Snowed in at DFW Airport

I've been to the Dallas DFW airport many times. This is the only time where I had to spend like 7 hours here. Apparently because of bad T.O weather, my flight was canceled and I had to go on the 12 o'clock flight to Toronto. In retrospect, I should've just gone back to the Park n Fly 10 minutes away, drive home, sleep, re-park, then back to the airport. Should've, could've, didn't. I slept for 3 hours on the chairs then woke up to have one of the most disgusting breakfasts ever. I thought I could cheer myself up by doing some airport shopping in LV or Gucci, but this airport has no class and does not have anything like it. So there goes that idea. Maybe the good stores are in another terminal...

From what I hear, the weather is not that bad in Toronto, maybe it's an en-route thing? Or perhaps there weren't enough people taking the 6:30am flight so they decided to consolidate - bastards. Either way, there goes 1/3 of my vacation! I should've left last night. Back to that again*sigh*. It is 10am now...2 more hours.

Southern Belles

Incredible. I have never lived in a place where women dress up to go to the grocery store. I've heard that it is difficult to make female friends here, now I know why. The women here are all in competition with each other! You cannot walk out of your apartment or house in "comfortable" clothes. People will wonder what is wrong.

I went out Saturday night, and I can't honestly say I was all "decked out", but it was decent (how does one go wrong with jeans?). I walked past the lobby where there were 3 girls waiting for their ride (or whatever), short skirts, skimpy top, high heels (alright, I know you boys are thinking that there's nothing wrong with that) ... it was COLD that night! So as I walked pass, I was going to be neighbourly and say "hi", but one of them gave me such a dirty look I got scared (well not really). So I'm thin (and she not so much), but seriously. Either that or she was giving me a look for my oh so simple outfit. Guess the yellow biker-style leather jacket isn't "in" in the South.

The outfit of the night was this chick in a SUPER short (and I mean so short you can literally see up her ass without bending over) skirt. She must have forgotten to look into a mirror. Where were her friends (at least I have that excuse...haha). Apparently I was not the only one who noticed her skanky outfit - another female, obviously not from the South by her accent, was also making the same comment to her bf as I was to my friend. So we got to chatting and I voiced my disbelief. She completely agreed and says it's difficult at first if you want to make female friends - "you can't walk out without feeling like you're competiting". We swapped contacts at the end of the night - maybe I'm on my way to making some more female friends.

I must admit though, there are a lot of pretty females here - especially blondes. People here are good looking, I guess if you're a female it's hard not to feel intimidated/insecure by those around you...I guess I'll just have to play my exotic card. Hahaha....

I've also discovered something about myself this week - I like sunflowers!

Bills Bills Bills

*Sigh* The cost of living alone. Independence is great, don't get me wrong, but as the bills come in each month you realize the cost of independence. Granted, the first month is the worst because you see all the "extras" such as set up fee, initiation fee and whatever fee they can slap on your bill...it's there. My gas bill (what I used) was shy over $30, but the entire bill came out to be $145.......right. The same story goes for my electric bill and phone bill. My water bill was surprisingly very little...$4 - thank goodness for that! I suppose $70 a month for utilities isn't bad...is it?

At the moment, I have a small pile of dishes yet to be washed, the laundry is upstairs on the fourth floor, and I should probably vacuum sometime soon. Luckily, I made enough food for lunch that I can also have it for dinner...I'm so lazy!

So it's hockey season ... eh?

Yea...hockey season has finally started and I'm stuck down south where football is life. I missed the first two Leafs regular season game, but I suppose it's ok as we lost to the Sens (arrghhh) both times. I did however manage to watch the third game against Montreal, which we won it OT. It's coz I watched ;). How did I swing that? I went onto the Sabres site and signed up for Centre Ice free trial...heh. What a great game! Our new goalie seems to be not doing that badly from that game! I then proceeded to download two P2P online streaming programs, the two best ones that I've found are Sopcast, which shows CBC's Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) and Sports NEt and TVU, which has Versus and maybe Fox Sports.

Now all I need is a t.v and a S-video cable :p

At least I can stream all the American shows online now from the networks now that I am in the States. Who needs cable anyway?! Not me. And besides, I can't even get service because I can't sign up for satellite as they won't serve me because I don't have a credit history - big surprise since I just moved here. Idiots, turning away business for that. Their loss. One less expense to worry about.

Crazy Texan Driver

Well, perhaps its inevitable that this was going to happen eventually. My baby - my car - was hit by another car.

