Christmas Shopping... Ugh.

It's only the first week of December and I'm already sick of Christmas shopping. I had to go look for a Cris Cringle gift for a work 'holiday' party on Monday night, so I spent the evening at Scarborough Town Centre trying to find something. It's hard to pick something when you're limited in cost and I don't know the recipient too well personally. I must have walked around the mall about 3 times before I settled on something. I guess I could have picked up just about anything, but I also didn't want to get anything that had 're-gift' written all over it. ;)

In general though, I've actually been trying to avoid doing too much Christmas shopping the last few years by making stuff instead. In past years, I've baked some cookies/brownies, made gel candles, soap, and last year I made photoboxes. Sometimes it saves me some money, but depending on what I try to make, it probably doesn't save me that much either. Still, I don't mind doing it 'cause I find it less stressful than having to shop and I guess it's more meaningful that it's come from my blood and sweat--ok, that was an exaggeration. :P Anyway, I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do this year. I've been brainstorming a bit, but truthfully I'm running out of ideas. I'm trying to be somewhat creative, but not too 'cheesy', while considering cost and how much time I have to try to get it done. Gotta decide on something soon!

FINALLY...

After practically months of waiting for reviews and approvals, my program's work has finally bore some fruit. It's been a bit frustrating, but at least I can move on to some other stuff now. It's been difficult getting some other work done 'cause they were dependent on this announcement. Anyhow, just a big sigh of relief that this part is done.

FYI, if you're interested, you can read the news release here.

Kyrios and Small Group

Kyrios has been up and down so far. You can really tell how passionate the teens are, but sometimes they just need to be reined in. Most of the programs have been organized well, but sometimes we make some avoidable mistakes. Some of it comes with experience--e.g. Clinton and I served in Kyrios when we were in high school, so we're familiar with what works--but other situations might have been avoided altogether if we had simply consulted each other first. The teens have some amazing ideas that I would have never thought of, but there are times where it would have been prudent to think it through and 'filter' first. The challenging part is knowing when to step in as a counsellor/advisor and when to just give the teen leaders some autonomy and learn from their mistakes.

My small group has been really good though. I think I've been able to connect with Janice and Josh (the small group leaders) pretty well, so we're usually on the same page. :) Our small group got together last week to make some dinner and bake some cookies. We also tried to make some fondue, but I don't think we bought the right chocolate. Still, I'm hoping that our future small group nights are a little more organized. Although it was a fun night, I'd like to see us do some more things on the 'spiritual' side. (The teens wanted to do something more relaxing 'cause the last few Kyrios programs had been too 'intense'--bible study, prayer walk, workshop.) One thing that I learned from last year was that it's better to do something meaningful, at the sacrifice of some 'fun'. Cooking, eating out, playing games, watching movies last year were all good times, but at the end of the year, it seemed like some of the small group members wished they had gotten more out of our gatherings. Understandably, teens don't like to have things 'serious' all the time, but I think this is where I have to encourage the group a bit more to make sure there's a good balance. Recently, I've been looking for some material for us to study together. The difficult part though has been trying to find something that will satisfy the whole group. We seem to be pretty diverse and some are seekers too. Anybody have any suggestions?

We're not gonna take it...

Sigh. Another game, another loss for the Raptors. I went down to the game with Brian and his brother to watch my beloved Raptors play the Mavs. It was actually a really close game. The Raptors were up 6 points with less than 2 minutes to go, yet I wasn't excited at all. I knew somehow that they would blow it. :P Of course, they didn't let me down. This is getting too excruciating to take... Funny thing though... I think Brian and I have been to so many games in the past couple of years that some of the attendants are starting to recognize us. Sometimes we have a drink, so the bartender usually asks for our IDs. This time around, the lady looks at us and says, "You guys come here a lot, right? Don't worry about it." :D I guess it shows how pathetically die-hard we hard. HAHA... It's kinda funny how the Raptors have made their theme song unofficially Twisted Sister's "We're not gonna take it". They play this song whenever they're in a tight game, in hopes of another win. The lyrics describe the feeling of every fan precisely. I don't know how much more of the losing I can take myself.

