There can be so many excuses for me not to write here anymore... "No time" would be the perfect one - the more real one would actually be "Don't know where to begin" as there are so many things happening all the time, most mundane, but not entirely worthless of discussion either. Another one is that I am being more secretive... just don't feel comfortable about expressing my honest thoughts anymore. Either way, here I am, after almost 1/2 year...

Recently I heard a story that quite surpises / amuses me - not really because of the story itself, but more due to the people involved. 3 months ago, I got acquainted with someone ("H") whom I knew by name & face before but was never close to. We started talking online and got to be quite close friends (online at least, since we never really meet for anything in person). Although youthful in both heart & looks, H is already 44, but still single and never married. That piqued my curiousity.

I found out that many years ago, H's best friend ("S") was involved in a relation with this girl C. I don't know the details, but am under the impression that S & C were in a long-term rship that seemed, at least at the time, quite serious. For whatever reason, S & C broke up and each moved on with their lives. Point is, apparently H was in love with C the whole time... but because he is also a loyal friend to S, H never made a move but was tormented in heart: Not only was he S's best friend, but the 3 of them were, and are, good friends until today.

Mind you, H didn't tell me the details, so I am constructing (and perhaps romanticizing) this a bit along the way. The story is tragic as the love was unrequited. In fact, I believe H was so in love with this lady C that it impeded his ability to establish any other successful relationship in his life, and was basically (still) waiting for her to change her mind one day. The interesting part of this story is that C is actually the ex (or arguably, the gf) of V3.0. And ever since C was involved with V3.0, H became this "knightly" figure (i.e. intellectual whore) and became even more protective of C, since C was (probably) always whining about V3.0 player's behaviour. H's love for C seems very very serious... to that point that he actually proposed to C. (not sure about timing - is this during C&V3.0? or C&S? or in between?)

Throughout this time, H doesn't know about my involvement with V3.0... which was probably why he could be so open & honest with me about this. From my observations, H is SUPER burned by women and even though he says that he's totally moved on, I don't believe him. V3.0 told the whole world that he's officially "single", but we all know that he is still seeing C, but this time with no strings attached. H still seemed to be very protective of C and playing the "good guy who's waiting on the girl who's waiting on the jerk".

Other than being rather amused, I don't know what to think of all this really. H did seem like a flirtatious playerish guy to me in the beginning, but I've learned that quite a few "burned guys" also act that way as a protective mechanism - in a way they don't want to be attached to anyone in order to avoid getting hurt again. Despite telling H clearly about my rship with G, H expressed signs of interest with me. Even if I were single, I wouldn't touch this guy with a 10-foot pole: 1) because of his crazy "devotion" to a girl that's not even his ex, and 2) because of my selfish dignity's sake (once is enough... don't want another guy that's so into C... it's really not healthy for my self-esteem).

Another thing that I am rather proud of to say is that: after H finished his story - I didn't feel jealous of C at all (and I thought I would). Not sure if this is a maturity thing, or whether it's because I am totally over V3.0, or cuz I have G now? I can remember a time when I would hear this story and go like: "What is it with this woman that made all these men so crazy about her??" But today I just feel sad for her. According to H, C is still "hanging on every word" that V3.0 says. And obviously she is still in the same sad situation as H is, as they're both not open to other possibilities and waiting on someone who doesn't love them enough to commit to them.

My goodness... I can't believe that we only have 2 more weeks of school left!!  The stress is building and I really don't want exams to arrive lol.  On the other hand, I can't wait till they are over so that I would be officially 1 semester from graduation.

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                                             Attraction Coaching for Men AND Women

This type of attraction coaching is VERY different than the traditional "match-making" business which tries to set men up with women. Here, all they teach you is HOW to attract & approach the opposite sex (there's actually in-field hands-on training too), and HOW to interact with them so that you will appear attractive and they will want to come back for more. They don't set you up with anybody else, you should be able to learn enough to be armed with the skills that allow you to do that out in the real world, with anybody. Point is: Instead of feeding you the fish, attraction coaching teach you how to fish. Please note that this has almost NOTHING to do with one's physical appearance. Obviously you gotta have a certain basic level of hygiene & neatness. By beyond that, from personal experience, the most popular men & women are never the most beautiful...

The newest development in the industry is attraction coaching for females as well. In our day & age, where women are pretty much on and continually gaining equal footing, it is important for girls to know how to get the men they want as well. I am always an avid believer that this is a skill all girls can work on. The tricky part is that men still remain to be very visual animals, so we definitely gotta work on the physical appearance part more than our counterparts. In that pursuit, I am going to start working with a company that does attraction coaching for both sexes... more to come on that later.

Check it out:
www.happysexyyou.com --> for women

www.manmeetswoman.com --> for men

It's good to see Minh-yen there competeing with her little brother.  Her costume looks so awesome too!  and they got 2nd in silver latin.  Too bad I didn't see someone whom I was REALLY hoping to see...

This year's GB is finally over, which leaves my baby stress-less  but slow biz  at the same time... oh well things can't always be perfect. It's good that he's taking a rest.

