rosy ng

MIA

2007-05-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

months of MIA - mainly because my students created a facebook account for me. yes, I have switched over to the dark side *use my best darth vader voice*...now you know where I've disappeared off to.

A New Year

2007-01-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

alright so after all the whistles, bells, holiday cheer, video games and chicken wings - adrian and i rang in the new year. of course the other way that i ring in the new year with my usual - "it's a new year, don't take it for granted" post. I recieve this email from a friend:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgement, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips, disposale diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.Remember to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next country, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

my starbucks cup once said

2006-12-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

you know how there's always some form of writing on your starbucks cup? most of the time i don't ready it because just saids "beware, the contents of this cup is extremely hot"

anyways, here's what my starbucks cup once said:
"The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out, pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" - they may not be smart enough to say "yes""

i like that. strange how sometimes you talk to people and the most fitting advise you can give them, you once got off of a starbucks cup.

gaining perspective

2006-12-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

as the holiday season rolls around and we're busy shopping it's nice to take a moment and gain a bit of perspective - i stumbled on this from Tara's blog
http://www.globalrichlist.com/index.php

i found out that i was amongst the top 3% of the richest people in world...

$8 could buy you 15 organic apples OR 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.

$30 could buy you an ER DVD Boxset OR a First Aid kit for a village in Haiti.

$73 could buy you a new mobile phone OR a new mobile health clinic to care for AIDS orphans in Uganda.

$2400 could buy you a second generation High Definition TV OR schooling for an entire generation of school children in an Angolan village.

A bit of perspective

i finally caved

2006-12-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

alright i finally caved...my students signed me up for a facebook account and now i'm on there all the time AHHH!

besides that, i finally got around to getting my photos from my mexico trip developed. since the mexico trip, i've been to quebec and montreal, nice in france and turkey for work. i love this job!

life on the road

2006-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you a bit of an update on the life on the road.

Life on the road is very bumpy. We've been travelling everyday and traffic
in Mexico is crazy! Good thing is that I'm with a really great group of recruiter from other Canadian universities so
we've been doing a lot of singing to old 80's songs in the Van.

The high school students in Mexico are incredible and I have to say, the
questions they ask and the level of maturity really blew my mind. Some of them even knew where Simon Fraser University was which is impressive (usually, everyone saids "UBC, McGill, U of T" and that's it for Canada). So far, all the students seem to think that Canada is entirely covered in ice...so I've still got some work to do.

I endured our longest drive today - a 3 hour trip to a spectacular campus
for the Marymount international school. The school is in an old colonial
estate built on top of the mountains. I've been relatively good (no motion
sickness) compared to other recruiters - 3 of them required some love and
care today.

We've also been stopped by police officers today on our way to Marymount on
suspicions of "people trafficing". We avoided a trip to the police station
by giving them $100US. They were then kind enough to give us a "reciept" in
case of more trouble down the road. Apparently if we were stopped again by
other police officers, we just have to tell them "code 17"...

more later...

mondonation

2006-10-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

a coworker of mine showed up yesterday in a shirt that he printed from MONDONATION. What is mondonation?
mondonation is an experiment built around the idea that if we all share our beliefs on a daily basis, by wearing them on our bodies, they will grow in strength. This will begin to affect the people who wear their beliefs and also everyone they come into contact with. What we do is give people the opportunity to wear their beliefs. You get to choose a charity from a growing list of charities and we give your designated amount ($1, $5, $10, or $20) to that charity. So the strength of mondonation is threefold: giving money to something you believe in while wearing something you believe in.

i think its kinda cool so i ordered my shirt this morning.

catching up...

2006-10-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

last week - John (Kelly) came in to visit and we had a great dinner chatting about AIESEC. it's always incrediable to find out with people are up and the amazing things they are doing. i found out that a friend of ours has come back from the dead, one is running around the middle east, a few are married while some are off saving the world in other remote locations. someone asked me if i miss it - the whole living on no money, constant jet-lagged and sleeping on floors all over the world. i admit it, i do - sometimes. i miss meeting new people, i miss the conferences, i miss being with other students and working for something that we thought could inspire others to be better, most of all i miss not knowing what i'll be doing tomorrow.

of course, i also enjoy the travelling that i do for work now - there're no waiting on standby anymore. i enjoy the people that i meet now - my international students and being able to provide a home for them away from home. i enjoy taking part in inspiring the new students to be better, to experience more and to see beyond the here and now.

so in a way - i still do the same work that i did when i was an undergrad...just in a different context.

aching to travel

2006-09-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

alright so i haven't travelled for the last 2 months and i'm aching away. my antsy travel pants requires that i book some tickets and get on a plane so i have!

