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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Free Photo!
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Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Hunting hunting hunting...
It's been 4 weeks since we've been hunting... apartment hunting! It is not easy... It is so stressful... It is so different from back home!
Sister needs a place for October 8th, we started apartment hunting about 4 weeks ago. Back then, we started with showing up at apartment buildings' rental office. Where ever we go they would say October is too far from now, they wouldn't know the availability for October 8th because people only give a 30-day notice. Ok, I wouldn't say we wasted our time since we got to visit a lot of place and got to compare prices.
Finally, September 8th passed and we are within one month of the target moving date. We are getting good at it. Every day, we look for deals on Craigslist.com, compile a list of potential places, call them, and visit them. Now the issue is that the places for rent are usually already vacant, so they want immediate occupancy! Ok, there's no way we can move in within few days of notice! So we lose to all the others are willing to move right away!
Now, there's only two weeks left before having to move. Hopefully the last weekend for hunting. On Saturday, we saw two decent place for $1600. One, we minded a bit for being shady and the landlord forces to charge extra $70 for electricity. The other, I minded it to have only 1 bathroom for that price. Sunday, we saw 3 more apartments. The first one was nice, it has two bedroom and two full bathroom for $1590. Then other two were cheaper: $1350 and $1250 respectively for two bedroom and one bathroom. We put in application for the last two because we wanted to go with cheaper. But that's not the end! There's one more that I want to check out... It would be at better location and even cheaper: $1200. We'll see if we can check it out tomorrow... :)
Stay tuned! Will let you know what would be the conclusion of our hunting!
Sister needs a place for October 8th, we started apartment hunting about 4 weeks ago. Back then, we started with showing up at apartment buildings' rental office. Where ever we go they would say October is too far from now, they wouldn't know the availability for October 8th because people only give a 30-day notice. Ok, I wouldn't say we wasted our time since we got to visit a lot of place and got to compare prices.
Finally, September 8th passed and we are within one month of the target moving date. We are getting good at it. Every day, we look for deals on Craigslist.com, compile a list of potential places, call them, and visit them. Now the issue is that the places for rent are usually already vacant, so they want immediate occupancy! Ok, there's no way we can move in within few days of notice! So we lose to all the others are willing to move right away!
Now, there's only two weeks left before having to move. Hopefully the last weekend for hunting. On Saturday, we saw two decent place for $1600. One, we minded a bit for being shady and the landlord forces to charge extra $70 for electricity. The other, I minded it to have only 1 bathroom for that price. Sunday, we saw 3 more apartments. The first one was nice, it has two bedroom and two full bathroom for $1590. Then other two were cheaper: $1350 and $1250 respectively for two bedroom and one bathroom. We put in application for the last two because we wanted to go with cheaper. But that's not the end! There's one more that I want to check out... It would be at better location and even cheaper: $1200. We'll see if we can check it out tomorrow... :)
Stay tuned! Will let you know what would be the conclusion of our hunting!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Braces... Me???
Finally went to the dentist after being here for a whole year. I'm glad to use my benefits or rather, DH's benefits. Before DH's employer got acquired, we were under DMO plan and the selection of dentists under that plan was... rather not so interesting. In other words, the good ones don't even bother dealing with DMO. I waited until the acquisition finalized. We now have new benefits under this parent-company and it is costing us much cheaper in premiums!! Premiums is the portion that is costing the employee out-of-pocket for the health benefit coverage. We are saving something like $80-$100 for both of us in premiums per month.
It wasn't too hard to pick a dentist with good recommendations. I searched on Yelp.com and just randomly picked one that had good recommendations and close to home. DH and I went together for a preventive cleaning and check-up. Now, Dr. Goh says I have bite alignment problems causing too much pressure on my molars and jaw. A night guard would be a temporary solution, but for permanent solution, I would need braces. Euh... Braces? Me? aiya!!! I'm 30 and married... I really don't want to go through 2+ years of braces unless it's very necessary! *sigh* I wouldn't do it for cosmetic... but now that she brings that up, I do feel my jaw tired sometimes. Ok, I should go get a second opinion from a specialist.
