This Is the End

My undergrad life has officially ended.  I have attended both the Convocation ceremony and the Grad Ball. I was actually quite nervous for Convocation. There was something about getting my diploma that made me restless. I was not ready to close that chapter of my life. For four years, I spent most of my days at JMSB either in class or at the JMAS office. All this involvement made it really hard for me to let go. When I put on my grad gown, I suddenly felt ready to move on. In that split second, I grew up and was excited to walk through that newly opened door. That feeling lasted until I was standing backstage, ready to walk across the stage to shake hands with the university president, provost and the dean. All that confidence jumped out of the window and I became nervous as hell. “What If I trip? What if I look horrible on the TV screen? What if they mispronounce my name?” But like my parents have taught me in all these years, I sucked it up and went for it.  I thought all of this would be a really exciting moment, but really all you do is walk, shake hands and take a picture. All of that last 30 seconds and I was invited to go back to me seat and sit for another 2 hours.

Grad ball on the other hand was way more entertaining. Cocktail hour, dinner, open bar and dance floor with some of the greatest people I’ve met. I wore a purple peplum dress, a gold statement necklace from BCBG and my nude Miu Miu heels. I’m seriously going to miss being an university student. 

Diploma in hand - officially a Con U grad!

Shameless selfie with my date A

Montreal in the Dark

Late night shooting session with M in a dark, empty Montreal.  I haven’t gone shooting in a long time, so it definitely felt good to take the camera out. Plus M just recently bought a new Nikon, so he was happy to be taking pictures too. It was really cool to see places that are usually super crowded and busy, like Decarie blvd, all quiet and empty. At first it felt awkward because it felt so foreign. But the new perspective ended up being quite refreshing.  This night trip wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t stop by the St. Joseph Oratory for pictures. As if the empty city isn’t quiet enough, the oratory was extra quiet. Montreal was beautiful from up there though. It really would’ve been perfect if there weren’t delinquents drinking right behind us, yelling all kinds of crap while M and I are admiring the city lights. I mean, who the hell goes drinking in front of a church in the middle of the night?

They See Me Rollin', They Hatin'

I woke up early this morning, nervous and excited. I'd said I was mostly nervous. At 9am, I had an appointment at the dealership to pick up my car. Went over some papers with sales rep, signed a gazillion pages and my car was brought in for me. The sale rep took the time to teach me the various functions and settings of the car and bam, I was ready to go.  Being the typical Asians they are, my parents insisted on choosing the plate number. I personally couldn't care less, but they insisted on having the number "8" in it. The dealership is located in Brossard, where a large population of Asians reside. Naturally, plates with "88", "68" or "58" were already taken. I was so afraid my parents were going to make a fuss out of it, but thankfully they didn't. They were obviously a bit disappointed that the good numbers were taken, but there was nothing they could've done. I mean, it's no one's fault if other clients bought their cars before I did, right?

As I drove the car away from the dealership, I felt so free. I am now finally able to go out without constantly having to find means of arriving to destination and getting home safely, or relying on someone else to drive me. No more fighting with the siblings over who gets to use the car on the weekend or who has to drive who. While I know this freedom comes with a huge load of responsibilities, I am definitely ready to take them on!

The Grad Life

Graduation... I never thought I'd finally graduate from university. It all seemed so far away when I started my bachelor's degree. Year after year, I never worried because I kept telling myself I still had time. Still had time to study more, time to improve my GPA, time to start planning my life... But time passed too quickly, way too quickly. Here am I now, a university graduate - finally- waiting to start my career. At first it was all very exciting, but the suddenly the thought of entering the real world is starting to be frightening. As a student, we got away with so much and people seemed to be nicer and more understanding just because we're still in school "Accounting? Oh, good for you! Good luck with your studies, you'll do great!" they all say.

Lucky me, I still have the summer to bum around and pretend to be a student on summer vacation. I still get my student discounts and pay cheap rates for my gym membership - one of the reasons why I wish on wasn't graduating. Life is just so much cheaper as a student!

