welcome to tiffanyville!

agape 30th

2007-10-27T23:48:00.000-04:00

(hello friends, it's been awhile, hasn't it?)

happy 30th anniversary, agape fellowship!

for those of you who don't know, agape is the fellowship my parents (and their friends) started up when they were in their twenties and going to college here. it's because of them that i have my lifelong best friends (tacb) as well as a multitude of honorary uncles and aunties to watch out for me. i can only hope that the friendships i have with tacb and those with my delta friends will be as strong 30 years from now. :)

in the meantime, here's a little blast-from-the-past:
part of today's agape 30th celebration service program was the opening of a "time capsule" we had put together seven years ago (right before "Y2K" hit). i think the best part was my dad rifling through the stuff in the elaborately decorated box and announcing to everybody that they "have the wrong box" (it wasn't), but the second best was reading the answers for our "millennium time capsule questionnaire". at the time i was 16 years old and in grade eleven, and apparently had very, very bad taste in music. one of my favourite bands at the time was the backstreet boys -- ah yes, those were the simpler days when my "teen heart-throb crush" was nick carter and he was cute and hadn't started dating paris hilton yet (in fact, those were the days when we didn't even know what a paris hilton was...) how i long for those days! my other favourite bands were OLP and bush (bush x?). looking over the rest of the list, my favourite shows were roswell, dawson's creek, and buffy. you're welcome, WB network. my favourite movie at the time was austin powers 2 and my favourite songs were "supernatural" by dctalk and, this is really sad, "all star" by smashmouth. when asked where i saw myself in 10 years, i wrote: "i don't know... i should be done school, maybe have a boyfriend(?), be living on my own, and have a job of some sorts. or else maybe i've won the lottery... or i'm a hobo...". clearly i was not a very articulate child -- though i suppose this answer was more realistic than mei's "married with two children" response! it's really strange to see how much has changed in just a few years and honestly, just like the 16-year-old-me seven years ago, i still don't have a clue what's going to happen ten years down the line. what i'm going to be doing, whether i will be happy, where i'm going to be living, how much money i'm going to win from the ontario gaming commission -- all of this is really up in the air at this time and, as i get closer and closer to graduation, it's really starting to hit me. *takes deep breath* i guess there's little i can really do besides taking things one step at a time... heh, but atleast tacb will always be my "best friends 4ever". :)

long time no see!

2007-06-11T23:41:00.000-04:00

hey guys, it's been awhile, hasn't it? the commenting system i use for my blog has gone down, and it's too much trouble sorting it out... so my way to remedy not being able to receive feedback comments is to just not generate any by not blogging!

ok, so it's not the best solution.

things have been quite busy since coming off of school for the summer. there's been people to see, weddings to plan (not my own! i swear!),shoes to buy, sushi to eat, and things to study. -- "things to study?", you say, "but it's your summer vacation?!" -- yes, you heard me correctly. it's currently 11 minutes to midnight and i'm sitting in front of my computer. studying.

i've got my pharm jurisprudence exam next month, but really, i'm reviewing things for work tommorrow. it's been great work experience for me so far, but i just started my job a little while ago and i'm still getting used to the hang of things. even more distressingly, as a pharmacy STUDENT, i'm actually kinda sorta supposed to know what i'm talking about! heh. hence the studying. i know i'm not going to be able to recall every single thing i've learned this past year, but it'd be nice to be able to answer the pharmacist when she asks me what are the important things you would tell the patient. who knew i actually had to retain all this knowledge? :p

aside from work, i'm been enjoying my summer spending my time with my family, dave, and friends. i've since learned that regularly scheduled "friend time" is the way to go, so my monthly tacb get-togethers and my weekly girls' nights have made a resurgence once more. have you guys ever wondered why i seem so knowledgeable about episiotomies and "tearing" (ouch!), veterinary surgical procedures, the hyperactivity of children, and the historical inaccuracies of blockbuster movies featuring ancient civs -- that's the influence of my girls' night's midwife, vet, teacher, and egyptologist right there.

hello :)

2007-05-17T12:09:00.000-04:00

click me!

yikes, that is one crazy ad.

hello dear and faithful readers,
sorry i've been so neglectful lately, it's been quite busy since i've finished school. (hurray!!!) one of my classmates counted, and apparently we had 39 exams this year alone, so i feel as if i'm due a lot of hardcore partying!!

and what kind of hardcore partying have i been doing lately? i went to niagara-on-the-lake and then pioneer village the following day!! (i've got two words for ya: maple. fudge. YUM!!!) this week has been great b/c i've been able to relax a little and spend time with friends, something i haven't been able to do for the past month. i'm looking forward to a nice, restful summer. :) especially since i'm only working part-time this summer as a pharm tech (i just started on tuesday!), so i'm going to have a lot of time on my hands. does anyone want to hang out this summer or want to start up a business of some sort with me? ...please?!?

other things i'm looking forward to the next few months:
- the return of girls' night with my martingrove buddies
- monthly tacb meetings
- a multitude of weddings (4!!) of which i'll be in the wedding party of one of them :)
- catching up with friends
- finally getting some pharm experience. getting paid is also nice too.
- sleeeeeeeep!

can anyone think of anything else i can add?

internet down.

2007-05-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

hey everybody, in case everybody's wondering where i've been (email and otherwise), my internet's decided to die out on me (slowly and painfully and most inconveniently DURING my exams) so i won't really be around until this thing is fixed. i'm currently blogging at my uncle's house (i have to download notes for my final tommorrow!!!) and i haven't had time to respond to emails (sorry tacb :( i'll call/respond soon)or even check for addresses (sorry, ames :( just a little longer!) b/c i gotta rush to print this stuff off and study.

hopefully be back soon...

half-way through

2007-04-26T20:42:00.000-04:00

there's something rather perverse about being happy over having "only" 4 more finals to go. but after 3 written, 1 oral, and 2 standardized patient finals, i guess it's all about perspective. i'm slightly more than halfway done and only that much closer to "freedom".

on a side notes: i am officially in love with dave's DS lite. that's what i've been spending the past two days consumed with - exams be damned! :p actually, i was really good yesterday and resisted HUGE temptation, opting instead for the less fun, more productive pasttime of studying.

i <3 all things mario and all things nintendo!! (now someone buy me super paper mario please...)

ecstatic

2007-04-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

[edit] for those who are wondering, no, there's nothing special or different going on with me personally. the reason why i'm so happy is b/c two of my close friends just got engaged last week. they're seriously the best couple ever and i predict many "happily ever afters" for the two of them. <3

right now i'm so giddy with joy that tears are starting to fill my eyes!!! congratulations!!! :D

[there's nothing like good news to take the sting away from studying.]

wildlife photographer

2007-04-12T19:45:00.001-04:00

people have been noticing that it's been quite a while since i've last blogged, so i'm here to reassure my readership that i have indeed not fallen off the face of the earth.

what have i been doing in the meantime?

studying. counselling fake patients. stressing over upcoming exams.
and occasionally enjoying the perks of being a pharmacy student. what are these said perks, one might ask?

f.r.e.e. s.a.m.p.l.e.s.

drug fair haul

since our faculty is 90% asian, you can pretty much expect us all to be locusts when it comes to freebies. so what if we wouldn't usually recommend cough and cold remedies to patients -- free samples of robitussin? grab me a handful of those!

"what's in that box?" "i don't know, but it's free!" (it turned out to be one of those keychain holders with a built-in watch)

i'll be honest with you though, the haul you see here pales in comparison to some of my classmates'. whereas i might have a pitiful handful, they grabbed entire boxes. it appears that even *i* can be out-asian'ed. (forgive me, my ancestors.)

lest you think i'm a complete hog, let me just say for the record that i *did* give some of my samples away and they went to good use -- although brandon quickly learned that you can't let gelcaps sit in your mouth too long before swallowing or else the quick-dissolve gel casing WILL quick dissolve and expose you too the bitterness that is ibuprofen.

OTC freebies

and when i'm not drugging up my friends, i also moonlight as an amateur wildlife photographer. see them in their natural surroundings:

sudsy

staring contest

also of note: yesterday was my sweetheart's birthday. :)

OSCEs

2007-03-04T00:04:00.000-05:00

hey guys, just some "shop talk" today. :)

unfortunately, my exam on thursday was NOT cancelled on account of the snow - if only it had been an evening exam, then it would have been!

had my OSCE test that i have been dreading since first year pharm and am SO GLAD that it's all over. i... really have no idea how i did. after i did each session, i kept on thinking of things i should have said or how i could have organized the counselling better, but i think most people felt this way. it's kinda good, b/c i think it's good practice to show me what works and what doesn't, in terms of patient counselling... i just wish that i learned those things BEFORE my exam! heh. on the plus side, i don't think i'm going to be a complete failure as a pharmacist and am rather surprised on how i actually know these OTC topics and products. i mean, it'll be better when i get more real-life experience, but i think i'm getting a fairly good background. so, if anyone wants to ask me about contraception, diarrhea, lice, heartburn, warts, athlete's foot, colic, motion sickness, etc. i no longer have to go, "hrm. i learned about that - lemme go check my notes and i'll get back to you on that..."

and to me, that's very exciting!

side note: man, today was a looong day. i've been staying late at school these past few days, studying. i had a midterm earlier in the week (and will have more in the following ones). and i spent 5 hours today waiting in (almost) complete silence, just so i could counsel a fake patient on a fake condition with a non-existent product for ~10 minutes. sigh. afterwards, went over to dave's place and helped him clean and prepare dinner for his uncle and aunt. guess who knows how duck brains taste now! :p

(in case you're wondering, it's actually not too bad. the only thing is that eating the duck head is too labour-intensive. i have the same complaint with the dim sum chicken's feet -- too much effort for not enough reward (a.k.a. meat) in return.)

p.s. bun, after you tagged me, i was gonna do that whole "grab the nearest book/turn to page 123/read 4 lines down/record the next 3 lines" thing, but the book that is closest to me is my behemonth of an "applied therapeutics" textbook -- it's really, really heavy (10lbs, according to my bathroom scale), 8.5"x11"x3.5", and when i open it up, has no page numbers. just page designations like 31-7 or 102-28. it's that big.

"whoops"

2007-02-26T23:14:00.001-05:00

guess who found out today that they have an exam this thursday...

