炒年糕 - Second Attempt

I love Chinese cooking. That's why I make it more than any other food, except pasta, because it's my lazy food. Plus, I love Chinese veggies. Just rip, boil, and serve. No mess involved in the ripping process, unlike cauliflowers and broccolis.

It was my second attempt at this. The first time was pretty decent, but all the clumped together. This time, I actually boiled/steamed them up first before the "chow"-ing. They didn't clump this time. I think the napa cabbage also helped by adding in a lot of its natural fluids, and so the water avoided the clumping too. The only oil I used was a little bit to fry up the pork

No recipe. I just put in whatever I can stir into the mixture, which included my two stalks of 2-week old Shanghai bok-choy and three pieces of leftover bbq pork. Typical flavouring sauces include soy and oyster sauces. This time I added a little bit of chilli sauce to give it a little zing.

Calgary Staycation

I just got back into Edmonton after a 10 day staycation in Calgary. Boo.

The staycation was nice. I met up with friends, scrapbooked, karaoke (at home), played video games, watched movies, ate out, shopping, and cooked some awesome dinners. Since I was at my parents home, I didn't even have to clean (except for Roshi's mess). I loved it. It was relaxing and not too expensive. Sometimes vacations are harder on the body than work! Therefore, this short little week off, which I desperately needed (I haven't had one week off of work since last X-mas and was seriously losing concentration at work), was perfect and excellent.

It's 10:54 pm now. I'm in bed blogging and ready to sleep to restart routine. Sigh. Last week, I was playing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood until late night.

I don't want it to end. I wouldn't mind another week off. Not at all. Sigh.

Cooking Disaster

Both B and I had a disaster in the kitchen this weekend. B wanted to pre-make a big pot of green bean tapioca sweet soup for his company Halloween potluck. He looked up a recipe for the ingredients, but didn't follow the instructions. This is what it turned out:

The picture was not altered. The chopsticks in the pot was standing up vertically in the "soup". This pot of gel was conglomerated with two bags of green beans, two bags of tapioca, and two cans of coconut milk. It might look disgusting, but it did smell sweet. Nevertheless, the gel was thrown out.

I shouldn't be laughing too hard though. On Sunday, my curry beef burnt up:

I did my usual, but for some odd reason it burnt up. Maybe I left the heat on too high (at "2") for too long (1 hour) or I didn't add enough water. Oh well, there were still scrap leftover. It just tasted like bbq beef marinated with curry sauce. It didn't taste too bad. B ate it!

The Other Details

Like I wrote yesterday, I have other details to follow from yesterday's "awesome" travel fiasco:

Baggage
After the "way too early" flight got cancelled, I was up at the gate counter arranging for another flight. With my luck, I got a new girl. She was nice. So after she got my flights, she ripped off my luggage sticker. Since it was only 7 am in the morning, I was even more confused but didn't do much about it. Then after being led back to "Departures", I asked the guy do I need to pick up my luggage. He apparently didn't know, and started wondering the same thing. I also told him that the girl also took my luggage tag. So he said he'll check for me. Yeah. He printed me another luggage tag and told me I had to pick up my luggage.
Lesson Learned: When something seems fishy, ASK! If I didn't ask, I probably wouldn't have clothes for the next few days, and will have to deal with the Edmonton airport's lost luggage department tomorrow!

