I must admit I had a lovely and enjoyable weekend, even if it was only for one day on Saturday. My friend Adrienne and I met up for lunch at a very cute café called Crêpes à GoGo. We had stumbled upon this gem online as it was known for good crepes. With only about six tables for two each, it’s a pretty tiny place. We were lucky to get a table as soon as we arrived since there was constantly a line up after we settled down. The café is nicely decorated with European accents and photographs on its walls, and the waiter/waitresses all speak with a heavy French accent. What I absolutely loved was the fact that there was a guy who played the accordion and, later, another guy who played the clarinet joined in as well. It makes for a really nice atmosphere and totally makes you feel as though you are in Paris.

As for the crepes, they were DELICIOUS! I started with the Rive Droite which consisted of scrambled egg, sour cream, baby spinach & smoked salmon. Adrienne and I also got a dessert crepe with strawberries, bananas and their version of Nutella. Also worth mentioning is that no plates are used here; the crepes come in paper bags. It’s a very unique experience that I would highly recommend.

While we were there, a somewhat bizarre thing happened. We were seated right in front of the cash counter chatting away when we noticed a man was hovering next to our table. At first we thought he was just waiting for a table. As we continued to chat, Adrienne noticed that the guy made a very quick move at the counter and dashed out the door. It turns out the guy swiped the tip jar that was on the counter right next to me. By the time Adrienne and the accordion guy realized what had happened, it was already way too late. The guy had already disappeared down the street. Obviously he knew the place would get busy and picked the right time to grab & go. Adrienne and I were just glad he didn’t hold up the place or anything.

After lunch, Adrienne and I decided to see a movie. We’d been friends for 7 years and have had numerous outings – shopping, dinners, clubbing, going to see musicals and cd releases, random walks around the city, even road trips. It was kind of surprising and ridiculous that we had never seen a movie together. So to break that non-movie streak, we went to see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Now I’m not usually into dramas and thrillers simply because I like to relax to chick flicks and comedies, but this one really impressed me. I thought everything from the story line to the acting and cinematography was really well executed. Even at two and a half hours, there was not a single moment where I felt bored. In fact, there were times when I thought the movie was going more quickly than it really was and I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. I think I’m going to watch the Swedish version as well just to see how the two compare.

Later that night, we met up with Adrienne’s boyfriend for dinner at Mezza Notte Trattoria, one of our favourite Italian restaurants. We usually go to the location in North York, but for this time we decided to try the location in Thornhill. I still think the North York location is better simply because they serve specialty breads there, but overall it was a good meal. We ordered two appetizers: Cozze Alla Marinara (mussels sautéed with white wine and garlic in tomato sauce) and Lumache Alla Francese (escargot with grilled portobello mushrooms sautéed in a cognac sauce). As you can see from the picture, I had the Penne Al Salmone (penne with Norwegian smoked salmon and vodka in a pink sauce). Every plate was tasty. This is another restaurant I would HIGHLY recommend.

So that was pretty much my weekend before starting another 7-day work week. I hope everyone also enjoyed relaxing weekends and is having a good week :)

For me, this past holiday consisted of working, cooking and cleaning, all of which are things I enjoy doing. Unfortunately, they are also very tiring tasks. I didn’t end up with a lot of energy for anything else, besides taking my cousin to see Disney on Ice on Christmas Eve. It was her first Christmas in Canada so I thought it would be a fun outing for us. At least we got to spend Christmas with Mickey and the Disney gang :p

Since I was sick in bed recently, I used that time to catch up on some reading and to simply allow my body to relax after a very hectic December. While playing with my iPad, I decided to download Fruit Ninja after my friend Anna told me about it. It’s simple; all you do is slash as many fruits as you can when they pop up on the screen while avoiding the bombs. Mannnnn, am I ever hooked! I know it sounds really silly but seriously, it is such an addictive game. For anyone who’s looking for a fun app to pass the time, I’d recommend this one :)

On the topic of fun and silly things, I’m sure some of you have already seen this stop motion short on the secret lives of books. If you haven’t yet then you need to check it out now. It’s really quite cute. (And it’s a little freaky how many books I recognize in that video simply by their spines.)

Another stop motion video I’ve been wanting to share is this music video for Kina Grannis’ single, “In Your Arms”. The video was made using my favourite candy…288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans! Be sure to check out this video as well.

Last Monday, my friends Andrew and Joe attempted what is called Man vs. Sandwich at the Corned Beef House. For those who don’t know what that is, basically you are given a 40oz corned beef sandwich (that’s 40oz of meat, 4 slices of bread and a pickle). If you are able to finish all of that in 1 hour, your sandwich is free. If you can’t finish in an hour, you will be charged $29.95 plus tax.

Andrew and Joe took on the challenge simply for fun and to see how they would do. It was their first time ever trying something like this, so about 10 of us were there to cheer them on. Besides being able to witness the whole thing go down, it was nice seeing some of my old co-workers again :)

Now, when you first hear about the 40oz of meat, you probably wouldn’t think of it as a super crazy amount. To put it into perspective though, that’s equivalent to five average 8oz steaks! Don’t forget that this is corned beef that we’re talking about, so it’s going to be salty. If the size of that sandwich doesn’t get to you, the salt most likely will. Not only do you need to be physically prepared to down 40oz of meat, you also need to be mentally prepared for such a feat.

As you can tell by the look on Andrew’s face after 15 minutes of munching on the meat and bread, it was NOT as easy as you’d think.

Mentally, it takes a lot to get yourself motivated to keep going when the food becomes tasteless. Joe looks totally focused here.

10 minutes before the time was up, Andrew and Joe decided they could not finish. Even though they were not able to complete the feat, all of us were very proud of them for simply attempting it. I think if they went back to try again, they’d have the experience to help them finish the entire sandwich. Nonetheless, I think we all had a good time (and good food).

*In case you were wondering, it is not entirely impossible to eat a 40oz corned beef sandwich. My co-worker, Grisha, actually finished his in 30 minutes, and the currently record is 20 minutes. So for anyone who is interested in trying, know that it is totally possible. I highly recommend the Corned Beef House because the food is amazing and the guys who run the place are possibly the friendliest people you’ll ever meet.

Let’s fast forward a little. My original plan for Saturday night was to go home after work and do some reading. While on my way to the subway station, I passed by the Royal York Hotel and thought the lights were kind of pretty. I pondered for a minute and finally decided to take out my camera to snap a picture.

