Day 4: Boxing Day Madness continue

--oh, went shopping.
--malls VERY crowded...I mean, REALLY CROWDED
--can't really buy anything without fighting to get it
--oh well, ended up buying a new pair of jeans
--later went to visit Danny working at the Beguiling comic store
--wanted to go visit Silver's new store in Chinatown (AnimeXtreme the Store!) but I had to call first in order to "visit" him. Ended up not going.

Day 5: A Day with 2

--hanged out with an old University classmate "2" (yes, that's what we call him), someone I haven't seen in years, the whole day
--he drove me around all of Scarborough
--went to Pacific Mall, the ULTIMATE Asian SUPERMALL with everything from MD players to cell phones, to pirate video games and models and arcades
--bought a car charger for my cell phone and a "short" ear buds for my MD player
--later met up with Leila for some hot boba tea action
--headed towards where Dave and Busters for some hot arcade gaming action (really trying to kill time before a movie)
--ended up later watching a movie:

--Movie Review: Catch Me If You Can: 4.0 Denstars (out of 5)
About some snot nose kid con artist and his battle to make out with every girl he lies to. Okay, I hate Leonardo Di Caprio. No, I REALLY hate the guy. Every since he destroyed "Growin' Pains" (and the great potential careers of Alan Thicke and Kirk Cameron), I can never stand seeing him on the big screen. Anyways, he an OK job in this movie. I guess I believe he was a 16 year old con artist. I like Tom Hanks when he started wearing those second pair of glasses.

Day 6: Hangin' with Buckets

--after having dim sum with my whole family, I traveled to see old Digipen classmate Buckets in Mississauga.

More on my adventures in T.O later...

Day 0: The Flight

--stayed up til 5am the nite before "ironing" and packing my clothes for a 11am flight to Vancouver and then to Toronto
--it wasn't busy at the Seattle airport. Everything went quickly and smoothly. Did get stopped at airport security because I had a "knife" in my bag, but no big hassle
--could have went from bad to worst, but luckily no security person could have heard/understood my Japanese companion when she said "Do they think you have a bomb?"
--hanged out in the First Class lounge area, thx to my Japanese companion (who was flying to Japan that day). Free snack foods, anyone?
--short flight to Vancouver, longer lines just to get thru Canadian customs to catch the next flight to Toronto
--almost missed flight to Toronto, because of customs. Even the baggage guy said you wont make it. But this other guy and i decided to run across the airport anyways in hopes to catch our flight.
--we barely made it, only after sweating to death from running
--so, we were the last one on the plane, ready to leave, when the plane decided to delay the flight a bit for some late passengers from Victoria...MUTHAFUCKA!
--inflight movie was Blue Crush, but couldn't watch it cuz of broken audio at our seats
--got into Toronto at 9 pm, picked up by Danny and friends, ate and then went home to sleep (not with Danny and friends)

Day 1: Last Minute Xmas Shopping in Toronto

--went for my traditional first day back in Toronto trek to Downtown Toronto. To some, its a really a death march...to me its a daily route.
--checked out Downtown Toronto and all things that has changed
--also did some last minute shopping
--actually, more like "see what's good to buy on boxing day" last minute shopping
--malls were packed like it was in the US, but it doesn't bother me, because I walked Downtown. Never had to deal with the bullshit that is traffic and parking
--met up with Danny for some last minute drive/shopping at Costco and Ikea (out in the boonies of Toronto)
--also went to the lone Krispy Kreme of T.O where I dazzled my friends with my Krispy Kreme "Buy one dozen, get second dozen for free" card
--there, I also got to see my friend Monica and her friend Corrine, who happened to my classmate back in KINDERGARDEN. I haven't seen her for technically 20 years.
--she works at a bookstore and is incredibly sarcastic about everything

Day 2: Lazy Xmas Eve

--done most of my shopping yesterday and things close early today, so what to do?
--watch movie
--finally went to see, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and I am so glad I waited till I saw it in Toronto
--got to see the damn movie on an IMAX screen! It was awesome! Even though we sat one row back from the front, there wasn't a bad seat in the house!
--here's the review:

--Movie Review: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: 4.5 Denstars (out of 5)
About a bunch of your geeky friends that play Dungeons and Dragons come to life and there battle to save "Middle-Earth". Wow. I really enjoyed this movie. Thought it was much better than the first one, but then again, I was half asleep watching that. The battle scenes were INCREDIBLELY epic. The Gollum was one of the best CG characters I have ever seen. Hard to believe it wasn't real. Did I mention I watched it on an IMAX screen? UNBELIEVABLE.

