21 days

Michelle says it takes 21 days to change a habit. In Behaviour Science it also states you should wait at least 3 weeks before you change any part of your behavior plan because it takes that long for a change in behaviour to occur. Most people don't give life changes more than a week before they give up. Either they forget there was something they were supposed to change or be conscious about or they get frustrated and give up. Gotta remember not to waste the valuable lessons we learn in life and just go back to our easy habits.

My major life goal this year is to be patient. It's been a running life theme. Impatience affects my interactions with people and my attention to details. How do I train myself in 21 days to be patient? I really think this will take longer than 21 days. Michelle has challenged me on this so we shall see. I'm going to write a behaviour plan so when I feel impatient I will have a coping strategy or a replacement behaviour. I need to some how break down my behaviour so I can work at my impatience in small increments.


I also have a goal of self restraint I need to work on. I have two focuses in my life in which practicing self restraint is necessary. These areas are two things I really need not dwell on or further investigate. It will be a daily goal but I consider it a goal I really have to take one day at a time. Lets cross fingers that I will be successful. These two will be difficult.


As everyday we are changing and are different people moment by moment its important to have some sense of direction or idea of where it is you are headed. Not too long ago I wrote a list of goals or wishes of things I wanted in life. Deepak Chopra said to write out this list somewhere and carry it with you everywhere. Read it in the morning. Read it before you meditate. Read it before you sleep. This engages your mind to connect your wants with the Universe when you are conscious. Just by doing this you can tap into the energy that is with us all and connects everyone and everything in the Universe. We can affect all energy with our thoughts. Though it may not bring things to you on a silver platter it will open up doors and map out new roads for you that you would have never been able to see before. Sadly, I wrote this list but lost it.

I feel very inspired to write a new one. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life you forget to work on your spirituality. Today seeing lightning light up the night sky seemed to bring some of that pureness of thought back. I will write one tomorrow as I think my wishes have changed since then anyway. Maybe that's why I lost that list anyway. It didn't suit me anymore.

More food and fun!

Last week was the last week of summer school. It seems like it went by so fast but if you really think about it summer is half over. Now I can sit back and relax a little and enjoy more fun in the sun. I think the solid schedule made me more productive though.


The week started off with a hike in Lynn Valley. I guess the word hike should be lightly used as it is actually very easy trail walking except for a flight of stairs. It was really fun. Lynn Valley is so different during the summer. It's teeming with people just sitting around on rocks and people watching. There are police men scolding people not to drink in public and men just prancing around in their underwear because they did not bring swimming trunks. Kids are jumping into the canyons and it's just really fun and chill. According to the info center there are plenty of animals that live in every acre of Lynn Valley. We were looking for salamanders and we got lucky. Look! We got a photo of these two very rare creatures before they were able to scuttle away!



I wanted to go to Lynn Valley because I really wanted to see Rice Lake which was not really part of Lynn Valley Park. It is in a very woody area and it's super quiet. Not much is going on here. It's just a quiet lake were you can do some rainbow trout fishing. Apparently the limit is 2 rainbow trout per fisherman. This lake wasn't too exciting but I am glad that I got to see it. I've been curious for a long time. What was interesting was that it was very smoky all around. Then we found out they were shooting "Arrow" in the area. There was filming crew everywhere with smoke machines. It was pretty neat.


Moving on from this... this week I sort of discovered a new love. Ginger beer: not the alcholic type but the soda type. It's sooo good. Some brands are stronger than others. I tried four so far but I only have photo's of Grace and Old Jamaican. The other two I tried were Fentiman's and Old Tyme. My favourite is the Old Jamaican. I had it at the Carribean Festival and it was so refreshing. Sometimes when you drink ginger beer it really hurts like how you have wasabi and it goes up your sinus's but this one brand in particular didn't do that. I wish I knew where I could get some more!






