She paints her fingers with a close precision

Man, this has been one brutal week for me. On Wednesday, all the nails on my left hand had some kind of splinters on them, making life extremely annoying. Then I accidentally paper-cutted my right thumb and basically speared my left thumb with the needle-thingy connected to those little red poppies. That was just Wednesday alone, imagine the rest of my week. It was like one bad thing after the next. At least my cold's kind of somewhat dimmed down -not really -and I can breath again. Kind of. However, that is beside the point because this is the entry where I promised I'd talk about all the goodies I got from Hong Kong! 

Let's start with the biggest and most awesome gift: A metallic grey Herschel backpack. OMG

I love it to bits!

I asked for a Herschel backpack because my current one is a massive of a monster bag for me. I'm only taking 3 courses, with heaps of notes taking and not much of textbooks-require-classes, so I needed something smaller. Hench, the obvious answer to this dilemma was to get a new backpack, for the first time in 6 years.

I am now the unproud owner of a Chelsea Fernando Torres poster...

Then my mum encountered her first shopping booboo. She bought what she thought was a magazine with a David Silva head and poster, only to realise after she's returned home that she actually bought a magazine with a Fernando Torres magazine cover and poster. Sad, I know but oh well, I'll at least be able to practise my weak Chinese. However, she did buy me a Nail Venus magazine, which was her saving grace because that magazine is gold. The stuff inside has me drooling and anxious to get back into doing nail art. Just like my Chinese, my Japanese has all but disintegrated since I left Japan but comparatively speaking, my Japanese is still several steps above my Chinese. Needless to say, Nail Venus has been forcing me to practise my Japanese quite a bit; however, it hasn't been very hard since almost 50% of the entire book's written in Katagana...

A collection of goodies from both my mum and her best friend! Oh how I feel loved!! :) I especially love the pig earrings haha My aunt also spoiled me quite a bit just no picture proof.

And new iPhone cases for my friend and myself. The one on the left now belongs to my friend and the burnt looking Union Jack's for me.

So yes, this concludes my Hong Kong goodies haul. For now. haha

David is the one sitting on top of Silva in the first picture. Silva, is the littler kitty of the two and still has an eye infection from what I'm told, hence the pained looking right eye. I hope she makes a speedy recovery. And they're currently in cages cause my aunt and uncle are in the middle of moving places. So, just to avoid an unwanted injuries, it is better to keep these two safe in cages lest their curiosity lands them in any kind of trouble.

oh, before I forget, my aunt's taken in two little abandoned kittens and they make my heart melt and I don't even like cats. They are so adorable, like so cute they can make even the meanest looking man coo and melt at the sight of them. It's also a clear sign of just how much my aunt and uncle love me because they have named these two rascals David Silva. HAHAHA David for older brother and Silva for the younger sister.  I'm just that persuasive, I know ;)

credits: kitten photos shamelessly taken from my aunt's facebook and the title from the Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At the Disco (I have been playing their album on constant repeat without pause for the last several days).

The rumour of us

I am going to title this, a self-indulgent entry, and you'll know why really quickly too.

I picked up my mum from the airport yesterday, tired and sleepy and already in her withdrawal of all things amazing and awesome Hong Kong. She has also brought with her, many many souvenirs for me :) (...she may or may not have gotten a list of 'what-to-buy' but that's neither here nor there). That post will come next week, when I finally get my second extra long weekend of the semester.

For those of who see me everyday, this shouldn't be a surprise (unless you're a guy, in which case, surprise!), and for those who don't, well, I coloured my hair, twice, during the month of October. I was hoping for a lighter golden hue-like brown hair by using Palty Honey Brown, but that just turned out to be a complete flop and waste of money. Then I decided to just take the plunge and dye my hair red again. I used Garnier Nutrisse Cream 660 and my hair's a beautiful shade of red now.

I didn't say anything earlier was because I was keeping it as a welcome home surprise for my mum. When she saw my hair, she gave me one look, which basically translated to 'I better not find any remnants of red dye anywhere in the bathroom.'

During the month of October, I also did a little more like very indulgent shopping trip. Which resulted in me feeling rather guilty of the amount of money I spent purely on assessorising myself. It's tough work being a girl. sigh

4 out of the 5 stuff displayed are from Sephora. Like, the eyelash curler -cause my old one was simply crap. Then I re-stocked my liquid eyeliner from Kat Von D. (I fell in love with liquid eyeliner after trying them out for the first time in Japan) and a new fancy looking waterproof mascara from Eyeko. I actually bought these two things in September but I thought, hey, why not just include it into this picture? A Julep matte nail lacquer I have yet to touch (also from Sephora) and an Eiffel tower necklace from Forever21. All in all, expensive stuff haha

This post is brought to you by my new hobby: Sudoku. It's always been something I'd do in my spare time but lately, it's all but consumed me. Have I improved? Not quite but at least I don't fail as much as I did when I first started this Sudoku thingy back in 2005.

