Today I was invited to dinner by one of the docs at her house. I think she hates me cuz I said something about Quebec French and how it's a "not evolved" version of France's French. That's not even my own opinion! I'm merely repeating what this guy from France said to me last month.This doc isn't even French!! She just likes speaking French, that's all. Anyway, I think she was being mean by reacting that way. She could have been a lot nicer but she absolutely was NOT. That was a really bad experience. I'm assigned to go to one of those 3 day expeditions with her too, so I'm really NOT looking forward to that now that I am in this predisposition.

Although it was a cold minus 42 celcius yesterday, we were all anxious to get out of the residence on Friday night. So we all headed off to the MacKenzie Hotel for some dinner.  A bunch of the girls shared the biggest plate of nachos I've ever seen, bruschetta, and spinach-artichoke dip. The food was really tasty, but we all had our jackets on cuz it was absolutely freezing in the restaurant! One of us checked the thermostat and it read 13.9 degrees celcius we couldn't believe it. We asked the waitress to turn up the heat and she said she couldn't but didn't explain why. Not able to withstand the cold any longer, when nobody was looking, one of us got up and increased the temperature of the thermostat. It didn't warm up even 20 minutes later, so I guess it was just too cold or the insulation in the restaurant really sucked. We decided to leave. That guy in the middle is an RCMP officer (equivalent to the American FBI agents). He was cool, even danced and sang a karaoke song with me! haha

Next stop was Jenn's house, for karaoke! I never had that much fun singing karaoke before. One of the nurses owned the karaoke machine and all the CDs. She had them organized so well I was a bit afraid to touch them. Her song selection was really fun too.

After warming up at Jenn's, we headed off to the infamous Trapper pub/bar downtown. They had the best music ever!! I never would have thought that listening to a fiddle in a bar would be cool, but it ended up being so much fun! All of us danced, and just had fun watching this little man strutting his stuff. Kind of reminded me of the music I heard in Newfoundland!

Labels: MacKenzie Hotel, Trapper

Today, I was on-call at the Emergency at the only hospital north of the Arctic Circle. 

Labels: frostbite

I was soo sad to leave my fiance yesterday. He is my most favourite fiance ever and I love him to bits! He knew I hated Vancouver for the trouble it gave me in the past. By this, I am referring to being stuck there for 4 days during 9-11, repeatedly being harassed by customs, and the fact that my fiance is M.I.A there. Anyway, I never thought I would say this about Vancouver but I really enjoyed my time there and wish I didn't have to leave. We didn't really do much, but I guess now I really understand it when people say that you can grow to love a place just for its people. In this case, my opinion changed for Vancouver because of my fiance. I can tell he tried so hard to make me enjoy myself there.. by renting a car, making me feel comfortable in his tiny place, and just giving me a really wonderful experience. 

My flight out of Vancouver was pretty good, except for my experience in "Deadmonton" airport. First of all, our flight out of Vancouver was delayed for 4 hrs. I loved this because it gave me an extra couple hours to spend with Michael! But AirCanada could have notified us to check in an extra 2 hrs later because we ended up wasting 2 hrs on the plane waiting for it to take-off, which was super annoying. Deadmonton was the first stop. We waited 45 mins at the luggage carousel, and our luggage was nowhere to be seen. Then, our flight number disappeared from the luggage carousel and everybody freaked out. But what pissed everyone off was that in the minutes following, we went to the AirCanada baggage information desk to find NO ONE there! Another victim of the AirCanada baggage disappearance told me she heard that the luggage compartment door of our plane was iced shut. Anyway, we eventually got our bags.. but I have to say that AirCanada has really bad service!!

The flight out of Deadmonton was via Canadian North Airlines, which is fantastic. If more people knew about how good their service was, I am sure they would win a prize for it. I got 2 breakfasts, and snacks which were all yummy, for a 5 hour flight. The flight attendants were very friendly too. We stopped by Norman Wells. It was so cold there that even with my Canada Goose jacket on, I could feel myself beginning to freeze. I learned later that it was -48C there at the time!

