016; No Go Radio = Scre4m and Sushi

"She's Daniel Radcliffe to my J.K. Rowling" Gale Weathers

I bought tickets to see A Rocket To The Moon earlier last month and the only reason I wanted to go to the show was for the opener Go Radio. It turns out that they won't even be there because of transportation issues. Sadness. VERY disappointed. Not disappointed at the members of band, more so the situation. Anyway, I ended up selling the ticket for face value. Yay me for not scalping - cause I totally could have made a few extra bucks because of the sold out show.

After a change of plans, I ended up watching Scream 4 and eating sushi with some friends. I sat in the chairs of the store while waiting for my friend to get off work. When a girl asked me if I was there for the interview, I soon discovered that the people sitting there were waiting for a job interview. I didn't exactly fit in with the fashion-frilly girls with my ripped jeans and worn out Chucks, but maybe that was Hollister was calling me?  Naah, I'm kidding, mere coincidence. But in all honesty, I really wanted to take part in the interview with them 'cause I really need a job : (

I'm not a fan of horror films. I know it's all made up but I still get scared! In fact, one of the trailers (Don't Be Afraid of the Dark) scared my shitless. Thinking about it scares me. Kind of hypocritical that I'm watching Scream, but I'll explain.  Scream is categorically horror, however I've seen the previous ones to know how the story is going to fall. There's no surprise: the killer is always in a Ghost face costume, mysterious phone calls, the weapon of choice is a regular kitchen knife, and stupid people who don't know how to lock doors. Same goes for the Final Destination series where the story line is practically the same and it's the mundane that attacks people in gruesome ways. But ya, Scre4m was an entertaining movie. Ridiculously hilarious at the most inappropriate parts (laughing just thinking about it). Personally I don't like Emma Roberts and I find her so boring. Okay SPOILER ALERT.  She plays a dumb bitch and the master mind of Ghost face to get FAME. Are you freakin' kidding me? I think what Wes Craven was trying to say is that people do stupid things for fame - and he definitely shows that in the movie - as stupid as stupid can get. Also, the 3 survivors survive.

Watch any "scary" movies lately?

Jan 24-25; last days and aftermath

Day 19
The family went out to some fancy continental buffet to celebrate my gramma's birthday.
Just wanna say that chocolate cake tasted nasty.

Mosquito Bite Count: 24 +2

Day 20

I went out for coffee at the Marriott Hotel and it turned out that Shah Rukh Kahn (huge Bollywood star) was going to be there promoting the new show Wipeout. A little informal history lesson behind the show: Japan has some reality shows where people complete crazy obstacles courses for money/prizes. America takes the idea and has reality shows like that, the one of the more popular being Wipeout. India has its own version now.... I had a flight to catch so I couldn't stay.
On the flight home, I got really sick. All I want to say is that it was the worst experience I've ever had. Thankfully there were some really nice passengers, flight attendants, and doctors on board.  Anyways, all I could say is that I'm hella glad to be back.

Jan 23; churches, a mall and a bag of chips

 Day 18

I went to two churches in the morning: Mount Mary and another one in which I cannot recall the name... 

As you may have noticed, I visited to a lot of churches during my trip but that does not mean that I am a religious freak or anything. I just followed my mom around. But that's not to say that I don't like churches. I do enjoy the architecture. 

Mount Mary

Inside Mount Mary

Church #2 had a warning sign

I went to Inorbit Mall in the evening. They have a little midway park outside, arcade inside, tons of stores, and the food court was huge! There was a wide variety of ethnic food too. Very western. Their version of America's Starbucks is Britain's Costa Coffee. There aren't many options, and doesn't taste nearly as good, and the service was so slow... and it took them two tries to get my ice cappuccino right. The first time consisted of coffee with a chunk of ice in it... Ya, trying it once is more than enough.
New flavour chips: Thai Chili, yummm

Mosquito Bite Count: 21 +3

015; "You sound like Harry Potter" - kid from "Arthur"

Arthur is a 1981 remake - This film takes on a MUCH more modern approach with fancy cars, cell phones, and floating beds.

Cast - Starring Russell Brand (used to hate 'em now I love him)

Genre - It's a light hearted comedy movie that turns quite chick-flicky mid way through. I love chick flicks, but for some reason I wasn't expecting it to be a chick-flick. 

Soundtrack - BEN GIBBARD (of Death Cab)  yes yes yes. He actually had two songs: When the Sun Goes Down on your Street and Where Our Destination Lies. Made the movie whole lot better. I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack. 

Highlights: smart ass little kids and Harry Potter reference.

Movie makes me wanna: visit New York's Grand Central Terminal.

(skip to 2:23 for the whisper wall)

Recommended - umm, yes/no? My mom told me she watched the original Arthur on TV as I was watching the remake in theatres and it sounds really different and the original sounded better actually. I did like the movie, but I'd say wait for it on DVD.

014; breakdown

.....ALMOST

I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of person.
I don't get stressed easily.
I don't get mad easily.
I get really hyper when there is something that excites/angers me.
There are things that push my buttons - like using the the word gay as a synonym for shitty.
There are things that get to my heart easily - like unexpected compliments.
I'd say I'm a pretty simple person.

