Sooooo....Apr 4th morn, started out early to the airport via the Airport Express. Could check in even at the train station itself. Don't know if KL Sentral is the same, but I'm impressed with the efficiency. Line was long-ish but Cathay is so efficient. I think I'm going to be sticking with them for a while yet.

Arrived Seoul after lunch and after Sands rented a cellphone (South Korea uses CDMA technology and both our phones were GSM AND non-3G). It costed her USD3 per day plus all outgoing calls. I have to admit it was reasonable but I could live without it. Still, if she wants one... Then took the Airport Bus (The Airport Bus is a regular bus service that stops at certain major locations within Seoul) to Anguk where our guesthouse was situated. The proprietor of Anguk Guesthouse, Mr Kim, was there to meet us.

Thought we would pay more to stay here as it was billed by Lonely Planet as a "traditional Korean-style" place. It's all made of pine (?) wood, the walls are papered to keep the heat in, there is the famed underfloor heating (more abt that later) and there is a stone-paved courtyard in the middle...so that part's "traditional" traditional I guess i.e. postcard friendly. Otherwise, it was more like traditional in the 1950's style...the interior esp really reminded me of grandma's house. However, we had an attached bathroom (a surprise cos when I called, he said we didn't -- blame it on the language dancearound) and our own computer with Internet connection! And the location was pretty central -- only abt 10 mins walk to the Anguk subway station. Taking the subway turned out to be pretty cheap too -- it costed abt 1000 won each time, which is roughly USD1.

The flight to Seoul took roughly 3 hrs and the bus ride from Incheon airport to Anguk another 1.5-ish hrs, so it was approaching evening by the time we had deposited our luggage. Insa-dong, an area known for antiques and picture-worthy traditional restaurants was abt a block away only. So headed there and browsed the shops, which sold mostly jade, ceramics, souvenirs. I'd anticipated needing to ask "How much?" and to bargain i.e. call something expensive, so had memorized the phrases "Eol-ma ye yo?" and "Bissai-yo!" respectively. BUT overlooked learning the counting system! In the end, resorted to speaking just in English, albeit slowly. Felt kinda guilty that we looked Korean, cos all the shop attendants greeted us and unlike Japan, tried to make conversation with us...and we didn't know what else to do except smile and look away. After a while, it started to feel like we were being rude, so took to saying "Not Korean" every time, with the sheepiest smile we could give.

Then it was time for dinner. Flipped through the LP guide and thought we'd try the traditional Korean banquet, which consists of abt 15 dishes. Picked the place that had a rating (as opposed to just a listing), and closest to where we were....but had a mighty surprise when we got there. Firstly, the main hall was the kitchen, which looked like it was part of a home. But there was a sign outside that clearly had the restaurant's name!! Still, we stayed our ground as the first person who greeted us (a grandmotherly sort) went to get someone who could presumably speak something other than Korean (after we indicated we clearly didn't know the language). Somehow or other we muddled through and she led us to a room....that looked like a living room -- with a TV, a coat rack (with someone's clothes on it) and even the usual sort of knick-knacks you would typically find in a home e.g. school medals, little dolls etc. We were seated on the floor at a low table. Then as it dawned upon us that they had no menu, we also realized that our hostess spoke barely any English.

Thus our second Korean adventuring nugget -- the first time I used my Japanese language lessons was at a Korean restaurant! Sands thought it extremely amusing that neither the hostess nor us were Japanese and we were most def NOT in Japan or any Japanese-y area...but had to resort to the language. I'd heard from my mom abt an acquaintance of hers who, speaking only Hokkien and English, could not speak to a Chinese hawker who only knew Cantonese and Mandarin...and having to speak Bahasa Malaysia instead. But in that situation, they were in Malaysia at the very least. And if you're wondering what the first nugget was: we had just exited the guesthouse and heading down a small road towards Insa-dong. Feeling heady abt being in Seoul, I wanted to take a pic of us both...so I stopped a young woman in her twenties, and asked her very slowly (with hand movements) if she could take a pic for us. It's true that I DID ask her in English, but I don't think Sands and I were prepared for the response. She looked at me, shook her head wordlessly and then promptly turned around and ran away! And I mean literally RAN.

Anyway, dinner was really banquet-ish: so much food we couldn't finish it all! Altho Sands said that maybe it was cos she was too busy drinking the lemon-sliced flavoured soju that she wasn't eating her share. :P Also if we were allowed to sit longer, we might've slowly finished the food...but at 9.30pm, we were told that the restaurant was closed with the implication that we should leave as soon as possible. Now...we could've possibly finished earlier if we didn't keep getting interrupted! For some reason, I guess the idea of two Korean-looking girls who spoke English was cause for wonder. Every 10 mins, the hostess would come in, and ask us how we were doing. If it wasn't that, then it would be the hostess AND some other guest (!!) who wanted to look (and speak English??) to us. All the conversations with them went roughly like this:

Us: Yes?
Them: Hello. (smile smile)
Us: Hi. (uncertainly smiling back)
Them: We can speak English.
Us: Oh ok.
Them: You're both very pretty (!!) (altho a nice ego stroke, since this was out of nowhere, we thought that maybe they had nothing else they felt comfortable saying in English)
Us: Thank you.