After almost 18 hrs in transit, I am now in the town of Inuvik. It has a population of 3000 including surrounding remote sites: Aklavik, Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Ulahaktok, Tsiigehtchic, Fort Good Hope, and Colville Lake. Its inhabitants are comprised of 60% non-native, 25% Inuit, and 15% Metis. This town has the only hospital North of the Arctic Circle.

Labels: Arctic, Arctic medicine, Inuvik

ROGERS IS SO FREAKING ANNOYING! i was supposed to get my new cellphone (Nokia 5300) today but i learned 3 things about today. 1) it's too foggy here on this iceberg of an island so the UPS plane may not land here today 2) Rogers MAY have accidentally sent me the WRONG phone. i won't know until i open the box.. whenever that will be. i was so excited i was gonna play w the phone while i watch my favourite tv shows tonite (Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, October Road) and have dinner cooked for me. 3) dinner plans were cancelled. GRrrrrrrrrrr.. also, i just spoke to my friend back home in Toronto and she got a sunburn while driving home today. I, on the other hand, got sprayed all over my body.. like i walked through a sprinkler all the way home.. AND, I am STILL wearing my winter jacket. what awesome weather we have here. YAY.

Labels: Rogers.com

Rogers called me today and told me i won a Nokia 5300 phone cuz i filled out one of their surveys a while back. cool huh?? i'm so excited cuz i never won anything in my entire life.. well, i have.. but this is really nice too. heeeee

Labels: nokia 5300

OMG. this is like one of my biggest fears. I just read this thing on the oprah website cuz i missed her show yesterday that i really wanted to watch. She was talking about how people's wives admitted they were lesbian after so many years of marriage and child rearing.

Here i took this from the oprah site. u can read the rest on there. When John and Jo-Ann were married, John thought his life was pretty close to perfect. "We were such good friends, it was always a joy to come home to each other at the end of the day." The only thing that wasn't perfect—their sex life. "Jo-Ann wasn't as interested in sex as I was," John says. "She wasn't as comfortable with sex. I didn't take it personally because I knew that she loved me and we had a good commitment to each other, so I didn't push the issue." After 10 years of marriage and three children, Jo-Ann sat John down and confessed that she was a lesbian. After trying to work things out, John and Jo-Ann decided to separate. "I wasn't at all prepared for the impact that it was going have on me and our family," John says. "One of the things that's been really difficult for me is not having someone to share with…when the kids aren't here, it's just an empty house. I cried every day. It just about killed me to be alone and starting over."

Labels: oprah winfrey, wives confess they are gay

today we celebrated her birthday with a yummy carrot cake that becky made, with cream cheese icing. she taught me how to make the icing but i forgot most of it already. this is all i could salvage from my super bad short term memory: 1.5 cups icing sugar 1 part cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla...

we watched the oscars too. i can't believe the african guy from blood diamond didn't win best supporting actor! and i can't believe leonardo di caprio didn't win AGAIN!! he sooo deserves an oscar and never ever gets one. i think the academy just hates him or something. where's the justice??!

ha!! i just found the african guy's name. it's Djimon Hounsou. you should read what it says on wiki about him. supposedly he's dating Cameron Diaz now, and he used to be a homeless guy in paris!! he's also naturalized as an american now.

Labels: best supporting actor, cameron diaz, Djimon Hounsou, leonardo dicaprio, melissa kelley

omg. reminiscent of summerlicious 2006 in toronto.. NOT good!!!

Winterlicious is a set tasting menu that is available for customers at a set price... to give u a taste of the flavor of the restaurant. quite a number of restaurants in Toronto are participating this winter.