--later went for dinner with my sister and her husband at this Chinese restaurant that we always seem to go to whenever I come back. Hmmm
--it also has all these pictures of Stephen Chow on the walls. Could this restaurant be owned by Mr. Shaolin Soccer himself? Hmmmm

Day 3: A White Xmas

--woke up today and it was snowing! I haven't seen snow in ages. It was truely a white xmas!
--dinner with my sister's husband's rich family in Richmond Hill. Nuff said...

Day 4: Boxing Day Madness

--should be shopping but instead at this internet cafe filling out my blog! What the HELL am I doing?!!!!

Company Xmas Party

--Friday nite, got to attend my first real office Xmas party. I say "first" because all the parties I have attend at Angel dont count...they are NOT your typical office party. TRUST ME...
--I have been given fair warning how bad NST Xmas parties have been, with stories of how one past party was in jepardy from lack of attendance because of how BAD the last party was...
--the party was not bad. It was at the Seattle Space Needle and it was Casino Nite, where we could play and win "funny money" for some okay prizes.
--the casino part was fun...really fun. I played and gambled like there was no tomorrow. Sure, I lost all my chips, but I at least walked away with a slight understanding of how to play craps.
--the dinner was great too. Really good food.
--now the bad parts..
--for entertainment, we actually had a magician perform for us. A magician...doing parlor slight of hand tricks I saw when I was eight. Thought he was slightly funny, I couldn't tell you the number of time I rolled my eyes back in disgust. His show kept on dragging way too long too. This was one of the first time in my life I REALLY WANTED A DRINK!!
--I got to sit at the table with one of the "assholes" of the company. Now, he's really not THAT bad of a guy and I do like working with him, but there are times he pisses me off. Like tonite. Basically, he came late with his wife and joined our table, without even introducing his wife to the table (who none of us have met). Because of that, we had incredible awkward moments of silent. It was REALLY bad. I did what i can to help start a conversation, but it was very difficult. Finally, we all started talking and HE STILL NEVER INTRODUCED US TO HIS WIFE! Later that nite, I saw him introduce his wife to other ppl at the party. What an asshole!
--oh yeah. I also got to experience one of those cliche office Xmas party thingie, in which someone had just a little bit too much to drink and said something REALLY bad about a certain chairman's wife in which EVERYONE heard. MAN, it was REALLY bad. Someone can get fired for that.
--but a overall good nite. I got to dress up really nice, enjoy good food, gambled a bit and even walked away with a couple of gifts and prizes even though I lost all my "money" at the tables.
--after the party, headed to Fremont in Seattle, for some drinks at some really packed bar filled with "post college kids who just got out and working."
--oh yeah, pictures coming soon....

Stressin' and Goin' Home

I will be back home tomorrow. Back in Toronto. I cannot wait.

This year has been a very busy year. But these last couple of months have been very stressful for me. Just so much to do, not just at work, but in life in general.

It has also been a very stressful to some of my friends too, back in Toronto. A lot has happen to them too and when they were stressed and needed someone to talk to, I sometimes wasn't there for them, because of how busy and stress out I was here. I do what I can, but it can be really hard.

Anyways, I go home to relieve stress and I hope I can relieve the stress of my friends as well. It will be good to see them all..

First Off I Want To Say...

24 is the SHIT!!! Never has a TV show manage to grab my attention for a whole episode and then pull the rug RIGHT UNDER YOU, EVERY FUCKIN EPISODE!! My jaws literally drops after every episode and then I have to wait a whole week to find out what will happen next (and the cycle continues).

But now I have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode! Damn you FOX!

Den Den vs. Buckets: The Blog Wars

I think its funny to see these two go at each other to see who updates the most frequent on their respected chronicles/journals.

We should all join in the fun! Check out:

Bucket's Live Journal

and

Densetsu Chronicles

Though, Buckets is updating more than Mr. Den Den, Buckets is starting to fill his journal with uninteresting "filler" materials (slash dot rip off anyone?). We will have to see how this plays out in the next couple of weeks.

