2009

As the year 2009 is coming to an end, I am sitting here reflecting on how much the Lord has blessed me this past year. The Lord has definitely been faithful. He answered allll my prayers!

- Passing university. How did i pass that superduper hard biomembranes course? how did i have the wisdom and intelligence to pass the 65% exam? i actually thought it was impossible for me to pass this course, let alone pass university.

- Auntie katie coming to Canada for my convocation. it was her first time coming to Canada and i am sososo glad that she came. the main objective was to plant seeds and share the good news and i think she's thinking about Christianity. it is just a matter of time... i guess? who knows what the Lord is doing. Anyhow, i am glad that she came to church with us. she even went to sunday school with my parents! i am glad that she saw some differences between the Christian way and her Buddhist way of acting in situations.

- Getting a summer job. how did I end up working in payroll for the government? i was definitely worried that i would have no job this summer since i applied to 40 jobs and only 3 replied back. i went to 2 interviews, one of which was the one that i worked at last year and they decided not to hire me... which i find very weird because why wouldn't they want someone who have worked there before? i cried. But the Lord is faithful; he provided me with something better. I made many new friends and learned new things, and i actually don't mind working in payroll =) there were problems in the beginning with my partner and i, but in the end, we were really good friends. yay! the thing is, i'll prolly never see him again. haha.

- Getting into grad school. now, how am i qualified for grad school? my marks weren't the greatest and i didn't major in linguistics. but the Lord knew that i love linguistics. i was scared in the beginning because i didn't know anyone in my program, but 3 months have passed and i made many great friends. the TA group is really nice and everyone helps each other out. i am glad that i chose this program and not teacher's college at oise.

- passing first term grad school? i hope i did? but i just can't believe that some professors actually like my papers. there are so many people in my program who are geniuses, who majored in linguistics, who have loads of experiences in teaching ESL, why do they like my papers? i am still in awe at my ability, this intelligence in this field.....thank you God!

- having this time of rest. i asked the Lord last month for a long time of rest during the Christmas break because of the hectic schedule at school. all i have been doing is chilling with friends and family. woohoo. i can't ask for more!


The Lord has answered ALL my prayers this year and I am very grateful. None of the stuff mentioned above would be possible without my Lord!

Research

I am having such a hard time coming up with a research topic for my major essay. ahh. The worst part is that I forgot to bring home the MA program handbook. double ahh. But at least the two proposals aren't due till Jan 15th, which means I will be writing like mad when I go back to Saint Catharines.

Wow. What a prank!

Autumn's Concerto

...is the best Taiwanese drama ever!

Rich law student (CLS) meets poor bento girl (PBG)
They fall in love
RLS finds out that he has a brain tumour and needs surgery
RLS decides to leave PBG because he doesn't want to hurt her when he dies (survival rate from surgery is 15%)
PBG doesn't want RLS to leave her. PBG promises to stay by his side no matter what.
In the meantime, RLS's mom finds another way to save her son, and that is through "proton electroscopy'???? which is only performed by this other girl's (TOG) father
RLS's mom wants RLS to be with TOG because her family is rich and wants RLS to leave PBG
RLS refuses to leave PBG because he loves her so.
RLS also refuses to undergo "proton electroscopy" because that means he will have to be with TOG.
RLS's mom talks to PBG behind RLS's back and tell PBG that RLS needs to go through with this "proton electroscopy" surgery to increase survival rate.
PBG agrees that RLS goes through with this type of surgery
but RLS's mom says that in order for TOG's dad to perform this surgery, PBG needs to leave RLS
PBG decides to leave RLS without telling him the reason
RLS somehow undergoes the proton surgery.... without his permission

PBG finds out that she's pregnant with CLS's baby.
RLS wakes up and lost his memory
TOG becomes RLS's girlfriend

One day, RLS went to PBG's village to do some work related stuff
Coincidentally, RLS was assigned to live in the same house as PBG and PBG's son
PBG does not tell RLS of his past because of her promise to RLS's mom. ( recall that as long as RLS undergoes the proton surgery, she'd leave him)
RLS has a vague image of PBG but does not remember her at all.
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.
.
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RLS remembers everything! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

WHAT A GREAT DRAMA!! I know it doesn't sound that interesting but if you like to watch love stories, then this one is really touching!!! I cried almost every single episode!!!

hahahahahahahahah.

Merry Christmas!

Today was a perfect day! I absolutely looooove spending time with the family! As usual, we wake up at 10am, roam around the house for an hour or two, watch a couple episodes of dramas or movies, open presents, eat lunch and then go out for a family outing! This year, we decided to go to pacific mall (cuz we're asian like that!), and just shopped. We didn't buy much, but it was okay cuz it was the time spent that counts (and being pushed around by other asians at the mall -_-). We then went to Richmond Hill to eat some awesome Chinese food. yay! I feel soooo incredibly blessed right now!

I lovelovelove spending time with my family! My parents are too hilarious. Thank you God.


Counting my blessings!


I can't wait for our Zoe Christmas party tmr! It is gonna be epic.
I can't wait for more dinner parties with friends and family!!


Yes, spending time with friends and family is great and all, but we should never forget the true reason for this season and that is the birth of Jesus --The greatest gift God has ever given to us! Thank you!

I'm slowly fallin' out.......of love

This song's been on repeat for a very long time now. It was first introduced to me from Taeyang's dance battle. This is definitely my type of music!



Taeyang's such an awesome dancer!!! <3

Last week

I can't believe it is already the last week of school! I only have 4 more papers to write and then I am done for the term. These last few papers will definitely suck the life out of me. I really pray that I can write well on each of them, but considering I only have 7 days to write 4 papers, I don't know. I guess it is really crunch time; no more doing and dreaming about unnecessary things. That means, I won't be able to watch "Wild Bunny" till Dec. 8th.

2pm <3 is on hold for now.


I pray that I will survive this week.


P.S. I can't wait to spend some quality time with you all! =) Please include me in your Christmas schedule!

And the writing marathon starts....now!

of course, after a prayer.

I am really dreading these last 4 papers.


12 days till Christmas break.

8000 words and 300 exams away from Christmas break!!!!!

It is midnight and I am feeling so pooped:

This week I:
- finished 2 presentations ( 1 individual and 1 paired)
- and that's about it.

Having two presentations back to back DEFINITELY kills brain cells. I think I am more stupid than before.

I haven't had a good night sleep since Saturday night. Naps don't count right?


Next week, I have to hand in 3 final papers ( two 2500 words and one 3000 words). OH MAN.

On top of that I have to mark 23049234 first year papers. It takes about 1 hour each and I have about 13 students. yay. 13 hours gone!

Prayers needed.


I am not sure if I should go home this weekend.


I don't make any sense. I think I should sleep and dream about school.


weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.


This post does not reflect academic writing.... weeeeeeeeeee. going crazy.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Today's sermon by Pastor Paul really got me thinking. I am going to start praying for a particular issue because right now I am uncertain about something. I know that I am longing for that something but I am not sure if I can do it or if that's even the right path for me.


Let see when God answers my prayer. It might take years or days or seconds... who knows?

Warmth

It is really nice to know that brothers and sisters at home really care about me.

This, I will not take for granted.

Hence, I thank you all.

But most importantly, I thank the Lord for all that He has done.
_______________________________________________________

Awesome vocals by Junsu of 2pm and his friend:

I have a problem

Refer to title.

will elaborate later.

Marking

I just love marking. Who says it is tedious?! I absolutely love it.

