too sleepy to put
together words for tonight's
entry. so, haiku

I crossed off another line item on my to-visit list while visiting Gastown. Not much of a shopper so most of the allure was lost on me. The steam clock was unique though - arguably the only reason why people visit Gastown to begin with. 

At first, I was like - cool, it's a clock that operates by steam. Then four o'clock hit and holy-crap-out-of-nowhere it started belting out a steam whistle tune. I just thought it was amazing because another few minutes later, I would've simply passed by without knowing that at all. 

Since I forgone lunch, I was super hungry and decided to use Yelp to find a dinner place. To my surprise, there was a Guu in the area. For the uninitiated, Guu is a highly rated traditional/fusion Japanese restaurant - there will usually be line ups at any Guu restaurant. I decided to check it out despite being fifteen minutes before opening time. To my surprise, the place was already open and I managed to skip out on any line. 

The portions were fairly small and pricy, but the quality was definitely worth it. The miso soup was flavorful without being salty; the ebi mayo wasn't overly oily (unlike my earlier Pajo fish & chips experience); the green tea ice cream had a heavy green tea taste. Delicious all around, and I'd love to go back again. 

My colleague challenged me to walk through the sketchy part of town. It just so happens the area he marked out was right beside Gastown, so I took him up on that challenge. And sketchy it was - beggars every few meters; drug dealers (semi) openly dealing; hookers here and there. Thankfully it was day-time, so I didn't have to walk jog sprint. 

On my way back from the sketchy area, I happened on two interesting landmarks:

1) a beautiful street lined with cherry blossom trees
2) enormous steel mill cranes scarring the mountain view

Pretty cool what you run into if you wander around and keep your eyes open. 

Three of us put in oodles of hours making invitations, names cards and question cubes; reserving guest speakers, food, tables and chairs; and trying to detect anything that we might've missed. 

And when the mentorship event finally rolled along, we ended up missing things anyway. The food platters were too large to carry and splashed all over my clothes. The coffee jug was too large and splashed all over my clothes. The chairs and tables were supposed to be set up for us - they weren't. In fact, building management said we weren't allowed chairs. So we were stuck without furniture one hour before our event. 

Thankfully, management made an exception and we finally got chairs. A bunch of volunteers helped us speedily put everything together, and since home for me was across the street, I managed to change out of my coffee-drenched clothes. I don't even drink coffee, damnit

At the end of it all, we got positive feedback from both mentors and mentees, so all the trouble was worth it. Event planning is tough - there are only so many variables you can control, and something inevitably goes wrong. 

The last time I went to Kintaro, I saw a line spanning across the entire storefront outside. Figures for a famous ramen joint. 

Today, I decided to go twenty minutes before opening time, hoping to get a good spot in the line - surprisingly, I was able to walk right in. They were already open. Twenty minutes later, I finished my food and people are lined up across the storefront yet again. 

Any worries about the hype quickly evaporated when I took a bite of the meats. Similar BBQ pork from usual Chinese cuisine but with all sorts of flavours bursting at the seams. The noodles tasted fresh and chewy as well. My only complaint was that the meal was mostly water - but that's like complaining that ice is cold. That's just the way ramen works. 

I attempted to walk around Stanley Park after that. Two hours later and only a quarter of the way through, I decided to shortcut my way back. The trail is definitely beautiful - you could go by the seaside or the forest paths - but I wanted to check out the aquarium. 

Unfortunately, if there was anything overhyped today, the aquarium was that one thing. Not really a pure aquarium like I expected - it was more a tiny version of Toronto Zoo. Except with a few, new interesting species - there was an eel that burrows itself into the ground; some really large tropical birds; gigantic fish twice the size of children. And that's about it. 

Unless I missed something - completely possible when you're staring inside the cages, wondering what you're supposed to be looking at. Reminds me of those word searches I had to do as a kid. 

Anyway, it was a beautiful day and I'm glad I spent it outside. The long weekend ended way too soon.

We wanted to go rock climbing today, but the place filled up really quick so we went "bouldering" instead. Same idea, except without the ropes and harness. Everyone was super-friendly and giving us all sorts of tips - if there was a beginner lesson option, it would've been redundant. 

Things like keeping arms straight, pointing knees/hips to where you want to go, and putting weight on your toes - I wonder if we would've figured out all of that on our own. Possibly with a lot of trial and error. 

Same deal with snowboarding. Without someone giving me feedback, I spent the entire day falling on my ass. With a helpful coworker, I made it down the bunny hill without falling in half an hour. 

Having a mentor is important.

Pedestrian stop/go are side-by-side rather than top-down

Left turn lanes optional (in Montreal as well). Isn't this very bad for traffic ? 

Flashing green lights doesn't mean "everyone, go!" - it means "I won't tell you when but I will turn RED any second now"

 So I'm halfway through my second week of writing daily.

I've found that the second week is the hardest for establishing any daily habits; I gave up on P90X on the second week and nearly gave up on NaNoWriMo around the same time. 

Ironically, I'm becoming most motivated during the second week because I'm thinking, "If I get through this, I'll be able to keep this forever." It's worked for Insanity workout (which I need to get back to once I'm not coughing every few minutes) and hopefully it'll work again. 

Thinking in extremes - giving up completely vs having something forever - will be my new motivational tool.

 I've been coughing for almost four weeks now. Doctor said it's just a cold and prescribed some codeine for me. The codeine does stop the coughing, but I haven't gotten any better. Besides, I can't overuse codeine because it's a narcotic.

Tonight, dad made some double-steamed apple for me to eat - apple steamed in a ceramic pot with ginseng and other eastern medicinal goodness. The last time I had this dish was around two decades ago, as far as I can remember. That was back when I was a sickly kid - hospitalized by asthma; prone to fevers and rashes. If it wasn't for modern medicine, I wouldn't be typing here right now. 

In between the highway and my work place, there is a two-lane road that merges into a single lane. Once in awhile, there are aggressive drivers that'll use the second lane to race ahead and cut in. Which half-a-dozen drivers did so today. Maybe the hot weather makes people more aggro. 

Anyway, the incident reminds me of Seth Godin's analogy between innovation and (literally) opening new doors. The analogy is great - very visual - but I don't think politeness is stopping people from innovating. Seems more of an issue of risk-taking and motivation. 

Our annual innovation contest is happening again. Out of the four people from my old team, only I'm joining again. I'll definitely miss working with them; on the flip side, I'll get the chance to meet and work with new people.