So here I was heading to work after a retail summit, going straight on a 3 lane road when out of the blue I see a white flash out of the corner of my eye and the next thing I know, I was hit on the passenger side door. WTF.

I was driving on the left most lane. Apparently she was making a right turn - apparently a wide ass right turn - and so happened to turn right into me. Her words? "I didn't see you." I don't care if she didn't see me, why wasn't she making a right turn into her own lane? Or even to the middle? That really pissed me off.

So we pulled over, then I suggested moving to the side street so that we don't block traffic since we were on a pretty busy road - which might have been a mistake.

She was very apologetic and seemed nice. Hopefully she doesn't dispute anything - that she was completely at fault. I don't have collision (stupid apparently - but it really is old....) but I have liability, but since I wasn't liable my insurance won't have to get involved. So it sounds like she is going to pay up - but we'll see. Cross my fingers.

Estimated charges, $2500 for the job, and $1800 for the paint. Apparently that is 73% of my car's worth. Which was really...REALLY funny. I didn't think my car was worth that much. LOL.

Anyways, hopefully this will pan out alright.

Grrr...maybe I should just buy a new car.

Dear Dallas...

It's been a few weeks now since I've arrived. I've finally settled down in my new apartment - which I love btw. There are however some things that I find very annoying - aside from earlier mentioned ones like those monstrous trucks on the road threatning to run me over if I don't go faster than 70 and the smeltering heat...

I don't understand why your computer systems in some of your biggest (even some multi-national companies like banks, utility companies etc) weren't programmed to accept international credit cards. Contrary to what you may believe - not all countries have zip codes soley based on numbers. Obviously if we can't input zip codes (in Canada we call it postal codes) with letters, then of course the credit card number and zip/postal code won't match! There is no problem with my credit. Right now my electricity provider is threatning to cut my electricity because my credit card is being rejected. Although we don't have as many multi-national, multi-billion, multi-whatever companies in Canada --- we're not discrimminating and allow any type of zip/postal code to be entered, once the country has been entered - even if the country doesn't have a postal code system (i.e. Hong Kong). Which by the way, is another annoying thing. You only allow American States to be entered into the address field.

I also find it quite exhausting how your portions are so big ... basically whatever I eat for lunch I'll have for dinner and lunch the next day again. You should consider making smaller portions (and not call it the kids meal because you have to be under 14 or something) for people who just can't eat 20 pounds of food in one setting. You can help start a new trend for eating smaller portions but at more intervals (if necessary). Throw in a "health" marketing campaign to it and you'll probably double your revenues...if not more. I must say...Texans are kind of plump. I haven't tried buying clothes here yet - not really looking forward to it.

I haven't experienced any racism yet - knock on wood - or rather, I don't think I did. Although a new friend said that the waiter was being racist by asking for my I.D when I ordered a Merlot. I found it quite flattering as I am more than just a few years over the drinking age...

On a good note, I spent 30 minutes or so driving to work today during rush hour. Normally it would take about 25 minutes :p (Think driving to Downtown from Richmond Hill). Sometimes you hate all the highways, sometimes you just have to love em...I haven't tried taking the tollway during rush hour yet and not sure I want to...it costs about $0.75 cents - $1.50 to go one way from where I am. This actually brings me to another annoying point. I can't get a toll tag because I don't have a Texas driver's license! So now unless I want to get fined like crazy, I'm avoiding the tollway as much as possible...and no, there's no person there taking your money because they've recently implemented this electronic system (ZipCash), which basically requires that you have a toll tag...

All in all, it ain't so bad -- now to get hockey channels (Canadian) ... think I'll even take a dip into the pool at the apartment this weekend :).

The Lone Star

I mean that literally and figuratively.

I am alone. No friends (for now), family or dog...it's quite strange. Although it's not like I've never been in this situation before :p

I've spent a little over a week now in Dallas. I've finally found a place to live that I totally adore (although the price is a little high for Dallas - but still lower than Toronto by about $400-$500 bucks a month...which is significant if you think about it!). You can check out my new pad here -- http://www.postproperties.com/ApartmentHome/PropertyInfo.aspx?PropertyId=Post%20Worthington&Type=PAH

Nice isn't it ;) I'm moving in tomorrow! The area that I will be living in is about 20-30 minutes away from work which isn't bad. But it's worth it as the area is pretty cool with nice restaurants and pubs/bars/lounges. Not that many, but good enough. It is also only 10 minutes away from downtown clubbing district (quite small compared to Toronto - but then again, Toronto has the highest density of clubs in North America -- the things about Toronto I learn after leaving...you really do take it for granted when you're there...). I have spent days shopping and signing up for utilities, which is really really not much fun. Hopefully my furniture arrives on time. My futon will be delivered by tomorrow though so at least I can sleep on that (he guaranteed that...).

