Della | Aug 27th

These posts will be a bit out of order, but that's ok. So this day started out quite differently for choco and I. She had work and got a ride to Fairview by JL, which I'm sure was rather exciting and made her day. That would just never happen my ass. On my side, I had a little family picnic in a park that was apparently a golf course. Nevertheless, the food filled me up. I laughed at the chicken hearts however. 

A little walk 

So many kids at once; so much pinkness

Food

First plate

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After meeting choco at Don Mills station, we were shortly joined by F. Chau, our concert buddy for the night. We headed down to Harbourfront right away and we were actually quite overwhelmed by all that was going on. There seemed to be long line ups everywhere. We started at one line until choco saw some PUYO-ers. We chatted for a bit about the randomest things, university, drinking, etc. We finally gave up on the original lineup for oyster omelets and went for a line for boxed bentos. It was upsetting that the beef noodles were all sold out. They really have to be more prepared next year!

During the lineup, F. Chau talked to us about random things as well. Discussions that came up involved necklace, drinking parties, sleeping, afterprom more and more. And then all of a sudden, we were spotted by IC with her friend MY. We had our awkward greeting a few times actually. Then again when we left from the concert. The lineup for food took forever that choco and I had to leave to get seats for the concert. During the wait, we did meet JK and his friend A. 

The main purpose of going to the Taiwan Fest was actually to go to to Della, a.k.a. 丁噹! It's so unbelievable that someone cool from Asia actually came to Canada and that the concert was absolutely free. We saw choco's wretch friend, MT, KT and more PUYO-ers SL. Our seats were not bad, but could be better. If it wasn't for the food that took so long, maybe it would've been more centre.

Taiwanese food

The night started with Champion, then Magic Power, Della and lastly, Della and MP. They sang so many more songs than we had expected; it was great! We did our videos and photos and even made an Ipad sign. But it was kind of a fail for many reasons and she barely looked at us, but that's ok!

Waiting for Champion, Magic Power & Della!

-merre

BBM | Aug 28th

BBM Canada

It's been quite a long time since I've gotten an actual "job"... Recently I got hired @ BBM Canada, a marketing research company in which V.Szeto referred me to; I actually didn't even really know him... we went to the same school and that's about it. I finally got to meet him on the second week of work and we went out for lunch together, he's pretty funny I guess.

My little work space : ) 

Typical call center environment

I'd say this job is quite relaxing and interesting, I work at the call center and my daily task is to call households to conduct market research studies. Apart from having to meet the daily quota which stresses me out a BIT, everyone is really nice and it's a great working environment! I met one of the co-workers during one of my shifts, JL. Time passes by much faster with him around, and I recently discovered that he has an identical twin; which really surprised me... He also drove me to Fairview yesterday after work, too nice.

A birthday wish from my company!

 A typical day of work on a Saturday would look like this:

1. Buying a breakfast sandwich Starbucks 
2. Going to Metro to get sushi to eat for lunch
3. Attend work at make my calls
4. Lunch & walk to Starbucks to get a latte
5. Work and make more calls
6. Go to the kitchen to chill during my break
7. Work and make even more calls
8. Home time!

Kitchen area for employees to rest

Coffee provided for us!

I recently also referred merre to the job and her interview is taking place tomorrow! Good luck! 

After work looking tired

-choco

Weekly | Aug 25th

A very rough morning to start of the day with all sorts of bad news from the other side of the phone. Parents are just such a pain in the ass I must say. A day that was meant for CNE turned out to be a movie session and another drinking gathering @ A.Man's place. I guess our whole thought of "last drinking session" the last time failed... This is getting quite ridiculous considering that we're drinking more than just once a week now-a-days...

Some of the many bottles...

Anyways, a dim sum gathering hosted by L.Lau and L.Yuen happened today where merre ended up ditching for personal reasons. So I ended up heading there alone with F.Chau and then bumping into P.Heng on the way there. Upon arrival, we were worried of being late but ironically we happened to be the first ones to arrive; shame on all the late comers. We had a pretty long dim sum session just eating and chatting, pretty nice actually; next time we'll order even more food!

