- went to coquitlam to sharpen skates
- had bday dim sum @ fisherman terrace. I prefer their dim sum over dinner.
- remote login and worked a bit @ home
- watched dexter
- finished all smallville and supernatural episodes :'(
- going to try out "true blood"... but it looks cliche
- "fixed" the internet problem after taking off the splitter and changed to use new cables for both TV and cable modem .... or maybe shaw finally finished upgrading their cables.

annoying weekend

Having internet problem with Shaw and it's getting worse and worse. They're in the progress of fixing it but will probably take a long long time. They gave us a free upgrade of Xtreme for one mth, will be 10bux more if we didn't call in and cancel. Also, we're getting some credit back on our account, altho not too sure how much ... the 2nd time I called in it was only 3 days.... the 3rd time I called in was TBA; it'd get passed up to another department to decide.
But, also found out that, not using our splitter made the TV looked much better.... altho didn't improve much with the internet.
I'm going to get a N-router to try it out. I did a test on Sun morning and found out that with direct connection w/o the splitter or the router made the internet twice as fast. I nicer router would make the situation better, but, that didn't change the fact that there is a decrease of speed from 3xxx kbps in the morning to 5xx (or even 2xx) kbps at nite (and this is after upgrading to Xtreme)... Also, didn't change the fact that we're getting much less than we were promised. Xtreme is supposed to be 10M max but we're getting (in the morning ~7am) 6M with direct connection w/o router or splitter.

Met with skating friend on Sat afternoon. Tried to burn her skating video collection of yuna but failed twice..... and wasted 2 dvd discs.

Did not run or do any sort of workout during the weekend.... was too busy trying to fix the internet problems.... and had a headache for most of the weekend.

Went to driving range on Sun. Some shots were good, some were bad. But, definitely much better that the first time I went there.
Cooked spaghetti for Sun nite and Mon nite.... I need to come up with new spaghetti recipe soon....
Went to Mui's Garden for Sat lunch. Their curry was really good. I had congee there... with what they called... "thousand-yr eggs", probably not that healthy.... but so very good.
Got some pastries @ the newly opened Japanese bakery, Harvest Moon. It's so much nicer than the regular chinese bakery.

Gained new understanding of double loop. It should make the rotation easier and add more flow to the jump.
Got new technique from Kevin for sit-spin, the 3-turn should be completed before you press down to it. But, first, I have to get used to my new alignment...
Still struggling with my waltz or waltz-loop combination.
Will need to sharpen skates soon...edge felt slippery last few times.

Also, might need to get new filter. Lately, it's been very hard to start it again once it's stopped.

Got sick on Fri afternoon after having Veggie Lasgana. Couldn't digest that with the bagel and 1/4 of the muffin that I had in the morning. I had to leave work an hr early and almost threw up in the car and in the elevator.

rainy weekend

Went to coquitlam to fix my blade alignments. Didn't get lost this time. After 5 times, I've finally remembered the route. After the fix, my right skate is much better now... feels more centered and better grip in my crossovers. My left skate is still weird.... I don't think there is any alignment that would fit my left foot. I think I need physio and custom extremely sturdy arch support (that would fit inside my skate.... not superfeet... tried that... didn't help) or sth that wraps my ankle very very tightly and only allows it to bend up and down and not inwards.

Been hooked up on YouTube watching other ppl skate. Some ppl are just amazingly talented.

Didn't do anything special for Halloween... except the usual... went to parents place for supper.

Went out for dinner on Sat at the Taiwanese/Shanghainese place. Good food... altho not as good as authentic shanghai restaurant.... esp the pork dumplings, but at the same time not as greasy.

Only ran once on the treadmill... no mood to run outside when it's rainy and cold.

skating weekend

Skate America was on last weekend. Watched it on TV after church... then cleaned my tank and car... didn't leave my parents' place till around 5pm.
Yu-Na Kim was so elegant and so much speed in her skating. For the speed, I think her body type helps, so slim and light. For artistry, there r other skaters similar to her body type but no one is as beautiful. Can't wait to see her live in 4CC :D.

Ran on Sun morning on the track. Beautiful day. They were having a football game in the field. All the players were very skinny and small.... compared to the ones on TV.

Went to Steveston on Sat. It was nice except a bit cold and the walk was a bit too long.
Went to Blackberry Bistro. The deco was very nice. We had a singaporean fried curry vermicelli and a salad with chinese donut, apple, pineapple, and bean sprout with a sweet and spicy soy sauce. That one was interesting. (i'll post some pics later...).

