musings and reflections of hollyholz

Girly Chat

Thanks for a great nite, girls :) What else would be better than $2 Chillates at Second Cup, along with great friends to chat all night w/?

Family portrait, here we come ;)

posted by Holz @ 11:58 PM |

Missing the sights and scenes of London, one of my favourite spots on the trip.


Picadilly Circus in the afternoon.

posted by Holz @ 12:36 PM |

Incoherent Thoughts

It's late. So just a few points:

- I cooked dinner solo today... from start to finish. I cooked the fusili el pesto (although the pesto sauce was powdered... but it was ORGANIC!), the broccoli, the pasta, and I bought the chicken. Still good for a start, no?
- I've been getting signs that I'm really getting old; as I was cleaning my room last night, I found a handful of items ranging from handbags to little jewlery boxes that I could give to kids (that I have in mind) instead of throwing it away or giving it to mom to sell at a garage sale.
- I think this is my first night where I've pulled a so-called late nite. My VBC kids were dying to present something for parent's night, so I had to stay up late to write the script. In the meantime, I'm d/lding a new program and sending stuff to Joe. Heh... this is the most stress I've had since school ended. I am so not looking forward to the end of this month :(
- One of my kids raised his hand up for a good reason :) and he was serious about his decision... as he insisted on talking to me privately... w/ some questions. Praise God! :)
- Saw Princess Diaries 2 w/ Pris tonight. It was good, but I liked the first one better. I only saw this one cos of Julie Andrews.
- Rainbow Cinema isn't all that bad...! My first visit tonite, so I was expecting the ghetto cinema, but it's pretty good for the price you're paying...
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS! Tea Emporium, here we come!

Time for bed.

posted by Holz @ 1:04 AM |

A Week of Reminiscence

The blog title is pretty much self-explanatory. Even moments before I began this entry, I find something that reminds me of an awesome encounter w/ a brother in Christ who has just left Toronto. As I'm feeling rather lazy presently, I'll resort to point form blogging once again :)

- VBS: This is pretty much my life this week. However, serving as a group leader has given me memories of several things in my past - being a VBS camper and my first experience serving at VBS. It's funny that while I'm leading/yelling at my campers, I can actually put myself in their shoes and understand why they are the way they are. Flashbacks occur constantly while being with the kids... and I think of the times Vicky, Dan, Tim, Gabriel, Andrew, myself, and others were constantly up for mischief and giving our leaders grief albeit we weren't that bad. :) Abby mentioned in her blog, she got to know some ppl serving with her better; likewise, I got to know her and others better. However, one worthy point to mention is that I'm currently serving with the kids that I first led five years ago! A and I are both group assistants, and H is a GM... quite scary. Nonetheless, it puts a smile to my face that I did not end up scaring my kids away five years ago, and that they're now just like me! :)

- My Chum: My chum... is Chuen Goh, otherwise known as my tofu or more formally, grandpa. Since my grandma is away for the week, dad and I decided to go over to their place for dinner to keep him company. While the boys were watching the Chinese news, I decided to browse through grandma's old photo albums, and found one of me and grandpa at the park back in HK with our arms around each other like good old chums. :) Chuen Goh was very happy to see it, as with I! Oh, the happy days (not that the present ones aren't happy, but just not as carefree!)

- Junk: As my previous blog entry mentioned, I'm currently giving my n-th attempt at cleaning my room. Aside from the very old lip balm that was found (that is deserving to be thrown out!), I found other things such as encouragement notes from Malachi and Josiah, old toys, old CDs (think: Ace of Base), and old stationery (I used to be obsessed w/ collecting the coolest and trendiest stationery that aren't so trendy anymore).

- Yve: (BTW - don't laugh, Abby!) She's one of my campers... a certain part of her reminds me of me - her friendship w/ another fellow camper Ang. It totally reminds me of Vicky and I while we were growing up at NTCBC.

- Sound Clips: I decide to open up Windows Media since it's kinda quiet here while I'm blogging and I'm not really in a chatting mood, hence my absence from ICQ and MSN. While listening to Urbana tunes courtesy of Phil, it suddenly jumps to another file - the one of me learning English when I was a true FOB... all I can say is banana! Talk about things popping up even as I'm blogging.

