little bitty girl

And speaking of White Boy aka Technical Support, where the heck is the new masthead?

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Posted in Stefan, What's Buggin' Me

So I've mentioned before that when our schedules suddenly become very busy, Mama Kang comes to the rescue with home cooked meals already in our freezer. She's lovely, that Mama Kang BUT does she really have to love the White Boy so very much?

I know, I know.

I have issues with sharing my parents' love with my family. I will openly share their love with my friends but when family is involved I get really possessive or competitive about it. Call it "youngest-child-only-girl" syndrome. I just want to point out that I didn't get like this with the sister-in-law though, cos you know, I dig her. That, and she married one of my dumb brothers. Let's just give credit where credit is due.

Mama and Papa Kang are planing to go visit the Big Bro in the Big Apple. So what does Mama Kang do? She's making sure White Boy has enough food while she's gone. Not extra food for the both of us, JUST White Boy.

What the hella, man? What sweet nothings has he been whispering into her gullible ear, I wonder? Because whatever it is, it's gotta stop.

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Posted in Family Shenanigans, Stefan, What's Buggin' Me

I am not sure why I haven't blogged about this yet (from my out West trip) because it really is one those funny-weird things that just happened.

When Stef and I were at the sea otter section at the Seattle Aquarium, we were witness to one of the most private and yet normal acts done by all living things. Yes, indeed. We were witness to sea otter fornication.

It was quite an interesting sight to behold, especially surrounded by inquisitive children and shocked parents.

"Stef, where are those otters anyway?"

"Oh, there they are....awww...that's so sweet! They're hugging one another while they're swimming. Oh, what are they DOING? Oh...OH!"

I felt slight embarrassment for the male otter who was being slapped after some frantic underwater humping. (I don't know why, but I have this weird habit of being embarrassed for someone else when they do something embarrassing publicly. One of the main reasons why I can never watch Borat).

"How do you tell which one is which?"

At this point, the sea otter flips on his back and shows a very pink, very large otter penis. Squeals from children ensue.

You know what the weirdest thing about this is? This is not the first time Stefan and I have witnessed some animal fucking.

The last time we were at the Toronto Zoo, we got to see a lion creep up to a lioness, do her from behind, roar really loudly, walk away and then passed out. The lioness simply looked annoyed while a woman with her two children muttered under her breathe, "How typical!"

And the weirdest thing is that we're not big animal sanctuary go-ers. I think I've only been to a zoo/aquarium a total of 6 times my entire life. I just think to myself, "Why us?"

I am glad the animals get to have their fun while they're in captivity. After all there must not be much else to do in there, but for me it's like watching weird animal porn (or a car accident). You don't want to see it, but you just can't look away.

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Posted in Weirdness

As most people can probably tell, I really love food. I am almost always astounded that I am not some fat, stropping cow (which you know, one day I think I will be if I don't watch myself as I eat almost as much or more than Stef and dude is twice my size) especially since I love noodles - pasta, vermicelli, egg, rice, spirals, you name it and I love it. What comes as a pretty close second and is often cooked with my first love is seafood. What can I say? I grew up by the sea. I have many fond memories of going to the seashore with my mother on Saturday mornings and picking out freshly caught fish for the weekend meals.

I have a really odd (at least most people think so) habit and love of visiting wet markets when I travel. Sure there could be some beautiful park or exhibit somewhere, but give me a fresh wet market any day. I really do feel food is where the heart is and key of understanding any culture. I know for myself, there is so much love, thought and tradition that goes into the preparation of one's native foods. That's why I whenever I travel, I tend to ask locals where they would go to eat if they couldn't go to their mothers. I don't care if the place is small, dark, dank or a little dirty. Second rate pish posh restaurants in other countries are places fools go to pretend to "experience" someone else's culture.

Anyway.

I am so in love with seafood that I think the entire time when Stefan and I were visiting the Seattle Aquarium, I was pointing out fish that I've never tasted before. I think the kids around me were quite grossed out when I stated aloud that octopus was quite tasty raw, as well as cooked.

"You know, if you don't watch it, you're going to get gout one day," Marie mentioned when I was extolling some other virtue of some seafood I had seen.

Gout? As in Henry VIII? The fat, horny, sacrilegious, unscrupulous monarch from the 15th century?

I always thought that gout was a sickness of the rich in medieval times from eating far too rich foods?

Turns out both Marie and I are right.

Supposedly, "Gout (also called metabolic arthritis) is a disease due to a congenital disorder of uric acid metabolism. " It is caused from eating rich foods such as seafood, alcohol, gravy to name a few. One of the main signs of gout is that it attacks the big toe, then leads to other digits, then the feet and finally the entire leg and your whole circulation.