The best part about marking is seeing your students succeed. And I think that's the best part about being a teacher in general. You get this satisfaction when students finally understand the material!!

yay!


I'm really liking this song:


you like?

?

funny how 10 people got H1N1 the weekend before midterm.

In the past, most grandmas and grandpas die in December and April.


what a coincidence, eh....

Nervous Breakdown

WHY IS EVERYTHING NOT GOING THE WAY I WANT?!


I can't wait till the weekend to see my brothers/sisters/family.


More God time needed.

To use or not to use:

So I have to write another research paper, which means I will need to find articles to support my thesis. My topic for this oral/aural class is FLUENCY. Coincidentally, my prof has been really interested in this topic, specifically on the effect of L1 fluency on L2 fluency. He has published many articles about fluency.... so my question is, should I use any of his articles? I have been looking at both the Pros and Cons of this:

Pro:
- the prof knows that I have the guts to use his papers
- I really want him to be my supervisor for my thesis next year, so I guess this will impress him?


Con:
- If I make a mistake or analyse his papers incorrectly or I criticize his papers badly, this will be the end of me!!! btw, I HAVE to critically analyse... it is part of the assignment.


So dear friends, WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?!?!!?

Colleagues

I think I told some of you that I have problems communicating with my colleagues because of the age difference. I am literally the youngest TA in the class. Actually, I think I am the youngest student in the program. Anyway, I give all my praise to my God because I had this impromptu heart-to-heart talk with this lady today who is 11 years older than me! Honestly, I have always thought that it would be hard to talk to anyone who is over 30 because of the difference in lifestyle, vocabulary...etc...And of course, my brain is still quite immature so they prolly think I am dumb and naive. I made an assumption that I needed to use big words and sound intelligent when I talk. haha, I know, I am so silly.


I am really starting to connect with these people.

Praise the Lord.

I love Linguistics!

What I learned today:

SCUBA stands for "Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus"



HAHA!!

My Week

School's just been really busy. We have to write at least 2 papers each week. Most of them are around 1000 words. Ahh. Last friday, we had this take-home progress test for my second language acquisition class. The test was basically an essay where we had about 9 hours to write 2000 words, with proper referencing and stuff. I woke up at 7:30am, went on website and started writing. God's really awesome! He gave me the intelligence to write the essay. I knew exactly what I wanted to say. Praise the Lord! It was definitely my first time writing an essay in just 9 hours!!! God is good. I still can't believe I did that! and I had to TA for an hour in between.

The class decided to go out to Boston Pizza afterwards to celebrate, which was definitely a stress reliever!

Man.. I have to hand in a 3000 word essay tonight at 11:59pm. I am really sick of this paper. I spent all of Saturday and Sunday revising. ahh. I just can't wait to hand it in!

I didn't realize TA-ing was such a hard job. I should have appreciated my TAs more while I was in undergrad.


Home in 4 days. I can't wait!!!! I need a break from this place.

Thoughts

Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like visiting my old church. will I be accepted or rejected?

Wisdom

I PRAISE the Lord for giving me wisdom.

Today I did something that was quite life-changing. It was definitely not me who thought of the solution. Wisdom from above is incomprehensible.

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for answering my prayers. My housemate talks to me more now.

Conflusion

Definition of Conflusion - the confusion in this H1N1 crisis


Haha. My prof said that this word is only 6 weeks old.


I love linguistics!

crunch time

I've rested enough this weekend. It is really time to concentrate and work hard on the 3 assignments that are due consecutively next week.

I really have no clue how I am going to do all three assignments. They are all research based; which means, it is time-consuming. The positive thing about this is that I currently have 1558 words for my "electronic feedback" paper, but I really need to find more sources and write more.

This is really testing my faith.

Last Friday, I had a little chat with the graduate director about school and stuff. I asked him whether anyone had ever been kicked out/failed the program. He responded by saying that no one has ever failed because he (and the committee members) chose each one of us carefully. He chose us because he knows that we are capable of succeeding in this program. He reassured me that I won't fail....as long as I had tried my best. Thank you God. I just needed that reassurance. I just needed to hear it....which makes me WEAK because I am lacking in faith....


Lots of prayers needed.

Blue

You know how some days you're just so depressed, so discouraged by everything? Well, today's the day for me.


=(

This Weekend

I am REAL excited for this weekend. I can't wait till I finish my presentation tomorrow. I hate this topic. Prayers much needed.

I think I am going to try a new Korean recipe this weekend. oooooooh, I AM SOO EXCITED!!! or maybe I should try making White food, but last time when I made it, I did a horrible job.


Anyway, I can't wait!

Massive Update

Academics
School's been really busy. There's at least two things due each week and it takes a lot of time for each assignment to be completed. My presentation last week was good; I thought it was okay at first, but a lot of my classmates told me afterwards that I did a great job, especially with that listening comprehension activity - "The Culvian Selgian". I just hope the professor felt the same way. I did the best that I could so no regrets, right? I really want to get at least an A- even though it might be hard to achieve considering it is grad school and they expect a lot from you.

School sometimes discourages me. To be honest, I do feel like I am at the very bottom of my class. Even International students who don't have as much English background as me still do a better job. I suck big time, I feel very self-conscious when I speak because I am afraid that people will think lowly of me, but I force myself to participate anyway because I want the professor to know that I am actually trying my best. I dont know, this may just be me overreacting for no reason.

The 3000 word paper that I had to write over my Thanksgiving weekend was not entirely complete. I only had 1558 words in the end. I didn't have enough information to write stuff. When I posted my paper at 11:59pm on Sunday, I realized that I was not the only one with <3000 style="font-weight: bold;">Friends
I am making lots of friends here at Brock. My classmates are literally my friends since we see each other almost everyday for a minimum of 3 hours. People are really nice and helpful. So everything is good. There are 3 Christians in my class. The story how I found is kinda interesting. I was chatting with P. one day and she randomly blurted out "I went to BCF last year." My brain immediately clicked and I proceeded to ask her for confirmation "BCF? as in Brock Christian Fellowship?" P. said "YES!" I replied "I went to C4C yesterday. I am a Christian too!" P. became excited all of a sudden and said "hey! you know R. (another classmate) is also Christian and we go to the same church! Would you like to come to church with us this Sunday?"
So I went to their church that weekend I didn't come home. It was very Portico like, very white and very warm. It is a pretty good church, but it is just too far and I don't want P. have to always come pick me up. But all in all, I am REALLY thankful that I know some Christians at school and having them as my classmates is just a bonus!

Housemates
My housemates and I are doing well. We are living really well together. We laugh and joke around alot. We actually have alot in common even though they are from Trinidad. They eat Chinese food, not those whitewashed chinese chicken balls, but real chinese food like dried prunes and chinese crackers?! yea. I am more close to one housemate than the other, prolly because we are both in Ling and that we have alot more things in common. The week that I didn't come home, I watched "He's just not that into you" with L. I am just really thankful that I get to live with these awesome girls! PTL!

Spiritual
I am doing well in this field. I usually spend time in prayer while waiting for the bus in the morning or pray during my bus ride to school. I am praying consistently everyday. Not gonna lie, but I do sometimes feel burdened to read the Word or even go to church, but then I always tell myself that I can't be tempted by Satan to stop worshiping God because of the lack of time I have for school work. He's the one who placed me here. He's the one who gave me wisdom and intelligence to do well in school. He's the one who helped me through all my tough times. He's the almighty God. Nuthing can be more important than Him.

