Legally Blonde–The Musical

A couple days ago, I went to go see Legally Blonde the Musical. I wasn’t planning on going to see it, but when L. found cheap tickets online, we decided on a whim to go check it out. We got seats in the 9th row – so close!

The stage – so close!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the musical. I knew I really enjoyed the movie but wasn’t sure how well that would translate onto the screen.

In the end, it was better than I expected. It was really funny with a lot of R rated jokes and suggestions. Definitely dirtier than the movie. They cut out some elements of the movie – most notably, one of the law professors played by Holland Taylor, Professor Stromwell.

I managed to find the musical on youtube. Check it out:

Legally Blonde–the Musical.

That first song is so annoying. I was singing it for hours after the show!

CHOK樣 - Cantonese Word of the Week!

This guy’s Cantonese is better than mine! I’ve never heard this phrase before. Must be pretty new. But his pronunciation is pretty good. Probably better than mine and definitely better than my brothers. Fail x_X

2010 – A Year in Review

2010 was a great year. Sure it had its tough moments, but on the whole, it was a great year for me. Time for my annual year in review.

January

I spent a quiet New Years with the family at home, but the next day, we packed up our bags and headed on our first family vacation in years. Destination? Maui! It all started when I spotted cheap flights online. We then managed to find an affordable hotel and car rental and before I knew it, we were in Hawaii. I went snorkelling for the first time, attended a lu’au, watched the sun rise from the highest point on Maui at 10,000ft, and travelled along one of the most famous drives in the United States (#1).

 
I was still living in Victoria with 3 months left in my VP Finance term. Not to mention, I still hadn’t found a replacement for me yet. I spent a lot of my very free time helping with recruitment. We also welcomed an intern from Hungary who was working with career services. I didn’t have school, so a lot of my days were filled with boredom. I started my job search though.

 
February

February was dominated by the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I spent a lot of time traveling between Vancouver and Victoria trying to take in the whole Olympic experience. I loved the theme song too.

March

March 1, 2010 marked the official end to my AIESEC career. It was definitely bittersweet. So many memories, so many experiences, so many lessons learned. March also marked the end of my life in Victoria as I moved to Vancouver at the end of the month.

I volunteered at the career fair, sitting at the AIESEC Victoria booth recruiting for the last time. Did a lot of packing and watched a sledge hockey game! I spent a lot of my free time putting together a yearbook as a gift for the local committee president in Victoria.

March was a month of beginnings and endings and of coming full circle. It was a bitter sweet month full of reflection and yet, a lot of potential and excitement for the future.

April

The very beginning of April and end of March was spent at a conference – Coastal Conference. My first AIESEC conference was Coastal Conference in 2006 hosted by Victoria, so it was fitting that my last AIESEC conference was Coastal Conference as well. It was a really good conference. I helped out a lot facilitating sessions and occasionally helping out the organizing committee as well.

I made a huge breakthrough in trying to define myself. I bought my own domain name along with hosting. I also customized my twitter background and started getting serious about hunting for a job.

The rest of the month was spent reconnecting with friends and starting the process of slowly unpacking. I hosted my first full dinner party – it turned out okay, but could have been better.

Back in January, I had started writing reviews on Yelp and this somehow resulted in me receiving an invitation to attend a pre-opening of a ramen place. I never thought that what I wrote would actually capture someone’s attention.

I also went to Seattle for the first time in years.

May

I saw Wong Fu Productions! I was too excited.

I spent a lot of May reflecting on my life and what I wanted to do, where I wanted to head. I put together a list of 25 Things I Want to Do Before I’m 25. I also set a goal of applying to a job a day in hopes of securing a job which eventually paid off.

June

June was an epic month. Everything started falling into place. I officially graduated from University and went on a small vacation with the family to the Olympic Peninsula.

On the job front, everything started happening all at once. This post explains it best.

In the meantime, I had random adventures and participated in this amazing race type event called Rush Vancouver benefiting the BC Lung Association.

I also went to Portland to celebrate the new job.

Annnnd… I crossed off item number 1 on my list of 25 Things: getting my driver’s license!

July

July was tough. I was adjusted to working 40 hours a week across 6 days, plus hold on to that internship. It was interesting adjusting to the various demands and just seeing how everything slotted together. I spent many hours in commute and was very frustrated by the lack of time to do what I was really passionate about. I also started taking my twitter feed more seriously and started sharing more relevant content and retweeting others.

