America, how I've missed you

SAN FRANCISCO. Just some bits and pieces from my trip so far. It's been really nice here since day 1. Clear blue sunny skies for four days straight makes me wish I were still living in California. The older I get, the more I'm yearning to become a full fledged American again. It's just something in me that's telling me I'm at "home" here. Not saying I don't like Canada, but it's hard to explain and put into words.

This was a nice surprise. We were conveniently "upgraded" to Economy Plus on our flight there. It's nothing much though, just a bit more leg room. It was the most comfortable flight I've ever taken though. Pity it was only for 2 hours. I could have used it when I was going to China..


Just a few pics as we drove to our hotel. The nice bright shining sun was a definite change from the dreary Vancouver weather..



We stayed at the Crowne Plaza. It's nothing too special. They did a nice job renovating it recently. The rooms come with a nice flat screen.. Unfortunately their hotel is situated right along one of the highways. The cars can really be heard during the day.. I guess it provides some nice 'background' noise at night. Sort of.

Many houses of San Francisco are connected to one another.. Nothing like the separated units we have at home. Chinese families would have fun living in these quarters. My neighbours would enjoy the constant yelling and bitching going on in my family. Privacy is definitely limited here.

We went to visit our cousins at their house. This is their block. It's a nice little place on one of the many hills/plateaus they have in the surrounding areas. Thankfully, there hasn't been much fog so far in the trip. Or wind. SF's known for its foggy days, I can actually see the city this time around.

We went to Downtown San Francisco to take in the Christmas festivities and shopping going on. One word : Amazing. It sort of puts Vancouver's to shame, and I think Vancouver has a pretty vibrant colourful Downtown area. San Francisco's is two times as big and eventful. Macy's was decorated gorgeously, the tree was huge, there was ice skating, and the mood all around was just positive. The view from the top of Macy's was on the Sky Terrace where we waited for an hour and a half at the Cheesecake Factory for a table. It was well worth it I suppose. I've never seen anything quite like it. I would say almost a hundred people in the lobby just waiting and the 5 rotating hosts and hostesses working their asses off trying to seat and put everyone down. Not once did any of them show any signs of frustration. I could learn a thing or two.

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Okay, I'm too tired to continue. Yawn. I've been getting up early each day to get to the gym. If only I could show the same type of commitment at home.. Perhaps it's because of the convenience of the gym. Funny story..well more sad, there was a large young girl yesterday in the gym with me. She was on the treadmill as I was doing my cool down. She went on, started RUNNING at speed 3.0.. (yes, I was being nosy) and then STOPPED after two minutes. TWO MINUTES. She burned 13 calories. She then went to the scale to weigh herself. Unhappy with these results, she proceeded to go to the elliptical where she went on it for five minutes, and burned 29 calories. By now, she was practically dripping in sweat. Poor girl. Her brother then came in to join her. Not any better. He was running at speed 3 as well. Hell, I walk at 4.5..

At least she's trying I suppose. I was stifling my laughter so hard, I had to drink water to prevent myself from sneering. They left after about 10 minutes and 40 calories burnt, at best.

I'm going to blame the dollar menus here at McDicks and Taco Bell for these overweight unfit people. No wonder America has the fattest people around. Makes me feel good about myself, ha!

Hopefully I'll remember what else I did on this trip through my pictures. Yes, they're from my cell phone, I'm not going to bother being all artsy and fancy with my travel journals. As long as I write it down, I'll remember it in the future. Happy Holidays!

Back to the Motherland

Alright, time for my trip back to the good ol' USA. San Francisco to be exact, my hometown. I haven't been back there in.. six years now? Not even sure anymore. I grew up in a suburb of SF I believe.. Sunset? Who knows, I don't know my geographical locations. All I know was that the last time I was there, I had to visit a lot of relatives and family friends. Of course, it's a given. Being from a Chinese family, even moreso a given. The countless ''Hellos'' and "How are yous'' do get a bit tedious at times.

Nonetheless, I'm excited to go back this year. Why? Because I think I'm actually at the age where I can appreciate San Francisco for more than just the people I know there, but now for the city itself..albeit 4 months from being legal down there. I hope to immerse myself in their renowned Downtown area. Union Square. The cafes. The districts. The people. Then again, there's nothing too much separating SF and Vancouver from what I recall.. the food's great in both cities, some argue better in SF.

I need to go to Alcatraz. I can't believe I haven't been there.. I make for a shitty American.

It's now 3:10am. I haven't slept all day after my Statistics final. We leave in about a half hour to Seattle, it's much cheaper to fly out from there.