"whoops!"

science things

2007-02-20T20:02:00.000-05:00

you know, lately i've been thinking about med school. not that i'd actually get in (with these grades and my very shaky hands? heavens no!), but surgery and people's insides just sounds so fascinating. i tell you, if pharmacists were allowed to dissect and slice things up with scalpels, i'd be a very happy girl.

either that or some sort of serial killer. :p

the past few weeks have been absolutely hectic. as it turns out, as bad as last term was, *this* term manages to surpass it in sheer busy-ness, craziness, and stress. except for 3 (possibly 4) weeks, every week of this winter term has some sort of exam in it!!! but thankfully it's reading week and i get a bit of a respite despite my upcoming OSCEs. who wants to be a standardized patient for me??? .... PLEASE?!

i hope everyone's chinese new year dinners were good. :) i had so much fun - dave came over to celebrate with my (extended) family, and i must say he fits in really well with everyone. kirby even asked me to give dave a hug for him (after dave had left), but i suspect he might have had wii-related ulterior motives. but kirbs and bethany said they liked him and not just b/c of the video games. awwwww! :) anyway, the dinner and conversation all night was pretty hilarious. one of the highlights of the evening was during the "bai leen" when all us younger unmarrieds go around to the married couples and say a few chinese new year greetings/proverbs before we get our lucky red pockets. here's a (translated) sampling of what my cousins said: "may you grow more hair", "may your son do better in school", "i hope you get less wrinkles", and "may you do well in school" (my personal favourite - it was spoken to our grandmother).

oh, so today i went to this "let's talk science" event with dave. we went to a private school to judge science fair entries. now, i'm not so sure about how smart of these students are, but man, now *i* want to send my kids to private school! that place, though didn't look as impressive from the outside, was absolutely beautiful on the inside! the office was everything you'd picture a private school office to be like - comfy plush chairs, tables with china tea sets on them, classical music playing in the background, nice cabinets with artifacts from around the world... and the kids were actually really polite and well-behaved. the hallways were also decorated with great murals - some even 3D! as you can tell, i'm a sucker for aesthetics/packaging. :p

as for the actual science though, you should probably wait until dave comes out with a blog entry. (one word: "ponies".) from dave's previous experience, i decided to volunteer fully prepared to make (good-natured!) fun of the kids who obviously did their projects the night before ("hypothesis: my homemade compass will not work. conclusion: my homemade compass did not work. therefore my hypothesis was correct"). but instead, i ended up judging the projects of a lot of esl kids at the school, and honestly, you just can't make fun of esl kids. it's just mean.

ohh, but i thought it was funny when one kid's results discussion included this gem: "everyone seemed to have better short-term memory in the quiet, restful environment except for spencer, whose short-term memory was better in the loud, noisy environment. spencer is my brother. i think he might have been trying to fail me." :)

other gems:
"so strange... the garbage plant is growing like a normal plant"
"our hypothesis is, we will fail"
"which is heavier?"
"will it float?"
"so where did you come up with idea for your project?" "me. i'm a genius." "..."
"so do you know why/how the NaOH ingredient might help to clean the stains?" "... no. but i *do* know it's a man-made product. hah! i know more than you think i do!"

but i AM glad those grade 5 memory project girls got second place, they gave a very good presentation. plus they were just so cute! i also liked this other kid's project that dealt with atmospheric pressure, but it was beat out by the bridge, popcorn, and smelly plants.

oh! and one other thing i learned - there's actually a bit of "politics" that goes into the judging process. you have to try to balance girl/boy winners ratios, the different grades - apparently we had all the 7th graders winning and none from grade 8 so we had to "vote" - and sometimes ties are made since the lower grades can be sensitive and sometimes start to cry. awwww!

awesome.

2007-01-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

awesome.

and yes, this is a real album art cover.

descriptions of friends

2007-01-21T03:21:00.000-05:00

my friends met/hung out with some of my fellowship friends a while back, and here are some choice quotations from when they were describing them to me.

"he's a close-talker. have you seen that episode of seinfeld? i was like... [makes leaning back motion]."

"when he drinks, he's very touchy-feely with the guys."
"atleast it's not with the girls!"

heee!

pleasant things

2007-01-21T02:29:00.000-05:00

i fear my blog is veering into angsty adolescent material b/c of the cryptic agitated posts and complaints over school, so i try to write about more pleasant things:

got together with my best friends today - tacb!!! :) i don't know if any of you are lucky enough to have close friends since childhood (babyhood, really), but i have been incredibly blessed with three extremely different, extremely wonderful best friends who have always been there for me despite being in different cities half of the time.speaking of that particular get-together with tacb,
have you guys noticed that many of the sushi places run by chinese ppl have really atrocious service? why is that?
my boo (hee!) got a nintendo wii just last week, so i've been trying to sneak in some rayman raving rabbids here and there. you'd think you'd get tired of their shtick - walk by, turn to look at the screen, and then proceed to FREAK OUT and scream - but no, no, my fascination with the bunnies seems to be infatiguable. "AHHHHHH!" hehe, bunnies just wanna have fun...
delta was really great last night. when we worship together, i sometimes look around at the friends around me, soak in the music, close my eyes, and think that this must be what heaven is like. no, not predominantly chinese. i believe that's markham. (or richmond, for you vancouver ppl out there :p ) but there's just something about these very different people with very different backgrounds and personalities finding simple joy in praising our God - singing as one voice... it's just all very lovely.
"shout-out" to gracie for the nice chat today. thanks for reminding me how i survived my years at queen's: your friendship, our mutual intolerance for b.s. and our random but hilarious talks. :)
school, to put it mildly, has been very stressful and generally terrible. just read the below posts and you get the idea - i won't rehash it all. on the plus side, however, i'm still scraping by slowly. my new motto concerning school is just to take things one day at a time. simple sounding, but muuuch more difficult to ---- gah! i just forgot the word i was going to write! it was a perfect descriptor and it's driving me nuts that i can't remember it anymore. and no, i can't substitute it with another synonym, it just wouldn't be right. it wouldn't convey the right emotion and understanding. if anyone can guess of the word i'm thinking of, please leave comment below.
(p.s. it's not "accomplish", "initiate", "do", or "carry out". i think it had an "-uate" kind of ending.)
triggered by countless lectures on allergies, ig-E's, and anaphylactic shock, i had a dream where my face had red blotches that coalesced, began to swell, and then i started having difficulty breathing. i woke up gasping for air. scary.
is it bad that, two weeks later, i'm still on vancouver/seattle time?

to whom this concerns

2007-01-21T02:12:00.000-05:00

to whom this concerns:

what are we, in high school or something? seriously. GROW. UP.
that is all.

sincerely,
tiffany

to start off...

2007-01-11T02:29:00.000-05:00

the rest of this post will pretty much be me complaining about school, you are now forewarned:

i left all my trip photos are on dave's camera which is currently in his possession, so the post will have to be postponed. and to be honest with you, i'm not in the mood to write a massive entry at this time b/c i'm feeling so drained from school. already. on the *third* day back. three days into the term and i'm already behind on everything. by the end of tuesday (after which i had a total of only 5 hours of class that week) i felt like i deserved a weekend (or better yet, another vacation), so you can imagine my dismay when i realised that i still had several days to go.

i feel like i'm going to be in a perpetual wednesday state for the entirety of the term - with the previous weekend a distant past and the coming weekend too far off. i've got a case of the never-ending wednesdays... :(

next week: i've got a midterm, a pass/fail/honours lab (which is essentially another test every other week - you can get failed for interrupting the "MD" while taking a verbal rx), a class presentation, 2 therapeutics panels, and i'm sure something else which i'm missing.

home sweet home

2007-01-07T17:14:00.000-05:00

it's good to be home. :)

back home from seattle and had tons of fun visiting ames there - good food, good company, nice sights, and lots of wii!!! i think i'm addicted to rayman raving rabbids now... i know bunnies just wanna have fun, but don't stay up too late playing, ok ames?

anyhow, i'm back home again and it's time to buckle down and do some work. 2006 has been an interesting year - full of ups and downs - and i trust 2007 will be no less exciting.

van/sea picture post and new year ruminations to follow.

ooops

2007-01-03T14:13:00.000-05:00

dearest ladies and gents,

i forgot to inform 90% of you that i have been in vancouver for the past week celebrating christmas and new years' with dave and his wonderful parents. sorry! it's been a week full of sightseeing, mildly sprained ankles (don't worry brandon, i soldiered it out and didn't get crutches :p ), discovering the awesomeness that is DAISO (a japanese two-dollar store), meeting friends, sushi the size of my fist, colds and coughing fits, and lots of FOOD.

when i get back in a week (just in time for school and school assignments...) i'm going to post a more complete entry on vancouver but i can't do it right now b/c i am headed to seattle this afternoon!! ames has graciously let me stay with her for a few days, so i'm spending the remainder of the trip in seattle.

see you in a week!!
- tiff

today, 30 years ago...

2006-12-17T23:28:00.000-05:00

despite a few mishaps -- certain uncles and aunties spoiling the surprise; getting smaller portions at the "kids table" (half a fish?!); me freaking out over monday/today's exam -- i couldn't have pictured a greater way to celebrate my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. it was the perfect melange of family and friends, old and new. our family is so blessed. :)

.: 30 wonderful years together :.

december 18th, 1976.

happy anniversary, mama and papa.
we love you. :)

exams

2006-12-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

sorry for the lack of posts, i'm busy being stressed for exams. i've got 3 down, 3 more to go. (last exam, this thursday) between studying and my parent's upcoming 30th anniversary, it looks to be a very busy weekend.

if anyone feels like praying for me ;)
mon - my parent's anniversary!!! :D also, my therapeutics exam
wednesday - management final
thursday - pathophysiology exam; then, freedom!

p.s. looks like i'm going to vancouver this holiday season (!!)

dreams

2006-11-30T01:07:00.000-05:00

i started this post a month ago in response to d_c's blog entry on dreams and never got around to finishing it due to exams. :s

when i was younger, i used to think i didn't dream at all.

this notion was challenged in 8th grade when i did my project on dreams in mrs. boyce's class, but it still remains that i rarely remember my dreams. most of the time, my mind will just think oddly strange thoughts until i fall asleep or zone out (depending on my locale: in bed or in class). occasionally, this foray into the unfathomable recesses of my brain will exhibit in some truly weird dream - like that time i dreamt that wayne and garth (from wayne's world) were bill cosby jello wigglers commercial jiggly watermelons (with appropriate coloured wigs) who were trying to defeat an evil guitar - but usually i just wake up with no recollection of my REM cycles.

the one exception, however, is this dream where i'm being chased by zombies through a dank high school basement/boiler-room or darkened, semi-abandoned town. the locale must have been influenced by too much buffy b/c mci never had a basement, much less one that resembled a labyrinth full of pipes. these dreams usually feature a rotating roster of regulars - usually friends from mci or church - so i guess in that respect it's nice, since i always get to see loved ones. it's actually never quite a nightmare b/c nobody really gets hurt (that i notice) and the zombies, though persistent, are not very bright. it's not a scary dream at all. the problem, however, is their persistence - *that* is what makes the dream unpleasant. there's no violence or eating of the brains or anything remotely gory or horror-filled, it's just crouching and hiding and escaping over and over again. no matter how hard i try to manipulate the dream, it's just chasing with no end in sight. you're trapped in this endless cycle and it wears you down.

needless to say, i don't wake up refreshed the following morning. :p

more toothpaste for dinner :)

2006-11-30T00:08:00.000-05:00

this reminds me of OAC bio w/ms. sano

toothpastefordinner.com

and this one, i just like. "please. please. please. please. please."

toothpastefordinner.com

so it's been awhile since i've last posted. things have definitely slowed down since i finished my midterms, but i'm definitely still keeping busy. december exams are looming up quickly and i'm starting to panic once more.

despite the fact that school lectures are getting more and more painful, i've thankfully been able to enjoy life here and there in fleeting, seemingly stolen moments (as i feel like the purpose of my life right now as a student is to NOT have fun). this morning was one such moment when i decided to sleep in today for school :) and another was when i met up with the girls once more on saturday. (it's been too long!) thank God for those little recharge periods or else i think i'd really go insane.

speaking of sanity, who wants to keep me company this weekend as i try to get some studying done and keep myself from: 1) falling asleep, and 2) going insane? dave's gone to aspen today for a conference and, all-of-a-sudden, i don't know what to do with myself. suddenly my evenings and weekend seem very free and very lonely. :( i suppose my textbooks and notes could keep me company, but... c'mon.

praise report

2006-11-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

praise report: yesterday, my grandmother accepted Christ! after thirty years of persistence, my parents' prayers have finally been answered.

to others in similar situations: don't lose hope! :)

2006-11-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

older, but definitely not wiser.

grrr.