Teaching
My TA job is quite tiring. I am thankful that my students are listening to me but at the same time, I am having a hard teaching them the concepts. No one taught us how to teach so how exactly are we to teach professionally? Man, I really need some real teaching experience. Please pray for me.


Love
I will come back to this later.

This Weekend
I am coming home this weekend just because I didn't have much of a long Thanksgiving weekend. I actually can't count that as a weekend.
Thank God I actually have some spare time this weekend to play and catch up with work.
Anyone wanna hang out?



BACK TO PRESENTATION PREP. I AM SCREWED. Please pray for me! please! thanks.

This song makes me happy =)

AHHH

Is it possible to write a 3000 word research paper in 20 hours? So how many words do I have to write in one hour?......150 words per hour doesn't sound too bad. BUT WE NEED TO TAKE PROCRASTINATION INTO CONSIDERATION. and I haven't even started researching the topic. AI YA.

Someone give me subtopics to write about for 'electronic feedbacks'!!!!! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't want to do any work on Sunday or Monday. =(

THIS IS REALLY SUCKY. WHAT A SUCKY THANKSGIVING.


AI YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

No Thanksgiving weekend for me this year

I am really sad by this.



On a more positive note, I won some prizes from two "contest" draws. I guess it will balance out my sad long weekend.


=( + =) = =/

Lots to tell

Please stay tuned...

In the meantime, LISTEN to this song. I love this kind of music!

What I've learnt so far at Brock:

- 99% of the asians at Brock are international students. If you look asian, people assume you are from mainland china and don't know any English.

- Many people are surprised to hear me speak fluent Canadian English.

- women get married really young in Saudi Arabia. They usually have a minimum of 4 kids.

- There's a pregnant woman in my class. Her due date is on a Saturday in November. We don't know when exactly the baby wants to come out. It might happen during class....

- many people are married in my class, especially the international students. People have kids and wives waiting for them back home. wow. They must really want to become an English teacher.

- first year students really respect TAs. I am loving my job right now. On the other hand, I don't like teaching adults...

- the professors are really strict on APA conventions. eeeeeeeekssss =S=S



Please continue to pray for me. There's a lot to be done and I am trying really hard to do well in each assignment.

School is busy busy. No time to blog.

I absolutely love this song! Doesn't it make you wanna dance?! =P=P

Linguistics 101: Conjunction Junction

Conjunction Junction: What's your function? Everyone should know this.

NoT good.

I have been wasting a lot of time lately, watching shows and reading newspaper articles. I just finished a one-page reflection that I have been working on since 8pm last night. It is 1:30pm right now. Well, of course, I went to bed and ate and did all sorts of stuff in between. But I have been wasting time and not concentrating on work; hence, my thoughts are not flowing and my writing is not so fluent. blah.

I promised myself that I won't watch any shows and go on youtube till 10pm tonight.


I pray for self-control.

I should read the Word right now.

And then it is time to start another writing assignment.


Btw, TOMORROW IS FRIDAY. FRIDAY IS ALWAYS A GOOD DAY.

Quote of the Day!

"When you follow your dreams, your fears follow you" (quoted from gypsy masala)


Do you agree with this quote?

To my devoted Reader:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOI!!!!!

May God bless you abundantly this year!
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Trinidadian English - Part 1

As I have mentioned previously, my housemates are from Trinidad and Tobago. Their Trinidadian accent is quite interesting. It sounds kind of Jamaican, but less accented. I would say it is a mix of Jamaican and British English. Their vocabulary is different too, and sometimes I just don't understand what they are saying. But they are nice, and they teach me new words all the time.

New word learned: LIME
Canadian Equivalent: HANG OUT

In Canadian English, we say, "let's hang out at the mall"
In Trinidadian English, they say, "let's lime at the mall"

What's even more interesting is that I find myself using Trinidadian terms whenever I talk to them. And sometimes, I even catch myself saying words with a Trinidadian accent. Words such as four, beer, twenty.....


Question: is it possible for me to acquire a Trinidadian accent??

Housemates

God has really blessed me with awesome housemates this year. When I was freaking out last week, when I had no one to talk to and when I missed home so badly last week, these two girls were by my side encouraging me, telling me that everything's going to be okay.

I have never lived off campus before and it was quite overwhelming in the first week because I didn't know them at all. How should I act? Are they mean people? Are they super studious? After all, they are international students from Trinidad and Tobago, and they have to pay double the tuition fees. Slowly as I reveal myself to them and they to me, I realized that we all have a lot in common. One of the girls is finishing up her undergrad in linguistics, specializing in Speech Language Sciences; the other in Child and Youth studies. Both of them have helped me within these two weeks, from teaching me which bus to take to the mall to telling me what to use to clean the house. Both of them lovelovelove sushi (just like me!) and lovelovelove chinese food (just like me!). They even know how to use chopsticks! They have included me in all the activities they do.

My God is an awesome God. He is faithful and always provides the things I need. Having awesome housemates already lessens one thing that I have to worry about.

Praise the Lord!

Writing Exercises.

I went to my "Teaching ESL Writing" class today. It is the same course that I have been feeling quite overwhelmed by for the last week due to the amount of writing assignments. The professor discussed the course outline in a detailed manner and have suggested that in order for our writings to strengthen, we need to write daily.

In preparation for my upcoming 3000 words paper and 5 reflection journals, I have decided that I will blog daily. The objective of this mini assignment is not only to exercise my brain and writing skills on a daily basis but to learn to analyze something (situations/book/articles) critically.

I hope this method of learning will help me write well-structured papers in the future.


Example of critically analyzing something:
There is no purpose in this post entry. Then why did I write it? hmm.

Back at Brock

This weekend went by really quickly. I couldn't go home till Saturday evening because I had a TA orientation from 8:30-4pm that day. Coming home really gives me room to breathe and to de-stress myself. I don't know what happened last week, but I guess I was just really overwhelmed by this transition from undergrad to grad that caused me to have a breakdown. There's soo much more to do and the professors expect more from you and I guess I just had this lack of self-confidence and lack of faith in the Lord (man... how stupid am I?). I am soooo glad that I got to talk to my parents and friends back home. I am really thankful for these brothers and sisters who are soooo encouraging <3<3

I am feeling MUCH better now and not freaking out anymore. I know I will be when the actual papers are due. But I'll try to not....

Today was such a long time. I had classes and meetings from 2-8pm with maybe an hour break in between. I had to run back and forth in this one complex trying to find things. Man...I am sooo exhausted. But I am glad that it is just this one time. However, on Tuesdays, classes are from 9-5pm with ABSOLUTELY NO BREAK in between.

There's no time for entertainment. If only there are more than 24 hours each day....

First Class

So, today I went to my first class - Theory and Research for Second Language Aquisition. For those who don't know, I am doing a MA in Applied Linguistics, specializing in TESL. I met more people today, many who are international students whom do not have any TA responsibilities. It was really nice to see a couple of people from China and Taiwan, so I felt more homelike. The class was supersuper long, considering it was a straight 3 hour class. The prof was really nice and I know that he will help me out alot this term. One thing that really confuses me is the method of learning in this university. Brock University is all about seminars, not just simply presenting your information/research, but it is about leading discussions and making others engage in the activities. Whereas at McMaster, everything was based on PBL. They give you a problem and you make an attempt at finding an answer, and then you present your findings. Although the two methods of learning are relatively the same, the words "seminar presentations" still really freak me out because I don't really understand what it is.

