What a day...

For a week that's supposed to be really slow, the amount of work I did today is probably equivalent to a week's worth of paperwork. It wouldn't have been so bad if I were doing different things, but it was the same report for all four locations - times two. Plus, my co-worker who usually works with me took the day off, so I had to do them all myself. A total of 8 reports all together (actually, I think it was 7?). Normally, these reports don't take long to do, but when things don't balance, and you have to do 8 (or 7?) reports, it gets a bit time consuming. Needless to say, my brain was pretty much fried. Good thing I get the day off tomorrow. I don't think I could handle another day like today.

Busy, busy, busy…

Man, I haven't had my typical running-around-the-city Saturday in a long time. My day consisted of:

• going to work (half-day)
  
• lunch at Subway
  
• then to Wal-Mart in South Edmonton (which I try to avoid as much as I can because that place is always super busy)
  
• a trip to the bank
  
• then to the gas station
  
• then to the car wash
  
• went home for 15 minutes
  
• back to work to get some CD's to burn (mental note: make sure to check the contents next time. =P)
  
• picked up Shelley
  
• went home, thinking that I'd take a nap since I only had 4.5 hours of sleep from the night before (which I will talk about later), but it ended up that I was home for about 10 minutes until I had to step out again
  
• another trip to Wal-Mart (this time in Mayfield Common), to help Shelley get a present for her nephew but came out with nothing

And now that I'm finally home, I'm pooped.

Panorama Reunion

After our Panorama weekend, Irma and I got tickets to Cowboys, where they organized a reunion for all the Panorama goers. So yesterday after work, gym, and kickboxing, I picked up Irma and we headed to my house so I could get ready. Before going to Cowboys, we grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's [my non-cholesterol way of eating will begin after the weekend ;-)], since we were so hungry.

The reunion was OK. The only problem was we only saw a couple people from our bus. And they weren't that interesting. Oh well. They did show clips of the trip on the big screen, which were taken with Mack's video cam, and it brought back memories of funny moments. Unfortunately, they didn't show my "weather forecast." :-(

Irma and I stayed for a couple of hours and decided to head somewhere else. Plan A was to go the Druid, but I had no patience to look for parking. Plan B was to go the Attic, but when we drove by, there was a line. Plan C was Suite 69. We hung out there until last call and called it a night. By the time I got home it was almost 3:00 am, hence 4.5 hours of sleep.

Highlights:

• Marcel wannabe
  
• DJ at Suite 69 laughing at us because of the way we were dancing (not in a bad way)
  
• there always seems to be one "oddball" that stands out whenever we go out
  
• technical difficulty with my pants
  
• "Ladies and gentlemen, we are flying…"

Results of my physical

I had an appointment with my doctor to get the results of my physical. Blood sugar levels were good. Liver and kidneys were fine. Everything else seemed to check out OK. But as it turns out, my cholesterol is a bit high (6.69 vs. the normal 5.20). Huh?!?!?!? I guess I never really knew what my cholesterol level was at before, but now that my doctor told me what it was, it was a bit of a surprise to me. Here I am thinking that I'm eating healthy (so much for my "logic"), when really I wasn't eating as healthy as I thought. I thought I was cutting out almost all the fat in my diet, but perhaps I was eating stuff with "hidden" fat? OK, so I'm stretching a bit. I guess I really have to pay attention to what I'm eating. I figured I was eating healthy at work by having salad (with a sandwich, or soup, or whatever), but you can only have so much salad, y'know? Oh well. I'm not too worried about it. And I'm not about to cut anything out of my diet either. It's all about proportions and eating things in moderation and exercise. I think I can handle that. I've done it before...

Changing Lanes



As I expected, my dinner plans didn't happen. Instead I watched yet another movie with a co-worker - Changing Lanes. It was half price (well, not exactly half price) Tuesdays, so I figured why not. At this rate, I will have watched them all. ;-)

The movie was OK. It wasn't as suspenseful as I thought it would be and I didn't like the ending. But it just goes to show you that the more "wrong" you do, the worse off you are. Had you taken the time to do the right thing in the first place, you probably wouldn't be in the predicament that you're in.

A funny thing happened...

...while getting tickets for the movie. My co-worker and I went to Paramount Theatre in downtown, and without realizing it, asked for 2 tickets for Changing Lanes. Normally there wouldn't be any problem with that, but we were at Paramount Theatre, where they only show one film. =P It was quite funny actually.

Co-worker: "Can I get 2 for Changing Lanes?"