2006-11-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

some ppl are just plain disgusting. what is wrong with this world?!

free...

2006-11-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

... free at last! [cue flamboyantly dressed man holding a script "freedom" sign.. it's an arrested development thing.]

now i'm available this evening to ~~PARTY!~~ read all about meningitis. :(

on the plus side, my exam wasn't too bad today and i'm going to get a brief reprieve from the craziness of midterms. this weekend i've got phollies, borat, time with dave, and a bit of school work thrown in just to keep me grounded. speaking of dave, he did the nicest thing today. :) he's been working like crazy this week to get a report done for a scholarship and has been stuck in his lab 'til really late. but he surprised me last night by visiting while i was studying in the wee hours of the morning just so he could bring me some snack/"brain" food (chicken corn soup and clams in black bean sauce) and to wish me a happy one year. then he bolted b/c he was afraid my parents would wake up and wonder why he was there. hee. what a guy. <3

and for those of you who find my choice in snack food suspect, i say "chacun à son goût".

<3

2006-11-01T00:51:00.000-05:00

happy one year, sweetheart. i love you.

"consider it pure joy..."

2006-10-31T20:01:00.000-05:00

"consider it pure joy" indeed.
i don't think james ever took freakin' pharmacology.

2006-10-30T23:24:00.000-05:00

i have much to write you, but i do not want to do so with pen and ink. i hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
~ 3 john 1:13,14 (niv)

there are so many ppl i haven't seen in ages and so many more ppl i haven't spoken to. curse these exams! in the meantime, you'll just have to deal with me and my inconsistent blogging.

(btw, i don't really have anything interesting or exciting to say, i just miss you guys, that's all.)

flashback

2006-10-22T23:02:00.001-04:00

maybe one of you tech guys can help me - is there any way somebody can help convert something i have on video cassette into something more digital? short of pointing a digital camera at the tv screen (which isn't really a great option), i don't really have the tools to do so at my own home, and i really, really want this...

it seems as though my father's unearthed a goldmine from the recesses of our basement. he found an old video cassette that said [in chinese] "1990 church christmas pageant video with tiffany as mary and jonathan as captain kirk". awesome. i think we were 7 and 11, respectively.

among the familiar faces i saw there:
- me, sporting many missing teeth
- mei and benita, as heavenly angels <3
- ju, surprising me with her excellent cantonese skillz
- my bro, as a "short shorts"-wearing cap'n kirk
- ed, as spock
- jenne, in that ubiquitous yellow, green, and red (?) winter jacket
- felix, being very well-behaved
- david zhang, acting goofy
- david chan, with goofy hair
- gable, scrunching up his nose
- shirley, wearing our house sheets as a robe
- matt mark, doing an excellent version of haman (from esther)

some of these performances deserve to be played at a wedding or something... everyone's voices sound SO different - it's amazing what puberty does! :p if you want to see them (and trust me, they're worth the effort), please help me find a way to convert the format!!!

this is the first blog post...

2006-10-16T23:14:00.000-04:00

this is the first procrastinatory blog post of the 2006-2007 school year!

i've got a pharmacy management midterm tmw which i really should study for, but why study when you can write on the internets about unimportant things!!!

i just saw the strangest video ever. it featured magically appearing moustaches and a boy turning into a box. but the best part was the first five seconds when you see felix dressed up with... purple things (?) on his head/ears. in fact, the video hadn't even started loading and i was already laughing. :p

mystery solved: sadly, a mystery was solved for me today. remember when i blogged awhile back about that "blocked ID" who was calling my cell? i had previously speculated that this unknown caller was the previous phone holder's non-threatening slightly creepy ex-bf who did not know of the number change (and also out-of-town change of address). instead, i think it might just be dave calling me from his work phone so he won't use up his daytime minutes. boo! it was more fun to imagine the other scenario...

so today, i spent an hour at a wyeth seminar on vitamins. the seminar was stuff that we'd already learned in class, but i must say that the spread that followed afterwards was great. the food and dessert they served was pretty good (a step up from the normal subs that we are courted with) and the best part was all the free samples! heaven knows what i'm going to do with ten little bottles of centrum, a sample of materna, and 12 caltrate sticky note-pads, but i'm sure i'll find uses for them/give them away. first person to comment on the blog will get some free samples and literature, hehe!

went to the keg mansion and then saw the departed with the gang a while back. i'm, like, the only chinese person who hasn't seen the original infernal affairs and after watching the hollywood remake, i think i will. it's a pretty good, very funny movie, but had really slow pacing. too much character development. :p but i enjoyed it. besides this movie, i haven't been watching too much else besides my regularly programmed antm, veronica mars (the new season's finally playing in canada on the a-channel or something), and my new fave heroes. thank goodness for dave's pvr so i don't have to stay glued to the tv each evening. oh, we also watched rushmore last week, which i remember watching at gracie's place at the end of OAC with erin and liz. i seem to recall it being funnier, but i still love the line "nice nurses uniform, guy." hee!

shirley and kevin's wedding was on saturday. shirley looked beautiful, the bridesmaids looked HOT, and kevin looked extremely happy and relaxed. had a blast with everybody and it was so good to see ju, ames, and jenne while they were in town. the dinner was excellent and despite some questionable emceeing (too hk-styles for me, i'm afraid), the 'round-the-table banter at our table and dancing at the end of the night was tons of fun. who knew hm had such smooth moves? who knew iulia had such endurance when it came to dancing in heels? who knew kalam was so open to dancing with the aforementioned emcee? (hee! i kid, i kid!) who'd have thought i'd end up disco dancin' with my mom and dad? and, most of all, who knew dave was such a ~~strange~~ super dancer? (oh wait, i think i knew that already) <3 the only drawback now is that i've got "london bridge" and "sexyback" stuck in my mind all day now, even during lecture...

ok, i should really get back to business, ttyl!

p.s. who are the mci ppl still in town these days? i've been accused of being a bum since i pretty much have seen no one since the beginning of the summer. (not my fault! no one invites me out until last minute!) midterms will be confusing pretty much all of october, but i'd love to see you guys sometime... :(

no no no!

2006-10-03T15:59:00.000-04:00

zanta's been banned from all ttc trains, buses and streetcars? say it ain't so! :(

:)

2006-10-03T01:11:00.000-04:00

it seems like i have another reason for looking forward to the future. :)
(though i suppose you can't really look backward to the future, can you?)

good movies i've seen lately:
eat drink man woman
talladega nights (still love my anchorman, but this was hilarious!)
wake up, ron burgundy! (the alternate anchorman movie - different plot)
thank you for smoking (SO good, SO bitingly funny)

best new show of this tv season:
HEROES! (go see it just for hiro, the cute geeky japanese fanboy!)

and lastly, books i've been reading:
therapeutic choices
patient self-care
principles of medical pharmacology
applied therapeutics

:*(

it seems that...

2006-10-03T00:49:00.000-04:00

... my cell has a more exciting life than i do.

as many of you know, i recently switched my cell plan b/c family plans really suck. as a result, i now have a new phone which i am content with, despite still not knowing how to work voicemail. i'll figure it out yet! no, it's not a "sexy" phone, as brandon would say, but it does its job and i can use the bluetooth headset when i'm on the phone with people (at home though, where i don't have to worry about looking like a tool in front of others).

anyhow, so with this new phone, i've been noticing (now that i finally have caller ID) that i've been getting a whole bunch of calls from a blocked number. typically, the phone will ring only twice and then i guess the call gets disconnected?

this brings me to the point of this blog: who do you suppose is calling? it can't be someone i know b/c i've never blocked anyone's number before. therefore, it must be an acquaintance of the person who previously held my cell number. i'm assuming the previous user is a female, based on the idea that she chose the number for the same reason i did. :)

anyway, in my mind i've been imagining that the blocked caller is this young woman's ex-boyfriend who has been calling her incessantly with pleas to get back together with him. in response to his affections, she blocked his number from her phone, switched to an entirely new number when she moved out of town, and then possibly served him with a restraining order (just to be on the safe side of things, you know).

what do you think?

[october 3/06, 3:58pm]
edit: just to clarify and keep things light-hearted and non-creepy, i've always imagined this ex-boyfriend as completely non-threatening. he's just a sad little boy who pushed away his gf with neediness. i mean, he's sweet and all, but there's only so many mixed CDs and late night serenades with a mariachi band that a poor girl can take! (oh, and there might possibly be a small shrine in his room with mementos from their short relationship, but otherwise he's completely harmless.)

maybe it's the lack of sleep?

2006-09-28T22:58:00.000-04:00

maybe it's the lack of sleep, but i'm starting to fret a little over this third year in pharm. why didn't i listen to jenne when she implored me to consider my options before going to pharm? ("you'll be bored out of your mind", she warned) why did i listen to grace's dad when he told me that he could totally see me doing repetitive activities, such as those found in a pharmacy? heh. (or was that grace herself?) :p

actually, it's not pharmacy itself that i have a problem with - i don't think it'd be particularly boring, especially with the emphasis on patient-centered care these days - it's just that i'm worried about having to know things these days. i have to accumulate knowledge this year, retain and then actually apply said knowledge! that's just too much to ask from one person!!

oooh, speaking of grace, it was her birthday yesterday! happy 23rd, gracie! hope you partied it up in k-town! :) (and a very happy yesterday-birthday to gizelle too!)

diff'ront things

2006-09-20T23:55:00.000-04:00

it's been awhile since i've blogged, eh? i think the last one was just a perfunctory entry about my cuba trip. i still don't feel like writing a lengthy recap, so if you wanna know about cuba either talk to me or check out bun's blog!

what i've done since cuba:
- worked on a school test and assignment *before* september had even begun
- ottawa-montreal roadtrip with dave, hm, iulia, wat and mary --> one weekend + one minivan with dvd-player + one biodome and botanical garden + one sleepless night (*snore*) + one poutine + one restaurant proprietor asking us to move from our window-side table in case there were flying shards of glass and bullets + one fatty smoked meat sandwich = one memorable trip
- missed ames b/c she wasn't on said trip
- spent time with a sycophantic bunny
- started school and saw the new pharmacy building (it's so nice to have all my classes in the same part of campus, but wish the building wasn't so clinical-looking)
- helped at/went to allison's wedding reception at alioli's on sunday night. congrats, sweetheart! we love you!!! had lots of fun with TACB (yay for speeches that are totally-thought-out-well-in-advance... right guys?), dave (this is the first event that i've attended as a couple! <3 ), ming, gable, and felix. oh, the games... "SHOOT THE MOON!!!!" *SLAM*

a couple of things i've been pondering:
- direction in life. experience. careers. passions. all that "fun" stuff.
- the meaning of friendship. are there ppl that you just have to let go of?
- the milford academy. :p

sorry for the incoherancy - it *has* been awhile since i've done this, you know.

