Monday, September 25, 2006
From Tomorrow on...
There's something new about me. Starting tomorrow, there will be something to keep me busy. Please ask me if you haven't heard about it :) and care about knowing.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Vacation - Flight, Hotel, Car search?
Many friends have asked me for advice when it comes to flight search. I could say I'm experienced. I had a 5-yr long distance relationship (San Jose - Ottawa) and I had to learned how to find cheap flights to fly across the continent. How to find cheap flights? Here are my tips:
For Trips to Asia:
Internet pricing aren't the best. Just go to Chinatown and check out travel agencies one by one. As they need to stay competitive, they will usually give you a good price. You probably wouldn't need to shop more than two places. Unless you have a regular travel agent you go to who gives you good deal, you should at least get a second opinion from a different travel agency.
For Trips within Canada/USA:
First check a few well known online travel agency. These are my favorite ones:
Then, take note of the airline of the cheapest flight and go to the airline's website to see if they have the same or even cheaper deal. For Ottawa/Montreal to San Francisco/San Jose or vice versa, Northwest Airlines is often the cheapest airline. My second choices are United Airlines and Air Canada. They rank second on my preference list because they are member of Star Alliances, hence easy to collect either Mileage Plus or Aeroplan points.
If you need to add hotel to your trip, the above two sites seems to have good flight + hotel packages. Of course, nothing stops you here, you can also check other websites like www.expedia.com or www.tripreservations.com. If you book hotel alone, Orbitz seems to have better deals, from my experience. Do remember to read customer reviews on the hotels. We find them very useful. Just like for flights hunting, take note of the hotel you want to stay at and call them for a quote. You can even ask to match the online price you found.
Tired of searching websites one by one? Websites like Kayak, Mobissimo, and SideStep are travel seach engines... Yes, these search engines will browse travel sites to find the best deal available...
Want to learn more about how to save on trips or how to get even better deals? Visit flyer talk where frequent flyer shares their experiences or deals.
Finally, Rewards Canada and Frequent Flyer Bonuses are websites that provides informations on travel reward programs.
Hope all these tips help... Enjoy and travel safe!
For Trips to Asia:
Internet pricing aren't the best. Just go to Chinatown and check out travel agencies one by one. As they need to stay competitive, they will usually give you a good price. You probably wouldn't need to shop more than two places. Unless you have a regular travel agent you go to who gives you good deal, you should at least get a second opinion from a different travel agency.
For Trips within Canada/USA:
First check a few well known online travel agency. These are my favorite ones:
Then, take note of the airline of the cheapest flight and go to the airline's website to see if they have the same or even cheaper deal. For Ottawa/Montreal to San Francisco/San Jose or vice versa, Northwest Airlines is often the cheapest airline. My second choices are United Airlines and Air Canada. They rank second on my preference list because they are member of Star Alliances, hence easy to collect either Mileage Plus or Aeroplan points.
If you need to add hotel to your trip, the above two sites seems to have good flight + hotel packages. Of course, nothing stops you here, you can also check other websites like www.expedia.com or www.tripreservations.com. If you book hotel alone, Orbitz seems to have better deals, from my experience. Do remember to read customer reviews on the hotels. We find them very useful. Just like for flights hunting, take note of the hotel you want to stay at and call them for a quote. You can even ask to match the online price you found.
Tired of searching websites one by one? Websites like Kayak, Mobissimo, and SideStep are travel seach engines... Yes, these search engines will browse travel sites to find the best deal available...
Want to learn more about how to save on trips or how to get even better deals? Visit flyer talk where frequent flyer shares their experiences or deals.
Finally, Rewards Canada and Frequent Flyer Bonuses are websites that provides informations on travel reward programs.
Hope all these tips help... Enjoy and travel safe!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
How to Choose a Pineapple
For our honeymoon, we went to Honolulu, Hawaii and went to Dole Plantation. There, we had a chance to get lost at the world's largest maze and also tasted fresh sweet pineapples! We even learned how to pick a good sweet pineapple.
When choosing a pineapple, there are basically 3 things to look for:
Did you know? Pineapple don't get any sweeter after they are picked. That's why farmers have to harvest them when they are ripe. Like melons, pineapples don't store the starch in the fruit. Rather, pineapple plants store their starch in the stem. Hence, no starch in the fruit to be converted to sugar. Conclusion? Buy fresh pineapples and eat them fresh, no need to let them sit on the counter. :D
When choosing a pineapple, there are basically 3 things to look for:
- Firmness - You want a fresh pineapple, hence you want it to be firm.
- Smell - A fresh pineapple shouldn't smell. Hold it about a feet away from your nose and you shouldn't be able to smell it.
- Eyes - The eyes of the pineapple should be big and even from bottom up. If the eyes at the top of the pineapple is more or less the same size than the eyes from the bottom, it means it is fully grown.
