This is not to say that I'm the "beauty."

Executing my thesis research has been a constant struggle. This thesis, which I has been coined my 'beast', is this constantly growing creature that will soon stomp around, tear down cities, and ultimately defeat me.

From what I've heard and what I'm currently experiencing, the hardest part of doing thesis research is not doing the research, but rather determinining what exactly it is that I want to research. I could study pretty much anything I want, and that lack of direction and structure is what makes me feel queasy.

Since starting grad school in September, I have went 180 degrees with my topic and another time after that. I'm expecting to turn about another 90 degrees this month. I came into grad school wishing to examine how Land Value Capture and Tax Increment Financing could be used to finance transit intrastructure such as the LRT proposal for Waterloo Region. As I always am with each topic, I come into a project being very gung-ho, but as soon as I begin my literature review, I realize how much work has already been done on the topic and I become increasing discouraged. Essentially, from what I feel, the revenue generated from these mechanisms do not even come close to paying off the high capital costs of building transit infrastructure. On top of that, I am often asked how will my research fit in and add value to the literature, and I cannot comfortably answer people.

So back to the drawing board. After sifting through Research Needs Statements from the Transportation Research Board, I realized that I'd like to do something related to transportation-GIS decision support, and I thought of the topic of measuring employment accessibilty using GIS in Greater Toronto. I want to understand the travel times to work depending on (1) where one works, (2) where one lives, (3) household income, and (4) employment type, through time. I figure this is a good topic, especially given the fact that the GTA wishes to promote an improved interregional transportation network-- and I produced a research proposal based on this project. Then I realized during the process that Eric Miller, one of the most prominent transportation reserachers at U of T have already studied this topic to death.

So here I am again, hoping take a different spin on things without dramtically changing the overarching themes of my research topic. My advisor has been very encouraging and that's been great. While it would be so much easier for me to just ask him to hit me a topic, I definitely do not want to resort to that right now-- since that would be accepting defeat.

Perhaps I am not cut out for academia?

I'll let you know of my progress.

I haven't blogged these days mainly because I do not feel like writing more than I already do on Microsoft Word. Anyways, it took me eight months to realize that I enrolled in this faculty.

Thanks Genevieve for the photo.

My hot face is on the UW library homepage! Look how slitty my eyes are! Anyway, I think this is my 30 seconds of fame, which I guess is pretty pathetic. I volunteered again to be a face of UW, so hopefully you will see more of me soon. Haha.

There is also a Youtube video, where you can view me and Lindsay, another fellow ES-er, being corny. It's near the end of the clip.

Anyway, "Why do you love the library?" is the UW Library's latest consultation initiative, conveniently in light of the Valentines Day festivities. This intiative arose due to the vast changes in recent years, especially the wide presence of digital resources, to the role of library organizations. It hopes to strengthen the relationship between students and library facilities and resources.

Details of the contest can be found here.

The UW Library is definitely the best operated university organization on campus, and perhaps even the best operated publicly-funded (Canadian) organization ever.

I was almost blown away last night by the dedicated staff and their strong desire to help students find what they need. I was attempting to get access on the RACER system. RACER, which stands for Rapid Access to Collections by Electronic Requesting, is a interlibrary loan system for books outside of the Tri-University Group of Libraries. I am dumb to have not used RACER before, because it's just so easy. The librarian literally sat down and went through it with me for about 20 minutes. He actually went through all the nooks and crannies of the web site, which definitely helped me save time in fooling around with the web application.

Anyway, there were a few other memorable moments I've encountered through my university career.

I really commend them for their passion not only for providing unparalleled customer service (through instant messaging, email, telephone, and in person), but also for their great initiative in analyzing information needs.

From all the experiences at UW I can recall, I can say that I have nothing but compliments to the library staff. (Browsers, the Dana Porter coffee shop is another story), but they're not part of the library organization). If there is a organization worthy of funding and awards, it's the library.

I remember that Leo also had positive stories about the U of T library. I wonder if this good 'library work ethic' is consistent throughout the region or something?

UW Library - [uwaterloo.ca]

I don't think I've shared anything about my experiences in grad school since I started in September. So this entry will be all about that.

My grad school experience has been, well, lukewarm. I don't really have another appropriate term to describe it. It's comfortable yet tame.

Surely there are some benefits of being in grad school that I do enjoy.

ONE:
Professors and staff take dedicated interest in learning and helping me with my research endeavors and academic financial assistance.

TWO:
Having an office means I actually have a permanent space on campus that is dedicated solely to me.

THREE:
There's no need to check when my library books are due, since I can borrow them for a term.

FOUR:
There are a lot of serious grad students with a true passion in all facets of planning.

I commend the University for really striving to help students reach their academic potential, and I encourage everyone to come here if they also want to have their academic potential met. Unfortunately, the good news comes to an end.

I understood ever since I drafted my applications a year ago that attending grad school was a choice. And because I continue to see this as a choice among other options (i.e. go to work, be a bum), I have higher expectations about the life that I would like to live.

With that in mind, I continue to question my decision. Was this the best choice for me? How much precedence should my professional advancement have over my personal life? What do I seriously value more? Is it really a short term pain for a long term gain? What exactly are my long term gains?

Grad school, at least in my experience, is about a lot of thinking-- which the Planning department proudly encourages and wilfully facilitates. While my thinking activity is happening, I can tell you that it's not always academic thinking-- just lots of random thinking. The low requirement of course-based work for the first eight months truly faciliates a lot of this random thinking. Thinking that can be destructive-- and usually revolves around the above questions.

I found that undergrad work, as many of you can concur, was just about deliverables. There was no time to think thoroughly, the objective was to get your shit done, or face drowning in the sea of papers, labs, assignments, and exams. Because there wasn't even time to think things thoroughly for course work, this certainly leaves no time to think about these 'random things.' Grad school, however, is very different.

Anyways, as much as the school component of life is fine, but the life in Waterloo is just so blah. Living in Uptown is surely no compromise to the hussle-bussle, accessible, and the good-food-nature of Toronto. And I totally feel the effects of the shrinking-to-almost-no-existence social network here in Waterloo, leaving it quieter than I would like. I miss my summers where I can quickly call up someone and we can just grab a coffee, dinner, or just whatever.

In an ideal world, the University of Waterloo would be in Toronto. Yes, Waterloo was named the Intelligent Community of the year, but unfortunately, it was not also awarded for its community vibrancy. This is why I'm torn these days.

Yes, pity me. Or slap me out of it.

Yep. It has finally hit me that Fall is here. I'm back in Waterloo and feeling a bit depressed. I hate having to do all those 'independent' things again, like cooking for myself. I should ask my mom to move in with me.

It also doesn't help that I'm in this so-called 'mid-sized' city, since anything that's not a large city is unacceptable to me. Haha. Just thinking of the GRT makes me cringe a little. Anyways, I think it's just going to take a while to get used to (again).

The Planning class is quite large this year, at around close to close to 30 students and no international students-- which is incredibly different from other classes.

That's it for now. Expect more updates soon.

Convocation was quite a fun day, except that I had to get up at 5:30, having only slept at 2, just so that I can shower, and get properly groomed for the event. It's sad that I have to get up earlier than I would if I were to go to work.

Of course, with every weekday, the highways are jammed solid. I was smart enough to choose not to take the shift to drive to Waterloo. So my couragous dad volunteered, while I peacefully slept with my iPod. Haha.

Anyways, Wednesday was perhaps the hottest day of the year so far, and of course, we were all sweating to death underneath our gowns and shirts. It's quite fun being in a sauna and to continue to smile pleasantly.

It's been a long tradition for us ES kids to be sharing the ceremony with the AHS kids, since we are the school's smallest faculties. Because of this, I was blessed to share the ceremony with hotties like Jo and Mike. (Good fellas Pat and Wallace also came to cheer us on.) Our very amazing valedictory address, which was very witty and meaningful, was also from an AHS student.

The ceremony itself was by far the most efficiently convocation I have witnessed to date-- and I have been to a handful of them ranging from U of T, Ryerson, and York. Instead of calling each person individually, Waterloo decided that students are sent up in three's. Wow, this almost conveyor belt process must've been invented by a Waterloo Engineer. It's so brilliant.

Because we're up there in three's, you tend to gage your time up there to how fast the other two are holding up. It puts pressure for people just move on, and I like that.

Sure it gives me less time to interact with the people sitting on stage, but it is a very small price to pay compared to having to sit there bored waiting for your own turn.

The name annoucement system is also quite state of the art. The presenter annouces the names from a computer screen, which shows a live video feed off stage which displays the name cards accordingly. I thought it was very neat. Our stats professor, Jean Andrey, presented our names, and I climbed up the stage with good ol' Loreen and Lincoln. For a session with over 600 graduates, it took exactly two hours.

