Summer Recap!

It's Canada Day!! Actually we took this picture while we were still in Vancouver (It was a really sunny day... that's why my eyes are not open haha). Such beautiful scenery around here... I was actually pretty suprised. But anyway... And so it begins, our trip to Sechelt, B.C.

We went to a few different cities and towns along the way. The first place we stopped at was Gibsons because, well, that's where the ferry stops. This was the day before Canada day we got here. And DAMN does Gibsons have a huge hill!!! It was pretty crazy... and we walked up it. Actually our hotel was at the top and I just had a map from google so we figured we'd adventure a little bit but it was really tiring. In this picture we were about 1/3 or so of the way up the hill. We had no idea how much longer it was going to go on for... we just knew we had to keep going haha.

Day 2 it was Canada Day and we were still in Gibsons. We walked back down that crazy hill, all the way to the bottom where the actual downtown area is and went out on to one of the many piers. Again, it was a beautiful day. It was hot, the sun was shining and there were people milling around all over the place. We were in a 'festive spirit', I guess you could say. This is definitely the reason people come to Canada. The beautiful scenery (and the people of course ^_^) We didn't stay in Gibsons for too long today though, we had plans to begin our trip to Seachelt! But we had to try those tasty smelling hot dogs the cadets had on sale. They were a little on the expensive side but they were really good. And it was vacation! Who cares if a hotdog costs a bit too much, it's time to enjoy! But, we had had our time to enjoy already and it was time to get on a bus and head off to Seachelt.

On the way over there we got a little sidetracks and suddenly decided to get off the bus to explore a beach we saw (It's public transit so it was all good). We wandered over to the beach and started to fish around in the sand for anything living. Crabs, oysters, etc. Sadly we couldn't find anything too interesting. Then it started to get a little overcast and our spirits started to drop a little bit but not to fear, the tide is coming in! We had to evacuate the beach along with everyone else who was enjoying their time there. But it was interesting watching the tide come in on such a flat beach. Very cool. After the beach we crossed the street and went over to a small little farmers market where they were selling vegetables and fruits. We bought some raspberries and cherries and then went next door to a little store that sold collectibles, juice, hand-made jewelry and the like. We bought a fruit punch smoothie there... it was alright - nothing spectacular, that's for sure. And then off to the Fish and Chips place! We bought some fries and were just sitting down to eat when the bus came! What's up with that? So we ran to get on the bus and were informed that we can't eat on the bus. So we ended up just looking at our fries being hungry until we got to Seachelt.

Now this is Seachelt. Actually, I'm sorry, I don't have a picture of the city but I do have a picture of us together on the coastline! (I know that doesn't help haha) This picture you might have seen before... Actually I know you've seen it before because it's both my display picture on MSN and it's my picture on this blog also. I really like it, as you might have guessed. Seachelt is a pretty small town - I'm actually not really sure what there is to do here, I just remembered the coastline was so pretty - that's why I wanted to bring my Hime here to see it. We went for dinner at one of the few restaurants I know of and we had Halibut - it was really good actually... but expensive haha. The next morning we took some pictures at the local Drug Store with cute animal hats on. It was actually really fun - I've never done something like this before - just put something on and taken pictures hahaha. After we finished looking around the Drug store we were off to go back home.

And that was our Canada Day weekend and our trip to Seachelt. I really had a lot of fun - I love traveling and it's so much better when you're doing it with someone you love. We're trying to plan another trip.. but we're not quite sure where to yet. Maybe Disneyland =D

My mom and sister came to visit us in Vancouver for a night then we all went back to Penticton together for the weekend. Sadly Penticton wasn't very hot the few days we were there, which is pretty strange - usually it's in the 30's. But we still floated the channel.. but were freezing the entire time because it was so windy. Actually we had a little mishap with one of the floaties... I was holding on to my sisters' and then I thought she grabbed it but apparently she didn't so we both let go and whoosh, it was gone upstream. I attempted to swim upstream after it. It didn't have any trouble continuing upstream but I sure did. I was so, incredibly tired when I finally got to it. I didn't even have enough energy to talk once I managed my way back to Hime and my sister. Whew, interesting experience. But we still had a good time and still managed to get suntanned despite it only being 26 (which, I guess, is still pretty warm in most places)