It wasn't too hard to pick a dentist with good recommendations. I searched on Yelp.com and just randomly picked one that had good recommendations and close to home. DH and I went together for a preventive cleaning and check-up. Now, Dr. Goh says I have bite alignment problems causing too much pressure on my molars and jaw. A night guard would be a temporary solution, but for permanent solution, I would need braces. Euh... Braces? Me? aiya!!! I'm 30 and married... I really don't want to go through 2+ years of braces unless it's very necessary! *sigh* I wouldn't do it for cosmetic... but now that she brings that up, I do feel my jaw tired sometimes. Ok, I should go get a second opinion from a specialist.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Welcome to the Bay Area!
On Saturday, we had a welcome party for my sister! The first party I organized since I moved to CA. We had it at her corporate apartment and I made some of my favorite desserts: mango pudding, coconut pudding, water chestnut pudding... and I also cooked French Canadian delicacy pâté chinois. It was fun, we had about 14 guests and we played Apples & Apples. I also surprised my sister with a early birthday cake!! haha... She really didn't expect that!!
Monday, August 13, 2007
I'm still hanging around!
Dear readers,
I don't mean to neglect my blog, but life has been busy since I got back from my trip. For the past few weeks, I have been babysitting 3 days a week to help out my friend until she finds a good nanny. The other two days of week day are just enough for me to catch up with my volunteering work and get back in touch with my network here. Thankfully, my friend just told me that she found a nanny who will start in September, so I don't need to help her out anymore! Yay!
My sister just moved here on Friday the 10th from Chicago. I am definitely part of the reasons why she moved. I feel so blessed... to have family to support me. She is leaving behind 7 years of seniority with her previous employer and her beloved house to be here. She started her first week at her new employer last week. She is loving it! Well, hope this honeymoon phase will last... hehehe
I don't mean to neglect my blog, but life has been busy since I got back from my trip. For the past few weeks, I have been babysitting 3 days a week to help out my friend until she finds a good nanny. The other two days of week day are just enough for me to catch up with my volunteering work and get back in touch with my network here. Thankfully, my friend just told me that she found a nanny who will start in September, so I don't need to help her out anymore! Yay!
My sister just moved here on Friday the 10th from Chicago. I am definitely part of the reasons why she moved. I feel so blessed... to have family to support me. She is leaving behind 7 years of seniority with her previous employer and her beloved house to be here. She started her first week at her new employer last week. She is loving it! Well, hope this honeymoon phase will last... hehehe
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Meditation while Babysitting
I've been helping my friend taking care of her son while she looks for a good full-time nanny. Today is my 7th day babysitting. Baby Nathan is almost 9 month-old and is quite a good boy, that's why I agreed to help since I lose patience with cry babies. But now, he is teething and has been quite fussy since yesterday.
Babysitting made me meditate on motherhood. I'm thinking... A mother goes through 9 months of pregnancy, plus painful and endless hours of labour to give birth to a baby. Then she breastfeeds him. Now can you picture this? It is quite an intimate relationship. Fathers can only imagine, but could never experience. Would they stop and think about the effort a mother puts into a child?
Then a baby is born, from this moment on, a mother spends the rest of her life devoting to him/her. She spends time nurturing, caring, and protecting him/her. She worries... Does he eat? Does he sleep? Is he cold/hot? Does the sun bother him? Is the noise too loud?
I always knew that mother's love is quite something - mother's love is generous, grand, heroic! But why? Have I stopped and think how it is to be a mother?
