Don't you get nervous when someone hollers at you from their window as you stroll along a sidewalk? I've been encountering a lot of these incidents for the past few months, and I don't know what to think.

Today, as I return to the office from getting Tim Horton's, a man in the passenger seat decides to yell out this car window to tell me that I have a nice coffee mug. Mind you, I love my mug, but I found it peculiar that it would attract someone to actually tell me that from their car.

I mean, it doesn't have diamonds on it or anything.

I pretended that I didn't hear him, just because my initial reaction was that he did not have good intentions. But afterwards, I questionned whether he was teasing me about something else, or that he actually liked my mug.

I still think the former is more likely. What? Do I walk funny? Do I look vulnerable? What is it?

Does this happen to other people? Am I just paranoid?

This is why one must equip themselves with an iPod at all times. It puts an invisible shield around you.

It's sad that such 'armour' is necessary.

Christopher Hume says its time for Toronto to get angry, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

A few days ago, Toronto City Council voted to defer the decision on the controversal land transfer tax and vehicle registration fee. While this proposed tax, one of Toronto's new taxing powers from the new City of Toronto Act, has made city residents understandably worked up. I have supported its implementation (with a few groans) because I feel that the city truly needs this to preserve and improve the very services that residents rightly demand.

When it comes down to it, provincial and federal governments have continued to neglect Toronto. Since my interest is in transit, I will just speak within that realm. The fact is, we have all heard time and time again that the TTC has the highest cost-recovery ratio in all other transit authorities in North America-- where over 80% of all operating expenses are covered by farebox revenues. Due to the massive cuts made during the Harris regime, TTC has and continues to make due with less. If you recall back in 1996, the provincial cutbacks triggered massive cutbacks to service, labour, and plant and equipment. I came across the Service Changes for Februrary 1996 as a result of the massive cutbacks, and I strongly urge you take a look this page to fully grasp the severity of these service reductions during this dark period for Toronto transit.

TTC has come a long way since then and while it is amazing to see the surge of ridership (estimated 454 million in 2007) on the TTC system, we still have not reached the 463.5 million record in 1988. Think about it, during this time span, Toronto has grown by about 400,000 people, and the GTA grew about 1.7 million people, and only now has ridership reached close to 1988 levels. On another note, while our ridership will soon eclipse the previous 1988 record, TTC still continues to operate with much fewer buses, operators and maintenance staff.

Now we understand that perhaps drastic service cuts need to be made. Adam Giambrone stated that the closure of the Sheppard Subway, the elimination of 21 surface routes, and a 25-cent fare increase, may be necessary to balance the books.

While these proposed cuts are seen as "worst case scenario" and it is not likely that TTC would have to replicate the events in February 1996, I believe that some cuts are imminent. While we have heard so much exciting news recently related to GTA transit, I am extremely turned off that such service reductions have to take place-- service reductions which are planned at time when we already experience massive overcrowding on our network.

This is desperate times for Toronto, and like Hume said, it's time to get furious. It's time for all of us to put pressure especially on the provincial government to either provide Toronto long-term funding for the social services-- the very services were downloaded by provincial government for the city to provide-- or to simply upload them back! Big cities naturally attracts, in greater proportions, social issues, like homelessness for instance, and it's not fair that Toronto must solely address these issues. Homelessness is a provincial issue, requiring provincial support.

I went on a bit of a tangent, but to sum up, Toronto requires money if it wishes to maintain competitiveness and quality of life. On that note, let's all be a little angrier and let our policians know, and let's build a city to be admired for a change!

Emergency TTC Meeting re Budget Cuts - [stevemunro.ca]
TTC proposed fare hike, subway shutdown - [globeandmail.com]
Cuts, fare hikes menace TTC - [thestar.com]
No More Sheppard Subway??!! - [blogto.com]
Time for Toronto to get angry - [thestar.com]
Miller orders spending cuts - [thestar.com]

This article has been in my drafts folder for the longest time, so forgive me for this dated article.

A number of us headed downtown to do all that is Luminato last last Saturday-- and we focussed mainly on the visual arts and design events. We roamed a bit around the financial district to see some of the hanging art that surrounded most building lobbies.

Anyways, he highlight events were definitely those along Harbourfront. I was very surprised so much people down by the water. There was visual arts, music, cultural events, buskers, cultural food, and just lots of happy people enjoying the sunshine by the water.