Back in Vancouver and... our roommate is now gone. She was pretty cool and I kind of miss her. And now we have a new roommate and he's not really... well he's kinda anti-social actually haha. He never does anything outside of his bedroom. He always either eats out or eats cup noodle. Strange guy.

Right now I'm working a lot of overtime at work. I've been working from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-5:30pm on Saturdays... It really sucks. Lots of money, but no time to spend with my girlfriend. I'm so happy she's good about it though. Actually she cooks me lunch and dinner everyday. So nice! I love you Hime - ありがとう!!! Actually, I got somewhat of a promotion at work. Mainly just more responsibilities but I see it as a way to show what I can do. They asked me if I would like to be the Point of Contact for the Economy in our game and I gladly accepted. So my roll is to coordinate the testing of our in-game economy. It's pretty cool. I'm so happy I was given this opportunity - I hope it pays off.

Karaoke is awesome!! Man, I love it. I'm a terrible singer but I really like karaoke. The first time I tried it I was with Hime and her best friend and I was so nervous. I sang a couple songs alone and then I tried singing one with Hime's friend but I was so off key we couldn't even sing together hahaha. Recently I've gone with Hime a bunch of times and I'm really liking it. Sadly it's really expensive... not even just kinda expensive. It's super expensive. More than dinner for 2!!! It's crazy.

フラミンゴさん (Ming) came back from Monterey in Mexico and brought with him some souvenirs! I love souvenirs haha. He brought me a coffee mug that says Monterey on it so I brought it to work and use it every day. Thanks!!

Now its なっとさん's (Nat's) turn to go back to Japan. Actually I was never very good friends with her but she's really cool and a good friend of Kenji so it was kinda sad saying bye. Hime and I went together to her party to say goodbye at a restaurant called Ebisu on the 2nd floor on the corner or Robson and Bute. We didn't actually stay to order any food or have any drinks so I don't really have any comments on the restaurant but the ambiance seemed pretty good for hanging out in groups. Actually I told Nat that Hime and I had just got back from Penticton and going down the channel because I remembered she told me she had done the same thing back in December of 2006 at Ming's birthday party but she said she had never told me... but she gone to Penticton to go down the channel. Hime also remembers our conversation at Ming's party so we had no idea what was going on hahaha. It was pretty funny though. Still now I have no idea.

We're Moved In!

Hime and I moved in on Monday of this week and it went pretty smoothly. No major hassles or anything. The move itself went just about as smooth as you could ask for. Nothing broken and so far nothing lost. The major problem we ran into was after the move when we discovered we were missing a lot of essential things such as a pot, a can opener, bowls, microwavable plates, plastic wrap, a toaster, oven mitts, some kind of sharp knife, and a few other things. Actually I just remembered I do have a couple of sharp knives... but my old roommates must have packed them up with their stuff by accident. I'll have to call them later and get them back.

Our new apartment is really nice; I'm super happy with it. It's fairly large and it has a wonderful layout. Can't ask for too much more. Oh, it also has a balcony and is a block from Robson street =D. We still have to get a little bit more furniture such as a coffee table or a TV stand (since the TV is currently on my coffee table), a dining room table, a second desk for Hime and a few other things. We also will be looking for a roommate soon so we will have to buy a second bed for the roommate to sleep on and probably a desk for them to do their work on. The kitchen is great. There's lots of cupboard space for the size of kitchen it is and still enough counter space too. Also, this time, the counters are the right height. In my last apartment the counters were made for midgets, I swear. I feel so comfortable here. I'm so happy we found this place and I'm with my hime.