Nathan is almost 9 months old and his routine is based on 2-hr slots: he plays for 2 hrs, then sleeps for 2 hrs. When he sleeps, I prepare his food and can't step away too far: if he wakes up in the middle of his nap, I have to put him back to sleep, because sleeping helps growth. When he's awake, I can't detach myself from him: he may get hurt while I'm away. I entertain him, feed him, play with him in a very educational way because it helps his growth. Then the routine restarts. That is so much work! And I'm only watching him 1/3 of the day! And I have not been in the picture since the beginning! Well, reality is there is no break for a mother: it is a 24/7 job and it's for the rest of her life!
Now I wonder... What if the child she raised turn out to be a brat? What if the child she has cared of and gave unconditional love to turns out to hate her? How heartbroken can a mother be? How would she feel if her dear son moves away to be with the woman of his life? How would she feel if he turns his back on her to protect another woman?
To all mothers on Earth who choose to love unconditionally: Chapeau!
Babysitting made me meditate on motherhood. I'm thinking... A mother goes through 9 months of pregnancy, plus painful and endless hours of labour to give birth to a baby. Then she breastfeeds him. Now can you picture this? It is quite an intimate relationship. Fathers can only imagine, but could never experience. Would they stop and think about the effort a mother puts into a child?
Then a baby is born, from this moment on, a mother spends the rest of her life devoting to him/her. She spends time nurturing, caring, and protecting him/her. She worries... Does he eat? Does he sleep? Is he cold/hot? Does the sun bother him? Is the noise too loud?
I always knew that mother's love is quite something - mother's love is generous, grand, heroic! But why? Have I stopped and think how it is to be a mother?
Nathan is almost 9 months old and his routine is based on 2-hr slots: he plays for 2 hrs, then sleeps for 2 hrs. When he sleeps, I prepare his food and can't step away too far: if he wakes up in the middle of his nap, I have to put him back to sleep, because sleeping helps growth. When he's awake, I can't detach myself from him: he may get hurt while I'm away. I entertain him, feed him, play with him in a very educational way because it helps his growth. Then the routine restarts. That is so much work! And I'm only watching him 1/3 of the day! And I have not been in the picture since the beginning! Well, reality is there is no break for a mother: it is a 24/7 job and it's for the rest of her life!
Now I wonder... What if the child she raised turn out to be a brat? What if the child she has cared of and gave unconditional love to turns out to hate her? How heartbroken can a mother be? How would she feel if her dear son moves away to be with the woman of his life? How would she feel if he turns his back on her to protect another woman?
To all mothers on Earth who choose to love unconditionally: Chapeau!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Babysitting - Day 5
This is the baby I've been babysitting. :)
He is particularly talkative when I put him in his bouncing saucer, which he also uses as a poo station.
He is particularly talkative when I put him in his bouncing saucer, which he also uses as a poo station.
Friday, July 27, 2007
I'm back to California
It's Friday. I've been back from my trip for about a week and a half. In this past week and a half, I did catch up with things I left off.
On my first day back, I unpacked, cleaned up, and worked on the garden. Yeah, since I don't live alone, the house gets dirty even if I am gone on vacation. I'm not too satisfied with the stove top condition, but I must say, it is much better than when I went away to Chicago for 10 days. I had lectured DH last time, therefore he had promised to scrub the stove top everyday this time.
Our garden has gown a lot in this past month! Our zucchini plants and tomato plants have grown out of control. Back home, tomato plants don't grow much more than half a meter. Needless to say, I didn't expect my two tomato plants in California to grow taller and bigger than me!! I couldn't delay the work on the garden and took 2 hours of my first day back to trim my plants. I'm quite happy to have tones of home grown vegetables!!
Today, I'm helping out a friend and babysitting her 8-month-old baby boy. He is taking a nap right now while I'm catching up with blogging. I'm sure you wonder how my trip went... I'll tell you later!
I'm
On my first day back, I unpacked, cleaned up, and worked on the garden. Yeah, since I don't live alone, the house gets dirty even if I am gone on vacation. I'm not too satisfied with the stove top condition, but I must say, it is much better than when I went away to Chicago for 10 days. I had lectured DH last time, therefore he had promised to scrub the stove top everyday this time.