Them: Nice meeting you.
Us: Ok, bye, thank you. (for lack of words)

Nevertheless they were polite and courteous so we didn't feel like we were in any trouble. And it really wasn't cheap -- the Korean shop attendant in Insa-dong whom we talked to wasn't kidding when she said that it was a 4-5 star type of establishment. Sands and I figured that we probably just got put into the "unusual" room cos they'd run out of regular rooms -- I passed by one of the other rooms and while sparse, they definitely looked like guestrooms i.e. with effort made to display paintings and sculptures.

We walked back in the cold air (yes, Seoul is AS COLD AS Toronto) but feeling all warm and fuzzy from the soju.I couldn't help thinking to myself: with the narrow alleyways lined with wood-built houses and the walk home from dinner (and drink), this is probably what a Japanese salaryman walking home from a night out feels like -- but with much less alchohol in my bloodstream.

The good thing about flying Cathay is that the connection is in HK, which is pretty centrally located. Almost a year has passed since my last trip back home to Msia, and since I would be stopping in HK anyway, I was considering making a trip from HK to Tokyo since Vic had been posted there till the end of this year. Nothing like Tokyo from an everyday perspective right? However I was planning to utilize my Asiamiles points, and also to take advantage of the Easter holiday weekend -- which is also a holiday in HK. So all of HK wants to fly to Tokyo too -- so much so that the Asiamiles desk even closed the waiting list.

Nevertheless, a backup plan. I'd called Sands since she's now based in HK and she would have hols too, and she'd suggested Seoul, South Korea or Hanoi, Vietnam. It took some back-and-forth-ness, and dithering on both our parts but we finally decided on Seoul. Or maybe it was me, cos there was no way I could pass up a chance to possibly see the spring cherry blossoms, esp since I was going to be in the region at about the right time too.

So, set out from Toronto on the night of Apr 1, arriving HK on Apr 3. Following Sands' instructions, took the Airport Express (it has only 4 stops??) to HK Island. Sands picked me up from there and with her much-improved Cantonese skills, we hailed a cab to her apt on Ladder St in Central.

Spent the day exploring Central and HK Island while Sands went to work. One thing I have to say abt HK -- lots and lots of stairs! Started out with Ladder St and detoured to Cat St which had a lot of antiques for sale. Passed the Man Mo temple on the way to having beef noodles at a well-known stall on Gough St off Hollywood Rd. It was a relatively short wait as I'd narrowly missed the lunchtime crowd and I was just one person -- so I was sat at the nearest vacant seat, sharing the table with a trio of salarymen and two other individual diners.

From there, walked downhill towards the harbour through the Sheung Wan area before ending up at Western Market -- a grand colonial building that nonetheless wasn't very interesting looking inside. Still, stopped for a bowl of black sesame seed soup with tong yuen (glutinous balls filled with ground nuts) before heading back up to where I started via the Central-Mid-Levels escalator -- also the "World's Longest Escalator" as certified by the Guiness Book of Records. As with most records these days... it was actually a series of escalators -- and one of them (which I suspect might've been at the steepest point) was actually not working! Then I had to climb up the superlong flight of stairs on Ladder St that I had earlier walked down. -_- Later on I realized that I had gotten off one escalator too early -- but it was too late by then. Still it was rather interesting to see the restaurants and bars of SoHo (yes, it's really called that) as I was going up.

When Sands got back from work, headed out for dinner -- started out at Lan Kwai Fong where all expat nightlife seemed to be, but then couldn't find anything to our liking. So went to a small but classy restaurant (which I can't remember the name of) on Caine St close to where Sands lived. Dinner was pretty good -- it was a yummy "filet of beef" (Sands got the fish) and we followed that with creme brulee for me and molten chocolate cake for her. Briefed each other on the latest news, continuing till we got back to her place and she packed and we called it a night -- the flight to Seoul would depart the next morn at 9.40am.

The weekend after getting back from Miami, it was a celebration of SS, NM's and Sus' birthdays. They weren't all born on the same day or anything but still, all March babies. So someone had the bright idea of celebrating that by going out for dinner and to a club/lounge afterwards. There was a tense moment just before we all left the office on Friday when we realized that we didn't even have a card for them -- the organizer (if there was one -- I'm seriously suspecting a Stand Alone Complex here) didn't think of it. So down I rushed to Carlton Cards and picked a couple up and quickly circulated them..so quickly that one of the newbies actually signed it wrongly. -_- Thankfully, we managed to black out the mistake.

That aside, headed to Jack Astor's but it was packed with the after-5 crowd so switched to Joe Badali's...which was actually not bad. In fact, a little more sit-down than Jack's, which suited the occasion just fine. From there, went to Schmooze...2nd time around and on a Fri night, it still didn't get better. I'm not going there again if I were organizing...

