Dummy?

I just finished watching a documentary on CBC titled Are We Digital Dummies? I didn't get a chance to watch it all from the beginning but I think it's kinda funny how I've been contemplating lately whether or not to get a new blackberry.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I already have a blackberry (an old one) but I don't have any data or blackberry services on it.  So why do I have a blackberry you ask? It's easier for me to text and I find it to be a pretty decent phone.  I don't use applications much or play games on my phone and mainly use it as an mp3 player, alarm clock and phone.  It's funny how many people have asked me "What's your PIN?"... sorry no data.  I've been called a BB poser, or a Crackberry wannabe before.  But honestly I can still manage to get by with just a voice and texting plan. Plus I don't have an outrageous phone bill like others I know.  Back to the documentary I watched.  It basically talked about how the new generation of children, teenagers, and young adults are addicted to technology.  Does this addiction to the cellphone, the PS3 or Xbox make us less creative, sociable, or even personable.  I guess with all this technology we're basically on call for that next message, or phone call, or SMS message with colon and end bracket so when we're trying to apply ourselves do we have less of an attention span?  How long could you go without your cellphone?  I don't know myself, but I'd like to think that I could live without it.  When I was up in Ottawa I barely used it, but it did feel weird going into training each day without my 2 blackberries with me (one is for work, and no it doesn't have PIN/BBM either, work blocks that access).  I find the documentary interesting.  Maybe it explains certain observations I've noticed.  They actually speculate that some of the accidents that have occurred over the past few years may have been caused by the distraction of a cell phone or other form of communication.  I'm not sure if you heard about the flight that over shot Minneapolis but they said that was due to the pilots using a laptop to plan out their work schedule and we're paying attention.  It also indicated that a head on training collision was possibly caused by a train operator missing a stop signal due to him texting on his cell phone.  I guess the one thing that I took from this was that with all this technology out there we can't stop interacting with people (as I sit here on a computer typing this, very ironic).  How will we ever learn to communicate with others, how do we learn to read people and their mannerisms.  So going out to socialize and taking a break from the grind of being behind a computer screen is essential to everyone's development and overall health.  I think I need to take a break from socializing. lol.

I still haven't decided on if I should get that new blackberry and add the data plan to it. So many options and really how important is BBM (blackberry messenger).  Maybe I should rock an Iphone... nah, I don't play games or use half those applications. Mind you, it is a pretty neat device.

Hopefully over the next few days I'll make a decision.  If I do get a new blackberry I'll be sure to post my new PIN.  Till then TEXT away!!

Filipino power!!

As you may guess I'm beginning to be a bigger fan of YouTube lately.  I think it's mainly because I  have my TV hooked up to the Internet and it can play YouTube video's on it.  I mostly look at music related videos.  I've added a new daily YouTube video down below to the right of this girl Charice.  She just released a new album and her career basically took off due to her being spotted on YouTube.  I think this is one of her performances from last year or the year before.  I'm sure my Filipino followers will appreciate the video!

I spent part of my day off on the phone with rogers.  I'm not sure how you guys find customer service, but I guess it's always been hit and miss.  Some say keep calling back until you get what you want, while others indicate if you call too much they'll flag your account.  Anyways I had to renew my phone plan and to be honest the last 3 years have been fine.  I basically pay $25 for a voice and text plan and that's including tax.  My contract was to expire next month but I was going to lose all my credits that were applied to my account so thus I wanted to get it taken care of.  So after being on hold for about 10 minutes I was able to basically renew my same plan and its going to be 10 cents less.  However I had to sign up for another 3 years which kind of sucks and I wasn't able to get a new blackberry.  Apparently in order to get it on a special pricing you have to sign up for 3 years and your plan has to be over $45.  I even wanted to add the blackberry service on to it, but it still would have been less then $45 so I couldn't get the phone cheaper.  I would have to pay like $450 for a new phone.  Yeah, I'm cheap so I said forget it.  But I'm still looking into other options that may or may not pan out for me.

