"OMG Dad's on FB!"

I have not spoken to my family for a month and a half. I think about calling all the time, coz I feel I should... but I'm usually too lazy, too tired, or I don't feel like speaking Chinese. Plus, sometimes it's quite depressing when you give up on this "they should call" battle and pick up the phone, only to reach Telstra's voicemail service.

The other day, I logged into FB to kill sometime, and low and behold, the person-you-may-know suggestion happened to be dad. The dad whom I haven't spoken to for months, coz he's never home even when my call gets through. My daddy who used to sign his emails to me with 'Regards' coz he didn't know the difference between work email etiquette and personal email etiquette. Who always causes Skype calls to twice as long coz half the time I am coach him through, or patiently waiting for him to take me off hold, or mute, or whatever was confusing him at the time.

I was so annoyed I found him on FB through a suggestion, yet so proud. Daddy is going high tech now!

***

Speaking of which, I received a surprise call from a dear friend the other day from the other side of the Atlantic (finally my phone rang!)... someone was thinking of me... I felt loved!

Puppy Shower

I've been to wedding showers, and baby showers... and truth be told, I'm not a fan.
Okaes, I hate showers... but it's not about me, and I try to remember this and not be a party pooper.

So you can imagine how excited I was when the girls wanted to organize a puppy shower. Yay puppy. Yay shower. What did I do to deserve this?

Atticus, the pup is a new addition to my girlfriend's family... and spoilt silly by his two mommies, his god mother, god father and offical aunt.

Surprisingly, he was well behaved, stayed away from excited licking and crotch nuzzling (unlike other dogs I know). If any dog deserved the hundreds of dollars worth of presents that was lavished on him for the main event, it was Atticus.

And here he is with the new outfit us girls got him. Pity I don't have a pic of his little sockettes he got for downtown strolling!

Surprise guest

What would make your wedding memorable?
The priest calling you, the bride, the wrong name in church? The chi chi country club with the valet parking and attentive service? The grand ballroom with no shortage of bling? The speeches that called the Kleenex? The best wedding food ever? The drunken guests draped over the open bar?

Or that one of your guests brought this new guy she is dating, who happens to be Ving Rhames?

That's my cousin and another guest taking a fan snap of him. I was too ashamed to ask for a photo because I had no idea he was a celebrity, let alone a star of Pulp Fiction. Plus I couldn't remember his name despite everyone repeating it for me. If it counts, that's G and I in the background of the photo though!

The bride and groom had no idea that Ving was the friend's date. Nor did they have any idea that they would bump into him again at their hotel after the wedding. It happened that he was staying at the same hotel, and was so gracious as to offer the newly weds his presidential suite for the night. How is that for wedding memories???

And here is the lovely bride with all her lovely ladies:

This is why...

... I won't keep pets

The tortured life of a herb box.

Passed!

Second time lucky, I finally passed my road test!

Never mind the fact that it was pouring rain, and the thunder gods were calling at me when I left the house in the morning. I was soaked down to my underwear, but it felt good to pass. To think that 4 months ago I had fallen off the dang scooter!

Next on the learning curve - taking a passenger so I can start scooting my friends around! G has been scooting me around and it's been fun. Parking anywhere is a definite bonus, not being able to drink is not. Neither is not being able to wear heels, but I will live. When I remember, I try not knocking him about with my helmet. Who would have thought that head-butting is an issue when doubling on the scooter!

T-Dot: So where the bloody hell are you?

One way to make me feel loved when I'm all by my lonesome on this side of the world is to come and visit me!!

I have had so many people tell me they are dropping by NYC... but, but... I live in T-Dot! It's only 1 hour away, I even offer to house and feed them, but still it does not entice. Perhaps I have not been selling it right. Have I been awfully harsh on the T-Dot?

Finally, I had friends visit - M&I! And may I add, there was no hard sell on my part. I think they actually came with the intention of seeing me! As a matter of fact, they were pleasantly surprised that T-Dot has a lot more to offer then they thought (there, that's my little plug). Surprises for all when you come!


It was sad seeing them go. The house felt all empty, and me a little homesick.

Next up, my cousin will be here from sunny Florida! Pity rain is forecast all weekend... err... at least it's something different for them...

Recruiter Gripe

I'm sorry, I just got off the phone with a recruiter and I need to gripe.
I've dealt with some good recruiters and some bad ones, but this one is the worse. I am fuming because he is so rude, does not give a sh*t whether I am interested in the role, or whether I even have the skills for it.