Saturday, went over to JCh's to touch base after what seems forever. NML was cooking dinner and it was the first time we were going to taste something other than her delicious desserts. On the menu: grilled shrimp on saffron couscous, greek salad, beef stew with biscuit, panna cotta with raspberry coulis and the fifth (!) course -- muffins iced with choco-hazelnut spread. ;) We're getting better at portion control -- not too full but satisfied. Watched 'Blood Diamond' after.

Sunday went out with the Waterloo gang: Jits, MarcL, Xian, Nic, Nat, Bong, bro and me. Went to Zucca Trattoria -- 2nd time around and they'd pared down the menu. We decided to go with the prix fixe menu, starting with a garden salad. The duck ragu was not as good as I remembered it, but the dessert was rather nice to look at -- cake dosed with grappa and set afire.

5 days later on the Fri, Young P's farewell party. Had originally wanted to skip dinner in lieu of JCh's birthday dinner and join them for after only, but got an earful from Young P. To paraphrase, "If you're not dating this guy, then you have no excuse." Well...

In any case, a good dinner at Milestones cos FI, a new manager I worked with in 2006 had decided to give up the stress of his position for family reasons. In addition, KS was leaving to Paris and I was going to miss HER farewell since I would've been on vacation by then. So....it all worked out well since I got to say goodbye to 3 ppl (FI and KS wouldn't have wanted to go to after-dinner celebrations).

So from there, ended up at Easy again. What can we say....cheap drinks, decent music and an ok crowd (altho admittedly not so good that particular night). The funny thing was that NML had been keen on "going out partying" with me, so this was the only weekend that worked...so no pulling out of this part of the night either. Also decided to call Ines since it had been forever since we met up. So again, killing 3 birds with one stone. And clubs are more fun with more ppl anyway. I think Young P had a good time ... altho he bought me more drinks than I did for him. -_- Still...many "Porn Star" shots and bear hugs later, I can't deny I'm going to miss the guy.

Sat started off with dinner at Edo with MelT, Mirchan and JCh -- for his birthday. Wanted to get the omakase ("leave it to the chef") but turned out that JCh (who made the booking) didn't know that he had to specify it in advance. The regular menu was only ok -- decent but a little pricey for the smallish quantity and regular quality. After that, karaoke at BMB Karaoke in Koreatown! I'd already lost my voice from trying too hard to talk in the club the night before, and was planning on just lip-synching....but of course the atmosphere was just too much fun to stick to the rules.

Someone had the great idea of making T-shirts with the Dong Cheim inside joke on them, and altho I didn't want one, DLee ordered one anyway -- essentially I'd been bullied into it. -_- Still, it was a fun night with the singing of torch songs, corresponding dance moves, shaking of tambourines, throwing of fruit at each other (well really, just between Harold and JCh), attempts to dong chim and/or squash each oher (among the guys) and of course, alchohol. Thankfully DLee was pretty gone...I managed to get away with less than 5 sips of the stuff. Not good for throats after all. Also pitched in for the food processor we ended up getting him.

Sunday afternoon, met up with GP for brunch (hadn't seen nor talked to him for ages) and tried brunch at Meggie's. It was better than I expected (the food blogs made it out to be some sort of greasy spoon). It's true that the food is not very diet friendly but the atmosphere was awesome -- it had a great cottage-y feel to it and I thought immediately of Winhill. Later stopped by the doc to pick up meds for an eye infection that I thought was just starting up. Also asked him to look at the cough I'd started to develop...but he said that there was nothing congesting my chest and I didn't need anything.

He was wrong on the latter. My weakened state incl loss of voice, combined with airplane air I had to breathe for 18 hours plus, all culminated in a cough that started in the plane, got worse in HK and slowly recovered from in Seoul, South Korea.

But more abt that leg of my vacation later.

This year, decided to go big and celebrate as excessively as I can. As far back as I can remember, CNY = eat + gamble + angpau/laisee (red packets) + new clothes + TV.

My DVD player blew a fuse, my TV had no S-video outlet to connect to a laptop and the video-jack method was of mediocre quality, so watching loads of CNY-themed TV (i.e. Chinese kungfu/mahjong/comedies) was out.

The new clothes tradition had been dropped by my family at least 10 years ago. Way too much fun to buy and wear new clothes throughout the year instead of only during CNY! I did however manage to buy 3 new plates (meant to signify more food hence prosperity), altho after the first day of CNY had already passed. Hope it still counts...

The red packets only work if I have married couples around me. Being away from the extended family and also parent's friends meant only one angpau this year -- from Aunt J. Still, it was thoughtful of her! I spose its partly a good sign too that my friends are not married...yet.

Gambling is really not a celebration unless you win. In a nutshell, I don't. Nuff said.

So, the only thing I can really do to celebrate CNY is to...eat. 15 days of it!

