奶油咪咪的喵言貓語

I did not know this kinda depression can get so bad until I have started to work in the lab five years ago. When S.A.D struck, one is often tired, hungry and irritated at times and with such sensitive feelings that can easily resulted in tears. Even men in the lab are not immune to this.
This year, Vancouver finally reverted back to its typical winter weather, rainy and not so cold. Past 2-3 years, we had unusal weather where most of the days were blessed with sunshine. We started to take that for granted even though it meant poor snowfall on the ski resort and daught in the summer. However, this year, we had so much rain that we broke the record rain fall in a month. And we were one day short to break the old record of 28 days straight with rain.
Can you imagine not seeing sun for almost a month? Also the fact that day does not start until 8am and ended early at 4pm can undoubtly make people depressed. One day last week, it was not only rainy but also windy. My coworker's umbrella got blown inside out by the strong wind. He was so frustrated with the weather, he angrily stuffed the big, expensive umbrella into garbage can without looking back.
People in the lab tend to cry very easily and moody too. I can't even begin to count how many dramatic conflicts had gone down the past couple of monthes. Studies have shown how sunlight can regulate some biological molecules in our bodies to affect our mood. Personally, I am so depreesed that
that I am not motivated to lift my arm to  take some photos to show how it's like to have dark sky outside ALL the time but I am just too depressed to do so. Plus it's an ugly sight too. Although people on the East of Canada say that we are quite blessed not to have extremly cold weather (-30~40oC) and snow storm, I don't know if having grey sky everyday can be considered a good thing either.

DAY 752 – My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 – Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.
DAY 762 – Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving incessant pleas for food on ungodly hours of the night.
DAY 765 – Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm.... Not working according to plan.

This year, people in the lab have become addicted to watching the winter olympic game at Italy. Maybe because we, Vancouverites, will be hosting the game in turn at 2010. However, like my coworker Ivan said, watching the athletes competed and earned the medals are truely inspiring.
These athletes train very hard for 4 years to for a chance to shine on the olympic podium for only two weeks. They normally still have to hold down a day job to make the living.  Especially in Canada, the government does not support them as much financially compared to our neighbor, USA. I can' t even begin to imagine how much sacrifice one has to make before they reach the level of excellence they show to even qualify to represent our country to compete.

The moment a Canadian athlete won a gold medel and Canadian anthem being sung is a very touching moment. Because it's relatively rare for us, everytime when I watch it, I have tears in my eyes. I cheer for these  fellow Canadians for their hard work finally paid off and being recognized. Even though they usually compete during our working hours, that does not stop us from checking the progress of the game updated on the CBC

在 search 上一篇文章 看到這個有趣的活動 就幫忙宣傳一下
很巧的是這個也有呼應我們尋求國際認同的需要
轉載自酥餅的blog:

BBC, a highly watched, objective international news statition had an interview with 馬英九 (Mr. Ma) a while ago and I just finished watching it on TV. During the entire hour that I saw, I have to say not only he embarrased himself by making non-sensical statements that contracdicted himself but also he mispresented the people of Taiwan by putting words in our mouthes.
Of the things he said that I find absolutely rediculous are the following:
 1. When the interviewer asked his opinion about people's view regarding 連戰 (Mr. Lian) as "selling out" Taiwan when he went over to China to have a meeting. Mr. Ma answered that people were confused that Mr. Lian does not have to power to sell out Taiwan since he is not in power. However, later on when the interviewer asked him about our reaction to China's yet again  millitary rehearsal, Mr Ma replied that's exactly why it's very important for Mr. Lian to go over to negotiate a peaceful solution. 

Now, don't everybody agree that if Mr. Lian is not in power, why does he get to go over to negotiate a deal? If he does go to negotiate a deal when he is NOT in power and that's not by definition called "sell out" or " traitor", I don't know what is!
2. When the interviewer asked about the reunfication and independence (統獨), he first said that the ultimate gaol is to reunite and then he changed his statement by saying that he is opposed to China's anti-cession law (反分裂法). Later on, he expressed that Taiwan's fate should be decided by people in Taiwan and then in response to another question, he said it should be decided by people on both of Taiwan strait. At the end of the talk, even the interviewer was confused and said that Mr. Ma was contradicting himself. 
When the BBC host expressed his confussion because of Mr. Ma's unclear and changing stand on the important issues, he questioned Mr. Ma's belief. When Mr. Ma was corned by his own statement, he shouted " You don't understand the affairs between China and Taiwan,"  which concluded my point that he did not help to clear the matters to the world by talking illogically on BBC. And many moments he cited that people in Taiwan supported his view and belief, which was a big fat lie when the BBC host clearly had an article  from Taiwan's newspaper calling it shameful in his hand.
Many people abroad and at home, must agree we have a very ambigious political stand internationally. A canadian friend of mine who just came back from holiday from Hong Kong was so confused that he had a serious 30 minutes talk with me trying to clear the matter. This results in many issues and questions espeically when we go out to travel. That's why we should work harder to make Taiwan recognized as an independent country, which incidently, Mr. Ma admitted freely on BBC that we are!

