Surrey Trip Stop fin

Jessie picked me up at my grandma's place, and we went to grab some "celebration water". Together we arrived at Rachel Wu's place to start our little gathering. I cannot remember when is the last time when all four of us got together. I think it was last september. I was kind of happy that I got myself a little bit sick, but I don't think my consumption was too great :(
Anywho, we were up until three, by then I showered and collapsed on the sofa.

The next morning, or noon, Rachel Wu and I went to Fraser Heights to find Mr. Horn to fill out some reference letters for her. On my way out of the building, I passed by Mr. Kelly and he gestured me into his classroom. He thanked me for the note I left him (I forgot to mention, yesterday I left a note at his desk saying that he was the person who inspired me with literature). I have always had a little pupil crush on this guy, along with all the many other female students. He's young, handsome, and best of all, he teaches literature/english. While we were talking, I found out that he lives on Richard and Nelson. Oh my gosh! That's a block away from where I live! And once I move into the apartment on Richard and Nelson, we will totally become neighbours! Gyabooooooo!!! I should walk more often on Richard street from now on.

Afterwards Melody took me to have Stonegrill,....... I wish. It's actually Cold Stone or something. And we went to Burnaby with Jessie to howl around. Thus ends my Surrey trip.

I came to acknowledge the fact that one can not survive without a car, and of course, a drivers license. For the past two days, I have rode on the car of Seal, Jessie, Melody, and Rachel. Amazing, it's like they taught themselves how to drive. Why does everything have to be so far apart each other? No wonder I felt bored as a teenager. I think I'm the only one who doesn't even have my L! So my conclusion is that I'm best off living in Downtown. At least, hey, I save the insurance and gas.

Surrey Trip Stop 3

Technology is amazing, especially when people use it.

Right now I'm in my grandmother's home, they don't use internet, but apparently I can still receive their neighbour's wireless! Lovely!

After leaving starbucks, it was still too early to go to Fraser Heights, so I went to Erma first. I was never close to any of my teachers except for one, she really took care of me in grade three, once I told her my legs hurt just so I don't have to play in PE, she carried me all the way to the office to rest, I felt so embarrassed! I had little idea where her classroom is now, so I waited in the lower level grades area, I still remember that all teachers are suppose to step out of the classroom to hold the heavy doors for students to get out after school, so I waited in front of them to see where she is. Apparently she still remembers me, I'm really glad! We talked for a while and I left, walked a bit on the playground, scaring little kids.

Then I went to the highschool to see Mme. Corrado, told her about my plans and talked for quite a while. She's always glad to see me,.. at least that's how I see it. Every time I visit her she would always encourage me to go to France, I think this will be more than an encouragement this year.

When I got out of school, Seal called out to me. I was so glad to see him inside his car! Ran up to him and said "SEAL! You gotta give me a ride!" So there I was in his car, and he took me here to my grandparents' place! Just had a wonderful dinner and dessert. Lovely & Delicious.

Next stop is Rachel Wu's home. Apparently Jessie is planning something big. She's thinking of drinking and driving tonight.

Surrey Trip Stop 2

At Starbucks right now!

This Starbucks wasn't opened until 2007 I think. Though new, still one of my favourite location in my memory. Reason is because this was where Melody, Joyce, and I discussed our dreams. We were in grade 12, last year in high school. I remember it was a cold Saturday evening, I was working on my history essay when Melody called me to go to Starbucks with her. I went to her place and met up with her and Joyce, she wanted to come here. So us three, we walked in the winter darkness, making mean jokes and insults. Suddenly Melody said, "have you noticed we're graduating soon? What are you guys gonna do? what are we to become?!"

Joyce was determined, "I'm going into arts"

"What about you Sherry?"

I absolutely had no idea, so I just made up of something "I'll become a philosopher"

I think Melody Liao took that seriously because she exclaimed right away, "OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO! Joyce an artist, Sherry a philosopher, WHAT AM I TO DO?!"

