Las Vegas + BSB

Holyyyy moly. It's been crazy busy lately with training staff, working like crazy, then going off to Vegas to take a break from work (and of course I get messages/phone calls while I'm away about scheduling or a problem with a machine). I better get use to this.

After all the chaos at work, I was able to finally take a few days off and fly to Vegas with my bestie. We had purchased Backstreet Boys concert tickets last October, so it's been a long 8 months of anticipating!

A short recap: The Backstreet Boys have taken residency in Las Vegas starting March 2017, and they have extended it to next February 2018. In between they will still be traveling to other places for tours and recording studios. So be sure to grab your tickets!

This would be my 4th time going to Vegas, yet I always manage to get lost when I'm there. I still rely on signs because there's no way I can memorize the map of all the hotels and their shops.

The day we landed, we still had the entire day to explore and walk around, which is what we did. I've always wanted to see inside of the Aria resort so we went there first. My oh my, what a sight.

Day time view of Aria

Night time view of Aria

I really love the Vegas night lights, because it just looks so pretty. I could stare at it all week and never get bored. 

We had 2 buffets that were included in the package we bought, so we took advantage of that and went to Aria's buffet. We already had done Bellagio's buffet last year so we figured let's try something out. According to reviews online, Aria and Bellagio has the best buffets.

Inside shot of Aria's buffet.

I don't know if it's just me being a picky eater, but I didn't find Aria's buffet THAT impressive. The presentation was nice, and the layout is pretty. But the taste of the food was still okay. It either tasted too bland, or there was too much MSG in it. I didn't get to try the desserts but they had a good selection as well. Overall, I would still prefer Bellagio over Aria when it comes to buffet. The second buffet we chose was at Monte Carlo, and that was good. At least there was more taste in their food. Selections were not as much as Bellagio or Aria though.

Can't say no to gelato. Especially chocolate chip gelato. Yum!

We attempted to walk the entire Strip the days we were there but it was just way too hot. The highest it peaked at was about 42 degrees C. It was impossible to walk for more than 5 minutes outside without having your entire shirt drenched with sweat. I should've worn a bikini and walked the Strip. 

We ended up taking long breaks in-between our walks because we were way too hot and exhausted from the heat. I ended up getting a nose bleed after a shower (it happens once in a while). That and allergies. I popped allergy pills twice a day because my allergies were not liking this Vegas weather.

It was best to walk at night when the weather was a bit better. 35 degrees at night wasn't that much better but at least the sun was gone.

Shopping!

Took this shot of the Aria right before I tripped over a curb and nearly fell into a bush.

There were no crazy stories of being drunk or anything. I had a can of beer for a night in the hotel room and that was it. Alcohol and I don't mix very well. I don't need to bring home a story of puking my guts out in Vegas. I'm too old for drunk stories like that.

As for gambling, we didn't get a chance at all. Plus we aren't into stuff like that. If anything, we spent so much on food and souvenirs that we didn't have much left to gamble anyways. I lied. We still had plenty but chose to not gamble.

There was one lady who had her little banjo on the Strip. She was begging for change while she sang. And I remember a few words she sang: I hate Donald Trump. Donald Trump has too many hoes. 

People bursted out laughing and gave her change. That was probably one of the funniest songs I've heard. Bless that woman.

The third night was the night of the Backstreet Boys concert. I remembered we took so long to get ready. We also went to buy Vegas BSB t-shirts to wear to the concert. We tried to put on a bit of make up. Feel all girly girly. And soon, we were ready to go!

Planet Hollywood's Axis Theatre is where they're taking up residency. It holds up to 4,600 seats, which at this concert was pretty much full capacity. It was wonderful to see all these beautiful ladies (and some men) all grown up, and yet still attend this concert in support of the BSB. My my how we've grown up.

Just part of the audience.

When the Boys hit the stage, it was like 1997 all over again, with screaming women everywhere. They sang their hit songs as well as songs from their other latest albums. I have to say, I am impressed that they continue to sing very well, and do choreography dance in sync with the back up dancers. The greatest thing that I really appreciate about BSB is that they will sing live. Of all the concerts I have been to (4 concerts now), they have not lip-synced once. They've been trying to get rid of the "boy band" image for years and tried to tell people that they were aiming for a more vocal group, like Boyz II Men. They sing acapella as much as they can. As a fan, I appreciate it. 

When you think about it, you pay loads of money to see your favourite singer live in concert. I would be pretty disappointed if they lip-synced the entire 2 hours. But they don't and they continue to wow the fans. It is also the return of the 'chair dance' from 'As Long As You Love Me', so get your cameras ready. They did an amazing job with that choreography by the way. 

Overall, it was an amazing concert. It makes you feel so young again. AJ also brought his daughter to the concert and showed her off to us all. It was cute to see that these Boys have all grown up and are all now married with kids. Amazing.

The following day was our last day in Vegas so we took a taxi to the Fashion Mall, just north of the Strip (past Treasure Island). It was way too hot to walk from one end of the Strip to the other in 42C weather. We didn't get a chance to check out everything at the mall because it was massive, but it was nice to take a break from the humid weather.

This is where I found these massive platform shoes from Forever 21 and decided to buy it because they weren't available in Canada. Feeling a bit like the Spice Girls now. Soon after I fell asleep on a bench in the mall. Then we finished up by heading back down the Strip. 

All in all, it was an awesome trip. I love Vegas and would definitely go back in a heart beat. I would do it for the night lights and shows, definitely not the gambling though. I have yet to attend a night club. Don't know man, just not into that scene anymore. But one thing's for sure: I will be back.

"Babe, hold my bag"

Happy June all!

It is scary how every time I start blogging about something, it's always a different month. Scary.

Recently I had a conversation with a coworker regarding this trend that she began to see very frequently as of late.

She first asked me my opinion about it. She observed many young Asian women (either married or not) with their boyfriends/husbands in the malls or theatre who make their men hold their handbags. And she asked why is that? She needed insight from an Asian perspective.

To be honest, I really have no idea why Asian women make their men hold their handbags (and I myself am a white washed Asian). I asked if it was because they were using the bathroom? She said no, that was fine (which I agree), but this was from the very start of getting out of the car: the girl would give her handbag to the guy and the guy would carry it the entire time.

Plus, these bags were all luxury designer handbags: Chanel, Gucci, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Prada. You name it. My coworker makes a good point: if she spent 7k on a a handbag, she sure as hell would want to carry it and not let her husband carry it. I would too, except when nature calls.

Which brought us to what was told to her about this weird trend: in Asian culture, a woman needs to 'shape' her man to become a man, so to speak. If the man doesn't do anything, you give him something to do. In this case, he holds the bag so he has something to do. Otherwise as the relationship continues and he doesn't do little chores like that, it would give him opportunity to take advantage of a girl.

I said hmm. Interesting. Never thought of it like that. But Asian minds are weird.

