My Chinese blog is still up and running

Just a reminder that I have a Chinese blog where I practice my Chinese.  I will post the link at the end of this post.

When I first announced my Chinese blog (starwberrycheesecake), I indicated that I will be translating this blog (simplycandee) into Chinese there.  During my first translation, I realized it was close to impossible.  I might re-attempt to translate my own writing another day.  For now, I will practice writing, typing and finding Chinese characters on electronic devices.  It is a lot easier to speak Chinese than to write it.  I have studied a bit of Chinese history but so have many people that is why language is a very difficult topic.  One that I am mindful of.

In my last post in starwberrycheesecake, I wrote about my love for picture books.  I also wrote my first short story in Chinese which was inspired by a children's story with the name 

.  

The author of this children's story is 

.

The author's story is recommended for children between the ages of four to eight.  It said so on the book's cover so I am just translating what I have read.  I have written my own fan-fiction continuation of or companion to this children's story and it is ready for your reading pleasure in starwberrycheesecake.  My story currently published on starwberrycheesecake is not suitable for children between the ages of four to eight but with some minor edits, I believe it will be suitable for this age group.  For now, I will classify my story as humorous in a tasteful way.  Drawing pictures for the story that I have just written is definitely on my mind.  I will definitely try in the future.  If the results are OK, maybe I will publish my drawings on starwberrycheesecake.

Anyhow, I will not be translating my story into English anytime soon.  If I were to do it, I believe it won't be that difficult.  The challenge was writing it in Chinese which I have accomplished!

I want to briefly write about the book that contained the story.  I rarely write in my books because I like to keep them new as if they have never been read.  I wrote in the other story featured in the book.  In one page, I crossed off the word "turtle" and wrote frog on top of it.  The illustration of the turtle was missing the shell and so I deemed that the character was a frog instead.  It is a very cute character but just not a turtle.

https://starwberrycheesecake.blogspot.ca/

Bachelor Treadmill Weights

Dear my non-existent readers:

As you may know, I have been watching Bachelor Canada which finished airing very recently (definitely before the commencement of 2018).

In the end, according to public information  I can obtain, the Bachelor Monsieur Chris Leroux is still a bachelor.  In any event, Chris' marital status or relationship status is irrelevant to me and hopefully to you as well.

This season, I was delighted to find that a fellow Bachelor TV fan wanted to watch the Bachelor while working out at the gym!  I never met this person but at least I know such person exists!

Unfortunately, I could not watch every episode of the most recent Bachelor Canada at the gym due to injury.

In celebration of my remote gathering, I used the treadmill almost weekly for the duration of the show!  Each week I would invent a new way to incorporate other workout equipments into my treadmill routine.

I have seen Ellen DeGeneres make fun of shake weights for years!  One fine day, I saw it for the price of three (3) Canadian dollars.  I bought it immediately.  It came with a instructional DVD which I have watched.  Unfortunately, I only bought one instead of two.  I was running on the treadmill while doing shake weight exercise.  In case you are not familiar with the product, the weight shakes because of me.  I AM the electricity!

Do not be an Ostrich

During my daily dog walk today, I thought  discovering something you want to learn about is nice.  While learning, you might want to prove something you think is true.  You might spend years and years trying to prove whatever you think is right only to discover that you were wrong.

At that moment, most people will feel defeated at first but at some point you might realize that you now have proven the opposite of whatever you thought was right which might be just as important.

Now, you are on a mission to defend something you did not believe in.

Anyhow, to tell the above tale in another way is that you might see someone crying about their research and how they are so sad that they are wrong.  You being someone not involved with that person's project at all say lightly "what you told me is great! I can't believe it's true!"

I hope my reader understand what I am trying to say here.

Be open-minded.

Adopt-A-Village

The other day I watched a video about the Canadian government trying to solve the lack of fresh food problem up north.  The location featured was Churchill, Manitoba which sits very close to the Manitoba-Nunavut border.

I find it ironic that food is not affordable in a world where we throw food away every day.  Sometimes, I let "fresh" produce rot away simply because I don't eat fast enough.  It is sad that some people throw away food while others are trying so hard to grow food in an environment where food doesn't want to grow (at least not between the period starting from October to May).

