My encounter with Quatchi

I’ve been hanging out at different parts of Downtown very frequently within these 2 weeks. It’s so frequent that I can almost call Downtown as my second home in Vancouver.

Even though I’ve been there for so many times, there are still things which I’ve missed out on my previous outings because abundant events and performances are happening simultaneously. So, it’s kind of like my luck to see which performance I bump into for the day.

Yesterday, I saw Quatchi (also Sumi & Miga) !!!!Quatchi is my favourite mascot among all the Vancouver Olympics mascots. On the first sight, you may think that Quatchi looks so plump, but you’ll regret by having that thought later. Don’t underestimate Quatchi’s ability to skate despite of its size, because it can skate skilfully and shake its butt while skating.


Why do I like Quatchi the most?

Quatchi reminds me of Pooh-cute and cuddly. I’ve always preferred those animated characters which are bigger in size, look fluffy and huggable, as if it makes you feel so warm when you hug them. Come to think of it, that makes sense because people usually like those things which can keep them warm and secured, how can a tiny bear give you that sense of security when you hug it?

I’ll sum up yesterday as a good day with great people.

Thanks to Isis and Wayne, I got a free bear which has the same colour as Quatchi! Yay!

Olympic Torch Relay in UBC!!

Halo people!

I’m back again after dealing with 3 midterms. So, I’m pretty much anticipating for the long-awaited Vancouver Winter Olympic Games 2010.

And guess what, the torch finally arrived UBC today! Tell me, how could I miss it?

OF COURSE NOT, NO WAY!!
CANNOT, TAK BOLEH, BU KE YI, NG HO YI,NG DEK, DAME DESU.

Although it was pouring rain, but nothing could stop me.So my friends and I started waiting since 3+ p.m, all the way till 6 p.m when the athlete finally began his journey and ran the torch along the torch relay route which was planned prior to this.



The wait was definitely worth it because I've never seen a huge crowd at UBC after 7p.m. It sparked up some lights on a Thursday night in UBC.


Living in Vancouver for almost two years, I feel like I’m on the same boat as the Canadians for the first time for being excited over the Olympic games. Frankly, I don’t watch winter games at all, but I’m just feeling special that I’m in the host country for an Olympic event for the first time, and probably the only time in my life. The transformation of Vancouver in terms of infrastructure(especially public transportation) is witnessed, and these changes keep knocking my head that something big and exciting is going to happen in the city.It makes me start wondering how spectacular is it going to be after throwing chunks of money on it.



I even applied for the volunteering job, partly to gain the rare experience, besides being obsessed with the superb nice turquoise jacket the volunteers get. =( Unfortunately I was not offered a job.



The uniforms are so nice okay!! Those volunteers who wander around the campus everyday make me feel so jealous.


I got some freebies today, although there’re of not much use, I was just too excited to join in the crowd.

My biggest reward of the day was the tattoo on my left hand!!!And it was totally free.


Reading break will start from 13th February. One thing I’m sure of is that I’ll turn it into an eventful Olympic break and update you guys on Olympics as much as possible. I’ll ensure that my 2-week break will not go into waste and every second of it is filled with air of excitement, contentment, and happiness.


So, stay tuned guys!

In a crave for Beijing Olympic

I took ferry to my sister's house in Vung Tao yesterday. Vung Tao is 125km from Ho Chi Minh city(HCMC), about 90 minutes of ferry ride from HCMC.It is unsymmetric to Saigon's lifestyle, what makes it attractive is its vibrant culture, with a number of temples, churches and statues footed on the island. There is a Giant Jesus on top of the small mountain, offering a panaromic view to the surrounding landscape.


One of my daily must-do activities is to switch on the television and start searching for live telecast for any Beijing Olympic games, it's sad to note that there aren't much choices to choose from, let alone the live telecast ones, it's difficult enough to find a nice game to watch.

I mean, they have 50 over channels but just not more than 2 channels which show olympic games.


I can't help but to yell to myself, WHERE IS THE CHANNEL FOR BEIJING OLYMPIC BADMINTON????




So I decided to countdown for the days I'm going home for ASTRO Super Sports which set up 10 channels exclusively for Beijing Olympic games.It's for sure that I'll look up for the programme list for Badminton matches repeats.

One thing that will never stop is my never-ending search these few days for the Olympic medal countboard to look for the latest result.I hope our national team will end the gold drought this time, especially for the Badminton and Archery teams, though it's not the first time they claim that our team is at the peak point of getting one. Let's just have a glimpse of hope on them, who lift up high morale in participating.Speaking about the result, I'm very impressed with US's superb swimmer, Michael Phelps who made his fifth gold in the Beijing Olympic and breaking a few world records.The record-breaking 23-year-old is now 3 golds away from his quest of 8 gold medals.Out of the 10 golds US achieved, half of them were from Phelps.This result shocked me a lot, and raised my salutation towards this talented athlete.



Otherwise, my Vietnam trip will be a perfectly ideal trip. It would mean touring in the afternoon and late evenings ,and catching a few matches at home.

Of course, perfection doesn't come often.

I will say, my trip is as good as my past ones. The important element to make up a good trip is present, as I'm enjoying my good times here, be it going to the supermarket, sipping the coffee Sua Da, trying out the local fast-food are just plain pleasure for a relaxing vacation.Perhaps,I'm observing the culture through the usual daily practises apart from snapping a few photos on the splendid view of the island.