All I can say is my big toe is looking just fine and Japanese people eat seafood all the time, and you don't see them dying off by the masses from gout.

So I stick my tongue out to you Ms. Marie and will continue eating my gouty seafood.

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Posted in Homage to Hunger, Randomness, Travel

Have I mentioned that when Stefan and I play scrabble, he is always flummoxed by the words I use. I must say there is a great benefit to reading many types of literature because it exposes you to a broader vocabulary. Stef quite hates it when I trump him on the definitions as well.

Words used so far that have exasperated him - Biota, Baryte, Cox and finally Woo.

"What is this woo business?"

"You know to woo me, to seek favour..."

"Hmph! I am never going to woo you again after this..."

Sore loser.

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Posted in Stefan

You too can get the look of collagen injected lips without going to the doctor. Guaranteed 100% effective. Look like Angelina Jolie with no financial cost.

Method: Drink beer that has wasp at the the rim without noticing. Feel fluttering against lip, pinch fluttering object, thereby incurring anger of said wasp forcing it to sting your bottom lip, causing swelling. To even out both bottom and top lip, try to get a wasp to sting the other lip at the same time. This is NOT recommended.

Side Effects May Cause: Possible death if allergic (Thank goodness, I was not), Not much attention from husband after he realizes you're not going to die, Serious stinging to the point of seeing stars as lip is very sensitive area, Internal itching (probably from the venom), Jokes about how Stefan and I should not take out our anger on each other physically, Swelling for longer than a day (if you are particularly sensitive to insect bugs like me).

Possible solutions: Ice and Meat Tenderizer (recommended by someone who got bitten a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately it's not something I usually carry in my bag but will give some thought to it for the future).

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Posted in Me-ness, Much To Do About Nothing, Randomness, Weirdness

Dearest baby Ryo,

No longer a baby as you turn one today. One year ago, I spent most of the night crying before your birth, worried about your mama and sad that I couldn't be there. You definitely did not give your mama a good time of it, but suddenly there you were, this perfect being. I always thought you looked like a peach blossom at birth, all rosy cheeked and wrapped up.

I am sorry that I am not there with you today. For one brief moment when we were in Vancouver, I seriously contemplated attending the open house across the street from where you live. But Murat Daidai said I couldn't live so close to you because he couldn't have you loving me more. Little does he know, you will love me so much more when I start buying you outrageous outfits that neither your mama, dada or godfather will allow you to wear.

You probably don't remember this but maybe you can refer to this post when you are old enough to understand. We were at the night market and you finally, voluntarily came into my arms. Your mama said I could give you back if you got too heavy. Dude, you were so heavy (you're a good eater, I love this about you) but no way was I giving you up until my back really ached. We had our first real heart to heart talk.

I told you that you would never be a baby again, that the next time I saw you, you were always going to be a little bit bigger, grow into your own and that I was sorry that I couldn't always be there while you are growing up but that no matter what, I love you. You responded by sticking your finger up my nose, your newest trick last week.

I know in your own way, you were telling me you love me too.

Love,

Aunty Karen

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Posted in Lurves

Dear West Coast Peeps,

We apologize for the delay and lack of posts as of late. There has been an ongoing dispute between the Creative/Writing team and Technical Support at Little Bitty Girl. The Creative/Writing team is currently bored with current masthead design and therefore is not inspired to post any new thoughts. However, the Technical team is not inspired by the newest design submitted by the Creative team and refuses to change current masthead. There have been negotiations on both sides but so far no resolution has been made.

Until then, there will be minimal written entries. We thank you for your ongoing support and emails and we ask you to please forward your complaints to the Technical support team so that we can resolve this issue quickly.

Sincerely yours,

Creative/Writing Team

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Posted in Stefan, What's Buggin' Me

So I know that I am biased about this, but then again this is my blog so I can write whatever I want. My goddaughter is SO smart and has such a good appetite, much like me and her father. She gets SO hangry when it's meal time. I am glad that we have some similarities. So Marie and Bernie have been signing to her and she's learnt the most important sign (to me, at least) which is "more!" She knows other signs as well like "book" and "no more" but she's hilarious when she's eating.

Anyway, I have no idea why I haven't been doing this but I have not been taking pictures of the food I've been eating. I love coming to Vancouver because I get to eat stuff that I never get to eat in Toronto. Most of my friends here are foodies, not in the snobby sense but they share the same love for food as I do.

When we arrived, Bernie had bi bim bap waiting for us. I've always wanted to make this dish at home but Stefan never seemed interested in trying it. However, after having some of Bernie's, Stef asked me whether I can make it when we get back. For breakfast, Bernie made us champurrado which was so EXCELLENT.

