What 'bout my star?

So it's almost midnight. I'm waiting on Shi2 to get her ass online so we can get seats on the plane together. We need to get to the airport in, oh, let's see, 5 hours. I want some sleep but I think I won't be getting any tonight. While I'm waiting, the inner me is cursing at my PSP video converter for not working out of the blue. I'm also constantly glancing over my suitcase, wondering what else I can throw in or what I might be missing. Hm, I'm sleepy.

Macross Frontier music will keep me company. :'(

Anyway, see you in a week.

Any tree can drop an apple. I'll drop the freaking moon.

People with bandage or cut fetishes would be loving my hands right now. I've been getting quite a few unlucky deep 'n bloody paper cardboard cuts at work. They hurt like a bitch especially when you know it's trying to heal and you feel it open up again.

So there was a 'UMM Bench Firetrip & tokidoki' sample sale today and I got Lisa to come with me. It was actually the 3rd day of the sale (f u work for getting in the way) and we were the first ones there this morning but there actually wasn't a lot left already. Some potentials were all the wrong sizes (go figure). However we did manage to dig up some treasures so we didn't leave empty handed. I also kept in mind that LA is in mere days so I only ended up buying one thing.

We watched UP later in the day. Strangely the both of us hasn't and want to watch it so we decided on that one. The story's actually more mature than I expected and the kids that were there were all confused. The beginning made me cry but the movie's overall feeling was really quite sad anyway. Good movie though.

K so my bro brought up the fact that (North?) Korea declared war on the USA a few years back. They didn't take them seriously because their missile fire attempt was a failure back then but people suspect they might try it again this coming July 4. Let's just hope they don't decide to fire on the pacific side and really just shoot Hawaii like people are saying they would.

Unintentionally keeping up with the mecha hype, I finished watching Gundam 00 (1st season) and Macross Frontier. Gundam Daburu Ohh first. I can now see why many people were making comparisons with 00 and Wing.. just the 4 main characters is already a good enough comparison :b. The first few eps were quite slow for me but I figured I'd keep watching to see what the hype was all about. It was well worth it (though after quite a few # of eps to get there).. Kouga Yun's character designs fit into the Gundam world quite nicely. Not to mention the pink space explosions! Also, Marina giving me annoying Relena vibes 'cept without the in your face stuff. 2nd season is next on the list.

Now Macross Frontier. First off, Triangular is on my list of AGRHhatethrowthesongoutthewindow. Kimi wa dare wo kiss wo suru?! Watashi soretomo ano ko?! What's with the garbage lyrics? The intro aside, the series was awesomely fun - the music was great (except the said 1st OP), the story had a good mix of different elements, good range of chars, the good guys reign superior at the end with no bad guys left whatsoever but sadly there's an unwanted sacrifice (wah! M..!). Alto's a great protagonist 'cept he's a player and can't decide on one woman! I'm pro-Sheryl, for the record. If only he picked one... but then the other side's fans would get angry and no one would ever be happy. Open endness will suffice in this case.

So to prepare me for my anime journey of insane catching up, I've restarted my anime list to keep track of all this. So. Much. Work. At least it gives me an idea of what I plan on watching... and it seems like I've planned a lot.

AX in like T-3 days (Sun Mon Tues). I'M NOT READY BUT THEN I AM.

Work: Day in, Day Out.

I didn't realize how expensive Tim Hortons was until I started buying my lunch there during work. Lunch, especially, is a ripoff BUT I found a workaround. The answer is BREAKFAST! Buy breakfast before the 11am cutoff and save it for lunch! I save at LEAST 3 dollars if I do that (which I tried today and it worked ;D).

So I almost forgot to tell my manager I was leaving out of town early next month. I remember telling everyone EXCEPT her the first day I got there because I didn't know I was going to be working under her until later on (hey she was a total stranger to me back then). And well... she was furious. But then again, she gets furious pretty easily and snaps a few times per work day on average.

Did I mention how boring work is? I guess I shouldn't be complaining for getting paid for doing absolutely NOTHING surfing the web. At least it seems like the manger likes it when I put on music. I've been streaming a number of gaming soundtracks which sounds just like wonderful orchestrated music in their ears, though I've been running out of soundtracks to play as of late. Everyone must think I have a strange taste in music because it sounds all so dramatic in the office... especially if I'm playing Shimomura's 'Drammatica'.