 

Song title: Hurricane by Panic! at the Disco (remember them?)

Just the thought of you keeps me up all night

Right. Today's Sunday, which means tomorrow's Monday, which also means: back to more school. Yay. Just finished up a page assignment for French and is on a one night break because I have a midterm on Wednesday, Halloween, and then a presentation that the prof bullied me into doing. Sad, I know. Well, life's life.

Yesterday, I worked a 9.5 hour shift and it started off with a bang. Here's a small list of all the things that happened to me yesterday: I slept in (I'll explain later why), I slipped on snow and let out the most undignified squeal where an unfortunate witness saw me at 7.30am on a Saturday morning (who even goes to school that early? It's not even finals yet. Jesus), lost parts of my breakfast to the microwave, got tea splashed in the face, slipped a dozen or so times walking outside, my water bottle falling out of my gym locker 4 times, almost everything within the locker falling out onto me three times and my cold's gotten a lot worst from Saturday morning. Not really a happy Saturday hmm? The only good thing was that my supervisor helped set up 1.5 rooms for my Friday afternoon, which was awesome.

All in all, it was a brilliant day at work. I was tired, sick -my cold's gotten worst, which made me have to cancel my appointment of going to a friend's place for some scary movie watching time (hard to believe but I was really sad that I couldn't make it ): ), and just feeling a little frustrated with life in general.

I guess it's just that time of the semester where everything's at a very frustrating stagnated standpoint which just frustrates the shit out of me. Just chirpy I guess.

Anyway, back to the question of: why did I sleep in Saturday morning?

The answer is that I participated in this awesome scavenger hunt Friday night where the rules were: dress up in your Halloween costume or we'll dress you up. So, to avoid utter public humiliation (I saw the punishments and they were that bad) I decided to dress up as my usual costume and went traipsing around downtown, bar hopping, doing stupid things with my awesome teammates and taking heaps and heaps of pictures, some of which will never ever be shown anywhere public, no matter how awesome my picture taking skills were.

Here are some of shenanigans my friends and I did Friday night...

I wanted a group picture but for some reasons my teammates were rather against it, so here's my one and only proof of 7 team members (count the hands touching the glass) : (the reason for this picture: 1 cup (Irish Strongbow), 1 team)

and here's me and my new...friend? huh? :D

And Thor...who went around saying Thor-ry. It was as much a Halloween party as it was a birthday party and he was one of the two birthday children. :)

Well, this concludes my entry of Friday and Saturdays fun adventures. I leave you with this:

beware everyone, this lovely bear might just lurking around your nearest McDonald's ;)

Peace and not war

I'm just going to apologise right now but this post will be a little depressing and not like my usual...happy kind of posts.

I'm sure the news about the 14 year old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, being shot in the head in front of her classmates by members of the Taliban is old news by now but I just, like just, discovered this little girl's...blog/diary entries from BBC news' website. I went through all 5 webpages of her diary and all of them were just so heartbreaking to read through.

Coming from such a safe and stable environment such as Canada, it is almost mind boggling to imagine a life where school would be forbidden to the female population. I love going to school. Sure, I have my off days where I'd complain nonstop about how much I hate going to school -group projects, assignments, bitch fights, the daily gossip mill, tests, exams, whatever -but at the end of the day, it is still one of the more exciting activity that I enjoy doing on a somewhat daily basis.

I liked (I wanted to write join but that kind of doesn't work anymore with facebook...) Upworthy, a group of young journalists from all over America (therefore, I'm reading a lot more about the American Presidency campaign than I really want to...) who banded together some time ago with the intentions of sharing things that are 'awesome, fun, interesting videos and graphics about stuff that matters.'  With heaps of the importance of American healthcare, American Presidency campaign tidbits, the ''legitimate rape' does not cause pregnancies,' or how weird Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are on their best days aside, I really enjoy a lot of the stuff they share. Sometimes, they're ...tastefully interesting and sometimes they're just crude cold facts. Like this one, (October is the month of Anti-Bullying Month (please, 'an-tee' and not 'an-tie')

(The only bad thing about Upworthy is that I get spammed by them constantly. Not that I mind cause I barely even check my email as it is...ha ha...ha)

It was through Upworthy that I discovered Malala's webdiary on BBC news (be smart and don't be like me: start from the beginning). Her words and vocabulary are that of a typical 14 year old girl: simple, clean and direct. But within each entry, her maturity, intelligence and bravery shines through. My heart goes out to her whole family (her two brothers, mother and father -she talks about them a lot) and hope she'll make safe recovery. She's 14 for goodness sakes. I leave you with two interviews:

Monsieur Leroux

Well, today's Wednesday, which means I am working tonight! YAY!

