books i read in 2007

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Bare Bones, Kathy Reichs

The Broker, John Grisham

The Chamber, John Grisham
2nd time reading.

The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
OK story. One of the books that I bought for my trip to Hong Kong.

The Dive from Clausen's Pier, Ann Packer

The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls

Harry Potter, J.K, Rowling
I reread the whole series.

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

Night, Elie Wiesel
This is about Elie as a young Jew being sent to Auschwitz and later to the concentration camp. Amazing human spirit.

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Robot Visions, Isaac Asimov

Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
Not your typical sci-fi novel. Like it lots.

Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
So so book. I like The Five People You Meet in Heaven better.

The Trial, Kafka
Very boring.

一個女人兩張床, 亦舒

电光幻影, 亦舒

stuff that i watched in 2007

16 Blocks
This is not a bad movie. Bruce Willis played a washed up cop very well. Wonder why this is not a bigger hit.

24
I stopped watching half way. This show is getting tiring. Same formula over and over and over. Jack Bauer is like a cat with 9 lives. He never get hurt, not seriously anyway!!! And he is so loyal to the country that is not so loyal to him, it drives me bonkers.

The Break-Up - Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn

The 40 Year Old Virgin - Steve Carell

An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore
Al Gore did a great job. I think him losing the presidency might be the best thing for him and the world. It must be a hugh disappoinment to have the presidency at your fingertips, and poof... gone. But he didn't let that consume him. He made the best use of the situation. Not being the president free him to address the issue that is most dear to him in a bipartisan way.

The Aristocrats
I don't think this is funny at all. It's vulgar and I am used to swearing.

Arrested Development
Too bad this got cut. Pretty funny sitcom.

A Tale of Two Sisters
Korean horror flick.

Cache (Hidden) - Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteil

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Click - Adam Sandler

Crimes and Misdemeanors - Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Houston, Alan Alda
Watched this long time ago. I Watched this again, still like Manhattan Murder Mystery better.

Curb your enthusiasm
Haven't finished all the seasons yet.

The Departed - Leonardo DiCaprio
If you haven't seen the original Infernal Affairs, you might like this. I like Internal Affairs I & II better.

Elizabeth - Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren is a great actress. Glad that she finally won an Oscar.

Fearless (霍元甲)- Jet Li
I still like Jet Li's first Shaolin movie.

Free Zone - Natalie Portman
Rebecca, Hanna, and Leila represents the different forces at work in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The allegory is apparent, but it failed to deliver. The narrative is a bit weak. Since the film was shot in Jordan, at least that was interesting to me.

Flightplan - Jodie Foster

For Your Consideration - Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
meh... like Best in Show better.
Update - It's so meh that I couldn't even remember what the movie is about.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(IMAX)
The film cut out a lot of details from the book, and it changed some of the story line as well.

Heroes
The plot is more straight forward than Lost. Good substitute when Lost is not on.

House
I love Dr. Gregory House, but I don't like the new season. Too Survivor like. Thumbs down.

The Intrepreter - Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman
I like Sean Penn. He is a good actor.

I am Legend (IMAX) - Will Smith
Some scary moments. The camera works gave me a headache with the constant motion in some scenes. Will Smith is a great actor. He really can carry the load as most of the time it's just him and the dog, but you don't feel bored watching them.

Infernal Affairs I
Watched this again. Much better storyline than The Departed.

I, Robot - Will Smith
After watching this movie, I read Robot Visions. The book is much simplier than the movie.

K-Pax
I watched this for the second time because I missed the ending the first time around.

Placard, Le (The Closet) - Gerard DePardieu

Leon (The Professional) - Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello, Natalie Portman
Great acting.

The Life of David Gale - Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey
The story is well told. I am surpised this didn't get better ratings.

Little Miss Sunshine - Steve Carell
OK movie.

Live Free or Die Hard - Bruce Willis
Watched this on Christmas Eve. Not as good as the first 2 Die Hard movies, but still great fun.
Some stunts are little far fetched. I doubt a F15 can fly that low between bridges. Justin Long has this James Blunt look to him.

Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World - Albert Brooks
The movie is not funny. I know Albert Brooks is a low key sort of guy, but the improv bit wasn't even funny in the standup routine that he was doing in the school auditorium. Thumbs down.

Lost
Love this show. What more can I say.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh
I wouldn't have paid to watch this, because I don't like Zhang Ziyi. It's ironic how the main characters, the Geishas, are not Japanese, but Chinese. Wonder why the casting was that way.

Mission Impossible III - Tom Cruise

Monster House

The Name of the Rose
Watched this long long time ago. Still good for the second time. I forgot most of the plot, so it's kind of like watching it for the first time.

Ocean 13

The Office (U.S.)
I love The Office. I have watched the BBC one, but I am partial to the U.S. one as the humor is closer to home.

Pan's Labyrinth
Not as scary as I thought. Trailer makes it look scary.

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest - Johnny Deep, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Too freaking long.
Surprised find: The guy that played Gareth in The Office(BBC) was also in this movie.

Run Lola Run
Interesting German flick playing the what-if scenarios with 3 alternate realities.

Syriana - George Clooney
Hubby find this confusing. I love the plot.

Thank You for Not Smoking - Aaron Eckhart

You, Me and Dupree - Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon
Not that great.

Three Extremes 三更2
The movie consists of three segments by three directors from three countries. I have watched 1 segment.
Dumplings
It's well done. Don't made the mistake of watching this after you eat. I did, and my stomach was very unsettled after.

Wedding Crashers - Owen Wilson
Not as bad as I thought especially it's free (from PVR).

WKRP
Classic sitcoms from the late 70s. Hubby bought this in New York City. He was wondering for the longest time when will this be on DVD. He got his wishes. I have never watched this since I didn't grow up here.

shoe diva

Went a little crazy today. Bought 2 pair of boots.

This one is from La Canadienne. Real soft Italian leather. The picture cannot capture its beauty.

This one is from Aquatalia.


Both boots are weatherproof, rain, sleet, snow, you name it, it can handle. Well worth the $$$.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

old email reply from hubby

I am cleaning up my yahoo email, and found this response from Hubby to an email probably originated from my mother in law. Some answers are darn funny. Some answers are true. He hates Celine Dion.

-----------------------------------

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATRE? I don't remember, but the popcorn sucked.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? How To Succeed As A Male Stripper

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Naked Twister

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Let's just say that it comes in a brown paper wrap.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS? Popcorn!

6. COMFORT FOODS? Popcorn!

7. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The sound of popcorn popping!

8. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Running out of popcorn!

9. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? Why have I been handcuffed naked to this telephone pole?

10. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE? All of them!

11. FUTURE CHILDREN'S NAME. "Seven". Maybe "Soda".

12. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY, I WOULD..... Buy the Q-Muk Restaurant in Hong Kong, move it to Oakville, and pay the cooks to move here and cook me noodles every day.

13. DO YOU DRIVE FAST? Not fast enough to lose the cops.

14. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? My childhood dog, and he's starting to smell.

15. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Cool, but only IF they're scary!

16. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? A Lamborghini. But it was two inches long, and I was 5 years old.

17. FAVORITE DRINK? Battery acid. Try it, you'll like it.

18. FINISH THIS STATEMENT - "IF I HAD THE TIME, I would learn how to rob a bank and make Question #12 come true.

19. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? What's broccoli?

20. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? I would pick a different colour for each hair on my head. This could also be the answer to #18.

21. HOW MANY DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Oakville, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario. The Ontario police won't let me leave.

22. GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? I drink right out of the bottle.

23. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Female naked Jell-O wrestling.

24. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SITS NEXT TO YOU? My mother always said if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. So...

25. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? A couple of corpses. But trust me, they deserved it.

26. TOILET PAPER/PAPER TOWEL - OVER OR UNDER? I use pictures of Celine Dion.

27. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL? Whenever the guards wake me up.

28. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP? This is a trick question. You can't fry popcorn, silly!

29. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX? It used to be under my bed. See #25.

30. FAVORITE PIE? 3.141592654

31. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU E-MAILED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Boy George. As if he's got something better to do.