Speaking of games... assuming both versions of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection are the same on both 360 and PS3, [for some reason] the PS3 version has a higher score than the 360. The only main difference would be the controls, no? I've been meaning to get a copy of this but I don't know if I should just wait a bit since I'm in no rush for it. 360 games tend to price drop more than PS3 games (even on the same game) so perhaps I can place my chances on that happening (if at all in this case). But then which version should I try getting exactly? I'm boggled. Cheaper would probably make sense, but it might not drop in price ever... Sigh, crossplatformed games are annoying.

Oh hay, TGIF~

Two weeks = 14 days = 143hrs

Countdown time baby!
The AX schedule's out and I've already taken a gooood look. Oh yes, seems like Sty is indeed still alive and decided to contact me the other day. She finally got her airplane ticket and then followed to help her younger sister get her passport documents ready (apparently that girl's a lazy mofo and can't do it herself). The hotel reservation deadline suddenly also approached out of nowhere (luckily I was checking regularly) and so we rushed to get that done as well. We were hoping for something cheaper but obviously on the frickin' last booking date, everything was practically gone. We ended up just having to get what was best and got the Westin based on the reviews I read on the forums. I also encountered a system hiccup during hotel booking which had me freaking out past the hotel deadline but the issue was on the server side so I think our reservation is safe now.

Now, finally, we/I can relax until then.

Lately it's been just work. Due to the recession, apparently my expected pay (what I originally was getting when I was working there in the past) will drop TWO DOLLARS. I was shocked to hear this but now that I've thought it through, I might just have to deal with it. It's just that I'll have to continue to put in some more effort to find a better paying job even though I thought the search was over. I don't like the idea of a wage drop but my job IS insanely slack so I'm a bit stumped. However, I would rather be busying my ass away and getting better pay than sitting around figuring out what to surf and labouring away - hurting my fingers while sticking labels on beer boxes (yes that's apparently part of the OL's job now). I feel my laziness might just overwhelm me this time rendering me useless in job hunting. I want AX, then fireworks, then PAX, then gtfo summer - I want school again so I don't have to think about it.

On the weekend here held our uneventful convention, Anime Evolution. I decided to follow Saboo and crew down on Saturday to check out the new venue. The $55 entrance fee was a complete turnoff, thus we found a unsecured way in from the back escalators. There wasn't anything we wanted to see in particular so we basically walked the convention center inside and outside and then borrowed badges from someone we knew so we could see the dealer's room. When it was my turn to go in, I unluckily bumped into a previous classmate from our program who dropped out in first year. It's unluckily because he's talkative... and he talks a lot of bs. He went on about his life screw ups since he last saw me, his shroom high moments, information I didn't wanna know.... it was strange to even find him here out of all places. Apparently he had a friend who was interested and told him to check it out. Being the adventurous guy that he was, he came. So I ended up talking with him for 45 minutes before Saboo called me to rush me back. There goes my dealer's room experience. We walked a bit of downtown afterwards, had awesome as usual Tropika for dinner and then "dessert" which ended up to be mostly drinks. My only highlight was the giant Mudkip cosplayer we saw. I asked him to eat my head (cuz his mouth was THAT BIG). It was great!

So I have a number of things I want to accomplish this summer. The first thing completed was watching all of Gurren Lagann. I can officially say that it has sparked me to start rewatching anime again... and that means getting to cleaning my harddrives first! But about the Gurren: the first arc is AWESOME!, the second arc is AWESOME-okay, the third arc is AWESOME but can be better. I was hoping for the scene from episode 1 to be the conclusion to the series. It feels so much more glorious and awesome for Simon! I love Simon, he's my favourite~ :3 Next is Kamina (because he's KONISHI! ..well half the reason) The epic shouts and speeches reminded me of awesome Aquarion (tempting me to watch it again) and all the other elements just screamed Gainax. It was fun but it was a bit disappointing that there wasn't any hidden backstory - you know, stuff us watchers take super close notice and then conjure up some insane theory that this is what really happened! That's always the fun part but there doesn't seem to be one in this case...! In either case, I shall go and indulge myself in the music video extras now.

AURGH.

Sorry, rant/anger/swear post.

