- Beat 2011's time in the Spartan Race in 2012
- Own a motorcycle
- Backpacking around Europe
- Get a six pack
- Go ziplining
- Shoot a real gun
- Try out a professional massage
- Go rockclimbing
- Read and finish a book a month
- Become a better writer
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2012 is the year that I will...
Monday, December 5, 2011
NYC here I come!
- FAO Shwaz = famous toy store
- Rockefeller Center, go up to the Rock Observation Deck
- Time Square
- Empire State Building
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sundays are not 'lazy days'... as it turns out
- Pork loin in steak sauce
- Garlic lemon tilapia fish
- Boiled broccoli, carrots and mushrooms
- Left over Romanian salad
- White rice
Friday, November 4, 2011
Julie & Julia - what's for dinner?
- One potato
- 80 minutes
- 350 degrees
Thursday, November 3, 2011
New lens adapters making beautiful pictures!
- .45x AF Wide Angle (with Macro)
- .35x AF Fisheye (with Macro)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Garlic Lemon Chicken Breast with no Garlic
- 2 chicken breasts
- salt, pepper, parsley, paprika
- lemon squeezed juice
- 375 degrees Celsius
- 40 minutes
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Chicken wings for halloween weekend
- Wholesale pack at Costco of chicken wings - what you see here is only 40 wings, there is more in my freezer :)
- Diana Honey Garlic sauce
- BBQ Hot Wing sauce
- 25 minutes @ 425 degrees Celsius
Got your own recipe? Share it with me in the comments below :)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
25 things about ME!
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.
1. In my elementary years, I went to school forgetting to change out of my pink pajama pants. I didn’t stop crying until my teacher called my parents to pick me up.
2. My brother and I both have Chinese names sounding like our English names. So if you are saying my English name, you are 'almost' calling me by my Chinese name. :) No one ever knows the second character of my Chinese name. Probably because it doesn't exist.
3. I clogged the drain in a California hotel because I had to craziest idea of shaving off all the hair on my legs.
4. I have a scar underneath my right eye from a few years back when a skate knocked me in the eye after body-checking him down on the rink. *ouch*
5. I used to breakdance and was part of a group called the Southside Rockers.
6. I'm a Canadian Born Chinese (CBC).
7. I've never left the North American continent.
8. I'm very easily tanned and my tan takes forever to fade. (if ever)
9. The first concert I went to was Jacky Cheung's on December 15, 2007 at the ACC, it was an awesome experience! I later went to Leo Ku and Jay Chou's.
10. I never finished my Aqua Quests.
11. I'm easily scared and my reaction is very LOUD.
12. I have nearly perfect vision but my hearing is horrible.
13. My all time favourite games are SC, COD4, GOW2.
14. I love driving! 155km/hr is the fastest I've hit, so far.
15. Some people think I'm weird because I use both hands for everything. I eat, write and text with my left-hand, but use my right hand for sports, more physical activities. All I see is balance. :)
16. I used to wear a cap all throughout elementary school.
17. I can never fall asleep on greyhound buses, more so now.
18. I've owned 5 cellular phones in my lifetime and 3 of which were in 2008.
19. When I was really young, I always thought there were little people in the Kleenex boxes pushing tissues up whenever I needed one. That's what I was told from my cousins. Then the truth came...
20. The reason why I didn't go to Canterbury HS is because I thought everyone there was gay.
21. I used to never eat spice, now I love it. :)
22. I've ran 10km once. It felt good crossing that finish line after an hour of running!
23. I lined up for 2 hours on the release day for The Dark Knight in freezing cold rain. I sat through the whole movie drenched in water. I did this twice.
24. I took a comic illustration class at the Ottawa School of Arts one summer. There was no air conditioning.
25. I haven't met half my family who are living somewhere in China/Hong Kong right now.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Me, the ant exterminator, just this one time!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saddened that Lytro does not ship to Canada
Monday, October 17, 2011
Weekend photos
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
R.I.P Steve Jobs
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Want results? Stay committed!
It was apparent that I was still in summer mode, and my sets were completely off. It was frustrating for me, and probably for my team too. It's been two years since I played in the OCVL league, so I'm not used to the height of the net either, although I should be. It's unfortunate that we lost the match that night.