We spent a helluva a long time at the Bellissima tent just adjacent to the Queen's Quay Terminal. They had very amazing curries, salads, and wonderful cultural live entertainment. If course, we checked out the great light spectcle, PULSE FRONT, surrounding the Harbourfront. Apparently, the light show was so popular that they extended the show to.. today. I really enjoyed the show, and it's so exciting to see Toronto doing something like this.

With events like Luminato and Nuit Blanche, it is clear that Toronto has a real thirst for arts and culture. What best place to do it than a diverse and vibrant place like Toronto? I think that we really can expect great things here in Toronto, and it is really attempting to bring in that 'creative class' that we talk so much about in planning school.

I think the one thing Toronto should work on is to accomodate more places for arts, culture, and entertainment to take place-- free from having to get a permit or to pay some private sector party. I guess this is why some of the public spaces people are so keen on pushing for these places.

It would really be great for arts and culture to just naturally take place. That would be neat.

Luminato - [luminato.com]
A businessperson's notion of a festival - [thestar.com
Pulse Front Photo - [flickr.com]

Our high school is holding a reunion.

While there has been widely-known informal reunions in the past few years, McGivney is hosting an 15th Anniversary official alumni event on April 16.

I'm not sure if our school is particularly nostalgic, but c'mon, we've only been out of school for five years.

I have a small inclination to go, not because of some righteous reason of wanting to uphold the school spirit of McGivney. Let's face it, "small talk" and discussing what I've done in the past few years is not what I'd place in my "fun" category.

So why do I want to go? For spiteful reasons. There are a few teachers I still hold small grudges towards. My thinking is that I need to be updated about them, so that I can find new ways to make fun of them. Yes, I know I should be a bigger person here, but sadly I'm not. Haha.

I totally want to speak to my World Issues GIS teacher who will only be known as Ms V. Ms V decided to give me and my group partner, Elaine, a 72% on our term project on Urbanization.

So not only did she Asian-fail me, she also made me even more worried about my OAC marks entering university.

Our group ended up getting the lowest mark in the class, lower than than the two ditsy girls who were more concerned about shopping than to actually attend class. Their powerpoint presentation, which was about marine preservation, involved mostly embedding a Quicktime video of whales swimming in the ocean, with almost no content. She also decides to criticize our powerpoint presentation to a certain teacher's pet behind my back, calling it "busy."

Ugh! I have the urge to slap her during the reunion, or at least tell her how crappy she was at teaching GIS.

Then there was my computer teacher, Mr B. Mr B is the laziest teacher I know, and his knowledge of computer programming was very questionable. He would just sit there at his desk daydreaming while the rest of us attempt to learn a Visual Basic and C++ on our own. Mind you, the internet wasn't as developed then, and it's not as easy as Googling an answer.

Now that I am vented, I feel much better. Perhaps I could now attend the reunion with less spiteful baggage. Anyone from McGivney considering attending?

FMM Alumni Homepage - [ycdsb.ca]
Who's coming? - [ycdsb.ca]

I have really neglected this blog for the past week-- so hopefully, you guys didn't miss my long-winded entries about nothing.

I'm currently on lunch here in the North York Central Library and I am here to announce that, because of my previous and partly inaccurate entry regarding the need for better regional planning, I am a happy owner of a Toronto Public Library card.

It's so exciting that I have 99 branches of books in the palm of my hand! Say goodbye to Chapters!

Did you know that according to Wikipedia, the Toronto Public Library and the second busiest, by number of visits, in the world? We only trail after the Hong Kong Public Library. Whether or not this is because of the sheer size of the library system, it's quite exciting to actually know that Torontonians are reading and using the most out of out our public resources.

If you've ever stepped into a public library in the GTA recently, you will find that there is really something for everyone-- not just a place for little toddlers to scream and attempt to read storybooks. There are your usual books you find at Chapters, there are multilingual books for newcomers, there are video resources for the non-avid readers, there are references books for the academically minded, there are archives for the inner historian. All in all, I really commend library systems, such as Toronto, who have to strike a balance between the increasingly disperse range of interests of citizens. I'm always curious as to how money is allocated to specific groups, like Chinese books, for example? It seems to be that it could be quite a controversial task.