Notable restaurants... THE ONE... Taiwanese fair in Burnaby on Kingsway. The reason why this place is notable is due to the portion size of the food.
That fried rice can feed a family of 4 and it's only 8 dollars... it's pretty good too. It's the fried chicken nugget fried rice. I would definately order it again. They put chinese five spice in the rice too and it gives it a really nice flavour.



Shaved ice... this is huge too. Just make sure you don't add too much syrup because it gets really sweet.


Uhhmm.... yeah.... I know what your thinking.... lol... aside from the obvious it's just a really big slushie. Here is a tip for you if you want to check this restaurant out... bring a jacket... it's really cold in there.


Tokyo Time in Kerrisdale: This is now my new favourite Japanese restaurant. The rolls are just so fresh and tasty. They combine ingredients so well. The separate flavours compliment each other so well. It's a bit pricey though. Special rolls are between $15-$20. However the regular rolls are just as good. I love this place for their negitoro roll. It's the best I've ever tasted. They mix a bit of shiso in there so it has a unique flavour but it's also not to strong.


Black Sesame Crusted Tuna Steak.   This dish is tasty because of the black sesame but it's a bit too pricey for what it is. You can get similar dishes at Guu restaurants for half the price. It did taste very good though.


Vegetarian Gyoza: Tofu, cheese, kale.  For a vegetarian gyoza this dish had a lot of flavour. I wouldn't even mind trying it again.

Indian Summer Roll...



Bloody Winter Roll...

I don't remember what the big roll is but the other two are chopped scallop and negitoro.

All the rolls were good but you also don't have to spend big money on rolls to feel very satisfied. The rolls in the last picture were 5 dollars or less and they were great.

Food cart fest... My favourite thing there...blueberry mojito popsicle from Johnnypops!


And goat curry from the Carribean Fest... a must have if you go there... I wish I knew how to make this.


Sunday night I went to Kit's for dinner and we stayed at the beach for a bit. There were a row of chairs there that had some quotes inscribed into them. This was my favourite one because it's true. There is nothing wrong with being wrong though... just remind yourself you aren't always right...

So many fruits!!!

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a tree by Main Street that was full of figs. I love figs and this was very exciting news to me. The figs weren't quite ripe so I decided to come back sometime later to pick some fruit. I went back this weekend but unfortunately most of the fruits within reach were still too young. I will have to go back again in a couple of weeks when they should all be ripe. I did pick some to bring home though as I heard you can leave them in a sunny window and sometimes they will ripen. This was not the case for my figs. Now I have a bunch of figs that will never ripen and I feel bad that I took them. I will have to do something with them.

I lay under the tree for a considerable amount of time. It's also a nice little picnic spot. The tree is quite low and the leaves are extremely large. It feels very private and peaceful. All that green is very calming. It's a very pleasing color. I love seeing rays of light coming through leaves and I love seeing translucent glow. It's only during summer time that we can enjoy things like this. We should really take advantage of it. I think I heard on the radio today that we have had 33 days of sunshine. We are so lucky!

While I was sitting under the tree a lady was picking fruit with a light bulb changer. She was having a wine and cheese party that night and she was going to serve some figs to go along with it. She knew what she was doing and gave me some tips for picking figs. I think it's so cool that people pick fruit from the local park to eat at home. I wish that was more common. She was nice enough to get me a ripe fruit from the top to try. 



There was also a crab apple tree near by. I picked a couple and ate one or two. They are soooo sour.




In addition to this, my friend came over today and brought some fresh blackberries he picked from his neighborhood. They are very sour as well and I have a lot of them. I also have some pears from the backyard. I think tomorrow I am going to make a dessert with all these fruits. It will be like having a Chopped dessert round. Hmm... so fun. I don't know what I am going to make but I will update with a picture after a make it. I hope it tastes good!!!

