Hallowe'en 2013

Woke up relatively early since my sinuses were killing me once again (I hope I'm not catching another cold again!). However, after clearing up my nose, I went back to sleep, listening to the audiobook that I've had going for the past week now. (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix).

After getting up, I ate some breakfast... and then played some LoL. Once that was over, I went out for lunch and shopped for a bit. And then came home before it got to dark, for today is Hallowe'en! And I haven't gave out candy in a loooooooong time now. My street is relatively quiet and the prices of candy has gone up from what I remember they used to be... 10 years ago. Of course it's inflation, but still... my excuse is that candy is bad for children! I know from experience that it's unhealthy, and being a teacher, gives teachers headaches the day after Hallowe'en. Either from extreme tiredness/moodiness from eating candy late at night, to extreme hyperness from a sugary breakfast.

So what did I do for Hallowe'en this year? Well played 6 games of LoL in a row! I can't believe it took almost 5 hours for all 6 games to complete (including breaks and such), but at least my evening is now over.

And back to job searching and other important tasks tomorrow!

Ha, yeah right... it's Friday tomorrow! ;)

Warming up Wednesday

Nothing out of the ordinary to report. Woke up late... got up ate breakfast and realized it was almost time for lunch...

Those are the days where I get absolutely nothing done T.T

On the plus side... at least it was decently warm today. A lot of the snow was melting on the ground, so that's always a good sign!

And now off to sleep, so I can hopefully wake up early tomorrow to get work done!

Waking up at 6 for the first time since... April...

I believe today was the first day I had waken up at an hour that I'm normally not accustomed to due to an interview at a charter school! Not complaining because of the early start time, but rather it is something that I'm not accustomed to seeing that I've been waking up at around 9 AM daily...

Anyways, I got up, ate breakfast quickly and proceeded to shower and get dressed. I left my house at around 7:50 and ended up around 40 minutes early for my interview. Therefore, I waited in my car and observed the students being bussed in from communities. I guess you could say that it looked slightly creepy, for I was just sitting in my car looking at school busses... but I had nothing else to do at the moment! I didn't want to do more research since it would have made me more nervous!

When it was about 15 minutes to my interview, I proceeded into the school and to the main office. I was greeted warmly by the secretary at the school. It was the first time that a secretary has engaged me in small talk for an interview, but due to my nerves, I could only comment about the crappy weather we've been having... =/

Then, very shortly, the interview started! There were three people interviewing me, which, oddly enough, didn't increase my anxiety. Somehow I managed to keep calm and answered the questions to the best of my ability. True, I was given about 20 hours to prepare for the interview, but fortunately for me I had some experience with previous interviews. After around 25 minutes or so, my interview ended and we parted. Looking back, I believe I did myself justice. Of course, I hope for the very best outcome for myself, but then again, there are still many teachers out there looking for jobs. Only thing I can do really is to continue forward, and if things really don't look up... well I guess I have my back up plan lined up. =/

And that's that! Off to sleep! Long day indeed!

What an interesting day!

I got up relatively early and submitted my applications for the day. Afterwards, I got ready to leave my house to attend to some chores that I have been neglecting for a while. I got all dressed up, put on my coat and walked out the door. About 10 steps on the sidewalk, I received a phone call, which promptly sent me back home to "change directions" for the moment! =)

And pretty much, I spent the day prepping up for tomorrow! More of it tomorrow! =)

Snow snow snow!

So much snow today! The drive to karate was slushy, but otherwise uneventful. Apparently though, there were 300+ accidents this morning! I guess some areas were hit harder/icier than my area.

Due to the snow, I thought that class would be pretty empty. For the brown/black belt class, it was... though I can't really say the same for the white/green belt class. There were a bunch of students missing, yet 20 of them managed to make it to class. Fortunately, there were enough senior instructors today, thus class went relatively smoothly.

Afterwards, the rest of my afternoon consisted of preparing cover letters for a couple of job applications that I'll submit tomorrow morning. Apparently, from what I read in an article, job seekers have a better chance of getting an interview when they apply on Monday! Hopefully that's true!