All my MA courses are really heavy. From just reading the course evaluation, I won't have much time to do anything else but write. I am feeling alot better now that I've talked to most of my classmates and they are also feeling quite overwhelmed by the workload. So I am not alone, not that I was ever alone because I have Jesus Christ within me. We are all under the same boat. The problem for me right now is to be able to think and critically analyze problems in a short amount of time. I am one of those people who need many many hours to research, write, correct a paper.

Please pray for intelligence, wisdom, social skills and time management.

More Absurd News

Click Here

Overwhelmed

I am really feeling overwhelmed by this masters program. I just looked at a course outline for this course and I felt like crying out loud. The entire course is about writing--analyzing the theories behind the writings of second language learners. The professor posted sample reflections and they are all very well written, to a point where I don't even understand what they are writing. Is this how it should be? I am not a strong writer, but when I have to write a reflection every week and two 3000-3500 words papers this term plus other papers for other courses, it is just really overwhelming.

I don't know if I can handle this much work.
Should I quit this masters program?

...better now than later.

prayer time.

Learning...

I moved into my St. Catharines house yesterday and I am really missing my family and friends at home. I didn't want my parents to leave yesterday because I didn't want to be all alone in a new house. What am I going to do all night? watch dramas? They had to leave and I couldn't hold back my tears. Luckily, an old highschool friend, Jenn, who is doing her 5th year, came by to chat with me for 2.5 hours. I watched a few episodes of a chinese drama and then spent the rest of the night with God.

This morning, Jenn came to pick me up to get my student card. The university is actually quite big, but what I don't understand is why the buildings are all placed together. It is such a waste of space! She took me to all my classes and then we went to the vendor/club fair. I was brave enough to go up to the Campus for Christ booth to ask questions.... and I told them that I will be there for the first weekly meeting. eeeeekkkkk =S =S=S

I had my first Masters student TA meeting with the Chair and two profs. They went well, but the chair really scared me. Apparently, the year long program is really condensed and I will be super busy with writing and marking papers. I also have to attend my own lectures and the students' lectures. I must also hold office hours. I am really scared about what's to come but I know that God will help me through this.

Please pray for me as this year will be a busy one.

We chose tutorials today during our meetings and I find that the other Masters students are quite..... upfront about situations. They tend to fight for things and as one of them, I feel like I also need to fight in order to get what I want. My plan of getting a long weekend every week has been ruined and I am trying to not let it get it me. But it is, because that means my time in sauga in the weekend will be shortened.

I guess for this year, I really need to learn to let go of things that are not important. I need to not let every little thing get to me...because it will just make my life miserable.


The end.

This is absurd!

click me

Panic =O

I am really starting to panic about school....

what is my first day gonna be like?
Am I gonna make any friends on my first day of school?
How's the TA meeting with the Chair gonna be like?
Am I gonna be a loner?
Are my housemates gonna like me??????
How am I gonna survive the first night all by myself?


I am scared.
I don't like awkwardness.

Last few days of summer =(

...I am gonna spend it with my loved ones.

dorky video.

The MGS Family <3

Last friday was the last day for the majority of the summer students and a couple days before that was my partner Ryan's last day. I still remember the days when we had problems communicating with one another because of his stupid not-so-funny jokes. God is funny and faithful, because He helped build our relationship. He answered my prayers (almost immediately) because by the end, Ryan and I have really become good friends....eventhough he acts like a jerk from time to time. He backed me up in many situations and taught me alot of stuff about work and systems. We always ahve a good time when we chat about the most randomest things. hahaha. I can't ask for a better partner! Thank you God!

Ryan and I - the guy is 2 years younger than me
but he acts like he is older than me.

CJ and I - This guy is so sweet and hilarious. He taught me how to talk black and he even gave me a hiphop CD mix the last day of work cuz he knew that I love hiphop/rap stuff.

The GTA2 family. Two pairs of partners! We've gotten to know each other these past couple of weeks. We always have so much fun together in this section whether it be working, talking or just chilling.
I absolutely love this gta2family <3

The family portrait

Can you believe the girl in purple is only 15 yrs old? and the girl in the middle is going into university? I know, these girls are very mature.
But they are so funny and super fun to be with. =)

Georgia, Ryan and I in my cubicle - the 3. Georgia would never stop talking to Ryan and I. seriously. haha. She just never shuts up; but she's so cute!

The entire MGS family, summer students from various sections.

I really thank God that He gave me this job. Not only did I learn so much in Payroll & Benefits, but I really had a great time working with this bunch of summer students. Last year I had no one to talk to when I was bored, but this year I was able to talk to anyone when I had no work to do. God is so good to me! This is by far the best summer job ever! =)

There's a couple more days left till I am done. There are 3 of us left and it is really quiet during breaks and lunch hours without the loud people. I pray that it will be better over the days.

I don't know if we will ever see each other again, but I hope we will in the future.

Freak. Out. AH.

I realize I have this tendency to freak out about the smallest and dumbest things.

wow.

I need to change.

School

There's a possibility that I will be in school till......forever?!?!?!


ahhh. nooo


Much prayer is needed for this.

Another Day of Firsts!

Saturday, August 8, 2009:

• First time going to Taste of the Danforth
• First time eating Gyros with fries in them
• First time hanging out with Xara kids
• First time eating Kernal popcorn
• First time in Aaron's car
• First time going into a police station for something other than getting a police check

Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You

I LOVE WORK! PTL!

I absolutely love my summer job. I am learning lots and lots EVERY SINGLE DAY! And I get really sad when I don't have work to do because that makes me really bored and that eventually leads me to talking to my partner....which leads to more summer students coming over to talk to us...which leads to managers coming over and "yell" at us.

Praise the Lord that I don't get "yelled" at because He gave me wisdom to refrain from talking so much and so loud. Praise the Lord that most of the time when the manager walks by I always have stuff to do.


I LOVE P&B!!!
I LOVE working for the government!

First.

This past week was my first time going to certain places:

Last friday: first time going to Fairview Mall
Last Sunday: first time going to Vaughn Mills
Last tuesday: first time going to J-town
A couple weeks ago: first time going to Ribsfest!


There's been a lot of Firsts this Summer! I like I like =)

Praise the Lord!

so it's been about 3 weeks since I started working at P&B. I gotta say, it's been quite an experience. The first week went by so slowly that I thought it was never going to end. I had a partner who I had problems communicating with; I had to follow him around cuz I didn't have my own access card yet. I felt very uncomfortable at work because I didn't know anyone; the co workers didn't know who I was and didn't give me any work to do because they didn't trust me with them. There was a hard time getting to know some of the summer students because I was the "newbie". All in all, the first week and an a half of work was quite unbearable.

God really answered my prayers. My second week of work was a complete 360 degree turn. I felt alot comfortable with everything and most importantly, I was able to communicate with my partner. There seems to be this love and hate relationship between my partner and I; there are times when I just enjoy hanging out and talking to him about the most randomest things, but there are also times when I just hate his face and voice. Sometimes it just really bothers me when he does things that are soooo stupid and does not think about the consequences.

Everything went really well this week in terms of communicating with coworkers, partner and team leaders. I was so busy with work that I felt that the time went by super quickly. And I am really glad that my partner and I are really getting along and helping each other out (eventhough sometimes he prefers helping out another person, which really makes me mad because afterall, we ARE partners). I really enjoy talking to him and the majority of the summer students when I get really tired and bored from work.