Me: "Uh, that's the only movie playing here...*thinking to myself: "duh!"*

The guy in the ticket booth seemed to be a bit confused. I guess we kinda threw him off when we asked for 2 tickets for a movie which was the only one playing. He must've thought we were on drugs or something. hehehehe. :-)

My probation is up...

...work probation that is. As of today, I've been with the company for 3 months now. Woo hoo! Now it's time for a review and hopefully a raise *crossing my fingers*.

I hate waiting

I'm supposed to have dinner plans tonight, but I get the feeling that it's not gonna happen. If only I could get a phone call letting me what's going on, then at least I wouldn't be sitting here waiting. I could've gone to the gym. Ugh!

The night continued on for me...

Liz drove me home, but since I had some caffeine (which I know I shouldn't have been drinking at that hour, and it was weird that it even had an effect on me because caffeine usually doesn't do anything to me), I was somewhat "wired". So I called Irma, and we decided to hang out on Whyte Ave. Matthew came along and we headed to The Attic. As soon as we got there, about 30 people walked out. The 3 of us just looked at each other thinking Are they closing? Or is it just past their bed time? That just meant more for us. We were only there for an hour, since we got there at about 1:00 am and they close at 2:00 am. But it was so much fun! They played a good mix of music, and we pretty much danced for the whole hour. Irma and I had our various "dances" to the different songs. ;-)

...and the night still went on...

Matthew went home and Irma and I headed to Keegan's for a snack. We sat there until 3:30 am and finally called it a night.


Another Movie


I guess the theme for this weekend was movies. Since Joi's back in Edmonton, the 3 of us (Irma, Joi, and me) decided to do our "traditional" movie/Café Select thing. The only problem was, Café Select was closed. Plan B was to go to Elephant & Castle in Eaton Centre, but that was closed too (they later opened up while we were at Cocoa Lounge). Hmmm. So Plan C was Cocoa's Lounge in the Delta Hotel, which was connected to Eaton Centre. Irma, her sister, and Rhoda met us there and we had a couple drinks (non-alcoholic, of course) and a snack. We sat there for about an hour, until we had to see the movie. Irma's sister and Rhoda left and the 3 of us watched The Scorpion King. I didn't mind the movie. It had a couple funny moments. Though some of the fight scenes were similar to WWF wrestling, but then what do you expect when you have The Rock as the Scorpion King and Vince McMahon as one of the producers?

Collateral Damage

After months of planning, I finally got a chance to see Liz! Yay! Liz was in Victoria for the past couple of years for school and moved back to Edmonton last August. Since she came back, we've tried many times to get together but our schedules were always conflicting. Now that our schedules weren't conflicting, we decided to watch a cheap movie so we saw Collateral Damage. The movie was OK. There was enough happening to keep the movie going, but I don't think it was worth full price. Good thing we saw it at the cheap theatre.

After the movie, we went to Tim Horton's for coffee and to catch up on what's been going on in our lives. We chit-chatted for a while and decided to go home at around midnight. I was so glad I got to see Liz. Even though we don't see much of each other (now that she's back), it's always nice to see her. Hard to believe that I've known her for 19 years!

National Lampoon's Van Wilder

I saw National Lampoon's Van Wilder with Louise and Steve (kickboxing classmates) last night. Before the movie, we went to Boston Pizza's for a couple of drinks and I found out that Louise is a paranoid schizophrenic. Man did she have stories to tell! And I thought my obsessive-compulsive behavior was bad. hehehe. ;-)

But anyway, the movie was hilarious! It was similar to American Pie and even the "Sherman-ator" was on there (as a different character, of course). If you haven't seen it yet, you should check it out.

"...he inspires the uninspired."

Is it finally Spring?

Since our last snow fall last week, it's been hard to get into spring fever. It's just depressing to look outside and there's still snow on the ground. And it's the third week of April!

But today was a nice day. The sun was out, birds were chirping, people out and about enjoying the weather, etc. *crossing my fingers* Hopefully all this snow will melt within the next couple of days. Wishful thinking maybe, but I like to be optimistic. Besides, I want to start wearing my spring clothes. ;-)

I hate needles...

...which is probably why I'm not in the medical field. I had to get a blood test today to complete my physical, so they could check my blood sugar levels, cholesterol, etc. It's not that it hurts or anything, but just the fact that I have to give blood when I don't have much blood to begin with. =P

Couldn't they come up with an easier test?

[OK, so this is a bit delayed...]

