January 3, 2008

  • Notes from the Latter Half of December...

    After the tumult of the first half of December, I tried to make the best of the rest of December.  To my disdain, it didn't get much better, but there were some notable moments in there.

    Wed, December 12th - Got my new suit.

    Thu, December 13th - the Science World Xmas Staff Party.  Had work that
    Sat/Sun the 15/16th, but I got the 16th off work so I could attend
    Patti's Christmas Music jam session over at her parents' house Norm and
    her friends, and thereafter go rock climbing with her & Quinton and
    their friends in the evening.  Gave Patti & Quinton, Lucy, Norman and Hailey their presents (Monty Python killer rabbit plush, USB Snowbot with Cylon eye, bumper sticker; Red Konoha headband; Knight of Ni bobbing head; Black Knight bobbing head, respectively).  Patti found me this super-cool 3D notepad for her present.  Left Michelle's Secret Santa gift (the
    uberkool Finger Drums) on her desk after work on the 15th.

    Wed, December 19th - went to see The Golden Compass at Metro.  Even tho Anna and Amanda and Jane dropped out, Jane opted back in, came with Hollie, got Lap to come too; Jenn and Steve went with me and we exchanged our Xmas presents (they got me a full spice rack!  so cool.  now I'll *have* to learn to cook... I got Steve a 1Up t-shirt, Jenn a Mario plush, and both of them these cool little mini Mario's on question blocks that make sounds when you tap on them... wanted to get them matching 1Up t-shirts, but the "1UpCake babydoll" t-shirt was sold out at the time).  It turned out alright.  Jane had to leave after the movie, but Jenn, Steve, Lap, Hollie and I stayed after for food at TGI Friday's which was an enjoyable discussion about geeky sci-fi tv.

    Sat, December 22nd - baking party at Shari's.  Baked gingerbread cookies
    again with Shari, Camille, her friends Matt and Billy and Rose.  Watched
    the Patrick Stewart "A Christmas Carol" from 2006 (I think) that I'd
    rented.  Exchanged Xmas presents with them  (I got Camille and Shari personalized soap bars from Lush - orange swirly performery one for Camille, and a gold glitter bar for Shari - had a good laugh at that on the phone today (Jan 2nd) about that... plus a "Meh" tshirt and a notebook for Camille, and a gift card to Chapters for Shari). Got home at around 11:30pm or so, watched Underdog that I'd
    also rented and had to return the next day.  Had work the following
    morning (Sun).

    Went home to parents' on the 24th, Karen and Zhongxi too.  We had dinner
    at that place on Renfrew and Grandview first.  25th, we all went out for
    dim sum at the new Canto food place on the corner of Victoria and 41st
    with the green traditional tile awning that was once the Shanghai food
    place where I was first introduced to my love of shanghai wuo-teep pot
    stickers and zha zheng mien noodles.  We went to Karen and Zhongxi's
    house for turkey dinner and I got to test out my new chocolate fountain
    that I bought from my trip to the states.  Mmmm...  yum.  Karen
    programmed the whole family into the Wii so we could play Wii Sports (I
    did my own Mii) so I could break out the brand-new Wii.  Zhongxi figured
    out this technique of playing Wii bowling so that you can fire the
    bowling ball from your hand at super-speed and get almost 100%
    accuracy.  We got to meet Karen's new lovebird too that she recently
    adopted to keep Sing company after Dewy passed.

    Got back to the apartment at almost midnight on Boxing Day (Wednesday)
    and had to quickly unpack everything (kept me up really late) and get up
    early the next morning to meet parents and Charlie and his mother at the
    Club, which included dinner at that chinese place (Victoria?) at the top
    of Burrard, Downtown.  Dad dropped me off at Jordan's farewell party at
    the Keg downtown on Hornby after and then I bussed home and had the
    annoying experience of transiting mentioned in my previous post.  I
    think that headache was the start of my cold - didn't help that after
    the early mornings of the previous xmas week plus having to wake up
    early to open Friday through Sunday... save for switching my shift with
    Anna on Sunday so that I could come in at 12:45.  The extra few hours of
    sleep were very welcome.  I will leave out elaborating on the
    atrociously horrible Saturday.  Had to work on Monday, New Year's Eve
    too from 10:45-5:30, which left me tired and still somewhat under the
    weather, but at least looking forward to Denise & Mark's New Years party. 

    The party was fun - I bought Denise and Mark one of those long holiday
    candy tubes I've been eying for a while, got to play Guitar Hero for the
    first time thanks to Wilson's Wii, saw Linda and Simon, learned some
    beginner's Gai Wu mahjong thanks to Mark and Simon, played Wii Sports
    with Denise, Linda, Simon, and Mark's friend.  We all watched the
    countdown on tv in Seattle after mahjong - actually we were distracted
    at the countdown and missed the moment, but we did a retroactive
    countdown, which was amusing.  I commented on how very sad it was that
    Vancouver rarely has any festivities of that sort.  Mark's friends &
    Wilson played poker for a while, I only dealt since my head was somewhat
    foggy from the long work day and I hadn't played poker since Jenn and
    Steve's party a while ago.  Linda, Simon, Denise, and I slipped out
    halfway through the game to playWii Sports (we played tennis and bowling
    until Simon and Linda had to leave) in the other room, which was
    especially fun since they had that Wii in the other room connected to a
    projector.  After Linda and Simon left, we tried to figure out with the
    Mark's friend (Mansten?  The name sticks out b/c it makes me think of a
    butler, lol.) how to get my Mario Galaxy to work on his Wii, since it
    was a Wii from HK that just didn't want to run Mario.  Sadly, we were
    unsuccessful.  It was an enjoyable way to spend New Year's Eve, better
    than my usual fare, though it would have been better if I weren't in a
    daze from the long work hours and the lingering cold.  Oh well.

    Got home around 3:30am.