardio so I was glad that I did well. Lapin and I decided to work out with me deciding to do arms at first, but then switching to legs as Lapin was having trouble figuring out how each machine worked and what it did. We each did two weak sets of a workout for our thighs which led to Lapin's extreme weakened legs. I suppose my leg muscles were more built from carrying around my extra weight :P

After the gym, we each headed home excited for what awaited us tonight. I first climbed into bed, although sweaty, and began to unwind. However, this unwinding entailed me falling asleep until 5:00. Noticing the time, I quickly ran downstairs to prepare dinner. I ended up making a honey garlic meatball and pepper on rice which turned out alright. My housemates friend even offered me a slice of her pizza that she had made using naan bread and a whackload of fresh veggies. It was actually very good and I was tempted to take another slice except for the fact that I was completely stuffed. At 5:45, I jumped into the shower feeling a little gross that I had not showered earlier. After a cold shower to cool myself down from our overly heated house, I grabbed a change of clothes and headed towards campus for my long awaited event.

Tonight was the HAPN exec outing. We headed to Tea Shop 168 to renew our discount there. I first met up with Lapin there and we ordered first waiting for the other members to arrive. Seeing as we needed 15 people AT ONE TIME, it required all of us meeting before hand and arriving for 7:00. The rest of the members came rushing into the store making the small bubble tea shack to become extraordinarily crowded. After everyone placing their drinks, some parted ways, but those who stayed headed to Dooly's to play some pool as it was "Lady's Night." The male members in the group chuckled at the thought that we were interrupting "Ladies Night," but we were excited to play. I haven't played pool in quite some time and even so, I haven't had much experience either. I teamed up with another inexperienced member and just with our luck we were placed against two good players. Luckily, our beginners luck seem to shine as we won two games once because of "skill" and the other because of luck. The latter game was due to one of their team member's sinking the 8 ball early. We swapped challengers with the other table. Turns out that the players we now faced were even more skillful than the last. We quickly lost, still having fun.

It was becoming late and some members had to work the next day so we ended up leaving earlier than I had expected. Overall, it was a fun night and I was glad I decided to go. Now as I write this blog in my biology class the next morning, my housemate who is reading as I type says this:

Hi!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Fail Blog

Yesterday morning was epic fail for me. I woke up without my alarm around 9:15 a.m. thinking that I had slept through it. I trudged downstairs to get ready while bumping into one of my housemates who also had class at 10:00. I told him that I slept through my alarm and he looked at me strangely and agreed. I was ready for school by 10:00 a.m. and quickly jumped onto the bus and went to hand in my math assignment that I had just finished the night before. As I was walking to the bus stop, a car in a parking lot was backing out, waiting for me to cross the sidewalk so he could leave. Sadly, I was not paying attention to my surroundings as I was double checking my shotty math work and tripped over a crack in the pavement. The driver saw me do so as I quickly walked away. From the corner of my eye I was almost positive that he was laughing at me. I caught the bus fine, a little embarrassed about what had happened and headed to school. I went to the math tutorial office to drop off my assignment all the while checking it over. I figured I had already missed an hour of my class as it was roughly 10:20 not realizing my class actually started at 10, not 9:30. I sat around in the math building waiting for my next class to begin which I also believed to be 30 minutes earlier than it was.

I sauntered over to the building in which both my classes we held and passed by the class I had just skipped. I just realized that it was still going on despite the fact that it was roughly 11:00. It was then I figured that my whole schedule was thrown out of whack and the reasoning behind the awkward stare my housemate had given me that morning. Totally stupefied, I texted M and Lapin about what had just happened. Seeing as that class would be over in 20 minutes, I waited in the next classroom ensuring I would not miss it. I spent a good 25 minutes trying to connect to the internet with my laptop, but to no avail. It seemed as though nothing was going my way. Class began and Lapin overlooked the seat I saved beside her all because I was wearing a cap. I haven't worn a hat since first year when my hair was a quite a bit longer due to me forgetting to get it chopped off. Strangely, the nickname "hat guy" had stuck so I assumed Lapin would know it was me. I ended up waving her over as she gave me a sort of "ahh" look.

Class was boring, but I managed to get the wireless going. It seemed my luck was beginning to change. Lapin and I ended up grabbing lunch together, both ordering chicken teriyaki bento boxes from Iron Chef. The meals were alright and filled me to the point of discomfort. During our meal, I aided Lapin with her stats homework although I was a bit rusty. I'm hoping that I gave her the right advice as it made sense at the time. We headed over to the University bookstore to pick up my psych textbook which I had been procrastinated. After that, I also bought a U Waterloo clip board as well as a nice mechanical pencil. I caught the bus after a bit of waiting and walked home. Sadly, bad luck seemed to want milk all the misfortunes it could get out of me as I walked by the same parking lot. This time I was careful to ensure that I would not trip, but something worse happened. The same driver was in the parking lot yet again and saw me walking home. I drastically hope he didn't recognize me although I'm sure he did.

My solution to my problem was simple:

Hole myself up in my room and pray that tomorrow won't be as unfortunate.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sak's of Cash

Seeing as it was the long weekend my parents decided to take my younger brother and I to the States for some shopping. We usually head to the closest outlet mall which is in Niagara Falls, Buffalo, NY. We crossed the border without complications and arrived at the outlets soon after. After taking a short washroom break we would have begun to raid the outlet except for one small detail: the outlet stores did not open until 11:00 a.m. Seeing as it was only 9:15 a.m. my family decided to head towards a mall that we heard was close by. I suppose I was eager to head into Macy's to find some reasonably priced "high end" brand name clothing. We arrived quite a bit later, roughly 10:15 due to our extremely slow driving only to find out that the mall too opened at 11. We sat inside the mall waiting patiently for the stores to open and once they did, we were in the stores browsing. I found this mall to be lacking in brands that I wanted and so I didn't spend too much time perusing the aisles. Macy's proved to be a disappointment leaving me with one glimpse of hope for the clothes I was hoping for; Sak's 5th Avenue store in the outlet mall.