i've been looking for excuses to go away so i've found a Canadian Bureau of Internationl Education conference that my boss is letting me go to in Montreal. next week, hopefully i'll hear back about whether or not our international office will need to me on the recruiting trip to asia.

even if my recruiting trip doesn't come through, i'm at least headed to monteal...my antsy travel pants are somewhat appeased for the time being.

bloody cell phone companies

2006-09-12T11:19:00.001-07:00

are all cell phone companies evil? yes. do all cell phone companies have terrible customer service? probably.

cell phone companies drive me nuts! i was at the Surrey SFU campus grand opening on the weekend and bell mobility had a booth there. they were doing the promotion for a "back to school" plan which if you check out the flyer - saids "$20/month including weekend and evenings". Then the plan goes on to list the features that's part of the plan = 200 local anytime minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends, free message centre, free call display, free mobile browser, free call waiting, call forwarding, conference calling & detail billing...

I talk to the guy in the store and he saids I need to call an agent at the bell service centre.

so this is what i've learned. when it saids "unlimited evenings & weekends", it means that the unlimited evenings is free but the weekends you have to pay for. You can't get the evenings without the weekends so it's actually not free.

The agent at the bell call centre also informs me that "offer and priceing are subject to change/cancellation without notice. products are not exactly as show. Bell Mobility does not accept liability for typographical or pictorial error."

so it seems that the flyer is a "typographical error" and Bell does not take responsibility for it.

so are all cell phone companies evil? yes.

i've lost my wisdom...

2006-08-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

teeth that is...so after my month of "surviving the italians" - i took a week off and instead of going out and relaxing - i got my wisdom teeth taken out *in my boss' words "boy you sure know how to party"* all 4 teeth and i didn't get knocked out. my dentist froze my mouth (i didn't think to ask first, i just assumed everyone gets knocked out) and i was wide awake for the entire jaw-bashing experience...

this is the wierd thing that i've always wondered - why do dentists try to have conversations with you when you're elbow deep in your mouth trying to wrench your teeth out? i can't answer you without biting you!!!

i think i'm a little grouchy from the meds and the silly food choices...

surviving the "Italians"...

2006-08-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

so what else is new - i've temporarily dropped off the face of the earth and now has wandreed my way back after a lot of emails and msn messages going "where are you?"

the last month has been interesting - culturally as well as in the area of "office politics". the office politics i'll have to keep out of here but i'll run with some of the cultural bits.

part of my new job is to work with incoming field school groups, in this case - it was a group of 64 italians from milan. warning bells should have gone off at this point - my first mistake is my failure to do background research on the group and rather simply believe what the group told me...

1. what they told me: the university that the students are coming from is the top univeristy in milan.
truth: the university is the top university and milan AND it is the most expensive univeristy in milan = the kids are from very very very rich families and they act that like it...

2. what they told me: the students that qualify for this exchange program are the 10% in the school academically.
truth:i don't know how they became the top 10% of the school but i know that cheating probably had something to do with it. during the final exam, i found 7 students out of a class of 32 that DID NOT cheat - 4 of these students were the canadian students that had enrolled in the class...the way they were cheating wasn't even very creative - notes in the dictionaries, notes sticking out of these backpacks, notes in their long sleeve shirts, sitting on the notes, text-messaging, just outright talking to each other...

a few more cultural differences:
1. it is okay to talk over top of each other. during the class and special lectures, the students literally talked WHILE the lecturer was speaking - my question is "who's listening if EVERYONE is talking?" i spend a good 15 minutes after the lecture apologizing to the lecturer...

2. it is simply unheard of in milan to ask the students to wear the same clothing that they wore to class to another activitiy in the afternoon. a waredrobe change is absolutely necessary in between every activity.

3. EVERYTHING is negotiable.

4. cheating in exams is highly frequent and kinda accepted in a "unspoken" way...

5. afternoon lunch generally consist of an appietizer, a main course, a second course, a beer and a dessert...even if you have only 1 hour to eat that lunch in

6. time is not an issue. being late is the more fashionable thing to do.

there are a few other things that went on but i'll leave those for beer nights...

in the end, i did have fun with the group - once you learn to work the cultural differences. i laughed a lot - because what else can you do but laugh after you're group is already 30 minutes late and 1/2 the group is missing because they decided they needed to have coffee midway? the students were real characters that i sincerly have grown to love and i'm looking forward to the group next year...this time i'll be more prepared.

modern babies

2006-06-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

my nephew has just had his "full month" banquet and he's already got his own website ANDblog!

so you think you can dance...nah

2006-06-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

i admit it - i love reality shows! I know that the majority of them are just trash but i love them and my new addiction is one called "so you think you can dance" (an "American Idol" sort of show but for dancers)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2006-05-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm an aunt again!!! Introducing my cousin Sherman and his wife Nelly and our new addition to the family - Brendon Lau!!! *rosy throws confetti in the air*

a new job a new lifestyle - i'm loving it!