And Speaking of Den Den...

I forgot I saw a movie this weekend, The Hot Chick starring Rob Schneider. When I was watching this movie, I couldn't help but think of Denny and his NUMEROUS rants about how hot chicks have a double standard and can get away with a lot of things most of us can. This movie was ALL about that! Anyways, the review:

--Movie Review: The Hot Chick: 3.0 Denstars (out of 5)
About this hot chick and her battle to survive becoming Rob Schneider. I like stupid movies. No, I really do. I love those Adam Sadler, Rob Schnieder, SNL type of films. This one I thought was okay. It had its very funny moments. It even teaches you what it means a half Korean/half black person (?) I think it would have been even funnier to watch if the theatre was packed when I went (it barely was). Recommended for Denny to watch, proving his theory about hot girls.

Rainy Season

Its OFFICIAL! Its FINALLY the rainy season here in Seattle. Since I have been here, it has been ABNORMALLY dry here in Seattle. I mean, EVERYONE tells me this, followed by the fact I will hate it when it DOES start raining. Well, it has. It rained pretty much all this past week. And pretty hard too.

Now, you would think all this non rain would be good thing but in actual fact its not. The lack of rain has really been hurting the ski industry here. EVERYONES been waiting patiently for it to snow in the mountains so they can open up for some skiing and snowboarding action. This week it has happen and I guaranteed every ski resort around here will be packed this weekend. In fact, a good 5 ppl from work left to go snowboarding early Saturaday morning.

The only bad thing about all this rain, for me, is I have to learn to drive in it, since I had very experience in it (San Diego doesn't rain!)...

Meeting People and Running People Over

Speaking of driving in the rain...

This Friday I had to drive down to Downtown Seattle for a "social"/toy drive. My friend David and I take turns driving each other whenever we go downtown. Though, I insisted that he drive, it was my turn to drive the both of us down.

Now, I HATE driving downtown! Partly because I still dont know the downtown core as much. Partly because I still suck at driving. And it was raining too. David sez I have to learn to driving downtown and he was willing to help. Plus, he doesn't think I drive THAT bad.

I nearly hit a pedestrian crossing the street downtown. I REALLY almost hit a guy. I couldn't really see anything. David pretty much had a heart attack and I dont think I will be driving us down anytime soon (which was fine with me).

Oh yeah...the "social" was great. Met a lot of cool people and played probably the best game of pool I ever had (though I still lost because I "scratch" while going after the 8 ball...but it was probably a good idea to lose the game to a couple of girls). Met this one girl from Toronto, we just talked about all the different types of food we miss from Toronto...Street Hog Dogs, Roti's, Jerk Chicken, Panzerotti, Jamaican Beef Patties from Bathurst Street Station...oh my. Can't wait to go home :(

Stupid Drivers

Speaking of bad drivers...

So, I am in the Fred Meyers' parking lot on Saturday night (where I'm usually at) where I hear the honking of car. I look up and I see this car speeding down the parking lot past me. Scared the heck out of me, but it really scared this other couple who were right in the path of that car. Now the car didn't hit them, but you knew the car was in somekind of rush.

Now, it would be "kinda" understandable that they were trying to get out the lot as soon as they can, but the fact was, the car actually turned down another lane in the parking lot. It was speeding to get to a PARKING space! And remember, it was late at night, around 10 pm where there was plenty of spaces.

Anyways, I watched as the couple actually started running towards the car as it parked. Then I heard a screaming match (mostly from the couple) towards the 2 ladies inside the car. I thought it was the funniest thing I ever saw, but they deserved it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA!

May you always find and afford the right BC BG Max Azria dress/bathing suit/underwear whenever you go shopping (and I can always be called upon to help ;) )

Speed Dating

I heard about Speed Dating recently on the news the other day. They said its from Canada, and though Danny confirmed that they do do speed dating in coffee shops in Toronto, my friend here in Seattle sez its been around for awhile here. Anyhoo...I had the opportunity to try it last nite (saturday).