Seeing that he's bored at home, I bought him a model yesterday (Revell F-15 Strike Eagle) at Imperial Hobbies (it's funny how now i am knowing something more about models - the one i got him is a 1:48 fighter plane that's 40cm long when completed). Now he's happily painting and assembling it... lol only complaint I have is that the chemicals really stink and it might not be healthy for our cat.

Even G, having to watch it thru all the subtitles, think it is a good movie. It is very long, almost 3 hours, but didn't seem like it at all, and is quite sentimental for women (somehow I just don't think it would have the same effect on men). It made me think a lot (i couldn't sleep the whole night after - not many movies do that) about the dynamics of men & women. It is very bold in its sexual scenes, which I did not expect of 梁朝偉。

The author (which I highly admire) of the story had a famous saying: "到女人心裏的路通過陰道” = "the way to a woman's heart is thru her vagina". 這句話的大膽程度我真的不敢恭維... but perhaps it has its reasons.  Even to this day, I do believe that it is much harder for a woman to dis-entangle her emotions from a man she's enjoying sexual relations with. Bottom line is: 我可以相信女人能夠愛一個男人而跟他沒有性關係.... 但我很難想象一個女人對一個長久交歡的男人完全沒有感覺.

Whoever is really interested in the original story please contact me, I have the manuscript plus all the correesponding commentaries about this movie.

The writing on my waist says "ghost" in chinese - G drew it in for me.

On another note, Shrikant is the special guest! He's come back for a week for his board exams. What a nice surprise! 

I like it so much myself lol... it's like the Apple Iphone (100% touchscreen) but it's less technical & more stylish. I heard they don't "text" very well though, but it doen't matter cuz my mom never uses any of those functions anyway. She seems to really like it too so I am happy.

Official site: www.pradaphonebylg.com

Halloween *soupir*

As the weather is getting chillier, I am also getting increasingly depressed  - and it's NOT due to the weather. A lot has happened over the past month or so, mainly, the rship btwn my mom & I is rapidly deteriorating due to G.  I fully understand her concerns, but the way she's handling the situation (cutting me off financially as a manipulative tactic) is very offensive to me.  After the vegas trip, we've basically dropped back to a level of no-contact at home, and I try as hard as possible to eat all my meals out (at G's, usually) before coming home so that she doesn't complain that I am eating *her* food at home.

I am usually out 8am-8pm so that I can minimize face-time w/ her.  Cuz I really don't like getting scolded. And it's not like it's going to change my mind about G. Obviously all this is putting a financial strain on me... so I cannot wait till I graduate so that I can start making my own dough and move out.  In the long run, I really do believe it will be better for the both of us. But as things stand, there's going to be a deadlock for the next 6 months...

Otherwise, the normal updates:

We watched "Le Reve" at the Wynn and "Zumanity" at New York New York. "Le Reve" was so-so la... for the Cirque du Soleil connoisseur, this is definitely too "tame".  It is a water-aerial acrobatics show, which was described by someone as a "mini-O show"... but as always, Bellagio's "O" was sold out, so yet again I missed it! "Zumanity" though was definitely a pleasant surprise. It was funny, sexy, and beautiful all at once. Two thumbs-up & highly recommended for lovers & couples!

http://picasaweb.google.com/vyvyantsui/Photoshoot 

I always believed that we should take photos while we're still young (in fact we should take photos throughout life as a memobralia, but especially when we are young - for a nice look-back when we're older ). The reason these photos are more risque is for the same reason - we gotta do as appropriate for our ages, and I feel like women  can only show skin for a certain period of time (*ahem* pls remind me this if I am under-dressed at age 35+).

In a certain way, I must admit that I AM probably trying to prove something...  that i'm not just a book-worm, that i can dress up & look womanly too, that people shouldn't overlook me because of my plain appearance, or because i used to be bigger...

Lately, however, I've been super self-conscious & negative about my physique (as if that's new  *har har*)... like Peggy says, "we are definitely not ugly", but as Angie points out too, I ain't a pretty thing... and I know myself that beauty is definitely not my top-selling point. This is funny considering the fact that I am probably maintaining my lowest weight in the past 5 yrs... see more about confidence below.

To expand more on challenge #2: I find that no matter what circle I am in (whether it's school, work, social, hobby), I tend to cluster around the asian groups. Always. Especially in school. And not even just any asian group - if i have a choice - it'd be the FOB self-identified asian group, mandarin-speaking group. I can't even fit into the CBC-whitewashed-banana groups!

I can forsee this to be a huge problem when I start working (there are very few asian lawyers at my firm - if i see right, I am going to be the first chinese one... discounting the staff)... and how may be detrimental to my future advancement of career in North America - and the root of the problem is that I am not confident!  I am not comfortable to hang around non-chinese people and still feel competent in my abilities (not really communicative abilities, but more working competency... i myself still hasn't figured out exactly why either )

Final Year - more play than work?! 