By the way, I finished reading Ancestors of Avalon and it wasn't very good. It also took me a terribly long time to read. I plan on reading a good book next.

Our New Apartment

Hime and I found an apartment the other day. Its on the 7th floor of a highrise. Beautiful apartment. Its about 650sq ft (60.4sq m) and has 1 bedroom, kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, and a balcony. Its a block from Robson street (downtown blocks are incredibly short - maybe 1 minute walk) but its still in a fairly quiet area as the street we're on runs parallel and is a dense residential area (if you've played Sim City you'll know what this means). I'm really happy with the apartment we chose. We looked at a different suite in the same building in February but it was 525sq ft and far too small for us so we didn't take it. But this one is great. The hotel also has a gym and sauna. I can't wait to move. After we move in we'll take some pictures and I'll post them up here.

Also I've decided to start with a healthier diet. I've decided to quit eating potato chips and drinking coffee. I plan to quit more things in the future but for now this is fine. I don't want to quit it 100% but... 95%. I plan on eating chips every few months maybe and I'll have coffee to be polite if I'm at someones house and am offered coffee and no tea. I just want to start eating more healthy. I also don't drink milk but I haven't drank milk in a really long time.

Valentines Day

Valentines day was great. We checked in at our hotel after buying some snacks and dinner. We bought chocolate to melt and strawberries to go with it for a snack. For dinner we bought a frozen pizza and some KFC. We also bought a bottle of wine for the occassion. I hadn't had KFC in sooo long. It was interesting. Good though. The lady at the hotel had listened to our request to move from room 2406 to one of the other larger ones and when we checked in she informed us that she had given us 2409 which is a corner suite. It was a beautiful room with a beautiful view.

We exchanged presents and then sat down to eat dinner. I gave her "The Notebook" book and a little mood ring and panda stuffed animal (だれぱんだ). She said that Darepanda is her "most hated" thing in Japan but she will keep it anyway. She gave me a promising note and a box of chocolates that were quite tasty. I will post up a picture of some of the presents after I censor the names ^^.

We had quite the time. The jacuzzi was wonderful. Not too much more we could have asked for except maybe a clear sky for a better view, but the view wasn't bad anyway. It was good. We had one accident. A wine glass got broken while we were in the jacuzzi so we had to evacuate and then I cleaned it up a little bit later.

Hime's Parents!?

Last week I met Hime's parents. They came to Canada from Japan for a week (well about a week). They arrived Monday but on Tuesday they left for Las Vegas and brought Hime with them. They came back from Las Vegas on Thursday morning and I saw them again for most of the day Thursday and Friday. They left to go back to Japan on Saturday at around noon but I was at work so I had to say goodbye to them on Friday night.

It was really interesting meeting them. I couldn't have much of a conversation so Hime ended up translating a lot but they were really cool. I really enjoyed thier company. They took me out for dinner and lunch a number of times and wouldn't let me pay. I wrote a letter for them in Japanese with help from Kenji though. I wrote it in English and then he translated it into Japanese for me and then I rewrote it in Japanese. I gave her parents both the English copy and the Japanese copy. I think they liked it. I hope so.

Today is Valentines day and Hime and I rented a room at the Sandman hotel on Davie. We got the Jacuzzi Queen Suite on the Penthouse floor (24). Its a really nice view of the city. I can't wait until tonight ^_^. It is suprisingly inexpensive for what you get.. Top floor of a nice hotel with a beautiful room.... AND a jacuzzi for $204 a night. I bought her a couple little things that I hope she likes. I guess I'll find out tonight. Next blog I'll talk about what I bought and put up some pictures of our room and the view. ^^

Week of crazy

It's been one week since my last post. I had planned to blog on the Saturday but I had other things come up. Right now I'm at work and so I won't be able to finish this post probably until later.