The Leafs have been a better team, but just my luck the one game that I attend, they totally put up a stinker. I went to check out the game vs. the Bruins last week with Andy, Ryan and Thomas. It's incredible what a cash cow MLSE is. Our tickets were $35 each, but that only gets us upper bowl and partially obstructed--meaning we can't see one of the faceoff circles. Anyway, we were expecting an exciting game, especially in the new 'NHL'. Sadly, the game was an absolute bore as the Bruins totally dominated and took the crowd out of the game. The Leafs were so listless that they didn't get their first shot on goal until half of the first period was over. Final score: 5-1 Bruins. Andy and I were wondering if it was such a great idea to skip our ball hockey game, but it turns out that we didn't miss anything there either. Apparently, we were running circles around the other team and the game wasn't competitive at all.

Speaking of ball hockey and cash cows, we played another TCS&SC tournament this weekend. We played pretty well in the round robin and won all our games. We won the semis fairly easily and made it to the finals. I wouldn't say we dominated our competition, but we were undefeated and on a good roll. Of course, we played our worst game at the wrong time--shoddy D and not enough shots--and lost a nailbiter. Man, I think it's the 3rd or 4th time we've finished 2nd. We just can't get over the hump! Anyway, the tourneys are always fun, but I'm starting to wonder where our money goes. We have to pay $240 per team, but we're only guaranteed 4 30 min. games and they offer us some diluted Gatorade, fruits and some granola bars. Plus, I don't think it costs that much to rent the school gyms and the 1st place prizes are just t-shirts. The owners MUST be rakin' it in. I've been to their head office once and they've got some pretty nice digs.

Grrr...

Not a good start to the week... I'm learnin' a very expensive lesson...

'Women' check out men in restroom at 5-star hotel

Would this make you nervous? ;) Read the article here.

Prayer Walk

Tonight's Kyrios program, we went out in small groups and walked around the church neighbourhood. We took in some of the sights and sounds in the area--Metro Square, the T&T plaza, and even the adjacent office buildings. It was fitting that we did it on Remembrance Day 'cause it was good to remember how many people around us we can pray for... Walking around with the other teens was refreshing as well 'cause we'd all observe something different and from a another perspective...

Some things that we prayed for (and you could pray for as well) included:

• The success of new businesses at the plaza. Many owners, especially for small businesses, have invested their life savings into starting up the stores. We've already seen one of them close down.
• That the businesses can operate them not only successfully, but honestly--serving fresh food, paying fair wages, selling 'real' items. OK, maybe that last one is a stretch with Chinese businesses. ;)
• The people--whether retail or in the offices--who put in long hours in their work to support their family and put food on their table. Even around 9 PM, there were still quite a few people left in the office buildings. Pray that they will get enough time to spend with their family and friends, especially in the upcoming holiday season.
• The continued integration of TCCC in its community, so that other businesses don't see the church as a threat, rather as a friend. Hopefully, we can continue to be good witnesses of the Christian faith to those around us.

Lest We Forget

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

TGI...Thursday!

Woo! I have tomorrow off 'cause it's Remembrance Day... One of the benefits of working for the government (or even the bank). It'll be good to rest 'cause I expect the next couple of weeks to be pretty busy. At work, there's gonna be some announcements, so we have to do a lot prep work leading up to it. Hopefully, I won't have to stay late too often. Plus, I'm helping to run a workshop at Kyrios next Friday, so I have to spend some time prepping with the leaders. And it just happens that I have tickets to a couple of Raptors and Leafs games over the the next two weeks. Man, I hope they don't go to waste! :P I think I'll sleep in tomorrow. :D

My Game Is Raptors Basketball

Wow. (Unfortunately) I went to my first Raptors game of the season tonight. Most U.S. prognosticators had predicted that they would be the worst team in the league, but, being the optimist, I actually had some hope for them. Although I didn't think they would make the playoffs, I still thought they could win about 30-35 games. Aftter seeing them live, I'm wondering if I was totally wrong.