Anyway, I'm not really here to say much besides to rant about how rude some people are. Like ridiculously rude. There's something called 'control your tone and voice.' No one appreciates being yelled at, or ordered to do something in a severely rude manner that's lacking in all sense of manners and politeness. I'm extremely annoyed at just how ridiculous some people are. You'd think that being in a university setting, you'd be a little more courteous to other people but nooooooooooo. I guess while university is also the place to further your education, it is also the place to learn and hone in your skills of being a bitch or a jackass for future uses. Unbelievable.

Another reason to I'm updating is to announce my impending doom. What doom you ask? Midterm's right around the corner and Halloween parties are beckoning me left and right and omfg. haha

Here's my music recommendation for today's post (actually, it was youtube that recommended this song to me in the first place...(I was trying to look up stuff and see what's all the fuss's about this TV show Teen Wolf...))
Imagine Dragon: It's Time

Dressed to the nines, with hair to match

Oh whoa! I went from posting absolutely nothing to posting twice a week? What an accomplishment (ignoring the fact that I was working both times).

Before I get to the point of today's entry, I went to Rocky Mountain Wine and Food festival last night with a couple of friends of mine. I ate more than I wine-d but that was alright. The food there, albeit not always worth the cost I paid, were all quite brilliant. Especially Cobs' Bread. Everything there were 2 tickets (.50cents each ticket) and their scones were amazing. ...I also spent around 3 hours walking around there last night so my legs are just a tad bit tired now...

Anyway, here's a bunch of photo-unloading. They're all of my recent, well...the last 6 weeks worth of nail art. Nothing too new and interesting but worth sharing either way since I did work a little hard on them... (see, this is what happens when school starts (whoever does homework.....?) and given a long weekend...)

I apparently named this 'stardom' when I saved the file, but it's a fitting name I suppose. This took me endless of hours and ridiculous amount of mucking up before getting this finish. You'd think drawing stars would be easy... You'd think.

My current nails?

I must be having some issues lately because making little black dots drove me up the walls. Thankfully, the only mucking up that happened were the sizes of the dots. Some were teeny tiny little wee ones and some were just big fat globs. Didn't really make any sense to me because I used the same dotting tool for all of the dots. (I also dotted my left thumb's nail with 6 dots...but it would look a little odd I'd think if I were to just have a random left thumb poking out eh?)

And here is my left hand. I hunted down my grandfather's beloved deck of cards and used that as inspiration for the remaining 4 nails. To keep up with the black and white colour scheme, I opted to make my diamond and heart white rather than red. For those of you who know me well, you'd know that I am very ... impartial to the colour red. In fact, I'd much rather not use it if I can.

I also have another set of nails done between third week of September but it was a line of lacquer review for Colour Club. I'll update that picture at a later time, when and if I manage to find when those nails were released intending for which season (I think Spring 2012 but I'm not a 100% sure...)

And since I'm only human, I naturally have some complaints to make about life. In particular, my work life. So, this morning at 8.30, I was cleaning out a microwave and that thing was filthy. Not only that but the inside of that thing smelled like curry. What the hell? Another complaint I have is about this one always very old judgmental Chinese lady. She always has this air of attempt superiority (seniors these days) and always has to point out some flaws and point the finger at me. This morning, she was accusing me of having somehow switched a wire or ten around, making the coffee button spew out hot cocoa. When I went and checked, that lady, this judgmental madame was speaking on behalf of her friend because her English was just so sparkling, was pressing on the button that says cafe mocha and most definitely not the 100% Colombian roast. When I explained what the heck is mocha, that judgmental madame backed off and walked away. What a rotten lady.

And my work day's just begun. D:

[Title provided by The Golden Age - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour]

I'm a junkie over you

So. It's snowing outside and it is only October 10th. How unfortunate but also how oh so very typical Calgary. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. But at least give me a bit more warning than a 40% chance of flurries...

Anyway, I'm currently working at my part time job right now and all's going well and such. One of the instructors left behind a plateful of cookies behind for me to enjoy (ha, so much  for a 4 week attempt at eating everything healthy...) is definitely one of the better pluses.

So, I'm minding my own business, trying to do my homework (trying being the very important keyword), eating my very healthy dinner (heaping ton of green veggies) and then, all of a sudden, I'm getting the third degree from my of my old coworker...

...about whether or not I'm dating this mutual coworker of mine.

I have never laughed louder or harder so far this year.

And then he goes and supplies an answer to my laugh: oh, don't worry, I get why you two aren't dating -or well, not admitting to me that you're dating (but you shouldn't be afraid really!) -because really, I do! You're not 'dating' because school is messy and annoying and gets everything all confused and weird. It's hard getting into a relationship when there's the thought of graduation and such in mind, it certainly makes things more tricky. Well, whenever you guys feel like you're ready, do let me know!

I just gave him half my plate of cookies as a nod to his creative thinking because I have nothing better to say. Nothing at all.

Music of the day (or well, the song that lulled me into a very uncomfortable nap in the library today afternoon): Rush by Ferras.