There has been reports about this year's convocation events being in high demand, since this is the year the double cohort leaves the system. At Waterloo, I didn't really notice too much overcrowding, though I did hear that other sessions were much more busier than ours. There were a total of eight sessions this year-- two each day from Wednesday to Saturday. The number of sessions remained unchanged from last year, but up from five the year before. I guess this was because so many students fast tracked to avoid the double cohort.

The ceremonies are divided very interestingly, and it really shows the different enrolment levels across campus. While ES and AHS share ceremonies, Computer Science alone can occupy its own session.

On to the ring ceremony. It was quite neat. I was surprised to be greeted with actual lunch food, from delicious deli wraps, salads, dessert and coffee. Oh man, it was good. It was also great to get all the planners together in one room, since it's so hard to catch people down for pictures once we have all dispersed from the PAC. Though I found the need to restrain myself from my usual behaviour, since there were so many parents in the room. I was lucky enough to meet Paolo and Martina's parents. Paolo's dad was literally like Paolo-- he has the same goofiness that we've grown to love from P.

All the remaining pics are published on Facebook. They can be viewed without logging in, so take a look!

Pictures from Convocation and Ring Ceremony 2007 - [facebook.com]
All you need to know about convocation - [uwaterloo.ca]
Ring Ceremony - [uwaterloo.ca]

I am attending my last undergradaute class as we speak.

We are currently having a review session for my Organizational Design class for our upcoming final exam, and it seems like he's really trying to make it easy for us, since I and many others have failed a number of quizzes.

We are allowed to bring a cheat sheet, and that's usually bad news, because it would actually require our... understanding! Ack!

I can't say that I feel a sense of remorse about my last class or about leaving as an undergrad. I'm very excited to be completing this term, and just enjoy the joys of summer. Perhaps I'm used to swapping school and work in 4-month intervals, but these two consecutive terms have been physically exhausting.

Why am I not sad? Is it because I'm returning to UW? Maybe. Is it because I haven't left yet, and I am not at a point to appreciate it? Probably. Is the (unsustainable) grass always greener on the other side? Very likely.

What I can tell you is that these five years flew by in almost an instant. It seemed like just yesterday that I saw Shima and Shawn measuring the dimensions of the Modern Languages Courtyard. It seemed like yesterday that we stomped around trees because we were unhappy with our tree preservation project. It seemed like yesterday that Shima, Liz and I passed out on the V1 couches after fun night af Fed Hall. Haha.

I should make a list of these moments, especially since I have such bad memory retention.

It's so weird tracing back the paths that led to where we are today. I recently went to Fed Hall, I went to FUBAR (which is nothing like Louie's), and I intend to visit the REV cafeteria with some old floormates. I think that it would definitely be weird to be back in REV.

Hey, maybe I feel more sadness about leaving this school as an undergraduate than I thought.

What do you guys remember Waterloo?

That is the lingo going on on campus this week describing the long-anticipated referendum for the UW Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) on March 28 and 29.

Here's the key question:

Do you support a Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) at a cost of $41.08, plus an administration cost of not more than $9.50, subject to increases due to inflation and student demand, to be paid by each full-time undergraduate student per academic term, scheduled for implementation in September 2007, and which will be reviewed in three years?

It definitely sounds long-winded, but it's definitely necessary to get this initiative implemented.

I am very excited about even the opportunity to have the program pass, especially since I will staying in Waterloo next term. Currently, the Graduate Student Association is expected to jump on board with the Feds plan, subject to passing of the undergraduate referendum.

In order for the U-Pass to pass, it must not only receive the majority of total votes, but it also must receive at least votes from 7% of the total undergraduate body. Given that general elections usually have a dismal 14% turnout, we must hope that we get more people voting this time around.

I won't speak too much about the benefits, since are obviously high. They are summarized in the YES Committee's adverts above.

Just from my grapevine conversations, I was informed that the maximum administration fee of $9.50 would be used to install swipe machines on all GRT buses so that we can conveniently use our student WATcards. Currently the plan is still subject to debate.

Alternative ideas include adding a sticker to all student cards every term to identify that they’re part of the program. This option would definitely have a lower admin fee.

Whatever option Feds and Grand River Transit plans to take, the UPass fare medium needs to be flexible to accommodate for variety caused by the differrent academic streams due to the co-op program. For that reason, UW would have to take a more difficult stance with administering the pass.

If you're from UW or know someone who do, remind them to vote sometime on March 28 and 29! Just consider it purely as a favour for my self interest!

Recent U-Pass coverage:
Feds calls U-Pass referendum - [imprint.uwaterloo.ca]
Alicia's Iron Warrior article [iwarrior.uwaterloo.ca]
John's Iron Warrior article - [iwarrior.uwaterloo.ca]
Pass the Pass (Requires login) - [facebook.com]
Laurier's U-Pass Program website - [grt.ca]
U-Pass Proposal for the UW - [region.waterloo.on.ca]
Bus pass debate boils over - [imprint.uwaterloo.ca]

... it's not a destination if you don't leave it.

Yes folks, most of you know already but I have accepted an offer to continue to study planning for Grad School at Waterloo. It was not an easy decision, but I truly think there is more of an opportunity for me here.

Even during the applications process, I have always been torn between two sides of the decision scale: having a vibrant urban life versus an opportunity to advance myself professionally in transit.

It would be easy to go to U of T; all of my friends are there, my family is there, and most importantly, I would get to actually live in the 'bohemian' lifestyle that I have always wanted.

Instead, I settled to live again in suburbia. Not any suburbia, small-town suburbia.

Haha, wow. My entry is truly Debbie Downer. Let me snap out of it.

Don't get me wrong though, I am still truly very excited about grad school. I think there's great opportunities to see improved transit in mid-sized cities like KW, Hamilton and London, and hopefully I'm here at the right time.

I am excited to work with a good professor whom I admire, and it would be good to continue to strengthen my working relations with the faculty. Plus, I will be cool to continue to experience all the revitalization that is going on in Waterloo Region.

As a compromise to my dream for urban living, I hope to live in Uptown Waterloo. If anyone knows of anyone wanting to be my roomie, don't hesitate to let me know.

This year's festivities were very interesting. Interesting because I did not do anything profoundly ritualistic

Like what Tim says, I too did not put on any green and/or "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirts. I did not consume green beer, or any other beer for that matter.

It's funny how my desire to drink is drastically diminishing. I really hope this is just a phase, because I hope not to associate this with one of the many signs of my aging.

Instead, Bowie and I took out a wealth of snacks and established a girls' night in. We watched The Holiday. What a bad film, but Bowie begs to differ. I can't stand Cameron Diaz, and her massively large cheek bones. I can't stand Jude Law, and his supposed hotness. Anyway, maybe I was influenced by the bad plot.

What was refreshing was Kate Winslet and Jack Black's performance, maybe because I can better relate to their plot.

Anyways, as the night was over, we were greeted by a nasty swamp of vomit along the residence corridors. It was real nasty. A trail of what seems to be digested pasta flooded the halls. Sadly, because the custodians don't work during the weekend, the puke will continue to sit until Monday morning.

I better thank the patron saint for this. I hope it means that he will grant me good fortune.

Today is Pi Day.

What the heck is Pi Day you ask? It's to celebrate arguably the world's most popular mathematical constant.

Why this day? Well, March 14th is close to 3.14. Precisely, this event is often celebrated at on 03/14 at 1:59, which further plays on the numerical value of pi.

Of course in the epicentre of all that is math, UW definitely did not waste this superb opportunity to party. The math student association, MathSoc, held a celebration by giving out various types of pie.

It is then followed by a recitation of pi. Through memory. Hmm, what comes after 3.14159?

Anyways, I think it's a very neat day, and everyone should stand up and wish someone a happy Pi Day.

Maybe I should dress up as a circle. Better not, a circle is not a flattering body shape.

Addendum: I should really to proofread before posting.

Photo courtesy spacegrrl

Pi Day - [mathsoc.uwaterloo.ca]
Official Website of Pi Day - [piday.org]
Pi - [wikipedia.org]

I am taking Management Sciences class called Organization Design and Technology, and our teaching assistant is a very cool guy-- and the tutorials are always interesting.

Anyways, the point of this entry isn't about him being cool, but rather, he sounds just like James Blunt. Haha.

Sometimes, I close my eyes, and it impact is even greater. I swear, he has the same raspy British voice. One day, I will ask him to sing "Beautiful."

I better not, he might fail me. I don't think such a comment is very flattering, since he and that song is so annoying.

I have been stressing over scholarships and admissions for the past five months now, and I finally get a good note today that made it all worthwhile.

No, I did not get an offer of admission, but rather, the application has been received in its entirety. That in itself is a big accomplishment, methinks.

U of T has a way more intelligent applications system than UW. It actually tells you exactly what components have come in, and which one's have not. Thankfully, I have the planning ladies on the third floor to bug to ensure that all my documents are in for my UW application.