Weekend Update

This weekend was relatively busy. Yet Monday comes along and now I can hardly remember what I've done with all that time. Time to reflect.
Went to the park a couple of times this weekend and one time Michelle joined me and brought me some treats. I call one of then the Blow your mind... Goat cheesecake with beet sponge cake. Wahhhh!!! I want more this was so yummy. You can get it at Beta 5 in Vancouver but I heard that they aren't selling cakes in a jar anymore. I hope that still mean s another version of this cake is available.




It is sprinkled with poached pears and comes with a little Baggie of colorful crumble. It's so crunchy. I love this cake THHHHIIIISSSSS much!!! Thank you Michelle for getting me one even though I didn't join the rock climbing cult.
Here is another dessert from Beta 5. It's a sour cherry pistachio cream puff.








So good. I liked the combination of pistachio cream and the sour cherry jelly inside. I would like to visit that bakery and get a bunch of stuff. Apparently they have a stout truffle. Hmmmm... My name is all over that one.
Saturday lunch was at El Camino's. I've blogged about El Camino's many times because we are addicted to the chickpea fries. We were craving chickpea fries for lunch that day but unfortunately they don't have them during the daytime. Who knew? What the! I think they should Never take them off the menu. We had to order brunch instead. They had a wide variety of South American style dishes to choose from.




This is what I ordered. I forget the name if it though. Spicy... A little too spicy for brunch. I ordered this because it had rice and beans and an arepa comes with the meal. However, It didn't appeal to me. Flavours were too strong. I prefer their evening menu more.

Sunday night I hit the night market and tried a couple of snacks. I also did a bit of shopping. There is this jewlery stand that sells knock off jewelry for $5 each. The items look quite convincing. I got a pair of Stella and Dot earrings :)
Snack wise, I think most notable is this French fry corn dog.




Looks like a great idea. It is made with a hotdog dipped in corn-dog batter and then coated with hash-browns and drizzled in ketchup. This was so disappointing. It lacked a lot of flavour. All they had to do was season it a bit and use a better quality hot dog. Unfortunately they didn't.
Here is a dish I have been ordering a lot at the night market. It's their palabok pancit which is a Filipino noodle dish. I love palabok and I can't make it myself. Even though they don't use the traditional fatter noodle for it I am happy I can order this. I like it alot. The sauce is savoury and there is egg and pork in it.




I love the palabok from PinPin on Fraser street though. That was is extra yummy and savoury.




These two are having Mango Sago from Mango Yummy. It's such a good drink! It's made with mango, coconut milk, tapioca and some sort if citrus. Yum!
Don't forget to take a picture with the duckies!



After the night market we went to Cascade for some polenta fries. We were curious about them. They are similar to chick pea fries just a bit crunchier and cheesier. I liked them a lot but you can't eat too many unlike the chick pea fries at El Caminos. However, I had a Pisco Sour there too and their Pisco Sour can give El Caminos a run for their money. It's just as good. I love Pisco Sours. I think they are my favourite drink. We also had onion rings there. The rings had a light batter and came with onion bacon jam and garlic mayo. Nice combo.











Ahhhh... Pisco Sour.

One thing that pisses me off

Yesterday I blogged about finding peace and contentment and always trying to appreciate what you have. Then today someone told me a story of what someone did to them. It makes me wonder why some people need to do horrible things to others. What do they get out of it? Why can't they just be happy on their own? It's all very senseless.

Even seemingly normal people can really surprise you with their darkness. Is this whole world becoming mentally ill? Or is there something in all of us that when given the opportunity will take advantage of a situation if they don't get caught. Sometimes technology really brings out the worst in people. It gives you the ability to hide who you are and pretend to be who ever you want to be. You can find out anything or access pretty much anything you want. You can also use it to mess up someone you don't like.

There are many ways to harass people. Too bad not all crimes are taken seriously. I've had my own experiences with harassment and it's interesting that the law is always on the perpretrators side. Some can prank call you from a blocked number endlessly, leave your personal information and pictures on the Internet and yet everything is out in place to protect them. Victims are left to feel vulnerable and helpless.