Hopefully I'll post anything interesting that pops up during my trip. Maybe I'll encounter my own bus incident.

Schwarma

I can not for the life of me focus on my studies. Perhaps it's the Christmas music playing in the background, or that my arm is hurting like a mother from the stupid H1N1 shot. I swear, I'm suffering from side effects of that shot. Fatigue. Fatigue. Fatigue. Pain. Fatigue.

Random thoughts/ramblings at the top of my head at the moment, read if you care. I know two of you do :):

• Melbourne planning is well underway. Visa? Check. Acceptance? Check. Flights? Nope, I should get on that ASAP.. looking at $1600 round trip.
  
• I leave in about 60 days. Two months to the day.
• San Francisco Trip 10.5 hours after my last final on the 21st. I really wanted to buy a new mp3 player..thing this Boxing Day. Online shopping will suffice.
  
• My liver needs recovery, it better regenerate quickly.
• I've been working more that I was in first and second year, yet this year has been my toughest yet.
• I have 62.5 gigs of TV shows to watch.
• Growing apart from people sucks. Inevitable given the circumstances.
• White Spot makes me large. Very large.
• I better not turn into an alcoholic, I have no shame in admitting this. It's a path I hope I never have to go down, but I know I can find other outlets to calm myself down. No drugs either.
  
• Tiger Woods is despicable yet I feel sorry for him at the same time.
• I miss badminton

With that, I'm going to hole up and pray I can actually get some studying done. Number 1, 2 and 3 need to stay off my mind. Only one person may understand what I actually mean by that.

Me time.

I can't remember the last time I had a day where it was just me, my tv, my food, and my couch. Me time. Everyone once in a while needs a day to themselves. To relax, and not have school, work, or anything else too pertinent on their minds.

My midterms are still looming, just two more left now. I have to do well on both of them, can't underestimate my courses anymore. Aside from work and school, I realize I haven't had the time to really hang out with anyone anymore. I've even shoved badminton off to the side. What used to be a weekly..sometimes biweekly activity I took part in, has now become bimonthly thing..if I'm lucky.

Regardless, tonight I'm going to start catching up on all the shows I've neglected since September. And there are a lot.. The Canucks-Dallas game starts in about 40 minutes. My sushi sits waiting for me.

I need more Fridays like this. Sadly, tomorrow I'll be bringing out the textbooks, starting to slave away once again. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this temporary lapse from school.
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Focus.

Argh, the excitement of Melbourne is getting to me. I can't stop thinking about it! It better be everything I'm expecting..and then some. It's just a mere 4.5 months away now.. @$#@^$#!!!!

Okay, back to Biostats and Biochem.

Burn out

Since I don't really feel like reading any more of Ethel Wilson's Mrs. Golightly and Other Stories I guess I should update this thing. I've been sitting here for the past 7 minutes and some odd seconds trying to think of something worth posting..

I guess I should start with Summer 2009. My family vacation down to Florida seemed so long ago.. yet that was the start of the summer where my legs turned ..many shades darker. I admit it, there was a point in the summer where I was too tanned. It was also the first time where I got sun burnt 4 times. I would post the pictures, but to spare your eyes from my lobster red skin, I won't. The trip up to Whistler to go white water rafting in August was also something I won't forget anytime soon. The fact that 13 of us actually make it up there still surprises me.

Summer also marked my dive into the Genetics component of my university degree. Both courses proved to be highly successful and I came out of both satisfied. The more I look into the courses I will be taking, the more I realize this major is right for me.

Work in the later months drained me of all energy. The final 2.5 weeks of summer had me scrambling around my three jobs along with GALA. PNE certainly brought in a nice paycheque, but also took a toll on my body. I still don't think I have fully recovered. I am in constant fatigue, even on the days I sleep 7 hours. Maybe it's the course load I took..

That's pretty much my summer. School started just last Wednesday..after GALA I might say. The amount of international students and stories I got to hear from so many different individuals solidified my own decision to go to Australia. I know money will be tight, but I am determined to come out of it a changed man.

And so my semester of hell begins. Five lecture courses + 1 lab course = ... well that's still to be decided. Even though I have a month till my first midterm (7 in total), the anxiety of taking it won't go away. I should be used to exam stress by now, being in third year, but I'm not. Unless you've been to university or college, you just don't understand the amount of stress one feels before an exam. When December rolls around I'm sure I'll figure something to describe how the year went. Expletives included.