For those who might not know, I'm hoping to pursue grad school. I have applied to the Master of Science in Planning program at U of T, and the Master of Arts - Planning program at UW-- both where I hope to specialize in the field of Transportation Planning. The applications were due last week, and I can finally carry on with my life now that all this work is over and done with.

I guess now comes the easy part: waiting. I will not speak of grad school anymore, as I don't wish to jinx myself.

Some of you might've seen this before, but before the Youtube revolution. So, I thought I would upload it, so that maybe I would win some sort of "Youtube Emmy."

Anyways, this is a feature from my WLU Introduction to Marketing Management class. Our group was responsible to produce a small video that would make people understand the concept of psychological pricing. She said that humour usually gets people to retain concepts, so that's what we attempted to do.

I'm not sure if it is humourous, but rather, atrociously cheesy. This video was created took a total of ten hours to make-- from writing the script to the final product. Now that I look back at the video, I realized the billion mistakes that we made-- some intentional, some not.

Perhaps you will spot the obvious ones.

Enjoy one of my first video productions!

Psychological Pricing Skit - [youtube.com]
My "See Lai" Marketing Group - [hyperdot.net]
Psychological Pricing - [wikipedia.org]

Today is the kickoff to Waterloo's 50th anniversary celebration, and the university is holding a big bash today, and is continuing as I speak at the Physical Activities Complex.

It was crazy packed with students, faculty and staff. There was food, there was games, and there were celebrity impersonations-- 50 of them! One I recognize was Lucille Ball. Too bad I didn't have more time to stick around.

The university's anniversary tagline is "The Spirit of 'Why Not?'" I'm not sure what exactly that means, and it sounds a bit strange.

According to Wikipedia, in 1957, the university's first president, Gerry Hagey, gathered teachers of engineering and basic sciences, and also obtained an initial grant of $625,000 from the government to establish the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

What was interesting is that in early 1959, the Ontario government established three universities: Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University-- notice the same acronym), University of St. Jerome's College, and the University of Waterloo.

Initially, St. Jerome's and Waterloo Lutheran were both expected to federate with the new UW, but in the end Waterloo Lutheran chose to remain independent. From there arts programs were established at UW. Then the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and the Faculty of Environmental Studies was created soon after.

Waterloo apparently created the first Faculty of Mathematics in North America, and the first co-op programs outside of engineering.

While browsing on the 50th anniversary webpage, I found that the UW Library has photo archives of the campus. Unfortunately, the site requires your UWdir information.

I guess we're in for an exciting year. I might also be cool to be convocating in this milestone year. Yay.

University of Waterloo - [wikipedia.org]
50th Anniversary - [uwaterloo.ca]
UW Campus Photo Archives - [uwaterloo.ca]

Photo courtesy UW Library Archives

Those on the Environmental Studies mailing list received the following email from the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies:

This is a reminder that UWAce email is to be used by students to access course materials. UWAce is not to be used to discuss course issues that are best addressed individually with the course instructor. Students who make inappropriate use of UW computer systems, including UWAce, will be subject to disciplinary charges under the University's Policies 33 and 71, as well as the University's IST Directions.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or the Associate Dean (Computing) should you require clarification of this notice.

Just a little background about UW-ACE.

ACE stands for ANGEL Course Environment. ANGEL is a software package from ANGEL Learning, and it too is an acronym: A New Global Environment for Learning.

Anyways, UW-ACE is a web-based course management system that enables instructors to manage course materials and interact easily and efficiently with their students-- post documents, post relevant links, post grades, post attendance, the whole schbangle.

We were told that students started an informal conversation thread in the UW-ACE environment about some shit about a particular professor.

But little did they know that depending on the permissions set within UW-ACE, professors may be able to view material sent over the application even if it was not directly sent to the professor.

Although these students should know better, I have to say that I knew UW-ACE was evil from the get-go. It's ironic the software is called ANGEL.

It already logs (1) when I have read specific email over the ACE environment, and (2) the amount of times I have logged onto the site. I bet you it logs what websites I go before and after my session to UW-ACE, too.

Scary stuff boys and girls.

UW-ACE - [uwace.uwaterloo.ca]
UW-ACE Description - [ist.uwaterloo.ca]
ANGEL Learning - [angellearning.com]

The Site Planning Studio class just turned really uninspiring these past weeks. In the class, we are all given a site in downtown Kitchener, and our task is to rework and develop the site by considering urban design and sense of place theories, while also satisfying the wishes of the client.

Our client is a third-generation Chinese lady. She is an exact replica of Matet Nebres, a reporter on CFTO local news. Her family's history dates back to the days of the construction of the railroad and the imposition of the Chinese Head Tax. Listening to her story was like watching an episode of '???????' or 'Stories from Afar'-- a Hong Kong documentary series about Chinese people from foreign places around the world who have experienced unique lives.

Her grandparents were apparently the first Chinese families to have settled here in Kitchener. Perhaps systemically, they owned the city's first Chinese restaurant.

The existing structure of the Chinese restaurant, which has been out of business, is included in our project, as well as two adjacent land parcels. It is quite sad to see the rather shabby conditions they lived in. There is this really rundown shed in the back of the structure that were used to house immigrant cooks. They apparently stayed in makeshift beds in cubical like structures inside the shed.

Anyway, there were lots of ideas in my head, and all seems very neat and interesting until we realized that our client wishes to place a parking facility right smack in the middle of the three land parcels. Say goodbye to nice views.

Sadly, parking makes quite a lot of cash in downtown Kitchener. So parking it is. Now it's a matter of disguising this bugger as much as possible. But seriously dampens the any sort of grandness in the project.

I'm also very nervous about working in groups. I'm sure all planners are very used to group work by now, but urban design group work feels very different. This is my first urban design group project that I don't have the company of Shima. It feels so different; I feel inadequate. Team Success has unfortunately been dismantled. Anyways, because of my passively controlling ways, I feel really anxious when I cannot play some leadership role. And because my group consists of third years, who happen to know each other fairly well, I will definitely have to take a backseat for this one. The team seems pretty good, but I hate to feel uncertain about the outcome of our project.

Call me a queeny uptight bitch, but whatever. Someone find me a steering wheel.

It has been, and will continue to be damn busy these days, which I'm sure you can all appreciate. But thought I'd put down a few thoughts into my log for keepsake.

I feel like this very big log that's rolling down this really awfully bumpy terrain, and the end of the road is this place of uncertainty. It could lead to a place of planning paradise filled with transit-oriented developments, or some really contaminated pond, or worse, a landfill.

I'll leave it to you to decide that the heck my metaphors are attempting to represent.

Maybe I should be a planning poet.

It's been a constant go-go since the beginning of the term-- from finding a place to live, completing my work report, working on grad scholarships, in addition to ever accumulating work from all my classes. I thought I would be coping better given that I don't have to look for a coop job this term, but maybe because of the unpredictability of grad administrative work, I'm finding myself always feeling nervous.

Anyways, don't expect any interesting entries for a long while. I will continue to write about what's going on in the world of a older-than-everyone planning student.

No, I did not step into a time warp. My 4A term actually began this past Monday.

This is because I pretty much spent my first 'official' two weeks in school going to class and doing my work report. I completely loathe writing work reports. I thought that this report was going to be different, just because I was initially quite excited about doing research on this topic-- a feasibility study for a northern airport express route from Lawrence Station.

Anyways, through the course my research, I then realized how labour intensive this project really is. This is totally me-- not knowing what the hell I'm getting into and only discovering when I'm in the deep end and drowning. I totally did not properly scope my project and ended up writing 25 pages, when it 15 was expected.

Sigh.

This term has been pretty busy, but I am enjoying my classes. The most intriguing class is definitely Land Development Planning, where we pretty much get a development project through from a planning policy and economics standpoint-- produce a market analysis, hypothetically get the necessary approvals, produce a proforma. What is crazy is that our instructor is such mad developer who purchases properties on his Blackberry while in teaching class.

His lectures-- which consist of guest speakers weekly-- is a wide awakening from what we're socialised to think in the School of Planning. It is actually quite shocking-slash-refreshing to hear that locally-based agriculture is the past, and that the lands that the Greenbelt Act are protecting aren't really that agriculturally significant.

You get the picture.

For some obvious rea$on$ ($$$), I look up to the instructor and the guest lecturers-- our instructor is actually a Waterloo Planning alumunus. So if he is able to buy properties off his blackberry while teaching-- can I be the same?

Unlikely. Since I need to get off my ass and (a) start finding a full-time job, and/or (b) work on this grad application stuff.

Maybe then, after completing (a) and (b), I could be the next Li Ka Shing? Haha. One could only dream.

I miss my blog too much to be waiting until next week to write.

Things are beginning to get settled here in Waterloo. First off, I am finally with a home. After a few days of sleeping on the floor of Bowie's room, I can finally say goodbye to my sore shoulder and back, and I can say hello to good sleeps.

