Restless Soul

Life is exhausting!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:48:00 +0000

Baltimore

More pics from Baltimore trip

After work on Friday I dashed to the airport. Regardless, my plane was delayed and I arrived in Baltimore much later than expected. My friends already arrived in Baltimore on Thursday and the show began on Friday. My poor Mother was selling for me on the Friday.

After I arrived at the hotel, I was exhausted from a trying day at work so I just showered and crashed. It didn't bother me that I was sharing a bed with 2 other people...but the surprising sound of someone grinding their teeth while snoring LOUDLY at night woke me up several times... *sighs*

Baltimore was not as hot as it was last year. Then again this year I went in August and last year I went in July. It was still as ghetto as ever though. But this time I was prepared to face masses of aggressive bums, so I was not scared to walk around at night. But some other friends of mine ran into a random stoned man on the streets, who followed them into our hotel and up into the elevator, and CONTINUED to follow them. Luckily they played it smart by getting off at another floor and eventually lost the guy by running off when he looked in another direction.
Seriously, Baltimore is not for the faint at heart.

The harbour was quite lovely though. There were events held and this attracted a lot of people. I was extremely happy to get a change to take a walk around, even though my legs were dying from standing up all day long.

The convention was not bad. It's the first time that I was beside Anime Palace, so I got to chat with Dino a lot. Unfortunately the dealer across from Anime Palace constantly played Rain's live concert dvd the entire weekend. I was so busy on Saturday that I failed to notice until Sunday. GOSH Rain CAN'T SING and he's ugly! Wah! WHY is he so famous?

Never in my life have I wanted to get home so badly before...
On the final day as Ed and I take off to go to the airport together, he gets a call from the airline saying that our flight has been canceled. In a panic we took off to the airport and I called Air Canada to find out wth we were supposed to do. They could only book us a flight leaving the next morning at 6:30AM. I accepted the rebook just in case and made plans with Ed to either camp out at the airport or stay at a motel nearby.
Eventually I snagged a flight to buffalo with Southwest, the same flight that the rest of my friends were taking later on that evening. That flight also had a delay *grumble* but we made it to Buffalo safely...we BARELY had enough space in his car due to my unexpected presence. But we managed a tight squeeze..
Since Jinny was there to keep Kevin company while he drove, I slept the entire ride. Before I knew it, we were at Toronto's airport near my house.

As soon as I arrived home I called Air Canada again to get a refund on my return flight.
To make matters worse, I left my cell phone charger at Baltimore and my phone battery died after that call. So I was cellphoneless for a few days...until Andrew W. surprised me with a charger. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I bought one on ebay...and it's going to take awhile for it to come in.

Recovery
The next day I was dead at work. I asked my colleague if he noticed anything different and he said no. Maybe he was being nice or something...but my eyes kept on drooping during one of the meetings and I was fighting to not fall asleep... :( For a few days, after work I would crash for a few hours, be woken up by my Father to eat dinner, read a bit, then go back to sleep again. I always need a recovering period after I travel...and having to go to work right after was harder than I thought! Waah, a week went by where I didn't work out every day...BACK TO THE GYM NOW!!

Future Travels
It's terrible that I am taking travelling as a hobby while airfares cost an arm and leg. Check out this article stating that the airlines plan to increase airfares by another 8-9% after labour day. I must stop being undecisive and decide soon!!

My favourite brand of luggages, Heys has released a new model to the cruzer, Cruzer3!! And check out that ADORABLE pink colour!!! Finally I get to throw out my crappy black "giant" luggage, as it's going to bust any second now. Zippers are dead and it's in shambles haha. My Mom It survived two years of conventions. Not bad for a China town suitcase!

Work
SOO lets get on about work. I work on a team of project managers. I am the youngest on the team, and well..the entire floor, and probably the entire building. At headquarters we are split amongst three buildings, and unfortunately I have to walk back and forth to the other buildings as my meetings are all over the place. I cannot imagine doing that during winter. I've already braved a few treacherous thunderstorms doing so (don't even get me STARTED on Toronto's weather lately. IT HAS RAINED ALMOST EVERY DAY SINCE I'VE RETURNED FROM CALIFORNIA!!).

Transitioning
I've transitioned into work very smoothly and quickly. My coworker said that I am impressive and a fast learner. In just my second week I took over his duties and now he can happily be promoted to Project Leader. The company emphasized that "there is no such thing as a stupid question" and encouraged me to ask as many questions as possible. We all know that I'm not shy to ask questions : ) When my coworker was training me, he knew that I always had questions. Sometimes I felt that I questioned him to death. I apologized, but he said that I ask really good questions and he didn't think any were stupid. He said he's had to train some pretty dumb people haha and loves training me since I'm a sponge.

During meetings, the PMs tend to speak in rapid speeds and use abbreviations. During my first week I was lost as my mind raced around trying to figure out wth they are saying. Even now I get lost at times while reviewing project documents or sitting at a meeting.

Spoiled...
During my first day they "celebrated" and treated me to buffet lunch.
A few days into starting work I got invited to a company conference, aka "Town Hall." It was held at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Informative..and very corporate. I felt like such a young baby when I looked around... : (
Food was soo yummy though, and I LOVED the chocolate fountains haha. I held back and didn't even use a single alcohol ticket.
This week they also treated me to a pizza lunch.
Next week I have a company dinner, and they will be providing me taxi rides to and from the location. I think they have spoiled me very early.

My colleagues on my team have been really supportive. After meetings, reports, etc. several have come up to me to tell me what a wonderful job I did. I felt like I was a dog and they were patting my head lol
Today I decided to go through ALL of the PMs reports from this week and noticed some vital errors and ambiguities in several of the reports. I contacted the PMs that were guilty and they were pretty darn thankful. Well...our reports are due on Monday and that's when I have to send them off to senior management. I was not only saving their butts by mine as well.
Everyone on my team loves me...wooo!

It gets fairly busy at work. Sometimes I work straight through with no lunch breaks and just eat at my desk. Having 1-2 meetings daily makes it tough to find time to work on reports and look at the projects. But I've made a handful of friends and so we try to meet up for lunch, and we chat all day via corporate instant messaging. *sighs* Unfortunately MSN and Facebook is blocked at work. Even when I use my work laptop at home and connect to the company's server, it'll kick me off MSN immediately lol. Booo. The image above is just a snap shot of the number of projects I work on and how much time I worked on them for this past week. Of course I blocked out project names for confidentially reasons. But crazy geez!

Responsibility is pretty heavy weight for my first job. I have admin permissions and access to digital files that the rest of the team don't. I also have a bunch of keys that only gives me access to vital hard copies.
The most important aspect of my job, is that I have to support projects by monitoring them to ensure that they are on time and don't go over estimated budgets.
I feel a bit...wrong to pester senior project managers to submit their reports on time.
But hey...on some days we have deadlines at almost every hour...it's crazy! And since I have the worst memory ever, I have reminders on my computer to alert me to do crap. So it goes off a few times an hour lol I can't rely on my terrible memory to do crap T_T It gets so busy...I need alarms to remind me to eat!!

Side Effects of Working...
1) My wrists and hands KILL. There's an insane amount of typing I do at work.
2) My eyes hate looking at screens. All those tiny numbers (size 8 Arial) on figure charts have made me go blind.
3) I don't like sitting around. I don't mind going to other buildings for meetings since it gives me an excuse to take a walk.
4) I drink green tea at work like a madman and so I pee like a madman (like every hour lol).
5) I get so tired, that I crash at 10:30-11PM each night.
6) I get extremely lonely after work.