2006-04-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

gone are the days where i run around like a chicken with my head cut off, days where i'm so exhausted that i fall asleep on justin at beer night by 10pm, days where i can tell you which one is my favourite airport rather than my favourite city... that's because I'VE QUIT IKEA!

those of you who know me are probably thinking "what?!! I thought you were a lifer!" and up until 4 weeks ago, so did I. I still miss the pace and the people a lot but I've decided that I want to build a career in Vancouver and if I continue on with IKEA, my next step requires me to move.

the last days at IKEA were sad...there was a lot of crying but then again i am a bit of a basketcase... the people are truely awesome there and I was lucky enough to have worked with so many of them from all over the world. i got emails from people who i haven't see since Sweden last summer so i'm feeling pretty blessed to have worked for this company.

the new job is fantastic - i'm now the new International Programs Coordinator for SFU's faculty of Business. It's what I've always loved doing - working with students who are going on exchange, coming in from other countries and developing field schools. It's like AIESEC work all over again (nevermind that my office is actually on the flip side of the AIESEC office...)

so now i've actually got the time to keep up with my resolution of "playing more" - i've started going back to dance classes, i went for runs on the weekend and went to a power yoga and pilates class. last weekend, we did Michelle's "Amazing Race: Easter Edition" and the weekend before, we drove alongside cheering Justin on while he did his 1st 1/2 marathon in Sechelt. I'm loving the time I have to spend with my friends and more than that, I'm loving the time in the sun!

25 going on 30!

2006-04-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Got up early this morning so i figured i'd take some time to read up on some blogs and see what everyone is up to...well i ready dennis' and he did this quiz...here are my results:

What Age do you act?

You Are 30 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

...the world today...

2006-03-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

everybody complains about the people you either work with or meet at work. i'm not exception - and then i find out about people like these:

"This year's runaway winner ("Stella Awards" named after Stella Liebeck who sued McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on herself) was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000. plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons around"

maybe the people that i meet at work aren't so bad...

i always miss the finales!

2006-03-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

seriously, I always miss the finales! I love the reality tv shows - it's disgusting i know...but I like to see people duke it out and I like rooting for the underdogs. anyways, last season of amazing race,
insert italic tags missed the season finale. i also missed the season finale for dancing with the stars. along with that i also missed every finale of survivor - not that i even watch the show anymore but i've never seen a single finale for it. and then just today - it dawned on me that i've also missed the finale for project runway! chloe won so i'm happy but the 2 pieces that i thought looked amazing was done by this guy who i thought was super annoying throughout the whole show

2 things happened tonight...

2006-03-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

2 things happened tonight:

#1. The academy awarded an OSCAR (a REAL oscar) to a song named "it's hard out there for a pimp"...

and #2. i got this email from jason:
"25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP
1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time McDonald's closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps from noon to 6 PM!
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. If you're a gal, you go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $5.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You don't drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt. Then you forward it to a bunch of old pals & friends 'cause you know they'll enjoy it & do the same.

BONUS:
When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking
Oh S*$# !
What Happened? "

it's a different world and i think i'm on my way to being a grown up...*shit*

5 years!

2006-02-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

it's been a while so here's an update about the last month:

-adrian and I celebrated our 5th year together. besides the usual mushy-lovey-dovey stuff (which i will save you all from here) i am mainly celebrating the fact that he's been able to stand me for this long and hasn't yet traded me in for a new one!

-i've started training for the 60k committment with the end cancer campaign. boy am i out of shape! i hope i make it to august!

-jay finally found a job that he loves and "jandrea" (my new "benifer name for Jay and Andrea) are now finally "dinks"! congrats guys!

-i've also started looking for a new job. not that I don't love what i currently do but there's been a large number of PR/Communication/Design jobs that has started popping up in the city so i figured i'd give it a try. i've forgotten how nerve-wrecking the whole interviewing experience is. i've had a few job offers since then but i'm going be like jay and wait for the dream job

-i'm off to a job interview later this week with guess who...2010 OLYMPICS! it'll be community relations for the whistler community...wish me luck!

