7 months post - op check

Now that we are in June, let's do a 7 month post operative check!

Can't believe it's been just over 7 months now. How have things been since the spinal operation? Well, it's definitely had it's ups and downs. 

Initially, I didn't feel so much of the pain and I think it's because of the pain killers that they had put me on. I had taken the equivalent of Naproxen during the early healing days. Oxy was also prescribed to me but thankfully I did not require it. I'm proud to say I didn't require any narcotics during this time. If anything, I would take a narcotic for menstrual pain. Now that's just crazy when your period pain feels worse than back pain. 

What I've noticed almost daily now is the constant muscle ache type of pain. It's not to say the surgeon was horrible at the surgery (actually, he is quite the opposite!), but it's the way the body heals after such surgery. The incision heals fast, but it's the internal portion of the body that will take time to heal (I'm reading it could take a year for internal healing). 

Each case is different. Some people fair quite well after 6 weeks and start skiing or snowboarding (although it's highly recommended after 3 months of healing). But some will take years to recover. I don't know where I currently stand, but I feel like I'm heading towards the 1 year mark of healing. And I'll tell you why...

Walking. For months I've been trying to increase my walking tolerance. The max that I have gone is about 1.5 hours. I would try to push to 1 hour 45 minutes and I believe I have done it once at the mall without taking a break or a seat. However, I haven't been able to successfully repeat it as when I hit the 1 hour mark, my back feels exhausted already. It's the type of feeling when you work out your back too much that it feels tired and somewhat burning, like you've burned too much calories. 

Standing. This one is in combination with the walking. But I find that if I just stand there and not do any moving, the exhaustion will hit much faster. An example of this is at work. I haven't gone back to floor nursing yet as I know my tolerance isn't the greatest. This time, it was different as our program received new machines, and this would require me to be on the unit to test it out, and utilize it more comfortably with our clients. Our changeover usually lasts about 2 hours, and this involves a lot of walking and standing, with some time for sitting to chart. I couldn't do the entire 2 hours of walking and standing. In between I had to either lean over or sit down and stretch until my muscles felt more loose before I could attempt to use the machines. 

Sitting. I have no problems sitting. But I know that I cannot sit forever and that I need to stand and walk to avoid further damage. I have noticed that if I do sit for a prolong period of time, my right knee locks up and it's VERY painful getting up to walk because the ligaments are all tensed up. For a period of time, my physio had to focus on my knee and my quads because they were so tense, and caused too much pain. 

Core building. The amount of times both the surgeon and physio have said this: strengthen your core!!! Last year I couldn't do it. I remember trying to suck in my core and not use my back for anything. But as soon as I sucked in my core, I could feel the tingly sensation going down my left leg. That was the result of the compression in the back. Post surgery, I made sure to focus on the core. Honestly, when you strengthen the core, it relieves the back of the tension. I do admit I still have moments during high pressure that I forget to use the core and end up using my back muscles. I learn pretty quickly that I cannot do that because I start to ache pretty much right away. 

Use. Your. Legs. Yes, with any lifting or transferring, USE YOUR LEG MUSCLES. USE YOUR GLUTES. I work with clients who sometimes can't help themselves, and as health care professionals, they trust us to help transfer them. It's really exhausting on our end when we have to do that and injure ourselves in the meantime. 

What do I do when I feel my back muscles aching? First thing's first, I sit and I stretch my back. I don't ever hyper-extend anymore but I pretty much flex forward and just stretch. I do light back rotations, and of course do some squats when I can. At home, I use a heat pad. I didn't use the heat pad for a while given my incision was still healing but now that it's healed, I never thought I would need my heat pad again. But really, it's become my best friend again. Lastly, if I REALLY need it, I take Baclofen. I find it does help relax the muscles, but the side effect is another battle. I don't take the Baclofen during the day as it does make me super sleep and would impair my judgment. But at night? No problem. I would sleep like a baby through the night without pain. 

Although the surgeon has pretty much cleared me, I still take those words with a grain of salt. It takes 1 year to fully recover? Give it 2 years. 

Roller coasters. As much as I would love to go back on them, I know I physically shouldn't. And it would be a terrible idea to do it even now. Given the G forces and random drops and twists, it is no wonder why all coasters have a warning label before each ride that if you have back issues or spinal issues/surgery, to NOT ride any coasters. 

High heels. Man, just as I kept practicing to try and perfect my shoes, I had to put a halt to wearing them. Although the surgeon said I could wear them now, I prefer not to. Heels alter the spine tremendously, and if you fall, there's a risk of re-herniation (if not other injuries). I'll have to give it another 6 months or so before I attempt to wear high heels again, and having to learn how to walk in them again. 

Running, I used to be a runner, cross country in particular. It was my escape and my high. However, with the constant pressures from running (and perhaps uneven ground), it's considered a high impact sport that should be avoided after spinal surgery. 

All in all, I'm able to do more than last year, without pain. I'm able to walk for just over an hour now, versus 2 minutes. I used to be able to walk the entire Las Vegas strip, or just walk the entire day there without issues. Now? I know I have a long way to go, to get back to my base line. 

I still continue to do my physio, to continue with my stretches. I'm taking advantage of what I couldn't do last year. It's been a huge blessing to even do all this, knowing that things could've been a lot worse. Hubby has been my biggest supporter in all this: reminding me to sit, to take a break, and noticing if I'm getting exhausted, he would look for a spot for me to sit (or even carry me if he had to). 

Someday, I will get back to baseline. I just cannot give up. Just have to keep on moving forward. 

Happy 3 Years!

I'm going to try and not make this post too lovey dovey, but SORRY NOT SORRY if I can't help it.

I can't believe it's been 3 years since hubby and I first started going out. Honestly, the past 3 years have flown by so fast. There's a post I found on IG that pretty much sums up how I've felt since we started going out:

Turns out the honeymoon phase lasts forever when you don't date a f*cking loser.

I don't want to be condescending to my past that they were all losers (ok, maybe some of them), but every past gives you life experience. You learn about what you like and don't like in a life partner, what you can tolerate, and not tolerate. You grow as a person. You take what you've learned and apply it to your everyday life. 

If you have read my previous posts about love, you probably remember why this relationship is so much different than my previous ones. It's not because of some high school crush, or that they had an awesome car (hey BMW, I still love you, but not as much as him - sorry not sorry), but it's the way I am treated with love, with respect and most importantly: accepting my weird self. 

When I look back to our previous years of the "talking stage", I can't really tell you exactly when we first started talking. We talked years prior, but again, it was more of a respective colleague type of conversations. But I do recall us talking a bit more about the fall of 2022. Sharing car pictures and random life updates, working as a great team on the unit, having bubble tea with our other friends. I didn't think too much of it until May 2023 when things really started taking off. 

There has been so much that has happened in the past 3 years, where it tested out our love for each other. I'm sure there will be more challenges up ahead, but that is all part of life. It wasn't easy, especially in the beginning where we each had this perception of each other in our heads. The fear of saying something that would hurt the other. We have taught each other a lot, embraced our mistakes, apologized and made up, and we still continue to grow together. I think the biggest one of all is that he makes me feel safe, no matter what. It's not just protecting me from random strangers or falling items (yes, throwback to the PTN event when the backboard at the dealership almost fell on our heads but he had the greatest ninja reflex to see it from his peripherals), but the everyday occurrence that if something had bothered me at work, or my deepest darkest thoughts that randomly hit me, I could tell him and not be judged for it. This goes for the same vice versa. Just showing up for each other, and being there for each other really makes the bond so much stronger and different.

Things that were lacking in my past - it was finally all being shown to me at last. I wish I could explain and put it into words but I'm just so happy that I could giggle like a kid in a candy shop. 

Although things have been quite hectic this year and we didn't get to go on our annual anniversary trip, one thing's for sure: I don't really care where we go, or if we stay home - all I know is I'm super grateful to have him. 

Happy 3 years Anniversary babe :) 

Ladies, if you got yourself a good man, embrace him. Appreciate him. Don't be stupid and think the grass is always greener on the other side - if anything, that is the biggest downfall. 