Then as I continued toward the subway, I came across an interesting pattern on the ground created by lights. I couldn’t resist and again I took out my camera to take a picture. When I turned around, I saw another image that I wanted to capture. I just couldn’t stop. So I spontaneously decided to enjoy some “me” time in the mild December weather, chasing lights and capturing moments with my camera. Here are a few of my photos:

And that’s how bliss was found :)

So anyway, I mentioned last week that I’d been going through some intense troubling times because of stress. I’m not sure right now is a good time for me to write about it (even though I eventually do want to write my thoughts out in more reflective pieces), but I do want to use this post to share one of the methods I used and found effective in dealing with my stress.

I was inspired to start a puzzle because of a puzzle that others had already started in the staff room at my work. It was the day after I had completely broken down that I found myself sitting there working on the puzzle for over 2 hours after I had already finished work. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I last laid hands on a puzzle, but there was definitely something very calming about it that prompted me to want a puzzle to do at home. So after we left work, my co-worker and I went to the mall to find me a puzzle.

Have puzzles become a thing of the past, or was I just too consumed by everything else this world had to offer that I’d forgotten how fun and enjoyable puzzles were? To be honest, when it came to looking for a puzzle to buy, I had a bit of difficulty thinking about where I could buy a nice one downtown; I haven’t had to buy a puzzle in sooooo long. Luckily, I remembered there was a Toys, Toys, Toys, at the bottom level of the Toronto Eaton Centre and they did have a selection of puzzles. After going through a number of them, I spotted one with a scenery that I recognized. It was a photographed image of the Norwegian Fjords with a ship right in the middle. Upon closer inspection of the small image, I was able to recognize the ocean liner’s signature funnel and bridge wings prior to their extension, and confirmed that the ship in the picture was indeed the RMS Queen Mary 2 that I cruised on 2 years ago! [Click here for cruise photos.]

What were the chances?! I mean, I’ve done a lot of research on the QM2 and have watched documentaries on the building of the ship obsessively after coming back from the cruise, so for me to actually find a puzzle with the QM2 in it is pretty crazy. There was absolutely no doubt which puzzle I was going home with.

It wasn’t until I opened the box that I realized I picked a rather challenging puzzle to start with. The pieces were either blue, green or grey, with a small selection of white ones, and the majority of them were parts of trees, grass, water or rock that looked the same. Word of advice…if you want to start off easy, don’t pick a puzzle with any of the above :p

I spent the first evening working on the border and some unique parts of the puzzle.

Then I spent about 7 hours the next day on my day off to work on it.

By the third day, I couldn’t keep myself away from the puzzle. I was so excited to finish it.

Done on the fourth day! :)

It was kind of bittersweet when I finished the puzzle; on one hand I was happy to complete it, but on the other I was sad that it was done so quickly and I didn’t have another puzzle to work on. I guess it was good while it lasted, and I can genuinely say I enjoyed my time with my puzzle because for once, I did something that was entirely for me. I was able to indulge myself in hours of pure bliss. And the entire time I worked on my puzzle, I had my phone and laptop turned off, and basically isolated myself from anything that could distract me.

For once, the world had to wait for me.

The past couple months have been really rough for me. I found myself in a really dark place emotionally and mentally due to the stress from a lot of the things that were happening around me. It affected my health both mentally and physically, and at one point I think I hit the bottom when my body just shut down on me. It forced me to reflect on a lot of things and to make changes with myself. I don’t want to get too deep into it right now, but rest assure that things are getting better.

There are some highlights from the past 2 months that I want to share so I’m going to jump to that. Pretty much all of it is food related. Consider yourself warned.

This past Saturday was my first official outing since I regained my sanity. My friend Adrienne’s boyfriend, Robin, asked if I would be interested in doing a surprise dinner for Adrienne since her birthday was coming up. I thought it was really sweet of him to want to surprise her, so I agreed to it in a heartbeat.

It was a small dinner between the 3 of us (our friend Danny couldn’t make it). Robin and I made arrangements ahead of time so that I would be seated at the restaurant when he arrived at Big Daddy’s Bistro & Oyster Bar with Adrienne. It was kind of funny to see the reaction on Adrienne’s face when she saw me. Overall, I think we did a good job at planning the surprise, and it was a lovely dinner spent with two of my good friends :)

As for the food, I had the Big Daddy’s Seafood Salad which consisted of mixed greens tossed with vinaigrette, topped with 3 jumbo shrimp, smoked salmon, blue crab meat and southern-fried oysters. And it was as delicious as it looked.

On Sunday, Adrienne and Robin invited me over to Robin’s new place for home-made pasta. Here we have Adrienne making the massive meatballs.

It was my first time making fresh pasta, so Robin taught me how to use a pasta maker. I was hesitant at first, but after feeding the dough through the rollers a couple times I started to get the hang of it. It was actually quite fun!

Top it with some fresh parmesan cheese and we’re ready to eat.

Ta-dah! It was delicious! :) Pasta is definitely one of my loves, and I must admit it is even better when the pasta is freshly made. Thanks to Adrienne and Robin for inviting me, I had a lot of fun in the kitchen that day. It made me want my own kitchen even more.

On Tuesday night, I met up with my friend Tommy for his birthday dinner (and because I hadn’t seen him in forever due to his busy schedule – ahem!). We went to Joey @Eaton Centre because neither of us had been to that location before. I’d been craving The Beach Salad since I first had it back in the summer at the Don Mills location, but was slightly disappointed that it didn’t turn out quite as good as I remembered it to be. However, the Pesto Shrimp Flatbread was really good. It was so good I totally forgot to take a picture of it :p I’d recommend passing on the Baked Apple Pie though. It’s really nothing to go crazy over. The atmosphere was nice and I had good company, so overall it was good. It did get to be quite loud, so if you’re looking for a place to chat I’d say try somewhere else. If you’re a sports fan though, you’ll probably enjoy their bar.

A few other things I wanted to share from earlier this Fall…

I don’t normally like to spend time talking about restaurants I don’t like, but I thought it was important that I mention this particular one because it really didn’t live up to my expectations. For my birthday, Adrienne & Robin took me out for dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. We had heard about it many times before but had never actually been there, so we decided to try them out. It turned out to be mediocre food at fine dining prices. Their baked oysters were really good, but most of the seafood dishes we had were battered and deep fried (we weren’t exactly expecting them to be). Let’s just say I’m in no rush to go back there.

If my first love is pasta, then my second love would have to be crab cakes. I took this picture of the crab cakes at Moxies when I took my god brother, Edison, out for his birthday lunch a few weeks ago. It was thoughtful of him to remember how much I loved crab cakes, so I took the picture to remember that moment. We don’t see each other very often nowadays, but I know that this brother-I-never-had is always just a phone call away.

