The 100th Post

Hello from Canada! I'm in my godparent's house in Coquitlam, British Columbia, which is about an hour from Vancouver. This place is simply gorgeous, hilly and snowy, and when it's all lit up at night it's really a sight. We came back from Whistler ski resort last evening.. that was an experience right out of a Christmas postcard. It started snowing on Tuesday while we were walking around the village. I never knew snowflakes were so tiny! At times, the snow came up to our knees. I had to keep hiking up my skinny grey jeans from Far East Plaza to keep the snow from slipping down my butt :)

I'm also writing this from my week-old MacBook. I'm still getting acquainted with it but I think it's true love. It's so convenient to have a camera and a microphone built in, instead of having a morass of wires taking up half my desk. This baby was required by the College of Education, since I'm starting the Professional Development Sequence next semester. Just in case some of you are thinking I'm on some crazy electronics shopping spree...

Since this is the HUNDREDTH post on this little blog, I'm gonna do somethin' special. Let's have a contest! It'll be simple. Since the year is coming to a close, why don't you tell me what 2007 means to you in 10 words or less. Like this: "For me, 2007 means [your 10 words or less here]." 

Post your entry on the COMMENTS part of this post with your name or a pseudonym, if you must. Make it funny, sweet, sappy, philosophical, cryptic, broad, narrow, whatever. Write a haiku if you want! Just don't be mean. Mean or offensive entries will be deleted because I am a happy person. The contest will end midnight on Dec 31, 2007. After that, I'll choose the best entry and the winner will receive a MYSTERY PRIZE (which just means I haven't bought it yet, but it will be cute, I promise). One entry per person. And if I only get entries from my immediate family, I'm gonna be sad and cancel the contest. Even if you don't usually tag, it'd be great if you could participate. So start submitting your entries now!

A Caption-less Christmas Post

My Silver Box of Joy

About an hour ago, I was in the school computer lab, trying to churn out a comment for my history class, when I decided to check the status of the Canon camera I ordered last Monday. I'd been eagerly tracking its journey from Pennsylvania through Tennessee to Texas this past week. This is what I saw on the FedEx website:

Date/Time Activity Location Details Dec 5, 2007 12:53 PM Delivered Austin, TX Left at front door. Signature Service not requested. 7:45 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery AUSTIN, TX (ARRGGHH!!!) 6:41 AM At local FedEx facility AUSTIN, TX 3:06 AM Departed FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX Dec 4, 2007 9:09 PM Arrived at FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX Nov 30, 2007 1:39 AM In transit MEMPHIS, TN Nov 29, 2007 10:54 AM Departed FedEx location LEWISBERRY, PA 2:19 AM Arrived at FedEx location LEWISBERRY, PA Nov 28, 2007 7:59 PM Arrived at FedEx location BETHLEHEM, PA 6:37 PM Picked up BETHLEHEM, PA 12:40 PM Package data transmitted to FedEx

So I jumped out of my seat and raced home, praying all the way that no one would steal my brand new camera. No one told me about the 'signature service'! I got to my apartment, ran up the stairs, turned the corner and... yes. A FedEx 'Padded Pak' along with a copy of the New York Times (which none of us ever ordered, but we get it anyway, which is great. But I digress). Whew.

I opened the package, opened the box, lifted the warranty card, Canon software and instruction manual, and there it was. Nestled snugly in its little styrofoam compartment, just waiting to be let out of its plastic covering and caressed by adoring human hands. The first thought I had was, "You're cute." Like a creepy guy at a bar. But there really isn't any other way to describe this:

Ever Ever After

Enchanted captivated me from its pop-up storybook opening sequence all the way to its swirly, girly ending credits with this song playing in the background:



I think I was smiling throughout the entire movie. And when it ended, everyone applauded. All of us hardened, jaded, hypercritical 21st century moviegoers were cheering for a princess film with a happy ending. It was pretty amazing :)
Kirsten put it really well in her movie review/op-ed piece. Click here to read it.

Senses

At JP's Java, waiting for the SSA meeting to start:

Smell of roasting espresso
Sound of quiet conversation and Jose Gonzalez's "Crosses"
Sight of fellow muggers
Taste of warm broccoli quiche
Touch of the soft leather couch and my laptop keyboard

Post-Thanksgiving: Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore...