Our garden has gown a lot in this past month! Our zucchini plants and tomato plants have grown out of control. Back home, tomato plants don't grow much more than half a meter. Needless to say, I didn't expect my two tomato plants in California to grow taller and bigger than me!! I couldn't delay the work on the garden and took 2 hours of my first day back to trim my plants. I'm quite happy to have tones of home grown vegetables!!
Today, I'm helping out a friend and babysitting her 8-month-old baby boy. He is taking a nap right now while I'm catching up with blogging. I'm sure you wonder how my trip went... I'll tell you later!
I'm
Monday, June 25, 2007
Home Sweet Home!!!
Hey... It's been 1 week already that I've been back!!! Many things to say... but may be too lazy to type it all :p
I had so much fun during my weekend in Vancouver. I stayed with a good girl friend and we did tones of girly stuff like enjoying a home spa! I also had the chance to meet with another good friend from Ottawa who was stopping by Vancouver on his way to Hong Kong. We ate cheap sushi and good Cantonese food (that is hard to find in the California Bay Area).
Now I'm back in Montreal... Can't wait to meet all my good old friends... hehehe.
I had so much fun during my weekend in Vancouver. I stayed with a good girl friend and we did tones of girly stuff like enjoying a home spa! I also had the chance to meet with another good friend from Ottawa who was stopping by Vancouver on his way to Hong Kong. We ate cheap sushi and good Cantonese food (that is hard to find in the California Bay Area).
Now I'm back in Montreal... Can't wait to meet all my good old friends... hehehe.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
I'm going home!
You probably wonder what I've been up to lately.
My sister came again this past weekend... for 2 more interviews! This is the 4th times she comes in 2 months. She's taking away half of my weekends and taking away time from working on the garden and backyard! It looks like she will take an offer and is moving here for real. We'll soon have to start looking for apartments and help her move-in!
I'm also preparing to go back to sweet home Canada. I'm leaving on Friday and will stay for a whole month. Yesterday, we had a ceremony for our first zucchini. It was yummy! I stir-fried it with some garlic, salt and sugar. Too bad I won't be here for our first tomatoes. We have many... a lot!!! The plants have grown bigger than I expected. Back home, they grow half my size and here, our two tomatoes are my shoulder-height! I should show you some pictures next time!
My sister came again this past weekend... for 2 more interviews! This is the 4th times she comes in 2 months. She's taking away half of my weekends and taking away time from working on the garden and backyard! It looks like she will take an offer and is moving here for real. We'll soon have to start looking for apartments and help her move-in!
I'm also preparing to go back to sweet home Canada. I'm leaving on Friday and will stay for a whole month. Yesterday, we had a ceremony for our first zucchini. It was yummy! I stir-fried it with some garlic, salt and sugar. Too bad I won't be here for our first tomatoes. We have many... a lot!!! The plants have grown bigger than I expected. Back home, they grow half my size and here, our two tomatoes are my shoulder-height! I should show you some pictures next time!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
Little Prank to the In-Laws
Scrubbing the stove top is a new task that I introduced to DH's family. MIL (mother-in-law) already commented that few weeks after our marriage. She claims we don't need to scrub the stove top every day. I suspect her heart is aching because I'm making her beloved son working too hard.
On Wednesday, DH and I did our routine cleaning after dinner. We washed the dishes and scrubbed the stove top. MIL walked by and suggest that we wrap the stove top with aluminum, hence diminishing our scrubbing effort!! "Yes, that's what others do", she says. I had nothing to answer, I really didn't know what to say... For a moment, I pictured our brand-new kitchen upgraded with slate-stone flooring and granite counter top with a black stove wrapped in silver-colored aluminum. *yurk*. But I could find no good words to reply MIL, so I stayed quiet.