The one thing that I am really thankful for is the number of summer students. Last year when I worked at the cabinet office, I was the ONLY summer student. I had no one to talk to when I was bored. I constantly had NO work to do. The only positive thing was that I was allowed to do was surf the net and write emails (to kevinL and Richard haha). This year, the summer students have been quite close over the past 3 weeks and I am really grateful for it. There are a couple of people whom I am quite close to and some whom I just find it hard to communicate with....

All in all, I am just so thankful for what the Lord has done. I asked and He answered (almost right away!). My partner and I are really getting along most of the time and I think it is because of this other girl who is extremely talkative and she gives us alot of topics to talk about... haha. Out of all the summer students, I think I can work with him the best. God surely knows what I need and what I am capable of.

There are still 4 more weeks to go in this job and I just pray that each week will get better and better. I pray that I can become better friends with the summer students and that I can spread the love of Jesus Christ to them.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

What? Weekend is over already???

Yesterday I went to Ribfest for the first time in my life. The ribs were YUMMILICIOUS!!!
.
.
.

I can't believe this weekend is over!!! It went by WAY TOO quickly.
I had a lot of fun though.... with the zoe crew!
ahhh, I can't wait for next weekend! 5 more days!!!!!


Prayers needed.

one cheeesy birthday poem.

I have a friend named Marilyn Luong,
who is very very strong,
I think she likes king kong,
no, she's not from Hong Kong,
I know I know, what a stupid song,
but if you like it, you can sing along!

The reason I wrote this song is because today's her birthday,
she's prolly gonna go out and partay!
I just wanted to say,
that she's wonderfully made,
and to pray and obey the Lord every single day,
and then evil will run away.
I hope this song does not scare her away,
but I think I should end it right away,
Anyway, I wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Thanks for being an awesome friend whom I can depend on!!
Talk to you soon! <3<3>

Prayer

It is 12:08am. I need to wake up in 6.5 hours. I can't sleep right now because I am too worried and scared about work.


Time to pray. nite.

First Day of Work - PTL!!!

- Woke up this morning at 6:15am.
- Ate breakfast.
- Went to Square one to take the 7:15am Go bus to yonge&sheppard.
- Go bus went really slowly due to traffic on hwy401
- Arrived at yonge&sheppard 15 minutes late.
- Ran to the sheppard subway station
- Had problems finding the right train going southbound to York Mills
- Finally found the correct line after 2 minutes of following this girl who looked like she was going to Southbound
- Got to york mills station in 2 minutes.
- ran to the TTC bus #122.... to find out that the next bus will come in 7 minutes. Panicked. Asked lady infront of me. She told me that the bus comes every 5minutes ish and that it will take about 15 minutes to get to Duncan Mill Rd.
-Time check: 8:35am; still waiting for the bus.
- Bus arrive arrives; started praying hard that I won't be late for my first day of work.
- Arrives at work at 9:00AM. Praise the Lord!!!!
- Did paper work; met a whole bunch of people.......

[edit]

- there are alot of summer students this year, all scattered on different floors. But people tend to take breaks and lunch together. Everyone is AT LEAST 2 years younger than me; some just graduated from highschool. It is very hard for me to "fit in" and talk to them cuz 1) I am not really an openminded person 2) I feel really old compared to then. I feel like I am a lot more mature than them 3) I dont know what to say to them if we don't have anything in common. I am really thankful for my mentor/helper tho eventhough I wish he was older than me. He can be really nice but sometimes I just want to beat him up him.

I am still really scared about going to wok. Please pray for me for wisdom, interpersonal skills, and intelligence.

I pray that each day gets better. sigh. I can't wait for the weekend! I want to do something fun!!!

In the midst of all this, I need to continue to Praise the Lord for giving me this job.

T-5 days!!!

5 more days till I start work!!!! This means I need to use these last couple of days wisely and party like I haven't partied before.... hahaha. jk.

twenty-two.

I can't believe I am 22 now. I can still remember turning 21 last year, celebrating the special day with Steph; seeing my favourite HK celebrity, Ron Ng, live in person! Now that I am 22, I feel the need to grow up, act my age and stop being stupid. I am not sure why I feel this way, perhaps it is because I have graduated?? Dont know. It is time to seriously think about the future.

Anyway, my birthday this year was awesome! I got to spend it with all my loved ones in a span of one week. I had 3 all-you-can-eat meals!!

Sunday: After church, marilyn, charis, Ginny and I went over to TJ's house for karaoke. We chilled for a couple of hours and then went to korean bbq in Mississauga. The name of the restaurant is "Arirang", located in the Golden City Plaza. The kalbi, beef, pork and chicken were absolutely delicious! The meal also included seafood, but no one was interested in it except for TJ. I was quite disappointed that they didn't have any fish.
Unless you love eating seafood, the price of the all-you-can-eat meal was not worth it. Not to mention the service. The waitress don't even want to stop to take our orders. All in all, it was a wonderful dinner with my friends! The birthday cards were really touching <3



Tuesday: My family wanted to have my birthday dinner at "maison du japon" for all-you-can-eat sushi. It is my family's favourite restaurant! The sashimi wasfresh and delicious, the ramen was awesome, the rolls were sooooo crunchy! The service was really excellent. We had an awesome time! =) It was sooo worth going to Toronto just to go there.

Wednesday: was my birthday! The day started with me waking up at 11am, proceeded to help my mom vacuum the car and then went out for dimsum at "Sam Woo". I had a "surprise" dinner at Axia with Zoe. I knew about the dinner so it wasn't really a surprise. But what really surprised me was the number of people who showed up to celebrate with me. It was sooooo worth skipping to see Steven Ma in Toronto.
I was really touched to see all those who care, cuz I am not really an important person.
I was really surprised with the birthday cake (first time with sparklers) and birthday card (some people wrote really funny things like... "it is time to shed off your young ways such as korean dramas!! HAHAHAH)
After dinner, we loitered in the parking lot and I saw fireworks! Not really pretty ones but at least I saw stuff shooting up in the air. haha. Praise God for no rain!!!!! =) The night ended off with a game of Life and Bang at the Leungs. I had a great birthday! thanks zoe! love you all <3<3

Friday: I went to Toronto to have dinner with Steph, Maggie and Ivan at another all-you-can-eat sushi @ haitarou?? The sashimi was REALLY GOOD, the sushi had too much rice, but it was okay, the cooked food was okay. Overall, it wasn't as good as "maison du japon". We went to play glow-in-the-dark golf (my first time!) after the 2-hour dinner. It was realllly fun eventhough I came in last place. Then... I rushed home.

Saturday: I went to St. Catharine's to look for houses. St. Catharines IS SO MUCH PRETTIER than Hamilton. Hamilton is just ghetto. Praise God that I found a house in just a day!! It is close to campus and mall. The house is clean and tidy. My room is a bit small but it is okay. I am gonna be living with two other girls who are international students from Trinidad and Tobago. The landlord said they are white...which is really interesting. I am soooo thankful!! One headache gone! =)

The Weather Network

you know what's depressing? rain on Canada Day. It is supposed to be a day of celebration for the country but it has to rain tmr. This means there is a chance that fireworks might not happen tmr. Could this be my first time in 15 years that I don't see fireworks on Canada Day?


I pray for no rain tmr.

Bang!

I am starting to get how to play this game. lol

more practice is needed.

Lord's Grace

Answered Prayers:
1. I got a summer job! Thank you God!
2. I dont need to find a supervisor for my major essay/thesis. I just have to give the graduate director 2 topics to research. He will pick one and assign the prof based on my topic. Thank you God! I hate searching for professors!
3. All my documents have been sent to Brock. I am all set for registration in July.