On CNY eve aka Reunion day, traditionally, everyone gathers at their hometown or a family member's house to have dinner together. On Feb 17, did that twice but in diff manners and settings: lunch at Restoran Malaysia with Jits + friend Jason, Poi, Ed. The place had been renovated -- gone was the barebones look and in its place, a romantic setting with dark wood furnishings and low lighting. However, the same reasonable pricing remained. Ordered rojak, hokkien mee, mee hailam, beef rendang, roti canai, teh tarik, char kuey teow. Mostly authentic except for two dishes. Beef rendang was nicely presented but on the less-authentic side, while mee hailam was flavourful but paled in terms of authenticity when compared to the hokkien mee. However as a whole, yummy. Poi and I agreed that the freshly made roti canai takes the cake! For dinner, DLee had kindly invited me to his 'small' family reunion -- which turned out to be larger than anticipated! Much food was to be had, of course, with dessert by NML.

On CNY day itself, called home and had the whole pass-the-phone experience...it was good to hear everyone so happy though. Dad seems to have taken over the role of 'fun adult' cos he was going to take LLL and her bro out to get ice-cream. Ah, to be a kid again -- LLL's dad used to take bro and I out to get KFC and whatnot. Later at night, dinner at Bombay Bhel at Yonge-Sheppard with MarcL, Poi, Jits, Nat, Nic, Xian, Mishy and bro. They forgot our order...and had us waiting for an hour before the food finally arrived. It was only ok....so I don't think I'm going back again.

A week later on Feb 24, received a call from Aunt J who offered me a  free ticket to the Malaysian Association of Canada's annual CNY dinner gala. Having never been, I said yes. NML and JCh were there, and MelT was hosting. It was a ten course meal at Diamond Banquet Hall at Hwy 7 and Woodbine...unusually for a Chinese dinner, we were not too too full. In addition to food, there were prizes drawn, and also entertainment in the form of numerous Mongolian dances by a particular Mandy Xiao, and a couple more by a Chinese female dance troup. Also, a couple of songs by a Filipino singer (forgot her name) and MelT's co-host Michelle (a former HK TV anchor). The Filipino singer (who btw, was really good) then performed a couple more duets with Fa.

At the door, they had someone dress up as the God of Fortune (Choy San) and give out angpau with chocolate coins. They even had a Lion Dance with the accompanying drums and 'choy'/lettuce finale to kick the whole event off, but somehow it feels muted when performed indoors. :o| Still, can't fight the weather, can we? MelT was right when she said the event was for the older crowd to enjoy themselves though -- 'aunts' and 'uncles' periodically got up to dance to the songs, and at the end of the evening, all of them got on the dance floor. I'm glad to see ppl happy, but I'd hold off on actually joining them. :P

The next day was Sunday, and I showed up early at DLee's place to help get ready for the open house. NML looked at me like I was crazy to offer myself for what essentially boils down to manual labour. Well... perhaps she's done it too often to appreciate it, but my CNY's have always been about helping get the house ready for guests, and then serving them when they arrive. So I had my own reasons for wanting to help out -- to somewhat get closer to what I'm used to doing back home. It was definitely work though, esp with all that standing (the back of my knees ached by the end of it) -- perhaps NML does it too often that it's become tedious.

Took away leftovers that lasted a week...hahahaah.

Thursday, went over to Mirchan's. Alan W + gf Loretta, JCh and DLee were there as well. Menu was grilled pork chops, Hainanese chicken rice, prawns steamed with ginger and soy sauce. All delish. I was not bursting with fullness yet satisfied.

Friday, Mirchan's again for games night. Mirchan + cousin (?) Alicia, JCh, DLee + friends Sam and Aleysia (?), Harold, Kelso, Andy S + gf Carmen, Alan W, NML. Two simultaneous games: poker and Cranium -- I played the latter, teaming up with Mirchan and NML against Harold, Kelso, Alicia and later on, Andy S. Our team won, at the expense of my voice which gave out from trying to outyell Harold. Wine probably didn't help either, altho I only had a little. Midnight snack of spaghetti bolognese ala JCh was yummy though. Followed this with a small bowl of cereal. There's something about eating at an ungodly hour that makes even cereal seem special. :P After the end of Cranium, JCh and Kelso tried to 'dong shim' random ppl but mostly each other. Then they played Jenga for a bit before startng into the 2nd round of poker -- at which point I called it a night.

Reason was because I was meeting Hil and Jas for lunch on Saturday! Along with Nic, Nelson, CH and Ed, we went to Diamond Banquet Hall for dimsum. It's been a while since I'd talked to everyone (plus, Nic and Ed were late!), so we hung around for almost 3 hrs and caught up. On the way back, started into a convo with Hil and Jas that didn't feel finished even when we got to our destination aka Jas' place, so we decided to chat some more while checking out his apt.