We both agreed that it was pretty degrading though. Maybe it's because we're in a different culture, and we aren't used to seeing it but in Asian culture, it's probably normal for them. But I wouldn't do that to my boyfriend because he's not my butler. He's my partner in life and I would treat him with the same respect as he treats me. We would both have an understanding and agreement with respect to each other.

To use a man like that in this culture would be degrading. It's like the perspective of how women should not leave the kitchen. Wife's role is to make sandwiches for their husbands. Husband's role is to go to work and make money. Wife is to stay home and raise kids.

Maybe that was the culture and perspective many years ago. But at this time, both men and women work. Of course there is still that issue about gender roles and pay differences between men and women but that's for another time.

Going back to the previous, no the boyfriend is not a coat hanger or a handbag carrier. He's not my personal shopper where I give him all my shopping bags to hold. Of course if something's too heavy he would not let me carry it. But a handbag? Come on, it's your handbag. Carry your handbag. You bought it so you can carry it yourself, not decorate your husband with it.

I think it's also because some Asian women feel they're entitled to all the great things in life, like a butler. A boyfriend or husband is not far off from that so might as well let them carry their handbag. They're suppose to be the Queen of the relationship. People need to see how well off they are and how well they're being treated. It's almost like a power thing to have. It gives women that image that they are powerful, that they can control their partners.

While I'm all for yay women, you do your thing and make something of yourselves, I don't like the whole power struggle that men and women fight over. It's the lust of having that power, that control, it leads to bad consequences.

From my Asian perspective, I wouldn't give my handbag to my boyfriend to carry if we are out shopping or at dinner or at a movie theatre. I bought it because I like it, and because I want to wear it. I don't buy it to decorate anyone else except myself. If I had to use the bathroom and I didn't need anything from my bag, then I would ask him if he could hold my bag. There are times that he might see me tired, and asks if I would like him to carry my bag, but that's very rare. I'm usually all excited to wear my handbags, even if I look like a zombie.

That's the other thing: maybe when we saw that brief moment, the girl asked the guy to carry the handbag because she got tired. That could happen too. We can't assume that the guy is carrying the handbag because the girl told him to, or because he's a slave to her. We can't jump to final conclusions based on what we see for those brief 10 seconds. If you follow them for the entire day, maybe you can make the final conclusions but that's if they don't call the cops on you for stalking them.

So next time you are out shopping, don't be too surprised if you see this cultural trend.

Manchester

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the Manchester Arena tragedy. Stay strong everyone.

It hurts to see so many young people get hurt/killed by this senseless act. Sometimes I just don't get it. Adults fight each other, great. If you're going to commit suicide, just go kill yourself only please? Why go bomb random places where innocent people are? Are you really that selfish? Especially at a concert with young kids/teenagers. They haven't had the chance to really live out their lives and now it's cut short because someone decided well, I'm going to kill myself today but I'm going to take a bunch of strangers' lives with me.

I don't know how this is considered a God-fearing thing to do, or a "success" in God's eyes. But it really is a cowardly and selfish act.

In the 10 Commandments, we see "Thou shall not murder". You commit suicide, that's murder. You murder yourself. Now you commit suicide and take others with you. That's still murder. Two wrongs don't make a right. It never will.

These people who are doing suicide bombings are NOT and I repeat, NOT following the Gospel properly. They are militant extremists who base everything according to their opinion that human sacrifice will get them to 'heaven', while twisting the words of God around.

It is really sad to see this happening around the world, especially something as innocent as a concert. United we stand Manchester.

For those extremists out there, please do everyone a favour and stab yourself in the eye or shoot yourself in the head. The world will be a better place without your weird life analogy.

Fendi Monster BTW Bag

Greetings again!

This will be the overall review of the latest handbag to my collection: the Fendi Boston Monster By The Way (or known as the BTW) bag.

In 2014, Fendi released a new bag called the By The Way as a very versatile handbag. They are known for their 2 Jours and Peekaboo tote handbags; the BTW became their next IT bag. BTW became popular among the consumers. The BTW remains part of their classic collection and there are so many variations of this bag. It comes in various colour combinations, as well as different finishes and some even have croc tails at the end of the zipper part.

The bag can be worn as a clutch, by the handles, cross body or off the shoulder.

I fell in love with the bag in 2014 because of its versatility. It also has a wide bottom and maintains its shape, which is what I love. I'm not sure what took me so long to finally get one, but it was always at the back of my mind that someday, I would own a Fendi.

Fast forward to May 2017. Shortly after I got mom her BTW bag, I was browsing on Sak's website when I landed on a seasonal BTW bag. I'm not sure why it took me so long to love the monster theme but this one took my breath away.

I quickly messaged my SA to ask about this bag and sent her a screenshot of it. She said it is part of their upcoming summer collection and hadn't been in stores yet but it was coming. I said I was very interested. She would keep in touch with me about the status of this bag.

About 2 weeks later, I got in touch with her again (and it's funny because she also contacted me around the same time). I asked if the bag had arrived in stores yet because I was told it would arrive by then. However, SA said that there were only 4 (4?!?!) of these bags in Canada, and all 4 of them went to Vancouver's Fendi store. I asked how that was possible?! Apparently they have a bigger market there so I guess it had gone there, and none to Toronto.

It was baffling because Toronto has two Fendi stores, one on Bloor St, and one at Yorkdale. Yet all the supplies had gone to that one Vancouver store.

The only way that I could get my hands on one is if I put a deposit down on it. Unfortunately it's not a 20% or 50% deposit that is required. Fendi requires 100% deposit to secure this bag. I had to really think about it. But a short time later, I bit the bullet and did it. SA contacted Vancouver and within hours, this bag was flying here to Toronto!

The service was pretty fast. The day after I put down the deposit, the bag had arrived into store. Now if I didn't like it or changed my mind, I could get a refund. However, it was too cute to say no to it.

The last time I checked tonight, there is only one available in Canada, and that's in Vancouver. Which brings me to Saks selling this bag. I'm not sure how their availability is like since I've never bought from them. But the price that Saks is selling at is about $400 more than what is being sold at the Fendi boutique. Just a FYI.

I arrived at the boutique here in Toronto and it was true. Every other new arrival was on the shelves, on display. Everything EXCEPT this Monster BTW. It blew my mind. When the SA went over the receipt that was printed, it was from the Vancouver store. Before I had doubts like, maybe Toronto had it all this time and was trying to get me to make a deposit! But now that I've seen the actual receipt, I can accept that yes, they're all in Vancouver and it was shipped to me as an express.

Anyways that's my story on this BTW bag. Time for some pictures and details below:

The front of the Monster BTW bag. Isn't he so evil?

The back.

Side shot.

Let's try to get up close and personal. The tag, which I still have the wrapper on.

The studs. Sort of reminds me of dino spikes.

Hard to see interior. But there are 2 main compartments with 1 zipper compartment and 2 side pockets.

Interior shot.

These are the care cards that came with the bag. It came with 3 care cards: 1 for the care of the leather, 1 for the studs and 1 for colour transfer/humid weather wear.