Romance your ego for a while

Whoa. It's been a very long time since I last came around here hey? I guess I was just very caught up with my 3 summer jobs and the start of my last year in university. FYI I AM VERY EXCITED for that last little bit.

Anyway, I am currently in the midst of enjoying my long weekend (Monday is a national holiday because it is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada :D) and relishing in my first day of 'mum away on holiday in Hong Kong for the next 4 weeks.' Haven't even done much, just recuperating from over-baking the last two days (I baked some 50 cookies and 30 odd tea biscuits. I am exhausted).

I come bearing two videos as a way of saying, 'hey, remember me? Sorry I haven't been around, socialising, but I'm alive!'

The first is a short trailer clip of this one documentary I watched during my one week of vacation at the start of September (that's how much I worked during the summer...). It's a 2 hour documentary about this super-powered single mother looking after 20 or so foster children, all of mixed heritage, primarily those of black and white parents. Bi-racial they call it. The website writes, 'Olga is a loving mother but she is no Mother Teresa. Raised by the Soviet regime, she believes in communal responsibility over individual freedom and runs the family with a Stalinist determination.'

An incredibly touching video, but what really got me was this one quote that she said during the movie (provided yet again by their website), 'When the kids grow up, at least they will have a mother to blame for all the failures that will happen in their lives.' And let me tell you, a lot of the children living under her house hold a lot of deeply embedded anger and frustration towards her.

The second video is nothing really, just the video of a British synthpop band, Hurts. I don't even remember how I came across them but throughout this entire week, I have just been listening to their songs nonstop. I am quite literally in love with them.

When I told my friend to have a go at their music (a 'know-it-all music guru' is what I call her) after she's made it clear that she's never heard of them. Her verdict? '...this is a like a little on the darker side. I can see why you'd like it.' HAHAHA oh ya. I know.

Speaking of updating, I should update some somewhat recent pictures of my nails. And I've also been scrapbooking lately. I am not a single artistic bone in my body, so we'll see how that'll turn out in the end.

Face full of Silver's spit...

After today's stunt at a horse ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere (deep inside the Kananaskis country), I now understand why people often use animals to help mend people's illnesses or anxiety problems or psychological left-right brain battles. I have never felt more grounded, more me, than when I was horseback riding today.

This entire week thus far, I've been feeling as though I'm looking into this world from a third person's perspective. During today's horseback riding adventure however, I felt as though I was actually present, breathing and feeling and seeing things myself. The feeling's a little indescribable, especially since it's not an emotion easily understood. Let's just say that I finally feel a little more like myself after today's riding session.

A little while later...
... Ahhhh, so according to both google and wikipedia, this method of using animals to help mend someone is called 'Animal-assisted therapy.' Interesting concept. I'm definitely learning a lot more things about life and about myself in the past 7 days than I have in my entire life so far. Definitely helps put my life into perspective.

Feeling better yet? Not quite, but making extremely small baby steps, but I'd like to think they're still progress either way. Especially since I was able to think up of a story involving my horse Silver (why not Gold?) and perhaps my Knight in Shinning Armour. Cute, but still something worthwhile to reminiscent about.

This was my horse Silver, looking dazzling and a little snobby (haha), but he was still an amazing mare and the workers picked him out especially just for me. Feeling special? Quite. Even if he did think it was extremely funny to walk under heaps of tree branches that maybe he was able to avoid but I wasn't, all because I didn't let him get a small scratching session with a tree. I did however, give him a full scratch down afterwards however... I am now also the owner of several more scratch marks all over my arms due to various tree branches.

Life has also become very, extremely cute, almost to a sickeningly sweet level too. I don't know if I know how to properly deal with this level of sweetness just yet. It's a little too much but it's not an unwelcome feeling.

Stilted silence

I think there are maybe only two primary reasons why awkward silences take place: a) awkward conversation between two equally just as awkward people talking about really awkward topics, or b) there's a massive massive elephant in the room.

Nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room because it's awkward and hard to approach. If and when the topic is brought up, how should the conversationalist(s) approach it? Directly or indirectly? It may appear a little crude if people approach the 'unwanted' topic too eager or too straightforward, or it may be too much of a 'beating around a bush' kind of annoyance if the topic is broached on indirectly. Either way, nobody ever wants to be that person who starts a conversation about something that's completely unwanted. It's kind of like, wanting to ask that person if they started a strict diet regime or if it's something else...

The best way to go about approaching such a situation is to have endless amount of patience. In this case, there are two kinds of 'patience,' the obliviousness and the 'I want to but I can't.' Honestly speaking, being the oblivious party in this situation seem much more appealing than the latter. I find that the latter cause a lot of headaches due to its knowledge that something's happened but what? and not being able to ask or even talk about it.

What a moot and sombre blog post. Here's a video that I found from UpWorthy, a wicked site that I discovered through Facebook. Definitely worth checking out.