Did you know that in order to get a faked profile off a website you need to be able to provide the email address that was used to sign that profile up? That's really stupid.

Did you know that you can get the phone company to cooperate with you to find a blocked number on a LAN line but not a cell phone? Who uses a LAN line anymore?

Did you know there are prank calling apps out there that can change your voice and change the incoming call or text number to any number you want? That is so wrong.

Did you know to get a blocked number revealed you need to get a court order from a judge and pay the phone company hundreds of dollars. Even so, it would take 3-6 months to retrieve that number? What is the point of this? All the while, whoever is playing games with your mind is free to do so and do it while hiding behind the veil of technology.

I don't even understand why they allow people to block numbers. It seems really unfair. There can be no good reason to block a number. If there is then it should only be limitedly allowed. If you don't want your number revealed to someone why are you bothering to call them. It can't be for a good reason. Really stupid.

In this moment.

How to be happy? For me, it's to give and share my life with others. Also, I am learning that being happy means to think of your actions before you engage in them and always choose what will make you and others happy in the long run not in the moment. It's good to have lots of friends that let you practice your ever evolving being with them.


However, what is better than being able to enjoy your own company? Being able to sit in silence and feel ok with things just as they are is a gift. I love the ability to be in silence and just feel good. It's so peaceful. When your mind is quiet so is everything else. The whole Universe is still. However, there is a calm before and after every storm. Remember? The only thing you can count on is that things are ever changing. Eventually another storm will come and I wish that for those moments I could encapsulate the moments of complete comfort and contentment and bottle them up. How many bottles would one need? What would the inside of these bottles look like? Do they have a color? What substance would they resemble? Maybe they would be labelled as "Happy Food", "Time for a nap", "Drink me instead of beer", "Vegas". I see sparking butterflies in jars. The essence of grass and fresh air in bottles. A light blowing wind and sunlight coming from another one. The sounds of wild birds in another. Laughter of my nieces will be somewhere there too. Everyone needs a couple of bottles in their pantry for those moments you forget how ok everything really is. We should try to keep some in the pantry of our consciousness. What would yours look like?


Pain, on the other hand, should never be bottled up. No one needs to save it. If it's bottled up in you somewhere it's time to pour it out and let to go back to where it came from: the past. We can still label the unhappy moments in our lives but see that they are empty of their power. So many people allow the past to hold them hostage. They allow it to color their daily events. The past has no hold on you now. Just be happy with what you have in the moment. I once saw a movie a wonderful idea of how to get rid of unhappiness. Get a cup of water, scream your unhappiness into it then dump it out the window. Let that frustration splatter all over a plant rather than you. I think the plant would appreciate it more anyhow.


Some people say it's a choice to be happy. I think it's more of a choice to not let unhappy moments take over your life. No matter what we will feel unhappy sometimes and you won't be able to help it. That's just human nature. Just don't let it become who you are. It's just like how people let words define who they are. "I'm stubborn", "I can't do that", "I'm unhappy", it can truly become you if you let it define you. Be flexible. If you are aware you have some negative tendencies be conscious about them and don't let them ruin good things that are given to you. We are all happy individuals that have moments of unhappiness mask our true essence. If it weren't so we shouldn't be able to feel incredible for no reason.
Maybe next time you have a shitty day say thanks because without shitty moments we would never know how lucky we are just as is.




Kinda like that. Everything is a blessing in disguise.

Watermelon Cake

Need I say more... Sooooo good. The cream is made with coconut milk whipped into a cream. The "cake" is a whole watermelon cut into a cylinder. What a wonderful idea.

Weekend update.

Weekend highlights: Pastry Saturday, Khasalano festival, and Guu Kobachi.

This Saturday I had made plans to meet up with friends to try a bakery in East Van called Swiss Bakery. It's been around for a while but lately it's been getting quite popular because of a new pastry they have. This pastry is called a Frissant. It's a cross between a fritter and a croissant. We also tried a real pretzel and a bear claw from this bakery.