Prayer Requests:
1. To be able to find a decent house/apartment in St. Catharine's for September
2. To use my time wisely from now till school starts....eeeek.
3. To not panic about school yet....and think more happy thoughts


What I learned this weekend:
1. In times of trouble, (besides family) brothers and sisters in Christ are always the first people to help you.
2. We need to be thankful at all times....even for things that you think is stupid to be thankful for (ie. being able to pee. It is painful not being able to pee.)
3. When you lay all issues down before the Lord and ask for help, He'll help you.
4. The power of the Holy Spirit and what it means to be "filled with the Spirit"

WANTED: FRIENDS!

Anyone interested in going to woodbine beach and play beach volleyball with me on July 4th/5th?

I need FRIENDS! Please be my friend. thanks.


(celebration of my 22nd birthday)

MASSIVE UPDATE

Hello,

I've been soo busy last week with my aunt coming to Canada and other stuff that I haven't been able to write down everything that happened!

Friday June 5th:
The Khalil Fong Concert! The concert was different in the sense that it was just him with the guitar/piano. There was no dancing, no fire explosions or anything exciting. There was a 3-person band tho and a guest performer, Fiona Sit. The stadium was small since we were in Roy Thompson Hall. The concert only lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes. But anyhow, I really liked the concert. First of all, I ABSOLUTELY love his style of music, a combination of R&B and Soul and secondly, his voice is sooo amazing and his guitar/piano playing is just soooooooo GOOD. ahhhh, the entire concert was just soo romantic. If he sang to me, I think I would die. <3<3 And the thing is, since the stadium was so small, he would answer people's screaming and random statements/questions. very cute! It was such a cozy, chill concert....
Khalil is such a friendly guy. I wanna be his friend. ;)



Sunday June 7th
My aunt's trip to Canada was very short - 5 days in total, but only 3 days with us. I am just so grateful that she came to visit me especially because she wanted to attend my convocation! she's the ONLY aunt that really cares about me. She's the ONLY person in the family that actually calls from time to time to see how we're doing. She cares soo much about me that she's willing to fly here just to see my graduate. Because of it, I am forever grateful. My family's been praying hard for her; just simply for the HS to soften her heart and accept the Lord. God's awesome because my aunt went to both sunday school and church for the first time in her life! I was quite surprised at first that she's willing to go without any hesistations because in the past, she kept telling us that church is SO boring and it aint for her. God is good! I know she took some things from the service and I know that seeds were planted....... it will just some take time.....

Tuesday June 9th
My convocation!!! The day I got my B.Sc degreeee!!!!!


Friday June 12th
I went to watch the Jays game! It was fun. The seats were pretty good for 500 level! The best part about it was that I got a picture with Adam Lind and a signed cap and baseball! yay Jesus! I appreciate this sport more now.

Friday June 14th
Church 20th Anniversary and then bbt with my girlies!

Let's Dance!

I am glad they won!


I love Aidan Davis! He's basically the younger version of Justin Timberlake!

Glimpse

Today I got a glimpse of what it would be like teaching in Korea. It was exactly what I had expected. Tough, but exciting! Now I can't wait to go next year after I finish grad school. This is really what I want to do for the rest of my life! ahhh, I finally found my passion! Thank you God!

Apparently a lot of people don't know what I'll be doing in September which I think is kinda weird because I thought I told everyone. Guess not. Some aunties and uncles thought I would be going to UofT for pharmacy this september...? uum, yes, well, I've originally wanted to get into pharmacy, but after two years of rejections, I decided to give up. So no, I won't be going into pharmacy. Oh well, perhaps God just doesn't want me doing this? who knows. Some people thought I'd be going to Korea this year, but I won't be because of the next item. I have decided to do Masters in Applied Linguistics, specializing in teaching ESL instead of doing teacher's college at OISE. I am still sad that I have to let go of teacher's college because I applied for the program way before I knew about the masters program, but after manymanymany prayers and discussions, I think Masters is really want I want to do this year and I can't wait to start!

My plan right now is to do awesome things and make awesome memories this summer because it will prolly be my last summer ever, since the grad program is from september to august. And then after that, I hope to go korea and live there forever....eventhough I have never been there before. Haha. Yesterday I researched on the immigration policy in korea and I found out that I can't immigrate there no matter how long I live or work there because I am not a Korean. I am only eligible for citizenship/permanet residency if I marry a South Korean or invest more than 5 million US dollars in the local economy. haha.... sooo I guess we'll see where God takes me; maybe I'll marry a South Korean or have 5 million US dollars to spare sometime in the future? hahahahahahahahhahaa. No matter how much I love the Korean culture, I'll always be proud of being Canadian-Chinese. =)

So the Lakers won the Western Conference finals and there is a chance they will win the 2009 NBA finals. I am gonna be sooooooooo happy when they winnnnnnnnn! One of my life goals is to watch the Lakers play @ the Staples Center.

Rest

I am really thankful for this time of rest! It definitely gives me more time to reflect.

Bang!

Leviticus 10:3 (The Message)

³ Moses said to Aaron, "This is what God meant when he said,

To the one who comes near me,
I will show myself holy;
Before all the people,
I will show my glory."

Aaron was silent.

MmMmmm SO GOOD!

Some kind of dumpling at Grand Chinese Cuisine

Spinach "cheurn fun" at Grand Chinese Cuisine

Bun filled with meat @ Grand Chinese Cuisine

Shrimp roll @ Grand Chinese Cuisine

Kimchi jigae made my me!

ddok bok ki made by me!

banchan @ man doo hyung

Thai Mango Chicken @ After Rain

nanu(?) udon @ After Rain

my fav green dragon roll @ After Rain

Green Dragon roll looking soooo tasty!

Assorted cupcakes @ Cupcakes at Westdale Village

I have been quite busy lately....

Last weekend, my mac friends came to Sauga from Toronto to see the wonders of this city. It was quite a weird because things went completely out of whack. The plan was to arrive at my house at 11:30am, chill for a bit, head off to Port Credit Go Bus station to pick up Curtis and then go for lunch. Unfortunately, the time was completely off that day cuz Curtis forgot something while on the bus and had to go back to school to get it and then had to wait for an hour for the hamilton local bus to come to get to the Go bus station. We had nuthing to do in the meantime cuz sauga is sooooo boring! We had traditional korean food at man doo hyung on Dundas and then proceeded to play bowling. We played one round and left for a walk in lakeshore. Left the place cuz it was getting too windy and rainy and sat in the car for an hour to wait for Curtis to arrive. We picked up Curtis and then decided to go for some karaoke at Club Oasis. Unfortunately, the place was full so we went to BR for some bbt. I didn't know what else to do in sauga, and I am not the greatest event planner. Anyway, people were hungry after that bbt so we decided to eat at After Rain. My friends loved the food, especially the Green Curry Chicken! awesome! Man, I felt like all we did the entire day was eat eat and eat....nonetheless, it was a fun day!

I've also been going to this korean language class every wednesday night in Toronto. The course is really fun but it can get really childish sometimes. But then again, we are only at the kindergarten/grade 1 stage so singing and juvenile games must be involved in order to drill things into our brains. Hopefully I can put my skills and knowledge to the test soon.

I have been following the 2009 NBA playoffs like crazy. These semi-final games have been ridiculously exciting. I hope the Lakers make it to the finals! Go Lakers Go!