"You can become a baby stylist Melody"

"Or you can join 模範棒棒堂"

"Or a pirate"

"A popcorn popper!"

and the list went on...

Obviously the only person who stuck with what was said that evening was Joyce. It was a lovely night. I was sipping on the same Americano I have on my side, while those two mad women were drinking frapuccino (however you spell that) outside. I can't imagine that was only three years ago. And I can't imagine how much have changed since I moved out of here, both me and here!

Anyway,

Just took the C74 from Guildford to here, I didn't even realise that the bus has changed route already, it's so much more flexible now. Feel more than at home! I'm glad. I think I'm going to wait until 2:45 to go to Fraser Heights, obviously that's one of the memorable sites for Sherry.

Surrey Trip Stop 1

This morning I got up at 8:15, freaking early for me. Had some left over pasta and set off!

I haven't been back since last Christmas, and everytime I come here I never have enough fun and never stay for long enough. Since last month, while I was buried within all the assignments and exams, I thought I really need to get out of ubc and get out of downtown for just a few days. And the only suitable option was to come here! Since I did spend ten years in the area, I find almost everything memorable. I thought it would be cool for me to make a stop at every meaningful site and enjoy the moments of nostalgia. So currently, I'm just typing away in Guildford Mall.

I remember when I was young (am still young), maybe before when I was 12, my dad would take me here on Friday evenings. That was when my brother and my sister would often disappear or.. they were too lazy to leave home. We would always start off with The Bay because it has all the brands that my dad likes, especially TH. We could spend hours there just looking at men's suits. He would walk around and try out shirts while I would be on the ground looking for treasures. The most I could find were often pins and fallen tags.

Then we would get out of The Bay and into the mall's “mainstreets”. I would always ask to go to Wal-Mart just because that is the only place with the best legos. That's right, I was not a barbie girl, I played with legos instead. Sometimes I would also stop by Grand & Toy to look at stationaries to add to my collections of pens and pencils, I think it closed down several years ago though. I guess I am really fortunate to be able to experience this type of shopping culture. In Taiwan the closest we have to this were department stores, the rest we did it on the streets. I remember asking the question: Why the fake trees? I'm finishing up my smoothies, should get ready to head to my next destination,..... T&T!

exam-free day 1

Today is officially my first exam-free day after all those crap I wrote. Since the beginning of this year I have been doing school, projects, papers, exams, olympics, back to midterms, projects, exams. I could use a good vacation. And I DESERVE THIS.

Originally I planned to go to church with Jack,... unfortunately we both chose to sleep in. In any case, I thought I have been stuck in Downtown for too long, thought it would be nice to get out of here for a few hours. So I ended up in Richmond, originally thinking of visiting my aunt to do some banking matters. Well when I got there BMO's locked door kindly reminded me that today is Sunday. Hm, oh well, I thought I could visit a random FIDO store to renew my expiring plan. (Come to think of it, all the things I possess are expiring: my tofu, my milk, my eggs, my coffee beans, my moisturiser, even my mobile plan). And in fact, I have accumulated enough fido dollars to actually get a free mobile at no cost, so I picked a lovely sony ericsson!

Afterwards I slowly walked to Richmond Centre to stroll around, it has been ages since I've been to a mall. Sat in the food court reading my Salander novel (Salander series is a must read!! The Swedish are so talented at writing crime & detective stories), I was so absorbed in it that I forgot about the dinner tonight.

Anyway, I know I have just written a whole lot of boring days about myself, but these are honestly the moments I value the most, where I have absolutely no pressure at all (except stressing over the terrible exams I have written), no matters to worry about, and no one to please. I LOVE ME!

no more!!