The top right is the bear claw and the bottom right is the Frissant.

Frissant: looks like a donut and tastes like a donut. The only difference is that the outside of the Frissant is quite crispy like a croissant but not flakey. Inside this Frissant is a vanilla lemon custard. The custard is not too sweet and it just has a hint of lemon. It's quite a nice custard. I liked it quite a lot. I liked the crispy texture of the Frissant too.

Bear claw: basically like a croissant. Very buttery and rich but filled with some almond paste.

Pretzel: very dense and tasteless. I did not like this. I'm pretty sure this what a real pretzel is supposed to taste like but it tastes really bland and not worth the calories.

Next we went to Granville Island. We headed to Bridges for some patio time and a light lunch.




I got their tomato based chowder. Lots of seafood and it didn't taste heavy at all because it was a broth based chowder. I liked it but I think you could make vegetable soup and throw some seafood in it and it would be the same. At least I have a new soup to make at home.

We then walked up the street from Granville Island to Beaucoup Bakery and to check out the Khasalano Festival. It was packed with people. Summer time fun!!




I scored me a pair of heels from Miz Mooz for $20 bucks!!! They were originally $129!!! w00t!!!

Beacoup Bakery: It's a French Bakery and it was my first time there. All the food there looked so tempting. There were 3 of us and we ordered a bit too much. Ooopsies. But... Momma said never to waste food heehee.


Top right: apple tart.
Bottom left: blackberry and cassis cake, chocolate croissant, lemon tart and rosemary chocolate cookie.
Bottom right: Bastock.

Apple tart: I like the concept of this apple tart and it's variation on layering. The top brown cube is a cube of thinly sliced and cooked apples. The bottom is a vanilla custard very similar to a creme Brule encased in a very nice crunchy and flakey crust. It has a flake of gold and a cinnamon stick for decoration. It tastes delicious and is so very rich.



See that custard? A+

Blackberry Cassis Cake: This cake is a mousse and cake layered cake. This mousse filling is not too sweet and even a little tart.

Lemon Tart: I am a big lemon tart fan. The crust of this Lemon tart is similar to that of the apple tart. It is flakey and crunchy at the same time. It's super tart but in a good way. I really enjoyed it. It gives just enough tartness in your cheeks that makes you want to take another bite.

Rosemary Chocolate cookie: this is a super moist and fudgy cookie. It has a very unique flavour due to the Rosemary. It also tastes a bit minty. If you like something a little different you should try this. It's not your typical chocolate cookie.

Chocolate croissant: loved this. Super flakey and buttery. The croissant itself was savoury and when you get a bite of chocolate it gets deep and rich.

Last but not least is the Bastock. A Bastock is a baked slice of brioche that has been soaked on orange flower syrup. It has a topping of almond paste. It's good but since all the pastries at this place were so good this did not stand out too much.




Guu Kobachi: this is the newest Guu restaurant but it has been around for about 2 years. It is on Denmen St near Robson.

Most Guu restaurants have similar items on the menu. What's interesting is that the very same item is made a little different and has a bit of a twist.

We ordered these things:

Ebi Mayo (3rd down on the right hand side): this is basically deep fried prawns and mayo. This dish is definately on every menu at Guu restauarants. The difference with this one is that each prawn is wrapped around with a nest of thinly stringed potatoes then deep fried. It lends to a very crispy texture. It's fun that you are eating string potatoes at the same time. It's very good. I like this variation. The mayo is also a touch spicy.

Creamy Potato Croquets (2nd picture on the left) : this potato croquet is like a fried seafood chowder. It's so good but it's very rich so you should only have a bite or two. There is a prawn in the middle.

Seared Ray Fins (3rd on the left): this is a delicious snack. Every have dried cuttlefish or squid from the Chinese supermarket snack section? It's very similar. I like that it tastes more tender and is slightly warm. It is sweet and salty. Parts of it is seared more so it's crispy. Really enjoyed this appetizer.