It was around 12:30 when my younger brother commented on the time seeing as we should probably have lunch. Both my parents and I were unfamiliar with this particular mall and thus were a bit puzzled as where we could head to grab some non-food court grub. We decided that the Chili's in the mall plaza would be the best bet. As I perused the menu, I drifted towards the fajitas section glancing at the different options. I ended up choosing the Buffalo Chicken fajitas and a coke as my lunch. Seeing as we were in the States, the portion size was rather large compared to those in Canada and I had difficulty finishing the meal. The food was adequate, but definitely not the most delicious fajitas I've had. After we'd all finished our meals and chatted a bit about our overzealous stomachs that were now stretching past our belt buckles, my parent's paid and we headed back to the mall to finish up. It turns out that a majority of shopping still needed to be done as we left the mall around 3:45 p.m. in order to head over to the outlets which close at 6:00. Luckily, we knew where we were going this time and it didn't take long to reach out destination.

My dad and I headed over to Sak's to check out their selection, but were quite disappointed. We both agreed that it was probably better to buy something at a greater cost if we liked it more than to buy something that was cheaper. We left the store empty handed, a feat I didn't intend to do, and walked over to the Levi's store. Although my older brother had already bought me jeans during his previous trip to NYC, I was in need of shorts, part of my summer wardrobe as you may have read in my previous post. I tried on a couple of different pairs and a light grey skinny jean, but ended up only getting a pair of frayed jean shorts. Although I was happy with my purchase, I figured that today should have left me with an empty bank account. By the time we left Levi's the mall was close to closing and so my father and I met up with my mom and my younger brother and we headed home. Our trip across the border was also smooth and the Border Police guy was very friendly.

Overall, the trip was hardly worth my time of obtaining a pair of jean shorts, but it was nice driving around with my family. I suppose it's nice to have money left in my bank account, but knowing me, totally unnatural...

ASOS, here I come.

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Straw Settlement

Today was rather bleak in places, but two events really seemed to highlight the day. In the afternoon my housemates and I conned our housemate with the car to drive us to buy a board game that we'd heard about. After careful persuasion, mostly on my part, he agreed as was decided earlier and took us to our local toy store. Although it may seem strange for a bunch of university guys heading to a toy store, it is actually quite common among the nerdier crowd in Waterloo. Once there, we headed straight for the board games aisle and searched out Settlers of Catan. We had heard from a friend that it was a fun game to play and much like risk minus the backstabbing and what not. The total cost came out to roughly $35 which is not bad at all and still has to be decided how we're splitting it. I suppose I'm glad that it wasn't going on my VISA as I believe it has been used way more often that is should have been. Once all the affairs were settled at the toy store, we were eager to head home and test Settlers. It was not as complex as one might think, but getting the hang of the game took a while. Sadly, that translated into turns that seem to span into forever. The game ended with the underdog coming up from behind as he was still the one with the most experience playing.

Around 7:00 Lapin asked if I was up for hanging out. I of course had nothing else better to do so I agreed to go see her. We met at her place for 8:00 and missed our bus due to her lack of readiness. We ended up waiting at the bus stop another twenty minutes all the while letting her play games on my iPhone. We caught the bus and headed over to Springrolls as I wasn't really up to having pho. We were seated right away with the stragglers, like us, beginning their meals. I decided to order the house satay pad thai as I usually cycle between the three flavours of pad thai Springrolls offers. Lapin decided to go on an adventurous route and ordered the Singapore noodles with BBQ pork and shrimp. To go along with our orders, Lapin got an iced tea while I opted for water still contemplating whether to get a fruity drink that are oh so tempting and delicious. Our beverages came, mine without a straw which is of concern to me as I do not trust the cleanliness of glassware or any dinner ware at restaurants having worked at one in the past. I kindly asked the waiter if he could bring me a straw and he agreed. A few minutes later, a small cocktail straw was brought to me on a plate. Lapin and I both found this strange and I came to the conclusion that the waiter suspected that I was a germaphobe. Lapin and I chatted for a bit until our meals came and we ate in silence not because we were angry or had an awkward moment but because we were so hungry. The meal was adequate by both our standards. Once the meal was done Lapin and I paid and headed for the bus. Once on, she remembered that she had made arrangements to call her mom at 8:30 and had a small freak out because of it. Several attempts with her phone card proved useless and I offered her my phone. After making a short call and the bus ride home, we departed ways.

Of course, once each of us were comfortably in our houses, we began chatting on MSN.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Style

It's been rather nice out this week so I've been opting to wear shorts. Sadly, half of my outfits seem mismatched and a little tacky. I think the biggest problem has been with my shoes as I don't usually like to wear sandals or flip flops. To make it worse, my legs are almost bleach white and totally does not match my upper body skin tone. This morning I tried not wearing socks and that seemed to help, but realized that I would have to head over to someone's house later that day. This caused me to run back into my room, remove my shoes, grab some socks and basically shove them into my shoes while they were on my feet. I suppose what I'm getting at is that I am embarking on a quest to make my summer wardrobe workable.

In the mean time, I'll be outside attempting to get some colour.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Suck-tion Lab Fail

Monday was pretty uneventful except for my 7:00 p.m. lab. It turns out Lapin doesn't know how to pipette and just completely messed up our whole lab (in a funny way). The whole time I commented on her improper use of lab tools and we laughed about it while seeing our lab go into the dumps. The TA that commented on my pipetting techniques the week before continually came over to our bench and gave us more "advice" about how to do a more accurate lab. In fact, he persisted to tell me what should be corrected when Lapin had made the error. I suppose he really doesn't like me and that's fine as I don't particularly like him. Each time he comes over, Lapin and I get a little bit anxious because he stares at us for long periods of time without saying a word. The lab finished sooner than was expected, but it was a complete disaster. I'm glad that this experiment won't need to be written up.