Road Trip II – Panorama, BC
2002 Sunpit Safari

Starring:
Shmiri (should've been Shmirimi)= Irma
Tinnie = Lynne
Sassy = Sue
Meeesh (not Megesh?) = Me

Cast:
Mack Daddy = Mackenzie
Dr. Gonzo (specializing in neurology) = Damon
Joe the photographer = Jason
Pat = Poderick = Broderick = Pod
Dr. Feelgood = Ron
Not-Lost-but-Confused Mike


Synopsis: One massive get-pissed-out-of-your-mind-pot-smoking-(as one of my friends puts it:)-"virtual-ski-orgy".

Ah yes, another wild and wacky weekend! So much to say…

FRIDAY

Irma and I picked up our snowboards (rentals) and headed back to my house to meet Lynne [sidenote: the hearing impairment started before we even left the city?!]. Once she got there, my brother drove us to the overflow parking lot at WEM, where we then loaded our stuff onto bus #9. We were scheduled to leave for Panorama at 6:00 pm, but we didn't leave until 6:30 pm. Go figure.

I'm not sure if all buses had a theme, but I know there was a Hawaiian bus, and there may have been a Victoria Secret bus? (some chick was walking around in lingerie). Our bus was the toga bus. A few of the people, including the bus leaders, were dressed in togas. They tried to get us to wear togas beforehand, but with the nipply, I mean nippy (=P), weather? I don't think so.

• Rambunctious passengers (drinking, smoking (not on the bus), signing each other); lots of laughing.
  
• I got my 20 seconds of fame as the weather girl. Mack Daddy brought a video cam and Dr. Gonzo was shooting some kind of news thing. Ironically enough, he got me to do the weather. I tried to get Shmiri to do sports, but she didn't.
  
• Talked to Joe the photographer about PI (and other Asian countries he's been to) because he was wearing a San Miguel t-shirt.
  
• While on the highway, one of the other buses passed by and half the passengers were mooning us (I noticed a guy with a hairy butt – ewwww!).
  
• Made a pit stop just outside of Red Deer for a smoke break (and not just cigarettes either). Some passengers from our bus were flashing cars that were passing by. I also noticed a couple people from the Hawaiian bus pulled out a blender and made margaritas or something (talk about being prepared). Then it was back on the road.
  
• We stopped in Calgary at Pete's Diner to grab something to eat, but Shmiri and I went to McDonald's instead because of the long line. I mean, 17 buses, 50 people per bus, 30 minutes to get your food… you do the math…
  
• Dr. Gonzo and Shmiri became hockey buddies (they were listening to the game on the radio)
  
• Had some "good" scotch and a chocolate martini
  
• I tried to sleep for the last hour or so on the way to Panorama, but Dr. Feelgood sat on me (which did NOT feel so good) just when I was about to get into my deep sleep.
  
• We finally made it to Panorama at around 1:00 am or so.

SATURDAY

• Did not sleep well; uncomfortable bed.
  
  Breakfast to start the day…
  We had breakfast at Starbird Restaurant. Talk about bad service. The hostess came up to us and just said "hi" (uh yeah, like "hi" to you to?). It was almost as if she didn't want to seat us. One thing's for sure, they definitely didn't have enough staff. Since this trip is an annual thing, you'd think the people at Panorama would have enough staff on hand to accommodate the 800+ people? Uh, nope. The people at the restaurant weren't sure if they were serving off the menu or just having the buffet or both? We sat there for 10 minutes before someone finally came up to us, and even then the server told us that they were just serving the buffet. But 2 minutes later, the table next to us was being served food off the menu. ?!?!?!
  
  Snowboarding Lesson
  While Sassy had her ski lesson and Tinnie went skiing by herself, Shmiri and I went to our lesson (which we were late for, but that was because of the late breakfast thing). The instructor, Sheldon, said we could still catch up with the other 2 girls who were already there. We went through heel edge, toe edge, etc. Since I went snowboarding before, I kinda picked it up right away, and Shmiri was doing a good job learning the techniques (you go girl!). While we were on the hill, Joe came to take our picture. I wasn't sure who he was at first, but recognized him when he spoke. Oops =P. We continued on with the lesson and Sheldon showed us how to turn, but informed us that we wouldn't be able to get the technique down because we needed speed. Which meant going on the bigger hill. Which we didn't go on because we wanted to practice our techniques. The lesson ended at noon, and Shmiri and I decided to take a break for half an hour.
  
  Shmiri and I got lost took the scenic route through the hotel. We were trying to find the right exit, but kept going in circles (because our day wouldn't be complete without at least one circle =P). We finally made it out after 20 minutes. You'd think it'd be easy to find an exit, and logically it was, but we kept going out the wrong way. Maybe it's because we were gravitating towards the hot tub/sauna/massage area?
  
