Sunny Ng's Random Ramblings

Sunny & Liz's Food Network Road Trip!

2011-05-17T03:02:07Z

So, Liz and I are both huge fans of the Food Network, and unfortunately for us, the Canadian shows just don't cut it (Exhibit A: Top Chef Canada... whoever thought it was a good idea to air it right after Top Chef Masters should be fired)... maybe except for Chuck's Day Off, that's the only Canadian show on it I watch. We've been longing to check out the food joints that were featured in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Long weekend is coming up, and we were wondering what to do. What better way to spend it than to drive down and explore the restaurants we've been longing to visit?

Based on estimates of which cities we can hit, we shortlisted all the restaurants that were featured on the two shows we could possibly visit.


.	Name	Metropolitan Area	Show	Recommended by	Featured dishes	Yelp Rating
.	Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger	Ann Arbor	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Burgers	4
.	Earl's Drive-In	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Chicken a la King w/Buttermilk BIscuits, Pizza	5
.	Pizza Junction	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Beef on Weck Pizza	4.5
.	Grovers Bar & Grill	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	The Bruiser Burger, Cattleman Burger, Cheeseburger Soup, Garlic Parmesan Wings	4
.	Sophia's Restaurant	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Open-Faced Sandwich, Souvlaki	4
.	Lake Effect Diner	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Pizza, Meatballs, Chicken Parmesan, Italian Fish	3
.	Blackthorn Restaurant and Pub	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Beef on Weck, Irish Beef Cheddar Soup, Triple D Platter	4.5
.	Mulberry Cafe	Buffalo	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Lasagna, Meatballs	4
.	Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen	Buffalo	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Geoffrey Zakarian	Beef on Weck	4.5
.	Geraci's Restaurant	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Chicken Marsala, Pasta, Pizza	4
.	Sterle's Slovanian Country House	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Chicken Paprikash, Wienerschnitzel	3.5
.	Lucky's Cafe	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Corned Beef, Bread, Granola	4
.	Momocho	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Tuna Tacos w/Blood Orange Marmalade, Guacamole w/House Smoked Trout	4.5
.	Parkview Niteclub	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Smoked Salmon BLT	4
.	Melt Bar and Grilled	Cleveland	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches	4
.	Velvet Tango Room	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Lime Fizz	4.5
.	Czuchraj's Meats	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Beef Jerky, Smoked Meats	4.5
.	Sokolowski's	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Perogies, Stuffed Green Pepper Soup	4.5
.	Lolita	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Aaron Sanchez	Fried Brussel Sprots	4
.	The Greenhouse Tavern	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Gravy Frites	4
.	Seti's Polish Boys	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Polish Boy	4
.	Big Al's Diner	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Beef Hash	3.5
.	Lopez Southwestern Diner	Cleveland	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Michael Symon	Sage and Bleu Cheese Guacamole	3.5
.	The Fly Trap	Detroit	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Pho	4.5
.	McClures Pickles	Detroit	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Ted Allen	Pickles	4.5
.	National Coney Island	Detroit	Best Thing I Ever Ate	Sunny Anderson	Chili	4
.	Joe's Gizzard City	Lansing	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	The "DDD" Burger	3
.	Starlite Lounge	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Perogies, Stuffed Green Pepper Soup	2
.	Kelly O's Diner	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Haluski, Polenta w/Bolognaise Sauce	2
.	Big Jim's	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Rueben, Big Jim's Club	4
.	Nadine's	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Roast Beef, Na's Pasta	4
.	Crystal Restaurant	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Hummus, Tabbouli, Kibbee	3.5
.	Dor-Stop	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Pumpkin Hotcakes, Dor-Stop Burger, Steak & Cheese Hoagies	4
.	Lo Bello	Pittsburgh	Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives	N/A	Spaghetti, Gnocchi, Ravioli	3.5

After drafting out a realistic schedule, our tentative timetable is as follows:


.	Date	Time		Place	Address
.	5/21/2011	8:00:00	Pick-up car	Hertz
.		10:30:00	Meal 1 (Buffalo)	Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen	1065 Wehrle Drive, Buffalo, ON
.		12:00:00	Hang around
.		14:00:00	Meal 2 (Buffalo)	Earl's Drive-In	12139 Olean Rd, Chaffee, NY
.		17:00:00	Shopping in Erie, PA
.		20:00:00	Meal 3 (Pittsburgh)	Dor-Stop	1430 Potomac Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
.
.	5/22/2011	9:00:00	Meal 4 (Pittsburgh)	Nadine's	19 S 27th Street, Pittsburgh, PA
.		10:00:00	Explore Pittsburgh
.		14:00:00	Meal 5 (Cleveland)	Czuchraj's Meats	1979 W 25th St # B10, Cleveland, OH
.		15:00:00	Explore Cleveland
.		19:00:00	Meal 6 (Cleveland)	Lopez Southwestern Diner	2196 Lee Rd, Cleveland, OH
.
.	5/23/2011	9:00:00	Meal 7 (Cleveland)	Melt Bar and Grilled	14718 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH
.		12:00:00	Meal 8 (Toledo)	TBD
.		16:00:00	Meal 9a (Ann Arbor)	Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger	551 South Division Street, Ann Arbor, MI
.		18:00:00	Meal 9b (Detroit)	McClures Pickles	330 E Maple Rd, Troy, MI
.		20:00:00	Return car	Hertz

And to map it out...

My arteries will not like me very much, but oh, I can hardly wait!

EDIT: Goddamn Facebook doesn't like tables, so I'm using a graphic.

Newark Cab Drivers Are Not to be Trusted

2010-08-04T06:00:20Z

In the last month, I have flown to New York via Newark Liberty International Airport twice in New Jersey and both times, I have encountered a cab driver trying to overcharge me!

First time: To Midtown West (W 28th Street)

Before getting on the cab, there was a dispatcher that tells you what the expected fare was going to be. Since I was going to midtown (N of 23rd Street), the base fare was $55. The cab ride was bleh, as the cab driver was on the phone (without hands-free) the entire time and was probably talking to his chick because he kept making kissing sound and speaking in a foreign language. Ugh. When I got to the hotel, the cabbie told me that the fare was $65. I said, "Isn't it $55?" He said, "Oh right, I forgot." Then he tried to tell me that he paid $11 and $8 for tolls, and I clearly saw how much he paid because the prices are at the toll plazas upon payment. I said, "Wasn't the the first toll $1.60?" He replied, "But you have to pay for 2 ways." I said, "So $3.20 then?" and he responded "Just $3 is fine." So obviously I didn't give him much tip. What a whore.

---

Second time: To Lower East Side (E Broadway)

Since I already had experienced almost being ripped off before, I knew to be aware of similar antics. And sure enough, it happened again. Before getting on the cab, I told the dispatcher where we were going, which was East Broadway in Chinatown. The dispatcher even confirmed where we were going and said, "In Lower East Side, right?" The base fare was $55 as it was lower than 23rd Street ($50) and there was a $5 surcharge for going to the east side of Manhattan. Again, the cab driver took the NJ Turnpike and told us that the toll will be $11. When we got to Manhattan, the cab driver was a bit confused as to where the destination was, he questioned if our address was indeed correct. We had to whip out Google Map on a mobile phone to point out other nearby streets so he could get there. Then he claims that we were going to Broad Street near Wall Street, which I later realized is not even near where we were going at all, since that's in the financial district.