However...

Perks
1) I can work at home whenever the hell I want. Yup. I don't even have to explain why I decided to work from home (WFH). Just send an email to the team that I'm going to WFH. During winter I'll probably be WFH a lot to evade blizzards and icy roads...and if I feel like it lol
i.e. one of my coworkers WFH yesterday because he wanted to watch a Olympics basketball game (USA vs Spain)

2) They are very relaxed on hours worked. They only care that you get your work done on time. So if I leave early, arrive late, they don't give a crap. So sometimes I cut through lunch and leave early : )

3) When you start a job you're on a "3 month probation period." During that time you are not entitled to your benefits and cannot go on vacation. But I can go on vacation any time I want. They are very flexible.

4) My benefits ROCK. I can't wait until I'm off "probation" so I can start getting massages!

Recruiting
Depending on my schedule and how busy I will be...I will be at the University of Toronto in September recruiting! I'll let you guys know more details about it closer to the date.

Summer life in Toronto...=o

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:01:00 +0000

So lets chat a bit about Toronto. What does Toronto have that no other city has? My friends and family!

Here are some pics from Vince L's birthday..more are here. Yum...the burned chicken is still sitting in my stomach lol

Vaughan Mills

More pics
Went to Vaughan Mills with Mishy and snagged a bunch of sexy work clothes at $15 a PIECE. I LOVE SALES!! And we ate at Moxies...which was pretty nice. They had freaking makeup chairs in the washroom O_O How neat is that?

PJ Jam

More pics
That same day I ran off to Will's place for the pj party. Had a wonderful time to just have fun and chillax. I left quite late yet I still left before they popped in the movie O_o

So to forget my woes...I like to party and drink...a little. But to my defence...pictures tend to make me look like a party animal, but we all know that I'm not! Right???

Chinese Lantern Festival

More pics
So I went to check out the Chinese Lantern Festival with Mishy...and I found it a bit disappointing. $25 admission each (ouch).

I guess other people thought the same...as it was pretty empty too AND it was during opening weekend.

Afterwards we checked out the CNE casino. I walked in to find it super sketchy, ghetto and bleh! Worse, there were old men giving me creepy smiles. Ugh... :(

Caribana Parade

More pics
I've never been to caribana...but always had the idea it was a basically a giant outdoor club. So you know I wanted to party away but was disappointed.
1. There was no live music or any "dancing" places.
2. The "parade" featured a bunch of trucks (undecorated) blaring music, with people (some were dressed in costumes, a lot were not) MAYBE shaking their butts. I thought they would be dancing together or something...but...nope!
3. The parade didn't really MOVE. I had to walk along to see more of the parade.
4. There were masses of people, I don't understand WHY there were so many people there!

Reservoir

Afterwards I went to Union station and changed into something more...appropriate for the Reservoir. When I walked into the train concourse, this dude "David" came up to me and tried to sweet talk me. I brushed him off and he ran up to me and omigosh GRABBED ME. I shoved him off and walked away but he kept following me and wouldn't leave me alone and kept trying to hold me. I scoffed at all his pick up lines. I pulled the age thing saying that I'm much older than I look and that I'm waiting for someone. Eventually he left me alone when Dan came... gosh...MEN ARE SUCK FREAKING PIGS. I was actually kind of frightened since he was so aggressive... :(

Anyhow...we ate at Richtree. I don't want to go there ever again for a meal (but I DO love their desserts!). Overpriced food. Then we hit a nice jazz bar. HMM I loved my drink and my CREME BRULE. BEST CREME BRULE EVER!! I really enjoyed the live jazz music..the vocalist had a dreamy voice. And the atmosphere was REALLY nice. If you ever want to take someone on a nice date...I suggest take them to the Reservoir :) Mind you, you will need to make reservations and dress nicely, otherwise you WILL be rejected entry.

Movies
Omg...I've never seen so many movies at theaters within a month!
- Hancock
- Wall-E
- Dark Knight (3 times)
- Mamamia
- Kungfu Panda
So...please no one ask me to go and see a movie. Seriously I don't want to see one for awhile.

Work
Waaah...work tomorrow! Back to the working world. My social life is going to go "poof!" Hmmm...and did I mention I'm traveling yet again? I'll be in Baltimore this upcoming weekend.

So...toodles!

California Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:36:00 +0000

Alright...so I shall continue blogging about Cali.

July 8

A private high school

I packed up my stuff and said my farewells to my friends and left the Westin hotel. I grabbed a cab to go to San Gabriel. Unfortunately the driver was not really sure on how to get there...but we made it (somehow)!
San Gabriel is really cute as the houses all have that Spanish look. I visited some private high schools and they looked like the schools you would see on tv! I watched the kids' volleyball games and football practices. Is it me or do high school kids look much older than their age? I swear I look younger than all of them. Anyhow I got to see around Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel.
Aunt Diane was telling me about her difficulties in bringing up her son as she was really worried about him (afraid he was possibly involved in drugs and hanging out with a bad crowd or...something), so i sat down and had a talk with him. He got more obnoxious since I last saw him, but all he really needs is someone to talk to. I think he's alright, but his parents just spoil him like rotten. But you know I can't figure out everything from talking to him just once. O well.
I fell asleep very early as my exhaustion had finally caught up to me. Besides it was the first night that I got an entire bed and room to myself :)

July 9

More Getty Villa Pics
The next day I went to the Getty Villa with my friend Keith from LA. It is a museum dedicated to Greek and Roman culture.. I loved it so much! And as an added bonus, the architecture was inspired by the Romans. Afterwards we watched Wall-E with Emi. I loved Wall-E!!!!
And o man where she lives is absolutely gorgeous. It's a gated community and every house is a freaking giant mansion. Seriously what can one do with all of that space? I can't imagine the amount of cleaning required for those gigantic castles!

July 10

More Aquarium of the Pacific Pics
The next day we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. The last aquarium I visited was in Hong Kong, bloody 12 years ago. Very beautiful. I even touched a cute lil' manta ray haha.
I want to go scuba diving sometime... :)

Afterwards we walked along the board walk of Long Beach and I saw the famous Queen Mary ship. *squeals* Aren't palm trees just so awesome?? Certainly beats our maple leaf trees. And don't give me that "but they turn into pretty colours in fall" argument. ALL deciduous trees turn into pretty colours in fall. haha.

Then off to Venice beach! Mmm...each beach really has their own personality. Man it's so peaceful to be at a beach. I LOVE beaches. And NO our freshwater crappy beaches don't count!! Once you've been to a real beach...Ontario beaches just don't cut it anymore!!!
The smell of the ocean, the crashing of the rough waves, the warm grainy sand at your feet... :)

What's unique about Venice beach, is that there are lots of cute shops along a walkway by the beach. It's nice to just walk and see the cute booths, shops and street entertainers.

July 11- 13

Woooo Vegas! Unfortunately I forgot to bring my DSLR camera with me and had to resort to using my cell phone camera. But they turned out decently anyhow! Ohhh Vegas. I love Vegas. It's the entertainment city - a bustling night life, and tons of things to do and see. I thought Vegas was all about gambling, but boy was I wrong.
I gambled only $5 at the slots, got scared of losing more, and didn't gamble at all for the rest of the weekend lol.
Keith and his cousin Jeff lost some money at Black Jack...and so we stepped away from gambling with sulken shoulders haha.