感覺真幸福，今天終於寫了最後一張考卷，太滿足了，自從一月開學當天就沒有這麼放鬆過了。

因為二月奧運的關係讓我翹了很多課，結果惡性循環，反應到期中考上啦。

其實經過這個學期，我決定以後要好好利用假期，絕對不能當宅女 （真的有此覺悟嗎？！）。

原本考完試以前有很多打算的，結果現在兩手空

空沒事做反而腦袋也空空，完全不只到接下來要如和享受假期。 一想到要擺脫宅女命運要出去又覺得很累。。 還能這樣下去嗎？！

話說，今天臨時決定去剪頭髮，因為自從二月工作之前去整理之後就沒有再去理那些毛了，很糟糕。 當然chura沒有預約根本不可能跑進去，於是就讓荷包大失血去了Air。 後來我拿了一份有柴崎的封面一邊剪一邊看，結果髮型師問我 “你喜歡柴崎幸嗎？” 我說 “我很喜歡柴崎！” 他就說 “你知道嗎！ 我好朋友是柴崎幸的高中同學唷！” 結果我馬上就問 “你朋友對她印象如何呢？” “就說很可愛囉”。 這我倒是有點嚇倒，小幸高中的是後正是我所謂的BR期，是臉長得最兇的時候，怎麼可能會可愛呢?!

I'm not nerding

Today was the last lecture for my urban geography class, and I actually the last topic we discussed about modernist vs. post-modernist works.This isn't the first time that I have complained about how much modernist buildings freak me out all the time, in fact they literally give me nightmares, it really had happened before. I remember when I was ten years old, I had a dream where I was in the Downtown Eastside (funny how I knew these buildings existed in these areas) with my family, and wandered away by myself. And I went into one of the older tall office towers which was plain concrete, filled with geometrically uniformed windows. I went in the building and there was no one in there except rows of uniformed desks, uniformed cubic offices, uniformed walls. And I walked up the stairs to look at each level just to find out that every floor were completely the same, as if I'm walking in mirrors, except some floors were leaking (and for the first time today I was told that Le Corbusier styled buildings do leak LOL can someone explain why? I couldn't believe it.). I was trapped in a concrete box of hardcore rationale and bleak environment, industrial and inhumane. And then I woke up and freaked out.

I never liked those modernist buildings. When I saw Le Corbusier's plan for Paris, they give me goosebumps. It was good that we had some other aesthetics later in the century.. (better ones in my opinion).

Anyway, I really like what my prof showed us this quote from Umberto Eco, about his thoughts in the relationship between modernity and post-modernity, and it's kind of sweet actually.

I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves a very cultivated woman and who knows he cannot say to her, I love you madly, because he knows that she knows (and she knows that he knows) that these words have already been written by Barbara Cartland. Still, there is a solution. He can say, 'As Barbara Cartland would put it, I love you madly.' At this point, having avoided false innocence, having said clearly that it is no longer possible to speak innocently, he will nevertheless have said what he wants to say to the woman: that he loves her,but he loves her in an age of lost innocence. If the woman goes along with this, she will have received a declaration of love all the same. Neither of the two speakers will feel innocent, both will have accepted the challenge of the past, of the already said, which cannot be eliminated; both will consciously and with pleasure play the game of irony...But both will have succeeded, once again, in speaking of love.

わが家の歴史 (我家的歷史)

從去年秋天就開始期待這部日劇, 說穿了就是因為有小幸, 而且還是主演.

其次就是因為這次陣容實在太嚇人了, 配角包括松本潤, 佐藤浩市, 天海女王, 堀北真希, 長澤雅美, 全部都是月九主演級的大牌, 加上我個人很喜歡的三寫谷的劇本, 真是個夢幻組合...

開播之前很期待卻又怕受傷害, 期待是因為我已經三年沒看過她的日劇, 等得我好苦啊! 擔心的是, 畢竟這是小幸初次主演日劇, 成敗大部分都由她負責, 擔收視率的壓力可是不小呢

但還好果然成績不錯!