-justin opened his online company! *i'm so proud* (rosy sniffles)

-the home and garden show that i've been working on for the last 3 weeks kicked off on wednesday. it's pretty successful so i'm glad that i spent the time on it but next year, please count me out.

-i got suckered into doing an HR basics class through IKEA and now not only am i a bit "ikea-ed out" but i've also been thoroughly brainwashed...my brain hurts

alrighty, that's it for now - nothing too exciting

life outside of working

2006-02-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

i've been doing a bit of interviewing for new jobs lately. not that i don't like my current job but i'm just looking for a change. the interviewer at one of the companies, jokingly (i think) pointed out that i don't seem to have anytime for fun and what the heck did i do outside of work... so yes i think i'm coming to terms with the fact that i'm an unhealthy workaholic. so there's a few things that i'm going to start doing - i've decided that i'll be doing the 60k end breast cancer walk with my friends, i'm going to harbour dance and get back into dancing for fun, and finally i'm going to take more trips with adrian. that's my new year's resolution - i'm going to play more!

oh boy do i miss it...(courtesy of john - edmonton, video producer extraordinaire)

2006-01-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

hooked...

2006-01-13T23:23:00.000-08:00

a friend of mine is getting married and as i've done before, i've got the honor of singing while she walks down the aisle but also at their first dance. she gives me this alicia keys cd and saids that "their song" is number 8 on the cd...it's been a long time since i've fallen in love with a song! if you haven't heard it, you should go find it right away - i'm telling you, it's worth your time: "Alicia Keys - If I ain't got you"
happy listening

ummm johnny? johnny?

2005-12-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

so i get a message in my comments about something that I think I need to apologize for...so apparently, this link that I have for Johnny Morgan/Muff Daddy of the West...well it's not him. rather it's another johnny morgan that exists in the world, one who has somehow stumbled into our circle so i apologize to both johnnys.

real lemons

2005-11-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

another odd little thought today - we are living in a world today where lemonade is made of artificial flavors and the furniture polish is made from real lemons...

christmas scares me

2005-11-26T01:26:00.000-08:00

it's that time of the year again - when we have yet to even hit December but people are already pushing and shoving their ways into the malls for christmas presents. i was watching the news about people shopping in the states. i was only enlightened about this whole "day after thanksgiving sale" thing just this week when girls at work wanted to take me with them. i passed on it as it's been one of my few days off this entire month. but what i saw on the news about the sales made me very very happy that i didn't venture out on the 8 hour car ride into maddness. apparently people were pushed over, trampled, stepped on at a number of stores today. police were called in to a number of stores across the country to break up fights.

stuff like that always makes me wonder...how important is it to keeping buying "stuff"? I'm not a hippy so I do my fair share of shopping and I'm not above anyone here when i say this but at what point does purchasing something justify knocking people over?

mob mentalities scare me. christmas shopping scares me - that's why i'm already done with all the shopping for everyone i love. the rest will have to settle for a gift card or online purchases.

new member of the family

2005-11-26T01:04:00.000-08:00

congrats on becoming a new member of the SFU LCP family Tim!!! I'm so happy for you! You'll be an amazing LCP!

more AIESEC - but now I'm ALUMNI!

2005-10-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've been at an AIESEC conference and I have to say - I have no idea where I ever got the energy for it before. The Western Regional Conference was last weekend and I had an awesome time at the final banquet. Of course I got to sit at the ALUMNI table so it made me feel old and important. There are so many dances and cheer that I don't even know anymore. SFU won the "Spirit Keg" - I'm so proud of Carolyn! It was loads of fun and our Board of Advisor - Bob along with the executive director from SFU's BBA program danced and cheered along with us, I love them both!

Ahmed's legacy

2005-10-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Why Should I Care? in Kenya

a friend remembered

2005-10-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

AIESEC has always been close to my heart. Not only was it something that I thought I could slowly help change the world through but also because of the amazing friends I've made through it. One of these individuals, I'd like to remember today as he was tragically taken from us on October 8th.

The email I recieved read:

"my name is *** and i am a friend of ahmed al-arshi. ahmed was taking to hospital on october 6, 2005 after he fainted because of poison he eat in his food put by someone we don't know. police is looking on this case. i was at hospital to see ahmed last night and the doctors said he needed an operration because he has brain damage. today october 8, 2005 at 10:42am uae time, the doctor called me and said that ahmed sadly has died.

ahmed was a great friend and i know that you all are good friends and you liked ahmed like me and all my other friends. he talked about you and canada all the time and he had dreams to change the world to a better place and cleaner but god have other plans for him. we pray that he is in heaven. it is a very sad day for me and other friends but let us remember him for what good he give us and words that always still in our ears and his pretty smile that all you see from it is light.
let this be a lesson for us all to love life because ahmed loved life and he should be our hero and do what he use to do. clean this world.

god bless you all. if you want me to answer any qestions you have please email me and i will answer you. ahmed use to say do not cry do not be sad for your lost because one day we will be together again. it is just that they go to another world and you are just waiting your turn. it is a journey and our tickets are still pending. "

God bless his soul. Ahmed - we'll miss you, your crazy ways, your dreams and all the times you've made us laugh.

