So I received an evite recently. Now unless I know I am going for sure I try not to open these things because I don't want to get yelled at for viewing them and then not responding. But I got this evite and I didn't recognize any of the names. So I wanted to see who I recognized on the evite or if they just happen to make a mistake?
A name like mine, its not easy to make a mistake, so I knew it had to be first choice.
So I open up the evite and I scroll down the list of names who said "Woo Wee I'll see you at the bobbycue shoog! *mwa* (42)" [which = yes].
Some of the names started to sound familiar as I kept scrolling down. I clicked on the names with profiles. EGADS! They went to the same High School as me! All the Asian fools I kinda hung around in the beginning of High School but then I realized I didn't fit in with them.....they were quite religious and quite Asian at that. I listened to Smashing Pumpkins, they listened to DC Talk. I watched Simpsons. They went to Friday Night Bible Study. The list can go on and on...........
Anyways, I realized my High School classmates are going to haunt me where ever I decide to go. I work with a former classmate currently. We accidentally discovered we went to the same school. Actually, no that's not true. I recognized her name and consulted the only five people I still keep in touch with, if she indeed went to my High School. She did.
So what the ...... I mean its not like I hated High School but at the same time I wouldn't go back if you paid me. It was a time in my life that needed to happen so I can be where I am at now, yaddy yaddy ya. Bullshit. Whatever. It's over and I like it to remain that way.
I have contemplated going to the High School reunion coming up because I was curious what people were up to. But the powers of the Internet and damn My Space has allowed me to find that all out without the painful conversations one has at stupid Ten Year Reunions anyways.
Anyways, which brings me back to this damn Evite. My old co-worker (at the slave factory) sent me the evite and it feels like a punch in the stomach of nauseated, nostalgic feelings. I opened it up and found myself transported back into the mid-90s for a brief second. Blech.
I mean seriously that is so 1999.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
FUTURE TRAVEL [Incident: 070613-000158]
So I bought tickets to go to Toronto in August for a wedding. I was quite upset to find that tickets were reduced by more than $200 and to find out that the Customer Service Department for Air Canada was seriously lacking. I don't blame the person I directly spoke to per se. However, I was just upset that nothing could be done, even worse an attempt to do something.
But I was fine with it, because I realize there is nothing to be done. Anyways, I got this response back to my angry letter, and the woman rambles on and on and I am trying to figure out what she's saying and at the end I realize this woman isn't going to do anything for me. Haha. I love these courtesy letters.
Subject---------------------------------------------------------------FUTURE TRAVELDiscussion Thread---------------------------------------------------------------- 06/21/2007 12:24 PM
Dear Ms.XXXX:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding seat sales.For many years, Air Canada has launched traditional sales to introduce new routes, generate new business or fill seats that may otherwise remain unsold.Special discounted sale fares, unlike the more expensive fares, have only a select number of allocated seats, as well as various restrictions and a limited duration.
We regret your disappointment on learning that a lower fare was introduced after you had purchased tickets with Air Canada. Customers already holding non-refundable, reduced-rate tickets, however, are not entitled to any further fare reduction. Fares continue to be a source of concern in the industry and we appreciate receiving feedback from our customers.
Our objective is to offer you the best possible fares available at the time of booking.That said, while we are unable to recreate a conversation that may have taken place with a Reservations agent, please accept our sincere apologies for any negative impression you received. Air Canada is committed to customer service and employee attitude is important to us. We strive to build a rapport with our customers and are concerned when a single experience may leave a lasting negative impression.
Unfortunately, this may reflect poorly on the majority of our staff who are genuinely interested in providing excellent service.Your impression is of great concern to us and we have asked that the situation be reviewed internally. We wish to assure you that we treat these matters very seriously and are intent on preventing recurrences.Once again, we thank you for your feedback and we look forward to being of service in the near future.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
Customer Relations
But I was fine with it, because I realize there is nothing to be done. Anyways, I got this response back to my angry letter, and the woman rambles on and on and I am trying to figure out what she's saying and at the end I realize this woman isn't going to do anything for me. Haha. I love these courtesy letters.