On the other hand, graduating gave me a legit reason to finally buy a car. A car that I will actually use for work, so I'm not just getting one for the sake of owning a car! Purchasing a car was the very first decision I made as a grad. The moment I shook hands with the car dealer to close the deal was unreal. I felt I was pushed out of the bubble I've been living for the past 23 years, where real responsibilities didn't exists because I always had my parents to tell me whether or not I was making the right decision or simply make decisions for me even though I desperately wanted them to leave me alone. But there I was at the dealership, confused, scared (all the while feeling excited?!) looking at my parents, hoping they would tell me what to do - Yes, take the deal/ No, don't take it. "Dad, what do I do? Should I get this car?" For the very first time, my father, who always has an opinion (especially when it comes to cars) and who lives by the " Dad knows best" philosophy answered: " I don't know, you will be driving it. I can't choose for you. You will have to decide for yourself". I was dumbfounded! At that moment, I did what everyone says to do; I put aside everything and listened to my guts. Who would've known buying a car would be so difficult!

Maple Syrup Saturday

One of the cool things of living in Quebec is that every Spring we get to stuff our faces with foods soaked in maple syrup at the "cabane a sucre", which literally means sugar shack.

On a nice Saturday afternoon, after writing a midterm, we drove all the way to Mont Saint-Gregoire to indulge in all things maple syrup. The drive was no more than 40 minutes, but I still considered it to be a mini road trip. It was fun to catch up with Z as I haven't seen her in a very long time. The first thing we did once we arrived at destination was to obviously head to the restaurant and eat all kinds of greasy food, submerged under maple syrup. Good thing we only do this once a year. Can you imagine eating like this on a regular basis? I don't think anyone can...

To relieve ourselves from our full stomachs after lunch, we went hiking in the woods, where there was still some snow, despite the warmer weather. Little did we know that under that thin layer of snow, there was actually ice. We all ended up falling on our bums of a few times, especially on our way back, where we had to walk downhill!

The Girl With Blue Eyes

My eyes are brown. Like most Asians, they are plain and boring. So, what did Korean create to make our eyes stand out? Circle lenses! Circle lenses are basically contact lenses that make your iris look bigger and they come in a huge variety or colors and designs. In high school, I've always wanted to try colored contact lenses, but never really dared. Well, I finally caved in and buy two pairs of circle lenses - one blue, one gray, which I write a review at a later date, on yesstyle.ca

When I first wore the blue contacts, my first thought was "woooah". I have to say, I was scared for the first few seconds. I have friends who wear colored contacts, so I am used of seeing Asians with blue, green and gray eyes.  But having a different eye color on myself was something I had to get used of. I like that my eyes stand out more and that people lose themselves looking into my eyes because it's so unusual. My sister consistently tells me it's ugly because it's unnatural. But I guess that's also why I like it. I find it brightens up my face.

Concerning the prices, I didn't think the lenses were overly expensive. Quality wise, I had assumed with the low prices, the lenses would be cheaply made, but so far I haven't had any issues yet. The circle lenses are, however, much thinner than my usual contacts (Air Optix Aqua), so I do handle them with much more care. I feel I the lenses will break with the lightest touch! Despite the long hours of wear, I haven't felt much dryness. No discomfort overall! I orignally wanted to get a green pair, but my prescription was out of stock. Once it's available again I'm a definitely getting them, so get ready for my green eyes!

Birthday Macarons

Last Sunday, on my very own birthday, I had to wake up early to go write an midterm exam. Yes, you read correctly, I had an exam on Sunday morning! No, it wasn't an alternate... that's just how my university does thing. " Oh let's schedule exams on weekends; Sunday mornings!"

Since I didn't get the chance to plan out what to do to celebrate with my friends, I pushed the celebrations to some other time and stayed home and relaxed. By relaxing, I meant making maracons! I've been wanting to make some macarons for a bloody long time but never really got to it! I called up my friend Mark and asked him he was wanted to join, which he did. Good thing he came, because I don't think it would've been as successful had he been not here. I was all over the place, creating messes after messes. Mark, on the other hand had previously made macarons, so he was able to guide me through it. We made rose flavored macaons, which are one of my favorite. The first time I had taste rose macarons was in Paris and I've been thinking about it ever since! Overall, the macarons were good, but we might have over baked the merengues and didn't put enough coloring. It's definitely something we will have to try making again!