Lei

Three Weddings but No Funeral

I sit there in front of the computer, staring at the screen. Lines in a multitude of different colours go all over the place displaying the locations of walls, roofs and other major structures of a building. I am getting sleepy. Sweat forms on my head and runs down the side of my face, dripping on my desk. A small puddle sit splayed across the surface like a malformed starfish and my clothes are soaked through. It's over thirty-five degrees outside even in the shade and with the light wind. The air conditioning in the office building can not keep up. I am doomed.

I left work friday evening, so very tired. When I got home I just laid there on my couch. The basement is much cooler but warmer than usual today. I started to doze off when the phone rang. A woman who I met at one of my beach volleyball and bbq's needed a partner for salsa night downtown. When I spoke to her I could tell she didn't seem to care that I must have sounded like I was half asleep and only half enthusiastic. I had to go back to work at the nursing home for a few hours to get stuff done before the next day's activities. I told her I'd think about it.

In New Westminster, I got most of everything done. Then I decided to drive downtown to the Law Courts and check out the Salsa dancing event there. I saw her there. Dancing with another person. She knows some methods but isn't as free and flowing as the others. Many of the people there have very good dancing figures. Thin and smooth, some very fast at spinning on the dance floor. There was an outdoor patio which you could sit at to relax while having a drink or just enjoying peoples company.

Next morning I barely got up in time. Threw my suit and shoes into the truck and drove to cakemakers shop. I was to spend the day helping her deliver three wedding cakes. The first one was down at the Westin Bayshore. A very nicely decored room and table setting in one of the large 'salon' rooms. The florist was there but no one else. We got there and set up the cake. A four layer cake with intricately laced patterns on the surface. A design indicative of the east indian culture of the bride and groom who are both east indian. Aside from the fancy decor, the cake was simple but needed some touching up due to shipping and handling.

A cakedecorators tool box.

Afterwards it was back to the shop to load up the next cake. A three platform cake with all the colours of the star bangled banner. This wedding was for some people in the african community who loved america. The hanging loops, small and medium sized stars were assembled onto the cake after it was put together. The cake didn't look so cheezy after we put it together. The wedding was the cheapest by far being in a tiny community center near Edmonds street in Burnaby. Some people were already there in what seemed to be traditional african attire. Colourful long and simple dresses complete with headwraps. Here a small girl covers her ears while watching us finish preparing the cake. The dj was busy testing his sound system cranking out some jamaican like tunes.

Last on the list was the most elaborate of the bunch. A small city of cakes with a very simple design. In the center is a three platform cake with a lighted water fountain underneath. At the sides are two separate an individual cakes propped up on their own platforms. A set of steps ran from the center three tier cake to each of the two cakes in the front.

A bridesmaid watches as I take a photo of the cake setup.

The small flowers peppered randomly on all the cakes above were installed on site. Each one is made on the end of a small toothpic and easily inserted into the cake body. This was the best cake set up of the bunch I thought. Looking down the head table where the main wedding party sat, there was another table just as elaborate in its own right on the other side. A giant chocolate fountain surrounded by various fruits and pastry to dip into the chocolate. Cakemaker and I didn't know anyone there. The wedding party was just very friendly and invited everyone involved with the day. A very religious group, the father who administered the ceremony was also there. I felt like a wedding crasher. No one there knew me but before everyone had gotten to the restaurant, a man came up to me. It was my coworker and friends father. He was there with his wife. What a coincidence and a tiny world. Apparently, the bride works at one of his pharmacies downtown so he's known her for a few years.

But besides your friends parents, what do you do at a wedding where you don't really know anyone that well? It didn't. The people at our table was really nice. I ended up with the table prize. Each table had a small round bowl with a fish inside. I now have a new pet. A fight fish as I was told by the bride to which I am most grateful for I originally thought that I would just add this fish to my mothers aquarium which would have been rather stupid. The fighting fish will attack and kill all the other fish in the tank. There can only be one.

Various members of the wedding group gave their speeches and as each person did theirs, each one began to cry starting with the groomsmen. Groomsmen number three, groomsmen number two, groomsmen number one followed by the groom himself. All the guys were in tears at the head table. The the bridesmaids did theirs. The third bridesmaid, the second, the first, then the bride. As I looked around I saw many of the other people listening crying. Cakemaker even started crying as well as another woman at our table. Change everyone's clothes to black and one would think that everyone had just come from a funeral.

Getting ready for the bouquet toss. Look at all those single women.