I am currently living in a co-ed suite (two girls and a guy) in UW Place-- which is actually an unwelcome change. Even being the queer that I am, I find living with girls rather difficult. It's not that I'm uncomfortable seeing soiled feminine hygiene products in the bathroom-- heck, I have a sister-- but it's just the fact that the "typical female" student's lifestyle is rather different than a guy's.

I know that I am making generalizations about females, but from my encounters with Bowie's roommates, I feel that the "typical female" definitely likes to socialise compared with the "typical male." This form of socialisation comes in varied forms-- but the only one that bugs me is person-to-person communication, which involves the consistent entry of guests in the suite.

Today is Day 2 of living in my suite, and I have already met a dozen of roommates giggly friend's.

Then we have their significant others'. I haven't taken a representative sample but I am confident to say that boyfriends go to girlfiend's places more than the other way around, which then increases the possibility of guests.

I don't usually mind familiar guests, but I don't like the idea of random guests coming from day-to-day. It's like I always have to keep my guard all the time and be "??," or hospitable. It's very tiring.

Let's hope they're burdened with schoolwork soon.

What I also find interesting, from personally from my overall experience is that girls who look the most put together in public are at the same time, the messiest in the home. What's up with that?

Just thought I would leave a mark on this neglected blog. Things have been pretty crazy, considering I still don't have a place to live, and that my work report is not getting done by itself. Anyways, I'm trying my best to stay optimistic. I got from Jenn this email joke, which is definitely the perfect remedy for the crazy first days of school:

A boss walked into the office one morning not knowing that his zipper was down, and his fly wide open. His secretary walked up to him and said, "Boss this morning when you left your house, did you close your garage door?"

This was not a phrase that her boss understood, so he went into his
office looking a bit puzzled. When he was about done with his paperwork, he suddenly noticed that his zipper was not zipped up.

He zipped it up and remembering what his secretary had told him,
finally understood.

He then intentionally went out to ask for a cup of coffee from his
secretary. When he reached her desk, he said, "When you saw the garage door open did you see my jaguar parked in there?"

The secretary smiled for a moment and said, No, Boss I didn't. All I
saw was a Mini with 2 flat tires."

... she got fired!

Be assured that I'll be back once I get things get settled here-- which I anticipate will be some time next week.

Addendum: I have been staying at Bowie's place in the meantime, so I'm not completely homeless :P

I'm going to interrupt, yet again, my regularly scheduled programming pictures for a mild rant.

Well, it looks like I will have to repay my OSAP before actually finish my studies. According to OSAP, I am required to start repaying your loan within six months of the end of your last study period. And since I've not been in school since December of last year, my six months is up.

Because it is my nature to blame someone for faults, I'm going to attribute this fault to the School of Planning. Planning did not offer enough courses for me this Spring to make it worthwhile to study. Grrr to you.

Even if I were to go to school this Spring and take five courses, I will have to be back in the Fall and Winter to fulfil all my land development specialization requirements. So pretty much, going to school this term would've just been a write-off-- so ultimately, aren't I doing OSAP a favour for not asking them for a loan this Spring-- since it wouldn't even help me in fulfilling my course requirements?

Maybe I'm pushing it a bit with the last part, but I have to say that I'm a little pissed-- or maybe I'm just moody and PMS-y. I'm not really upset with having to repay part of my loan, but more at the fact that I have to pay the accumulated interest from my loans since January. How it works for OSAP is that the government gives you a six month grace period to allow you to do two things (1) confirm that you are in school within the six months-- no interest will be accumulated, or (2) do not return to school and pay back your student loan. I guess I fall into Scenario 2 since technically I'm not in school-- even though I had every intention to go back in September.

I guess at the same time, I understand why they enforced this six-month rule-- since I'm sure there would be lots of people taking advantage-- but it sucks that it has to be me with has to pay the extra amount. Interest for the past six months comes to just shy of $600.

You might ask that since I'm in coop that there should be special conditions set for us-- this is partially true. But regardless of the coop situation, I'm screwed because my Spring employment is not recognised by coop term as I have already fulfilled all four work term requirements.

You might ask that my PLAN 480 Oxford Exchange could count as a course I've taken in the Spring term-- this is true, and it could work. However, my initial intention was to register PLAN 480 in the Fall or Winter, so that I can tag it along as a sixth course-- which is free. So right now, I have two options: (1) enrol PLAN 480 in the Fall and agree to pay for the accumulated interest, or (2) enrol PLAN 480 in the Spring, pay for the extra tuition and petition to be exempt from paying interest.

Both options involves me paying $600, so I choose Option 1-- it's less work.

In related news, there has been recent TV spots about a New OSAP. According to the website, "the new OSAP is about possibilities."

I wonder if it would be possible to forgive my loans.

It's time to have some dessert and cover up the bitterness in my mouth.

Breaking news from the Waterloo front:

Bubble Tease, our commonplace for so-so Asian food at the University Plaza, was caught in a fire on Wednesday morning, according to my beloved Leo.

The fire was believed to be caused by electrical equipment in the restaurant, and it is unknown to me whether neighbouring units, the Vietnamese Pho restaurant, and the Eden Salon suffered damages.

No one was reportedly hurt.

Bubble Tease is expected to be closed for a month-- which means Leo will never be working at the place again, since he will be a big-boy graduate.

It looks like no soju, flaming lamborghinis, and battered squid for UW students for the remainder of the term.

Tear. I really miss gross Bubble Tease squid.

After Paolo's continuous recommendation-- and the fact that I was in no mood to cook anything, the roommate and I decided to try out Charlie's Lunch Box at the plaza for dinner.

Charlie's is the (almost) new place in town-- if you recall, it now sits right next to Campus Pizza, at the location where Jamaican Jerk used to be. It seems like there has been quite a bit of turnover at that site-- but nevertheless, Charlie's is now operating there, with its mighty orange storefront signage.

Charlie's is a watered-down student-priced Japanese Bento Box--but served in styrofoam-- fast food place, and is pretty good for Waterloo standards. The food is nothing special, but it's something decent to put in the stomach-- just like many of the other places at the plaza-- except for maybe Shandiz.

We were greeted with extreme courtesy. Whoa. This is different. An Asian establishment that really goes out of their way to be nice. This is weird. This is surprising. This is.... refreshing. Anyways, they greeted us with that intriging Japanese courtesy-- with the subtle nod, almost resembling a bow. (Anyways, I think they're Korean though.) The subtle bow reminded me of Tomo from Konja.

Oh yes. Nod, baby.

Anyways, I'm almost fascinated with their great positive service-- it was even better when "Mr. Charlie Sushi" was at the Mr. Sushi. He seemed to have recuited a sidekick-- which is just as jolly as he. They have a policy of unlimited rice with a purchase of a Bento Box. You just ask them to refill your box, and they serve you without hesitation and with a smile. A genuine one. Not McDonald's-like.

Anyways, as I paid for my meal, I recognized that it's Mr. Sushi ringing up my order. I was like "whoa." No wonder I haven't seen him doing his thing at the Sushi joint anymore. I've always loved Mr. Sushi (the man and the restaurant). Anyways, he says that this is his plan to diversify his business-- and good for him!

Invading the Plaza one location at a time.

I'm digressing again.

I don't know why Asian establishments, not just restaurants, can't all be like this. There are a few that are very good and courteous, but generally, they could use a bit of customer service training. I could understand to an extent that people shouldn't be too picky about the level of service at Asian food establishments, just because of its shear affordability. It's just like you wouldn't expect superior service at a local diner. But still, let's raise the par for Chinese food service, and let the world know how damn good our food is! Because it is!

The same goes for places like Canada Computers. Remember this entry? I hate them with a passion, but they're so damn cheap. I will draw the line that they are fucking asses, but I will put a higher tolerance when I'm desperate and need some computer gear.

Back to restaurants, does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode, when Elaine was trying to order Chinese at some "Lucky Dragon" place? It was funny. Elaine lives on the street where the delivery boundary lies, but because she lived on the wrong side of the street, the Chinese restaurant owner rudely declined to take her order. Elaine decided to walk across the street so that they would take her order.

Anyways, that story is just almost an accurate stereotype of Asian customer service. And it needs to change. Also, what's with Asian restaurants and gross washrooms? Ewwww. Oh gawd. It's just nasty sometimes.

We need a Asian restaurant revolution.

My mother has always told me never to waste any food. A very motherly quote I'm sure, but she engraved that into my head like a gentle drill seargent. She made sure that I shall never leave even one grain of rice in my bowl before I was finished and rushed to watch television.

Some mothers use the whole guilt-trip thing to make sure kids don't waste food (you know, with references to children in impoverished countries), but my mother was a little more creative. When I was just a small innocent Chinese boy, she claimed that any residual items from your bowl after meal completion will be translated to your "wife's" face. Let me give you an example. If three grains of rice are left in your bowl, then there will be three blemishes, moles, and other dots that could appear on your "wife's" face.

Call me pretentious, but I was avid to ensure no residue rice fairy (not me) is going to get between my "wife" and "her" face.