My hotel, the Luxor (yes..it's a pyramid).
More Vegas pics
I highly recommend that when you visit Vegas...to walk the strip. Yes it is hot and a freaking long walk, but that's the only way you can fully appreciate the strip :) Walk into the hotels, or as many as you can and check them out. Each hotel has a different theme (such as Paris, Venetian..etc). We stayed at the Luxor, which has an Egyptian theme. I must come back and finish walking through all the hotels. For an idea of how much walking you will have to do...just walking one way down the strip took like...2 hours (including peeping into some hotels).
But I love walking so I don't mind it at all.

On Sat we went to watch a Summer League basketball game with Clippers vs. Bobcats (beats watching laggy basketball games online). Of course the Bobcats won...haha. I was pretty excited to be able to watch a game so up close. Since it was just a summer league game, the crowd was pretty quiet. Nothing like my experience at the Air Canada Centre during the Raptors vs Spurs game. If only basketball and hockey games were always that cheap to watch...I'd go see them more often. Especially Leaf games...I can't justify sports tickets that run for a few hundred dollars in mediocre seating IF you can get a hold of any :(

Later in the evening, Keith and I watched Le Reve at the Wynn. WOW. Here's a promo vid of the show, but the video does not do the show justice! While researching online for a show to watch in Vegas, I kept coming across Le Reve as the best show in Vegas. I do not disagree. And someone as over critical as am I gives the show a score BEYOND 10/10!! I would LOVE to see it again. Purely entertaining, eye candy and wOw. Synchronized swimming, ballroom dancing (this was a HUGE unexpected plus for me), and acrobatics, all in one gorgeous aquatic show.

I did not go to any lounges or clubs because of the dress code *shifts eyes* So I must go back to hit the clubs and ensure that anyone who is going with me MUST bring some snazzy clothes. And I must bring an umbrella...can you believe it poured while I was there?

July 14

Back to Los Angeles, and off to Universal Studios. Wooo lots of fun. Went on the Studio Tour and saw a few movie sets...pretty cool.
Freaked out in the haunted house, screamed my heart out in The Mummy ride (surprised I didn't like...faint. I closed my eyes for like the entire ride, esp. when it went backwards aie!) and wussed out for the Jurassic Park ride. Maybe next time I'll ride it mmm ha. Saw a couple of shows...and no matter how many times I've seen the Honey I shrunk the audience show...I'll scream like a freaking girl during the rat part.
My inner damsel in distress comes out at theme parks :(... Feel so...vulernable and like a girl haha.

July 15

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!! "The happiest place on Earth." *squee*! It was much more packed than Universal Studios...bloody long line ups everywhere. I enjoyed the rides, but didn't get to go on the Nemo ride...WAAAH next time that's the FIRST thing I'm hitting. Do they have that ride in Orlando? Hmm...
The stupid Indiana Jones ride kept on breaking down. And after returning to it 3 times, we finally got to ride it. It was fun at least...if it was crappy I'd be very disappointed haha. I also had the nerve to try Space Mountain, and it wasn't THAT bad. I'm alive and I didn't spaz out haha.
One thing about Disney...is that they KNOW how to put on a show!! Wah I loved the water and the firework shows. So goood! I can't believe I actually cried at the end of the fireworks when the song "When you wish upon a star" came on.
Otherwise there weren't really any shows/musicals related to the movies...I think I'm going to have to hit Disney World in Orlando sometime to get feed my Disney obsession haha.
Ok...I should watch the Disney movies all over again lol

So that's it for my trip. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of details but I think this entry was long enough. Did I mention...I can eat raw fish now? Since I heard that it was more fresh in Cali, I somehow got my head around to trying it out...and it was yummy! Had some when I came back to Toronto...mmm wasn't as good. Must hit Japan now haha.

I almost have enough Aeroplan miles to hit the West coast for free (besides bloody airport taxes). Vegaaaaaaas! haha

Back from Cali

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:15:00 +0000

Gone Mobile
1. Blog is Mobile friendly
I've received complaints of how terrible my blog looked like on cell phones. Well I just shrugged it off until I saw it myself on my cell! Rather than creating a mobile version from scratch (I completely lack time commitment to my blog as is already...), bookmarkmobile.thelainey.com to your cell phones. There is also a pretty iPhone version since iPhones have finally hit Canada this month. And in case you lose those links somehow, I added it near the top of this page so that you can easily access the mobile versions at any time. You love me more now don't you?

2. My cell phone plan has...changed
I can't believe I'm laying this out right now...but hey I'm saving you money!
If you're too cheap to send me a text message, you can now send me an email (hint, it's the same email as my MSN account) and I will receive it on my cell. I'll usually respond within an hour or so...Mind you any urgent message that requires immediate attention should be sent via text message, or you know a phone call. But everyone knows that I hate accepting calls during the day...daytime minutes yo!!
However if you have a text messaging plan and don't care about sending me texts, go ahead. I have a giant quota that will never be used up...
Verbal communication on cell phones will cease to exist...it's the age of texting!!

3. I can easily update my blog on my cell.
I remember Tao talking about me updating more since I have browsing access on my cell...I originally thought 'no' but hey if I'm bored while commuting to and fro work... More yummy useless posts for you all to read :)

So off to the "goods" that you all have been so "eagerly" waiting for. So as you all know I'm back from Cali but was procrastinating on writing a blog entry about my trip...because so much crap happened and my memory is already failing me on what I did and saw.. :(

July 1 Arriving in Los Angeles
It was good ol' Canada Day, le fête du Canada. To my surprise, the departure sections of Pearson Airport were bustling about. Elise and I couldn't help but ask, why are you all here?! Where are you going?! You would think that people would return back to Canada at the end of the long weekend rather than taking off. But o well.
After being hassled by rude security and coasting through customs, we hop onto our plane. The flight attendants were so darn nit picky about everything. i.e. my jacket could not sit on my lap and had to be worn during landing and takeoff. During some turbulence I was sleeping and they actually lifted the jacket on my lap to check if my seatbelt was on. I've never been bothered so much before. It was bloody annoying.

Peeking out the window, I saw mountains and a very dry geography. I'm used to seeing a lush green environment, so it was a shock to see just how hot and dry California is.
I sparked some conversation with a kind gentleman beside me, who was very happy to tell me about Cali and his job. I could not believe that he travels back to Toronto every 2 weeks as his family lives there! Hmmm...he must be $ haha. Anyhow, his job is to clean the smog of LA, and apparently it has improved drastically since he started. Upon landing I noticed the thick layer of smog...and I thought the smog in Toronto was bad! Just walking along the streets of LA, if you looked across the street, you could see that things are slightly foggy/misty. Crazy.

Fourth floor outdoor patio of the Westin

The hotel we stayed in at was the Westin Bonaventure, which I think is the largest hotel in Los Angeles. It was the best hotel I have ever stayed at...well until I went to Vegas the week after...more about that later :) It was like a mall itself...with a few floors designated to restaurants, fast food, retail stores and specialty services. Very convenient as we got to pick up breakfast and last minute dinners easily.