A lot of Canadians enjoy traveling to the Sunshine State in the winter because most people prefer warm weather.  I am not like most people, I prefer winter.  I will write about the fun of winter season in the future.  I just don't really like summer because it's so hot and I like to wear layers.  I just feel so naked during the summer.

I would never go against the environment or nature.  I will not try to solve the lack of fresh food problem by trying to grow fresh food in an environment that most fresh food does not like to grow.  I would attempt to try to find food, herb or medicine that can grow in those environments.  Hopefully, they actually exist.  I would try to create places that people want to visit.

With that said, I would suggest building something like a Santa Village up north.  Employees uniforms will be either Santa Claus, Elfs, Reindeers, etc.   At Santa Village, they make toys, ice-cream, chocolate and other good stuff.  Santa Village also provides storage solutions for business down south.

I would suggest creating a program like Adopt-A-Village or an attempt to create the world biggest safari where you ride a choo-choo-train across Canada to see all the wildlife in its natural habitat. It is hard to brainstorm with only one head so I think I had enough for today.

One girl, One Shovel

Santa has answered my prayers and brought snow to me!  A few weeks ago, I wrote about a local snow shoveling business.

If I was to go into the snow shoveling business today, I would advertise myself as the one girl, one shovel company.  As in only one girl will show up to your driveway with only one shovel in hand.  During her time on your driveway, she will remove all snow on your drive way that was there upon her arrival.  She will not be removing ice.  The anticipated time to shovel a driveway that will fit up to six standard size family vehicle is not more than an hour.

The cost is $10 per session and your driveway must be within walking distance.

De ja vu

It's nice to pay attention to your parents.  Currently this small artificial rocky mat is providing comfort to my injured feet.

Obviously I have more of them at home.  My parents bought them for themselves years and years ago.  It's been sitting in the house collecting dust until today!

Recording Session

Dear my non-existent readers:

As you may know, I wrote two (2) sets of lyrics to Charlie Puth's Attention.  Today, I had a very fruitful recording session.  I am currently waiting for my videos to be uploaded to YouTube so I can share the results of my recording session.  Obviously, I will have to do some editing and subtitles adding before I can share my video publicly with the world wide web.

In the meantime, I would like to thank Sing King Karaoke for providing me with the background music in one of my videos.  Hopefully, you will notice the huge difference between having and not having background music (aka BGM).  I had to go acapella before realizing the BGM was already available.  Luckily, in the acapella version my sidekick Okee came to the rescue in the middle of recording where the singing got harder, higher and off pitch!

Link to Sing King Karaoke's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/singkingkaraoke

Link to my two (2) Parody Lyrics Music videos:
Will not be posted in this blog post.  Check back in the future to find the links to my two (2) videos being (i) Blizzard and Storm; and (ii) No to cold Turkeys and Toothaches.

Christmas Edition Parody Lyrics by yours truly

This is what happens when you keep hearing the same song over and over again.  I really enjoy listening to Charlie Puth's Attention.  Usually, I sing over him with my own lyrics.

Today, I had time to sit down and write down my lyrics. I wrote two sets of lyrics.  I hope you like them.  Let me know if you have a recording of you singing my lyrics!  I would love to hear it!

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Option 1 - Parody of Attention
Parody song title:  Blizzard and Storm

You've been running around, running around, running around, throwing snow around my house
Cause you've been, you've been, you've been, you've been waiting for some snow.
You've been going around, going around, going around screaming "snowing in my hood!"
Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'll be asleep.

I know that snow is coming. Blizzard and Storm.
You got me thinking back to negative 39.
And now I'm not shoveling. What you expect.
You're not driving out tonight.

You just want to party and bar hop around.
Maybe you just need to remember how things used to be.
Yeah, you don't want to party or bar hop around.
You just want to roll around in the never-ending snow.

You've been running around, running around, running around throwing snow around my house
Cause you know that I'll, know that I'll, know that I'll throw it back!
Baby, now that we're, now that we're, now that we're right here standing face to face.
You already know, already know, already know it's all about the snow!

I know that snow is coming. Snow fight! Snow Man!
You got me thinking back when you were young (you got me thinking back when you were young)
And now I'm stretching your cheeks, what you expect.
Family traditions win again!