I know I don't say much but don't forget about me

Do you believe in the saying, 'One day your life will flash before your eyes'? Well, I think it's a little farfetched right? Why would anyone even believe in that statement when it is also accompanied with, 'right before you die.'

What would you do if that statement is in fact, very real. However, people who do survive near-death experiences are not always very forthcoming in talking about their experiences. For one, they're quite confused as to how it is that they even managed to survive it in the first place. Talking about it is supposed to help but not when their brain is in quite a state, filled with confused thoughts and that nothing makes sense.

Would you blame those who did survive such a traumatic experience and are currently very dazed and confused and even sad about their life and anything they're saying is not making any sense right now? That and the fact that they're also a little emotionally imbalanced.

To be honest, I could hardly blame those who did survive traumatic experiences and are currently in a bit of a state. Like all incidents, these things take time to understand and generally, the recovery time would take twice, or three times, as long to process.

The only suggestion I think that is worth handing out is to give it time and be patient. So all I ask is this: lower your temper, give them the benefit of the doubt and quite assuming things.

Amateur sporting event

Today is Canada's Heritage day, which means a public holiday. Yay! And I spend the entire day moaning because it is scorchingly hot, like ridiculously so. I also did some epic baking today.

I think it was two weeks ago where I first attempted to bake cookies using fresh fruits. My first try included blueberries oatmeal cookies and it turned out alright even if they were on the softer side. Today, I used fresh strawberries (and threw out 1/3 of it cause they were rotten...) and I made fresh strawberry oatmeal cookies and for the longest time while making them, I was really scared. The recipe said to add 1/4 cup of milk to the wet mixture. Immediately right after, it made the entire wet mixture a wet soppy mush and I was scared. From all of my 6 months worth of baking experiences, my oatmeal cookies' wet mixtures should not turn into a liquid-y mushy mess. Thankfully, once I've taken some of them out from the oven, they turned out quite nicely. They even taste a little like strawberry muffins :O

Onto other news...

As most of you know, I'm a big sports junkie. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'd glue myself to the television whenever the chance arises. I've been watching a lot of Phelps and team USA dominating the aquatic centre, the Japanese and Chinese gymnasts fighting it out in the gymnastics category, scandal filled badminton games, and then in the midst of all the excitement, watch the Canadian team win some medal recognition. Canadians are quite talented at achieving 4th place finish in case you're wondering.

Ever since the Olympic Games began 11 days ago, one thought's constantly been on my mind: why are big named professional players allowed to participate in an amateur sporting event? Case in point, the American's basketball Dream Team and women soccer teams.

The American basketball Dream Team consists entirely of players who are considered as crème de la crème players and make a living off of playing in the NBA. This team should not even be allowed to compete at the Olympics in my opinion. At first, I thought maybe the age restriction for men's soccer players also applies for the men's basketball players, but when I went and had a look, I was very much mistaken. The age restrictions for men's soccer team is that there can only be a maximum of 3 players over the age of 23. After just a quick glance at the substitutes for the American's basketball team, there are already 7 players who are over the age of 23 and that the entire team play for popular NBA teams.

What is up with that? I really don't get it.

Then there's women's soccer. Every single team participating has a ranking with FIFA, an organisation responsible for the organisation of football's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup, a professional sporting event. The Japanese and American women's soccer team competed against each other last year in the final game of Women's FIFA World Cup. They will be playing against each other again in the Gold medal game at the Olympic games.

So why are they allowed to participate in the Olympic games then? Weird, I know.

Just some food for thought ;)


(and I'm tired so I apologise for any forgotten mistakes.........)

communitychannel's geekiness unparalleled.

Whoa. 2 posts in 2 days. I'm on a roll.

Anyway, to some of you, I might have mentioned that I had planned for a really epic trip with a buddy of mine to travel to Europe this past spring. Sadly, something popped up and it halted our planning rather abruptly. It also made the two of us really angsty and sad and frustrated, so much so that we didn't talk to each other for a month. haha In a way, we were kind of like teenagers and hating everything and everyone.

Anyway, I was bored just now (I'm one of those really lame people who enjoys hanging out in my basement, surfing and trolling on the internet on a Saturday night) and I was on youtube watching this video about the UK segment of this SWAP working VISA thingy when my eyes caught a video about a certain Natalie Tran someone being in the Maldives being decidedly creepy. Then I proceeded to watch a majority of her Lonely Planet travel videos. My favourite thus far is of her making home-cooked meals in a hotel room. It was quite entertaining really.

I do hope that sometime in the very near future, I will be able to make my dream of Euro-tripping a possibility. It would no doubt be amazing and then, me and my dream of becoming a 'travel blogger' (ya get real) might actually happen. Hopefully, when it does happen, my bank account and sanity won't disappear haha

Walking with Dinosaurs

This week, I started my second job (and then subsequently, my third one as well) and I am so far in love with it. This is my second time working with this program, so much of how things work is not longer a surprise to me. However, getting the chance to go to Drumheller is.