The new American recruits weren't kidding, there are a lot of trucks and SUVs in Dallas. I honestly thought I was going to get run over in my dinky Ford Focus rental (which sucks by the way so don't ever buy a Ford Focus). I am glad to be getting my car back, the shipping company will finally arrive tomorrow with my car - it will be nice to drive manual again (especially since traffic is not that bad here!) and although I will probably get lost (there are sooo many highways in Dallas), I really have had enough of the Hertz woman (aka the Neverlost lady)..."Turn right in 2 miles..." ARGH.

So...so far so good. Right now I am researching on the accounts that I will be handling - so it's sort of like school at the moment, which isn't so bad. Guess I better suck it up and make some sales. Afterall, I have to beat Chris Clark's $150K goal..........

Bombing in Hyderabad

Well, here I am sitting in my hotel room after a short night of clubbing at Speed in Chennai. The clubs usually close at about 1am, but tonight was different. Around 11:30pm, the lights went up - the party was closing down. Dozens of confused faces looked up at the DJ while we all stopped dancing to the techno-house beats. I am no longer in Bangalore where clubs close at 11:30pm. What was going on?

A quick search on my BlackBerry revealed that there were two bombs that went off in Hyderabad and so the whole country is on national alert. Two bombs went off killing several dozens of people, while 2 were diffused. Apparently there are 14 more bombs left to be diffused in the city. I can't imagine what the Muslims are going through now as I think about my Muslim friends in the States and back home in Toronto.

The Americans keep on bringing up 9/11, but stuff like that happen in this part of the world all the time. It doesn't make it "normal". The severity is the same...yet people keep on talking about 9/11 like it was yesterday and breeze through the news of bombings over in the Middle East and the like. I wonder if that can be classified as a form of terrorism? Is ignorance a form of terrorism? There's a thought.

Can life begin at 60 for India?

Amartya Sen
The writer, who received the 1998 Nobel Prize for economics, is Lamont university professor at Harvard University and former master of Trinity College, Cambridge

Published: August 13 2007

Pablo Picasso once remarked: "One starts to get young at the age of 60." Something rather like that seems to be happening to India right now, at least on the economic front. There is much more sign of life there today than could be seen when political independence came to the ancient land in 1947, when its strait-laced economy moved at a slow and imperturbable pace – the famous 3 per cent rate of growth. The feebleness of the economic pace was in sharp contrast with the speed of political change in the new republic: India became overnight the first poor country in the world to be a full-scale democracy.

Democracy has indeed flourished well in India since then, with few hiccups and with regular and orderly elections, free and flourishing media, independence of the judiciary and, no less importantly, the willingness of ruling parties to vacate office when defeated in general elections, rather than calling in the army. This would be remarkable enough for any poor country, particularly one the size of India, but it was a much harder task in a land of so many important languages (each with its long and proud history) and such diversity of distinct religions (all placed under a secular but tolerant umbrella). Secularism has been threatened from time to time by sectarian groups, but massive support for secularism across India has asserted itself repeatedly.

On the economic side, India's comparative success is rather new. Some changes came slowly and the growth rate of the economy did move up to 5 per cent a year in the 1980s, which was much faster than in the early decades of independence, not to mention during a century of colonial semi-stagnation. But the decisive moment for the radical changes that have made the Indian economy so dynamic today occurred in the early 1990s, led by reforms introduced by Manmohan Singh, then the newly appointed finance minister (he has been prime minister since 2004, after a period out of office in between). It is useful to ask, in taking a long view of the Indian economy, what changes were needed in India and what really happened over the period of gradual transformation initiated by the reforms of the early 1990s.

India faced two huge problems of governance. The first one was government over-activity in areas of work in which its presence was overbearing, but where its ability to mess things up was truly gigantic. The so-called "licence Raj" made business initiatives extremely difficult and put them at the mercy of bureaucrats (large and small), thereby powerfully stifling enterprise while nurturing corruption. The going has sometimes been rough but the direction of policy change has been unmistakable from the early 1990s onwards (if still a little slow in many assessments), endorsed even by successor governments run by other political parties.

