Due to the above mentioned encumbrances, I will also have no social life until December 5. And then I will probably need to go all out holiday-festive-style. I would say that this past week wrapped up my fun quite nicely. Last Saturday I had lunch with Nic, then went for a haircut in Pacific Mall. Jo and I decided to try that new place upstairs (I forgot what it’s called already). It was okay, nothing remarkable. I will keep trying different salons to find a really really good one, or at least somewhere with a decent price-to-quality ratio. Afterwards, we wandered around the mall and moved on to Market Village. As some of you may be aware of, Market Village will soon be no more. Instead, they intend to replace it with the biggest Asian mall in North America (a title currently held by none other than Pacific Mall). There was a pretty large model in the main foyer, so I snapped some shots:

You can see P-Mall as the red building in the front. Behind it is the proposed reconstruction of Market Village, with a luxury hotel attached. Those lush looking trees in the parking lot are LIES.

On this side you can see the much needed multi-tiered parking lot. I like the mini GO train as a finishing touch.

 I’m rather skeptical with this proposed re-engineering. If done right, it can be every bit as awesome at the model looks. But if anything goes awry, things could end up like the atrocity that is Splendid China Tower across the street (seriously, who the hell named that complex?), which has no resemblance to a tower whatsoever, and still looks like Canadian Tire.

On Wednesday I got to see U2 in concert at the Rogers Centre, courtesy of RIM and JChu. The stage, the band, and the show itself were nothing short of amazing. Can’t expect anything less from the greatest rock band of all time :) I took a few photos on my phone camera, so I apologize for the shittacular quality.

Snow Patrol opening for U2. Look at that STAGE!

They opened the dome. Imagine living in the penthouse of one of those condos... *__*

U2 in DA HOUSE!

On Friday, our department had a team-building event at Polson Pier. I had never been there before, and was impressed by the view from the docks. You can see downtown Toronto to the right and the Islands on the left.

Toronto skyline with perfect weather!

We were enrolled in this “corporate team building activity/competition” thing, which was a big scavenger hunt consisting of many activities ranging from leapfrogging to passing a ball with your neck (not easy BTW). One of the activities was rock climbing, which I decided to have a go at. It was my first time rock climbing, so I was fairly proud to have made it to the top. But yea, fine, it was a really easy wall. Anyways our team lost won because obviously the “winning” team cheated. Since it was such nice weather, I walked to the Eaton Centre with a couple of coworkers along Lakeshore. We walked very slowly, chatting and scoping out the area. It was pretty interesting to see the city from a different angle. I was dead tired by the time we reached the mall, so I hopped on a subway home not long after.

Later today I’m going to my first Women@Enbridge presentation with the CEO. I am assuming most of the people who signed up did so for the very same reason as me – free food :P

L: Malcolm Howard; R: Adam Kreek

This is not just any random buttshot. There is a story behind it. Trust me. Yesterday after work I met up with Albert, Evelyn and Matt for dinner. We went to Salad King, where I proceeded to finish a Pad Thai and still be hungry afterwards. Apparently their servings have become less filling than I remember. I think shitty Waterloo Asian food has lowered my standards, so I found the taste to still be top-tier.

After dinner, Albert drudged off to his night class, Evelyn headed home, and Matt and I merrily skipped off to the CBC building to watch the first taping of the last season of Royal Canadian Air Farce. On the way, we stopped by a Dominion’s to pick up some non-perishable goods for donation. This was our first time being part of the audience so we didn’t know what to expect.

When we arrived, there was already a long line-up formed. We were lucky in that they were seating by blocks and there were only two of us, so we were still able to nab pretty good seats. Roger Abbott did the introductions and mentioned that there were some special guests present at the show: four Canadian Olympic medalists. Hearing this made me even happier that I came down (why didn’t they advertise this on their tickets page?).

The first sketch of the night was a parody of the Canadian electoral debate, which, interestingly enough, was being broadcasted that very moment. The first couple sketches weren’t really funny. The ones that stood out for me were the Wall Street one, “a special message from McCain and Palin”, and Elliot Friedman interviewing the Olympic athletes, only because Alan Park screwed up twice. Simon Whitfield (triathlon, silver), Malcolm Howard, Adam Kreek (both rowing, gold), and Adam van Koeverden (kayak, silver, also Canadian flagbearer) were present, all uniformed in their skin-tight athletic wear. No, the athletes were not funny. Also, I may or may not have been staring at their crotches most of the time.

After the show, there was about ten minutes of mingling between the stars and the audience. I must point out that Howard and Kreek are FREAKING TOWERS in real life. People were crowded around them like ants to a crumb. Since we were standing behind them, we decided to be completely immature and digitize their fine Olympic asses, which you see as today’s featured photo.

I remembered seeing van Koeverden being interviewed during the Beijing 2008 closing ceremonies and my mom acceding my observation that he was rather good-looking. Therefore we sought out van Koeverden and found him awkwardly hanging out by himself behind the two rowing giants (checking out their derrières?) so we each happily snapped a shot with him on my crappy cellphone cam. Then Matt whined for a photo with Luba Goy, his idol and unrequited lover, so he got a photo and her autograph.

We walked back to Union Station – I went to the trains, Matt to the GO buses. It was there, standing by myself among the silent buzz and stuffiness of a late night subway platform, in the glory of downtown Toronto, that I casually flipped through my photo album on my cellphone and realized the horror. There was the photo of that tight gold medal ass. I hit ‘next’. There was Matt, with a wobbly grin beside van Koeverden. ‘Next’. Matt again, with Luba Goy. Where was me with van Koeverden? And then it hit me. He didn’t save it. MATT DID NOT SAVE MY PHOTO!!!!!!!! HE TOOK IT BUT FORGOT TO SAVE ITTT!!!!!!!!! THE ONE AND ONLY PHOTO OF ME!!!!!! OHHHHHHHH MYYYY FREAKINGGGG GODDDDD WHAT A MORON!!!!!!!!!!

Lucky for Matt, YRT was still on strike and he had to take GO home. If he was standing beside me at that moment I might have been instigated to push him off the platform. I furiously texted Matt to declare my misery and anguish caused by his asininity (not really… I had to write a draft, save it, and send it when I got to Rosedale ’cause there’s no signal underground). Numb and defeated, I stepped onto the Yonge train and slumped down with a sigh. As I stared out the window, I eww-ed at my own reflection ’cause it was so freaking dark outside I solemnly mused upon what could have been: elevated moments of self-pride as I shove a photo of me beaming beside a sexy Canadian athlete under my annoyed friends’ noses when they didn’t even ask for it.

And that is my story. The end. Matt, you owe me an Adam van Koeverden.