Earlier went to the dyke and the field near the commuity garden. We saw two blue herons and a bald eagle!! We went farther than usual this time. We must had just missed the bald eagle the last few times we went there.

Cleaned the tank, didn't get to clean my car.... somehow couldn't attach the sprayer to the hose this time.

Got black bean sauce and made chicken with it... didn't taste much of a difference than just using soy sauce....

winter is here

It feels like summer was just here not too long ago and we entirely skipped fall and went straight into winter. It was only 7 degrees last wed or so... Quite a few ppl were feeling cold at work so we cranked up the heat... good that I no longer have to stand up to feel warmer.

Been looking at some skating vid on YouTube. Some of them were pretty good. I found a good demonstration of toe loop and realized what I was doing wrong. Also found some skating accident vid, pretty scary.

Finished "The Host". Good story.

Had family dinner in Fisherman Terrace, better than I had expected. I especially like the pumpkin dish with the chinese sausages (altho i didn't really like the sausages).

Each weekend seems to pass by quicker than the prev one.
This weekend I washed the car, the tank (including the cover), changed 1/2 the tank water, and did light grocery shopping at SaveOn and CityFresh.
Got insoles for my walking sneakers at shopper drugs mart... $20.99 altho they were listed as $18.99 only...
Got new insoles for my skates..... $40 @ Ice Level Hockey store... I remember I bought them for only $20 3 or 4 yrs ago at the figure skating store.... maybe they gave me a discount.
Was having ankle problem almost the whole week. After skipping running and a few skating sessions, it seems to be fine now.

Right shin really sore eventhough only ran once the whole week... might be ran a bit too hard on the track and not used to running after a whole week of skipping it.

Went to renew house insurance... and they're closed on Sun... kinda regretted that we didn't stay with the other insurance place that opens 7 days a week.

Went to Les's wedding on Sat. It was fun. The church was very beautiful and the ceremony was short. We're very happy for him.
Banquet was at Vancouver Hotel. All his friends at our table (which btw is the farthest away from the Head table) all look very familiar. They all look like some actors/actresses that I've seen on TV.

Had family dinner on Sun.
We had roast beef with very lean gravy and meshed potatoes.
The cat doesnt' like me anymore.

great weekend

Had a great weekend.
Went to Sun's adult nite skating session... not too many ppl but had 2 annoying hockey ppl.
I still prefer my weekday session more... however I'm now no longer the only skater on the ice.... but still better than tons of kids.
Looking forward to Feb Skate Continentals, still waiting for the individual event tickets to be out.

Saw "Dark Knight" finally! It's SO GREAT!! Heath is SO talented! I wanted to see it again... there were some parts that I didn't quite get..eg. why would he need to break into his own lab.... etc

Very busy with facebook lately, fluff treasure hunt is on. I finally found a Green Ya-Rubly after 298 gems and a Red Ya-Rubly after a few more gems. Now I'm looking forward to a Yellow or even Lengendary Ya-Rubly.. hehee... me greedy.

nice weekend

Had a pretty relaxing weekend. Not too much grocery shopping.
Had mid-autum festival with family and relatives. Got mooncakes from uncle.
Work was ok altho busy but found a big problem on Mon.... and no idea how to solve it.
Skating is going good. My clockwise backcrossover is now way better and I've a new understanding about double loop.... ohhh i'm so close to getting it now.... just need more guts and speed and height.

Grocery shopping week

All weekend spent on grocery shopping mostly. Been to Superstore and Zellars twice. Also visited Langley Farm Market, Shopper Drugs Mart, and Save-on.
Got some new cleaning stuffs, Vim Ox-clean for floor, Vim Gel for bathroom, and Green Works multi-surface cleaner for the granite countertop. I was so excited about the Ox-clean that I used it right away. Certainly didn't need to rinse like it claimed but still needed to wipe it afterwards. Saved me at least half an hr to an hr anyway.
Got some unexpectedly expensive almond..... thinking that if I got it at the bulk section it'd be cheaper.... guess not..... ended up $7.XX .... i should really double check next time that it really is $14.XX per kg. Also thinking that Romaine for .98 ea is cheap.... but found out later that it's only .58 ea in Langley Farm Market.
Passed by Big Crazy while on the way to Superstore, they had the same almond cookies that City Fresh for $3.XX for only $2.99.
Found some really good deals at Shoppers Drug Mart. They're having organic this and that for sale. Got some Mediterranean herb 8-grain organic crackers for only $1.47 and organic mini honey grahram for only $1.99.
The lesson for this weekend is:
- cleaning stuffs go to Superstore
- veggie go to Langley Farm Market
- crackers and snacks go to Shoppers Drug Mart.

