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!

Heartbeat

A while back, I started to watch a Taiwanese TV series called Love, Now. The storyline is impossible corny, but so goddamn addictive. You just want to know what the hell happens to these characters, no matter how obvious or stupid their actions are. Especially when the main actor is good looking and speaks perfect English (George Hu grew up in the USA, making him a sorta white-washed Taiwanese god - just how I like them. Ha!).

Now, going back to the essential, one of the female characters in the show has this beautiful, rose gold heartbeat necklace. I don't know why, but I became quite obsessed with it and the need to have the same necklace grew bigger as the show progressed. For the longest time, I couldn't find it anywhere online. But, I eventually found the necklace on Etsy and bought it without hesitation- it came up to less to $16, including shipping so it didn't do much damage to my wallet. It obviously isn't made of real rose gold, but I am definitely not going to complain for the price I paid. After almost a month of waiting, I finally received the necklace today! I love my Return to Tiffany necklace, but I feel it's time for a change, even if it's just temporary. I wanted something unique and I am so glad I found this necklace. There's just something about the heartbeat line that makes me love this necklace; it's simple, yet statement-making.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Today's weather was absolutely....... white. I woke up to a nice snowstorm that buried the entire town under a thick layer of snow, left cars stuck at every corner and pedestrians walking with their legs completely lost under the snow. The good thing about me working on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day is that I got today off. I was one of the lucky few who could've spent the whole without setting foot outside. But of course, leave it up to me to feel the need to go take pictures outside. "I'll get some crazy shots! It's only snow, how bad can it be?!"

To be honest, it wasn't cold. I was well prepared - had my earmuffs, wore a hoodie under my parka, made sure to wear my scarf and gloves to keep me warm. It was more the wind and the 30 cm of snow in my backyard that made it difficult. I felt I was in the North Pole, ready to walk into Santa Claus at any moment. I don't regret going out, I had fun! I just wished the conditions were a tad bit better for me to get better photos.

 

Chocolate Season

A month without posts, you know what that means... I just survived final exams! I made it out alive, so it's a good thing! However, this means I work crazy hours at work because it's the holidays - don't you just love working in retail! This is when I cannot be any happier at the fact I have Deloitte waiting for me to start next fall!

My plans for catching up with sleep is absolutely failing. There has been maybe one night since the start of my vacation where I actually slept in. Sad, isn't it. Despite me really wanting to sleep, I seem to always choose going out with friends and live my social life at its fullest while I still can before school starts again.Who needs sleep when you have friends, right? I know you all think I'm crazy agree with me.

As exhausted as I was from serving last minute Christmas shoppers all day, I met up with my friend S for some girl time. Juliette & Chocolat recently opened at Dix30 and we chatted over some delicious dark, semi-sweet hot chocolate and caramel fleur de sel chocolate mousse - fancy isn't it? I didn't feel much of the holiday spirit until I stood in front of the newly opened J&C, where beautiful light ornaments where installed along with a gorgeous, gorgeous Christmas tree lit up, in the middle of the square. Of course, at that very moment, there was some light snow floating in the air, slowly falling to the ground. Beau-ti-ful, I tell you. Beau-ti-ful. At the end of the night, I felt that I suffered from several diabetes attacks due to the high amount of sugar I consumed. But every now then, it's always fun to indulge, especially when you're with a friend.

Mon Shu Girl

Karl Lagerfeld x Shu Uemura is honestly one of the most exciting collaborations everrrr!! For this holiday season, Shu Uemura teamed up with Karl Lagerfeld, legendary designer, to release a large collection of make up, skin care, brushes and lashes, with colors and package designs selected and created by Karl himself!

Shu Uemura has always been one of my favorite cosmetic brands. My obsession with Shu began when I first got my hands on their Fiber Xtension mascara, which very sadly, no longer exists. Best masacara I've ever used. I seriously don't know why it's discontinued. Now, I am a huge fan of the cleansing oils and of course of the indispensable eyelash curler. I use both of these two items daily and will keep using them! The eyelash curler just fits my almond shaped eyes perfectly, unlike a few other brands with which I always struggled to curl my lashes. The brand's philosophy, innovation , quality (the colors are always beaaauuutiful) and packaging are the reasons why I love love it so much. Plus, the fact that it's a Japanese is definitely a plus for my inner Japanese girl. Did you know Karl Lagerfeld uses the pressed shadows the sketch his designs? When I said the colors are beautiful, I really mean it. Even Uncle Karl agrees!

Now that I've explained why Shu Uemura is so amazing, let me tell why I think this collab is amazing too..... Well, it's very simple. Uncle Karl = amazing. Shu Uemura= amazing. KL + SU = amazing + amazing = AMAZING. Logical, no?

Honestly, I am obviously over doing it, but I really do think it's a great collection. The palettes are quite nice and the packaging is really cute. The icon, Mon Shu Girl, is the merger of the Japanese cute anime and Uncle Karl's coolness.  I haven't had the chance to stop by the SU counter at Holt Renfrew, but I will be doing it very soon. I am thinking of purchasing the lipstick in Parisienne Pink...

Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura

Parisienne Pink (first from left)

Pictures from Beautezine

SKYFALL: 15

Can you guess what this post is about? I think I made it pretty evident through the title. But yes, Skyfall! How excited are you? I am bloody excited! Part of the reason why I am so obsessed with the British is because of James Bond (and because of Harry Potter & David Beckham). But seriously, James Bond is the real definition of swag. There is just no one as cool as him.

Ever since the trailer first came out, I've been a good girl, patiently waiting for the movie to come out. However, after hearing Adele sing the movie's theme song, it's getting harder to contain my excitement! The song, simply title 'Skyfall' is a ballad, which Adele sings beautifully with just enough melodrama. Her strong vocals and her British roots really make her the perfect singer for Skyfall. Adele and James Bond - what a brilliant combination! The song has been on repeat for a while on my playlist now and I'm sure I will still be listening to it for quite some time, just like most of Adele's songs. Funny how most things I like are British...

Oreo Wednesday

What do you do on your day off? You make deep fried Oreos stuffed with bananas, obviously. The video came up on my Twitter feed recently and I decided to give it a try since it was a super simple recipe. It was a nice to finally spend a day doing anything but school related work. Lies - I did write a few emails for JMAS, but that's just my workaholic side.

I took some pictures, which means I took take out my D5100! I missed it so much! Honestly I should've taken this day off to go shoot given it was a beaaaauuutiful day. But whatever, these heart-attack-in-a-bite were totally worth it. Of course, leave it up to me to forget to take pictures of the final product because I was too busy stuffing my face. I'll have to admit, I wasn't sure how these fried banana Oreos would turn out. Especially with the stares my sister was giving me. She did end up liking them, so I win. Maybe next time I will make them with Fudgee-Os instead of Oreos. Deep fried choco-banana deliciousness? Hell yeah.

Temporary Freedom

Midterms are over, yes!

My plan right now is literally to spend a day doing absolutely nothing. Although I recently saw on Youtube, a deep fried Oreos stuff with bananas recipe and I think I am going to try it. At first, the name of the recipe totally turned me off, but on second thought, it seems pretty interested. So, I'm going to give it a try and we shall see! It feels great to be free again, even if it's only temporary. Final exams will here soon enough.

On another note, it's official - I have signed with Deloitte! As of October 2013, I will be working as a Staff Accountant at the Montreal office. I couldn't be happier with my decision. For the longest time, I always aimed to get recruited at Ernst & Young, but after this past recruitment season, I have come to realize that Deloitte is much better for me. I can't wait to start!

The Offers

For the past few years, my goal was to graduate from university with a job waiting for me. After all the efforts I've put into my studies, I was ecstatic when I received job offers from PwC and Deloitte - I couldn't believe I had actually received two offers from the two biggest accounting firms in the world! It's been weeks since the verbal offers have been made and yet I still can't believe the great opportunities that are available to me. I am so glad that my efforts didn't go to waste and that hardworking students are rewarded.

Written offers were sent out today and I happily received both of mine by email. I won't say which firm I have chosen just yet - I will once I hand in my signed offer! All I can say for now is that this is definitely one of the many milestones of my life. If you asked me in early September if I was excited to graduate, the answer would have been "no". Now, I can't wait to finish my undergraduate studies and to start life as a working woman! This is definitely something I look forward to. But the biggest question is, what should I do with my $2,000 signing bonus?

Life in Three Paragraphs

It's that time of the year again! Recruitment season is coming to an end and midterms are fast approaching. In other words, it's time for the "hey-let's-procrastinate-and-write-a new-post-on-the-blog-I've-neglected" posts!

Last time I wrote, I was on the other side of the world, all the way in China, enjoying life without access to Facebook. Fast forward to September, another school year,  another CPA, CA recruitment season. It was basically two weeks of running around attending firm tours and meeting firm representatives while going to school. Thank god JMAS has Sabizzle, who devoted herself to coordinate everything! Thank you, Sabizzle! Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu! Following the networking, it was time for interviews. That translates into anxiously waiting for interview invitations and dying of stress while waiting for offers to come your way...

Finally, after all that chaos, here we are in October... I know what you're thinking; did I end up finding a job? I sure did! My hard work finally paid off and I walked out with not one, but two job offers from two major accounting firms! All there's left to do is to actually choose which offer I am going to accept. Although I pretty much have an idea which firm I will choose.... ;) I shall keep it a secret for now, but I will hear from me soon enough - I pinky swear to you.