Let's be clear, he called me. I did not call him.

He wants a workforce planner on contract. Great. I have the word 'workforce planning' on my resume once. It was a unique deliverable, where I had to make a recommendation on the number of contact center staff to recruit, based on processes I designed, for a brand new operation that did not exist. By no means am I a workforce planning expert.

I don't even get a chance to squeeze in a word in the one sided conversation before he demands to know what my rate is. I'm like "hang on.." and proceeded to explain to him the extend of my workforce planning and how I may not be a suitable candidate, and he cuts me off with "yeah, yeah...". WTF?

So he approaches it from another angle. Do I have BI experience? I don't, and I have no remote interest in gaining. I'm pretty sure I was pretty damn clear. But he wants me to send my resume over asap so he can get the process started.

I asked: "So do you think I'm a good fit?"
His reponse: "To be honest, you are just so, so" (Halle-f*ing-lujah, thats what I've been saying all along), but still he insists: "Send me your resume at email rarara and we'll get the process started"

No 'please'. No 'thanks'. No 'what do you think?'.

I may need a job, but I don't need someone like that representing and selling me.

To top it off, I checked out their website, and I could have done a better job with website design and photography skills (and that speaks for a lot). Guys in cheap suits with fake poses and handshakes and stupid grins on their faces do not cut it.

DS Season 4

Remember how I mentioned that a good friend of mine is on reality TV show Design Star? It airs this weekend! I am so excited!!

Unfortunately, it's not showing in Canada... so I'll be relying on You Tube, or recorded shows throughout the season. The premiere is this Sunday, and we have another friend who is visiting NY promise to web cast it live for us over video conferencing!

Here's the promo for the show:



Jany has been busy busy with PR lately, like a real star!
She's was featured on Good Morning Texas with cheap and cheerful design tips, and was interviewed by a Dallas local paper.

Us gals here in T-Dot are super excited!!

Newfoundland

Newfoundland was the one province I missed out on in my last Canadian road trip escapade back in 04. I finally got to see it.

Dubbed as a cross between Iceland and New Zealand, Newfoundland did not disappoint. We decided to skip the major city of St John's and hit the west coast where Gros Morne National Park is famous for the amazing views. In particular, we were searching for this shot of Western Brook Pond:


This shot was the inspiration for the holiday. Unfortunately, you can only get this if you are hiking for 4 days, and 4 days was not an option. Enthused by our hikes in Patagonia recently, we decided on the James Callaghan trail - 16kms of the most strenuous trail at Gros Morne. This was our compromise:


Not bad... this was definitely the highlight for us. Mind you, they weren't lying when they said the trail was strenuous... the mountain is covered in a 'sea of rocks' which we had to swim through from the bottom of the mountain all the way to the summit. The hike up although tiring, was actually quite ok, but the hike down was much worse... my poor knees!!

But the view was rewarding, and the we saw moose!! Last time Chris and I was on the road for 3 weeks and not one moose... we encountered 6 moose in 5 days! We tasted moose before we actually saw them... in a burger!

We also saw arctic hare, and a wild fox. One of the tour guides said he had a polar bear knock on his home window once. We were sad not to have come across a polar bear.

Other highlights were lobster!! Our trip coincided with the annual Lobster Festival, what a treat! Lobster straight out of the ocean and cooked in sea water - G and I had one each going up the coast, and stopped by for more one the way back down. It was sweet, juicy and utterly divine.

We took a boat trip on Western Brook Pond (the pond in the first photo above) and checked out what used to be fjords before the pond was cut off from the sea. We also took another boat tour to see whales at close range - photos do not do it justice, these creatures are so big, yet all we can snap is their back.

We paid tribute to a slice of Canadian heritage not widely known - we visited the once viking settlement of L'anse aux Meadows, now a UNESCO heritage site. This was especially cool since it tied in with out taste of Viking history in Scandinavia last year, and to see evidence of it on our own shores!

And lastly, we also saw huge icebergs floating in the sea - amazing this is, the icebergs originate from Greenland where they broke off a glacier, and the current has carried it south, past the northern tip of Newfoundland! The icebergs we saw have been on their journey for 2 years for it to reach Canada. Pretty darn amazing.

Here are the highlights... check out the pic link on the left for more:

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: