116. Autumn is Here

And it is freezing cold. Bundling up with fleece-lined tights, boots, sweater, jacket, and topped off with a big scarf is still not enough to fight the cold. The constant indoor-outdoor temperature change was enough to finally give me a headache today. I cannot wait until summer is here. At least the weather forecast predicts that the rest of this week will be sunny, albeit somewhat cold.

115. Stop Blinking

The days are getting colder and the hours are ticking by faster. It feels like just yesterday when I first moved into campus residence and meeting up with people to buy textbooks. I remember a group of us went down the hundreds of stairs to Wreck Beach and came straight back up after not even five minutes of touching the sand. I remember complaining about the stairs and heading back to residence.  I also remember playing cards late into the night with everyone and eating at the dining hall and, naive as I was, said how good it was.

Those were the days.

And then I blinked.

And two years went by.

Now I'm in third year and it still feels like just yesterday when all of that happened.

114. Lonsdale Quay & First Geocaching

1. Went to North Vancounver/Lonsdale Quay via seabus (first time on seabus!)
2. Walked around the marketplace and bought some stuff
3. Had yummy chicken noodle soup at the Soup Meister - it was delicious

4. Decided to try out Geocaching for the first time
5. Failed our first attempt and headed back to downtown Vancouver instead
6. Located our official first Geocache at Canada Place after a long time of walking and searching (and by chance came across other "cachers" at the location)
7. Decided to try our hand at another find
8. Gave up after around twenty minutes... maybe second time's the charm?

Geocache is basically a world wide treasure hunt. You take some, you leave some along with a log/record. You are not to tell others where the locations are, and to find it without muggles knowing or taking the box.

It was really fun and we're going to try to find one each time we go out! I'm looking forward to logging all our treasure finds and joining the many millions playing the game as well!

9. Had dinner at Tap & Barrel and I had their "F 'n' K Burger" (aka. Fork 'n' Knife Burger - it's not what you think!)

10. And this was how we celebrated our 100th day :)

113. Eventful Saturday

09:30 am: Wake up
09:33 am: Dad comes in to tell me my beloved husky escaped via a disappearance act we never could have fathom: digging a hole underneath the fence (apparently my dad had already went out to search for him for over an hour before letting me know)
09:34 am: Continue to get ready (what else could I do? At least Lambo has his dog tag on him, so we could only hope some kind soul would call and we'd be able to get Lambo back)
09:50 am: Leave the house and head to doctor's to get my blood test done
11:19 am: Going in for my blood draining test (* please note this is my first ever blood test... ever so I to say I was panicking is a bit of an understatement)
11:22 am: The fastest "get in, get out" I've ever had (surprisingly, the blood test was really quick)
11:28 am: Finally getting a meal after 12 hours of no eating or drinking (to prepare for blood test)
11:35 am: Food arrives and I get to nom/chow/gobble it down because we received news that Lambo found his way back home! But with one little problem... he was on the other side of the fence

12:08 pm: In the car heading back home as quick as we can to conduct a rescue mission to bring Lambo back on the right side of the fence
13:00 pm: Rescue mission is successful

Tomorrow, I just want to live the dream - literally. I want to be able to sleep in without any interruptions or disturbances and have a good sleep.

112. +1 to the Family

Today, a new member has joined our family! Meet Lambo, a Siberian husky born July 2008!

Lambo and Winston got along really well right from the get go. I have never met another dog that could keep up with Winston; Winston would still want to keep playing and kept bothering other dogs when they just wanted to relax. I have never seen the roles reversed until today when Lambo kept urging Winston to get up and continue playing. Winston has finally met his match.

When they were relaxing and just chilling on the grass, laying beside each other, they even started talking to each other! I'm really happy Winston finally has a friend and they both have each other to keep one another company (and lose some weight together)!

111. Action Plan

I always talked about going on a diet and was basically on a diet all throughout the winter session, but alas, near the end I gave up. It wasn't exactly giving up in the sense that I just flung up my arms and admitted defeat, but rather it's this reoccurring problem I have, which is that I love celebrating. Any celebration is an excuse to go out and eat. Hence, once I reached my weight goal, I went on a long celebration. Now, I'm just regretting it because I actually succeeded in dieting, but gave it all up just like that. Food shall be the end of me.

Anyways, to get myself back in the game, I signed up for one month of unlimited hot yoga. Yes - hot yoga. I went to my first session today and I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. I felt so good afterward, like all the muscles in my body just relaxed and I was walking with light steps. Some people often shy away from hot yoga because of the heat, and I was a bit worried at first, but it was actually pretty bearable for me.

I weighed myself in the morning before leaving for hot yoga and again afterwards when I got back home. The result? Exactly one pound lost. It's still too early to say "mission accomplished," but I will succeed this time and not only that, but maintain my weight!

Since it is the first week, the hot yoga place and my friend recommended that I go straight in a row for a couple of days to at least get use to the heat, so I'm planning on going every day of the week for the first week. After that, every other day so I can get at least three sessions in a week. But this week already looks promising because of the instant result I gained. I'm really looking forward to it!

Update:
So much for my big action plan. Second day and it already falls through. Mother Nature couldn't have come at a better time /sarcasm

110. End of Second Year

Second year officially ended yesterday and hence today commences the first day of summer vacation! "Vacation."

A lot has happened since I last blogged...

1. I'm no longer sexy, free, and single, but rather sexy, free, and taken.

2. Saw a seaplane up close for the first time.

 

3. Walked around Vancouver and saw this ginormous whale built with blocks at Waterfront.

4. Walked the whole seawall at Stanley Park and saw a swan close up for the first time. 

5. My growing fondness of Korean food. I love their side dishes and hot soups!

6. Went to an amazing piano recital.

7. Admired the interior design of buildings located on campus.

 

8. Walked around the University and found this really cool playground.

 

9. Finally back home after a month plus a bit and got to eat my first ramyun in two months. It was a very emotional reunion.

10. Reunited with Winston, my Labrador retriever, and he's all smiles to see me.

109. Cherry Blossoms and Food II

(Part I here)

There are still a lot of cherry blossoms in bloom and I hope they stick around for a while. It'll be even more beautiful if there were enough petals to cover the sidewalks and turn it into a pink carpet like in Japan.

 

Yummy fruity waffle at Nero Belgian Waffle Bar. I got the light and crunchy waffle with "all the fruits [they] could find."

Dinner out with the girls at Menya Ramen. I ordered the Tonkotsu Miso Ramen with extra noodles and corn. I also asked for the set menu, which included the yummy pork and veggie gyoza and takikomi onigiri. I asked for thick noodles, but I still prefer ramen noodles like Kintaro's.

108. More Pink Trees

Pretty blossoms before it started raining again... and procrastinating is great.

But really, how is one suppose to study for a course that they know they'll never get over a 90% because of how grading at the University works? It's so demotivating, and even more so when only the top three students can get over 80%. Like, seriously: What are we? I mean, aside from what universities see students as cash cows with a tree growing on our back just sprouting out money all day, everyday.

I bet it's all just a game to them.


It could be finals talking, but I doubt it.

107. Cherry Blossoms and Food

The weather has been great lately. But, it always comes at the wrong time... right now it's Finals Month and yet, we're all just stuck inside studying and cramming to the last possible minute. At least it's better sunny than cloudy and rainy. If it was dark and gloomy, studying will be much harder.