Genesis vs. Cayman

This post is dedicated to my 2 babies: the Genesis Coupe, and the Cayman S. 

Credit to Boris Lau (2022)

I've never been married nor do I have children, but I do consider my 2 cars as my children. Why? Because they can get expensive as heck to maintain and keep happy. Whereas my colleagues and friends are busy taking their children to swimming/ski/hockey/gymnastics/ballet/drawing lessons, which can all add up with time, I have 'invested' my hard-earned money on these gigantic mechanical devices that don't technically have a soul, nor carry my last name to the next generation. But, they do have a driving soul (as I like to call it). 

When people spread rumours that I can't commit in a relationship, they have no clue what they're talking about. This year, I celebrate 15 years of service in my work place, 16 years together with the Genesis Coupe, and 8 years together with the Cayman. That is more than all my relationships combined over the years. The problem is not that I have commitment issues. The problem is I committed my time and energy to the wrong type of person for my mental and spiritual health. My job and my cars have been more reliable to me than all the men I've ever dated in the past. 

My Genesis has been with me through the beginning of my career, from my very first job, to my current job. It has seen all my struggles, my depressing days, my happy days, and of course the annoyed era where I have to keep fixing it due to various reasons which I will list below. It has been through when M was around, and when M passed away. It has been there when I first started my nursing career. It has brought home my 2 current cats from when they were kittens to now adults. It continues to live on. 

In 2014, I made the decision to modify the Genesis. The ultimate goal was to build a quicker turbo version, but nothing too crazy. If anything, it was only to upgrade the parts that the stock Genesis had, and do a slightly quicker version. So here I went, trying to find all these parts to make it faster. Last one was to do a safe tune. I wasn't ready yet for the custom tune where the engine could potential blow up if I didn't upgrade all the correct parts. I thought modifications would be cool - an Asian chick driving a modded out Genesis Coupe?! BAZINGAAAAAA.

Well, the thing is modifications come with plenty of risks. Risks that I wish I had done more research on, but I was too excited back in the day to care. I was making good money and wanted to celebrate by modding. Little did I know that all these mods would potentially cause life long issues for the car.

As an example, when you modify the suspensions to make it lower, you play with the centre of gravity, but you also put strain on the rest of the stock parts. The car was meant to drive at a certain height that it was built to do. But once you mess with the height and suspension parts, it will strain the rest. The weight of the car plays a role - and that's why some decide to remove seats or whatever else from the car to lighten the load, or replace certain parts with carbon fibre to save on weight. Again, this would screw with the balance of the car. 

Initially I started off with springs instead of coilovers, because I was too cheap to invest in those. Springs cost $120 (back in the day), while coilovers were well over $1000 and I can see why - coilovers is a complete set of not just springs but better damping, and adjustable height. When I went with springs, I notice the ride was much more harsh, and the car was not absorbing all those bumps as good as before. When you only settle with springs, it will ruin your shocks over time. Eventually I upgraded to a set of coilovers and it was a lot better. But given our harsh winters, coilovers can also degrade if not taken care of - the salt will eat away at them, making them costly once again to replace. Currently I'm on my second set of coilovers and they have started to rust because of all the wintery salt. 

Internally I didn't do too much. I think the most expensive was the exhaust work and the tune. However, given that my tune was set up for a turbo back exhaust (no cats), I ended up putting the cats back in because it was a nightmare driving it around with a loud exhaust. After getting pulled over twice, I decided it was just safer to put the cats back in. Now, without another proper tune, the car wants to go fast but is limited. That now puts a strain on the entire system. My flexpipe had to be replaced twice probably because of the tune.

When you lower the car, you take risks such as damaging the body of the car. For example, the front lip and side skirts. The amount of times I had to fix and repaint the lip because it cracked due to hitting something...probably 3 times?? Let's not forget the time a member from the Genesis community offered to take my lip and side skirts to paint, only to completely disappear from the face of the earth (along with my stock rims and tires) - I'm looking at you Matt Burden. 

Let's not forget the time that the car was sort of swaying back and forth. Eventually the entire subframe had to be dropped to find the issue causing the swaying. That one cost an arm and a leg. The following year, the Genesis was involved in a hit and run in the work parking lot. All the damage was submitted through the insurance company to fix. I swear I thought that would be it. After everything was fixed and repainted, Genesis had a good run for a few months. Until...

I hit a mattress on the 401.

Getting old sucks. Let's just say driving at night with window tints, while it's raining, it renders me blind. I was driving westbound just past Westney, when I saw what looked like a puddle up ahead. As I drove closer, I realized ... IT WAS NOT A PUDDLE OF WATER. No, there were 2 mattresses on the freaking highway. I could not change lanes as 1) the right lane was the shoulder/merge lane and 2) there was a car in my blind spot on the left side. Hubby was behind me and has way better vision than me so he changed lanes. But sucker me, I braked hard and ran right into the mattress. BOOM! I felt my car bounce. When I got home, not only did I break one side of my front bumper clips, but my front lip had cracked. LITERALLY THE BUMPER AND FRONT LIP THAT WAS JUST FIXED 7 MONTHS AGO.

I could never get a break since finishing the mods. 

This is also why one of my biggest pet peeve is people not securing their loads properly on their cars, ESPECIALLY A DAMN MATTRESS. When I see people secure a mattress on their roof, with a string, yeah that thing is flying off. Just hire a damn moving company to do it. Or better yet, go rent one of those U-Haul vans. A mattress fits into one of those! I would know because I've moved before! I would never secure something as huge as a mattress on the roof of my car. Can you imagine if I drove around in the Cayman with a mattress on the roof? The mattress would be longer than the car. It's ridiculous. People are just retarded. 

This past winter, when the snow was bad, I gave Genesis a bit of a break until the snow levels started to melt a bit. One time I drove to work and I had to clear a steep hill. There was still snow on the driveway in the middle portion of the road. Basically the sides were clear because all the tires had ran through them, but the middle was the problem. I had taken this driveway slightly sideways (never head on because low car problems). Things were going well until I heard this loud explosion-like sound. It was like a BOOM POP POP sound. I must've scared the people waiting for the bus nearby. I didn't feel any different with the car.

Later as I parked and inspected, the car was too low that it had scraped the snow in the middle of the driveway, and that had dislodged my rear diffuser, which then cracked my rear bumper. Great. Not only did I have to deal with the front bumper and lip issues, but now THE ASS TOO?

SIGH. 

So here we are in 2026, I have asked the shop to adjust my coilovers so I could clear the ground easier from now on. Everything is pretty much just maintenance from now on. No more modding.

Which brings me to the Cayman. I had at one point thought about modding the Cayman. I have seen some really good project cars, and it's just so beautiful. However, I stopped myself because 1) modding a Porsche is a hell of a lot different than modding a Hyundai, 2) it's going to cost a lot more money, 3) do I really want to spend the next decade or 2 dealing with problems that will arise after modding a Porsche?

The only 'mod' I have done are window tints (if that even counts as a mod). And putting a sticker on the spoiler. The Cayman is a great car in stock form. I figured I would want to enjoy the car as is, and that's what I've stuck with all this time. It has served me well (aside from that one random hiccup the season after I took it out of storage for the first time). 

The Cayman is already quite low. But it came to the point that the Genesis was lower than the Cayman. Feedback from both family and friends have indicated that they definitely felt the difference. That's when I knew I had to do something about the Genesis' height. It's also impacted me in the long run, where after the spinal surgery, getting into a lowered car has its challenges. 

The Cayman's shocks are pretty good, the power is there. Except the noise. It needs to be louder. I really want to hear that flat6 engine scream. However that would involve upgrading the exhaust system and I don't know if I'm quite ready for that. Because I know I'd want a tune as well. And then it just becomes a deadly cycle again.