So I guess this last “highlight” is still somewhat food related. As some may have heard, the Steve Jobs bio came out a few weeks ago. Stores were given directives to create an apple display at the front of their stores for the book launch. There weren’t specific instructions on how to build this apple so we just sorta winged it. Since the stores opened early the day of the launch, we only had about 50 minutes to create the display. With the help of my co-workers, Alessia & Steve, we built this gigantic apple. What do you guys think?

The display can still be seen at the front of the store when you walk into Chapters @ John & Richmond, but I bet not very many people know that it’s actually not the same “apple” as the one we built the first time. We were trying to move the table over by about 3 meters last week when the original apple came crashing down just inches away from where we were going to park it. It was a sad, sad moment. My co-worker and I ended up having to build it all over again, but it just didn’t look the same. At least it’s sturdier this time :P

That’s it for now. There’s a whole lot that I want to share, but I’ll save them for next time. Good night all!

First and foremost, thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. As you may have noticed, I’ve been on a blog hiatus for nearly 3 months. Been working like a mad woman while riding a crazy emotional roller coaster all summer. What I’ve been dealing with has inspired me to write about some things that come from a deeper, and possibly darker, part of me. You can expect to see some of that in the upcoming months. For now I’m just going to do a quick photo blog of the past 3 months and share a few songs that I’ve been bumpin’ recently.

I remember when I was young, we used to have a lot of family get togethers. As I got older and my extended family grew bigger, it seemed like those get togethers became more of a rarity; we would see each other either at a cousin’s wedding or a funeral of a family member.

Going along with that trend, our family came together for the first time this year at my cousin Jennifer’s wedding. It was a really beautiful wedding. That’s some of the family (from my mom’s side) in the above picture. Most of the kids are missing from it, but I’m sure you can already tell how big the family is. I had a lot of fun dancing with the whole family at the end of the night, especially when “Like a G6″ came on and everyone on the dance floor was singing to it :)

Click here for the full album from the wedding.

Later in July, my uncle from Hong Kong came to visit for a few days. While he was in town, I took the family to Big Daddy’s Crab Shack & Oyster Bar. It was my first time there, but I’d heard great feedback about the place and have wanted to try them out for a long time. Now that I’ve been there, I can HIGHLY recommend Big Daddy’s both for its food and service.

We all ordered from the 3-course prix-fixe menu and were quite satisfied with our selections. I had the Seafood Gumbo to start and the Seafood Fettuccine. Both were pretty good. I think it was my parents’ Big Daddy Seafood Salad that stole the show though. It not only looked good but tasted good too. I think I’ll be trying that next time I’m there.

My uncle loves oysters so we had two orders of them. They were also really good, and I absolutely LOVED having the tray of 6 different house-made sauces to choose from.

While my friend Charmaine was back in town from Vancouver, we managed to make time for a nice dinner on the patio of Joey Grill & Lounge. We had wanted to go there last year when she was here visiting, but Joey’s was pretty new at the time and the wait was an hour long. Thus, we ended up at Glow instead. Since we were there this time on a weeknight, we didn’t have to wait at all. It was really nice catching up with Charmaine and my brother, Edison.

As for the food…the set of Sushi Cones were filled with tempura prawn, avocado, spicy mayo and cucumber.

The Beach Salad consists of mixed greens, quinoa, fresh strawberries, avocado, candied pecans, goat cheese & lemon poppyseed dressing with grilled chicken breast. I HIGHLY recommend this salad because it is tasty, healthy and refreshing. It might actually top my favourite salad in Toronto, which is the Grilled Tiger Shrimp Salad at Joe Mama’s.

This was Chinese dessert night with Adrienne and Robin. We had driven around uptown looking for a place for a durian shake (which we eventually did find at First Markham Place), and then came here for dessert. Mmmm…black sesame paste dessert :)

I talked a bit about seeing family at the beginning of this post. Well, I guess we did pretty good this year because we actually had a gathering outside of a wedding/funeral. It was a good turn out for a BBQ at my cousin Louis’ place. There was plenty of food and definitely good times spent with family.

My cousin Lisa brought her dog, Milton, which everyone absolutely adores.

Tropical fruit platters to top it off!

To be honest, I didn’t have very much time to spend catching up with friends this summer due to the amount of time I was scheduled to work. Perhaps the only time I did get to kick back and chill was in mid August, when Anna and I went over to Kat’s after work one day to catch up and celebrate her birthday. Girl’s night began with cheese…

…then steak with veggies…

…and a yummy Dufflet Hazelnut Cakelet to finish the night. If you’re into cakes, definitely give this a try. We picked this one up from Loblaws, but I’m sure you can find them at other supermarkets as well. Dufflet does not disappoint.

So you all know I love Far East Movement. Obviously I knew they were in town opening for Lil Wayne’s concert back in August. I also made sure to catch their performance on Much Music’s New Music Live, which saw them doing awesome reflips. Since I was in the middle of a crazy work week at the time, I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the show to physically see them perform. I was all set on NOT seeing them while they were in town this time when a funny thing happened.

I was at work the afternoon before their show when I happened to look out our store window just as the guys of Far East Movement were getting into their ride outside our hotel! I literally jumped up from my seat and ran to the window when I saw them. What were the chances that they’d be staying in our hotel of all places?! And what were the chances I’d happen to look out the window just in time to see them?! Crazy.

I later heard from a bellman that he was there when the guys and their entourage checked in the night before. He said he wasn’t sure if they were FM, but knew they were artists because a photographer was taking pictures of a guy who was leaning against the wall texting. Normal people don’t have pictures of them taken while they’re texting, right? lol I giggled when Kev Nish later uploaded the above picture onto his Facebook :D

Alright, enough typing for one night. On to the music…

I started thinking about it a few months ago because it occurred to me that I have many more guy friends than I do girl friends. The ratio is something like 5:1 (5 guy friends to every 1 female friend). To be more accurate, I’m only looking at the people whom I interact with on a somewhat regular basis (so no facebook friends or old school buddies whom I don’t talk to anymore). I’m curious to know what the norm is because this was not always the case for me.

Up until the end of high school, the majority of my friends were females; I always hung out with the girls at school, and through all my years at dance class I was always among girls. You can pretty much say I grew up with mainly female friends. After high school, though, that seemed to change completely. I became better friends with more guys than I did with girls.

It took a while for me to figure out what might possibly be the reasoning behind this great shift in gender when it comes to friendships. I found that as we got older, some girls became more judgmental and materialistic. There would often be some sort of subliminal competition between girls; who has the nicer hair, the cooler clothes, the cuter boyfriend. Sometimes it would turn into jealousy which, in my opinion, should not be present in a real friendship.