The table next to us was a group of asian people here just for the wedding. They were generally very conservative until the dance at the end. Halfway through one young woman ran off to the bathroom. When she came back with the help of her friend she was stumbling. Soon after she was on the dance floor. She totally let loose draping herself onto any guy that danced with her or near her. Flailing her arms about in earnest enthusiasm for whatever music was playing she had no control or strength to stand on her own two feet. Whatever self composure she showed earlier in the evening was totally lost. A little too much champagne and wine for her I think. Have a safe trip back to Japan.

Music selection wasn't bad. It felt like being at a club without the cover charge and maybe a little less people. The day didn't seem to be to filled with stuff but it did prove to be a bit stressful at times. With the searing heat outside we didn't want to ruin the cakes. One of the cakes cracked but it didn't matter as it wasn't the part being presented at the table but rather just more eating material for a larger group of eaters. Driving to each destination I worried that something would happen and the cakes would be damaged. Then there's the question of whether or not the damaged parts could be repaired on site with the cake decorators kit and spare icing, flowers and fillers which we brought along to each site all over vancouver.

Tomorrow its back fighting the sun, thirty degrees plus. I need to look for some fish food.

A Good Few Days

This will be a record year on many fronts. I just hope I have enough energy to keep up with the pace of life.

I went in to my friends engineering office for orientation late last week. My job is to fill in for another engineer in his firm who will be gone on vacation. So while I sit there in front of the computer staring at architectural drawings of a very expensive house behind the chinese consulate on granville street, I get a chance to go out with my friend for a site inspection of another house currently being built from the ground up. The owner wants to do everything himself so the process is slow with a very small crew.

Here the forms are almost ready for concrete to be poured.

This house will have a basement in the hills of North Vancouver.

The ground has been dug up and we are there to inspect the surrounding ground stability to provide a temporary permit so other crews can come in and work on the house.

After work on Friday, I went out for some food at Central on Denman street downtown. They had on special pitchers of marguaritas which two of my friends had.

A live band performed playing some cool jazz tunes. Afterwards, we went wandering around Granville and Davies and came across the smoke shop. Only two of us in our group of four smokes regularly. And I am not one of them but these bongo things are easy. They come in many flavours and you don't cough when you inhale a lungful of this stuff. Apparently the water at the bottom filters out the addictive nicotine.

Here my two friends sit with the shopkeeper as he explains to us what we are smoking.

Oh my god! I'm smoking!

Saturday I watched Pirates of the Carribean with some other friends before my german friend and I took off to go to the White party! Rules were that you had to wear white and, if you are a guy, you bring a bottle of tequila or malibu if you are a woman. The music was blasting, the open bar was operating on the patio and you could play twisters in the backyard shed on the hardwood floor inside. A couch was provided for people to sit and view the game from inside the shed along with coloured lights for ambiance.

Shirts aren't so white as my camera phone is unable to provide the proper metering. Spin those records Mr. DJ!

Everyone was given a name tag to wear and with the crowd the way they were, there was very few name tags which were 'normal'. My german friend learned a few new words that evening.

It was all good until the cops showed up. Those pesky neighbours. It turns out having only a few of your close neighbours on the invite list isn't enough. You need to get them all. The loud music stopped and a laptop and a smaller system was fired up inside the twister shed. And just as we thought things would wind down, my friend and I met some other new people and ended up being one of the last ones to go. Strange how things always turn out as I ended up driving two other people home.

Sunday I had another bbq at the beach. My stainless steel hibachi-like contraption gets alot of enquiries from other beachgoers. It's been the best sixty bucks I've spent all year. This will be the seventh bbq this summer already. The thursday free beach volleyball sessions we've been having will end this week. Next week we are back in a new league and I've fielded a slightly different team losing some players to other summer activities. Sunday volleyball is still going good as the weather has continued to bring warm rays to our courts.

*Note: New pics have been added to the July 4th Canada Day entry.

Monday Night

My friend the chef just moved into a condo downtown. Four of us showed up to celebrate which included cakemaker, the bread baker, the chef and myself the bum. This is like the end of our little vacation as two of us is starting new jobs while those that already have jobs continue on. I brought the bottle of baby duck champagne which had been sitting in my fridge for two years to celebrate the new place. Afterwards we went to the Granville Room for some food. The Yam fries were good. So was the salmon. The lamb chops was bland and tasteless with some kind of cooked mango chunks on the side. Lounge food at its worst. The place started filling up around 10pm which was a surprise being a monday night. What was more surprising was going to the Roxy afterwards just across the street. At first it was only half full. No cover charge and people were steadily filing in until around midnight when the live band got up on stage. It was great. A cool selection of new and old cover tunes spanning from rock to mainstream pop. They played U2, Outkast, Green Day, Cold Play, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more. Even some country tunes which I didn't recognize except for the lone Johnny Cash tune, ring of fire. Everyone there was having fun and the chef wanted to get wasted. He did and in the end, he threw up in the main entrance to his new place on Seymour street as well as the large plant pot along the sidewalk. Cakemaker danced the whole night while I watched the belongings and had the open bar tab. BreadBaker drank and played pool.