When we got to our destination, he tries to claim that there should be an extra fare because the quoted fare was for Broadway or W Broadway, which is total bullshit because the only way a fare could even be $60+ is if it was above 23rd Street, which it clearly wasn't. Not to mention that the dispatcher did confirm that our destination was indeed in L.E.S. Then he attempted to argue that he paid $11 for the NJ Turnpike, when it clearly said $1.60. And then he tried to argue that we have to pay both ways, except the $8 Holland Tunnel toll is only for Manhattan-bound traffic. He even got loud with us and in the end attempts to make it sound like we were wrong for accusing him of ripping us off, and told us to give up the exact amount with nothing extra. And no tip was what we gave him.

---

Notes

The fares to New York City from Newark are zone-based. They can be found here and they do not include tolls. The tolls need to be paid for both ways, as Newark cabs cannot pick up passengers on the way back. The tolls are $1.60 x 2 for the New Jersey Turnpike if the cab driver chooses that route, as well as the $8 for Holland Tunnel. Note that there is only a toll when coming in to Manhattan, and not in the opposite direction. So you should not need to pay twice for it.

Really, can't be a coincidence. So if you're Newark-bound, beware!

It feels great to be Canadian...

2010-03-04T06:16:33Z

The last few weeks I've been paying a lot of attention to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Maybe it's because I actually have access to my own TV so I can watch whatever I want anytime I want, or that HD cable does make everything look more exciting. Perhaps it's more than that. A lot more people I know have been paying attention to these games than in the past. Maybe it's because we made history by winning a gold medal the first time ever on home soil despite hosting 2 Olympic games prior, or that we needed to show that we are a nation that is capable of putting on a good show for the rest of the world. But maybe, it's all of the above and that these Winter Olympics were finally the one common ground shared by the majority of Canadians.

For the longest time, our nation has been struggling with finding its own identity. When I was in school, we discussed many times what it meant to be Canadian, and it was always inconclusive. The biggest thing I learned in school about our national identity is that we are a cultural mosaic and not a melting-pot like our neighbour from the south. We celebrate diversity and are accepting of each others' difference (although some members of the governing Conservative minority government may like to have a word with that, but I digress). But what does that really mean? And that still doesn't really define who we really are. Just taking a look at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 games, you can find how conflicted we are about ourselves. While many complained the Opening Ceremonies to be too Aboriginal-centric, others complained the Closing Ceremonies were too stereotypically-Canadian (as well as too embarrassing if you count the performances from the musicians we have exported such as Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Hedley, Simple Plan and K-OS, but I'm gonna pretend that never happened). So what is Canadian then?

Let's face it, we are so absorbed into the American culture, it's hard to differentiate what is really ours anymore. The Canadian TV networks all air shows that are produced south of the border during prime time. Sure, we export a few shows too, like CTV's Degrassi and Corner Gas or MTV Canada's The After Show and The Buried List, they're not anything to write home about. And as for the Americans reading this and was watching the Closing Ceremonies, how many of you knew that William Shatner, Katherine O'Hara and Michael J. Fox were all Canadian? What about other actors like Mike Myers, Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogen and Rachel McAdams? We have struggled so much to find our own identity, and more often than not, we just associate ourselves with American culture. Just take 2008 for example, more Canadians paid attention to the U.S. presidential election than our own.

However, this past weekend for the first time in my life, I've experienced what it means to be Canadian. I don't mean to over-exaggerate or be over-dramatic, but when 80% of the entire nation's population watches the gold medal Men's hockey game between Canada and U.S.A. and setting the record for most-watched television event ever, that means something!

The streets were deserted before and during the game. And after the game when we managed to capture the gold medal in overtime to bring our count to 14 and making history, the streets just went wild. I was able to hear honking 3 hours after the game was over. Traffic was literally stopped even in Midtown Toronto (I captured a few video clips on my Twitter feed here, here, here and here).

This sense of national pride, spirit and unity, is something I've never seen before in my life. I've never seen Canadians being this happy about one thing. And it brings me joy to finally feel what it is to be Canadian, to be a part of something this big. And damn, I'm proud to be a part of it!

Etiquette and Courtesy

2010-01-21T04:45:43Z

Last night I went to the Goodlife at Yonge & St Clair for a couple orientations as I got myself a membership there last week. The first session was the Fit-Fix Orientation and what a waste of time that was. And it was definitely not the staff's fault. In fact, I felt really sorry for the trainer who led our session because he must have been so frustrated dealing with people like the ones I'm about to talk about.

The session dragged on and on, because one person wouldn't stop asking stupid questions. Our session had 5 participants which was big enough for something like this already, but she definitely was not helping. At first she was all like "Oh I've used similar machines before, but different brands so it probably won't be useful for me." Hey, know you what... good for you, but guess what? Nobody gives a shit. And it's not like she says it once and that's it, she keeps repeating herself over and over again. Okay, so if it's not useful to you, then please leave so you don't waste all of our time. Otherwise, please shut the fuck up, so we can actually do something productive.

One of the purposes of the session was to get your correct seat positions (exciting, I know!). She managed to waste even more of our time during it. She would get on the machine, adjust her seat, then ask the trainer what the seat position was which required our trainer to look over to the seat to find out the number, do a couple reps, then ask again before actually writing it down since she forgot. Uhh, what's the point of asking it twice when you're only writing it down after the second time. Does knowing it make you work out differently?

She also kept interrupting our trainer before he finished explaining and asking about things either things he already mentioned or things he was about to say anyway. Towards the end she admitted the session was useful to her since she didn't realize that some of the machines have stickers to guide you in aligning you elbows/shoulders/etc. to a certain part of the machine. Figures. Yet, she refused to even try to go on some of the machines, because she claimed that she knew what she was doing. Guess some people never learn.

---

In addition to her, there was another person who was being a total dick. This orientation session we were in was focused on the strength-training machines, so obviously we were demonstrated how to use each of the machines in order. While we were on one as the trainer was explaining the machine, this bitch just comes over, throws her towel on and started using it. When the trainer asked her to leave since we needed it, she gave us attitude and said that we could've used the ones that were reserved for the personal training sessions instead, which obviously we couldn't because we're not part of that category. So, we had to wait for her to finish. And it wasn't even a short wait either as she decided to do multiple sets when she said she would do one. Later at another machine, she does it again! Excuse me, but I too pay the same membership fee as you, so get off your fucking high horse and leave your sense of entitlement out the door.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, other than that some people are assholes. And that you shouldn't be one. Thanks.

Pasta Carbonara

2009-11-25T05:58:43Z

Truth be told, one of the biggest things I miss about living away from home is being able to cook. I mean sure, I can still make food while living at home. But I like being able to shop for my own groceries (reminder to self: bus to the slums to get groceries at Walmart Supercentre, No Frills, Food Basics, or Chinese supermarkets; urban grocery stores such as St Clair Market a.k.a. Loblaws, Metro and Sobey's Urban Fresh are expensive and don't even have a good variety), use the kitchen however I want, and not worried about other people's food preferences. Not that I don't like my parents' cooking, it's just that they rarely cook anything outside their realm of Chinese food, and some days I just feel like making white people food. Like today.