Besides applications, I played a bunch of LoL. My brother and I finally finished our placements. We finished with a 6-4 record, which placed us in Silver 3. It's better than what I expected, but I was a bit disappointed since there were three games that we shouldn't have loss.

And that's that! Onto sleep and a new week!

Chores Chores Chores

T'was a chore day today! After volunteering, I got home and helped out a bit with the repainting of our garage door's... boarders or whatever you call the thing that surrounds it...

After a quick lunch, it was off to changing the tires on our vehicles for the expected snowfall tomorrow. 5-10 cm from what I heard on the radio...

Somehow, changing the tires took a lot longer than I thought it would, but at least we're a bit safer now for the snowfall!

Only in Calgary where you go from a gorgeous day (+17 degrees Celsius) to a snowfall warning.

And that marks pretty much my day today!

Oh and started playing ranked in LoL. I swear, it seems like ranked games have better mannered people than normals.

Just realized it's been 2 years...

I just realized that it has been 2 years and 18 days since I first started the blog! I didn't have anything in mind to "celebrate" my second anniversary.

All in all, it has been an eventful blogging year. Once again, I got lazy during the summer months and posted about once a week. The "Hot Fall Spamming Blog Post" trend also continued during which I managed to post daily (expect for that one time in October I believe). Unfortunately, compared to last year, the past 6 months have been one of the most uneventful/boring/"depressing" (I wasn't depressed) months due to circumstances beyond my control. Oh well, what can you really do, but to move on with life?

And now, onto a hopefully more exciting blogging year!

Hopefully...

I actually got up early, but...

So I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off.

And for the first time... I actually felt quite awake! It was about 7:05 AM, so I looked outside my window...

And saw how everything was dark.

So I went back to sleep...

And woke up at my "usual" time of 9:30ish.

>_<

Besides my failed attempts to waking up early, I've made great progress in Pokemon! I found Friend Safari's with Dragonairs and Eevees. Now just a ditto farm and I'll be set! =)

Slightly famous?

So after work today, I got home and played some League of Legends. My brother and I are back on a winning streak, so things were looking good for us. We ended up playing a game with a friend and two random people.

It turned out that one of the random people were streaming the game online! I believe this was a first for me. Sure, we were all probably low ELO/Bronze League, but it felt kinda cool to be on "live internet TV".

And we won the game, despite an initial setback, and what I think was a bad team composition (we had no tanks).

But I guess a win is a win! =)

Exhausted so I'll keep it short

Woke up, job searched, applied to some jobs, waited for some guys to fix our electrical cables, went for my flu shot, shopped a bit, went to go vote.

The End for today

Cracked a nail. ='(

Chipped my right toe's toenail during karate today. Somehow, I was sweeping my left foot over my right foot and my heel caught my toenail. (It's a bit long since I haven't trimmed it in a while). I heard small crack, and pain shot up my leg. I looked down and noticed that I cracked my toenail. Fortunately though, the crack is relatively small and that my toe nail didn't fall off.

Besides that, I went on a friend spree on Pokemon. I found a page on facebook where they have people exchange friend codes to get more friend safaris to visit! I managed to get about 12 names in about 10 minutes worth of time! Definitely worth it!

If you have either Pokemon X or Y, hit me up! =)

From one medical drama to another!

I won't be starting my next medical series yet, but I'm stoked to find out that there's a sequel to Doctor X!

Despite the "suggestive" poster, the drama is pretty much about highly skilled doctors known as Doctor Xs since they perform miraculous feats that other doctors are unable to do. I watched the first season not too long ago, and I was quite pleased with what they had to offer. I'm thinking that the second season will just be as good!

I don't know if I mention it yet, but I recently finished DOCTORS 2. Once again, great season! (Which reminds me that I should get working on that review of Hanzawa Naoki soon...)

credits: http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac198/jaded_raven/DoctorX2_zpsa6f008da.jpg

Experience Share is surely a double edged sword

Ever since the first generation, I always had to have a Dragonite on my team. After fishing for nearly 20 minutes on Route 21 of Pokemon Y, I finally caught myself a Level 40 Dratini. Fortunately for me, it was a female, thus making it easier for me to breed a baby Dratini. I didn't want to train the level 40 one since it could have evolved to a Dragonair 10 levels ago, thus losing out on some potential points of growth.

Not that my baby Dratini is doing any much better at the moment...

I've been battling with Pokemon at around level 50, with my other Pokemon of course. Dratini has been just sitting in the back, gaining experience via the newly improved Experience Share key item and Lucky Egg (even more boost to experience).

Now don't get me wrong! I love the new Experience Share. It's great for getting through the game. If I'm not mistaken, each of your Pokemon that wasn't in battle receives 50% of what the battling Pokemon gets! In other words, it makes going through the story line that much easier, since you don't have to train as much. On the other hand though, it means Pokemon that aren't developed to their full potential (ie: EV training). I think what Nintendo is getting at, is that they know/believe that most people that play Pokemon whiz through the story and THEN get down to building their ideal team.

In other words, come up with a well balanced team, beat the Elite 4, and disband and start all over. But this time, breed for the perfect ability/IVs/whatever else they implemented and EV train like crazy. (Well that's my plan anyway).

I have to admit that it's going to be tough to EV train once again. For Pokemon Black and Black 2, I used Pokesav and made myself the perfect team (perfect IVs and maxed out EVs for EVERYTHING). Therefore, I was able to keep the same team throughout my entire gameplay.

Playing it legit this time, I will  have to, eventually, go through the vigorous EV training and perhaps even breed for good IVs as well. (I recall spending almost 60 hours to getting a decent Dragonite in Pokemon Pearl). It's going to be tough work, but it'll probably be more fun this way. As of course, since I don't really have all the time in the world when compared to my high school/university days, I won't be spending hours training! =P

Well I didn't expect to be that out of shape...

It was really windy today, but I thought that it was a good day to start jogging again.

So I put on my long sleeve shirt, slapped on a pair of pants (shorts were too cold), and got on my runners.

I went outside, to the pathway in front of my house, and started jogging. I ran down the hill, and started back up. About halfway up, I noticed how hard the wind was blowing, and I was facing a headwind.

That wind took a larger toll on me than I expected. I was absolutely exhausted after, essentially, 4 minutes of jogging (I'm basing this on completing a song on my iPod). Walking was no good with what I had on, due to the chilly air, so I trudged on home.

Since my "workout" was cut short, I decided to do some push ups.

No good...

I only got in about 10 in total...

How about squats?

No good either...

Probably got in 10 in as well...

I know I'm out of shape... but this is ridiculous! But complaining won't do any good, so back to building up that stamina!

Well one more complaint... my Tamagotchi changed into it's adult form. Unfortunately, I got a Red Masktchi, which meant I apparently severely neglected it during some parts of its life. True I didn't take good care of it when it was a baby, due to my mistake of hatching him during a time where I was busy... yet I thought I made up for it in later stages of it's life. =(

And now it has an wide open mouth when it poops on the floor. =(

To be honest, I preferred the "sarcastic" smile of the teen Tamagotchi that I had.

Talk about lucky!

After job searching in the morning, I went out for lunch with my brother today. I was craving pho because the last time I had it was in June.

So off to my usual haunt, or what used to by my favorite place when I frequently ate pho back in the day. After lunch, we went to Best Buy since we needed some styluses for our 3DSs. We were reluctant to use the ones that came with the 3DS because the nib that holds it in place tends to wear down after a while. I realized that issue with my old white DS Lite.

Since we were in Best Buy, we spent time looking at other stuff. After about 30 minutes, we proceeded back to the car. It was then that I realized that I left my wallet in the car; right in my drink tray.

In other words, it was in plain sight!

I was fortunate that nobody broke into our car, especially since we live in the NE (notoriously known as a poorer section of Calgary). Normally, I would keep my wallet in my pockets, but I'm not sure why I left it in the car today...

So thank goodness for that! =) And from now on, well until I forget, I will always double check my pockets whenever I take the car out!

I'm not sure why my Tamagotchi is so proud of itself...

Last Friday, after discussing about tamagotchi for some reason, I decided to download the app for my iphone. I recall from my childhood how addicting these things were (not as fun now due to the improved technology now a days). 

I believe I've been taking good care of my pet. It has maxed out discipline, hunger (as in full), and happiness. 

What I don't get is how it is so pleased when it poops on the ground. I have the first generation tamagotchi, so I think I can't potty train it... But really?

I dunno if it irks me because it pooped on the ground with a grin, or if I'm laughing along with it...

Thanksgiving 2013

What am I thankful for this year? 

There are many things that I'm thankful for, that hasn't changed for a while. What's new that I'm thankful for... is a question that I'm currently searching!

But enough philosophical thoughts. My Thanksgiving was like any other day I've had over the past couple of months. It was an ordinary day. But perhaps, looking back to the past couple of months, ordinary isn't too bad after all.

Oh ho! Things just got more interesting in DOCTORS!

Once again, a pretty standard Sunday. Started my day with Karate and came home to help out with more chores. Between chores, I had some time to play more Pokemon Y. I have yet to reach the second gym yet, but I found a place to grind for money! The Battle Chateau really helped me with my financial issues.

Other than that, I got in my daily episode of DOCTORS 2, which is a sequel to a drama I'm watched a year back (or two). It's essentially about a doctor who wants to change a hospital for the better through means that may seem "villainous" to some. Essentially, he schemes up little plans to help the hospital become better. However, at the end of today's episode, he announces a huge scheme of his, which caught me by surprise.

I have to see how it turns out during tomorrow's episode!

Pokemon X and Y

I think this is the first time that Nintendo made a world wide release for one of their super popular series. Early this morning, while I was at volunteering at PLC, my brother went to pick up our copies.

He settled for X while I had Y in my possession. Despite doing some chores (changing the car's oil for example), I got some time to give Pokemon Y a try. And I have to say, that I was really satisfied with the game so far. It really feels like a trip down memory lane, but with much improved graphics. You even get a Kanto (Generation 1) starter! And I got a Pidgey (Generation 1 bird) and Pikachu!!

What also made it really nostalgic was the forest (forgot the name) you enter to get to your first gym badge. Viridian Forest anyone?

As of now, I've beaten the first gym leader. I'm currently heading towards the second gym. All in all, I have 5 Pokemon in tow: Froakie (the water type), Pidgey, Butterfree, Torchic (wi-fi event) and Pikachu. I'm on my way to get my Kanto starter: which I've decided to settle on Bulbasaur so that I have the three starter types on my team!

Ahh but enough Pokemon geekiness for one day!

My copy of Pokemon Y

Sirens

Tons and tons of sirens today when we were headed out for Bro Night. In the first 15 minutes or so, we probably saw around 4 fire trucks. They weren't one after another either, just four different fire trucks with their sirens on heading to differen locations. 

After dessert, there were a couple more sirens on our way home!

Not the 13th of Friday today. Perhaps it's the Friday the 11th curse now! =0

Path of Least Resistance

I started reading a self-help book called Path of Least Resistance, written by Robert Fritz. It's an interesting read so far; I'm on the part about how our life is underlay by structures that determines our pathways. From what I'm understanding so far, if you want to change your future, you got to change these underlying structures. One simply can't change their behaviour (such as working out more, studying more, eating less, etc), since these structures determine behaviour.

Or something like that. I've got a bit to read still. Besides reading though, I wasn't as productive as I wanted to be... Woke up a lot later than I normally would too...

And at this rate... I'll probably wake up late as well tomorrow.

>_>

By golly....

After my post from yesterday, I ended up doing nothing today...

Well not really. I applied to a charter school here in Calgary! They just opened up a Science Teaching position not too long ago. Fingers crossed!

Besides job searching, I finished Hanzawa Naoki. I didn't really enjoy the ending so much, but nevertheless, it was an outstanding series. Perhaps a review sometime this week on it!

And I picked up my Japanese studies again. It's been a while so I forgotten some of my hiragana...

T_T

But hopefully tomorrow will be more productive!

Crossroad

Instead of blogging about my day today, perhaps it's best to express how I feel at the moment:

I feel like I'm at a crossroad, with a bag of my personal belongings. There are many paths, with each path leading me through troubles and pleasure. Which path to take? Now that's the question! As confused as I may be... I hesitantly hold my head up high. At times I want the wind to tell me where to go, but in the end... I'm the master of my own destiny.

Though for now... I'll like to sit down in the middle and ponder which path shall I trend, for I don't know what destination I would like to arrive on!

Ghost Pepper Burrito

Not for me this year! My brother never got the chance to try it, so we went to the Mucho Burrito in Country Hills. The sauce bottle looked different than what I remembered from last year (I had a clear glass bottle while he had those reusable plastic ones you see at Subway). Either way, it was still "Hotter Than Hell" when he had it.

Besides that, I got some studying done today, job searched and applied to a job, did some chores and watched the season premier for Hajime no Ippo. Season 3 is upon us! =) Oh and I finished watching Pokémon Origins. It's a 4 episode series based on the original Pokémon games. It was an interesting plot, though some parts didn't make much sense to me.

Anywhoos, time to sleep! I need to start waking up early again. I got up at 8ish today...

Hanzawa Naoki

Karate went well today, though I felt extremely slug-like during class today...

Besides that, my day was pretty normal. I spent my afternoon finishing the first arc of a Japanese dorama that I'm currently watching: Hanzawa Naoki. It's about a banker who was set up to take the blame for a 500 million yen deal that went wrong. Therefore, he had to work hard to save his neck.

So far, based on the first arc, I can see why it had such high viewership ratings in Japan. It's a riveting story, following Hanzawa as he tracks down the culprit who wouldn't return the money. What makes this drama different than other dramas of a similar nature is that it feels really realistic in terms of the emotions portrayed by the various characters in the show. At times, I even felt sympathy for the ones who are doing Hanzawa wrong.

I just started the second arc today, but I'll try to keep it down to an episode a day. It's going to be tough, since the story line is quite a thriller, but I'll stick to my word!!! Somehow...

Besides that, I finished up an anime series I was watching: Sunday without God. It had a great premise: the world was abandoned by God, therefore there are no new births, but no deaths at the same time. When people "die", they come back as the undead. Pretty much they're zombies, but function like if they were living. The only way these undead could find peace is if Grave keepers (special humans that God gave to people before He ditched them) properly bury them.

It had the potential of being a great series based on the storyline. I really enjoyed the first 6 episodes. It was a bit slow, but it earnestly portrayed the main character as an innocent 12 year old, trying to save the world as a half grave keeper/human. However... the last 6 episodes could have been done without. I felt like that the last 6 episodes were simply fillers, for I couldn't see what purpose it served to the original intentions of the main character. In the end, I have to say that I was disappointed with the series. It had great potential, but I believe it didn't deliver.

And onto a picture I snapped for today! I was moving some lumber, and I found an interesting beetle! It's something I never seen before. To be honest, I'm not sure if it is a beetle...

Loooooooong Day

Today was quite a long day for me! I was feeling slightly under the weather, so I didn't go to volunteer at the hospital today.

Instead, I spent the entire day doing various tasks/chores/cleaning. It was pretty much 11 hours of work, with some small breaks. I have to say it's been a while since I had to do so much labour. And it was definitely tiring! I keep saying that I'll boost my endurance somehow, but I never keep to my words. I guess my daily walks aren't enough exercise and I need to start jogging once again!

And what to blog as well! My daily life has been quite boring for the past couple of months...

Perhaps I'll start writing stories once again! =)

Salads

I find that after a rough day of "bowel" movements, a nice salad is useful in helping my digestive system get back on track. 

And I just had that today for dinner! But then I ate some cheesecake and got all gassy once again. 

I guess another day to recover! And since I'm tired, I'll leave it at that!

Song Ji Eun - Hope Torture Mini Album Review

Note: I got the album title off Wikipedia. To be honest, I have no idea what the proper title of the album is called. I've checked YESASIA, and they just stated the album as "Song Ji Eun Single Album Vol.1"

Essentially two and a half years after Secret's Song Ji Eun released her single, "Going Crazy", she is back with her first mini album! This album consists of three songs that I would classify as R&B.

1) Vintage (feat. Zelo of B.A.P.)
A mid tempo-upbeat piece that starts off with off beat (syncopations) and what starts like a DJ swerving a turn table. It's a pleasing song that doesn't sound like it's pushing Ji Eun's vocal capabilities. Zelo, a fellow idol from hip hop boy band B.A.P. raps in certain sections, but I can't say that his rapping suits my taste. Overall, it's a nice song to listen too, but I don't find it to be memorable.
SCORE: 6/10

2) Hope Torture
The title track for Ji Eun's album. This song is simply musical bliss for my ears. (When I first heard the intro of the piece, it kind of reminded me of Secret's Daddy Long Legs, for it had a similar opening with the guitar). This slow-mid tempo R&B piece has a wonderful instrumental track. The classical guitar can be heard throughout the piece, which I think gives this song a very soulful touch to it. I have to say that her vocals are flawless in this piece, and the same goes with her English. The final chorus contains a lot of her ad-libbing that demonstrates why I consider her as the Mozart of the Kpop world. I akin her voice to a crystal ball, pure sounding and clear.

Perhaps, one of her best works to date!
SCORE: 10/10

3) Date Mate
Upbeat piece with an electric guitar introduction. Song Ji Eun played a part in composing and creating the lyrics for this piece. What sounds like triplets, really help set up the piece for the chorus. When the chorus hits, I am ever amazed again to her clarity and power that exists in her voice. She may not be an Ailee or Hyorin in terms of power, but she did more than a satisfactory job in my belief. Overall, a great upbeat piece!
SCORE: 9/10

ALBUM AVERAGE SCORE: 8.3/10

A solid score for Secret's Song Ji Eun's first mini album. Despite my lack of interest for the first song, I believe this album has three strong tracks. This underrated singer has once again impressed me with her clear vocals and my current favorite piece from her: Hope Torture.

The only gripe I have with this album is the album cover.

They could have used an image, say like a teaser pic

credits: http://onekpop.com/i/2013/09/song-jieun-releases-nd-image-teaser-for-hope-torture-comeback_oeojr_1.jpg

But they instead, decide to use this...

credits: http://pop1gasa.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/307985.jpg

It's like they ran out of money to produce a nice cover for her after spending it on all those outfits for her music video.

Anyways, overall, great work from Song Ji Eun! For those who aren't too into Kpop, I think this album is a good start! For Song Ji Eun fans, it's a must listen!

I think I killed my stomach...

There goes my blogging streak. =(

I came home late last night, thus I was quite sleepy. I ended up going to bed right away! I'll make up for it with a quick review tomorrow and another blog post! 

So onto the title...

Well for those who don't know, I'm slightly lactose intolerant. Occasionally, I can drink a glass of milk and not have any problems. However, after drinking a glass of milk, I had issues all day.

And it doesn't help eating greasy Asian BBQ chicken/pork/duck...

Besides that, I had a pretty ordinary day. Something came up, which I will discuss it in due time (near the end of the year!) 

Uh oh...

It's only Tuesday, but I pretty much got no work done today!

I woke up an hour later than I usually would, and ended up watching YouTube videos and playing LoL all morning...

Not a good start to the week so far. =/ And a brand new month too boot too!

Well I shouldn't cry over spilt milk! I'll make tomorrow a more productive day! =)