P.Heng & T.Truong!

We then headed off to Sheppard-Yonge cineplex where half of us bussed and the others car-ed to LCBO to get drinks after a long discussion on what to do @ Pacific Mall. My bussing crew, F. Chau, A.Man, L.Yuen, and H.Chen happened to catch on one of the newly built subway trains! It was pretty cool and we were pretty amused by it... although it took years to happen.

L.Yuen & F.Chau!

As for the movies, we were split up into two different groups, as some of us wanted to watch Final Destination 5 and the others wanted to watch Crazy Stupid Love. At that point, merre came to joined us for FD5, the movie turned out quite good, but I guess I was a but too soft to handle the whole thing. Anyways, drinking happened afterwards, we ordered 3 pizzas & wings to fill ourselves up before getting wasted. Oh I'm just kidding; we tried to avoid any hard liquor and kept our hands on just beer & coolers. As usual, games were of course needed to add to the fun! It was monopoly deal, cards, kings, bus, & 15 20. Overall a night to release some of the stress that's been bothering merre and I for the past weeks.

Merre, do you need something?

Pizza time! & Wings!

-choco

DM Again | Aug 24th

Today was meant to be a little mini Don Mills reunion/gathering I guess. Prior to the event, merre and I headed to Fairview to get my phone plan done. Toronto phone plans are so over-priced it's not even funny. Everything got settled in approximately 30mins... which was not bad I guess. Although I was not really satisfied with the sales ladies soft and un-energized voice (she sounded like she was going to die any second), I still got over it in the end. I bought some lunch from KFC for myself and some timbits for my fellow ex-school mates and we headed off to A.Gupta's house. Attendees: choco, merre, A.Gupta, C.Mao, M.Wei, J.Kan, S.Rahman, K.Li, and W.Lu.

Choco in purple

Merre in red

To be honest, we were pretty darn out-of-it towards the beginning, as we played some monopoly game which put no interest to us, and then went for a walk to the park with the dog that absolutely freaked me out; I have this thing where I'm just really afraid of dogs ever since I got bitten at a young age. Anyhow, things did get better. A.Gupta toured merre & I to his collection on alcoholic beverages where we each ended up taking a shot of Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka. I also brought along a bottle of champagne which we opened and nearly finished... For some odd reason we all thought it tasted like beer.

A nice day @ the park

After returning back to his house, we taught everyone how to play Monopoly Deal; they were fast learners with beginners luck. It wasn't long till they started playing another game; san guo sha. The game was way too Asian even for someone like me. I watched them play for so many rounds and I still hardly understood all the rules and such. But I guess it's fun for those who actually knows how to play... my role was to peak at everyone's cards and laugh at those who made dumb moves. We also played some foosball which turned out to be so much fun! Lots of laughters during that!

Yes, it's chinese words you see on the cards...

The left side

The right side

Foosball-ing! So much fun! 

On the same night there was a tornado in Toronto... we starred out the window at the lightening listening to the thunder and rain. We realized that it was really time to head home and so we all grabbed out our umbrellas and headed out the door. Man it was pretty scary on the way home, trying to avoid walking under trees since trees attracts lightening. In the end, everyone made it home safely and that was my day.

-choco

Simplicity | Aug 22nd

The past few days seemed a bit blurry, but if i had to choose one word to describe it, it would have to be simplicity. I caught up with some old DM friends near my building, midnight walks and played san guo sha... Even though I live like literally 1 min away from these people, I realized that I never got to see them once during the whole summer. In a way, it's quite sad considering how summer's almost over. So then I guess it all started with a night time walk. Simple.

AC, JT and I met suddenly one day and walked around our ghetto area for an hour. A little girl time talking about next year, life & summer plans. It was nice a walk, I have to admit. 

Night time walks 

That night, we decided to make a lunch date, which happened a few days after. There was actually a few places to eat near our area, but for someone that only ate Chinese food & McDonald's there, I was never bold enough to try them. We had a lunch buffet and although the food did not look appealing AT ALL, some of it was not bad. I only took an after pic, but honestly, if I took a pic of the before (all nicely displayed on my plate), you would lose your appetite.

