Allergies

I've been feeling nauseous for the past week. Lethargic, and sneezing like hell. I'm guessing it's because of allergies, but didn't come to that until a while, I've never really been affected like this before.
I spent most of yesterday cleaning my room. Didn't realize how much dust there was... and changed all my sheets. I took some Claritin which helped alleviate my symptoms somewhat. I still feel a little bogged down, but I'm guessing it's probably not the dust anymore, more likely pollen or other Spring-related allergens.

A little Spring cleaning goes a long way!

Javascript Joy

I've seen many webpage actually have Lightbox to create their very interactive looking image loaders on websites, but I never actually realized what it was called and that it was a free toolkit until now.
So... based on some recent incentives to explore Javascript and AJAX, I am currently applying updates to my portfolio/website.

I've implemented a blogger RSS feed to my website as my home page news loader so that I can just post updates from my blog. I should have done it a while ago, and well, whatever, it's done and I'm happy as the site is a lot more easier to maintain now.

BUT, I have got to link you to my gallery page to check out my photos, but not only is viewer different, but I have also added, oh, about 60 more photos. It's my best work, in my opinion anyway. I'd like to see what kind of feelings my pictures evoke.

I'm not sure what to think of the unfolding hostage situation in Manila right now. It's a serious situation for sure, guns, grenades, children, hostages... But I'm tempted to chuckle and cheer for the hostage takers as they aren't the standard "we want money" or "free our compatriots" types. They aren't negotiating for money or ideological or even political reasons. No, they're arguing for a champion's cause, to ensure education for the children. (Okay, I guess this may fall under the political umbrella) Sure, terrorism isn't a RATIONAL means of negotiating, but it gets people's attention doesn't it?

Am I boring because I like to learn?

I spent most of yesterday night scouring and devouring wikipedia. The topic you say? Carl Jung. The psychologist.... well... psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology, or similarly, Jungian psychology

I've been meaning to read into psychology a lot sooner, but I just managed to do so now. I'm very interested in Jung's work based on what I've absorbed yesterday. His theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, duality(self vs shadow, and anima vs animus), and of course, dream interpretation. I could go into each of these topics for hours and delve into the specifics and interpretations, as I'm so fascinated by his work. From what I have noticed, Jung seems to be more focused in personalizing a person's psyche to be interacting with the collective unconscious and behaves differently each day depending on daily interactions, like dreams. His approach is contrary to the Freudian train of thought where each person is merely a definition of their past experiences. Freud's interpretation of dreams as merley an outlet for the subconscious really destroys the view that dreams can be a form of communication to other people.

Well, I'm a dreamer, in the non-literal sense. I have to go with Jung and seek spirituality in our dreams, to follow Freud and believing dreams are the mere musings of our subconscious would shatter my optimism for a deeper meaning in the subject. Besides, Jung's theories make much cooler plot devices in movies than Freud's Oedipus complexes or his crap of psychosexual development.

Sometimes what we need...

...is a new plan.

The last line from tonight's Grey's Anatomy could not strike closer to the heart of the matter.
My plans have so far fallen through, and am now thinking of shifting to my secondary, and tertiary plans.
I'm spending more time worrying about things than actually executing my current plans and thus forcing me to constantly re-evaluate what I'm doing. Counter-productive, definitely. Yet, how can you compel yourself to ignore your fears.

Plans are so much easier when they're nice and exclusive, but when they overlap, how do you decide which one takes priority when you don't even know if any will work.
Well, obviously banking on winning the lottery is still my favorite, it's probably the one plan I should stop counting on. =)

The next great idea...

...is so impossible to think of.

I've been thinking what I could do as a web-app project, that for now is just so I can flex my e-muscles and get acclimated programming in JavaScript/AJAX yadda yadda.

I had an idea last year to make that web-based photo editor, I mentioned it in an earlier post, and yeah, that was the only sound idea I had. Right now, I need suggestions so I can get on track.