Break Time!!

I've just finished working 7 days in a row and I'm glad I finally get the next two days off.  Not sure what I'm going to do but I know I still have to finish cleaning up the backyard.  I thought working Sat and Sun that I'd have time to write and even work out at work.  Nope, I was wrong.  It felt like I always had something to deal with.

I've been listening to the latest Bruno Mars album called Doo-Wops & Hooligans and I'm really enjoying it.  He has a really great voice and his songs are diverse, in that they don't all sound the same, but I've always found music such a personal thing.  I enjoy all types of music, from hip hop and R&B, to Classical and alternative music. There are types of music that I don't really enjoy but I can listen to almost anything.  The funny thing about music is that it's like an international language, everyone seems to enjoy music.  No matter how rich or poor someone is, music can always be a part of their lives.  I've always grown up around music.  My parents thought it'd be a great idea for me to take piano lessons when I was young.  I think I took it for 5 years but I was never really good at it.  I think when I was young I rather be outside with my friends then inside practicing Mary had a little lamb.  My sister is pretty good at it though, she ended up teaching piano a bit when she had the time. So the piano wasn't for me but I've always enjoyed singing.  I may not be the best singer out there but I'm never usually too shy to belt out a few tunes, my only problem is that I can't remember any lyrics for the life of me.  I guess karaoke is the best thing for me. lol.  Speaking of Karaoke.  Can you believe this is the first year I've been to one of those Asian Karaoke joints where you get a private room with a group of your friends.  I've been to a bunch of bars that had a karaoke night and you sing in front of the whole crowd but just in Sept (I think) was my first time for a birthday gig.  It was pretty fun, but then again the people there made it really great.  A bunch of the same people got together Friday night at the same place for another birthday.  I stopped by for a few hours but since I had to work in the morning I couldn't stay out too late.  Singing, dancing, drinking, and puking, doesn't get much better for the birthday boy!

A good friend just told me that she's not doing so well. I really hope she gets better soon.  She's the nicest person with a big heart and right now I know she's not the same.  Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with her around the holidays and see how she's doing. (and make her smile a little bit too).

Smile!

Here are some photo's of me and little Adam.  He's officially one now. 

I was trying to stop him from destroying my creation.  But he seemed pretty determined.

I was looking at the photos I took with my cell phone at Harlem Underground and they're not too good.  I need to get a new phone with a better camera or start carrying my camera with me everywhere.  It was funny while we were at Harlem Underground I would always remember to take a photo after we already started eating.  I'm sure I'll be better the more I take.  No dinner plans this weekend as I've got to work all weekend but we'll see, I might get that last minute call to check out a new place.