Exposed

It's come to my attention that I've been exposed to my family. No worries, a blog's meant to be read by everyone and I have no shame in anything I write on here. At least this will help them get to know me better...
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Even though Raymond feels like blogs shouldn't be about a person's life and their everyday mundane things (unless they're a hot girl who posts pictures along with it), it got me thinking, what should a blog be about then? Is there any clear definitive rule that governs blogging? I'm not even sure what my own would constitute as. Perhaps more of a random rambling of my life's unexciting events? I don't need to blog to please the masses, I just need an outlet to express my feelings. Frankly, if someone doesn't like what they're reading, well who's telling them to read? GTFO. (ha)

Biology 335 finally ended, final marks were released a couple of days ago and I can say I'm genuinely pleased by what I got. Could have been better (as always) but it was higher than what I expected. Thanks to Derrick, Justin and Wesley for a good two months, wouldn't have been quite as enjoyable without them. Honorary mention to Amanda who according to Justin, "told me off" with no shame.

Death Cab for Cutie concert in July was definitely the highlight of my summer thus far. I can honestly say their encore set list, was the best ever. Just those couple of songs to close out the show truly made their concert #2 on my list only behind Pemberton. Nothing can top Pemberton. "Transatlanticism" blew my mind away. Below is a short clip of "I Will Follow You into the Dark".. Unfortunately I didn't get the entire performance.


August is already here, less than a month left till school starts. The weather's cooled down drastically from the 35 degree heatwave we experienced last month. I miss it actually. Now it's in the low 20's.

Australia. Here's hoping to it curing my quarter life crisis. Six months.

My mom needs help.

For a good 40 minutes, my dad had to teach my mom how to get to UBC from our house. Then how to get to Granville and 70th from there.

Forty. Minutes. She can't use a map. She needs pictures, and step by step instructions. Literally. Google directions aren't good enough for her.

UGH.

MY FOOD DAMNIT.

So I made Banana Bread/Cake yesterday. In less than 24 hours this is what's left. It's a 10 inch pan. My family of ate all of this. I had one medium sized piece myself. WHAT THE HELL.

I buy food home, it gets eaten.
I take home food from restaurants, it gets eaten.
I make food, it gets eaten.. no sorry, DEMOLISHED, DEVOURED, GOBBLED by my family. Considering my Grandpa doesn't eat sweets, I can only blame my mother and sister as the main culprits.

Without labels on my food in my house, everyone just steals it. WHAT THE NIPPLE. But if I eat any of their food without asking, I get yelled at. Well maybe one sibling in particular. I hope they all get fat.

Now I have to make more because I love banana bread. =(

Someone, stop me.

Uh oh, I've started listening to the Black Eyed Peas. "I Gotta' Feeling" has been playing non stop on me iPod. I hope this isn't signs of things to come. I've already gotten into Neyo.. next thing you know I'll start - nevermind.

Wimbledon's been keeping me entertained for this past week, there are plenty of matches to cheer about. Sadly, BIOL 335 starts next week, unless I fail 334, which is a high possibility. The mark's still not out!

Read on CNN that many airlines may start charging a "fat tax" for passengers that require 2 seats. As much as I adore the fat people, I'm not sure where I stand on this. Thankfully, I have not had to experience the horror of having to sit next to someone whose fat would spill onto my side (or take space on my arm rest.. HUGE pet peeve), but I can see how frustrated people can get. It's like on the bus, enough said about that. If you're fat, please sit away from me, I don't need to be squished against the window. Or keep your trunks closed.

Too many choices..!!

After being officially accepted into UBC's Cell Biology and Genetics program, I finally began working on my course list for next year. Sadly, it turned out to be a nightmare of sorts. With my exchange to Australia coming in the second semester, a lot of the core courses had to be taken in first semester. What used to be a strong desire to achieve a Minor in English Literature, is now completely up in the air.

I still have to talk to Professor Adamson to defer my Physiology course, talk to an Arts advisor on if any of my potential English courses taken in Australia will have credit, and then decide whether or not to take on three Microbiology courses as part of my degree..

Semester 1, Sept - Dec 2009
BIOC 302
BIOL 361
BIOL 300

IHHS 200?
ENGL 348?
ENGL 359?
MICB 306?
MICB 302?

I wonder if UBC puts a cap on how many courses you can take in a semester. I can technically fit all 8 courses into one semester :) ..

Semester 2 - Feb - June 2010 Australia! :D
BIOL 302/303
BIOL 336?
Random English courses..
Random electives..

Too many choices. Thankfully registration doesn't start till July.

It's that time again

So...what do all these pictures have in common?..

