Victoria Day in Canada

ASM conference usually starts on Sunday evening. This year, it started on Monday evening because Monday (May 21st) is a public holiday in Canada (oh by the way, Canadians write their dates like we do in M'sia - 21/05/07 - instead of like the Americans) - Victoria Day. Not sure what they do on this day as Ping didn't observe anything out of ordinary except that all the shops are closed.

Similar to Hong Kong, their malls are underground. Much smalller as it is usually under one building only. Still remember when we were in HK, daddy would bring us into the mall from one entrance and when we exit from a different entrance, we will be on a different street. The malls here are much more organized and not as crowded but Ping didn't get anything because everything is so expensive, even more than in the States. Ping only went to one of the mall. Theng Theng went to Esprit and said that their style suits us better. Based on the fashion on the streets, they are much more like the Asian than American too.

Since most of the places were closed, we walked to Chinatown. As we were approaching and Ping saw all the streets name in Chinese, Ping got really excited. 那感覺真的很象在中國! But like most Chinatown, they are usually from Guangdong or Hong Kong because everyone was speaking in Cantonese. Ping would probably be out of place the moment Ping opens her mouth too. But seeing all the "eok thiam", wet market, seafood, "cheong" DVD and VCDs, stalls selling jades (probably fake), beads and various chinese restaurant. In fact, Ping got so excited that Ping just realized that she didn't have any photos from Chinatown! Was busy absorbing in the feeling of being at a familiar place.

The best was Ping get to eat some of the bakery stuff!! Got char siew pau, chin tooi, po lo pau, tan tart, they were all really good! It is really cheap too - 3 for $1 or the larger ones are 2 for $1! Of course don't come and tell me that for CAN $1 in Penang can get more than 3 lah...dollar to dollar, RM 1 可能只买到一可包吧.
The picture on the left is St. Lawrence market. It is the cleaner version of our "ban san".

There's also lots of pretty church here and there.




The one on the left here is the view from our hotel room. The buildings are very close to each other in the middle of the city. So you have to keep the blinds close all the time otherwise it can be pretty open for public viewing.

The convention center we were at was just below the CN tower (Canada's National Tower). It is also pretty close to the Union Station, which is their train and bus station (something like our KL Sentral, but KL Sentral is much more comfortable and organized). That's the brown building in the right picture. The CN tower is pretty much like our KL tower, where there's a revolving restaurant at the top and nothing else - as much as Ping heard from people since Ping didn't go up on it. Didn't feel that it is worth spending the money just to see the view of Canada when we can enjoy it by walking around. Like our KL tower and KLCC, it was once the tallest building in the world. Currently the tallest building in the world is probably the one in Taipei, Taiwan ba?

即使還有很多地方玩但跟美國的朋友去, 他們不太想去走走. 天氣由熱, 他們由不太想在外面走.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Just got back from watching Pirates of the Caribbean. It is a 2 hr 45 mins long movie! However, the middle part is slightly unnecessary. It has great graphics and action scenes but the storyline in the middle is kinda boring - almost 'tuk ku' in the cinema. Love the beginning - using the kid to start the song was definitely a great idea! And guess what! Chow Yun Fatt is actually a keh leh feh! There are also a few Cantonese phrases but Ping didn't catch it all. LP caught all of it and Ping had to ask her what it means. Best of all, Ping get to kap Orlando Bloom! Sooo yau yeng! Haha!

Back to Ping's trip to Canada, here's a pic of the car we rented for the drive. A Nissan Altima. It is a huge car! Feels so tiny sitting in it but it was worth it because it was a comfortable ride.
Isn't that big? It also don't need a key to start the car. There's a button that you have to press. Thankfully, we have Steph to drive us there. Otherwise, there's no way Ping or Kristi would have made it there with this car, or even know how to start it. It is also pretty 'seh eu' because we made it to Toronto and back with just one tank and 3 gallons.

Off to bed.. 晚安!