I have a couple of ideas I'm working on right now, mostly silly because it's hard. It's hard to think of the future! :(

Idea 1: A personal recipe cookbook type blog.
I say "personal" because I thought of this concept when I cook. I like to print off a recipe, and then maybe take notes. These notes would consist of what I thought of the recipe, results, modifications, future alterations, and anything I guess you would write reminding yourself of what you would do differently.

You could actually do this on a blog, but I thought if you could organize it in a more efficient database, you could make notes after you cooked, and so you could reference it in the future. This is just an alternative to a possibly endless and messy paper trail since you could do all this on paper.

But... what if... You could also get comments? This web-service could be more of a community-based tool IF you can have friendly group discussion. Eg. People could post their comments on things you've tried, and what they've tried.

This could blow out of proportion though with people arguing that you've stolen their recipes, but that's not really the scope of this. It's more of a personal cooking blog, but scalable so that you can share what you've tried to cook with your friends.

Actually... this works exactly like a blog concept. But unlike most food websites, I actually want to be able to store recipe data, and notes. A digital cookbook. A digital recipe archive.

I'm not sure, I still think it's a silly idea, but I feel that it has some merit.
Would love opinions on this.

I wrote Idea 1 up there as if I had another idea, I did... but I've forgotten again.
What have you ever thought that "it would be nice if there was a website that I could ....". I need ideas! I need the future!

Lao Tzu

I've been reading up on Lao Tzu quotes. There are a lot of them and they are truly words of wisdom to those who heed it. Some are obvious, yet still enlightening because they simplify it into thoughts one never contemplates about.

For jumping into the tomorrow:

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -Lao Tzu

An interesting documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBWOEdy_-qM

This is a clip Cam sent me. I saw the documentary this clip was from last year on Discovery Channel. I really wish I could find a copy of it since it's a really amazing piece on insight into the North Korean frame of mind. A rare glimpse into their obscure shadowed society. It really is a refreshing blast of realization that people still do think like that even in modern times. A little bit of 1984, some George Orwell, and definitely a lot of communism.

Edit: I guess I was wrong, it was History Channel. The documentary is called North Korea: A State of Mind

Although it's a little biased on what you see, I guess it's still an interesting view into what life is like for them.

DST

Daylight Savings Time is such a big joke. Who plays around with time when people have more important things to think about. Not to mention changing it to being 3 weeks ahead. It's so silly.

I thought bad news was "good" news?

I hadn't heard anything about any major events regarding the NBA all-star game, this last February in Las Vegas.
I only found a vague reference in another article on CNN regarding the rap industry. Following up on this, I searched on Google regarding events related to the NBA All-star game. Apparently, because of the young NBA fans, which consisted of "gangbangers and trouble makers", violence and crime in the city shot up the 5 days during the event. I pieced most of this from several articles and blogs. The high volume of traffic caused delays at airports. There were reports of fights, shootings, robberies and probably several more which I'm sure aren't as dangerous but still serious.

Is there a news blackout regarding this event? Or... do "they" want this to be kept under wraps?

Here are some links which I cobbled all my data from:
http://www.ericmcerlain.com/offwingopinion/archives/007206.php
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/19/070220031716.fq28ybhs.html

Miami pics

My Toronto/NY pics got overwritten b/c of Flickr's silly 200 picture limit on free accounts.

But my Miami pics are up, so take a looksee!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30752270@N00/sets/72157594563447696/

Empathy

I feel like I have rage issues, but it only seems like it happens when I'm around my parents. My consciousness is a magnet for the feelings of the people around me. Earlier today, when my dad and I parked in a spot at Costco, some girl told us she was waiting for the spot. This was obviously a stupid statement since we were waiting at the spot where the person came out as soon as she was leaving. Circumstances aside, my dad went ballistic as soon as the girl assumed the spot should have been hers. He cussed and swore at her and shouted as if she had done something morally wrong.