Rest in peace.

Hostels and Accomodations in Europe

2005-09-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Since I've been back, lots of people have asked about where we stayed and which places were good. So here's the information. I know lots of people have heard really crappy things about hostels and lots more have had bad experiences at them but we lucked out and found some pretty great places for acceptable dollars.

The thing to keep in mind is that you get what you pay for so if you're booked in some accomodation for $10CDN per night, you're better off camping.

For London, Rome and Florence we had hostels. In Cinque Terre and Venice we had apartments and finally a hotel in Paris.

With the exception of Cinque Terre and Paris, I used Lonelyplanets.com and Travelcuts.com to book all the accomodations. I also used Tripadvisor.com to get ratings. I also used Frommers.com for trip advice (in the travel talk section, you can find anything and get help with lots more)

London:
Astor Museum Inn
27 Montague Street
London, England, Bloomsbury WC1B 5BH

Good things:
it's located right next to the British Museum so if you're lost anywhere in the city, you just look for the tourist signs to get to the British Museum. There's internet onsite and a place to cook. everything is really clean including the washrooms. there's also a healty collection of DVDs so if you want to just veg a little at night after all the partying, it's there. People are really cool there.
Bad things:
it can get noisy at night so bring earpluggs if you're a light sleeper. The building's old so water pressure isn't eactly the best. The pressure gets better as you move down the floors, we stayed on the fourth floor but took our showers on the 2nd.

Rome:
Hostel Alessandro Palace
Via Vicenza 42, 00185

Good things:
it's super organized here, it's like a hotel. the pub is fantastic and no matter what kind of party they're having in it, you won't hear them once you're in bed. the staff is awesome and really efficient. there's internet and long distance phones on site. they even sell phone cards out of a vending machine. the location is great, it's right by the train station but walkable to all the sites in 15 minutes. lots of people from all over the world stay here so you get a great mix. the air-conditioner is actually so cold that we had to put on extra clothing to sleep in! the bathrooms are modern and very clean all the time.
Bad things:
there's no elevator so it's a bit of a hike up. there's no way to turn the air-conditioner down so bring a sweater.

Florence:
Luna Rossa
Via Nazionale, 7
Florence, Italy

Good Things:
Marco! he's the guy in charge and he's amazing. He'll help you out no matter what it's related to. Everything is really clean about the place. there's no bunk beds at the hotel, you actually get a very nice room and a clean bed for each person. Location is great and close to the local leather market so you can get some great deals along with fresh food. We went horseback riding and had a traditional tuscan dinner with an Italian winery family through Marco's friend Sam (Sam runs tours of different parts of Italy and it's a great experience)
Bad Things:
It's right on a main street so it can get noisy in the morning, Italians get up pretty early. The place is small hosting up to 30 people per night so it might be hard to get a bed there if you didn't book ahead.

more later.

Venice, Paris and finally home

2005-09-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've been home for 3 days now and so quickly a month has gone by. it got a little difficult to find internet cafes in Venice so I've missed a few emails but here I go.

Venice was great. Lots of people warned us about it potentially being a bit smelly with the Grand Canal but the people were wonderful and the food fantastic here. We rented a little apartment for the 4 of us to share as we leave our hostel days behind. We're right in the heart of Venice and a 10 minute walk from St. Mark's Square.

We did some of the touristy things like go to the Doge's Palace (the former Duke of Venice), getting attacked by pigeons in St. Mark's (I think there's a movie scene like that in The Day after Tomorrow...there's also a video of me screaming while pigeons swarmed me, I'll show you all later when I get my camera fixed). We also went on the ferry to tour the Grand Canal and visited the island of Murano (where we spent our life savings on handmade glass pieces and beads). For any museum/art lovers out there, my recommendation is definitely to visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum. That woman has spectacular taste in modern art and it’s set up so that you don’t need to have a masters in Art to enjoy it.

The food is incredible with Winston and I making a full supper out of some very adventurous looking cuttlefish and black mushy sauce. It doesn’t sound or even look very good but it tastes spectacular.

