Meteor Garden

The plasma TV came yesterday. Daddy and JR were so excited they had it set up right away in the living room. They moved the old one to my room so I now have my own TV but I don’t have anything to hold it yet so it’s just on my floor. I don’t really watch a lot of TV… I love movies though. While dad and JR were in the living room moving stuff around and setting the cables up, I decided to look for my VCD collection which I had brought from the Philippines. I was in the mood to watch a movie. I was actually able to find my F4 vcds!! I was so happy! I’d totally forgotten about them. I have the biggest crush on Jerry Yan from watching Meteor Garden years ago. I loved that show. I actually find it silly that I got caught up in it when it wasn’t really the type of show I would normally watch.

It was such a hit mostly to female fans. I loved it because it was different from all other programs on TV. During that time, TV shows were mostly either soap operas or talk shows. Meteor Graden was in some sense a soap opera but without the heavy drama. I liked it because it was funny (in some ways silly but cute) and at the same time it was a love story between a rich guy and a poor girl. It begins with Shan Cai enrolling in a prestigous high school and she ends up getting into an argument with Dao Ming Si who is the leader of a group called F4. F4 is comprised of 4 guys who are the sons of the 4 richest and most powerful families in Taiwan. Everyone but Shan Cai is afraid of Dao Ming Si and Dao Ming Si does his best to bring her down (she gets teased, bullied and she looses her scooter too. While she was being bullied, Hua Ze Lei – another F4 member – comes to her rescue and she falls for him.) Instead of relenting, Shan Cai gets back at Dao Ming Si by challenging him to do his worst. This ticks him off but at the same time it surprises him since no one has ever dared to stand up to him. He ends up falling in love with her and tries to win her over. I love the show because he tries so hard to win her heart and at the same time copes with the fact that she’s fallen for his best friend Hua Ze Lei. Just the entire thing touches your heart but at the same time makes you laugh. Here are some of his attempts to win her over:

Attempt #1: Dao Ming Si has Shan Cai kidnapped and brought to his home. She is frightened and confused because she doesn’t know where she is, she gets a makeover and she gets all dressed up then left in a big room by herself. Enter Dao Ming Si (Shan Cai gets even more confused as to what the hell he’s doing there) and he then tells her that she’s in his house (this, by the way starts to piss her off) and he tells her he’s fallen for her. Shan Cai goes nuts and starts yelling at him and he yells back at her telling her if she agrees to be his girlfriend she has access to the spa as much as she wants and he will give her a credit card that she can use for shopping. He also offers her a car complete with a chauffer so she can go around in comfort. Instead of being impressed, Shan Cai gets insulted because she feels that Dao Ming Si thinks she can be bought. Dao Ming Si in turn gets upset because he’s never been turned down before and thinks she’s being ungrateful (this is pretty funny especially when you see the look on Dao Ming Si’s face… he obviously has no idea what he’s doing).

Attempt #2: Shan Cai calls Dao Ming Si insensitive so he buys all these personality help books and gets his butler to do a personality test on him (his answers are funny and self-centered) and of course he fails the test and finds out he in facts falls under the category “insensitive”) The book provides several tips on how to improve himself with one ecouraging him to try to be cute and sweet. So he comes to school the following day wearing a tight yellow shirt with a picture of Astroboy in front (LOL). The rest of F4 laughs at him and even Shan Cai wonders why he is wearing it.

Attempt #3: Shan Cai gets bullied in a baseball field and Dao Ming Si comes to her rescue. He gets hurt in the process and she escorts him back to his house and helps him treat his wounds (this was pretty sweet by the way).

The story basically follows how they work out their differences and you can see Dao Ming Si’s personality gradually improving and how Shan Cai slowly gets to know his good side. Of course they come across problems caused by their differences in social status such as Dao Ming Si’s mom trying to wed him to a rich girl and disapproving of his relationship with Shan Cai.

I think girls, like me, loved the show not only because each member of the F4 was georgeous but because we loved the idea that there is a guy out there like Dao Ming Si who is romantic, who will love us and be there to catch us everytime we fall. What I loved most about Dao Ming Si’s character was the fact that he was willing to do his best for her, he’s status and reputation only came second, and he knew what he wanted and did whatever he could to show her how much he loved her. I loved seeing Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai’s character grow together.