Cost of maintenance and mods? Honestly, I could've bought another brand new coupe with all the maintenance and fixing damages over the years. I could've just gave up and said, ok I'm saying goodbye to the Genesis because it's old and all the costs are way more than the value of the car now. But it's my first car, it has its sentimental value which makes it even harder to say goodbye. It's also been there for me through the highs and lows, times where not even a guy could console me of my miseries. So why should I give up on the Genesis when it didn't give up on me?!

I know, it sounds stupid because it's just a car. But really, when you pour your mind, soul and money into your project car, it's literally your baby. YOU did that. It's not just a transportation device that takes you from one place to another. You become one with it. For non-car people, it wouldn't make sense. To the car people, it would make lots of sense. I understand that there will come a time when yes, it won't be worth it anymore, that it's time to say goodbye for good. But until then, I will cherish every moment, every drive.

Cayman is there mostly these days as an emergency back up for work, and of course a weekend car for cruises and meets. Without the Cayman, I honestly don't know what I'd do if the Genesis required a long service appointment. I could take the bus, but given so many crazy people these days, I'd feel more safer in my own car. 

The Cayman brings lots of joy to those around me, especially colleagues and clients. When they see that bright yellow car in the sun in the parking lot, they always ask for pictures, or for the key (as a joke) to drive away. Everyone competes to park beside it, or stays away from it because they don't want to scratch it. It may be 12 years old this year, but it still looks like a brand new car. I give props to the previous owner for maintaining it so well, and I promise myself that I would do the same. 

Maintenance on the Cayman has been quite reasonable. Aside from the major work done to it such as brakes and tires, and perhaps replacing the condenser, the yearly maintenance is actually a lot less than the Genesis surprisingly. I guess because Porsche actually built their cars to last. 

Hyundai's paint job is crap. One little bump or scrape and BOOM your paint starts to peel. Porsche paint? Flawless. Ok, maybe aside from when I scraped the side of the Cayman against the garage wall. That wasn't fun. BUT it actually buffed out without issues. It also happened to the Macan when I had it on loan. I had scraped the side against the garage wall and when I inspected it, the paint was still flawless. No scratches, no paint peeling. Seriously, they are monsters. Highly respect Porsche for both their engineering and paint. Now we can see why they cost so much. You pay for what you get. 

Hyundai are good daily cars, as long as you don't mod them. Then it becomes a freaking nightmare trying to maintain it. I'm fortunate to own both a Hyundai and a Porsche, as they are very far from the spectrum of each other. But I do appreciate both for what they have to offer. Honestly, this is something that I'm fortunate enough to do on my own, and it may be my once in a life time opportunity to experience this. So I plan to keep this going for as long as I can, given whatever I have.

Appreciate everything that is given to you in life. Take care of it, and God will make sure it takes care of you. 

Porsche Handbag

Porsche what?!

Ok, before I dig into the nitty gritty, I have a question for you. Have you ever seen a Porsche handbag? One with the Porsche logo, with nice smooth calfskin leather?

I have not. And I don't even think Porsche sells nice handbags. There are luggages and perhaps a carry-on type of handbag, but nothing similar to a designer handbag. 

It was back sometime in late 2021 (lots of shopping happened in 2021 after my break up...you know what they say, retail therapy works) when I saw on IG that someone makes personalized handbags. From previous history, it looked like they were part of Saturns Drives, so at least others knew of this company. I took a chance and reached out to him to help me design my own handbag. 

Ideas were thrown around and colour schemes were chosen. Ultimately I wanted something to match the Cayman. I went with a piano black and yellow leather combination, with yellow stitching. 

It's been a while since I put the order in and received it, but it did take probably close to 1.5 years from the time the initial drawings were sketched, until the final product arrived. I have to give him credit though - he is the only guy working all those personalized bags, so a one man job is tough. 

I received the bag sometime in summer 2023. Lo and behold, here are some pictures:

I want to say it has a similar shape to the Hermes Birkin, but obviously not 100%. Overall size is quite big.

This is the back. No rear pockets. Just one smooth leather backing. 

The side profile. The yellow stitching is all customizable. I went with yellow, just because.

This is the bottom of the bag. There are 4 feet stitched underneath.

The Porsche logo up close. So shiny!

The interior - it's pretty much one gigantic hole. You can fit a lot if you wanted to.

I haven't been able to use this bag very much, except for long cruises. My brief review:

PROS:

-there is only 1/1 of it - unique in it's design

-leather is smooth, nice and soft

-you can fit a lot of things inside

-close lock is well done (similar to the ones used on LV handbags)

-handle is very sturdy, very good quality

-the colour is outstanding, same with the Porsche logo

CONS:

-it is already heavy even without anything in it (it's probably the handle as it is quite bulky)

-no divider inside, so everything is thrown around

-no crossbody option (you can ask for it)

-yellow colour/light colour gets dirty quick

Overall, if you want a handbag to match your car, I'd say go for it. He's done handbags with Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Porsche (to name a few). The handbag sizing and outline is standard, so you just choose whatever leather colour and stitching you would like. 

Shoutout to UAOP Luggage on IG (Paul) for creating such unique handbags!

High School Reunion

This month, my high school celebrated their 50th anniversary. The plans of a big celebration was in the works since 2024 so there was ample of time to get the word out regarding the big celebration.

The school was founded in 1976, and to this day remains one of the busiest high schools in Toronto. I graduated just over 20 years ago and man, I feel old.

I wasn't sure if I would go as a lot of my friends from my grade didn't really want to go. Everyone has their own busy lives and kids to worry about so going to a reunion wasn't really on many people's minds. 

After debating for a while, another friend had asked if I would go. Well, as long as I knew someone, yes I would definitely go!

The day of the event, my brother had called and stated that he totally forgot about the event happening, and asked if I was going. I said yes and after going back and forth, we decided to just meet at the school.

Unfortunately I did not have the Genesis that day, as it was in the shop (haaaaa again for maintenance work), so I had to take the Cayman. I mean, I guess it's an excuse to take it for a spin.

When the time came for the event, I realized that yeah, damn the traffic was quite bad. As soon as I turned into the school parking lot, I knew it was a horrible idea. The lot was not very big and of course, all the spots were taken. The other option was to drive across to the plaza next door and that was another bad idea. I decided to circle around and park at another empty school lot adjacent to the high school. There were just 2 cars in the lot, and no sign to say we couldn't park there.

I made the trek to the high school and met with my brother and eventually my friend. There was a nice tribute to all the teachers who had passed over the years. I knew some of the teachers, one of which was my gym teacher. I was shocked and saddened to see that a good handful of the teachers and vice princpal during my years, had passed away. 

After a few speeches and a lovely music played by the school's band, we were free to roam the hallways and some classrooms that were open for viewing. I had to admit, it was nostalgic to walk through the hallways again, and go through some of the classrooms. A lot of things haven't really changed physically - the chairs and desks are still the same (I swear, older equipments last a hell of a long time), the wall paintings are still there. Even the lockers are still the same. They're so old that the numbers have faded on each locker, so someone had resorted to writing the numbers with permanent locker on each one. 

I went through one of the science class rooms and I could swear it was where I had my physics 11 class. The teacher was a Polish lady with the thickest accent and for that semester, I could not understand for the life of me what I was learning. Physics is one of those things that either you get it, or you don't. It's really hard to teach it and understand it. 

I had got to see my previous music teachers. Honestly, that class is what made high school so memorable for me. It wasn't the math or the science, but it was music. I had taken music all throughout the 4 years I was there, so the teachers really got to know me as a student. If I had a mental breakdown, they were there for me. They remembered I played piano and prepped for my exam during my spares. That's how special these teachers are to me. It's so amazing to see them after all these years and to see they haven't really changed much.

I also bumped into my previous graduates and no joke, some I haven't seen since graduation. It's been a good 2 decades since I last saw them. Of course we had to take pictures with each other. The next fun part was to find our graduating year photos. That was easy as it was right in the middle of the big forum. It just brought back so many memories and all the fun times we all had as friends.

My brother was there much earlier and I ended up finding his graduate class photos. He of course bumped into his classmates from the past and literally for him, it's been 3 decades since he last saw them. 