  We went snowboarding for another 45 minutes. And on my second last run, I had a bad fall and landed on my tailbone. OUCH! I'd like to blame it on the crappy snow conditions. I mean, who could possibly snowboard in slush?
  
  
• Shmiri and I met up with Sassy and Tinnie for lunch.
  
• Watched the Slush Cup. What's the Slush Cup? Picture ski jumping, but instead of landing on the hill on your feet, you land into a cold slush pit. There were quite the characters in costumes (or lack thereof) who joined this event. Naked man with only a belt (don't know why he even bothered with a belt?); a couple women in underwear; one guy skied down backwards; but the best was the guy who skied across the water. Once that was over, it was back to the hotel to shower and change for the night out.
  
• The 4 of us hung out at the Great Hall for BC/DC (spin-off of AC/DC). Hard rock is not my first choice (or second… or third… heck, it's not even on my "choice" list) in music, but they sounded like AC/DC. Tinnie was having a blast and Shmiri almost got sat on by Dr. Feelgood (I see a theme here).
  
• Random Thought: You can never be too old for anything. This came about when I noticed this old couple (probably in their mid-70's) in the Great Hall. They looked so cute in their ski suits, listening to the band, having a beer, and dancing to the tunes. I couldn't help but think that I want to be like them when I get older – just living life and having fun! It just goes to show you that as long as you're young at heart, you're physical appearance of age doesn't matter.
  
• After the performance, we caught up with Mack and Mike

  Key Phrases:

  "you're evil…that's awesome"
  "you're smart…I'm not"
  "Oh my eyes, my eyes! I'm traumatized…" (while looking at a guy dressed in a yellow dress with polka dots, mooning everyone)
  "you're happiness is creeping me out"

  
  
• I had a chat with Dr. Feelgood (since Shmiri, Sassy, and Tinnie went to the General Store with Mack Daddy and Mike, and left me), who happened to spill his guts out to me in half an hour. In 30 minutes I found out that he makes 6 figures (like I care), he's been married once before (gee, thanks for letting me know), he's 33 but he knows what he wants out of life (somehow I don't believe that, especially since he was drunk!), likes to travel, ski, blah, blah, blah. I felt like I was on some kind of match-making-dating thing with a 30-minute time limit. [thought to myself: I wish my friends would hurry up]
  
• After taking a power nap, we went to T-Bar Grill for dinner, and met up with Joe and Pod. Played a game of pool
  
• "infamous pose"
  
• "stuck in the middle" while dancing.
  
• Went to the Great Hall to watch BCDC again, because Tinnie enjoyed them so much she wanted to see them again. Somehow I lost Shmiri, Tinnie and Sassy. I found out later that they went out briefly for some air and couldn't get back in (actually, the bouncers wouldn't let them in). So, I was stuck with Joe and Pod. At one point, I noticed our sweaters were missing. Then Pod's jacket was missing as well. I kinda had a feeling that all of our stuff was together, but I wasn't sure. Pod had a fit with his missing jacket.
  
• The 3 of us finally decided to go somewhere else and met up with Sassy and Shmiri outside the Great Hall as they were coming in.
  
• Pod went to get his jacket (since it happened to get mixed up with our sweaters), but what bothered me was that he wasn't even grateful that we held it for him. So I told him off.
  
• Sassy ended up going back to the hotel and Shmiri, Joe, Pod and I went to the Glacier. At first we stood in line, but somehow Pod got in? (with Shmiri's corona in his pocket). The 3 of us waited outside, finally got in at around 1:30 am, and danced all night. I just didn't like how it was crowded and everyone was all hot and sweaty. =P
  
• Shmiri and I called it a night, but we ended up talking in the stairwell (because there were people sitting in the lobby and we wanted a bit of privacy), sitting on the wheeley thing that bell boys use to carry your luggage to your room (I forget what they're called). We must've been there for a while because these 2 people passed us twice.
  
• We headed back to the room at about 3:30 am

SUNDAY

• Shmiri and I planned to go snowboarding in the morning, but it didn't happen. We were just too sore. Irma's muscles were aching and my tailbone was killing me. Plus we only had 4 hours of sleep. And we also had to load our stuff onto the bus.
  
• Had breakfast at Starbird Restaurant again (it was either that or cafeteria-type food).
  
• Experienced some technical difficulty while eating breakfast; Tinnie was quickly brainwashed.
  
• Ran into Mike, Mack, and Dr. Gonzo at the restaurant, and this time you could actually see Mike's eyes.
  
• Tried to keep a "low-profile" from Dr. Feelgood, but I was still noticed.
  
• We took the gondola down to the condos and general store to pick up some snacks for the bus ride.
  