Summerlicious is the same event, occuring in the summer. I went to the Rosewater Supper Club for summerlicious. I had a 3 course meal:

a) cold pea - mint infused soup

b) salmon

c) something sour for dessert

it was so long ago that i can't really remember exactly what i ate that night. anyway, it was $35 for the whole set, plus tax. the restaurant was full. Mind you, I expected a lot from this restaurant since it's one of the top 10 restaurants in Toronto, and many famous people go there to eat. So they definitely have a good reputation to uphold.

the food was pretty tasty, although i think it was because i'm good at making choices. all the other meal choices ordered by my friends were not as appetizing.

my bf had:

a) mixed leaf salad

b) steak

c) some kind of dessert.. obviously it was not memorable.

All i can say is, WORST SERVICE EVER!! Here's what pissed me off:

1) we had to actually ASK for water/ beverages... not just once, twice, but THREE DAMNED times before the waiter even looked at us.

2) they did NOT clear our table after each course

3) they did NOT give my friends the correct meals they ordered

4) while i was eating peacefully, the waiter who was in the adjoining room tried with all his might to uncork a bottle of wine. a few seconds later, i heard a LOUD "POP" and saw something that seemed like a bullet dart straight at my right eye!! luckily it missed me.. but i felt it skin my face. i looked up and saw that idiotic waiter bowing several times in front of the table that owned that bottle of wine. I was furious! my bf didn't do a thing until his friend prompted him about how his gf's eye could have been poked out.. but anyway, we left him 10% tip. silly us.. we should have left him NO tip! my friend did leave a complaint on the receipt though, explaining the actions of that imbicilic waiter.

the next day, i started work at Mount Sinai Hospital. Myself and a handful of other liver specialists were invited to attend a conference on hepatitis C given by a hepatologist who flew in from Harvard. Coincidentally, the conference just so happened to be held at the dispicable Rosewater supperclub, AGAIN!

so i went. come on, free food! when we arrived, it was open bar (which was great cuz i had my amaretto and coke.. didn't wanna get all drunk on the first day at work!), then we had hors d'oeuvres, and another 3 course meal. but this time, the food was good, and the service was absolutely superb. reason being: summerlicious ended already. oh yah, and a really cute, young hepatologist took the seat next to me!

nevertheless, i HAD to make my mark at that restaurant and show that waiter, "KEN", that his actions did NOT go unnoticed. I went upstairs and spoke to the manager and told him exactly what happened the day before. He was NOT impressed, and was going to teach Ken a thing or two.

so the lesson learned is, don't go to summerlicious or winterlicious expecting to be wined and dined with the best service and quality of food. cuz u're paying for what u're getting. the rosewater supperclub charges about $100 a person on a regular night, so getting a 3 course meal for $35 is gonna cost u in other ways.

needless to say, i dun think i'm ever going back there for summerlicious ever again.

Labels: Rosewater Supperclub, Summerlicious, Winterlicious

According to the Medical Journal of Human Reproduction. 2000; 15:2251, one way to fight Male infertility is to do this:

Improvements in Coital Practice

Have intercourse every other day near ovulation with the female partner on the bottom, placing more semen in contact with the cervix. The women should lie on her back with her knees to her chest for at least 15minutes after intercourse.

Men should avoid tight underwear, saunas, hot tubs, and unnecessary environmental exposures such as radiation, excess heat, and certain medications (cimetidine, sulfasalazine, spironolactone, nitrofurans, erythromycin, tetracycline, anabolic steroids, chemotherapy, marijuana, alcohol)

Male infertility causes 40% of infertility problems

Female infertility causes another 40%

and the remainder is caused by incompatibility bw Male & Female

Labels: abnormal sperm, human reproduction, male infertility

for those of you who love to drink Korean Maeil's BIOFEEL, or Japan's YAKULT.. i bet u didn't know that they're made out of 99% LACTOBACILLUS.. and 1% sugar etc. i'm a big fan of both of these drinks so i could care less what they're made of. but maybe some of you will care so here it is!

do you know what LACTOBACILLUS is?? here's what it looks like under a hi power microscope: u know how Female VAGINAs are acidic? well, it's cuz of LACTOBACILLUS acidophilus.. that is YAKULT or BIOFEEL!!

so drinking those drinks is pretty much the same as licking.. um.. u get the picture.

happy drinking!!