While in Venice, we got student tickets to a concerto done in traditional Venetian style (with costumes and the whole bit) in a church. It was a spur of the moment thing but it was so rewarding for Marg and I (Adrian and Winston fell asleep...boys!)

After 5 days in Venice, we took an overnight sleeper train to Paris. I've never been in a sleeper train so that was actually really fun. We had the compartment to ourselves it was very clean and unexpectedly modern and nice. Of course this was the Eurostar train so it's a bit nicer than trains that we bumped along around in Italy.

So after 4 years of having left Paris, I arrive back in my favorite city and back at a nice little hotel that I stayed in last time. The hotel is located in the Latin Quarter area of Paris so it’s surrounded by loads of fantastic and inexpensive restaraunt. It’s also with in 10 minutes walking distance from Notre Dame, which incidentally becomes an open arena for all kinds of performance art and street performances in the evening. The four of us took a liking to a gang of 4-8 stunt roller skaters that spend every evening launching themselves off homemade ramps (constructed from street signs, pallets from shops and fencing from road construction).

We bought a museum card while we where here and made plans to get to all the museums that we wanted to see. The whole thing about being in the heart of a big city is the number of distractions that you come to. The first day we attempted to go to the Louvre, we didn’t end up getting there until 1:00pm despite the fact that the museum was only 15minutes away from our hotel and we started at 9:00am. We ended up shopping and then having to take our bags back to the hotel and then shopping some more just on the street that took us to the Louvre. Between the 4 of us, we came home with 6 jackets, 1 odd looking puffy/furry vest (Winston), 5 pairs of shoes, 6 leather belts, 2 bags and a load of accessories just from Paris alone.

The great thing about going to Paris after being in Italy for so long is the food. Although the pasta that we had in Italy was amazing and heavenly, we were good and tired of the pasta. Paris is full of variety in food with some decent looking Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Lebanese and of course French restaurants. We had escargots almost every night and found ourselves dipping cubbed bread and meat in big pots of cheese and in my case beer (I’m just starting to like cheese so I haven’t upgraded to the big pot of melted cheese yet).

The last time I was in Paris, I didn’t go out to Versaille because I didn’t have much time so this time I made sure that we got a chance to go out there. The palace was beautiful and so enormous. Of course we had to squeeze our way around the massive groups of tourists to be able to see everything.

The trip was great and I had a fantastic time. I am truly glad to be home though – I think I’m getting old. We met lots of people from all over the world, some have been traveling for close to a year. I don’t know how they do it but it really is very nice to be home and have sushi!

Cinque Terre - a little bit of Heaven on Earth

2005-08-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

we've arrived at our 5th destination on our trip, Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore. It's amazingly beautiful here. we rented an apartment and it has a view overlooking the coast and a perfect view of the italian sunset. we've also met our first family from Vancouver here as well. They're a Chinese family of 5 and we invited them right into our apartment for an hour just to chat.

we had a great time in Florence as well. We ended up spending our first day going horsebacking riding in the tuscan countryside. we had a traditional tuscan dinner that night with a local family along with what seemed like the rest of that wine making community (even the family that brought us up on the horses were there). we had red wine made by the town's doctor (guarenteed for good health?). it's been really spectacular.

the next couple of days we spent going to the Uffizi gallery(awesome little gallery that has a collection of the most defing pieces from all the great masters), the Galleria dell'Accademia (which is highly over-rated), the Palace Pitti (a tourist trap, don't waste your time), the Duomo, the Piazza Michelangelo and finally bargaining at the leather markets.

we've got a few more days here until we move on to Venice. the seafood in Riomaggiore is great and the wine really fantastic but boy do I miss Vancouver's all you-can-eat sushi and Mom's Chinese soups and rice. (the Chinese food in Italy is a little scary looking)

Ciao until next time

I came, I saw, I sweated...alot

2005-08-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, in keeping with my promise of one email per country, here I go. we've been in Rome for only 2 days and it's felt like we've been here for weeks. The food is fabulous, Marg has practically been living off of mozerella cheese (they only seem to come in shapes of small bombs here). I unexpectedly, learned to love soft cheeses (yes, I actually had a whole thing of cheese for dinner!) Our hostel is a great place. It's a great price, right by the main train station but still walkable to everything in rome (it's www.hostelsalessandropalace.com) and it's got air conditioning,very very very clean and the bathroom comes with all kinds of handy appliances that you don't expect for a hostel. I'd highly recommend it if anyone is coming to Rome soon. We've been to the Vatican city (sistine chapel, st. peter's basillica and all the vatican museums), the Pantheon,a bunch of piazza, all kinds of fountains, and to the colosseum and the Roman forum. tomorrow is our day reserved strictly for SHOPPING! after that we'll be off to pompeii and then florence.
for some news in the personal growth department:
-Marg has learned that eating mozzorella everyday as a main course is not exactly being nice to your body
-I have learned how to eat my food faster and my gelato before it melts
-I yelled at young thieves near the train station
-Winston has learned to cut down his need for 5 meals a day down to 4 and that he's not 'starving' as he often claims
-Marg has learned to yell back at italian drivers who try to run her over in public
-Adrian now knows that a little heat is not going to kill you all in all