We were in the heart of the financial district of Los Angeles, surrounded by giant high risers such as Ernst and Young. We enjoyed strolling along the streets absorbing the warm California sun. There was erm...a mishap with obtaining our tax permits and so we had to wait until the next day to pick it up. So we just enjoyed the hotel's outdoor pool :)

All Santa Monica Pictures

July 2 Santa Monica
We awake nice and early to head over to Culver City to pick up our tax permits. After much trouble in obtaining a tax permit since we are Canadian, we head over to Santa Monica Beach.
The sand was hot to the touch and very grainy like. The water was very...salty. Salt water is overrated. But we had fun playing with the waves and getting pwned constantly by them. Although...we kept on coming across a lot of seaweed...a lot. It was so nasty...seaweed kept on wrapping our legs and stepping on it was so gross...ugh :(
We just chilled at the beach for a few hours, enjoying the lovely sun. But us Canadians are weak...and almost everyone got burned. I did :(

Afterwards we ran...literally...through Third Street Promenade to catch the last bus back to LA. We made it just in time to pick up our memberships for Anime Expo and then walked one mile back to our hotel.
Why did everyone complain about how dangerous the area was? My friends and I felt safe and we could not understand everyone's fears. There have been times where myself and others walked alone at night on the streets and felt completely safe. Hmm...maybe people are super paranoid or not used to walking city streets at night or something haha.

Click to view all pics from Santa Monica

My booth at Anime Expo

July 3-6: Anime Expo
This convention was huge and wealthy. I was constantly impressed about the venue and the way things were run. Had a good time at the con...but unfortunately the con was a huge blur for me so I don't remember too too much.

The exhibit hall was freaking GIGANTIC though. I never got the chance to fully explore it. The times that I went to visit, I would just chat up with my friends from Anime Palace. Actually Emi and I sold for Anime Palace for a bit. Man I don't know how they could constantly keep an eye on their merchandise from thieves!
I also got to meet one of my favourite artists, Yangfan, who I discovered is a friend of Peter Chan. What a small world...and speaking of, actually I crashed into some people I knew from Toronto...that was a surprise. I'm used to randomly crashing into people I know in Toronto all of the time...but not in Los Angeles...miles and miles away from home.
And big shout out to Emi and George for helping me out at my booth. Thank you so much!!

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board?
I still don't believe it...but I did it and it works. Vid 1, vid 2, vid 3. Anyone care to explain? Ok...I must play with this and use modifications to the process sometime.

July 7: Little Toyko and Hollywood
After a crazy commute using the subway and lots of walking in the burning hot sun, we arrived in Little Toyko. And it was that...little. How disappointing. O well, it was kind of cute and people bought some stuff.

Afterwards we headed over to Hollywood and Highlands. Lots of shopping and touristy things to do. Unfortunately the Hollywood sign was covered in lots of smog and my camera phone couldn't pick it up :(

All Hollywood pictures here

Whoooa look at the time...I'll write about my second week another night. Hope you have enjoyed this entry for now!!

Graduated...and off to California!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:47:00 +0000

More graduation photos

Graduation
What sucks about the University of Toronto, is that it's gigantic. So on your graduation day, you may not know a single soul who is graduating with you. Convocation runs for about two weeks, twice daily. So for a few days I attended my friends' convocation and mine.

Congrats to everyone who graduated. I was ecstatic to receive my degree. The disappointing thing is that it just says Honours Bachelors of Science. Nothing about Computer Science was written on my degree. So I could have taken...Astronomy or something.
My parents bought me the beautiful University of Toronto frame, and it's hanging on my living room wall in all its shining glory.
My reception was the only one my friends and I attended. It was pretty good. Since we are all cheapies, we stuffed ourselves since we knew that our tuition was paying for it haha. There is nothing free in life.

Vlad's convocation was the last one...and he wanted to walk around the Computer Science building a bit for memories sake. I couldn't help but have that feeling of nostalgia.

Unfortunately the weather in Toronto sucks and so it kept on raining. Many photos we took that week occurred during rainy or cloudy weather. Bleh. Major suckage.

Well...bye bye University of Toronto! Thanks for shortening my lifespan due to the stress you put me through.

Goong Goong
On Friday June 26th 2 years ago, "Goong Goong" (i.e. Grandfather in Chinese) passed away due to cancer. My Mother and I took a trip to pay our respects and fix up the flowers and clean up his area.
I know Goong Goong would be proud of me if he could see me today. I took his last wishes to me to heart - to do well in school. We miss you Goong Goong!

Vince's Birthday
It's his birthday today. Happy 21st birthday! You're not old shut up!
Yesterday he held a BBQ party at his place downtown. Had a good time. Said goodbye to Peter since he bought a one ticket flight to Europe and isn't returning to Canada...
And well, everyone wished me fun in Cali and are expecting to see me immediately upon my return...

Looking Forward to that California Sun
So this is my last post before I take off to the sunny state. I know you're all jealous :) As I promised I will post pictures on here and on facebook. Unfortunately my regular digi cam decided to spaz on me this month, so I can only bring my giant DSLR with me...and I only have one CF memory card...aie! The majority of the time I will not have access to the internet. Though I'll have to find some time to dump my pictures and send it to myself so I can clear out my card haha. I'll be gone for two weeks.

And thanks for all the tips and advice you guys gave me on what to see, do and expect while I'm there.

At the moment I'm staring at LA's confusing public transit system. Everything is so bloody far from each other.

Bye bye rainy Toronto weather...and hello to PALM TREES!

And so....have a HAPPY CANADA'S DAY! Have a fun and safe time partying!

First week @ work: Orientation & Training!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Gallery
First thing to note, I got a Flickr account, right here. It's probably a much better idea since the database was taking up a lot of space on my webspace. I must complain though that I absolutely hate the interface and whoever designed it is a nut. I got the pro account though since I'm saving myself a hell lot of space.

Work!
My Mom was all excited and took a picture of me on my first day of work at like 5 am in the morning. I was so tired but hyped up at the same time.

1st Day
I forgot to put an umbrella in my bag. So when I got off the Go Train and was walking along Front Street I was freaking out since it started to rain. I asked some people to share umbrellas with them and kept on switching to other people's umbrellas until I finally made it to my workplace. I still got wet though since umbrellas are useless during a downpour.

Anyhow, they served me breakfast, yum yum yum :) After I met with the CEO. He was IBM Canada's president and now he's our CEO. Wow what a wonderful speaker. He just came into the room, sat down and just spoke for like 45 minutes with no powerpoint or anything. He explained and drilled into my brain the 5 huge goals that the company is focusing on and the strategies and how we will be contributing to those goals. I also met the CIO and a bunch of managers and SVPs all in the first day.
Ooo and they fed me lunch too ^^
Near the end of the day the Resource Manager came in and gave me a lap top. Umm I wasn't expecting this lol Neeeat lol

They will be giving me a VPN when I come back to work in August. I was really surprised that I was the only one out of the new recruits to be given a VPN...I guess I'll be working 24/7 eh??? They don't give Blackberrys to everyone and I'm scared that they are going to give me one. Everyone was hooked onto their Blackberrys and I don't want that lifestyle of checking my phone like every 5 minutes :(

2nd Day
Served breakfast again, am I spoiled or what? Set up our lappies and went through training on Lotus Notes, Kronos and other corporate applications. I set up a meeting with my Resource Manager already and added people to my SameTime (corporate MSN).
They gave me more toys. They gave me one of those mini mice for laptops, but it was even more cool because it had the company's brand on it lol. And they gave me a company branded leather notebook and waterbottle. Geez. Nice addition to the collection I already have of company stuff.

