It's all in the shoes

G does not shop much. He has unquestionable dedication to a small number of brands.
This is his latest purchase:



I know, it's pretty geeky to ride a Vespa and own Vespa shoes... but I was pretty impressed with the detail. So impressed I gave it a photo shoot. It's got the Vespa badging, the lines at the back of the shoe mimics the vents at the front of the scooter, and the sole is just like the floor mat! I was a bit disappointed Adidas didn't make a women's range... so, I had to make do with Stella McCartney ballet flats instead...

The Hangover

If you haven't seen The Hangover already, go. Go now!
It is hilarious... I'm pretty picky with my movies, and I hate washroom humour so typical in comedies these days. Washroom humour this is not... I love it because it is so random if not realistic, but hey... everything goes in Vegas!



It reminds me of the time we left the to-be-bride past out in the cab - it was actually in the same driveway at Caesar's Palace - we were all so blind drunk we forgot her in the cab and she was too buggered to call out to us!

Anyways, I'm still working on convincing my closest and dearest guys friends in letting me attend their stag... peoples...??

Tennis Ho

Today I am a tennis ho.

North Americans here have a concept of Jack & Jill before a wedding. Where the guys and the gals come together for a meet and greet before the big day. Some people go as far as running casino games, selling tickets etc to raise money for the couple.

Today is just a meet and greet - Golf Pro's and Tennis Ho's.

Personally I hate stagettes, showers and anything in between. More than anything, I hate freak'n dress up parties. Lucky me, North Americans love it and go to great lengths to play the part.

Tennis ho not happy.

Certifications - just take my money

I have always been discouraged by certifications.

It may have been initiated from good intents, but somehow it has evolved into a fantastic money making vehicle that is capitalizing on society's notion that you need a piece of paper, and a lighter wallet to prove that you are qualified. Does being 'qualified' indicate you can apply in real life?

I'm studying Lean Six Sigma. I could have paid thousands of dollars and signed up for an official course which I am sure will be a good, but I opt for a cheaper alternative, a self-study online course that will give me a certificate at the end of the day for USD$500. For me, it's a choice - I forgo a better quality course for the sake of affordability and flexibility. But to a recruiter or an employer, it doesn't matter how much money I paid, how much learning I achieved, or how much they will benefit from the application of my skills... to them, it's a line on a resume. A stamp to say I'm 'qualified'.

To achieve this certification, all I need to do is read a text book and answer 25 multiple choice questions for each chapter. And this is an example of a question:

To answer, it requires no testing of my knowledge, no application of a formula. It doesn't even provide me context in order to work it out. All it requires, is the ability to work my finger through the pages of the assigned text, and find the one bullet-point example. Trust me, it does not require any smarts whatsoever, just the ability to compare two sentences word for word and fill in the blank.

And because of this primary school grade 3 skill, I am going to get a nod of approval where someone is looking for Lean Six Sigma skills.

I'm hoping I get more out of this at a personal level. The exam is not an indication of what I want to achieve. But it annoys me to know that there are such high demands for certifications out there, and what a joke some of the acceptable certifications are.

It's sad, some of these certificates really undermine education and learning. But at the end of the day, these are just my views. I still need to fork out the dosh in order to validate my 'qualification'. *sigh*

Reality TV hits home

I'm not a TV junkie, especially when I used to only have 5 channels at my disposal. One thing G could not get over when he lived in Sydney, is the lack of channels, particularly sports channels. I'm still not a TV junkie, but now with hundreds of channels at my fingertips, it will still be difficult for me to go back to 5.

My fave channels are HGTV and Foodnetwork.

HGTV (Home & Garden) because of all the design shows there are that you can imagine - and if you didn't know, at one time I was contemplating studying architecture or interior design - but practicality (and the commitment factor) got the better of me. I did Commerce where I can change jobs and industries at whim. Tuesday nights are usually a night in for me - 'Design Tuesdays' on HGTV with a few of my fave design shows back to back! G gets a involuntary break from TSN Tuesday nights. And when I'm unemployed at home, my lunch break is always 1pm - Divine Design with Candace Olsen!

And Foodnetwork for obvious reasons - I live and dream about food, I'm more aware of this problem now that I live away from home. Some people lie awake at night thinking about life issues, I lie awake thinking what I should cook the next day.

Anyways, I digress. The whole point of this entry is that I am ECSTATIC that my close friend Jany is on a reality show called Design Star on HGTV! This is the girl I went to Montreal with recently, who quit corporate life in Finance, traveled the world by herself and pursued her passion in interior design. I admire her courage, and so proud of her achievements, and is absolutely certain that there are many more to come!

This woman was never trained, but taught herself interior design. She has this most amazing ability to fill a room fit for a star, within an very affordable budget. This is what I admire. As with fashion, I always believe that anyone can look fantastic if you always splurge on labels and follow fashion fads (if you don't, that's another issue), but to be able to look like you walked off a magazine cover and not have spend a ridiculous amount of dosh is an art in itself. This is Jany Lee!

The great news is (apart from the fact a dear friend is on TV!), is this year, one of the judges on the show is Candace Olson (re: 1pm unemployed lunch break). The bad news, Design Star is airing on US HGTV, not sure if we'll be getting it on HGTV Canada! =(

Special guest

We found this little unexpected guest at G's parents doorstep:

It was so cute, much smaller than my fist, it was more like a rat than a rabbit.

Failed...