cuba

2006-08-29T03:33:00.000-04:00

back.

it's good to be home. :) thank God we just missed the ernesto, but i hope the cubans are ok.

it's going to take too long to recap, but a few things:
- despite their circumstances, the cuban locals were incredibly genuine and friendly ppl
- it was danged hot. it was buggy. i got sunburnt in the beginning and am now incredibly tanned (for ME) although i'm still pasty white compared to everyone else.
- oh, and i also got sick. i still feel a bit off. :( tiffy doesn't tolerate heat well.
- the beach was beautiful and we got to go snorkelling! but mostly, we lounged by the pool.
- you've never experienced disney until you see a lip-synched performance of "be our guest" in german by a tall cuban man dressed as a candlestick.
- wonderful, precious tacb time. <3
- oh yeah, and allison got married to drew. she is a married woman with a husband!!! (weird!!!!)

i took almost 2 gigs worth of photos and videos, so expect to see selected stuff pop up on my flickr in the next week or so. :)

cuba-bound

2006-08-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

cuba-bound
i can't believe that we're leaving for cuba in just a few scant days. it still doesn't feel "real". it helps to further perpetuate this when i haven't really packed yet either. i mean, i've made a list, i've gathered some things, but i haven't actually put anything in a suitcase yet. in fact, as i type, i'm not even sure which suitcase i'm going to bring. nor what clothes to bring - my clothes are not mixy-matchy, making it difficult to be appropriately prepared and space efficient. right now, ALL of my clothes are folded right now in neat little bundles all over every available surface of the room - spread over my bed, my chair, and my desk.

if there's one thing i hate ["just one?" the people ask :p ], it's packing. it's a good thing i'm staying in toronto for school and not in kingston b/c that would be an even greater headache.

so.... cuba. and allison's wedding in less than a week. i'm not a sun/beach person at all, but i'm sure it'll be gorgeous. i've never been to cuba, much less a resort, and i *am* excited to see what they offer. sign me up for snorkelling, playing with the dolphins, and horseback riding! lessons on how to properly smoke a cigar like a cuban? i'm there! partying all night in party central, a.k.a. mine and benita's room? count me in! free all-you-can-eat buffets and a la carte restaurants? well, as long as i'm there... :p

it's only for a week, so i'm determined to have fun and take as many pictures as i can. but i am going to miss certain people back home. :s

pictures

2006-08-18T11:45:00.000-04:00

you know, i've noticed that i've been posting up a lot more pictures in my blog this year. could it be that tiffany's trying to pad her weblog with pictures in order to distract from the increasingly skimpy and poorly written quality of her entries?

"..."

nah!

you know what they say, a picture's worth a thousand words. :)

bridal shower pics

2006-08-18T11:17:00.000-04:00

i tried to post these earlier, but my internets wouldn't allow me to do so. :)

[all pics lovingly donated by my dearest bun]

2006-08-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

*yawn* what a tiring weekend!

the wedding shower went off without a hitch, thank goodness! man, allison's high school friends are a crazy bunch, but it definitely made the night more fun and interesting. heh. anyhow, the shirts came out well, the decorations looked great, the food was sooooo delicious (thanks, aunty tina!) and, despite mei trying to give her sister alcohol poisoning, the games were a lot of fun! phew!

now we've just got to figure out what we need for cuba (less than one week! yikes!) and then we're set! does anyone have any suggestions or tips???

2006-08-08T14:34:00.000-04:00

goodness gracious. all this wedding stuff for elephant (hehe!) is looming up so quickly. pray for us lowly bridesmaids, please. :p

p.s. hey, does anyone have any suggestions for bridal shower games? thanks!

2006-08-08T14:20:00.000-04:00

what the @&$! have i been doing all summer?! how is it that i have all the time in the world these past few months but still have had no time at all???

school hasn't even started yet, but i feel a premature freak-out coming on already. i feel like there are still so many things to do, obligations to fulfill, and ppl to see, but the window of opportunity to do all this is slowly dwindling. i feel all this pressure - not from anyone else, but from myself - and it's pushing in on me, constricting me. i feel panicky.

and yet, it's not so dire or dramatic as perhaps i'm making it sound. it's just that, every once in a while, i wonder. i wonder what i'm doing with my life. i wonder what i'm meant to do. i wonder if i'll ever find anything that i can be passionate about. i wonder if i can find my own little place in the world. i wonder how i can make a difference.

movie

2006-08-03T23:03:00.000-04:00

everyone, go see little miss sunshine.

read the excellent slate review.

trust me on this one - it's the funniest movie i've seen in a long time, without being stupid/sitcom-y or pretentious.

...milk was a bad choice

2006-07-31T16:53:00.000-04:00

"it's so damn hot... milk was a bad choice!"

man, i hope this weather will really let-up soon. thank God for air conditioning.

up next:

- tonight: dinner with grandpa and his sister from taiwan. i expect a lecture or two about learning chinese; it seems to be the theme of my summer.

- tmw: book club dinner and meeting at dave's house; mummy comes home!!!

prince of persia!!!!!

2006-07-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

it's been an interesting weekend (missions night, softball, dallas/zi's goodbye party), but it ended rather wonderfully. :)

you know why? because i'm in love...

... with dave's prince of persia: the sands of time game on his ps2!!! (oh, and dave's not that bad either, i suppose)

hehehe, i was playing it (and dying quite a lot) while dave was preparing dinner. isn't he a sweetheart? <3 i can pretty much do all the puzzle stuff, but anything requiring skill (intricate jumping sequences or anything with those boobytrap spikes-from-the-ground that i remember so clearly from the old, old PC version -- how the hell do you walk in the game?!?!) or facing an onslaught of more than 10 sand creatures (i can do it when there are around 4 or 5 at once) causes me to shriek out loud and call dave over. yes, i'm one of those ppl that gets really involved with a game -- i'll scream when a bad guy slashes me and i'll tilt from side-to-side when i'm playing a racing game (f-zero!).

but really, the big problem that's hindering me from becoming an awesome video gamer is that all we have in the shui household is our beloved SNES, which doesn't really prepare one for a 3D perspective. i have this tendency to run into corners with the perspectives and angles spinning until i find one where i can see what's directly in front of the prince. which, as mentioned earlier, is just a buncha walls. poor guy, i think i'm making my character dizzy from all that spinning. it's even worse when i'm trying to fight and a palm tree or stupid curtain blocks my view so i can't even see what's going on!!! sigh.

i'm a 2D girl living in a 3D world, baby.

the cycle.

2006-07-29T01:02:00.000-04:00

lather. rinse. repeat.

carcassonne online!

2006-07-28T00:12:00.000-04:00

exciting news, guys! you can now play carcassonne or settlers of catan online! [click]
go register (free) and log in to play "toulouse" (carcassonne)!

...

2006-07-27T23:24:00.000-04:00

QuiteSleepy? QuiteAzure.

GOB!

2006-07-27T00:17:00.000-04:00

i heart GOB so much. i've been listening to his magic show theme ("... with club sauuuuuuce") on a loop now all day and have been giggling nonstop. "it's the final countdowwwwwwwwwn!"

gob and buster performing a magic illusion. :p

a short (24 sec) clip of gob's mexican chicken dance

GOB: No. Michael, you can save this family. Please, do the right thing here. String this blind girl along so that Dad doesn't have to pay his debt to society.
Barry: The solution to all our problems is staring you right in the face and it can't even see you.
- arrested development, episode 116 (alter egos)

:)

2006-07-26T00:02:00.000-04:00

happy birthday, daddy. i love you. <3

congrats congrats!

2006-07-24T15:38:00.000-04:00

happy moment of the day (yesterday, really):
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!megs is getting married!!!! i'm so ecstatic for her! :D

we'll it's been a heckuva long time since i've last posted. things have been passing quite well. dad's been home with me for about two weeks and my mum's coming back in a week. everybody's been asking how we've been faring without mum's cooking, and to tell you the truth, i've cooked maybe once or twice since he's returned. it's just that we've been invited out to so many functions (with family, mostly) that i haven't had a chance to. now that things have settled down considerably, i'm ready to dazzle with my culinary prowess! i might even dare to try something other than my old (but delicious) standby of pasta. we'll see.

my latest love: bubble dresses/skirts!

wow, i can't believe the summer's gone by so quickly. in less than a month it'll be allison's wedding!!! there's so much to do - the bridal shower and bachelorette party is coming up soon ;) - and i have yet to go shopping for stuff for cuba. correction: i've gone shopping for cuba stuff, i just haven't bought anything yet. it's too depressing. i definitely prefer the less-revealing clothes of autumn over the summer offerings!

just a few notes:
- at www.nbc.com/The_Office they've started to post up "the office: accountants" webisodes. yay kevin!!!
- was looking at mm's flickr page. finally us girls get to see which of the guys doused us with water after softball... joe, you're going down! :p
- great diversion: jayisgames.com for great flash games. yay puzzles!

Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys

2006-07-07T00:34:00.000-04:00

the asylum

i found the cutest game on jayisgames.com. the flash game's name is "The Asylum: The Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys". using various therapeutic methods (rorschach/inkblot test, musicotherapy, motivational speaker, etc), you're trying to help the cuddly toy patients resolve their previous traumatic experiences. the patients are really cute and the game is pretty funny. i accidentally killed my hippo patient off from too much electroshock therapy. ooops! (but i cured the croc!) a hint: use the "professional assistance" throughout your sessions. anyway, go play! the asylum [click on the british flag]

bun, debbie, iulia, i think you guys would like this game. :)

WELCOME HOME, MEI!!!

2006-06-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

guess what? my best friend arrived back in toronto today... WELCOME HOME, MEI!!!! <3 i missed you lots!!!

despite my lack-of-employment, it's been a pretty busy week thus far. so i'm sorry for the lack of posts, but things have been good, just so you know. parents (and uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandma) are off gallavanting in florida and probably having a fabulous time without me. i can only assume this is the case b/c i haven't actually heard from them, besides a short answering machine message. dave's parents flew in from vancouver, so i've been spending a lot of time with them lately. we've mostly been eating (a lot!) and shopping for apartment furnishings for dave. thankfully, they're super-nice and very thoughtful people, so i've been having a good time. other things i've been doing: played a game of softball (finally!) on saturday, eating at buffets waaaay too much (mmmmmm all-you-can-eat sashimi), attending the tso's last performance for the season (theme: shakespeare in love), cooking/fending for myself, watching movies and laughing at crazy parents with jenne. really, the only unpleasant part of the past week has been the departure of tomlin :( although that was only a "see you later", not a "goodbye". oh, and when i threw up on sunday night. that was pretty unpleasant. heh.

** edit --> i forgot to mention this: had a wonderful time talkin', walkin', and perusin' books with iulia on tuesday. we should do this more often, yeah?

things to look forward to:
- spending some time with the girls (mci) tmw
- dave's return from the caribbean and cottage
- shakespeare in high park with book club
- more super-days with jenne
- SEEING MEI, finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how silly of me!