Although Lapin and I may not get very high marks in that lab, it'll never be boring.

Especially with that TA starring over our shoulders.

Da Hood - Guelph Chapter

Last weekend I headed over to Guelph to visit my cousins. I stayed at one of their houses as they offered me a room and bed to sleep in. I finished classes around 3:30 on Friday and headed straight home to finish packing. While my housemate was leaving, I asked if I could snag a ride with him and he agreed. Sadly, I was 15 minutes late for the bus time I was hoping to catch and so I ended up waiting an extra hour for the next one. Luckily, I brought my Klipsch headphones and my iPhone was all charged up. I popped those buds in and soon I was drowned in my own little world. The bus arrived a little early, but wouldn't allow anyone on because the bus driver was eating his lunch or dinner while doing a sudoku. I waited patiently confused where I should line up as the Toronto line had invaded both Guelph and London platforms. Finally, I ended up on the deserted bus and was off to Cow-Land.

I arrived in Guelph a little later falling asleep and disorienting myself along the way. My cousin picked me up from the University Campus and we took the bus to her place. We hung out a bit with her boyfriend and were trying to decide what to do. A movie seemed to be the most popular choice, but everyone was indecisive making it a very long process. We ended up deciding to see Robin Hood rather than Iron Man 2 because they hadn't seen the first. At the theatres I purchased a pack of Sour Patch Kids which ran me roughly $5. I realize this is quite a steep price to pay, but I was severely craving something sweet and sour. The movie turned to be quite skewed from the original story line, but I managed to keep up. I was a little disappointed that some aspects did not come into play such as a splitting of an arrow, but overall was satisfied with the movie. My cousin and I laughed our butts off near the end due to one particularly funny character while the other movie patrons seemed to be laughing at us. Whenever my cousin and I see a movie, we tend to laugh at the same parts and we laugh rather loudly. Seeing as it was late, we headed home in her boyfriend's jeep, I was in the back seat which by now I am very comfortable with, and hit the hay.

The next day was pretty relaxed. My other cousin who is taking a summer term came to see me. We talked about new events and then proceeded to play some games. Around lunch time, my cousin who's place I was staying at returned from work and we all went out for some pho at Ben Thanh that had just opened in Guelph. The interior of the restaurant was nice, but the restaurant stuck out like a sore thumb against the rather country like landscape of Guelph. I ordered my usual, 103, but asked for cilantro/corriander to be taken out, but I suppose the waitress got it confused because my dish came out void of any vegetation. Sadly, this caused the broth to be a bit bland and no amount of hoi sin or sirachi chili sauce would make up for it. We finished our meal thankful for a full belly and headed off the grocery store.

The days preceding my visit was used to contemplate a dinner we would all make. I wasn't in the mood for pork and so the options that were left were chicken, beef, or fish. We opted for the chicken as it seemed easiest to cook and wouldn't require a grill to be good. We gathered the groceries needed while wandering the aisles in search of an inspiration for dessert. Our meal plan consisted of a cranberry and strawberry spinach salad with rasberry balsamic vinagrette, greek potato balls, corn, country style biscuits, and a glazed balsamic chicken. We hadn't realized that there was a certain theme going throughout of meal, but were happy there was unity in what we were making. At first we were struggling in the kitchen trying to figure out what to start and planning out how everything would finish relatively around the same time. Thankfully everything turned out well and we all sat down to feast upon the fruits of our labour. The meal wasn't half bad for a whackload of university students messing around in the kitchen and it definitely was filling.

After dinner, I ended up whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies with a recipe I had never tried before using what they had on hand while Anchor Man played in the background. The cookies came out light and chewy, but seemed extremely soggy at first. Pairing these cookies with some ice cream seemed like a sugar overload of a dessert but it definitely was tasty. After Anchor Man had finished, we popped in Night at the Roxburry which made us chuckle. Soon it was time to call it a night and the cousin who was visiting left for his apartment to sleep. We followed suit and went to bed as well.

The next morning, my cousin and I went to mass at a rather large church. It was very beautiful inside with it's stained glass windows, paintings, and overall set up, but sadly we were seated behind a column the entire time making it hard to concentrate on what was happening. Once mass was finished we headed back to the house to make breakfast which consisted of eggs, bacon, toast, and hashbrowns. I took a large heaping portion of everything at which I took notice after the ightis began to set in. The rest of the day consisted of working on calculus and a trip to the mall. I ended up buying a pair of black "converse"-like shoes at Aldo for $40 which seemed like a huge bargain. However, it was time for me to depart and we headed back to the house to retrieve my belongings before dropping me off at the bus station.

It seems Sunday came along rather quickly and I would definitely be missing Guelph.

I suppose it's time for Waterloo to pull my soul out once again.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Raining Money

Today was a rather uneventful day. I woke up late and was going to be late for my Psychology class when Lapin asked me to help her out with our clubs booth. I agreed and changed my course for the Student Life Centre. I sat beside her waiting for students passing by and then grabbing their attention until we could pressure them into signing up or filling out a survey. Lapin did most of the talking as she had prepared a whole shpeel about the club since she had been in it longer than I had. We finished our shift, but the person who was supposed to take over was a little late causing us to be late for our class. As we walked out into the rain, Lapin realized that she forgot her umbrella so we had to share mine. However, as I opened it up, I realized that it was now broken by some mysterious event that happened between Tuesday and now. We trudged through with my maimed umbrella until we reached our classroom and snuck into the back entrance. It didn't seem like we missed much and quickly found seats while troubling many people as we passed behind them excusing ourselves as we went. In more than one instance, I tripped over their bags causing me a little embarrassment. We struggled to pay attention in class as the lesson was rather boring and it didn't help that someone around us had an alluring aroma of cookies. On more than one instance, I heard someone's stomach growl.