Spicey chicken wings (first on the right): I'm the only one that liked these but that's because it reminded me of my grandpa's chicken wings. He had lost the ability to taste salt so his good was always overly salty. It was very nostalgic for me. Everyone else stayed away from it.

Squid tempera (2nd on the right): I think it's probably very hard to deep fry squid and have it not fall apart. Basically I thought the batter wasnt crispy enough and the squid was difficult to chew. I didn't really like it.

3 sashimi plate: we got red snapper, wild salmon bad amberjack. The fish was super fresh. I particularly liked the amberjack which is a more solid fish with a fatty finish.

Lastly, Cold Ramen: last photo.
This sauce was sweet and it was garnished with strips of egg and pork. I have had better cold ramen from Guu before. I think I prefer it when they use jellyfish or turkey.

That's all for Saturday!

Sarah's Old Fashioned Ice Cream

I don't like ice cream. Since I was a child each and every time I ate ice cream I would soon gag afterwards. I've never finished an ice cream cone. A few weeks ago I went down to Steveston with some friends and while they were ordering ice cream I decided to try a flavour or two. They were so tasty I ordered some too. I finished it all and did not gag! Now I like ice cream thanks to Sarah's Old Fashioned Ice Cream.

I blogged about this place before. They have a tonne of flavours that they make themselves. They experiment a lot. They have a regular selection of ice cream which are the typical flavours you might see at any ice cream shop. They are about $4 for a double scoop. Then they have a premium selection that are a bunch of home made unique recipes. That goes for $6.50 for a double scoop.





These are the flavours based on the Once Upon A Time TV series. I didn't realize they were available until I order my double scoop. I did get to taste test them all and yummers! By the way, the people who work there are super nice and let you try pretty much everything. Those flavours are all based on the TV characters personalities. Aside from the flavours from the television show they have a premium flavour selection. One of the premium flavours are orange and schezuan peppers! It has a bit of heat going down.

This will be a running entry in my blog as I continue to try the flavours.


Regular Flavours.



Walnut Caramel: a nutty sweet ice cream. The walnut flavour stood out more than the caramel.

Black Licorice: Delicious!!! Creamy and not too sweet. I'm not even a licorice fan but somehow as an ice cream it's da bomb! It's my favourite of all I've tried at this shop so far.


Premium Flavours.




The Evil Queen: a vanilla ice cream with a hint if rosemary as that was her original name before she turned evil. This ice cream is very creamy and the rosemary really gives it a unique flavour. Have you ever had lavender ice cream before ( a flavour they also sell there)? It's a very similar taste. I think it's not for everyone but If you are looking for something different you might like this.

Red Riding Hood: that's the flavour on the bottom. Yummers! It's texture is creamy and then a little grainy. I think it's from the cinnamon. That being said it has a cinnamon flavour but it also tastes like red velvet cake. Please try! You won't regret it. :)

Stuffed mushrooms

At the last staff dinner I made stuffed mushrooms. It was my first time making them and they turned out really well. Everyone really liked them. They were your most basic stuffed mushrooms made with cream cheese and mushrooms.

I made them again last night for dinner. I got the gist of how to make them so I threw in a couple more ingredients and took some out. I liked them a lot more.

This is my crab stuffed mushrooms recipe.

1 can chunk crab meat
3/4 pack of cream cheese
10 large sized button mushrooms
1-2 teaspoons of oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons of onion powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 handful of arugula leaves chopped
1 cup panko bread crumbs


Clean your mushrooms and take out the mushroom stalk. Save the stalks and dice them. Pan fry them with the oil until they are cooked through and dry. Set them aside.

In a bowl mix together the softened cream cheese, spices, arugula, crab meat and cooked mushrooms.

When the mixture is even throughout use a spoon to spread them into your mushrooms. Dip your mushrooms, studding side, into a bowl of panko bread crumbs.