Labels: acidophilus, biofeel, lactobacillus, maeil, vagina, yakult

I heard rumors from my other friend about this, but I just dismissed it cuz he talks a lot of sh*t. so when my other friend went to china, i asked her to keep a look out for it and take a picture for me if she could. so here it is. My trusty friend Tracy went to china and saw THIS right in the middle of Shanghai:

Q: what do u think that big hole in the pants is for??

A: to facilitate defecation!! isn't that absolutely gross!?!?

apparently tho, it's not the only country that does this. anywhere where diapers are to expensive.. i dunno, i can't understand how this is even considered knowing how unhygienic this is! but oh well, to each his own!

Labels: babies, china, defecation, shanghai

it snowed yesterday, 1 foot!! i went out again just now to shovel some more for exercise.. i cleared my driveway! anyway, while i was doing it, a familiar car comes and stops next to me, and someone shouts out to me, "SO! are u gonna accept my help this time or are u gonna be too proud again like last time?" so i turn my head and it's that SAME cute GUY from last week!! hahaha i have such nice neighbors, huh?

Indulge in ALL THINGS EXPENSIVE

ok after so many years of u guys trying to convince me to drop winamp and use iTunes, i FINALLY tried it and i'm so impressed!! cuz..

iTunes has internet radio!!!

so cool......

BEFORE:

AFTER "60 CM of snow":

[morning after the storm]

Yay!! [muriel smiles really big] I get to miss community health!! ..but then again, i was supposed to help deliver a baby today in the case room.. so THAT's pretty annoying! I really wanted to do that!

I just heard on the radio.. "BLIZZARD WARNING STILL IN EFFECT". I just got off the phone with the guy from Rogers and he told me that all the shops and restaurants and malls and schools are closed. even church luncheons are cancelled!! my internal medicine resident friend had to go to work though! i thought ALL students got these 2 days off??! ..guess not!

Now for pictures. Here are some taken yesterday night.. snow is piling..

i seriously need waterproof pants.

and now for pictures of this MORNING..

the car across the street is half covered with snow!!

look at all the white spots (snowflakes) in this picture.. don't they look like the orbs of the spirits in the picture my cousin took at that haunted building at his work? ..strange

LITERALLY! it was about these two gay guys who were hiding the fact that they were gay. They were both married, and had children. one of their wives caught the gay couple making out under the porch one day, and she just got the shock of her life. can u imagine what it must be like, to one day find out that the man u married is actually gay!?!? OMG. i seriously have no idea what i would do. what's the point of living in denial, or wallowing in self-pity? just admit it. 10% of the north american population is gay, so just join them! sheesh. if you're gay, but u're pulling a stunt like ennis or jack (in brokeback mountain), i'd just like to tell you that u're not only gonna ruin YOUR life, but u're gonna ruin the life of OTHER PEOPLE! i'm not a lesbian or a bisexual or anything like that.. i'm purely heterosexual.. and have a bf to prove it (actually, after watching this movie, i don't think i can use my bf as proof of heterosexuality) - so i stand corrected. i guess i don't really have a right to force this upon this group of people who have not yet "come out".. but i just thought i'd give my two cents about this topic.. since this movie is so hot right now.

on the whole, i thought the movie kept me on my toes. it was really good.. it really opened my eyes up to the unexpected outcomes we may encounter in life. as forrest gump once said, "life is like a box of chocolates.. u never know what u're gonna get". that's my all time favourite movie.

Brokeback Mountain has a unique storyline, that's for sure.

anyway, i'd have to say that brokeback mountain was very interesting, but i don't think it fit the description of a romance. it was NOT moving. i did not find it emotional, and the 2 protagonists did not manage to convince me that they were gay. however, ennis and jack made me believe that they did have a very strong relationship with each other. i did not find the homosexual sex scenes convincing. i guess u have to get a gay man to portray a gay role!

something else i have to say about this movie. who on EARTH did the casting!? OMG. Anne Hathaway is a DISNEY MOVIE STAR. little KIDS look up to her! ..do you have any idea what she did in the movie? she played a slutty daughter of a rich farm equipment dealer. in one of the scenes, she literally rips her bra off and shows her breasts to us as she throws herself on one of the gay guys! when i saw that i was like, "OMG, YOU STAR IN DISNEY MOVIES! holy crap. think of the children!" what will THEY think of her?!