The bag comes with a shoulder strap that can be adjusted by snap buttons. I find that when I wear the bag cross body, it sits just above my waist - a bit too high for me and I am about 5'6-5'7 tall. It's perfect over the shoulder.

The tag can be removed, leaving a much more clear, evil look.

One more shot with the handles sticking up.

Details:

Name: Fendi Boston Monster By The Way bag

Size: Small (although the website says medium, but it only comes in small with this design)

Colour: Gray & White leather

Product Code: 8BL1249HEF064Y

Dimensions: 27cm (length) x 15cm (height) x 13cm (depth)

Composition: 100% calfskin leather, 61% cotton, 32% polyester, 7% polyurethane, 100% abs

Interior: 2 main compartments, 1 zipper divider compartment, 2 side pockets

Versatility: clutch, carried by the handle, over the shoulder, cross-body

Warranty: 2 years manufacturer warranty

Hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful week ahead of you! 

Fendi Surprise!

Wow, it's almost end of May and I completely forgot to blog.

First off, happy belated mother's day to all the moms out there, moms to be, and moms who continue to live in our hearts for the rest of our lives. Giving thanks to mom should be a daily routine, not just one day. But it is on that day that we do our best to pamper our moms, the moms who have raised us right from birth to where we are now.

This year, it has been a crazy roller coaster, from mom celebrating a milestone birthday, to having cataract surgery and being told her eyesight may not be 100% back to normal after complications. To me, it's been a tremendous amount of stress for her. Yet I am so thankful for her, that she continued to keep fighting through.

I don't know about you, but seeing someone get poked by a needle in the eye (and I mean it was like the length of a flu shot needle, very similar to IM) before that drainage procedure freaked the hell out of me. I don't know anyone braver than my mom who went through that as though it was nothing. She was pretty terrified though, but after the local anesthesia started working, it wasn't so bad. However, I can just imagine the fear of seeing this longass needle entering my eye, whether I could feel it or not. I would run far away. Props to mom for going through that.

Which brings me to this year's Mother's Day. The family went out for a dinner celebration and some great food, although the weather was not really the best (rain rain and more rain). Having everyone together is definitely one of life's best gifts.

As for Mother's Day gift? I had decided to get her her first luxury designer handbag. Which one? It was hard to find a style that she likes because she absolutely hates totes with no zippers. She does not like Chanel's classic flap bags, nor their bags in general. She does not like Louis Vuitton. Or Gucci. Or Prada, Miu Miu, Versace..you name it. It left me in a huge dilemma when I had to search high and low for this bag for her.

Eventually I found it.

It's kind of funny because when this bag came out in 2014, I had really wanted one but kept holding off. I'm not sure why. But then it came back into my head again. Like wait a minute! This bag is perfect for her!

I kept in touch with one of the SAs at Fendi about this product. She has been so patient and so kind to getting the exact colour and style. Truth be told, mom's a classic type of person. So it didn't make sense to get her something too funky otherwise she might not even wear it.

Lo and behold, I brought the gift home just in time for Mother's Day. To add a bit of extra special touch to it, I had her initials engraved into the tag (and no, her name isn't Michael Kors). However this meant that I could no longer return or exchange the bag anymore. Which means I really hoped she loved this bag otherwise I'm dead. (Fendi's policy is that if you decide to engrave on the spot, the purchase automatically becomes final sale. Refund and exchange policy is 14 days. If you decide to do it later on, you can bring it back anytime to engrave without charge).

She was doing her usual routine at home when I gave her the bag. She saw the name, and almost killed me. Once she unwrapped it and took out the bag, the first words she said to me were: I'm going to kill you, you crazy girl (in Mandarin of course. Because it sounds more gentler than English).

I reminded her that it's not everyday that I get to do something like this for her. Especially after this year, when we all got a pretty good scare, life is precious. If you don't spend the moments now, there may not be that opportunity in the future. She agreed and was very thankful that I got her this gift. I reminded her why I worked so hard ;)

A few days later, I saw the same bag, except in special edition form. So what did I do? I ordered one and picked it up. Below is a quick reveal and photoshoot. Like mother, like daughter. Except one's a classic, and one's a monster. Guess who is who ;)

A different kind of yellow?

Lots of yellow...

The dustbag.

Fendi small Boston By The Way (BTW) bag in beige leather. For mommy. This is the classic style as well as the classic colour.

Fendi small Boston monster By The Way bag. For me ;)

The classic versus the monster.

Hope you enjoyed this quick reveal! I'll be sure to do a review of both bags (although they're pretty much the same bag, just different styles) and include all the dimensions and what fits in it. Stay blessed all!

May the 4th be with you all!

It's May 4th.

May the fourth be with you all!

It's been a hectic few weeks with work and training and what not. I recently began another course of training someone so it's been an educational time, and it really does remind me of what I do know and perhaps what I need to improve on as well. It's always a great learning experience for both sides.

What I don't like about this month so far is the darn rain. Rain rain rain rain rain. It just never stops. And then it's suppose to snow this weekend. WHAT. IN MAY. Welcome to Canada. You just never know what the weather will be.

We've had a few nice, sunny days about a week ago or so and it was gorgeous. I could not believe it. Then of course it got really cold again, and then it started raining. Now there's been a flood advisory all around the city. Come back sun!

In the past couple of weeks, we had the first GTR meet of the season, and it was a great turn out. Old and new faces showed up and we had a great photo session as well as a drone that took pictures and videos of the event. We took over pretty much half the restaurant nearby and the management there was pretty awesome with having us there.

There was also the Saturns Drives meet. My first time there, so we didn't know too many people there, but there were some familiar faces. Lots of exotic cars, and a F40 showed up. Those are so rare. It's my first time seeing one of those in person and it was just amazing. I didn't get to take a picture of it, since I was thinking well I'm sure I will get to see it again soon.

A cruise was planned and we had to follow the route. However, halfway through a few of us got lost, plus a Porsche also blew a belt so we pulled over to make sure he was ok. I guess there was about 5 of us that pulled over with him. Lo and behold, an OPP SUV pulled alongside us.

The officer asked if we were ok, and asked if we were part of some rally. We replied we aren't NorthFace Rally. The officer laughed. We laughed. He then checked the Porsche driver to make sure he was ok and suggested to call a tow for him, then he left.

No one got injured that day, no one got pulled over for speeding or reckless driving, everyone made it to the destination. 

Now that Mother's Day is coming up, it's also time for me to do some shopping this weekend ahead of next weekend so I'm not last minute scrambling. The only reason why I'm waiting so close is because the return/exchange window is only 14 days from purchase. What's the plan? A purse of course. Which one? I'll let you take a guess. It's very hard to find a style she likes, so a lot of the luxury handbags in the market don't really work for her. It took a while to find one that she MIGHT like. I'll update you as the weekend comes!