Once class was finished, we headed to Subway to get lunch. I ordered my usual, the meatball sub on Italian herb and cheese bread, while Lapin got hers, a chicken teriyaki sub also on Italian herb and cheese. We upgraded to a combo so we could get the cookies we've been craving since class and found seats among the mass of other students having their lunch. We ate and chatted and then headed over to a private room for my interview to become a club coordinator. The interview went well for me being rather unprepared, but I did alright. Apparently my answer to the scenario was a bit weak, but I didn't think too much of it.

After it was all done, Lapin went to continue boothing while I headed home. I was feeling a little sluggish, perhaps because of the weather, and immediately plopped into my bed and took an hour nap not realizing I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, I watched two movies as I had nothing else to do. Around dinner time, I started chatting with one of my best friends on MSN realizing that I wasn't particularly hungry. We both agreed that it would be best if I made dinner and ate anyways. I scurried downstairs and took the pork cutlet from the fridge and threw some rice into the rice cooker. I decided what I was going to make and decided on fried rice using the few ingredients I had on hand. I cut the pork into strips and quickly stir fried it along with some green onions. I served the rice along side gai lan and topped it with parmesan cheese which added a surprisingly nice flavour.

Now, I'm bored and singing a few songs in my room, possibly off key. I am currently obsessed with the song Billionaire by Travie McCoy. I think he summed up everyone's wish:

I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Club Unagi

I made plans to hang out with my friend after classes as I haven't seen her since fall term and even that was sparce. We decided to get coffee around 4 and invited Lapin, but sadly she couldn't make it. We decided to buy her a french vanilla from Tim Hortons and bring it to her so she could enjoy it during her meeting. My friend and I decided to sit around campus and catch up on the things that happened last term. As I sat there and sipped away at my apple cider I was so amazed about how much had happened to her and how drastically things can change. My winter term seemed pretty uneventful in comparison to hers so I let her do most of the talking. After chatting for about an hour or two, we decided to head over to the plaza to get some dinner. We ended up walking by a lot of restaurants trying to decide what we were craving and finally decided on Iron Chef, the Japanese restaurant Lapin had taken me for lunch earlier this term. I felt bad for even suggesting it because I knew my friend was not very fond of sushi. She told me it was okay because the pictures looked very pretty and that even menus had an estitic appeal.

We got a table and browsed through the menus both of us landing on the dinner section. I decided to get an unagi don because I still had a massive craving for it even after having it for lunch not too long ago. My friend ordered the shrimp tempura dinner set which was safe as most people enjoy it. We gossiped a little more and talked about the plans we had for this term and the courses we've enrolled in. The food came quickly and we both gobbled it up just as quick. I suppose we were both hungrier than we expected. The food was really good and I was surprised that the minced pieces of pickled ginger really enhanced the flavour of the whole dish. After paying, I was about to walk home when my friend edged me to walk to the bus stop with her and as we got closer, the demands increased. We decided to take the bus to her house so I could help her find an outfit for our University's bar night and a drink for the pre-drinking party.

As we entered LCBO we moved swiftly passed the hard liquor and headed toward the "cooler" section. My friend and I seem to have changed a bit and find that hard alcohol doesn't seem to please us and perhaps never did. We made a smart decision to stay away from the "stinging" drinks. She chose a bottle of Vextini because it looked nice and intrigued her. We paid the cost of the alcohol as the cashier eyed her ID rather dubiously.

We got to her house not long after and went straight to her closet. She busted out her wardrobe and I suggested things she could put together. She didn't have much club wear and was extremely scared of what the group of girls would be wearing and how she might not fit in. After she decided on her outfit which looked quite nice, we called a cab to get to her meeting place. She was a little panicky in the taxi, but I calmed her down. Once she was dropped off, I waved goodbye and walked home after wishing her a good time.

As I write this post, she's probably partying it up while I sit at home...

Looking back, maybe I should have gone with her, but what would I wear?

(Dim) Sum Lovin'

My friend sent me this hilarious commercial for dim sum and I forgot to make a post about it. Here's the video:


I've seen this so many times now and it still makes me
laugh to the point of not being able to breathe. I'm not
sure why, but I always find human expression to be
hilarious. In this case, the way the husband scrambles
to pretend he wasn't doing anything suspicious is the
best part. Overall, I thought the commercial was really
cute and it definitely made me want to try it.

Although I do love dim sum, I don't think
I love it as much as him.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Costco in Bulk

My houesmates and I have been planning a trip to Costco since we started our second year here at the University of Waterloo. There is one in Kitchener around 15 minutes by highway. Luckily, my housemate had worked at Costco the previous summer and still had a membership so we could get in. We ended up convincing our housemate with the car to drive us there. As we made our way to Costco, the exit was closed for construction which forced us to venture further away and then loop back by smaller roads. We exited at the next exit we saw and were a bit lost from there. We used our navigation system (i.e. my housemates whimsical sense of direction) and took some strange turns onto streets we've never heard of. Luckily, we made it to Costco without any problems or having to use my iPhone to check our location. Parking wasn't extraordinarily difficult to find and before we knew it, we were inside.