2006-06-19T03:53:00.000-04:00

hehe, kinda funny, but i just realised that the previous post was written just after i had told a friend that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" and not believing this fact was like the spiritual equivalent of spitting in His face. (and after watching flavour of love, you and i both know what a flagrant foul spitting in someone's face is. that s--- is messed up, yo.)

oh cry me a river

2006-06-19T03:24:00.000-04:00

oh, if only i hadn't been born with this accursed propensity towards all-out bawling...

hey, do you guys remember that old syndicated simpson's episode "girly edition"? it's the one where lisa becomes an anchor for "kidz newz", but then bart comes out with a human interest segment called "bart's people" after hearing lisa call him stupid. this tv segment, full of schmaltzy springfield sob stories (heh, alliteration!), becomes immensely popular (much to lisa's chagrin) and even tugs on the heartstrings of the "kidz newz" tv exec. she says [quoting from very fuzzy memory], "bart, if i could cry, here's where the tears would be coming from. but i can't. botched eye job."

this scene has been on my mind for a long, long time. after all these weddings, various sundries, and a lifetime of welling up embarassingly, i kind of find the idea of botched plastic surgery appealing. no, not the terrifying michael jackson aspect, but i honestly wouldn't mind letting the ol' lacrimal ducts rust up a little from disuse. seriously, man, i cry when i'm happy, i cry when i'm really really really pissed off, i cry when i'm channel surfing and come across a "touching scene" on a show i've never seen before with characters on whom i have no backstory knowledge, i cry when i'm overcome with a flood of emotion and am having difficulty expressing myself with words. oh yeah, i also cry when i'm sad. it's congenital - i've always, always been this way, much to my parents' exasperation. it's not that i don't want to feel things as deeply or strongly, i just don't always want the proof of my emotions exhibited all over my face. it's exhausting and embarassing, even if it is over something happy or trivial - it's especially embarassing when it's something trivial, like a movie ending. i hate it. i hate being angry and being unable to glare at the offending person b/c of the tears obscuring my eyesight, powerless to do anything else. i hate that choked-up feeling i get when i'm trying to speak about something dear to my heart, but nothing can come out except for a few strangled words. (i've been having this recurring nightmare where, on the day i finally get married, i'm unable to function on account of the torrential downpour from my tear ducts - i can't say my vows, make any speeches, or even receive people afterwards and i'll look like hell in all the pictures.) i hate the feelings of consternation and helplessness that i feel when i try to struggle against the tears welling up in my eyes - it's always a losing battle. i hate sniffling and having to blow my nose every five seconds b/c it's so stuffed up. i hate the hushed tones and concerned faces from people when they can tell i've been crying, no matter how hard i try to cover it up - in some people i appreciate it, but i can't tolerate it in near-strangers. i hate the puffy eyes that unfailingly show up the morning after. (actually, on second thought, i don't hate the puffy eyes thaaat much. after they de-puff and settle down a bit (i.e. when i look less alien-like), there's the novelty of having folded eyelids. heh.)

i know i should be grateful that God has blessed me with the gift of feeling so deeply... but sometimes i can't help but wish i resembled a congenitally leaky faucet less.

everybody loves a good button-mashing.

2006-06-19T01:04:00.000-04:00

ADSFOIAHSDGLSDFOIUSDFLKADFDGSKLJSDGLKVD.

everybody loves a good button-mashing.

passion.

2006-06-16T00:27:00.000-04:00

pam farrel, woman of influence:

what so beats in your heart that if it were to vanish, you would no longer be you? like jeremiah, you can discover your passion. he said, "but if i say, 'i will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. i am weary of holding it in; indeed, i cannot" (jer 20:9). jeremiah was called to be a prophet... when he got tired of the poor results and wanted to quit, he still proclaimed. even his body would react if he didn't proclaim, because he was born to be a proclaimer. what were you born to be?

what is on your mind as you go to sleep at night and then first thing in the morning? when you sit for those rare quiet moments and daydream, where do your thoughts take you? what movies bring you to tears? what injustices make your blood boil? when you read God's Word, are there common themes in the verses you mark? what breaks your heart?

i'm not sure yet. anyone want to help me out?

...

2006-06-16T00:17:00.000-04:00

you know what's frustrating? always being so disappointing.

wedding t-shirt

2006-06-12T16:22:00.000-04:00

sneaking a pic with the bridal bouquet
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

another wedding pic.

here's a shirt i made for jenne to commemorate her big day:
front
back

finders keepers???

2006-06-12T16:17:00.000-04:00

finders keepers???
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

do these belong to you???

two saturdays ago i had some ppl from softball/delta over since practice was rained out. mario party + 10 lbs of taco beef = good times. except for the part of there being 2 giant tupperware tubs packed full with ground beef and one giant tub of shredded cheese. (good thing i've got young cousins to pawn those off onto... ;p ) anyway, when ppl started going home, i noticed a bottle of vodka and one of gin on my kitchen counter. curious, i asked where they came from and someone told me that my parents must have brought it with them after the birthday banquet that they had attended. strange but fair enough, i thought, so i didn't say anything to my parents until the three days later when the bottles of alcohol were still sitting on our counter.

"mum, what's with these bottles of alcohol?"
"your friends left them here last saturday."
"are you serious? but no-one was drinking - we were all drinking [frozen concentrate] juice and playing mario party all night. and the ppl upstairs were having some sort of delta or english service meeting."
"are you sure they didn't put it in the juice? maybe you just didn't notice."
"uh, i think i would have noticed that. somebody probably just brought them in case somebody wanted to drink something. or maybe they had come from another function."
[notes the bottles are nearly empty] "then they shouldn't be driving or at a party in that condition - look how much they've drunk! tsk tsk."
"i'm pretty sure they didn't drink all that in one sitting."
"they could've just put it in the juice to make a "punch". some people do that, you know. maybe you just didn't realise it."
"mum, this isn't a high school homecoming dance - there was NO spiked punch!!"

hmmm, i wonder how enthusiastic my parents will be to host another delta gathering at our place... :p

the photographers!!

2006-06-12T16:13:00.000-04:00

the photographers!!
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

the week in brief recap

tuesday - tomlin, dave, ames and i had our "annual" lunch at yummy bbq. this time we all got bird mugs, so no arguing over whale-bunnies. i went accesory shopping with ames afterwards at eaton centre and then went to book club at dave's in the evening. had a great turn-out (9 ppl?), great food, and watched a great movie (babette's feast). it was very funny - hallelujah! :p for thoughts on babette's feast and iulia's famous mayo-less romanian potato salad, check out our deltalovesbooks.blogspot.com book club blog.

wednesday - spent the day with mum. my hair's curly now!

thursday - dave made baked marinated chicken, roast potatoes, and tomato egg drop soup. yum!

friday - delta deliquency: carcassonne and dinner (and jenne's wedding prep) at ju and ames'. we made eggplant bruschetta and pasta with a chicken and vegetable cream sauce. double yum!

saturday - dessert buffet!!!!! (oh yeah, and jenne's wedding) :p

sunday - x-men 3. i'll leave the review for dave at reformedjerk, but this movie definitely could have used bryan singer. :( seriously, what happened to all the character development of the first two movies?! and why did they get rid of... everyone?! and the big question: why was porcupine-quill-face one of the main bad guys that got to stand on the stage? seriously! (it's been a while since i've watched the cartoons - brandon, hook me up! - so if you can fill-in-the-blanks on who this "bad" guy is in the comics, i'd greatly appreciate it. though i *do* know he was in the brett ratner-directed rush hour movie)

the lovely bride and groom - jenne and duncan

2006-06-11T23:40:00.000-04:00

the lovely bride and groom - jenne and duncan
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

congratulations to my big sister dr. mrs. duncan hau... (doctor missus - just like anne!!!) jenne and duncan got married yesterday afternoon at knox. :) ames and i were the official polaroid photographers.

TACB

2006-05-31T15:30:00.000-04:00

TACB
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

mei! stop butting into the picture! sheesh. what an attention hog - she even crashed the wedding ceremony all the way from hk!!

...

i miss her. :(

the pics are up

2006-05-31T14:53:00.000-04:00

allison, gizelle, steph
Originally uploaded by quitesleepy.

clara's wedding pics are up on flickr!
msg me if you want me to send you any of the original-sized pics. these are just the pics of the ceremony (or just after ceremony, actually, b/c we didn't have a great view from our pew). if anyone has pics of the ceremony itself or the banquet (bun!), please send 'em my way!

p.s. thanks for the comments, tomlin. btw, CONGRATS on your upcoming graduation!!! :D we *must* party before you leave!
p.p.s. what's with this weather?! sheesh.

congrats to toby and clara!

2006-05-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

congrats to toby and clara!!!

came back an hour ago from their wedding banquet. :) had a great time, a very fun affair. my benita looked absolutely gorgeous in her bridesmaid gear and, i must say, she has a fantastic strut. (work it! hee!) pics'll be posted on flickr soon.

it's been a pretty busy weekend. dave's finally moved from the cnut (sniff... bye wayne!) into his new apartment. it's pretty nice, but very unfurnished - nary a bed, chair, or table. i can't wait to decorate... it'll be like the good ol' days with grace when we pored over restoration hardware catalogs and pretended we could afford thai silk striped draperies...

p.s. karyn! i'd love to meet up with you, ju, and jess. i'm pretty much free all summer and ju's in town too, so name the day and place. :)

p.p.s. i do apologise if i offended anyone with my last post. but seriously, it was a boring movie. i think everyone at delta agreed with that. [it was also an entertaining book, but i still maintain that it was poorly written.]

i want my money back!

2006-05-20T00:20:00.000-04:00

things you should know before going to watch the da vinci code movie:
[blogger's personal feelings on said subject]

1. the book on which it is based? sucked. and no, i'm not even talking about the preposterous conspiracy theories -- it was just very poorly written.
2. sitting through it seems a LOT longer than it actually is. seriously.
3. i totally would have kicked the canes. just saying.
4. tom hanks probably knew that the movie was going to suck b/c every line delivery seems very squinty and pained.
5. audrey tautou is a pretty woman. very nice, delicately-featured face. i actually liked her in this movie.
6. you will fidget.
7. you will roll your eyes to your theater-seat neighbour. <-- it wasn't just me.
8. ~~albinos are supposed to have red eyes. (right?)~~ ok, upon researching, i concede that albino humans do not have red eyes per se, HOWEVER some of them do have eyes appearing red or purple (as i've seen on campus) depending on the amount of pigmentation. the majority have light blue eyes.
9. too much exposition. cheesy dialogue (straight from the book???) <-- by this, i meant "did they lift the dialogue straight from the book?"
10. in hollywood, french cop = jean reno.
11. having ian mckellen in a movie is a good thing.

is this the end of the world?