I'm also dying to pick up my latest handbag. However I'm just taking my time right now. Once I do have possession of it, I will be sure to do a review on it, as well as the shop that I bought from. That should be coming up in the next month or so!

I've been trying to go on this "diet restriction" to see if it would help with my cramps lately. It's not really much. Limiting my sugary drinks down to only drinking hot water everyday. If it's a weekend, I'll have a bubble tea or something. But then the next 6 days, just water. Before I used to have tea with sugar, or juice or something everyday and I found every time the menstrual cycle hit me, I was in a lot of pain. Narcotics would work wonders, but the aim is to not take any every month.

So I tried only water to see if it would make a difference. Sugar is heading to be the world's silent killer. It brings a lot of problems into a body right down to the cellular level. I read and remembered that sugar can also contribute to painful menstrual cramps as well. So the whole theory of eating chocolates while you're on your period is actually not that accurate. It's just an excuse to eat chocolate when you're not feeling well.

I used to hate drinking water. It's weird but I never liked the taste of water. It tasted weird to me, so that's why I had juice diluted with water for a long time. However, now it's time to suck it up and drink water. Got to eliminate the unhealthy sugars.

Water is like flushing your body of toxins. It helps the kidneys as well, by removing those toxins and giving your blood a good cleaning. Without adequate water, your body will try to retain any water left inside of you so you don't get dehydrated so fast, hence why you probably won't urinate as much (and if you do, it's very concentrated). Not very good for your kidneys either.

I don't know why it took me so long to finally try this, especially knowing I work in the medical field, but I figured I should do it now before I get too old. So far, it hasn't worked that much of a wonder because I still do get cramps. But I've only taken half a narcotic, versus an entire pill or a pill and a half. At least there's still some improvement.

Anyways that is all for today. Be sure to tune in for more upcoming updates!

Another Chanel

I have gone down a very, very, very dark path.

And I'm honestly SO SO SO SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

Over 2 years later, and I finally found her. Albeit it was via the consignment route, but this is such a rare colour that I couldn't help it.

I would've gone the traditional black classic flap bag, but I wear dark clothing all the time. My wardrobe is pretty much like a funeral closet. I have a few bright coloured clothes but I never really wear them because it makes me look fat.

So of course I need bright accessories. And here she is. She has been found. More pictures will be released once I get my hands on her, but otherwise this has been a long journey. You may have read a couple years ago how I was trying to hunt one down and a douchebag got in my way and ruined my goals. Anyways, he can go kiss my ass.

Stay tuned for a full reveal my lovelies! AHHHH CAN'T WAIT!

Tax Season?!

You know time is going by so fast when it's tax season. Yes, it's that time again.

Obviously I won't reveal much about my salary and taxes, but at least it's done. It's a pain trying to find all the paperwork and get it together. Which sort of brings me to another topic.

I recently had a conversation with mom about donations and what not, since those add up to charitable deductions. I don't mind donating to organizations, but there are times you wonder, is my the money really going towards something good, or just to the pockets of the CEOs and the workers who help run the organization?

A lot of times, companies will issue receipts for income tax purposes, but there are some that don't. One notable one is the Toronto Humane Society. Every year, we make a donation to them, and every year we ask for a receipt. Every year, we NEVER have gotten a receipt. If you remember, there was an investigation into the organization about where the funds really go: into the pocket of the CEO. There was a huge backlash. Nowadays I don't know how they're doing but we halted donations to them because they never gave us any receipt as proof that we did donate.

Hence why when people ask, well if you can afford this and that, why don't you donate to the poor or to help animals or something? Yeah, we do but when companies don't do their part in issuing receipts to the donors, then that's a big problem when it comes to my taxes. It's not that I don't want to donate, but it's the big players who don't do their part in doing this the legal way. And then it screws me and every other hard working person out there who do take the time to donate, but can't get a proper tax deduction, thus it screws with how much is returned back to us.

This led to a conversation about waiters and waitresses. Yes, my conversations are never linear. I used to have this perception that waiters are uneducated people who couldn't find work except to collect dishes for a living. Or that they weren't good enough for a "real" job because they would get minimum wage, and rely on tips.

Maybe that was the perception a long time ago. Except we have to look at the current situation. Look at the housing market. The average single detached home is close to $1 million. Even someone who makes 100k a year is going to have a tough time paying that mortgage. Everything (and I mean everything from clothes to groceries to fuel) has skyrocketed. Everything EXCEPT our wages. Don't we all wish we had a 100% pay raise at our jobs?

The way I look at it now is your waiter may have a Masters or PhD degree in a specialized field, yet works the odd hours at a restaurant to make ends meet. They may already have an established career, but take on extra work to make extra side money. Perhaps they have a family to feed, or they're a single parent. And probably have to pay rent or mortgage on top of that, along with their monthly bills. Or perhaps, this is their third job trying to make ends meet.

You just never know.

Plus, waiters and waitresses need to have a mind of a machine. Trying to remember the little details when they're trying to deliver food, and one table requires a spoon, while another requires a beer. Then balancing all these dishes in one go. It's not an easy job. It requires the utmost patience, killer memory and people centred attitude, as well as social skills. Yet it's a minimum wage job.

If you asked me to do it, I would probably fail at it because my memory sucks. Plus I'm terrible at balancing things on my hands and arms. I would not qualify to be a waitress.

Some countries do not tip workers because it's not their policy to do so, whereas some places like North America rely on tips for extra cash. There are some assholes who will not tip because their waiters were not attentive during the night. Keep in mind that not everyone will be an expert at waitressing or waitering because perhaps it's their first day? Did you ever think of that? It's a learning experience.

I obviously look at things with compassion (most of the time) and I see people just like me who are working hard to climb up the ladder, or perhaps just working to survive. It's as basic as just living. I don't go out very often anymore, but now that I've at least established myself a bit more, I make sure to give generous tips to those who attend to me or friends for the night.

In Asian culture, it's pretty good if you tip 10%. In non-Asian restaurants, it's common that you go 13-18%. I'm not in the end of the Asian tipping but I do go higher, especially if they are working a weekend because hey, you could be at home with your kids or family but you're here feeding me instead. So of course, I'll tip more because of that. I may not be able to solve all the problems, but at least in one day it would hopefully help towards some contribution.

To me, I rather do this than donate huge portions of my salary to big corporations because I rather focus on those who are on the "same line" so to speak in terms of working. We all know what it's like to work like a dog and try to feed family. We all work hard for ourselves and our families. And that's where I'd like to focus. We focus on each other and help each other out. Not big corporations who already have millions for research.

To each their own though. I can't tell you what to do with your money. You can donate it to big corporations if you like. But I rather stay within the same line of helping fellow families out, someone that I can relate to, versus a corporation with a CEO who makes 10x more than I do.

Fake Chanel Earrings

I know there are people out there who are willing to shed out all their savings on an authentic item, and there are people who will pay very cheap prices for fake items. That's cool, whatever floats your boat (even though there have been links of fake bags/luxury items linked to terrorism and trafficking. One huge reason why NOT to buy fake items).