The place is nice but we noticed a few things; The Penthouse stripclub is situated just across the street down the block, Madame Cleo's massage parlour is also just down the block, Some street bums hang out in a doorway on the opposite corner of the intersection and hookers parade in front of the the building right at the corner of the block. I suppose the Chef could just rent out the rooms in his new condo by the hour.

I went to sleep at 6am the following morning. Conversely and totally unrelated to the evening events, I found out another friend of mine got up at the same time I was retiring.

Three and a half hours later the door bell rang. It was the census surveyor guy. I had failed to fill mine out so now the government has sent someone out to hunt me down. I gave him my partially filled out forms for him to look at while I stood at the door in my sleeping attire. He gave his immediate disappointment in the state of my sheets. So together we went through all the questions. Or rather, I answered a few key questions before he started to approximate half the answers based on his previous experience of filling out the forms for however many other local civilians who had attempted to go AWOL from society such as myself.
"What is the value of your home?"
"ummmm I'm not sure."
"five hundred and..."
"...twenty thousand and..."
"or fifty thousand?"
As he mouthed out the first few numbers, I'd follow with some other numbers to finish off his sentence and come out with one final number together. It was like yeah, that was it. That's the ticket.
"What's the monthly mortgage?"
"I don't know..."
"one thousan..."
"and five hundred?"
"Yeah, most of these houses around here are about that" he reassured me. I gave him a puzzled look and he replies "don't worry. These answers do not have to be that specific."
When we finally finished the forms, I thanked him and sent him on to the next house. Then I went back to sleep.

Football - What the hell happened?

Oui! Fantastique! Italia c'est le meillieur! Q'est ce que fait au France? As I watch all the players celebrate the shootout win I wonder what in the world happened to France?!??! What could have been a story book ending came crumbling down close to the end of regular time when Zinadine Zidane gives a head butt to the chest of an italian player after the two had exchanged a few words. Zinadine had played an excellent world cup having the lone french goal on a penalty kick and coming out of retirement just for this world series at the request of France. All the papers kept talking about his wizardry on the field with the ball and having been chosen the three time winner of the world football player of the year. Where's the class? Where's the composure? What a horrible way to end his career. Comment est ce que stupide du Zinadine! C'est dommage...

Canada Day Weekend

A few weeks ago at the Richmond night market I saw a stand where they sell samurai swords. I spot the display from a distance as there is a sign that says in english "Practical sword".

For amusement I decide to ask a man working there some questions about the swords.
"Hi"
"Hello"
"I was wondering, how much does one of these cost?"
"These one's are only $120."
"Hmmm. That seems quite reasonable. I see that it is not sharp."
"We do have ones which are sharp. I can show you some over here."
"What is the difference between the dull and the sharp ones?" I ask.
"Well, the sharp ones are made with high carbon stainless steel which has been folded over hundreds of times. They will last much longer and start around $300."
"So for instance, could one say that I could keep on cutting off many peoples heads without worrying about it getting dull then?" There is a pause as the man has to think.
"Ok...let me rephrase that. So are you saying that with this stronger sword, I could kill like, a hundred evil ninja warriors as opposed to maybe just ten with the cheaper one before it becomes a dull blunt object which I would be batting someone over the head with little effect?"
"Yes, ha ha. It will stay sharp much longer."
"I was also wondering, what does that sign 'Practical sword' mean?"
The man just gives me a blank look and can't answer.

I managed to get up early on Canada Day. First it was off to work in New Westminster at the nursing home before continuing on out to Point Grey to help a friend move. Everything he had fit in the back of my truck and we moved everything to a new two bedroom condo downtown near Stanley Park. My friend is from germany and recently broke up with his girlfriend who also lives in germany. As a result, he is wondering how he can stay in Canada because he likes it here. At the law firm where he is currently working temporarily, they have created a profile for him on Lava life with little success. Someone there suggested that he would be able to extend his stay if he had a live in girlfriend. He is currently the big joke around the office.