On the weekend before Valentine's, Thomas surprised me with a special dinner at a fine dinning restaurant in North Vancouver. It's named Salmon House. The name is probably because the fact that salmon is our specialized fish in Pacific Canada. It was a touching gesture because we don't usually go out for "expensive" meals.
(不會做菜的我 只能照餐廳色香味的照片 沒辦法像賢慧的豆子 自己設計 準備 七道dish 真是太配服嘞!)

The food in the restaurant is no doubt very tasty. The fishes are tenderly cooked and fresh. They also offered refreshing cooking method. The first picture is of a black cod with special sause and mashed potato. The cod was smoked perfectly with a tender bite. Thomas had the dish in the second picture. It's of three different kinds of fish. I only know Salmon But all of them offered delicious surprise to my taste buds.
The desert is a Creme Brule. Normally, I would not order this dish because, again, Mom makes them almost perfectly and frequently at home. However, this was a delicious variation that was unheard of. It is of STRWABERRY flavor! It was an exciting desert. Very creamy and smooth with a nice hint of strawberry. Meanwhile, the sourness of strawberry balanced out the sweetness.
The best part of the meal is the breath-taking scenary out the window. The restaurant is located on the hill on the North shore of Vancouver. So looking outside at night, one can see all the busy lights in Vancouver without any obstruction of the view. After the view, we drove around the block. The houses on this particular hill are all fancy big houses. They are so big, I was not sure if they are one house or two! It's among the most expensive properties in Vancouver and I suppose the view is worth every penny.
All in all, this again, is a nice place to go out and have some fine dining, next time when you come to visit ^_^
PS IT's my first time trying to do something about the picture with photoshop. So it's not very pretty yet ; p

我們實驗室的同學認識有五年了
因為大家都是同一時期一起加入的
真的是像個相處融洽的大家庭
其中一個同學甚至開玩笑的說 : We know each other so well.
 For example, within 15 seconds walking into the lab, I can tell if Sherry is in a good mood or not.

After the visit back to Taiwan in first year, I tried to explain my experience to my mom's friend.
She smiled understandingly and summed up in these three sentences:
"講話洋裡洋氣
花錢小裡小氣
 穿著土里土氣"

搞半天 tiramisu 的 recipe 還沒打 不好意思 o^-^0
6 eggs
6 tablespoon sugar
500g Mascarpone cheese
500ml Cold espresso
2 tablespoon Kahula (liquor)
1 Tablespon Brandy or Rum (liquor)
1 packs (400g)Italian Ladyfingers
some black &white chocolate
*Prepare the espresso and pour it into a shallow container to cool for later use. Add Kahlua and Brandy
1. Separate the egg yolks and whites into two different containers
2. Beat Egg yolks & 4 tablespoons of sugar in a heatroof bowl until light and creamy
3. Add 1/4 cups of milk & beat until combined
4. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water stir over heat until thickened; allow to cool
5. Beat the egg white with the remaining of the sugar until it becomes stiff (挑起呈小尖丘狀)
6. Devide the egg white into two parts to mix into the egg yolk mixture slowly. Stir a 8 shape constantly until well mixed
7. Roll each ladyfinger in the espresso solution 12times and place them in a 3L/4L baking dish
8. After one layer is finished, spread the cheese mixture from step6 evenly
9. Repeat to layer ladyfinger and cheese
10. Place in the fridge until harderen
11. Sprinkle some chocalate powder on top before eating.
這個recipe 有把蛋煮熟 吃起來比較　安心尤其當禽流感 肆虐之時
做好了 post 一張相吧 ^_*

那個誰跟誰 還沒收到xmas card 請不要懷疑郵局伯伯
其實是我張羅禮物 托了很久 orz (懺悔中)
我今天終於把它們寄出去了 ^_^o
從現在起 就是郵差伯伯的責任了
我下次不會太早宣告了真是抱歉~ XD