ASM at Toronto

Just got back from Toronto, Ontario, Canada yesterday afternoon. Yup, Ping has travelled to another country - Canada. 有特別嗎? Not really. When we first arrived at the Customs, the English accent is definitely more British like. It is definitely much easier than going through the customs at the airport - no checking your bags, no removing laptops out, no confiscating all kinds of stuff. They just asked us a few questions through the window while we're sitting in the car. But if you have vegetables and fruits you probably have to let them check it.

Just before we got to the customs, we have to cross the Blue Water Bridge. This is the first time Ping leaves US to go to a different country where Ping is not meeting with any family members. As we passed through the bridge, Ping thought of Penang bridge. 在想, 如果現在是過Penang 的大侨有多好呢. After the customs, it is just like Michigan. Flat, fields after fields, straight highway that never seems to end. But the first thing you see that tells you you're in a different country is they use the metric system like everyone else - speed limit is in km/h. M'sians always complain that the speed limit of 110km/h is low for our North-South highway but in Canada, or at least in Ontario, the speed limit at the highway is only 80km/h!! That's like the speed limit for Federal Highway? Wonder how often they catch ppl speeding at their interstate highways. Other than that, they always have different gas brand names, their rest stops are usually Tim Hortons and Wendy's.

It took us a total of 5.5 hours to get to our hotel near downtown Toronto. We stayed at one of the Holiday Inn chains. It was about 25 minutes walk from the hotel to the Metro Toronto Convention Center where the ASM General Meeting is held. It is definitely a great chance to be walking around. 也讓我想到以 前在Sunway College 的時候 - 每天走去學校. Ping was too lazy to bring extra socks so Ping just wore heels - mummy's hand-made manek eh - and proud to say that she can still walk in heels for a long time everyday like in college!!

The picture on the right is the main entrance of the convention center. See the recycling bin? That's one of the things Ping like there. There is a recycling bin every corner of the street. It is so convenient to recycle plastic and glass bottles and newspaper. They should do this in every country that can afford it. Hei..it can also create job opportunities leh.

Seen this thing on the left before? That's the first time Ping saw it. Didn't know what it was until someone parked their bike and then Ping realized that it is a bike rack!! There are quite a bunch of people who cycle - more than ppl in KL but definitely less than in China. The city is very much like KL but much cleaner. They also have hawkers by the road but they only sell hot dogs and fries. When crossing major intersections, it feels like in Hong Kong - lots of people crossing at all directions but thankfully, not as many ppl as in HK. It is also more multicultural than US - occasionally you pass by ppl who speaks Cantonese or Mandarin. 真的讓我很想回家阿!

Similar to KL, they also have a lot of "ki chiak ar" all over the place. They are much more "ho giak" than those in KL and braver too. They just sleep all over the place, even in front of big corporate buildings instead of under the jejantas or "ah boi lor". But what big cities don't have right? The one thing that feels different walking in KL vs. walking in Toronto is there are not many motorcyclist in Toronto, so it feels a little safer. At least for Ping since Ping got a phobia of motorcyclist coming from behind after that stupid incident in front of our Sunway house two years ago. In KL Ping had to keep looking back or Ping just walk between mum and dad when we all there this past trip back.

Hao le, wanna go back to work already. Later going to Suria for M'sian food!! Will tell more stories sometime. But overall, Toronto 真的不什麼特別. 跟美國差不多.

movies!!

Went to watch Shrek 3 last night. Baby Shrek are soooooooo cute!!! (But not the burping part lah). The weekend before we went to watch Spiderman 3. Ping still like the first one better. This one is a bit too cheesy (too much wa ai lu, lu ai wa scenes) but then got leng chai (James Franco) to kap so ookie ler. Not too long ago we went to watch Blades of Glory. That's the funniest movie of the year!! Wonder if they showed it in M'sia???

There's lots more attractive movie this summer too! They are already promoting Simpsons The Movie with the life size Simpsons family. BK used to watch them every single day but Ping never did get caught up with it. Don't understand their jokes very well.

But next week is the opening for Pirates of the Caribbean. Ping is surprised to see Chow Yun Fatt as one of the cast. Thought he is not very good at English? Hmm... But besides the story, Ping is definitely watching 'coz got Orlando Bloom to kap. Then there's Harry Potter too!!!! The new book AND the movie!!!

bored....