We searched each food aisle individually with everyone asking me if 'this' or 'that' was a good price like I was supposed to know. I gave them my best guess and we trudged forward through the large aisles of bulk foods. I was so tempted to buy everything I saw, but knew that half of it would not fit into our freezer or fridge. I ended up buying one box of popcorn and called it a day, a sad Costco purchase. My housemates on the other land loaded up on snacks and pop along with house supplies that we needed.

While at the register, our friends card was declined as they took him off the registry. It was strange as the manager had told him that he would remain on an inactive list, but was still allowed to use his card. This required him to purchase another membership which didn't seem fair at all. We ended up paying the bill which came out to an outstanding $325. Sadly, Costco does not do separate bills for non-members and once again, our member housemate had to purchase our entire total.

Although I loved Costco in the past, I've grown away from buying in bulk and really thinking if I need it all or if I'm just craving a bit. With the service and what had happened to my housemate, my respect has dipped even lower. I do see the benefit of buying in bulk to save money, but the company itself is solely concerned with how to make money. I suppose all companies are like that, but it really just struck me now that Costco, at least in my eyes, is a giant money grabbing monster with the illusion of being good.

I do not believe I will be going to Costco often, but when I do require a box of 248 different types of granola bars, I'll be sure to get it there.


Burning Fat

The past week I've been eating out a lot and so today I decided to cook my own meals like I used to. Last night I began preparing my lunch after my lab had finished. I decided to make soba noodles, but having no materials ready, they were a little bland and uncolourful. I boiled the buckwheat noodles and then stir fried them with green onions. I added a hint of flavour by using soy sauce, sesame oil, and a splash of rice vinegar. The overall result was a bit bland by itself, but I had also decided to make some other items to go along with it. I borrowed a few eggs from one of my housemates and started making a Japanese rolled omlette, or tomago. It came out really nicely as I sampled a piece before placing it into the container along with the soba. Looking at my lunch I realized I didn't really have any source of vegetables so I decided I would boil some snow peas. I only wished that I had edamame beans instead as I was sort of going for a Japanese bento style lunch. Also, I had taken out some pork cutlets that morning, but they weren't completely defrosted so I decided to wake up early the next morning to make pork katsu. It came out quite nicely and I decided to cut it into strips and drizzle some tonkatsu on top. All of this went into my lunch container which was just a leftover take out box with a lid. Sadly, it did not have the separate compartments that many asian tupperware style. The end product was delicious as I enjoyed it alone as Lapin had forgotten we had lunch plans.

I have always heard of brown butter and how delicious it is, but have never attempted to make it. I decided to make it along with my tilapia fillet that I had purchased this week. I began heating the butter in a saucepan until it browned, but sadly, I burned some of the milk fats in the butter. I suppose I let the butter cook too quickly which I'll make note of for the next time. Although the fats were charred, the butter itself was golden and a mere strain would fix my problem all together. I ended up dressing the tilapia with an assortment of herbs and pan frying the fillet until golden brown on each side. I topped the fish with the brown butter and served it beside some 'gai lan.' The meal was not bad for a half guessed sort of dish and I'll definitely be making it again hopefully without the burnt milk fats.

I'm glad to be cooking again after a while as I love to eat and try new recipes. I think the start of this term threw me off and is continuing to do so as I have arranged different plans for the weekends that are coming up. I'm headed to Guelph this weekend and hopefully making a three course meal with my cousin as we are both love to eat and tease each other about that little bit of weight on our sides. I can't wait to try out some new recipes and finally get to make a real dessert.

The only problem with cooking up a storm is cleaning up the aftermath.

Surface Tension Between My TA and I

WARNING: Angry Rant

Yesterday I had a night lab with Lapin. It was a pretty simple lab that we've done countless times before, so we moved through it pretty quickly. During one instance of the lab, our TA commented that I was pipetting incorrectly. He stated that I should account for the amount of liquid trapped inside the pipette after it was emptied. Although I was almost positive that the small amount left was accounted for, he went on to say that he would feel more comfortable if we did the whole lab again. This would require us to redo more than 3/4 of the work we had already finished all due to his perspective of how to pipette. Lapin and I decided to continue because in my Chemistry labs we were instructed that the measurements of the pipettes need not be adjusted for the little bit left and should never be blown out for risk of skewing the results. I of course could not argue with my TA about it as I don't want to fail the course or have them hate me for the rest of the term. Needless to say, I won't be happy with the TA for the remaining amount of the term, but what can you do.

On a brighter note, a girl mistaken Lapin for the TA because we are asian. She began apologizing realizing that she added to the stereotype that all asians look alike. After asking for where the REAL TA's were, she left and went back to her bench and began telling her lab partners about the embarassing event. I of course laughed at Lapin teasing her a little bit.

After the lab was finished, Lapin went to meet with her friend while I walked home. I texted some people along the way almost sure I was being followed by someone, but everytime I looked back, no one was there. I finally made it home safely and went directly to my laptop. I began searching for proper pipetting technique and after finding a credible source, I learnt that I was in fact correct. The measurements scale of the pipettes are calibrated to account for surface tension of the liquid and hence the amount suctioned should not be adjusted. Therefore, I just want to say that I was right Mr. TA and I'm glad we didn't redo the lab because your ignorance would have caused us to skew our results which you wished to conserve.

You know you're a nerd when you know more about lab equipment than your TA.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day in Cow Hides

This weekend I decided to go home to try to continue my "summer break." Sadly, the weather was absolutely dreadful. I left Friday afternoon after my classes had finished happy to find out that my tutorials didn't start until the following week. One of my housemates whom I went to high school with asked for a ride home as well. As you know, I had the car this week so it was no problem.

The ride home was packed with traffic on parts of the highway so we decided to take Highway 407, a tolled road, which didn't prove to be much better the closer we got to home. We decided to exit in Vaughn and take some smaller roads home, but it seems many cars had the same idea. After having an adventure in Vaughn trying to find the appropriate small road to go down--this actually required many guessed turns and continue straights before actually getting there on our first try--we headed down where traffic was slight. Overall it was a smooth journey.