We played "The Apprentice" by dividing into teams to order pizza for lunch. We had to approach it like a project and consider stakeholder requirements, costs, time, etc. lol My group won :)

3rd Day
An executive taxi picked me up from my house and took me to work, paid by the company. I was totally surprised since the taxi looked like a mini limo and the driver was wearing a suit. Dang lol
Met the CTO and looked at the company's facilities at the different sites. What a giant company...lol We had a lovely dinner at a $ Italian restaurant at downtown Toronto, but paid by the company of course. Ohhh dinner was delicious but my meal was like $50 lol I'd never go there if I had to pay for it myself geez lol. Then I took a taxi home...paid by the company of course =p My neighbors saw me coming home and asked about why I was taking the taxi so often lol

4th Day
More meetings with important people and a look at another facility. They let me go home early. Exhausted I came home and just crashed. So sorry Andre that I didn't go to your bday celebration...seriously I was just pooped.
I went out to Tim Horton's with Janice since she just came back to Toronto and we had a nice chat.

Impressions: I'm glad that they allowed me to meet all of the important people of the company, despite their busy schedules. It shows that they really care about their employees. Not many people get this star treatment when they start working. I'm really lucky and pretty darn happy :)
I get super pay, amazing benefits and awesome treatment. I'm very happy.

Laineylains Time of the Month #2!

Here are the pics.

So the end of the story is:
1) Heap Sort runs in O(nlogn) time.
2) Hash table runs in O(1) or constant time.

I'll never forget those running times for the rest of my life.

All kidding aside, the focus of our conversations have changed from venting our frustrations on the horrible world of Computer Science to...work. Whether it be about what we are doing at work or interviews. It's crazy on how much things have changed within a month!

After banging around Rock Band and sucking like crap, we went to some fobby bar where of course Calvin knew people. Unfortunately Jason didn't pick up any girls, so the race between him and I finding someone is still on =p
I don't like beer and I suck at drinking games. But Tao is the worst =p

Happy Father's Day!
You didn't forget now did you? Hope not =p

Convocation is THIS WEEK
I still haven't gotten a pretty grad dress yet. Bloody hell. I'll go look for something cute tomorrow. Sooo last minute :(
I can't wait to throw my degree onto the living room wall beside my sister's. There has been an empty spot there waiting for me for ages.

It's so hot hot hot hot!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:12:00 +0000

Wooo updates so close to each other

Photo Gallery Officially Dead
SO it seems that the MySQL databases on the server went unstable and all the tables broke. Unbelievable. Entire tables went MISSING and it is a gigantic mess to fix the entries that cascade to each other and bleh. I'm fairly upset at my web host and have no motivation whatsoever to fix it (like come on...I still never actually FINISHED this website yet). Should I just use Flickr?
I'm angry enough to switch web hosts, but that requires me to haul three websites over to another server and that requires work.

Passion

I didn't go to the launch party. By the time Nyresa and I arrived (a little after the supposed opening), they were still setting up. The place looked empty and I didn't want to pay cover for an empty place (Nyresa's thinking is that girls should NEVER have to pay for cover lol).
We already walked around the streets of Toronto enough for the night so we hit a bar and had some good ol' girl chat.

I love the city.

In all this push for "green," there's nothing more cool than seeing police on horses. This was in front of Dundas Square, and if you can tell there were just crowds and crowds of people on the streets. It took a bit of guts to jay walk in front of the police...but I did it lol

Nyresa and I at a bar. We should have went out on the patio...the weather was simply gorgeous!

It was lovely to walk around the streets of Toronto in the evening in such lovely weather. And there was so much activity going on. Loreal Paris was holding a free jazz concert and free hair and makeup makeovers. The line for the makeovers were gigantic so we said screw it lol But we checked out the event for a bit because it looked like fun :)

Usually when I walk around Toronto at night there's at least one guy with me so I don't get bothered much. I don't think I've ever been bothered so much before. Men are such freaking pigs, they disgust me! I can write a giant entry complaining about this topic, but I'll refrain from doing so.

Shopping!
I went shopping along Queen Street and Eaton Centre with Vince to help him search for a hat and find me a summer business formal outfit. I fell in love with so many clothes but they were just too trendy for the occasion. I don't want to come off as a ditz or something. Bleh too trendy for my own good! So I dived into boring Smart Set (I NEVER shop there since it's such a boring and plain store...), and found exactly what I needed. It looks youthful yet something presentable enough for when I meet with CEOs tomorrow!

I still haven't found a cute grad dress though...

Later I went to Vince's place to dye his hair. And blackmail picture *drum rolls*

I'm Loving this Hot Weather!!
I'm loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooving the heat. Not the crazy thunderstorms we've been having...but hmmm the hot weather is what I've been waiting for!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone seems to be having crazy allergy reactions. I'm not really getting any symptoms laetly...lucky lucky.

RSS/Atom Feeds, Don't give me that blank look
Whenever I speak of RSS/Atom feeds to people I get that "huh?" response. People get with the "new." How the hell do you guys keep up with blogs and news sites and stuff? Don't tell me that you manually open up each page and visit to check for updates. Get yourself an RSS reader. I personally use WizzRSS. It's for the FireFox. And if you are still using IE then you're really living in a cave =o And you can subscribe to my blog using this link.

Warning to All Travellers
This was brought up to my attention by Tao. If you are travelling, border guards are allowed to check your ipods, computers, phones, etc. for data that infringes copyrights. Read the source here.

Congrats to Kevin!
When I hopped onto Deviantart I was so excited to see Kevin's art featured on the main page. Kevin you're popular!!
I got all excited and even screencapped it. I'm such a dork :)

I Need Your Suggestions: People Who've Been to Cali
Specifically LA area. Besides Disneyland, Universal Studios and chilling at the beach, any other attractions that you recommend for me to check out???

Maid Cafe Pics
Just a few pics stolen from Cindy.

I'm the "lazy clutzy maid." I'm missing a tie and have no thigh socks hahahaha. Aren't we all o so cute?

Everyone I served got a chance to take a pic with me...let me serve you next year ;)

Real post time, done school + Chicago + Toronto + Dallas Cons

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:41:00 +0000

[Edit]My photo gallery database seems to have failed on me. I'll have to take a look into it sometime.[/Edit]

[Update] Oh, I know what happened to my database. I'll fix it this week![/Update]

So...a real post to keep you all happy. Mind you I don't really remember everything that happened in the past TWO month...so yeah O_O Suuuper long entry

Officially Done School!
So I have finally finished up my exams. My graduation ceremony is in June and I start working in August. Gosh it feels just SOO good to be free from school and know where the hell I am going after :) Even though I am out of school, I probably am going to be even more than busy before! Haha.
But yeah congrats to my fellow friends who are graduating with me...and those who are still lingering behind *pats* I'm here to support you haha.

And to those who were curious, I chose #5 for my grad pics and got them back in March. I scanned the pic, made some wallet sized ones and got them printed at Walmart. Yaay for being ghetto :) I'm still in the process of distributing them...ask me if I haven't given you one yet and if you want one :)

Kultura Dinner
Talk about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. But it was nice to see you guys when I was stressing like hell. Here is my review butchering it. I have to learn to take pics of the food before I start devouring it... =o

Pictures

Sheridan Headlines 2008 Art show
I went to an art show to support Elise, Peter and Hieng. I picked up the art book with all of the artists at the show and it has absolutely gorgeous stuff. They are such talented people!
My friends also made a nice art book themselves titled "Chaos." You can purchase it online for $25.

Michelle's Birthday
We celebrated my sister's birthday by having a free lunch at Pickle Barrel. That's a perk of being one of those "secret critics." Unfortunately we faced terrible service and the food was quite salty. I've always avoided that restaurant since it's $$ and the service is slow as hell. But just a recommendation, DEFINITELY don't go to the one in Yorkdale Mall ok?

Man I miss shopping "leisurely." I just realized that I'm super picky haha. And we must have went into Sephora like 3 times. I had to teach my older sister makeup stuffs...interesting!