"Dieter, this is going to be great for you. No longer will you be in that small apartment alone. That location was sort of in no man's land sitting between the two popular beaches." I tell him.
"Yes Lei. And it's much closer to where I work too."
"So what is your new room mate like? It's a woman right?"
"Yes" he replies.
"There you go Dieter! Maybe she is single. Or if she has a boyfriend, maybe you'll get to meet some of her female friends?!?!?"
"I think she might be a lesbian Lei."
"Oh...thats no good. But maybe you can convert her. Like Kramer in that Seinfeld episode."
"Sorry Lei, I don't know what you are talking about." Dieter has never watched the old Seinfeld series so he has does not understand.
"Ok. Then maybe you'll meet someone in your building. Someone you might run into in the elevator or the lobby-"
"What? That's silly. Do you think I will stand in the elevator all day waiting for people? hahahah"
"No no no. After you live there long enough, you might run into the same people over and over again. Maybe someone you'll like."
"hahaha, ok. I will wait in the elevator everyday when I come home from work."
"Plus with so many restaurants nearby, you won't have to cook any more. Maybe meet a cute waitress..."
"Yes, that would be good."
I sit there in my truck at the entrance to the parking garage for the building. It is locked so Dieter decides to go up and get some new batteries for the remote. The weather is clear, hot and sunny and it is only 10:30am. As I wait, I see three young women rollerblading towards me. My truck is blocking the sidewalks. Two go around but one rolls onto a grassy section stumbling before falling down.
"There you go Dieter. There's your new girlfriend."

The building is old but exhibits signs of luxury. Wood trim, marble floors, tiles and countertops. He is moving into a furnished two bedroom unit with an interesting layout. When you go in, you enter a large round lobby if you will. From there all the other rooms are connected. Both bedrooms are large. The two bathrooms are well kept. The dining room is separate from the living room which itself is quite spacious. I walk in and help put his belongings in the center lobby. In the living room is a desk against one wall where there is a large board with photos tacked all over it. I look closely at all the photos.
"Uh huh. Maybe there's potential for you Dieter."
"But she's standing with a man in this photo."
"Maybe thats just her brother. Her friends don't look bad. Find out Dieter. Talk to her."

We went for brunch afterwards. I had eggs benedict and the hollandais sauce didn't sit well. I had been sick earlier in the week and still had problems with digesting food.

Afterwards, I met up with cakemaker at Dockside on granville island. There we waited two hours before the people she was meeting showed up. Argh!!!

Cakemaker was trying to set up a friend of hers with our other friend who is a chef at the hotel restaurant. As we waited there for two plus hours, I became delirious not feeling good from the brunch earlier. All I had was water the whole time and listened to the live band play some cool tunes on the patio. I was just blabbering on and on and humming whatever tunes were being played.

Cakemaker thought I was drunk on water. The waittress serving us came by and thought that we were the most laid back people on the patio.

Later on it was back home to pick up the bbq and cooler before driving all the way back out to Jericho beach for a canada day bbq and beach volleyball. This time Rodney was hosting the gathering instead of me and again it was another different group of people. This makes it the fourth large gathering which I've organized or helped organize and had a different group of people come out. Only a handful of people have been going to all of them consistently. It was mostly female as the guys had driven to seattle for a weekend on the town. I didn't eat or play much not feeling well.

Sunday I drove down to Seattle to meet up with the guys after sitting at the truck boarder crossing for an hour in the morning sun. I had missed the partying at a bar called Cowgirls saturday night but for sunday, we were there to see a baseball game. The Mariners played against the Colorado Rockies in a nooner game. Safeco field is great. I love the stadium. Everyone got cooked in our bleacher seats high up in left field but the view was still good. Too bad they lost though. I also missed a really good photo-op of Ichiro, camera wasn't ready. I walked around the stadium checking out the views from different locations and at one point when I was looking down the steps almost directly behind home plate, Ichiro had a base hit and ran all the way to third. Later on in extra innings with the mariners behind by two runs, Ichiro hit a lone homer. Sadly it was not enough as no one else afterwards was able to generate a run.

Before leaving, we went for some clam chowder at Ivars. Half the guys liked it alot so they each bought a bowl. The other half ate at a thai restaurant which had a huge selection of teas. Plus a good selection of tequilas as one person had pointed out. Monday I ignored all requests to go out and just vegged and relaxed at home. Too much excitement and people for one weekend.

An old friend called me up the other day and sent me some plans for two houses which his company has designed to look at. It looked interesting. He wants me to help design houses and buildings with him. As an incentive, he said that they have a construction company for me to use. What am I going to do with a whole construction company? Construct something I suppose.