While home, my parents treated me out to meals a lot as they believe that I wouldn't be able to get this delicious food in Waterloo and I suppose they'd be right. Most times I end up having my fill and then some while at home because I'm afraid that the next opportunity to head home is far into the future.

On Saturday, my mom had seen that lobsters were on sale at the supermarket which led us to thinking that it was a good idea to eat in. They headed out early in the morning, a little drizzle heading towards us. They returned late in the afternoon and when I opened the door, I realized how bad it was outside. The trees were bowing due to the strength of the wind while wet snow and rain pelted any surface it could find. I quickly motioned my parents into the house baffled by the weather outside. I knew there was to be a storm this weekend, but I would never have expected this. I originally had an idea to hang out with Spiderman and Lapin, but the weather was not permitting.

Once inside, my mom began the preparations for a gourmet meal at home. She made a surf and turf meal of baked garlic cheese lobsters and grilled steaks with a side of California veggies. The meal was delicious and I wished that I wasn't a starving student so I could eat like that all the time. My mom chuckled and told me what she always tells me: Get a good job and make a lot of money, and maybe you can one day. Good advice I suppose.

--------------------
Today, Sunday, is Mother's Day. For breakfast my family went out for dim sum at a restaurant we hadn't been to in a while. Although it was not our usual spot, it was still a decent meal. I was surprisingly full for the amount I ate. After dim sum my family headed for mass at Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church, the place I alter served for ten years. We hadn't been in quite some time as it was a little far from our house making us opt for the English churches nearby. I suffered through a Mandarin mass which I understood nothing of except for the normal sit, stand, and kneel cues. In order to ease my boredum I folded an origami balloon out of one of the offertory envelopes. Once mass was done, we left, passing by the stands where they were selling flowers for Mother's Day. I asked my mom if she wanted one, but she said no.

As we were about to leave my mom suggested that instead of flowers we get her something else. I agreed without asking what it was and I regret it. My mom wanted a leather jacket. Now, if you know my family, we don't buy pleather or anything fake, so this jacket was going to put a dent in wallet for sure. Luckily, my mom knew of an outlet store and had an idea of which jacket she wanted. We headed over to the outlet and browsed a bit before settling on a black leather jacket. I suppose it had a bomber-style to it and I instructed my mom on how to properly wear one. She said it was too tight, but I insisted it was just right. My father and I suggested that she alter the sleeves as they were too long, but she complained that it would cost more money. However, we pointed out that what would be the point of buying something expensive if it didn't fit quite right. After spending twenty five dollars more for the alterations, I ended up paying $200 for that jacket. I realize this isn't a bad price, but for an unemployed student, it's deadly. My mom was happy so I guess that's all that mattered.

I have class on Monday meaning I have to head back to Waterloo. My parents already planned that we go to the States for shopping on the May "2-4" weekend which gives me something to look forward to. Something else to look forward to is a possible lunch with Lapin tomorrow. I've been craving unagi for a while and I'm hoping to get some.

I suppose I'll end off with this. To my mom,

Thanks for having the courage to push another of us kids out of you
after having already going through child labour once. I love you.
Happy Mother's Day.

A Fresh "Blanket" on My Bed

A lot of nothing happened this week. I almost missed all of my classes even though my alarm went off and I found myself not paying attention in all of them. I suppose the review part really bores me as I usually retain information relatively well. Either way, the first week of classes are over.

I do have a bit of disturbing news to share. I woke up Friday morning with a blanket of snow on my pillow; head snow that is. Yes, apparently, my scalp decided it wanted to be a snake and shed all of its skin while I was asleep. Now when I say shed, I really mean shed. Patches of skin larger than my finger nails were coming off. They were so large that you could see where the hairs poked up and out. I suppose that part was interesting, but nonetheless disturbing. I usually have a very healthy scalp with minimal dandruff and knew that this drastic change must have occurred due to something I had done. The only thing that had recently happened was the dying of my hair. I quickly scurried onto google and searched massive dandruff due to hair dye. Luckily I found the answer to my question on Yahoo answers. Apparently, my scalp had an "allergic" reaction to the dye. So besides being allergic to everything in the world except food, hair dye is now added to that list. I suppose it won't stop me from dying my hair, but I will have to be careful not to snow on people throughout the week.

Watch out Waterloo a snow storm is coming your way.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Back to the School of Rock

8:30 a.m. What a great start to a first term. I seemed to have missed my first class of the term. I suppose it was a bad idea to play "Draw My Thing" on OMGPOP.com until 1:00 a.m. when I have an early class. Disappointed with myself, I went online to check what my next class was. I opened up my schedule and searched 9:30 a.m. Apparently, I had misread my schedule from the beginning and my first class actually starts at 9:30 NOT 8:30. Overjoyed, I rushed into the bathroom and prepped myself for the first day of my "third year". I threw on a grey hollister t-shirt and a pair of my levi's 511 jeans running out the door struggling to slip on my red vans shoes. Overall, I liked the outfit I was wearing; simple, but eye catching. I nearly ran to class fearing that it was a room where you could only enter from the front. I hate getting those evil stares from professors when you're late for their class and everyone's eyes are on you. Luckily there was a back entrance and I used that as a path to a seat in the back row. I popped my Klipsch headphones out of my ears and started to pay attention to my new biology professor. Strangely, his voice did not match his look and I quickly lost interest. I began texting Lapin letting her know I made it class for once and asked to meet for lunch. Her class ended an hour after mine so I was glad I shoved my laptop into my bag.