It's funny how things that were instilled as a child are still subconsciously done when you're older.

... which brings me to that period in the term when I stare at the fridge, turn on my thinking caps, and see what dishes I can make with the remaining food that I have.

It's always the worst time of the term for food, because there is usually a reasonable explanation as to why that particular edible item is still in the fridge. It's either:

1. just undesired
2. it's processed, or
3. it's undesired and processed

The following are my latest creations.

Dish 1: Testicular Eggs
Tonight, I managed to make meatball omelettes with frozen vegetables-- and boy was it gross. First of all, I was retarded to not have chopped up the meatballs into to more manageable chucks. Instead, it looked, well, like a man with one too many balls-- very round ones. Second of all, I was retarded enough to buy the crappy Our Compliments brand. It tasted like bad meat-- and my mom also says don't eat bad meat.

Shawn warned me before when we were at the Sobey's but I didn't listen. Suprisingly, the brand's rising crust pizza is magnificent! But now, I know better.

Dish 2: Bread Quiche
Last night, I took my month-old bread from the freeze, and used each slice as the crust for quiche. I used my roomates muffin tray, poured some eggs in, dumped some processed cheedar cheese and peppers and voila! I've got bread quiche. Woo! And it's good too!

I should take over as the Naked Chinese Chef.

Dish 3: Clam Chowder Medley
Put some canned Clam Chowder soup, canned tuna, chopped up broccoli, and you get Matt's specialty Clam Chowder Medley. It's pretty disgusting, you'd think that it's safe to put two fish products together, and again I was wrong. Regardless, it was still edible.

I have some Fried Dace (????) in my kitchen cabinet. I should've put some of that in there too-- every Chinese family's gross staple.

Now for a conclusion to my again long-winded entry:

1. Food experimenting is fun.


2. All this processed food is going to make me fat.

I feel the need to blog.

I have dedicated this week to my good friend GIS. This last lab is pretty crazy because there is only one page direction, which in summary, pretty much says "Here's all the data, just go with it."

This is pretty crazy, as I'm used to being spoon-fed on how to proceed with these lab assignments.

So here I am looking at what's data is available, and I found it quite freaky on the wealth of data that is available out there. In Statistics Canada, you can actually get geospatial information on almost anything.

Anything.

Anyways, I managed to find geographically where the single people are. This data is cut down even further into:

• Never been married
• Divorced
• Widowed
• Common Law
• Common Law with Children

The list goes on!

For this research project, we are bounded by the Township of Woolwich, which kind of sucks. Nevertheless, I'm thinking of doing a locational analysis on where a bar should be optimally located in the Elmira. Haha.

Talk about useful reserach! I wonder if my professor will approve.

Or, I could do a queery [sic] on who's gay in Elmira, and maybe hang out there more often.

Update: Unfortunately, there is no such information from Statscan. I guess no lingering around in neighbourhoods for me. Tee hee.

I'm so relieved.

After weeks of major anxiety, Matthew has a job-- and it's not in Waterloo.

Phew.

I think I was more afraid of having to work in Waterloo, than acutally just being unemployed. Believe it or not, once I was aware that the job matches are up, I logged onto Jobmine, and clicked on the links one by one. As the page loaded, I literally closed one of my eyes and peaked with the other one, just because I was afraid of what I will find.

I'm working as a Transit Planner for the Toronto Transit Commission, aka Laurence's position. In other words, I will be 'filling him in' when he departs. Haha.

My initial choice was with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing-- working with very interesting files like the OMB reform, and the continuance of the Greenbelt legislation work.

Nevertheless, I'm excited to have an opportunity to work at the TTC-- and generally, I think it's just an exciting time to work in the transit field, because for the first time in more than a decade, political leaders are finally backing up transit.

Go Transit! (Not to be mistaken with GO Transit)

I'm off. Happy Halloween everyone!

It's seems like its been a few weeks of hell, but I think I've resurfaced-- although with a few scapes and scars. But nonetheless, here's a briefing:

Interviews are done...
where I'm working is another question. I didn't get an offer for the position I really want. Nevertheless, I'm going to take a chance. Oh please let me work in Toronto.

It's funny how things turn out. The interviews were I thought I did well, didn't turn out so great, but for the interviews I thought I totally bombed, I managed to get an offer. I just find that quite peculiar.

FYI: I loathe interviews, especially interviews with midterms lingering. The inevitable joys of a co-op program.

I'll let you know when or if I get a job.

Midterms are done...
how well I did is another good question-- especially Law. I'm really freaked out. Having answered 1.5 questions out of 3 doesn't make me very confident about my result. Ah.

Assignments are done (for now)...
Word of advice, don't take PLAN320: Economic Analyses in Regional Planning-- this course yields no sleep-- just ask Shawn and me.

I can say the same with PLAN 355: GIS. MAD has upgraded to a new version of ArcGIS, and seriously I've never seen a program with that many bugs. What I find most funny is that I remember being frustrated with PLAN 255, but somewtime during course selection, I managed to forget all about that. And now here I am again in the same situation.

Matthew never learns.

Whoa, finishing this entry is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. Pit-tooo-eeee.

Well, at least it's all done now.

Now that the bloody work report is done, my life in Waterloo can finally begin.

Every term, your beloved Matthew must hiberate for the first week of school and write this dreaded work report-- the ubiquitous work report that seriously adds no value to my education but to create some marketing for CECS that our students produce something tangible at the end of the work term. Oh, please.

Yes I'm bitter.

Instead, I've always wanted to write one of those reflection papers-- the ones that UW accountants write. I've always been great with writing reflection papers. You might recall the essays that discuss how my experiences, how I felt, what I've learned, and how it has enhanced my life. I've become such a pro at writing these papers from my four years of religion class at Fr. McGivney.

Oh, high school, I (sort of) miss thee.

This term, my creative report title this term is Engaging the Private Sector in Transit Capital Infrastructure. Writing this report is like pulling teeth-- no it's worse-- it's like pulling teeth and taking a Craftsman drill and making a nice crater in my new wound.

Once again, I've gone over the page limit: 4570 words (hush, hush). The maximum is 4000 words. This is considered good for me. I've typically gone much further than that. I don't understand why I always do this. Perhaps it's because I'm paranoid and very particular that I don't miss anything.

At work, I've been told by my boss that my briefing notes are sometimes overwritten. According to him, I've developed what he calls planning syndrome.

Don't worry, it's not contagious.

He explains that planning programs have, and I'm sure planners agree, have build an almost excessive foundation for writing comprehensive research reports. Consequently, this planning syndrome describes the difficulty for planners to transition from being comprehensive in reports to being concise. According to him, this term is readily used in the Ontario Public Service.

This long digression is not leading me anywhere. Essentially, my point I don't like work reports-- or any reports for that matter. I'm tired of it.

I should really let this go, but I thought I'd vent my troubles away.

I feel better now.

I feel obliged to write something just to show my blog existence.

Things are going to an okay start here in Waterloo, except for utter craziness on campus. If students can avoid going to school in the Fall term, do so.

They might as well call this week, "Queue Week," the inevitable week after Frosh Week.

Line up for OSAP documents.
Line up for the WATcard office.
Line up at the Bookstore.
Line up at CIBC.
Line up at Tim Horton's.
Line up for Resnet tech support.
Line up for computer workstations.
Line up for the Planning admin ladies.

This is not an exhaustive list.

I'll be back when I need a distraction from my teeth-pulling work term report.

It's almost about that time again, the dreaded excitement of course selection and enrolment!

So I've been browsing through what to take and let's just say, it's giving me, as always, a pain in the arse.

After sifting through the courses, I've come down to a final seven:

Here's the 'given's'. I will have to take these:

PLAN 350: Research Methods for Planners
This course sounds dreadfully boring. You learn to plan, design and execute out planning related research.

PLAN 320: Economic Analyses for Regional Planning
I definitely enjoy regional planning courses. It is practical and relevant and hopefully it will help with grasping more concepts related to Economic Development.

Here’s the 'choosers'. I have no idea how to pick and choose. Argh:

PLAN 483: Land Development Planning
This class seems very interesting as you investigate the economics and financing of public and private development projects. Maybe this class would've actually been useful before my employment at PIR. Rather than having to be confused when the boss is talking and then looking it up on Google or Wikipedia. It's funny how Google has indeed become an extension of my brain.

But yes. I want to take this class. Better late than never. But this completely conflicts with PLAN 350, which is held at exactly the same time.

Planning administrators. Oh how they bug me so.

PLAN 453: Urban Stormwater Management
It's about time that I take more natural sciences classes. This seems quite interesting and Shima and Liz seemed to have a good time with the professor that resembles Richard Gere.

Oh baby.

The downside is that it is a 8:30 Tuesday and Thursday course. That is no good for Matthew.

PLAN 341: Conservation Resource Management in the Built Environment
This is another 'Richard Gere' course. Pretty much deals with the ecology of the urban environment. This course would be good for me.