Anyways, because I love the TPL so much, I thought I might make a contribution by donating some of my old books that are accumulating dust. I asked the library attendant about this, and unfortunately, they do not accept old used books-- they only take new titles. She wasn't able to provide me an explanation. Too bad-- I'm sure there might be a logical explanation though-- your comments are encouraged about that matter.

That's it for now. For your curiousity, I borrowed a fiction title called Londonstani by Gautam Malkani.

Toronto Public Library -[tpl.toronto.on.ca]
Toronto Public Library - [wikipedia.org]

With all those arms, she better be 'fearless'. (No, she's not coming to Pride.)

I have no inspiration to write anything crazily long, nor do I feel like cropping Oxford pictures for all of you-- but I do have the urge to place my mark in the blog today.

So here I am.

First of all, happy Pride everyone! As you might know, this year's theme is plugged "Fearless"-- which I think is awesome. It has a connotation, obviously that everyone, not just LGBTQ's, should be able to live their life without fear.

At the same time, the term "fearless' also has this diva ring to it. Can you imagine it? Some proud chick or drag queen with one hand to her hips and strutting down some street.

"I'm fearless, baby."

I'm totally feeling it. Maybe I'll be the fearless diva that I speak of.

Pride Toronto - [pridetoronto.com]
Gala honours gays with guts - [metronews.ca]
Queer Muslims find peace - [thestar.com]

Next topic.

Not much has changed since the last time I visited the CN Tower 13 years ago.

This month, our proud national needle turned 30, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, they were offering an admission deal: 3 for $30.

See-lai me would never turn down a deal, besides it's a great reason to do something during the day, other than monotonous shopping.

The only thing I remember about my first and second trip up the CN Tower was the elevator ride, probably because it was pretty much is the highlight of the trip. It's always fun to swallow every three seconds just to unplug your ears from the change in air pressure as you rise up to the observation deck. I can't help to feel uneasy on the elevator, especially on the ride down, as the G-forces kick in the first few seconds of the ride.

I was generally disappointed in the visit. Sure, there already isn't really that much to do at the CN Tower, other than observing the city, but that was not the reason for my disappointment. In fact, as a planning junkie, it's always fun to see what landmarks you can spot at such a high distance. Some highlight include spotting the emerging skyline at Yonge and Eglinton and along the Queensway in Etobicoke.

I was disappointed that they've added another restaurant, Horizon's Café, at the Lookout level, which swallowed up a large chuck of the city view to private interests. Surely, it didn't stop us from heading in and taking a look at the view, but it's sad that for the price of admission, we aren't able to view the city in all perspectives without ordering food or without having a guilty conscience.

On the contrary, I have no rants about 360 restaurant. It's on its own dedicated level, and it definitely an attraction worth going to.

Also, I've never had the opportunity to go on the glass floor as a child, because I believe it wasn't yet constructed at the time. This was a disappointment indeed. I didn't know the glass floor only consisted of about 5 by 5 metres in area.

CN Tower needs some better attractions-- perhaps a physics exhibit about the forces of gravity, or the nature of radio waves. I'm also thinking Drop Zone CN-style.

CN Tower: Canada's Wonder of the World - [cntower.ca]

Last Sunday was my first time participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure. For those whose email got sifted into the Bulk Folder, the Run for the Cure is an annual event held in cities and communities across Canada to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer.

I received a total of $90 in online and in-person pledges, and I would like to thank everyone for their contributions as well as words of encouragement.

The first vibe I got was the fact that there was a hell-lot of people converged around Nathan Phillips Square. It was just so great to see this crazily large volume of people gathered together for one reason and for one cause. Call me a super-idealist, but I'm so fascinated and compelled to events where people come together for a common reason-- whether it is a charitible cause, grassroots movement, political rally, or even a concert.

There was indeed a lot of love in the air that humid and sunny morning, with numerous local community and cultural groups supporting the runner through music and dance. Running the 5K was a great time because not only are you supporting a cause, but you get to experience and absorb the spirit and energy of a city.

Also you get to see not a hint of cars on University Ave. This is always a bonus.

According to Les, most of us in the team finished the race in 1:30:58. Woo! Some others in the team members were much faster and ran the course, while some lazy planners and their significant others, including me, decided to take it easy and walk. Walking is better.