My poor performance may not have been just out the indoor mode, but probably my routine now that I've settled into a career, bought a home/living alone, and a workout regime that started at the gym with a friend. The lack of focus on the game really shows, and I need to turn that around quickly.
It's a little late now to be 'training for the season', but I think ongoing/consistent training and exercise will still help make improvements to your existing skills. Which leads me into the program at the gym... here's how it started...
I began going to Goodlife in November of 2010, and up until then, there hasn't really been a break (only the week that I was moving in and painting - gosh that was tiring!). I switched my membership at Goodlife from the Orleans location to the St. Laurent one. My friend David got me on a program after finding out I switched, which he is determined to get me to bench 205lbs in 6 weeks time... we'll see about that. While back at the old gym, I was benching max 135lbs flat (45lbs on each side), 135lbs already feels somewhat 'light' to me after 2 weeks of warm up. The program started this week and hopefully I can stick with it to the end.
Along with that, I've been trying to eat more and began tracking my eating habits. Like always, I turn to technology to help me out with anything 'tracking' wise :)... they are handy that way. One iPhone app I'd recommend is MyFitnessPal (it's free!). I haven't learned the complete ins and outs of this app yet, but it looks promising and I've tracked everything since Monday, so there's still much more to learn about this app and we'll see if it pushes me closer to my goal of gaining 5 lbs (150lbs total).
Here are some stats of where I started and where I'm at now:
- Started: weighed 130lbs, now 145lbs (15lbs in 9 months)
- Started: curling 20lbs dumbbells, now 35-40lbs
- Started: benching flat 95lbs, now max 175lbs
- Gym 3-4 times a week (usually Monday-Friday, and have weekends off for fun)
- Protein shake after every workout (usually two shakes per day for faster healing)
- Tried to eat high protein meals (chicken, beef, pork, etc.)
- Tried to get as much rest as I could every night for faster healing
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Finding a tenant will help me save, hopefully!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Shag Rugs!
This image inspired me a little bit... I think it's a really awesome layout and I want a similar rug and coffee table in my living room.
I've decided to look for one that is of darker shade to compliment to light coloured floor tiles and wall. Brown would be nice if I can find one.
So I did a few Google searches and this is what I able to gather for places in the local area...
Home Depot - $399 for 8x10
Canadian Tire - $89.99 for 5x7
Costco - $429.99 for 8x5
Sears - $249.99 for 5x7
It's amazing how far apart the prices are for just a few feet more (some probably say that's a lot). My space will probably take a 5x7 without laying it under the couch. If I wanted my couch to go over it, I will need a 8x10.
This is a to do item for this weekend... or later this week if I have the time. If you know of any other rug locations to check out let me know! :) Keep you posted!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Taking possession! A few bumps in the road...
Thursday (September 1, 2011) was “THE day” that I got possession of the unit and picked up my keys! I decided to take a week off starting Thursday after work with hopes that it will make the transition in more smooth, and it did.
So I headed over to the lawyers office to sign the final papers and to pick up the key to my place. Everything went smooth and I didn't have to stay very long (10 minutes tops).
Afterwards I met with my parents at the new place. My unit is on the 26th floor, out of 29 floors in my building. When we go there, I put the key in, turned it, and it didn’t turn… bizarre… we tried both locks and nothing. So it was true… the owner had given my lawyer the wrong keys! I would have thought that the chances of that happening to someone was slim, and it probably is, I was just very unlucky.
I called the Lawyer right away after I figured I was locked out from my home and he immediately called the old owner's lawyer. He got through and said that he had turned in the wrong key, one that looks identical to the one for the condo. Argh!
So 1 hour later, the owner came and handed the keys over. I was upset, but after I took the real keys, I was more relieved than upset. The owner stuck around the explained a few things about the unit, which was very nice of him. If he hadn't come, I would have probably had to discover a bunch of the things he told me; reserving the elevator for moving, overnight guest parking, etc. on my own. It’s rare, and probably won’t happen (from what others told me) for the old owner to meet the new owner. Hmmm.. well it happened in my case.