Made it back in time to join Mirchan, DLee and JCh for dinner at Korean Village (?) on Bloor West, then watched Breach. Got home around midnight then started cooking -- bro woke up the next day surprised that I did what I said I would i.e. cooked before Sunday morning. :P

Reason being that some foods need to be stewed for a while before they taste good! Sunday was the 15th and last day of CNY celebrations, and I'd decided to put some effort into cooking something festive. MarcL and Xian arrived the earliest followed by Nat then CH, then JBong then finally Kimi. The menu was beef curry with potatoes, steamed chicken with Emperor herbs, stir-fried baby bok choy, mixed tofu with black fungus and glass noodles, sambal-ed fish, stir-fried pumpkin with dried shrimp, stir-fried prawns with ginger, chili, coriander and green onions. Nat made brownies and served them with vanilla ice cream. The prawns and fish were a success, the chicken less so -- MarcL and I thought it was prob cos we left it sitting on the table for 2 hours...and the lack of humidity probably resulted in it being a little too...gamey. And it looked so good when it first came out of the pot too!! :(

Watched Disney movies for a bit and also the tail-end of Bridget Jones' Diary on TV, then Nat, MarcL and I went to The Rex for their 7pm show with Kira Callahan headlining. She was ok...ran through some classics like 'Heaven' and 'Devil May Care' -- somehow altho I know she sang well, it didn't suit her style very much. I preferred the one Jobim song she performed (about loneliness -- didn't catch the name) and the Cole Porter ones ('Easy to Love' and 'It's All Right with Me'). She unfortunately could not or would not do my request ('In the Still of the Night')...citing that she didn't know it well enough to perform it. As I was thinking up another song request, I also noticed that she didn't do anyone else's requests either as far as I can tell...made me decide not to ask again.

Also decided to stay for the second band -- the Kirby Barretto sextet. Very different kind of jazz: funk/acid-ish compared to Kira's old-school style. MarcL thought the drummer was good, and they had a blind bongo-ist (for lack of better description) as well as a double bass player named John Mayer! No, not THAT John Mayer. A young feel to their music, but I'm not knowledgeable enough about this sub-genre of jazz...only able to evaluate based on the overall sound and the technical skills I can imagine myself NOT being able to do e.g. guitarist's fingers flying over the fretboard etc. Heheh.

The next day, fell sick. Boo. Stress from working in audit? Or too much eating and going out? ;)

In any case, New York bound this Friday evening, followed immediately by Miami! Gotta get well in 2 days! *crosses fingers*

I was talking to a friend online a couple days ago and we got to a point where we started taking turns accusing each other of being emo / depressed. Hey, at least I admit to being that way occasionally, right? You know who you are.

Paraphrased from another conversation around the same time: "It's ironic how a person like me who lives in the past so much can remember so little." Mainly in reference to how I'm really bad at remembering events. The most ironic thing is how if I write out my thoughts, I forget even faster....the blog in a way is my Pensieve. But I guess it's better to record it somewhere and have an increased rate of forgetting, than not doing so and forgetting eventually.

But today, a regular post for those who tire of listening to me getting all mopey. ;) Don't think it's all just for you guys though: this blog is also meant for me to keep track of what's been happening in my life lately. :P

So let's see...happenings. Was sposed to have started my secondment to the financial audit team on Monday, but manager asked to keep me for 2 more days, and fin audit manager agreed. Now, the secondment had already been pushed back a week, so we all thought that Wed b(i.e. today) would be the absolute start date. But really, Fate just does what it wants. There was a snowstorm warning for today, and the senior called me last night to give me a heads-up that they might work from home if the weather is too bad. 7.15 am today, she called and confirmed that no one was going out to the client site -- which would make it pointless for me to head out as well, cos I would know nuts.

Which is fine with me because 1) it was blowing snow out there and 2) I had work still outstanding for my previous clients. This extra day meant that I need to put in less overtime to complete the deliverables. Lately it's been rather intense to be honest, and I'm online or on the phone being fielded question after question till dinnertime, but today, a rare respite: it's Valentine's Day! Manager said he had to leave earlier. A coworker had said earlier that he would take a bunch of us date-less girls to dinner just because, but I think that fell through because of the storm. So since Bro has gone to KW to spend reading week with BYHo, and CNY is coming up, I decided to give the apt a more thorough cleaning than usual -- in lieu of the traditional spring cleaning we do as a family back home. I should go buy some new tableware too for tradition's sake -- will try to remember.   

Sunday, skating class as usual. Instructor's got me started on backward sculling (making bubble shapes with both skates), but I'm really not great at it. Plus I still am afraid of falling. Well, more lessons next Fall if schedule permits -- and an indoor rink for sure. Winter in an outdoor rink requires a more will power to show up for class (skipped the week before's cos there was windchill of up to -35C).

Saturday, had a curry laksa get-together with Jits, MarcL, Xian, Bong, Nat and bro. Met up with Xian and MarcL first and checked out the Curry's art store close to Chinatown (MarcL wanted to buy pencils and a kneaded eraser -- which is sposed to be gentler on the drawing medium), then to pick up ingredients for the meal. Back at the apt, we took much less time than last summer when we last cooked the dish...not quite sure why. Maybe cos we've made it before so we had a better idea of measurements (last summer we had pots almost overflowing and utensils everywhere)? Or was it cos we omitted eggplant? The latter is less likely tho a more interesting excuse. :P 

Friday, Hil's bday celebration at Coca Restaurant (a tapas place) on Queen St W along w JCh, Nic, CH and Nel. I have to give Nic and CH props for setting things up -- they even brought a cake w candles! Tummy wasn't in the best condition for the combo of oily food and wine though -- nearly thought I couldn't make it for PCh's bday bash at Easy. Stood outside for a good 10 mins altho there was no line, trying to decide if it was worth paying the cover to go in if I was going to leave early. I did end up feeling better though, so PCh got a big surprise when he showed up and I was there....I'd called him earlier to say I might not be showing up. However, did leave early cos tummy started acting up again, and from the looks of it, missed the best parts of the party. :S No regrets tho -- I needed the rest and Krupo generously offered a ride home. Thanks man!