I5 Driving Experience
So, after a 10 hour travel catastrophe, I promised myself I was going to shop like I never shopped before (I shopped, but the finds were disappointing). I got to my hotel, checked in, and then went back down to the lobby to the car rental counter at 2:30. While doing the paper work for the car rental, I asked the girl how far it is to the outlet mall. She then said, "The one up north... on a good day, 40 min. Now (look at the time) maybe 2-3 hours." WHAT?! My shopping!!!!!!!!! She was nice, and checked her iPhone for traffic. She said it was clear and hurried with my papers. So I got onto Interstate 5. There were A LOT of cars. It was a freeway with a 60 mph speed limit. Ok. Yeah, out of nowhere, the speed dropped to 50 mph... and then 40 mph. At these sections, traffic was slow. No construction. No accidents. I was moving about 10-20 mph. These sections were when the freeway was approaching downtown Seattle, but it was not going through it, just approaching the exit to it. It's a FREEWAY. Keep the speed limit up so people can move!!! After this, the speed limit was 60 mph, but there were sections where traffic would just slow down for cars to come in. I made it to the outlet slightly over 1 hour. I'm not complaining. Then I went to the info desk at the outlet to ask when would be a good time to leave to head back into Seattle. She said noon. WHAT? Then she said, "Well, you might be ok after 8 or 9." Gosh. Asked another girl at the Fossil store, she said after 6 should be ok. So I compromised and stayed until 7:30. Oh gosh, it was a sea of red. I thought Highway 2 was a busy highway. It's nothing compare to the I5. I couldn't imagine what this road is like during the heart of rush hour.
Lesson Learned: The Anthony Henday construction detours that increased my travel time to an average of +15 min is nothing. No more complains. Why would anyone want to live in Seattle with this traffic?!

What a day!!!

Today I was flying from Edmonton to Seattle for a seminar tomorrow. However, I decided to take an early flight so that I can do some USA shopping. So I booked a direct flight at 6:40 am and be arriving Seattle at 7:50. So I woke up at 3:30 am this morning, left the house at 4:30, got through the airport ado and at the gate around 5:30-ish. Perfect. Then, an announcement came on around boarding time announcing that there were some technical difficulties, and the flight will be delayed for an hour. Fine. Then later on, it was totally cancelled. SH*T! So in panic mode since my shopping day is ruined (oh right, and the seminar too), I had to rearrange for new flights. The next flight they got me was a 11-ish flight to Vancouver via Air Canada and connect to Seattle and arriving at 2-ish. Now my shopping day was totally hopeless. Sulking, I got led through the backstage of the airport, out of USA customs, and into baggage. There's a crazy story about the baggage too, but too lazy to type it all out. Anyways, while waiting for my baggage, I got to talk to a guy (who was a very good conversationalist) in the same situation as me. They got him onto a Vancouver flight at 9-ish. WTF. So I called the reservation center. They got me a 10 am flight to Calgary and connect to Seattle and arrive at 1:10. Ok. I still have hope. Yeah. So, I went to check in again. went through security again, and got to the gate. With my luck, my Calgary flight got slightly delayed. When I got to Calgary, I had to pick up my bag, check in again, and got scolded by the counter lady because she said you have 1 hour and that's not enough. If you can't make it, I'm closing the gate and you can head back to Edmonton. WTF? Reason being... USA customs had a line up that was out to the check in area! OMG. I'm screwed! Thank GOD (seriously, I praised the Lord throughout the day afterward) there were other families that were late. So after 10 min of lining up, the same counter lady called us and got us to cut the line. After another 20 min wait, I made it. Security. SH*T. It was 11:50 already. Boarding time. It wasn't too bad, and got into a decent line... only to have people budge because their previous flight got delayed and they were connecting. My luck. However, I still made it. I got into Seattle and picked up my car (another story about the drive on I-5) and shopping I go. It was GLORIOUS! A later blog will be the other details!

PS: I'm not sure if any of the above made sense... I'm typing fast so that I can head back up into my room and eat my room service at 10 pm. :)

OMG, WTF?

This summer, Edmonton roads went full blown construction. The one area that affects me the most is the construction of the overpasses on the west section of the Anthony Henday (which is the outer ring road in Edmonton). My residence is near a street that crosses the Henday. This whole summer, they (whoever they are) had been constructing an overpass for this street to cross the Henday and so in the future (hopefully by this winter), we, drivers, no longer have to wait for a stupid light intersection trying to get onto or cross the Henday.

