eat broccoli.

*plays bamboo music in the background*

–wait, is bamboo japanese-y at all? sounds more chinese to me. anyway…

so i am in the process of filling out my visa (or have i already mentioned this in my previous post?) i need a lot of stuff…letter of studentship, letter of recommendation, passport pictures, passport photocopies, health care photocopies, etc, etc, etc.!.!.!.

now i know where to book my flight it wont be too expensive. thank goodness i made friends with a japanese peer in english class last semester. and thank goodness the same friend is in my sociology class this year. thank goodness to making friends! anyway, she gave me this site where i can book fares for super cheap! im really excited.

i am going to leave in the first week of may.

and i don’t know when i will come back. maybe in late december? hopefully before christmas!

actually, i am kind of sick of talking about japan. shall we move on?

I KNOW!
yesterday my dearest winnie came over to my house and we cleaned up my room. SERIOUSLY, major transformation right there. maybe i will upload pictures…we’ll see. MY ROOM WAS SUCH A DISASTER. i am a tornado. tehhe.
we’ve went through 6 garbage bags and a box full of recycling material.
and four hours later…
my room isnt totally clean yet, we never got time to clean up my wardrobe. but my room is basically clean. it’s so clean it echoes… i forgot how much space i had in there.
it’s amazing. <3

okay. this is why i have winnie so much. my room wa spretty dusty, im not going to lie. we probably wiped out a whole civilization of dust bunnies. the job was not glamorous at all. but she’s a true trooper, no jokes. and she’s a great motiviator…at times, a tyrant. well, she got the job done. and she volutneered to come back again to clean my wardrobe because she knows i wont do it unless hse’s there. well, i will do it some time this weekend…i promise? well, don’t take my word for it because i may not do it after all. tehehhe.

yeah, so my room is SO clean right now it ECHOES (i can’t get over how it echoes, can you tell?). it’s kind of freaky. but i love it. my goal is to keep the cleansiness for the two months that i will be there. just so i can practice cleaning up after myself and keeping things tidy. after all, my home in japan will be the same size of my room, no doubt (small house, not big room).

anyway, im going to header now.

love ya later,
boots

says liss. my, my, i didn’t even know you read my blog!
anyway, yes dear reader, i will be leaving for japan around the 7th, 8th, or 9th of may. and i am not quite sure of my return date…probably some time in late december.
I AM SO FREAKIN’ EXCITED!!!!!

at first i was very, very, very nervous and apprehensive about this endeavor. going to japan for 8 months…to teach english…in a foreign country? holy cow.

goooooooood lord.

right now i am collecting documents, pictures, making photocopies to prepare for my visa application. i am totally doing this. i am even starting to look at flight rates.

today ittti japan sent me a comprehensive package about all the frequently asked questions and how i can prepare for japan. THIS IS SO OVERWHELMING.

anyway im going to head out now and develop photos! i haven’t developed any photos since…early october. i need to delete them off of my camera.

i’ll tell you more about japan very soon, dear reader!

love ya later,
boots

my religious view: sustainability.

sometimes when i am at work and someone purchases a small necklace, i’d ask: would you like a bag?
if they say: yes, please.
i will give them a subtle evil glare. because OBVIOUSLY if i think you need a bag i wouldn’t ask. you do have a purse you know! why do you wanna use a plastic bag when you’re just going to end up sticking it back into your purse?

ugh.

since im so consumed in saving bags i’d always use a small bag and fold everything neatly (even jeans) into the small bag just so i dont have to give them a bigger bag. i just dont think it’s necessary…LET’S SAVE PLASTIC HERE, PEOPLE!!

i wanna make a difference, even if it is being stingy on shopping bags…

xox
boots

two days ago when it was super sunny (like it is today) i went out for a jog around my neighbourhood. do not be surprised here, folks. back in the summer i used to jog around my neighbourhood often! well, i’ve basically been a retired jogger for about half a year and after running the other day my tighs hurt!

the muscles feel tangled. like it hurts when i go up stairs and it hurts even more when i go down stairs. when i woke up it hurt to walk out of my room. it just hurts! okay fine, it dones’t hurt that much, it is bareable, but it feels uncomfortable.

next time i will stretch. well i kind of stretched on tuesday but that didn’t help either.

anyway, i think i need to find a new form of exercise because people who run/jog get big calves and my calves are already unproportionately large already! i like hiking, but that will also work out my calves as well. and if i have big calves, i will find it hard to fit my legs into tall boots! which btw, i bought a new pair yesterday <3.

it hurts though. i went to the casino last night and it started to scrap against my ankle and it hurted. maybe i just need to break into them…they are a size and a half too big. but usually people wear boots that are a bit bigger than their normal shoe size so they can wear thick socks. maybe i should just wear two pairs of thick socks. tehehhe

i think i am going to take a nap…

good day!