After we went for walk to Granville Island, a great little place called Go Fish. It was a small shack that churns out great fresh seafood, served simply. I had a chipotle coconut fish chowder and fish (cod) and chips. The chowder was unbelievable, velvety with a fierce bite, perfectly cooked vegetables and huge chunks of white fish. I really want to learn how to make it when I get home.

We then explored a great food market on Granville Island. I must say exploring food markets is one of my favourite past times. Last night I had my first taste of a West Coast oyster and they really do taste different! It's a question I've been asking Marie but she wasn't sure.

Next post, I won't be such a tease and will have pictures. As for West Coast eating, I am with Ryo - more!

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Posted in Homage to Hunger, Travel

Remember how I said Stefan and I don't travel well? Turns out that I was wrong. See? I can really admit when I am wrong, it's just that it doesn't happen very often. So this is what I discovered. Stef and I definitely have different attitudes when it comes to travel. I have a whole routine when I get to the airport while Stef likes to just meander through. I definitely need to have various options when it comes to what will keep my A.D.Dness occupied on a plane. Stef couldn't understand why I needed to buy another book when I already had two. Turns out, I didn't like one of the books I brought and I finished one of my books on the plane. It was 2 minutes of grumpy time for Stef who had told me not to buy a book at the airport.

We actually were fine in the plane. I sort of treat Stefan like my own personal Gumby (sans the green rubber), bending his limbs to suit my personal comfort. Yes, this is one of the few times when being small in stature really helps.

Anyway, how did the worlds colliding go? Better than expected. They both hugged and then proceeded to keep throwing random barbs and jibes at each other. All in a very good natured way. Ryo looked perplexed when she first met me and used one of my hands as a personal towel to wipe some dribbling drool off her face. She spent our first night acting shy, and hiding around Jenna. She would shoot me death stares but around Stefan, she would flash "beautiful eyes" and smile coyly. This was completely disconcerting to me.

Luckily this morning when Ryo woke up and was brought to say "Good morning" to Uncle Stef, she was completely bewildered by his presence and would sort of cry. All is good in my world again.

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Posted in Lurves, Stefan

Today, at around 8:15 pm west coast time, my worlds are going to collide. Stefan and Marie have never met each other and today is the day that they do. People always think it's so weird that they haven't met despite the fact that I have known Marie for so long. The reason is because Marie only ever comes out east when she does the trade shows in NY and I tend to go out west for work. The one time when she did come to Toronto, Stefan was out of town. Also, my friendship and love for Marie has grown over time, the old fashioned way - emails and phone calls. There was never a circumstance when they would meet.

Over the years, the two of them seemed to have developed a love-hate relationship. Marie, who is soft spoken with a razor wit sense of sarcasm, loves to butt heads or opinions (usually conveyed through me via emails or phone calls) with Stefan who can never resist teasing a girlfriend. Neither one is more of an instigator than the other, they both do it the same amount. It can be quite funny to witness the various barbs and zingers they lob at each other. But part of me worries that they really won't get along. They both are equally important in my life.

But, I figure they're both adults and they'll work it out. As for me, I'll be hanging out with this little person, trying to make her do more of what she's doing in the video below.

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Posted in Lurves, Stefan, Travel

Oh, the sudden heatwave is overwhelming but I guess it hasn't been THAT bad since Mindy is not yet dead. She has however, been more lethargic and very needy. My temper has definitely been shorter than usual so hence the reason for the tone of this post.

Stefan and I are getting ready to go on a trip to Vancouver. Stefan is playing Aussie Rules Footy against the U.S and I get to visit the West Coast family. I am a little worried since even though Stef and I have traveled together, we have not flown much together. We tend to take separate flights for circumstantial reasons. I like to go early to airports and not feel rushed, Stef likes to be his usual lackadaisical self and thinks it's an "adventure" if we get anywhere barely on time. It drives me bonkers.

The one thing that we do have in common is that we both like the apartment to be spotless before we go anywhere. There is nothing worse than coming home on a long flight to a place looking like a war zone, which is the current state of the loft right now. I tend to do "deep cleans" whereas Stefan does "surface cleaning." So last night before he came home, I told him that although it may not look like much has been done, it had as I had done a lot of dusting.

Stefan doesn't believe in dusting, or at least he never thinks that the place ever warrants it. Sometimes, I seriously think that he thinks I am making the "dusting" part up. Little does he know that the reason why there are never inches of dust around the apartment is that I dust quite frequently. I will take books off shelves, wipe them clean and arrange them back. Heck! I even dust the plants. Does he think the dust fairy just goes around and cleans stuff up? You cannot live with a cat, in the downtown core with the windows open without copious amounts of dust coming in.

As I am writing this, he's looked at me with his little boy eyes and asking me not to complain about him. He gets me EVERY time.

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Posted in Stefan, Travel, What's Buggin' Me