August

August was full of frustrations. I was still deciding whether or not I was in the right place and trying to find the right fit in my life. I was frustrated by the lack of time I had and the inflexibility. I also said goodbye to a good friend that was headed on her internship.

The best thing to come out of this month were the rack cards (I’ll put up a link soon) I designed and then printed for work. I was putting my (in my opinion, pretty poor) design skills to the test!

September

September was oh so stressful. With the start of the school year, it was so busy at work. There was never a slow moment and it pass with such a big blur.

To fill up my more of my limited time, I also started an online class with BCIT on Public Relations.

October

I had some really important deadlines this month, so I ended up working overtime for a couple of weeks in a row. Making my little spare time even more valuable. This month passed in such a blur, I barely remember much of it.

For my birthday this year, I hosted another dinner party. This time it was a Murder Mystery Dinner Party, complete with theme appropriate food and music. It was a success and I can’t wait to host another.

November

I picked up another volunteer role. This one with a non-profit called Global Agents as their communications coordinator. The organization is very similar to AIESEC with a social entrepreneurial twist to it, which was something I was looking for. I wanted more experience with public relations and communications and to find something to be passionate about. This organization was the right combination of AIESEC mixed with my volunteer experiences in high school and my experiences in Cambodia.

Games galore. My friends and I have gotten really into board games especially with L. hosting the first board game night (there will be more for sure).

December

December was filled with work, work and more work, preparing for the Nutcracker. While I was indirectly involved with the planning, I helped with a lot of the behind the scenes things and relayed information between individuals.

The month started off well with me going down to Seattle for the Harry Potter exhibition (and seeing the 7th movie – SO good!). Mid-month, I headed down to San Francisco to see the sites and to satisfy the travel bug inside me. Despite losing my phone down there, it was good and fun trip.

And now, its New Year’s Eve. It has been a good year. Looking back, I accomplished so much that I wanted and also tried many new things.

I’ve started thinking about resolutions and goals for the year, but haven’t completely hashed them out yet. Expect a post coming up soon on that!

Happy New Year everyone!

Not That Kind of Girl

“What do pick up artists, eye charts at the optometrist, and actresses have in common?” asked the announcer on Virgin radio last night (around 7).  “The first person to text in with the correct answer wins a copy of Tribon the game.”

If you know me well, then you’ll know that I absolutely adore puzzles.  I was excited.  Within moments, I knew the answer and typed it into my phone.  For a moment I forgot the number to text to.  The radio station has an auto responder that informs you its 25 cents a text.  Okay whatever – I want that game! Which city? A=Vancouver.  Okay go.  And it was off, and I could only hope that I was the first and that the auto responders didn’t slow me down.

And I waited.  And waited.  No phone call.  I’m not that kind of girl that does impulsive things.  I’m a very deliberate person.  Usually thinking things through before acting on them.  I definitely search for the needle before jumping in a haystack.  Texting or calling into a radio station randomly did not fall into this category.  I did it once in high school when there was an accident on the highway leading to the tunnel.  I was walking on the overpass just moments after it happened.  My friends called in to the radio and they all chickened out at talking to them.  I was coming out of my shyness then – it was no big deal at the time – and I was all about trying new things.

Turns out someone else was faster than me.  Darn auto responder I bet.  I got the answer right though.

Time I buy a new board game!  Do you know what the answer is?

Asian Drivers Are Definitely the Worst

I think its pretty common knowledge and the root of many jokes, that Asians (particularly newly arrived or recent immigrants from China / Hong Kong) are the worst drivers possible.  Put a bunch of them together in a tight parkade, with many blind spots, and you have a recipe for disaster. 