32. LEAST LIKELY? Santa Claus. I've been naughty this year.

thanksgiving

We went to the inlaws to have thanksgiving dinner yesterday. They finally moved to an apartment building, our old apartment building in fact. It's a good choice as they know lots of people in the building already.

Something bad happened that ruined the day. Brother-in-law's SUV got vandalised. The back window pane was gone, all broken. Glass everywhere. Nothing was stolen though. He wouldn't be able to fix it today as it's a holiday. Whoever did that is scum of the scum!!!

new york city - part 3

2007.8.30, Thursday

The Big Day had finally arrived for hubby. We went to a Yankees - Red Sox game. Hubby is a hugh baseball fan. We went to the Stadium 2 hours before game time, so we could see Monument Park in the Stadium. A new Stadium is being built across from this one, so it's very meaningful to see the park where the legends had played in.

We took the subway to the Stadium. Pretty convenient. I am not a big baseball fan, don't really understand all the rules. When we got the tickets off stubhub, we had a choice between the Yankees playing Red Sox or Tampa Bay. I picked the Red Sox game eventhough it's more expensive cause I knew about the long rivalry between the two teams. It turned out to be an important game for the Yankees according to hubby. Our seats wasn't bad. Behind home plate. We were at the top level in the box section. One level down would be better, but more $$$. The face value of the ticket was US$60, we paid around US$100.

I love the Yankee fans. I actually enjoyed watching the game because of them. They are a crazy bunch. The game was very entertaining. Two people were thrown out of the game, the Red Sox manager for arguing a call (Kevin Youkilis ran outside the baseline) and Joba got kicked out for throwing at Kevin Youkilis' head (intentional or otherwise). A drunken bitter Red Sox fan got thrown out of the game. 2 Home Runs by Robinson Cano. Pretty entertaining. If I lived in New York, I wouldn't mind going to a game once in a while. Way better than the Jay's games that I had been. Canadian fans are probably more reserved though, and all many Canadians are baseball fans.

The whole Yankee outing costed us around US$250.00. A big bottle of water was $4.50. Beer was $9. Didn't drink any beer. Couldn't pay that outrageous price to drink Coors Light!!! Yecch! Coors Light is yucky. Canadian beer is way better.

Taken from our seats. Seats are not as high as it seems from the pic.

Davis Schwimmer look-alike.

Eats:
Lunch - Hot Italian Sausage at the Yankee Stadium.

Dinner - Carnegie Deli. http://www.carnegiedeli.com/
The deli was very convenient for us. Right across from our hotel. We could see the deli from our room. The place was full of celeb pictures. This is a jewish deli. Not sure if we have something similar in Toronto.

We both ordered the hot pastrami sandwich, one order of matzoh ball soup and one order of french fries on the side. The sandwich is around $14. It's very expensive for a sandwich. But you could easily split it into 3 sandwiches. The Pastrami was tasty, and I liked the half sour pickles that they gave free.

The deli gave 2 kinds of pickes. The greener ones was the half sour.


2007.8.31, Friday

We had a leisurely breakdfast at the Europa Cafe. We were then off to the Metropolitan Meseum of Art to see the Temple of Dendur. Museum is too big to see it all.

Temple of Dendur.

We then off to the Guggenheim. The front of the meseum was in scaffolding. Everhwhere we went in New York, some buildings would be in scaffolding. I should have taken pictures and the theme would be New York in Scaffolding. I digress.

This is how the front of the museum supposed to look like.

Inside the museum.

One of the exhibits.

We then walked down 5th Avenue. Kind of hungry aroun 3:00pm, so we stopped for a pretzel. Right when we were buying the pretzel, we heard a loud bang, and saw that a Hummer had rear-ended a taxi. The hummer wasn't even dented. I felt sorry for the people in the taxi. Must be scared half to death.

We then went to the United Nations. It was an unplanned stop as United Nations wasn't on the top of our to-do list. Went on a 40 minute tour. Tours are being offered in different languages. Found out that the land where United Nations sit is not actually U.S. soil. That's why inside United Nations, they have their own police, post office everything. I was going to send a post card, but I was afraid to miss the tour, so I thought to wait after the tour. By the time we finished the tour, the post office was closed. : (

UN Security Council

Eats:

Breakfast - Europa Cafe

Snack - pretzel. Pretzel is too salty.