But India also had a second problem that needed to be addressed urgently. This was the problem of government under-activity in fields in which it could achieve a great deal. There has been a sluggish response to the urgency of remedying the aston- ishingly under-funded social infra - structure – for example, the need to build many more schools, hospitals and rural medical centres – and developing a functioning system of accountability, supervision and collaboration for public services. To this can be added the neglect of physical infrastructure (power, water, roads, rail), which required both governmental and private initiatives. Large areas of what economists call "public goods" have continued to be under-emphasised.

The radical changes in the 1990s did little to remedy the second problem. If things have begun to change here too (though rather slowly), a part of the credit for ushering in that change must go to India's democratic politics. There is a growing appreciation of the electoral relevance of the unfulfilled basic needs of people (related to schools, healthcare, water supply and other facilities) and there are also pressures generated by better-informed media discussions and by the activities of civil society movements demanding elementary rights.

So where does India stand now, after all this? The economic growth rate, now about 8 per cent (sometimes touching 9 per cent), is, of course, agreeably high, but the sharing of the benefits that flow from this is still remarkably unequal. Poverty rates have fallen, but are nowhere near what could have been achieved had the distributional side got more attention. Some failures are huge, such as continuing undernourishment, particularly in children, and of course the continuing scandal of a quarter of the population (including half of all women) remaining illiterate in a country with such high-technology achievements based on excellent specialised training and practice. A democratic country can hardly want to maintain a divisiveness that makes it part California and part sub-Saharan Africa.

The unequal distribution of the benefits of economic progress is not unrelated to continuing gaps on the social side, since the human capabilities that make it easy for people to use the new economic opportunities can be vastly enlarged by enhanced public services, such as universal – and good – school education, efficient and accessible public healthcare and good epidemiology. Remedying this calls for much more economic resources and better organised public services.
This is not, however, an argument for considering economic growth to be unimportant. Indeed, quite the contrary, since economic growth also generates government resources that can be powerfully used precisely to expand public services.

Government revenue will grow very fast if it keeps pace with the rapid growth of the economy. In fact, government revenue has persistently grown faster than the growth of gross domestic product: in 2003-04, the economic growth of 6.5 per cent was exceeded by revenue growth of 9.5 per cent and in 2004-05 to 2006-07, the growth rates of 7.5 per cent, 9.0 per cent, and 9.4 per cent have been respectively bettered by the expansion rates of government revenue (in "real terms", that is, corrected for price changes) of 12.5 per cent, 9.7 per cent and 11.2 per cent. Money will continue to flow very rapidly into the government's hands and what is critically important is to use these resources intelligently where they are most needed.

When Picasso said we start to get young as we turn 60, he also expressed the bleak belief that it may be "too late" by then. But changing the neglect of public goods and public services is in no way too late for a country that has already done so much with youthful energy. With a bit more deliberation and purpose, the best may be yet to come.

Sustainability in India

Having listened to various presentations by various executives, I am getting a better sense of what the company is like. Aside from its notorious lack of timeliness the company can be pretty cool to work for. What I've noticed so far however, is the company's lack of a sense of sustainability initiatives: reducing environmental waste, implementing more efficient waste management systems etc...

But when I finally asked about sustainability initiatives and how Western companies are implementing whole systems for this concept, I realized that sustainability and the idea of sustainability in India is not a new concept, but rather a very ingrained way of how things are done. Let me explain.

Unlike Western companies who are used to the idea of waste and creating waste. Indian companies like Wipro have evolved from constraints. So the idea of environmental sustainability, recycling and so on, is more a part of their culture more than anything. Now there is more to sustainability than environmental waste management and so on - but when it comes to money and working with what you have, Indian companies have it down to an art. After taking a second look around, I see recycled paper notebooks, reusable water bottles (and not bottled water) and water fountains. But that is only on the surface of what can be seen. I will have to spend more time at the company to really know what really goes on underneath it all. In fact, the company has implemented LEAN, six sigma, CMMI etc to improve process efficiencies as Western companies are trying to cut more costs and Wipro is trying to fight against cost pressures. Especially since the Rupee is appreciating in value.

What would worry me is if the company decides to operate in a more "Western way" to cater to Western business needs. In fact, by hiring Westerners this just might happen. But then again, it might be the only way to do business in the West using Western ways in order to suceed. Time will tell.

Prologue: Dallas, India and Wipro

Dallas

So for those of you who don't know yet -- I'm moving to ....... DALLAS, TX. Yehawww....home of great Mexican food (in America) and cowboys. And very different from Toronto. Did you know that Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America (not including Mexico)? It will take some adjusting and I'm not talking about the size of Dallas. I suppose in a way it's better than Memphis, although I will miss Elvis, fried chicken and the blues.