This morning, lo and behold, the overpass opened! A little confused with the new road but still happy because there is no more light to wait for! However, this happiness lasted only one minute or so. Whoever is the construction manager/transportation engineer on this was either high on drugs or a retard. Like a typical overpass, to get onto the freeway, you stay on one side and turn off. To head north on the Henday, I had to stay right and turn right onto the spiral ramp. On the spiral ramp, there was a LONG line up of cars. Why? Because at the end of the ramp, we have to YIELD onto the Henday. Who the hell yields (oh right, Peigan-Deerfoot had one) ? If you're not ready for people to use the overpass, don't do it! I think I rather prefer the lights than hoping that the car that I am seeing far away won't speed up the moment I get onto the freeway. Please let this yield be temporary and let it be a merge... but looking at the road lines, I have a feeling the yield might be the final design.

Roshi's First Grooming

Roshi is scheduled to get neutered tomorrow (September 2). It was suggested to me that a haircut will be a good idea: easier to keep him and his wound clean. I thought it was a good time too:

1. He's getting way too shaggy. It's to a point he looked like he had dreadlocks.
2. He's matting like crazy.
3. His coat was collecting debris and hard to pick out.
4. I don't want him to go through puppyhood without a grooming. He might be nervous or scared later on.

So, last night I took a before picture with his shaggy look:

Before grooming - such a cute shaggy puppy

I told the groomer that I wanted his body and legs shaved down and trim around the face. She sure trimmed quite a bit. When I went to pick up my little Roshi, I didn't even recognize him. Half my dog was missing!

After grooming - he kind of looks emo...

Nonetheless, he is still cute in a different way. Plus, his shaved down coat makes him feel like a VERY soft stuff animal. I just couldn't stop touching him. Best of all, he smells awesome! The groomer also said he was an excellent puppy: a little nervous at first during the bath, but after some praises, he was giving kisses like crazy. Yep, that's my Roshi... lick lick lick!

Wedding Dress - Check

Last week, I took some time off to hang out with my little cousin (yes, he may be 17 now and taller than me, but he'll always be my little cousin) during his visit to Alberta. We were in Calgary for the week. I found some time for myself. With no expectations (not even a budget) and a totally open mind, I used this time to do some dress shopping!

I guess I had some ideas what I wanted:

1. Simple yet elegant - I don't like overly bling. So excessive beading is out of the question! However, it has to have enough bling for a night event (i.e. the reception).
2. Light - since it might be a destination wedding, I don't want my dress to be the luggage weight limit!
3. Minimum train - trains are nice for pictures, but not fun to drag around. Being a maid of honor once, I also know it's hard for the bride and the "slave" to carry that thing around.
4. Under $1000 - I didn't have a budget, but I don't think a "one time dress" should cost anything more than $1000 with alterations. However, I was willing to budge a little if it was that dreamy of a dress.
5. Dress shape - I know I DON'T want ball gowns and mermaids.

Dress shopping took place on Tuesday (August 23) afternoon and Wednesday (August 24) morning. The first store I went into had no dresses I wanted. I left after 15 minutes of browsing. The second store I went to was Blissful Bridal. I told the lady that I was open minded to anything, but there were a few things I knew I didn't want. She showed me a few dresses, but there was one dress that caught my eye: A-line, lace covered, a hint of bling, a simple bow in the back, no train, and $650. Despite the 3 or 4 other dresses in the dressing room, I tried on this one first. It was perfect. I'm surprised with the lace (I'm not a lace girl) and how awesome it was on me. To keep an open mind, I tried on the other dresses. They were pretty, but not me. Since this was my first day of dress shopping, I just got the info of that dress and walked out.

Wednesday, I went to three other stores (can't even remember the names). I kept looking at dresses that were similar to that first dress. They all came out pretty, but my mind kept wandering back on that one. So I guess the first dress that I tried on was the dress.

Thursday night I took my mom to see the dress. She thought it was me. Even though she thought having a train would be nice in pictures, she couldn't really see me dragging fabric around. Haha, mom sure knows her daughter's style.

So, it's set. I found the dress. Deposit paid and dress on order. No pictures... you will all have to wait (except those lucky bunch that I sent an email to).

Remnants of Roshi

I was on the phone with my mom in my bedroom. Roshi was outside in the hallway biting his rope toy. Hence, everything was going swell and I continued to talk to my mom and left Roshi semi unattended. After a few minutes, as a "mom" you just have this gut feeling that something is not right. I came out of the room and saw this:

Leave that little rascal alone for only a few minutes to himself, and it resulted me unrolled and shredded toilet paper (downstairs). I have to admit though, it's pretty funny.