Steve's Return Party
After spending the day with my sister, I ran off to Will's house around midnight. They were still rock banding when I arrived, but I did get to stay around long enough to watch the first asian horror film. I'm actually a huge wuss for horror movies but I didn't get scared once at all...but I think it was because we were watching it in a large group and people were making snide remarks...ruining the movie haha.
And what's with Will setting up these parties whenever I have a meeting the next day? lol Like seriously...:(

More Pictures...

Manpuku

A friend of mine recently opened up his own Japanese restaurant in Toronto. It's located near the Art Gallery of Ontario at 105 McCaul St unit 29-31. It's inside the Village Grande. I checked it out and it's really cute :) It was great on catching up with Sid AND super cool to get served by the manager harhar. I shall visit more often and bring more friends :) But anyhow if you're around the area (and if you go to University of Toronto, it's fairly close), go check it out!!

Made of Honor
I haven't watched a chick flick in awhile...and I am surprised to admit that it was pretty good! The male lead from Disney's Enchanted was in it. It reminded me a lot of My Best Friend's Wedding though. And yeah watching Made of Honor sort of made me sad because those guys are so freaking sweet...makes me feel lonely now *sniffles*

Bye Janice!

Janice is off to WAAAY up north in the middle of nowhere, Redlake, Ontario. So we had a small celebration after my last exam. And of course what does Lainey need to celebrate? Alcohol! Alrighty I only had one drink...lol
Pictures

Spicy Food = Pwnd
I chilled out with Jordan, Cindy and Amy the day before they departed for Japan. We ate at a fusion restaurant and I accidentally ordered a spicy plate and almost died trying to get through it. Lol everyone said it wasn't spicy but I really was going to die lol
Anyhow, afterwards I got a chance to visit Jordan's cool workplace again and chill there for a bit as he finished up some last minute work. His workplace is so nice.

We Will Rock You Musical
I saw the We Will Rock You musical with Peter Cho. It was pretty darn good. I looved Queen back in the '90s and so I enjoyed it very much. It was my first non-serious musical that I've been to.

LaineyLains Time of the Month...#1

So my friends and I from school made an agreement to try to see each other once a month/2 months. Our gatherings are named "Laineylains time of the month." I did not make up the stupid name...and I forgot who did.

We went to Korean BBQ (yum yum) where I had to do the cooking and take care of Calvin because he broke his arm...yet again. *sighs*...Why do you guys make me worry all the time? Later we went to Tao's place and us newbs tried to play Rock Band. Something interesting happened while we tried to play the first song...there was a black out.

Here are a couple of vids of us playing rock band:
here, here and here.

More Pictures

My Apartment - Oakville

I went down to Oakville to party with Elise. We had a nice looong girl chat and went to Erica's suishi restaurant to have dinner. MMMM...thanks for the "hot water..." saké is yummy! After we went to Erica's place for a pre-drinking. Elise was so darn excited to drink with me since she never drank with me before so she kept on shoving alcohol in my face. I don't think I've ever downed that much alcohol in such a short time span before. After a few martinis and shots later, we went clubbing. Unfortunately they only played a few good songs and guys kept trying to dance with me. But I had a fun time with the girls...and Adrian!!

More pictures

Back into Ballroom Dancing!
I'm taking ballroom dancing lessons with Andrew Chan. I didn't enjoy the private lessons but had a blast in the Swing group lesson. I've learned Jive (which is much harder than Swing) before, but Swing is lots of fun. I was learning swing with a male instructor and he had soo much style and did crazy stuff with me! I was surprised that I kept up with him since he kept on spinning me and whipping me about lol
My classes will end this week...and I need to find a new dancing partner all over again. I need a steady ballroom dancing partner...please T___T I'd LOOOVE to competitions one day...but I need a bloody partner that will last me longer than a year lol

Anime Central - Chicago

This was definitely the most relaxing and fun convention I have ever been to. Everything ran smoothly (which was a surprise since last year it was such a hellish convention for us).
I went to the convention with Elise, Bonnie, Vince P, Kevin and Keith. But man was it ever chilly.

Thursday
My friends helped me set up my booth in the dealers room. Thanks to my lovely friends at Anime Palace, I got to borrow a dolly and wheel my gigantic boxes from the hotel to the convention centre in one trip. After I went to artist alley to wait for my friends to finish setting up.

Later we went to treat ourself to eating at a restaurant called Bogart's. We were attracted to a flyer we received that advertised beer for $2 and martinis for $2.75. The food was yummy and our server was so friendly. Bonni and I were surprised to receive our martinis though since they weren't mixed and just straight raspberry vodka. Looked like 4 shots in our glass, crazy stuff for cheap. I didn't get a chance to finish my drink as I ran off to the airport to grab Keith from his flight. Elise is such an interesting person to sleep beside when she is drunk...=o

Friday
It's the first time that I've been separated from my friends as I usually sell in the artist alley beside them. However Keith kept me company so I was pretty happy ^^
It was slow though in the dealers room, as there were registration issues (as usual). O well, enabled me to Picto chat with Dino and dick around.
The famous Monty Oum came to meet me. He's a real sweetie. He's the creator of the famous Dead Fantasy movies. You should watch Dead Fantasy I and Dead Fantasy II if you haven't already.
While the others went to the Halcali concert, Keith and I went to watch Narnia Prince Caspian at a crazy movie theater called Muvico that had a VIP exclusive section...=o It was pretty cool, 21+, and we could eat dinner and drink alcohol. It had super wide seats and the seating was set up as love seats. Pretty neat.
The movie itself was disappointing...but Prince Caspian was pretty cute!!!

Saturday
It got a lot busier in the dealers room, but I was already quite tired. After convention hours Keith and I went to a Mexican restaurant that everyone seemed to be raving about. Ambiance was nice and it was such a romantic touch when there were musicians playing live at our table!!

Sunday
Last day of the convention. I thank everyone for helping me pack up my booth at the end. Thank you Monty for your crazy speed packing skills.
We decided to go eat at some Japanese food court "nearby." We squished 7 people into a tiny car where we were either sitting fully or partially on each other lol It was so dang hot from all that body heat and we had to avoid toll booths because we didn't want to get caught lol. After Monty's crazy driving and getting lost (driving through the airport like...3 times?!), we finally got to eat and rushed to the airport JUST in the knick of time.

So good times, good times!! What a relaxing convention.
Thank you Keith for helping me out, I really appreciated it and I enjoyed your company very much. I would not have been able to do it without you ^^
And a couple of other shot outs: Kozinu, Victoria, Chris, Dawn..and I'm sure I'm missing people...please forgive me.

Pictures

Anime North - Toronto
The next weekend was another convention.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out...I love you all: My mother, father, Michelle, Richard, Peter Cho, Vince L, and Jean. And thanks to Bon Bon for helping me out with something..*winks*

Friday
Business was slow so I was kind of disappointed. I had to run out in the evening to do a ballroom workshop where I taught the waltz and fox trot. A lot of people turned up and they got the hang of it quickly...sort of =o
Vince and I walked out and did a photoshoot. I was shivering since it was so cold. Plus I'm used to photographers telling me how to pose since I'm not a cam whore and Vince is not good with poses either so it took awhile for us to take pictures... :(

Saturday
Crazy day where my booth was constantly crowded and my "staff" were working in full force. It was so crazy busy that we were constantly starving for food, and when we did get it we had eating shifts because we could not afford to have more than one person on break. It was just constant massive crowds at my booths. Michelle was a wonderful salesperson and it was her first convention. She's a beast at selling!!!!!!
I had to leave everyone at the booth to do a photoshoot with Jean and then run off to change into a maid café and serve at the maid café.