Then there are those who pay almost luxury prices, thinking they got a luxury item, but it turns out it was fake. So you got duped.

I got these Chanel CC stud earrings a while ago from a douchebag who, for whatever reason, thought he could buy people's friendship by buying expensive items for them. I had a feeling they were fake because 1) he didn't have a job 2) thus he had no income 3) he's an idiot.

I decided to see how long they would last. This is a good lesson for those out there who don't want to pay full price for an authentic item, but rather take the cheap way out. Seriously, just save your money. It's not worth buying a cheap item, because it WILL break on you. You will end up spending more in the long run if you keep on buying the same cheap piece of crap. Save up and buy the authentic piece from a boutique.

When you first look at it, it looks pretty. It's all shiny and what not. From what I've read, Chanel does use Swarovski crystals for some of their jewelry. When you first see it, you wouldn't think anything of it, except to say wow, CC!

It also comes with an authentic looking Chanel box. See below.

Just to see how long this thing would last, I would only wear this on occasion. It's not something to be worn daily. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've worn this, before I started noticing things:

1) The crystals have come off one by one. I remember I just wiped gently to shine it and DOINK! A crystal just came off so easily.

2) The stopper at the back fell apart. I've owned many earrings over the years, and this is the first time I've had a stopper completely fall apart.

3) The 'authentic' tag at the back fell off, for both earrings.

4) If you look eye level to look at how the crystals protrude, you can see they are not even. Some crystals are fit nicely, but some are completely engrained into the metal. Then there are some that are crooked.

Now, what's funny is that all the stuff that fell off or apart happened INSIDE the box. I hadn't even worn it yet. They started falling apart as I was taking them out of the box!

It was hard to capture, but you can see some missing crystals on the left one, as well as the right earring. The 'authentic' plates are placed at the front.

Says 'Made in France'. My ass.

This shows how the stopper is suppose to look normally.

This is the stopper that completely fell apart in 3 separate places.

Generally speaking, Chanel earrings are a bit heavy because of all the materials they use to generate a beautiful piece of art. These earrings felt very, very light and cheap. Like plastic. The back was not in any way beautiful but looked like a bunch of plastic had melted together and dried very quickly. So it was not smooth. It was hard to capture on camera, so I did not include it in the pictures. 

The crystals should be much more evenly placed, not have one low and one high. The inconsistency in this shows that from far away, it looks fine, but up close you can see the terrible workmanship. 

I don't have any other pair of Chanel earrings to compare, but after owning a couple of Chanel handbags, I can say the quality has been nothing but perfect. I've read some of the recent ones have had some bad runs, but I was fortunate enough to have two great handbags that are still in almost perfect condition and not falling apart like these earrings. 

Safe to say, these will be destroyed and gone to the garbage. 

April Fool's!

Wow, already April. Every time I write a new post, it's a new month. Craziness. Getting old sucks.

A lot of things have happened in between aside from the family emergency. One thing I wanted to talk about was fraud.

You may have read recently that a 22 year old kid from Ancaster, ON was arrested for allegedly being part of the largest hack of Yahoo. This kid lived in a big home by himself, drove luxury cars and had loud parties. It was found that he was paid by Russian hackers to hack into 80 email accounts of government officials. He also ran an ad for hacking jobs.

Basically, this guy was not working legally to earn his items.

It was also found that the house had a huge mortgage, and the cars still had loans on them. He was also all over social media, portraying a luxury party life. People who are his "friends" don't even know his last name, nor what he does as a job. There's one chick who came out in the public to defend this "good friend" of hers, yet she had no idea what he did as a job, nor did she know his last name.

Yet she calls him her best friend. LOL. Best friends with his so called money. She emphasized that he paid for meals and what not. So yeah, the way I see it, she's friend's with his money.

Anyways, point is, if you know you're a hacker and you've hacked into one of the world's biggest corporations, you shouldn't be flaunting your entire life on social media. You should be in hiding. This guy's a goon for flaunting his fake status all over, and fooling so many people. I have friends who know this guy and they're all like, what? That's impossible.

Then of course he posts on social media about how he got "rich" quick, and it all started with how he got expelled from school because 1) he threatened his friend and 2) he swore at his principal when she asked him if he learned his lesson. He used his time being suspended/expelled to start his "own business (i.e the hacker business). To me, that's not a positive influence on other people. It just makes you look like a bigger douchebag, and not the legal way to be making your money.

Now of course he may also be smart in ways that he knew this was going to happen, and being sent to the USA for trial, but afterwards having the government hire him to work for them. But honestly, why would a government trust people like these? If someone is able to do this behind your back, would you trust them to work for you? I wouldn't. I'd keep his ass in jail and make sure he stays there.

This guy is also part of those big car rally clubs, namely Northface Rally and Saturn Drives.

Which brings me to Northface Rally. Again.

You may have seen on the news today that members from the NFR club got their cars impounded and licenses suspended because they were driving like douchebags. When I heard about this, I couldn't help but laugh. They deserve it.

If you're going to drive like a douchebag and endanger the lives of other people on the highway/roads, then you deserve to lose your license and have your car impounded or crushed. I wish they would just automatically crush cars but that wouldn't be "fair". I guess it will have to take a lot of deaths before they decide to do that.

Anyways, they deserve it because 1) they're douchebags 2) they're the ones who were caught revving their cars because they were asked to leave a Wings place 3) disturbing the peace many times 4) they harass people for no apparent reason 5) they don't deserve the cars because earning money through insurance scams is by no means legal.

My handbags values may only buy a set of rims for your luxury cars, but at least the bank doesn't own my bags. Nor did I ask mommy or daddy to buy them for me.

Let me tell you from my perspective how I lost respect for them. It started last fall, when NFR decided to have a toy drive.

They started a toy drive, and asked others to donate toys for families (Toys for Tots). One member shared it on the GTR page and said let's do it. However, the GTR group had already had a drive happening so it was written that we will do a separate drive for Toys and Tots.

Then the NFR guys started going off about how they didn't appreciate that we wouldn't contribute to theirs and left the group. They posted photos and showed how many toys they bought/collected, and then posed with the police from OPP to get their name out there. Whoopee doo.

People think, well if we involve the cops, then they will be cool with us. You wish. If they were so cool with you, they wouldn't impound your fake cars.

Soon after that, that's when the NFR hate began. The harassments. The name calling. Constantly. It's worse than dealing with a 5 year old kid with a tantrum. So do I respect people associated with NFR? Not at all. They aren't a positive influence to anyone except their little brains. So they deserve every damn thing that comes to them. Too bad mommy and daddy will pay for the impound fees, then they will start all over again.

In other positive news, I finally got to visit the Coco Cafe. Today was the last day that the cafe would be up. I have seen pictures and thought, well there is coffee and tea, so maybe there might be snacks too along with their make up items?

Boy, was I wrong.

Coco Cafe at Holt Renfrew Toronto.