…but i don’t mind

she’s so young, but i can already tell she is going to grow up like as a superstar. she will take on the dream that i have, and fulfill it. i have high hopes for this little darling. just check out the passion in her eyes!

a fine frenzy. avocado.
beef & blue cheese pizza. big fish. bing crosby.
cheese biscuit & cheese bread. coloured skinnies.
dancing. denims. dragons.
enchanted songs.
family & friends. fruit smoothies.
garibaldi lake. gossip girl. grouse grind.
harry potter. hiking. how to lose a guy in 10 days.
ice wine. ikea. ishmael.
james morrison. james blunt. jason mraz.
karaoke.
leann rimes. lilies.
mean girls. michael buble. MTV. music.
nail polish. nat & matt.
orchids.
pad thai. painting. papaya. photos. ps i love you.
q-tip. quidditch.
recycling. rod stewart.
salmon. shopaholic series. singing. sustainability.
the notebook. the diamond grill. teresa teng.
unicorns.
vacation. vanity. vaseline. vegetables.
willows. wishing on stars. wordpress blogs.
x- treasure marks.
yam fries. yapping. yogurt. youth.
zodiacs. zucchini.

winnie called me a pedophile because i sent her those two videos– i practically sent everyone those two videos. they made my morning, my afternoon and my night. fyi, they’re not even naked or doing anything explicit so how does this make me a pedophile? i can’t help it if i like little children…

there’s a certain age range where the extent of my love for babies will go: newborns-3 or 4 yrs old. i mostly love 1-2 yr olds, they’re so adorable. that was the time when i was the most adoarable. actually i take that back, i was an exception i was pretty much adorable all my life up to grade 2.

anyway, enough about me (we always manage to talk to me, dont we?), babies are just so precious. and being pregnant is so beautiful. but i wouldn’t want to be pregnant my whole life…mother nature is totally against it. it’s practically impossible….but im sure there’s a loop-hole somewhere (there always is). after chit chatting with my aunt i’m not sure i want to have babies at all! i mean…your body will never be the same! you’ll feel like you’re having a constant hang-over for the majority of the pregnancy and the PAIN during labour. this is serious business! and it’s super scary.

but then i see these cute, cute toddlers and their cute expressions and their care-free approach to life and the excitement on their faces when they discover something new– like the sight of blood or the pain of being biten– it makes me think twice.

plus, i’m going to need people to take care of me when i’m older, right?

xox,
boots

…but i’m also not one to hold back when it comes to being open with my mistakes. this dear reader, is the value of humility.

so two nights ago i was pretty stoked about baking another batch of vegan brownies. how do you bake vegan brownies you ask? well, instead of using milk, butter and eggs you replace it with applesauce. sounds far-fetched? well, just a tad. but it is still delicious and you do not taste a hint of apple at all, really!

so after buying chocolate chips and walnuts i went straight to the kitchen and started baking. everything was going dandy! i had my dry ingredients in one bowl and my wet ingredients in another. everything was great. but only guess what? i used a TABLESPOON to measure my baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract instead of using a TEASPOON. hot diggity.

did i mention i attempted to make four batches as opposed to their recommendated one batch? so i 4X everything! fancy that. i should have known something was fishy by the size of the TBSP (i swear, the B was practically camouflaged). i used 120 mL of baking powder and 60mL of baking soda and quite a bit of salt…

have you ever tried salty brownies? if you’d like to try some…call me up. i need to get rid of my brownies or else i’ll just end up composting it all.

don’t get me wrong, my brownies are still very delicious! i just can’t seem to swallow any of that deliciousness…

xoxo
–boots

i am a second-generation chinese-canadian. or am i a third generation?
these things become problematic.
you see, my father’s father immigrated to vancouver back in the late 50’s…or was it the 60’s? details aren’t important. anyway, my grandfather opened a restaurant here in vancouver called “the sunnyside cafe.” how do i know all this stuff? back in grade 7 we had the option of working on a heritage workshop or performing a play. from the direction of this blog, it’s quite obvious i chose the former.
so here’s my point: this makes My father a second-generation chinese-canadian. so we can’t both be second-generation chinese-canadians– this is my logic. but you see, my mom immigranted here from canton, china. thus, most people would consider me to be a second-generation chinese-canadian because of this.

