The Dental Appointment, July 9th 2009

Yesterday I had my dental appointment at 4pm. The appointment was made to remove a deep cavity that has been building up for a year. It all started when I chipped my tooth. It caused food to get lodged in between my teeth. Not only did plaque get into the area easily, but I didn't go for a dental check-up in almost a year... So it was a huge cavity. So the operation began, the doctor and his cute assistant gave me a q-tip with some gel on it. I always wondered what was on the q-tip cause it made my mouth numb. I guess I'll ask him next time. But anyway, after that the dentist gave me a shot and my whole mouth went numb. Half way through the operation, I go to feel my tooth and it is half missing. He basically drilled a hole through my tooth and then filled it up with some porcelain inlay/onlay. That was pretty crazy. The best part for last. Since the dentist was working on only one side of my mouth, he kind of pushes my lips over to the other side. So by the end of the operation, my mouth was numb and when I closed it, it was super slanted to one side. I hate when that happens cause it looks soooo ulgy. But yeah, I got another chipped tooth and the same operation coming up in two weeks. So if you don't want a derranged mouth after a visit from the dentist, I suggest you take care of you teeth :D

The Vancouver Aquarium

WOW. Week 18 was amazing for me. Aside from working 32.00 hours that week, I had the opportunity to volunteer at my school on my days off. Volunteering this week was more special than usual as the class was participating in a school program known as Aqua School. At Aqua School, the children attended The Vancouver Aquarium for a week to learn about marine animals. The last time I went to the Vancouver Aquarium was way back in elementary student, but it wasn't for a week's time. These kids are so lucky to go because it's was a fun and affordable trip.

In the gallery, there are several individual fish tanks. From fish that have two eyes on one side on their face, to jellyfish and to sea urchins. Here are the jellyfish that are located in the blue circular tank:

Around the corner is my favourite marine animal, the octopus. Why do I like the octopus? It's camouflaged, sneaky, almost all muscle and can move anywhere its beak can pass through. They are also smart, being the only invertebrate to learn through imitation.

After that, there is tropic zone which has a bunch of amphibians and birds.

That is just a little preview of the Vancouver Aquarium. My gosh, I never knew that the Vancouver Aquarium was such a cool place to visit. It's a perfect place to take a girl on a date, wink wink*. Anyway, supervising the children was a bit hectic at first with all the kids being so excited to visit every exhibit. But, it was an amazing experience, having to handle a group of children in a crowded place. However, it was not all fun and games, the students had to give 2 minute presentations about their favourite marine animal at the end of the week. This was probably the best part of the trip, it was really neat to see all the children speak in the microphone and tell us some facts about their animal.

Another cool part was watching the Birds of Prey, Dolphin and Beluga shows. I knew the dolphins could jump high, but I had no idea that they could rise 25 feet in the air with ease.

Overall, it was a very good learning experience for both me and the kids. The students learned about marine animals and I learned how to be discipline with the kids while having fun. They loved it and were happy that I went. I wish I could go on more school trips like this in the near future. So far, this trip was the highlight of my year.

A Couple Things to Look Forward To....

1. The Vancouver Aquarium
I will be going to the Vancouver Aquarium on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with my Grade 4 elementary class. They're attending a program called "Aqua School" where they get to go to the Vancouver Aquarium every day for a week to learn about marine animals. I wish I had such a program to go to when I was younger. Oh well, I guess this will be my Aqua School too. Best of all, the kids really want me to go, I feel appreciated. They always ask me "Mike, are you coming? Are you coming?"

2. Ice Hockey
It's been about 5 years since I've played competitive hockey after retiring from my Rep A team in Midget. When I first left the game, I didn't really miss it. But now, a lot of my friends are playing hockey and with the Canucks in the playoffs, I miss it dearly. So, I've been invited to my play on my friend's team as a part timer since I will be busy with school. I think our team will do quite well in our grouping. More on that later...

It's a short post this time, later this week, I'll upload photos of my aquarium trip.

Cooking Papa?

What's more attractive than a man who can cook? Let’s see... having a nice expensive luxury car, ridiculously good looks and a prestigious job. Okay, so maybe other things are better, but cooking is by far one of the best abilities to have. Not only is it impressive, it's inexpensive, productive, and best of all, downright attractive. If cooking was so beneficial, why doesn't everyone do it? In today's society, most people are too busy with school, work or other commitments that they are just too busy to spend time to learn. The sad part is that cooking is usually a skill that is passed down from generation to generation. There usually is some kind of traditional family dish that grandma still makes. But unfortunately, their grandchildren are too busy to learn how to make it. It's a sad thing.

What's worse? I know a bunch of people who don't know how to cook at all. They just rely on their mom's food or some local take out. Some of these people are girls. I am not applying some type of stereotype that girls should know how to cook, but in most cases, men have no idea. Imagine this scenario, you marry a woman and both of you do not know how to cook. That would be big time trouble, both of you would have to rely on take out or microwave dinners. Imagine that.

A few years ago, I was in that category, I didn't know how to cook. But I decided to have my mom and friend teach me. A while back, I learned how to cook a Taiwanese dish, "Three cup chicken" Yummy! I felt proud being able to make that and best of all, it tasted good. For all you guys out there, learn how to cook, it's resourceful, impressive and it might help you get the girl of your dreams.