Did you know? Pineapple don't get any sweeter after they are picked. That's why farmers have to harvest them when they are ripe. Like melons, pineapples don't store the starch in the fruit. Rather, pineapple plants store their starch in the stem. Hence, no starch in the fruit to be converted to sugar. Conclusion? Buy fresh pineapples and eat them fresh, no need to let them sit on the counter. :D
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Dawson College Alumnus
"It's a bad day when your school gets into the front page of CNN", said a friend to me this afternoon. For those who still don't know, there was a shooting rampage earlier this afternoon at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec. Yup, I went to Dawson College indeed. It's beautiful college, it was very clean and new when I attended school there.
This is not the first shooting at a Montreal college. We still remember Marc Lepine who killed 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique some 17 years ago on December 6th, 1989.
About two weeks ago, there was a hit and run rampage in San Francisco. It seems like there's no where to be safe... What can I say? My two advices:
This is not the first shooting at a Montreal college. We still remember Marc Lepine who killed 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique some 17 years ago on December 6th, 1989.
About two weeks ago, there was a hit and run rampage in San Francisco. It seems like there's no where to be safe... What can I say? My two advices:
- Make sure you have an insurance policy to protect your loved ones in case of your death.
- Live your life fully, so that you don't die with regrets. (Psst... for example, make sure you tell your mom that you love her, tomorrow might be too late...)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Where can Entrepreneur get help?
It's been already one week since my last post. I kinda feel bad for not updating for so long... but, hey... that means I've been busy and I found better things to do than staying at home (and watch crime shows on tv)!
On Wednesday, I went to the Entrepreneur Center (note that here, it's "Center" and not "Centre") in San Jose downtown. There, I was surprised to discover that there are many organizations helping entrepreneurs. There I found SCORE, SBA, and couple other organizations in the same building. SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is a non-profit organization where retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders volunteer their time to teach, coach, and counsel entrepreneurs. SBA (Small Business Administration) is a US federal government agency that provides support to small businesses. It was established after World War Two in the purpose of boosting the economy. I had the chance to speak and get valuable advices from both SCORE and SBA staffs. The knowledge that there's support and help available out there makes me feel good and even more attracted to the idea of small business ownership.
Then, I went to San Jose State University. It felt good to walk around campus with a backpack : I felt like a student again. I saw students chilling out reading books on a bench on a sunny afternoon. Other students were gathered doing street dance. Young female commerce students were baring skin trying to impress male schoolmates. I remember those days... days where my only worries were to do well in school, then I would be able to find a good job. I checked out two of their programs for their pre-req, program durations and tuition fees. Unfortunately, at this time in life, I don't think, I want to spend $10k-$40k on a degree.
On Thursday, I spent the whole day at the career counsultant, where I attended a workshop on interview. I had the chance to network with other clients.
Then weekend came, I was happy to spend quality time with my husband for the long weekend. We went around for furniture shopping. It's been 3 months that I have moved here and we still haven't been able to find a bedroom set to our liking. :(
Yesterday, we drove down to Monterey Bay and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We spent over 5 hours there... There was a lot to learn! I saw big tunas, sea otters, sharks, jelly fish... I had the chance to touch and feel a skate fish, a sea cucumber, star fish, shark eggshells... One of the most hidious fish is the sunfish.
That's it for now, today, I'm back to my routine...
On Wednesday, I went to the Entrepreneur Center (note that here, it's "Center" and not "Centre") in San Jose downtown. There, I was surprised to discover that there are many organizations helping entrepreneurs. There I found SCORE, SBA, and couple other organizations in the same building. SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is a non-profit organization where retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders volunteer their time to teach, coach, and counsel entrepreneurs. SBA (Small Business Administration) is a US federal government agency that provides support to small businesses. It was established after World War Two in the purpose of boosting the economy. I had the chance to speak and get valuable advices from both SCORE and SBA staffs. The knowledge that there's support and help available out there makes me feel good and even more attracted to the idea of small business ownership.
Then, I went to San Jose State University. It felt good to walk around campus with a backpack : I felt like a student again. I saw students chilling out reading books on a bench on a sunny afternoon. Other students were gathered doing street dance. Young female commerce students were baring skin trying to impress male schoolmates. I remember those days... days where my only worries were to do well in school, then I would be able to find a good job. I checked out two of their programs for their pre-req, program durations and tuition fees. Unfortunately, at this time in life, I don't think, I want to spend $10k-$40k on a degree.
On Thursday, I spent the whole day at the career counsultant, where I attended a workshop on interview. I had the chance to network with other clients.
Then weekend came, I was happy to spend quality time with my husband for the long weekend. We went around for furniture shopping. It's been 3 months that I have moved here and we still haven't been able to find a bedroom set to our liking. :(
Yesterday, we drove down to Monterey Bay and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We spent over 5 hours there... There was a lot to learn! I saw big tunas, sea otters, sharks, jelly fish... I had the chance to touch and feel a skate fish, a sea cucumber, star fish, shark eggshells... One of the most hidious fish is the sunfish.
That's it for now, today, I'm back to my routine...
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