Monday, Sunday and Saturday before that, eating with JCh, Mirchan and DLee: altogether very bad for weightwatchers. Duck ragu atop gnocchi and proscuitto-wrapped melon slices at Mirchan's apt with Kelso, her friend Alan and gf Loretta, Harold. Nasi lemak at JCh's on Sunday w MelT there as well. Saturday was Caesar salad, panfried monkfish, salmon and scallops followed by a poker game with additional bodies i.e. DLee's classmates Kelso, Andy S and gf Carmen, Corey, Kien.

The Friday just before that, went to Across the Road for Winterlicious w Young P, Krupo and gf HoY and some of his friends, including Andrea and her bro Mark and Veronika. On the menu -- mushroom soup (NOT the creamy kind), lamb shank w couscous and cabbage Also had said to PCh that I'd join the work crowd at Easy and felt really guilty abt skipping out -- esp since NM and Michy had implied they were going to flake. It turned out that the two ladies showed...and since it was pretty rare to see the both of them AND Young P all out at the same place and the same night (Young P hadn't been out in ages and he was hankering to go), Krupo graciously gave us a lift downtown -- thank again man!

As a side note, JCh thinks that I like Easy a lot. It's not that I like it a lot, but the drinks are cheap, the music's not too loud and the crowd is decent, making it relatively more conducive for hanging out and catching up with coworkers. At least on Fridays anyway. 

Moving on: we were really late, like 11pm-ish...so we were subject to the dreaded line. SJ was already in the line, and later PatM and Tom joined Young P and myself. It was freezing! I couldn't feel my toes by the time we got in -- but thankfully the bouncer was really nice and even gave us an ETA for getting in, something along the lines of "As soon as the crowd clears (from the top of the stairs where coats were checked  and cover was collected), you guys can go in."

It was a good night overall -- managed to get to know the new hires somewhat better at the very least, and caught up with the others.

That's abt it for the past two weekends. Now, abt some weekday stuff. ;)

Last Monday, gave my 2nd Toastmaster speech -- I titled it "How to Have a Successful Vacation" and was so nervous abt taking too long that I ended up too short! The target was 5-7 mins and I had a buffer period of 30 secs before and after....but I came up at 4 mins and a few secs. I nearly got disqualified i.e. having to give the speech again...but they gave me some leeway since they didn't really warn me abt it beforehand. After the speech, FY asked if I hadn't enough time to prepare. :S The truth was, yes, I did, but I thought giving an organized speech (the goal of Speech #2) was of higher priority than finishing on time -- if I'd dragged things out impromptu, I reasoned that the speech flow might get all choppy as I try to think of things to say.

Two Mondays before that, my first Toastmaster speech -- the Icebreaker. So, the backstory to this was that I'd been drafting the content since I first joined the club last summer, but hadn't finished organizing, and hadn't come up with a punchy intro nor conclusion. VP Ed had earlier sent me an email asking if I was still interested in the club -- I'd been away for a long time given the KW client -- and I'd told her I would be away till Apr but would drop by if ever I found myself in the office.

So that Monday, I was just thinking to myself that I'd do the latter and put in some facetime, but as soon as I walked into the door, she asked if I wanted to do a speech to fill in for the two scheduled speakers (my club unfortunately has a history of flakes -- ppl having to make last minute business trips or saying they're too busy). I don't know what came over me, but on the spur of the moment I said yes. In hindsight, it was probably her saying "You don't have to prepare -- the objective is just to get out there and speak in front of an audience." :P So, yeah, wrote the content out from memory onto a piece of paper (just to have something to refer to in case the mind went blank) in 10 mins before I went out there and did it! It's true what they say abt getting the ball rolling though -- it took me more than 1/2 a year since joining to give my first speech, but less than 2 weeks to give my 2nd!

Also, company dance group classes have started, reimbursable under the company's fitness plan. The dance is hiphop, and I signed up cos AD, Michy and NM was all enthusiastic, but when I showed up, no one did. Later on, AD said she backed out cos she thought she wouldn't be downtown often enough to make it. Michy and NM were on vacation while sign-up was going on, so they didn't get on the list in time. :S Still, since I signed up, might as well go. The conclusion after 2 classes: I'm really bad at it and I honestly don't dare look at myself at the studio's mirrors while doing the moves, altho I should, to find out if I'm doing anything wrong. Plus, I'm not awesome at remembering the sequence of steps. Lindy is soooo much easier!!!!! However, no objection to the claim that it's a good workout, although my leg muscles hurt after each class due to the 'snapping' movements (or 'popping' as Jeff B, my ex- lindy teacher would've called it). I think I'll have to be careful or end up with thunder thighs. :P And don't ask me to demo any moves! To debunk a popular misconception -- hiphop is best done with flat sneakers.. It's really a dance for the streets, requiring loads of attitude. Clubs are really not the place to dance real hiphop -- how many girls go to a club wearing that kind of footwear anyway?