Movies saw: Kung Fu Panda, Nanny's Diary, Mummy 3.

Finished reading "Breaking Dawn". Started reading "The Host".

Went to driving range once, I suck. The latte there was really good, wouldn't mind going there again.

Went to the lantern festival w/ friends on Stevenston Hwy. It was quite good, except for some lame ones. It was like watching xmas lights but not as cold.

Drove to Surrey to help out getting rid of the old car. Finally!!! I think it's a better choice to get the bikes instead of the bus passes... but then we don't bike much.

Did a whole lot of clean up during the long weekend.... but the fridge still stinks... from the chives. .... the baking soda + lemon combination clearly wasn't enuf. I'd try to finish the chives and pack the rest of the veggie away in a casserole container tonite....

Ran once on the track during the weekend. They were painting the track and we had to turn around much earlier than before where they only had the gate blocking a section of the track.... This morning it's all fixed. They even had part of the gate opened, but only for 1.5 lane (so u have to "line up" to get across).

Went out once for lunch this week, the tiny Taiwanese restaurant across from the chinese market. We had Tan Tan noodles, sesame pocket-bun w/ pan fried beef, and pan fried bun w/ chicken. It was so good.

Tried the PC chicken and rosemary ravioli... it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Still have half of it left, I should go get some pasta sauce to finish it up.

Woke up at 5 this morning, half an hr before my alarm, and made coffee and lunch.... but someone forgot to bring his lunch.....

My Weekend

Had another awesome weekend.
Went shopping in Richmond Center and Lansdown.
Watched quite a few movies this week, "Made of Honor", "Nim's Island", "Hell Boy 2", and "Iron Man". "Iron Man" is my favourite.
Made Tilapia last nite with mango passion fruit and cranberry sauce and some boiled brocolli.
Made Chai Tea Latte this morning, with one of the 3 Chai Tea stock that we got from my in-law. I didn't see any expiry date on them and it tasted fine... altho they'd been in the fridge for more than half a year.... I boiled some milk and put in the Chai Tea and some vanilla beans (that I got from William-Sonoma) .... I almost wanted to make cream brulee again... but I looked at the recipe again and decided that it really isn't that healthy... maybe I should make some chai tea jello or sorbet instead.

NICE weekend

Had such a nice weekend, felt more like a vacation than my real vacation. I was so confused this morning as to whether or not it's a workday...

Went hiking with friends in UBC Pacific Spirit Park. It took about 2 hrs to complete. Besides the forest and the Dachshund that we saw with one of hikers, there really isn't much to see there. The road was flat and easy but there were too many rocks on the trail .... very easy to trip over.

Before the hike, we went to a place called "Modern Burgers". It has oldies decoration. I ordered a "Burger Only" Steak Burger. It was pretty good, juicy and not burnt.

After the hike, we had dinner at my friend's place and watched Olympics. None of us felt like playing Wii.

Sun was just as much fun as Sat. Went to Superstore in the morning, then church, then went to Aberdeen center and bought a Orange Chocolate mousse cake. They were having a show about organic farm. They set up a mini rice patty field with about 20 yellow ducklings (exactly like the baby bath toy) in it. They were SO CUTE!!! Besides the farm expo, "Cinemazoo Animal Agent" is also having a show. I saw snakes, lionhead rabbit, chincilla, turtles, frogs, and even chrocodile. It's very interesting. They use those animals for TV/movie/commercial and use the revenues to take care and save more animals.

In the evening, went to John's company's picnic. There were about 6 of us and a kid. The kid was quite cute, about 2 yrs old.... a bit whiny sometimes. We had salad (in a piece of lettuce), fish (halibut i think), asparagus, and risotto (with lemon in it, very refreshing). They all liked the orange chocolate cake that I brought. Besides the hot and muggy weather, it was a nice evening. I'm looking forward to their xmas gathering.

post vacation

vacation mood is still lingering after 3 days....
it's been really hard @ work... i feel like i'm 3 times slower than normal...

shopping mood is still lingering as well.... however.... i was able to restrict myself to buy things that i need... or john needs... well .. except for the stephen meyer's books....
either way.... spent too much $$$ this mth.

i'm onto the 3rd book in the stephen meyer's Bella series.... it started to pick up around the 2nd book.. the 1st book was just ok

hurt my toe on sat... so didn't get to run at all during the weekend... fortunately it seems to be healing quite well and i was able to skate on mon and run today.... my backward crossovers seem to be getting better these days but my "double loop" is utterly and totally gone.