people in Italy are definately a bit more rude (we've been yelled at by people at train station booths and sent to wait in numerous lines that are wrong) but the food is really good and not everyone we've met has been mean. we've met loads of people from london and australia too. alright, on with the shopping!cheers, rosy

done with London...for now

2005-08-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

so after 5 jam packed days in London, we're leaving for Rome in a few hours. Of course we're not leaving London with our bits of story to tell - some of our highlights include:
-getting stuck between floors in the underground elevator at the Covert Garden tube station
-Losing Winston and Adrian in Cambridge (Marg and I just left for London with out them)
-Winston getting the punting stick stuck in the mud and nearly falling off the boat while we were punting around the Cambridge campus
-Adrian literally saving Winston's life (prevented him from being hit by a truck...the 3rd time that day)-Margaret picking up a very strange wannabe British accent
-Hanging out and having pots of mussels for dinner with Darren, Fiona and Julie
-Winston being scared by the live man amongst the wax figures in Warwick Castle
-Adrian being 'hit' by British lady on a bike (but her injuries were far worse...adrian didn't really notice that he got hit)
-Seeing the Lion King, Chicago and Fame musicals
-the strange couple rolling around on the floor outside our room that I tripped on trying to go to the washroom
-Margaret taking photos of every meal before we're all allowed to eat

My favourite parts of this city:
-learning how to stop a bus (apparently being at a bus stop is not enough)
-TEA!
-Raspberry Beer!
-our hostel (it's literally right now to the British Museum)
-how everyone is a tourist here (I tried to ask someone for directions in Cambridge and everyone was not from there!)
-the flea markets
-how everyone is soooooo polite here

on my way...almost

2005-08-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

so i've got 9 hours and 16 minutes before my plane takes me to europe on a month-long vacation. in light of my "abandoning ship" as my co-workers like to call it, mee-ying sends me this email: *warning: it's long but it's funny and no, i am not flying west jet to europe*

"West Jet is an Airline with head office situated in Calgary, Alberta. West Jet airline attendants make an effort to make the in-flight "safety lecture" and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:

On a West Jet flight (There is no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, "People, people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

-----------------------

On another West Jet Flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

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On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have."

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"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane."

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"Thank you for flying West Jet Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

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As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at the Vancouver Airport, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

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After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Ontario, a flight attendant on a West Jet flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

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From a West Jet Airlines employee: "Welcome aboard West Jet Flight 245 to Calgary. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

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"In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite."

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Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than West Jet Airlines."

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"Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."

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"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants.. Please do not leave children or spouses."

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And from the pilot during his welcome message: "West Jet Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

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Heard on West Jet Airlines just after a very hard landing in Edmonton : The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, "That was quite a bump, and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault, it was the asphalt."

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Overheard on an West Jet Airlines flight into Regina, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Regina. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"

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Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

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An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the Passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline." He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Why, no, Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?"

The little old lady said, "Did we land, or were we shot down?"

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After a real crusher of a landing in Halifax, the attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal."

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Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of West Jet Airways."

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Heard on a West Jet Airline flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing. If you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em."

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A plane was taking off from the Winnipeg Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from Winnipeg to Montreal, The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax... OH, MY GOD!"

Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!"

A passenger in Coach yelled, "That's nothing. You should see the back of mine!"

someone asked me today...

2005-07-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

someone asked me today "why the heck were you here this early? and why the hell are you still here now?" ... let's just say that there is no point at which you can say "well, i'm successful now. i might as well take a nap". i'll leave it at that.

"know thy enemy"

2005-07-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

the world is slowly going to hell...