It’s been years since I watched it. Meteor Garden 2 came out a few months after Meteor Garden 1 ended and like the first, I watched all its episodes. I own the entire series and I even own the soundtrack. Even though it’s been awhile since I saw it, I will always love that show.

passing time... =)

After several days of rain we finally had the chance to see a bit of sun today. The forecast said we can still expect some rainfall in the course of the week but right now I’m just enjoying it. Back in the Philippines I took for granted the fact that we lived in a tropical country where the sun was out all through out the year except for those rainy days. When I moved to Canada, I suddenly missed the climate back home. How I sometimes wish Canada was a tropical country. Whenever the sun is out, everybody just seems to bask in it. I, for one, love the feel of warmth on my skin.

I heard the managers will be taking a vacation soon…one after the other. I’m suddenly thinking of going on a vacation too. I don’t plan to go anywhere this year but it would certainly be nice to get some time off work. I’m just having second thoughts since I haven’t been with the company for a year and I don’t know if I’ll qualify for one yet. Atleast a week off work would be nice.

Oh no, I’m beginning to feel sleepy… the effects of the coffee I took this morning are starting to wear out. Surprisingly I wasn’t sleepy at all this morning. I was actually trying to take a nap on the train to work but to no avail. I took longer than needed this morning getting ready for work because I couldn’t decide what to wear. I hate it when that happens but it happens to me all the time. Typical girl eh? lolz…

I paid all my bills y’day which always leaves me feeling like I don’t have any money left although I think I have enough until the next pay check. Atleast I know I have a savings account (thanks to jerry who encouraged me to have one set up – he knows my inability to stop shopping). I’m a bit bummed out since I know I can’t really afford to shop so much in the next few weeks but I’m good. I already have enough. I just have to avoid going to the malls so much.

I have been trying to encourage JR and Miguel to go to the gym to work out. I think it would be good for them. I was thinking of going myself. I would prefer swimming though. Unfortunately we don’t have an indoor pool in the condo so we can’t really swim unless it’s summer. We only have an outdoor pool.

Ugh…3 more hours to go till 5 pm…eck!

The Da Vinci Code

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning and I’m sitting at my desk at work trying to find something to do. I have just been informed I can’t go into the database I was going to work on since it is currently causing network problems. That’s just great…that means I can’t do work and it’s not even 10am yet. Bummer…

I was hoping it wouldn’t rain today since it didn’t rain y’day eventhough the forecast said we were expecting some rain. I actually wore summer clothes today in the hopes maybe the rain would avoid us. So much for hoping…atleast it isn’t raining hard yet. I brought an umbrella with me anwyays. Oh I hope it doesn’t ruin the sandals I wore today. They’re my fave and I’d be bummed out if they got ruined. I had comforted myself in the though that if it did get ruined, I would just buy new ones.

Someone needs to vacuum here around the office. It’s kinda getting uncomfortable and Mark’s allergies aren’t getting any better. He started bringing a can of Lysol with him to work which I thought was kinda funny. The other day he was cleaning his desk like crazy and he even has a hand sanitizer. He likes to call me shorty…his way of teasing me since I’m vertically challenged although I would have preferred the term “petite”. Lolz! Jerry says I should take it as a compliment because shorty could also mean honey or baby… I don’t think that’s what Mark means but what the heck…

I was reading the Metro this morning on the way to work and there was one article about the Da Vinci Code. In the article it said the book was not one that could be classified as a good novel but surprisingly sold over 40 million copies. I, for one, am not familiar with the standards by which a book could be measured against in order for it to be called a work of art or a bad book. I thought the Da Vinci Code was a really good book and so did everyone I know who’s read it so far. It suddenly made me curious as to how authors or book critics decide whether a book was good or bad. I think I need some more research on that. The article said that one of the reasons why it sold was due to the fact that aside from entertaining audiences, it also offered lessons on art and a bit of history. I think that article meant that the book educated people to a certain degree and everyone knows the mind loves to absorb information. The article also said that it offered an alternate belief to Christianity and the church and that it offered a different scenario than the one the church paints. It depicted Jesus as a husband to Mary Magdalene and the possibility of having offsprings that live among us and the church as murderous. I don’t know about that. Although it is certainly an entertaining book, I still believe in the teachings of the church. I read in another article the other day about an interview with Ian Mckellen (I am not sure about the name…lolz) but he was asked what he thought made the book so interesting to people and he said that Dan Brown wrote about something that has long been a question to us…”What is the Holy Grail?”. He mentioned how people would sit through an hour and half long program on Discovery Channel about the Holy Grail eventhough they know they wouldn’t get an answer at the end of the show (I had to laugh at this when I read it because I am one of those people… I even sat through one of the programs in Discovery Channel about UFOs). He said one of the reasons people love the book was because he took you through art and history and made you believe in a story that gave you an explanation about what the Holy Grail is and he made it so believable that if he had said it outright from the beginning, you would have said it was “rubbish”. I agree.