*You just want attention, here you go!
Maybe you just hate the thought of not seeing Christmas lights!
Yeah, you just want attention, I know from the start.
You're just making sure Santa will notice you!

What are you doing tonight? (repeat many times)

I know that snow is coming. Blizzard and storm.
You got me thinking back to negative 39
and now I'm not shoveling. What you expect?!
You're not driving out tonight!

repeat start at * until music ends
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Option 2 - Parody of Attention
Parody song title:  No to cold turkeys and toothaches

You've been running around, running around, running around in the grocery store
Cause there will, there'll, there'll be a party of ten
You've been going around, going around, going around every store around the hood!
Cause you couldn't find, couldn't find, couldn't find sugar and spice

I know the kids are coming. Chaos and Joy.
You got me thinking back when I was young!
Now there will be teasing. What you expect?
It's not a party without some LAUGHS!

Would you like some cookies with brownies on top?
Maybe you just hate the thought of not having seconds.
Yeah, there will be turkey with cranberry sauce.
You just have to show up before everything is gone.

And the Rotisserie, Rotisserie, Rotisserie chicken has been spinning around.
Now you know that I, know that I, know that I can finish it all.
Baby now that we're, now that we're, now that we're standing face to face.
You already know, already know, already know I get first dips!

I know that they are coming. Party of ten.
You got me thinking bout when I was young.
And now I'm in the kitchen, what you expect.
It's not a party without a tasty feast!

Now go and get some dough and some berries too.
Maybe you just need some drinks to go with that.
Yeah, turkey ready in an hour or two.
I'm making sure everything is going swell.

What are you doing tonight? (repeat)

They want my attention then arrive on time.
I just hate the thought of the turkey turning cold.
Yeah! No attention for cold turkeys, they should know better.
Stuffed turkey tastes much better when it's hot and fresh.

What are we eating tonight? (repeat)

I know there will be turkey, chicken and wings!
You got me back thinking when I had all my teeth.
And now I'm all up on you, what you expect?
Remember to brush your teeth after my fantastic feast.

You want to keep chewing, say no to cavity
You will hate the thought of eating with pain.
Yeah, you don't want no cavity or a toothache
So make sure you brush and floss tonight.

What are you doing tonight? (repeat)

It is time to change the place of proposal on the Bachelor or Bachelorette Franchise

Yesterday, was the season finale of Bachelor Canada.  While watching the ex-Bachelor and ex-Bachelorette declare their love for each other at the place where the ex-Bachelor was supposed to propose to the ex-Bachelorette, I thought "every season, the proposal is always by a body of water".  I guess it's a signature of the Bachelor franchise to have the proposal potentially happen right next to the ocean.  I am not sure if they ever shot a proposal next to a lake.

I think it might be really romantic if they have the proposal happen in a forest next to a lilypad pond, much like the area where Mikaela was walking around before she headed to the proposal area.  I guess if I was directing, Mikaela would walk pass the lilypad pond that we saw last night and into a path to a forest.  The forest will remind you of fairies you see in fairy tales.  Perhaps, the crew purposely made the proposal area dry looking because a proposal was not going to happen.

Another thought I had was "The Bachelor - Christmas Edition" where the proposal happens at like a place that reminds you of Santa Village!

The Bachelor franchise has been around for a while, the premise of the show doesn't have to change, it works, but it will be nice to see different backgrounds and settings.  I enjoy the work of the production crew very much!

My first Bachelor show was Trista and Ryan's wedding.  I also saw other reality love shows come and go, like the Average Joe.  Reality TV is very fun!  For me, it's like a dream because people on those shows will never notice me in real life so I will never get to know them.  Thank you for auditioning and being real on the show!

Immigrant Urban Girl vs. Northern Boy

I have sort of experienced dating two Northern boys in my life.  Both were extremely shortlived and some may not even count my experience with them as dating.

I think I am attractive to boys from the North because I am Asian and you don't see much of me in the Northern land.  I have the appearance of an Asian lady yet am somewhat whitewashed.  I can communicate with them in their language of choice and I am cool!

They are appealing to me because their lifestyle appears to resemble the lives I see in movies prior to immigrating to Canada.  Cottage by the lake, wilderness everywhere, and more.  Basically, a life I can only dream about.