According to people, Texas is sooo different from the rest of America that Americans from other states are aliens...Now I haven't moved to Dallas yet - I am still in India training with Wipro Technologies (that's my company: http://www.wipro.com). Don't ask how a marketing person ended up in IT.

India

I landed in Bangalore (Blore) late July, to have someone ask me if I was Hindu...which was quite interesting, but I guess the North-Eastern Indians are quite close to China. It's been about 2 weeks now and let me tell you, it was quite an adjustment. Just some quick points if you're ever in India:

Buy a Facemask: Although Bangalore is the Silicon Valley in India -- it is far from being developed. I had imagined high rise buildings, neon lights, large billboard signs etc (kind of like the big Chinese cities). The infrastructure here is horrendous - there are no highways and it took us 2 HOURS to get into the city. By the time we reached the city, I was so high on car fumes I wanted to puke.

Be Prepared for Beggars: The economy is somewhat like China - large income disparities between the rich and poor

Bring Pepto Bismol/Anti-Diarrhea pills etc: Aside from having a hole burned through my stomach with all the spices, the food here also does something funny to my system. The Indians put spices in EVERYTHING - I've eaten so much Indian food that I think there are spices in my blood stream.

Bargain - HARD!: I had someone quote me a lovely handmade wall art/carpet thing at 1100 Rupees (Rs), which is about 25USD. I bargained the price down to 600 Rs (13USD), and guess how much it really was? 200 Rs!!!!!!!!!! Fut!

It's been eventful so far. The training was kind of boring as I have learned most of it in B-school already, but oh well. Talk about knowing your audience when presenting! I did learn how rebellions start though!! -- with a handful of well spoken, good looking people!~
So I guess that's all for now...we have a whole day of Yoga and Meditation today - hard work. Looking forward to it!

Wipro

It's been about 3 weeks now, being immersed in "The Wipro Way"

• Intensity to Win
• Act with Sensitivity
• Unyielding Integrity

-- kind of a knock off of "The HP Way"...but people seem to really believe it here. I'm starting to get a better understand of the organization that I have signed up for. Honestly, I have never imagined that I would be working for an Indian IT company! Indian culture is so different...

Perception on Time

The culture here is very different and it will take some time getting used to. The obvious difference is their perception on TIME. Over the last couple of weeks, the American (and I) group has always been on time for meetings, whether it was at 8:30am or 9am or 9:30am. However, the Indian presenters were ALWAYS late, not just by 10 minutes, but by at least 20 minutes (except for the one that started at 9:30am). The most frustrating ones were when they cancel last minute when we're already at the conference room (which takes us 45 minutes to drive to sometimes), up and ready to be bombarded by PowerPoint presentations. Of course we can't be late as all these presenters are pretty high up in the organization. The afternoon presenters were on time and I will give them credit for that. Another example shared by a colleague, was when presenters would leave in the middle of a presentation to take a call that was supposed to last 10 minutes. She came back 45 minutes later. Apparently there is a saying in India, "God gave Germans the clock, and the Indians time." To us, it is a total lack of respect for our time. At least they aren't late for client meetings...I hope!

The Shake and the Funnel

It still takes getting used to...that side to side shake of the head not meaning "no" but rather "yes" or "maybe" or just plain indication that s/he is listening...I see Samir (IMBA classmate) do it, but it is strange seeing a group of them doing it when you're talking to them...Then there's the whole conception of the funnel...there is no such thing as lining up...they just gather around at the register...so even if you're there first, don't count on being served first. I don't understand how that is more efficient - or am I missing something?

Money

I don't think it's something that will happen in America. But sometimes when I'm 1 or 2 rupees short, the cashier says to bring it next time. It happens both ways though. If s/he doesn't have change, then s/he'll give it to you next time...This morning, I only had 100 Rs for a coffee that was only 22 Rs. The person didn't have change so I said I'll come back later to pay him...which I did. But surprisingly he said okay. Haha.

The Wipro culture is very laid back, easy going. Very informal...even the top levels. The coolest thing was meeting the CEO, Mr. Azim Premji. Definitely not the typical American-like CEO...soft spoken, genuine...yet still commanding...

