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:

On the market

So why the sudden outburst of blog posts, you ask...

It's week 2 of unemployment, and blogging makes me feel like I'm working. And it's a good distraction from the not so fun job hunting.

It's been more of a holiday, as the initial weeks usually are. I've been trying to be constructive with my time which was going very well until this week where I allowed myself to indulge in lounging-around-in-pjs sort of behavior.

So far, I have been exercising every single day (bar yesterday, and possibly today). I've even started swimming... I bought a skipping rope with weights on the handle, which is very cool. And I tried the running thing, but nah, I'm not a runner. Squash is still a weekly activity, and I sampled a boot camp which highlighted how badly I need to wake my abs up.

I even have a TASK LIST. Every time I think of something that needs to be completed, from housework, to admin, to researching, or calling home.. I whack it on my list. Helps me stay focused. My list is going strong, for every item I tick off, there's always more to add. I'm scrubbing the bath tub today. And packing for the weekend in Montreal. Perhaps I will get around to picking up my library book. See, I'm feeling constructive already, thinking about all this.

All in all, it's been good so far, no complaints yet. Except for the fact that I have not heard a peep from any of the resumes that I have submitted.

I did meet a recruiter yesterday though, and he seems promising, even if the market doesn't. This guy called me consistently throughout last year, but my contract always got extended. So now that I need work, I finally get to meet him. He's prob one of the best recruiters I've met so far (although I do reserve the judgment till he gets me a job).
- First up, he gave me an agenda - never have I been given a meeting agenda by a recruiter.
- He gave me history on the company.
- He asked me for my interests and preferences. Where I want to go in life. It's unbelievable the number of recruiters who do not even ask if you are interested in a job - they just assume they are a god-send for calling, and you want to lick up everything they dish out at you.
- He seems to know the difference between various types of BAs, and didn't lump us in the same pool, which is very refreshing. So many recruiters try to whack me in a Reporting BA role, or a System BA role... when I tell them I'm a Process BA. They clearly don't understand that the role of a BA is as clear as mud, as is the role of a Consultant.
- He appreciates the significance of the projects I've worked on, even when I didn't play it up. This is when I know that they actually understand the project environment and complexities.
- And he gave me some fantastic tips for turning an interview around. I think I do ok at interviews (except the time I had an argument with a KPMG Director), but he had some great tips that I am keen to try out next time. I'll let you know if it works.

The only negative is that, after 2 hours of talking, he doesn't have any opportunities for me just yet! He seems keen to place me though, so we'll see.

So anyways, if you haven't noticed yet, being unemployed and alone most of the day makes me very talkative. Just be thankful you're not on the other side of the phone coz I was able to call you at whim!

Blogging for a cause

I came across this this other day in the papers, and thought it was an absolute brilliant idea! I found your camera, is a blog dedicated to cameras that have been lost and found. If you find a camera, you can email some of the photos on the memory to this blogger, who will post them weekly in the hope that someone will recognize the photos, or the people in the photos.

Quite nifty, I say. I have never lost a camera, but would be in tears for sure if I did. I was in tears when I accidentally deleted all my photos when in Prague. But that was due to stupidity, and a beer... I doubt there is a blogger out there who can save that.

What the???

I am terrible with languages. The only subject I was ever stressed about in school was Japanese, because it's all memory work.

When traveling, phrase books do not help, G always laughs at my pronunciation in English, I doubt I will be better in Spanish. I try not being one of those loud mouth, ignorant tourists that refuse to speak anything but their own language, but I am... sort of, in a very apologetic way. I smile, look guilty... and I get by.

So thank goodness when they have English translation on the menus:

The new sky dive

Because I have been sharing my scooter woes of late, I hope you don't mind me sharing my latest achievement. I rode to the mall today!! Not just the grocery store that is within walking distance, but a real mall! My scooter and I are starting to go places! *grin*

That road - Eglington, that I was trying to cross when the SUV ran the red lights... I actually rode on it today, which is a huge achievement for me because I was terrified of traffic, let alone ride on a major road. I've never ridden at 60kms before, nor on a 3 lane road each way. The roads were seriously bumpy, so I was a bit wobbly at first, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.

When I got there in one piece and parked, I forgot to congratulate myself. Instead, I was walking around with a knot in my stomach, just thinking of the ride home. The last time I felt so sick in the stomach, was when I jumped out of a plane sky diving.

To encourage myself (yea right), I bought a pretty little top from Anthropologie, my new fave store. I did my miniature grocery run (the eggs did not crack in my bumpy ride), and made it home!

Next major destination - downtown! I think my stomach will plead for a break. We'll leave it for another day.

Back in the drivers seat

Thanks for the emails after my little scooter incident. I feel loved, even though it's a few time zones away!

Just to assure you, I hopped back on the scooter the following day, even if it was for a small spin to get lunch. I thought it was important not to let it get to me. Whatever doesn't kill me will make me stronger!

I have a back log of stories and places to share. Now that I am unemployed, I'll have more time to share them! They'll be much lighter I promise.

Green means Go

I just got back from riding my Vespa. I have started riding on the roads now, because figure eights in a car park is no fun. Still not very confident, I'm just riding around the neighborhood... we live in a nice young family type of area, drivers in their fancy cars and baby seats are generally polite, so I feel relatively safe.

Today, I decide to expand my territory - it's only the third time I've taken the Vespa out on my own. I haven't really crossed any main roads yet, and today I was feeling adventurous. I mapped out my route so I don't have to be indecisive or get lost. I was feeling good.

I was at a set of traffic lights, waiting to cross Eglington, one of the major roads in the area. I was a little worried about the lights not changing. Yesterday, I was sitting at a set of lights and I missed three changes because my Vespa and I aren't heavy enough to trigger the sensors. I didn't want to have to park my Vespa, run to the pedestrian crossing to manually trigger it, so I was very pleased that an Audi TT approached the lights on the other side of Eglington. It was going to turn left onto Eglington. I had right of way.

The lights changed green, I notice the TT was indeed respecting my street presence. A young mother and her nanny started gathering their pram and bags to cross Eglington. I throttled, and started crossing the intersection. The first little mental obstacle on my carefully planned route. Tick.

It was not until I was in the middle of the intersection, did the pat-on-the-back get thrust away by a heavy lurch in the stomach. Words can't describe the feeling when you are on a scooter, fully exposed, and a mother of a SUV is speeding through a red light, right at you.

The few times I have been close to a major collision I have felt a wave of calm pass over me. Not sure if it is just the mind being numb, the body expecting the worse, or a sense of resignation. In that split second, somehow, instinct gripped the throttle, thank god, thank god I did not slam on the brakes.. because I kept crossing, and the SUV kept sliding, missing the back of my scooter about a metre or so. I'm not sure, and I wasn't about to stop and check. I was in such shock I had to drive a few hundred meters away before I was willing to stop the Vespa and take a deep breath. I have never, never felt so lucky in my life. That dick of a SUV driver has never been so lucky in his/her life. I would have been toast for sure if they had hit me. The young mother, her nanny and young child would have been toast if they didn't paused a few seconds to gather their stuff before crossing the road. At least four lives would have bee wasted because of some reckless driver.

I continued riding, coz I was determined not to let a freak near-accident waiver my confidence and deter me from riding. But in the end I cut it short. Petrol was running low and I didn't have the stomach to venture onto more main roads to fill the tank.

It was only until I got home, parked the scooter, then it hit me hard. The thought of what would have happened if I had slammed on the brakes. The thought that I had so much ahead of me, and how close I was to losing it.

I called a friend coz G doesn't answer his phone when he's working. She calmed me down, but even as a write this I'm still crying. I don't know, I guess it's incidents like this that makes me want my family and close friends. What if? Would they have flown over? Would they even know? Does life go on? I am sure it does. But what if?

Anyways, I feel a bit better now, getting it all out. I wish I had a shoulder to cry on though, coz my t-shirt is taking a soaking.

And I'm going be pissed if I can't put my new leather riding jacket to good use. My low scooter confidence has taken a beating, but I'm hoping tomorrow is another day. I'm not ready to tap out, yet.