Thanks Shimster for inviting us in the team. Boob Troop is the wittiest team name ever.

Dear Summer,

Why did you leave me so soon? We developed such a great relationship together for the past few months, and now you're gone and I'm bauling on my pillow, begging for your return.

As I'm typing this letter to you, I'm playing my compilation of gloomy love songs in your memory-- from Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, to Cher's Song for the Lonely.

Please come back to me. Bring back, bring back, oh, bring back my summer to me. I'm starting to get an impression that this term is going to be one of those agonizing 2A-kinda terms.

PS: Hopefully, I could post all the pictures of you and me really really soon.

Your Lov-ah,
Matt

Not much to report here in the Republic of Matt. My break primarily consisted of sleeping, eating, shopping, internet-ing, movie-ing and a few outings here and there.

I'm starting to finally get the groove back in Markham, and things are going well. I've begun to redevelop my 'ear-filter' to sift out speeches from nagging parents. Consequently I have gained greater patience when there dealing with parent-child conflict. I will be a good obedient boy, and I will have a good summer.

I have definitely been refamiliarized with droolable Chinese food. I miss devouring over mom's deliciously prepared meals (which sometimes consists of take out, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt :P), and my beloved 'afternoon tea time', Chinese desserts, sushi, T&T Sesame Ice Cream (mmm!), Demetres, and dim sum. I swear, the people of Markham are definitely all guilty of gluttony. God will not be impressed.

It seems like that ambitious to-do list that I had compiled has definitely gone unaccomplished: www.hyperdot.net is not finished, the Pre-Law club website is not finished, my new layout is not up, my room has not been painted, the backyard has not been landscaped.

Speaking of landscaping, our backyard has definitely been looking pitiful for the past several seasons since I convinced my father to stop using pesticides.

The lawn now consist of large spots, similar to my father's head, as both are encountering the effects of balding.

In effort to deal with the eyesore backyard, I used my "planning skills" and composed a three-year design and fiscal plan to replace the existing eyesore lawn into a full perenial backyard garden. Haha. I'm quite surprised that that my official plan passed so easily; not to mention the the abundant flow of funds. I have a budget of $300 this year, which is quite an acceptable amount. Plus, I didn't have to take it to the OMB either. :P The documents are signed and a media annoucement and news release will be made shortly.

Man, the Lee government is excellent: it's efficient, listens to its constituents, and virtually has no red tape. I elect my father as PM.

Seriously, I'm excited that my dad actually granted charge to me to fix up the backyard. I have never been trusted with any home improvement project, so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Back to PIR on Monday.

All the best to everyone, as a new term rolls on. No matter what you're up to this term, work hard and/or play hard. Make Matt proud.

This weekend was the Taste of Asia. Yes, the Asian version the Taste of the Danforth. Me and Bow managed to catch it before we headed back to the Loo. So yes, they closed off part of Kennedy to showcase some Asian food. What a disappointment. Yes, the point of the event is to showcase our food to other cultures, but c'mon, don't think I'm dumb. There are still predominately Asian people at the event. It was friggin $2 for a stick of fish balls. CRAZINESS! Anyways, and of course, what more to showcase Asian food than import cars. Yes, you heard right, take a bite out of a Volvo, and a BMW. Yum. They took half of the venue. Despite its shittiness, they definitely managed to attract a lot of people, particularly a lot of American tourists.

Oh yeah, as we don't have enough Asian malls around Milliken, its about to get even crazier. The traffic hell just gets worse and worse. Across from P-Mall, where the former Canadian Tire is, will erect the largest Asian shopping complex in North America surpassing Pacific Mall. Splendid China Tower, it is called. Can you say shitty name? I think it's going to be a Mainland mall, like the Oriental Centre in Scarborough. :S

Oh Markham, oh markham. It's really crazy to imagine, almost 20 years ago years ago, my room window used to face a farm, Market Village (the mall beside Pacific) used to be a cultural farmer's market. Where Pacific Mall now stands used to be a barn, home to Cullen Country Barns (The same Cullen Gardens owners). Markville used to be a big corn farm. Our street was one of three Chinese families. Although those days were cool, I donno if I can live without my Pacific Mall and Chinese food. Tough tough call.