This recipe is delicious, easy to make and simple. In fact, I already had all of the ingredients minus the cheese when I decided to make it! And really, what the hell was I doing without parmesan cheese anyway?

What you'll need:

250 g of your favourite type of pasta (For this, I used rotini. Why? It just happened to be one of the three varieties that were on sale at No Frills and I normally find spaghetti to be boring. Usually I like fettucine or linguine if you ask me.)
5 strips of bacon, sliced (May consider the low-sodium variety if you're health-conscious, but don't kid yourself, it's bacon ffs)
3 eggs (large preferably)
3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese (I realized this is a hell lot when I started making this, but you can get these suckers sometimes for $1 at Walmart Supercentre)
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of pasta water
1/4 cup of milk (I used 2% because the local Mac's sold out of 1%, who knew they had the cheapest milk around?)
Some ground black pepper, to taste

What to do:

Bring a large pot of hot water with some salt and bring it to a boil. Cook pasta until "al dente" as per package's instructions. Reserve a bit of it (around 1/4 cup) of the pasta water for later use.
In the mean time, whisk the eggs, cheese, pepper and milk together in a bowl, then set aside.
Using a frying pan, fry the slices of bacon until crispy in medium heat. Probably takes around 10 minutes. Drain fat, and throw in mushrooms and garlic to cook over medium heat while tossing constantly.
Once mushrooms appeared cooked, add in drained pasta as well as the pasta water.
Gradually add in the egg + cheese mixture while constantly tossing for consistency.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle additional grated parmesan cheese after plating to taste.

Serves 2 (or if you're me, serves 1... just kidding! I eat half for dinner and pack the rest for lunch)

(Not actual size of full serving)

Sunny's List of Things to Buy

2009-10-10T17:10:37Z

Now that I finally got my first paycheque and it finally cleared, it means it's time to think about what shit to buy! So here is a list of big purchases I would like to spend money on in the future. Some are short-term and some are long-term. These are listed in order of priority:

1. Refresh my wardrobe - Contrary to popular beliefs, I don't actually like spending much money on clothes. Shoes, yes. Clothes, not really. Unless I'm going to some dressy party, then I guess I'd have to. Ever since I've had my last paycheque, which was back in December 2008, I've been cutting down my spending on clothes. I used to be able to get away with it by simply shopping at Aéropostale, because their clothes were cheap and but still looked half-decent. And nobody would know that they were cheap because I would buy them in the States and bring them over.

However, ever since they started opening stores in Canada especially in prominent shopping centres and the economy being hit badly, I can't get away with that anymore. Not only that, now I'm not the type who would stop liking something because it's popular, but it crosses the line when it gets to the point when I spot people on the street wearing the exact shirt I'm wearing. Same style and same colour! How embarrassing! For example, I had to retire the turquoise t-shirt prematurely after 5 wears because there were at least 3 times when I wore it out, I saw somebody wearing the exact same shirt. For that, I've been shopping more at H&M and Esprit, the latter is surprisingly becoming very affordable.

Besides, I notice that Aéropostale's styles are becoming more and more like a rip-off of Hollister, A&F and AE. They used to actually be creative. And I feel like I'm getting too old to be wearing the preppy-style of clothes nowadays.

And yeah, it definitely seems like nowadays clothes need to be rotated faster because of Facebook. Once somebody has taken a picture of you and posted it online (and tagged you), it's hard to wear the same outfit to an event where you'd be photographed again. It just looks... bad.

2. Apartment - Every time I tell someone about 1.5 hour daily commute to work (each way), the reaction is always something along the lines of "Whoa, how do you do it Sunny?!" You know what, I don't fucking know. It actually doesn't seem that bad during the commute. Well, I listen to my iPod and read the Metro every day, and the ride back I read t.o.night, so now I feel more informed than ever. The effects are more obvious when I feel really tired every time I come back home, and also that I don't have much time to myself after work due to the time I waste each day on it.

Moving out for me is inevitable considering I don't even have a room in my parents' condo right now. Lack of personal space (sometimes I just want to be alone, and quiet), privacy, space for all my shit (my clothes are in piles on plastic bins, and most of my stuff is in the storage locker by the parking garage), convenience (I don't have a car, so I have to take public transit to go anywhere, and Mississauga Transit is not quite TTC). I'm hoping to move into a bachelor or 1-bedroom apartment in mid-November. I make enough that I'm not going to cheap out on that.

As to where? I haven't quite decided. It'll likely be somewhere between downtown and where I work in North York. Since I don't have a car nor do I have any intentions of getting one, it'll likely be on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line. That leaves it to Yonge and... St. Clair? Davisville? Eglinton? Or even Sheppard?

3. iPhone 3GS - This would've been #1 or #2, except last week Bell and TELUS announced that their HSPA+ network will be launching next month in addition to their EvDO networks, which will effectively end Rogers' exclusivity of the iPhone. So I'm going to hold out for a few more weeks until Bell and TELUS announce their plans before I decide which provider I'll go with.

As a technodork and Apple whore, it's like blasphemy that I don't even own a smartphone, let alone an iPhone. The original iPhone came out just months after I got my current phone, so I couldn't justify that purchase. And the fact that I've been moving back and forth, to and from the States, made it hard for me to commit to a long-term phone plan. But now that I'm settling down, I can finally get one. Besides, my Sony Ericsson W810i phone is starting to flake out on me. Some of the buttons stopped working (one time 7, 8, 9, *, 0, # stopped working, thankfully it fixed itself somehow! Now it's just the Walkman button, but I don't use that anyway), the camera button works half of the time, the ambient sensor is busted (the screen would randomly glow, draining the battery), etc. My 5th generation iPod is also flaking out as the battery capacity is turning terrible. If I press skip while playing a random playlist maybe 15 consecutive times, it would drain all its battery.

4. TV - This is a given. When I get my own place, I need a TV to get my entertainment fill, especially since I have a Wii anyway. I may even get a DVR to go with it too. I'm the type that like to sometimes turn on the TV and watch whatever is on without much choosing or waiting, so call me old-fashioned and impatient, but I need cable.

5. Apple TV/Media Centre - Of course, every geek's TV needs some kind of media centre, how else would I watch downloaded content? Okay, I guess I can always just get a DVD/DivX player that has a USB input, but I'm lazy. Now that Apple TV has dropped its prices, getting a refurbished one wouldn't be a bad idea. Besides, I can always install XBMC on it. Alternatives would be getting an Xbox 360, a PS3, or just a cheap computer.

6. Digital SLR Camera - I love to travel, and what's the point of travelling if you're not taking pictures? It's too bad I didn't have a nicer camera to take with me during my Europe trip this summer, otherwise it'd be awesome. Photography is definitely something I would like to pick up.

7. Turntables - Another hobby I wanted to pick up is DJing, but I never had enough time or money to learn. Now would be the perfect opportunity to start. Of course, I haven't gone as far to do any research on it, so I have no idea what I'll get. It'll be something I'll look at further down the road.

8. Keyboard - It hasn't been too long since I bought myself a keyboard to force myself to get back into playing music, which is something I would like to continue doing. But I admit, it was a pretty cheap keyboard. When I get more money, I'll definitely upgrade myself to something nice.