  
  Random Thought: Is it pronounced gon-DOH-la or GON-doh-la? I say gon-DOH-la. I made reference to gorgonzola cheese, since it had a similar pronunciation (i.e. gor-gon-ZO-la or gor-GON-zo-la?).
  
  to-MAY-toe or toh-MAH-toe? puh-TAY-toe or poh-TAH-toe? I could go on…
  
  
• Me and the 3 gals hung out at the Great Hall because there wasn't much else to do, and I had a snooze on the table.
  
• Watched BCDC play again, but this time they were outside.
  
• Shmiri and I got our picture taken of the "infamous pose".
  
• Sassy and Tinnie walked around, while Shmiri and I went back to the main lobby and chilled till we had to board the bus.
  
• Before heading back to Edmonton, we got a group picture with everyone on our bus.
  
  
  Highlights on the trip back to Edmonton::
  • Had half a strip show.
    
  • Drunk "hi-yah"-karate-kicking-girl annoying everyone.
    
  • Stopped in Calgary at Pete's Diner again, but this time Shmiri and I bought stuff there.
    
  • The feature presentation on the bus was Liar Liar (but everyone wanted to watch Snatch).
    
  • Almost everyone was passed out on the bus. The ride was much quieter than the trip to Panorama. Hmmm, I wonder why? =P
  
  
• Even though the bus driver was speeding, the trip back seemed to take so long. We finally got into Edmonton just a little after midnight. It was great to be back home, but I didn't like the fact that it was SNOWING! Ugh!

And that was the weekend. Despite the minor annoyances, overall it was a fun weekend.

THE END

DaMeesh Productions

Taste Test

Another perk about working here is being able to taste the new food that they're thinking of putting on the menu. I've had macaroni and cheese, sampled different types of salad dressings [creamy caesar, garlic lover's creamy caesar, garlic lover's vinagrette, and balsamic vinagrette (the only one I didn't like was the creamy caesar - too rich)]. And now I'm having a spicy chicken caesar wrap. At this rate, I'm not going to be able to eat dinner.

I just wanted to be the first one (or one of the first ones) to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bern!!

[Great Hall - Panorama, BC]

Quick Entry

Seeing as I wasn't able to go for another snowboard run (due to an injured tailbone), the next best thing to do to keep myself occupied for a brief moment was to jump on the internet. So here I am. Although I can't blog about the entire weekend in 8 minutes, I'm just posting a brief entry. With 1 minute left, I better post quick so not to lose the entry.

Spring Cleaning at Work

A co-worker of mine started spring cleaning in our office. We're in the process of clearing out old stuff, and getting new stuff, so he started to get rid of the junk that was taking up space. While he was cleaning out this one file cabinet, he came across some old ping pong paddles and a ping pong ball. There were 3 of us in the office so we started hitting the ping pong ball to each other, since we had no ping pong table. It was kinda funny actually.


Free Booze

Yet another perk at working at my job. Which reminds me, I have to take home a box of beer glasses that Marc's trying to get rid of.


Random Thought

Don't you hate it when you get some kind of cut/scrape/bruise and you don't know how you got it until you notice the slight pain that you're feeling? Got another one of those nasty papercuts which just "happened to appear"...


Deep Thought

I got this link from an email a friend of mine sent me. If you have time, take a look at it. Makes you stop and think...


All set and ready to go...

My bag (actually my backpack) is packed. All I have to do is put my makeup bag of toiletries (because I don't wear makeup, besides lipstick) into my bag, which I'll do tomorrow, and then it's off to Panorama! Woo hoo!

Getting Ready for Panorama

I finally made it to the gym today and I feel much better. I figure I better get myself prepared for this weekend when I head out to Panorama with Irma, Lynne, and Sue. We're going with this tour company, Downhill Riders, and it's their Annual Sunpit Safari. What I didn't realize was that there are 17 buses with over 800 people on this trip. Talk about one massive party! From what Sue tells me, it's supposed to be SO much fun. I'm so excited! I've even started packing. I know it's a bit early, but I know I won't have time to do it if I leave it to the last minute. And I hate that feeling that I'm "forgetting something."

I almost bought a pair of boots...

...snowboarding boots that is. Irma and I went to shopping. She needed a backpack and a pair of gloves for our Panorama trip this weekend. While we were in Sport Mart, I saw a pair of boarding boots for $40 (they were junior sizes, but I'm sure I could find a pair that fit me)! But I held back. Because if I bought the boots, then I'd have to get the board, and then the bindings, and then the helmet, etc. Although now is a good time to buy all this stuff (because it's on sale), there are other things I'd like to use the money for. Maybe next year...