After class was over, I walked over to the building where Lapin's class was held. I grabbed a sofa seat just outside and opened up my Macbook. After entering my passcode to gain access to the wifi on campus, I ventured onto OMGPOP.com to play some more Draw My Thing which I am currently addicted to. Who knew "pictionary" online could be so fun. With my headphones in my ears, the world was my own and I began drawing away. Soon after, I felt a rough nudge to my arm which caused me to look up from my game. Lapin was done and ready to head out. I decided to grab Subway on campus because Lapin had brought her lunch to school, spaghetti bolognese with cauliflower. The concoction was more meat than anything else and I have never seen cauliflower mixed into a pasta dish before. We both agreed she should never try it again. I ordered a meatball sub going along with the Italian theme and got it dressed rather simply, lettuce, tomatoes, and black olives. We chatted about our classes and what we were going to do for the rest of the day.

Since I had the car, we decided we should go buy hair dye for me because everyone seemed to be doing it and I didn't want to be left out. But in all honesty, I've been thinking of dying my hair for the past five or so years and just decided it was time to take action. Lapin and I headed over to Walmart, a location she didn't know about and I was unsure of how to get to, because the cost would be cheaper than Shopper's Drug Mart. As a "starving student" I try and save every dollar I can. We found a parking spot rather easily because it was a Monday afternoon and the place was HUGE. Neither of us was really sure how to navigate the store so we walked around for a bit trying to find cosmetics. Sadly, it was at the front of the store and we completely walked by it forcing us to make a large loop of the superstore. I stared at the countless brands of hair dye for women because the men's dye was specifically for targeting grey hairs which I'm proud to say I have a few of. We decided to go with Garnier getting the light ash brown colour. Strangely, we also saw the dark ash brown, which was of a lighter tone. Confused, we walked to the cashier, picked up a pack of gum, paid, and then left. Having time to kill, we also headed towards the mall and walked around for a bit. Once again, I was out of luck and could not find anything I really wanted other than a moderately priced cookbook on chicken, but I did help Lapin pick out an outfit. I was a little sad when the jacket I picked looked a bit off, but other than that, it was BEAUTIFUL. I think it suited her well, but the darned collar was strangely long. Either way, we headed over to her house because she had to meet up with her friend who was picking something up. Lapin and I decided to watch a movie: Pride and Prejudice. After 5 agonizing minutes of bad sound quality and confusion of what was actually happening, we switched over to a romantic comedy; Mean Girls. There's just something about that movie that screams excellence. It's funny and clever, and even though it was the upteenth time we've seen it, it's still enjoyable.

After the movie, Lapin's friend still had not shown up and we were getting hungry so she told her housemate to open the door for her friend. After she agreed, Lapin and I headed out to Ben Thanh for some pho. I got the lean beef and tripe pho while Lapin ordered a lean beef and flank pho. When ordering, she did a complete fail and ordered the chef special, but asked to hold the tripe and tendons. Sadly, all that was left was the flank and lean beef which was already a preset order. When our food finally came and we started eating, Lapin seemed to finish her noodles a hundred times faster than me, but her meat supply seemed plentiful. I joked that she got more meat because they knew she was a meatatarian. Strangely, as the meal went on, my endless supply of noodles and her endless supply of meat made us believe they messed up a little in the kitchen giving her most of the meat and me most of the noodles. After dinner, we headed to my place to chill before going to Lapin's friend's music gig. A bit overexcited, I told her to dye my hair. After slathering the formula onto my head and rubbing it in, I awaited half an hour for the result. After washing out the excess gunk, and yes there was much excess as Lapin decided to use the whole bottle meant for long hair where I have short, I looked into the mirror. I could definitely tell it was lighter and of brown colour. It seemed quite close to the box's description, but it was hard to see in the light. My housemates crowded to see the difference, but the light in our house just didn't cut it. Either way, I was extraordinarily happy and was ready to head over the gig.

We drove down King until we hit the Laurier Music House where the event was held. After greeting the overly friendly doorman/bouncer, we were allowed in and took a seat near the bar. I decided not to order anything as I would be driving after it was done. Lapin's friend was up first and his band Dovetail was amazing. Her friend was on bass guitar and did really kick ass solos and tricks that I was amazed by. We congratulated him on their performance and awaited the other bands. After hearing the other two bands, we decided that we didn't especially like the last one because they seemed a little to publicized and the fact that we couldn't understand a word they were singing about. Once everything was over, we headed for home.

With ringing in my ears and brown hair on my head, I fell asleep.

Rude Awakening

Sunday, the last day of my short break from University had arrived. My mom woke me up as I had promised to make breakfast that day. I started boiling some water and with help from my younger brother began poaching some eggs. The night before, I had defrosted some spinach and began heating that up in order to make an eggs benedict-florentine fusion more appropriately named Eggs Benedictine at Coras. The hollandaise sauce was whipped together in a blender because I didn't feel like going through the trouble of a double boiler which I later regretted. The sauce came out thinner than I expected and didn't blend the flavours as well as I hoped. Although the meal was good, it was not up to my standards of a good eggs benedict which I order nearly every time I go out for breakfast.

After church and packing I asked my parents if I could take the car up to Waterloo for the week seeing as my older brother went of a trip to New York City with his girlfriend for the week. They agreed, my mom a little worried seeing as it was my first trip to Waterloo alone. After stuffing the car to the brim, I headed off towards my dungeon room and another term.

Summer term, here I come.

Glowing Pink Balls

Saturday had finally come. My parents decided to make Hot Pot for dinner as I hadn't had it in a long while. We busted out our old gas burner and heated up the broth my father had purchased for this special dinner. We began boiling some meat and seafood in the broth our mouths watering. I mixed together a sauce consisting of soy sauce, sesame oil, chinese BBQ sauce, and sirachi chili sauce which I would use to dunk the thinly sliced meats. The hot pot was especially delicious seeing as the broth was well made. After stuffing myself silly for the third or fourth time that week, I texted my friends seeing if they wanted to go bowling as we had arranged earlier that week. They agreed and I drove to pick them up.