My cousins popped by that evening and brought over a bunch of gifts (thank you cousins!). There was not much to show and tell, because the unit was completely empty with no furniture. But I was thrilled and really appreciated them helping me out. Things like dish detergent, Lysol, and toilet paper I didn't think of getting yet, but much needed when I begin to settle in. It will definitely save me a bunch of trips back and forth to the grocery store. I find with that too, I’ll just need to ‘refill’ things I run out. Mmm J
There you have it! I’m hoping no one else gets handed the wrong keys… it was quite… upsetting at first, but glad things worked out!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Crazy Time
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Life is short.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Cancer affects many, R.I.P. Jack Layton
It's a sad day for Canada to have lost one of its famed leaders, Jack Layton. If you know me well, I don't follow politics. It just just not an enjoyable subject to me.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Taking Control of the Driver Seat
I just finished reading a chapter in The Outliers and it read:
"Autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward are the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying."
I cannot agree more to what Malcolm Gladwell says here (p. 149). I worked in the government for two years while I was studying at Carleton U. My program was business and I was going for my degree in Commerce, specializing in Information Systems. The 4.5 years was an enjoyable one; learned lots, met a lot of interesting people and hit a homerun in my last year with my good friend Nigel Kay at the Wes Nicol Competition.
But when I came out of U, I really did not enjoy what I did there, even with the pay being more than what I'm making at my current job.
I'm a strong believer that one should chase after their passion. There were a variety of reason why I left the government and decided not to pursue a career there (not to sound like I'm bashing jobs at the government, but even I have seen people come and go (layoff) in the government, even though they say "not in a millionnn years");
- Pace was slow
- Not much of a learning curve
- Behind in my time of 'technology' (laggards)
- ... but... not everything was seen as negative... because my co-workers were a cool bunch to work with!
While I was working in the government, I was running KayLo Marketing, a small local search marketing firm that helped accountants, lawyers and local businesses improve their presence on the web. We were the aid for their marketing needs and we did a damn good job of it. But later when things took a bad turn, I decided to look for something else. But at the very moment, I was approached by a local marketing firm who offered me a position as a consultant in their company.
I accepted that offer and looked back with no regrets. I love my job. I love where I am right now. And I believe I'm shaping my own destiny. I foresee a bright future with many goals that I want to accomplish in this lifetime.
- You will find work enjoyable when you don't look at it as 9-5 work;
- You will find work fulfilling when your community of followers are listening to you;
- You will find work exciting when time flies by you in a blink of an eye without you noticing; and,
- You will find work is not really work when you are doing what you love!
Volleyball Weekend!
- 22-25
- 25-18
- 25-22
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Buying vs Renting a Condo
Before searching for a place, I knew I was going to buy and never rent. I was fortunate enough to get by living at home with my folks, but I knew the time was going to come sooner than later when I'd want independence. Until I made my decision to buy my condo, I didn't know much about the real estate market, and what state it was in. I used a supporting calculator from the NY Times' website to determine whether it was actually better to buy than to rent this condo I was going to buy.
- Convenience;
- Location;
- One of the tallest buildings on Riverside, if not the tallest! (29 storeys, and I'm on the 26th!); and,
- many many more!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Crunchin' numbers!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Gotta Claim 'Em All!
if you arrive at a venue, you might do this.
CHECK-IN!
I felt as though lately that Foursquare's been dying off a bit because of Facebook Places, Gowalla, and other check-in services who are competing to get users to use their tool. I mainly do my check-ins with Facebook and Foursquare, but more so Foursquare as of late... trying to get back into the 'check-in' game to see what I can make my mark around Ottawa, and other places I go. In an article I just read, checking in is like "invisible graffiti that only people in this little world can see". I thought that was a clever and creative quote.
So my goal... claim my remaining badges (even the one in the US... I will try):
School Night - After 3:00am Sunday-Thursday
Far Far Away - 3 checkins above 59th St (New York)
Brooklyn 4 Life - 25 different venues in Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
Socialite - 3x at venues tagged “socialite” (San Francisco - venue)
Gossip Girl - 3x at venues tagged “gossip girl” (New York - venue)
Douchebag - 25 venues tagged “douchebags” (venue)
Ziggy's Wagon - 3x @ venue with main category of “food truck”
Don't Stop Believin' - 3x @ venue with main category of “karaoke” in a month
Overshare - 10 unique checkins 12 hour period
Trainspotter - Follow BART and 10x checkin at venues. (San Francisco - venue)
JetSetter - 5 different venues with main category of “airport”
16 Candles - 5 checkins that have “birthday” shouted with them
Zoetrope - 10x @ venues with main category of “theater”
Pizzaiolo - 20x @ different venues with main category of “pizza”
Warhol - 10x @ different venues with main category of “gallery”
Babysitter - 10x @ different venues with main category of “gallery”
Swarm - Check in to a venue with 2,500 people in it
Super Mayor - Hold 10 mayorhsips at one time
Swimmies - At a pool
Great Outdoors - 10 checkins at parks and outdoors venues: Hot Spring, Hiking Trail, Campground, Beach, Lake or Scenic Lookout (venue)
Ski Bum - Check in 3x (on different days) at venues categorized at “Ski Area” or “Ski Lodge”. Becoming the mayor of one of the venue types as well seems to unlock the badge.