Yesterday, I was at Superstore in Richmond.  This parkade isn’t all that bad (compared to Aberdeen or the Public Market, among others) and there is tons of space for cars to maneuver around, but apparently its not enough.  This particular spot we were trying to get into had two pillars on either side making it a bit more difficult to get out.  The car that was in the spot had a number of options opened to him to get out (see diagram) and of course, decided to pick the most difficult.  The easiest way would have been to back up a little and then go out the side of the parking spot as it was at the end of a row and there was a main corridor right next to the spot.  Another way would have been to back up to the left and then head right towards the main corridor.  But no, this driver decided to back up to the right and head left.  What he failed to notice was that there was a car right there waiting for another parking spot.  As he was backing up he got closer and closer to the car and eventually hit it.  He was looking at his left side mirror so he must have seen the car.  He didn’t seem to care all that much and drove off, never once looking back to look at the other car.  WTF. *&^%@!$&!%  There wasn’t any damaged that I could see, but still, isn’t it common sense to at least stop, get out and look just in case??  The lady driving the other car did and she was not impressed.

A diagram for easier understanding courtesy of Google Doc Diagrams – man I love Google

Then later that day we were backing into my driveway when we watched the most hilarious display of parking possible.  This guy was trying to parallel park, but there was no car in front of him, only behind.  Simple enough right?  WRONG.  As he was parking, he kept on opening and closing his front door to see how far he had left.  Then he got someone on the passenger side to open the door and check.  Finally, his passenger in the back seat also opened his door to see how far the driver had left to go.  So imagine, three doors open, three Asian heads bobbing in and out, one car trying to get into a fairly easy spot.  Hilarious!  I was watching this and couldn’t stop laughing (I’m pretty sure they caught me laughing too haha).  The final straw was when the guy in the back seat had to get out and direct the guy.  In the end they were still crooked and not parked legally.  FAIL.

Seriously!  How in the world did this guy manage to get his license?!  The last thing on the test requires you to back up into a stall at ICBC.  I doubt he could have asked the person testing him to open the door and check if he is in the clear!  WTF!!  But then again… rumour is, only in Richmond can you bribe your way into getting a license.

GAH!  Got to take my test soon.  My learners expires end of June.  Then I can join these whack jobs on the road.  At least I’m comforted by the fact that I won’t be the most dangerous driver on the road!

Adventures in Rich City

My parents left yesterday to pick up my bro from summer camp in Frederickton and P. and I decided to go and borrow their car. By bus, from the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to my house takes an hour and 15 minutes. Not too bad, but would be an absolute nightmare if luggage was involved. There were 3 buses!! We missed our last bus by a couple minutes (we were across the street) and I was super worried cause our transfers were about to run out. Thankfully the bus came within 10 mins and all was well.

The plan was to go to Ikea before they closed, go pick up some groceries from the Asian supermarket and then head to get some bubble tea before turning in for the night. That was quickly derailed when I realized, halfway to Swartz Bay, that I forgot to bring my house key! I had packed and prepared for everything else, but I didn't even THINK of bringing a key with me. The good thing is that my grandparents live a block over and have a spare key. And if they were unavailable, my aunt lived two blocks over and probably has a key or at least can put a roof over our head for a night or until I could get a hold of my grandparents. My grandparents were home, but due to the whole key debacle and us missing that last bus, we didn't make it to Ikea.

P. and I had a early start today (we had to catch the 6AM ferry) for me to get to work on time. My grandma and I had set up an elaborate system of me giving the key back to her without waking her up super early. But in the end we didn't have to. I was able to find my brother's key and I just borrowed that. I just have to remember to bring it home with me next weekend.

P. was super hungry so we went to get bubble tea first. Someone had recommended we try Tapioca Express (1438-8388 Capstan Way, Richmond, BC V6X 4B5). They had soooo many options for bubble tea and the food too. I had coconut milk tea with regular pearls in the regular size. P. had lychee black tea with lychee flavoured jelly. We shared their pepper chicken steak box in medium spice. They had various flavoured jelly, different sized bubbles, different sized drinks, even the food came with selection choices. Good thing everyone spoke English (the guy almost had no accent), or else we both would have been lost. Definitely good bubble tea and the food is pretty good. The room is split - you order first at the bar, they give you a number and then you go pick it up. Definitely will be going back.

My Coconut Milk Tea (Reg. Size) with Reg Pearls

Victoria really needs an asian supermarket. It was awesome. Definitely felt like a kid in a candy store. There was so much to look at, so many different things to try and buy. The deli was closed though, we got there too late. We stocked up on a bunch of things.

This morning was killer trying to get up at 4:30 to catch the 6AM ferry. Both of us slept through the ferry ride. The car in front of us had a rack in the back seat where the driver hung all his suits. There must have been at least 5 or 6 in his back seat! Maybe he lives out of his car? I dunno, but it looked weird.