Double Movie Night

I was in the mood to see another movie so I went to see Orange County with a co-worker of mine. The movie stars Colin Hanks (Tom Hanks' son) who's a surfer-turned-aspiring-writer trying to get into Stanford to become a (better) writer. The movie was not bad at all. I thought it was funny. But I have to say that Colin looks just like Tom. I realize they're father and son (duh!), but even the way Colin acts is similar to his father.

End Quote:

"...even in a world that's superficial, there's still hope."

Movie with Joi sans Irma

Joi (who was late =P) and I saw Blade II at Eaton Centre without Irma, since she had to work (don't worry, it's not your type of movie anyway). Despite the gory violence (which is to be expected with a vampire flick), the movie was OK. Though the vampires this time around were quite gross, with the Alien-type thing that comes out of their mouths when they attack their victims. I did like the martial-arts-type fight scenes.

Daylight Savings

Did all of you remember to set your clocks an hour ahead? (spring forward; fall back)

Welcome another new blogger!

Irma and I have been successful in recruiting another blogger. Welcome Irene! It's about time you got your blog going. hehehe. ;-) The only problem is, who knows if you'll ever separate yourself from the computer (hehe. just kidding! =P). Well, have fun with it!

Another addition...

I've also added links to our clones.

[OK, for those who have been waiting for details on my weekend, here they are…]

Road Trip I - Vancouver
Starring: Irma, Joi, Irene, and yours truly

Guest starring: Grace (Irma's sister), Rohan (Grace's fiancé), Marcel (miscellaneous friend of Rohan)

Special appearance by: Leah, Louise (my kickboxing buddy)

What a weekend! Filled with laughter, adventure, laughter, site seeing, laughter, wacky moments, etc. Did I mention that we laughed a lot during this trip? hehehe. =P

I can't possibly go through absolutely everything that happened on this trip (because I'd be here for days), so instead I'll just list the highlights of the weekend:

FRIDAY

• The trip started in Calgary (we left at about 9:00 am) and we made pit stops in Lake Louise, Golden, Salmon Arm (I know, salmon don't have arms =P), before finally reaching Vancouver (at about 8:30 pm PST).
  
• Tagalog lessons/translations for Joi

  baka (cow – pronounced "BA ka") vs. baka (maybe – pronounced "ba KA")
  

  bundok (mountain)
  

  kotse (car)

  
  
• "mountains"
  
• "Technological" discussions (i.e. Palm Pilot v.10, hardware/software compatibility, anti-virus, etc.)
  
• Joi was going over the "Al Bundy" experience with Irene
  
• For a brief moment, I was the weather forecaster in the car
  
• "Are we there yet?"
  
• Hearing impairment started (and got worse the more we drove =P). We figured it was because of the altitude and lack of oxygen in the mountains.
  
• Irma and I "vibing" to Linkin Park's In the End. Now all we have to do is come up with a dance. ;-) Can you feel the vibe?
  
• Joi's salmon issue in Humpty's (Golden, BC) [you didn't have to eat it you know…]
  
• Irma has been classified as the "tense safety driver"
  
• Random Thought (during the drive): How can something be labeled as "new and improved"? If it's new, then it shouldn't have to be improved. And if it's improved, aren't you improving something that is already existing, therefore not new (i.e. old)? I actually heard/read about this somewhere before, but for some reason it popped into my head while we were on the highway.
  
  Weird Road Names
  
  During our drive, we passed by some unusual names of places/towns/cities/etc. Seeing how we were going to be on the road for a while, we decided to make a game out of it. It's amazing the things you come up with (especially with the crew I was with), when you're on the highway for a long period of time:

  • What[dot]com Road
    
  • Dead Man's Flats [pinisang patay na mama]
    
  • Redwood Meadows [pulang kahoy parang]
    
  • Sumas, USA ["they sure got Sum-ass in USA" hehehe. =P]

  
  Almost there…
  
  By the time we were on our final stretch of the trip (from Kamloops to Vancouver), Irma, Irene and I were passed out (sorry Joi). I guess we ran out of unusual places to pick out. Or maybe it was from that laughing? ;-)
  
  Arriving in Vancouver
  
  We finally got to Vancouver at 8:30 pm PST. Yay! At the time it was drizzling, but no big deal. Now it was a matter of finding our way through Vancouver to drop off Joi at his sister's apartment. We drove for another half an hour and reached Joi's destination. From there, we drove to Richmond for Rohan's birthday barbecue, which was being held at a friend's house.
  