... my road test =(

Very, very disappointing, especially since we had to drive both Percy (the scooter has a name now), and G's car for 1.5 hrs to get to the test center because we can't double up yet. G passed with flying colors, I should have done everything without problems, but my nerves got the better of me. I've never been this nervous about anything else before!

At least G passed and we can double up and drive at night... we can take Percy to places now! That is if G still wants to ride after his 3.5 hour commute today.

Violated

What annoys me more than people trying to rip me off, is when I actually fall for it. I let my guard down, question my initial judgment, take a leap of faith, and say.. "here, take my money".

So where on G's PC yesterday, trying to sort out a million things. And this dang pop-up keeps popping up about some virus and compromised system. We have one of those freebie anti-virus programs, and it has worked well so far, but so many pop-ups made us a little worried. So G downloaded the free scanner indicated by the pop-up, and it detected a number of nasty un-friendlies on the system. For $69.95 USD, you get a years subscription to this advance security software, and for a bargain price of $89.95 USD, you get a lifetime subscription. The Asian in us got the better of us.

Mind you, I did do a quick scan of the product details, the site look legit, there were testimonials from PC World, Australian PC User, and it was even rated by Microsoft. Must be authentic.

Our saving grace was that I wanted to pay for it for tax deduction purposes, and when prompted to pay, decided to use my Paypal account. Very well so, since my receipt showed that the payment went to an individual named Aaron, with an email address totally unrelated to the product. A little wary, I finally did what I should have done before handing over the dosh - I Googled the product. I lost count of the sites that came up saying that this was a fake site and scam, and why I needed to deleted all traces of it's files from my computer.

I was pissed at my short lapse in judgement. I called Amex, I called Paypal, neither could do anything to stop the payment. For me to get my money back, I needed to prove that they did not provide the service, or there was something wrong with the service they provided. Very well, but how can I prove that they are a scam, and that the virus software doesn't work, especially if I refuse to register the licence key that was sent to me? I thought about all the loop holes in my case, and could not believe how smart these fraudsters were. It took me forever just to unearth the original url that had prompted my to make the purchase coz I went and deleted everything!

After not letting Paypal off the line with my infuriation, they suggested that I lodge a complaint to the seller.

The seller had no idea what they were dealing with. An unemployed analyst who has all the time in the world to do her investigations and build a case against them. A a dang good case she built!

All the investigations resulted in one polite complaint email to the seller through Paypal. I listed all my efforts at contacting their disconnected number, my reasons for being concerned with the product, of how I was pressured into buying it, and all the facts that would have supported the case should I decided take it further. My disclaimer was an apology if my allegations are not correct... but I'm just a concerned consumer. Oh, and I wanted a refund.

Less than 2 hours later, the refund was approved by the seller without comment or question.

It's not about the money, it's the principle of the matter. I'm also pleased that my work skills are also life skills. My two cents: Do your homework, and always say please.

Beware of this fake scanner:

Put your hands up....

... if you like updating your resume!

You can't see, but my hands are firmly squished under my butt. I find nothing more torturous than having to take my jammed pack three-pager out, and try to jam more in.

Just when you think you have it down pack, or simply downright bored looking at it, you get told that it requires more detail.

I made the mistake of asking the recruiter how I can improve it. He said it was good, and was what got him interested in the first place. Then he gave me pointers of making it better. Thinking that it was 'good' already, I assumed it was only minor changes. He called me up baffled as to what I had changed, and proceeded to send me a tried and proven sample. Which means... I have to make more updates. Urgh.

I literally breathed a sigh of relief when he finally approved it. I felt like I was handing in an assignment. I told him he better make my efforts worth it!

On another note, I've started studying an online course that I can do at my own pace, for a certification that I have been meaning to do for a while. I guess I have time to do it now. Day 1 was actually quite enjoyable, I find it difficult to write notes though, handling a pen just seems so foreign these days.

And I'm not looking forward to finding real estate on my three pager to squish this in when I'm done either.

Dining Montreal

Dining is one of my most favorite past-times, and Montreal is my favorite Canadian city to do it in. The food is amazing!

We hit Au Pied de Cochon based on recommendation, and boy were we grateful. The food around us looked so good, we couldn't decided and just asked the waiter to surprise us... which he did a great job of.

This most amazing seafood platter ever... everything was fresh as, and no fillers and fried stuff - except the fried soft shell crab, who doesn't like soft shell crab though??


And after a few more appetizers, we ended on this:

The picture does not do it justice... it was pancake, with a scallop potato, topped with melt in the mouth seared foie gras, drizzled in maple syrup. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I love Montreal! It's vibrant, it's romantic, people are gorgeous, it's a shoppers paradise, and the dining and nightlife is almost as good as a crazy European city. If only I can speak french, and not have to swim through knee high snow in winter, Montreal would be the Canadian city of choice to live.

Keane does the T Dot

Our fave band Keane was over in T.O. recently, and I saw them live for the first time.

Tom, the lead singer has an absolute amazing voice, raw and live. Not sure how popular they are in the UK, but they're not that famous over here. Not usually a big fan of the British accent, it's something else when you hear it in Canada!

Anyways, I didn't see much of the show since everyone around us were like beanstalks, and I had a rather annoying display of PDA in my face throughout the whole concert. But I loved it anyways, maybe it's because I know and love every single song performed, this was the first concert where I didn't walk out shrugging.

Here are my fave rare glimpses of the stage: