Monday, March 26, 2007

Flirting is a two-person verb

Definition - Ally Ng.

Is it though? I am often concerned that what I construe as flirting, another just thinks is being nice. How far can signals get mixed?

I had a very pleasant weekend by the way. Thursday was fun, went out with a buddy from work and got drunkity drunk drunk. Not overly sloppy though, which is a little too rare for me.

Friday was nice, worked with Brandorf and then went out to this really good dj. Got to see Lis and Kristin, danced and wore a pair of my favorite shoes (ALL IN ONE NIGHT!). I knew I needed to dance because I have been chair dancing every chance I get. I did get sloppy drunk this night though. What is it about last call? Last Call - Iris "Sure, I'll have another one" totally regardless of how full the other one is. After this many years of going out, how have I not learned better?

Sat morning was great. Dropped Ally off, met up with a friend, grabbed a coffee and sat in the park. Why don't more mornings start like this? This is how EVERYDAY should start.

So yes, it was an all-around pleasant weekend. Thanks for asking.

i

Sunday, March 18, 2007

But everything was on sale!

I suffer from a few addictions in my life, there is no denying it, the most dangerous of these addictions is my shopping problem.

I LOVE SHOPPING!! It has to be right though. You can't force it, you just have to go with it. Vancouver was one HUGE shopping trip for me.

Yaletown & Robson were already done, so on Tuesday, Ally and I hit Chinatown and Gastown. Did you know that Vancouver's Chinatown is the second largest in North America? How random is that! I digress.

Little ethnic nooks are some of the best places to find cute, cheap shit, that isn't in a mall. (While I love shopping, I hate malls). We found a few cute things. I was expecting something more like Canal Street, but it was just stores, no booths or makeshift stores, no real bartering here.

We then walked to Gastown. I have been a lot of places and I like to think of myself as someone who isn't a scaredy cat. You know, I will walk by myself almost anywhere. We had to walk down East Hastings a bit to get to Gastown, and wow. I have never seen anything like it. This was an uber-sketchy neighborhood. Thank god I had Ally to protect me.

We hit Gastown, and it seemed like nothing was open. We had to walk forever to find an open store, but when we found it, boy did we go crazy.

As I had done most of the shopping thus far, Tuesday was Ally's shopping day. A few vintage stores, some boutiques and then we headed home.

Oh, yeah, we found the weirdest thing EVER! SO there is this cafe in the Gastown area that lets you smoke weed in it. As we are walking by, we smell it, and being curious humans, we wonder, WTF!? There are people rolling, smoking, you can buy upstairs, there is a guy selling seeds. This was like marijuana paradise. How does a place like this exist? It was like we were in Amsterdam (or what I believe Amsterdam to be like) RANDOM!

We went for some more sushi, boarded the plane and got home in one piece.

A tally for anyone wondering. I bought:

Three pairs of shoes
Two jackets
Two cute tops
One dress
One necklace
One pair of jeans.

Needless to say, I blew my budget. But that is what you are supposed to do with budgets right? My bad!

All in all, however, this was a great trip. The thing that I really love about traveling with Ally is the silences. Ally and I have this amazing ability to be completely silent for long periods of time, without any of the awkwardness that is sometimes associated with quiet. To sit and be with a person is something very rare and special. Thankfully, I have found this quality in most of my good friends. I can't wait for my next trip, anywhere.

Slave Lake anyone??

i

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I love me a little concrete

Every other time I have been to Vancouver, I have only kinda enjoyed it. Sure, it's pretty and shit, but I haven't fallen for it.

While I still haven't fallen for it, I did realize there are parts of it I really like. On Monday we went shopping in Yaletown. Nikki has taken through Yaletown before, but it was snowing that time, and well, no one likes to shop outside when it is snowing.

Ally had gone for a walk obscenely early in the morning and came back announcing to me it was a glorious day outside. Nikki also had to call and tell me the same thing. Glorious indeed. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there was not a cloud in the sky.

A shopping we went. Now, Nikki had made it clear to me that I would love Yaletown. I have often said I am a huge fan of the concrete jungles of the world. Yaletown is this in Vancouver.

We hit Yaletown and I went crazy. First I was painfully hungover. It is funny how sales and shopping and spending money will instantly make a person feel better. Yaletown is a bunch of cool boutiques and nice restaurants.

We did a little shopping, met some friends for lunch at this really nice little restaurant and shopped our asses off.

After an exhausting day of shopping, Al and I went back to the hotel to recuperate. We slept and then went out for dinner with Nikki. The dinner with Nikki was frustrating. Nikki was surprisingly not the frustrating part, the waiter was. A little bad service can really screw up an otherwise enjoyable time.

Next up, Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Sleep little ones, sleep

After getting home at 5 in the morning, Sunday was dedicated to sleep. Beautiful sleep. We woke up craving a burger. We trotted off the The Keg for a burger, as this was the only place the concierge could think of. (Idiots by the way)

We head back to the hotel after a burger and we rent a pay-per-view movie and fall asleep. At around 9ish Ally and I decide to get ready and maybe see the outside world.

A couple of friends from Edmonton were in town and they came over. We headed to The Yale Hotel for some live blues. This was a most interesting evening out. A little shady, as most blues bars seem to be, but really good music. We also saw these two 'couples' hanging out. When I say couples, I really mean two young hookers and their dirty, old men johns. Our attention was on these two the entire night. We actually came up with little reality show, named after their drink of choice, Candy Apples. Yuck!

After the blues bar, we went to Republic. This was possibly one of the nicest clubs I have gone to in a really long time. Great space, cute boys and a really great live band. Sure they were a cover band, but they were playing EVERYTHING, and they did it all really well and in an interesting way.

Went home and then went to bed after this. No need for another 5AM-er.

Sky Rockets in Flight

Saturday

Ahhh ... Rainy Vancouver.

I have mentioned a few times about the hate-on I have for Vancouver. However, one of my dearest friends, Ally, and I decided to take a weekend vacation and head west. We left Saturday early morning and arrived in a rain-drenched Vancouver. (Rain is going to be the theme here, so get used to reading the word.) We checked into our hotel and got ready to explore.

While we had umbrellas, it did not prevent us from getting soaked. We went for some GREAT sushi. The sushi was so great in Vancouver and I don't know how I never really noticed this. Then it was a solid day of shopping. Thanks to the change in seasons, there were some great sales. This post really could be all about the shopping, but I will try to resist. After shopping our butts off, we went for a hot tub and swim at the hotel.

It then felt fitting to watch some tv and relax. After a few hours of this, we went to dinner at this great restaurant on Robson. After dinner, we met up with Ally's friend and went to some warehouse where her friend was playing. Random. This was a lot of fun. Cheap beer, live music, what more could a girl want?

Well ... we then went to this club downtown and got to hear some very cool djs and see a real-live mosh pit. I didn't really realize the mosh pit still exists. Hasn't society moved past this yet? Also, this was probably the scariest walk to a bank machine ever! It was seriously like Shawn of the Dead. The regular DJ at this joint is a guy I saw here and thought he was totally wicked. At this club, however, Ally's friend ran into some other people she knows and we went to hang out at this studio (recording, not living). This was hella cool. I swear, if I do anything cool, it is solely because of my friends. Otherwise, I would sit around and be incredibly lame.

The space was amazing, the people were cool. I can't remember the band's name, but I would love it if they became uber-famous, and I could say "I totally partied with them once." I digress. They were also really nice guys. Although one of them was just a little ... off. Told me I sounded really white (what does that mean!?), mentioned to Ally how he had never known a Chinese person, and then asked me to punch him in the skull. I think all the sex, drugs and rock n' roll had really fried his brains.

There was also some minor flirting going on. It's funny, some boys LOVE that I am passionate about football, others, it totally turns them off. Whatever, should you voice an opinion I know is wrong, I will let you know. The only reason I bring up the flirting is because I haven't gotten my flirt on in a really long time. It is nice to know that once you hit 26 it isn't all down hill from there.


I will post the rest of the trip throughout the day, as my work allows.


i

Monday, March 05, 2007

Ummm ... not so much.

Rejection sure is humbling and boy have I gotten used to it this year. All of a sudden I went from an employable individual to, apparently, a career-pariah.

Great. I just went through three (yes 3) brutal interviews for a job. I didn't even really want this job. I just applied for it for shits and giggles.

Guess who got the last giggle? Not I.

But I was apparently really close and that is supposed to make some sort of difference. Close doesn't count. "If there were two positions, you would easily get the second"

Well there isn't, so shut up. Shut up, shut up shut up.

I am glad to know your decision was difficult, because so were the three interviews you put us through. So is finding out you didn't get the job.

I am going to get fat and work at the front desk at the Metterra Hotel for the rest of my life. Or until I yell at a guest and get fired.

My life has taken a remarkably sharp turn to the depressing. Awesome.


i