Its hard to see, but theres a rack and you can kinda see the shirts hanging...

Just as we were about to leave the ferry, we noticed this one guy trying to get into his car. He got his friend to help, but to no avail. Soon they caught the attention of a ferry worker, who went to help. I guess they get that a lot - people being stupid and locking themselves out of their car. While the boat was docking, we watched as they tried to open the car. By the time we unloaded, they still hadn't solved the problem. I wonder what happened to him...

Poor guy trying to get into his car with two ferry people helping

It was an interesting night and morning. I'm trying not to be a walking zombie at work, but I'm sure the moment I eat lunch, I'm going to get really sleepy. The upcoming week should be pretty interesting - P. and I now have a car! Going to explore =)

What happened here?

There is shit on the bottom of them pic and between the bushes are a pair of flip flops. What happened here? The first time I saw it, the set up was different. The shit was still fresh (and wet) and the flip flops were a couple steps in front of the shit and was covered partly by it too. My theory? Someone didn't see the shit, stepped in it, got shit all over their foot and flip flops and just decided to walk barefoot.

Only in Victoria.

Overheard in Victoria

While walking around the Inner Harbour Night Market:

Tourist Teen #1: Canada is a lot bigger than Australia.
Tourist Teen #2: *makes some listening sounds*
Tourist Teen #1: Australia needs more water.

Good job on stating the obvious.

Later...

P. and I were walking by the Parliament and we had just crossed the street when from behind me I heard the loudest neigh coming from a horse. I turn around and the horse has turned towards the cyclist next to him and was making an obscene amount of noise. It was hilarious. All the cyclist could do was stare. The horse stopped once the light changed and the cyclist took off. I wonder what the horse was saying, what the cyclist was thinking and if the cyclist did anything to piss off the horse. P. and I were laughing hilariously at the horse and the cyclist shocked face. It was priceless. I just wish I could've caught it on camera.

Blind or Just Plain Retarded? 2

So P. and I were walking down Douglas today. We had just passed 7-11, heading towards home, and we were waiting for the light to change. This guy came up to us and said:

Guy: Hey, could you tell me where Douglas is?

P. rolled her eyes and turned away, hoping that I would answer, cause she was laughing inside like an idiot.

Me: This is Douglas
Guy: (Turns back to his friends) This is Douglas... turds...

P. and I walk away laughing. Just looking around us there were at least 3 posts with the street name. Seriously.

Bunny Showjumping?!

So I was reading articles on mental_floss and I came across this article about unique animal competitions. Apparently bunny show jumping is a huge thing. Maybe I should capture a rabbit from school and train it to jump. Make me a lot of money ^_^ Haha nah - the bunnies at school are too fat and lazy. Come to think of it I don't think I've ever seen one jump. Run yes.. but not jump. Interesting - considering thats what they're known for...

Blind or Just Plain Retarded?

So I was at work at the Levi's Store. This customer walked in and started looking at jeans trying to pick out a size.

Me: Can I help you find a size?
Customer: Yes, I think I am a 6.
M: Oh okay. These jeans come in odd numbers so a 7 should fit. Do you like the style? Its a skinny jean.
C: Skinny jean? Thats not what I want.
M: What are you looking for?
C: Something that goes like this (she demonstrates a boot cut).
M: Oh so do you want something that goes in at the knee and then comes out over your shoe?
C: No thats not I want. I want something that goes out at the bottom.
M: Kind of a flare? We don't carry any jeans like that unfortunately.

I walk over and pick up a jean with a slight boot cut. I give it to the customer and she looks at it.

C: I don't like the colour.
M: Okay, what colour wash would you like? (I gesture to the section of the wall with that style of jean on display)
C: Oh I don't know. I'll just look around.
M: Okay

And I retreated. As I was walking away from the customer she mutters to her husband, "do they have anything other that Levi's jeans??" I thought to myself, "uhh... this is a Levi's Store so what do you expect?!" I was busy putting away jeans and as I was walking away, I noticed the customer was trying to catch my eye.

C: Do you have anything other than Levi's jeans?
M: *blink* ... This is a Levi's store. We only carry Levi jeans.
C: Oh...

Some days...