Bake them for 30-45 minutes at 350 or until a pool of liquid forms under each mushroom. If your bread crumbs do not brown broil them for a bit until they do. It won't take long.

This is what they look like when they are done. Enjoy!

First day of summer vacation

I am working during my summer vacation. I still have clients that I see and this year I'll be working during summer session to make a bit of extra money. Summer session starts tomorrow. Its only for three weeks and three hours a day. But there is a sense of freedom I'm really enjoying from having all this free time. This morning I prepped my breakfast, lunch and made a salad dressing for dinner. I also brewed some tea for making iced tea later. I feel like I'm getting so much done. I will also get to go to the early pound class today. It's at 1:15 so I plan to eat my lunch at the park and enjoy the weather. I love free time.

Mindfulness and the lotus flower

The lotus flower is a symbol in many religions for reaching enlightenment. It is a flower that incubates in the darkness of muddy pond waters and inches its way upwards until it breaks through the surface. In the open air it blooms into a beautiful flower. It is something that overcomes darkness and comes into light revealing its true form.

Every time I feel I'm getting pulled back into old thoughts I remind myself I am supposed to be pushing myself up not pulling myself down. I want to reach my best. I want to feel happy 100% not 75%. I don't want to put myself into the old. I hate the feeling of getting stuck. However, even when I have an awesome day something triggers me and old thoughts come back. The old feels new again and it feels like I'm back in the moment of pain I'm remembering.

Once that happens the ball keeps rolling. Like a snowball it collects more old thoughts until it runs you over. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy. Eckhart Tolle says there is a part of us that enjoys pain and feeds on it. If it weren't for that we wouldn't force ourselves to relive painful moments in our lives. This is the pain body. It lurks around unconscious beings and pounces on us when we are not conscious. I find I am not conscious when I'm alone with too much time to stare at the wall. My mind wanders where it shouldn't. Some people think perhaps your brain is trying to work out a problem but instead it is creating a problem. Ive gone to that place in my mind too many times now for it to do any good. Another place that makes me unconscious is my basement where it is dark. No sun shines through the windows there. I never know what the weather is like. I guess it is a place where I can get trapped by my thoughts.

While I'm out and about I feel less of that. I feel more alive. I guess what I'm describing sounds really depressing. I'm not depressed. I just notice that I am still affected by things in my past. They seem out of my control but I know it's my brain. I guess it IS out of my control though. In "A New Earth" Eckhart Tolle said to say "I think" is as ridiculous as saying "I circulate blood". It's not something we consciously do. It's something that happens to us. The least we can do is notice that. We aren't our negative thoughts but sometimes it feels like they run our lives. I am very happy in my life now but i get flustered thinking I can still get affected by my old feelings.

A song lyric keeps coming into my head. I don't know what song it's from. It just always repeats when I feel a little stuck. "All we have is here. All we have is now." I don't want to waste this perfect moment. So every time I feel stuck or an old thought happens to me I'm not going to let it snowball because I'm going to think of the lotus flower and keep pushing my way up.

My friend once told me "we are all damaged goods". I would like to think that some of us are just trying to get through the mud. Soon we will fully understand who we are, what our purpose in life is and how perfect we are.

I have 3 goals in life:

1) Obliterate the things that I don't need. You can't hold on to things because they were once meaningful. They will eventually just drag you down. Their time in your life has already fulfilled the purpose that it was meant to fulfill. Appreciate it and move on.

2) Find my purpose, my passion and my joy. I use to have more passion for things. I think maybe I've spent too much time on those things and now they have become work not pleasure or love. Go where your heart leads you.

3) Keep giving. Giving and receiving are the same thing. I will always try to give something to everyone I meet. It can be a hug, a smile, or even just a happy thought. Most importantly I will give them the freedom to be who they are without judging. Deepak Chopra says give what you feel people have taken from you. Give people what you want for yourself and start the circulation of wealth and joy in your life. And when you feel you have nothing in you to give, give anyway.

These are the goals I will work on heavily. Enough preaching for now.