Wipro Quo

So it seems that relocating to Connecticut may be out of the picture as I was set up to talk to a Senior Manager from Fort Lauderdale, which would not have been so bad if I were to relocate there (who doesn't want to live near the beach?) but it appears that he would like me to talk to a manager he is considering having me work under ... who so happens to be based in Memphis, Tennessee. Now I don't know much about Memphis, aside from the fact that the King was born there and the blues ruled, but I do know that moving to that part of the South is definitely not on my top list of places to relocate to.

So it appears that I have a dilemma, here I said I was flexible and adaptable in regards to relocation, so I must have to come up with a good reason why Memphis is at the bottom of my places to move to list and that I absolutely cannot live there - which is certain, as I would rather reject the job than accept it if it were to be in Memphis. So going through my list of reasons that would not convey that I am inflexible and unadaptable, I finally stumbled on some concrete "I don't want to move to Memphis" research that bypasses all others. Memphis is the second most dangerous metropolitan city in the US, right after - yep, you got it - Detroit. I think that is substantial enough. Me, a lone female, Asian (the lack of cultural diversity is not something to brag about), and miles from anyone that I know - the attraction and the safety of the city are definitely big minuses. How can I be productive in a city that I cannot live in and feel uncomfortable in? Especially after having lived in Toronto for all my life? If Wipro feels that this shows that I am not flexible and adaptable, well then I guess it is not the company that I would like to work for and it is better that we part ways now before I get sucked into the world of IT. One would think that a company of Wipro's size would be able to find a place where it would be mutually satisfactory - does not have to be my top three places to live, but the bottom 3? I am not looking for a place exactly like Toronto, but neither am I looking to be mugged, raped, shot or killed. Granted, that may be a big generalization, but when the US average for crimes is at 345 and Memphis more than doubles the average - at 937 - it's something to be concerned about. No income tax and low cost of living are attractive, but not enough to persuade me to start a life in Memphis. At least in Detroit, they have great sports teams - in Memphis -- the what? Nashville Predators? No thanks.

...update

So much have happened...

1. Raptors didn't make it pass the first round - but I thoroughly enjoyed the first two games. Whoever was in charge of the 'red sea' marketing for the Raps should get a spankin since red is what the Nets wore to the ACC...so it seemed like we were cheering for them..........not good. They should be pretty good next year...

2. Suns didn't make it either, so that officially ended my basketball season. Nash played amazing, but there is only so much one man can do. He had an accident and started bleeding and didn't really make it back for the rest of the 4th period since the trainer couldn't stop the bleeding. At the end of the game, one of the commentators (I think it was SportsNet) said something to the point that "there must have been a woman in the stands with a sewing kit to help patch Nash up and stop the bleeding." EXCUSE me -- did we just take a step back from the 21st century?!. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't carry sewing kits with me in my purse. Perhaps a MAN carried one. Jackass. Anyhow, and another incident with the Suns -- 2 players got suspended (Stoddemire and Diaw) and the Organization (or whoever) said "It's not about being fair, it's about what is correct." I thought the point of having a rule or a law is to ensure fairness. I guess what is right may not be fair -- so what's the point of the law/rule?

3. So I got a job in the States...it's yet to be decided where, but now I have to understand all this mumbo jumbo about declaring non-residency, the US-Can treaty tax and residency exemptions, how much tax should be paid, what exemptions I'm qualified for. So far I have spoken to a manager in Connecticut (3 and 5 per cent state tax) and will be speaking to another manager based in Florida (no State tax!) according to his area code, which I looked up. Seems to be in Fort Lauderdale. Amazing, how I said that I wanted to work in the States, be relocated somewhere warm...it might actually come true! And with the salary that I aimed for! It is much cheaper to live in FL than CT - it seems like I can get a pretty amazing 2 bdrm place in FL for the price of a studio in CT!! Still have to work things out with the bf though. But perhaps he'll feel better about FL than CT...better golf courses...lol.

4. I'm going to Varadero, Cuba!!! Sun, fun, beach...wowowowow. I've never been before and I was told that I should bring stuff for the people there since they are really poor and things are really expensive there...so I will bring markers, crayons, coloured pencils and the like as well as soap and toothpaste. I can finally get rid of all the colouring stuff!

5. Corey went to his first dog park!! Here are the pictures :p

Corey, sniffing out the place...

Corey...checking things out...

Corey, making new friends -- sniffing Potroast...yes, that is his name...and that is a 5 month old Irish Setter.

Metal Sound

So...there was metal sound coming from my car...*sigh*. I finally figured out what it was...here's a picture. So far I don't know which the car is giving me more of...pleasure or headaches.

What does this light mean...