Brother and I ended up walking around to try and find more things to check out. Unfortunately someone (or maybe it was something technical) triggered the fire alarm so the high pitch siren started going off along with the flashing lights. Just like old times. This was about 30-40 mins before the end of the event. At first we all thought it was just a fluke, so many of us still wandered the hallways. It wasn't until we tried to go to the pool area, that a staff member had shooed us out. That's when we realized oh, they're not joking. We had to evacuate the building.

We all poured into the walkways and sidewalks, and for the first time I realize this turnout was huge. Traffic came to a halt, with all the nearby parking spots all filled out. 2 firetrucks had arrived to check the scene. It was at this time that we decided it was time to go home.

All in all, it was a great event. Those who didn't go, all expressed regret of not going. I think many thought it would be a lame turn out but reality is, it really brought back old memories.

If you haven't gone to any of your high school reunions, I recommend it. You'd be surprised who you bump into and it just triggers an entire flood of memories.

Happy Mother's Day

This is to all the mothers out there...

Happy Mother's Day.

For all the moms who have been there for us, those who are moms to be, mothers for the first time, single mothers, mothers who have passed on...

Motherhood is not for the weak. It is the most challenging job in the entire world - one that is thankless, no pay, no vacation, no in lieu of benefits. 

To the stay at home mothers - you want to offer the best for your kids by taking care of them and watching them grow; you are basically the doctor, nurse, pharmacist, social worker, technician, coordinator, plumber, chef, babysitter, cleaner, teacher (to name a few). You are basically that all in one, without the pay. 

Some husbands think it's so easy maintaining a home because they're always home watching the kids. How hard could it be? Wait until you try it for one day.

Mothers. We all look up to you. You are the superhero of society.

Thank you. Thank you for all that you've done, and continue to do.

<3

Miniso - Hello Kitty pop up

Wow, can't believe we are in May! We are almost halfway into 2026. Insane how fast time flies. Where'd the time go?!

About a week and a half ago on April 25, Miniso had their very first Hello Kitty and friends pop up store at the Scarborough Town Centre (STC) mall. This was the first event in Canada. What was so special about this event? The newest addition to Hello Kitty and friends was the new blind box racing edition. Along with 500+ other cool items that aren't found in regular Miniso stores. AND the finale? They were bringing in both Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll characters for pictures!

Just look at how cuuuuute they are!

Sounds totally exciting right?!

On paper it definitely sounded exciting. I mean, the FIRST pop up in Canada! And this was being promoted all through social media and word of mouth. You would think Miniso would expect a huge turnout.

But no, it was chaos. 

The first Hello Kitty & Friends pop up store, meet & greet.

Let me break it down to you. In order to take picture of the characters, you must first buy something at the pop up shop. Once you show the receipt to the team, they will guide you to the line up to take pictures with the characters. On paper once again, it sounds simple. Well, let me tell you how it actually went down. You ready for the tea? 

The event began early on Saturday morning. For those crazy enough to do this, they lined up outside of the mall at 4am. When the doors were still closed. I kid you not. These were HARDCORE fans. I was not that crazy. I still wanted my beauty sleep, so my friend and I (and God bless her for coming with me), decided to meet at 9:45am to line up.

I got there first and saw this line in front of Sephora. However it looked quite short. I asked the lady in front if this line up was for the pop up store. She mentioned it was actually for the characters, and the line up for the pop up was on the other side. I thanked her and made my way over, and COWABUNGA. The line up was INSANE. Torontonians love lining up for the most random things.

I don't know who decides on how the line up goes, but it sort of snakes around the entire place. I had to ask for directions on where the damn line began. So I lined up first, while my friend joined me shortly after. Initially the line seemed to be moving at an alright pace. I wish there were signs, but there were plenty of security around and STC staff, but apparently NOT ENOUGH. 

My friend and I continue lining up, chatting up about life and what not. The lady behind us had brought her daughter, as her daughter was a huge fan of Kuromi (that makes 2 of us!!). Her daughter begged her to come to the mall and take pictures with the characters. This was tough for the lady as she had work at 12:30pm and rushed to line up at 10am with her daughter. A lot of kids were actually there lining up with their parents, and a lot of kids and adults dressed up for this event. I had my Kuromi sweater that my bestie bought for my birthday. 

So here we are, at this point lining up for 1.5 hours and we sort of hit a slow zone. The lady is getting a bit antsy with waiting as now she is close to her work time. Meanwhile my very brave yet no BS friend goes to find the coordinator of the event to see how long it would take to get to the characters. At this point, it was about 11:20am. 

After what seemed like forever, my friend returns back and delivers the saddest news: they have officially closed the line up for the characters because they were only there for a 3 hour window, from 10am to 1pm. In between, they were required to take 20 minute breaks, because the costumes do get quite humid, and it would be inhumane to not give people a break from the humidity. When you think about it, a 3 hour window is not a lot of time already, but add 20 minute intervals in between, and you're probably looking at a 1.5 hour event instead. There is no way they are getting through this massive line up, so of course, they decide to cut off the line.

Now, the thing is, they did not announce this to those lining up for the pop up store. Keep in mind a lot of people showed up to this event primarily for the characters. The pop up store would still remain for the next month to shop, but the characters were only there for that one day, for 3 hours. In simple terms, everyone was lining up, thinking they would get a chance at taking pictures with the characters but no one from Miniso had gone around yet to inform them all of the bad news.

When the lady and her daughter found out, honestly it was the most depressing thing a mother could do, to deliver bad news to her young daughter that hey, we can't get photos with the characters because the line is closed. Other people nearby heard us talking and were stunned as well. The coordinator did not expect such a huge turn out. But hello, you guys promoted this event like crazy via social media. It was over hyped. And considering this is the first hello kitty pop up in Canada, did you not think this would draw people in?? They clearly underestimated the event.

The best request though? The coordinator asked MY FRIEND if she could go around and pass the message along. UMMM WHAT? No, that's YOUR job. My friend ain't getting paid for any of this, and there's no way in hell she is going to deal with the backlash that will happen from these customers. Like, are you kidding me?! Obviously my friend told her no, get your employee to do it. That's not my job. Eventually the coordinator did speak with an employee. This poor soul had to deliver the bad news to the massive line up, one by one. 

As for the solution for the remainder of the massive line, how would they get the photos? The coordinator suggested after the photo session, they could do a group photo with everyone in line, before the characters finish their shift at 1pm. Again, this was only a suggestion, but no guarantee that this would happen. And how would this group selfie work? You'd only be able to use one camera. It's not like everyone can ask for photos with their own phones.

At this point, my friend asked if we should still line up because at this rate, it would take another hour to get into the pop up store. I could go to this pop up store anytime - it didn't have to be opening day. Plus my back was also aching from standing so long, I had to leave the line a few times to either walk it off or sit down and rest. Since both her and I were not THAT desperate to shop in a crowded pop up shop, we decided to just leave the line. The lady and her daughter behind us had already left given that she had work. 

Instead, we went around to try and find these characters and eventually we did. We snuck in a few pictures, and my friend is a ninja - she managed to snap some up close, while evading security. Now that's a true friend! Like damn, we could've just done this instead of waiting in line for over an hour and a half! 

My friend being stealth.

After that, we just decided to sit down and grab some lunch and catch up on life. Honestly, it was a very interesting girls day out (a much needed one). 

The Miniso pop up event? It was a fail.

The characters were the ones that really made everyone hyped up, but to disappoint a whole bunch of fans is just on a different level. Especially the kids. The amount of disappointed kids (and parents who had to be dragged out early to this event), you just can't imagine. 

Honestly, this event would've been more successful if they hired 2 pairs of characters. When 2 are on the floor taking photos, the other 2 are on standby outside, getting their breaks. When it is ready to switch sides, you swap. And you keep going until the photo session ends. This would've made the line flow much quicker, and everyone would get a chance at photos. Miniso has the budget to hire 2 more people to play characters. It's not like they're operating on welfare. 