PLAN 309: Site Planning & Design Studio
I want to take up studio classes again. They're totally fun and refreshing, despite the fact that it's long agonizing hours. But presentations are held 4:30-7:20 on Fridays. Fridays! You've got to be kidding me. Forget it!

PLAN 355: GIS Spatial Databases
I enjoy doing GIS. It's such a satisfying feeling when you present a map that not only is pretty and colourful, but it actually tells and me something valuable.

That's too neat.

PLAN 474: Local Government and Politics
I love politics classes, especially ones related to Planning. Might be useful if I really want to work for the public service. The bonus is that its only two hours a week!

Planners, what are you guys taking?

On Friday, I had a bit of spare time and decided to tour this somewhat largely undiscovered place. It was quite an interesting experience to say the least. It's sad that I've been at UW for three years now, and I've not really had a change to really enjoy the many places beyond the usual shopping, restaurant and alcohol consumption establishments in the Region.

The farthest south I've gone in the Region was Cambridge Centre, which, by the way, is a very interesting mall with an recreational ice rink.

So off I went and boarded the GRT bus and grabbed a camera and played the role of a half-intrigued tourist. One great thing about the GRT is that you are permitted to alight the bus, run some errands, and board without paying an extra fare-- as long as you don't go past the one-hour time limit. Having that in mind, of course I made an ambitious agenda, grabbed my bus schedules and headed for my way. Here was the master plan:

• Charles Street Transportation Centre
• Kitchener City Hall & Region of Waterloo Office
• Victoria Park
• Fairview Park Mall
• Galt and the School of Architecture

Here we go.

BUS RIDE:
I was waiting for the bus and snapped a picture of Shima's old WRCI Hammar building. Here was what's left of it as they've decided to finally renovate the building. And about time too. I can just see where Shima and Ghrace's room was. Lots of interesting memories were created there, including our dreaded Tree Ecology project.

Anyways, I patiently waited boarded the GRT 7 Bus bound for downtown. As we head down King Street, I quickly realized how packed the bus was. I would say the state of passenger density was comparable to a Steeles Express bus during rush hour. (Steeles buses are slightly larger, however.) I am also suprised at the diversity of people taking the bus, it was a spectrum of ethnicities and ranging from teenage students to cane-using seniors. Again, similar to the Steeles Express bus.

I think over the years, I have received the perception that:
(a) No one really takes the shitty GRT.
(b) KW (excluding UW/WLU campus limits) remains a settlement for primarily of European Canadians.

I guess KW is more urban than I imagined. Despite being optimistic about the changes in KW in the next decades (Rememeber this entry?).

TRANSPORTATION CENTRE:
I arrive at the Kitchener Transportation Centre, which by the way has
been changed to the Charles Street Transportation Centre to avoid confusion, since there's a new one at the Highland Hills Power Centre. Anyways, I had to get my old $2.00-fare tickets in exchange for the new $2.25-fare tickets. I know, it only took me 1.5 years to do it.

REGION OF WATERLOO / KITCHENER CITY HALL
After that, I did my LRT Video business with the folks at the Region and the City of Kitchener. Yaddy yadda. Skip that. After coming out of the Kitchener City Hall, I must commend them for the great use of urban space there. Yes, this too is to my suprise. I hardly see this neck of the woods in the daytime, so it's a little jarring for me. People enjoying the sprinking water. People huddled around having a coffee. People just overall enjoying the sunshine.

There are quite a lot of people lounging and using the small space. I know, it is somewhat of a replica of Nathan Phillips Square with the similar skating rink / water fountain exhibit. Both structures have got even a similar dome shape in the centre. Maybe because it's newer, I like Kitchener City Hall more. Toronto City Hall just looks like a dated slab arc of cement.

VICTORIA PARK
Off to Victoria Park. Victoria Park is definitely quite an attractive area. You should see the homes surrouding that area. Quite marvelous. It gives off a luxious cottage vibe. I know if I had more architectural knowledge, maybe that would've helped to better communicate what I mean.

Anyways, you might recognize this monumental clock facing Gaukel Street. Well, it used to be on the top of the beautiful old Kitchener City Hall before it was demolished for Urban Renewal (See picture below). Sigh. Now, the site is occupied the bland Market Square, which evidently was the home of Eatons (and later Sears) at one point. I really picture this area being a retail hub. It's quite interesting. I've noticed that the KW Record offices have moved out of their dingy place in the suburbs across from Fairview Park, and moved back into the the central core at King and Scott. Good for them.

FAIRVIEW PARK
Then, off to Fairview for some long awaited shopping. What's a tourist adventure without shopping? In good timing too, because my ass wallet was starting to get itchy. And no Gold Bond will help relieve it. Maybe I'm just way too accustomed to my parent's tours and other fobby roadtrips, where there is always a pitstop somewhere where we can splurge our cash on outlet bargain paraphernalia.

At Fairview was where I unexpectedly met up with Leo, where we shopped, but unfortunately, not 'til we dropped. I did get a few things, but it was disappointing overall. That mall needs a serious makeover. The outside facade is right now dingy, and just gives off a ghetto-vibe. The mall, which was constructed in 1966 still really looks like it was built in the 60s. Haha. Even our Markville back in the Mark's Ham has seen an extensive renovation in the past years-- and it was built in 1980s!

GALT & THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE:
Leo and I then ventured to one of Cambridge's magnificent downtowns: Galt. But before one arrives there, one must drive through the wonderous Hespeler Road. This road is indeed the epitomy of uncontrolled sprawling development. A 7-lane route, surrrounded by an assortment of fast food joints, discount retailers, dollar stores, and strip clubs. Also, you've got the highest concentration of big box at the Highway exit; you name it, they have it. Walmart, Home Depot, Sam's Club, Rona, and those smaller big box parasites: Old Navy, Business Depot, Future Shop, Michaels, the list goes on.

It just depresses me every time I'm there. It reminds me some routes spilling off the Interstate in Western New York. Just scary. I must not forget the bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles. Just awful.

After some bit traffic frustration, the signs of rapid sprawl begins to fade. Then all of a sudden, I recognize from a distance that tall church beside the Architecture site that I regularly see in the School of Architecture photos.

We were here. Wow, Galt is breathtaking. Just for a second, I questioned whether I was actually in Canada. It was so different from the places I'm used to seeing here. Man, I really encourage people to really get down there and take a look at this place.

Leo and I head across the bridge across the Grand River and to the Architecture building. As I continue to look around I begin to develop a great feeling of resentment. Those lucky Architecture bastards.

Across the street from tbe building, I noticed that there was a cookie cutter senior citizens' home that looks identical to the one next to the Edward R. Good Funeral Home on King Street, Waterloo. WTF? I was shocked. lol. Though I guess Yee Hong is doing the same cookie cutter technique too.

Back to the Architecture building. I understand that the shotty Waterloo campus is definitely not an inspiring place to for architectural productivity, but this place? Fuck. It was just enviously amazing.

We head inside. Resentment builds. We visit the Architecture library and get reacquainted with the books that once sat in the UMD Library in ES1. It definitely brings a tear to my eye the environment in which they work. The breathtaking exterior view from the clear windows. The impressive computer and design facilities. The interiors look astonishing.

Why am I not an architect again?

We ventured more upstairs into the studio space and spy on what they were working on. We didn't expect to see much, as it was the end of April and the term should start to wrap up.

We were wrong. There was quite a lot of people finishing off some projects. I then bumped into a long-time acquantance back in first-year. I forget her name, but she's a close friend with my former floormate Greg. We caught up with each other. I told her how envious I was of this great facility she gets to work with. To my surprise, she told me that she's really not happy here.

Her expression really shows. Very long face. Looks a bit exhasted. Teary eyes.

I suppose I might have caught her at a wrong time. She then told me something that I'd never forget, "It's like were a bunch of whores that they decided to move down here, and even further alienate us from the others."

I was awestruck.

I know the School has always been indepenedent from other departments, but it must be awful to have that segregation augmented with the obstacles of geography. Leo and I left and walked around along the street. Several things I notice:
(1) Why is the setback on Melville Street so short? I think I'm being generous when I say there's about a metre between the street and the new spinoff stores across from the School. I swear, someone is going to open one of those doors and an incoming pedestrian is going to break his/her nose.
(2) There definitely needs further economic development strategies in this area. Other than some pesky skater kids, the streets were practically barren.
(3) Galt has so much potential to be a great downtown. It's elegent. It's beautiful. It's breathtaking.

This pretty much concludes my trip across this great Region. I hope you all made it this far in the entry. I'd definitely like to hear what you have to say about your tourist-y experiences in the area, especially the topic of Galt and the School of Architecture.

STARTING TO MISS MARKHAM:
I'm currently talking to Tiff, and she mentioned that she cooked today and that she must praise TnT. My first impression was "WTF? Like dynamite?" Then I realized that she meant the Chinese supermarket.