Dinner - Gahm Mi Oak in Korean town. We both ordered the oxtail and bone marrow soup. Very yummy. Our cheapest dinner yet. The soup was under $9.00. Come to think of it. It's not that cheap as we only had a few pieces of beef, some noodles and broth.

Oxtail and bone marrow soup

2007.9.1., Saturday

Home bound. I was sad to leave New York. Too bad that New York is not cheap, otherwise I can go frequently. There are still lots that we can do. We didn't get to do any night things as we were too tired after dinner. Maybe next time.

new york city - part 2

2007.8.28, Tuesday

We had to go to the Foods of New York Greenwich Village Tour at 11:00am, so we went straight to Greenwich Village. We first went to Washington Square Park. The park is near NYU. Saw lots of students there. Wish I had gone to NYU. What a cool place to study!!!



Washington Square Park




OK, back to the Food Tour. I first found out about this tour on Fodors. People seems to rave about it. http://www.foodsofny.com/greenwichvillage.php

It's not just a food tour, but with a bit of history and culture thrown in. We visited a cheese shop, 2 pizzerias, an olive oil shop, 2 bakeries and some others that I cannot remember now. We also got to taste the food. Had the best pizzas and italian fried rice ball. We walked around Greenwich Village with tour guide Mike. He told us about the history of the village, the buildings, local legends etc. At one point, we sat on the front steps of the house allegedly bought by Leonardo DiCarpio to then supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen. Oh, we also visited this restaurant Palma. The restaurant has a farm house in the back for private parties. That's a picture of Mick Jagger there, so I took a picture of it.


Tour Guide Mike



Joe's Pizza has very crisp, thin crust. We each had a slice of cheese pizza. It was so good. True New York style pizza. Lots of celebs are big fans, like Ben Affleck and Kevin Bacon.


Mike Jagger's picture at Palma

All in all, a very interesting tour. Highly recommended.

We then did the Brooklyn Bridge walking tour. We took the subway to Brooklyn, and walked on the bridge from Brooklyn back to Manhattan. I made the mistake of looking down through the cracks, and it scared me. I tried not to think about it the whole time. It took us about an hour. Tons of New Yorkers walk the bridge. It won't be a bad walk, probably under 30 minutes. They probably work in Manhattan and live in Brooklyn. What a good way to get some exercise.

On the way to dinner, we saw a 2nd Subway musician. All the street musicians are suprisingly good.



Eats:

Breakfast - Bagel with cream cheese from a cart. Very New York.
Lunch - Food Tour.
Dinner - Mandoo bar in Little Korea. Good value. We had kimchi mandoo and pan fried mandoo.

2007.8.29, Wednesday

We went to the famous Century 21 to shop in the morning. I got a pair of Geox for $50.00. Great find. Hubby got something too. But we didn't stay long.

We went back to Greenwich Village to have lunch as we wanted to try the risotto at this restaurant called Risotteria. They served gluten free food. Not that I am allergic to gluten, but the food looked sooooo good when we were standing outside the restaurant during our tour. We just had to try it. We weren't disappointed. I had the calamari, roasted red peppers & olives risotto. Hubby had the shrimp, hot peppers & argula risotto. They were both good, different, but good. Boy, I wanted to eat the risotto again. Hope I could find something like that in TO.

We then stopped by Battery Park on our way to the New York Public Library. The park is so cool. It's an oasis in an urban jungle. The park has tables and chairs, so you can relax, read, eat or work if you want (tons of people with laptops). They even have a "library" of sort in the park. A quiet area specially for reading. They also have books in the area which you can read.

The public library is very impressive. I have seen the main reading room in movies. It's quite something to be inside though. We didn't stay long. We went to Grand Central Terminal next.

