Gloomy weekend

Richmond got on CBC news for having a small plane dived into a building.
I can see the carnage right across from my living room.
Poor ppl cannot go back to that building for at least 2 months.

Had dim sum with John's friend. Shi Art's sticky rice is not good at all. They didn't put in egg and there was no parsley on top. The other dim sum was just average. I wanted to try the one in parker place next time. Parking shouldn't be too much of an issue in the morning.

Tried the rice cooker for baking, made banana cake. The instruction didn't say press "START" after pressing "CAKE", so the mixture was sitting there doing nothing for whole 20 mins before I realized that I should have pressed "START". So, when it's done, the top part of the cake tasted bland... I guess all the sugar sat down to the bottom. I just realized how fattening cake is... for just one cake like that it's 1CUP of sugar and 1/2 CUP of oil!!! I should try to make cake from those low-fat recipe again. Made the cake on Sat and it's gone by Sun...

Cleaned up my room and vacuumed it... and sucked my bedskirt into it and made a big gaping hole :(.

Went shopping in Home Outfitter, got X-stink and used it on my skates. They still smell but not as bad.

Both my mollies were now in the sewage treatment plant. RIP.

Saw "30 days of night". It's so so. Rather sad at the end.

Sunny weekend

Had thanksgiving dinner with John's parents. The mashed potatoes with gravy was very nice, as were the turkey (not over cooked, just right and moist) and the whip cream on top of the pumpkin pie. We showed them our Paris photos. It took quite a while.

Cooked stir fry beef with carrots and onions. Used Save on beef instead of Western Family, much better result.
Seasoning: cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry cooking wine, white vinegar, tarragon.
Yummy... it's so good.

Friend treated us dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. We had the 2 ppl set dinner. It's very good. I especially like the garlic bread and the dessert (deep fried banana with vanilla ice cream, extremely good pairing).
Also met another friend in that restaurant. What a coincidence!

Ran on the treadmill for 29mins and dry land jumping for 15mins or so.

Saw "Casino Royale". It's so good. Much better than the other bond movies.

Bloated balloon molly :(

My fish has a swollen / bloated abdomen... ?
This is a common but difficult problem and typifies the problems involved in fish disease diagnosis. Abdominal swelling is not a disease - but a clinical sign of several possible health problems. Because an internal disorder is involved, in most cases it isn't possible to say what the problem was until a post mortem is carried out. The most common causes are:

A genetic disorder that usually shows as the fish grows older. In the early stages this seems to cause little discomfort for the fish and it will lead a normal life for some time - often several years.

A tumour or growth. The only option in this situation is surgery, which clearly requires professional help. However, the survival rate of such procedures is very low as this is still very much an experimental procedure.

Systemic bacterial infection, which is usually accompanied by raised scales, protruding eyeballs and sometimes reddening / inflammation on the body. If caught early enough this may respond to a course of antibiotic injections. Bath treatments are rarely successful See bacterial infections

Viral diseases: Much the same signs as bacterial infections but no cure

Internal organ disease - such as heart problems- leading to an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. This leads to a balloon-shaped swelling and the abdomen feels very soft and sqidgy - unlike a tumour which tends to feel hard. No cures, and heart transplants are just not on.

Intestinal blockage / constipation: This is more usually associated with loss of equilibrium, but in some severe cases it can lead to swelling. The only possible treatment is either try to feed the fish a few frozen peas, which act as a laxative, or else try baths in Epsom salts (70g / litre for 5 minutes) which has the same effect. If the condition is advanced, the success rate is likely to be poor

Could indicate intestinal parasites. Making wet mounts of faeces for microscopic examination may assist diagnosis.

Long weekend

Spent most of my free time doing photo layout this long weekend.
There were a few that I didn't have enuf space for.... so sad.... and a few that I would want them to be on their own.
I'm pretty satisfied with my design tho, even the lady in the store liked it. I hope she's not going to make a lot of changes....
I still have to pick out the 50 prints for them to print out. It's in the package that I bought originally.

Did a run on the dyke with John. I had foot cram near the end and had to run with the side of my foot.... hurts afterwards.

Had thanksgiving dinner in Shiang's Garden with john's dad and my parents. The shark fin soup was really nice. We each had our lil bowl with one or two VERY big piece of fin in it. I saw the next table was having a very neat dish. They each have their own stuffed lil pumpkin. Must be expensive...

And had dinner at parents place last nite. Very good ribs with pumpkin and peppers.

Didn't get time to change the tank... one of the fishes is very sick. The fins are rotting.

Bought almond cookies too many times...

Addictive Personality

I have an addictive personality. Lately, I'm addicted to Almond Cookies, the chinese baked ones. It's SO GOOD. Mmmmm yumm yumm.... I'm about to get broke from buying junk food...

Sick

Been very busy with life, haven't had time to update this blog for a while.

Went to photographer with the photos that I picked, now he's saying that I need to be more clear.... I was quite sure that they did say that the wife would do the layout... meaning which photos go where... now they're saying that I should do it instead...sigh... oh well... I guess it's better that way.
And, he's more concerned with the 50 prints, but I haven't started picking those out at all. I think he thinks that those prints r for relatives... but I donno, I was thinking of just going to London drugs to get photos for relatives. I guess we can save some $ if we just get prints from him instead. I'm not too sure if 50 prints is enuf for everyone.

Had a company anniversary cocktail party on Fri. The drink was quite good but the food was just so so.... since I don't really like India food.
Finished my task on Fri and just doing testing now. Phew.... make the deadline.

Went to get content insurance for my place... turned out that my dad already had it done.... but he's going to cancel his.

Found out that there is a break-in (on the exact night that the manager forgot to set the alarm.... this is way too suspicious) at our new place, the manager's office.... all of the security s/w and key codes r stolen..... sigh....
Also my dad told me that the president of the strata council is way too friendly with the manager .... and that he tried to do his personal business in the lounge without paying the $35 that each of us had to pay in order to use it. Also, my dad said that he's going to use his power as the president for personal gain .....eg. increase the strata fee to whatever he wants..... i hope that's not true...

Started feeling sick on Sat nite. bleh... now muscle ache...