Happy Halloween!

No party this year. Just another work day. (T_T)

Corner house (7)

Almost done!

Retouched or not?

57% is not a very good score... Oh well, at least it's more than half. (>_<;)


Created By Tampa Limousines

Halloween @ mall

Yaohan Centre 2nd floor. Got a bunch of errands to run.

Haven't heard more about last week's suicide at Aberdeen Center. The incident seems to be silenced... Hmm...

Homework

Wire wrap continues...

Standard time?

Hmm... OK... I know it's about time to switch back an hour, but is it today? My computer is one hour behind all the clocks in my household. Its time zone is correct, but for both US and Canada. Somehow US time zone overwrites the Canadian one. Grrr...

Little Big Planet

A really cute and well-made game! (Not mine. A bunch of friends had a game party. I don't play games so I brought homework to do.) Well, some day, when I have time, I might give this game a try. Some day.

Cross-border...

... shopping. Hitched a ride with my brother's gang again, hehehe. I think I've got all the gift shopping for my year-end trip done. As he will be going again in a month, there's still one more chance if I find out I've missed something.

The Canadian dollar's shrinking like crazy. Cross-border shopping is a dumb thing right now. But his investment is all gone, plus owing the bank money thanks to the recent market turmoil. He needs to rent his basement out. This trip is to set some supplies. Sigh... (I've lost almost half, but at least I don't owe the bank money, I think.)

Photo: dinner at Costco. The cheapest meal you can get. Not bad at all for that price.

Homework & monitor

Lace for mini towels...

Half dead monitor. Just under 3 years old. Warranty expired of course. Takes half an hour for it to wake up. But once it's up, it seems to be working fine, until it's power saving mode kicks in and falls asleep. Then another half an hour to wake up. Vicious cycle. Sigh... I think it can be repaired but I don't have time to deal with it now... (T_T) And thanks Andrew for letting me have your old one. (^_^)

Pixar toys and poster

Finally mailed it today. This thing started a year ago. I couldn't get the payment method down. Handling fees from Paypal or banks are not worth it. At last we decided to send cash, which was pretty risky. Thanks for the patience and trust. The toys are on their way.

I'm so glad this is done. Just in time to help with my trip too although not a lot. Hope to sell more of my toys.

Finding Nemo official poster, double sided. Probably the ones they put in light boxes. It has only come out of the mailing tube less than 5 times. $18, any takers?

Corner house (6)

People have been working inside at night.

Tea

Afternoon tea at London Farm. Today's cookies were nicer than last time. Maybe they sold out.

Cetaphil

Finally opened the new bottle today. I bought a 2-pack at Costco last winter during a cross-border shopping trip. (Hitched a ride with my brother again, hehehe.) The old bottle lasted one year and 2 months. I must apologize for whining about it being too expensive. It is not.

As you can see, with the old package design, the old bottle is pretty old. The new one feels thinner, though.

The other bottle went to my sister-in-law. If it takes a year to go through one bottle, by the time I open the other one, it would have been sitting around for over 2 years. I wonder how long the shelf life for Cetaphil is. Hmm...

Homework

Boxes, boxes, boxes... took waaaay longer than I though...

"Cream that egg"

Geeze... I wonder how long it took to plan all that out...

Thanks Andrew for helping with my homework! (^_^)

Hotel (3)

Aaaaargh!! The one we've been aiming at is full already! It's still 2.5 months away, and it's full?! Unbelievable!!!! Crazy!!! (Panic panic panic...)

Luckily we found 2 more that are the same price range. Just slightly more. (But multiply that by 10 days...) And I think I finally get the hang of the search. I was looking up official Japanese sites before. While the quickest way seems to be traveler's blogs and forums.

Couldn't do any homework again... (T_T)

Hotel (2)

Finally got in touch with my traveling companion. Japanese dollar is getting so high, we have no choice but to shorten our trip from 2 weeks to 10 days. And she's got a few good points about the weekly rental apartment. (1) Our stay is shortened. No longer 2 weeks. (2) Registration is difficult. We need a Japanese bank account, which, is impossible if you don't live in Japan. (And I don't want to hassle my Japanese friend.) (3) How are we gonna meet up? She will arrive one day later while I'd be at the Comic Market. The key will probably be with me.
So, the conclusion is, give up the apartment and go for cheap ryokan.