With my guy friends, I can very easily get along with them because there is NEVER any kind of competition. I’m able to talk with them about almost anything and I don’t have to worry about them judging me in any way. It’s even better when my guy friends have girlfriends because then I also don’t have to worry about them getting the wrong idea. People sometimes worry about being friends with the opposite sex because it often comes off as flirting. If it is indeed just about being friends, I always try to make it clear that my friendship is sincere and that it’s not meant to be mistaken as wanting a relationship.

To be fair, not all girls are as bad as I might’ve described them to be. I do have a good handful or two of female friends who are really close and dear to me. All of them share the same values as I do and we get along really well (so no cat fights lol). Most of the girls I choose to become friends with are real; they’re straight forward and don’t sugarcoat things. I actually prefer being around people like that, but I guess I just happen to know more of them in male form.

All in all, no matter if they’re guys or girls, honesty and sincerity from my friends are extremely important to me. As an only child, my friends make up the family I choose and, in turn, they make up who I am.

Our next door neighbour called us to tell us a tree had fallen into our yard. We looked out the window and this is what we saw. Looks a bit like a jungle, doesn’t it?

It turns out the big branch came off our neighbour’s tree, with the heaviest part of it landing on the roof of our garage. The smaller branches draped off the garage roof and filled half our yard. It missed the house by just over 3 feet.

Looks like a skinny branch eh? Don’t underestimate its strength though.

That branch was longer than our garage!

It didn’t look like it was that bad at first, but let’s have a closer look…

As you can see, part of the roof is slightly caved in. According to the guys who came for emergency removal of the tree, the roof of the garage has been badly damaged and will need to be replaced completely.

When we went to speak to the owner of the property in which the tree was on, we saw this on the street behind ours…

Just wanted to share some of those pictures :) Will post more when I have more time.

One of my favourite things to do in the summer is go for walks along the lake and watch the airplanes take off and land at Billy Bishop. Wednesday afternoon saw me doing exactly that. After work, I went for a long walk to the lake with my co-worker friend, Steve. He is like my shrink most of my the time, so it was nice being able to sit under the sun and just get out a lot of the things that have been stressing me. However, I did go home with a sunburn on one arm, one side of my neck and both legs. Reminder to self: WEAR SUNSCREEN NEXT TIME!

I’ve always said that my friends are very important to me, so being able to spend time with them is crucial to my well-being. Since I’ve been fairly busy over the past 2 months, I haven’t had much time to see my friends. I’m glad I was able to finally do some catching up with some good friends over the course of this past week, like lunch with Edison & Kevin last Saturday, dinner @ Moxies with my Bayview friends on Tuesday, and a fantastic night out with my good buddies on Friday.

My plans for dinner with Adrienne, Robin and Danny on Friday night were quite last minute, and I was surprised that we all happened to be free that night for what seemed like an overdue dinner. I think the last time all four of us hung out was for Winterlicious back in February (Summerlicious is just a month away!). We wanted to get in some patio time since it was so nice outside, so we met up at 10 Dundas East and winged it from there.

Considering it was a Friday night, we figured patios everywhere would be packed. The battle was between Milestones (est. 25-30 minute wait) and Jack Astor’s (no given wait time); we waited to see which would have a table for us first. Milestones ended up beating JA by about 5 minutes, with the wait being about 20 minutes. Not too bad for a Friday night, eh? The patio at Milestones was alright. Its view is nothing compared to what Jack Astor’s has to offer, but the company more than made up for it :)

After some catching up over dinner, we walked up the street to Bar + Karaoke Lounge near Yonge & Gerrard. It is possibly one of the best karaoke bars in downtown Toronto, at least from my knowledge. The rooms are surprisingly clean and they have a good selection of songs. We spent 4 hours there singing our hearts out. By the time I got home, it was 5am. The last time I got home THAT late (or early, depending on how you want to look at it) was last June when Far East Movement was in town for the very first time. Yeeeeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good night out :p

Speaking of Far East Movement, it has been confirmed that they will be in town again to perform at this year’s MMVAs! Ha, didn’t I call that one in this post? It’s going to be a crazy amazing MMVA. They’ve got FM and Bruno Mars in their line up! You know I’m going to be glued to my tv on the night of June 19th :D

I know for most of the time, my life is an open book; I reveal a lot of personal things in this blog as it is my mission to encourage open thought and the sharing of life experiences. But for once, I can’t openly share what is stressing me. I can’t do anything about it, nor can I change the situation. All I can do is reframe my thoughts and try to get through each day as best I can. With all different kinds of thoughts in my head right now, you can expect there to be some thought-provoking posts in the next few weeks.

Amidst the stress, I was able to catch up with two good friends this weekend. It’d been quite some time since I last saw my bro Edison and our friend Kevin, who’s been working in New York and was back for the week. With all the stress I’d been dealing with lately, catching up with some good friends really helped calm my soul. We had lunch at Wonderpho, which is owned by Kevin’s family and managed by his brother who took good care of us while we were there. The food was good and the service was superb. It’s a cozy spot that gets two thumbs up from me :)

After lunch, we decided to go see a movie. It was a debate between Bridesmaids and Hangover 2. We ended up seeing Bridesmaids simply because of better timing, but I think it would’ve been the better one to see anyway. Like Kevin said, you know it’s going to be funny when you start off with a sex scene haha The movie was super hilarious, even during those few disgusting moments. I highly HIGHLY recommend this movie!

I’ve been MIA lately thanks to the failure of my Time Capsule. Its power supply died on me, which I guess was more or less expected. What surprised me was the fact that it lived as long a life as it did considering I had read about capsules only having life spans of about 18 months. Luckily, my AppleCare Protection Plan covered the problem and they promptly sent me a replacement Time Capsule. The only down side was I had to send them back my old one. That meant losing the 500GB of data I had on it. The guy I spoke to for tech support told me I shouldn’t keep anything important on the Time Capsule, and thankfully I hadn’t. But then it makes me wonder…if the Time Capsule is unreliable like that, what’s the point of it being marketed to backup your system? Let me just say I don’t plan on getting another Time Capsule if this one breaks down on me again.

If this had happened 5 years ago, I probably would have freaked out. I wouldn’t have been able to imagine a whole week without the internet back then. But I guess I’ve grown older, and with time I’ve come to learn that there are many other things I can occupy my time with. So during this particular week, I used my “online” time to reorganize all the music on my MacBook. By the time I was done with it, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. For anyone who spends endless amounts of time on the net, I recommend trying to go a day or two without it. You might be able to learn a thing or two about yourself from it.

I did some cooking again on Mother’s Day for my mom and my family. My co-worker gave me instructions on how to make a pan-seared salmon, but I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t turn out properly since it was my first time making fish. Thankfully, it turned out pretty well and everyone loved it.