The game itself was actually pretty close for the first 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, the wheels completely fell off and they eventually lost 105-93. Their defense just couldn't stop anyone. My highlight of the night was Hoffa fouling Lebron HARD, but clean, and then getting a dunk and some cheers after. :) Good to see Donyell Marshall back too. The Raptors presented him with a game ball for his record-setting game last year--he hit a NBA record 12 3-pointers. A classy guy who's always taken the high road and avoided badmouthing the organization despite the circus atmosphere last year.

Here are a few other observations I had:

• CB4 - Had his best game of the year so far. They should give him the ball every time down the floor.
• Jose Calderon - I hope he's starting by December or January. Pass-first PG who doesn't take ridiculous shots. Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!
• Joey Graham - Didn't see much of him. I thought he played some pretty good D and he hit his open shots.
• Mike James - Hopefully he's the anti-Rafer and not as crazy, but he's reminding me a lot like Milt Palacio... which is not good... there doesn't seem to be a layup that's not willing to try.
• MoPete - Seems to have improved a lot. Good short jumper and our best defender.
• Jalen Rose - He's absolutely killing the team with his ball hogging. Every time he touches the ball, he tries to post up against THREE guys and still jacks it up. No wonder CB4 can't get into the flow of the game. Everyone's just standing around watching to see what's gonna happen.
• CV31 - After all the hype in the preseason, I expected a bit more. Given it's still early, I'll hold off for now.
• Hoffa - Still isn't very good, but he made a couple of good plays out there. I'd rather see get more playing time and foul out. Sitting on the bench isn't doing him any good.
• The Red Rocket - Bonner might have already worn out his welcome. He could hit his jump shots and his D was just terrible. Starting to really look like the next Big White Stiff.
• Aaron Williams - He actually played pretty well for the few minutes he was out there. (And he just dislocated his fingers the previous game too!) I wonder why he's been in the doghouse...
• Eric Williams - He played for about 5 minutes, but then we didn't see him again. Strange.
• Loren Woods - I'm not sure why he's out there. For a guy who's 7'2", he does very little on the floor. I hope he's glued to the bench.
• Sam Mitchell - I'm really starting to question his coaching strategies--if he really has any. He yanks players at strange times, benches others who seem to be shooting well, yet sticks with the vets and the fan favourites way too long. I hope he's just playing around to see what works best...
• The Raptors Dance Pak - I had to mention them 'cause they are really starting to dress pretty SKANKY. I guess they have to try something to keep the fans coming. No wonder Bethany is worried about bringing Chris to the games... Entering the ACC, I felt like I was in the buffet line in Rush Hour 2. :)

Anyway, I know it's still early, so I'm still trying to stay optimistic. I need to 'cause I split Season Tickets with Marty, so I have another 5-6 games to attend. But if things don't come together soon, it's gonna be a long long season. I don't think I'll be able to give away my tickets even if I tried. Go Raptors! :)

Kyrios... and more Kyrios...

Man, today was a long day. I've been out all day and only got home in the last hour.

After service and Sunday School, we had a meeting with the teens to plan some more for our Snow Camp. We got stuff done--got the theme worked out, hammered out the schedule for the week, and updated each other on our responsibilities--but it wasn't a very good meeting. First, a lot of us, including myself, got there late 'cause we took too long to get our lunch. Also, I've noticed that our first few meetings have really lacked focus. Often, people throw out too many random ideas and we get off-topic way too easily. It's a bit frustrating 'cause these meetings that take 2+ hours should be much more efficient. Still, I know I have to be patient 'cause I'm sure I used to be like that myself. One time, I asked Kinson if they had trouble keeping us in line, and he had a good laugh about it. :) Plus, there were some people who were just 'lost' during the meeting--Some were tired and had no energy, while others seemed to have other things, like school, on their mind. By the time we were finished, I think everyone was just glad to wrap up. :P

Later at night, the counsellors met up at Ken and Eva's place for dinner. It was the first time that all of us had gotten together to chat since the school year started. Eva made this awesome meal for us--butterut squash soup and shepherd's pie. Yummm. It was sooo good that I just wanted to sleep after. :) Over dinner and through the rest of the night, it was a good chance for us to catch up--to share about all the positives so far, talk about some of the challenges we're facing, and to see what direction and roles we want to play in the fellowship. We even spent some time praying for the fellowship and each other. It felt good to finally connect with everyone and build on what we wanted to do as a team.