17 Days...

... into Spring and it starts snowing again. Big flurries followed by even bigger rain pellets. It's so windy there's no point even having an umbrella! =(

Can't wait till Friday when I jet off to South American 20 degree weather!

Knowing your Friends

Speed is not my friend. Call it a confidence complexity, a trust issue, whatever the case, Speed and I have never hit it off.

It started on the bunny hill in a world class ski resort in the Rocky Mountains. While 5 year olds were embracing Speed, I sat on the side, taking deep breaths before throwing myself down the run. I was a skeptic. Come to think of it, I'm not friends with Turns either. Turns and I, one sided relationship. It took me a while to become acquainted with Turns, a good few seasons actually. For a long while, I could only turned one way. The right way. It took a lot of stacks and bruises to finally turn left. Deep breath, b-i-g circle.

Since we're on the topic, I'll admit, I'm not friends with Two Wheels either. Or maybe it's called Balance. When it comes to wheels, the more the merrier.

So I don't really know what overcame me when I decided to purchase a Scooter. After a long winter, we finally picked it up.

And, I fell off within half an hour. Speed laughed, so did Balance. My poor knees weren't so happy. My Jeans and I became best mates.

When I finally overcame the whole Balance thing, and let the machine drive me in a straight line, I needed to face Turn. I was told that I needed more Speed. Damn. When I finally overcame Turn, I found I could only turn one way. Right. By the time I managed to turn left.. I felt deflated and sore like snow boarding, and my arms were lead like I was boxing non stop for ten hours (this is the same person who gets blisters on their hands when riding a bicycle). But I turned!!!

Slowly, I am getting used to it. I need a little more control, a little more confidence. As for Speed and I... we're slowly making it work. I'm only at 25kms, but I'll get there eventually.

Here are some pics of my new toy. Look out for canary yellow if you're on the road!


The best part about owning a Scooter? This is how much it cost to fill a tank:

Who says Accountants are Boring?

I studied Commerce and majored in Accounting. I was once upset with not getting an Accounting scholarship. Later, I refused to do my CA. My Accounting career lasted a whole 9 months - I quit my Auditor trainee ship at a Big 5 to become a really bad Developer. You can say I am either an expert judge of stereotyped professionals, or hold a somewhat biased view. I've studied and worked in both Accounting and IT, and know some very cool people. I have a lot of Accounting and IT friends, and they are neither boring nor geeky (that's not what I tell them). I'd like to think that I'm not boring or geeky. Stereotypes suck.

Until I met my first Accountant. Potential Accountant. Potential because I walked out thinking he was the most boring person I've met, and coincidentally fit the Accountant stereotype like a glove.

Although I initiated the inquiry about his services, I expected that him, being the professional in this relationship and I the client, would lead the meeting. Instead, he leads me into a dark meeting room and sat there waiting for me to start. I had to nod at him after I finished rambling to prompt him to start talking.. which ended up in mumbled monotone questions, head down, and a few neat squiggles on the page. I didn't even realized he had asked me 'how Toronto was treating me'. I blinked and asked him to repeat because I could not believe such pleasantry could come out so dull. His response to my animated reply was no better.

Since he wasn't offering me any information, I did the asking. I felt like I was at work, digging with a million questions, trying to piece together fragmented information to understand the reason for something because the person could not just simply tell you.. "this is what happens and this is why". What frustrates me is when I get the answer.. "this is what happens, that's the way it is"... "what do you mean why?". Just like at work, I have to coax and cautiously detour around defensiveness.

It's bloody hard work, and a headache. I thought people paid accountants to give advice and guide them in their decisions. This dude wanted me to pay him $325 to prepare my taxes... and that involves me to handing over my spreadsheet with macros and built in formulas that calculated my invoices and cash flow for the year, so he doesn't have to charge me for bookkeeping!

To think the hour I took off work to meet this guy would have been better spent and more stimulating reading Canadian Tax Law.

I'm a believer of the stereotype. I'm an exception. So are my friends. We must have skipped one too many Accounting lectures.