Had a great time in Hutchinson, KS with the Kwas. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Be prepared for some very graphic shots of food. Thanks to Chris for some of the pictures. You can find more at Kirsten's blog.

Wednesday: On the road (this was probably somewhere in Oklahoma)

Healthy snacks

'Hutch'

Me and my fruit platter ;)

Char Kway Teow for dinner!

Great entertainment (the ones in the foreground at least)

A very naked stuffed turkey

Thursday: Kirsten making peach tea

Kirsten's mom prepared a feast! Rice, mashed potatoes, chilied corn, green bean casserole, stuffing with cranberries, pumpkin pie, gravy and Chinese-style chicken with mushrooms. Oh, and Cool Whip.

Friday: With our lovely hosts at Ken's Pizza, after shopping

It started snowing! (I chose the car to match my bag)

All ready to go out and play

With the shovelBrrr!

Kenaz doing most of the work

Don't you just love our snowman?

I do.

My snow-angel! (Beth: wink wink, nudge nudge)

Saturday: Bye bye, Kansas (let's play Spot the Snowman!)

Pre-Thanksgiving

It's that time of the year again. Just as the tests and final assignments pile up and threaten to overwhelm us, we are suddenly handed a lovely 5-day weekend... a moment's respite from the pressures of schoolwork. I'm exaggerating - this semester has been really consistent and well-paced so far. And actually, only Thursday and Friday are holidays, but all four of my Wednesday classes got canceled (i think 'canceled' looks better with 2 L's) because professors wisely predicted that none of us would show up anyway. So I am leaving with Kirsten, Kenaz and Chris at 4:30am Wednesday morning for a 10-hour drive to Hutchinson, Kansas, where K and K's parents live. Apparently there's not much to do there, but I'm looking forward to going to Wichita for the SALE TO END ALL SALES on Friday. They call it Black Friday here, "so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit)," according to Wikipedia. Stores open at 5am, and most people have queued for a while by then. Should be an experience, though I'm not exactly sure what to buy.

Another personal holiday tradition: buying the December issue of InStyle, which I can lovingly peruse for months on end. Even though ads take up half the magazine. It contains their annual Best Gowns feature, which I love.

I was looking forward to hosting John and Mel before I left for Vancouver on December 15 but it turns out my Rhetoric exam is fixed on the 14th and so I won't have time to show them around. Pity. It was really fun doing that with Munz last year. Wow, has it really been a year since then?

Since I have absolutely no photos, I will put up this very flattering one stolen off my swiss cousin Ching's blog. You have to click it to experience the full effect:

4 Lims and a Loh

I'll be back with Thanksgiving photos. In the meantime, take care and I miss you!

Across the Pond...

Quentin Blake is such a genius. Why can't he doodle on walls here? I would love to walk past this every day:

Apparently this is the Stanley Building at the new St Pancras Eurostar terminal in London. Xiaoen and Diane, please go take a look for me!

Chipmunks Trailer

The movie will probably be really bad, but this makes me laugh out loud. O how I love the Chipmunks!

In Praise of Mint and Chocolate

I feel like writing!
Last Sunday, what began as a simple request for JFoo to "fix my fringe" turned into a fully-fledged haircut. I was kinda like WHOA!! at first, but after a while I was glad he got carried away with his scissors. In fact, now I want it even shorter. You can assess the results below:

Me and Mr Hairstylist Extraordinaire

First pretty friend - Kirsten

Second pretty friend - Daph

Yesterday (Sat) Chris' Dad came over to our place and made a pot of VENISON STEW for us from the deer he had killed a few days before. As cute as Bambi and his friends are alive, they also taste pretty good simmered with onions and potatoes. Uncle also made his famous Hainanese Chicken Rice and cabbage soup. Mm-mmm.

Just finished watching 4.5 hours of Roots today for my Civil War class. And that's only half the mini-series. I was the only one who showed up for the screening so I watched it with my professor and we ate chocolate bars in between the episodes. I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. It wasn't visually stunning or anything (which is what usually attracts me), but the length of the series allowed for great character development - something you can hardly find in a 2 hour movie. I took a class on African-American history my first semester here (mainly because all the other classes were filled) and watching Roots really brought it all together for me. It's such a powerful story. Can't wait to watch the next three episodes.