Along with the salmon, I made lots and lots of veggies. It turned out to be a really quick, simple, cheap, and healthy dinner that got props from even my dad (who is usually pretty hard to satisfy). Looks like I’ll be making that meal again in the future.

The May Two-Four long weekend is coming up again. For me, it’s a time when old memories come creeping back into my head and it reminds me of how quickly time passes by. What are you all going to be up to? Anyone going to see fireworks? Well, I guess there won’t be any fireworks if this depressing rain keeps up. I suppose it’s not too much to ask for some sunshine this weekend, right?

Let me start off with a bit of background info. I only really developed an interest in make-up back in September, when I turned 26 realizing I was getting older (not old haha) and should probably brush up on my make-up skills in case I ever wanted the option to create a different look for a night out or a special event. Since my everyday look is pretty basic (eye liner, concealer, blush and occasionally lip gloss), I wanted to figure out what other looks work on me and, perhaps more importantly, what looks don’t work on me.

With that said though, I was never a stranger to make-up. In fact, I was exposed to make-up very early in life because of my dancing background. I started wearing make-up when I began performing at the age of 3, and was putting on my own make-up by the time I was 9. Even though I only wore it for performances, I knew then that I was never going to enjoy the feeling of having make-up plastered all over my face. That is why to this day, I very rarely wear foundation on my face.

One of my biggest problems is I can’t wear a lot of eye makeup. I’ve played with different coloured eyeshadows in the past, but colour just never seemed to work on me. I eventually learned that having big eyes was my problem. Unlike most people who wear eye make-up to draw attention to their eyes, I can’t wear a lot of eye make-up because anything in excess would accentuate my eyes too much. Through trial and error, I’ve discovered that a bit of eye liner, concealer, natural colour eye shadows and some blush is good enough. With some mascara and lipstick to finish the job, that’s it for my makeup routine.

This is so you understand why my makeup reviews are on simple products and natural colours. Not everything works on everyone, and just because certain colours worked on one person it doesn’t necessarily mean it will work on another. With that said, the products that I review here are based on what works for me and should only serve as your reference. Go out there and try things out. See what works for you and remember…sometimes, less is more.

My first “investment” was in these Sigma Makeup Brushes. I had seen a lot of good reviews for these brushes so I ordered the Naughty in Black Travel Kit to try them out. I picked this set because it had the most eye brushes that I wanted. It came with 7 brushes + a bonus F50 brush (not shown in above picture).

Sigma brushes are known to be most comparable to the quality of MAC brushes, except they are a fraction of the price. About 7-8 years ago, I bought the MAC 150 Large Powder Brush for $40 (or was it $50, I don’t remember). Here we have the most expensive Sigma brush for $19. Quite a difference eh?

Quality wise, they are really good for what you’re paying for. They are really soft and feel very nice on the face. Depending on the type of brush, they do come in natural and synthetic bristles. I actually prefer the Sigma brushes because I think they are slightly smaller than MAC brushes, which is great considering I have a small face. For anyone who wants a more in-depth review of the Sigma brushes, I am going to do another review on them later on. So stay tuned…

When you have good brushes, you need to take good care of them by cleaning them regularly. One of the important steps in brush cleaning is actually drying them properly. For this purpose, I found this nifty little gadget online called The Brush Guard. It is a flexible tube that is used to hold the bristles of the brush together when it dries. You insert the handle of the brush through one end of the tube and then pull it through to cover the hairs of the brush. In doing so, it keeps the hairs together so the brush retains its proper shape. Thus, it prolongs the life of the brush.

Before I physically saw the brush guards, I thought they were going to be of light foamy texture (like the protector thingys you sometimes see on pears at the supermarket). When I received my actual brush guards in the mail though, I was pleasantly surprised by how durable they were. They almost looked like they were made with fishing wire. That makes stretching them out to fit around the handle a little bit more difficult, but it definitely holds better. I really like the fact that the ends are glued or burned together so the “wires” don’t come apart easily.

The brush guards come in 4 different sizes. Shown above are the brush guards from the variety pack. From left to right, you have a large one (for powder/kabuki brushes), 2 medium ones (for foundation brushes), 2 small ones (for blush brushes), and 1 extra small one (for eye liner/shadow brushes). Besides the variety pack, you can also get packages with specific size brush guards. I picked up a package of each except for the large ones since I don’t own very many big brushes.

Price: Each package is US $5.50 + $2 shipping per order (to Canada).
Where to Buy: Online @ thebrushguard.com

One of my favourites from this batch of products is the Travalo, a mess-free and travel friendly atomizer. Instead of carrying a whole bottle of perfume/cologne with you everywhere you go, atomizers let you take out small amounts of perfumed liquid. Back in the day, I used to use the Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Refillable Travel Spray, or “the bullet” as I used to call it. Buying the refills got really expensive, which is why I’ve stopped using L’Eau d’Issey.

I’ve also tried the atomizers from Sephora, but they leaked and were difficult to fill without a mess. This is exactly why I love the Travalo. At the bottom of the pocket-sized spray bottle is a pumping gadget. All you need to do to fill the Travalo is take your fragrance bottle, remove the nozzle, insert the little tube into the bottom of the Travalo and start pumping.

On the side of the bottle is a contents window that lets you see how much fragrance you have left inside it. This is also useful for when you are filling it so you know how far along you are. The little container holds about 50 sprays which, for someone like me who uses it only on occasion, can last a few months. When you’re done you can easily refill it again.

Price: Mine were $12.99 each.
Where to Buy: I got mine at Shoppers Drug Mart. The ones with the beauty boutiques should have them on circular displays where impulse items are featured.

When it comes to coverage for under the eyes, Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche Éclat is by far one of the best, most popular and highly reviewed products. But at close to $50 a pop, concealing those under-eye dark circles can get very expensive so I tend to reserve mine for special occasions. For regular daily use, the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector is a very good alternative. It’s the cheapest concealer I’ve used, but it’s also one of the best. Its fluid-like texture makes it easy to blend into the skin without making it look cakey, while providing good coverage at the same time.

Price: Anywhere from $9.99 to $14.99, depending on where you buy it from.
Where to Buy: Shoppers Drug Mart, Rex-all, Wal-mart or any supermarket that sells make-up.

In the last 8 months or so, I’ve developed quite the obsession for lipsticks and have tried a plethora of them. I have found that certain brands and colours work better for me. Tried and tested, here are my top 3 favourite drugstore lipsticks:

Rimmel Lasting Finish Intense Wear Lipstick in Airy Fairy ($4 – $7)
A lovely pinky mauve that compliments my skintone. It glides on very smoothly and doesn’t dry out my lips. I like that I can wear this with or without lipgloss on top. The packaging is simple but nice in its dark purple tube. My only problem is the cap falls off easily, but it might just be the one I happen to have. I bought 3 backups of this one so we’ll see what happens when I get to them.

Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipstick in Sugar Plum Ice ($4 – $7)
This is by far my most used lipstick. As the name suggests, it is extremely moisturizing. Although it is fairly close to my natural lip colour, it provides a very nice glossy finish which is great because I don’t have to bother with a lipgloss on top of it. It goes with almost anything and I pretty much wear it everywhere.

Revlon ColorBurst™ Lipstick in Soft Nude ($7.99 – $11.99)
This is one of the best nude lipsticks I’ve found for my skin tone. I love it for its creamy formula because it doesn’t dry out my lips. I like to wear one layer of it with a peachy pink lip gloss on top. Since it is quite pigmented, one layer is enough for me. Overdoing it with a nude lipstick like this one will make you look ill. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the matte black packaging with the quilted detailing on every other side of the lipstick. It’s so chic! I wish every lipstick came like this.

Where to Buy: All 3 of these brands can be purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart, Rex-all, Wal-mart or any supermarket that sells make-up.

First of all, I’m not a fan of the packaging of this lipstick. Don’t like the wild animal print and I’m not crazy about the gold casing with the florescent pink. It’s also light in weight compared to all my other lipsticks so it takes a bit of getting used to. Now besides all that, the Victoria’s Secret Love Me Wild Limited Edition Lipstick in Instinct is a great lipstick.

It is possibly the creamiest lipstick I’ve ever used, which means it feels really nice on the lips. The colour works for me too. I think of it as a combination of Airy Fairy and Sugar Plum Ice. It’s not super pigmented, but it does give a bit of a frosty finish.

The only real downside to this lipstick is the price. At $18, it is 50 cents more expensive than a MAC lipstick. For me, it’s easier to justify paying for a MAC lipstick than one from VS at that price. However, I did use my $10 gift card for mine so I only paid $8 instead. (I did go back later with a 2nd $10 gift card to buy a backup of this lipstick.)

Where to Buy: Victoria’s Secret

It’s evident how far they’ve gotten since my conversation with them 10 months ago. They were guests on MuchMusic’s New.Music.Live (formerly known as Much On Demand) yesterday. It’s funny ‘cuz I remember my one and only time on that show was during the summer of ’09. It was Keri Hilson’s first visit to MuchMusic, so of course I wanted to be there. I actually remember sitting in the audience and thinking…”Far East Movement’s going to be here getting interviewed one day. I can feel it. It’s just a matter of time.” And now look! I really regret not being able to be on the show to witness that moment in history, especially considering I worked literally half a block away from the building just hours ago. But there wasn’t much I could do about being 2 years over the age limit to be in the audience of NML. Boooooo to that! Seeing FM’s success with their Free Wired album, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they return to Toronto again in a few weeks for the 2011 MMVA. Hopefully I’ll catch them next time they’re in town.

Be sure to check out FM’s video to their new single. I would, if I was you…O.M.G.

So how did everyone enjoy their long weekend? I had a full 4 days off which is practically unheard of in my world. After working 40 hours in 4 days last week, I really needed some time to catch up on some sleep and rest. However, I did spend my Saturday afternoon grocery shopping and cooking for my family. Even though it’s rare to see me cooking up a storm in the kitchen, I actually quite enjoy cooking when I get the chance to. It’d been over a year since I last cooked so I was feeling a bit rusty. Besides accidentally pouring in too much basil into the pasta, I think my rather simple meal turned out okay.

I used a recipe that my co-worker gave me to make a Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes, and I used another recipe from another co-worker for my favourite Cranberry BBQ Sauce Meatballs. Of course we had to have some veggies, so I steamed up some broccoli and carrots. Voila!

For dessert, my cousin and I enjoyed one of my favourite Italian desserts: tartufo. Although it was store-bought, it was still quite heavenly.

I’ll admit most of my long weekend was spent sleeping and lazing around. I truly believe those lazy days are (sometimes) necessary. And the perfect song to play on one of those days is… lol

*Beauty product review post will be coming soon. I’m sorry for the delay!

I had mentioned in my last post that March would be a pretty crazy month for me, and sure enough it was. At the beginning of the month, I was stressed over my dad’s surgery. When that was done and things turned out fine for him, I found myself even more stressed over having to clean our house in preparation for the new addition to our family. For a week and a half, I was only doing 4 things every day: work, clean, shower, sleep…repeat. Believe me, it was intense!

So to relieve some of that stress, I decided to spend a bit of time the other day doing something that didn’t involve cleaning or physical labour. After work, a bunch of my co-workers and I hopped over to the Corned Beef House for our first knitting club meet. My mom taught me to knit when I was in elementary school and I’ve made a scarf, but I haven’t knitted since then. I’m glad that we have a knitting club now at work so I can get back into the knitting thing and learn some new skills from others. Hopefully, I’ll have a scarf made by next winter.

Speaking of the Corned Beef House, I must tell you how great this place is. It’s a small cozy restaurant/bar with amazing food. Their plates are SO BIG it’s ridiculous! Sadly, I haven’t tried their corned beef sandwiches yet. Instead, my co-worker, Iman, got me into their Smoked Meat Poutine. It is SO GOOD! Definitely two thumbs up from me. The owner of the place is a cool guy so you always get great service. Check out the Corned Beef House at the corner of John & Adelaide.

For my next post, I’ll be reviewing some products that I recently purchased and are really enjoying. For example, featured in the picture above are my new make-up brushes from Sigma. Will write more about them in my next post. Most of the reviews will be on beauty products so girls, stay tuned.

And before I go, I’ll leave you all with this video. I’m lovin’ the beat to this track. Awesome collabo…Jin x Dumbfounded x Traphik. (By the way, I’ve got Jin following me on Twitter!!)

My lovely friend, Anna, has been working on her photography portfolio and I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on some of her shoots. The picture above was taken on one of the coldest days this winter. Despite almost freezing to death, it was fun and I had a good time.

We did another shoot with our friend Mary at this little coffee shop called Bulldog Café. It was a pretty sweet spot and Anna got a few nice shots. I would highly recommend trying one of the specialty treats at the Bulldog. We tried one that was a mixture of granola, dried apricot, raisins, and some other mysterious ingredients. They must have added a dash of salt because it tasted a bit salty, and that made it interesting in a really good way :)

Don’t forget to check out Anna’s photography here!