Basically, they have a bunch of girls sit at different tables, at one side of the table arranged in a "circle" while the males sit on the other side. When you are sitting in front of someone, you have 4 minutes (actually, its supposed to be 7 minutes...they cut it shorter to allow more ppl to do it) to talk to that person and get to know them. After 4 minutes, a bell is rung and all the guys had to shift one table and move and talk to the next girl for the next 4 minutes...and so on. Its basically a way to get to know a lot of ppl in one night and to eliminate the ackwardness of talking to someone new for the first time.

There were also some basic rules you had to follow to, but no one knew what was the right rules or not. You were NOT supposed to asked where they work (though many girls didn't care). You had to ask the questions provided for you (which we didn't...they were lame..."What's your greatest fear?(!)" kinda questions). Some girls didn't even want to answer any of your questions (biatches!). And after all this is done, you are supposed to tell your host who "interested" you and if that "interested" person was also "interested" in you, they get you their contact information. That of course, didn't happen because of how disorganized it was...so you had to do your own "networking" afterwards (side note: it was this disorganized because this was a free promo version of speed dating. The real speed dating parties, you would have to pay to attend and its much more organized and meet more ppl as well).

I had an okay time with this. I got to talk to about 9 different girls, all who ranged from cool to stuck-up to BORING. I mean, the really boring/uninteresting one, well, we had moments of ackward silents...how can you have ackward silents in a 4 minute conversation?! Also, it did feel a lot like this was some kind of job interview and after your couple of "speed dates", you kinda get bored answering the same questions over and over again.

I also had a lot fun just watching it. I watched the next session and it was fun to see my other friends do it, as well as watching the "creepy" guys do their things. There was this one guy that all the girls told me about how much of an asshole he was. I knew immediately who he was.

And for the record, I did get one phone number out of this...so the night wasn't a total lost...

Fun fun fun...

Its OFFICIAL! I ma comin' home...

On Friday, late at night, I got the final approval to get 2 weeks off for the holidays (instead of the 1 and a bit week off). Because of that, I decided to go home (Toronto...not San Diego) for the holiday. I got my tickets (though kinda last minute and expensive) and will be flying back Sunday Dec 22 and staying til Sunday Jan 5th 2003. So, for all those in Toronto at that time, I WANT TO SEE YA ALL!

You know, I really NEED this break. I can't believe how much of a year this has been. So much has happen and really no real time off either. Sure, I went back to Toronto in April but that was for a funeral, and there was that time between jobs I had, but that's when I did my packing and driving and such. So, I am really looking forward to this. Plus, this is the first Xmas in like 3 years that i got to spend it back in Toronto (I was always stuck in the US then).

I can't wait...

Unique Anniversary

You know what? I just remembered something. This past Sunday was December 1st. December 1st is when I officially started working in the USA at Angel Studios 4 years ago. Wow...I have been here in the US for 4 years now. And what better way to celebrate my 4 years here than to spend it in Canada (I was in Vancouver last weekend)...Yeah!

Garage Sale

What a wonderful surprise this morning. Today, when I came in to work early, I forgot today was Nintendo's annual Garage Sale. Basically, its a huge house cleaning where they try to get rid of all these old, overstock games for insane prices (and all for the United Way charity). Since I started here, everyone would tell me about this huge Garage sale they have and where I can find tons of game and how much I would love it. Boy were they right.

It was MADNESS today. There was a line up in the morning, just to get in. When it all started, it was utter chaos. There was games everywhere, in huge piles in which you had to dig to find stuff. And you will never know what you will find. Sometimes, the most rarest of games.

I spent a lot of money today. I just couldn't stop. Even though games were like anywhere from 25 cent (NES games) to 15 bucks (Gamecube Games), I bought a lot and it really added up. All I really wanted were Gameboy games, in which I did get quite a few titles, but when you start going thru some of the NES and SNES pile and memories start to come back, then you just can't resist in picking up a few copies. And I dont even have my NES here either (still in Toronto). And not only did I pick up games, I also got a SNES and a Virtual Boy, both for like 5 bucks each!

Here's a run down of what I got:

33 Gameboy/Gameboy Color games (Mary Kate and Ashley!)
2 Sega Saturn (?) (Sega Touring Car!)
12 NES games (Super Mario Bros 3!)
10 N64 games (Goldeneye, UNOPENNED!)
4 Virtual Boy games (for my new VB system)
8 SNES games (Street Fighter 2!)
1 Gameboy Printer
1 Gameboy Pocket (2 bucks!)
1 N64 Cleaning Kit

Though I spent a lot (around $70), hey, it is for charity so I dont feel too bad. But I am glad its only once a year...