I can't figure out what this means on the car....keeps flashing once then goes off, so I can't even take a picture of it...it SHOULD look like that...from what I can remember.

Spoolsv.exe

So here I am in class, falling asleep since I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. I am resorted to browsing online since I really didn't care about discussing the Dell case.

All of a sudden my computer stops. I reboot it 4 times yet it takes forever for it to load up. I managed to get into Task Manager when I realized that spoolsv.exe is taking up 99% of the CPU. I end it and my programs start loading. I went into Control Panel to access my printers and realized there are 4 print jobs waiting to be printed -- which was weird since it wasn't me who wanted to print, it said "Guest". I deleted the print jobs, then went into their properties to change the share function so that my printers were no longer being shared. Now spoolsv.exe is down to 00%! and my system is back to "normal." Drove me crazy for about an hour :p

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Man...it's been so busy lately with so many assignments due. This was a week of relaxation and I spent it sending out resumes, watching Desperate Housewives and sleeping. Not that that was bad...I definitely FEEL better...hopefully all the wrinkles that were starting to build up will go away...hehe.

Reading Week

Reading week has come and gone *sniff*. Although I did spend most of it in Montreal doing a group project. Spent the first day skiing at Tremblant's moguls --- well, to ME they were moguls! The first two runs were on greens where I tried to get back into the hang of skiing (it's been over three years since I last strapped on skiis). Then it was blues. Man --- they were like blacks at Blue Mountain! I damn well nearly killed myself 12 times (that's how many times I fell during my 4 runs at blues). There was one hill I can't seem to go down without killing myself. I also accidentally went on a black because I didn't see the sign...that was alright though, it was near the bottom so it wasn't like I had to ski 10 minutes down a black (thank goodness).

Then --- it was the last run. I was thinking I'll just go on the green and take it easy (or not ski the last run at all because I was tired and my arms and butt were hurting), but noooo, I wanted to get my money's worth so down the blue I went racing. Really, I went super fast down the slope because my thought was, the faster I get down, the faster I can go home and take a nice long hot shower...I was doing pretty well until I crashed into someone (ouch). In fact, it wasn't just any crash, I hit him (thank goodness it wasn't a kid) while he was in mid-air doing a jump (which I didn't see because I was anticipating him to go left in which case I was going to pass him on his right). So of course, he jumped straight and then BAM - down we both went. My head smashed into his leg (or something hard cause my head has a bump), my hat, goggles, skis and poles flew off as I tumbled in the slow, it must have been a hard fall since the previous falls I was able to keep my hat and goggles and poles. Don't remember much but when I finally stopped rolling, there was a second guy with his snowboard asking me if I was alright and how many fingers he was holding up. I guess they really do ask these questions! I told them I was fine...then the guy whom I crashed into asked me if I was going for a jump as well...as if. I apologized for ruining his jump all was alright. Andrew showed up eventually to see me sprawled on the snow. He didn't see my crash, which was good? LOL.

I skied down to the bottom with one more fall (at the same usual spot dammit!). I limped back to the ski rental place to change. My thumb was bruised and swollen, and I thought about putting ice on it, but it was so cold outside I don't think it would have made a difference! We finally made it back to Mike's place (Andrew's friend) and I took a nice hot shower. My poor body...I think I will stick to the Blues (maybe even some of the blacks) at Blue Mountain from now on....

Auberge du Pommier

Auberge du Pommier
Yonge and York Mills
The complete package: Romance, scrumptious food, great service...

It's great to know that you don't have to drive all the way downtown to find a romantic restaurant with amazing food. This French restaurant exceeded every expectation and was a fantastic dining experience.

The decor was classically simplistic. Two main rooms and one private dining room. The two fire places gave the rooms a 'warm' homey feel. The walls were not decorated much with paintings, but rather with small little wall lamps that gave the restaurant a rather nice ambiance. One thing I would recommend however is for the restaurant to paint its ceilings...wouldn't want chippings to fall into my food...

We had arrived a little earlier to grab a couple of drinks at the bar. FYI, they make AMAZING apple martinis!! I really liked how they carved little apples out and put them on the stir stick, really nice touch. Compliments to them!

We were then shown to our table by the corner of the restaurant. Our table was by the window looking out into the terrace, it was nice, but a bit chilly. The manager gave us complimentary sparkling rose wine (it was my birthday...it also helped that the bf was consulting for the O&B chain!). For appetizers, we had the escargots and wild mushrooms wrapped in a cabbage leaf and foie gras terrine. The foie gras terrine was the best that I have ever had and I would go back just for that! It wasn't on the regular menu but rather the tasting menu (but you can order it separately - don't know how long the same tasting menu will be there though). I really don't know how to describe it but imagine a creamy foie gras ice-cream...smooth. The escargots were good too (below)!

