Jan-chan’s Tidbits

Is there such word? Well it didn’t came up on the spell check so I guess there is. Anyways, a change from my “char siu baos” posts, here’s something a bit more person. Warning thought, I’m typing whatever is coming out of my brain so it might be full of typos and confusion.

Over the past few days I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I don’t know whether it’s because of excessive napping (I was sick and slept for most of the day) so I couldn’t sleep at night, or I’ve been doing too much thinking. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. There are a few things on my mind, like career, the future and of course food. Yes, Jan has entered the “the thinker” mode. Continue reading »

A consecutive update?! Well, the office is still pretty quiet with people still on vacation and I have to wait till JP gets back before I can continue with the booth banner graphics stuff. So I have more time to blab on here at least until next week.

This cold I’ve been having since Sunday is sucking the life out of me. I’m starting to wonder if it’s just a cold or I’m having similar symptoms for something else. My nose feels like it’s burning (probably from all the rubbing) and I’m having minor fevers every now and then. This morning, I had this really strange experience. I got off Broadway Station and headed to McDs to buy breakfast because I want to eat before I take the Advil Cold & Sinus. I turned the corner and felt dizzy all of a sudden and started to sway when I walk. I almost bumped into the walk of some building. It’s like your car is out of control and you keep steering to one side. When I realized I am a swaying to one side (and about to bump into the wall), I caught myself and then everything is back to normal. It almost felt like a dream.

Anyways, I finally got to eat McD breakfast (bacon & egg bagle)! It’s been almost a year since I last ate it. I know, it’s not the most healthy thing on earth, with the greasy hashbrowns and bacon, but it’s still nice to have once in a while. I always believe that you should eat what you want, with some moderations of course, because although eating health will “prolong” your life, you only get to live once, so why not try everything and make your tummy happy? Like I don’t eat the skin on chickens, doesn’t matter how you cook it, as well as those on the BBQ pork “shao ruo” because it’s very greasy and fatty. But the BBQ pork skin is so crispy that sometimes I can’t stop myself from trying a couple. Then I just have to remind myself to drink lots of water and do a lot of exercise to wash the fat out of the system. [lol] This is probably why I can never go on a diet because I’d fail no matter how hard I try. Plus the fact that I LOVE sweets…mmm…dark chocolates, ice cream, sorbets, cakes, cookies…[drools]

Speaking of sweet stuff, here is my next baking experiment: walnut bread and “char siu bao” BBQ pork bun (the ones you get at dim sum). Ok so char siu bao isn’t exactly sweet but I figured if I can figure out how to make the bao (aka the bun), I can turn it into the sweet buns like the ones filled with lotus paste or red bean or egg custard. I’ve asked my mom to help me buy a pound of char siu (aka bbq pork) for me and I’ll work on the filling tonight. Then tomorrow night after I get home I’ll attempt to make the bao. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!

Can you believe it? It’s 2008 already. Is it just me or does it seem like time is traveling faster every year? Maybe it’s because I pretty much veg’ed my way through 2007. There are memorable things I’m taking with me, such as: receiving Mike’s wedding cookies (and finding out that he’s a daddy soon! congrats!), opening letters from Kaya (love you hun~) and meeting all those nice (and silly) people from WoW.

Well, with the start of a new year, I’d like to do a “reboot” for myself. The past few days a lot have been going through my mind. Being away from home (or spending less time at home = less time on the computer) I’ve had the chance to really sit down (aka stare into space) and do some thinking about me (or as Nathan calls it, the “little Jan”). The conclusion: time to revisit kitchen. I don’t think my family/relatives know that I enjoy cooking, especially desserts and sweets. I’ve never done any cooking while growing up. It was only when I start going out with Al that I wanted to try cooking. Maybe it;s because I want to stuff him with food and make him grow sideways a bit more since he’s so skinny; or maybe it’s because of the endless hours of Food Network that I’ve watched from his house. Whatever the reason was, I found myself loving to cook and experiement in the kitchen. It is very satisfying to watch people enjoy the food you’ve made (no takeout or preheat stuff please). Now I understand why my grandma would spend hours slaving in the kitchen, preparing 9-10 dishes (during festivals), and only take about 10 mins enjoying her own cooking (the rest of the time she’s trying to top everyone’s bowls with food…”eat more, eat more” she’d say). Watching us stuff our faces with her food makes her more happy than eating it herself.

To ensure that I’ll stick to my “reboot” plan of going back into the kitchen (and making a mess!) I’ve decided to lay off WoW for a bit. It was something I had given a lot of thoughts on over the past few months as I’ve actually gradually peeled away from it (mostly due to another temptation: dramas). Before I would’ve just quit but this time it’s slightly different as you know Al, Ken, WuWu and some RL friends also play with me and for some unknow reason I’m stuck as guild leader (oh wait, it’s all Brian’s fault). In the past 8 months of being the GM I’ve gone through some stressful as well as rewarding moments. I love everyone in Avant Garde and would really miss them when I’m gone. However, I believe that the friendships from WoW will be able to carry on via msn, email or my blog.

Alright, I think I’ve blabbed a bit too much over that cooking/wow thing. Here’s what I hope 2008 will turn out to be:

• more food experiements! (currently I’m having bread fever)
• more girls gatherings! (more communication over food please)
• travel outside of BC once (I’m dying to go on a vacation)
• spend more time with my grandparents
• improve over all communication/people skills (explation which will be in a later post)

Well that’s all for now. Happy New Year again!

Snowy: Thank you for your card! It’s lovely~

Kaya: XOXO for you. Best wishes & lots of happiness in 2008~

Brian: How was your holidays? I want to see some pictures! (btw I can’t view your pictures in your facebook for some reason. Please tweek your settings!)