My beloved beef jerkey

On sale, 3/$5.00 at London Drugs. I also have non-salted and honey dijon mustard

Lychee candy from Candyland

I love Dark Chocolate M&M's.

..I tend to eat a lot when I have any kind of final exam to study for.. Since Bio 334 is this Friday, I went and bought all these snacks for my lonesome self when I overslept past my stop today. I need to get some hardcore exercise soon. I can't help it if I'm still a fatty :'(

Oh, I also have a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies, only $2! They're delicious, full of buttery chocolately goodness.

I don't lie about my eating habits to all you doubters out there. Although below shows a typical bowl of rice that I'll eat at dinner time. Actually, this one has a bit more than usual only because there was fish tonight.

Yes, it can fit nicely into my palm, I have a small bowl. Perhaps it's my feeble attempt at trying to control my ballooning weight.

I seriously think I'll be 200 pounds by the end of summer, just don't poke my [developing] beer gut please, it's sensitive. Tear tear, cut cut.

Pot calling the kettle black

My beloved mother: "Nelson, you got a lot fatter recently."

Oh damn. They all say mothers know best and if my mom thinks I'm fat, then I do believe I am fat. This past week has been pretty uneventful but tiring. Bio334 is ending soon and I'm feeling less and less confident about the final.

I don't like translocation/inversion mutations.

It's almost starting to feel like summer. Almost.

Oh, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Watched the game in its entirety. I had about 2 heart attacks during the Wings' final couple of pushes. Matt Cooke.. you 'lucky' bastard.

Quote of the Year

We're outside for our Bio334 tutorial session today, and Justin Yang makes a comment along these lines, "It's normal today that if you take a 360 degree look around, you're bound to see someone on the verge of being obese [if not already obese]"

I looked at him funny, and then proceeded to test his theory a couple of times. I thought I had disproved it once or twice, only for Justin to spot a heavier person within our eyesight. His beady little eyes must have some sensors that are attracted to someone who suffers from overeating. And cankles.

Justin Christopher Yang - Philosopher Extraordinaire, sufferer of Cacomorphobia.

It went flat..

I think I am single-handedly responsible for flattening all the computer chairs at home over the past 5 or so years. You know the ones, the cushiony, foamy chairs?

We've went through a good ~dozen of them because of me. None of them are comfortable anymore. My ass' imprint is on most of them. I blame studying. Like what I should be doing now instead of typing this and staring out the window at the sunny day while I'm forced to be stuck indoors.

R.I.P.

Vancouver once again exhibited why I sometimes hate living here. It was drizzling in Coquitlam today in the morning, showering where I was in Vancouver, and raining in other places in the Lower Mainland. I refused to open my umbrella because if there's one thing I hate carrying around at school is a damp umbrella.

The sun comes shining through by midday and I'm glad my decision paid off, although with slightly damp acidic hair.

When I was walking into my house in the late afternoon I saw three similar worms in this situation. Poor guys, Mother Nature obviously did not like you on this day. It's not your little faults you couldn't make it back to the soil in time before Mr. Golden Sun decided to burn your moist body good bye.

I should go back to my BIOL 334 studies. I proclaimed with Derrick we're going to be man whores and "get around" to each of the different tutorials and see which one fits our needs the most. Some start at 1:30 and others at 2:30 depending on the class. Earlier, obviously better since they're 2 hours long. Time is money.

My current tutorial session is home to Keener #1 who wants her tutorials at 1:45pm because of her stomach woes. Boy #1 wants it at 2:30pm because he has a class before it. Therefore, this tutorial will remain at 2:30 according to the T.A.. T03 - You meant well but we just won't work out. I'm afraid I have to move on from you

Disconnected

I feel like I'm in a pretty bad place right now. Or a good place, depending on how you look at it.

After waking up today at 1pm, I spent the day catching up on tv shows that I have neglected for the past couple of months. Everyone knows sometimes you just need a day alone, but right now, I feel like I need a month alone from everyone and everything around me.

I don't feel like talking to anyone anymore. I don't want to leave my house. I don't really want to do .. anything. I need a month off from life.

South Beach Miami sucks with the Parents.

The title says it all. Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue provided me with a much needed dose of culture and lifestyle that is so different on this side of the continent. Outdoor restaurants, 11am Happy Hours, and the cultural makeup of South Beach left me wishing I were 21 and with friends here.

Goal: Come back here in 2 years, hopefully without a burnt and battered body from the heat and exhaustion.