The maid café ran for the first time at Anime North. So there were a couple of things that were uncertain and serving the first round of customers had a bit of hiccups and took quite a bit of time. Afterwards I got the hang of it and was super speedy and serving my customers. Acting all cute for a few hours straight was kind of fun...:)

Sunday
It was just me and Peter at the booth selling and business got mad crazy for a few hours again. I was surprised at how quickly we closed up the booths and packed the stuff away. I took Vince L and Peter out to Italian buffet for a treat for helping me out this weekend. That banana rum thingy was YUMMY!! AND THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE FOR HELPING ME OUT!!
Business was SUPER AMAZING and I wouldn't have done it without your help!!

The shout out list is going to be huge and I'm going to be missing a lot of people..forgive me: Ed, Kevin Y, Jinny, Bon Bon, Dani, Patty, Kevin, Sid, Andre, Mike, Jordan, Cindy, Amy, Michelle, Martin and Edgar.

Pictures

Akon - Dallas
Alright, all these conventions back to back were killing me. I went to Dallas with Elise, Bon Bon, Vince P, Kevin, Jinny, Hieng, Ed and Sonny.

It was quite hot in Dallas compared to Toronto. I loved how it wasn't humid though, just hot. Texan accents are amusing...:)

It seemed that anything that could go wrong, went wrong.

- Sonny's plane got delayed
- we got stuck in traffic
- I reserved a room with two beds but we got one king size bed and a TINY room with like no floor sleeping space (but I demanded a room change at the front desk and got the last double room available ^^)
- We were usually starving the entire weekend because there were so many issues on obtaining food. Things either closed early, or did not open at all (like on Sunday)...or whatever.
- Things got stolen
- poor Vince lost his money box and a handful of money along with it.
- We were running on like 4-5 hours of sleep and no food in our stomachs...geez.
- it was FREEZING cold in the convention centre since they blasted the air condition, yet outside was very hot.
- Since we were all starving, we all ordered a plate of food at the cheesecake factory (ignoring the fact that usually we split one plate per two people since the portions are GIGANTIC). We practically died trying to finish our plates...and I NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO EAT CHEESECAKE :( :(
- the taxi driver who was driving us to and from the cheesecake factory took foreeever to pick us up and we ended up coming back to the hotel late and slept at 3AM on Sunday morning.
- Returning back home was crazy since the shuttle bus is stupid and we were in a huge rush to pack things up and run to the airport to make it in time for our flight.
- While sitting on the plane...the plane just sat there and was delayed for a long time because it didn't get fuel...or something.
I'm sure there were more things that were no fun that happened that I forgot to write down.
*sighs*

It was a Nintendo DS crazy convention. We played endless rounds of Tetris and we kept on getting pwned by Hieng and Bon Bon. On the flight back I got pwned by Hieng in Taiko drums. I also tried NintendoDogs for the first time and was squealing by the cuteness of my yorkie puppy. But can NintendoDogs die? I can't take care of that thing everyday loool.
And whenever traffic was slow I hopped onto Nintendo DS Picto chat and started advertising my booth. Quite a number of people visited my booth and several ended up buying stuff :) lol the money I spent on my DS I got some back with the extra sales I made using it lol

It was a crazy hit-on-lainey convention. It has never been like this before and I don't know why because I looked really really tired and crappy all of the time (hey..I'm still recovering from Anime Central and Anime North!).
Sonny never protected me from guys like he said he would...=o Even Hieng just watched as a group of guys were hitting on me all at once. I couldn't seem to get rid of them and their cheesy pick up lines wouldn't end. Some guys were also flirting with me in an elevator and trying to get me to come to their hotel room. Like seriously, what did these guys expect? And of course...the guy who wanted a hug but I said no unless he bought something...and then he did. And it was VERY awkward on the number of pictures people took of me when I wasn't dressed up in costume...AT ALL. I didn't even bring a lolita outfit because I was sick of dressing up. I couldn't say no either...I really need to learn to say no.

Pictures

Gifties
Thanks Keith for both Mamegomas...though I seem to be abusing them quite badly :( Thanks Vince L. for the cute shirt, I love the colour and it's shiny!! Thanks Jordan for Bamboobi. She's so weird and cute lol And thanks Josh for getting me a yukata and obi set ^^ Stop spoiling me you guys or I'm going to get used to it hahahaha.

This week will be a nice and relaxing week for me to just veg and finish tasks that have been on my to do list for like ever.

peeps in

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:26:00 +0000

This fake update is for Keith.

Sorry for the false alarm everyone...=o

Spring is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:24:00 +0000

I love beautiful weather
But when I woke up this morning my nose was all stuffy. Stupid stupid stupid allergies. But I love the lovely spring weather we've been having lately!

Boston

Fun fun fun. What a lovely city. I'd love to visit there again.

I had a lot of fun. I would like to return next year if I can!

Jeannette and I.

More pics here.

Jason's Birthday
Who goes out to downtown Toronto on a Sunday evening? It's the only time we could all manage to celebrate Jason's birthday (and one week late too...).
^ At the Keg steakhouse.

"You know" it never ceases to amaze me that people forget that I'm a lady and not a man. The vulgarities I hear...makes me lose faith in the male species.
I know it's my fault since most of my friends are male...but come on!

Off to the pubs to look for a gal for Jason...but who goes out drinking on a Sunday night? No one!!

More Pictures...

Party at Will's
Sorry I left early. I didn't stay late enough to watch the movie (what time DID you guys watch it? I left at like 1-2AM O_O). I would have stayed until 4AM if I didn't have that bloody meeting to attend to the next day.

Unfortunately I swapped cameras with Charmaine at one point so I don't have many pics or videos on my camera... so I don't have the chick rock band or drunken dancing videos hehehe.
My next available Sat is May 10th so Will has designated that as the official Battle of the Sexes in Rock Band. So lets do it!

The few pics that I took.

Raped by OSAP
I was all happy to finish school until I received my mail this morning. It's time to pay back the government for my student loans!! All the interest free loans I have accumulated over the past 5 years...*shudders* Their atrocious interest starts kicking in on May 31st. Who else is crying with me? Maybe I should ask my parents get a loan from the bank (lower interest rate), pay off OSAP and then pay off the bank. Being a student really does suck.

I'm off to Boston!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Teppanya

If you are a Computer Science or Engineering student, you will know all about Teppanya.
Going there brings me bad memories of long nights at the labs. Because when you are starving and it's late at night, Teppanya will be opened. A nice big warm meal is appetizing. And for $5 you get a huge dish of chicken/beef teriyaki and a drink (including taxes).

And look at my stamp card! After an entire school year I get a free plate! lol And I do hope that it is the last time I ever visit that place. I know for sure that my friends from school are laughing at this post...I took the time to scan in my card to amuse you... :) It shall be immortalized on my blog. So who wants to go with me and witness me use this card? lol

Food Critic Blog
My friends and I have started a food critic blog. I love eating out, I love talking about food, and I am a critical person. So when Vince mentioned the idea of a food blog...my eyes lit up. We have been trying out new places whenever we have dinners and discussed amongst ourselves our thoughts about the food...but now we're going to make critiques for everyone to see. So if you want to go to a nice place to eat in the Greater Toronto Area, you can check out our blog for something different! Also I will personally be traveling a lot this year, so I'll have lots of chances to critique restaurants outside of Canada ^^

A Bad Week?
It's sad when you're having a blast and realize that you got to run to make the last Go Bus home. After a quick sprint I made it for my bus 30 seconds before it left...however I had to pee really badly. On top of things, there were no spots on the coach bus so I had to stand (and mind you, it is quite bumpy along the Gardiner Expressway). But Murphy's Law had to cast its wrath on me and send me heavy traffic leaving Toronto at bloody 11:30Pm.
Then I came home and discovered that there was no running water in the house...
...