I think just because you read something doesn’t mean you necessarily believe in it.

on the subject of cooking...

Friday (finally!) and I’m off to the watch MI 3 tonight with Jerry =)

It’s almost noon and I’m on a 45 minute break from a training session. My boss had decided that I should probably handle all training for this company so I am learning the other system from the tech manager. I kind of like this other system better than the one I am currently assigned to because I think it is more intuitive, easier to use and in a sense built to be more logical. In any case, it is still training and being a trainer can be draining and occasionally sucks. I wasn’t even hired to be a trainer but it is somethig that was designated to me as part of my job (-sigh-) since one trainer quit 2 weeks after I started and another was let go.

Moving on, the birthday dinner we had last night for lola was good. She prepared so much food and being the excellent cook that she is, you can’t help but eat a portion of everything. Tito had bought a birthday cake for her as well from a Filipino bakery and it was good too. Unfortunately we didn’t have any birthday candles but we still sang happy birthday for her and she pretended to blow out candles afterwards. I remember when we were still young and back when we all lived in the Philippines, she would bake a cake for every birthday celebrant. My family lived in a different city and we lived about an hour away but she would bake a cake and have the maid deliver it to us. I remember she would call my mom a few days before and ask me what cake I preferred. I loved it when she made sansrival. It’s the best! (-sigh-)

Here is a brief list of the food that she makes that I like:

· Cakes
· Embutido
· Fruit salad
· Garden salad
· Turbo-broiled chicken
· Soups
· Arozcaldo
· Pansit
· Kare-kare

And a whole lot more! Too bad I didn’t inherit her love of cooking. Sadly, I have always been afraid of getting burned while cooking. I don’t like it when hot oil starts flying everywhere. I do cook but very seldom and I can’t really say how well I cook. I do help out once in awhile when I’m home though. Growing up, I’ve never really had the need to cook since we had a maid when we were still living in the Philippines and when we moved here to Canada, we stayed with lola and tito for over a year so lola did all the cooking. Since we no longer live with lola and tito, mama does the cooking since she’s home well before me. I know I should really get into it. I think I need to be exposed more into the world of cooking. Jerry cooks better than I do! He cooks all the time and he actually experiments and his food is amazing! It’s embarassing enough that my mom asked him to teach me some of his cooking skills. Lolz!

I miss restaurants and fast food places in the Philippines…going to these places will definitely be on my agenda when I do get the chance to visit. =)

Speaking of cellphones

I am so bored. It’s one of those days where it feels like all you want to do is sleep. Everybody in the office is sleepy and the phones haven’t been ringing too much. James actually fell asleep already (unless I am mistaken and he is just closing his eyes for along period of time), Bren and I are working and browsing the internet at the same time (as it is already obvious, I’m blogging), Mark is working and chatting on MSN, Steve is doing invoices behind me while getting up once in awhile to do something else. Probably going over to the sales dept to see what they’re up to. The managers have gone out for lunch that streched for hours…right. On one side it’s good because we’re not too busy but on the other hand it makes time go by so slow.

I brought a magazine with me but I think it is inappropriate to read it while at work so I might just read it on the subway. I have a habit of sleeping on the way to work. There’s nothing to see outside since the train is underground. I love the view though when it crosses the bridge between Broadview and Castle Frank station and the view from Warden until it goes inside the tunnel at Victoria Park. The view is great especially during the summer when the plants are in bloom. Sadly, the train is only outside the tunnel for a few minutes. The one thing that bugs me is the fact that there is no reception on the subway. I don’t know why they don’t try and figure out a solution. SM malls in the Philippines used to have a problem with reception on the basement level. I remember a time when we would go to Southmall and when you go to the basement level you couldn’t use your cellphone. They were able to fix that and I was thinking that they could probably use the same technology for subway systems. The good side of it though is that you don’t get those annoying people that talk so loud on their phones. It pisses me off when I’m on the bus and everything’s quiet and someone’s talking so loud on the phone and everybody on the bus can hear what he/she is saying. It’s even worse when they start cursing on the phone. Hello?! You are on a phone call and not on a football field. People on the bus don’t need to hear every word you utter on the phone and please do not curse as if the world is ending. I, for one, do not want to hear you yell “well f*ck him, f*ck her and to hell with them.. I don’t f*cking care…” Spare us the gory details of your everyday life. Even if it were as interesting as a television show, try to keep it between you and the other person on the line. And even if you speak a language that most people will not understand, still keep it low. Otherwise, you are creating unnecessary noice. Be considerate of other people.