Last Thursday was Hime and my 2nd month anniversary. We had planned to go skating at 12:00-1:30 but I was late meeting her and then we ended up talking and exchanging presents and then it was already too late to go. We had stayed up really late the night before so we decided just to have a nap.

She had been waiting for her phone to arrive (we ordered it from customer service because it was cheaper and they were going to mail it with UPS to her apartment). They tried delivering it on Monday but she wasn't home so they left a notice. They tried again on Tuesday but they had an incorrect address so of course... It wasn't delivered yet again. On Wednesday it was the same thing and they said to pick it up at UPS... but they left no address information so I called the 1-800 number on the notice. The lady informed me that UPS was near the airport. So we were pretty upset we had to go so far just to pick up the phone. But what can you do. We sucked it up headed down to the UPS. We took the bus and it took about 20 minutes. Then we had to catch a cab to drive us to the UPS store because it was so out of the way.

When we got to the UPS store I asked the cab driver if he could wait and he said sure. So we went inside and waited in line. Finally we were helped and the lady brought out the package. Hime had her passport and whatnot on her so she could prove it was her picking up the package but apparently UPS needs an address identification to pick up parcels. And since Hime didn't have any kind of government issued identification with her current address we had to phone Fido with the UPS phone. The lady said "let me know when you have a customer service rep available". So I called them up and when I got ahold of a rep I said "UPS just needs to verify the address information on the account with you" and I said it loud and he said "Okay, can I talk to her?" and I said "She's helping a different customer now. Just a minute." (also loud enough for her to hear) So we waited... and waited... and then when she was finished with that customer she began helping a 2nd customer so I said "Excuse me, how long do we have to wait for you?" blah blah and then finally after helping THAT customer she came over and took the phone from me to verify. Idiot girl. Then she tried to blame me for not letting her know. We were waiting for so long before we got the package. The cab driver was wondering what was going on and came in to find out too. The cost to drive from the airport to the UPS store was $5 and the cost to make him wait for so long was $20. I was so angry with UPS. So please, boycott UPS if possible. They have horrible service ^_^.

On the way home we couldn't find the SIN card so again we were upset so we went to the Fido Downtown to ask them about it but apparently we just weren't very observant and it was in the box all along. So that was resolved. Finally. When we got back to my apartment we activated the phone and all was swell.

On Saturday Hime and I made a discovery when she signed on to her MSN at my house. Her roommates MSN name said "you're the idiot. just die" in Korean and she thought that it was directed towards her. She was really upset and and they argued a lot about it. On Sunday I spoke to him on the phone and he said that that wasn't his MSN name and that he had that as his MSN name a few weeks ago and it was about himself, not about anybody else. After I spoke to him I got to thinking "ah... I think he's telling the truth" because we saw him when he was offline and she never goes on msn at my house so odds are it was from a few weeks ago. We had called him from Hime's house so after that we went to my apartment to investigate. Sure enough it said the same thing which confirmed what I had been thinking so we called him and apologized. Hime was very emotional because she accused him of saying that as well as lying about saying it. I apologized too because I was more or less the instigator of the whole thing. Hime felt really sick afterwards so she had a nap in my apartment for about 15-20 minutes or so. Then my roommate came out to complain about Hime being there too often. I was really angry about that. A few minutes later we left and went to a going away party for one of Hime's friends.

The Ultimate Recap

I haven't written on here for a while and a lot of things have happened so this will sort of be a recap of happenings since my last post. I have a feeling it's going to be sort of.. all over the place but I will try to keep it as chronological as possible so it makes a little bit more sense (even though almost all the topics are completely unrelated).

I had my "3 month review" the other day... (I've worked for my current company for almost 6 months now, I think) So I was a little bit surprised when they told me I was having my 3 month review. In any case I had a really good review and then received a 25 cent raise so now I'm up to the big $10.50/h. They also said that since it technically IS my 3 month review that I will be getting "retro pay" from my 3rd month up until the present. So that means I'll have an extra cheque for $50 or something which is good.