Grand Central is hugh and has a very impressive food court. I remembered watching a program on the History Channel, something about the Secrets of Grand Central. The show talked about a secret entrance in Grand Central that led to an underground train platform. Reportedly, President Roosevelt used the secret platform.





We saw another subway musician, Heth and Jed, after dinner. We liked them so much, we got their CD. Only $10.



Eats:
Lunch - Risotteria in Greenwich Village. Best Risotto.
Dinner - Comfort Diner. Good old burger and fries.

new york city - part 1

2007.8.25, Saturday

We took the train down to New York City. It was pretty convenient since we didn't need to go all the way to Union Station as it stopped right at Oakville. The train ride was long though, around 12 hours. On our way out, the train was delayed 2 hours. We didn't get to NYC until around 11:15pm. We had to call our hotel to make sure they didn't give our room out. So the journey was 14 hours long. Oh well. That's the price you pay for a cheaper alternative. Our two tickets only cost us $400.

The train ride was uneventful. Train was full. Rick and I had to sit separately from Oakville to Niagara. It started to rain an hour into the trip, around Hamilton. We had to stop at the border and got to walk around a bit. We arrived at Albany at around 9:00pm. We should have been 45 minutes away from New York instead of 2 hours away.



Arrived at the Wellington Hotel at around 11:30pm. The hotel reminded me of those hotels around Nathan Road in Hong Kong. Wellington is a 3 star hotel. Hotel is described as European. European therefore means small. The room was small and the hotel old fashioned looking. It was clean, so it was adequate. Bed was a double and mattress was not firm enough. However, location is great for tourists. It's in Midtown near Carnegie Hall. The hotel is near the action, but not right into the middle of it. Very convenient. Subways right outside the hotel. One stop to Times Square on the N, R, W, trains.

2007.8.26, Sunday

Something funny happened in the morning. Rick saw a lady showering at The Park Central hotel across from us. It's quite a funny picture. Imagine this: All curtains are closed except one with a woman showering, and she looked like an Italina mama. It's actually quite hilarious.

Off we went to Ground Zero first. The #1 train was closed at certain stops and we were instructued to take the shuttle. Without a transit map, we just followed the crowd and ended up at the Staten Island Ferry terminal by mistake. So we took the free Staten Island Ferry. The view on the ferry was nice. We could see Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. We walked to the Staten Island stadium and got to go inside as 2 Japanese teams were playing some sort of tournament game.

We took the ferry back to the Manhattan and went to Ground Zero. Ground Zero was a very big hole. It gives you an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy. No one was working in Ground Zero as it was a Sunday.

We went to Chinatown as it seems to be the easiest to get to without a subway map (we had our tourist book, but not a detailed subway map). I have been to Chinatown before. A madhouse that is. Hubby was surprised at how big Chinatown was. Some streets in Chinatown looks like Kwun Tong to me.

We then went to the Empire State building after lunch. I had been to the Empire State before in my prior visit to NYC, but didn't remember much. We got an audio tour included in our City Pass tickets. The audio tour was very detailed.

Vista from the Empire State building. You can see the Chrysler Building (the one with the distinctive crown).



We went back to Times Square afterwards for dinner. My feet hurt from all the walking.

Eats:

Lunch - Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. New York City seems to be very big on 小籠包. They called it Soup Dumplings. The dumplings were very juicy and big and tasty. We also had Shanghai rice cake and Spicy beef noodles. They are so so.




Dinner - Havana Central in Times Square. Kind of expensive cause we had a drink each. $8 for a Sangria and $9 for a Mojito. We paid over $60 for our dinner and it's US$. Food was ok.

Mojito in the front and Sangria in the background.


Cuban style ribs and Ropa Vieja (shredded beef in a tomato based sauce).

Some more Times Square pictures.



I have not seen a flashier policy station.



A ferris wheel inside a Toy 'R Us. Go figure!!!


2007.8.27, Monday

Went to Natural History museum bright and early. We had to wait for the museum to open. Museum is too large to see everything in a day, let alone a few hours. We went to see the dinosaur exhibits and a short film Cosmic Collision at the Rose Center and Earth and Space (part of the musuem). If I lived in NYC, this is one museum of which I wouldn't mind being a member. Toronto has no good museums.



