The long awaited entry. (Haha, feeling important).

The reason for leaving was to end the gossiping. But there really is nothing more to hide. So here we go, Dee's back in business.

I am really excited actually with this new blog. I will really try my best to update this as much as possible. Now that I'm back I shall try maybe at least once a week of update. It's really hard to squeeze in some time for typing when I have to juggle school and Nintendo DS Lite.

Haha! Yes, I got one! The two things that are keeping me awake are essays/projects and Nintendo DS.  I got my boyfriend one for his birthday so we can play with each other. I got the pink one and I got him a white one. I've finished Final Fantasy III and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Right now, I'm in the middle of finishing Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.

Anyways, I shall end this here for now because its my Test Week! I have a test on Intercultural Communications tomorrow so I have to study; and it's stealing time away from my DS.

Test week is officially over.

*Takes a deep breath*

Oh yeah, that feels good.

I'm not exactly happy with how I did generally, I don't think anyone was. As long as I finished it, I guess I'm good. I had four tests this week. FOUR! ALL IN ONE WEEK. Exams are coming in next week. Wednesday's my last day then I'll be officially on holiday break. Right now I'm on a temporary break from this week. I will enjoy my weekend.

A few weeks back I had to make a Flash Animation of my immigration story. The teacher was looking for drama and such but there really isn't anything dramatic about my story. I'm sorry Professor Benick that my immigration story does not involve blood, tears, or any loss of life. Haha. (Half the class probably just made up their story). I learned Flash back when I was grade 11. After I graduated high school, I totally stopped using it so I had to learn everything again. So here we go. All this work in one night. x_X Bare with me.

I have an exam on Wednesday and I still haven't studied. Not that I can't study but the teacher did not hand out any study guides. I really need a study guide because my textbook is a bunch of articles and excerpts from books put together - which makes it NOT a textbook. WHICH ALSO makes it difficult to read because I'd actually have to read it and not just scan through it.

WHO READS TEXTBOOKS ANYWAYS?! (lol)

To a more, girly side of my world - I've been having a bad case of mood swings lately. It's probably because of the stress. I try to just stay quiet instead of screaming and vomiting drama all over people. I've been pouring it all out on my boyfriend recently though. Sigh* Which I know I shouldn't. I don't want to push him away. =(

Can't think of a better place to be.
I love being right beside you.

Yes, I do realize this is late.

=) But I'm doing this for fun. lol

1. Rocketdog Boots 2. Clothes 3. DS games 4. Mac OS X : Leopard 5. RAM for Macbook 6. Samsung Softbank 707SC 3G 7. Sushi Dinner 8. Sushi Pillow 9. Sushi USB

More like, the power of University. I am trying to study for exams but I really am having trouble fully understanding what I'm reading. Now I wish I paid more attention in class. LOL!

To a different note, my dad likes Cambridge... he's contemplating on moving there. I say, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Back to studying.

[img: ref-http://www.mladenpenev.net/] 

A few weeks back, our professor for CCT invited a Japanese animator to speak to us during lecture. I couldn't understand what he was saying because of a really heavy accent, good thing we had a Japanese girl in our class to translate. =) I remember him saying his name was Takeshi but I don't recall him sharing his last name.

Takeshi showed us this video.

We were looking up on the projector with our jaws dropped. That was pretty intense. Amazing, ne? This same guy worked in the second installment of Gundam. WOW, I should have gotten his autograph.

He invited us to go to his show for free and we actually did some light doodling in lecture. We turned the lights off and he animated it for us. Sweeeetness.

I loved how he answered one question. =)

Q: This isn't the first time this is done. Many people draw with lights in pictures. This isn't a new thing. But what got you interested in this?

A: Picasso used to do it.

For more info, visit their website!

[img: ref-http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profile/picasso.html]

I finished my exam, yay! I was murdered though. I didn't not think it was going to be that hard. My friends (Teddy and Andrew) and I sat there thinking, "@^#%^!&@%!!!!!" lol! My world spun when I read the first question. It was the worst exam I've ever written.

But looking at the bright side, I am done. Holiday vacation started an hour and a half after my exam started. (And it was a three hour exam).

Anyways, as I was walking to school not knowing what I was going to get myself into, I noticed that the snow was melting so early in December. Oh no! Global Warming. I noticed because my dad does not shovel the snow on our driveway until the snow reaches above our knees. (haha, horrible) But yeah, snow is melting already! It's quite scary. It doesn't feel like December.