Good eats

I just got back from volleyball tonight and I'm exhausted, but I thought I should write since I haven't in a few days.  The weekend was busy and fun as usual.  Played vball Friday night and went to Shoeless Joe's after with the gang.  Sat I did a bit of shopping and cleaning around the house and went out to dinner with some friends to Harlem Underground at Queen St. W and bathurst.  None of us had been there but we gave it a try on a friends recommendation. It was a nice quiet place, but maybe that was because we were kinda early.  We called and made a reservation but they said we had to finished by 8pm as they had other reservations then, so we went there for 6pm.  There was one other pair in the dining room and apparently they had a heated patio in the back but we never made it that far.  What was kinda weird was that they had a table for 24 people reserved for at 730pm so anyone that came in without reservations was turned away, but they were probably thinking "this place is empty and they still won't seat us".  Anyways, on to the food.  The restaurant is a New Orleans type place, southern type food.  We decided we were going to share everything (like typical Asians!).  We started off with a pound of crawfish and some buffalo chicken bites.  The crawfish came in the bowl with this kinda salty broth and collard greens.  Surrounding the bowl were pieces of bread, a baguette maybe.  The crawfish were like mini lobsters and shined a bright deep red.  I can't say I was fan of them, but that's just me, everyone else seemed to really enjoy them.  The buffalo chicken bites were nothing special.  Seemed to lack some zip, or spice.  I figured southern cooking would be more Cajun or spicy.  Then again, maybe my taste buds are toast from all the hot sauce I've been using lately.  Once the appetizers were done we had our entrees and sides.  We ordered 5 dishes, Guinness Stewed Chicken Thighs Slow simmered with broad beans and perched on sautéed greens, 2 orders of Harlem Jambalaya - Shrimp, chicken, smoked sausage, catfish and crab meat all playing in a mound of seasoned rice, Southern fried chicken, and finally Braised Short Ribs which were seared and slow simmered in a rich thyme-molasses-scotch bonnet pepper and vegetable stew.  We also ordered some deep fried okra and sweet potato fries to accompany our feast.  My favourite dish was the Jambalaya.  Full of flavour and it was like a surprise with each bite.  Sometimes you got a piece of chicken, another time some crab.  The stewed chicken thighs were pretty good too but again, could have used some spice to turn it up a notch.  The fried chicken wasn't bad.  Nice light crispy batter and the pieces were a good portion.  If you ever order the fried chicken it doesn't come with anything so you'll have to order a side with it.  The short ribs were okay.  I found the meat to be a little chewy.  Maybe it was the piece I happened to get but I don't know if I'd order that again.  To say were stuffed would have been an understatement.  I was full but somehow we got talked into dessert.  I'm not sure if it was the server and the fact she mentioned that the pies were homemade by a lady named Liz I think, or the fact that the ladies we were with always save room for dessert.  I believe our options were red velvet cake, mango cheesecake, and I think Banana cream pie or something like that.  We decided on the red velvet cake and mango cheesecake.  If you know me I don't really have a sweet tooth, but when I tried these two cakes they were fantastic.  The mango cheese cake was really tasty and wasn't too dense.  The red velvet cake was soft and flaky and had a very nice layer of icing on it.  Overall a really nice night out at a pretty good restaurant.

Sunday was another day full of food.  It was my little buddy's first birthday and we were celebrating it with my volleyball team and the parents family.  There was so much food.  Roasted Pig, sweet and sour pork, spicy green beans, noodles, beef stir fry, sushi, and much much more.  I ended up eating lunch and dinner there.  I think the little guy had fun.  I always have fun playing with him.  He loves to smash down anything I build.  Maybe it's his way to say this is his house.  I can't wait till he starts talking.  We're going to have so much fun together.

I'll hopefully have some photos up soon form Harlem Underground and of my little buddy Adam.  I'm just too tired right now to do it.  At least I have Thursday off for remembrance day.  Well kind of.  I'm on call Thursday but don't have to actually go in to work, but I do have to work this weekend too which kinda blows.  I then get Mon and Tues off the next week after working 7 days straight.  I might even take Wed-Friday off next week to take the whole week off.

NQR!

It's been a long week and thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.  Tuesday night was my usual volleyball night.  Always full of fun and laughs.  Because we just can't get enough of one another we decided to all head out Wed night to dinner at Joey's at Don Mills and Lawrence.  I've been there before and it's a nice place.  The one thing I did notice were the guys hanging around the bar.  How do I sum this up nicely... I almost thought I was watching Jersey Shore live.  I hope I'm never ever like these guys.  I'm not even sure how to describe them.  Cocky, arrogant, douche bags is really all that comes to mind.  Maybe that's why I don't really like the place completely.  Mind you these guys didn't do anything to me, or even say anything to us.  I think I'm a pretty good judge of character.  I usually can figure out what someones all about in the first 30sec to a minute of meeting them.  Don't get me wrong they didn't ruin the night, just noticed them is all.  We had quite a nice server.  She was a pretty Asian girl, kinda tall.  We all just assumed she was Korean, but once we found out her name the doubts started to appear.  I think her name was Meagan W. What Korean last names start with W? So we decided to ask her and it turns out she's Chinese. :-) lol.  As usual I'll try to put up a review in my restaurants section (I know, I haven't updated that page in a while).  In short, the food was good but you don't get a whole lot of food.  The 1/2 chicken seemed pretty big and I know the chicken was pretty good (I had the chicken and ribs).