I started reading the book my sister bought me for Christmas. It's alright, I haven't gotten too far into it yet though. Just 50 pages or so I believe. I'm finding it pretty hard to get into. I think it's mainly because every time I've tried reading it I've been really tired. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read it when I'm not so tired though so I can get more into it and start enjoying it a little bit more. At the rate I'm going at, I won't finish the book for another month or something. >_< Mondo Gelato to get some icecream and talk to my friend Jay. I was surprised to see my friend Toune in there too. I graduated with both of these guys but Toune had moved back to Niagara Falls after we graduated and I didn't know he was back in Vancouver. I talked to them both for quite a while but I ended up talking to Jay the most. He started talking about this funny CG cartoon called 金卵(Kintamago) that you can find on youtube. He seemed pretty excited about it so I figured it must be pretty good. After we got back to my place after icecream we went on youtube to check it out. It wasn't very funny. We only watched one episode and yeah... not the most interesting or funny cartoon.

After that we headed off to Daikichi Sushi. We go there so often it seems. Hime always has second thoughts about going there because she is worried the lady who works there is going to think she is crazy. But I really like it and its cheap so I figure "why not go there"? ^_^

Ah yeah. So I installed Ragnarok Online II the other day too. This game currently isn't playable nor is it released in either North America or Korea. It's still in development. I know a few people working on understanding how this game works and I managed to find a downloadable and working copy of the game online. It looks really nice and I would really like to play it soon. If it's anything like Ragnarok Online, I will probably like it a lot.

The other night we watched The Elephant Man. Hime bought this movie before we went to my family's house for Christmas, we just never had time to watch it before now. It's a really good movie and it's also really well made. It was made in 1980 and was wonderfully done. It's also based on a true story after the life of "The Elephant Man" AKA Joseph Merrick. I watched the special features on my own time and they were also quite interesting. I'd suggest everybody watch this movie whether or not you think you'd enjoy it. It's not the most action packed movie - that's for sure. But it's a really interesting movie to see. Keep in mind its based on a true story after a real person (who looked VERY similar to the actor in the movie).

Saturday morning I had a phone interview with the Vancouver Japanese Language School. I'm planning on taking their 10 week course. It's one day a week for 10 weeks for $180. I applied and then had the phone interview. It went pretty well... I guess. I found out my weak point is definitely sentence creation. I can understand fairly well and my listening skills are also pretty good, but when it comes to responding... I really struggle. She said I placed into the Beginner 2 course but the course MIGHT not have enough people to run this time so she would get back to me. I really hope it works out because I would really like to take some REAL Japanese lessons from a teacher in a classroom lesson. It seems like it would be a really good school for me and from what she told me, most of what I would be learning would be how to communicate in Japanese... which, right now, is where my problem is.

After I finished work I went out for dinner with Hime. We went to this Persian restaurant and got two different dishes. I don't remember exactly what they were called but it wasn't the best food and it was also a little on the expensive side. Hime didn't like what she ordered at all and I thought both were kinda mediocre so I traded with her and ate hers while she ate mine... or most of mine. When we checked the time we discovered that it was already 9:45 and I had told Kenji that I would phone him at 9:30 so we had to rush out of there pretty quick.

I called Kenji and then Dom and then Jay. Jay didn't answer his phone but both Kenji and Dom did. I explained the situation and went to meet Kenji up by the Blenz. Kenji, me and Hime headed off to this place called 1215 on Davie street. It's a Japanese bar and it was pretty neat. There was this one Canadian guy in there who I've met before that was really loud and causing a lot of trouble it seemed. Stupid guy. In any case it was really fun. Kenji ordered this dish called たこ焼き (Takoyaki). It's more or less octopus but go read the wikipedia for more information on what exactly it is. It was sooo good. The first one I ate was incredibly hot but it was tasty. I really like trying new food. Later in the evening Hime ordered me a drink. A green tea drink.. I also don't remember what it was called. Maccha something. It was really really good. She ordered it with soy milk. Its made with Maccha and Vodka and soy milk and I'm not sure what else. Dom showed up just as 1215 was closing so we went across the street to Sugar Daddys.