August 12, 2011

I decided to have this title because one day I will forget. Now it will be forever (well, unless blogger is gone or internet becomes obsolete). So August 12, 2011 is the day I got my little finger jewel from my B. It wasn't romantic, but it was very us. The ring is lovely, a combination of what I wanted and what he wanted it to be. No ring picture. You will just have to come find me to see it!

So now the big question: when? You will all find out when you receive that little card of mine! LOL.

Roshi's First TIme at the Park

Roshi turned four months old last week, which meant he also got his last set of shots. Now with all his shots, he can go anywhere dogs are allowed. Today was such a nice day, and it's a holiday, we went to our first dog park. However, because he's still a crazy excited little puppy, we didn't let him off leash. We did let go of it for a little bit so that he could chase us around. After 2 hours in the park, and 1 hour of pet store shopping, Roshi was dead tired. Tired puppy = good puppy.

Silly Bailey, only he could come up thinking that a dog can celebrate Canada day with canned food. So we bought Roshi a can of dog food, and of course, he loved it. I hope this will not make him picky and will continue to stick to the kibbles he already has.

Happy June 21!!!

Today is the first day of summer and also the longest day of the year. So from this day on, the days will be getting shorter again. Boo. I haven't even enjoyed the daylight yet since it's been raining everyday. Every morning I wake up, I had to turn on the lights because the stupid rain clouds make the interior dark enough. Today, as the first day of summer, God blessed us with some sun and blue sky (well, that freak thunderstorm out of no where was short enough to be forgiven). This morning I woke up to sun, and ate breakfast with the sun glowing through my window. Yay.

Edmonton outside my window at 10:54 pm.

Poor Project Management

I have moved into my new place for about 2.5 months now. When I first took possession in March, some of the exterior items were incomplete. It is somewhat understandable since 1. it was winter time, and 2. it's mostly cosmetic, so whatever (typical structural engineer thinking). Spring has finally arrived, and Edmonton's mountain high of snow has melted. I think it's about time to get the exterior finishes completed. Of course, the finishes are scheduled to be completed sometime, however, I think the order is a little messed up.

Along my alley, my building was the first to be occupied. The building across mine was occupied next. The building next to mine is still empty and appeared only to be partially sold. The trim around our overhead garage doors were only wood when the buildings were first occupied. Now EVERY building but mine have vinyl siding around the garage doors. Shouldn't our building have priority since we moved in first? Guess not!!!

The building next to mine (the partially sold one) have siding and numbers on the garage doors. On Friday when I came home from work, I found numbers screwed into the wood trims around my garage door. Can I say RETARDED?! The siding is not even on yet. Once they do put the siding on, they have to take the numbers off. Sigh. Talk about poor management.

Mouse Update

Since I last blogged about the mouse, I haven't seen or caught any yet. I hope that is a good thing, hoping it found its way out FOREVER, and not dead inside my wall somewhere. However, my western neighbour (who also had a mouse inside their house when they first moved in) saw a mouse scurrying around our front "yard". So they set some traps outside their corner of the building to trap them before they come in. Lo and behold, I saw three trapped mice. They sure look like deer mice (but I'm no rodent expert). That means they could carry the hantavirus, which could be fatal to human. Damn field across my yard. Why can't the mice just stay there and leave us alone? However, also from my neighbour, she said that she heard there have been proposals for a golf course development. After hearing that, I just heard "cha-ching" to my property value! Having a golf course across the street will definitely be a plus. We shall see. But for now, I must be consistent with my peppermint spray and keep the mice away from my property!!!

One of the three mice caught

Master Roshi

About two weeks ago, I became a puppy mama. My little puppy is a havanese named Master Roshi ( or just Roshi). He came home with me when he turned eight weeks old from his breeder out near Spruce Grove area. He was such a good puppy. Only took him 1 hour to adjust to his crate.