On *actually* exciting news, T&T is finally in Markham and one more to come! Yay! Time to get some good Taiwanese "Zero Eats" (if you know what I mean).. what is it called in English? Perhaps the other Chinese supermarkets can learn from T&T that Chinese people *can* have clean supermarkets! Unfortunately, i haven't been there yet, maybe I'll take a look when the curious shoppers have died down. Finally a clean, non-dingy, non-stinky, and yes non bikini-girls-on-meat-market-walls supermarket! Praise the Lord!

So yes, the job search never ends. Omg, please help me. Sometimes, I feel like I'm alone. I feel very insecure. I feel like there's no hope. I want to be in control, but things like job opportunities and sublet taking is not in my control. I hate this feeling.

Anyways, I took the Greyhound just so I can be rejected. The job is a firm in Yorkville called the Planning Partnership--they specialize in Urban Design so it's really interesting. but unfortunately, I lost to one of my colleagues, Margaret. She's quite talented and I suppose she deserves that position.. her portfolio is quite amazing.

Anyways... I walk all the way from Dundas to Bloor, I never knew that it was that far. :( Anyways, I did better than my other interviews, but I guess it wasn't good enough.

I met up with Eugene and Mark-- Markus was nice enough to go to an earlier lab for me... awwww, thats nice-- Eugene's rez is quite nice, very Bauhaus-stylish... very little attention to detail. Nice job U of T. It was so weird walking down St. George in my suit and with all these hot U of T people-- so much people walking around, it's fun downtown! We went to Eaton Centre, yet again, but got nothing-- was too bummed out about the interview to buy anything.

One more paper is done: Now, I have 3 exams, 1 more paper, 2 more group-papers, 1 presentation, 2 more studio assignments, 1 coop placement, 1 sublet placement left to do until December 12. oh my god, help me. I'm so scared. I always say that I won't let these things discourage me, but I can't, it's just too tough, too much for me to handle.

hey hey, it's time for that entry again. yes, time to retune our brains, turn on those thinking caps, sharpen those pencils and get back to school.

oh gawd, this is going to be hell. i've been swarming across the area, getting things ready for school, from shelves, to mattresses, to hampers, to wastebaskets. sigh sigh sigh. if someone would like to sponsor me in anything feel free to contact matt. I won't mind naming something after you-- just like naming buildings after people who donated crap. Perhaps, I'll be sleeping on the Bowie Tang Bed or the Eugene Ting Hamper or the Mark Siu Bookshelf. LOL.

Anyways, I really have to burst this rant. I am so sick of "Pacific Mall Customer Service" The other day, I had to ask those people that I bought my router from to see how to have one router communicate with the other router. Sunny Computers gave me this response: "I can't tell you that-- well, I could but it will cost you $20." I swear, Chinese customer service is utterly unbelieveable. Canada Computers just had some lying eye-rolling idiot who just simply said, I don't know how to do it. It really really sickens me. I really hope you can join me in boycotting these stores.

PC Gate, however, was by far the best best store. Not only did they give me good advice, they also allowed me to return a cable wire (cuz it was too short) even though it was a final sale.

So yes, I hope I didn't confuse anyone, here's a little briefing:

BOYCOTT: (Don't Shop!)
? Canada Computers
? Sunny Computers

SUPPORT: (Shop!)
? PC Gate

**The above are all at Pacific Mall.

Anyways, I have nothing much to highlight. Oh yeah, I had a chance to visit Mark / Eugene's rez. I only have one word to say: "Wow." How incredibly cool is it to stay at a hotel for eight months. Lucky ducks. Also, I had a chance to meet Mark's roommate, Chris, who seriously reminds me of my roommate Chris.

Had a chance to see Thomas and Elisa on Thursday-- a farewell event. Met up at Timmy's and bumped into Pumo and Rende. They're both doing quite well. We then tried to go minigolfing but that was closed, then tried Krispy Kreme, and that was also closed. Then we finally got to Just Desserts and then went home. :D

Summer is finally over ladies and gentlemen. I have to say that I had a terrific summer. You all made this a very fun, memorable, relaxing, happy, and worryfree. Thanks everyone. I have gotten to know and have become closer to some of you. While others, I would have no idea that we would end up chilling together. But nevertheless, whether new friends or old friends, I sincerely like to thank EVERYONE for being a part of my summer.

Take care everyone, and great success in the upcoming term! Talk to you all soon!