It wasn't too busy so we grabbed a table for the 4 of us and ordered a pitcher and started to drink again. After we got the bill for the first pitcher I showed them all this stupid little magic trick which turned into a big talk about magic and us trying to figure out new tricks and whatnot. It was really fun. Kenji made up the neatest trick. I won't explain it because well... it's magic. But it was great. We got him to show the waitress and then she showed us this other really neat trick with a little bit of ash. After that Don got her to explain how she did it and then he tried to do it to us but I figured it out when he tried it. I haven't tried it myself but I think I might be able to pull it off if people were drinking hehe.

After we left we said bye to Kenji and then Don and I walked Hime home. He came back to my place to crash. We ended up talking and playing guitar until about 5:00am or something. I taught him how to read tablature and how to play Good Ridance (Time of your Life) by Greenday. I let him sleep on my bed and I slept on the floor with a bed made up of a bunch of different sweaters. It was surprisingly comfortable.

On Sunday I had to work alone from 3:30 - 6:00. It was really strange working by myself. I still took my lunch break so for 30 minutes there was nobody working and a lot of calls started to pile up. I really don't care though, I think it's stupid they didn't schedule anybody else to work with me. They fired the person that usually works with me on Tuesday and then never bothered to ask anyone to take the shift. They just let me tough it out all alone. So they can go suck on it for all I care ^_^.

When I got home from work I went over to my friends place to play D&D. Right now I'm a sorcerer. I'm level 3 and we're progressing quite quickly. The DM is really good and I'm really enjoying his campaign. We have to do a lot of roleplaying and its really fun. At the moment we have this illusion spell stuck on us that has turned us into these crazy monsters. I'm a mind flayer at the moment (well I'm not really, but other people perceive me as such). We have to drink this potion to keep ourselves in our regular form but it only lasts for so long. At the moment we're looking for ingredients to cure ourselves but its proving to be quite the arduous adventure.

On monday, after work, I bought some flowers and went to surprise Hime at the library. At first I couldn't find her anywhere but I think it's because I got there before she did. I searched the whole 2nd floor then went up to the 4th floor and looked there. It took me about 30 minutes to search both floors. After that I thought about it and figured "ah.. maybe I was too quick getting here" so I went back down to the 2nd floor and started searching again. I found her without too much trouble... In a place I know I looked earlier, so I knew I was too early. In any case I snuck up behind her and put the flowers down on top of her book. She was so surprised and made a little noise then looked embarrassed because it was so quiet in the library. It was so cute hehehe. After that we studied English together for a little while and then she went home. More or less...

Today I had free pizza at my work. Lots of free pizza. Because of the shift I work I got free pizza with the morning people and free pizza with the afternoon people. So I ended up eating 7 pieces of pizza throughout the day. Complimented with a bowl of baby carrots and another giant garden salad. So much food. It was nice. The pizza wasn't really the best pizza but what can you do. Tomorrow we have a company-wide meeting. We're speculating that the company is gonna bite it and we're all going to get laid off. I'm happy. I can't wait till the meeting hehehe. Severance pay FTW. But I can't get my hopes up too much until tomorrow though. I will post what happens tomorrow... Hopefully (I might forget.. or have other things to do).

So I have to start looking for a new apartment because my roommates are moving out in March which means I will also have to move out in March. I want to move in with Hime but she has to stay with her current roommate until April because they are in a contract for 1 year. It sucks. I think I might find us a place together and then just live alone for 1 month. Then again she will probably end up living with me anyway for that month hehe. I have to figure it out pretty soon. Before January ends.

