Phone Ordeal Update

Update: almost 4 weeks later...

If you had read my post earlier this month regarding getting a new phone, then you may be interested in reading the following update.

I think it is important that I share the fact that I never got the Nokia phone in the end. I had to call many times again. After the nth time, a supervisor finally told me that the phone was no longer in stock and there was nothing they can do but force me to pick another one no matter how many times I tried to explain the fact that it was ridiculous they had shipped my phone to somebody else. So I picked a different one (a Motorola...again.) out of a lack of choice and then wrote a complaint to Better Business Bureau. As I await BBB's reply, I call Fido again to track my new order, and get this...we have another new twist!

The agent says somebody had called the day before I made this tracking call and CANCELLED the order! Is Fido playing me? This has now become a security breach, and as I firmly explain to the representative that I refuse to wait any longer for them to investigate the "case," just send me a phone, he got the idea...especially reading all the ordeal I went through in my account notes!

And...strangely enough...I received it. But it was only a day after the call...so is this phone from the previous mysteriously cancelled order? Or Santa's early X'mas gift?

No matter the case, I shall be thankful to have a new phone. And if another one comes...the more the merrier.

Cloud 9

If you live in Vancouver, you must know about the revolving Cloud 9 restaurant on top of the Imperial Landmark hotel. It's been there for a long time. Well, my mom wanted to bring us there as a celebration for my graduation, so we went...despite the fact that I remember the food there was only mediocre when we visited many years ago. My mom says it has improved so we trust her. And indeed we were surprised by the food.

Not only was their Angus beef steak cooked just right with the perfect juices left behind but they were also doing a promotion, either $33 for the entire 3 course dinner or buy 1 entree and get the 2nd $20 off. Now, I wouldn't really consider myself a carnivore but I wouldn't mind having another piece of that steak. Although my mom is a vegetarian, her pasta was delicious and impressive as well. Both their black cod and seafood dishes were also very good. We shared some yummy desserts at the end too...a chocolate mousse and a mango cheesecake. The mango cheesecake was definitely the dessert winner.


And of course, who can come here and not enjoy the spectacular view...especially on a sunny day like the one we had when we visited? All-in-all, we had a wonderful time. And I really mean it this time because if you know our family or many Chinese people in general, we tend to rush at everything, even eating, so our typical 1 hour order, eat, pay, go routine actually extended into 2 hours because we were having a good time...(well...ok...the service was a tad slow too.)

I would say the only downfall would be the fact that service was really slow...I'm not sure if this had to do with their lack of staffing or the fact that all the staff were near retirement and they just couldn't keep up with a restaurant's needed pace?

Convocation @ UBC

It was a glorious and uplifting day last Thursday as I walked across UBC's Chan Centre stage for the 3rd time in 5 years. I may still look young but it seems that I no longer feel young since my levels of interest and enthusiasm are no where near those obtaining the B.Ed. or bachelor of any kind. I mean, I'm happy that I've completed my Masters and proud of myself to achieve such a milestone but c'mon...what am I suppose to anticipate for the 3rd time?

Mind you, probably because of constant increases to tuition, UBC seems to have invested a bit more into the gift tokens beyond the diploma. Alas! We now have a pin AND a UBC notepad. On a second thought, I think the institution is still leaning towards the thrifty side. You would know what I mean if you arrived at the refreshments tent 5 mins after the initial crowd. We couldn't even tell what the refreshments were because the plates were so bare. I'm not exaggerating. We were lucky to get some ice water and coffee. Doesn't that seem just a tad cheap considering how we each paid 5 digits of tuition for our 1 degree?

As for the gown itself, although the Masters cape symbolizes a higher achievement compared to the Bachelor one but it doesn't have a band of any colour...simply all black. How dull for my fashion sense? Of course the Doctorate one is uniquely different in both colour and style...but really...no fashionable gown is going to convince me to go for a PhD! Nonetheless, it's how we have to use a million pins to attempt to make the cape stay on evenly and stable that's the problem. Why can't they use velcro or buttons? Is this a designing flaw that they are again too cheap to invest and improve on?

All-in-all, graduating is a great event. Please don't let me deter you from paying the $40 gown rental for the whole memorable experience.

Grub

My friends and I had a wonderful time for dinner at Grub the other night. It's this little trendy restaurant near Main and 27th in Vancouver. I think a bunch of these type of small and hip eateries are popping up all over town. Really...if you weren't looking, you would miss it. I think its sign is covered by a tree if you're driving on the road, but it's next to Olive cafe.

Overall, the food was very good. We shared a bread plate and a "Commy" alcoholic punch bowl. These were both good with the hummus for the bread very yummy; I think P. and C. ate all the leftover hummus by itself. They have a selection of fresh daily choices posted. My friends had their halibut special and they actually said it was one of the best halibuts they've ever eaten. I tried a bit and it was indeed very fresh and tender. I wasn't very hungry, so I had the portebello mushroom salad; I loved their dressing and the choice of vegetables for the salad too (zucchini, eggplant, spinach, etc.). P. was going to have the halibut but opted for the italian sausage thin crust pizza knowing that 3 people already ordered the halibut. We actually skipped dessert because we were going to La Casa Gelato for ice cream (and we ended up trying garlic, saffron, rice, etc...don't ask.), but I've also read reviews saying that the desserts were actually nothing special. We were given the bill with some fortune cookies and had a fun time reading them in our adult ways.