  Navigating to Richmond
  
  Since Irma and I aren't familiar with the streets of Vancouver (we always had someone to drive us around), and Irene had never been there before, we somehow had to get ourselves to Richmond. At first we tried to get a hold of Grace, but her phone was busy. So we took matters into our own hands and decided to find the place ourselves.
  
  With map in hand, Irma was designated driver and I was the navigator. We had a minor setback in the beginning [because the night wouldn't have been complete without at least one circle. hehehe], but we managed to find the place ourselves. Are we good or what? ;-)
  
  We were so relieved when we got there, not to mention really hungry. Grace and Rohan came out and met us on the driveway. Upon entering the house, we were introduced to: Jordan (Irish dude that reminds me of a comedic actor, but I can't remember who); Sylvio (or Sly for short, but by the end of the night we were calling him Xavier/Frank/etc); and Richard (guy with heavy accent). Then we met Pirash (Grace's friend), Martino (very cute guy – Pirash's bf), Belle, Michelle, and a few other people who's names I don't remember.
  
  Towards the end of the night, we were all tiiiiiiiiired. I wanted to meet up with Leah that night, but I just couldn't drive anymore (sorry girl).

  Highlights of the BBQ:

  • "sexual tension"
    
  • "she's 12"
    
  • Marcel not being able to maintain a fire, therefore he'd be the first one voted off

  I don't remember what time we left the BBQ, but as soon as got back to Grace and Rohan's place, Irma, Irene and I went straight to bed.

SATURDAY

• The hearing impairment continued on…
  
• First thing in the morning, Irma's eye was numb [Actually, it was here thigh that was numb, but I didn't hear the "th" and only heard the "igh" so I thought she said her "eye" was numb. Then I thought that having a numb eye was not a good thing and might be a sign of a stroke or something]
  
• Taking the "scenic route" on the elevator
  
• Went to Milestones on Davie and Denman for lunch. I met Louise there (sorry for being late). The ironic thing is Louise is from Edmonton, we haven't gone for lunch in Edmonton, but we meet for lunch in Vancouver. Expensive lunch, huh? =P
  
• Shopping on Robson. After lunch, we decided to walk up and down Robson. The only problem was we parked WAY far from Robson [Mental note: Do not wear boots. Either wear comfy shoes or park closer!]. Points of interest included A|X, FCUK, BeBe, InWear, and a couple shoe stores (names of which I forgot). Halfway through our shopping trip, Joi left us to meet up with some friends. So Irma, Irene and I continued on. As we were walking along, we happened to pass by Eaton's. The only problem was I left my Eaton's card at home. @#$%&! How could the master packer possibly forget that?! Oh well, I guess I wasn't meant to shop at Eaton's then. [Hmmm, maybe I'll just visit the one in Calgary?]
  
• "I'm hot/sleepy" (Irma and I think Irene's menopausal. hehehehe)
  
• Irene and Joi are going to be business partners. The original plan was for them to be bums on the street and ask for spare change. Due to much competition, they came up with a brilliant plan – to open up a lemonade stand. LOL! =P
  
• Renaming the streets of Vancouver (sorry Leah):

  
  Howe = Howie
  Hornby = Horny
  Denman = Denmark
  Fir = Fuhr
  Trimble = Tremble
  Cambie = Comrie
  Homer = Homey

  
  
  Scrabble Match #1
  
  After we were done shopping (and walking for, what seemed like, miles and miles and miles in my boots), the girls and I headed back to Grace's apartment. We had dinner, then I played Scrabble with Rohan and Marcel.
  
  Scrabble has to be one of my favorite games to play. Of course, it helps if the people you're playing with know how to spell or at least know enough words without having to look up every single word in the dictionary. Oh, and I also don't like it when people try to use all their letters on each turn, subsequently inventing words that are not in the dictionary, but they look up them up anyway "just in case". I liked playing with Rohan, but Marcel… I'm not gonna go there.
  
  Night Out
  
  After Scrabble, we all got ready to go out to Voda's. It was a nice place and it kinda reminded me of Dante's/Overtime here in Edmonton. My feet were sore from all that dancing, but I had fun.
  
  One thing to remember: guy in pink/orange shirt with a couple other people attempting to dance to some R&B music, but it looked more like they were doing the Hokey Pokey dance [you put you're right foot in, you put you're right foot out, you put you're right foot in, and you shake it all about, you do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about….(yeah I know, I need help =P)].

