Yes, this post is a few days late. But yes, Obama for President. I love Obama.
What a charismatic guy he is indeed. For the longest time ever; the whole talk about "change". And who knows exactly what this change will be? I don't know - maybe nobody knows, but everybody certainly loves him. And I love him too. Such is the power of charisma.
So perhaps people were fed up with the Republican policies for the past 8 years, which'd led to the country going down the drain and the world a rather unsafe place to live in. Or maybe they were just happy to see Bush go, haha. Whatever it is, change is definitely good for now, though it should prove to be a real gradual process in tough times like this.
The euphoria is now over, and Obama has to be down-to-earth and prove himself to the world. After all, US is still (considered) a superpower to which the rest of the world continues to look up to and admire. His performance is crucial to how people will view US in the future, or whether there will be a levelling of powers across the globe. Interesting times indeed - and putting everything into perspective, perhaps things aren't as bleak as what they'd seemed just a couple of months back. Maybe the prospects of the job market will turn around by early next year, with more optimism brimming in the air. :)
Freeze our Tuition Fees!
And just like how Americans'd stepped forth to initiate the revolutionary change for their own good - further up north, too, students in Canada'd stepped forward in an effort to make things better for themselves. The provincial government of Manitoba had recently announced a lift of the tuition freeze, leading to a possible dramatic hike in tuition fees commencing 2009.
So last Wednesday, some hundreds of university students all across Manitoba gathered in front of the Winnipeg Legislative Building, in an attempt to rally and petition against the provincial decision. I don't know what the outcome is or will be, but it's intriguing seeing how people here stand up and speak up for/against matters close to their hearts..
The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is one of the world's most well-renowned. Apart from producing all of Canada's circulation coins, it also designs/manufactures collector coins, customized medals and tokens, high-end watches and jewellery, and even circulation coins for some 60 other countries around the world. (In fact, Singapore's 1¢ and 10¢ coins used to be minted here too!)
RCM's Winnipeg plant is the pride of the city, and in fact one of its best-known tourist destinations too. The mint marked its 100th anniversary on Monday, and a function was organized specially for its investors and employees to acknowledge their contributions and celebrate the facility's successes to date. Employees were encouraged to bring their families along, and since Judy's dad holds a rather prominent position at RCM, Js and I were fortunate to be "adopted" by him to be part of this unique and significant event.
It was all impressive, really. The mint has always been at the forefront of currency innovation - the most recent/significant among these being the world's first coloured circulation coin, the 2004 Remembrance Day quarter which featured a red poppy on its reverse. And for my pioneer visit, just listening to the VIPs' keynote addresses and speeches - even I as a tourist was touched by and proud of the mint's achievements. It was heartwarming too, to know how much the organization values its human capital. And really, Winnipeggers - actually Canadians in general - certainly take utmost pride in the RCM.
Highlight of the day - we had a go at striking our own coins! (Ok la, it was a mere push of a button really, but hey, I struck and manufactured the coin k! Haha.) We each had the opportunity to make a shiny 2008 nickel (5¢) - it's REAL money and can be used, not just a bogus momento! But yep, we also struck "fake" souvenir coins with the event name and date imprinted, just for keepsake purposes. :)
Left: Here's where I struck my own coin!
Right: This gold bar's really heavy, it even has a warning to say attempting to lift the load may involve risk of injury..! See the gold rays reflecting off my face too! Haha.
A super cool machine - it measures your weight in whatever "dimensions" you want - gold, platinum, and even different coin denominations (hence weight = no. of coins * value of each coin) - I'm worth so much more money than Js! (Of course it's both a good and bad thing la, if you know what I mean. HAHA.)
Having a feel of the different coin materials - aluminium, wood, gold, platinum.
Hmm.. I think their gold-coin chocs are much tastier than the Chinatown ones for CNY lor, haha. Cake's really good too!
Investors and employees based overseas flew into Winnipeg from all over the world just to celebrate this momentous occasion. Oh and the buffet spread was good too, heh.
