I was shocked, we were shocked, and most of all, she was shocked.
Not so much shocked at the fact that it was over, but at how he had ended it, his post-relationship actions that we witnessed "by accident".
Out of no where, a steady relationship hit a stop, without any bumps or shakes.
She thought she knew him, but but he took her by surprise and left us all wondering just how long, and how much is enough to believe you know someone?
Incidents like this leave us with no other realization but that in the game of relationships, Guess Who? and Jeopardy seem to monopolize the game field and Monogamy comes far from one of the Gamer's Picks; that Trust cards always lead to Trap doors and points won will never be as sweet as points earned.

Food serves a higher purpose than filling up our stomachs; it's for discussing, savoring, scrutinizing, and truly appreciating for its delights; and taste, the only one of the five senses that exceeds its purpose, does more than just warn us from consuming poison and harmful substances.
I'm no expert, but I certainly understand the effects food, good food, has on me. It activates a hearty part of my brain that don't require being in a constant frenzy, that don't feel the necessity to sacrifice to gain, limit to enjoy, or hold back to avoid risk. Food is simply food, whether it's a social must, a mood-booster, or a comforting device; whether it helps to relax and enjoy, stir old memories, or allow you to experience a different world.
Appreciation for food comes from the lack of it, but appreciation and love for its taste is triggered by our hunger to be satisfied and to discover a new solace and delightment.

Tasting and appreciating food is obviously a privilege we should all enjoy to the full extent, and the girls and I, being the grateful girls we are, used this season of Dineout to make a full use of this wonderful gift, by visiting a classic steakhouse in the midst of Yaletown, called Pinky's.
The place had a nice, urban vibe to it; although it was a tad too dark- I woulda liked to see what I was eating...
A traditional Dineout menu contain a full three course meal: for appetizer, I had a classic onion soup accompanied by the predictable cheese bread, nothing unusual. It was alright, I found the cheese bread too greasy. I didn't like the onion soup, although I didnt' realy know what to expect because I'd never tried an onion soup before.

When the entree was served, I found myself mesmerized; and soon after I was gorging myself with the Sterling Silver Sirloin, steak, although a broad topic, being one of my, and I'm pretty sure, almost everyone's favorite. It came with spicy mushrooms on the side, which worked really well with the steak. The steak was delicious, just perfectly rare on the inside and flavored and cooked just right on the outside. mmmmmmm...........
Some things on the dish were a little.. unexpected, however. As we were eating away, Isabel, in the middle of enjoying the same steak I had, made a croaking noise, almost in tears. It was a hilarious sight, I personally thought she either bit her tongue or broke a tooth. It turned out she'd painted a scoop of an unknown sauce of extremely fiery taste (like wasabi times ten), onto her meat, and innocently chewed it until she realized her msitake. We all had a good laugh, but we were all relieved it wasn't us that'd made the first attempt at the "wasabi times 10 sauce", and thought there shoulda been a warning of some sort...

Last but not least, for dessert, I decided on Tiramisu; it was an extraordinary but very well-decorated and modern looking Tiramisu. In this case, the look won over the taste; although neither the appearance nor the taste looked or tasted like Tiramisu, at least it was artistic, not your typical Tiramisu cake. This was agreed upon all the girls, but I think if they'd given it a new name/description, it would have gotten a few thumbs up; we were all pretty much expecting the conventional Tiramisu by its description.
All in all, we left the restaurant satisfied, looking forward to another visit. And of course, you can't miss a group picture on a night like this!

On Friday night, the "dream team" girls had a girls night IN, at Candace's house. How the "dream team" formed, is quite simple; FEET FIRST and possibly James, our ex-manager; James, being a...middle aged man(?), obviously picked the most wonderful, bestest looking girls to work at his store! And then we stayed together even after most of us left the store. Now, the only ones left are Kaylynn, Hang and myself. The others are either working at a stores across from Feetfirst, in the same mall, or unemployed. Anyways, we watched chickflicks, ate order in pizza, took tons of pictures, and having not seen each other in a while from Christmas, shared "interesting" stories.
missing in action: Tracy and Sabrina(taking the picture)

2009

Finally, after careful research, consistent questionnaires and painful decision makings(sigh), I was able to find a perfect laptop for me. It satisfied all my requirements and was in the perfect price range. Choosing the laptop was hard work, and I am so glad I have computer professional friends such as Stephen Su whom I bugged day and night about my choice of laptops and their preference on them.

When I finished installing my new computer and saw the shiny new thing sitting on top of my desk, I felt a compulsion to start something new. It's a new year, and I did still feel a hint of guilt from breaking my yearly routine of making new year's resolutions. So I decided to start a blog; I've always felt the need to record things but consistency was never a strength of mine....

However, I have a good feeling about this year (like I do every year...), so with the hope of writing persistently, I start a new year.