Also Hime's parents are coming to Canada in February. I'm so excited. Well... excited and scared at the same time. It's a big thing to meet someone's parents. Especially when they travel from Japan. She said they just want to see Canada. I sure hope they aren't coming just to see me. Not that I think that's the case because well that would make me seem pretty conceited but I still worry that that's the reason. I would feel like such a burden. But I'm still so excited to meet them. From what she's told me I think I will really like her parents.

This Thursday will be Hime and my 2nd month anniversary. It doesn't seem like 2 months already but it is. I'm not sure what we will do but I will meet her friend late late Thursday night. Well... technically Friday morning. At around 1:30am probably. I'll have to make some plans for what we'll do on Thursday though hehehe.

My Hime's first day back

So my Hime came home this morning from Japan. I picked her up at the airport at just after 9:00. Her plane arrived earlier than it was supposed to so I was waiting in line for coffee when she arrived so I had to run to say hello. I was so glad to see her again. We ended up going to starbucks and getting drinks anyway. I had forgotten to call my work in the morning to let them know that I wouldn't be coming to work so I had to rush home after we finished our coffee. At my work we have to call in one hour before our shift or else we get a warning of sorts depending on where we are on the attendance or whatnot. I managed to get home and call at 10:50 (I start work at 12:00) So that was good. Hime went on to her apartment by herself on the bus (I got off at my stop to call) . After I called in to work I went to meet her at her apartment then we headed back to my place. I cooked up some chicken and made a garden salad with chicken on top. So tasty =D

Hime gave me some presents. They're awesome. She gave me some Hokkaido cookies and some tea and some presents. I got this giant Dragonball Z calander for 2007. Each month is a poster size ^_^. Its so great. Also she gave me this sweet Vegeta action figure (on the left there) and this hilarious little keychain thing with a boner (on the right). It's called Marimokkori and its, apparently, a really popular Hokkaido souvenir. It's so weird.

After that we started to watch Moulin Rouge but she fell asleep about 20 minutes into the movie so I paused the movie and she went to have a nap. She asked me to lay with her while she fell asleep so I did that. She fell asleep after about 10 minutes so I snuck out. I found japanese subtitles for her since Moulin Rouge is a really confusing movie and the people speak SO fast. Last time we tried to watch it I couldn't explain it fast enough.

At around 6:00 Hime went home and I installed Diablo II and started a campaign with Marth. I made a druid who goes by the name of Ninjin =D (it means carrot in japanese). I only got to play for a little while though before I had to go meet up with Hime. She had to go pick up some stuff from her friends place. Then we went to Blenz and had some hot chocolate.

Now shes nagging me and nagging me because she wants to play Cake Mania. I'm going to let her use my computer now. She's so crazy but I still love her. ^_^

New Bookshelf

So last night when I got home from work, I passed a bookshelf in the alley of my apartment. First thing I thought was, "I could use that". But I went inside and sat down on the computer instead. After some game playing and chatting and whatnot I decided that I really DID need that bookshelf. So at around 12:30am I went back outside and grabbed the bookshelf. I tried my best to reorganize my bedroom but it didn't quite work out 100%. My room is still a little messy (but definitely a lot cleaner than it was before). It's a ratty old purple bookshelf that looks like it was made by an aspiring 10 year old and then painted by his little brother. Either the last person who had it used it as a punching bag, or it was fashioned from random planks of wood found in the dumpster. But it works, and now its mine.

Today, work was boring. Then again, its always boring. This girl, Rupe, asked for my email today at work. Normally I'm not a fan of making "work friends" but she's pretty cool. That makes two people's emails I've got at work. There's one other person's email I'd like to get. This french lady named Gill. She's very cool - my favorite person to talk to at work right now.

So, my Hime comes home from Japan tomorrow. I'm so excited. I'm going to go meet her at the airport tomorrow morning and spend, hopefully, the rest of the day with her.