We drove to World Bowl, getting a little lost along the way, and ordered a lane for an hour. We were stuck beside a group of very enthusiastic middle aged Asian people and a young, like our age, Italian couple. We entered our names into the machine, but only the first letter of each seeing as we were sure to embarrass ourselves. Sadly, I had forgotten to wear white as they had fluorescent lights which causes light colours to glow blue in colour. At any rate, I was first to bowl choosing a pink bowling ball as my weapon. I flicked, yes flicked, the ball down the lane getting a perfect gutter ball in the process. I could tell at that point it would not be a good match. My friends followed suit receiving low scores as well leading all of us to score under 100. The next games improved, at least for me, and I ended up scoring 125 getting some strikes in the process on the last and final game. Not bad for a rusty chum like me. Then it was time to roll on home after debates of whether to head over to Destiny's again.

...

Pearly Whites and Mistaken Identity

I woke up early Thursday morning as my mom wandered into my room and basically punched my leg. She urged me to wake up as I had a dentist appointment which she booked last minute. I quickly brushed my teeth and headed to the dentist remembering that I had many errands to run for my mom later on. As I rushed out the door I had forgot to get papers for an Emmisions Test that I needed to renew my license plate sticker. I ended up doing a U-turn and rushed into the house while my neighbours watched as I blurred passed the door. I realized I would be late for my appointment so I drove a little faster than usual and arrived only five minutes late. Sadly, I was the only one in there at 9:30 in the morning. The secretary waved me in to see the dental hygenist who cleaned my teeth and asked about my life. I struggled to form words as she probed my mouth with that hook and mirror. She commented on the whiteness of my teeth which made my morning. I had used Crest Whitestrips before and was glad to see that my teeth still had pearliness about them. I try to refrain from coffee as I know it will stain my teeth, but can't stay away from soda. Either way, it made me glad that not only were they white, but not clean and polished. After a few questions about my wisdom teeth, which still have not come in, my hygenist handed me a toothbrush and I was off.

I drove over to Active Green and Ross again to get an Emmissions test for our other family car. It was first come first serve once again. Although it was 10:15 in the morning, there were nine other cars awaiting the same test. The man at the counter told me that it would be at least a couple of hours as he looked over the paperwork with the information about the car. He wished me a Happy Birthday which surprised me as my Birthday is in January. I realized he was looking at my mom's birthday and I corrected him having a laugh while at it. I don't think I look 46, but I suppose it could be anyone's mistake :P. With the estimated time being so long and seeing as I had nothing else to do, I handed over the keys and walked out the door. I knew there was a McDonalds nearby seeing as I have lived in that town nearly my whole life and decided to get breakfast. Breakfast buritoes, one of the only things I will have at breakfast at McDicks, and apple juice were the source of the most important meal of the day. So much for healthy foods. I scarfed down the food as I messaged people trying to figure out what I would do for two hours. I decided the best waste of time would be to read a book, but seeing as I had nothing with me, I wandered over to the Chapters just up the street.

I meandered the aisles countless times trying to find something that would peak my interests, but nothing really seemed to catch my eye. I looked at their recommended reading and top paper back novels and about every stand or promotion table they had. Desperate to find a book, I wandered once more into the aisles of the fiction section. My eyes quickly moved over countless titles and finally landed on just one. The Ides of March: A Novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. I recognized the name, but could not pin point what it was. I searched the back of the novel for a description and discovered it was a recreation of the killing of Julius Caesar. Intrigued I looked up his other books and found The Lost Army. This novel was about Spartans and I just couldn't resist getting both. I walked over to the cash register and stood in line behind a family. The families little boy was begging his mom to buy him a bookmark and the mother asked why. The boy explained that he may lose his spot while reading on the plane or when he decides to stop reading in bursts of speech as young children do. Of course, it was cute-sied up by a factor of a billion. The mother of course gave in, as I suspect anyone would after a speech like that. I paid the cashier with my Visa and checked the time. 12:23. I was amazed I spent two hours in Chapters in search of a book I didn't even know existed. Seeing as the car should be close to finished, I popped by Starbucks to grab a caramel apple spice, adding extra cinnamon this time, and headed back to the mechanic. As I walked in, fully expecting there still to be a line and for me to have time to read my new books, the man told me it was all done. I once again paid with my Visa and thanked him. I got into the car, put on my seatbelt and read the review. PASS. Relieved, I headed home to rest before picking up my mom from work.

At 2:45 I went to get my mom from work so we could go renew both license plates for our family cars. The ministry for driving related things (I'm not sure what the proper term is) didn't have a long line up so we waited. Having all the paper work filled out in advanced we didn't wait long and were out in time to pick up my younger brother from school.

Seeing as it was my mom's birthday, we decided to head out for dinner. I suggested sushi even though I had it the night before because I just didn't get my sushi fix. My brother quickly agreed and my mom did so as well. We waited for my dad to come home from work and then headed of to Sushi on 7, an AYCE place owned by my older brother's friend. We got a table near the sushi master and ordered quickly as we were all hungry. I didn't stuff myself as I did yesterday, but I did get a lot. I suppose it's not a good idea to go to an AYCE sushi establishment after having sushi the night before because the quality isn't the same. Sushi on 7 which is usually very tasty was lacking in key aspects of sushi that I love so much. Overall, it wasn't a bad meal and my family was happy and I was satisfied. We wished my mom happy birthday a couple dozen more times before the night was through.

Happy Birthday Mom and sorry about almost stealing your birthday.