I love that place. Drumheller holds a very special place because no matter how many times I go there, and I've been there plenty of times, I still find walking through the entire thing a fascination. The unfortunate thing however, I have never once read any of the descriptions on display haha. So needless to say, I never did realise there is an 'Albertasaurus' on display. Or a 'Teddysaurus' for that matter. I just go home with heaps of pictures and souvenirs. And I bought a bib today, of all things. Plus several other 'very carefully chosen gifts.'

So yes, I went to Drumheller's Dinosaur museum today (I'm pretty sure it has an actual name, but that's just the name I've always called it...so.), and it was heaps of fun. Lots of pictures, and all the while trying to dodge ridiculously energetic children running all over. I also saw a Liverpudlian family looking rather bored, especially the little boy. You poor child.

My colleagues and I also stopped briefly at Horseshoe Canyon -a pretty epic place. Wikipedia tells me here, that 'it is a region of badlands,' and that it gets its name due to its 'horseshoe' shape. Was asked that on the trip and I was actually a little scared I might have given out the wrong answer haha thankfully, I didn't.

Here's a small snapshot of me, in blinding heat with the sun in my eyes, at Horseshoe Canyon.

London 2012 Summer Olympics

I watched the rerun of the summer Olympic opening ceremony with my mum a couple of hours ago and we saw this flag:

Funny cause I've never seen this flag before. So I did a bit of research (wikipedia for once, wasn't too helpful surprisingly).

This is the Independent Olympic Athletes flag, a flag that represents athletes from countries who are currently in turmoil, internally or externally, and thus unable to represent their countries. This year, there are 4 athletes competing under this flag at this year's summer Olympics: athletes from the Netherlands Antilles and South Sudan.

Just thought it was something interesting to share. What's also interesting is that apparently, Myanmar and Libya have new and improved flags.

This post is brought to you by her Majesty's upside down happy grin:

Date night with Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Tonight, my friend and I watched the newest Batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises, which was released just recently, Friday, July the 20th, 2012. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Inception, Prestige, Batman trilogy), the movie had returning actors Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman ('runs' Wayne Enterprises and armorer), Michael Caine (butler extraordinaire) and Gary Oldman (Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department dude), along with newcomers Joseph Gordon-Levitt (!!!), Tom Hardy (!!!), Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway. Needless to say, it was a big budget movie with heaps of shiny expensive big named movie actors.

This was a long movie, which shouldn't come as a surprised since it was Christopher Nolan who directed it. He also directed Prestige and Inception, both relatively long movies with very intricately well thought out storyline. Also, just a word of advice: do not buy a medium sized drink. Like I just mentioned, this is a long movie, like 165 minutes long (which equals to 2 hours and 45 minutes). Let's just say that by the time the movie finished, I was in desperate need to visit the nearest restroom.

The movie itself however, was something else. While watching it, the movie gave off a very heavy Inception-esk feel, which certainly didn't help since Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard all starred in that movie together. Just like the other two Batman movies, this one contained numerous flashback shots, heaps of fighting, excessive use of explosives, fancy technology gadgets, Batman as the bad guy in Gotham City, continued mentions of just how filthy rich Bruce Wayne is, scenes of him struggling to get better and him getting all the brunettes (Katie Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Marion Cottilard). And really creepy appearances by Liam Neeson from time to time. Inception was definitely not the movie I thought of while I was watching it; the movie also had a very ...disturbing similarity to I Am Legend (remember that movie?) starring Will Smith and the zombie apocalypse. Batman's motorcycle also reminded me a lot of Final Fantasy VII. It'll make more sense after you've seen the movie.

Besides that, it was an enjoyable movie. Long but enjoyable. Definitely worth the watch, if only just to see how fit Tom Hardy has become after his Inception era. At the very end of the movie, there's also a little surprise. So go watch it!

Also, cheap movie Tuesdays. And then look at how much a regular admission ticket cost. (this movie theatre needs to clean up their theatres a little better)

Sunday Afternoon Baking

Sunday afternoon baking because the chances of me getting out of bed prior to lunch is rather impossible. 

My last stress-free week before my second job commences in under 3 days. And then my 3rd job will start the following week. Basically this is my farewell message to the rest of my summer. For those who are interested in meeting up with me, you will have to be very demandingly persuasive and forceful- and by forceful, I mean have a vehicle ready to pick me up. Texting or calling me and asking if I've got free time won't help you much.

Instead of publishing a 'Who Are They' post about One Direction, I decided to do some hardcore baking. This was purely because my mum and I bought some fresh blueberries from the market yesterday and they were glaring at me all last night.

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies and Raisin Oatmeal Cookies (because I bought some Thursday night)

 

 Raisin oats on the left and blueberries oats on the top right hand corner.