Just for Laughs Comedy Tour 2005

Watched the Just for Laughs Comedy Tour at Massey Hall tonight with Andy, Des, Jenn, Jimmy & Tracy.

It was hosted by Shaun Majumder, who was pretty funny and made quite a few Indian jokes, but I think Russell Peters delivers it better. The show featured 5 acts:

• Scott Faulconbridge - Decent start, but nothing too memorable.
• Rocky Laporte - Best of the pack. Average Joe who had me laughing throughout with his everyday observations.
• Ryan Belleville - I didn't find him very funny at all. His wackiness just wore thin after a couple of minutes.
• Rod Thompson - The token 'African-American' :)
• Carl Barron - Australian dude. Pretty funny with some Aussie-themed humour.

Most of the acts were filled with quite a bit of language and always resorted to sex jokes to try to get laughs. However, the one that everyone seemed to enjoy the most was actually pretty clean and just commented on normal things that just made you think, "That's true...". :D

TCCC Family Fun Night

With safety being more of a concern nowadays and since Halloween is something that Christians don't typically celebrate, the church hosted a carnival-style event for the kids on Monday night. They set up a bunch games for the kids to play so they could win tickets to redeem prizes and treats. I ran a 'shoot-the-target' booth, which I probably made too easy. :) Some the same kids kept coming back over and over 'cause they figured out that I was easy money. Still, I'm glad that I didn't have to help out at the candy table 'cause that was a madhouse. Sugar and kids are definitely not a good combination.

So, I got a taste of what it's like to be a 'carny'. Man, it was tiring, even if it was only 2 hours. It was so tedious picking up the darts, reloading the 'gun', and passing out the tickets--while trying to stay energized through the whole night. I would have hated to work at the CNE!

In any case, it was great to see so many kids out (>150) having lots of fun. Many thanks to Wes for organizing the whole thing and recruiting the 30+ volunteers. He was running around all night long and probably never got a chance to sit down. His passion to serve the kids in the church and our community is unmatched...

See a few more pics here.

Operation Christmas Child

"We hope you enjoy these gifts and find joy in life,
Do not give up, especially in times of strife.
Have a Merry Christmas, and for now forget your fears,
There are people here to help you and save you from many tears.
Let God into your heart, and joy will surely follow,
So as you read this message, think happily of tomorrow."

On Friday night, my Kyrios small group got together and packed some shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. For those of you that don't know, OCC is a way for us to give some hope and joy to children overseas in countries that have suffered through war, poverty, natural disasters, etc. The shoeboxes are packed with some toys, hygiene items, school supplies and some words of encouragement.

The poem above was written by one of the teens. It's actually a nice poem--very thoughtful. However, to be honest, I think it's a bit TOO DEEP for young kids to understand. Plus, who knows if English is even their first language? :) I actually wanted the whole group to write it together, but the teen just did it on his own. I had stepped out of the room to get some supplies, but by the time I got back, he was already so focused on his composition. At the time, I didn't know what to do because he felt so proud of his work and I felt awkward about criticizing it. In retrospect, I should have been a little more persuasive to revise it so it would be suitable and understandable for children aged 5-9.