2006-05-16T12:55:00.000-04:00

you'll have to excuse me if this post is stupid, i still have a headache from yesterday.

last night, i saw troy with my parents. i've seen it before and though i didn't love the movie before (with the exception of poor, honourable hector) i figured, "what the heck, i might as well watch it again." i mean, the first time i saw the movie they forgot a pivotal reel and then randomly tacked it on again at the end. (yes, we got a free movie pass from the debacle.)

anyhow, upon this second viewing, i have to make this comment -- something that i'm sure has never been said before, something so earth-shattering that this may herald the end of the word -- "brad pitt got too much screentime in this movie."

as much as i love brad pitt (and i do!), achilles was a big jerk and really there's only so long you can put up with sketchy accents. plus, hector was just waaaaaaaay better. you suck, achilles!

it's rather sad watching the movie, knowing that the people you're cheering for (troy) are doomed. i've been re-reading the last battle for this thursday's book club meeting and it's so terrible to read of the destruction of narnia and its people. to read of those who turn their backs on their own people, those with self-imposed blindness and darkness, and those poor, good people cruelly and injustly slaughtered by others. these sad events occur through most of the book (atleast three-quarters of it) and yet this is one of my favourites of c.s. lewis' chronicles. despite the death of narnia - which really is excruciating and almost unbearable to read - it only takes a few sentences of lewis' description of heaven for the sting to go away. it all pales in comparison. i wonder what the real heaven will be like...

oh, so went to the sweets expo on saturday with dave. was a little disappointing b/c there weren't that many booths (it's their first year, i think) and many unrelated booths hawking "eye-candy" jewelry, eggs, make-up, fruitE juice (complete with DDR set-up), and lines of credit?! but there were lots of free samples like chocolates and cotton candy... yum! not-so-yummy were the "amped up" balls that were supposedly equal to downing half a red bull. those things were cherry and fudge and oh-so-vile... blech.

the highlight of the afternoon: there was a fashion show featuring gumballs, licorice, candy canes, etc. one piece of candy fell off an outfit and was kicked off the catwalk by a man who was worried somebody would trip on it. this little girl comes running up immediately after, picks the candy off the ground and has it poised to put in her mouth... when she looks up to see a stranger admonishing her for picking up candy of the ground. awww. the kid then drops the candy and walks off dejectedly. i swear, it was the funniest thing i've seen in a long time. i kept trying to convince dave to drop candy on the ground in her vicinity so we could record the whole thing on his digital camera, but he refused. party pooper!

crash

2006-05-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

it's like watching two vehicles collide in slow motion when you suddenly realise that you've been sitting in one of them and that you've been steering all along.

a word of advice for y'all: you should probably stay out of my way today. i seem to be picking fights with everyone. effing hormones.

CONGRATS!!!

2006-05-11T18:32:00.000-04:00

it's official.... dave is now a PhD student!!! congratulations sweetie, i knew you could you do it! :D

finally free

2006-05-11T00:58:00.000-04:00

ahhhh, is there anything better than eating bacon and garlic mashed potatoes at 12:57am?? i think not! :)

also equally as nice is the fact that i've been sleeping in obscenely late these past few days - it's nice to be finally free from this wretched school year. of course, this bliss will soon turn to "haveyoufoundajobyet? haveyoufoundajobyet?" from my parents, but i'm going to enjoy this for as long as i can. i think i deserve it - i mean, had i stayed in queen's, i would have just finished off a BScH degree, and i did just as much work here at UT as i would've in queen's so.... I GET TO REST NOW. :p

(just don't tell dave. the poor dear's got a huge meeting tmw afternoon, and he might not take kindly to my talk of freedom and relaxation. sorry hun! keep working hard! love you! :D )

i caught a few minutes of flavor of love this weekend. remember all the crazies from top model and other reality shows? you haven't seen CRAZY until you've witnessed the antics of this show's new york (the girl's nickname). it's pretty much the bachelor, but way more ghetto and featuring flavor flav, that rapper from public enemy who wears that clock around his neck. heh, remember homestarloween 2000? flav is also considered to be the world's most homely man ever (by this blogger, anyhow) although this dubious distinction is contested by dave, who thinks snoop should win that title. starsky and hutch was on tv this evening, and i must say i disagree - the man knows how to work the pimp suits. ;) anyways, go check out this youtube link featuring the antics of the infamous new york or watch some of the clips on the vh1 site. lemme just leave you with a little quote from the reunion show: "i ain't gonna spit, b/c i got WAY more mothaf---in' class than you. you know what, i AM, however, gonna f---in' B*TCHSLAP yo' mothaf---in' ass!" all class, that one. :) it also appears that there's going to be a second season of this stuff. awesome.

things i am excited about:
- jenne's upcoming wedding! ames and i are going to be greeter-and-gift-taking people at her wedding and it's going to be a blast. i'm still working on convincing the bride to give us a cut of the monetary gifts, but i may have to try appealing to duncan instead...
- clara's upcoming wedding! it's been too long since i've seen my darling bun and allison.
- finales! top model (please be either joanie or danielle) and veronica mars (this season started off meh, but the second half's been great)
- praise night at mississauga cpc! da vinci code stuff at delta!
- finishing off the rest of the mashed potatoes tmw at dinner. or maybe lunch. or breakfast. (they were darned good, ok?!)

my parents have better tastes in tv than you do.

2006-04-30T23:11:00.000-04:00

my parents have better tastes in tv than you do. it's true. when i came home from studying today, i found them watching my the office (nbc) dvd. throw in the fact that they watched alias (first few seasons) and veronica mars with me, and that just seals the deal -- they are much cooler than you are.

so, in commemoration of my folks, i'm leaving you guys with 2 clips from this past thursday's drug testing episode.

fellowship thingies

2006-04-30T22:54:00.000-04:00

just some advertisements for my fellowship (delta) and allison & mei's (zion). email me if you're interested in any of them, i'd love to see you there! :)

delta da vinci code programs
mcpc praise night

a nothing post.

2006-04-29T13:31:00.000-04:00

random thoughts:

good gravy, i hope that i don't have to write the med chem supplemental in august... :p honestly though, exams should never be prefaced with "this (notorious) exam is one of those moments that you're going to remember for the rest of your life"! anyhow, it's done and over with and i only have 2 exams to go...

today's our first softball practice and bbq, but i can't make it due to the pharmaceutics-related studying. boo. i could have seriously used the batting practice to get out all my pent-up frustration over school.

i can't wait to be done with school so i can start crafting once more! yay! (uh oh, i should probably go find summer employment, yeah?) i'm going to finally finish off that knitted DNA strand that i started last year for dave (only 6 more base pairs to go!), the waterbottle holder that was supposed to be dad's christmas present (uh oh x2) and add the finishing touches to the wire bracelet i made last month. and then... onto t-shirts! i've decided to use my crafting abilities for good (and not evil), so i'm thinking of perhaps applying my skills to help with fundraising at church? i just need some suggestions though.

got a pretty dress today! it's lilac and perfect for jenne's upcoming nuptials. :)

sniff sniff. i miss ppl abroad. come back ames, jenne, and mei! :*(

i love egg. go listen to the egg song - so cute! i couldn't stop singing it last night at delta.

speaking of delta, we started our da vinci code series with a video on freemasonry. it lead to a pretty interesting discussion on cults - what do you consider a cult/what's your definition, and what are your experiences with ppl belonging to a cult, etc. my question: what makes the difference between another (truly christian) denomination whose practices seem completely foreign to prebyterianian me and a christian-seeming cult?

special day!

2006-04-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

":)xc p;ll;"
- a birthday msg from the bunny

happy birthday, ames!

3 down, 3 more to go...
(i don't think i did too well on today's though -- too many forgotten enzymes) :(

DIY LASIK surgery! awesome!

2006-04-24T15:04:00.000-04:00

brought to my attention courtesy of gracie:

i love the internets. look at the latest great offer - the bespectacled dr. khadim's LASIK@home DIY surgery kit! just follow those four easy steps and you'll be able t see clearly! hehe, the funniest part of the instructions is the caption at the bottom of the movie screen: "careful...going to explode!"

it's a joke, guys, in case you weren't sure. ;p hee!

with the warm weather comes...

2006-04-22T23:09:00.000-04:00

third post in a day! impressed? (probably not, since the quality of writing is probably even worse than usual.)

i've since discovered that some ppl check out my blog as often as i do to theirs (in other words, whenever i'm desperately looking for some online diversion, which is quite often due to the constant urge to procrastinate/take a break from from studying). anyways, i know it drives me nuts when i click on someone's blog and find that there's been no updates since the last time i checked (a few hours ago, probably), so i've decided to blog more regularly in order to keep my readership happy!

alright, so now onto the post!

...
...
...

oh great, now i've forgotten what i was going to blog about in the first place...
(i think this is what tv's done to my brain, yeah?)

special note to grace:
PO = by mouth
TID = three times daily
inappropriate, non?

working by candlelight

2006-04-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

for some strange, inexplicable reason, the power kept on turning on-and-off all day today. it started around 1am last night when i got back from delta, and continued all the way until around 4:30pm today. i was starting to worry that i'd have to study for biochem by candlelight at night! fortunately, the power's been perfectly fine all evening (knock on wood). unfortunately, i haven't really been studying for biochem anyway.

oh well, you win some, you lose some.

what are YOU wearing right now? ;)

2006-04-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

one of the best things about staying at home all day studying is the fact that i can dress up like a hobo without embarrassment and without fear of being mocked. as much as i love clothes and dressing up, there's something to be said about a mismatched, ugly-as-heck, super-comfy ensemble. this is what i am wearing right now: haute couture.
dad's old collegiate sweater (grace, no laughing!), my mustard-yellow $5 sugar bear chinatown find, and pink pajama pants with hearts all over. no, these are not my pajamas. i got up today, showered, and changed into these.

tmw, sadly enough, i'll have to see other ppl besides my parents, which means submitting once more to the tyrannical rules of fashion - no visibly stained clothes, matching colours, no hole-y clothing, no "grandpa" sweaters, etc. etc.

so... what are you wearing right now? ;) (rowr!)

loud noises

2006-04-18T18:31:00.000-04:00

the 2006 finals have officially begun. i had my first final yesterday for pharmaceutical care, so i've been reading up on warts, atopic dermatitis, and colic all weekend long. oh, and reading student-submitted MCQs too. question: why were the MCQs written by my exceptionally (enragingly) smart, keener classmates SO POORLY written?! all i kept thinking as i went thru the questions was, "bad question! i pick 'none of the above'! i don't like the intended "correct" answer - it should say 'blah blah blah... plus an emollient'!" sheesh.

anyhow, i'm trying to study for biochem (next week) and microbio (this friday). don't be alarmed if you see me reading about herpes viruses - it's for my exam, i swear! :p

loud noises!oh, and here is a pic of the shirt i made for dave's birthday. i took a screencap pic from the anchorman movie "loud noises" scene and turned it b/w and cleaned up the image on word and paint (painstaking work... i really gotta get photoshop sometime) and then cut it out during a phm 220 panel, then stenciled it on! a tutorial and pics of other stenciling projects will follow, i promise, but not 'til these exams are done. oh, and to respond to michelle's question: i thought about doing some pharmacy t-shirts ("pharmacists do it over-the-counter", "pharmacists do it prn", or this one which reminded me of wells' med chem: "pharmacists do it with affinity") but although it's very easy to do, it's not easy to produce in mass quantities do to the manpower it takes to cut out the freezer paper stencils. however, if you could use fabric spray paint, temporary adhesive spray, and a cardboard cut-out stencil, then you could probably re-use the stencil many times over.

i couldn't resist

2006-04-08T23:46:00.000-04:00

ok, one last picture, i promise. i couldn't resist!
the many faces of tiffany? ok, so i know paris hilton is "hotter" than me and all, but i can't help but feel a little tainted (and much, much nastier) by the association (67%, to be precise).

the next few in the list were gong li, penelope cruz, and zhang ziyi - all of which look nothing like me, but i'm flattered by the comparison anyway.

but for good measure, i thought i'd throw in my 64% match, tove jansson.
my doppelganger

freezer paper!