[img: My Street. with my digiCam] 

Heard of "The World" yet?

The World is like The Palm, but instead of the islands shaped as a Palm tree, the islands are formed like the world map, hence the name. It is also located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. All of the 300 islands are man-made and the purpose of creating this is for real estate - for people to buy these private islands and they can pretty much do whatever they want with it. Maybe the whole clan can move into one island. haha!

Here's video explaining it.

Dubai sounds such an amazing place. Everything is new and modern and high-tech. 60% of the world's supply of Rolls Royce goes straight to Dubai. The world's tallest building will soon be built there as well. It is the world's fastest growing city.

Sounds amazing, nah?

But then, there's this:

Utopia? I think not.

ref:
http://www.theworld.ae/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbJGh4LF5fE
http://www.boycottdubai.com

Update on me:

Snow is falling again =) Good! So Pao and I can go tobogganing!

My friend Hannah canceled our "date." It's okay. We were tired anyways. =) I'm glad I spent time with her yesterday though. =)

I've noticed that people are getting lazy with blogging. Honestly, I get those feelings, too. Sometimes I just sit in front of the computer on the blog entry information page thinking of what to blog about. I was on hiatus mode for a while before I renewed this blog so when I came back late November, I checked my friends' blogs. My friend David hasn't updated since July, Hannah hasn't updated hers since August, and Angel did not write for awhile until recently. I guess this blogging thing is dying down slowly.

I remember when I was in elementary, way back when computers were not interesting and we did not know about the internet, my friends and I would write to each other in cute, scented stationaries. We wrote about the guys we liked, the people we didn't like (lol), and just ramblings that girls liked to talk about. It was funny because we'd see each other everyday in school but we still wrote letters to each other. I guess that's how my blogging experience started. Friends were my blogs.

I wasn't a diary type of girl. What's the point of writing something when no one can read it but me? Ha! I had to share it with someone. So I guess that's why this whole publicly-announcing-my-life-on-the-internet thing did not bother me. Just when I discovered blogging, I took the plunge and here I am still writing.

Yeah, blogging got me in a lot of trouble. I admit, there were things that I said out of anger and should have been kept to myself. There were also things that I shouldn't have shared to the whole world especially when people snitched on me to my parents. (haha!) I was such a dangerous blogger then, I guess now I'm being careful with what I put up here. Which, admittedly, made it less fun for me. But I am not about to start anything with anyone anytime.

What I loved about writing letters to my friends in elementary was it wasn't a one-way thing. I was not only giving out letters, I was also receiving them. I loved reading what they can share. Whether I agreed or not with what they said, I loved reading each and everyone of them. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, DON'T STOP WRITING! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a meddler. I mean, it is posted online. lol! But yeah, I missed reading and seeing people's blogs. Just because I don't comment on them doesn't mean I don't read them.

So blog on, dears, blog on!

[img: ref- ecostreet.com]

I've been living in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) for 8 years now and there are so many places I haven't been to. Okay, this is quite embarrassing but I've always wanted to go in the CN Tower. (haha) I've never been to the Air Canada Center nor the Sky Dome (now known as Rogers Center - ewe) neither.

I've also wanted to eat in Mandarin, an Asian Buffet Restaurant. I've heard many things about Mandarin. A lot of people have told me its good. I checked their website and they claim that Mandarin is an "award-winning all you can eat buffet." I checked the awards they received and it was a long, impressive list. They've been winning multiple awards since the 1900s and still winning. So I was excited to hear that my boyfriend's Christmas Party for work will be held at Mandarin. (Aba! Sosyal!)

 So I just got back from Mandarin. And to be honest, I was disappointed.

The food wasn't that great. I've had better Asian food. The place looked clean but it wasn't amazing. The ceiling was painted with clouds and it didn't even look good. It looked like it was painted by a Fine Art and Art History student at UTM (hahaha! Sorry.) It was just a big disappointment to me. The waiters and waitresses were very nice, though.

I guess I expected too much from it. I mean, who wouldn't? After seeing that long list of awards. Also, it was incredibly pricey, about 25 bucks per person. There are many more restaurants that are way cheaper and way better than Mandarin. I will not go back there unless I don't have to pay for it. Haha, I'm sorry Mandarin.