[ Saturday, February 12, 2011 ]

Before things start to get crazy next month for me, Adrienne, Robin and I decided to squeeze in some hanging out with a spontaneous dinner at Joe Badali’s. It’s ridiculous that I’ve walked by the restaurant a million times but have never actually dined there. It was definitely a great experience; the food was good, service was great, really nice environment too. For someone who LOVES Italian cuisine, it sure didn’t disappoint.

The best part of the meal had to be the dessert. Adrienne and I both got gelato, and while the chocolate one was good, the mango one came out on top. It was an unbelievable kind of goodness – a must try!

After dinner, I met up with my friends from Bayview (that’s my friend Anna in the picture!) and we went for some dancing at College Street Bar. It was a much needed night out to shake some of that stress away. DJ Bank$ was spinning that night so our music was well covered. He one’s of the best in Toronto (in my opinion) because his transitions are so smooth and he plays such a good mixture of sounds.

[ Sunday, February 20, 2011 ]

When Sunday came around, Adrienne, Robin and I went for another spontaneous dinner at Fred’s Not Here. We were there last year for Winterlicious and really liked their Lobster and Crab Bisque, so we went back this year for their post-Winterlicious dinner. They have a promo right now for a $25 2-course dinner, which is not a bad deal.

I chose the 12 oz. Fruit Wood Grilled “ Certified Angus” Ribeye Steak w/ Duck Fat Frites and Vegetables and that was pretty filling. If you have a big appetite, you can go for the 16 oz. New York Strip. That’s pretty good value for a $25 dinner; steak on its own is usually around that price anyway.

So that’s all I’ve got for now. Going to try and get some writing done in the next day or two. We’ll see how that goes!

I always viewed liking a person and loving a person as two different things. I believe when you like a person, you can explain exactly what it is that you like about him/her. “I like your personality.” “I like your sense of humour.” “I like your smile.” It’s explainable. But when it comes to loving a person, I think it’s often difficult to explain because love is a feeling and everyone’s definition of love can be different.

People often say love is blind; they say when you’re in love, you choose to only see what you want to see. Although that might be true for some people, I personally don’t entirely agree with that statement. In my opinion, love is not blind. It simply can’t be because then it wouldn’t be love. To me, love is knowing a person so well that you are able to see both the good and the bad, yet you choose to accept the person as is while those same flaws in another person may be unacceptable to you. That’s how I know I love a person.

So how do you define love?blackberry curve 8520 pay as you go qwerty download iphone 3 sim free
blackberry software update dare
blackberry curve cingular buy iphone 4 sim free in tnt apple price in nepal
blackberry curve 8320 price in pakistan fifa 11 iphone review faq
blackberry curve 8520 review techradar advance
blackberry desktop manager 5.0 with media manager ipod touch 2009 review
new blackberry curve 9300 3g
blackberry pearl 3g p105 purple apple iphone mobile phone review orange iphone designs uk
blackberry thunder retail price
blackberry accessories 9800 iphone app store icon new iphone 2 2008 over apple iphone
silicone blackberry curve 3g cases buy 4gb iphone cingular
blackberry curve verizon wireless update open source iphone apps october 2010 apple plans orange
rim blackberry pearl 3g 9105 review free iphone app store downloads
blackberry pearl 8120 bbm get
new blackberry phones for verizon in 2011 top 10 iphone apps 4 free
download blackberry desktop manager 5.0.1.37
t mobile blackberry curve 8520 smartphone
blackberry pearl 3rd generation blackberry price cut ipod iphone 3gs vs iphone 4 best
blackberry storm 2 themes ota
verizon blackberry storm 2 apps best iphone os 4.1
blackberry messenger free instant
white blackberry bold review rim
rim blackberry pearl 8120 wifi
blackberry pearl flip 8230 manual 4g iphone at&t price apple new iphone buy in india
blackberry storm 9500 themes freeware
blackberry storm 2
blackberry desktop software download 5.0.1 iphone comcast 2011 january
new blackberry coming soon 2008 magellan iphone review 1.4 watch apple iphone apps list
blackberry messenger pin aim
best blackberry accessories 8830 great iphone installer apps
blackberry curve 8520 best iphone designs best iphone 4 plans on orange
t mobile blackberry curve 8520 mobile phone
blackberry curve gsm review cnet iplus iphone dev team
best freeware blackberry storm apps buy att screen iphone websites development
blackberry pearl 3g review engadget look
blackberry pearl themes free yahoo answers tesco at&t pay as you go
new blackberry torch pay as you go mobile phones iphone sprint price iphone ringtones store australia
blackberry pearl 3rd generation review cnet
rim blackberry storm 9530 review cnet iphone att network lost new sprint phone instinct
2011 new verizon blackberry phones iphone 4 apps directory ipod touch verizon price point
blackberry storm apps cracked
blackberry internet service cingular
blackberry storm 2 pay as you go deals contract
curve 8520 help blackberry forums iphone review plans uk
blackberry curve review 8630
blackberry apps world download uk
free blackberry themes 8520 discount iphone deals pay as you go designer iphone 3gs examples
blackberry bold 9700 review rim iphone 3gs jailbreak cheap buy iphone japan apple
blackberry bold cases and covers phone iphone plans uk o2
blackberry storm 2 9520 themes
blackberry storm 9530 os 103
blackberry pearl 8130 leather cases
blackberry bold pay as you go 3g
blackberry bold 9000 smartphone price india examples of the best iphone apps buy iphone uk review
free blackberry themes 8330
blackberry apps review free
t-mobile blackberry software uk wholesale iphone plans hong kong
free themes for blackberry pearl 8100 download iphone 3g for sale best buy iphone apps review 2010
free blackberry messenger icons free iphone apps 2005 2010
blackberry curve review 8520 trackpad cool iphone apps reddit
blackberry curve 8310 leather case
blackberry cellphones 2011
blackberry pearl flip price in india last minute iphone 3gs pay as you go verizon wireless release date wall street journal
free blackberry pearl apps
best blackberry accessories 8310
blackberry phones on o2 cheap
blackberry internet service uk t mobile paying at&t image size black iphone 4 orange
free blackberry storm 9500 software
blackberry curve 8520 purple pay as you go orange
blackberry software updates latest version
new blackberry 201 att how to jailbreak at&t buy cheap iphone 3gs university of kentucky
blackberry curve review 2010 sprint
new blackberry software sb new iphone game reviews coming soon
new blackberry bold 9785 orange iphone tmobile no service
download blackberry pearl 8100 software fragrance free iphone apps tomtom iphone forum uk
blackberry storm review cnet com
new blackberry 2011 4g tablet iphone 3g in india 16gb iphone tips and tricks jazz
upcoming new blackberry phones 2010
blackberry pearl 4g review battery life unlocked iphone on verizon connection really fun iphone apps
download blackberry desktop software 6.0 for mac iphone unlocked apple
new blackberry bold 978 specs iphone 3g spoilers 2010 iphone 3gs vs iphone 4 google
blackberry bold 9780 orange offering buy itouch
blackberry pearl 8120 specs wi fi iphone image source code apple store compare philippines
blackberry pearl 8130 review cnet
blackberry internet service orange ireland iphone 3gs vs iphone 4 cell new iphone 2010 release date usa
blackberry curve free themes 8900 iphone ebay network
blackberry bold 9700 themes ota buy refurbished iphone 3gs without form top 10 iphone service plans
blackberry bold review 9700 smartphone new iphone rice australia iphone 4 games free
blackberry pearl 3g 9105 african american find refurbished iphone 3gs
tmobile blackberry internet service setup itouch installer apps ipod new iphone comcast service
where to buy blackberry bold 9700 in singapore
blackberry curve pay as you go orange iphone apps 2010 us
download new blackberry software handheld iphone apps favorite 2010
blackberry storm update
are there any new blackberry phones coming out iphone unlocked usa dealer
blackberry storm review q9550
new blackberry curve 8900 telus
new blackberry phones 2014 iphone installer apps vista download iphone apps nano
blackberry pearl cases and covers pouches phone unlocked uk i phone plans
free blackberry software update