Anyway, in total, we put together 8 shoeboxes! We were aiming for 4, but everyone did a great job in contributing so much. Praise God! :D

World Press Photo 05

Tim looking at the World Press Photo of the Year 2004
(Woman mourns relative killed in tsunami, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India, 28 December)  

If you enjoy photography/photojournalism, you really can't miss the World Press Photo Exhibition. The display was at BCE place, which I went to check out on Sunday afternoon with Andrew, Brian, Jon & Tim. The stories that the photos tell are incredible. I often read about news events around the world, but until I saw the photos, it really hit home how devestating and tragic they were--the tsunami, the Iraqi war, the school bombing in Beslan, etc. The images were quite powerful and some were pretty hard to stomach. Of course, there were some more humourous and positive photographs, like the Athens Olympics, but it's the images of death and grief that will stick. They offer a perspective of the world that many of us don't see.

Unfortunately, if you didn't get to see it this year, you'll have to wait until next October.

Wedding #10 - Duncan & Nancy

My 2005 wedding season finally came to an end with Duncan and Nancy's. As Gladys astutely put it, they are the perfect engineering couple. They are meticulous, almost to a fault, but somehow manage to stay easygoing all the time. :) Here are the pics.

It was fun celebrating with so many friends the last few months, but it hasn't been kind on the pockets. :P At least for the next few weeks (before Christmas activities start), I'll have some more time on the weekend to do other stuff--even if it's just sleeping in and catching up on rest. ;)

The Go Abroad Fair

I decided to go check out the Go Abroad Fair on Saturday. It's geared towards people who have thought about studying, traveling, volunteering or working abroad. It's been on my mind lately 'cause I'm not sure if I'm really getting enough out of work lately. Maybe it's just a phase. It's just crossed my mind 'cause quite a few of my friends have recently left the comforts of home to work or study abroad. I'm wondering if it's an avenue I want to pursue. Almost everyone I know who's done something like this has had an amazing experience. Perhaps the time is right for me to look into it now.

Anyway, I was actually a bit disappointed 'cause it wasn't as big as I expected it to be. I was actually looking more for work opportunities, but most of it was for teaching English in Asian countries. It also seemed like 30% of the booths were recruiting students to go study in Australia. I went to a seminar and a Canadian student shared about some of her experiences studying to be a teacher down at the University of Wollongong. It was interesting to hear that about half her class was Canadian and the school had actually structured part of the curriculum to match the one back home, so it would be easier for them to get a job upon returning to Canada.

I really have no idea what I want to do right now though... time to read up on all the brochures that I picked up...

More gluttony...

Celebrated Tracy's birthday on Tuesday night at "I Can Cook Buffet"... See the pics here...

I feel like I've been eating non-stop for the last two weeks... Japanese buffet, prime rib, wedding banquet, etc. Ugh. I'm gonna get fat again... :P

Thanksgiving and Wedding #9

Man, this past long weekend was really a LONG weekend...

After work on Friday, I went to Kyrios as usual. It actually wasn't a formal program 'cause we were actually gonna get together again on Saturday afternoon. We started off with a bit of worship and then had a 'lite' night by watching the School of Rock. I watched this a couple of years ago and I remember it being pretty good and 'clean'. I still liked it the second time, but I had forgotten about some of the crude humour and vague drug references. The only reason I bring it up is 'cause I don't want any parents knocking on Ian's door. Although the teens have probably seen much worse stuff already, some parents will probably try to nail us about being irresponsible, etc. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me, it's happened before.

Saturday was a totally jam-packed day. Woke up pretty early--for a Saturday--to finish cleaning up stuff since my family's Thanksgiving dinner was bumped up. Then went out to the church to pick up the teens to go volunteer at the Markham Salvation Army, where we helped them sort and pack food for their Thanksgiving food drive. It's interesting what people donate--sometimes it just seems like people are just cleaning up the junk in their pantry. There's the 'regular' items--KD's, chicken noodle soup, pasta, etc.--but then there's also pickled vegetables, exotic spreads (hummus/almond butter), expired canned goods and other questionable items. Rule of thumb: Don't give anything that you wouldn't eat yourself! Just because someone is poor, it doesn't mean they'll eat your garbage. Anyway, even though it was quite a bit of hard work, it was turned out to be a fun afternoon. With about 15 people, the 3 hours flew by pretty quickly and we got it done pretty fast. Since we were so efficient, they coordinator even got some of the teens to do some vacuuming and window washing--which the guys seemed to have way too much fun with. :) Talking to the coordinator, it's somewhat surprising to hear that they serve about 400 families in the Markham area. With all the new developments, I assumed that the communities in Markham were more affluent. It turns out there's quite a lot of Sri Lankan families in the area and with the tsunami last year, the coordinator is expecting the demand to be even greater now with new immigrants/refugees. Their next big food drive is at Christmas and it's supposed to be huge. If you'd like to help out, let me know--the more the merrier!

