Yukon Jay - 小祥

Aaaahhhhh!!

WHAT IS UP WITH THE GAS PRICES??? I'm driving and I see gas is up to $.94 per litre, that's $3.57 per gallon for you Americans. :P I'm scared to think that gas prices here will finally catch up to the rest of the world... They say it should go up to $1 a litre... Gonna have to take the bus more often!! =(

I had a job interview at Kal-O-Tire yesterday and today Enterprise Rent-a-Car called to see if I was interested in working at the airport office. Unfortunately the schedule will conflict with my current job. Not sure what I should do... it takes me 45 minutes just to get to the airport, so not too thrilled about the commute. I guess only time will tell... *sighs*

My Great Transformation

Yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do. I was driving home from a long boring shift and as usual I was changing radio stations eager to find something I was in the mood for. I accidently hit #6 which is a Chinese/Cantonese station reserved for my mom. Usually I change it back to my English stations but not this time.... I actually found the music enjoyable and the lyrics, although in Cantonese and is totally foreign to me, was soothing. I never thought I say this to myself but maybe I will start listening to Cantonese and Chinese music. Now I need to call my Chinese buddies and get them to introduce more to me.

Remember few years back in Tulsa I spent hours and hours playing Final Fantasy 7? Well last night I started playing FF8. I've had it for a while but never really had time to play it. My bro has already beaten it so I think I'm going to buy FF9. So my summer will be filled with Final Fantasy... =)

My new pets

So you're looking at my uncle and cousin in the picture above. They were in Ankor Wat, Cambodia earlier this year visiting the ancient Khmer Rouge temples... Yes, another site I regretably missed last year when in Thailand. Ankor Wat has got the most magnificant ruins and temples, built from 879 - 1191AD... and a lot of still well preserved. Can't you tell I'm getting itchy feet?

She just showed these to me then proceeded to complain how I don't have pics from my Thai-Laos trip on this site. Hahaha, too lazy.

Anyways, on Friday I got myself 2 dwarf hamsters. I went with Mindy to her work place, a pet store, and saw these two tiny cute hamsters, one being only a few months old, and decided to buy them in the spur of the moment. And did I get a sweet deal... she gave me a discount on the cage with all the food and accessories, and got the 2 hamsters for free, which would of cost me $10 each. =) My dog has already had the chance to lick them and welcome them to the family. Now what should I name them.... got a female and a male.

Conspiracy Theory

9 hours after Kim II arrived home from his clandestine visit to Beijing, there was an explosion near the North Korean and Chinese border..... coincidence?? I can't help but think it might have been an assasination attempt by either the Americans or the South Koreans. But if it was..... what a poor job... we're talking 9 hrs after his trip. I think I'll let the BBC do the speculation. I can't believe Kim Jong-Il is afraid of planes... that guy is paranoid and a coward!

Speaking of the Koreas... been doing some research the last 2 days on their War Museum, Panmunjom, and the tunnel dug by the North into South during the Korean War. Yeah, you can actually go into the tunnel!! I wanted to do this trip last year after meeting a Canadian couple in Laos who had just visited there.

Then there's Panmunjorn. "Panmunjom is the "truce village" that straddles the border between North Korea and South Korea in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone that has split this peninsula since the Korean War ended in 1953. The DMZ is probably the most fortified border on Earth, with more than a million soldiers facing each other with enough artillery to obliterate each other in a matter of hours." South Korea has a village there as well as the North, although its just a propaganda village. My question is..... who wants to live in the middle of the DMZ????? They must have a death wish.

The tour I've found so far can take you to the DMZ and the tunnel from 7:30-4. Because I fly on standby tickets, I can never really arrive anywhere on a specific date, and these tours require early booking. That could be a huge problem.

Traffick

Sunday night Beata and I were near downtown going out for bubble tea... before getting there we had to cross this huge street at the intersection. Any normal person would not cross the street when the pedestrian light is flashing red. But not Beata... she said we should cross and we could make it. Course I said no... let's just wait, but she insisted we make a run for it. So I gave in into her demands and we're halfway across the street and all of a sudden it was green light going the other way. That's when we start running, not wanting to hold up traffic any longer. This has happened several times.

This is the same person that wants me to go backpacking with her to China..... I THINK NOT!!! If she can't survive in the traquil streets of North America, she wont last a minute in the lawless streets of Asia. Why can't women just listen to the guy??? Beata, go find someone else. =) I don't feel safe with you.

Freedom

This is my second day off from school. I'm already beginning to miss school, can't wait till my class starts again in May.

So much free time on my hands now. That being said, today Beata and I had our Alias marathon. My brain is now numb. I bought the first 2 seasons of the show from China on Ebay. Its exactly the same as U.S. version but has Chinese writing on the box and Chinese subtitles.... so now my mom is addicted to it as well. What can I say, its an awesome show.

Today I also signed up for the Starbucks sweepstakes to go to Costa Rica and work with scientists there who work for Earthwatch. I am quite amused by this propaganda... sure they may be doing some positive things with the environment, but its purpose is to divert attention from the negative social and environmental practices to positive. Anyways, this should still be a good experience... only 10 participants will be selected and will be leaving from July 2 to July 13. Wish me luck!!!!

Studying

Perhaps posting this blog will give me a few minutes of break. Been studying non-stop since Tuesday and getting really sick of it..... thanksfully (is that a word?) my exam at 3:30 today is the last one... can barely think right now, how ironic eh??

Dreaming

Had my second exam today... only slept 4 hours last night so I'm really tired right now. I still have to do some studying for my exam tomorrow. Tried to get a nap last hour but couldn't... instead I found myself staring at my world map and dreaming. In September I might fly to Toronto to help a friend and her mom move to Vancouver by driving. She's going there for the summer to work.