Another mistake? Don't promote the event as the very first pop up store in Canada, if you aren't going to anticipate a huge turn out. As a coordinator, you ALWAYS anticipate the unexpected and worst case scenarios. You don't just blame the "I didn't know it was going to be so big" game. Then why are you a coordinator? 

Miniso, get your SH!T together before you announce another pop up event. 

Kaleidoscope 2026

Happy end of April already! Crazy how time flies.

Now that spring is (finally!) here, there are some car events happening in the upcoming months, from PTN's season opener to the Kaleidoscope show!

For those who don't know, Kaleidoscope is a Porsche car show event showcasing all the colours of Porsche (also know as Luxury in Colour). It was founded by Ryan in 2023, with the first show held at the old Kellogg factor in London, Ontario. Anyone with a coloured Porsche can apply to be a part of the show. 

This year, the location is set in Oshawa, Ontario, at the Parkwood Estate. The event is being held on Sunday June 14, from 9am to 1pm. For spectator tickets, it's just over $61 taxes in. For those wishing to display your Porsches, unfortunately the application window has now closed so if you wish to attend, you will have to buy spectator tickets.

Here is the website for more ticket details: Kaleidoscope

In 2023, I had submitted the request to be part of the show. It was also a $25 submission fee (which went towards the Humane Society of London). Unfortunately it was quite tough to find members to attend the show as it was all the way in London, and the drive itself would take close to 3 hours. I remember asking around and not many were heading out from the east end. 

This also occurred on a very busy weekend for me, as I had a wedding to attend on both Friday and Saturday (it was a 2 day celebration). The first Kaleidoscope would occur on the Sunday. I told myself I could do it, it would be a nice drive.

Well. Friday was a long day, and Saturday turned out to be a longer day too. This was the first time that hubby and I attended a friend's wedding together so we basically hung out as much as we could that entire weekend. When the Saturday evening reception was done, we had a post wedding hang out, and I got home around 3am. 

As a lady, it takes time before jumping into the shower. You've got to remove your face, your clothes, jewelry, any bobby pins in your hair or any hair decorations. By the time I was settled into bed, it was about 3:45am. I had also planned to meet one of the Porsche drivers heading to the Kaleidoscope show just after 5am, so I figured I would have to leave the house by 4:30am. Thankfully I didn't have to be there for 7AM, as this was the main cars event. I would attend the usual 9AM spectator event opening time.

I had just under 45 minutes of sleep before I made my 3 hour drive to London. This was probably my most sleep deprived drives of my life.

I met at the meet point in Mississauga to meet the member. 10 minutes passed. Then 20. And I thought well, maybe he forgot? I didn't have his cell, just an IG account. I messaged to see if he was alive. I gave it another 5 minutes and if I didn't hear back, I was leaving to London. I got a message shortly after saying he wasn't feeling the greatest and had to pass on the day.

Lo and behold, I made my drive to London by myself, which took just over 2 hours after the meet point. It was probably the most boring drive (no offence London). I think all that adrenaline didn't make me feel fatigued. I was just desperate to get to the event for 9AM. Once I saw the building, I felt so relieved and parked in the lot next to the event and made my way in.

Lots of beautiful Porsches in all aspects of colour. Members who made it from Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga you name it. I made my way around the event and took pictures of everyone's rides. I met with a few members and hung out in the Kellogg's building. If you haven't been, there's a huge indoor park where you get to climb and just...basically be active. There is an arcade for kids, with a food court, and a larger restaurant further into the building, with indoor golfing. There is also an area where you can buy art, snacks, and of course beer. Pretty cool set up. 

By the time we got back outside, some of the members from the show had left, and I asked if it would be ok to move my car into the show, by the entrance, which Ryan gave his blessing. I just felt so cool after that, because my baby was finally in Kaleidoscope's first show!

Once 1pm rolled around, that was the end of the event and everyone had their routes to head back home. I managed to cruise together with a group, which made the drive back to Toronto so much more entertaining. Unfortunately I parted ways around the Hamilton region, so it ended up to be a boring drive back to Toronto.

Hubby was at work so I messaged him when I got back to Toronto to let him know I was safe. However, the text didn't go through and I had no idea, so all that time he thought I was lost in London! Stupid phone. 

I wasn't able to attend in 2024 due to prior plans, and 2025 was a write off for me. This year would be wonderful considering it is closer to home and it's at the estate, a historic building. Hopefully I could try to pop by! This time I would be getting more than 45 minutes of sleep before I drive out.

If you haven't had the chance to check out Kaleidoscope in the past, be sure to check it out this year!

CL - small Cabata

This is a belated post but this was probably my last handbag purchase (for the time being). 

Back in late July 2022, I was browsing the Christian Louboutin website for fun. I was still trying to master the Pigalle stilettos so I didn't think buying another heel was in the picture just yet. But I was being drawn to their small leather goods and handbags section on the website. Although they have very cute clutches, the one thing that really drew me towards a handbag was the design.

Along came the small Cabata.

This wasn't just any Cabata. But it had the CL's mini logo and design all over it, sort of similar to Louis Vuitton's neverfull logo bag. It was in the classic red and black colour, and it also came with a small pouch inside, very similar to the neverfull again. The difference? The CL was cheaper than the LV for one. Second? The CL came in calf leather; LV only comes in coated canvas. Imagine spending over 2 grand for a canvas when you can spend less for leather. That sold me. 

I emailed the Yorkdale location, hoping they would have one in stock. Unfortunately they informed me they didn't have the style in stores, but they did have one on the main website. What did I do? I went ahead and ordered it. 

When it finally arrived in the mail, I was sort of disappointed in the packaging. It came in a very plain white box with no stuffing inside. The bag was in a brown bag protector with the Louboutin logo on it. Otherwise that was it. It was probably the most boring package I've ever received when it comes to luxury handbags. 

However, that went all away when I finally saw the bag. I just love the design and colour combination. I believe this was from the fall or winter 2021. Interior is the classic red in calfskin leather, and the bottom of the bag has the red rubber sole (similar to the men's rubber sole of the shoes). There are metal studs that line the bottom of the handle, which makes it look super cool.

One of the downside of this bag is that it's an entire open bag - there are no zippers so anyone can literally stick their hand inside your bag to steal something, or you could be driving and turning, then your bag suddenly tilts over and all your contents come flying out. There is a clasp which is located internally that helps to "close" the mouth of the bag a bit, but really it doesn't make a huge difference in securing all your items inside. Considering it's just one big bottomless bag, you can throw everything in there but it will be a mess trying to retrieve items (unless you buy one of those compartment dividers to throw in the bag to make it more organized). 

All in all, the small size is decent. The regular might be a bit too big for me (and it's probably more competitive side by side with the neverfull), but if you're mostly using it as a daily bag to throw your essentials, then the small is a good size. This is definitely another option if you're looking at the LV neverfull and debating if you should get it - this is an alternative that's also slightly cheaper. Plus you don't have to worry about every other mother or auntie out there having the same bag as you. In all my years I haven't seen anyone with the same design as mine. 

Just be careful to not overstuff the bag with heavy items (such as a laptop). The handles are thin-ish and they are strong, but I'd be scared throwing in my laptop all the time and straining the handles on a daily. I would not recommend it. If it's a smaller iPad then it's fine. But any regular sized laptop would not be recommended. Stick with a proper laptop bag.

Here are just some pictures I took over the years:

Behold the small Cabata with the LoubintheSky print.

Getting up close and personal. I just added the small charm on it. But you can see the print and the black studs (which are the same ones used on my Loub flats)

The bottom of the bag is the same rubber sole as the male shoes. 

Even the cat is quite impressed with the amount of stuffed animals I managed to put inside.

How it looks over the shoulder.

Overall, I am quite happy with the purchase. It's been almost 4 years since the purchase. I started using it for my daily bag to work. However, I ended up rotating it out with a simple backpack since I end up throwing stuff around and I didn't want to risk damage to the bag.