Top 50 Inventions of our Time

My mom brought home a list of the top 50 inventions of our time last night and I was curious as to what inventions made the list. She said she got it from one of the website she was browsing. Just thought I’d share it:

· TV Remote Control
· Microwave Oven
· Polio Vaccine
· Three-point seatbelt
· Birth-control Pill
· Jet Airliner
· Laser Beam
· Super Glue
· Float Glass
· Cordless Tools
· Industrial Robot
· Communications Satellite
· Video Games
· LED
· Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
· Music Synthesizer
· High-Yield Rice
· Smoke Detector
· Charge-coupled Device
· Digital Music
· Waffle-sole Running Shoes
· Computer Mouse
· Automated Teller Machine
· Cellphone
· In-vitro Fertilization
· Sony Walkman
· Electronic Ignition
· MRI
· GPS
· Genetic Engineering
· Scanning Tunneling Microscope
· DNA Fingerprinting
· Polymerase Chain Reaction
· Prozac
· Genetic Sequencing
· MP3 Player
· IEEE 802.16
· Fuel Cell Vehicle
· Hybrid-Electric Car
· Integrated Circuit
· ARPANET
· Personal Computer
· VELCRO
· Carbon-fiber Composites
· Kevlar
· Fiberoptic
· Pacemaker
· Coronary Bypass Surgery
· HIV Protease Inhibitors
· World Wide Web

If you think about it, it is quite amazing what human beings are capable of creating. I can only imagine how people of older times would react to things that are common to us such as cellphones, computers, microwave ovens, TV, mp3 players, video games, etc. People who lived well before our time would die of shock if they were to see the world today. Sometimes I think to myself I would be shocked and confused too if I were to go to the future and see what sort of gadgets would have come to exist at that point in time. I heard that somewhere they were able to invent a flying train. It works by using similar charges. The bottom of the train and tracks either have negative or positive electrons (I’m not entirely sure as this is purely based on hearsay) and the tracks are also made of the same kind of electrons. Similar to how magnets work, opposites attract and like ones repel. So if both the bottom of the train and the tracks are composed of positive charges, it would cause them to repel each other which in turn would cause the train to “float”. Again, this all based on hearsay and I haven’t done any research on it so I am not 100% sure about this story although it is quite interesting if you think about it.

Shoot for the Moon

22 Degrees today!! I wore jeans, black sandals and a light top to work. This is good weather for me, not cold and not too warm. =) I know, I talk about the warm weather too much…don’t worry I’ll get over it at some point.

I overslept this morning but thankfully enough I was able to catch the bus and was able to get to work on time. Tan was on the train with me so I wasn’t too worried. Atleast if I ended up being late for work, I’m not the only one. LOL…

Getting into something totally unrelated to the above…I was just thinking this morning how some people have so much talent, so much capability, so many opportunities and yet they let it slip away. I think that as long as you are breathing and are still able, you should make the most of everything. Of course as we all know life isn’t easy and yeah there are some pretty sh*tty points but we could all atleast try and look at the bright side or continue to hope and work for something better. Everybody gets disappointed, everybody falls once in awhile, and yes everybody gets discouraged but that shouldn’t stop one from trying. As the saying goes, “Shoot for the moon and if you fall, atleast you land among the stars.” (or something like it…I can’t quite remember the exact words) There is a picture behind me in the office that says, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. I love that quote and I believe in it. I personally believe that everything in life is about taking chances and making the best out of every situation. Hey I’m not telling you to jump over the bridge without using your head. But try to give everything that matters a shot. If you know it is something that will be good for you, for the people you love, if it something uplifting, something worthwile and something that you know will make you happy, go for it. If it doesn’t work out atleast someday you can be proud that you’ve given it your best. If it doesn’t work then maybe it just wasn’t meant for you. Maybe there’s something better out there for you. You just have to keep going until you get there.