Then the server brought us two Cappuccino de Truffle appetizers, compliments of the chef! This was a pureed wild mushrooms soup presented in a cappuccino glass. Very very tasty, in fact I was deciding on that and the foie gras, so now I got both. But this was very filling. Everything was so rich. I couldn't finish it so I gave it to the bf.

Our main was the Homage Glacage - butter poached lobster with citrus salad. By that time, I was pretty stuffed and barely finished it. In fact, I had to pass some over to the bf. The salad added a nice touch and helped balance out the richness of the dish (they gave us citrus flavoured ice earlier to clean the palate before the main) because of the citrus and terragon mousseline sauce.
It was very sad...I couldn't have dessert because I was so full!!! I was in pain or else I would have had something! But the restaurant was so great that they brought out two bite sized desserts (size of my thumb) with "Happy Birthday" written on the plate.

I have to say that Auberge is the BEST restaurant that I have been to so far. Special treatment or not, this restaurant deserves to win "most romantic" restaurant in Toronto (and it has!). I will have to make a reservation to go back and have one of their desserts...and try out other drinks...

Winterlicious - Pangaea

Ah, another treat for myself. This is definitely the last Winterlicious this year - I'm going broke. I went to Pangaea with a friend last Sunday (okay so I'm retracting a little)...but I've been busy with the car trouble.

I thought Pangaea was a very interesting name, so I looked it up: Pangaea or Pangea (derived from Παγγαία, Greek meaning 'all earth') is the name given to the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the process of plate tectonics separated each of the component continents into their current configuration. ~Wiki

Pangaea
1221 Bay Street
"An unpretentious charming little place...in Yorkville!"

True to its name, one will find Pangaea to be a very natural looking place. Its decor is simplistic with dark wooden chairs and soft coloured walls that seems to be striving to bring out the earth's elements. What I really liked about the restaurant was the down-to-earth service (and we had a really fun and easy-going waiter)! Notorious for its desserts, I was anxious to find out whether Pangaea can live up to this reputation. Guess I will find out after the entree and main!

For the entree, I had a very delicious Pear and Endive Salad. If you've never had a cooked (roasted) pear before you should definitely try it! Coupled with the pear were Stilton cheese (mmm, cheese...), watercress and mustard dressing. The pear was sweet and succulent (yes, even when roasted, does that sound strange?) and makes me start eating more fruit (I'm not really a fruit person). Although I have to say, the best cooked/roasted pear that I've ever had was at a little restaurant named Verona (on King St) but this was pretty close.

My friend had the Lobster bisque soup - I guess it must have been really good because he scooped everything out of that plate!

For mains, I opted for the Ocean Trout since I felt like I've been eating too much red meat lately (steak, grilled meat, lamb shank...). I'm not a fish person but I didn't feel like eating Sweet breads as a main...my friend ordered the Grilled Lamb Chop. For wines, he ordered the Australian Shiraz and I ordered a Niagra Sauvignon - it's also been a long time since I've had white wine. This night is a night of eating food that I'm not a fan of it seems!

The Ocean Trout was surprisingly good, although I found it a little bland, but Pangaea is also known to use very natural ingredients and aims at retaining its 'true' taste.' Since I wasn't a fish person, I would have preferred a slice of lime. If I had to compare it with other fish, it was 100 times better than the salmon that I had at Far Niente (I will never go back there), which was dry and seemed like it came out of a Hi-liner box (no offense to HL). The trout was presented on a bunch of lentils...I ate some of it, but I don't like lentils, or any sort of beans except maybe refried beans (lol). Fine onion rings were added on top of the trout.

Don't know how the lamb tasted, but again, my friend seemed like he enjoyed it. He enjoyed it all except the lingot beans. He hates beans and there were a lot of it!

Finally, it was dessert time and according to my friend, he's not a dessert person (...!). So, we got the Passionfruit pot de creme and the Ginger cake - what can I say, it lived up to its reputation. I especially enjoyed the passionfruit pot, but the maple candied pecans that came with the ginger cake was mmmmm....good! This was definitely a pleasant fine dining experience! Will have to come back for sure!

So that's all for Winterlicious...next round would be Summerlicious....hehe.