That rage manifested in me so quickly. I really hate people who go ballistic over nothing. Even though my anger was focused more on my dad being an almost total jackass (he was in the right, after all), it felt like the world was mocking my idea of reason and respect. I personally didn't really care about the incident, but rather had emotions stirring in my head of people striking each other down, fortunately only verbally in this instance. This feeling of raw rage is quite rare for me. It's only happened one other time when I was in Australia, and again, it revolved around my dad.

Suppressed rage. Empathic consciousness. Identity inheritance.
I honestly don't know what to think of this.

My first hockey game!

I was a really big hockey fan when I was younger. I collected cards, watched games on television, memorized names, and even wanted to play in the minor leagues. Unfortunately, I never got anywhere with my passion for hockey since my parents wouldn't let me take hockey lessons. What I really wanted then though, was to go watch a live hockey game. I know it's pretty sad considering I live in Vancouver that I've never been to a hockey game until now, but I am exhilirated after attending it. =D

Canucks 4 > Coyotes 3
We had awesome seats. Section122 Row 6. Right behind the goalie's right side.
That first goal by Jeff Cowan. Man, that was crazy since my line of sight was right behind Curtis Joseph.
I actually hoped for an OT/Tie since I wanted to see a shootout. The seat had a great vantage point especially for those types of setups. I'm still happy that Vancouver won though. Hehe
Best random fan shout of the night has to be "Hey Sopel, get a haircut you bum!" Haaaaahahaha.

I told Melissa I wanted to see a shootout, and she told me that it doesn't happen here often, people in Vancouver are nice. As to what that has to do with shootouts, I have no idea. I have an idea what she interpreted it as, where people carry guns, but that wasn't the case either. haha

I definitely hope to go watch more live games!

It's a matter of perception

My left eye is swollen. As to how it got that way, I have no idea.

I am a little disheartened. I had an idea of a software product/service that hadn't been made yet and could have been my project to innovate the industry. Sadly, my friends never did get onboard so I never got anywhere, and now I realize that someone else came up with the idea at www.picnik.com.
The concept of a free browser-based photo editor. Easy to use. Portable. Free.
Oh well. It was an awesome idea. I hope they get their product up and running though.

Ginger Milk!

So, I tried cooking Ginger Milk today, and I'm pretty happy with the results. Made a little mess on the stove though since the milked boiled and spilled while I had my back turned for maybe 5 seconds.

Sweet and spicy. It's how I like everything. The one thing though is that I thought it had too much water, it wasn't solid enough.

I've uploaded some of my pics up on to flickr. However, they're mostly the photos from the Toronto/NY part of my trip. I'll organize the Miami ones tomorrow. Take a look at the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30752270@N00/sets/72157594538565916/

Back home

I'm more tired than when I left.
The past few days have been draining because of the travelling compressed into such a small time frame.

I'm so lost right now. I have a couple of options, too many worth considering, I need some kind of sign or something. Choices are never easy, and only seem so when they don't affect you directly. I have such a hard time trying to understand myself, what I should do, what I want to do, what I can do, what I will do. Each is an avenue of possibilities and deciding which path to take is hard, but acting upon them is even harder. The hardest paths are the most rewarding, I have no hesitation embracing the difficulties of whatever is ... okay no, that's a lie. What do I need to do to take the first step. It's like my feet are broken.

To - NyC - To in 52 hours

Yeah, So.... I just spent 16 hours in the last 2 days sitting in the car.

My parents + me + my aunt/uncle/cousin + other cousin drove down to New York City to visit our newly married cousin Ahya Clarence and Atsi Lisa. The drive itself was relatively straightforward. Well, we did stop at a really new casino in Niagara Falls called the Fallsview.
We started off from Niagara Falls around 1:00 at night, and we pretty much drove all night on I-90/I-87 and getting into New York City around 10:30 in the morning. We took a look at Ahya Clarence's new house in Queens. They have some home improvement issues to address, but other than that it looked like a nice neighborhood.

NYC Drivers
1. What are lanes?
2. Cutting? You mean switching lanes!
3. Who uses signal lights?