Some Afghan food?

.Afterwards, I agreed to go to EH's place to play some san guo sa... This was some really Asian game that these people would just NOT stop talking about on fb and I couldn't believe that I was actually playing it. Surprisingly, it was a little bit like monopoly deal, but personally I prefer monopoly deal over this any day. We were also joined by MW.

Sha

After it all, I went to TD to get a visa. It felt great and I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail... plus the Mastercard from BMO. The following days were just family here and there. Finally bought my laptop mouse & earphones for university. I am still on the look out for a laptop bag. I fell in love one, but my laptop wouldn't fit inside. I am so sad.

McD lunch with the fam minus the happy meal

Mouse and earphones for uni

-merre

Day-Off | Aug 21st

I guess I'm someone who enjoys sitting in a coffee shop, enjoying a white chocolate mocha, and just having a peaceful chat after all; I was never meant for the outdoors.  Today went to Starbucks with F.Chau who just recently came back from Macau a few days ago. We reflected on certain events that happened over the summer to get caught up on each other. In the end, he gave me a belated birthday present that he bought in Macau; thank you so much!

He wore the shirt that merre & I got him! 

Things that were inside the present:
- a YES! magazine featuring Show Luo
- a mug that you can draw on; came with a marker!
- a pencil case looking umbrella
- a Stage keychain; screen cleaner
- a pair of 小人 socks lol

Thank you so much F哥!

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As someone who is 1/4 Shanghainese I went out to a Shanghainese cuisine today! Some pictures:

小笼包!

Spicy beef noodles

生煎包

-choco

CNE | Aug 19th

On the way there; super excited! 

After a such a long wait, it's finally the time of the year again; let's go to the ex oh baby! Although everything started pretty rough towards the beginning; we missed out subway stop, long waits for ttc, the bus died, etc etc. But once we entered the gates, everything got much better.

We have the exact same photo 1 year ago

Food cravings! :

Ice cream waffles

Best poutine ever

Choco & her "noodles"

Timmie's ice cap

A lot that we got accomplished during this years visit...! : 

- applied for our first ever, Master Card! 

- got free frisbees from Rogers & Fido

- shopping for new clothes for the year

- gambling; colour, over & under, bingo, shapes, and more

- got the enjoy the most amazing foods on earth

- enjoyed free sprite that kept us hydrated

- choco bumped into her childhood friend, B.Chen.

- visited T.Truong and P.Heng at their station

- choco left with an empty wallet yet still so satisfied

Frisbees that we got from playing games!

It was so sunny outside... 

Our salvation army friends <3

-chocomerre

End | Aug 21st

The only reason that I’m doing this is for closure, and for the fact that I cannot seem to fall asleep. Insomnia… is that what they call it? Anyways, for the past few days I feel like I live in a jail cell, forced to think about everything that has happened. Sad thing is I have nowhere to go and get away from all this madness. No longer do I have distractions or task that needs completing so that at least I have something to think about. Anyways, I think I should just get on with it. Exactly one year ago, my life was so different. Why is it that senior year, everything had to happen? Why is it that so many new faces just have to show up in my life? Although these people made my life more meaningful, it also leaves me with remorse. Wow… this is turning to be more philosophical than I thought. I guess I just can’t put it in simple terms. I need to keep reminding myself… If something would, it would’ve. Summer is almost over and I shouldn’t be thinking anymore. Let go of hope because it’s dragging me down. I can’t blame anyone; it’s only nature. I’ll also stop the questioning. No more whys. Life goes on. Learn to resist & never again.

-merre 

choco | Aug 17th

Thanks so much for showing up!

This year's birthday was meant to be kept easy and simple; just a dinner @ Destiny's with these amazing beings.

First person I got to see on webcam...:

was of course our lovely merre

First person I saw in real life...:

a 12am delivery from mister d.ngai

First bday wish on msn...:

a 12 hrs early wish from mister W.Cao; I got owned

Some interesting twitter bday wishes...:

Some interesting facebook bday wishes...:

Lastly some presents I received this year...:

A big thanks to every single one of you!

-choco