Vacation

It's been a nice short vacation.... it's sad that it's ending so soon.
We had our very first anniversary.
First, we went to Capilano. I've been wanting to go there for a long time. and yes... i should have borrowed my sis's camera.

It's extremely wobbly. People tend to walk on one side. The tree top adventure.

Anchored with this

Lookout point

Lil free performance

Snack by the window @ the Bridge restaurant

For supper, we went to Stevenston village and had seafood.

Seafood platter appetizer

Hot Thaihouse curry bowl

Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream

Mango mousse
Pay the bill

Dandruff Car

Took a sick day off on Tue... sore throat then slight fever. I felt much better in the evening and was able to attend to my ex-coworker gathering.
Bought a pair of slippers in Lansdown, half price about $6 after tax. It's very comfortable, it has an arch support.
Worked on proofreading John's assignment... gave up around page 20.... out of 222 pages.... It literally gave me a headache.

Finished my design doc @ work. Finished the core part of implementation. I hope that I will be able to finish everything by Thurs so that I can take my days off starting Fri at peace ... or at all....

Worked out Tue evening, Wed, Thurs, and Fri morning. My back is now killing me. Either from the eclipse or from sitting funny next to my sofa... but most likely it's the eclipse machine.

Finally washed my car at my parents' place (and had 3 painful back "spasm" while kneeling down to wash the bottom part of the passenger doors ... but afterwards it's fine) and discovered that my car was affected by the incident in Nov last yr.... "

It has been determined that the substance is Hydrochloric Acid; however, there has been no determination as to where this substance is coming from. The investigation is still active and the next step is to find out what company in the area is behind the leak of the substance.

ICBC is working closely with the GVRD to determine where the chemical is coming from, once this is determined, they will need to work with that responsible company to have this stopped. This may be a lengthy process and until this happens, the Hydrochloric Acid will continue to be airborne.

This chemical damage is quite common and is no cause for alarm. The suggestion from ICBC is not to have any repairs done to your vehicle until after there is a stop to the leak. Additionally, I will remind you that you have 2 years from the date of the damage to submit a claim, but that you are obligated to let ICBC know as soon as you notice damage on your vehicle.

Looks like I have 2 yrs to submit the claim.... hope I can repaint my car..... what a hassle...

I find that it's actually quite easy to wash car..... much more so than washing a fish tank, requires half an hr less of time. I should be able to keep this up from now on.....

another relaxing weekend

Total indulgence this weekend.... did absolutely nothing other than relaxing.
Went shopping at Richmond Center. Practiced self-restrain and only bought 2 piece of clothings and a cheap pair of sun glasses and a pair of extremely comfortable sandals from ALDO ..... originally the sales said she would gave me 10% off because of the tiny chip at the front of the shoes... but after she found out that it's already on sale... she just gave me the original discount 30%.... i asked if she could give me the 10% off on top of the 30% off... she said no..... but it was the most comfortable fitting sandals that I've ever tried on... so i suck it up and bought it.... maybe if John were there... I'd get more discount off....

Met with parents in Richmond Center... so ultimately ended up having dim sum with them. It was quite nice.... it's been a while since I've had dim sum.

Finished "Wheel of Darkness". It was ok... not as enticing or mysterious as the other ones in the Pendergast series. I bought it in Chapters... which was stupid cuz superstore has it for 20 or 25% off....

Started to get sick on Sun morning... sore throat.... still sick Mon.... but able to drive John to airport. South Terminal is way easier to get to than the other one.

Released build, beta, @ work.... started on design for a small enhancement.

Great Weekend

The weather continues to be awesome, except maybe a bit too hot. Didn't go swimming.... kinda afraid that I might get headache again.

Project @ work is about done.... just released the hopefully final release on Mon. Didn't do much work work during the weekend, only did 2 hrs each day... managed to find another bug and put in the fix for the Mon release. The bug was from one of the fixes that my coworker did ... sometimes I feel like a "code janitor".
There was power outage @ work last last Friday but only lasted an hr or so. Speaking of power outage, there's power outage yesterday in downtown caused by an underground fire/explosion.

Went to Richmond Center!! It's been so long since I've went shopping for sth other than GROCERY.It's so nice there.... all air conditioned and stuff. Got some snacks and a pair of legging.
Went to HMV ... was hoping that I could sample Leona Lewis's and Katie Perry's CD... but those were not on the "sample machine".
Also went to Chapters and got "Wheels of Darkness" paperback version! Been waiting for that for several mths ... so glad that it's finally here. After watching so many online TVs and movies... it's quite refreshing to read something on paper and not on the monitor.

Saw Juno ... parts of it .... don't really like it.