Here she is in disney's The princess diaries:

Anyway, in case you thought i said the movie was bad, i didn't. i actually really liked it. it was unique, and i really enjoyed the story.. although the romance part of the acting was not very convincing. rotten tomatoes gives this movie 86% ripe red tomatoes.. which is really good cuz rotten tomatoes are really picky about which movies they like.

i got a call 4am this morning.. i don't have call display so i was kinda cranky.. at first i thought it was morning already and my alarm was going off!! anyway, it was my boyfriend.. with important news!!

MY BOYFRIEND GOT INTO LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

he just got his letter a few hours ago.. at University of British Columbia.

he has to give a response by 02/06/06.. what date is that!? is that february or june!? sheesh ppl should be more clear about these things! thing is, i asked my friend who's doing law at Queens', and he confirmed to me that ontario law school acceptances are given out anytime between may and august! that is so freaking late! i think they're doing this on purpose cuz they want u to give them priority over other provinces or something.. which is totally dumb! anyway, i never doubted that he would get in.. also cuz many of u guys reassured me he would cuz of his LSATs.. thanks for the reassurance guys!

last but not least, CONGRATULATIONS MY HONEY!! i knew u could do it.. even since i first got to know u seven years ago.. u just needed that little push and support (now that i'm reading this over.. sounds like i'm talking about a bra) :D

i really hope u like law school.. cuz now u have another hurdle to jump over.. the fear i share with my mom.. i think u know what i'm talking about.. but let's try to tackle that after u've decided which school to go to first! hehe just pick the one u think u will be happiest at for the next 4 years. hopefully we can finally live in the same postal code again soon.. I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!

ok now, time for the mass email.. hehe

when i got in from walking home yesterday night, i looked in the mirror and my whole face was bright red!! i think i got wind-burn. i swear i could hear the wind shake the trees next to my house in the middle of the night.. sounded like i was in the middle of a hurricane or something! no.. i didn't take a picture of that. but anyway, when i got home today, i took off my hat, and it made my hair in the shape of my head! ewww.. so gross..

Today a bunch of girls gathered at a friend's house and we played board games. Scene it? (a game that tested ur knowledge on movies) was the first game. most of the questions were soo hard, i kept asking myself, "how come it seems like i've never watched any movies before?? cuz i know absolutely nothing!" the owner of the game was a whiz though.. she knew soo much about movies i think she could probably host the oscars if she wanted to. ok i'm exaggerating of course. i think i just felt really stupid at the end of that game. hehe we also did a little other stuff like drinking, eating, and eating, and eating.. (i'm speaking for myself of course.. when u put me in front of food, i just can't help myself! those of u who were there probably noticed that my mouth only stopped chewing when i was talking or laughing)

anyway, i wasn't the only one who didn't stop eating of course. the next day, another one of us complained they finally knew what it felt like to be pregnant! cuz her stomach was so full that the protruding part was actually lying next to her when she woke up. haha i hope u get what i'm saying.. now that i'm reading what i just wrote, it kind of sounds like her stomach isn't even part of her body anymore.. anyway, i can't explain it any better than i did.

oh ya!! the hostess lured us into coming over with her absolutely sinfully delicious alcoholic slush!! i asked her what was in it, but i already forgot. sorry. all i can remember is that it was coconutty (i think coconut rum), kind of yellow, and had coolwhip (i think) mixed into it.. then i saw her adding ginger ale to the slush-concentrate, until it bubbled up. 2 parts slush concentrate, 1 part ginger ale. OMG it was SOOOOOOoooooooo good!!

there was also a lot of talking going on.. hehe a LOTTTTT of talking.. more than the game playing, ya think? hehe anyway, the night was fun. let's have another games night! coed this time! i think some of the guys felt a little left out.. and.. if any of u others knew what game was donated to us for the night by "the oldest kid in the class" (mind u, i'm not trying to offend anyone here.. i'm merely quoting what came out of this guy's mouth about his own self!). the game was called "What the F*ck? (the Raunchy version)".