Peppermint mochas are back! Christmas is coming! Mint and chocolate... such an amazing combination. After Eights, Girl Guide cookies... Someone should write a poem about the miracle that is the mixing of those two flavors. I nominate Fish (after reading her delightful little ode to words that end with 'ee').

Great song of the moment: John Mayer and Alicia Keys' Lesson Learned. Her voice is like silk. Can't wait for her new album. Check it out on YouTube. Also, Leona Lewis' cover of Snow Patrol's Run. So good.

Space Filler

Don't you think I kind of look like Matilda?

Courtesy of Uncle Song aka 'DJ Lo' aka King of festive YouTube playlists specially created to meet your every holiday need. For a small fee, I will pass on his amazing Deepavali and Christmas mixes to whoever wants 'em. Just kidding..

Ants

This is pretty cool. Yesterday I found out from my Rhetoric instructor that one of the most intriguing films I've ever seen - Richard Linklater's Waking Life - was filmed almost entirely in Austin. A year and a half ago, Angie sent me the VCD from Hong Kong and I remember I invited Weiting to come over to my place and watch it with me. I'm a big fan of Linklater's Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and School of Rock, but I was kind of baffled by Waking Life after seeing it. I think Weiting got a lot more out of it than I did. I think she went home and picked apart the entire screenplay or something.

The movie's basically a collection of vignettes, with dozens of people (including two main characters from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) musing about philosophy and life, and exploring the question: "Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-walking through our dreams?" While this would be absolutely riveting for someone like, say, Charles (are you reading this?) I kind of got lost amid all the existentialism talk. The thing I loved most was the animation. The filmmakers used a technique called rotoscoping, in which they animate over live-action film. They shoot an entire movie, then paint over it, frame by frame. Which makes for really interesting, fluid images. Here's a cute scene which I like:



So I watched a bit of it again today, and really enjoyed it, partly because I could pick out specific locations in Austin, like the State Capitol, the Subway below the Castilian, Quack's Bakery and more. There was one scene which was an actual existentialism lecture at UT by the late Professor Robert Solomon. The classroom and hallway looked really familiar. Actually the whole movie had a very Austin-y feel. There are several clips on YouTube if you're interested.

Yeah so watch the movie! It's definitely worth the 1h 40 mins. There are so many characters, and their faces and the backdrops constantly change in color and shape. You'll never get bored. Let me know what you think about it. Or at least watch Before Sunrise and Before Sunset... two of my favorites.

Halloween

Yesterday night became the Roaring Twenties, for me at least.

Went makeup shopping with Daph in the morning - I got my first bottle of liquid foundation! Got my brows waxed too (which, in my opinion, is less painful than plucking or threading). Then I headed over to Buffalo Exchange, which is only the coolest fashion thrift store in the world, and scored a pair of lovely black heels (the heels are transparent!) and the headband I'd been looking for for weeks. Pammy came over in the evening and we pooled our cosmetic resources and got down to work. It took us almost an hour!

Finished products:

Me, Daph, Pammy: The flapper, the pirate and the race car driver

Kirsten and Kim (who was our hairstylist): The flower garden (don't you love the sign?) and the gangster

Pammy and I tied for Best Overall Costume! Doesn't she look great?

A werewolf/ape?

With Kirsten

With Zach

The Merry Pirate Trio - Zach, Jan, Daph

There were many others, but my camera died halfway through :(

The get-up:

Dress: Bought it from Target in March. Was a little long, so I hemmed it up with 10 safety pins.
Fake pearl necklace: $3.99, Halloween store.
Flapper headband: $3.99, Buffalo Exchange.
Shoes: $12.50, Buffalo Exchange.
Black stockings: Sent by mail from Singapore (thanks Mom!)
Pink feather boa: $4.00, Goodwill.

Inspiration: This spread in the September issue of Vogue. I didn't get nearly as fancy as those ladies though!

Being vain at home with the webcam:
Till next time!