My brother's been such a dick lately, and so has my dad (my brother more so). I don't really feel like going into the details but, fucking! annoying! guys! In fact, come to think of it, the whole family's been effing annoying to no end. I don't exactly know what's going on with me, but they've been nothing but annoyance to me for the last while.

Maybe I'll remove this once my rage blows over.

Alright, back to work

Three years later, I'm back at the warehouse.
Due to current circumstances, I'll just have to live with this.

The call was actually rather sudden. It was just soon after I made yesterday's post did I get a call from one of the warehouse guys I contacted a while ago inquiring whether they needed any help and asked if I was free the next day. Well, considering I really had no plans, I agreed to start the next day.

When I got there, most of the crew has been changed. There's suddenly a significantly large amount of Caucasian people, even the manager is Caucasian! :D It was a bit weird considering it was an all Asian company a while ago and now it's a lot more mixed. That wasn't the strangest thing actually... the manager now is an old LADY to boot. She doesn't look like she really belongs but when she was working, she seemed to know what she was doing. According to the gossipers she's quite easily stressed and angered as well... one who takes on all the tasks on themselves.

The first day was extremely boring but it feels like it might be more of the same for the next few months. The warehouse has now changed its purpose to only deal with major companies (e.g. Molson and their liquor), so there's none of that frequent in-and-out containering, couriering and releasing. Also, it seems like there -was- a receptionist girl but she suddenly fell ill and was sent to the hospital. So! It seems like I'll be taking her job for the time being... I was hoping I'd be able to do more [of what I used to do there - data entry, logistics, chasing after money], but that won't be the case. Hopefully it'll liven up a bit because being busy at work is a lot better than being bored, that's for sure. Actually being told to SURF THE WEB because there's nothing to do and then RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO SURF is quite depressing. Of course, some sites are out of the question - dA, pixiv (oop stumbled upon pr0n) and there's only so many news/text-heavy sites I follow on a regular basis (that doesn't suddenly have oop! hay, look pr0n! too).

After telling them what my major is, they almost got me making/remaking a new logo for their company. There's no way I'd work being paid receptionist doing a graphic designer's job. I'd be glad to help them redesign a lot of their stuff, but only at the price it's worth. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like they quite understand that concept, but I have already declined their offer and would not mind to explain in further detail if needed. Yeeah, it's something to do rather than being bored (if I chose to accept it as I am), but I still cannot cheapen myself to that level (not trying to talk highly of myself, however). I'm only taking my profession seriously. I'd be stoked to do it if they're really serious though. It sure beats mindlessly surfing news portals.

CAN'T BREATHE

Because I refuse to use something like Twitter or FB to dump my inner fangirlgasms... So um, warning - fangirl alert :|

- The latest announcement is YUN KOUGA @ AX! HOMGOMGOMGOMG... I have nothing for her to sign so I'm hoping to get her artbook there. Having her sign something Gundam 00 related doesn't seem right so :0

- Earlier today@E3: XIV! MMO! XIV! I'm stoked about FFXIV's announcement being S-E's latest MMO... I've been itching to go back to FFXI, but this is relieving me of that itch!

- MORIKAWA TOSHIYUKI@AX! LEGENDARY IS RIGHT! I hope he doesn't get bombarded with stupid Sephiroth questions :|

- GURREN LAGAAN DIRECTOR AND CHARACTER DESIGNER! I'll be honest, I -still- haven't finished watching Gurren yet so I think I'll try and get that done before AX rolls around. :B

- Speaking of Gurren, Revoltech is releasing a movie version Yoko that has caught my interest. I don't know why.. maybe it's because they let her hair down and that looks HOT :O

- Yasuhiro Nightow who hasn't done anything new as of late is going to be there too... He feels almost a bit out of place ;b I might just drop by to get a signature for my bro tho.

- Then there's two staff from the BlazBlue team. It's a shame that my bro's copy of BlazBlue probably won't arrive in time, considering it releases June 30. :| And I have no Guilty Gear goods FOR SERIOUS, I don't think I can really call myself a fan :D? Oh and Blazblue is pronounced Blayblue - I NEVER KNEW THAT. WHERE'S THE Z?!

- SETH GREEN IS GOING TO BE THERE HEY? BUFFY FOR LIFE! :B Oh and Dr. Evil's son and whatnot yeah sure :b

- We're all still hoping there's another musical guest announcement besides Morning Musume. CROSSING FINGERS ONE MONTH TO GO.