South Beach, a lot busier than North Beach, which was where my resort was at. Didn't really go on the beach because I was too tired to. Plus, no tanning today because we would be travelling to the airport in the middle of the night.. without showering :\

A lot of shopping can be found on this street, similar to the Robson St. of Vancouver. There was an Urban Outfitters! I should have bought something there, but the family was going in 4 separate directions at this time so I couldn't shop properly. Plus, my luggage could not hold another shirt.

By far, the most interesting street in South Beach. Well Lincoln Road may be more, but still. Parallel to the beach, this street had a lot of restaurants and the people watching done here during my meal was priceless.


I don't know if this picture does it justice, but the meals at this one little cafe/restaurant was HUGE. If you've ever been to Joey's and had their half chicken meal, this one was twice the size. I couldn't finish it :(

Crazy street once it gets dark. Lots of places to drink at. Lots of people to stare at. A lot of high end shopping too. Too pricy for me :( And too tired to even bother going into any stores. There were plenty of Starbucks here too, sorta reminded me of back home. Except 12332% more humid. Yuck.
A very very common scene down Ocean and Lincoln. The outdoor restaurants. Many don't even have an inside seating area and everything is outdoors with maybe ~20 tables at most. During the later afternoon-early evening many restaurants are now offering 50% off their meals and drinks. A real bargain. Can get a nice meal for under $15 USD, unheard of before the recession me thinks..

Sadly, I wasn't legal and drinking with my family is too awkward, so I couldn't really take in this street to its full potential. Hopefully in a couple of years when I come back it'll be better. Hopefully. Their mojitos looked so damn good..

Travelled by car back to Orlando at around 10pm. Ate at IHOP at 2am in the company of kids coming from Prom. Annoying as hell. I forgot how "old" I am now.

Camped at the airport till 7 20am where I boarded my flight to San Fran->Vancouver.

Came back to cloudy skies and then pissed rain on me at night. I hate Vancouver sometimes. After 2 weeks of blue skies and 30 degree weather, rain and greyness do not go well.

Plus, the Canucks lost today. To say the least, I'm bummed. Pissed. Sad. Angry.

And I'm peeling from the burns. Fucking Aloe Vera does not work.

I am a beach bum.

For the past two days all I've been doing is spending time at the beach. It's accessible from our hotel and since it's still considered low season here in Miami, it's never too packed. I am a beach bum. I lie there from 11 till about 4.

No lunch, just drinks. Maybe a dip into the warm ocean, but that's it. I am a beach bum.

It's relaxing to say the least, even when my right contact slipped out today. Thankfully I had an extra pair. It was all gunky from the sunscreen that I had plastered on my face. I'm trying to tan away my burn. HAHA.

It's working!.. not really. I swear I have allergies to the sun. It doesn't even make sense that I would, but I do. Random lil bumps appear on my skin.. maybe the sun's just boiling my blood and this is what happens.

And so, my vacation is coming to an end quite quickly. I'm sort of sad that I have to get back to reality, I still haven't fully mourned over my poor marks in school. I guess I should only have myself to blame. I spent so much time and effort on Chem (it paid off) but pushed Bio and Math to the side. Math is what killed me the most. And English. Ugh. I don't think I'm going to pursue my English minor anymore. I thought my mark on my final was pretty unjustified. But, such is life. I will take one more English course in third year before I jet off to Australia and if once again my mark is low, I'll curse myself for taking electives that have left my GPA.. well yea.

At least I'm still going to make it into Cell Biology and Genetics. Hopefully.

Happy Hour's starting at the Hotel. I wish I were 21. $3 wine, beers, and maragaritas. They're pretty strict on ID even when you have parents around. Boo.

Sigh sigh. No more nice hotel room to come back to :'(. Now if only the Canucks can win their game tomorrow..

Miami is making me cry.

GPS works very well..even if it leads you on a highway that costs $15 in toll-fare. Damn American systems, I hate tolls. I hate them a lot. But I guess it's a system that works.. Got into Miami around 6:15. Detoured through Downtown Orlando, nothing there at all. Dead in terms of people, lots of banks..and clubs. Nothing special.

Miami is gorgeous. So many palm trees, sky's a lot bluer, and it's a couple of degrees cooler than Orlando. Staying at the Ocean Point Double Tree Hotel. We originally had a regular two double bed-room. Upon check in, I asked the guy if our room had a good view. His response was very mysterious, "trust me, you'll like your view. I guarantee it.".. Below are some of the pictures. My mouth literally dropped as we went in.
View from our balcony. Beach is only for the surrounding hotels/resorts to use. I hope it wont be too busy tomorrow.
I step foot into this. Ginormous. Gah. Drool.