2006-04-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

oooh! i made my first freezer paper t-shirt today at dave's! go check out his blog, to see the results. i made the humble-looking copy of bustedtee's "prose before hos" shirt.

i'll post a tutorial for everyone - mei especially since i don't want her to break my kneecaps (which was *my* saying, btw)! i'll do it when i have the time... probably when i'm trying to avoid, you know, studying. :p anyhow, i think it turned out really well for a first try, so now i'm officially in love with freezer paper. love. the. stuff.

hehe, now i'm tempted to make their "i'm so excited... i'm so scared" homage to jessie spano's saved by the bell caffeine pills episode. but anyone have any ideas (or requests) for non-pirated t-shirts? :)

why, the resemblance is uncanny!

2006-04-08T22:40:00.000-04:00

[warning: this post is picture-heavy... and slightly humiliating to write about]

ok, so it's been awhile since i've checked out my good friend felix's blog (mostly b/c he doesn't update very often!!! :p ), so i read it today and found out about a celebrity face match site.

"this looks like fun," i thought. "if felix can end up being matched to charlton heston, i wonder who i'll be matched up to?"

so i randomly chose a pic of me (from ebru's birthday last summer) and entered it into the face recognition program. the first results were alright. the usual asian suspects (maggie cheung, zhang ziyi, and my first place match, a "jang nara") and a few surprise ones like meryl streep (i think it's the similarity in smile/cheek bones), hilary rodham clinton, and arethra franklin?!

exhibit a.

all female, you notice?

so i decided to try another photo of myself - this time from a slightly different angle. i don't look that mannish, do i?
exhibit b.

then imagine my surprise when this was the first match: exhibit c.

WHAT?! this must be a fluke. i admit that my face is similar in shape, but i don't think i look like that guy. let's see who's the next closest... exhibit d.
now that's more like it.

buoyed by this result, i go to check the next few matches...
exhibit e.

but by far the worse was: exhibit f.

...

...

...

HENRIK IBSEN?!?!

the resemblance is uncanny.

no. cookie. (version 2.0)

2006-04-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

grrrr... i hate it when the post messes up and the recover post function doesn't work either...

[version 2.0]

for those of you who read dave's blog:

so it's been a while since i've last blogged - sorry guys, i hope you're all doing well. anyway, not too much as happened these past few weeks besides the craziness of school. seriously, i've never done so much work and studying in my life! i've had pharmaceutics labs/quizzes, micro labs and lab exam, med chem midterm (the scariest of all), panels galore, and biochem assignments. sheeesh, and i hear third year is when we *really* learn everything. (though i like the program for the most part, i must admit the way UT set up our curriculum over the four years of this program kinda sucks.) anyhow, it's been "hella busy".

in the meantime, between the studying, i've been taking up my crafting once more! after walking west of spadina on queen st, i'm starting to unearth my beads and wire jewelry stuff so that i can be productive (instead of fidget-y) at delta. i'd knit, like debbie and iulia have been doing (much to my jealousy, b/c i always forget to bring my own... plus i lost my DNA project :*( ) but somehow this spring-ish weather seems to point to lighter, less woolly crafts.

oooh! my newest, fabulous purchase is freezer paper - i've heard it's wonderful stuff! you can make stencils that temporarily adhere to fabric, preventing the bleeding of paint during application. i'm gonna be making lots of t-shirt from now on if this actually works well. i'll post up pics if it's successful. too bad i didn't learn about this earlier, i could've been making stencils during class all this term! (hehehe, though i think i might have freaked out my friends when i pulled out that exacto knife in biochem today...)

total eclipse of the heart (i wish!)

2006-03-13T02:07:00.000-05:00

this friday, tiffany exposed her heart to the world.
it was very embarassing.

[dave is laughing at me right now, i bet.]

PORK BONE SOUP!!!!
i was so distraught that the 168 pork bone soup place had closed down, but thanks to the always lovely debbie, we have discovered a korean place close-by to campus and the church. the food is pretty good and everything seems to be around $6-9, which i'm very pleased about.

party at ju's place for kalam/cath was very fun. thanks for having us over, hui sisters! (hey ju? how come every time we go over to dinner to your place, shirley does all the work? :p hehe, just kidding. you were an awesome hostess!) there was tons of good food (thanks, wat!) and i ate far too many baked potatoes - five by my count, but in my defense i chose the smallest ones (about half the size of my tiny fists) and, really, who can turn down sour cream and bacon bits?

in party-related news, hanmin has been voted "person you'd most want with if you were stuck in some sort of nintendo gun-fight" and louis is undoubtedly the DDR king what with his ability to accurately play on both pads simultaneously (though tomlin was quite impressive in his own right, too).

now i've just got to do all the work i *didn't* do this weekend... :(

p.s. b/c of all this upcoming wedding stuff, i've been swooning over the aqua and purple dresses and accessories over at fashion crimes. <3 can someone spot me a few hundred dollars?

p.p.s. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=8959.0 good or bad idea? it looks soooo cool, but i don't want to end up ingesting any toxins... that would be very regrettable. they would make sure cool jewelry, mobiles, or decor/wall-hangings if left in original cd form.

irrational.

2006-03-10T01:02:00.000-05:00

i think i really give my emotions too much sway. the ancient greeks would think that i were no better than a beast, letting my feelings overcome reason. there's no point getting all riled up over things that don't even involve me... and yet i feel very indignant towards ppl who don't actually deserve my dislike.

i really have got to check myself.

breathe. calm down. pray. (lather, rinse, and repeat.)

new blog addition

2006-03-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

while getting off at spadina station this morning, i was struck with an inspiration for an addition to tiffanyville: a hit list that will replace the notable quotes section, until i find some quotes that are, well, notable.

.: tiffany's hit list :.

1) ppl who spit on the ground in public places (subway, sidewalk, etc.)
punishment: ummm, i'm not sure yet, but it has something to do with a spitoon. any suggestions?
2) ppl who pull fire alarms in residences at 3:47am (this one's for you, grace)
punishment: ummm, i don't remember what grace and i came up with back when we were at brockington together... i think something about tattooing a big red "f" (or "L"?) on their foreheads so that they would forever be ostracized? and possibly cutting off a hand or two - depends if they are repeat offenders or not. but seriously, who pulls a fire alarm three times in one night?! stupid kids. the same ones that decided to use the fire hose to drench the hall and incidentally almost flooded our room. jerks.
3. wicked little children that are mean to my cousin and make her cry
punishment: the forked-fingers/double-pronged attack. (eye jabbing)

oh man, this post makes me sound like a terrible, terrible person.

oh well. i'll add more as they come along. :)

ooooh! and here's what my new shoes look like:

and when i saw this shirt outside the tap phong for only 5 dollars, i just had to buy it. the colour's unflattering and it fits me kinda funny b/c it's for large "youth", but i still <3 sugar bear.

those were my impulse buys of the week. who knows, maybe i'll drop by fashion crimes on queen st and see if they have any purses or earrings on sale. :)

apparently all my pharm friends go to sleep b/t 10:30pm and 12am, and are all appalled that i keep such late hours. just wait'll they meet tomlin. :p but honestly, it was so rough getting up this morning. it's preparing for those darn panels, i tells ya! and then they make us get up early for panels, in case we're called. tmw, i have no school at all (yeah, for alternate week labs!) but i'm still getting up early, b/c i'm walking my darling of a cousin to school tmw. it's always great going back and visiting broadacres, but it's kinda sad that pretty much all my teachers have left/retired. even mrs. harper (who was my jk, grade one and two teacher) is gone now since she retired this year. :( on the plus side, i'm fairly certain now that i won't be mistaken for a shrimpy fifth-grader, although i'll probably still be shorter than a lot of them.

hmph.

2006-03-09T00:39:00.000-05:00

slightly riled up. this sort of thing gets my mother hen instincts up.

books to read!

2006-03-08T23:39:00.000-05:00

oooh! i almost forgot... here is a list of books recommended by iulia (from her blog) that i want to read:

Cornelia Funke: Inkheart
Edith Pattou: East
Shannon Hale: The Goose Girl
Virgil: The Aeneid
Geofrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Dante: The Divine Comedy: Inferno

i eventually want to reread pride and prejudice sometime and maybe some other austen stuff. we'll see how p&p goes first.

i've also got the problem of pain (c.s. lewis), talk to the hand (lynne truss), passion and purity (elisabeth eliot) and neither here nor there (bill bryson) on my book shelf, amongst many other unread or half-read books. with the exception of the more spiritual reads, i've decided to chiefly stick to children's lit, short reads, and humourous accounts, mainly because i can get through them much more quickly and easily. otherwise, it'll take me forever to slog through some of those other "must-read" classic tomes due to the brain-power expediture required. i'll focus on those behemoths during the summer.

do you guys have any recommended selections for me?

new shoes! and other randomness

2006-03-08T23:05:00.000-05:00

new shoes (!) and other randomness. looking back at this post, the word of the day seems to be "seem".

i looooooove my new $10 shoes! :) the only problem is how to get rid of that terrible plasticky smell that seems to accompany all cheap chinatown footware. i bought them at this gold mine of a fobby clothing store (off of spadina) where all the running shoes come wrapped tightly in cellophane. (note: if you are asian, i'm sure you know what i'm talking about). i guess i didn't really notice the plastic smell in the store (probably b/c the whole store smells of it), but when i left them in my room for a day, the smell seemed to permeate everywhere! hopefully with some airing out they'll be fine? anyhow, they are cream-coloured pointy-toed low heels (for comfort), and have black contrast stitchin, piping and a bow at the top. very see-mun. i'll post a pic of them later.

panel tmw: motion sickness and vitamins. it says in my patient self-care text that motion sickness goes away with age, so now i'm kinda puzzled b/c i've seemed to have developed motion sickness these past few years. i used to have no problems reading anywhere - car, bus, plane - but now whenever i try to cram on the bus for an exam (subway is fine), i get wicked naseous. hmmm... actually, maybe it's stress-induced?

despite my concerns that it would be super-boring, the pride and prejudice night was actually really fun. mary and andrea were kind enough to let me and iulia crash their lovely place after delta, and it felt like one of those good old sleepovers of yore b/c we talked about makeup, purses, books, boys, and (non-kinky, more consumer-driven) shoe fetishes. although i found staring at the tv screen for 6 hours a little dizzying, the movie was thoroughly enjoyable. much, much funnier than i thought it would be. never again will i doubt the girls in the book club! (though they slept/worked on laptops for the first 3-4 hours, the guys looked fairly interested by the conclusion of the movie. poor saps.)

books: am just finishing up the great divorce by (who else) c.s. lewis. it's a fantastic book and has given me lots of food for thought, but i desperately need someone to discuss and puzzle some things out with me. any takers? or should i put it on the book club queue? when i have time, i promise i'll book-club-blog about something that struck me while i read it.

kalam's birthday soon (friday), the party should be fun!