Hmm... I wonder if I'm missing anything else. :P

Mat Kearney in Concert

2009-10-08T04:33:26Z

Mat Kearney came to town on Monday for his headlining tour and I must admit I wasn't that big of a fan of his. I mean I really liked his song "Nothing Left To Lose" to the point that it became my soundtrack for 2007, but that was about it. I occasionally listened to his two major label albums since. But being the show was only $17 (including everything) and that I already have transit passes in Toronto, I figured why not check it out, especially since I've been going on a concert-drought this past summer to save money until I get a job, and I already missed bands I would've liked to see, such as Green Day.

Luckily and surprisingly, I didn't have to go alone as Melissa also happen to know who Mat is and wanted to see him as well. The venue was at Lee's Palace, which was a small club conveniently located at Bloor & Bathurst. The show was 19+ thankfully, so there were no teenyboppers coming by because it was a cheap show and/or they heard one of his songs on one of the many TV shows (according to Wikipedia: Dirty Sexy Money, Kyle XY, The Unit, Without A Trace, Laguna Beach, The Hills, Bones, Jericho, Friday Night Lights, Wildfire, What About Brian, South Beach, 8th & Ocean, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, The Closer, NCIS and Grey's Anatomy).

The opening act of the show was Diane Birch. And I have to say, I was very impressed. Usually opening acts are far inferior than the the headliners, but not this one. Diane may look petite and pretty, but she's definitely not just a pretty face. Her voice was simply stunning. She carries influences from soul, blues with a bit of pop/rock, and it was exactly the direction she went from the beginning to the end of her set. She even did a cover of Haddaway's "What Is Love" alone. I was both amused and amazed by the way she worked that song. I have to say after listening to her sing live, I'm a fan.

Then of course, was Mat Kearney, who hit the stage not too long after, sporting almost the exact same look as the cover of his latest album, City Of Black & White with both the white shirt and black hat. His two major label albums were actually quite different from each other. Nothing Left To Lose was a bit more acoustic and has him doing a lot of "rapping", err... spoken word in addition to just singing. City Of Black & White ditched all of the spoken-word business and went for a more mellow electric piano sound. So it was really interesting to hear the contrast between the two during the set as it covered much of both albums, especially since he kept switching instruments from acoustic to electric guitars then to electric keyboard. I felt sorry for the guy who had to keep running back and forth with different instruments between songs, or randomly pull out the keyboard, or push it back behind.

What can I say, he sounds exactly like he does on his albums, and I'm not even exaggerating. His vocals were entirely on par, except maybe for a few spots when he doing his spoken-word parts in "Undeniable" and "In The Middle" that he stumbled a little bit. There's something about the way he sings that totally moves me, it just has so much feelings and he's such a talented songwriter.

Mat also made a few jokes here and there, like he mentioned "You know know when you started writing all these songs, they become like babies to you. Then one day, you get a call 'Hey, we would like a doctor to make out to one of your songs.' And I was like, 'Yeah, that was entirely what I intended" when he introduced "Where We Gonna Go From Here", in reference to Grey's Anatomy of course.

He also seemed very posey sometimes towards the end of songs as if he wanted to make sure there fans can get good pictures of him on stage. What a guy! He also jumped off the stage during "Runaway Car" to sing with his fans. He walked literally right beside me too. Too bad I couldn't get a picture with him! You definitely don't get that with bigger concerts.

The set ended up with his two biggest singles, what a tease: "Nothing Left To Lose" (to which he made changed the lyric "California" to "Ontario", props for knowing the actual province he was in!) and "Undeniable" (when he "freestyled" a humourous verse towards the end in reference to Canada and Toronto). The encore songs were "City Of Black & White" (he actually brought out a vocoder for the outro), and "Closer To Love" (latest single, lame encore, I know, sigh...) and Diane Birch came back out with her band to cover Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark".

Overall, amazing show. Definitely worth the $17. I picked myself up a copy of City Of Black & White, it's too bad they weren't selling the other album, because I would've gladly bought that too. I am definitely now a fan of Mat's. We were hoping to meet Mat after the show, but unfortunately he wasn't around. Le sigh... I may post pictures when I get them from Melissa.

Now I'm going to be cheesy and leave you with his lyrics + music video:

"Nothing Left To Lose"
Something's in the air tonight
The sky's alive with a burning light
You can mark my words something's about to break

And I found myself in a bitter fight
While I've held your hand through the darkest night
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off the floor one more time to find you
And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

So I packed my car and I headed east
Where I felt your fire and a sweet release
There's a fire in these hills that's coming down
And I don't know much but I found you here
And I can not wait another year
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off the floor one more time to find you
And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

I can still hear the trains out my window
From Hobart Street to here in Nashville
I can still smell the pomegranates grow
And I don't know how hard this wind will blow
Or where we'll go

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off the floor one more time to find you

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose

Heh, I like how all his music videos can be found on that Christian social networking site. Meh, I think his music is pretty secular. :P

Google Street View Comes to Canada

2009-10-07T16:03:20Z

Hey look, here's where I am right now!

Google Street View finally launches today in Canada after some controversial privacy concerns. All the faces and license plates have been blurred. It is now available for Vancouver, Whistler, Banff, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City and Halifax as well as some of their adjacent suburbs.

Car err... Bike-Free Day

2009-09-24T04:46:07Z

So part of my 1.5 hour daily commute to work consist of a bike ride from my parents' condo to Cooksville GO station. Yesterday, I parked and locked my bike in the morning. When I got to work, I realized that a bunch of my co-workers were planning to go for dinner at a hot pot place, so I figured I would tag along.

By the time I got back to Mississauga, it was around midnight. Since the bike didn't have lights installed and it was late, I decided to take the GO bus directly to Square One, and leave the bike overnight, so I can grab it today instead as to not having to deal with the hassle.

Today after work, I arrived at Cooksville GO station, and to my surprise, the bike was gone!

Not quite sure what happened, but I'll call GO Transit tomorrow to see if they removed it. Sucks though, not because the bike is worth much (it really doesn't), but it's actually my brother's since my bike's chain broke, and now my commuting time will increase from 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Sigh...

I guess on the positive side, walking may give me more exercise than biking?

The beginning of my career...

2009-09-13T01:41:15Z

Yes, that's right, after months of going through job postings after job postings, submitting countless of résumés, my job search has finally come to an end. I have started my first full-time position (not counting co-op/internships) and my career as a computer engineer is coming to a full swing. As of this week, I have started work as a Software Engineer at Volanté Systems. It's a small software firm that specializes in POS (Point-of-Sales) software applications for food establishments using Java and I'm very excited to join their team. What really appealed to me about this position is the broad perspective I would be able to gain by fulfilling such a dynamic role, which can really be found in a company of this size. As well, I am quite impressed about the future plans that are in store for this company to grow.

The office is located within the former city of North York in Toronto, near Don Mills subway station by Fairview Mall. Right now my commute is around 1 hour 30 minutes which consists of a bike ride, a GO commuter train ride, 2 subway train rides and a short bus ride. This will be temporary though, as I plan to move into the city in the very near future.