已经兩点多了. 我還睡不着. 老班還沒回答我的 e-mail. 想他看一看我的 ASM poster. 只有几天又去 Toronto 了. 他每次都是 last-minute, 让我自己緊張. Oh well...

剛剛看了張藝謀的黃金甲. 戏是不措, 但, 那故事有點變变态. 貞的會有这洋的事嗎? 兒子跟媽媽成为情人?

周杰倫也演的不措但他的角色跟他在 Initial D 里的角色怎么象. 不覺得 exciting.

Blah...

萍萍

Happy Mummy's Day

Since Ping couldn't get mummy anything, here's a song for mummy...

Jay Chou's 听媽媽的話 (Listen To Mum's Advice). It was written for his mum but it really is a sweet song for all mum.



Here's a translation of the chorus.

Listen to mum's advice (听媽媽的話). Don't want her to get hurt (別讓她受傷).
Wanna grow up quickly (想快塊長大). Then I'll be able to protect her (才能保護她).

The rest of the song is about why he has to study/practice the piano while his friends are out playing and he realized that it is all for his own good now that he's grown up.

But Jay was not totally right in that either. Even after we have grown up, mum is still the one protecting us. Deep down, Ping knows that as mummy will always be the one standing up for Ping rather than the other way around. Until today, when Ping consider herself independent, there's nothing more soothing than a phone call home to mum.

December 2005. Ping finally had the amount of money mum and dad had sacrificed for Ping to pursue her study here in the States, in the bank. Ping was so happy that Ping could finally return all of it to mum and dad and maybe start sending money home. But, it turned out that even when Ping goes home, Ping don't have to fork out a single cent. Ping is still a kid back home.

Ping has the most sporting mum ever too! When Ping was in high school, it is pretty common to hear friends complain about their parents. Daddy was a little strict when he was home but when he's not around, mummy was pretty much the "as-long-as-you-finish-your-homework-you-can-go-out" kinda mum. It wasn't until Ping was in college when she started coming home at wee hours in the morning on weekends when mummy made comments about that. *grins* That's one nice thing being here...no one to answer to when Ping comes home at 2am in the morning...but on the other hand, coming home at 2am in the morning here is because of lab work, not at mamak watching Man Utd vs. Liverpool. Ping also didn't have to go to tuition for all 7 subjects (except accounts which didn't count since Ping didn't take any accounts class in school), which was the best because Ping get to watch tv at night and go to Pyramid on Friday afternoons!

Here's a bunch of pictures Ping took with mummy. They are either in 2004 or 2005. End of 2004 was when Ping graduated and we went to Disneyworld while in mid-2005 was when Ping went to Beijing. They are both the best times because Ping gets mum and dad all to herself!!!By the way, mummy, I just realized that we both like our red sweaters a lot. The one and only one I have is the one daddy bought from Hong Kong (yup! it is still as good and comfy as new!). Not Ping's favorite color but Ping is seen wearing it quite a bit in lots of photos.

Here are more recent photos from Ping's last two trips home. Again, mummy and Ping seems to be in red color quite a bit although it is not our favorite color. The red top in this photo that Ping had on is actually from tua ee so not Ping's choice but it is a nice top. The one mummy had on must all be daddy's choice since mummy's usual colors are pretty dull like Ping's. Hehehe...

Also realized that Ping and mummy has quite similar facial expression. Haha..but Ping is going to disagree with daddy that Ping will become 'round' like mummy. Really miss hanging out with mummy and daddy....hope we'll get to make a trip somewhere for Ping's next trip home.

Mummy is also a great balance to daddy's "super-optimistic" and "everything starts with me" advices. When Ping needs to blame someone or something (even though daddy would think that Ping could change the situation), Ping would be going to mummy instead of daddy. Keke...

Happy Mother's Day and I love you, mummy!