Also went to Central Park. On the way to the Central Park 72nd street entrance, we passed the Dakota where John Lenon was shot. Lots of famous people lived at the Dakota. An apartment in the Dakota is worth U.S. $10 million. Isn't this crazy? Even if I have the money, I wouldn't want to live there. It looks kinda spooky. Rosemary's Baby was filmed there. Enough said.

The 72nd street entrance to Central Park led us to John Lenon's makeshift memorial, Strawberry Fields.



Our next stop was the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). We walked down Fifth Avenue to get to the museum. And then I saw Tiffany's, and had to make a detour. Even Toronto has a Tiffany's, it's just not the same. I caved and bought a necklace. $$$$$$

Picture from Tiffany's website.

Saw this funny car on the way to MOMA.



We finally arrived at MOMA. Didn't like MOMA much. I am not an art person. I cannot understand and appreciate art. I can understand music, but art is something else. I especially cannot understand modern art.

Eats:
Lunch - Natural History museum food court. Chicken wings and fries. Shared a yummy chocolate chip cupcake with hubby.

Snack - Gray's Papaya hot dogs. 2 dogs and a papaya drink for $3.50 tax included. Hot dog is juicy. Cheap snack.

Dinner - T.G.I.Friday's. Worst dinner ever at the Friday's and the most expensive for the whole trip. We paid US$70. I didn't really want to go to a chain restaurant, but I thought since hubby had never been to a Friday's then we could give it a try. Boy, was I disappointed. My steak was ok, but the broccoli was clearly from a bag. Hubby made better steaks than Friday's. Should not have eaten in a chain restaurant.

My trusty comfy shoes:

All pictures from my little Canon A630.

another thing off my wish list

I bought the Canon Powershot A630 earlier this week. Thought to have a smaller camera for my trip. It's a pretty good camera. I especially like the vari-angle LCD. Very handy.

i am choosing to be happy

there, I have said it. It's now a committment. I am choosing to be happy at work. I refuse to be negative. I hate being negative. It's not me. It's not who I am. I have asked hubby to remind me of my committment. I can still be frustrated at work, but I am NOT going to let that bothers me, at least not for long. I realized this is a very tall order, but damn it I will try.

not very happy lately

about work that is. I guess I am disappointed. Disappointed in the corporate world. Hubby said by nature I am not a 'content' person. I always remember the bad stuff, not the good. I guess he is right. I hate being bitter, and I am very much so lately. It's not very becoming. It's so not me. I need to change. Something needs to change.

For the past year, I keep trying to find my passion. I don't know why that is so. I just want to do things other than work. Sadly, I am not too sure what my passion is. I have things that I like to do, but not extremely so. I am an even steven. Nothing over excites me. That to me is the worst. Worst!!! I admire people that have passion. I realized this morning that maybe work IS my passion. What horror!!! As sad as it sounds, it probably is true. And maybe that's why when it disappoints me, it's so hard for me to deal with. I need to learn to accept things that I cannot change. Otherwise, I will never be happy at work. At least, not in any corporate job, cause it's the same b.s. everywhere.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Watched the iMax version. Pretty good effects.
Certainly not a kiddy movie anymore, a far cry from the first Harry Potter. I don't like that they changed the plot. Lots of big names in the movie, but their screen times were limited. Overall, pretty entertaining I guess.

finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Got the book Sunday afternoon, and finished last night. I read it really really fast though, so I will have to re-read certain parts. It's sad that there's no more Harry Potter books.

time to move up the weight

The first Body Pump class this past Sunday was tough, but it's not so tough any more this morning. Granted, I used only 1-2 lbs weight. Because of the high repetitions, I didn't dare to use a heavier poundage to start with. I am not satisfied with this morning's workout though. So for the next Pump class, I am going to use heavier weight.

step up, step down

Finally tried the Body Step workout. It's not as fast paced as I thought. Not sure if it's because it's a new release, and everyone including the instructors have to learn the routine, so it doesn't seems that bad? I think Body Attack is harder. Too bad, the class time is not too convenient for me. I will stick to Body Sculpt and Step.