There's just so much more... but my mind is slowly turning off on me. So stay tuned for the next entry on How to be a Bratty Kid. :)

posted by Holz @ 11:03 PM |

I believe this may be the shallowest blog entry I have ever posted since my first few blog entries (from the last Winter Olypmics in 2002)... just a personal opinion though; I'm sure I've blogged about many insignificant things in the past.

Actually, it's a simple question... but one worth asking since I'm trying to clean my room. Many of you know that it's been an attempt that hasn 't been successful. Three months in and counting still...

ANYWAY - the question is *drumroll*: Does Lip Balm Expire?

Thank you, come again :)

(in a few days time, I'm sure I'll post something of more substance... apologies in advance for the disappointment!)

posted by Holz @ 12:05 PM |

Random News

- Think I've found ppl to go to the tea class w/ me. Yay!
- Home alone w/ Dad for the next few days. Yay!
- Monsoon (hopefully) w/ Karen tomorrow. Hopefully, the last minute reservation which I had totally forgotten to make will pull thru.
- Awesome personal worship experience yesterday at NTCBC - I suppose being deprived from it for a while makes me appreciate service even more. What else can I do? Learning how to simply bask in His glory.
- Running away from kids. Vacation Bible Camp has begun, and I'm in charge of the oldest group of kids. These kids are too smart for my likes.
- Back to my caffeine binge... didn't operate w/o my Timmy's this morning.
- My Sketchers have finally ended their legacy w/ me... I found an extra large hole on the left shoe :(
- I'm afraid to look at my room; it's far too messy. Worse than when I left it a month ago.
- I wanna go to Whistler! $40 for a lift ticket, 2 hour mountain bike rental, a bobsled-like ride, and mini-golf is definitely worth it!... now, in search for a cheap plane ticket. Oh yeah, and time. WHERE?!
- Recently realized my summer has been cut short - didn't read the fine lines carefully, stating that a nice self-study package is coming along my way in two weeks' time. NOOOOOO discipline again?!
- Suffering from Amnesia; cannot rememer what else I have to say... in that case, adios.

posted by Holz @ 11:40 PM |

Tidbits 'bout My Family

Several recent situations involving different members of my family has prompted me to write about how interesting my family can be... at least I personally think so.

Situation #1: Telephone Conversation with my Uncle CK
I was chatting on the phone w/ my Uncle... our conversation originally began w/ some of my mom's issues that had to be addressed with him, but as usual, we ended up eventually chatting for an hour about anything. We were talking about kids in general and how times have changed big time, especially kids in HK (my cousin was in HK for the summer, so that's where the topic starter came from). Here's the convo:

Me: I just don't understand - how can kids these days NOT remember their manners? I mean, at their age, I would know not to touch any food before the oldest person started eating.
Uncle: Well, you just aren't normal.
Me: What?
Uncle: Yeah... you're just too.... good. It's abnormal.
Me: But all my friends know this. It's common courtesy!
Uncle: True! Still, you're just abnormal.Me: Hehe....

My reaction? Somehow, I wasn't too taken back. Perhaps because I knew there was some truth in it... sad, no? The conversation is really an epitome of how honest and blunt my family can be... for the most part, I'm grateful for their honesty, as it really makes me realize how opened we can be to each other. I do wonder what my other relatives think of me - if I'm weird or not? MYYY and Uncle John, what do you guys think?

Situation #2: Telephone Call from Dad
The following conversation is reflective of the strong bond between my dad and I. I usually let him in on secrets way before my mom... my recent tea obsession has been shared w/ him. Here goes:

Dad: Hey Mui [my nickname], I have two questions for you.
Me: Yeah?
Dad: Question 1 - where did you hide your tea, you know, the one that you gave me a sniff and a watered down version of?
Me: Oh... wait, is mom home?!
Dad: She just left the house; that's why I'm calling you now!
Me: It's in my first desk drawer... make sure you put it back after you're done, and use the teaspoon I have in the bag... blah blah blah

Since my recent spending habits have been an eye sore..., I decided to save the news of this obsession of mine for a later date from my mom. However, with my excitement overpowering my will to keep my obsession a secret, I let dad in on the news.