For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have visited the premises and witnessed the coin-making process from scratch (metal) to end-product. No, it's not just because I've flown here from halfway across the globe, but that under normal conditions, even local non-employees are never allowed access into the facility's high-security areas. Yet on this very special day, the site was open to members of the public, exempt from the usual scrutiny and security checks! So we took an informative guided tour (by Judy and her dad) around the entire facility; I must say it felt very much like an applied BP lesson, where things like process layout, cycle time, number of defects in a million etc. popped up, haha. Oh, and given the "harsh and adverse" work conditions (extreme heat, and sometimes dangerous due to highly-flammable materials), I even applied HR com and ben theories to estimate employees' salaries leh. Haha.. it's something noteworthy too, cos I did meet a few of Judy's dad's friends, who were able HR-industry professionals and activists who'd initiated many movements for appropriate workers' compensation over the years..! A really eventful and unique evening indeed :)
-$$$-
Daylight saving has just started in Winnipeg today, 2 November - so I'm now yet another hour behind, bringing time difference between Winnipeg and Singapore to 14 hours! I guess it ain't that easy for us Singaporeans to grasp this "foreign" concept readily, so for informative purposes, daylight saving time (DST) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight, while mornings have less. Clocks are typically adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring, and adjusted backward in autumn. :)
And as I'd expected, DST kinda slipped Js and my mind today, and we went to the Superstore early to do our groceries. Turned out that we had to wait another 1.5 hours (also because it's Sunday, they open later) before it opened! ROAR. Totally ruined our plans to start the day early, do laundry and complete our piled-up work. :( And speaking of Superstore too, it's amazing how they're already selling Christmas turkeys, goodies and decorations now, just right after Halloween! Heh.
I'm thinking time change must really be a hassle for people in these countries - doesn't it mess up everything from meeting schedules, keeping record, to things like travelling? Laura and Judy had to adhere to SMU deadlines too, and just adapting to Manitoba's time change and an updated international time difference simultaneously can get quite confusing I guess. Haha.. btw I helped them look up course timings and exam schedules last night (since we're in the midst of doing it too right..) - and now they think bidding is a really complex thing to manage -
Which is really true by the way. Apparently I was unable to bid (we students on exchange are supposed to deposit our own e$, but the link to do so itself is not accessible)! Yea.. so I called the Registrar's Office and informed them about it, and I guess I was the catalyst la, they responded to my appeal and now it's all fixed (for all current exchange students). Heh.
On the SMU Concourse
Laura: Why does SMU have tunnels (they call it "tunnels" in U of M), when it is never too cold to walk?
Wini: Ehh.. *pause and think hard hard* Hmm.. cos sometimes it is too hot to walk?
Judy: OHHHHHH! I never thought of that!
Hahaha.. it was just really hilarious at that point in time. And I'm kinda excited that I'm going home soon (quite soon, somehow) :)
boo.. trick-or-treat! 5:37 PMP/S: This is a very informative post on Halloween (万圣节) in North America. It's lengthy, but read on!
Halloween in North America - as we all know and would expect - is indeed a huge blast every year. And of course, I was really excited to be able to experience it right here in this very part of the world, where the holiday's full-blown with all its hoo-ha, yet unfortunately a tad too over-commercialized in certain ways (Laura and Judy agree with me, too).
Swamped by tonnes of both academic-related and non-school work, I didn't really opt for a costume party thing - no time to conjure one up, nor felt like doing alcohol over the weekend - and we do have those back in Singapore too, albeit on a smaller scale. But after all, there's always a party somewhere..? (Haha.. ok maybe I was also trying to convince myself I won't be missing out much too.. :S)
But still, I chose to do something really cute and one-of-a-kind - I spent the night with Judy at Anne's place, watching little trick-or-treaters come by and gave out candies to them! Woots. Haha.. it's something I won't get to experience back home anyway, and oh my, the kids were really all-dressed-up and super cute! Whenever a kid came by, knocked and shouted "trick-or-treat!", we'd swoon over them instantaneously and Judy Anne and I would go "awwwww" simultaneously, haha. :)
Trick-or-treat?