I also bought some red hair dye yesterday. Hopefully next week this time, my hair will be void of ridiculous looking black roots.

Stampede

It's been a while hey? Anyway, I come bearing an update!

I was quite busy the last several days. This year is Calgary Stampede's 100th year anniversary and my mum's friends flew into town just for the occasion. Friends from out of town? Lots of sight-seeing and eating heaps of food and walking to plenty of places. It was very fun.

I had a friend's bachelorette party on Saturday and it was heaps of fun. I got to see a friend of mine that I haven't seen in 2 years (I went abroad for a year and then she went abroad while I was still abroad...so) and just some that I haven't seen in a while. It was heaps of fun, with endless amount of champagne, or sparkling wine -even the manager of the bar we visited treated us to a bottle haha- and amazingly tasty food.

Sunday involved me visiting Banff and Chateau Lake Louise. It was a beautiful day, albeit it being scorching hot.

That night was also Calgary's NTSA's concert (New Talent Singing Awards, basically Canadian Idol but localised and for Chinese only). And this dude was the special guest for this year's contest.

 (his name's 周柏豪, or Pakho)

The lighting was terrible so this was the best, up close might I add, I was able to get. And pictures do him no justice cause he was something else in person. So gorgeous, unfff.

And here is a picture of how my nails currently look like (the left was a before picture and the right was an after picture):

The sparkly jewels are actually no longer attached to my nails cause I started work on Monday, so I had to take them off Sunday night. Unfortunate but necessary.

Also, while I'm on the topic of work: I am currently in love with it. It involves me chasing after a bunch of boys/guys (11ish year olds to 15, 16 year olds) and just having heaps of fun with them. Some of them can be a bit of a handful at times but are generally really awesome to hang out with. I've also given some of them nicknames (I have to chase after 32 guys! Remembering 10's already pretty good I'd like to think) and in return, they've given me one: Stevie. Beauty.

New layout

Last night, I was complaining to a friend from Singapore at I don't know what time about how my blog was looking rather one dimensional. Don't get me wrong though, I love black but it was all very dull and didn't feel all that welcoming. And my mum has forever been on my case about adding more colours to my life. So I download a new fancy template that has heaps of colour in it.

And whoa. Whoaaaaa

I am by no means boring in terms of choosing colour to fit my life, but this has got to be quite the change. I see pastel colours everywhere. I can take the blue but the amount of whiteness and light pink. I tend to avoid pink whenever I can, so to have it on my blog.... ha ha We'll see how things will go from here.

Today is a national holiday in Canada because it was Canada Day yesterday (Happy Canada Day eh!) and this is what I spend my day off doing: house chores, read tweets from the Spanish National Football team as they parade around the streets of Madrid with their Eurocopa 2012 (hopefully Sergio doesn't drop this one under the bus too), download a new template and categorise my nail polishes into specific colour groups.

Feeling accomplished? I most certainly do.

Campeones 2012!!!

I had a crappy night sleep cause I was terrified of today's game's outcome (I was also a complete mess the night before the semi final's game between Portugal and Spain). Thankfully, it ended in my favour. :D So yes, a massive picspam is in order, and for the first time, I will be putting up a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: read at your own risk. There will be a ridiculously massive amount of fangirling taking place here today. Italian fans, I'd suggest you click on the back button immediately.

Final game of UEFA 2012 finally comes to an end.

16 teams, 24 days, 31 games, a ridiculously large number of yellow cards and even more fouls committed but surprisingly, only 2 red cards were given out.

Spain vs Italy July 1st, 2012, at Kviv, Ukraine.

Without me needing to say anything, a lot was riding on both nation's side. For the Spaniards, it was their need to defend their European Champions' title and to retain their position as FIFA's leader board's #1. For the Italians, it was their hunger to redeem themselves after a disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign. Sadly, only one team can become Europe's best in 2012.

Before you start scrolling down, let me remind you that until sometime during the second half when Silva made way for Torres, Spain played without an attacking forward. It was a 4-6-0 formation. Clearly, that worked out well for them.

 14 minutes into the game, this happens to the 1.70m David Silva (one of the tiniest!): 

then at 41st minute, this happens to Jordi Alba, a central defender, also a 1.70m, and has never scored a single goal for Spain:

which is followed by Torres proving the entire world wrong at 84th minute:

and then Iniesta makes way for Juan Mata at the 86th minute where less than 3 minutes later, Mata goes running:

Well, by the time the full 90 minute stoppage time came, it was pretty obvious who won the tournament.

 Defending European champions!!!

La Roja is now the first team to win 3 major tournaments in a row, 20 unbeaten games for the UEFA campaign, 16 clean sheets during Euro 2012 and winning the European Championship title back to back.

...and then for the more awesome stuff you find on twitter and on tumblr:

(the amount of cuteness in this picture...like, I can't even ... But I guess he's attractive to women of all ages, hey?)