If you want a complete list of badges, and how to claim them, go here: http://mattersofgrey.com/foursquare-badge-list/
So let's see how many I can clear in the next year, hopefully all of it! Ohhh and make sure you add me on Foursquare! - https://foursquare.com/jackson_lo
Monday, August 1, 2011
Where to find deals!? How do your organize them!?
Blissmo
DealCanada
Dealfind
Dealicious
DealTicker
EveryBodyBuys
Groupon
Kahoot
KijijiDeals
Koopon
LivingSocial
MadDeal
MeTwoPlease
neerg
RedFlagDeals
Royal Coupon
StealTheDeal
SwarmJam
TeamBuy
TownHog
Tuango
Wagjag
Zozi
Here's a link to the actual Cake Deals site for Ottawa: http://www.cakedeals.com/deals/show/Ottawa
Cake Deals sends you one email per day with a summary of all the deals from approx. 100 other deal sites.
Some cool things about Cake Deals:
- City specific so you can subscribe to just your city, and/or other cities too.
- They have an iPhone app!
- Sorting; most recent, most savings, most bought, expiring soon.
- Ability to subscribe via RSS instead of email (would not recommend, would go with email but your choice!).
- GAP Canada - they have some awesome deals from time to time, keep an eye out for them.
- PRIVE - another clothing site; got some good deals with their Levi's jeans.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Should you buy the mortgage 'life' insurance?
Part way through signing the document I noticed that my monthly payment was higher than what he told me initially.
'Why is this I ask?'
He told me that they added on the $15 life and disability insurance option, and because I was going with the accelerated bi-weekly payments, that meant that I'd be paying $30 + mortgage monthly. I did some quick math in my head and said 'no I don't want this.' I was surprised that he didn't try to push the product further on me, or maybe he knew it wasn't a good deal and just surrendered to it. Hmm... for those who don't know, I used to be very passionate about this kind of thing. I used to be a crusader for Term Life Insurance back 2 years ago when I was working with Primerica Financial Services. I truly believed in their philosophy of Buy Term, Save the Difference! That topic can be for another post but it somewhat relates to why this 'life' insurance is not the best bang for your buck and here is why:
Let's say you go to the Mortgage Calculator on the RBC website and you input $250,000 as your mortgage amount, variable, 2.5%, 5 year term, 25 year amortization (let's say it is a perfect world and you get the 2.5% for entire duration of your mortgage)... then you get a report like this:
Monday, July 25, 2011
Line of credit versus credit cards
The mortgage specialist was extremely helpful and professional explaining me all the details of the mortgage and even broke down and printed off my scheduled payment. I went with their accelerated bi-weekly plan as it will shave off close to 4 years on my overall mortgage term, saving me just over $9000 in interest costs over the life of the mortgage. Yay!
Later I was introduced to the rep that would be my long-term relationship rep. I thought the specialist would be it, but it appears as though he's was only responsible for getting me qualified and the papers done. This guy was also friendly and professional. I felt like speaking with him that he was a bit tense. Nonetheless he sounded like he knew his thing and he had told me that he's been working at RBC for 8 long years.
So what kinda trouble did I get myself into? A bunch of things and there's a ton I could write here but I will be dividing this blog up into multiple parts, hoping that it stays with me until I blog again :) So to start... here is what I signed up for...
- I opened up a TFSA.
- I applied for a line of credit.
- Bank account
- Mortgage
- TFSA
I save on $10.95 a month... Or $131.40 a year :D. That's good enough for a nice piece of furniture each year... hmmm... lol or maybe I will save that for some photography gear / travel.
