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.