Besides working all weekend (and sleeping, of course), I did manage to get in some time with friends. I know it’s been a while since I last posted pictures from my outings, so here they are.

[ Thursday, February 3, 2011 ]

To celebrate my buddy John’s birthday, a few of us got together for a small dinner at Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill. I had been to the Markham location a few times years and years ago (come to think of it, I had my 18th birthday there lol) but it was my first time at the Don Mills location so I didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully, it turned out to be pretty good. It had a nice atmosphere and it was fairly clean. I would probably go back there again.

It was nice seeing my friends from Bayview, and we had a great time like we always do. We almost couldn’t stop laughing when Anna asked, “Do you guys eat your kiwis hairy or shaved?” Yahhhhhh, I have funny friends… hahaha

[ Saturday, February 5, 2011 ]

I only had plans for one Winterlicious dinner this year due to everyone’s busy schedules so I was really hoping this dinner wouldn’t disappoint, and luckily it didn’t. We had a bigger group than usual because Adrienne & Robin invited their friend Ella, who also invited two of her friends.

It was my first time at Marquis Lounge & Bistro, located on the 2nd floor of the Hilton Garden Inn. Unlike the more popular restaurants, this one wasn’t on the radar for many people. Making reservations with them was almost painless and we were able to take our time without feeling rushed. It was a nice cozy restaurant with great service (until they got really busy at the bar towards the end of the night and we had to wait half an hour to get our bills).

Before we even ordered our dinners, I had already fallen in love with their bread. Then I started with the potato soup, which was particularly good with garlic croutons. My love for lamb can not be put into words, so seeing lamb on the menu made it easy for me to choose my entree. I had the Ontario Lamb Osso Buco with barley, braised baby carrots and cipolini onions. Delicious! Lamb tends to be made with a hint of mint at most restaurants, and although I love mint, I hate it in my lamb. That’s why I was quite happy to know there were no traces of mint that night.

My favourite part of the meal had to be the dessert. I loooooooooooved the Pistachio Chocolate Crunch Cake with berry coulis, mainly because of the crunchy bits of chocolate or rice crispy thingys on top of the cake. So yum!

After dinner, we decided to hit up this local hot spot called Snakes & Lattes for some drinks and board games. It’s a great little place to just hang out and play games. You pay $5 on your way in and you can spend as much time as you want there playing any of the 1500 different board games they have there. I like that you’re not obligated to buy drinks or food from them, although I did end up getting a hazelnut hot chocolate. My milk came with a hazelnut flavoured chocolate on a stick for me to dip into my milk. That was kind of cool.

We started with a simple game…Jenga!

Then we played this game called Would You Rather…? I remember watching this episode of Wong Fu Weekends where the guys played a similar game called “You Gotta Be Kidding!” and thought it was pretty funny, so I suggested we try this game. Some of those “would you rather…” questions were pretty sick but hilarious at the same time. I mean, c’mon…who would’ve ever thought to ask, “Would you rather crap out of your mouth OR eat through your ass?”

Robin was the first to get a “challenge!” card and he was required to do one of the 6 things listed on it. They were all pretty ridiculous and embarrassing things. He ended up choosing to “smell the armpit of another player for 30 seconds.” We volunteered Danny’s armpit for Robin to smell. We all couldn’t stop laughing, and I’m pretty sure everyone else in the room thought we were crazy. Danny also later got a challenge card where he had to do a strip tease for 30 seconds. Although it wasn’t quite a strip tease and was more like he simply took his shirt off, we let that one go because we didn’t think it could ever be funnier than smelling armpits. haha The game kept us entertained for a good 2 hours. I would highly recommend the game just to look at all the “would you rather…” questions. Some of them are just SO funny! Check it out if you get the chance :)

Chinese New Year (CNY) is probably my favourite time of the year. I’d say it’s equivalent to the Christmas celebrations of the west. I love how festive it gets and how easy it is to find all sorts of festive goodies at the Chinese supermarkets around this time of year. Everywhere you go it’s about having good luck, good fortune and good health; I love that everything is so positive.

In my family, we don’t get TOO fancy with traditions. We do some cleaning and have a family dinner on new years eve, but we don’t often go to the extent of buying new clothes and new shoes to wear on New Year’s Day. Sometimes I’ll buy a few new things that need replacing. This year, for instance, I bought new bedding because I want to improve my sleep, and having clean sheets and pillows make a huge difference for me. I happened upon a pair of 1000 thread count pillowcases for $15 the other day, so I can’t wait to use them! The one thing that I absolutely MUST get during this season is sweet rice cake, also known as nian gao or year cake, because this is the only time of year that they are made available.

Above everything, my favourite part about CNY is being able to spend time with family. I never realized how much of a family person I was until just the past few years. When I was younger, CNY was a busy time for performances and most of my weekends were spent performing at different places. Since my family always escorted me to the different venues, I never used to care too much about family time. But as I’ve gotten older and a lot of my time is spent working, I’ve grown to really value the little time I have to spend with family, especially during special occasions. It’s important for me to spend New Years Eve with family over dinner.

Anyway, I better rush off to shower and wash my hair before midnight. As tradition goes, you shouldn’t cut or wash your hair on New Years because it washes away your good luck. So Happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate it! May the year of the rabbit bring good health and fortune to everyone.