HitzRadio.com 4.0 Launch

2009-08-22T16:20:20Z

After the public-release of the new design for HitzRadio.com in the form of beta for a bit over a week, I figured it is about time to officially launch it and replace the outdated previous iteration. It's kinda weird looking back, that we are just 8 days short of the 5 year mark of when the last revision of HitzRadio.com launched, right around the time when I was about to go to Waterloo. And now that I'm done school, I'm finally releasing a new revision. I guess I needed this kind of downtime I have right now to motivate myself to sit down and do something like this. You can read my release notes for Preview 1 and Preview 2 for the design decisions and motivations behind them. What have changed since the release of the beta version?

Full compatibility with all major browsers including IE 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+ and Chrome. Extensive work done to ensure IE 6 & 7 compatibility.
A non-AJAX version (well, it's pretty much a non-Javascript version really) of the website has been implemented to cater to search engine bots and users opting to not enable scripts. All pages now degrades gracefully to that version if user chooses to turn off Javascript at any given time.
Significantly optimized Javascript code to minimize use of jQuery selectors and fixed a bug where code is continuously added to listener functions as more pages are clicked. Pages now load and run much faster on all browsers. It's very noticeable with browsers that have slower Javascript engines (i.e. not Chrome, Opera, Safari).
Redesigned database and started from scratch to match updated design requirements. Most of the site's content is no longer stored in the database. It's pointless when they are fairly static.
Minor cosmetic adjustments, including slight change in colour scheme and increase in line-spacing.
All sub-menus follows to the top of the window if the page is scrolled.
Sub-menus for sections with anchors update links' colours based on scrolling position of the page.
"Just Played" sub-section on the Home page now also auto-updates every 30 seconds, in addition to the Currently Playing bar.
HitzLog now shows songs played in the last 3 hours along with timestamps instead of just the last 10 songs, made possible with new database design.
HitzList now shows top 50 played songs in the last 7 days in any given time. As well, made possible with new database design.
Added Feedback button with working AJAX form.
HitzLog and Feedback pop-ups can be closed by pressing Escape key.
Added Tune In button, links to SHOUTcast Flash player.
Added Amazon.com affiliate links to all song name references.
ASX file updated to proper specs with new logo and banner.

Here it is, at HitzRadio.com!

New HitzRadio.com Revision 2 Preview

2009-08-08T16:54:42Z

After launching the preview site of the new HitzRadio.com last week, and getting some feedback, I decided that the design didn't achieve anything I really wanted, so I headed back to the drawing board to come up with a new and better design. For this new design, I kept many of the same design principles and decisions. But these were my goals that differ for the new design:

The previous design was too dark and simplistic. Need to add some new design elements and add some variations of colour (even though I still wanted to keep it to the blue scheme).
Target for 1024x768 resolution. According to Google Analytics, only 3% of my site's visitors use a screen resolution lower than that, so it only makes sense to expand the layout to cover more screen real estate.
Make room for ads. I kinda forgot about that last time.
I wanted to change the look and feel of the website to match a CHR/Rhythmic (i.e. Hip-Hop and R&B) station last time by changing the colour scheme. However, I realized that wasn't enough. So I decided to do a little rebranding and change the logo as well as the look and feel of the site to make it less "cutesy".
Yes, the site totally breaks with IE, even IE 8. Will have to hack that soon, as well as create an AJAX-less version for those NoScript people as well as bots.

Here it is, let me know what you think!

New HitzRadio.com Preview

2009-07-31T18:43:21Z

It's sad to think the current HitzRadio.com design has been in use since 2004. That's right, it's 5 years old! So it was definitely overdue for a makeover. I decided to take a shot at it this time, as last time I had help from Steve of Centova Technologies to do it. I've been putting off for a while, but in the last few weeks I decided to give it a go, because I actually had time on my hand to dedicate to this.

These were some design decisions I made and my justifications:

Condensing the site. The current website has too much content and much of it we can do without. In fact, much of it has turned rather stale because there was too much for me to keep up as I became the only person to update the website and I just don't have the time.
I wanted to keep it simple and compact. The current website required 2+ clicks to get to the most useful content and we really don't have that much useful content!
The main focus of the site should be letting people to tune-in, so I dedicated a significant portion of the layout for that.
I decided to make the entire site and its navigation with AJAX. And no, it's not because it's the latest cool thing or just to show off. I plan on embedding a Flash object on the layout so that users can listen while they surf the website without being interrupted. The only alternative I can think of is IFrame, but then you lose the functionality of navigating to specific pages directly. I plan to make a no-script version of the identical layout without AJAX for browsers that disable Javascript though.
The website should be accessible for all. Including those using netbooks and smartphones who may not have as much screen real estate.
When it was 2004, HitzRadio.com was still a CHR/Top 40 station. Since then, we have now move and slanted towards the CHR/Rhythmic direction. And so we need a colour scheme that reflects that, which is why I chose to use a darker and cooler colours, such as neon blue and black.
Yeah, the site sorta breaks in IE. I know. :P I'll have to jump on a Windows computer so I can fix up on that. Too bad I upgraded my mom's computer's browser to IE8 already.

Please do check it out and feel free to give me some feedback! :)

Cold Stone Creamery / Brüno

2009-07-11T21:44:54Z

Cold Stone Creamery has recently opened 6 location in Canada via their co-branding strategy with Tim Hortons. In the States, Timmy's are being opened inside Cold Stone stores, and the reverse is happening here. These are currently located in Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto. I saw the one in Mississauga on the way to my aunt's house at Clarkson Road/Lakeshore Road and I was in the area yesteday, so I knew I had to go visit! Hell, even during my short visit to Seattle for the onsite interview with Microsoft, I had to make sure a I made a visit to one! Too bad they didn't put one by Square One instead.

I got myself a Cookie Doughn't You Want Some™ (French Vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips, cookie dough, fudge and caramel) Signature Creation and it was delicious! The ice cream was so creamy and totally satisfied my craving. It was funny how the Cold Stone side of the counter had such a huge lineup, while nobody was ordering from Timmy's when I was there. Unlike Marble Slab - who charges 7 fucking dollars for a cone, it was only $4.99+tax for a Love It (medium) Signature Creation. Om nom nom...

It's probably also really bad for you, as the nutritional facts shown on the website indicates that one Love It-sized French Vanilla ice cream contains 110% of the recommended daily serving of saturated fat!

---

On the subject of creamery, I went to see the movie Brüno last night at Empire Theatres in Square One. Y'know, the theatre that nobody really goes to? Yeah, me neither. Anyhow, yesterday was the opening night and I was an hour early for it. Surprisingly, there was barely anybody in the theatres. When the movie started, the seats were maybe around 70% full.

I loved Da Ali G Show when I had HBO On-Demand during my first stay in San Diego, and I loved Sacha Baron Cohen's previous movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, so I knew I had to see this! And while Borat was still the better movie, it sure did not disappoint! The biggest differences between the two movies are that there weren't a lot of character development in Brüno and that each scene in Brüno is much shorter. Maybe people realized what was going on much earlier this time around. The format was also much different from the Brüno segments in Da Ali G Show, where he gets fashion experts to say outrageously politically incorrect statement (like complimenting the fashion styles of Bin Laden or Hitler) or make them contradict themselves. However, compared to Borat, Brüno was even more outrageous, still funny and at times awkward. It also showed a lot of dick! There was no slow part in the movie at all and I was laughing all the way through. Yay for totally politically incorrect movies!