Subject---------------------------------------------------------------FUTURE TRAVELDiscussion Thread---------------------------------------------------------------- 06/21/2007 12:24 PM
Dear Ms.XXXX:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding seat sales.For many years, Air Canada has launched traditional sales to introduce new routes, generate new business or fill seats that may otherwise remain unsold.Special discounted sale fares, unlike the more expensive fares, have only a select number of allocated seats, as well as various restrictions and a limited duration.
We regret your disappointment on learning that a lower fare was introduced after you had purchased tickets with Air Canada. Customers already holding non-refundable, reduced-rate tickets, however, are not entitled to any further fare reduction. Fares continue to be a source of concern in the industry and we appreciate receiving feedback from our customers.
Our objective is to offer you the best possible fares available at the time of booking.That said, while we are unable to recreate a conversation that may have taken place with a Reservations agent, please accept our sincere apologies for any negative impression you received. Air Canada is committed to customer service and employee attitude is important to us. We strive to build a rapport with our customers and are concerned when a single experience may leave a lasting negative impression.
Unfortunately, this may reflect poorly on the majority of our staff who are genuinely interested in providing excellent service.Your impression is of great concern to us and we have asked that the situation be reviewed internally. We wish to assure you that we treat these matters very seriously and are intent on preventing recurrences.Once again, we thank you for your feedback and we look forward to being of service in the near future.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
Customer Relations
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
NYC (part deux)
During Memorial Day weekend, I went to NYC with Yap. His brother and his two friends were there as well. I was thinking how the five of us would manage in a small one bedroom apartment in New York. Bless his aunt for having a queen sized bed, it felt like heaven and it is how I imagine sleeping on clouds to feel like, and a king sized foldout couch.
Her view was stunning. I promise next entry will be a picture entry. Everyday was a hunt for good food and things to do. Which was so hard! (ok I am dripping with sarcasm because it's hard to tell in a blog).
Day One:
Landed finally. Took the subway to the apartment. So nice that it's a half a block away from the stop. Ate at a Greek restaurant. They pretty much reminded me of the waiters at Marge's party in their backyard that Homer threw for her.... Oui oui oui snort snort oui oui
Went to Serendipity's afterwards. I really like their frozen hot chocolates. However, I am not a fan of their $8.50 minimum charge per person. First, we were all stuffed from our dinner. Second, we were set on sharing. Third, we had to randomly order stuff to make it $8.50 per person. I think we were off by 50 cents but they didn't charge us for that. GRRR....
Day Two:
Got up at noon (hrmph ... obviously not adjusted to the time change). Walked around Soho. Disappointing shopping trip for me, successful shopping trip for Yap. Ate at a Jamaican restaurant. Beef patties, ox tails, brown rice..... pretty decent not amazing (When I go to Jamaica, I am going to be eating ten beef patties a day) And they say patties like pa-tttees.
Hot, humid. Sweaty. Blah.
We ate at a restaurant I made reservations at called Sapa. It's celebrity sighting place. It has a place on it's website where they say which celebrity ate there. No celebrities that night. They have a thing called Sapa Sundays, the entrees are $15 each. I had shrimp and lobster tempura with a side of fries (the plate was HUGE). Yap and his brother got a steak. It was decent and I am glad we didn't end up spending a $100 each because at this place you probably could spend that much.....
Around 11pm, Yap, Yap's brother's friend, and I went down the block and across the street to a bar called Vintage. We had two martinis (Strawberries and cream tasted so).
Day Three:
Went to go pick up my altered pants from Uniqlo. Then, we hit the Twin Towers site. Sad =(.
Hit Century 21 cause it was across the street. Bought a loose dress to wear in NY because heat and humidity.
Grabbed lunch at Carnegie Deli. Yap ordered the Woody Allen. It was like ten pounds of meat in that sandwich and Yap ate every bite. The only kid I know that has that much dedication to finish a meal. I left a quarter of my sandwich that probably had a half pound of meat.