The last thing I'm going to share here may shock you but I didn't know about this until I asked... actually, that's a lie, he brought it up and then I began questioning him.
You can get a credit line for FREE! Make sure you ask about it because they may just try to charge you. He didn't though. He told me straight up it was free.
So the line of credit option is actually a good product to have because the minimum payment is only the interest rate against the borrowed amount over 12 months. That's very little... Check this out...
- Your credit limit = $5000
- You borrow = $2000
- Interest rate = 7%
- Minimum payment = $2000 * 7% / 12 months = $11.67 a month.
Most shocking thing... credit cards is a scam! The interest you pay on your credit card balance is always against the highest amount you had previously not paid in full for. For example,
- Your purchase was $5000
- You pay back to the bank $1000
- You owe the bank $4000 plus interest
- So that must be $4000 x 19.99% (whatever the rate is, but look how high it is)
- The truth is, this is NOT how it works!
I wish I could share a real example but I've never actually gone down that path :p If you've endured this can you confirm with me that that is how they scam you? It's frustrating because they never disclosed that to me. I guess the think about credit cards is that almost anyone can apply for one and it's very easy to get approved. But what they don't tell you can hurt you over the short/long term if you are not careful. Take that as a cautionary note, I really hope you do!
I'll leave the life and disability insurance thing for another post because I think it deserves a lot of writing about that topic with some fancy graphs and stuff :)
I purchased my first home!
- Buying a home is the biggest purchase you'll ever make in your lifetime.
- A home is an asset, and some say it is a liability.
- Home is where you hang your hat.
- Home is where your heart is.
- Do your research ahead of time. Purchasing a condo is very different than purchasing a single,townhouse, etc.
- Ask your parents, family and friends about their experience when they bought their first home. Everyone will give a different perspective, but you don't need to go with everything they say. Take what you can get and make informed decision that you want. Afterall, this is your purchase, not theirs!
- Get qualified to know how much you can afford. There is nothing worst than wasting your precious time looking at properties that you cannot afford. Although I did that at the start, there is no shame admitting it, it's fun shopping but just be cautious about it.
- Start using Microsoft Excel to brainstorm and jot down month expenses and do all your calculations ahead of time so you know what to expect once you move out. This is the part that I think is probably the most important because people can tell you all sorts of things about "we pay this much for this" and it could be better or worst in your situation. Plan for the worst case scenario to ensure that you safety net for any unexpected events.
- Another reason why you want to do your calculations upfront is so you can take those calculations to the bank/lawyer/friends/family and asked them if you are on par with how much each expense are. This shows that you know your stuff and you thoughts things through with out "jumping the gun" (I never got to use that phrase, glad I could use it here :).
- Show no weaknesses when you are talking to your mortgage broker, real estate agent or lawyer. When you've done your research, you will have questions and if you ran them by your friends and family, then go to the specialist and ask them, but it's always good to ask them even if you've asked your friends and family just to confirm as housing markets have probably changed since they went through the process.
- Be confident and read through all documentations before signing any papers. Ultimately, a signed contract is a proof of some transaction. If you solely rely on your broker or agent to tell you want to do, then you could be pushed around if you don't know what it is you are being sold on.
- Don't believe in anything private sellers tell you. Ask lots of questions and take what you've learned from the first encounter to the next. Often the seller will try to use some persuasive words or talk all about benefits but not disclose some things about the unit unless you ask. That is when the lawyer comes in and takes a close look at the terms, but you should probably read it too.
- Built in 1975
- Has 2 bedrooms
- Has 1 bathroom
- Has 1 living room, dining room and kitchen
- Has 1 underground parking spot
- Has 1 balcony looking out into the Ottawa River and Landsdown Park (clear view)
- Unit is on the 26th floor (29 floors altogether)
- Literally 10 steps from the lobby to the OC Transpo transit
- Has an exercise room
- Has an indoor swimming pool and sauna
- Has 1 storage locker
- Share laundry with only the same floor people (no more than 8 units per floor)
- Comes with dishwasher, refrigerator and stove
- Comes with window blinds
- Freshly painted
- Newly installed spot lights around the unit
- New cabinets in the kitchen
- Well kept, very clean minus the cat smell (I'm allergic to cats)
- Condo fees include caretaker, heat, hydro, building insurance, management, recreation facilities, and water