Right now I should be sleeping because I need to wake up early in order to get to the airport in time to greet her when she gets off the plane. She will probably be tired since 9am our time 2am in Japan, so if she didn't sleep on the plane she'll be wanting to sleep ASAP after she gets off the plane probably. So weird to change timezones so drastically like that.

Today I got my friend Sol8 to make a blog and hopefully he will be updating his quite frequently too. I also tried to convince my friend minibean to make a blog but she refuses. She hasn't even read this yet. So, minibean, when you read this, email me.

I think my room is about as clean as it is going to get tonight since I have to get to sleep pretty soon. I made two teriyaki chicken breasts for dinner and man where they tasty. (But I probably didn't make them 'correctly' according to tradition... but whatever, they sure tasted good)

Oh yeah, I should talk about Empire (Orson Scott Card's Novel). I finished it today and it was really good. It was hard to put down. I had to force myself to stop reading. In the beginning I wasn't totally sure I would enjoy it, but after I got into the story... really good. It is worth buying in my opinion. Definitely worth reading, that's for sure. It was a Christmas present from my Mom. =D

The next book I'm going to read is "Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ancestors of Avalon" of the Avalon Series by Diana L. Paxson. My sister bought me this for Christmas so its time to read it ^_^

Well sleep time. I hope to post tomorrow evening.

Ugly Weather

Today, the weather in Vancouver was horrible. It snowed most of the day but with positive temperatures so it was more like melting snow. The streets were covered in slush and there were puddles everywhere. Trees were all weighed down and breaking. It was just bad. It's all just about melted now, which is good. Vancouver weather is so unpredictable.

Today I didn't really do all too much, as I should have. I went out to meet a friend to pick up a CD with a game engine on it. He wants me to be the level designer for the company he is hoping to create with a friend. I have to install this and start learning it, pronto. That was my plan for today but I actually didn't get around to installing it yet. I can't believe myself. Instead what I did was play video games.

I played Metal Gear Solid 3 for a couple of hours today and then after I got stuck at a hard part, switched over to Ookami. MGS3 is a really really nice looking game for PS2 and I really like how they have so much story involved. It isn't all just gameplay gameplay gameplay (though I am a lover of gameplay). There are parts of the game where it stops the game and has story for 10 and sometimes even 20 minutes at a time. It's great, its like playing through a movie. Very well done. The gameplay on the other hand is a tad bit frustrating to be honest. The game is obviously made for people who like to wait and sneak. I like to sneak but only to a certain extent. There are four "modes" that Snake can be in while playing. "Alert" which is when the enemy has spotted you, which lasts for 99 seconds (but usually quickly goes down once you've hidden yourself). "Evasion" which is after you've hidden yourself well and they're still looking for you. That lasts for 99 seconds as well (but also can be sped up if you have hidden yourself REALLY well). Then theres "Caution" which lasts for 99 SLOW seconds (by slow I mean every second in the game is about equivalent to 1.75 regular seconds)... this mode does NOT speed up if you've hidden yourself well. You have to wait for the entire 99 game-seconds to finish. It takes about 3 minutes-ish for this to finish. So all this time together can take up to 5 minutes before its totally safe to proceed in the game. Highly annoying. Also the enemies are really smart and if one sees you, you might as well just die and start from the last load point. Its possible this might change later in the game, but for now its annoying. The last mode is just the regular mode that you're in for most of the game. I got stuck at this part with landmines and whatnot and it was quite upsetting so I just shut the game off and turned on Ookami.

I played Ookami only for about an hour and 1/2 or so. Didn't get too much further either, but at least I didn't run into any problems or annoyances while playing. Ookami is everything its made out to be so far. I'm really loving it. Not too much to say about Ookami... I have no complaints, I'm not stuck, and I haven't got far enough to talk too much about what I like most. So in the future ^_^

Right now the wind is blowing like mad. Seriously... wtf is wrong with Vancouver's weather. Our living room windows are buckling. *sigh*