Anyhow, I rushed home afterwards and finished some cleaning before the guests arrived for dinner. The usual family--who are practically my cousins--came over. I also invited Ben, Janice and Thomas since some of them don't typically have turkey. Even Alvin showed up! ;) My mom made the dinner, which was, as always, great--mashed potoatoes, turkey, stuffing, ratatouille, beef stroganoff, shrimp. Yummy. All made even better with generous amounts of wine. Des, Auntie Vivien (Des' mom), Jenn and Ryan also came by for dessert and Texas Hold' Em (which I suck at). The only thing that was missing was my mom's tiramisu, which was in high demand. Still, we had lots of fruit, papayas that Jenn brought over, apple & pumpkin pie from Janice & Thomas, and a melange of cakes too. Another good Thanksgiving dinner with family & friends with great laughs.

Sunday was another busy day with wedding #9. See the pics here... Albert & Katherine, who I got to know at UW, had both their ceremony and dinner reception at the Hilton Suites Markham. It was a bit strange not having the ceremony at a church. Just funny hearing Kinson exhorting about being 'before the sight of God', yet we were just sitting in the ballroom. It's not a big deal in the end, but I think I'd like to be in a church when my time comes. :P The dinner was pretty good--mainly 'cause it was refreshing not having to eat at another Chinese banquet. I sat with Kinson and Bethany 'cause the majority of the guests weren't from the 'church circle', so Kinson didn't really know anyone else other than the bride & groom, a couple other T3Cers and myself. Anyway, unbelievably the dinner reception finished before 10. The speeches were good 'cause they were short and sweet, and no one shared their life story. :) There was a dance after that, so it was nice to celebrate the night away with some old UW friends.

Monday turned out to be a complete write-off. I was considering going hiking at the Elora Gorge to see the fall leaves, but I'm was just beat from the weekend. I slept all day... It was nice to finally have some rest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll post after the weekend... It's gonna be a long one! ;)

Fraud.

Ugh. I had to destroy my card today. 

Grrr...

I am quite annoyed today--frankly, I'm pissed. I was gonna pay off some of my credit card balance today 'cause I had recently collected some money for my ultimate team's fees, which I had covered earlier. Right before I head off to the bank, I decide to check out my balance online. When I log on, I notice that my card is over the limit. Although paying for the team's fees wasn't cheap, I was pretty sure that I hadn't spent that much money. As I start scanning through the items, I notice some irregularities and some unknown charges. #$%&! Somehow, somebody duplicated my card (or somethin') and had been making gas purchases on consecutive days. Anyway, I end up spending 45 minutes on the phone with customer service and their fraud investigation department declaring that my card had been compromised. I had to answer so many questions so they could make sure that I hadn't forgotten about these transactions. (These gas stations that weren't even near my home!) Interestingly, they only used it at gas stations and nothing else. I'm guessing with the skyrocketing gas prices, people are resorting to desperate measures.

So right now I'm probably out around $400... argh... I'm not too worried about it 'cause I'm sure after the investigation, I'll eventually get my money back. It's just a pain in the butt though. I have to sign an affidavit, cut up my old card, get a new one sent to me, check that my other accounts haven't been compromised and probably follow-up with the bank a few more times. Who knows how long it's gonna actually take? Anyhow, it's a good thing I have a fairly low limit and the damage seems to be minimal... knock on wood... scary stuff...

Wedding #8 - Ian & Sandra

Me with the Happy Couple... 