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! A couple more days then I’m having a 5-day break before going back to work on the 27th. There are a few parties coming up. Hopefully I won’t over stuff myself [hehehe] or get sick, like last weekend.

Kaya’s card arrived a couple days ago. Thank you hunnie~! The card is so cute. Speaking of cards, I totally forgot to send one to Mike in Taiwan. >__< I’ll fire him an email this weekend to make up for it. Last night when I went shopping for the company’s x’mas gift exchange, I saw all those cute baby outfits. I wanted to buy some for Mike’s up coming baby but I don’t know if it’s a girl or boy yet. I hope it’s a girl because you get to dress them up more. XD Anyways, I was going to buy a Starbucks gift card for the exchange but ended up buying this bread dipper thingy (flavored oils) at the Artisan Wine Store in Metrotown. Oh when I was there I found this “new” (quoted because it might not be that new since I haven’t been to Metro for about a month) gelato place outside Lids. Of course I had to try it because…well…it’s gelato! I had the pineapple and Al got the Kiwi. It was really fruity (even got chunks of fruits in it) but we found that it’s a bit too sweet (the more you eat it, the sweeter it tasted, and we only got the small cup).

I also bought a knitted hat to wear for winter. I don’t look very good in hats/caps but it’s been windy and really cold this year and I want something to cover my ears. I’ll see if I can take a picture of it one of these days and show you how silly I look. =x

Oh and LawTam sent me the group picture from our X’mas party. Chu you gotta send me the one with the girls. I’m sure you all know which one is me and if you can’t tell, I’m having a tough time trying to sit on an invisible chair while waiting for the photo to be taken.

The BCCA Annual Conference took place on the last week of November. Since it’s a local show, JP and BT thought it’d be a good idea for me to go and see what the conference is like. It might help me organize conferences better.

As it was my first conference, I was really nervous. So nervous that I couldn’t eat/sleep the night before. I think it’s mainly because I’ve only worked here for about a month and I’m not familiar with the product yet. What if someone comes by and start asking questions?! Anyways, I think I managed to sleep for about 5 hours before waking up at 6am. Why so early? Well the conference starts at like 8:30 but I want to get there an hour ahead in case I need to do anything to the booth. Plus the bus ride there is about 45 minutes and I’m giving myself extra time to walk as a snail because of heels.

Anyways so after I’ve dragged myself to the hotel and was welcomed by like 10 fresh Christmas trees at the entrance (they smell so nice!), I was finally at the booth. The sales did a good job at setting up the night before. I was actually supposed to go set up but I figured they were already there for a dinner reception, why would I need to go? NB was there already so we chatted abit before he went off to eat breakfast. I was surprised that the food is free for exhibitors as well as the conference attendees. Anyways, I didn’t get a chance to eat (I’m too nervous to eat anyways) but did grabbed like 4 glasses of cold water. Way to wake yourself up Jan!

Around 9:00am people started pouring in for the food, coffee and tea and hurried off to the sessions. Some people stopped by and the sales handled that. I just stood there, smiling and nodding the whole time. CK and I found that we did not have a demo kit with us so we decided to head back to the office since it’s kind of quiet during session periods. It was funny because at the office, no one recognized me in my suit >_< Someone thought I was there for an interview, then they were like “wait a minute…” =_=

CK and I made it back to the conferece room at 11:30 and the lunches were already there. So we grabbed a bite to eat before the crowd came in. There were mini sandwiches, soups, salads, 3-4 different type of juices and some other stuff. I was really hungry by then so I had some potato salad and 2 mini sandwiches. Just before lunch time I met Ying at the restroom. I actually didn’t see her (wasn’t wearing my glasses!) and she was drying her hands at the time and I just made a bee-line from the stalls to the sinks. Seeing her made me relax a bit and of course having food in the tummy always makes me feel good.

So the fun begins after lunch. CK was getting really sleepy so she took off for a walk (sessions after lunch so we didn’t expect too many people stopping by until maybe the next round of food which is the 3:00pm tea break). NB went off to chat with other sales people around the room so I’m left at the booth by myself. I was kind of sleepy too (I blame the carb) and I tried to keep my mouth shut when I yawn so it’s not too visible [lol].

10 minutes after both the sales were gone, a couple of students dropped by. That’s fine, I briefly explained what our test does and stuff (when I say brief, I meant summing it up in like 2 sentences). Then he went on asking me about the technology behind it using those big, long scientific words which I have no idea what he’s talking about. I probably have this giant question mark on my face when I said “I’m not quite sure about the specifics but if you’d leave your name and contact number I can have one of our scientists or engineers get back to you.” *smile smile smile* At the same time I’m thinking “Dude, I’m just a marketing coordinator >_< take your big words and go away!!!”

After he left I had to take a few minutes catch my breath but the fun didn’t end there. This time three people stop by and so I repeated the 2-sentence speech but they wanted to know exactly how our test works. Good thing I actually paid attention to what KC & NB were saying when they talk to those doctors. I shortened their version and gave it in as plain and simple as it can possible get. The crowd seemed to be satisfied (YAY!) and some asked a few more questions before moving on. My energy level dropped to 20% after these people stopped by. [lol]

At 3:00, everyone from the sessions came out and started nibbling on the cheese/crackers & juices. I had my share of them as well as I needed a refuel. A few more people dropped by during the break but CK & NB were there so I’m back to smiling and nodding. CK told me to leave early (around 4pm) since the day is almost over and she said I needed a break from standing all day.

Overall it was a really good experience for me to see what actually goes on at the show. I know what to prepare for next time. The best part though, was the food. Free food is always good. I wouldn’t mind going again just to eat…XD