Master bedroom. Mom + Dad will be in here. Has their own deluxe washroom. With Neutrogena products. Balling hotel..

Kitchen! I will be hitting up Walgreens to make some brekky and lunch. I refuse to pay $14 for a continental breakfast. 99 cents for a dozen eggs! What the hell, cheap as..

Large living room

Sister and I will be in this room. Each room has their own doorway out to the balcony that overlooks the ocean. So fricking sweet.

Suffice to say, we got upgraded. I think I will give that guy a hug on my way out. Or not, he might beat me up. The cookies they gave us were really good too. Oatmeal chocolate chip. mMMm. Anyways, going to go back up to jump around in my bed again. This is by far, the nicest/biggest hotel I've stayed in in my life. Well maybe the Wynn was a bit nicer and more updated, but regardless, this suite is huge. Totally did not expect this. And there are numerous walk in closets. And a washer/dryer in the room that we will be abusing.

Best of all, I get access to Versus, the American channel that will be broadcasting the Canucks game tomorrow. Finally, I get to watch a game! I've been missing them Canucks.

Oh right, had dinner here tonight. Really..really oily sauce for my linguine. But they already remade it once so I didn't want to make them remake it a third time. I work in a kitchen and if someone sent back my meal twice,... I'd be cussing the shit outta them. Heh.

I feel so poor here. Everyone has such nice cars.. everyone.

Bye bye Orlando, Hello Miami.

I finally slept in! Till 9:15am. I feel so accomplished. Finally, I get to go Miami, the relaxing and de-stressing part of my vacation. Hopefully. The sun will continue to burn away at me but I can only pray that I will have most of my worries at least die down for a little while..

Disney Day 2 was spent at Epcot!You can see that sphere like thing in the distance. It reminds me of Science World.. I'm sure most of you will agree. I kept on referring to it as Science World throughout the day too.. Got a coupla stares by people around me. The exhibits at Epcot were very reminiscent and similar to Science World too though.. I quite enjoyed it. Sadly, no one else appreciated it in my family. I wanted to play this team game where you work together to launch a space ship, seemed so cooL! But no one showed any interest.

This is the line up for taking pictures with Disney characters: Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Goofy. It took us an hour total from beginning to end. There was not a single ride at Universal or Disney that took over an hour on this trip, in terms of waiting. But taking pictures.. Shall refrain from bad words. I'm too embarrassed to show any of myself and the characters.

So, there's this World Showcase type thing at Epcot. There are many "Countries" that surround this lagoon. Some to note, Canada, Norway (hehe), Germany, Italy, France, and even China. Everyone working in those countries were actually from there. PEI boy worked the Canada store. CANUCKS! $113USD. Expensive. Sadly, I felt Canada was heavily shafted. All our place had was a dinky store that had the most stereotypical Canadian items being sold (maple syrup, raccoon hats, hockey jerseys..more maple syrup..) Some Parliamentary thing, and that was it. Other countries had really nice nooks and a collection of stores and whatnot that made it feel like you were really in the streets of say, Germany. Plus, lotsa beer around. Guess Disney didn't like Canada :(

My American heritage, shall leave it at that.

At night they have this fireworks show. Didn't get any pics of that on cell phone. There's also a fountain at Epcot that looks pretty nice at night.

So, Disney came and went pretty quickly. Finally ate a churro. Took me ages to find one.. only in Mexico-land. Mom was like, "why the hell are you eating from Mexico? Swine Flu!!"..

Chinese mothers make no sense.

Miami today. Family is packing away. Lots to carry out. I sure made a mess myself. I think I am also allergic to the sun or something. Little red spots appear in random areas..

No free internet at our new resort :( What the hell is that?! "We offer complimentary wireless internet in our lobby, but there will be a $9.99 charge if you want to use it in your room."... If only I were more computer saavy then I'm sure there's a way to hack into the lobby's wireless internet access. How does that even work.. blocking off room access..?

On a more upsetting note for myself, had a chance to be apart of Shinerama. Sadly, interviews are only being conducted today. Was really hoping I could get that job. I had applied back in late March and since they didn't contact me, I thought I wasn't even shortlisted for an interview. But, yea. Damn trip. Maybe I'll befriend some rich person and they'll offer me a job in Florida.

Heat exhaustion, sucks. Got a minor case of it yesterday. 30 degree heat + humidity = no good for me. But shh, dont' tell my parents. They just thought I was tired.

I'm fat once again! Hooha!