All-in-all, it was a fine experience and a tasty choice with reasonable prices. I would say the only drawback was that it was a very "narrow" experience. We were already seated at the biggest table at the back for 5 people, and I was seated on the corner chair that was accidentally knocked by the servers numerous times during the night because the walkway between my chair and the bar was only within MY arms length (and I'm already very petite plus my arms are very short!) , so don't sit on the chair side if you're well-built!

What is pain?

I was at VGH emergency this morning with my dad because he told me he had ever-growing severe pains under his chest and was breaking into cold sweat. I panicked for a bit as I scramble to call a TOC and desperately tried to remember what I was suppose to get the person to teach this morning. But, of course, what worried me most was whether he would have a heart attack again. As we would discover later, it was really because he ate too much.

For a hospital of such size, it was surprisingly not busy at emergency. I suppose it's a good thing. This is the n-th time I've been to VGH emergency; I actually find the atmosphere calm there. We were admitted quickly and attended to promptly with questions, blood tests, urine tests, etc. Even the doctor came quickly. I was actually quite impressed with the speed of service especially since I remembered that we were never serviced this quickly before. Perhaps it's because my dad has a history of life-threatening illnesses?

It was interesting how my dad's pain went from 10 before we went to more like a 3 once we got there. He was left in a curtained unit (A8 to be exact) on a bed to wait for various test results. The longer we waited, the less the pain. Perhaps the medication was kicking in but the decrease in pain was really due to our surroundings.

We listened as the A9 patient moaned in agony but was forced to leave because the hospital couldn't do anything for her broken collar bone and just had to endure her pain for 4-6 weeks. We listened to the A7 patient who cried and screamed while people undressed her; she fainted and fell down the stairs. We heard the silent worries of the wife in A8 for her husband who had to be hospitalized for several wound infections. We tried to block the screams and yells from the A11 patient because the nurses seem to want to ignore him. And then we witnessed the new A9 patient experiencing a real heart attack as at least 6 doctors and nurses attended to her at once.

Dad then says, "hearing the pains of others forces me to redefine pain. I guess I'm really not in pain..."

When my dad was discharged with smiles, I looked back into the pains behind curtains but the real pain I felt was from the doctors and nurses. They become numb to their surroundings; they must. How else does one survive in such a working condition? The accumulated pain engraved in their memories are infinite.

A "Practice" Interview?

Yes, I did. I applied for summer school, so then I didn't have to spend the whole July thinking about THE EVENT and just making myself go psycho. Well, okay, I also applied because my principal happens to be the principal who decides who to hire and where to place...so I knew the chances were "pretty good."

And so I was just waiting pleasantly to be notified where to go and what to teach for the summer when my principal came up to me this morning and said, "Oh, by the way we have a new summer school on-site supervisor/coordinator (I really can't remember the position name) who needs someone to interview this afternoon for practice, are you busy?"

"Um...no? Sure, I guess." (Totally out of the blue and unprepared! I like to be ready you know?!? What do you mean "practice"? So do I have a job or not?!?)

"Okay then, after school it is! It won't be more than 10-15 minutes. Thanks!"

After School...

The interview was 30 minutes. I mean...I was experienced and knew how to teach but really...I felt like I was being re-hired to be a teacher! We discussed programming to classroom management to parental issues...the whole gammit. And the whole time I was talking, I just really wanted to know...so I still have a job no matter the quality of my answers, right?!?

It was just like a REAL interview...wait...I thought it was just for practice?!?

The Burdens of a New Phone

About a month ago, P. and I were trying to shop for new agreements with Fido, so that our monthly fees would actually be even less than what we already pay (which was already a very good price) plus with more services such as text messaging. Anyway, the negotiating went very well and we even ended up with a new phone to come along with our new agreement. That's when the headache started.

Originally, the phones were suppose to come within 3 days or so but after a week's time, they still didn't come despite my checking of the mailbox everyday. After much trouble calling Fido and then UPS to track the order, we finally discovered that someone from UPS supposedly delivered them but couldn't find our names in our building directory so "cleverly" decided not to notify us that they attempted to deliver and just sent them back to the Fido warehouse! Can you spell stupid? Although we were somewhat frustrated, we were still feeling okay with resubmitting the order again through Fido and this time we even took the time and care to name every single detail regarding building punch code and preferred delivery days.

So we wait. We even purposely stayed home last Saturday during their entire possible delivery period just so we won't miss this preferred time...what a waste of a Saturday!

A total of 10 Days Later....no phone still.

I call both Fido and UPS yet again....after MUCH hassle (explaining the whole ordeal and all) I finally got the conclusion that Fido had to wait for the original phones to be shipped back to the warehouse, confirm the returned package then resubmit the entire order again....*sigh* This process is so slow they couldn't even give me the new tracking # yet. And now I'm worried that we won't even get these phones at the end because the website now shows that this particular model is no longer in stock! What if they somehow give them to another person once they are returned?!?

Ridiculous.