Situation #3: Nicknames and an Afternoon out w/ Grandpa
It's funny; my grandpa responds to the word "TOFU". That's my nickname for him... it started out as a joke many many years ago, since he always warned me not to squish him or playfully punch him since he's as frail as tofu (according to his words). Eversince, I've been calling him either "gung gung" (grandpa in cantonese) or tofu. The other day, I was shopping at No Frills with him, and he was waaaaay ahead of me. Without realizing it, I simply called "TOFU!" and he turned around and said "meeeh yeah?" ("what" in chinese). Haha....

Something weird happened today. I went to visit my grandpa, and instead of going to the usual Tim Hortons down the street, we ended up making a spontaneous decision to try another venue - The Old Curiousity Tea Shop. I didn't expect to have such a plesant experience w/ him, as I was a bit worried (but then, when am I not?) that he wouldn't enjoy the experience, since he is a connoiseur of fine Chinese tea. He did say he'd prefer the Chinese tea, but he did enjoy the experience whatsoever... he was willing to try English Evening instead of the Jasmine tea offered there! We were engaged in a very interesting conversation about tea and also about the past... a really plesant afternoon.

I'm glad that in these past 21 odd years, nothing has really changed between my grandpa and me :).

Situation #4: Teaching my Cousin how to check her E-mail
My cousin in Vancouver is computer illiterate. I don't know how many times I've had to teach her how to log onto her yahoo email account. While calling her once, she asked me something hilarious, something I really didn't expect her to ask.

Cousin: Ah Mui, what's my email address?
Me: I know I set it up for you, but you should remember it in order to log in...
Cousin: Yeah, it's abcdefg@yahoo.com? [it's really not abcdefg, but you should get the point]
Me: Haha... nono, it's .ca!
Cousin: I've been giving the wrong email address to people?
Me: Yes! You're soooo silly and helpless w/ computers...
Cousin: Yeah, I know I'm helpless...
Me: *sigh* it's hopeless.

Then I chuckle... and she's laughing even harder, cos she knows behind the truth is just some teasing between her and I. Mind you, this is my cousin that's 30 years my senior (yes, interesting family, as I've already emphasized earlier on), so technically under Chinese culture, I really should be giving her my utmost respect. However, as I often explain our relationship w/ others, I tell them I really don't care much about her status as an elder and my status as her inferior little cousin... (in Chinese, "mo dai mo sai") :) Don't get me wrong - we're tight... I share w/ her a lot of my thoughts and secrets, and vice versa. It's a really unique relationship.

Anyway, it's getting late, so I must leave this... stay tuned for more of my adventures. :)

posted by Holz @ 12:33 AM |

For a Cheaper Alternative...

... would anyone be interested in The Fascinating World of Tea?

It's definitely cheaper than the Phototography outing....!

In other news, I'm so happy! I made myself a really nice cup of tea this morning. Onto more experimentation... but first, lunch w/ Drewz. TTYL!

posted by Holz @ 11:35 AM |

Anyone want in on this?
www.weekendtrips.com/trips/daytrips/waterfall_photo_dt0024.html

Lemme know! :) I'm up for it!!!

posted by Holz @ 10:37 PM |

A Pleasant Experience

...which will be left unblogged. I came to a realization that if I blogged about it, I wouldn't have much to say when I meet up w/ all you wonderful ppl. SO, all I can say is... it's been a wonderful month :).

In other news... I am in love. I have ditched my Timmy's for another: TEA! Just kidding. However, ever since my experiences at The Little Tea Room and at Whittard's, I am inspired to become a connoiseur of tea. :) To begin, I have w/ me a dainty tea infuser and a gazillion bags and cans of tea. :) (Okay, I overexaggerated... just approximately 2 bags and 3 cans) NOW... time to look for a tea pot!

Don't mind me... my thoughts are rather incoherent at this time. GMT is not my friend right now. Until next time, ciao ciao!

posted by Holz @ 10:36 PM |