Convocation is coming up and part of me just don't want to go anymore. I dont want to walk across the stage. I don't really want to dress up for it cuz I am not used to it. I don't wanna go back to Mac; not that I don't like the school but I feel like I've had enough of it? I am really dreading that day cuz it will be quite a hassel... and it will be majorly crowded. I don't like crowdedness.


I am still looking for a summer job. Don't know what's happening but I am just playing everything by ear. I am just really thankful that my parents don't mind if I don't get a job; they said they are okay with me just chilling at home for 4 months. Thank you God. I really want a job tho, cuz then I can have some money to spend. So in the meantime, I really need to control my spending. Anyway, more prayers are needed for this.

My spiritual life is not going anywhere. It is just okay. I need to work on this more.


If you have rogers and have the digital box, they are offering free previews to a couple of channels for 2 weeks. Two korean channels, 608 and 609, will be free till May 28th! sooooooo take this opportunity to watch them!

Time seems to be going by soooo quickly everyday. It is like I wake up in the morning, eat brunch, do some errands for my mother and then, it is the afternoon, spend time either job hunting, devotions or watching tv, dinner, more chilling/out with friends/job hunt/devo...... feels like time is running away from me. Hopefully, I can use my time wisely this week, cuz I feel like I have missed a lot of zoe stuff.... and zoe people. haha.


Le End.

Amazing! I wish I knew how to dance like that...

Indecisiveness

I have a problem. I can't make decisions. I can't stick to one thing. ahhhhh. I always have to pick between two things and I want them both. I want to make the RIGHT decision; an answer that will work both ways. But I can't, because I want both choices! Am I being greedy here?

Man...making decisions is a part of adulthood. It is a problem that I am still working on.


I should really pray for wisdom right now.

Time to grow up?

So lately I have been feeling the need to grow up. Not sure if it is still from the excitement of finishing undergrad or...if it is something else. But a lot of people, both young and old, have told me that I am "old" now because I am done university. My parents and other wise parents have told me that I am "older" now, so I need to do this and that......Honestly, I couldn't really accept the fact that I am "old" now because I will forever be young at heart. I am quite immature most of the time and I dont know if I am ready to grow up yet. But then, the problem is that everyone my age is growing up. At least 5 acquaintances of mine are getting married this year at the age of 22. Some even got engaged in 3rd year and waiting to graduate to get married. I am not worried about the marriage part cuz God has His own plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11), but I feel like everyone's moving on with life and I am still stuck in my own little highschool brain. It is as if all of a sudden, everyone's growing up and I can't catch up cuz I dont want to change...I love being young.

I guess it is time to grow up.....? And I guess from now till September is the transition to "adulthood".

what do "adults" do?

Temptations

so a friend just told me that Khalil Fong, an awesome American born Chinese songwriter/singer, is coming to Toronto for a concert on June 5th at 8pm. Check out some of songs from my previous post titled "singalong song".

Dilemma #1: I think it is conflicting with something....
...

Hacken Lee and Alan Tam, both famous HK singers, are coming to Toronto for a concert on June 8th at 8pm.

Dilemma #2: My aunt is coming to Canada to see my convocation, which is happening on June 9th at 9am.


Just when I thought I was done with making decisions, I've got more. I know I shouldn't go to either of them, but they are just soooo tempting..especially the one on June 5th. man.....

It is a sport: Speed Stacking

World's fastest cup stacker! This 11-yr old did it in 6.69 seconds! Bravo!

Lipgloss can suppress appetite?

Huge Lips Skinny Hips..... WHAT?

Singalong Song

sweeeeeeet songs <3<3 (the guy is wayyyy tooo skinny tho)

Celtics vs Bulls

highlights from last night!!!!


Celtics 127
Bulls 128
3 OT

3-3 series

Next game: Game 7 May 2 8:00 p.m. TNT. It is gonna be one exciting game!


I hope the Chicago Bulls will beat the Celtics

GOD IS SOOOO GOOOD TO MEEEE!!

so you know how I have been really scared of getting the final grades for MEMBRANES? (the course which I believe is the most boring course in the entire world and the most impossible course to do well on..next to orgo)...well, yesterday was the first day marks come out and I was scared all day to check. I have been praying alot since I wrote that exam, hoping to pass the course; yes, even if I have a 50% because that's all I need to graduate. Yesterday night, my dad told me to (wo)man up to check the marks because it is prolly posted and my fear won't change anything.

So I click on the link. Enter my login. The front page shows up telling you when marks/transcripts are up. I say a quick prayer. click continue. and........ then I look at the marks.


I PASSED MEMBRANESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID BETTER THAN I THOUGHT!!!!! I PASSED MY EXAM!!!!! eventhough I still did horrible overall, it is NOT a 50!!!


GOD IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!!!! THank you all for your prayers!!!

There is still one more mark to come out but I know that I will pass it!!!

I can finally say with certainty that I am DONE UNDERGRAD!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I think it is time for some CELEBRATION! =)




I am still deciding what I am doing in September. It is still between OISE and Masters at Brock for Applied ling (TESL). I am leaning towards one but I really want to make sure it is what God wants and not what I want before I make the final decision.

Just thinking about living in St. Catharine's by myself off campus is very frightening....

The Swine Flu Epidemic

article

This really brings back memories when I took a virology last term and the period when SARS occurred.
It almost seem surreal that this is happening. We talked about it last term about how it might occur due to many factors but I didn't think it will occur sooo quickly.

I just pray that it doesn't become a pandemic.

Honesty is the way to go!

read this article, you'll be surprised.

Britain's Got Talent 2009

Tonight I decided to watch stuff on youtube and came across Britain's Got Talent! Go Check them out!!! Some of the acts were just sooo bad. I am not sure if they are just doing it to get recognition or if they really think they have talent in this field. To eat as many Ferrero Rochers as possible in one minute? I only have one word - ridiculous.

Ridiculous Acts:

Witch Curse
singing souls (unbelievable. The girl was soooo rude! )
To eat as many Ferrero Rochers as possible in one minute ( A MUST WATCH!)



Awesome Acts:

Shaheen Jafargholi (This little boy inspired me! I almost cried when Simon told him to stop cuz it was the wrong song, but the boy was calm. This is what I call talent; being able to sing on the spot)
Suleman Mirza
Flawless
Susan Boyle

HIMYM

...is all I have been watching since school ended. Yes, I have succumbed. I just wanted to know why people say it is a really good show. It is pretty funny, but I think Friends is funnier. haha. I am still on Season 1 sooo I dont know if it will get better or worse later. Nonetheless, I like "How I Met Your Mother".

New All-You-Can-Eat Japanese Buffet Restaurant

It is called 168 Japan Buffet, located at Glen Erin and Erin Mills. It is RIGHT beside Miga (the Korean restaurant).

website


How we found out:
my mom's boss told her that there is this new japanese ayce restaurant. The boss and her collegues wanted my family to try it first and get comments from us because 1) the wong's have really high expectation of japanese food because japanese food is our favourite kind of food 2) the wong's love to try new japanese restaurants 3) because we love japanese restaurants so much, we have tried practically all of mississauga's acye places and a quarter of ayce jap places in toronto, so we can make some comparisions
So one night papa wong was craving for some japanese acye. Without a doubt, we went to this new place.