而且好多大牌演起來更覺得幸福，柴崎～松本～天海～哇～當然也不是自有我自己亂說, 收視率真的也反映出來了, 三天平均下來有20.2%. 這種連續播三天, 連續播二小時的劇本能把收視率維持這樣的真的很少見. 以一齣非木村, 非大河的日劇來說, 這大概是近年來表現算出色的啦! 想想看最近的月九最高也只有17~18%. 恭喜我家的歷史, 恭喜小幸~

雖然比日本觀眾晚了四天才來看第一集, 但果然沒讓我失望! 真是既溫馨又幽默的故事。 故事講述平凡的八女一家在日本戰後的生活，雖然艱苦確珍惜所有，不時的還把當時的歷史人物和事件都穿插進去了，感覺有點像是在看日本版的阿甘正傳。劇情緊湊但卻很滿足, 以二戰後的日本為背景更吸引人，我自己看都覺的很回味，更別說是日本人所產生的共鳴。二戰後的日本處於一場尷尬時期，強國被投了兩顆原子彈馬上投降，貧苦持續, 民主到了，自由來了，美國人佔領了，左派右派激進分子也參與了，經濟開始攀升，想必許多當時的日本人心情應該很復雜吧，要和這麼多突如其來的東西打交道，也之所以八女一家的故事這麼有趣. 最了不起的就是一家人的團結, 雖然艱苦，尷尬，但大家確能樂觀的面對一切, 讓我不禁有點慚愧. 小幸果然是實力派的，不管演甚麼都很有說服力，她演的政子讓我有感動一下，為了家人能做到這種程度, 去陪酒, 去做情婦, 無怨無悔的默默的接受社會的歧視, 我很懷疑21世紀的這個時候還有這種無私的人存在嗎?

這部日劇也讓我想起以前奶奶講的一些從故事，關於家人戰後從大陸到了台灣之後，大家為了生活而所作的犧牲。也難怪柴崎會說，有我們這代都是因為上一代的努力，雖然一直都知道上一代不可乎略的血汗，但看完這部後讓我更能體會到這點, 三谷其實應該最想說的就是, 爺爺奶奶爸爸媽媽並不是一代英雄, 是街上到處可見的平凡人, 但他們一樣偉大, 畢竟我們今天的生活也是他們急十年前在困苦之中一步一步在努力奮鬥中得來的. It's always good to be reminded of such things. 就像最後那一段旁白: "他們沒有推動歷史，姓名也沒有被後世所流傳，但他們真實的存在過這個時代，他們有著自己引以為傲的歷史".

只是.. 我好不習慣小幸在裡面的知性打扮, 太obasaan了.... 還是叛逆的她比較有親切感

演的角色也和她平常的風格完全不一樣 XD Battle Royale裡面的光子應該還比較接近她的本性 XDD

Work in 5 hours. DAMN

PLEASEEEEEEE drink my hot blood!

Lovely Thursday night! I have been looking forwards to tonight for a long while. Recently I have buried myself under piles of literatures and papers. Finally! A very fattening pasta meal and night out with my drunk friends! This is exactly what I need after all those nerdy geeky and lifeless suffocating reading and writing.

Anyway, I just received an email from Volweb.ca. I almost forgot about this. I signed up to the website last year hoping to be notified of any volunteer activities that I can join as to enrich my resume. They do send me things, but most of them end up in the trash bin since I simply have no time for volunteering. Anyway, this is the content of the email:

Dear Sherry,

Cause Force has reviewed your profile on VolWeb.ca, and would like to invite you to volunteer for one of their upcoming events: The Underwear Affair.

At first I didn't know anything about "The Underwear Affair". Well after doing some research, I understood that this is for a good cause. It's good, it's good. But I'm just so bewildered by the fact that they actually decided to "invite" me to some kind of an activities in relation to "underwear" after reviewing my "profile". I mean, they have a whole lot of other events that seem more normal. Name a few, recreation centre maintenance, kitchen fun, esl tutors, community council, European Festival, etc. And out of all those, they only want to invite me to the Underwear Affair where we're "encouraged" to run around in panties and bras. I kind of hope they reviewed "everybody"'s profile and thought they all "qualify" for The Underwear Affair.