Japanese classes at U of T's School of Continuing Studies started two weeks ago on Monday. 8 weeks long, 2 hrs per week, emphasizing speaking and for roughly $400, it's not cheap but the classes so far have been good -- the teacher, Noriko Yabuki-Soh, can remain enthusiastic for 2 hrs straight. From a speaking perspective, I think it's easier for me than say, French, but there are trying moments -- when it comes to saying one of the most important phrases (shitsure shimase) which is used for excusing oneself and saying good bye to bosses and so on, the first two syllables really give me trouble, since the 'i' in 'shi' is silent.

An aside: what are the chances of having two ppl with the same name in a class with 5 students? I'm sitting next to a LeAnne, who is also ethnic Chinese. How weird is that? This is one of the few times where ppl have to pronounce the 'Y' in my name to refer to me (teacher's only solution for differentiating the both of us) -- I myself usually underplay it to make things easier. LeAnne, the person, is friendly though -- works at Motorola. We walked to the subway after class together last Monday and she told me abt how she took a German crash course at the Goethe Institute over the summer -- 3 hrs every day for 5 days per week for 1 month...and it still worked out to be cheaper (on a per hour basis) than this Japanese course. Still, she said she liked the teaching style (better for beginners) and I agree.

Ok I think we're up to speed now, excluding reviews -- which will go up on another day. :P

A week has gone by since Mom and Sis left, and I still have many to-do's outstanding! Not to mention keeping up with my new year's resolution, to practise Mandarin. Yes, that's right, only one resolution this year...and I'n not very good at keeping them, but at least it's a goal I can attempt to work towards, no?

Last year I had three (practise Mandarin, learn a new language and learn to skate) and only one was really kept i.e. learn to skate. Even so, I'm still a novice at it -- last Sunday after having brunch with MarcL, X, Nat, Jits, Poi and her friend Maggie, Bro and Kimi, we went to Indian Palace, a small restaurant on Queen St W that served a buffet lunch. The price was competitive as it was very close 3 or so other restaurants offering the a similar buffet, so no complaints in terms of value-for-money. However, I think the other place a few doors down that I tried with MarcL, Jits and JB in the summer (Trimurti) had a better selection. I said that to MarcL but he says he can't remember. ^_- 

Anyway, skating. Harbourfront Centre, right by Lake Ontario and touted as the largest artificial outdoor rink in Canada (?). Maybe because I looked it up, that's why I was slightly disappointed to see that it was wider than a hockey rink but not much longer. Anyhoo, can't complain cos it's free and maintained! Zambonied every 2-3 hours or so. Was planning to meet Hil and Jas there, and managed to convince Bro and Kimi to go as well. It was the most fun I'd had -- probably cos I learnt enough to attempt to practise what I'd been taught? The outcome of almost 3 hours of skating was two sore spots on both legs (early warnings of blisters :S) and at least 6 falls (I really thought I dislocated a finger when I woke up on Monday -- so much so that I went to a walk-in clinic just in case -- but all seems well so far, doc told me to give it till Fri before possibly doing an X-ray) ..... but I think I'm getting the hang of the slalom (C-push with one foot, then switch feet). :D Like Kimi said, it's the sense of accomplishment! Of course, Kimi had skiing experience and altho wobbly sometimes, he started learning tricks and techniques from Jas.... all in all, a good day for all.

Saturday, dinner at JCh's w MelT, CH, Mirchan, ML and two of ML's friends, both alumni of Bristol Uni, UK but one originally from Birmingham who's now working with the govt in planning IT resource allocation, and the other a newly minted freelance writer based out of Msia. Dinner topics mostly covered socio-econo-political themes, and it was good to hear abt the latest happenings in Msia and to a lesser extent, the UK. Not forgetting dinner -- in theme with the collective new year's resolution to eat more healthily, we had roasted porchetta, roast veal chops (?), some grilled veal and pork and also spicy spaghetti with pine nuts(?), roasted red pepper atop fresh arugula greens. Not very sure abt the ingredients cos wasn't a very good elf re the main course. :P The starter and dessert was slightly more calorific: cream of asparagus and cauliflower being the former, and lemon and rasperry tart being the latter.

After that, watched a couple of eps of Dexter. ML's synopsis was that the series revolved around a serial killer who targets serial killers. So I think we all started off thinking that Dexter was a vigilante of sorts. The truth was, we were only half-correct. He is a vigilante, but he's also very clearly psychopathic himself -- he had just been encouraged to re-direct his bloodthirsty tendencies towards other killers. Every eps, he kills at least one person in a very serial killer-ish way....and the series is graphic about it. Anyway, for continuity across eps, there's an ongoing case abt a serial killer who drains his victims of blood before cutting them into pieces. My initial assessment: it has unusual and interesting direction/dialogue/camera angles, however, it leaves a queasy feeling in my stomach. After all, I really don't like serial killer movies.