Chicago... Last Day.

Day 4 highlights: Field Museum, Lawry's and John Hancock Observatory.


Today was our last day in Chicago and we had a long list of things to do on our list. We wanted to finish all the activities on our citypass. We only had two left: The Field Museum and the John Hancock Observatory. They were on the opposite sides of Downtown so it was going to be another long day of walking. At least we get to walk off all the food we eat. We also had dinner reservations at Lawry's. It's a high end restaurant well known for its prime rib dinners. Our plan was to go to the Field Museum, walk down State avenue for a bit of shopping, have dinner and check out the Observatory at night. We did pretty well today!


The Field Museum: this museum seems like a natural history museum. It had dinosaur bones, specimens of bugs and animals, sections on different parts of the world and exhibits on rocks and minerals. It was very diverse and I really enjoyed it. It had a special exhibit on animals and bioluminescence. There was a tank of flashlight fish that flashed very dimly. Many dish and animal specimens were on display in jars and preserved. We weren't allowed to take photos in that exhibit but we were in other exhibits.




At the entrance of the museum you meet a huge dinosaur specimen wearing a Blackhawks jersy. Pretty funny.




There was a section on the evolution of clothes. They had a pair of lotus feet shoes there. Ouch! I thought high heels were bad! I just can't imagine.




I love jewelry. What girl doesn't? Ancient jewelry was so nice. Some things were so intricate I'm pretty sure no one can make them now. They had a huge display of Chinese jade. I appreciate jade much more now.




A lodge house. The bed is made of bison fur. It's so comfortable. The reinforcements are made out of tree branches. This is an 8 post lodge. It was the most common lodge made by the Panachee. It's about 1300 sq feet.




Many dinosaur bones everywhere.




Here is a mummified child.
We spend about 5 hours there and we had to go fast to see everything.
After the museum we went shopping on State street. It's an awesome shopping area. We saw a fast food place called Wow Bao. It had signs all over it that said Bao zi and gao zi. Of course we has to try it. We had a kung pao chicken bao and a spicey Mongolian beef Bao. They were soooo good. It's like a cha sui Bao just with different filling.








Weird... But I want to try.
Dinner Time!!!




It's a classy place but everyone working there was dressed like they were still in the roaring 50's. So weird. The decor was very old school posh. Amanda said she felt she was dining on the Titanic.




Famous spinning salad. This salad was mixed in a spinning metal bowl. It is a green salad with beets and French dressing. It was nice. I prefer less dressing but it was fun to watch them mix it.




The beef guy. He rolls this big beef cart to you and you choose your cut. He also loads your plate up with mashed potatoes and gravy.




I got the famous Lawry's cut which is the same as any other cut just really big. I'll be having prime rib for breakfast. It's yummy.




Your dinner also comes with Yorkshire pudding which I love. Yummy! This restaurant set us back a bit but it's good to experience.




Cheers!

John Hancock Observatory. Im glad we went to the observatory after dinner as we had already seen the aerial view of Chicago from the Skydeck during the day. Chicago is really nice. The observatory is not as high as the sky deck but apparently the elevator goes faster. They have a mini restaurant up there too. It would have been great to see the fireworks from here yesterday since you had a great view of the pier. While at the Observatory we met a guy from North Carolina. He told us some things about Chicago we didn't get to discover. 1) You can rent bicycles all over the city. We saw the bike stations everywhere. However we didn't know they were only 7 days for a whole day. That's awesome. 2) There is also place in Chicago outside of downtown that is more of a south Asian neighborhood. The area is covered in markets just like China and India. I'd like to see them one day if I ever come again.
Now it's time for me to pack. We leave tomorrow at 5am!! It's weird to think I'll be home in Vancouver before lunch time. Anyway, awesome trip! Chicago has a lot to offer.







I'll leave you with more random art.








Suits everywhere! (Look familiar?)




More Blackhawks.
And this is the Magnificent Mile.