Omg, I think it's time to go home and get reacquainted with my Markham. I think that I've had a sufficient dosage of Waterloo and it's time to head back to the mothership. Yay! Especially as most friends have left the past few days, this place is starting to lose its lustre-- or lack there of.

So yes, May will be a fresh start to a fresh work term. I guess that's what's great about school is that you have the opportunity to start a new slate every four months. Looking foward to hopefully having a relaxing co-op term and enjoy the sunshine.

While on the topic of T&T, there has been word that there's a new Starbucks location in Markham at the same Warden / Steeles location. Yes, this is exciting news indeed. There will finally be some relief from the always crowded Historic Unionville location. Fantastique. More caffiene, yay.

EAST SIDE MATT'S:
I have quite a bit of food left here in Waterloo. If anyone would like to take advantage of delicious Matt-prepared food, I would be delighted to establish Matt's little bistro. I have an assortment of fresh vegetables, dumplings, noodles, pasta, campbell's soups, juicy ribs, chicken strips, bananas, apples, bread and a whole lot more. Ahh, help me finish it all. Ahh!

TIM'S & TAX-EXEMPT CAMPUS MEALS:
Speaking of caffiene, I was checking my WATcard transactions, and I have deposited a total of $140 dollars on it this term; only about $30 of that amount was not used for coffee and donuts at Tim Hortons or the blends at Dana Porter Browser's and SCH Bookends. $110 on coffee and sometimes the occasional donut. Ew.

Yes, the stats are pretty sad. But coffee is just too good to quit.

Does anybody ever understand how the tax-exempt program works with our WATcards? For example, a $1.12 medium coffee at Timmy's comes to:

• $1.20 without your WATcard (Which makes sense: 7% Tax)


• $1.13 with your WATcard (I don't get it.)

Also, if you are interested in how the Ontario Retail Sales Tax system works, check it out. Don't be ripped off guys. :)

SHAWN DESMAN:
Do you know what's playing on my iTunes right now? Shawn Desman! I know, no shame here. The new Let's Go song is pretty good, I'm liking the use of the rhythm synthesizer. However, if you like the song, I urge you not, I repeat, not to check out the video. It will make you hate it.

Haha, not only is the video full of cheesy dance moves, awkward female models, and there is an interlude where he dances on the rhythm synthesizer keys just like DanceDanceRevolution! HAHHAHA.

Check out the video here. (Requires Windows Media)

Whoa, is been a long time since I've updated. There hasn't been much in the forefront. It is however that time when people, including myself, begin to feel really bitter and moody.

BITTER ENTRY ALERT

The moodiness, when intermingled with uncooperative group members, makes for an ultimate poisonous sitation. I think I can look behind the events that have occured this week. But I just have to say one thing: It is really true, if you wanna do something right, you have to do it yourself.

Yes, I admit, I am a bit of a control freak. But I believe that I'm a control freak for a good purpose, for the purpose of the team-- especially when no one likes to take initiative in project things.

My marketing group has especially let me down this week. I don't mind and am willing doing extra work for the team, but if you do volunteer to work on something, the group trusts that the work *does* get done. But no, I have to scramble in the last few hours before the project to fill in the parts that weren't completed. Which of course made me run to class, and beg the prof to not enforce any deductions-- since it was 15 minutes late.

Ugh, I seriously have issues working in groups. Because it just ends up having a few people picking up the slack for the others.

Hmm, I think this isn't something to put in a resume. Don't tell my boss.

But whatever, the work is done. I'll put it behind me. That will be my last rant about that.

UGH, it also doesn't help when the roommates are being annoying. Or maybe my tolerance is just wearing thin at this point. UGH. That's another story in itself.

---

In other news, don't forget to switch your clocks when you sleep tonight (Saturday). There is a very informative website about the history and rationale of Daylight SavingsSaving Time. Within the site, there is a great flash image that illustrates the different changes at different latitudes.

ADDENDUM:
Goodbye Pope, we love you.

Omg, I still can't stop cracking up.

The roommates and I on the occaision do what every university student does: order pizza.

Tonight when I came home from the volleyball game, I noticed my roommate, Tommy, watching tivo with what I perceive to be pineapple and ham pizza. So here goes the scenario:

Matt: *gasp* You guys ordered pizza without me? Tommy: *laughs* This is not delivery.... it's Delicisio! Matt: Hahaha, yeah good one.

HHAHHAHHAHHAHA!

The funny part is that it really was Delicisio! I can't believe I feel for the damn commercial trick! It really really looks like Pizza Pizza delivery! No joke! Omg, those guys at Kraft have quite an amazing product!

Man, I should definitely go buy some and take advantage of my utilities.

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In other funny news, let's all get acquainted with Anoop Dogg with their video rendition of "Drop It Like a Fob", via Janelle:

HHAHAHHA. This is brilliant. Hmmm, I wonder what *our* Anoop is up to. I see him at P-Mall quite often back a while ago.

The flags at UW were at half mast today to commemorate the late Professor Dufournaud today, our jolly stats prof. I captured this picture on my way to the lab today.

Even the flags seem gloomy.

I remember the times back in ENVS 278, when I'd be consistently late for class, because it was at 8:30 am 10:00 am (Update: it wasn't as early as I thought)-- if I wasn't mistaken-- it's a shame I didn't have the liberty to take Multivariate Statistics. It seemed like all of you-- and there was many of you-- had a blast in the class. I remember how rather energetic he would be even though it was super-early. I also remember his chicken-scratch overhead stats notes. I also remember cramming math late at night for the midterm and final-- never a good idea-- and ended up with a poor mark-- but I was asking for it.

Because of Dufournaud, I will never forget ANOVA: Analysis of Variance. Hehe, it will be forever in my head.

I still remember MSN-ing Tiff, because I didn't get something-- and where we discussed how Anova Lee would be a good name for my future daughter.

To make it even worse, one of my beloved marketing group members, who I love dearly, was involved in an ATV accident when she was vacationing with her husband and child in Mexico this past Reading Week. I received a call from her husband today informing me of the situation and that she will not be attending classes for the rest of the term-- I was completely awestruck. She's currently in the hospital being treated for several broken bones. Luckily, the family managed to get back to Canada in one piece.

I'm really going to miss her.

I think it's the most unfortunate to encounter these accidents on vacation away from home. I cannot even begin to imagine how it would have been like to have to seek medical attention in some place foreign-- especially when there is a cultural and language barrier. It is one thing to be in a foreign place, but in addition having to deal with these life-threatening situations must be unconceivably terrifying.

Going back to Professor Dufournaud, I understand that he was taking a year off oveseas to develop an Urban Planning program at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). It undoubtedly must be frightening to undergo something this tragic away from familiar soil.

Back to marketing, if you have a minute to procrastinate, I've uploaded our marketing presentation video that we put together several weeks ago on psychological pricing.

Download here [RAR: WMV, 9.6 MB]

Take a look, and tell me what you think. It is purposely done "amateurish" to give it more of a humourous spin. My apologies to the choppiness of the video, the WindowsMedia compressor is very poor. And btw, this is not the video I've been working on all this week-- that's another project. ;)

The file is RAR'ed, so you will have to decompress it. Unfortunately, I cannot put it in hyperdot, because I hog webspace than I should be-- and Sympatico limits to 10 MB, so it's perfect.

Our marketing group will never be the same. :(

Comment me if you'd you cannot read RAR files (...and shame on you, if you don't)

So, I'm really digging my WLU marketing class. It's great just to have one class that is not planning-related--- just to keep you sane from the abundance of papers I have to write.

Anyways, my marketing group is super cool. I work with these two mature students (and this other WLU student)-- and I'm becoming more "see lai" because of them.

On a side note, see lai is a Chinese term defined as middle-aged women who perform most of the household duties, who in Tiffany's definition are "long winded woman, slightly overweight who enjoys to gossip, make soup, and plays Mahjong." Maybe you would disagree with the definitions :P

So yes, my group are pretty much that-- my definition anyway-- but still carry a full-time job. They enjoy talking about their children, and I get so intrigued in their discusssion, because you just don't normally interact like this. We were talking about how one of my group member's teenage daughter is so hard to manage, and telling me how she doesn't understand us Generation Y's, and they were asking me for advice to 'cure' her adolescent daughter-- I had no advice for her, c'mon surely we're in the same generation, but tweens are yet to be understood.

The funny thing is that I enjoy talking to them. Last night, when we get sidetracked on our project (again), and I was ranting about how I can't and hate to cook. Michelle, one of my group members, stepped in a gave me a few pointers for easy, healthy cooking. OMG. These ladies are too cool.

Just you wait, we're going to start having tupperware parties, and oh Mary Kay parties! OMG. lol.

Another great thing is that they're so eager to work! Oh they're just great. Maybe I, too, will be a see lai one day. Hmm, Matthew, be careful what you wish for.