"Give Me One Day & I'll Give You a Thousand Years"

Here I am, sitting in my hotel room in Hangzhou, exhausted from the day. This morning, after  brief visit to the Bund and Nanjing street in Shanghai, we traveled to Hangzhou, an old Chinese capital years and years ago. What I like the most about this city is it's importance in the history of China (also beacause and it's clean and beautiful). We mainly visited Xi Hu (West Lake) and it's bloody gooooorgeoussss. The landscape is mind blowing with the green mountains over the lake. It's literally like the Chinese paintings! The place has also temples and gardens, so it's really nice place to walk around. However, the temperature is incredibly high and the amount of visitors is just too much. I know China is a crowded place, but you don't really know what "China is crowded" means until you've actually stepped foot on Chinese soil and see the sea (more like ocean) of people. Worst part of it all, Chinese people aren't always the most well mannered people. The amount of times someone walked into me, (despite having enough space to walk by without shoving themselves onto me) without apologies is impossible to count. People shout, push, pull, cut lines and do all sorts of things that most people would probably condemn in the West. But, despite all of this, I am really enjoying my time in China. There's so much culture and the scenery is to die for.

We ended our day with a cabaret show at the Song Dynasty Town (it's a bit like a Song Dynasty themed amusement park). The Romance of the song Dynasty was crraaaaaazy! The show is based on Hangzhou's history and mythology. The show consisted of singing, dancing and acrobatics. I thought it would be a cheesy show, but it really wasn't. It's totally exceeded my expectations. I found out afterwards that this show is actually one of the top three famous cabaret shows in the world (the other two are shows in Paris and Las Vegas). It's such a shame they only show in Hangzhou. I think it's just as good as a Cirque du Soleil show.

Up In The Air

There are so many reason why a person can hate flying. You're confined to a seat for a long time (in my case, it's a 15 fifteen hour flight from Toronto to Shanghai), a non stop engine sound in the background, the smell of recycled oxygen or you could be simply scared shitless because of all the terrorist attacks that have occurred in the past. The list could go on and on. But me, I LOVE flying. I love being in the plane.I love plane food, I love the smell of the plane and I love sitting there, in that seat, looking out the window and be in the clouds. It's amazing to be up in the air and see the small, tiny houses and cars down there. Some of the urban planning designs are really great!

While landing in Toronto, I got the see the city's cityscape with the CN Tower in the background. This is one of the reasons I love flying. You get the see views that you'll never otherwise be able to see! I wish I had take a picture. But, I just couldn't stop starring and by the time it clicked in my head that I need to capture this view, the plane was already turning around, getting ready to land. I've flown quite a few times in my life and I always make the same amateur mistake. I always get distracted by the amazing sight that I completely forget to immortalize it. Usually, this is when I'd end my post saying that I won't make the same mistake again, but I know I will, so I won't.

See You Soon, China

This is it. I leave in less than 24 hours! I am slowly getting more and more excited. Being Asian, I am often asked if I have ever visited China. The sad answer is no. Although, in my defense, I was born in Taiwan... so it's normal that I've never been to the Mainland, especially when I moved to Canada when I was five. That being said, I still haven't finished packing! I am usually not this last minute, but I been busy lately. Plus, after my exam yesterday, I needed some time to relax, so I went to La Fontana with a few of my closest friends for drinks and dessert. It was so great to sit down with them and talk about the most random things!

Lounging outside before the rain

While I am super psyched about my trip, I am also a bit nervous. The ending leg of my vacation is a three day stay in....... TOKYO, JAPAN! And, trust me, I can't wait! But, due to the fact that I took Japanese this summer, my dad is expecting me to put in practice everything I have learned. Can you feel the pressure? Because I sure do. What if I unintentionally offend someone? What if I am not polite enough? It's so easy to be impolite when speaking in Japanese because there are so many forms of politeness. I guess I will have brush up on my Japanese on the plane.

また後で (mata ato de) : See You Later

My Japanese class finally came to an end. I wrote the final exam this past Thursday, after spending the entire night cramming all kinds of grammar rules and vocab. Let's just say it was a long, long, long, long night. After the exam, we all went for lunch at Sakura, where we surprised our teacher and TA with flowers and thank you cards.It was actually a super sad moment. We literally spent everyday together for the past two months and a half. Oi sensei was so kind and patient with us, it was unbelievable. She always walked into class with a huge smile, while all of us sat in there with our tired and annoyed faces - I actually feel guilty now. Soyama sensei, our beloved TA will be so dearly missed. Every afternoon we've spent in class with her was always filled with laughter and funny stories. So many times I wanted to skip class on a sunny afternoon, but I was never able to do it because of her. The thought of missing her class always made me feel so bad, so I never skipped. Although, very often I would just sit there half asleep, not listening - I am honestly a really bad student aren't I? I am super grateful to have gotten two such great instructors.

I am also grateful for the amazing classmates I had. They are kind and funny. Everyone got along amazingly and we all became friends, which was totally unexpected to me.  I was never the type of person who didn't get along with classmates, but we befriended each other so quickly and often hung out after class.They made learning Japanese that much more enjoyable. I grew quite close with a few of them and I am so glad to have them as friends. On Thursday night, JP invited us over to his apartment for a "graduation" party. It was a bittersweet moment because while we celebrated the end of the class, it also reminded us that what had brought all together in the first place is leaving all of us. If I was intoxicated when I left, I think I would've cried. We all promised stay in touch with each other. But you know how it is - it's always easier said than done.