Didn't get to do any homework today... (T_T)

Goldfish Jello

Summer limited edition traditional Japanese candy by Kamakura Minamoto Kicchouan. (Wow such a long name...) Thanks Yue for this beautiful snack! It's so pretty, I almost didn't want to eat it. But of course, it looks equally delicious too, so I wouldn't resist. After all, it's best when enjoyed fresh.
The taste is much heavier than expected. Lots of lemon. All the Japanese candies I've had up to this point lead me to believe lighter is the norm over there. Is it possible that this jello is an exception? This is supposed to be traditional. Hmm... I donno.
Although it's heavy, it's very different from north American ones. The former has depth and you can tell it's got real ingredients, while the later tastes artificial. The goldfish and rocks (?) have a different texture. (Of course, they're made separately before the jello was pored in.) Oops... I forgot to chill them! Oh well, the weather has already gotten cool anyway. And it doesn't hurt the taste either.

Anna's Cappuccino Thins

Yikes! Tastes like coffee! But... but... I don't like it! Maybe it's the bitterness, maybe it's the intensity, maybe it's the texture. Something isn't quite right. Or perhaps this flavour simply doesn't work for this kind of cookie? The crunch is still there, so is the sweetness. I guess it's just personal preference.

Homework

Loose broaches. Extremely harsh on the eyes... (T_T)

Babysitting

My sister-in-law flew home because her father's health isn't looking good. (He's been on dialysis for many years...) My brother has a night class to teach. Usually my nieces would be dropped off to us, but today he needs me to go to their place instead. It would be way too late for the kids' bed time if he picks them up after class.

When the kids are over here, all they need is the TV, and my mom would take care of the rest. I usually don't have to deal with them much. This is the first time I'd be facing them alone, in their territory. This makes me bit nervous. Thank God they behave well. They even helped me with my homework. (Yeah... they were more interested in my homework than their own, haha...)

Hotel

Breast boards. Just need to trim the hair for a more defined shape.

Without sufficient geography knowledge, I'm not having much luck in hotel search. (T_T) It's all limited by my budget. And my traveling companion friend still hasn't replied my mail. I'll have to give her a call soon. Hope she's OK. I think I've reached the limited of staring at the screen. It literally gives me headaches. Thank God for the help of my Japanese friends!

Antihistamine

Got it during the recent cross-border shopping. It's Costco's store brand. Around US$13 for 300 10 mg pills. I've been taking Reactine. Around CA$13 for 36 5 mg pills. Basically, I don't like cross-border shopping because it hurts local economy. But how can you resist such a deal? That's almost 200 times cheaper, right? The only problem is, cutting the pills in half is very difficult. I'm sure I'm not taking 5 mg accurately.

Homework

Broaches...

Homework

Chain cutting. Then it's loose broaches afterward. Picture will have to wait.



The house around the corner is changing everyday. The interior seems to have progressed a lot. (Oops, they noticed me taking pictures.)

2nd appointment...

... after dad's surgery. Since he doesn't talk and slurs about his condition being more or less the same, the doctor ordered another examination in the next appointment. More wait, more incredibly expensive parking.
Homework... more of the same stuff...

Homework

More embellishments. Watches and broaches. My eyes... (T_T)

My aunt took my parents out for lunch at around 11. They were back before 2. My mom went to take a nap. My dad saw the takeout food for tonight (my brother's gang come home for dinner) and he set up the table and ate full lunch again. I got up at 2 and was surprised how late they had lunch. I only heard the full story from my mom at that point. Sigh... my dad is loosing his mind fast. (1) He can't even remember he's eaten. (2) He can't tell whether he's hungry or not. (3) He doesn't care much about anything but eating. (4) He forgot why there was takeout. (5) He no longer think. (6) He is not considerate of others.