Anyways, bad timing with both of them.  If they are from the North, they are BOUND to be busy during Christmas time (aka now).

The first Northern boy who took an interest in me scouted me for at least half a year.  We sat together in class for half a year and, unbeknownst to me, he asked me out many times.  Each time he asked me, I just thought maybe he was friendless which was definitely not the case.  I also never thought he would be interested because in the movies they always ended up with a hot blond. You see, I commuted to University and he lived there (obviously he had to move out from the North to attend the University located at the downtown core in the centre of Canada).  He received a "I need to go home" every single time he asked to hang out or eat or study or something after class.  One day, he added me on MSN and that's when we started talking LOL.  Ironic, isn't it? On our first date, I found out that he doesn't like to share food.  I had a club sandwich and he had a burger.  I left him 1/4 of my sandwich and he was already at his last bite. Yeah.  It took us a long time to get together and when we finally were a "couple", he disappeared and returned to the North for Christmas.  It is sort of sad because I finally have some free time and we hardly spend any time together prior to Christmas.  The short amount of time we had together was very enjoyable because we talked a lot and we were very different. I guess both of us found each other very fascinating because our lives were so different.  According to my last contact with him, he still thinks about me a lot and all his exes were jealous of me because I am so unforgettable.

The second Northern boy, I did not even meet him but he also likes to take things slow and I decided to just stop talking to him because he reminded me a lot of the first Northern boy.  They like to use phrases like "I will make time for people important to me".  Judging from how long it took the first boy to actually let me know of his intention, I had a feeling that this second one is going to be extremely slow and cautious as well.  I appreciate slowness but if I never see you, I am never going to get to know you and I will never be important to you.

Why Christmas is a bad time to me?  My family never really celebrated Christmas.  On top of that, because immigrating to a new country is hard, we actually stopped carrying on a lot of family traditions that we used to do before coming to Canada.  All of our relatives are nowhere near our place of residence.  On top of that, according to Asian dramas I watched, Christmas time is the best time to spend romantic time with a love interest.

So to all you northerners out there, don't try to meet an Asian lady when Christmas is approaching, if Christmas and your Christmas traditions are that important to you.  You might end up irritating the Asian lady trying to get to know you because you just don't understand the cultural difference.  This blog entry is just a simple illustration of how drastically different the two of you may be.

Some of my non-existent readers might argue with me and say, "well if you spend some time to get to know each other you might realize you have a lot in common".  To that, I say, "Bad timing! I will never know.  What I do know is that Northerners like to keep themselves busy and will only make time when they feel like it".

If I had Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousands Dollars

A favourite past time of mine is browsing Craigslist.  Yesterday, I noticed that a ten (10) units motel located at 1019 Nordic Inn Road, Dorset, Ontario was on sale for $850,000.00.  The photos shown of the actual property located on 1019 Nordic Inn Road was very appealing and a quick search on the internet indicated that the Lake of Bays area is very beautiful and the community is hardworking and friendly.

With housing prices on the rise in the overcrowded city, I would rather buy a motel for $850,000.00 located at wide open space than a tiny little townhouse somewhere in a city that appears to be convenient and scores close to 100% in walks.

Whenever I look at Craigslist posting I am a bit apprehensive because a lot of images are easily obtainable on the internet so while looking at the advertisement, I wondered if the property was really on sale and whether the contact number provided was the real estate agent or owner of the property dealing with the sale of such property.  For example, the same images appeared on trip advisor and the contact information to book a trip at the Nordic Inn was a different telephone number.  Currently, I am contemplating reserving a room for a week so I can know more about the property and the area.  A site visit would be ideal prior to delving into any further due diligence processes.

My mother did announce she wanted to buy a property in a cottaging area every time we go on vacation.  So, why not a motel that comes equipped with 10 units? 

As you know, I write creatively on Tuesday so I will not bore my non-existent readers of the potential operating expenses that one may incur for running a successful/unsuccessful motel business.

Ownership of land and property is fun because you can do anything.  It's more fun at less populated areas because I am guessing fewer rules are in place.  Fewer rules are in place because fewer people to cause trouble.  Fewer troublemakers to deal with means a more peaceful life for everyone.