8 weeks old Roshi - his first picture with me... or my hands

I actually picked him out when he was only six weeks old. All his siblings or his "next door" litter were either dead asleep or jumping at each other. He was the mellow one. He either just sniffed his siblings out or roamed about on his own. He was also the second biggest among the puppies. When I had him in my lap, I scratched his tummy and he fell asleep. I was in love. Despite all the prep work and dog training books, being a single puppy mama is hard work. REALLY hard work. It was worsened by stress at work, because my boss was out of town for three weeks. It was hard to balance raising a puppy, being sane, and getting work done. Weekends are better since B is around. And yes, he's the puppy daddy.

Now Roshi is 10 weeks old and I'm into my third week of being a puppy mama. He had grown quite a bit in size in the last two weeks, but he's still a wee little one. His behaviour had been off and on. He could be so cute and cuddly, but other times, he is a nippy barky puppy. He is a smart little puppy though. He already knows how to sit and stay. We're almost there with "down". My favorite is "kiss" where he will just tap his nose on your hand. He knows he can't do his "dirty business" in his crate, but he is still learning the difference between the indoor vs outdoor floors. We'll get it right one day.

Roshi at 10 weeks

I'm finding balance with my schedule, as you can tell, I'm blogging! Now I just have to also find the time to scrapbook (one day, the other blog will be updated!)

His Bowl, Her Bowl

This past weekend, I attempted making ma po tofu. It was a great success. It had enough flavor (the tasteless tofu balanced it out) and it had enough spiciness.

Apparently, B likes this dish. Whenever he has it, he will need a big bowl of rice to mix the tofu and ground pork with it. I like the dish too, but I don't need that much rice - maybe a little more than usual. I had to take a picture of the difference. The best, a perfect pair of mugs to match the "His" and "Her" bowl. In the background, four "Shake n Bake" drumsticks. Yes. "Shake n Bake" with ma po tofu.

EEK... Mouse

It's been a little bit more than a month since I moved into my new home. Everything was going awesome until this past weekend. I opened up the pantry to get some rice and noticed that there were mouse droppings on the pantry floor. This meant I have a little 'pet' that I didn't know about. I know that this little guy (which I hope, and not a pregnant gal) wasn't here two weeks ago, because I bought new juice boxes and placed them on the floor. No poop then. Grumpy, I decided to do my clean up and disinfecting later because I needed to finish off my cooking. And guess what? There was also a piece of poop on the stove and on the counter beside it. WTF? Ok, I for sure knew it wasn't there two days prior, since that was the last time I wiped the stove and counter.

So the next day, a wonderful Sunday when I should be vegetating on my couch, I went out to Walmart and bought my disinfecting supplies and plastic containers to store any food that a mouse can chew through the packaging. I disinfected until 8 pm. I was not impressed. And yes, I found some chewed up stuff: my bags of chocolate chips and almonds.

I set a few traps but haven't caught anything yet. I also haven't seen any poop since then (well, I have, but I think they were old). I called the builder to have them check all the vents on the outside was sealed. And sure enough, he found something. The siding around my garage door has not been placed on yet, so currently it's still just a wood trim. Of course, it was ONLY my building that they didn't foam up any gaps between the seams of the timbers. So there was this half inch gap that was perfect for a mouse to fit through and enter the garage. Great. So I did a walkthrough around my garage, and yes, I found some mouse poop. Sigh.

I read on the internet that the smell of peppermint will deter mice from entering. So I bought a small bottle of peppermint oil and dilute it and sprayed it all over the house. I felt like I was living in a toothpaste tube! Well, my house smelled nice though.

It's a long weekend this week. Maybe my lack of presence will get the mouse to come out. I can't wait for those traps to break his neck. Mean? Yes, but they are disease carrying pests. Either he dies or I die (or get sick). I prefer him.

It's been a while...

Wow, I didn't realize I haven't blogged on this site for more than six months. Well, a lot has happened since August 2010: travelled to Ireland, took possession of a condo, and a lot of this and that in between.

I will definitely try to update more of random "crazie"ness, even though I'm not sure who actually reads this or I'm just writing something this and sending it out to a virtual black hole.