Now I'm curious to see the original ending because apparently they had to change it to appeal to gay rights groups. However, the movie in its current form is definitely not anti-gay, nor does it really move forward the gay rights movement, but it is definitely worth watching if you like that kinda humour.

Prior to the movie showing, I've been watching "Brüno's" appearances on recent talk shows to promote the movie and they were all hilarious.

Brüno on the Tonight Show with Conan

Brüno on the Today Show

Oh and of course, there was the interview with GQ magazine where he's on the front page cover, and he has his own very authentic-looking MySpace page!

---

On a totally different note, I managed to pick myself up a used copy of Rock Band for Wii at EB Games for only $9.99. While the Wii version is incredibly crippled (no online capabilities, no character customization, songs can't be imported to RB2, not compatible with my Guitar Hero 3 guitar). But for $9.99, I really can't complain. The Rock Band store that is included with my Rock Band 2 game is incredibly evil, as I have now spent more money on downloadable content ($2 USD per song) than on the actual game software ($60)!

Pardon Me

2009-07-06T18:54:32Z

Pardon me while I burst...
Pardon me while I burst...

A decade ago,
I never thought I would be,
at twenty-three, on the verge of
spontaneous combustion, woe is me.
But I guess that it comes
with the territory,
An ominous landscape of
never-ending calamity.
I need you to hear,
I need you to see
that I have had all I can take and
exploding seems like an imminent possibility to me.

So pardon me while I burst
into flames.
I've had enough of the world
and its people's mindless games.
So pardon me while I burn
and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...
I'll never be the same.

Not two days ago,
I was having a look
in a book
and I saw a picture of a guy
fried up above his knee.
I said, "I can relate,"
cause lately I've been thinking of combustication
as a welcome vacation from
the burdens of
the planet Earth.
like gravity, hypocrisy,
and the perils of being in 3-D...
but thinking so much differently.

Pardon me while I burst
into flames.
I've had enough of the world
and its people's mindless games.
So pardon me while I burn
and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...
I'll never be the same.

Never be the same, yeah...
Pardon me, while I burst into flames...
Pardon me, pardon me, pardon me.

So pardon me while I burst
into flames.
I've had enough of the world
and its people's mindless games.
So pardon me while I burn
and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...
I'll never be the same.

Pardon me, pardon me, never be the same, yeah...

Incubus - Pardon Me
by camille777

The Offspring in Concert

2009-07-06T03:15:58Z

As previously mentioned, I grabbed a cheap ticket to go see the Offspring at the Molson Amphitheatre by myself, because I'm a loser. I guess you can consider me as a casual Offspring fan because I know and like their music enough to enjoy their concerts, but I don't like them enough to pay full price to see them. But for $23.21, hells yes! Not to mention Molson Amphitheatre is sadly by far the easiest venue for me to get to as I only have to bus to Port Credit and hop on the GO train to Exhibition.

I arrived at the venue a bit past 8:15pm, as I had no desire to see the opening acts (Frank Turner and Pennywise), not to mention I had a reserved seat. I wasn't the only one as there were around 60 others that came off the train with me.

The Offspring started their set promptly at 9pm with "Stuff Is Messed Up" from their latest album, Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace. Aside from that song, they played the four singles from that album throughout their set. They seemed to acknowledge that their two previous albums (Conspiracy Of One and Splinter) were not very well-liked as they only bothered to play one song from each ("Want You Bad", "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" respectively), and the rest of the set was from Americana and before. The concertgoers responded accordingly as barely anybody was able to sing along to the songs from Rise And Fall... aside from "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", while almost everybody was singing along to all songs from Americana and before.

The band sounded great playing their solid setlist that evening (aside from a few sour notes in the beginning of "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?") and it really showed that they've been around for a while. They brought out the piano for Dexter to play an acoustic version of "Gone Away", which was kinda cool. Kudos to them for wishing Canada a happy birthday and was able to say that Canada is 142 years old, I forgive them for making bad dirty beaver jokes. Unfortunately, their age has taken a toll on their looks as lead singer Dexter gained a lot of weight. I mean it wasn't like he was ever amazingly good looking, but he looked pretty decent back then, and now it just seems like he was trying really hard to hide his gut. A couple of (really drunk) chicks behind me couldn't stop yelling out "take your shirt off!", thankfully Dexter did not listen to that.

The 18-song setlist was followed-up by 3 not-too-lame encores ("Hammerhead", "Want You Bad" and "Self Esteem", really... like they weren't gonna play that!) and clocked a little over 90 minutes. I was quite amused that I was one of a handful of Asians that were there. Sweet! I managed to pick up a ticket for the Killers as they were selling tickets for that show along with others that are having trouble selling for just $20 including service charges. Too bad the show was not quite sold out and the lawn section wasn't even opened. What a shame because it was definitely worth the money!

Fuck Ticketmaster

2009-06-21T07:34:38Z

I don't think I can ever stress enough about how much I hate Ticketmaster. Their ridiculously exorbitant charges make me want to bitch-slap them for every dollar surcharge they add on to the base price of each concert ticket I get from them. Here's a perfect example: I recently found out that Pizza Pizza is having a promotional offer for concert tickets where tickets to selected Molson Amphitheatre shows are priced at $11.11 with a promo code (obviously they're not the best seats, but whatever, these are bands I wouldn't be willing to pay normal ticket prices for). I got myself a ticket to see The Offspring (yeah, because I'm a loser that would go to concerts alone; what, wanna fight about it?) and here is how much it came to...

... $23.21. That means the charges on the ticket were actually more than the cost of the ticket itself! And this is after I chose the Will Call option, which didn't add any further charges.

In the past when I was in San Diego, where I had access to a vehicle, I would purposely go out of my way to avoid paying those fees just out of spite. Even if it means I would have to take time off work and make it up later or take extremely short lunches (since the box offices usually have short operational hours), such as driving to Canes Bar & Grill (21 km; 23 mins; for M.I.A.), Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay (25.9 km; 27 mins; for Duffy), House of Blues (25.2 km; 22 mins; for The All-American Rejects), or even SDSU Open Air Theatre (25.9km; 23 mins; for The Roots & Gym Class Heroes), I did it entirely out of principle, even though I'm pretty sure I spent just as much on gas, and probably more if you add in the time I had to make up at work. Although on the plus side, it gave me the perfect excuse to hit up the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Clairemont, the Pinkberry in Hillcrest, the In-N-Out in Kearny Mesa and/or the Mitsuwa for some fast, cheap and delicious ramen, also in Kearny Mesa depending on the route I was taking (damn, I really do miss San Diego!).

Unfortunately, since this is a promo offer and I don't have a convenient way to get to the venue prior to the event (i.e. no car), I have no choice but to take it.

Damn you, Ticketmaster. Damn you.

Obligatory Post on the 20th Anniversary of 6/4/1989 Tiananmen Protest

2009-06-05T02:39:54Z

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/02/tiananmen-square-protests-1989-china

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060403101.html?hpid=moreheadlines

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8069940.stm

And that is why I'm not in China.