The atmosphere:
- the place is really spacious. comfortable seating. I would say 2-3x bigger than maki maki. 1.5x bigger than honten... 8/10

The service:
- wayyyyy better than ALL acye places in sauga and toronto. I dont know if it is because the waitresses/waiters were new, but they were really nice to us eventhough they didn't know much english and cantonese. Who knows, they might turn mean after a couple of months cuz they get fed up with ridiculous customers. The food came out REALLY quickly and they NEVER missed a single thing unlike other jap restaurants. Perhaps it was because we went there at 8:30pm on a sunday night. I really HATE the service at Maki Maki. I have MANY stories to tell about that restaurant. Same goes with Prince Sushi, Momiji and Honten. 9/10 for 168 japan buffet.

The food:
- It says on their menu that they have over 100 items to choose from. They have many different kinds of rolls. Not gonna lie, they were REALLY fresh. We are a crazy fan of sashimi and not so much rolls though. The bad thing is that when you order rolls, they come in 6's. So it is best to go with friends so you can try everything. Also, they don't have enough different cooked dishes to choose from, but it was okay. The food overall was fresh! The tempuras were realllly good. Their fried stuff overall was pretty crunchy. I give them 8.5/10.

The Price:
They charge the same price everyday for dinner. $22.95. Which I say is normal, I guess. I forgot the price for lunch. 7/10 - well, of course, the cheaper the better. haha


Comments:
- I really like this restaurant, mostly because it is better than other japanese ayce places in sauga. My brother thinks it tastes the same as Waterloo's ye's sushi (whatever that means) Nuthing bad happened to us the first time we went so....and until something wrong happens, imma claim this as my new fav japanese restaurant in SAUGA. However, this restaurant still does not beat our all-time favourite restaurant - "japon du maison"!!!!!!!!
Overall, I give this new japanese ayce restaurant 8.5/10.


Will I visit this restaurant again? YES.

The End of Undergrad??

I guess it is time to blog since I haven't blogged in the longest time. I wrote my last undergrad exam last Tuesday and it felt like a ton of weight has lifted off my shoulders. No, I didn't scream when I handed in my exam but I couldn't stop smiling after. Fourth year is really no joke, there is really no time to slack. With all the insanely hard biochem courses that I had to take to complete my degree, I really had to be on top of the game. Not gonna lie, but there were MANY times when I got really frustrated with myself for doing poorly in school either because I didn't put enough effort due to my addiction to korean/asian dramas or I just didn't put enough effort period. First year was about staying in the program and getting into specializations, fourth year is about not failing anything and leaving university. I am still scared about my membranes mark because it is literally do or die. 'Do' as in I pass undergrad and 'die', as in...ya. But every time I doubt, I tell myself that God will help me through it.

The four years at mac have really helped me grow academically and spiritually and I guess, physically? haha . I can really feel that I am more mature now and that I think more deeply at things rather than just looking on the surface.

First year: I didn't know anything. I was still excited that I got into university and rooming with my best friend. Life was hard back then cuz it was REALLY hard to do well in school cuz everything was so hard. I met a bunch of people on my floor during that year. I remember we used to go down to the food place to grab dinner together. Some... I hardly saw after first year, others I only saw randomly over the four years. Steph lived next door to me during first year and I still dont know why I knocked on her door to introduce myself since I was still super shy back then. I still remember my move-in day and meeting my second roomate, whom I didn't know at all. She was quite different from me, caucasian, likes to party, hates to study, likes to go to sleep early, hates studying in the room.... everything was practically opposite. There were definitely times when I question why we roomed together. We bonded a little when she got drunk one night, barfed in the washroom, and had a heartache the day after. I actually had the guts to ask her how she was doing. We did joke a little but nuthing more. We couldn't become best friends. oh well. Can't help it. We were just really different. This was also the year when I told myself that I needed to smarten up. University is all about doing the right thing, making the right choices. It was also the year when I learned the word "Trust". Trust in God that He'll take care of everything. In the end, I passed first year with a mediocre GPA, and got into a program that I never even intended to get into: biochemistry.
oh, this was also the year when I discovered my love for linguistics through Becky.

Second year: was way different cuz people went their separate ways. Steph and maggie went into biology, a whole bunch was in heathscience which meant that we didn't have any more classes together (thank God! which I will get into in future posts), and some, decided to drop out of university. I had NO ONE. I knew NOBODY. I told myself that I can't be shy anymore and needed to open up and start talking to people, so I made a couple of friends. Actually, I knew some people before but I didn't really know know them but luckily, they were all in biochem. I remember I only sat with Nav, Akash, Desmond and Ivan, cuz I knew them from before. We had to get into a group of 10 for this biochem project but because we only had 6 people, we had to just let the TA randomly choose our group. God really blessed us with these people, there were a group of 4 people that needed a group and we were placed with them. We got pretty close after project as they have become my closest biochem friends. I really can't express how thankful I am that these people came into my life. Spirtually, I learned to have FAITH. To be faithful and also to believe that God can do the impossibles.

Third year: was the easiest year. I had 3 mandatory courses and 7 electives, which really helped me raise my GPA alot. the biochem people saw each other quite alot. We had a 5 people project and we MADE SURE that we were together for this one. Because the number was smaller, we had to separate from the large group and we began to drift apart from some people. oh well. The five of us became the core five as we always did all the biochem stuff together. We msned each other practically everyday. It was crazy. This was also the year when steph and I became roomates. The story how we became roomies is very funny and very weird. But God had his plans and am I ever glad that I roomed with her cuz I believe I planted seeds in her. The greatest thing was that she let me prayed with her during her troubled times. I remember one time when she was SUPER stressed out. She cried for her mother and asked her to pick her up at school. I am glad I prayed with her that night. And of course, we became closer friends through this. In terms of spiritual maturity, it was a combination of "trust and faith". Trust that God can do the impossibles and have faith that everything will be alright in the end.

Fourth year: was the hardest year in terms of academics. It was kinda like first year except this year, I wasn't really the problem cuz by this year, I knew how to study effectively but I just didn't like the materials much. yes, membranes was a killer course. I am just not good at memorizing and biology. I hate learning about this stuff and with the prof being super monotone didn't help either. argh! but whatever. Anyway, I also had an inquiry course that required alot of group work. Long story short, I originally wanted to be placed in the same group as ivan and mulder, but at the end, the prof said that there were too many people in that group and so she appointed me to move to another group; a group that I didn't know at all!!! I prayed hard for this group cuz I had to work the entire term with them but God had to move me to a group of people I didn't know. yes, I was angry. Yes, I was frustrated. But I thought of the positives, that God knows what he's doing. We did extremely well on all of the group assignments. no arguments whatsoever....unlike other groups. My TA was the best TA in the entire world. He helped sooooo much....unlike other TAs. In the end, we had the highest marks OVERALL in practically everything. We rock. It was then that I found out that God wanted to bless me with a good group that can work well with me. Thinking back, if I had stayed in ivan's group, I would prolly get destroyed by the group leader and the TA. THANK YOU GOD. This year, I learned to obey, because that will be blessings. Listening to God's words through the Word and prayer. Standing firm in faith and not be shaken by the devil. God awarded me lots of gifts this year for obeying Him and I truly thank the Lord for what He has done.

my second year biochem group that consisted of 10 ppl

Cotoia's on the left going crazy and Akash on the right thinks she's really out of her mind.haha
Akash and I always stay up till morning testing each other on msn. And the funny thing is, most of the time, the topics that come up
are on the midterms/exams. haha

the entire biochem group <3

mulder has become my closest biochem buddy. I am really gonna miss this half-asian girlie

My asian friends whom I've been friends with since first year.
I know we're still gonna stay in touch after graduation cuz...we're ASIAN.

my bestest friend at mac! she says I am hyper and random. I think she needs to talk more!

The End.