Baibai May

*sigh* May has now come and gone.

The work side of things has still been quite depressing. I've already forgotten what I've been ranting about but at this rate, I might just get away with not working at all this summer. Actually, the thought of that is kind of sad. No income means NO LOOT, NO LOOT makes an unhappy consumer.

Strangely though, life's still been plenty eventful. The past week, my mom's childhood friend (+family) has come to visit from HK. They mainly came to her son's post-sec graduation so they decided to make it into a little vacation trip as well.

The first night, I followed them to my Aunt April's place where they were staying so I could mooch dinner from them (they had Chinese). After food, they sat and talked at Aunt April's place for a few hours (that's the sad trade-off :|). The morning after they drove all the way to Whistler. I had no intention on going whatsoever. Nothing to see there anyway so, again, I followed them to dinner instead (this time, it was HQ Japanese).

The next day, it was the One-Day-GVRD Tour and I was assigned as one of the drivers. We started the day off with a mediocre Chinese breakfast. None of us has eaten at this restaurant for a while so we didn't know what their quality has become. It was close, so we just randomly chose the place. The first stop was Minoru Park where we found BUNNIES! Did you know bunnies ate bread? They all got to enjoy freshly baked Chinese square bread even though they weren't allowed to. My mom's mother was my aunt's mother's best friend so after a walk in the park, we headed to visit my grandma's grave for a bit. Next was up the hill to SFU. We walked from the main gathering area to the open park area. On the way there were free juggling lessons. Moving on, we headed to Granville Island where we did not get to sit beside the water to enjoy our late (4pm) lunch. That's alright because we had yummy gelato in the Market afterwards. After the nice food stop, we headed to UBC. When we got there, my dad who was leading the way seemed to not know his way so we ended up going around in circles a few times. The passengers in my car were all asleep throughout the UBC roadtrip so it didn't seem to matter to them now did it. Finally, the last stop was Queen Elizabeth Park where we stopped and took a stroll around the upper botanical park area. The garden was in the middle of a season change so most of the plants were uprooted and the beds were quite bare in places. After that, I was relieved of my duties and was sent home. Woohoo.

Out of curiosity, I popped in the stops in Google maps, and it tells me I drove about ±110km. Is that a lot?

There was still one more day of dreadful driving. The started off with a wonderful dim sum lunch at Viva. Then we headed back to my Aunt April's place to get the dog and headed to the Steveston Pier. We walked down the whole pier and then had the area's famous fish and chips at the docks! After that awesomely good snack, we returned back to my aunt's place where the uncle, his son, and I bummed while they went to do some grocery shopping. There was nothing on TV so I ended up watching some live NBA Playoffs (instead of NHL playoffs? XP) from the son's laptop. When they got back from shopping, they quickly began the cooking. My dad and the aunt duo cooked in the kitchen and made an amazing dinner. The both of them are cooking fans, so I imagine the whole activity was fun for them. Another trade-off however, I ended up having to be bored out of my mind after food for an additional few hours. Then again, it wasn't all boring... they had quite a few interesting stories about my grandma and her best friend I never knew about. Not to mention, the revealing of the events of my mom's childhood memories.

The day after I heard my parents drove them to Stanley Park and Gastown. So much driving. Though they did say they will rent a car the next time they come and visit. Apparently they're the type of people that actually enjoy exploring places themselves. They said they rented a car in Japan and went around with only a GPS at hand. They're insanely brave.

Alright, some notes for myself:
- Fall registration for school started today. I totally forgot.
- School's Moodle admin is back from holidays today. I forgot to e-mail them back about my 4th year major project like LAST WEEK. F.
- I was going to call up my old work places for some possible work possibilities today. I forgot to do that.
- I need to activate my new MasterCard already, it　expires this month. Whoops, forgot.
- Red Faction bonus at Bestbuy tomorrow. I almost forgot.

June 1st. The day of forgetfulness.

Today though, I WAS busy driving my mom to a funeral of one of her fellow church member's. The service took the whole afternoon (surprisingly) because we ended up watching the whole burial portion of it and then followed to go to their reception dinner. The 30°C weather was unforgiving, especially when one wore all black.