HAPPY BELATED BELATED BIRTHDAY LEILA!

I love you more than that "other" guy...

Thanksgivin' Dinner #2: Dinner with Digipen Teachers

er...scratch that...lets begin this entry with my traditional post Thanksgivin' Best Buy run and a surprise Thanksgivin' dinner (er...lunch?)...

Best Buy

--before going to work on Friday (yes, work...the day after Thanksgivin'...i had things to do), I decided to go to Best Buy here to take advantages of those wonderful after Thanksgivin' sales
--personally, I tried to avoid malls and shopping places after Thanksgivin' but I told myself, "what the heck, it can't be THAT busy!"
--boy was I wrong
--20 minutes to park, another 20 minutes to ring my purchases
--there were only OK sales. I picked up Monsters Inc. DVD and Beauty and the Beast DVD for 12 bucks each and the 2nd season of Transformers (geek! geek!) on DVD.
--then went to work

Thanksgivin' Dinner #1.5: Lunch at Cafe Mario

--because there are ppl forced to work on Friday (I wasn't forced...just thought I should come in to catch up), they offered a free meal at Mario Cafe (our cafeteria) to everyone there.
--it was a nice gesture, especially since I noticed how many cars were at our parking lots today. Mostly customer service ppl (the ones on the phone) but its good to know that if your systems are fucked up over the holiday, there's always SOMEONE at Nintendo ready to help!
---Mmmmm...free spagetti dinner *insert Homer Simpson gargle*

Thanksgivin' Dinner #2: Dinner with Digipen Teachers

--afterwork (around 6 ish), i went to my second Thanksgivin dinner, this one hosted by ol' Digipen teacher, Persanna!
--most of my close Digipen co workers/classmates were all there...and even Claude showed up!
--the turkey was great, made by Rory himself. We also had Ham and Tandori Chicken.
--we had SOOO MUCH food. Everyone brought desert and it was ALL good. We ate a lot.
--Claude told some great stories about past Digipen students that no one keeps touch with and memorized some other guest with his knowledge of the C language.
--though I did talk to other ppl, I ended up spending most of my time with the "kids". I seem to have this thing with kids as I am usually having the most fun with the kids. Kids love me, I guess.
--Highlight of the night...watching Persanna pass out in front of us and us taking turns piling toys on him and taking compromising pictures with him and he STILL didn't wake up.

Vancity

--as a spur of the moment thingy, I ended up going to Vancouver this weekend with my friend Vivek. He just bought a new car and wanted to drive to Vancouver and show it off to friends there. I tagged a long.
--I have been reluctant to go up to Vancouver mostly because I was really busy and I am also really afraid to cross the border with my work visa. It would have been easy to cross it...just a pain to come back if the US border guys were asshole that day.
--I went because I haven't been back in Vancover for over 4 years. And I had nothing better to do. And I needed a break.
--Vancouver takes about 2~3 hours to drive from Seattle.
--the moment I crossed the border and entered into the city of Vancouver, I was overwhelmed with emotions and memories. It all came back to me.
--got to walk around Downtown Vancouver on Robson and Granville. Hit a couple of shops, bought tons of magzines, bought something from Roots and ate "ghetto pie" (93 cent pizza slice) at the SAME place we ate everyday for lunch back during our Digipen dayz.
--also got to check out Metrotown Center. There's a lot more than I remember.
--really spent most of my weekend with drunk Mexican ppl playing cards and trying to teach me to speak Spanish. I learn nothing!
--I did learn a new card game. It was called "31"
--drove back Sunday nite around 7pm. Didn't get home til 12 midnite because the borders were completely jammed with holiday spending Americans. We were stuck at the border for a good hour and a half.
--I got NO hassle whatsoever at the border. This was a good and bad thing (good, cuz I didn't haven to deal with customs...bad cuz I was supposed to get a new stamp in my passport which would have made it easier the next time I come up...oh well).
--Vancouver is a new drug for me. I want to come back again. In fact, I want to go back every weekend...in fact, I want to go back NEXT weekend!
--oh how I miss Vancouver.