If I was fortunate enough to own a property like the one advertised obviously there will be some changes to its usage.  I would first spend money to fix it up!  From the images provided, it appears to be well kept and so I am guessing and hoping not much upgrade is required.   However, according to reviews on TripAdvisor new mattress and beds may be required.  I have once stayed at a cottage where the beds were horrible.  I ended up sleeping on the floor with a sleeping bag instead.  I would want anyone staying at my property to sleep on a good bed, great for their back!

Yesterday before noticing this advertisement, I was also looking up at non-for-profit programs that offer one to two weeks camping programs for children.  If I was the owner of a property such as the one that was advertised, it will be of mixed recreational use.  At times, it will operate like a motel and other times it can be rented out to non-for-profit organizations to run their camping activities (obviously, with my on-site supervision).

I have a great idea but I have no capital.  Not because I was or am lazy.  It is hard to make and save money.  There are a lot of things I want to do but I only have two hands and a limited amount of time.  For now, I am going to look up information and see how I could engage in a journey like the one I just wrote about.  I do not plan or intend to go back to a 9 to 5 job where the commute is about 2 hours each day.  I do not want to live like that again.  I lost myself.

Being Certified at something

I had a lot of fun yesterday doing things I do not have certifications for.  Sometimes, I feel like I am actually better at things I have no certifications for than things I have certifications for.

Yeah.  I am not working today so not really in the mood of blogging about work.  How is your Monday going? 

Travel Notes

When I used to travel, I used to make hand-written notes before the trip, during the trip and after the trip.  I am looking at some of my travel notes now and it is so nice to see my own writing, my own highlighting, my own cross-offs.

In my last one-week road trip outside of Canada, I made the following pre-planning notes:

- cover page with only departure date, return date and flight information
- hotel information such as hotels' name, locations (including GPS plot points), telephone numbers and distances/hours from the approaching locations, check-in/check-out times
- directions in point form with the most crucial part of the instructions (supplemented with printed directions which have been recycled long ago)
- things to do page listing all the potential stuff to do in all travel areas plus one must try restaurant
- Outline of each day which contains very little information
- potential gift/souvenirs

I noticed that I put "Wing it !!)" at the end of one of the pre-planning page notes

Following the pre-planning notes, I now have my travel notes.

The first travel note is a journal entry.  I excitedly wrote about whatever is happening at the moment.  For example, my first paragraph of Day 1 is me stating that I am on route to the connecting airport at 4:20 p.m.  Obviously, something unexpected happened that's why it's in my note.

I probably had some time to kill so following my Day one notes, I wrote about my new year's resolution which had a list of 8 things.  I guess I accomplished 3/8 of the things listed LOL.

I am guessing I wrote my resolution list on the airplane because the following page is me saying I have arrived at my destination airport where I have some travel errands to run (like getting our car rental).  We ended the day at the "must try" restaurant.

Next page is Day 1 again, I guess this is Day 1 of travel at the destination area instead of Day 1 of travel to the airport.  I listed out the names of all the places I went to on Day 1 and Douglas, a truck driver who gave us directions.

Day 2 travel entry page is about the same, this time Ronan helped with direction and made a joke.

Day 3 & 4 travel page is about the same but something unexpected happened on Day 3 and 4 that required quick action and sound judgment. I ended this entry praising myself on how I handled the situation.

After that, I wrote a list of people who helped us along our travels.  There were at least 12 people.  #6, in particular, was a prankster and said we were 200 miles from our destination when we were actually much much closer than that.

The last page is probably a list of places I wanted to visit but didn't end up going.

So remember to keep your own travel notes!

One thing I failed to mention on my note was that everyone who tried to help us at the gas station to locate the gas tank open button had difficulties finding such button.  It's funny.  Usually getting gas is pretty simple but when you are driving an unfamiliar vehicle, you can't even locate the gas tank open button.  We were there for a good 20 minutes just looking for that button so we can fill up the tank.

I got the Bear EXCLAMATION MARK

As you may know, I have been posting weekly videos on my YouTube channel since November 5, 2017.    I have named this mini series the "I got the Bear!" series. Today is the end of filming and I just wanted to write about it because the memories are so fresh right now since I literally JUST finished filming, minus the time I took to finish a quick breakfast.