So another crazy wedding weekend has passed...

I've gotten to know Ian and Sandra fairly well over the last year. Ian joined the TCCC pastoral staff last September as the youth pastor and he's been serving extensively with the Kyrios teen fellowship. I know the teens love him--probably because he looks like one of them too. ;) Working with him as one of the counselors over the last year, I can see how much of his time, effort and heart he's given to help mold the youth. Having gotten a taste of it myself, it takes a great person to be able to commit that kind of energy to serve in youth ministry full-time. Sandra, I got to know through softball this summer as she played with my Sunday Night team. She was always a bit quiet and reserved, yet she always did whatever she could to help the team. Never complained, listened to others' advice and just played. A great teammate. Whenever Ian came out to support her, I could see how well they played off each other. They always knew how to have fun and make each other laugh.

Anyway, the wedding ceremony was pretty cool. It was a mix of Chinese and Filipino, and it had a bit of an African theme to it too. Memorable moments of their romance was in Kenya, so they wanted to relive that part of their relationship in their wedding. Ian's uncle also built this amazing tree (see below) from scratch to recreate the wilderness in Africa. It was incredibly life-like and must have taken a lot of time and love to put it together. (Apparently, the uncle isn't even an artist or sculptor!) I have to say it was strange to see Sandra all dressed up 'cause I usually see her only in softball gear or in sweats after Kyrios--but what a beautiful bride she was. The vows were sweet and reflective of the genuine people they both are. The reception at night was pretty fun. The games were good, but also took a bit too long to set up--they had a 'guess your husband'-type game, some animal calling (Giiiraffe!), a even a dance competition. The first one was pretty funny 'cause Sandra eliminated Ian really early and Ian ended up having to kiss someone else other than his bride. It was nice to also see some of the teens there celebrating this occasion with Ian & Sandra--many of them had worked closely with Ian over the past year. They were part of the rowdier bunch along with Sandra's NTCBC friends. I also had a bit of fun 'troublemaking' with a couple of the teens, well more like teasing--especially with Mat. They've graduated and are in university now, so I can treat them like adults, right? ;) One minor complaint though... although the food was standard Chinese fare and still pretty good, I actually found the service below par. It was ridiculous how messy our server was--he wasted so much of the shark's fin soup (!) and started serving us another dish even before we finished the previous one. I know they must have been a bit short-staffed and in a hurry to serve all the tables, but I've never seen a banquet table with so much stuff splashed on it. In any case, I had a great time--it's always nice to go to weddings where people do something a little more unique.

Somehow, I also managed to squeeze in parts of a bachelor party in between the ceremony and reception. Nuts. Albert is getting married in a couple of weeks, so the guys were 'roasting' him one last time on Saturday. Since I couldn't join them for the whole event, I decided to join them for some go-karting. I don't think I've gone racing in like 10+ years. After a couple of laps of warm-up, I don't think I used the brake pedal at all and using the gas all the way! We even got a couple free laps because they had to kick us off for some kid's birthday party. Let me tell you, it's dangerous to go driving after go-karting. On the way home, I had to resist the temptation to 'floor it' and swerve/pass other drivers on the highway.

--

After church on Sunday, I had lunch at a small French bakery, Bonjour Brioche (near Queen Street E. & Broadview Ave.), with Daniel, Maki, Charles, Tim and Faith. The baguettes were really good and the rest of the food was delicious too--I tried some kind of tart/quiche. On a funny note--well not so funny for me--I got totally shafted twice at lunch. First, Tim asked me if I went to Ian's wedding even though I had talked to Tim TWICE during the evening. Then to make things worse, Maki later asked me if I had ever met Faith before, even though I had dinner with her and others at Daniel & Maki's place only a couple of weeks ago. Man, completely dissed. Am I invisible? :P Tim blamed it on exhaustion, but I beg to differ. :) Anyway, after the laughs, Tim, Faith and I went to check out the "Word on the Street" festival at Queen's Park. It was pretty cool--a lot of interesting books and magazines--but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as others. I'm not an avid reader, so I wasn't looking for anything in particular and I didn't appreciate the material that was out of there... Didn't do much else the rest of the afternoon/evening. I think that was enough activity for a couple of days. Just ended up going home and enjoying an extremely long, restful nap... ;)