Oh... I didn't write about Body Sculpt. This barbell workout had me sored for days after. I did the class on Sunday. I could barely walk down the steps after the class. Drove home like a zombie. I used 1 to 2 lbs weights. I sucked!!! The tricep works just about killed me. Have to get stronger...

醜聞纏身朱培慶下台

I think I am missing something here. Not sure why 朱培慶 needs to go. It's his personal life no? Who cares? People in HK care? I don't see why RTHK employees would care. If I worked in RTHK, I certainly wouldn't care. 朱培慶 apologized to RTHK employees, why? He should apologize to his wife, and no one else.
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20070710/gaa1h.htm

i am a combater, ha!

I tried the Body Combat class tonight. Not as intense as the Body Attack class, but still a good workout. Instructor said I did well. Ha ha... she didn't know I have done kickboxing exercise tapes before. My problem with exercise is that I am inconsistent. So far, I am enjoying the classes. The real challenge is to keep going to the gym. I really don't have an excuse not to go as it's on my way home from work. I have to drive by the club Monday to Friday. Hubby is working out too. He signs up for personal training and he is also in this 'learn to run' class. He is really liking it as well. He used to do track and field in highschool. I know, it's hard to believe looking at him now. ; )

balance... what balance???

Tried Body Balance class tonight. http://www.lesmills.com/global/en/members/bodybalance/about-bodybalance.aspx

Me not impressed. I didn't have high expectation going in as it's a fusion class. The instructor didn't show any modifications at all. I see so many people straining themselves as some of the postures are quite difficult. Lucky I have taken yoga and pilates before, so I know how to modify. The class totally missed what is supposed to be yoga or pilates.

one thing off my shopping wish list

Bought the remote control for my Nikon D70s. It's cheap, only $24.95, and I got 10% off thanks to big sis. She was buying the Canon Powershot A560 and she got 10% off just by asking for a discount. Pretty good. We talked her into buying the A560 instead of the A550. For $20 more, you got a bigger LCD. We tested out the camera at Nathan Philip Square. It's pretty good point and shoot. Now I want my Powershot A630. : D

attack, attack, attack

Today's my first Body Attack aerobic class at Goodlife. http://www.lesmills.com/global/en/members/bodyattack/about-bodyattack.aspx
Boy, was it tough!!! 15 minutes into the class, my heart rate was already up, and then the instructor said, 'OK. Let's begin the cardio.' What!!! That's just warmup??? I am proud that I went to the gym on a holiday AND finished the class. When I was tired, I just modified the moves, so it's a bit easier. I will go again. It's fun and I like classes in general. The instructor said the class burns 800 calories. Since I modified the moves, I will say I burned 400 calories. Still pretty good. Better than sitting on my butt and be unfit.

canada day brunch

Went to TO to have brunch with hubby and sis. The place is called Fire on the East Side http://www.fireontheeastside.ca/ on Gloucester near Bloor. The food is serioulsy delicious. I had the Stuffed French Toast with Bacon. It's stuffed with cherries and it's not greasy at all. Hubby had Smoked Salmon with Poached Eggs. Big sis had some sort of Western egg things as well. Theirs came with mixed greens with toasted walnuts lightly spiced with cumin. Too bad I didn't take any pictures.

I want to go back and have dinner. It's a cool place with good looking wait staff and clients. I think being in gay town helps cause most men are good looking. : )

went to gay pride parade

Didn't really want to go in the beginning cause we were really really tired, but we forced ourselves. I am glad we did. It's sort of fun.

Gay Pride Parade is really popular. Even the politicians will show up at the parade.











I have pictures of guys baring it all at the parade. It was actully quite funny. Remind of the movie Porky's.

this is why i work part 2 cont.

Shopping Wish List cont. :

5. or or

Not sure which one I like better.

6. Wide angle lens
7. Macro lens
8. Nikon MC-DC1 Remote Cord
9. ND Grad filters - 1-stop and 2-stop
10. Green High Heeled jelly shoes

Seriously, it's , in white or brown.

Realistically, I think I can only afford the remote cord for now.