One thing that came up was NQR.  What does it mean? Not Quite Right.  One of our friends just returned from South Africa and apparently many ex-pats would use this term to refer to things that didn't seem quite right.  Like a highway to nowhere, or a funny looking building.  So we officially called one of our friends NQR.  How fitting it is as well.  He's a great guy who cracks me up.  He can eat like a champ and orders the oddest things off of menu's.  I heard he ordered steamed Sea Bass after vball Tuesday night, NQR... he's yet to show up on time for vball, dinner, or anything else.... NQR. He hits a volleyball like he's pushing food away... NQR.  Haa haa. 

2 good friends are leaving tomorrow to Japan for 2 weeks (Have a great and safe trip!!).  I was supposed to join them but some things came up and it just didn't work out for me to go at this time.  My brother and his wife just got back from a week in Japan and a week in S. Korea.  I'm hoping to get a chance to check it out in the near future.  There's actually a few places that I'd like to visit.  China (for the great wall), Egypt (for the pyramids and historic monuments), Argentina (I hear the food is amazing), Brazil. Australia. New Zealand, and maybe Fiji and Hawaii.  I hear Fiji is much like the Maldives.  I was in the Maldives probably 5 years ago and it was one the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  Recently two couples that just got married this fall both took their honeymoons to the Maldives.  I actually haven't spoken to them about it.  If you don't know about the Maldives it's a country made up of hundreds of little islands.  They're located off the south west coast of India.  I happened to be lucky enough to stay on a little island called Paradise island.  I think it took about an hour to walk around the whole island.  I got stay in a really nice hut on the beach that had an outdoor shower. So as the sun beat down on me, I mooned it in return!! lol.

If you haven't noticed already I'm also posting a video on my blog that I find interesting or funny.  This new video is from the Amazing race.  I don't know how she doesn't get hurt any more then she does.

Put Em Up!

I just got back from CHAKO... it's a Korean BBQ joint.  Man, all I can smell is cooked... or is that burnt meat? I'll try to cover it in the restaurants section, but I haven't even had time to put up my Ruth Chris's review.  However in a few short words, both a great places to go, if you've never been, do it!!  A friend at work today recommended Sultan's Tent.  A few other friends have mentioned what a great place this restaurant is to dine at.  On weekends they have live belly dancers.... how can you say no to that?  So I'll hopefully get a chance with my "dinner" crew to check it out soon.

Tonight a few interesting things were talked about it.  Again it's about the choices we make in life.  In the past I've had to make a choice where I knew someone was going to be upset with whatever choice I made.  We always have to accept the consequences of our actions.  As I was reminded at work today, I try to avoid conflict.  Now, this doesn't mean I run away when shit hits the fan, it means that I may choose to word a certain email to make it more diplomatic or I take a softer approach in dealing with a situation, or I try to ensure situations don't arise by taking pre-cautionary measures.  Sometimes conflict is unavoidable, and I believe I can deal with it quite well.  I realize one year I spread myself thin (is that even possible??) and I tried to make everyone happy. In the end I may soured a few friendships along the way, due to one group not being a priority over another group.  Obviously that wasn't my intent, but shit happens and we deal with it in the best manner we can.

Another thing that came up was when do let your guard down... if ever?  There are many out there that have trust issues, and many out there that have had bad experiences in life. Those doubts and bad experiences guide us on our current and future relationships and interactions with others. I'm not saying that it's right, but it's hard when in the past you've given so much only to be disappointed in the end.  And down the road you never want to be disappointed again, or you never want to disappoint someone else because you know what it feels like. So you end up never giving that person a fair chance.

In the end the only thing we can hope for is to be happy.  That's why I choose to surround myself with such great friends (like you!).  It's been said, the friends that we surround ourselves with are a reflection upon us and the person we are.