As a final touch, I did ask Mike from All in Detailings to ceramic coat the handbag. Literally it was magic. You could pour a drink on it and it would just all side off. This wasn't the first time that I had ceramic coat the handbag (I had also done it on the Monster 2Jours handbag maybe 8 years ago). Ceramic coating is generally used for cars to maintain the shine and to not have beading on the paint/windows after a rainfall. Pretty cool stuff. No regrets!

To summarize:

Company: Christian Louboutin

Product: small Cabata 

Design: LoubintheSky print 

SKU: 3615482791017

Material: calfskin leather

Length: 34cm

Height: 24cm

Width: 12cm

Handle drop: 20cm

Price (2022): $1,950.00 (Canadian $)

Comes with: small pouch inside

Alternative bag: LV Neverfull

Bathroom? Anywhere?

Lately I've been reading a lot of things happening on the TTC. From bed bugs to cockroaches crawling on the seats, to passengers urinating and pooping on the subways. 

Yup. Pee and poop.

I don't take the TTC anymore - used to take it probably 20 years ago for school. It was the most miserable 4 years of my life doing downtown commuting with TTC. I vowed to myself that I would never live or work downtown because I hate taking public transit. Even if there are special events happening downtown, I would rather drive and be stuck in traffic. 

When I watch random IG clips of people urinating on the subway, I just feel so sad for them, yet disgusted that our city has come to this. So many clips of this happening and homeless people sleeping on the seats. The worst one were the ones caught pooping on the subway floor. Those must've come out of sheer desperation that they couldn't wait until the next main station with bathrooms.

I don't know about now, but last I recall, there were washrooms only at specific stations (eg. Kennedy, Warden, and then Yonge/Bloor) which is quite a bit of a stretch. Sometimes if there are delays, you'd be stuck underground somewhere between stations, and if you really had to go, you either piss your pants or piss on the floor I guess. Even if you got off at the next station, there's no guarantee that there will be washrooms in that station.

It brings me to my own personal experience late last year. I was going for my initial consult with the surgeon, and considering hubby and I were coming from the east end, all the way to the west end in morning rush hour traffic, we knew it would take a while to get there. We arrived to the city ahead of schedule but I really couldn't hold my bladder much longer. We decided to check out this small plaza across from the medical mall. Considering the medical mall would require payment, we decided to wait a bit before going in to get the ticket. Hence the separate plaza.

In that plaza, there was a grocery store, a sushi restaurant, and a medical walk in clinic. We stopped by the grocery store, checking out if there was a washroom. Unfortunately there was not. Out we walked and checked out the sushi restaurant. Now keep in mind, this was about 1000am so businesses were open. We went into the sushi restaurant and they were open. I asked the staff if it was possible to use the bathroom very quickly. What reaction did I get? They shook their heads no. I wasn't dressed like a bum or wearing anything ripped. I had my usual casual clothes with my designer handbag. Yet I got turned away from simply trying to take a piss.

Lastly I went into the walk in clinic asking if I could use their washroom - because there was one RIGHT there. "Oh, I'm sorry, this is only for our patients." Ok cool I totally get it. But considering this part of the city was still under construction for their LRT, everything was a complete mess to drive around and look for the nearest Tim Horton's (there wasn't really one nearby and the one we thought we went to, it was IN the grocery store). 

Me, a neatly dressed normal working person, got turned away from 3 places trying to use the washroom to take a piss. Thankfully I didn't have massive diarrhea because that would be a different story and no place would offer that to anyone. If a normal person gets turn away from using something as basic as a bathroom facility, how do you think the homeless population feel? This is the most basic human right, yet normal working people get turned away.

Eventually we ended up going to the medical building a bit earlier to park and I went looking for a public washroom on the ground floor. Surprisingly there was no public washroom, unless you got a key from whatever clinic you're visiting. I was lucky to find a handicap washroom on its own, without any key. I just went ahead and used it. At that point it was better than nothing. 

Do I blame anyone from taking a piss on the subway or on the sidewalks? Honestly, given my similar situation, I don't blame them one bit. It took about 20 mins to do a circus run trying to find a washroom, ANYONE that would allow me to use it, and those 20 mins felt completely brutal. 

Honestly? Humanity has gone to garbage. If people do not allow others to use something as basic as the washroom, then I'm sorry but your facility deserves to get shat on. 

My work clinic is another example. Staff are aware that anyone who is not a patient here or a staff member, if they ring our doorbell and start asking for the bathroom, they get turned away. Thankfully this doesn't happen often, but when I get Wheeltrans drivers asking to use the bathroom, I let them use our facility. It doesn't make sense for them to drive to the mall or plaza as there isn't anything nearby. 

I do understand too that not everyone has good intentions. You never know who is asking to use it for actual elimination, or using it to snort up cocaine, or shoot up heroine. We have experienced that too. At the end of the day, facilities need to be cleaned. It is our duty to ensure facilities remain clean and functional. 

Going back to TTC stations and washrooms. I wish all stations were equipped with washrooms, for those really emergent cases. At the same time, I can see that maintenance would increase - it would need to be cleaned and maintained more frequently as anyone can use it. Hence why they only have it at certain stations, and mostly at the main connection points. 

Public washrooms in general? If you're not anywhere near a mall or a hospital, it's generally difficult to find a public washroom to use when duty calls. That's the biggest problem with this city. And if you do find one, you have to pray and make sure they even allow you to use it. If not, good luck. 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter weekend for those who celebrate!

I call it the Resurrection weekend, as Jesus was crucified on the Friday, and rose on the third day (Sunday). It is because of His love for all of us, that He died for our sins on the cross so we may have everlasting life, and be with Him in His Kingdom once we pass from this Earth. 

May you all continue to seek His love, pray for those around you and those around the world, and pray for strengthening in your faith with God.

AC Jazz

I'm sure most of you have heard of the tragic event that unraveled at LaGuardia airport in New York this past week. 

On Sunday March 23, an Air Canada jet was making its final decent from Montreal to New York, and was coming in for a landing. At the same time, a fire truck was attempting to attend to another emergency case across the airport and requested permission to cross the runway. ATC gave the all clear for the fire truck to cross. The fire truck began its crossing when the AC flight began to land and was going at over 100mph. The pilots slammed on the brakes and did their utmost best, but unfortunately the jet slammed into the fire truck, and ultimately taking the life of the 2 young pilots.

One of the flight attendants was flung onto the runway, still strapped in her seat, alive but injured. The rest of the passengers suffered anywhere from minor to a handful of critical injuries. When passengers did not hear any clearance from the flight deck, they ultimately attempted to escape the plane and helped each other along the way.

This is the first fatal incident at LaGuardia in over 30 years, and the first involving an aircraft with a fire truck. 

Many questions are being asked, whose fault was it and what can be done to make air travel safe again. This is very early into the investigation and really, we shouldn't be pointing fingers at anyone. Except the government, because ultimately everything is really their fault. 

Air traffic controllers (ATC) have one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. It is probably one of the most strict that I have heard. Yes, you don't need a degree to be an ATC, but you still need to study the handbook and take a course/write the test as the basis. They are also very selective on who they hire. They just don't hire anyone. They have to hire the best at coordination, at memory and critical thinking. And they don't hire anyone after a certain age. They are super strict with breaks and how many hours one works. It's no wonder they get paid very well - but the stakes are high.

I remember in the beginning of my nursing career (or just before I began it), I was really doubting myself if I would be a good nurse. I decided to look at different avenues, one of which was being an ATC. I've always loved planes growing up (thanks to my dad) and one of my first dream jobs as a kid was to be a pilot (my first was a bus driver....all thanks to the movie Speed). I even made a fake ID tag when I was in grade 5, with my status as captain. I wanted to fly the 747 if I became a pilot. But then I got glasses, so my pilot career was pretty much over at that point. 

But ATC? It sounded interesting. As I read more into it and thought about taking the course, I held myself back. This was probably worse than dealing in health care because one wrong move, and I could send hundreds of people to their deaths. That's not something you can just recover from. One wrong move, and your career would end.  

The thought of how many lives could be lost in one wrong move really convinced me that I couldn't handle that guilt over my head if it were to happen. Eventually my nursing career took off and I never really looked back at returning to the ATC journey. 