And actually I'm posting this blog through a wireless connection, which shouldn't happen because we don't have a wireless router set up. I thought it would be impossible to connect to any existing wireless connections that belongs to my neighbours because they're all secured. But apparently, there's this connection, which is the one I'm connected to, called, "Apple Network" followed by some numbers and codes. So does that mean this network is reserved for Mac users? :D:D:D I would be glad then!

Boo

There has always been a story that I want to tell. It's a ghost story that I have witnessed myself. When I say ghost story, I don't mean anything bad, nor good. It's simply something that I saw a long time ago which continues to haunt me even until today.

It occurred every summer. The melancholy. Whenever the heat approaches, it was as if a lost soul have arrived to take refugee, as if it can't find its way home. Perhaps the cool breeze of the night, perhaps the heat itself, the emptiness only seem to deepen. After a long day, I was finally alone. But in fact, I was alone all the time when I'm in the house, at least that is what the memory tells me. In the mist of vapour and soap, I looked into the mirror and was bewildered by my own frightened glare. My room was on the first floor, and no one can have any idea how the dark walk down the heavy steps on the creaking stairs almost drove me mad. I lied on the bed. Still hot from the shower. I thought about things, all kinds of things. The work at school, the food to prepare, the errands to finish, the wind outside, the struggle inside. Slowly my feet went cold and then my hands. I stayed motionless until the faint scent of my face puts me to sleep.

No sound was needed to wake me from the short break. The wind took care of it. It seems to linger around beside my bed every night, as it has nowhere else to go. Despite dried from eyes to lips, I would drag myself up to embrace the weak yellow rays seeping through the window. There it was again, a new day. The house was the way as it was, nothing was moved, nothing was missing, nothing was changed. Only time did. I walked down the corridor, and felt especially cold, I intentionally left the windows open to let the fresh air in, but I regretted. The quiet and empty living room made it worse.

I felt deprived of all energy, yet still spent every effort to swallow the dry toast down my throat. Walked out of the house, school bag on the back, pulled myself over the bicycle, my legs still ache from previous day's running routine. I grabbed onto the cold handle, and struggled to step to make an advance. I felt lonely again. There was only me traversing through the streets. For a second I thought I dreamed of the end of the world. My imagination did not stop until a car streaming by. That was when I realised that I wasn't not the last one on Earth yet, quite relieved I was. The cold wind cut through every inch of me, yet I imagined myself as Le Petit Prince, flying. Shall I be La Petite Princess? On the way to school, the smell was amazing, yet confusing, ranged from rotten wood, fresh pines, to ripped wild berries and chemically produced fertilizer. A portion of my arms were cold. I hate such imbalances in body temperature.

In the bland classrooms, I sat there motionless, I tried listening to rants of numbers, yet instead all I heard was the ventilator's breathing sound. Time travelled slow sometimes. I tried not to be rude, but the dry air worked well with the monotone, I had to close my eyes. It's getting colder.

I liked to run, not because I really enjoy the process of moving around, but because I enjoy the effects on my body. Running was the only activity that made me feel I was still alive. I liked how it makes my lungs become violent, lusting for air. I enjoyed how it made me drench with the sweet sweat, as if I'm sweating for my own survival.... Sometimes the blazing sun makes it even better, it felt so good. I stopped, the wind blew against me, my body felt the coolness.

In the afternoon it was a different story. The heat totally took over. My whole body starts to ache after the running routine. I rode my bike back, all of a sudden there was nobody beside me. No, wait, for the whole time there hasn't been anyone other than myself. I started to wonder how long had I not spoken to anyone yet? I said hi to my cat, the only living creature who would care to greet me.

The point of this ghost story is for the sake of memory. In here there is indeed a ghost. It's me.