Trick or Treat, Smell my feet
Give me something good to eat
If you don't, I don't care
I'll pull down your underwear
Not too big, Not too small
Just the size of Montreal
Judy taught me this little rhyme they'd known since kindergarten, thought it's cute to share! :) I think "Montreal" (mon-tree-elle) doesn't rhyme though, and it could've been something more rhymey like "Just enough to fill it all" or something, haha.
xx
Anyway Friday night was kinda cold, so I really empathized with some of the kids who wore costumes that didn't look that warm, heh. Apparently though in Winnipeg, it's supposed to have started snowing by Halloween every year - if that happens, parents usually bring their children to malls for trick-or-treating instead, taking candies from shop assistants. It's cute how this works too; people bring all kinds of things to store their candies - plastic bags, backpacks, little baskets (damn cute!), even pillowcases! Haha.
Anne's family (the Thorimberts) have a smart way of "regulating" their candy inventory - they count the number of people who knock on their door every year, so as to plan the subsequent year's purchases. Also, younger kids (9 and below) will be given more snacks and sweets; bigger kids (10 to 12) get slightly lesser; while the really older ones (13 and above) only take a choc bar or something. And these old kids must still sing or perform something before they're given candy! Haha.. they're quite open with it though, and I'm pretty sure a 16-year old faked his age (he hesitated and said, "err, 14") just to get a little choc. Tskk. And he sang a "mature" song! Omg.. haha. I think if I were him I'll go get my own goodies instead of being shot weird dirty looks door-to-door lor, hehe.
Anyway, the Thorimberts receive more than 100 trick-or-treaters every year, and Judy and I were tasked with counting the number of people - they had 98 this year (I certainly hope we didn't miss any, cos I was also slightly distracted with swooning and taking pictures)! In fact, I was so afraid that people might remember their house as the one "with the weird girl who wanted to take pictures with random people". Haha.. really, what if they don't dare to come anymore next year! Haha.. bleah.. and really, all my pictures are of random children leh..
How to regulate candy inventory with Adriana Thalia and I munching on them ever-so-often? Heh.
Personal favourites: Wini with Winnie the Pooh in Winnipeg, and a really cool gumball machine!
The guy on the right looked damn freaky when he walked down the streets.. eeyer.
2-year-old Spongebob and some butterfly (her wings were very pretty from the back, heh).
Anne's nieces, 3-year-old Hadley the parrot and 5-year-old Trysten the fairy. The witches look cute too!
Funny episodes for the night
1. Messed-up spotted dog
(Enters a regularly-spotted costumed boy, black spots on white body)
Anne: Ohhh.. what an awesome cow outfit you have!
Boy: (snarls) I'm not a cow, I'm a DOG.
Anne: Oh okay, sorry.. (sheepishly) Boy shakes head and walks away.
I guess he was a Dalmatian la, but he didn't put on the headgear what! So we didn't dare pretend we knew what people were anymore, which leads us to (2) below!
2. Oh-whatever
(Enters 8-year-old boy)
Judy: Oh, what are you today?
Boy: I'm a goblin, (shrugs and looks away) oh whatever (just give me my candy..)?
OH MY GOD. Haha.. Judy and I were speechless after that!
3. Hello pumpkin
Judy: (points to a kid that parent is holding; kid's dressed up as a lil' pumpkin) Hi, I'm sorry, but my friend here is having her first Halloween ever. Can she take a picture of THE pumpkin please?
I think the parent was kinda shocked by the way Judy asked.. haha.
So here's THE pumpkin referred to above.. haha.
xx
Hello-wee-nee wants to say something..
Anyways, there were many people who came all dressed up for lessons on Friday itself - quite a sight! And you know, my pumpkin is now so shriveled up, it's really bogey now and looks damn ah ma-ish! :(
And by Judy and Anne's brilliant suggestion, maybe I should bring trick-or-treating to Singapore, working with my mum's kindergarten kids! Haha.. and yea, I guess kids are always happy during Halloween ba, they have their bags at least 75% full leh! But we're also happy during Chinese New Year ma right? Don't need to sing songs (even at our age) and still get money! Hahaha. :D
AIMS Move Night on Thursday, where we watched 3 horror shows - but the typical ang-moh types, where the evil never dies and it's just all gory and bloody only.. yikes. But it was fun to have so many people cringing in the couches together la, haha. To the right's a damn cute cartoon - yes, being a banker is sooooo scary in current times! BOO.