After hearing the ATC recording, I felt heartbroken, not just for the young lives lost, but also for the ATC team who were dealing with another emergency and trying to resolve that, the guilt that they felt when the crash happened. Obviously no one wants a crash to happen. But now the question is, how overworked are these ATCs? 

When Trump took over, one of things he mentioned was to reduce the amount of ATCs around the nation. Fire the ones who didn't speak English well. Don't hire any more because they were expensive. So now you have the current ATCs who are overworked, burnt out, or retiring and no one is replacing. Between October 2025 to January 2026, there have been 498 runway incursions reported at US airports. 498! What?! 

Just like any incident, there's always a scapegoat. The question is, who will it be this time? Is it the fire truck driver error? ATC? The pilots? And sadly, they always blame ATC or the pilots for errors. It's always 'human error'. It's never a systemic problem or a government problem. But that's the thing, everything always starts from the government. 

While we still digest this tragedy, and the investigation continues, I just hope people realize that the 2 pilots who lost their lives did so with heroism. They lost their lives, so that their passengers and crew would live. That's the ultimate sacrifice. 

Rest in peace captain Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther. 

Sparkly Cane!

Can't believe we are almost 4 months into 2026. One more week and boom it'll be April!

First of all, it's Kidney Month (well, aside from fraud awareness month). So this month we have been celebrating stuff related to kidney care and kidney health. It's been wild with all the events happening around the hospitals this month but thankfully it is almost done. 

Second, uhhh sparkly cane what?!

Last year when I was walking like an old lady (before surgery), I was looking into getting a cane for myself. However I couldn't really wrap my head around the fact that I'd be walking around in a cane. To be honest, I should've bought it when I actually had a hard time walking instead of pushing myself. I guess you can say the pride hit me.

I told myself that I would only get a cane if it was super sparkly and blingy. I went on Amazon to try and find a cool one but they were all pretty generic sparkles, nothing too crazy. Plus, they were super expensive. Most of them were just sparkles that were glued onto a paper, which then was wrapped onto a metal cane. Anyone could do that at home.

During the time I was off sick, I couldn't get myself to do much bending or sitting down for long. I had to keep active. But in my mind, blinging out my cane would be a DIY home project. Hubby ended up buying a cane for me just before I went into surgery and man, I wish I had got the cane earlier because it was quite helpful with my balance. But given the amount of pain I was in, doing a sparkly project was out of the question.

After surgery, I was still too stiff to sit down for a long period. I had started using the cane when I went outdoors or went for longer walks (like in a mall) or if the snow/ice would get bad. I didn't trust myself enough to keep my balance freely, nor did I trust the public to not bump into me inside the mall, especially during the Christmas shopping time.

One thing that I've learned for sure is...people are way more nicer when I use my cane. They give me the right of way, or stay away from me. It's a different experience. You don't really have people who randomly bump into you and then walk away without apologizing. If anything, when someone does bump into me, they automatically jump back and apologize. There are the rare odd balls who do bump and just walk off without saying anything but again, it's rare. 

The first 3 months are crucial, and the rest of the internal recovery could take 6-12 months. My mind is still stuck with the ideology of "I don't care how long it's been, but I'm not taking any chances in the first year", which means I am bringing out the cane for my longer walks, and bad snow storms, and might as well put crowded places. I do not want to take any chances of getting knocked over to the floor this year. Absolutely not. 

Which brings me to the current state. Obviously things are getting much better than last year. My sitting and walking tolerance have gotten better. My back muscles still burn up about 1 hour of non stop walking, and by the 1.5hrs mark I have to start stretching. Nonetheless, strengthening the back muscles are still a work in progress. And one day, I finally decided to...bling out the cane.

Yup. You read that right. Bling it out.

I ordered a bunch of rhinestones from Amazon. I didn't go too crazy with the colours, but I started off with a vision that the colour theme would be pink and black (the cane itself has a pink and black combo). I also ordered strong glue (not crazy glue but glue that was friendly enough for nails, skin, plastic, you name it). Next was the design. I had to figure out what would go well with a cane's shape. 

Ultimately, I settled with a snake. Why? Partially it's because of Taylor Swift's Reputation outfit (for those who have watched the Eras Tour, you know what I'm talking about). It was also one of the easier shapes to do on something so narrow like a cane. I ended up Googling a simple snake design and used that as inspiration.

The second why? Because it was a generic cane, there's a possibility that other people would have the same cane. I was at the mall one day. Lo and behold, I saw an older gentleman with the exact same cane as me. From that point on, I wanted mine to be more personalized, more bling, more me. 

The next step was to figure out how many snakes I can fit on a cane. If I wanted it to be a bit more outstanding, two snakes may be too much. I went ahead to draw a sample snake on the cane. However, it turned out more curvy and took up more space than I thought. It was still not a problem though. In the end, I stuck with a one snake design.

My original plan was to fill the cane with pink rhinestones, and then use the black rhinestones for the snake. However, when I started off with the pink, and then started the snake, I could see that maaaaybeee the pink would be a bit too much. It would overwhelm the snake. So I stopped the pink at the top, and will think of something to blend it in better with the snake. 

I started off with the shape of the snake's head at the top of the cane, and used the smallest rhinestones available. I didn't want to include medium to large rhinestones on the head just yet. Instead, I would do that mixture for the rest of the body. It just made sense, given the snake's anatomy and the scales that get larger once it's further away from the head. I had to make sure the head wasn't too big, otherwise it would be out of proportion with the rest of the body.

Once the head was finally drawn, I started out a slithering type of shape. Snakes are curvy, and with each curve it comes with slightly different shapes. I really did try my best and I think it turned out alright. As the shape made its way on the cane, I was just dying to find out how it would turn out. Overall it took about 4-5 days to complete.

Drawing the shape of the snake wasn't the most challenging aspect of this project, but putting on the rhinestones and gluing them one by one was the toughest part. You can't use fingers to put these into place, but the kit came with these large tweezers, which helped for the most part. But there were many instances where my grip was too tight, that the rhinestone would go flying somewhere in the room and I'd have to start again. Because they are tiny, I literally had to stick my face against the cane to make sure every one of them was glued properly and glued on the right way. They were very easy to flip over and get glued the wrong way. So that was the frustrating part. 

Once the entire shape of the snake was drawn on the cane, I started off with gluing the rhinestones on the outline, and then one by one started filling in the inside of the snake. This is where you can freestyle the snake's "skin" by filling in all the empty spaces as best as possible with all the different rhinestone sizes available in the kit (there are about 6 different sizes). This was probably the most challenging of the project. Gluing was one thing, but making sure you work fast enough so the glue doesn't dry before you put all the rhinestones in. 

When the final touches of the snake was done (the narrow tail end), I was just happy to be done with the project. I was proud of how it came out. I still had some space left at the bottom of the cane (this is the final edge of the part that makes the cane adjustable -  you really don't want to bling out the entire bottom of the cane in case you need to adjust the height of it). I decided to use this small space to put mine and hubby's initials, along with a heart.

Given the entire snake was all black rhinestones, the heart and initials I made it pink. In a way, it's a reminder of how much I had to go through health wise, BUT it was also a reminder of who was there with me all along while I went through these challenges and then successfully recovered. At first you may not notice the bling, but as soon as the light hits the cane, it's definitely VERY blingy.

I'm proud of what I've done. And I'm pretty sure when I'm 80 years old, I would still appreciate the bling. Bling never leaves a girl's heart.

The snake's head (and tongue sticking out). Hard to capture on picture, but videos make it very obvious.

The snake runs the entire length of the cane, just before the adjustment part. The initials are just below the snake.

This project was completed at the beginning of the week, so I haven't had the opportunity to take it to the mall just yet, but if I do, I hope I don't end up blinding people too much. I really have no idea how sparkly it would be indoors. If it's outdoor in the sun, it'll be very shiny.

We shall see how the glue holds up in various weather and temperature. I'm excited to see, and of course if any of the bling fall off, no biggie. I still have an entire set at home!