Got to the Natural History Museum and was told the museum closed at 5:45pm. It was 3:30pm.
My heart sank. Two things I was looking forward to on this trip Lion King and the museum. So to only spend two hours in the museum and then be kicked out forcefully. I was heart-broken.
The first half-hour I was extremely sulky. I realized I had to pick up my mood because I only had such a limited time at the place. Yap was trying to cheer me up but I just had to get over it.
It was really neat to see the exhibits, I'll just have to come back and spend more time there.
Met up with Yap's cousin and went to Crumbs. It's a small bakery on the Upper East side and oh yum. The cupcakes are moist and delicious. After that, we went back and watched hockey playoffs on the TV.
Walked through the mess of Times Square at night. Screens nearly giving me an epileptic episode.
Day Four:
Went to Coney Island. Ate at the Original Nathan's Hot Dog stand. Mural of the Hot Dog eating contest plastered on the side with a counter, counting down the days to the next Hot Dog eating contest...
Walked around the beach. Ok. I don't know about alot of beaches (just ones in California) but Brighton Beach is filled with garbage. The water pulls in trash and dumps more trash on the sand. GROSS. I refused to put my feet in trash water. Yap walked in and out of the water. We walked along the boardwalk until the rides opened.
Rode on the Ferris Wheel and the Cyclone. The Cyclone put my stomach in my mouth. I haven't screamed on a ride straight through for a long time. Actually, the last time was when I rode my first roller coaster ride. My legs felt like jello.
Took the train back to Manhattan and got ready for the Lion King. It was everything I imagined it to be and more. I got chills at the opening scene. It was amazing.
Day Five:
Got up earlier than we have been. Went to Central Park. Watched an old lady painting the park in watercolors, people rowing each other in the lake, and dogs frolicking around.
Went to the Shake Shack by Tanya's recommendation. We couldn't eat it right away because we had to get back to the apartment to get ready to go home. So we took it with us. Half-hour later I was able to consume the burger and fries. It was very good but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was hot. Oh, the lines are ridiculously long, prepare for a long wait.
Hopped back onto the subway to go to the airport. BOO. Had to go to work the next day. =P
At least I like NY a whole lot better this time around.
Her view was stunning. I promise next entry will be a picture entry. Everyday was a hunt for good food and things to do. Which was so hard! (ok I am dripping with sarcasm because it's hard to tell in a blog).
Day One:
Landed finally. Took the subway to the apartment. So nice that it's a half a block away from the stop. Ate at a Greek restaurant. They pretty much reminded me of the waiters at Marge's party in their backyard that Homer threw for her.... Oui oui oui snort snort oui oui
Went to Serendipity's afterwards. I really like their frozen hot chocolates. However, I am not a fan of their $8.50 minimum charge per person. First, we were all stuffed from our dinner. Second, we were set on sharing. Third, we had to randomly order stuff to make it $8.50 per person. I think we were off by 50 cents but they didn't charge us for that. GRRR....
Day Two:
Got up at noon (hrmph ... obviously not adjusted to the time change). Walked around Soho. Disappointing shopping trip for me, successful shopping trip for Yap. Ate at a Jamaican restaurant. Beef patties, ox tails, brown rice..... pretty decent not amazing (When I go to Jamaica, I am going to be eating ten beef patties a day) And they say patties like pa-tttees.
Hot, humid. Sweaty. Blah.
We ate at a restaurant I made reservations at called Sapa. It's celebrity sighting place. It has a place on it's website where they say which celebrity ate there. No celebrities that night. They have a thing called Sapa Sundays, the entrees are $15 each. I had shrimp and lobster tempura with a side of fries (the plate was HUGE). Yap and his brother got a steak. It was decent and I am glad we didn't end up spending a $100 each because at this place you probably could spend that much.....