Back in Canada...

2009-05-25T06:04:25Z

After 26 days of travelling to 11 cities in 10 countries, I have finally returned to Canada. It's been such an amazing and eye-opening experience. I definitely had lots of fun. I've been blogging along, but obviously I haven't been quite up to date yet. I'll post those blog entries once they're ready.

In the mean time, check out the pictures on Flickr!

Mississauga Transit Rant

2009-04-29T05:03:10Z

As you may or may not know, I don't have access to a car. So for me to go anywhere in my city, I would have to take Mississauga Transit. And I really don't mind taking public transit. Although Mississauga is the 6th biggest city in Canada, its public transit system is inadequate (okay, after living in San Diego, I have to say Mississauga's public transit system isn't that bad), probably due to the fact that it's a suburb and everyone drives. The fact that roads like Erin Mills Parkway, Mavis Road and Eglinton Avenue all have 6+ lanes while the the bus routes that correspond to those corridors are rather sparse is an evidence of that. However, if you happen to live near Huronario Street, Burnhamthorpe Road or Dundas Street, you're in luck as buses come every 10 minutes or less, all day.

I live by Square One, which is the city centre and has the central transit terminal of the city. That means it's easy to get to everywhere, right?

Vivian works at Woodbine Centre, it is located right across the border of the city in Toronto and it's a pain in the ass to get to. One way is this:

Take Route 7 - Airport (North - blue) and after going through a heavy detour into Pearson Airport, it arrives at Westwood Mall. Then take Route 30 - Woodbine (East - green) which goes backwards into the residential neighbourhood before it actually heads east. This route takes up to 2 hours depending on how long the transfer takes since neither routes are frequent (Route 7's frequency is every 20-30 minutes, up to every 60 minutes on weekends). If I'm lucky, I get to transfer at the intersection of Derry Road/Airport Road, Derry Road/Hull Street (where the blue and green routes initially meet), but that's rare. If that happens, the trip takes around 1 hour 20 minutes.

I later discovered an alternate path.

Take Route 76 - Square One-Subway (West - navy blue) or Route 26 - Burnhamthorpe (East), transfer at Dundas Street/Billigham Road or Islington Subway Station if latter. Cross the street and take Route 11 - Westwood (North - purple), and arrive at Woodbine Centre. While the distance travelled may be longer, it actually takes much less time. At best, it takes an hour, both routes are provide better frequency too.

However, here's the problem. Just recently, Mississauga Transit has implemented a policy (which is probably in response to Toronto Transit Commission yelling foul, I can only imagine) in terms of picking-up and dropping-off passengers within the city of Toronto boundaries and they are now very strict on its implementation. The policy essentially states that within Toronto, passengers may only board on buses that are inbound (towards Mississauga), and get off on buses that are outbound (towards Toronto).

This makes sense on paper, because it means Mississauga Transit wouldn't be taking business away from TTC if a passenger were to travel within Toronto. However, in real life, this makes absolutely no sense. Why? TTC provides much better service. For instance, all their bus routes in that area have higher frequencies and longer hours (blue night routes run 24-hours) compared to their MT counterparts. They have more express routes and actual rapid transit lines (the latter even York Region - a region with much lower ridership, has implemented). And to seal the deal, TTC fares are actually lower than Mississauga Transit's fares (pdf) in almost every single category. So really, this rule makes no sense.

So when taking the second option to get to Woodbine Centre, I can't just get off there on my second bus (purple). Instead, I have to get off at the first stop that is within the boundary of Mississauga (the boundary is at Highway 427) at Rexwood Drive and transfer to a bus going into the opposite direction Route 11 (South - brown) back into Toronto to arrive at my destination. I would walk that distance, except the distance is a bit over 2 km. This essentially makes me take an extra bus ride for no legitimate reason. I guess the sad part is that even with the time with the unnecessary transfer, this path still beats option 1.

And of course, for the return trip, I have to take Route 11 North and get off 3 stops later at Rexwood Drive, before going the opposite direction - Route 11 South towards Islington Station.

It's as if this city's transit system really needs to be any worse.

The All-American Rejects with Shiny Toy Guns in Concert

2009-04-29T02:49:03Z

I wasn't gonna write a post about this, but I realized that I blogged about every concert I've been to so far anyway. So for continuity sake, I will write this.

Last Wednesday, I went to downtown Toronto with my cousin Natalie to see the All-American Rejects at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. It was my third time seeing them and ticket prices being $31 after the Ticketmaster's ridiculous convenience charges, I couldn't say no. The last time I saw a concert was in December, also for AAR, in San Diego. After eating dinner at Salad King, we headed over to the venue and we were around 20 minutes before doors opened and already there was a huge lineup. After almost an hour, we finally got in. We knew what were in for based on the demographic of the line, which was well, full of early teenage girls. Yuck!

The first opening act was Ace Enders & A Million People and they already started playing when we got in. They weren't really good, so we didn't pay much attention and checked out the swag store instead. I didn't think I needed any more overpriced concert t-shirts, so I just bought CDs instead. I already own all of AAR's CDs, so I bought Shiny Toy Guns' two albums for $10 a pop, not bad. The venue was already packed when we arrived, so we weren't able to find an ideal spot, but whatever. This may be the last time seeing these guys because as much as I like them, I can't stand being surrounded by teenyboppers, and what's even worse are the parents who are their chaperones taking space and it just looks creepy. The teenyboppers on the other hand are really annoying and wouldn't stop talking and sounding annoying, as well as getting shovey, except they don't realize that we can easily take them on. It was funny how by the end Natalie scared most of them away.

The second opening act were Shiny Toy Guns, who I was actually looking forward to seeing since I've been listening to their latest album Season of Poision and I liked it. They played mostly songs from their first album and only one from their second one, which was the latest single "Ghost Town." I was disappointed that they didn't play the first single - "Ricochet!", oh well. It was kinda sad that despite their new lead singer Sisley Treasure (which by the way sounds like a stripper or porn star name) who was formerly a contestant on The Pussycat Dolls Present: Search for the Next Doll, was trying really hard to work the crowd, yet the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic. Not sure if it's because it's Toronto, or it's because their core audience differ quite a bit from AAR's, but it's a shame nonetheless. Maybe if their male lead singer Chad had looks comparable to Tyson Ritter, then perhaps the audience would give them a chance.

Then finally came the All-American Rejects. I guess having a small venue means the stage was less elaborate as the last few times I saw them. For instance, there wasn't even a projection screen of any sort this time. They started by playing the first couple tracks off their latest album. I guess it was nice to hear the new songs live. They barely played songs from their previous albums except the singles sans "Time Stands Still", plus "Stab My Back." They sounded alright, although once again Tyson dodged the high notes, like the bridge of "It Ends Tonight" (and by the way, again, I'm annoyed at how when everyone was singing along to it, they didn't realize that the chorus is only half as long the first time through, ugh). Somebody needs to fix up their wardrobe though, Tyson looks extreme white-trash with his sleeveless shirt that was also showing his ribs. Mike was wearing awkward looking shorts. Once again, the setlist was short, as their set ended in a little over an hour. I jokingly said to Natalie that it was probably to accommodate the members of the audience's bed times.