Steph's graduation

Yippee!! Steph is now a Dr! The beh ik lang eh lok kun. Happy for her but Ping is also going to miss her a lot. The first time Ping met her was when Ping came to the department for a visit. But at that time, Ping still wasn't sure if she was really staying for grad school so at that point, to Ping, she was someone whom you bump into throughout the life journey, say hi and walk on. It was when Ping joined the department that Ping knew she would be someone Ping would like to know more. Ping was walking along the hallway of 6th floor looking for a professor's office when Ping bumped into Steph again. She was nice enough to give Ping her email address! But we only got close when Ping joined the Schmidt lab...she's been Ping's 'bestest' friend, and the most valueble mentor. Ping would not have made it through this far without Steph. All the nerdy discussions...she was the only one whom Ping can talk to about it and who took time to understand Ping's stuff...the Friday nights...weekends in the lab...afternoon walk to Grand River.

We had a celebration for Steph at The Post on Wednesday night after she defended. We were supposed to go to Peanut Barrel but there were too many people. We then walked towards Harpers but guess what...there was a line!! Can you imagine???? It's final's week..the MIDDLE of final's week and those kids got time to go to the bar for half-off beer. Usually finals week, we don't even want to do anything. Just want to bury our face in the book. But maybe there are just lots of people who were done by Wednesday.Anyway, back to the celebration, we ended up going to the Post. Ping actually like that place. Not a big fan of most bars, The Post is more subtle. No crazy undergrads, no crappy music, no smoky atmosphere...pretty comfy. But as usual, Ping didn't get any drink....had dinner there instead. Ordered some Thai Pasta with chicken, Steph got nachos and dips, Allison got mac and cheese (don't know if it taste different but it definitely look more 'gourmet'), Daniel got some kind of burger, and Kristi got black beans nachos but we didn't see any black beans at all!! We kept saying that we didn't see any black beans but then leh nobody said anything to the waitress. 可能喝了太多酒吧. *grins* The black bean nachos also came with pickled jalepano..it taste like 'cheh huan jio' but not sure if cheh huan jio is jalepano or not. The ang mo didn't eat much of that so Ping ate them with the pasta...they don't exactly fit each other but ho chiak enough lah.

Just before we were all about to leave, Dion suggested that we should do a shot. Ping insisted not to get one but they got one for everyone. A bit 不好意思 if don't take it right. They got 'bomb' which is a mix of Red bull and rum. Taste pretty good. So Ping actually drown it down (yup, Ping did. The last time Ping did that....Ping was jumping up and down at PD - that was when Ping was at PD with BK's friends when they did the tequila shot...that was definitely a once in a lifetime thing!). At first Ping didn't feel anything...but by the time we were about to leave, Ping felt like she had her head stuck in a heater! 好才沒有吐出來. Definitely wasn't Ping's best behaviour that night. Lucky thing Daniel was there to give us a ride home. Otherwise Ping would probably end up sleeping in the office.

Last night we went to Steph's commencement ceremony. Definitely different from Western's commencement ceremony. Ping like's the way they have the video of Western's campus at the end of the commencement ceremony. They didn't show anything like that at MSU. But, there was a Sparty guy. He actually sat there for the entire ceremony too.

After the graduation, we adjourn to Steph's place for 'dinner'. Steph and her 'parental unit' had prepared some crackers, cheese and fruits. It was a very American style..similar to a mini 'hi-tea' when we go to hotel but don't have to spend crazy amount of money. There's crackers and cheese slices. They usually eat the cheese by itself or eat it with the crackers. There were also slices of turkey and ham which they are collectively known as 'cold-cuts'. We usually eat them with roti but here, they eat them just like that. As for the fruits, unlike the regular Malaysian style (papaya, melons, mango, nangka), they are a combination of melon, grapes, and raspberry.

Ping likes the cheese curd the most. Ping usually don't buy cheese 'coz when you eat out in the States, almost everything has cheese. Ping don't need more cheese at home. Furthermore, Ping don't really know many recipes that need cheese. But Ping couldn't help snacking on the cheese curds. Ping probably finished all of Steph's cheese curd. On top of that, Steph even gave Ping the remaining that she had in the fridge. Ping could probably finish the entire bag in two days!! Err...they are really good mah!

Congrats Steph!!....Dr. Steph!