Around 11pm, Yap, Yap's brother's friend, and I went down the block and across the street to a bar called Vintage. We had two martinis (Strawberries and cream tasted so).
Day Three:
Went to go pick up my altered pants from Uniqlo. Then, we hit the Twin Towers site. Sad =(.
Hit Century 21 cause it was across the street. Bought a loose dress to wear in NY because heat and humidity.
Grabbed lunch at Carnegie Deli. Yap ordered the Woody Allen. It was like ten pounds of meat in that sandwich and Yap ate every bite. The only kid I know that has that much dedication to finish a meal. I left a quarter of my sandwich that probably had a half pound of meat.
Got to the Natural History Museum and was told the museum closed at 5:45pm. It was 3:30pm.
My heart sank. Two things I was looking forward to on this trip Lion King and the museum. So to only spend two hours in the museum and then be kicked out forcefully. I was heart-broken.
The first half-hour I was extremely sulky. I realized I had to pick up my mood because I only had such a limited time at the place. Yap was trying to cheer me up but I just had to get over it.
It was really neat to see the exhibits, I'll just have to come back and spend more time there.
Met up with Yap's cousin and went to Crumbs. It's a small bakery on the Upper East side and oh yum. The cupcakes are moist and delicious. After that, we went back and watched hockey playoffs on the TV.
Walked through the mess of Times Square at night. Screens nearly giving me an epileptic episode.
Day Four:
Went to Coney Island. Ate at the Original Nathan's Hot Dog stand. Mural of the Hot Dog eating contest plastered on the side with a counter, counting down the days to the next Hot Dog eating contest...
Walked around the beach. Ok. I don't know about alot of beaches (just ones in California) but Brighton Beach is filled with garbage. The water pulls in trash and dumps more trash on the sand. GROSS. I refused to put my feet in trash water. Yap walked in and out of the water. We walked along the boardwalk until the rides opened.
Rode on the Ferris Wheel and the Cyclone. The Cyclone put my stomach in my mouth. I haven't screamed on a ride straight through for a long time. Actually, the last time was when I rode my first roller coaster ride. My legs felt like jello.
Took the train back to Manhattan and got ready for the Lion King. It was everything I imagined it to be and more. I got chills at the opening scene. It was amazing.
Day Five:
Got up earlier than we have been. Went to Central Park. Watched an old lady painting the park in watercolors, people rowing each other in the lake, and dogs frolicking around.
Went to the Shake Shack by Tanya's recommendation. We couldn't eat it right away because we had to get back to the apartment to get ready to go home. So we took it with us. Half-hour later I was able to consume the burger and fries. It was very good but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was hot. Oh, the lines are ridiculously long, prepare for a long wait.
Hopped back onto the subway to go to the airport. BOO. Had to go to work the next day. =P
At least I like NY a whole lot better this time around.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Like Straight Out of a Movie or Something
From May 18-20, I went semi-backpacking with some friends at Point Reyes. We ended up getting to Point Reyes sometime around 11pm. We ended up hiking in using head lamps and trying to find our way through a narrow sandy path.
We got to the campsite around midnight and proceeded to set up our tents and ate some freeze-dried food. NEVER EVER get the Pad Thai. Blech.
The time spent at Point Reyes was a windy one. A few of us went on a hike and detoured to Sculptured Beach. That was a lot of fun. We had to time ourselves to get around each rock before the waves came crashing in. So when the waves pulled back, we ran for it. We climbed some rocks and took in the beautiful view from the beach. There was this cavernous rock, on one side was the water and the other side was the beach, we ended up trying to time how long and how far we could stay in the cave. (most of us eventually had soggy shoes and socks)
After the hike, my allergies inflamed and I took a nap as the wind blew full force through out the land. I could hear cups being knocked over and the tent flapping like crazy.
At night we ate steak with vegetables and seasoned rice. Thank you Roger. Yum.
The next day we packed up our stuff after breakfast and hiked back to the car. I was wearing too many layers and decided that I should take some off. I handed my stuff off to Yap and he stuffed it in my bag and shut the trunk door.