Let's just say I have prepared myself for old age. Given how tiny these rhinestones are, there's no way I'd be gluing this when I turn 80. But now, I can say that I'm ready for it. Are you?

Dream Car Review

So what is my dream car?!

Obviously it's a Lamborghini Murcielago. The sound of that V12 *drools*. Unfortunately it has been discontinued for almost 2 decades and I'm sure the maintenance on that beast would be way out of my budget. All I can do is just look at pictures and photoshop myself in one.

But really, what is a realistic dream car? Realistic as in, attainable without breaking the bank?

Well, sometime back in 2013 is when I had this dream of one day owning the Porsche Cayman 981S. At that time, the 981 had its debut and was being released as a 2014 model. It was beautiful, and had won quite a few awards, one being the best sports car of the year. It had a detuned flat 6 engine (from the 911 big brother) and that sound, OOF! I was still a fresh new nurse who was just starting out back in Toronto, and picking up every shift I could work, including both days and nights. I already had a car so I didn't think I needed another one. When I saw the brand new starting price, I told myself there's just no way. I couldn't do it. I put it at the back of my mind that one day, somehow it will be mine.

Fast forward to October 2018.

At that time, the next generation Cayman had come out already, the 718 Cayman. The engine? They had switched the base and S models to a turbo, and you could only get the flat 6 in the GTS model. Or the GT4. I didn't want another turbo car, and really was trying to find the flat 6.

Lo and behold, one was found at Pfaff for a reasonable price (actually, now that I look back on it, it was a pretty good price - it would be impossible to find at that price these days). It was a '14 Cayman S, with PDK and loaded with a few options. I didn't really care about the options - I only really wanted the engine spec.

After test driving it, and seeing the owner had done an excellent job taking care of it, I signed the papers. I felt like a true adult since I didn't need any co-signers. The Cayman S came home on October 30th. It was financed for 6 years but paid off in 5. 

I have had the Cayman for just over 7 years now (the previous owner had it for 4), so the car itself is now 11 years old, which will turn 12 this year. I feel like I can actually do a long term review!

Photo by Boris Lau (2022)

How is the drive?

Well, depends what you use it for, and how you drive it. I don't take it out on a daily basis, but it's mostly a weekend car. It's garaged throughout winter. For weekends, I use it for mostly car cruises, car meets, or random drives with hubby. The drive is quite smooth, very sporty steering and very responsive. It takes bumps well, although it's not an SUV so you will still feel uneven ground here and there, but generally speaking it does have better suspension than my Genesis Coupe (which is on Teins coilovers). It comes in 3 driving "modes": regular, sport, and sport plus. When you hit that sport+ button, it's like a different monster is unleashed. Everything becomes super responsive. The shifts are crisp and quite violent. There should be a warning to say, please put your head back into your seat because the car will throw you back with acceleration. With sport+ mode, that also gives you the opportunity to do launch control. In all my years of owning this car, I have never launched it only because I don't want to break anything. Plus, Porsche could detect how many launches you did in the car over its lifetime so I rather not do anything crazy. 

How about maintenance? Is it expensive?

The most basic maintenance you can do is yearly oil change. The thing with Porsche cars is you don't have to do every 3 month oil change, but just a yearly maintenance (unless you track your car everyday then yes, you should do it more often). Depending on the Porsche dealer, they could charge you $600-700 for the oil change (and this includes labour/taxes). The first and last time I did an oil change at the dealership was in May 2020 during the pandemic, which I had to wait outside in the cold for 2 hours as dealerships would not allow anyone inside the building because of COVID. And then of course they charged me about $600 something for it. I complained about the service especially waiting outside, and all they could do was give me a $50 credit. After that, I took it to a reputable garage specializing in Euro cars, and paid half the price.

The PDK flushes don't have to be done every year but it should be maintained at least once every 40-50k. I've had the brakes/rotors changed at the end of 2024, which was about $1300 including parts and labour. A new set of summer performance tires were bought and those were about $2300.

The most damage I had to pay was for the front condenser. During a trip on the 407 in 2022, rocks had fallen off a dump truck and I couldn't dodge it in time, so a bunch of rocks damaged the condenser. The problem with non-GT cars is that there is no front mesh grilles to prevent rock chips from entering the car. My air conditioning stopped working and was blowing out hot air. The condenser was replaced, and it cost about $975 with parts and labour. I ended up buying aftermarket grilles to cover the condensers, which was about $300 after parts and labour. 

Overall, I probably spent more on my Genesis Coupe maintenance than the Cayman S over the years. There was one year the Genesis needed major work, which they had to drop the subframe and rear bushings. The entire work was about $5400. I don't think I spent that much in the 7 years of owning the Cayman.

A full tank of premium gas in the Cayman cost about $85, and the most I got out of one tank was about 550km. It gets better mileage than my Genesis. 

Does the car draw attention?

I mean, it's bright yellow. It's not my first choice of colour but it was whatever was available. I don't think it draws that much attention compared to a Ferrari. Plus the exhaust is stock. If it was much louder, then yes it would draw much more unwanted attention. 

Does it hold a lot of items in the frunk and trunk?

The great thing about this car is the 2 trunk spaces. Unfortunately it's not like you can fit a cabinet in the trunk. I've taken this Cayman to the cottage and to camp grounds, and was able to fill both trunks to the brim. I even managed to fit a rice cooker in the frunk. For a car this size, I'm surprised at the amount of items it can hold.

How are the seats? Is it comfortable inside?

The leather seats are the basic sport seats, so it's only a 4 way power seat. It's comfortable enough for random drives, but for long hours drives, it could get sore on the back. I have driven from Toronto to Ottawa through the back roads, and what should have taken 4.5 hours took about 12 hours (with stops in between). That was probably the most brutal drive. The leather seats came with heated and cooling seats, which is so helpful when I have back aches or cramps. It helps with hot days too, to cool off my back. Getting into and out of the car can be challenging, especially if you have back issues, but you would need to work on squatting or working on your core to make it more comfortable. The downside is the rear blind spots. You just have to be careful when looking for cars.

How is the paint?

Some car companies use crappy paint (such as Hyundai) that as soon as you get a rock chip, a chunk of paint goes missing from the hood. For Porsche, the paint is quite strong. They use some galvanization technique that helps keep the steel from rusting. I do have a few rock chips in front even with PPF on it, and I don't see any extreme damage. One time I accidentally backed into the Cayman with the Genesis - I was just trying to park on the driveway. The Genesis ended up with more scratch damage on the bumper compared to the Cayman. Cayman had a slight scratch that I couldn't even tell unless it was up close. 

How is the road noise?

The Cayman has only seen summer tires so the road noise was decent. I didn't have to crank my music high to drown it out. If anything, the music is right behind my head: that flat 6 engine. You can still have a good conversation even with the engine behind you. 

How's the Bluetooth?

Ok, this part probably fails in the Cayman. The technology is from 2014 so it's "old' in that sense. I find I have to crank up the volume to hear people, and people on the other end have a hard time hearing me - it's as if I sound far away. That's an easy fix - I just use my bluetooth headphones.

How about the GPS Navi? External music aux plugs?

Again, it's old technology. Unless you go into Porsche for an upgrade, which will cost money. At the moment, the 407 going east from Pickering to Peterborough does not exist on the GPS. So I would have to run my data on my phone. As for any external music plugs, like iPods, there is a USB in the glovebox to connect but it didn't really work with my iPod mini (yes, the block that is about 22 years old now). Otherwise I connect to my phone music via Bluetooth and it works fine.

Do I get a lot of male attention?

No, at least I don't feel that I do. Then again, 99% of the time I drive with my tinted windows up, so if someone were to try and get my attention, I wouldn't notice because I would be listening to music too, or talking to hubby. 

As a female, do I feel empowered?

It's a Porsche. I guess I do.

Would I recommend the Cayman?

Absolutely yes. Without a doubt. It's probably the best car I will ever own. And if you can find a reasonably priced one that is well maintained, go for it. You will not regret it. 

Photo by Boris Lau (2022)