If anyone knows me well, they'll know that I love to eat. But I also have a terrible habit of saying I'll be full when I have three bites of anything. This trip, has changed me. I don't know if for the better or worse.. I'm thinking the latter. I was really hungry one day after a long day at Universal Studios so our family was eating at the TGIFs across the street from the hotel.. our second time there, in a row. Anyways, they're having this ridiculous cheap deal of $5 menu items and I'm talking regular full sized sandwiches, burgers and salads here. I have no idea how they're even making money considering these items are nearly 50% off from their normal price, some even more!

Anyways, I was hungry so I decided to add a piece of chicken to my chicken burger. Now, chicken breasts in the USA are oddly quite large. Bigger than the ones we use at White Spot.. To say the least, my double double chicken burger came and it was ginormous. This picture doesn't do it justice. The waitress told me everyone in the back was talking about this burger and couldn't believe that someone could finish it. Well guess what you fat Americans, this born and almost bred American finished it.. and even had dessert back at the hotel! HAHA. I'm such a pig. But I seriously ate it all.. no problem WITH the side salad that it came with (no dressing Justin). The busser also noted that he was impressed that I could finish it. And today, I had a smoked turkey leg. Two turkey legs. Doesn't sound impressive? You will soon see.. Shall post pictures of that feat another day. To all you people out there that accuse me of eating too little.. HA! I automatically turn American in more than one way when I'm down here :'(. Get me back to Canada!!!! Anyways..on to today.

Disney World!

Here you can see my loot of Aloe Vera based products that I have been stocking up on during this trip. The burn has finally decreased by one shade of tomato red to light tomato red. Still itches and prickles like crazy when I'm in the sun.. But I'll make due. Spent over $16 USD on these products. If I start peeling tomorrow before Miami.. Let's not talk about that. Just like how I won't be watching the Canucks game tomorrow because I'll be at Epcot during it. No more Nelson-curses. Each time I rush back to the hotel to watch it's during the period where the Hawks score 3 goals. Can't be a coincidence twice now right?..

But yea, today was Disney World. Woke up sorta late.. got there at around 10 30.





Boarded the Monorail (skytrain-esque) thing from the parking lot to Magic Kingdom! I was surrounded by strollers, mommies and daddies and their little kids in outfits/hats. I felt so old once again! Garrrr!. Everyone was so excited and giddy. Me? Annoyed. Heh.


First ride, Splash Mountain. Once again, I was soaked head to toe. There's this one part where the people ahead of you rush down one hill and their residual water can come pouring down on you as you go up the first hill.. if you're unlucky enough. LUCKY ME, I was sitting in the third row, the only row that got this on them. MY GOD. I swear, God wants me to get wet on all the rides possible. Oh well, it helped cool off my sunburnt back. Wet boxers aren't fun to walk around in.



Look at the sea of strollers. There were many more of these types of stroller ''parking lots". I say there are very few young parents, Disney proved me wrong. A lot of young parents. A lot.


Parade!... Nothing too too special Sorry. I'm no longer a kid. These things don't excite me.

Lalalallala... Yeah. Battery died on camera phone.. AND my regular camera. I'm a failure.

Epcot tomorrow! Hopefully more rides..because SPACE MOUNTAIN WAS/IS CLOSED..until Winter 2009. I was so upset! That was the only ride I truly wanted to experience on this trip cuz I chickened out last time around.

Sigh sigh.

Now, off to bed! But must finish my Diet Pepsi first.

Oh, I almost knocked off Winnie the Pooh's head. My bad.

I've walked too many miles.

So, Universal Studios came and went like that. Too tired to even post any pictures. Some highlights:

• Mummy Roller Coaster: SO WORTH IT. Underground pitch black roller coasters = thumbs up. Two thumbs up! Went on it three times. Twice in a row. Each time was just as good. If not, it seemed to get even better...
• I've never felt so much like a kid going on the Jimmy Neutron, Shrek 4D, and Simpsons rides. Men In Black was cool too, got to shoot aliens! Some little girl in front of me got a score of 150k on that ride, you get points for hitting your alien target with laser guns. I only got 68k. Everyone else, <21k.>
• I'm still mad about that.
• And still mad.
• Burns hurt.
• My sunglasses tan came back..
• They ran out of Churros at 5pm. Park closes at 6. I seriously walked for 10 minutes looking for one. Was at one stand, two left. Four people in front of me. Last one taken by the boy in front of me.. Curses!
• I will find my Churro tomorrow. Watch me.
• Pretty good time there. Interesting to note, LOTS of grad kids have their graduations there. Saw like hundreds of them from one? school. I felt so old. My sister, even older. She's done her undergrad this year, and she's watching little 17/18 year olds go to college.
  