NYC has the worst drivers I've ever seen. I think I'd have a heart attack if I ever drove there. NYC also has the worst highway system. There's overpasses, underpasses, turnpikes, criss-crossed highways, and an absolute mess of a driving jungle. You need to make a minimum of 10 "exits" to actually get where you're going. There's no such thing as a straight-line route.
We went shopping as the first stop in our city adventure. We drove through the Holland Tunnel to visit the giant Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall in Jersey City, NJ.
It was packed so we didn't really spent too much time there, but I did get a new kickass pair of white Nike runners.
We got to try a pretty good Malay/Thai restaurant in Manhattan's Chinatown on the first night called Penang. The dishes we ordered were kinda... weird because multiple ppl were ordering, so it was half Malay, and half Chinese style food.

I got to go on a night tour around Manhattan with my cuz Charles' courtesy of his girl friends in the city. We ate at some place called Brooklyn Diner on 57th St. Their Strawberry Blonde Cheesecake was awesome! but I was too full and couldn't finish it.

The Apple store on 5th ave? YEAH. It looks so awesome at night! I didn't get a chance to see it in the day. I didn't realize it went underground, and the parking was really bad when we were going around that area so we didn't bother going in. The glass structure really just puts a lot of the other stores to shame because of the amount of space they took and how trendy it is.

Shopping mostly on day 2, but I got a nice walk around Battery Park. We missed the ferry to Liberty Island, so we mostly just checked out the antics of street performers in the park. "You'll see black guys run real fast! Without cops behind!" quoted from the performers themselves Lolz!
It was lucky we were going around on Sunday since there were less tourists, especially at the Empire State Building. I took some night shots from the 80th floor, but I'm not sure how they turned out yet. It was so damn windy outside on the walkway, I think I may have lost grip on my camera at least 5 times when I was taking pictures off the side of the building.
We had dinner afterwards at Carmine's, a popular westernized Italian place just off to the side of Times Square. I got to see the little post where they drop the New Year's ball!
After dinner, we started on our way back to TO. We left around 10:30pm and somehow got back to the border by 6:30am. Crazy non-stop driving. I'm still tired since I didn't get much sleep, although I nodded off quite a bit (No, I wasn't driving, or we'd all be in scraps of metal).

Toronto

Whew. It's freeeeeeeeeezin. Well not really. I feel okay, but apparently it's -11 outside. It's mostly the windchill factor. It doesn't feel that cold unless the wind is blowing, then.... it's REALLY cold. Haha.

I'm off to NY tomorrow, if the weather plays nice.

Shark Valley, Everglades

I'm still fighting off my cold. Still have a clogged nose. I'm still half deaf.

Today, I went for an excursion in the Everglades, particularly, Shark Valley. We took a 2 hour "tram" ride around the area. It was a peaceful ride. There were some small alligators, lots of birds, and... a lot more birds. The tour and the Shark Valley area itself is geared more towards birdwatchers, but it was nonetheless a really relaxing trip around the marshy Everglades.

I'm heading to Toronto tomorrow. Shhhwww!

Supahbowl Sunday!

Okay, I guess distances must really look closer on maps. It's actually 9.5 miles out to Dolphin Stadium from here. So it's not really a couple of blocks.

Miami

Today is my first actual day in Miami.
I've been gone for the past 5 days on a cruise in ze Caribbean on the Carnival ship, Imagination. We arrived on Monday in Ft. Lauderdale w/ a transfer from Toronto's Pearson, my god-mum picked us up from the aeroporto and we took a small lunch before going to the Port of Miami. That's why today's really the first day.

Itinerary:
Day 1/Jan29:
Depart
Day 2:
Day at Sea
Day 3:
Grand Cayman
Day 4:
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Day 5:
Day at Sea

Grand Cayman
Our cruise took us down to Grand Cayman to the city of Georgetown in le Cayman Islands! We took an island tour and I liked it! Though there wasn't that much to see. We didn't really get a chance to lie on the famous Seven Mile Beach (which is actually 5.5 miles, ask me later). The beach was beautiful! WHITE SANDS, plus the water looked so beautifully clean.