Thought that I had to watch something happy once I got home, just to erase that uncomfortable feeling, but MelT was the one driving and we got talking abt interpersonal relationships and outlooks on life and how diff ppl handle things differently...so much so that we parked the car outside my apt building and went on for another good 1/2 (or maybe 1?) hr. I thought I was going to lose my voice! But it was a good chat (and no more need for the happy eps!)...lately I've been feeling rather like discussing these themes, and it was good to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

On Fri, had lunch with NM and MD at Ninki where we just caught up with what's been happening in each other's lives. NM just came back from India with her mom and she was telling us abt magical stones being levitated, and psychics predicting that she and her sis would be married in 2 years! India has always struck me as mystical, but having someone close to me elaborate on things like that....I was fascinated. MD on the other hand came back from vacationing in HK via Tokyo. This lucky gal had 2 weeks in Japan for client work and they liked her so much, they suggested she go back! Anyway so she was also updating us on how she and bf had compromised and how she was going to let him grow in his career and vice versa. I'm happy for her. :)

Later in the evening after work, a chat over a beer at the Duke of Devon w Young P. We both started out on an empty stomach and though we offset that with sweet potato fries midway, the alchohol went to our heads pretty quickly, but in a good way. :) We were both nicely cheerful -- we talked abt his latest vacation on a Caribbean cruise w his family (puking/drinking story snippets prevailed), then abt visiting the gf, then our recurring topic i.e. my dating activities or lack thereof. Young P says he wants to know abt the non-work sides of ppl, but he admits it when I suggested he might just be nosy.

So I was half-full with all those useless carbs by the time I met Mirchan and JCh for Japanese dinner at Yamato in Yorkville. Interesting fact: the ppl who own Yamato also own Fune, which has been suggested before by a client contact of mine. Anyhoo, we got the sashimi platter, the beef teppanyaki and also an order of zaru soba (cold buckwheat noodles to be dipped in a cold sauce mixed with raw quail's egg). The platter was #1 for me, tho JCh and Mirchan liked the teppanyaki immensely. Zaru soba was a little bit too cooked for my tastes -- I like a bit more bite in my noodles -- or maybe I was just not very hungry.

Looking forward: it's mid-year review time. Time to give and get feedback. I'm expecting less than stellar reviews among the total (I already had a middling one from last yr) but on a balance of 'feelings', I'm feeling kinda indifferent at this point in time. Had dinner just now at Swatow with LWA (in town for client work, direct from Msia) and JCh, and she thought I was getting burnt out...hmm...maybe I am. Still, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's cheering me up a bit and probably giving me the subconscious energy to pull through.

Also today, talked to counsellor on long(er)-term goals....I'm glad I have him: he understands my motivations almost intuitively. But now that I've gotten those musings out, I'm divided in my feelings abt it: was it too early to tell him, given that I'm not sure of my directions myself? In a sense, I was almost just thinking out loud. Would he take action and if successful, would I then be faced with a decision I'm not yet ready to make? But at the same time, things like what I wondered to him abt, they take time to set into motion.

Yes, I think as a whole, it was ok to bring it up.... I hope though that he'll check with me again before he arranges anything too drastic.

Another Friday, another realization that I'm running out of time.... 50 days to go till the CISA exam and no progress in my studying.

Manager is asking for stuff too...it's hard to give him stuff while I'm in these client and/or team meetings all day trying to decide how to approach problems. Yesterday I wondered out loud to MD why this yr's budget for this client is the way it is. Last yr they had 1 manager and 2 staff and the manager did abt 50% of the work, if not more. This yr, 1 manager and 1 staff (i.e. me) on an engagement that has 30% more work, and I do 90% of the entire thing.

Then I came to the realization (with MD's help of course) that managers have a higher chargeable rate (naturally), and while this is ordinarily passed on to the client, for this particular type of engagement, we are charging a FIXED FEE. Hence, it would obviously be more profitable to cut Manager's hrs and to get me to do the work instead. Great learning opportunity for me (and I'm not being sarcastic) .... if I survive through it (now I am).

Thankfully, Manager has been pretty good to work with. Yesterday, a 1.5 hr-ish long-distance phone discussion on engagement matters (my bill's going to be through the roof this month!!) but it was casual and by the end of it, I think I've been half-trained to say "Right on" (at his joking insistence) instead of "Ok" or "Sounds good". :P He gets the feeling that I'm a little stressed out, but I can't bring myself to tell him abt the CISA yet...

On the bright side, the client's providing us an Internal Audit resource on Monday to help out. On the dark side, I get to be his senior. Much as I know I'm ready to start senior-ing at this stage of my career... it's going to be work in terms of prepping for it.

This Saturday, my first formal skating lesson! Jas and Hil are flaking cos they're off to their convo in Waterloo -- can't blame them, how many times do you graduate in a lifetime anyway -- but I'll be fine. I was going to do this even if no one wanted to go with me. I wish I could go for their convo...but this is my first skate lesson!! Plus I know I'll be flaking later on -- parents and sis have plans to visit late Nov (and expect me to spend weekends with them), and those are 80% set.