Charles Puyol, a twitter fanatic, tweeted this at the beginning of the game, of him and his fellow Barça teammate, David Villa from the stands, where they were watching the game VIP style. I'm not really understanding Villa's attempting at growing a somethingbeard at the moment. I'd rather he stick with his soul patch.

Fernando and his ridiculously adorable children. Also, once the game ended, almost all of the players' children came onto the pitch. It was a field full of cuteness. 

David Silva trolling the Italians hardcore over twitter

Truthfully speaking, I felt immensely bad for the Italians cause losing sucks. I felt awfully bad when I saw the Italian team crying and Pirlo and Buffon almost bawling their eyes out. However, I didn't because of that one lone guy on the team: Balotelli. Maybe if he'd get his attitude and ego checked out and acted a little less cocky and more useful on the field (I've watched all of the Italian games, I'd know how useful he was during the tournament, even if he did provide the Italians the win over the German side), I might have felt more inclined to be a little more sympathetic. Next time buddy, you're still only 21. (and this is what happens when you think of yourself as a better player than club mate Silva)

Greatest achievements?

Fernando Torres: Golden Boot (3 goals and 1 assist, beating out Mario Gomez of Germany with 3 minutes less playing time (I think? correct me if I'm wrong)) winner and having scored twice in an European Championship final (2008 and 2012).

Iker Casillas: played 137 matches for Spain: 100 wins, 24 draws, 13 defeats and being the first captain to lift the Eurocopa two times in a row.

And so my annoying spamming period has finally come to an end. Thanks to all those who put up with me, seeing as how it was only 1 month every 2 years where I spam you with stuff. And to those who complained, glad to know we're such good friends. In two years time, hopefully, I'll be able to watch a game live. From Brasil.
  
[Source: as usual, thank you to tumblr and twit-ter and adidas]

Too little, too late

Euro2012 Semi Finals are over, and they end on a bittersweet note.

For the semis, I watched them both out in public with the same friend. For the first one, we sat and angsted at a Sports bar for 3 hours together. For the second one, we braved the dangerous grounds of a German bar and ate delicious German food all the while drinking away our sorrows.

Christiano and Iker practising their lines (perhaps? They both had to read some anti-racism comment...)

My lunch: spätzle with wiener schnitzel (absolutely scrumptious), and our method of drinking away our sorrows (my friend tells me that beer is apparently not enough).

[penalty]
Spain 0[4]-0[2] Portugal
Basically, Spain and Portugal played Euro2012's second full 120 minutes+PK game. SO, the full 120 minutes was a complete snooze fest. Spain attempted their tiki-taka and failed miserably because the Portuguese players kept interrupting their gazillion passes. I applaud the Portuguese for making the Spaniards extremely frustrated.

This guy here has a really funny way of taking his free kick, which doesn't work by the way. (and if you're really interested, it's take 5 steps back and half a step to the left)

Penalties:
Iker chose to go first:
Xabi (missed), Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Gerrard Piqué and Fabregas
Portugal went second:
Moutinho (missed), Pepe, Nani, Bruno Alves (missed) and CR (didn't get to play).

(ngl, I sometimes forget that CR's played in the Premier league and that he speaks perfect English) 

Sergio Ramos pulled a Pirlo for his penalty kick and thank goodness Fabregas's goal went in cause there was a chance that it could have not gone in.

So much happiness!

(also, before I forget, Christiano Ronaldo took a free kick and it was denied by Xavi and David Silva, two of the shortest players on the Spanish side. wtf Christiano?)


(and on a more sad note...)
Italy 2-1[pen] Germany
Well, Germany didn't rise up and play like they used to. If you missed out on the game, don't worry. If you saw the World Cup semi final game between Spain and Germany, this game was basically that, except this time, it was with Italy. Germany played a loose defense and a rather bleak attacking opposition. Italy just played like a bunch of divas Italian men.

 A happy, cheeky, Italian fan. Ya no, go away Mario Balotelli.

Broke my heart, seeing players like Mesut and Muller and Gomez, and Neuer especially, and every other German present, all depressed after the game.So as not to make myself even more sad, I leave you with only the goal scorer (pen, 90+2) of the night for the German side.

And here's a small tidbit preview ish for Sunday's game:

and so they meet again:

Casillas and Buffon: opened their Euro2012 campaign by playing each other in their first game on June 10th and finishing their tournament together by playing the closing game on July 1st, 2012.

There are no 3rd and 4th place game for Euros cause apparently it was abolished back in the 90s, I think? So, ya, see you in 2 years Portugal and Germany! 

Fun fact: 

Euro2012 will be the last Euro where it'll only have 16 teams. For Euro2016 in France, it will have 24 teams playing during the group stages instead. 

This will only be the 4th time the Euros final will be between teams who had already played earlier in the tournament (1988, 1996 and 2004).