It turned out it was a pop up lip stick/nail polish salon where you get to sample pretty much everything. There was an area you could take pictures to Instagram it. Girlfriend and I spent a lot of time there, mainly because I was struggling to put on nail polish on myself.

After doing that, we were hungry but were approached by associates asking if we needed help with anything. I was debating between two shades of lip stick and so that took another century to figure out. We both bought Chanel lipstick and lipgloss at the end. Props to finally buying lipstick. Yes, sad to say all my lipsticks have been samples/free. It only took 30 years to buy a proper lipstick.

omg....so many options. Where do I even start?!

Upon showing mom, she asked what colour? I said it was something neutral. She said it was too red. Then she asked how much the lipstick cost. I said $43. She freaked. To be honest, I have no clue how much lip stick costs these days. But I figured if it's a Chanel lipstick, it ain't going to cost $10. She thought I was crazy, and so did I. 

Soon after we hit up Saks at Fifth Avenue. It was almost empty. It felt so weird walking into Saks and not have any shoppers in there. It was actually quite nice. If you know what item to buy, you can do it there in peace and not have to fight anyone to get anything. But since we had nothing to buy there, we quickly jetted out. It wasn't too impressive, but I found Nordstrom was much more busier.

The nice weather is finally coming, and hopefully it will start to stay. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's another snowstorm coming.

Great to say mom is also doing much better. There is still room for improvement, but it's encouraging to see her back to herself now, although the post concussion syndromes are still there. It is still difficult to head to the mall with all the lights and what not. Hopefully it shouldn't be too long until she can walk around the mall again.

Hoping you all have a great start to your week.

Reverse Role

Greetings everyone!

It has been a very long month. Shortly after my last post, there was a family emergency that I had to attend to. In the end, everything worked out and we are just so relieved and blessed that things are ok.

This may be a long post, so I'll try to condense as much as I can but I won't be able to guarantee it!

After working 2 sites non stop for months, it was counting down to the last few shifts before I officially went 'casual'. At this point I felt pretty drained already and was looking forward to finishing my last few shifts. 

Things took a scary turn during my second last shift, when mom went for her cataract surgery. Usually cataract surgeries are, generally speaking, very safe and people don't suffer much complications from it. The first time she had it, it went very well. There was no pain, no blurry vision, no issues at all. About 3 weeks later, she went in for the second cataract surgery in her other eye, and this is where things started going downhill.

She noticed her vision did not recover as fast as the other eye. It was blurry and remained blurry for 2 days post-op. She did take the eye drops that the doctor ordered and stuck with a schedule. However, by the second day she said her eye felt like popping out. Now I wasn't home much during these 2 days due to working non-stop, plus when I got home she was already sleeping. It was difficult to properly assess. Plus she didn't tell me she was going through these symptoms.

Day 3. Early morning she decided to get out of bed and wash her face, then do eye drops. But while she was attempting to do all that, she started feeling light headed and fainted. It wasn't witnessed so we have no idea how long she blacked out for, but it must've been a while. She woke up, not knowing what just happened. Went back to bed, and tried to go back to sleep. Dad and I had no clue because we were both fast asleep and didn't hear anything.

Her normal routine is that she would do some light stretches and sit up for a while before getting out of bed. For some reason, that morning she just jumped out of bed. And boom.

Shortly after 9am, I get a phone call from my sis-in-law, notifying me about classes she was trying to sign mom up for, but she wasn't able to. Normally she doesn't call that early in the morning, but it was just that morning that she had to tell my mom something. I told her that she was still sleeping but I'd be happy to pass along the message when she's awake. And that was that. I went to get ready to head out for the day.

It was during this time while I was getting ready in the bathroom that mom called my brother, and stated she might have fell down but she wasn't sure. Then she didn't really make much sense after that and then hung up the phone. I had no clue this was going on.

Soon after, I get a phone call from my brother telling me to check on mom, because she might have fell. That's when I freaked out.

Of course I go running to her room and seeing if she's ok. She's still in bed, but then tells me she had vomited earlier. And she still couldn't see out of her eye. Everything was blurry. She also felt dizzy. Her ribs hurt.

From a health care professional perspective, this is an urgent case. The first thing that popped into my head was a traumatic brain injury/hemorrhage, because those are signs and symptoms of a TBI. She looked weak so I knew she probably had did some damage. I went to assess her head, and that's where I found a contusion at the back of her head. It was pink, no drainage or open wound but it was there. At this point I'm also updating my brother and we both agreed: we need to go to a trauma centre asap.

Problem is, mom did not want to cause me any distress or bother me because it was my only day off. She wanted me to relax and enjoy the day off. I said HECK NO! We are taking you to ER and we need to go NOW. I will pick you up and take you in your pjs right now!

Being the mom she is, she disagreed. She has to look good and dress good. She insisted on wearing these certain pants and sweater and socks. It was the most frustrating thing trying to dress her and knowing that a hemorrhage can drastically change things in an instant.

I went down to get the car out, then ran back in to get her. I couldn't find her in the room. What the hell? I run to the washroom. There she is, combing her hair. By this point, my blood is boiling. But the last thing I want to do is stress her out so I let it be. Finally, when all has been done, I drive to the trauma centre and send her to ER. I remember her saying we should just go to the nearest community hospital because that's where the eye surgeon is located, and she didn't want to make the doctor feel bad. Problem is, they don't have any eye specialists or brain surgeons on call, so it was a no go in my eyes. It was useless to me.

In my head, I replayed what needed to be done in the ER: CT scan, MRI, X-ray, blood work, consult for ophthalmologist and perhaps a brain surgeon. The ER was very thorough and did exactly all that plus more. I was quite impressed. There's a reason why they are one of the best trauma centres in the world.

The ophthalmologists came in to assess her affected eye and suspected endophthalmitis, an inflammation of the internal coats of the eye which if not treated, can result in loss of vision and the eye itself. Endophthalmitis is a result of intraocular procedures, but most in particular, cataract surgery. This was something that was not presented to my mom before her cataract surgery. The only thing she got was a paper that stated all the types of cataract lenses she could get, and at the end there was a disclaimer saying that vision may not improve after lenses are inserted. It never said any details about complications. This is the part that really pissed me off because the surgeon didn't sit down with mom to go through the various complications. Instead, it was "here's this paper, just read it and that's all".

Her intraocular pressure was off the roof: 38. The normal range is between 12-22. No wonder she felt like her eye was going to pop out.

The goal was to try and get her to the eye clinic to do this procedure. However, due to her head injury, she had started vomiting once we got her from the stretcher to wheelchair. It was not safe to bring her up in the state that she was in, so the doctors agreed to leave her on the stretcher, and bring the eye equipments down to ER. This was the part where we were so thankful. The fact that they were able to wheel down a spare machine was incredible and we felt so blessed for it.