I’ve had instances in my life when I took risks and got burnt. But I don’t regret it because I know I gave it my best. Try not to be bitter about the things that hurt or disappoint you (I know I know it’s hard! Trust me it isn’t easy for me either) but I find that in time you will cope and you will learn to adjust but only if you are willing to let go of the past. It’s a process that doesn’t happen overnight but you’ll get there eventually. So one venture didn’t work out but that doesn’t mean you have to stop there. There is a saying “There are other fish in the sea”. This doesn’t only apply to people, it also applies to other opportunities in life. One dream that doesn’t come true shouldn’t stop you from having other dreams. When God closes a door, He opens a window. Learn to look at the window. There’s no point lingering on that closed door.

Life is hard but it is also beautiful. You only live once, live it to the fullest.

Putting the pieces together

Forecast: a high of 21 and a low of 7 degrees (yey!!)

The first real warm weather in months! I love mid-spring…the anticipation of summer, shopping for summer clothes, cute summer shoes, flip flops, swimsuits, sunglasses and days filled with warmth!! What can I say? I grew up in warm weather! =)

It’s finally warm enough to wear open-toed shoes and the aircondition is running today. Warm enough to run airconditioning! I know, I know, I can’t get over it. In a country where it is cold most of the time, why wouldn’t one celebrate when there’s warm weather, right?

So, here’s the dilemma: I am becoming obsessed with shopping. I honestly find it hard to go inside a mall and come out without buying anything.
Solution: signed myself up for a savings account with another financial institution. Put money in there and forget I even have that money. In short, put it in the savings account and never ever touch it again except of course when needed.

Teeny Problem: I had to get a credit card to build credit history. Everyone knows credit cards can be dangerous especially for shopaholics like me (atleast my credit limit isn’t too high). It’s also good I don’t like using credit cards. I prefer using my debit card. I’d rather spend money I have than use credit.
Benefit: Good credit history goes a long way.

I saw a puzzle in our living room the other day while I was talking to my dad. We decided to try and put it together. It was a 1000 pieces and I spent hours on it with JR. It was freakin’ hard! I hadv’t pieced a puzzle for years. The last time I remember working on a jigsaw puzzle was the time somebody gave Juhl a huge jigsaw puzzle as a present. I remember going over to his place after class to work on a project and the first thing we would do is sit and try to put the puzzle together. We really got obsessed on that thing! Juhl would of course let us but I also remember him saying, “susme! Andito tayo para gumawa ng project…anu ba yan?!” and then he would laugh. He has such an infectious laugh…one that never fails to make me laugh or smile. We did eventually finish the puzzle, mostly him working on it. I remember him saying he would have it framed afterwards just because it took so much work. Thinking of it now, I don’t think he had it framed. Sometimes I am amazed at the things I remember…it’s true that the things that you mostly remember are the small things that meant a lot…the things that made you happy. Putting that puzzle together is just one of the many fond memories I have of my friends.

JR and I are still working on that puzzle I found in the living room. We spent hours on it but only managed to put together one line on top. Lolz!

Goodbye Water Park...

I’m sleepy once again… I’m such a sleepyhead… But then again, I slept late last night. It doesn’t help that weather today is so dreary too.

It’s been crazy at work today. Not crazy busy but rather crazy in the sense that a lot of things were going wacko! We were running virus scans on every machine and trying to figure out what was causing a traffic jam in our network. That didn’t help. The techs have found a machine that had a virus, cleaned it but we continue to have network problems. For some reason, something is jamming our networks at certain periods of the day. The techs can only guess as to what might be causing it. Hacker maybe? A network cable that needs to be replaced? A defective router? Is it the server? Who knows?! It’s like a freaking seesaw… one minute it’s working, the next minute it’s down.

The thing is, when the network’s down and there’s no internet, I can’t do anything. So I sit here, waiting for it to go back up.

JR mentioned the other day that Splash Island had already closed down. I felt so sad… I liked that place. True, it was pretty expensive but it was a water park I certainly enjoyed going to. I remember that last summer I spent in the Philippines, my friends and I had spent a day there and we had so much fun. I don’t know why they closed down…they were probably not making money. Maybe they hiked their prices due to the economic problems and people couldn’t afford to go there anymore. It’s just sad that I won’t be able to go there anymore. I’m proud to say I have tried all of their slides even the really scary ones. I remember when it opened, our parents took us there early in the morning but it was closed for maintenance and JR felt so disappointed that he had tears in his eyes. The next time we went there the parking lot was already full and we couldn’t find a space so our parents decided we should just go home and try again another time. This time I was the one who had tears in my eyes. The third time, we finally got to actually go in. It’s funny too that in that same day, someone stole my 400-peso slippers…bummer.