Anyways, as I was staring at the map on my wall.... I thought maybe I will fly to China, backpack to eastern Russia, take the Trans-Siberian train to Moscow (train ride is about a week), backpack thru Europe to England, then fly to Toronto, and finally drive home to Vancouver. That will be my world tour!!!!

Yeah, enough dreaming and back to studying. By the way, didn't get the job at the currency place... everything went so well till I said I had to attend co-op workshops in addition to summer classes.

The Call

So I did receive the call earlier today and she wants to see me Tuesday morning at 10. I am hoping it will go well. I was talking to a friend today about it and I think it will be a sweet job because I will be dealing with tourists from all over the world wanting to exchange money... that means listening to people talk with their accents. =)

I also got a reponse from the hiring dude at Enterprise, the car rental place. He is interested, wants me to email him some more information regarding my driver's license. So my plan is that if the currency interview doesn't work out, I will contact Enterprise get an interview.

Besides the interview tomorrow I will be studying for my Wednesday exam. Yeah!!!

Job interview

Friday I saw a job posting on the school employment page from Custom House Foreign Exchange Currency... so I thought I drop off my resume, I mean why not?... it pays $10/hr. I dropped off the resume today and unexpectedly the manager was there and asked me some questions. We talked and she said she'll be giving me a call on Monday for an interview. Toward the end she asked me if I have any experience with currency exchange... I replied "umm, I have traveled quite a bit last few years so sure, I have carried foreign currency..." She then smiled... I hope she calls me Monday.

I'm desperate to find a full time job because for the first time I will have to pay for my tuition in September. Tuition will be going up another 40% in the fall, that's 80% (no exageration!!) the past 3 years ever since Gordon Campbell took over office, making SFU one of the most expensive schools in the country. >.< This is why I decided to take one summer course before tuition goes up. It will be from May til mid-June

Gonna go try to study again....

The Perfect Weather

This is really bad... can't get any studying done for my 2 exams next week. The weather here is perfect... sunny, warm, and not hot at all so everyone is out by the beach, at the canyon swimming, getting a tan, skating, hiking.... and the list goes on. It is so nice to finally have the sun after the rainy winter season.

Gonna try to study again tonight when the sun is gone.

Superman has been spotted

The friend who told me the cast of Smallville was at Waterfront station

Attention Doomsday: if you wish to hunt down Superman, he has been spotted at Waterfront station in downtown Vancouver with his his friends Chloe and Lex Luthor!!

Tuesday night around 7:30 I got a call from Beata telling me that the Smallville crew was at Waterfront station filming. Everyone in this city knows Smallville is filmed in Vancouver, but its always hard to actually see them filming.... so we got lucky last night. In the show, everytime they do a birds eye view of "Metropolis," you are actually seeing downtown Vancouver & Canada Place by the water!!! Clark's farm is filmed in Cloverdale, about 45 mins outside Vancouver. So we saw Clark Kent, Lex Luthor and his dad Lionel, and Clark's friend Chloe. Too bad Lana wasn't there..... ;)

As you can see, the lights were so bright that its hard to see anybody in the picture. But if you click on the pic to blow it up.... the person wearing a red jacket ,or flannel shirt, is Clark Kent... it is blurry but it's him alright. Unfortunately the film crew wouldn't let anybody get any closer. It's funny how they put so many American flags down the corridor where they were filming to make it look like they were in the United States.... did you know the girl that plays Lana is Canadian??

My last day of classes

Didn't think this day would ever come. I just finished my last day of classes and got my first exam on Thursday and 2 more next week. I'm in good shape going into the exams... got my history paper back yesterday and got an A-, really needed it. That's the only class I'm not doing well in. My other ones are no problem.

Still trying to fight off this cold I've been having the last 4 days. Been feeling so drained and not wanting to study. My ears are also plugged everytime I go down the mountain from my house and school.... stupid cold. Finally took something to make it go away last night, feeling a little better.

Avril Lavigne is holding a free concert at Metrotown tonight... that should be interesting.

The Weekend

That's my dog being weird and shocked to see how beautiful she is. She has been barking a lot lately. Everytime she sees someone in the backyard, doesn't matter who it is, she goes nuts and barks nonstop. But if she sees the same person in front of the house, she'll want to go up and play. Very protective of her territory.

Unfortunately Beata and I didn't go to the Russian restaurant Saturday night. I came home to change after work and found out my mom was making sushi for dinner. We both couldn't resist it. Then when I told my mom about all the dead fish that went into making sushi, she replied "Then don't eat it, that way there'll be more for the rest of us." >.<

Other than that, not much happening... just 2 more days of classes left till my first exam on Thursday!

Ticket to Tulsa

Today I was at the local Lynn Valley Centre doing stuff and thought I pop by the travel agent there to see how much tickets are to Tulsa. So I asked "ticket to Tulsa please" and the agent looked at me... and said "You've been here before right?" I thought, well that's weird... its been at least 2 years, he must have a good memory... . But I responded and said "Am I the only one going to Tulsa????" He answered "YES!! You're going to see your friends right??" =)

So I'm not sure if I'm coming down this summer. I've got a few things going on and my plans for the summer are a blur.

Was suppose to go to a Russian restaurant tonight but my friend and I cancelled cause we were both too tired, so we'll go Saturday. Never tried Russian food before, so that should be interesting. I think I'm boycotting sushi though. Been studying about the state of the fisheries around the world past 2 weeks and I can't eat sushi anymore without feeling guilty. Those Japanese though, eat more fish than anyone and have the biggest fish market in the world... no wonder people there are so healthy and live longer!