Roger came over and calmly told us the keys were in the trunk. I told him not to worry since the doors weren't shut, but apparently he locked the trunk release and the back seats so there was no access to the trunk.
Luckily, his roommate followed behind us and had a car. Unfortunately, he only had enough room for two people. So Yap and I were left behind at 2pm. They left us at the visitor's center so that at least we would be surrounded by people.
We looked at the small exhibit in the Visitor's Center and read about the different animals found in Point Reyes. We watched a short documentary from the Discovery Channel on Point Reyes.
After that, we walked on two short trails, one was the Earthquake Trail and the other was Kule Loklo Trail.
This kept us occupied until 5pm. We sat on different benches ( we almost sat on every bench in the Visitor's Center ).
The sun began to set around 7pm. It was starting to get a lot windier and I was pining for the clothes I shed at the car. We walked around to keep ourselves warm and moving to spots with the most sun.
Since Yap had the only cellphone which of course received no reception at the Visitor's Center, my anxiety set in and I devised an emergency plan. Lekky and Roger were the only people who knew that we were stuck at the Visitor's Center and we had to realize we could only wait up until a certain point, especially since it was getting colder.
I was heading for the open bathroom to shelter me from the wind when Yap saw their car. We ran over with smiles of relief and we drove to get the other car and head back home. We stopped off at a restaurant for burgers, beer, and soda (which were not refillable).
We got back home at 10:30pm. Took long hot showers and flopped onto the bed with a sigh of relief.
We got to the campsite around midnight and proceeded to set up our tents and ate some freeze-dried food. NEVER EVER get the Pad Thai. Blech.
The time spent at Point Reyes was a windy one. A few of us went on a hike and detoured to Sculptured Beach. That was a lot of fun. We had to time ourselves to get around each rock before the waves came crashing in. So when the waves pulled back, we ran for it. We climbed some rocks and took in the beautiful view from the beach. There was this cavernous rock, on one side was the water and the other side was the beach, we ended up trying to time how long and how far we could stay in the cave. (most of us eventually had soggy shoes and socks)
After the hike, my allergies inflamed and I took a nap as the wind blew full force through out the land. I could hear cups being knocked over and the tent flapping like crazy.
At night we ate steak with vegetables and seasoned rice. Thank you Roger. Yum.
The next day we packed up our stuff after breakfast and hiked back to the car. I was wearing too many layers and decided that I should take some off. I handed my stuff off to Yap and he stuffed it in my bag and shut the trunk door.
Roger came over and calmly told us the keys were in the trunk. I told him not to worry since the doors weren't shut, but apparently he locked the trunk release and the back seats so there was no access to the trunk.
Luckily, his roommate followed behind us and had a car. Unfortunately, he only had enough room for two people. So Yap and I were left behind at 2pm. They left us at the visitor's center so that at least we would be surrounded by people.
We looked at the small exhibit in the Visitor's Center and read about the different animals found in Point Reyes. We watched a short documentary from the Discovery Channel on Point Reyes.
After that, we walked on two short trails, one was the Earthquake Trail and the other was Kule Loklo Trail.
This kept us occupied until 5pm. We sat on different benches ( we almost sat on every bench in the Visitor's Center ).
The sun began to set around 7pm. It was starting to get a lot windier and I was pining for the clothes I shed at the car. We walked around to keep ourselves warm and moving to spots with the most sun.
Since Yap had the only cellphone which of course received no reception at the Visitor's Center, my anxiety set in and I devised an emergency plan. Lekky and Roger were the only people who knew that we were stuck at the Visitor's Center and we had to realize we could only wait up until a certain point, especially since it was getting colder.
I was heading for the open bathroom to shelter me from the wind when Yap saw their car. We ran over with smiles of relief and we drove to get the other car and head back home. We stopped off at a restaurant for burgers, beer, and soda (which were not refillable).
We got back home at 10:30pm. Took long hot showers and flopped onto the bed with a sigh of relief.
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