2005-07-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

i suspected that the world was going to hell long time ago. i've been told the world is going to hell many times over, but to see it yourself - well that's a whole other story.

i've been back from sweden and denmark just about 2 weeks now. the trip was great eventhough as my usual work trips go, i didn't get to see much. i luckly moved to copenhagen the last 2 nights of my stay just to see the city more. my friends who stayed in sweden ended up trapped there when the bombings in london went off. because the bridge that links sweden to denmark had always been a monument considered to be a target of terrorists, the bridge and any transportation that went alongside it (train and the ferry) were shut down immediately.

being in north america, we barely pay attention to what goes on outside of our own little bubble. we've heard so little of what is going on in europe. when i came home (barely a week from the london bombings) the front cover story on our newspapers was of the stupid 14 people who bought Harry Potter books early and wouldn't return them.

so if you ask me if the world is going to hell - i'd say yes. we don't listen to each other. we let things escalate to the point where people believe they can only gain attention and achieve what they want by extreme measures. and we sit at home pleading ignorance while we read about the ridiculous "Harry Potter" incident.

pictures in action

2005-06-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

i finally figured out how to put pictures on the blog *rosy gives thumbs up to herself* anyways so here's some photos for people who's been asking about the our new condo

in other news, some hoodlums broke into my garage. not that there was anything to steal in there but it was pretty damn annoying because i had to fix our door in the rain and it's just makes me angry. people are so desperate lately. my dad had people rob his store just last week. no one got hurt so that's the good part but this neighbourhood is getting worse and worse.

crying over home renovation

2005-06-26T22:53:00.000-07:00

while i'm a bit of a basketcase, i don't often cry when i watch TV but today i balled! i was watching this episode of extreme makeover: home edition and they did a story about a little 8 year old girl who just recovered from cancer. she asked if the show would go and help her make the children's hospital that she stayed at better for the other little kids. while she was a the hospital, she asked for beads from anyone who visited her so she can make necklaces and sell them to make money for cancer research. what an incredible little girl! the show got over 200 people involved and not only did they do the hospital, they also built the little girl's family and entire new home (the old home had mold in it and was affecting the little girl's health but the parents had spent all the money they had to help the girl get better and couldn't deal with the home). such a little girl but what a big heart! what an incredible inspiration. (more photos from their show)

third blog the charm

2005-06-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

alright alright i know that this is my 3rd blog today but i just got a phone call from toronto - I GOT A SECOND INTERVIEW IN COPENHAGEN JULY 5TH!!!!! *rosy grinning from ear to ear*

genius!

2005-06-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

i complained the other day about my heels hurting like a mother*&%$##*@ and adrian saids "someone should invent a removable heel" well lo and behold, an australian designer actually did!
http://www.designawards.com.au

picture less ... still

2005-06-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

okay, so i've at least tried to get this bloggerbot thing going and i still can't get it to log me in to start posting pictures... i'm just going to have to move on with life and forget about this picture thing for now.

so the last time i blogged, i was on my way to toronto both to act as assem's personal home delivery service as well as for the interview at the burlington store. the interview went well considering that he (our founder's personal assistant from who flew in from sweden - scary, no pressure at all...) was 1.5 hours late! he apparently mixed up his interviews that day and waited for me at the wrong store. the fun part was that i got to be part of the burlington store's weekly morning meeting and met lots of really great people. despite him being late, i still got a full hour interview (which turned out to last 1.5hours - so i take that as a good sign). he's really nice and down to earth guy but has a spectacular poker face so that made it very scary to interview with him. i find out this week if i get a second interview. the second interview is in copenhagen so i really really hope i at least get that second interview! cross your fingers for me.

i arrived the night before and had a very nice dinner with assem and the aiesec mc - i miss all those guys so it was great to get to see them one last time , all together at the same house. their house/rooms are BIG! but the heat thing really did me in, i could just sit there and sweat. anyways THANKS ASSEM for cooking dinner and taking my gazillion phone calls!

assem's personal home delivery service

2005-06-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

so now i'm also a home delivery service...only for you assem

sweden here i come!

2005-06-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

okies so more exciting news - i just got a phone call from my company's headoffice to fly out to toronto for an interview on monday morning. if i get this i will be working all over the world for 4 years and based in sweden!!! (thumbs up!) the process will take awhile and there's only going to be 10 people chose from sweden, england and canada. right now i've been narrowed down to be one of 19...cross your fingers for me!

Rosy's list of "YAYs"

2005-06-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Rosy's list of "YAYs":
yay #1: Career Expo is done so I can now go back to working for money.
yay #2: Justin convocated and I don't have to get those phone calls from him about homework anymore!
yay #3: Adrian also convocated and I'm just proud of him! I took loads of photos so when I get to figuring out how to put pictures in here...
yay #4: Adrian and I just bought our very first condo!!! it's "King Edward Village" (www.kingedwardvillage.com) and we've got 933sq ft to play house in, in 2007.

I think that's it for now.

2005-02-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

alrighty - in the process of moving my blog from xanga.com/hikui to here so be patient!

testing testing 123...

2005-01-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

allo.