The procedure involved having to poke a needle in her eye to drain whatever was floating in her eye, as well as relieve pressure. From what they showed me, it looks like a white cloudy hue that surrounds the iris, with a slightly bigger blob at the bottom of the iris. The procedure involved having to give local anesthesia first. Great I thought! But it was horrifying when I saw how they had to give it: via a needle which needed to be given under the eyelid.

This is the part when I almost cried for mom. She was probably scared for her life. My brother and I encouraged her to be strong; I held her hand while my brother was directing her to look in the direction that the doctor wanted her to look. It looked absolutely painful and dreadful, and to this day, I can say my mom is very brave for enduring that. I also give huge applause to the doctor for having such great skill as well. It definitely isn't for the faint of heart or for those who hate needles.

Soon after, my brother stayed with mom while I stepped out with dad to take a breather. The doctors were now going to poke her eye and start draining, and this is where I couldn't look without feeling like retching. The procedure itself did not take very long and they managed to drain everything and also send a sample to the lab for processing. Doctors then ordered a set of antibiotic eye drops, as well as anti-inflammatory drops to go in the eye, for every hour, for the next two days.

Within 5 minutes of the procedure, we finally heard some great news from mom: she can see! It was the most exciting thing to happen that day. However, doctors had said they didn't know how much damage it had done to her eye, so they were unable to give us an exact answer of whether her vision would recover 100% or partially. With endophthalmitis, there is a poor prognosis when it comes to vision recovery. It was good and bad news.

Within that same day, the brain surgeon came to see us and give us an update about the scans. The first scan was a bit unclear so they did a second scan, and it was here that they found a small bleed in the brain. They were going to keep her in the hospital for observation if there was going to be any further bleed. Thankfully after the third scan, it didn't show further bleeding, so she was able to be released.

We were at the hospital for approximately 4 days. The first couple of nights were very tough as the stretcher was very uncomfortable for mom, but we couldn't do anything. I knew the stretchers were not comfortable because I remember attempting to sleep on one during break, and it hurt like hell. So I can imagine staying on that for 2 days non-stop. It's brutal. 

Knowing how busy hospitals can get, I ended up staying with mom for most of those days. The first couple of nights, it was non stop 40 hours of making sure she was ok, and also giving her hourly eye drops. I didn't want the staff to forget about the drops because the first week was crucial in vision recovery. Things did get quite busy in ER the next day so I informed the nurses that I could give the eye drops every hour. They were very relieved and thankful because they ended up taking on a heavy case.

Just like mom, I did not eat or sleep during those 2 days. I was stressed and worried. Then of course the darn women period thing had to come, and I started getting mad cramps while trying to take care of her. 

Throughout the stay, I made sure to keep her comfortable, keep her company and give her eye drops (as well as making sure doctors were not prescribing her other useless medications like colace since she's not bed bound). Thankfully nothing else was ordered, just the way I like it. When we become the patients, it's like the tables have turned. I have never encountered something like this, but at that moment, it was all about getting mom better and back home safely.

I also know how stressful it is when the assigned nurses find out the family is also from a health care background. My goal was to not make their day a living hell (like some families), but my goal was to also help their workload. Most importantly, it was to get mom better. So we did whatever we could to help mom, and at the same time, help to reduce workload on the nurses. At the end of each shift, the nurses were very thankful for having us there. 

After mom was released from hospital, her vision improved greatly, her IOP dropped to the normal range and she was weened off the eye drops. It was also found that the sample that was sent to the lab did not contain any bacteria. In fact, it was her eye that became very inflamed post surgery; it was just the way her body reacted to the site. However, inflammation of the eye can still cause vision loss if not treated promptly. 

To this day, mom is grateful and thankful that God has really looked out for her. If it wasn't for her fall, she wouldn't have gotten treatment until later on, and by that time it would've been too late. Even with the blurry vision prior to the fall, she was adamant about seeking help for her eye. She figured it was perhaps a slower recovery this time around, and to keep using eye drops until her follow up appointment with the cataract surgeon (which was about 10-15 days away!). If she had waited that long, I believe she would've lost some of her vision, gone completely blind or lost her eye completely.

Dad had wanted to do cataract surgery with this surgeon as well (his vision is pretty good by the way), and even though we kept telling him what is wrong with him, he still was very insistent on doing surgery. He was afraid if he kept waiting until he was too old, then he wouldn't be able to do it anymore. After going through this hospitalization and seeing the potential side effects and complications that this could bring, he decided against it and canceled his surgery. Great move dad! Mom says perhaps this is also God's way of telling dad to back out of surgery - by using her example.

My mom thanks God for the fall. Because of that fall, it really helped to lay everything else down and get proper treatment for her vision. We are very thankful that her brain injury was not severe, but she would have post concussion syndromes for a while until she recovers. I'm also thankful that my sis-in-law called us that early morning. It's true, she doesn't call that early in the morning, but that morning she had to call us to inform us of a recreational class. This one time call helped to also initiate conversation of what happened. If it wasn't for her call, I would have gone about my merry way and went out for the day, and wouldn't have known about the fall.

If it wasn't for the fall, we wouldn't have met the doctors and nurses taking care of mom that day. We wouldn't have met the vitreoretinal surgeon that helped save my mom's vision. Or the brain surgeon, or the ER doctor. They are such a great team to work with. 

There were so many little details that happened that day, that when we all look back at it, it wasn't just "luck" or "evolution" or "chance"; to us, it was God's way of showing us that He's there. It's the little daily miracles that help to shape the bigger picture and remind us of how great He is. He has a plan for all of us, and we have to be willing to let Him into our lives if we want Him to change us for the better. Thank you God, for looking out for mom, for us, and giving us these amazing guardian angels to look out for her. We are forever thankful.

March Madness

Well, there goes another week of working 65 hours! I wish I could tell you how my week went, but in reality, I really can't remember because everything is literally a blur.

Everyday is almost like a repeat of the day before. There's so many cases and variations of each other, it's hard to distinguish one event in one day. Cheers to one day off, and then another 9 straight days of working non-stop again.

I do remember one event this week: the dude that I posted about previously (the one who drove with his door open in the parking lot) was working the same shift as I was. Yikes. Thankfully I was done my shift and giving report. And you know, when you give report to your colleague, you must really focus on giving proper report. No off topics, no distractions, nothing. So I gave the longest report that I could, just so I could avoid talking to him.

It was also the same day that my bestie gave me a belated birthday gift. It was a big bag, and I don't like getting attention from people, but it was hard to hide that from colleagues as I walked past them to go home. "What's that?!" I have no clue because I haven't opened it yet!

I got home, and I read the card and laughed because we like to laugh at each other's corny jokes. Then I opened it. I could not believe my eyes.

A pair of Charlotte Olympia black velvet kitty flats. OH. MY. GOODNESS.

This girl is crazy! I told her why?! It's way too much money.

She really liked them and ended up getting me a pair, because I had returned my previous blue pairs. I hadn't really talked much about it previously, but I did return those pairs shortly after buying them because 1) they were the wrong size and 2) I ended up using the money to pay for my car repairs.