anyway, chines— i mean, Lunar New Year is fast approaching (three days away to be precise), and the gap between my father’s side and my mother’s side is even more distinct around these cultural celebrations.

my mom is full-out traditional. today is the official day of clean-up and she has not let me off the hook just yet. which explains why my room is only half cleaned. when i go over to my mom’s parent’s house i have to speak to them in chinese or else they will not understand me. and i must greet my aunts and uncles by their individual kinship terms. in case you are not familiar with the system, the term “aunt” takes on several forms depending on whom you are addressing. your mom’s sister is called something completely different from your dad’s sister. and your mom’s brother’s wife is called something completely different from your dad’s brother’s wife. and so forth. so to make this whole confusion a little more easy to comprehend: there are a lot of terms to remember, which explains the pause that becomes between the “hi” and the “kinship term.”

i only have things half as bad. you see, on my dad’s side we don’t do any of that stuff. like i’ve mentioned earlier, they were born and raised here so they’re as white-washed as my friends and i. a simple “hi auntie janet” or “hi auntie lorna” works perfectly for them.
…and when it comes to Lunar New Year, everything is lacking as well. they usually give about 10-20 dollars to each person. and maybe i’m being greedy, but they also don’t understand the traditions as well. my auntie lorna came by yesterday (probably because she didn’t know the exact new year date) to give red envelopes to my mom to hand out to us. and my auntie janet, well, one year she only handed out ONE envelope because my uncle was there with her. and when you’re married you’re suppose to hand out TWO despite them being there or not.

so i guess it’s minor things like that…

and during christmas dinners at my house, i’d have both side of the family over. my dad’s side would take over the dining room table and sparsely in the living rooms upstairs. while my mom’s side would take over the living room and kitchen downstairs. the stairs is symbolic of the hypen that is a part of my identity. in one realm, everyone speaks chinese and there are little kids running around everyone. in the other realm, everyone speaks perfect english (sans accent) and their kids are watching christmas specials.

i am not a typical second-generation chinese-canadian with parents and family members speaking broken english. the hypen between my being ‘chinese’ and my being ‘canadian’ is separated by some distant force much greater than the hypen itself.

okay reader, i am in a dilemna– or should i say, i have been in one for quite a while.

there’s this girl, you see, i’ve had class with her since first year and i liked her a lot back when we sat together in lecture and we didnt’ really have much quality interactions. things should have stayed that way.

we hung out once before i went to china and she sort of annoyed me that day. but i thought: oh maybe i’m just moody and stressed about packing!

but then we hung out again when i came back and i immediately labeled her DEBBIE DOWNER (you know…that character from Mad TV)! I CANNOT STAND HER. it’s her attitude. it’s how her attitude is delivered in her tone. not so much what she says…all the time. but it’s How she says things.

she offends me!
“oh you like that…? i think that’s kind of ugly”

she pokes/taps me to get my attn!
it’s not like i’m a terrible deaf and you can’t get my attn by saying my name.

she doens’t say please and thank you!
i’m so……anal (there! i admit it!) sometimes and i always, always, always notice when someone doesn’t ask for something politely. they just take it and expect me to be fine with it. WELL I’M NOT. I’M BLOODY NOT! or maybe it’s just because i dont like you.

flashback: in grade 10 i had a pencil case full of assorted pencil crayons (i guess this will make it a pencil crayon case) and this girl (whom i didn’t quite fancy…and still dont) just went up to my desk adn started using my pencil crayons WITHOUT ASKING. WITHOUT PERMISSION. i guess this is where the association of bad feelings + taking without asking comes from. everytime someone does that, someone i don’t like, it just gives me a bigger excuse to hate them! i’m too irritable.

so my dilemna is: how do i continue hanging out with someone who bothers me to this great degree…but is also my lab partner and in my group for a project in another class? (yes, i have TWO classes with her…im going to lose my sanity!)

i’ve never had to work With her before, and now she bugs me EVEN MORE.
did you read the lab yet?
did you read the lab before class yet?
you’re going to read the lab tonight, right?
did you read the lab yesterday?
have you read the lab?
did you find the articles?
don’t forget to find the articles!
have you written the lit reviews?
did you bring your lit reviews?
don’t forget to read your lab for fri– SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!

i will EXPLODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDE one day–soon.