I was in the middle of calculating my marks for second semester and something just hit me. My marks were going down the hill and I was freaking out about it. I usually have good courses and bad courses to even it out, but apparently not this semester. I felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown - but maybe that's an excuse because I haven't had a good cry in long time. People have breakdowns in university, so I was expecting mine to be coming soon. My wonderful friend reminded my that university isn't something to cry about.  University isn't something to whine about either - it's a privilege. But still, I strive to get the highest marks I can. Why though. To satisfy myself? My parents? Is it cause I'm Asian and it's in my genes? Why do marks matter. Okay maybe it's a kind of important to stay in the program, but I feel like an overachiever. I envy the people who can spit out awesomeness without putting much effort and time into it.

Three more days of classes and a whole lot of school after that.
At least I have Go Radio and Scream 4 to look forward to in the upcoming weeks.

I hope you're doing better than I am.
Love,
Angel.

Jan 22; puja, pav bhaji, and saris

Day 17
I am not a "bad" Catholic. I'm just open-minded.

On Saturdays, my cousin goes to the temple for puja/pooja (prayers). I decided to go with him since it was my last weekend there. It was so different from my usual Catholic rituals. At the temple, there were several sections where you can give your offerings. Once you give your offering, the man (sorry, I don't know what the correct name is) will bless you and paint a dot on your forehead (sorry again, I don't know what the dot is called). I found one of the rituals particularly interesting: There is a statue of a Hindu God (sorry, I can't remember which one) in the middle of a room. There is a man standing in front of the statue who prays for you with the information you provide (name and horoscope). After he prays for you, he gives you a candle lamp and you carry it around the statue going 7 times counter clockwise and 2 times clockwise - DIZzZZzzzZy. Once completed, the man will pray for you once more and then you take the candle outside to put it out.

outside the temple

Outside the temple, there were TWO cows waiting to be fed. You pay for the food and then you can feed the cow (cows are sacred in Hindu religion).
* if anyone wants to educate me about the religion/what i said wrong - i encourage you to do so below!

Lunch: Smokin' Joes Pizza. The most gross-est, disgusting-est pizza evers. Where the hell is my tomato sauce? 

Large Pizza (with ham and some other nastyness) = 700 rupees = $15.56 

(oh ya, and with every large pizza, you get a free small pizza)

Dinner: Bombay's famous pav bhaji. It is pretty much bread that looks really greasy (or at least mine did) and a red sauce made of tomatos, potatoes, and some other veggies. Simple, but so good! 

For the rest of the evening, I just hung out in my aunt's salon watching people get their hair done, face done, putting their sari on too. Who knew it takes that much skill to put on a piece of cloth. I REALLY wanted a sari - the designs were just beautiful, intricate, and shiny. I would have no occasion to wear it on but it's just so pretty! I probably would use it as an extravagant curtain or table runner (Nate Berkus brings out the home designer in me).

Something worth mentioning is Hrithik Roshan's aunt came by the salon that evening. Roshan is a huge Bollywood celebrity.

India's To Do List:
See a Bollywood Star ✔-ish

Mosquito Bite Count: 18 +3

*looking back i really wish i bought a sari!

013; "it's not a Slayer concert." - Dallas Green

In honour of the 40th Juno Awards, the people of the Juno and Sirius radio organized a lovely little Juno Block Party. The line up included:

Shad is a London (nearby Toronto) based rap artist. I didn't know much about him prior to the show...I actually didn't know he was going to be at the show. I just knew he that he did a song with Dallas called Live Forever.

Also my first rap concert! which I did enjoy. He has these clever rhymes and raw stylistic flow. I'd say he's worth checking out if, especially if you like alternative hip hop, spoken word, or rap.

Live Forever!

Hannah Georgas has her roots from Vancouver. She has a Metric+Stars kinda sound. I had no idea who she was before the show.... in fact I thought she was going to be a terrible pop star. I'm glad I was wrong though. She's got a lovely voice and her band was wonderful too. 

City and Colour during sound check

Dallas Green - the man of the evening and the reason I was standing there for more than 3 fuh-reezing cold hours. I couldn't feel my legs and my hands were numb but it was worth it. He played two new songs, one of them I really liked and the other one was okay. Nonetheless, Little Hell should be a promising album. He started off with Sleeping Sickness and The Death of Me, ended off with Bring Me Your Love and Sometimes for the encore in a 30 - 45 minute set. There were  some  "remixed" versions of some of the songs because it was too cold to play the acoustic guitar. I really wanted to here The Girl (favourite C&C song) but he didn't play it...and oddly I wasn't too bummed out about it. 

you can see his breathe

GTFO

In the middle of his encore, he stopped singing and everything just stopped. Dallas put a pause on the show and asked this guy if he was fighting and told the guy to get out. After a few more words from Dallas and the crowd chanting "you fucked up", the guy left the crowd escorted by the security team.

Lesson to be learned:

1) Dallas Green does not take shit.

2) In any type of altercation he does not fuck up, rather it is the other.

The whole set list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_obYW1Nlbw&feature=channel_video_title