She had come with me initially when I first bought the blue pair of kitty flats, and she knew my size already. So she secretly ordered them online when she found out I had returned my pair. THIS GIRL! I almost yelled at her for spending too much money on me. Surprising me is very rare since I catch onto things very quickly, but this was totally unexpected. Thank you girlfriend!

My next step is to find a dress with kitties all over it. It's so far been pretty difficult because it's hard to not try and find something too corny looking. Once I find one, my kitty wardrobe would be complete.

Alright, sleep time finally!

Fraud Prevention Month

Wadda.

It's almost March. WHAT! You know what that means. It's Fraud Prevention Month! Last year I wrote about a fraudster in the GTA car community (his picture remains attached), and last I heard, he got arrested for causing a disturbance/threatening others, and his GTR got pretty damaged when they were towing it. Let's hope he gets thrown in jail for defrauding so many people. The day will come.

It was also revealed Manulife was the company/bank behind the hefty fine for not reporting over 1,200 transactions of $10,000 or more in funds with one customer, who turned out to be a fraudster as well (selling counterfeit medications). He is now currently in jail in the USA.

There are so many stories of fraudsters in this day and age. Anywhere from random people calling you that you've won an expensive trip, to the CRA demanding money from elders. Then there was one lady who spent all her retirement savings because the caller told her she had won a trip, but to claim it, she had to pay up in increments.

People ask, "Well, anyone would know not to drain their own funds to some random stranger". Easy to say, but when you get sucked into someone's words, everything becomes believable.

My uncle had gotten a call back in Asia, and on the other line they demanded him hand over money otherwise they will kill his daughter. In the background, you could hear a girl screaming "papa!". In reality, my uncle doesn't have a daughter. So he hung up the phone. Best to keep conversations at minimum and not yell at the other person that you don't have a daughter, otherwise they will continue to provoke you (and remember, they do have your phone number).

The most common one these days are messages from the "CRA" or any big name banks who try to either call you or text you (yes, I've had text messages coming from "banks" saying that I owed them money, even though I don't even have an account with that particular bank). The CRA or banks will never do such things. If in doubt, always walk into a bank and talk to someone there. I'm very weary about doing transactions over the phone or text because I really have no idea who is on the other side.

Anyone who tries to call me or text me to lure me into paying them can kiss my arse. I will hang up on them, but I will probably say a few choice words to them first.

Then there are random charity calls or calls looking for donations. Most of the time they always ask for the head of the household. I usually say I'm a maid and the family is on vacation forever. So they haven't called back much. My other answer was to say the head of the household died, so please stop calling but I don't want that to be a curse, so I didn't use that one.

There was one time I thought the call was an ad for duct cleaning. I said I didn't speak English, and I did it in the most horrible Chinese accent possible. The guy on the other line asked if he could speak to my husband, so I passed it to my dad. It turns out my dad had booked a company for duct cleaning and they were just confirming a time. Failed man. I believe I left the house for the day.

It is also tax return season, so definitely keep your eyes and ears alert for any weird requests for money. When in doubt, go to the bank.

What in the world...?

Recently I had this weird situation happen to me.

You've seen/read comics and articles or stories about how people cheat on one another, or that getaway of cheating/breaking trust. Mine isn't like that, but it's one of those precursors that has happened to other people, which led them down a very dark path.

I was walking across the parking lot at work, in a rush to head to a meeting at another sister site, when I saw this car following me. Figured oh, perhaps they are following me to the car so they can take my spot. No problemo.

Then of course, the freaking driver door opens and I recognize (sort of) the person. I couldn't remember his name but I have seen him around at work on various floors. Never really had any conversations with him, except for those courtesy hello and how are you type of things. Otherwise it's not like an in depth conversation about hobbies or when the next menstrual cycle is.

After he swung the door open, while still trying to steer his car, he's all like "Hey! Haven't seen you for a while! How are you!" type of attitude. Of course I was in a rush to get out so I didn't think much of it; said my spot's there, you can take it.

Then of course the next thing he says sort of stuns me. "Hey you know, we should go out for drinks." Errrr. No. I don't know you.

And it's weird, but his reply was "Oh no not like that, but we should still go for drinks and hang out." Then he gives me his business card and tells me to keep in touch.

Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen. That is a precursor to worse things to come, if you act on it.

I ended up throwing the card out because not only am I not interested, but I'm already seeing someone. And if I want to keep that trust going, I won't be meeting up with random strangers to "get to know them". Thankfully I have not seen him at work, and if I do, I will be sure to hide behind walls. There really is no reason for me to sit down and have a longass explanation about why I refuse to go out with him.

If guys/girls cannot accept a no from someone they tried to "hang out" or ask out, then they really need to just look elsewhere. Chasing someone who is already taken will just dig your grave even further.

I don't see anything wrong with hanging out in a group setting, but if it's a random one to one, with one person showing way more interest in someone who is already taken, there is no point meeting up with that person one to one, or a group. The last thing I would want to send out is the wrong message.

Why am I saying it's a precursor to something worse? Because it is. Once you open that door of opportunity to letting this random person into your life, whether it's because you feel bad for saying no or just out of curiosity, it gives that person the chance to make their move as well. Over dinner, over drinks, you get too drunk, one thing leads to another and boom. You just cheated.

But then there lies the double standard.

A guy can try to get to know a girl who has a boyfriend already. He will keep pushing her and be nice to her. Perhaps she will be nice (or feel bad for saying no to his friendship), but once he tries to cross the line and she rejects it, he will call her a b*tch, whore, a cheater, a waste of time. And who knows, perhaps he will spread false rumours about her. All because she rejected him.

Or it would be same scenario, where she allows him to cross the line even though she made it clear she's already taken. Then boom, she just cheated. If the guy was really a dick, he would leave her then tell everyone she's a cheating whore.

So either way, the girl's a whore. Us women can never win. But it goes with the guy too, if you replace the girl with a guy.

I remember a situation where I was already seeing someone (after years of not dating), and I was still trying to learn the ins and outs of it all. One of my dance buddies had asked if I wanted to check out a movie. Not thinking about it, I said sure sounds good. No harm?

As we talked more in the theatre, I noticed he was asking questions as to trying to get to know someone. And that's when I realized, ohhhh my bad. With questions regarding my upcoming plans, I had said I was going to see my boyfriend. And that's when he goes oh, you're seeing someone. That's cool!

I figured I rather just lay it all down right there and then, instead of pretending to drag things along and then worse, someone's feelings.

Anyways, after that it never happened again. Part of me always feels bad when I can't hang out with someone. But it really depends on the situation. If it's someone I don't even know, then I shouldn't feel bad for not hanging out with them. If I don't want to send the wrong message, then I better make it clear from the very beginning. I shouldn't have to write up a speech about why I don't want to hang out with a stranger.

Would I have handled it differently? No because there really isn't anything more simple and clear than "I'm not interested, I have a boyfriend" and walk away.