But I had fun today. Today was the official legal date. (lol) When I didn't have to hide from my parents that I'm on a date. Yeah, what a huge relief. They even picked me up from the subway station. My boyfriend (haha, I'm so happy I can call him that in front of everyone) even walked me to the car.

So yeah, I enjoyed today even though Mandarin was such a huge disappointment. Experiencing it with Pao made it fun. (Love you, baby!)

[img: ref- Mandarin Website]

So, Pao and I have always had plans on taking pictures in a photo booth. Just because it's a couple thing. But see, we really don't carry around change a lot. And when we do, it's for the public transit. So we kept on skipping the idea until the next time we pass by another booth.

So last week when he was dropping me off from his work's Christmas Party at Mandarin, we passed by a photo booth in a subway station. We didn't have change but I had an idea. I dragged him into the photo booth and pulled out our digicam out of my purse. Then I said, "We're going to fake it." HAHA! So we took pictures and I photoshopped them to lessen the quality a bit. =)

Yes... I know. We're weird.

Remember this entry?

I decided to see if I can do it with my camera. We didn't animate it though because my digital camera is not as advanced as Takeshi's. The shutter speed is way too fast. But here are some of the pictures we took. (2 different days)

Little brother

Little Sister

Little Sister (again)

Star

Heart

Arrow pointing at Kim. ahah (my cousin)

"Dee"

Haha, that was fun.

"...God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others."
- 1 Corinthians 7:7

I remember walking into a store at a mall one day. It was hard to shop in there because their music was blasting really loud. I walked around a bit but the loud music gave me a headache so I left. But there was something about the song that was playing that I took with me as I stepped out the store. "Everybody wants to be loved; don't give up."

This year I've been reading a lot of blogs and if you wrote about being lonely this coming Christmas, then I've probably read your entry. But I guess that one line in whatever song that was playing in that store is a great encouragement.

But what is wrong with being single anyways? Being single doesn't mean being alone nor lonely. It's actually a simpler life than being with someone. Being in a relationship means you have to sacrifice things about yourself that will bother your partner. It also means less freedom with spending time with friend and even spending money. Being in a relationship means facing arguments a lot. A person in a relationship can't be liberal with career and traveling decisions.

LOL. I am not discouraging people who are in a relationship or who's going to be in one. I mean, the beauty of it all is that you find someone who you are willing to sacrifice many things and share the rest of your life with that special someone in happiness.

But all in all, being single is a gift! So enjoy it!

Terenz: Yung bigoti sa pwet.

Bj: That's called Puberty. 

One of my favorite songs, written by the guy with most beautiful mouth - ever! This is going to be good, you've been warned.

=) Mr. Alex Kaneko. You are amazing.

I sat in my seat surrounded by thousands if people watching Marlene Klepees share her story. I saw her story in my head as she told us, and to see her up there on the stage, walking and talking like a normal person. I couldn't help but be amazed by her faith and by God. I saw God's love and mercy for everyone. I remember Marlene saying, "I didn't know God wanted good things for everyone. I didn't know healing was for everyone." I guess I didn't know it either. I sat there in awe of what my God can do. My head fell feeling unworthy of His grace and tears fell from my eyes. I was so ashamed that I did not even feel like talking to God. I felt so dirty, so disgusting in front of him. But he insisted on showing Himself to me.

Before this, I have never experienced God talking to me. I'd hear pastors or even people sharing their testimonies saying, "God told me..." And I guess I was being too logical to think of that as ridiculous, or maybe just a figure of speech. I thought of it as our own conviction of what is right and wrong. But it wasn't that.

This time, God was really talking to me. As every wrong things I've done flash one by one in my memory, as I turn away from God in shame, He showed me the cross. An empty one. I knew what it meant. Then He said, "I've already forgiven you. I love you." I asked Him what I can do to make it up to Him. But I was still scared of making promises. So I said, "Lord, I want to change, I really do. But I'm scared. I've come back to You so many times yet I'm still like this. What if I go back? What if I disappoint You again?" Then He reminded me with a verse from His Word saying, "You can do anything, I'm here to give you strength." Then I asked...

"What if I lose Pao?"

Then God said, "Give it all up. Lay it all down. Trust in me and it will be worth it."

Then that was it. He talked to me. Wow... The God who created the whole universe talked to me. And I'm so grateful that He did not say, "I told you so!" or even yell at me. But He spoke with grace and love. Now ALL I WANT IS HIM! Can't get enough. I pray this fire does not burn out.