Sometime in October of this year, I discovered HugFun's 93" Bear which is available in Costco in North America.  I didn't know of its existence until this year.  I may have been living in a cave because according to the internet, this bear has been available for an affordable price for at least five (5) years.  Curious about it, I went to search for it.  Upon seeing it live in person, I had to get it because it was well made.

I was super excited about it because never in my life have I dreamt of owning a 93" bear.  To be able to travel to it, to buy it with my own money, carry it out of the store and bring it home all by myself was a real treat.  Little did I know at the time of purchase that this bear will inspire me to create videos again.  I feel extremely fortunate that image capturing devices are so easily obtainable and usable. It is a lot easier to make videos now then it was ever before.

The first video in this series was randomly thought of while I was folding laundry.  I don't know why but I just suddenly thought of the song "The Power" by Snap! which Jim Carrey played around with in the Bruce Almighty movie.  I thought it would be funny to make a parody video of this song and change it to "The Bear".  The only change made to the song would be instead of singing "I got the power" or "I've got the power" we sing "I got the bear" or "I've got the bear".  At the time, I did not attempt to find audio tracks of "The Power" without people singing but looking back if I got only the background music track I doubt I would be able to do all the rapping and singing.  It would have taken forever if I made my own audio track and I probably will just end up using the original.  In the end, I only tried to shout over the original track so that people will hear BEAR instead of POWER.  I missed it a few times but I was freestyle dancing around a gigantic bear so whatever!

Next, I wrote on my YouTube channel that I will be uploading weekly videos to feature the 93" bear.  Once I wrote this down, I felt committed and compelled to make more videos with the bear.  I didn't film too much but every time I feel inspired to shoot, I would shoot and make some extremely short videos.  In the end, every idea that came up on my mind ended up being produced and uploaded to YouTube.

I wrote down a list of videos I made to help me keep track of my progress and also some potential ideas.  I wanted to show all of the different ways you can use the bear that I can think of.  I didn't want to keep repeating the same thing over and over again.

From this short filming experience, I have learned about the placement of the camera, adding closed captions or subtitles, effects of lighting and my creative process.  I hope the viewers of my videos will see that I am physically active, creative, soft-spoken yet clear, fun and a great user of props.

SmileInMotion

SmileInMotion, Smile in Motion or smile while in motion.  Please do not confuse SmileInMotion with SmileEmotion.

I find that I smile best while I am in motion.  This was a picture of me yesterday while I was pretending I was skating.  I have only boots on.  I really love my smile in this photo, you can hardly see me because I have a hood up.  It was freezing yesterday!

If someone trademark SmileInMotion last night and today, you know where it came from!

Candy and the Gigantic Bear

Dear my non-existing readers:

Have you been watching my weekly Youtube videos?  Uploaded on a random time every Sunday?

For this week's episode, click here: Candy and the Gigantic Bear - Waking up with a smile :)

xoxo

I got the bear girl.

2017 Christmas Gift Guide

Reading gift guides may be helpful but as you age, you will realize that they become less helpful.  The younger the gift receiver the better!  If you are a prankster, gifting is a joyous event!

As a child, I loved receiving gifts and I always receive them unexpectedly at random occasions.

The story of how I met BLINDSIGHT

While listening to a weekly podcast, the documentary Meru was recommended to me.  Almost immediately, I checked the library catalogue to determine if it was available.  It was.  Unfortunately, it was way past regular business hours.  As such, I had to wait till 1:00 p.m. the following day to get it.

I had trouble finding Meru at the library but when I finally found it, I also saw BLINDSIGHT.  I decided to borrow both documentaries.

I have now watched both documentaries and I can only say "Wow".

Both films are about mountain climbing.  One has more stories to tell than another because one has way more people.

I would like to conclude that it is much easier to do spin-offs when there are more people to choose from.

A final reminder that a documentary is non-fictional.  Both of these documentaries documented events that have happened.

P.S. I am not a dictionary so look up your own definitions.  The language on this blog is very commonly used words.

No time to blog

When one is dreaming, things of less importance are ignored, like this blog with no readers.

When one is dreaming, grammar does not matter.