• Half of them are taller, bigger, and older looking than me. I fail.

So, today was our family's "break" day in between Universal and Disneyworld. Our break consisted of a full day's of shopping. Two outlets, 8 hours later, I come back with not too many purchases. I even started buying stuff for the hell of it!..Which brings me to..

My mom. I could write a book on her quirks. She would make a good fobby mother to laugh at in movies. She wants to lose weight, pouts that there's no salad around near the hotel. So we go to the outlet, dad and I get Subway. As we sit down, I look for where she is.. and omfgareyoucrazy?! pops into my head as I see her at..


..a fast food chinese place. HOW WILL THIS WOMAN EVER LOSE WEIGHT?! Not only that, she goes "LET ME WALK FOR ANOTHER HALF HOUR" at our second outlet. GRRRR. Fine. And because of her, I am now the owner of yet another pair of jeans. FRICKING HELL. My damn need to buy something has made me made stupid purchases. Even bought a Lacoste shirt. I am ashamed. I should return all of these purchases. I think my Australia dreams have made me frugal. Too frugal.

Red Lobster for dinner. I should note waiters/waitresses at Orlando restaurants are extremely nice.. To the point where it's like I want to be their friend! They are so easy to talk to, are attentive, and aren't afraid to make a joke. The ones back home aren't all like that. I think I'll be a waiter now. I want to make people have a good day. :)

Disneyworld tomorrow. Sister is overly excited. "I will hunt down every Disney character there is".. Great. Who will be her unwilling accomplice? Me.

At least I'll get some exercise. No more flip flops! Blisters galore from the straps. Back to le Chucks.

Oh, I was Barney-hunting at Universal. I will find that murderous purple dino one day. And sack him. Nightmarish creature.

ITCHY. GRAR.

My sunburn has mutated into some red.. monster. It has now spread to my chest and back..even the upper arms! Aloe vera better help this. Hopefully, I wont be peeling. I still have Miami to get to!

Today I went to Islands of Adventures, part of the Universal Studios Complex. I took my Gravol so my sister would not bitch the shit out of me like last time when we went Six Flags.. I think I only managed to go on one ride before I felt like my guts were going to explode everywhere. I went on all the rides today!.. Minus 2 because they span. I can not for the life of me take spinny rides. Even in elementary sports days when we did relay events and we had to spin around.. I'd feel nauseous. I'm weak, I know!
Great roller coasters there. I highly recommend Dueling Dragons. Weather was nice too. Below are a select number of pictures taken from my camera phone. Sorry, too lazy to bring my camera in..View from some escalator thing..

My favourite place to go.. HAHA. It's very kid-friendly here. Rides weren't too great.
I got completely soaked, head to toe on this ride. HEAD TO FUCKING TOE + BOXERS + SOCKS + SHOES. The water fall thing you see there, there's like 3-4 of them during the ride. EACH one landed on my sister and I. I got the worst of it because she sometimes grabbed me. We had to pay $5 for this heating room thing to get somewhat dried. Then I proceeded to just sit like a loser in the sun.. It took me a good 3 hours to get somewhat dry. Was it worth it? Hell yes. Haha. I wish PNE had something like this.. Puts the log ride to SHAME.

Umm, so there's apparently some sketchy shops near our hotel. Dad was getting scammed today. I don't mean to sound racist or anything, but both times by people of Spanish, I'm assuming Mexican, descent. Typical? I suppose so. It's come to be expected in places like these, just wish they'd realize not all their hardships in life is everyone else's fault and they do not need to resort to scamming tourists to make a living. Sighs. I wish I were there to scream at them. They thought my dad was Japanese; that's a first.

Going to Universal Studios, the main part of it, tomorrow. Islands of Adventures is mostly full of rides. Black kids make me laugh. They rap, dance, sing, hoot and holler continuously. They also enunciate a lot. REST-TOUR-RUH-AUNT.

I also like them British Folk.. What I don't like, is this:

Really now, socks and sandals in 27 degree weather?.. The shame. Have you no shame?! How did his girlfriend even let him out like that? Mind you, she was pretty damn cute too. I am such a stalker. But I couldn't resist. I should start a site that allows people to post sightings of social/fashion faux-pas.

Time to eat dinner soon. Surprisingly food wasn't too too expensive there today. ~7/meal, no drink, but filled me up pretty nicely. I was expecting $7 hot dogs.

Oh, saw girl with six pack today.