Ugh. (2)

For some unknown reason, my mom was making some food last night and she decided to go out to pick some stuff up. Of course, she didn't say anything to Alvin or I that she was leaving the house. As I'm sitting in my room at the computer, I smell something burning, but I just think to myself that someone is having a BBQ outside. After a few minutes, I realize that it wasn't a BBQ and my room was starting to get smokey. So I race downstairs and see that my mom had left a pot of potatoes on the stove at the highest heat. I had just caught it in time to see the pot light up on fire. Thank goodness I was able to put it out quickly! By the time I had gotten it under control, the whole house was full of smoke. I had to open all the windows and put up some fans just to clear it up. I ended up going out for a bit 'cause it would be a couple of hours before it became bearable again.

I was so mad. I was ticked off that the smoke alarms didn't do their job. I was annoyed at my mom 'cause she always nagging me about not leaving stuff on the stove unattended, yet she completely left the house and forgot about it. Most of all, I was just pretty mad at how dangerous the situation could have been. Funny enough, by God's grace, Jenn and I were bored enough where we decided to play some MSN games. :) Otherwise I probably would have been napping in the late afternoon. Who knows what might have happened then? The house could have been burnt to a crisp and so could have I...

Anyway, it's not something that I'm gonna get too worked up about. After going to a funeral on the weekend, I realize it's just way too petty to make a huge deal about this. Things like this happen. My mom is getting older now, so I have just be more aware of stuff. It's just good that nothing more serious came from it--other than the fact that my whole house smells like a BBQ now. :P

Sunday Night Slo-Pitch 2005

Back: Kenric, Ken, Ryan, Ameet, Ron, Andy, Gaston, Wilson
Front: Joanne, Sandra, Janice, Hung Ling
(Thanks to Janice for the pic and her photoshop work! :P) 

With my softball league's playoffs, the past weekend marked the official end to my summer sports season. We ended the regular season 8-7-1, so truthfully I wasn't expecting a lot. On Saturday, we took care of business and avoided elimination by winning our first game 7-3. We then faced our archrivals and ‘nemesis’ Chaos/Anarchy in the semifinals--we had been eliminated by them in the finals and semifinals over the last couple of years. They're a great team--fun to play against and they raise our caliber of play as well. With some solid D, clutch hitting, and by taking advantage of some uncharacteristic errors, we finally managed to get over the hump, get that monkey of our backs and beat them in two games, 6-3 & 12-9. In the finals, as usual, our team played some more nerve-wracking ball. We won the first game 8-7, then lost the 2nd game 8-1. In the decider, it was another back & forth game and we squeezed it out 10-9! League champions! It would have been only sweeter had we faced/beaten our ‘sister’ team, the Isotopes, in the finals. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain by getting eliminated in the semis. ;)

Wow, this was such a satisfying conclusion to our season. We had struggled by being pretty inconsistent throughout the summer, but we managed to pull everything together when it counted. All the guys did their jobs with solid play and generally good batting, and some others played great defense even if their hitting was off. However, a special mention has to go out to all the girls on our team. Joanne and Sandra came out to every practice over the summer and really raised their level of play this season—learning new positions, improving their hitting. Joanne too for pushing through even after she hurt her ankle in the playoffs and making some great plays despite it--what a trooper. Hung Ling stepped up with her pitching--even though she struggled a bit with her control, she fought through it and did all that we could have asked from her. Most of all, a big thanks to Janice for coaching this season. She ran all the practices, admirably dealt with people’s egos, made adjustments when necessary and just held the team together—a true team leader. I’m really proud of how everyone worked together and fought 'til the end. Cheers to a great finish!!!

Pics below are of our celebratory dinner at Jack Astor's afterwards...