I then remember a story that my university friend told me, which inspired me to do the following. The next day, yesterday, I decided to play a little prank to show MIL how I respect her ideas and approve them. I wrapped MIL and FIL's white eating bowls blue plastic wrap. I served miso soup in those bowls and asked DH to present them to his parents. "What is that for?", asked FIL to his son. "So that we don't need to wash the dishes later", replied DH. He put them on the table and walked away looking at me smiling and trying not to laugh. His parents were clueless and didn't comment. I guess they didn't link it to what MIL said the previous night... But that was funny experience :D
Loving my story? You can support my cause by contributing to my "Moving-Out Fund" by PayPal at littlecamy at hotmail dot com.
On Wednesday, DH and I did our routine cleaning after dinner. We washed the dishes and scrubbed the stove top. MIL walked by and suggest that we wrap the stove top with aluminum, hence diminishing our scrubbing effort!! "Yes, that's what others do", she says. I had nothing to answer, I really didn't know what to say... For a moment, I pictured our brand-new kitchen upgraded with slate-stone flooring and granite counter top with a black stove wrapped in silver-colored aluminum. *yurk*. But I could find no good words to reply MIL, so I stayed quiet.
I then remember a story that my university friend told me, which inspired me to do the following. The next day, yesterday, I decided to play a little prank to show MIL how I respect her ideas and approve them. I wrapped MIL and FIL's white eating bowls blue plastic wrap. I served miso soup in those bowls and asked DH to present them to his parents. "What is that for?", asked FIL to his son. "So that we don't need to wash the dishes later", replied DH. He put them on the table and walked away looking at me smiling and trying not to laugh. His parents were clueless and didn't comment. I guess they didn't link it to what MIL said the previous night... But that was funny experience :D
Loving my story? You can support my cause by contributing to my "Moving-Out Fund" by PayPal at littlecamy at hotmail dot com.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Video of my Beau Riding a Cupcake!!!
Thanks Bunny for the comment!! As per request, let me post a something about my thin DH... Look at him riding a cupcake!!
Cake Time!!!
This pas Sunday, I rode an electric cupcake!!!Yup, this cupcake is using a car battery and parts of an old bike... No... I didn't make it, it was made by DH's co-worker and his wife. It was so much fun an totally hilarious!!!
Monday, May 14, 2007
French Dinner with Friends
At the "Alliance Francaise" gathering, we met a friendly couple from Paris. They invited us to their home on Friday to have dinner with some friends.
French people eat late (we know that from our trip to Paris in 2005, restaurants don't open until 7PM for dinner), our host said dinner would be at 8PM. We got there at 7:45PM, then we chatted and didn't start dinner until 9PM!
Dinner looked fancy. For appetizer, we started with some smoked salmon with some cherry tomatoes and some lettuce. Then for main course, they took a dish out of the oven and it was still boiling. It was a dish with cheese on top, "au gratin" as we would say in English, but in French, it would be the adjective "gratiné". It looked very cheesy... I asked, "Is this what we call mousaka?", they replied, "It's 'hachis parmentier'". Oh, wow... "What is it?" "It's a dish made of beef, onion, and potatoes." Wow... "What origin does this come from?" "Euh, I think French... it should be French." I took a bite and recognize right away this comfort food. "Oh, I know this dish", I said, "in Quebec, we call it 'pâté chinois'!". They found me very weird: "pâté chinois" literally means "Chinese pie"! Yup, I'm not kidding!!! In Quebec and New Brunswick, there's a version of hachis parmentier with added corn that we call pâté chinois. (You probably wonder why it's called like that, well, read the links then. ) Between the main course and dessert, there was a dish cheese, hmm... I tried Roquefort cheese for the first time! It was strong!!! Hehehe, I wonder how these French people stay slim with all this food (and drinks)!!
French people eat late (we know that from our trip to Paris in 2005, restaurants don't open until 7PM for dinner), our host said dinner would be at 8PM. We got there at 7:45PM, then we chatted and didn't start dinner until 9PM!
Dinner looked fancy. For appetizer, we started with some smoked salmon with some cherry tomatoes and some lettuce. Then for main course, they took a dish out of the oven and it was still boiling. It was a dish with cheese on top, "au gratin" as we would say in English, but in French, it would be the adjective "gratiné". It looked very cheesy... I asked, "Is this what we call mousaka?", they replied, "It's 'hachis parmentier'". Oh, wow... "What is it?" "It's a dish made of beef, onion, and potatoes." Wow... "What origin does this come from?" "Euh, I think French... it should be French." I took a bite and recognize right away this comfort food. "Oh, I know this dish", I said, "in Quebec, we call it 'pâté chinois'!". They found me very weird: "pâté chinois" literally means "Chinese pie"! Yup, I'm not kidding!!! In Quebec and New Brunswick, there's a version of hachis parmentier with added corn that we call pâté chinois. (You probably wonder why it's called like that, well, read the links then. ) Between the main course and dessert, there was a dish cheese, hmm... I tried Roquefort cheese for the first time! It was strong!!! Hehehe, I wonder how these French people stay slim with all this food (and drinks)!!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Free Ice Cream!!!
This is my 3rd post about free (or almost) ice cream in two months!!!
Häagen-Dazs ice cream shops will give out free cones of its new
flavors, Cinnamon Dulce de Leche and Sticky Toffee Pudding, on
Tuesday, May 15, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at any participating
Häagen-Dazs location
Häagen-Dazs ice cream shops will give out free cones of its new
flavors, Cinnamon Dulce de Leche and Sticky Toffee Pudding, on
Tuesday, May 15, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at any participating
Häagen-Dazs location
Museum Month
As I mentioned in a previous post, this month is free admission to selected museum for BoA's customers. On Sunday, we went to the city to visit two museums: California Academy of Sciences and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
We went to the California Academy of Sciences first. We found parking about two blocks away for $5 whole day, it was a decent deal, last time we were in downtown San Francisco, it cost us $17 parking!! This museum has a fancy name for an aquarium. Yup, that's what it is... we saw many tanks of fishes and not much of anything else. It was very small. Oh... and not only we got there for free, there was an oyster tasting!!! Yup, there are 5 different species of oysters and it was about tasting the difference between them. Since it wasn't crowded, we got to taste many... hehehe, I think I had 4. Then, we walked to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). We did every floors starting from 5th floor where Picasso is. Hehehe, unfortunately, I don't know how to admire modern art.
We finished the day by walking to Chinatown and had dinner there. It was a long and tiring day, but educational. :)
We went to the California Academy of Sciences first. We found parking about two blocks away for $5 whole day, it was a decent deal, last time we were in downtown San Francisco, it cost us $17 parking!! This museum has a fancy name for an aquarium. Yup, that's what it is... we saw many tanks of fishes and not much of anything else. It was very small. Oh... and not only we got there for free, there was an oyster tasting!!! Yup, there are 5 different species of oysters and it was about tasting the difference between them. Since it wasn't crowded, we got to taste many... hehehe, I think I had 4. Then, we walked to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). We did every floors starting from 5th floor where Picasso is. Hehehe, unfortunately, I don't know how to admire modern art.
We finished the day by walking to Chinatown and had dinner there. It was a long and tiring day, but educational. :)
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Coconut Pudding
I recently made mango pudding for my sister when she as in town. DH complained that I was not thoughtful enough because he doesn't like mango. So, I looked up recipes for coconut pudding (椰汁糕) and found a few thanks to google search. I made it last night and *oh yum* it tastes just like the ones you get at dimsum!!!!!!!
Here is the recipe I used: http://www.tinfu.net/healthnfood/dessert/dessert25.asp
Ok, now one more item I won't order at dimsum... :)
Here is the recipe I used: http://www.tinfu.net/healthnfood/dessert/dessert25.asp
Ok, now one more item I won't order at dimsum... :)
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