SUNDAY

• "Good morning, good moooorning…" (tune from that Viagra commercial)
  
• IHOP for brunch (yes, we have one in Canada too =P)
  
• pit stop at Goldilocks
  
• site seeing/picture taking in North Vancouver, Jericho Beach, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Grouse Mountain
  
• "You're 12!" (my comment to Irene on paying admission for the Capilano Suspension Bridge, because she could easily pass for a 12-year old. If only she had pig-tails and a Pokemon backpack)
  
• "I'm not hot/sleepy"
  
• Theme song for the day happened to be The Sound of Music
  
• Renaming Stanley Park to Stanley Cup
  
• "Hold it"; "Not yet"
  
• "Finish your sentence before you start laughing…"
  
  Dinner with Leah
  
  I was starting to worry that I wouldn't see Leah at all because we didn't get a chance to meet Friday night, or go out Saturday night, or go wall climbing on Sunday. I'm glad we were able to get together for dinner Sunday night though. I just hope you weren't traumatized by the whole thing. hehehe. ;-)

  Key points:

  • dancing in the washroom (because the sound was better in there)
    
  • Conversation between Leah and Irma on planning to go to Canada Place:
    
    Leah – "How about we [pointing to me and herself] go to my car, go to where you're parked, you guys follow me to Canada Place, then we [Leah and me] pick up Joi…"
    
    Irma – "What if you two [pointing to Leah and me] go in Leah's car, come to where we're parked, then we go to Canada Place, then you two [Leah and me] pick up Joi…"
    
    It all goes back to the hearing impairment thing…

  
  
  Since the girls and I had an early start the next morning, we called it a night at around 9:30 – 10:00 pm. We'll have to do it again, Leah! :-)

MONDAY

• Didn't get much sleep (played another couple rounds of Scrabble the night before). I woke up at 2:45 am because someone called me, but by the time I answered the phone they were gone. Then I woke up at 3:30 am, thinking it was 4:30 am because my alarm went off, but it was set to 4:30 am MST which is actually 3:30 am PST. I finally got up at 4:30 am PST to get ready, since we were planning to leave at 6:00 am.
  
• Before we left the city, we had to fill up the car. We went to 2 gas stations and both were closed. Huh? How can a gas station be closed at 6:30 am? The third gas station we went to was opened (thank god), so we filled up and got breakfast/snack for the road.
  
• Proposed drive back home: Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper-Edson-Edmonton
  
• Watch out for that visor Irma (hehehe)
  
• Singing to Shakira's Underneath Your Clothes using the lyrics from The Bangles' Eternal Flame (they sound alike)
  
• En route from Jasper to Edson, Irene came to the realization that she "wasn't herself anymore". Hmmm, I wonder why? ;-)
  
• Made a pit stop in Edson to fill up the car and take a pee break. Irma and I almost left Irene at the gas station. Oops! I honestly thought she was in the car at that time.
  
• Random Thought: Why is it that the closer you are to your destination, the longer the ride seems? As we were approaching Edmonton, the highway seemed to get longer and longer. I was even speeding, but that didn't seem to help much.
  
  More Weird Road Names
  
  Since we were taking a different route back to Edmonton, we came across a couple more unusual names of places:

  • Kawkawa Road [Kawawa Road]
    
  • Sowaqua Creek (Try saying that one a few times. If you say it enough times, you end up sounding like a duck =P)
    
  • Seba Beach [kilala mo Se Ba-Beach, diba?]

  
  
  Welcome to Edmonton!
  
  Yay! We made it! After a total of 13.5 hours of driving (including pit stops), it was so good to be back home. We returned the car rental, and I drove Irma and Irene home. The only thing I didn't like was coming home to COLD weather and more snow. Ugh. Isn't it supposed to be spring?! The snow was melting before I left for Calgary, but apparently we had a big snow storm on Sunday. Hopefully this is the last of the cold weather.
  
  So there you have it. That was the trip (in a nutshell).

== THE END ==

Acknowledgments (Thank you to the following):
ALDO (shoes), Transit (purse)
London Drugs (toiletries, film)
National Car Rental (Pontiac Grand Prix)
McDonald's (breakfast)
Humpty's (lunch)
CAA (Map of Vancouver)
Rand & McNally (Alberta-BC provincial map)
Denman Place Mall (parking)
Milestones (lunch)
Armani Exchange, FCUK, BeBe, InWear (shopping)
VODA (entertainment)
Denny's (late night snack)
IHOP (brunch)
Goldilock's
Red Robin (dinner)
Canada Place (for providing toilet services to Marcel)
Smitty's (late lunch/early dinner)

Finally made it home

Well, I actually got home about 2.5 hours ago. Had to drop off the car rental, drive Irma and Irene home, then chit chatted with my parents, etc, etc.

It was a long drive back from Vancouver, but we made it home safe and sound. I'm too tired to get into the details of the trip, so I'll have to do that tomorrow...*yawn*