Since school started, life has been busy trying to finish all the readings, spending time w/ G & mom, and also having *some* time to play.  Fortunately, this is my last year of school (just can't wait to grad!) and our year is visibly relaxing as 1/2 of the people have already found jobs and/or the other 1/2 already know what they want and are just waiting.

We're staying at Hilton inside the village, nice room & amenities. In the afternoon we just spent relaxing in the pool & hottubs. Also we went to an animal shelter because I wanted to volunteer for dog-walking, but there weren't any dogs to walk that day, so we just visited the cattery.

At night we went to a teppanyaki restaurant (strongly recommend getting reservations ahead!) (www.teppanvillage.ca/) - it was actually a really good place to dine with a date!  good food & more fun than conventional 3 course meals.

After dinner we walked inside Whistler village, there isn't much to do but it's quite a pretty tourist place for shopping boutiques. I found a wallet that I like a lot (it's cute on outside but more importantly it's very practical in the inside - many compartments) so G bought it for me. (www.espe.ca) We also had gelato before heading back to our room close to midnight.

The next morning, we got up and left around 9am, had breakfast, and went to the Vancouver Art Gallery for the "Monet to Dali" exhibition. (http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_monet.html) There were a lotttt of people there!  Fortunately we already got advanced online tickets so we could skip the line up... but still, it's difficult to observe the paintings with such a big crowd around (tip: do NOT go on the wkends!)

Sushi Workshop

Linda also showed us how to make a cone, a pressed sushi, and nigiri sushi. Me & G are so eager to start making them at home for frds & family!
p.s. the course is $75 - registration at www.continuinged.ca

~ Great Satisfaction ~

Life has been busy since I got back from Quebec in early August... although I've been content for quite a while, must say this period is one of my happiest in 2007!  

The 2 biggest thing that happened = Tatouage   + New Career-Job  !!

1) Tatouage
On August 11, Gilles did something that means a LOT to me - he designed something simple which consists of my name, a heart, and a snake-like line w/ 3 dots representing the Present, Past & Future.... and we went together to tatoo it on his lower back. G's got 2 dimples there that I find super-sexy...  so the name is designed to fit just right between that spot. Here are some pictures of the tatouage, right after + after 1 wk recovery:

I have been very happy with my baby lately... and I think he himself is much happier too.  The main reason for this is because he's completely go alcohol-free & smoke-free for almost 2 mths now. I'm super proud of him!  He's also in much better temper and his EQ improved a lot. As a result, our relation also benefits.  He's getting into better shape and he's also more willing to go out and try different things with me. In addition to the usual movie + dinner dates we have, he's also been coming dancing w/ me at Robson Square, which I know is a big deal to him.  

2) Articling Position
Another reason I'm happier is because of my professional development. As you may already know, I have 1 more year of law school education remaining (gradding 2008), which means that after that I'd need to be in an "articling position" (like internship for med students) before I can take the bar exam and become a real lawyer.

Good news is: After a stressful few wks / months of applying for jobs & doing interviews, I've finally secured an articling position at a mid-sized (40 lawyers) firm in downtown on Georgia street (the three bentall centre on georgia / burrard).  So far the people in the firm seem very nice & well-rounded, and the other 2 articling students got hired are also from UBC.

Obviously it's not one of the biggest or most well-known firms in town, but with my sort of marks I'm lucky to be working in central dt... plus the office looks absolutely gorgeous, spanning 2 floors.  I heard the work is challenging though, and I'm the 1st chinese there, so definitely some pressure there - but i'm definitely gonna give my freaking best efforts to stay on and make a best possible career out of this opportunity. I'm just super-duper glad that I got a huge load out of the way...  that way I can really learn things for the sake of learning in my last year of school (and not scrambling for a job mid-year)... not to mention the relief of having financial security.

3) End of Summer
This month I have been working at Peter Li & Company, opposite to Parker Place. The experience is invaluable and I must say, a lot more useful than what I learnt at INC.  This is because this is a much busier firm, and albeit the fact that it only does solicitor work, there's a whole wide-range of things I get to touch on... small things from: wills, declaration of trusts, power of attorneys to bigger ones like: incorporations, asset/share purchase agreement, lease assignments, separation agreements, divorces.... I also get a lot more direct client contact and correspondence with the outside.  The work is also a lot more organized (although could be quite traditional / restrictive: basically Mr. Li gives me something to do, and everything I do has to pass his eyes before being submitted - it's a lot like handing homework everyday).

Although it's a full-time job, I don't feel very tired at all!  In fact, I really enjoy my work and look forward to go to the office almost every day. It's not stressful at all and sometimes I get to take trips out to the court to do some filings, or go to Fairchild radio to hear my boss do a talk show (answering questions of audience).

Technically, I only have 1.5 wks of work left, because I will be starting school soon. My grandma has been visiting, as well as my uncle + aunt from Seattle. Yesterday we went out for dimsum + Kirin for dinner.  I'm also excited about a romantic wkend get-away  me & G are planning for before back-to-school... will write about that later~