The encore was lame. I really hate it when bands blatantly plan their encores. I mean sure, it's a given that they're gonna play encores, but to put their latest two singles as encores? C'mon now!

Overall I enjoyed it, but yeah, it was probably my last time seeing them and I hate all-ages shows in general nowadays. I mean even seeing one for M.I.A. last year was bad.

Pictures are here.

New Website

2009-04-25T21:49:11Z

So after putting it off for 5 years, I finally launched my new website. I finally have some free time to do stuff like that. It's pretty simple and it's dynamic enough that it'll get updated as long as I use other web services, hopefully it won't get abandoned. A couple months ago, my stand-in page for the website was mysteriously wiped out, so I figured I should have some kind of web presence. Check it out!

On another note, I've started using Flickr as I just realized that having Rogers Hi-Speed Internet entitles you to a free Pro account, so I figured I might as well use it. It's especially useful in that I can embed the galleries on to my website and now that iPhoto '09 has one-click integration of publishing and synchronizing to Flickr (in addition to Facebook). In the mean time, I'm slowly but surely retroactively adding pictures from the past to recent on to my account. Of course, I'll definitely be uploading my Europe pictures there as well.

Done! + Europe Trip

2009-04-21T06:23:32Z

As of earlier today, I'm done school! Well not officially, because for all we know, I could've failed a course or some other degree requirement. But whatever.

I'm pretty excited about things because I can finally move on from this phase of my life. Tomorrow I'm moving out and saying goodbye to Waterloo for good, until I come back to get my $40,000+ piece of paper at my convocation in June. Wednesday, I'm seeing the All-American Rejects and Shiny Toy Guns in concert. I'm pumped about that.

But more importantly, I'm most excited about...

Yep, that's the itinerary for my upcoming Europe trip! So far, we have booked flights and accommodation up to the stop at Prague.

It's funny because initially I scribbled circles on a map earlier as our "plan", which wasn't even a plan, but to show that we had no idea we would be doing between the start of the trip at London and the end of the trip at Rome. Before we were going to travel to each city sequentially according to their geographical proximity. After doing some research, I realized that the proximity of two places do not necessarily correlate to lower travel prices thanks to budget airlines.

So instead of studying for my Network and Security (ECE 428) course yesterday afternoon, I spent a few hours filling in a 10x10 matrix with each city we were planning to visit along with the lowest price of fare it takes to travel to each of the other 9 cities. Then, from that I found the route that would be the cheapest. No, I did not use a shortest-path algorithm, FYI. The result was surprising. Ironically, it is much cheaper to travel in this crazy going-in-circles route than travelling to each city in order. The difference in prices was around $400 CAD per person, which is about 35% of our intra-continent travelling budget!

I'll definitely be blogging as I'm going on this trip. Maybe I'll even start using my Twitter account? Who knows?!

... And all this begins in a little over a week! I can hardly wait!

Crank: High Voltage

2009-04-19T17:17:28Z

On Friday night, a few of my friends and I went to see Crank: High Voltage. We were kinda scared when we got there because despite Friday being the opening night, there were less than 30 people in the theatre! After seeing the first one, we knew what we were in for. We were definitely not looking for any kind of coherence plot line, character development or even good acting. It was all about the over-the-top mindless action, and it delivered!

The best thing about this film is not only do you know that the plot line is going to be cheesy and stupid, they don't even try to take it seriously either. You know it's true when the opening sequence was an homage to 8-bit video games to explain where the last movie left off. As well, there was a part when a fight scene suddenly turns into a Godzilla-like scene. With the exception of a couple cringe-worthy dialogues where they tried their hand in creating some kind of emotional connections with the characters, I was laughing my way through the movie since it was so outrageous and unbelievable. It was also clear that whoever edited the film has an extreme condition of ADD as there were non-stop cuts of action sequences and flashbacks with creative camera shots and many of them sped up.

I have to mention that the music in the movie definitely added to the non-stop action of the film. The score of the film was done by Mike Patton of Faith No More fame. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live in one of his many bands, Peeping Tom, when he opened for Gnarls Barkley 3 years ago, and I was impressed. In the mean time to show you how talented and versatile he is, I'll leave you with one of his live performances of Peeping Tom's "You're Not Alone" with Butterscotch of America's Got Talent fame beatboxing beside him:

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After seeing this as well as I Love You, Man last week, and recognizing many of the scenes that were shot in L.A., it made me feel nostalgic and reminded me of how much I miss SoCal. sigh...

Yeung-Chow Fried Rice

2009-04-15T01:48:56Z

Since Michelle likes it when I post food pr0n and I like to show off when I do make good food, I'm posting the recipe of what I made 2 weeks ago for the EngSoc potluck meeting! And damn it was tasty, even though it took a while to prepare.

Ingredients:

BBQ Pork:
- 4 slices of pork chop (around 2 lbs; you can use pretty much any cut of pork you want, but that's what I had)
- 1/3 cup soya sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tblsp hoisin sauce (I didn't have any on me at the time, so I substituted with teriyaki sauce)
- 2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder mix
- 3 tblsp honey
- 1 tblsp sugar
- some ketchup (we were running out, so I used like 2 tblsp)
- 1 tblsp sesame oil

Rest of the fried rice:
- 3 cups of rice
- 6 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- handful of shrimp, peeled and deveined
- some greens (I don't buy a lot of greens myself, so I just used baby spinach because that was the only thing I had that was handy)
- 1/3 cup of frozen green peas

Garnish:
- 1-2 stalks of green onion

The day before:
Cook the rice in a rice cooker, using the normal amount of water (my grandma taught me to use the finger-measuring technique). Let it cool down and throw it in the fridge overnight. May want to stir up the rice a bit before doing so, so that the rice won't end up being stuck in one giant block. By leaving this over night keeps the fried rice from being soggy.

Mix all ingredients under the BBQ Pork list and use that to marinade the pork. Leave that the in the fridge overnight as well.

Actual preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 375ºF. When ready, use a shallow pan and place pieces of pork on it while pouring the rest of the marinade on top. After 30 minutes, flip over the pieces of pork and baste the meat in marinade. Bake for another 20 minutes. Set the oven setting to broil and leave it in for around 10 more minutes, to make the pork a bit crispy and charred. Be sure to check on it to make sure the pork doesn't actually burn.

Remove pork from oven and let it set in room temperature for around 10 minutes. Then cut pork into thin slices.

Heat up wok by turning the range on to high. Put in around 2 teaspoons of oil and throw in the pieces of pork and shrimp. Add the greens soon after. Remove all from wok as soon as shrimps start to turn pink.

In the same wok, add 2 teaspoons of oil and throw in the rice and fry it for a bit. Stir frequently so that the rice is evenly re-cooked and minimize clumps of rice. After about 2-3 minutes, add in the raw eggs and stir that into the rice. Ideally, all of the rice would be covered in egg. Add salt and pepper to taste. I don't usually like to put soya sauce in my fried rice. Can also add in the mixture of sauce leftover from the pork to add taste.

Once all of the eggs are stirred in, add back in the shrimp, pork, greens as well as add in the frozen peas. Stir well for another 2 minutes. Plate the fried race and add diced green onions on top as garnish.

Serves many.

Ta da!