It's hard to notice being on the UW Campus for the majority of our stay, but in fact, there is really a growing immigrant population choosing to settle in mid-sized cities such as Kitchener-Waterloo. I remember reading an article from Nicholas Keung, who specializes on reporting topics related to immigration in the Star. Here's the article "Why Immigrants Fare Better Outside GTA."

He says that more immigrants are choosing to settle in the mid-sized cities because it has a lower cost of living, and poses less competition in the job market. I find this article interesting because people often settled in y'know the Big-3 gateway communities (Tor, Mon, Van).

Anyways, why I'm bringing up this topic is that I'm beginning to witness this trend. I was at the Philip/Albert Dollarama with my parents when I moved my things back to Waterloo. There was a middle-aged Chinese lady and judging from fashion, looks like a newcomer. She approaches me and asks me something in Mandarin about some product she has in her hand. I, knowing absolutely no Mandarin, asked my dad to go find out what she's asking and help her out. Then staring at the two go at it. After when they finish I curiously asked what she was asking. She apparently was asking whether the product in her hand was detergent.

It was bleach.

Apparently, she was indeed a newcomer to Waterloo from Mainland China. It's weird because that feeling felt so familiar to me. In a way, I kind of identified with her, it seemed like it was my family 15 years ago when we settled here. Obviously and luckily, my parents are fairly fluent in English, but nevertheless, the feeling was familiar.

Yes, it seems Waterloo is becoming 15-years-ago-Markham, where you are just happy to see someone of the same kind. I remember in our street in Markham, there was this other Chinese family, which we became very close to, and would just converse and talk just because we were the same. We share similar values, food, and language. It brings that homely feeling.

Of course, it's not the case anymore in Markham.

I'm intrigued at the lifestyle of immigrants living in a place such as Kitchener-Waterloo. Even myself, who have settled and have adapted the culture for so long, still feel the culture clash when you leave the realm of the University. When you go to the Galaxy (or even Tuesday night Louies before the beer kicks in), I still get that feeling of being a minority. The life in UW is definitely not consistent with the life in the surrounding city. If even I feel this notion of culture clash, I can even imagine what the Chinese lady felt-- not knowing the language, not understanding the culture. And what sucks is that there really isn't that social support for these newcomers.

I really see that KW's cultural landscape will for sure change in the next decade, however, I truly commend these families who decided to live here when there's hardly a sign of anything culturally familiar.

I'm officially 21 everyone! Thanks again for all the warm bday wishes :) Thanks for the thoughtful gifts and celebrationness, you guys rock. if i was on xanga, I would give you all super props :P ! You're all the best!

So yes, not only do I get to celebrate my birthday, I also get to celebrate my school-doneness. TALK ABOUT COOL OR WHAT! But seriously, having an exam on my birthday (or even close to it) has been very foreign to me for the past 17 years of my schooling. Damn you Waterloo for unforeigning it for me! Waterloo, love it love it!

So yes, I'm finally done half of my university career. wow. i wouldn't say that it passed by fast; just moderately fast. really really hoping that the second half of uni kicks some first-half ass. please pretty please UW. Special thanks to the Planners that made it all a little easier to bear-- espcially this difficult times this term; Bow for being the super-duper Waterloo buddy (tho not a 'privileged planner'); Shima for being my partner in crime, and making a kick-ass gis project that *ahem* TA obvious envied!; Tiff for being the spunky girl that she is; Marty, Larry, Shawn, Mark, Scott and Paolo you guys all rock, even though we all only had one class (for the most part) together, we stuck quite close nonetheless :) we're family now la. and of course, the kids in toronto--mark, leo, eric, eugene and jenny--for making my stays back in toronto un-waterloo-like, just the way i like it.

i'm finally out of my beloved 46 Amos pink house, or better known as "69 Anus". Yes, we pushed it a little. Anyways, i'm gonna miss this house, despite their paper-thin walls that don't guard noise that you perhaps don't want to be heard. :S Goodbye consistently half-dressed construction worker sublets! buh bye! Someone remind me to haunt them down for not playing the fucking gas bill!!!! Jaime and Paul have been excellent roommates this term; kudos for both of em. It's funny how much closer we've become this term; i would not have imagined the happy roommate conclusion. I have absolutely no rants whatsoever; and you know being me, that's BIG!

fucking economics is done, ranting about it will end as of right now. exam sucked; he managed to trick us again. thank god for my neighbour hamish for bringing me from failing to passing miserably. he's a cool planner who spins and has wine parties. go hamish. i will find out how i did next week economics; so no promises, i suppose about the non-ranting.

alright, i will be gone for several days to elora gorge with the planning folks. omg, its 2.55, and must get up at 8.00! AHH! better get to bed! matthew no electricity? no real shower? living in a tent? i must have gone insane. :P i'll let you know how i will manage. but hey, if paris and nicole can run across the country doing what they did, i guess i could live with this :P
for once, a planning gathering that does not involve school! looking forward to seeing everyone including liz and jeff who i don't see as much as i should. :D take care everyone!

If Economics was a tree, I'd stomp on its soil.
If Economics was a cow, I'd sell it to Danier.
If Economics was a man, I'd rip off his balls.
If Economics was a dog, I'd offer it scrumchous Godiva.
If Economics was a student, I'd send him/her to UW.

If Economics was Shima, I'll axe her iBook.
If Economics was Bowie, I'd ban all lip gloss.
If Economics was Britney Spears, I'd install her a penis.
If Economics was Tiff, ....well.. I won't say it.
If Economics was me, I'd make it take Economics! AHHHHH!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Please kill me now.

Speaking of how much I hate UW, there's actually a "UW SUCKS" blog. I don't enjoy his writing style however, but it speaks to me; it identifies with me. Very much so.

As you can see, I'm dreading to start this Econ Research Paper. I've never written one in my in entire life, and it's creepy that my mark depends on it. FUCK!

Yes, I mentioned in my lovely poem that I'd install Britney a penis. Let elaborate on what I mean:

Which one of these is not like the others?

Answer? NONE! Well, sorta, the rest are Britney without makeup! Isn't she handsome? mmmmm.

A dude. A boy. A sausage. A male. A human being with penile reproductive organs.

I must say, Britney's a pretty hot guy! LOL!

GIS is taking forever.
It's a weekend in Waterloo
Economics flopped.
Matthew is not a happy camper.

That been my kinda week.

So yes, I've been working on GIS almost all week now. Shima and I, aptly known at S & M Consultants, are totally tired of this project. Well, I'll speak for myself-- I'M tired of this project. ugh!!!

I'm at a point that I just don't care about Economics. I'm sure I won't fail, but I'm expecting a C or a D. It just a matter of doing super-duper on everything else to offset this mighty crapola mark. An 'A' average is highly unlikely this term. Fuckballs. Unless the Grades Fairy pays a me a visit, I'm doomed. Oh, come to me, please come to me.

Planning-Leo thankfully stayed in Waterloo this weekend. I'm trying to start getting rid of as much food as possible, because I'm only going to be staying in Waterloo for another week (I'm probably going to go home to study for finals). What best way to get rid of all your food and mix it all up andSTIR-FRY! mmmmm. my cooking went from bad to worse. Not to mention, Leo is the shittiest help ever. I told him to cut up meat into slices, and he accidentally dropped it into the sink; once food gets into my sink, let it be, because of the chronic contamination of radioactive wastes left by uncleaned dishes from roommates is beyond repair.

To put a story short, we ended up going to McDicks.

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Saw Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Galaxy. Interesting movie. I'm unsure about the credibility of the movie, and as such, I don't know what to think of it. Whether it is true or not, it definitely opens the dialogue and challenges our rather naive trust in members of authority.

All I do want to say is that it's a total shame that the primary hope for young adults of lower stratifications of income, like those in Moore's hometown of Flint, is to enlist in the military forces. Sometimes I wonder why people would want to potentially put their lives in danger, but come to think of it, this may be the only hope for them for a stable future.

Maybe its just me, but that reeks of disgrace.

The methods of recruitment and promotion was repulsive. They brought two Navy Seals, to circulate around the most impoverished areas of Flint, and basically lured them by glorifying the 'coolness' of being in the military. They dared to mention names of celebrities such as Shaggy and others who, too, were in the forces. Okay, maybe they were influenced by the camera to act this way-- as people act differently when they're being observed; let's really hope that is the case. Also, the most appauling was the television recruitment campaigns to promote more young adults to join the forces. The commercial promoted people in the Forces in a digital animation format like a video game similar to those games of the Tom Clancy series on PS2.

War is definitely no video game.

Regardless of whether of the strong ties are between Bush and the Saudis are as what Moore puts it, I feel the practices I've mentioned already reveal enough of a government gone wrong. Maybe they should allocate its resources to deal with its OWN social problems and beliefs BEFORE they mess around in other people's business.

ADDENDUM:
This little fucker managed to do it again. Damn it damn it. Now it's a matter of kicking ass