The game speaks for itself! this game made things a little more interesting.. it was only during this game when the bunch of us discovered how much one of us really really liked pee!! hahahahaha i'm not saying anymore.. hehe anyway, i'm sure it's all jokes..

apart from Scene it, and What the F*ck, we also played Cranium.

that game is so fun! i recommend everyone buy it.. i should have bought it when i saw it for 19.99 on boxing day.. but i was too lazy to get out of my house to shop on dec 26. did u know that people were waiting outside Best Buy at 5AM to buy plasma big screens??!?! my friend was one of those diligent people. that is totally nuts! but he said he got a pretty good deal of 2 printers. i dunno.. i don't have the steam to push thru all those people.. and wait super long in those ridiculous lineups that encircle the entire store.. so i missed out on cranium. oh well. here's a bunch of other dirty games that may tickle ur fancy. haha

my friend called me from manchester, england that night too. that was pretty cool.. congrats on getting hooked up!! hehe now we're both going out with guys with the same name!! hahahahaha btw, pls forgive me.. i am such a bad birthday rememberer.. i can't believe i forgot ur birthday 2 years in a row.. u really have changed a lot.. to have let me slide for it this year.. hehe i feel so bad.. such a bad friend!!

ps: sorry no pictures, i forgot my camera yesterday. maybe my nice friends will offer to let me put up their pictures of themselves red-faced and piss-drunk?? hehe i highly doubt it. hehe

After the dinner non-plan, we ended up going to Colossus

to watch Harry Potter. Lucky for us, I planned that one.

I can proudly say that i held out for hmm.. 3 wks? to watch it with him.. so I was really excited to finally be able to see it.

BOY WAS IT A DISAPPOINTMENT. The movie was darker, which is not a bad point.. cuz i think any movie about witchcraft should have some element of darkness. I really enjoyed the scene about the revitalization of Voldemort too.

However, I found that between scenes, the transitions were very poor. Also, the music chosen did not enhance mood at all. oh yah, and i didn't even hear that classic harry potter theme song.. u know how it goes.. it's in all 3 movies preceding this one. IMO watching harry potter without hearing that theme song was just not right. pace of the movie was also quite slow. although harry potter is meant for a kid audience, i think this movie is more for adult appreciation.

So I give this movie 1 thumb down.. for not catering to its intended audience. By far, the best harry potter movie has got to be the third one. this one is the worst.

My bf, who grew his hair out.. (i like him better bald actually. i'm kinda into the bald look i think. anyway, now his hair looks like the topless guy from the Jungle Book)

Anyway, he has this belief that "making plans is for losers". So, he absolutely refused to make reservations, absolutely refused to find out whether the restaurant had space, and absolutely refused to call ahead to make sure they were open.

In my efforts to prove him how he is totally WRONG.. i decided to go along with his non-plan of eating out for christmas dinner. Everyone was telling me that everything was closed, and so I, unlike my bf, planned ahead and had dinner at home before he picked me up, to prevent Christmas day starvation. Anyway, we drove out at around 8pm.

Stop number 1: Baton Rouge

CLOSED.

Stop number 2: Jack Astors

CLOSED.

Stop number 3: Yorklanes

CLOSED.

We passed by several other places including Milestones, PizzaPizza, McDonald's (YES, even McDonald's), Tim Horton's.. all which were CLOSED. I wanted to be able to show you guys but he drove away too fast for me to be able to snap a shot (on purpose). hehe. Smart guy. but luckily i managed to get those 3 shots. hehe

In conclusion, what is the lesson to be taught? MAKE PLANS for peat's sake!