Since I arrived home late I didn't want to go to someone's house to shower. So I boiled bottled water and sponge bathed myself. I woke up the next morning ill. That sponge bath just killed me. This is not a good time to get sick. My throat was killing me. I sounded like a dying frog croaking and it hurt everytime I swallowed. I had painful headaches and got dizzy spells. O_O I drugged myself up with meds so I am MUCH better now... :) Calvin was bothering me saying that I am malnourished and should EAT. lol aiie
But but worst timing to be sick. I am stressed from school since I have a lot of work to do, and that bloody Boston trip is coming up this week. Speaking of Boston...

Boston
It slipped my mind to remind/tell people that I am going. Guys I'm going to Anime Boston. My friends and I will be selling stuff so pay us a visit...here is where we will be.

I am going with my friends: Elise, Peter, Bonnie, Vince, Kevin

I kind of was dreading on going because it is SUCH a hassle to go to these bloody conventions. I'd rather go to the parties I was invited to this weekend lol
But bleh... :( Got to pay off my school debts somehow eh?
It is my first con for 2008...and my first time going to Boston. But it'll be great to see people again ^^
But yesterday I discovered that I will be meeting CAIT there! So I'm pretty excited now ^^ Anyhow drop by my table if you are coming and say hi ^^ I don't bite oki?
Warning note: I have the worst memory and even worse with facial recognition. So if I look dumbfounded when you tell me your name and I don't remember you...well...it's nothing personal ok? lol I always feel terrible when these situations occur...

My Schedule - Book Me Now or Regret!

I get in lots of trouble when I reject events because I say I have plans or exams or something. So here's my calendar of events for the next few months.
Yeah I know you hate doing this...but you gotta BOOK me. Those highlighted days are a no go. I may be able to pull off doing something in the morning/evening on days that I am 'booked.' Just ask me. Ahh the last two weeks of April is hectic exam period, but I can drop by for some things possibly. Let me know kids!
Note: Try not to make arrangements for June yet because I have to work for one week (and I don't know which week it is yet). Also I might be traveling in early June or after my graduation (June 18th).

Traveling
Speaking of traveling...my plans are all screwed up. My travel partner for Japan MIGHT (and I must stress the MIGHT) cancel on me and I really don't fancy going alone. I want to go somewhere! I'm looking at Japan OR Europe for 1-2 weeks in either June OR July.

So anyone who realistically can go (has the money and time), please let me know if you are interested. Male or female, I don't care. Please talk to me; don't post here.
With that said, I'm not sure what is going on yet. Next month I'll sort out ALL my bloody trips for this year (and who I am going with) and pay for the airfares with my earnings from this upcoming weekend...

So..gotta pack now
Anyhow I REALLY need to get packing. It takes about 4 hours (at least) since I need to pack up merchandise and I have to make sure that every piece of my display set up is there. And I got to do inventory counts and BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Then I need to work on a bloody essay that is due next Tuesday. I'm going to bring it and work on it in Boston unfortunately...T_T So no I'm not bringing my DS...*grumbles*
Anyhow....talk to you all when I get back!
Have a nice long weekend (Canadians). And Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!

Grad Picture Time, Vote!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:10:00 +0000

Grad Pic Proofs
My family and I are having a bit of trouble picking a grad pic. There are 5 that we are having difficulty choosing from. I'd like some of your opinions on which you like the most. I even made a poll for people who are lazy to type a comment lol
[Edit] I hoped to not say the obvious...but when someone mentioned it *coughs* don't vote more than once...RAWR no cheating lol

Beautiful Spring Weather
I was so happy with the warm weather this morning. I enjoyed my walk from Union Station to school very much and was excited for spring to come. However to my disappointment, when I exited the lecture hall it was raining and cold. And to destroy my happiness even more, I learned from Josh that tomorrow it will snow.
I won't quit my complaining because I swear I was born to live in a warm country.

So the lesson I learned today is...

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:50:00 +0000

Jason is a loser.

(for those who don't get this lil joke...I promise a post with some content later..)

Critical? Bitter? Don't know!

noreply@blogger.com (Lainey) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:51:00 +0000

Maybe I am just in the critical/bitter mood today...=o

Amusing Computer Science Memory
I was talking to Stella today, and she recalled a specific memory of me 2-3 years ago that she says she still remembers very clearly. When I switched to Computer Science I didn't know anyone. Stella was the only girl in tutorial, so I asked her to be my lab partner. Unfortunately she already had a partner so I turned and asked some Chinese guys behind me. One of the guys asks his friends in Chinese "hey do you want to partner with that cute girl?" And I immediately blurted out "HEY, I can understand Chinese!"

I barely remember this happening, so her retelling of this story was quite amusing. But I do recall clearly that in the same tutorial some guy asked me why I was in Computer Science...since "girls shouldn't be in Computer Science." I think I started getting angry at him and called him sexist and made a big issue about it. Funny thing is that I don't remember how they look like anymore and I don't think I've seen them since. haha if they dropped out of the program...HA! I made it through and they didn't! *shakes fist*
Anyhow I discovered that Klint was taking the class (he also switched out from engineering) and we partnered up.
And look I still have a pic saved from one of my labs in that class:

Take that you sexist bastards!

Stupid Questions
I walked to a photocopy centre today to pick up the course reader that my prof just recently made available. This Chinese lady dropped a huge stack of papers in front of me that was like 2 inches thick. She asked if I wanted it to be binded. I blinked in surprise. How could she ask me that question? No dur!!
It's like whenever you go to Teppanya on College Street and order the teriyaki meal. The Chinese lady will ask if you want teriyaki sauce. No DUUR I *did* just order a teriyaki plate right?
Ok maybe I'm just being bitter but...

No More "Pole" on Mondays!
Hell no, not anymore. The instructor for Mondays is not that great and I don't really feel like it was a work out at all. I feel terrible that my sister's first class was with her!! No WONDER the Monday class is the emptiest!
And I can't believe that one of the ladies at the front desk was so rude to me when I asked about their lack of supply on rubbing alcohol (to wipe our poles down with).

And those rude people in class giving poor Jeannie a hard time! Geez! Was everyone PMSing at the gym today or something?!

Chinese Accents...
Ok one of the reasons why I'm not attracted to the majority of Chinese people at UofT...is because they are fobs and have a thick Chinese accent!! Today a TA took over since the professor was sick. I couldn't help but LAUGH so hard when I heard him speak. Josh said I was a terrible, TERRIBLE person...YET he goes and plays games on my cell phone and Hilton puts on headphones to prevent himself from laughing and reads the slides instead. Why on earth do the TAs at UofT never speak proper English?

Sweets!
Haha well on a side note, Josh made some vegan cinnabons from scratch and brought me one. It was good! I couldn't say no to a treat made by hand! oh I'm craving crepes and ice cream right now...! Noo...must resist...must...lose...weight... O____O And waaaai does alcohol have calories O__O

Schedule Change!
I'll be going to school on Fridays for a bit. Need a good chunk of time to do on site research for marketing and spend time in the library researching crap.