goodness, all these weddings are all coming up so quickly! i can't wait!!! :D i have to admit, the best parts are the pretty dresses... i was over at my grandma's trying on some dresses that my aunt had bought for my (australian) cousin's upcoming nuptials (aside: i'm jealous that i can't go b/c i have schooooool), and there was this one wrap-front dress that i really liked, but was deemed too low cut for my parents' tastes. my aunt was on my side though - her body is like mine, so she knows what it's like to fill out tops. and bottoms. :( i've long since discovered that it's waaaay too much grief to argue with my parents over fashion items. it's an uphill battle with my dad especially, who i'm sure finds collar-bones a bit too risque. sheesh, and the sad thing is that i'm pretty conservative compared to a lot of my friends who - might i add - don't looks like skanks in the first place! but, if my parents never see it *wink* or if i absolutely love it and it's grudgingly deemed appropriate by mom for the type of situation...

ok, i've wasted far too much time on this blogging nonsense. will update later. xoxox

a nothing post

2006-03-03T16:21:00.000-05:00

this is just going to be a short nothing post b/c i haven't too much to write about lately.

actually, i *have been posting, just not on this blog. i've got three long-ish updates on my book club blog regarding our last meeting, so if you're interested in "the horse and his boy" or "prince caspian", please check it out and leave a msg! also, please leave a comment wrt the poll: is mr. tumnus a friendly faun or mean molester?

reading week, though fairly uneventful, was good as it allowed me a chance to catch up on sleep and see a few of my mci friends. unfortunately, as soon this past monday rolled around, my body immediately tensed up with the thoughts of class, upcoming assignments, and exams. :s

for lent, i have decided to give up all those garbage-filled (but oh-so-diverting) entertainment and gossip sites that i waste so many web-surfing hours on. i really, really hope that i'll turn to more productive activities (heh, school work? reading?) with this freed-up time, and i hope even more that i actually spend some of it as quality time with God. i've been having a pretty rough time of it lately, with my spiritual life, and i'm not sure exactly what i need to do to get it on track. actually, no, that's not true, i *do know what it is that i need to do, i just don't have the motivation or discipline to stick to it. it's not that i'm having a crisis of faith or anything, but the more insidious (and dangerous) problem of apathy and lukewarm-ness. i sit passively by while others are up and out doing things for others (and esp. God). lately, i've been feeling rather disconnected and unmoved by "spiritual things" and other people even - and i feel like i've spent the past while coasting on the fact that i used to be so active and passionate and i used "know my stuff". now i've found that the little foundation which had laid down before is nothing but a shell of what it once was (which, to be honest, was humble enough to start with). sorry for the mixed metaphors, guys, but i just can't quite think of how to convey what i'm feeling very well.

no worries though, all is not lost. one of the most amazing things about our faith is sometimes one of the most forgotten things: His grace. although i want to be more active in my faith, it still doesn't matter what i do or don't do -- being more active doesn't make more christian or more saved than the next person. it doesn't matter what i do b/c it's all up to God.

close call, bowie

2006-02-16T23:21:00.000-05:00

goodness gracious.

i shudder to think what would have happened if my nano batteries weren't dead and i hadn't heard that oncoming silver matrix... :( ppl need to learn to drive less recklessly when it's slippery on the road!

happy valentine's <3

2006-02-15T00:12:00.000-05:00

you're the prince to my ballerina,
you feed other people's parking meters,
you encourage the eating of ice cream,
and you would somersault in the sand with me.
~ somersault, zero 7 ft. sia furler

happy valentine's day, sweetheart. prairie vole you always... <3
(i tells ya, there's nothing that says "i love you" quite like a large slab of medium-rare prime rib with all the fixin's - plus snails :p of course, the absolutely perfect gift he made for me helped, as well... :D )

had a really nice day today despite the mind-numbingness of biochem and med chem - which is both mind-numbing and difficult to follow! {sob...} we had a funny lecture on herpes today in micro ("what's the difference b/t true love and herpes? herpes lasts forever.") and now i am totally paranoid over catching herpes type 1 (the cold sore/non-STD variety). seriously, apparently over 70% of the world's population have herpes simplex 1! granted, HSV-1 isn't too bad - it's just cold sores on the lip - but i still would rather not get it. the only problem is that some of the time, transmission is through contact with a person who is actuasymptomatic. if you shake hands is a healthy person, chances are that you could get herpes. in fact, i bet most of you already have herpes.

so please don't touch me.

in happier news, except for a micro lab and 2 panels (atopic dermatitis, athletes foot) and an assignment that i'm going to put off 'til tmw morning before i head to class, i am now home-free for two weeks for school! i just had my pharmaceutical care exam yesterday, so now i can rest a little. however, if any of you have questions on seborrhea (greasy yellow dandruff-like flakes)/contact or diaper dermatitis (i keep thinking about that csi episode on infantilism)/insect stings or bites/pressure ulcers/wound care/dressings/herbals/homeopathy/contraception *wink wink*, feel free to ask me about it!

reading week!!!!!!! who's back, and when are we getting together? :p

fellowship stuff: delta's coming over this friday for our urban retreat '06. i think this means i actually need to clean my room and the basement (my second room, practically) before everyone comes... anyone wanna help? pleeeeease? :( also, our book club small group is meeting this coming monday for our second chronic(what?)cles of narnia session - if you're interested in coming, please read the horse and his boy and prince caspian.

two new addictions: gray's anatomy (dave, please get the rest of the episodes for me please!!!) and THE OFFICE! i absolutely adore the latter - the secondary characters are what makes the show so great (i especially love kevin and stanley). this week's best quote has to come from dwight's reply to pam on what he thinks is a thoughtful, romantic valentine's gift: "you mean, like, a ham?"

ham is good, dwight, but steak is better.<3

hugs and kisses,
tiffy

p.s. sorry for the rather liberal use of italics. emily's mr. carpenter would be exasperated.
p.p.s. i also apologise if i suddenly log off my msn without saying bye to you. my internet and msn are experiencing some technical difficulties. :(

much better

2006-02-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

it's amazing, the restorative powers of sleep...
i feel so much better now. :)

hrm, maybe i should ditch the alarm clock completely and just wake up every day whenever i feel like it.

2006-02-11T01:26:00.000-05:00

there are days when they start and end off the same way: crappy.

somebody remind me to buy a dependable travel alarm clock.

happy occasions

2006-01-29T22:37:00.000-05:00

happy chinese new year to everyone out there! "gung hei fat choy, lai see dow loy!" hope you all were pleased with your lucky red pocket haul this year! :p had a big family dinner over at my grandma's tonight - was so wonderful spending time with my relatives and especially my cousins. :) there's nothing better than hearing my little 7-yr old cousin shriek, "i got twenty dollars! JACKPOT!!!!"

and a HUGE happy birthday to my best, benita! hope you had a wonderful day, dear, and that your 22nd year is the best one yet! love you!

just dropping by

2006-01-27T15:52:00.000-05:00

hey, so i've been told by some ppl to update my blog, but i haven't really much to write about besides my hatred of school. (med chem's going to be the death of me.) but don't worry, besides my recent less-than-positive posts, i *am* still alive and will continue to be (unless God chooses otherwise).

but things are busy, busy, busy, so expect to *not* see me for the next few weeks until reading week hits.

blog-related to do's:
- update calendar, side bars, quote of the moment
- write the "tame lion" post for the book club blog
- "enjoy" and write about another ghettofoodies incident?
- wish benita a happy birthday on the 29th

rest.

2006-01-18T00:23:00.000-05:00

tonight, i sleep. tmw, i celebrate a dear friend's birthday and also get to briefly see my best friend before she heads out for exchange. thank God for little things like these.

frustrated.

2006-01-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

guys, i don't know what it is, but i am having a very. bad. week.

since the new year, it's pretty much been non-stop with school. had a midterm today and have panel, 2 labs, and an assignment next week. hmmm, and how 'bout we throw in some lab reports, a presentation, and even more panels after that? then i think it's midterm season once more one february hits.

actually, here's the real reason for my profanity today (besides having a physio test so soon after the break). you know that insect sting assignment that i had been working on these past 2 weeks (instead of studying for physio or doing any other work)? the one that took me so darn long to do - 7 pages of my group's 30+ page work-up? well, we finished it and our answer key (limit is max 4-5 pages) and handed it in yesterday. today, my group member tells me that the prof emailed her back and said that the 30+ page work-up wasn't necessary and that all we had to hand in was the frickin' case study and answer key!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i wasted 2 weeks' worth of work and study time on something that could've taken me perhaps 3 hours max!! oh, and to add further insult to the injury, the prof asked us to explain why we did the work-up! now, i actually like this prof - she's very nice and reasonable - but despite "clarifying" what exactly we were supposed to be doing for these projects each class for 2 months now, NOBODY IN THE CLASS HAS A CLUE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!

SON OF A ~~BEE STING~~ (oh, sorry) WASP STING!!!!

(excuse me while i wipe the flecks of foam from my mouth.)

i'm sorry. i'm just very agitated. it's been a long day and i've only had 3 hours of sleep. i've been snappish to my loved ones. i've been bailed on twice (though it wasn't their fault). i left my umbrella at home and almost suffered frost-less frostbite. and i got up one hour too early this morning b/c i thought i had class at 9am, not 10am, and ended up in a room full of strangers sitting in some sort of engineering physics class.

booo-urns.

ok, i think i've sufficiently calmed down now. i'll try not to have any more stress-induced emotional outbursts or crying bouts for atleast a week.

wearily yours,
~ tiff

p.s. thanks for your email, ames <3

rocky loves emily! rocky loves emily!

2006-01-15T21:54:00.000-05:00

there's a little (but new!) ghettofoodies entry for you guys to read the next time you complain about finding newspaper in your vietnamese bun at the train... (kalam, i'm looking at you!) what could be worse than having your health sanitation violation concerns confirmed at a suspect vietnamese pho place in chinatown? finding a rock in your food.
[go read tiffy's post on ghettofoodies]
[go see pics of the rock at reformedjerk's]

things have been really non-stop this month:
during holidays:
- went to new years' at ju's. very low-key, but nice. got to watch ocean's 12 (inferior to the first remake) and play carcassonne. best of all, got to spend time with jenne before she left for boston again.
- went to the osc and bodyworlds 2 with grace, dave, ju, and louis. the osc was fun - gotta love the sports zone! :p and bodyworlds was really neat, if somewhat repetitive. (but i got to palm a brain, kidney, and liver!!!) the exhibits were really cool (the body para-sagittal slice of the obese man which consisted of 90% fat really made me rethink my eating habits... ew!) and i thought the head comprising of blood vessels was so intricate and beautiful. God's work is so amazing.
- went to johnny rocket's with dave, a "diner" experience in square one. they give you nickels for the jukebox and there's a mandatory dance all the waiters/waitresses have to do. poor folks.
- spent time with the queen's and martingrove ppl! <3
post-holiday
- school has been PAINFUL. one major group project, one quiz, two labs, and one MIDTERM THIS TUESDAY all make for a very busy and stressed tiffy. so much for easing back into school!
- got to reintroduce mei to dave :) and had a wonderful time talking with her <3 (i'm very sad that i won't be able to see her for 6 months when she goes on exchange :( )
- got to give birth to a doll ("jesus") coordinated to usher's yeah at delta. hijinks with joseph (mike), angels, and shunning clubbers preceded the blessed event. "she's feeling like she's ready to BLOW!"

it's really happening...

2005-12-30T23:33:00.000-05:00

can you believe it? i just saw one of my best friends in her (potential) wedding gown. and she looked absolutely beautiful.

sweetheart, i wish you the best. <3