After that, we went to Hell. Literally! The city of Hell actually comes with its own post office so you can send postcards from Hell. It's kinda cheesy, but what else do tourists do? The name was derived from the local limestone deposits in the area which form up and create some very interesting rock crag formations which makes it look like you are in hell.

The next stop was my most favorite part of the trip. The Botswains Turtle Farm is a breeding farm for turtles. With a couple of varieties, but none that I can remember off the top of my head except for the green sea turtles which were the majority of the turtles in the tanks. The reason why this stop was my choisi favori is because I got to touch the turtles. I picked one out of the tank and, well... haha you had to be there... it freaked out. It kept trying to paddle away and slapping at my hands. These aren't the small turtles you normally think of either. The one I picked up was almost 2 feet at the longest diameter of the shell. Ah yeah!

We got to try out some of their local world-famous Tortuga Rum Cakes at the Tortuga Rum Company stores. It was just a little store with lots of rum products. So it was kinda meh.

We didn't really feel like exploring the shops in the area. There was definitely a lot to buy, but only if you have cash to burn. Grand Cayman is for the seriously rich and that's why all the high-end jewelry shops are there. Tax-free, and high-quality.

One interesting thing about the Caymans is that there is no property tax. If I have enough cash, I'd buy a property here. You just pay for the land + an initial 10% and then that's it. No more taxes to run you dry.

I'll post up pics later since I can't really upload on this comp. I'll post up my Jamaica experience tomorrow. I've been sick for today so... yeah, gotta crunch that cold for Super Bowl tomorrow. (I'm actually only a few blocks away from Dolphin Stadium. I'm wondering if I can hear the noise from here)

continued
Ocho Rios/Jamaica
We took the Prospect Plantation / Jitney Estate Tour which is probably one of the oldest plantations in Jamaica. We got to smell some really interesting leaves, like Lime leaves and Pimento (which is apparently different than the Pimento that you're thinking of reading this). We also got to taste some fresh sugar cane and some coconut with brown sugar. They grow lots of different fruits and it took a while trying to go through all of them.

At the end, we visited the Jitney Estate which was the house overlooking the edge of the water in the plantation. It's been visited by historical figures such as Sir Winston Churchill and some others. The location itself wasn't that interesting, but our tour guide and drivers were absolutely hilarious. Jamaicans will make fun of EVERYTHING. Yeah, mon.

Next! DUNN'S RIVER FALLS. This is one of those places that movie directors like to use. If I remember correctly, the most famous one was an old James Bond movie with Sean Connery. I didn't really understand what it meant to climb the falls when they told us. I only realized that when you get there, you are literally climbing up against the current of the falls. It's absolutely wonderful and majestic. It's so beautiful! But I wasn't able to get a picture since I was too afraid of losing my camera. I probably would have too since I dunked into the water a couple of times and I lost my glasses. We had to "bargain" with some of the locals to get it for us.
It ended up costing 40$ for some guy to get it for us. Oh wellz =/

There wasn't that much to shop for in Jamaica. Mostly souvenirs and junks.

Cruise related tidbits
Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely MUST TRY weird dishes. And that's what I did!
I gotta say the choice of soups was the most interesting...

Asparagus Velouté - a creamy Asparagus soup
Not so good

Strawberry Bisque - I laughed when I saw this, but I was compelled to try it
It was pretty good! It tasted like a light strawberry shake.

Orange Sory - I wasn't all too surprised with this since trying the Strawberry Bisque
It wasn't that good at all, the bitter orange taste made it unsavory.

Kickass dishes?
Nothing really, except for the honey-glazed Confit Duck. Oh man. It was so soft and tender and the honey-glaze tasted like some Chinese style cha-siu sauce, but better than any I've tried. YUM!

I was really disappointed at the Chateaubriand on the last night. It was pretty dry. Boo-urns. I really was hoping for a blow my mind experience for this type of steak, but woefully disappointed.

I participated in some game-show style trivia. A three-way competition to answer questions. I managed to beat out two girls and winning myself a free bottle of champagne! I forgot to take a picture of it, doh!