Year In Review

The year 2009 In Review (see 2008 in review too). This can be considered a Cliffs' Notes for my blog, highlighting the most interesting posts of this year.

First of all, it must be said that 2009 was the busiest year in terms of the number of posts AND the number of comments. So thanks readers!
I posted 117 times this year (118 if this post is included). For this blog the average is 98!

2009 started off where 2008 left off: Baltimore, MD. I had tons of photos from that trip, so I posted those for a couple of weeks in Jan 2009.

Cooking posts were important (also a continuation from 2008). Lotsa 'good' food pictures Round-Country Trip for grad schools: Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, St. John's, NL brought pictures and sightseeing around our large country in Feb 2009!

Restaurant Reviews: Travelling involves eating out.

Unfortunately by April I was stumped. The thesis started to drain me as shown by this post.

April Fools Joke on April 1 2009!

Then came the ever-popular Breakfast Man Post. Must read haha!

I bought a cheap camera so I took lots of pictures over the summer of random things: June to August.
I also got an SLR and got shooting in the summer (Ottawa, Mississauga Garden council, Youth Baseball, Camping, Flowers).

The midsummer massive design update.

I got very very busy in Sept, Oct, and Nov (due to school, so didn't post as often as I'd have liked)

NOVEMBER 11 2009 marked the 500th post and FIFTH BIRTHDAY of this blog. Link

The only thing even remotely "fun" during the school year was the Seattle trip Here's to a good 2010 and many more posts

Categories: Omnoratus    Life    

Tags: In Review, Blog, Me

Comments: 7 so far

Comment Times

Most bloggers on the Internets are unveiling new features on their blogs this time of year, so I had to cook up something to not feel left out! This makes sense; everyone is off work so there is lots of time to redesign/add new features.

If you Search for DESIGN on the blog, then you'll see that I come up with something new every 6 months or so. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do a complete revamp of the design (and I like the current design anyway) and there aren't any glaringly obvious missing features on my blog, so it's not a huge concern that I didn't add much.

With that said, here's the new feature for December 2009: Comment times. My posts show both date and time, but until now comments only showed the date. From now on, all comments will show time also:

Categories: Omnoratus    

Tags: Design, Feature, Update, Omnoratus, Blog

Comments: 0 so far

Blog Game: Random Questions

Another blog game... I'm doing too many of these now!

What is your favorite quotable line from a movie?
"Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and tyrranies of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I shall strike down upon thee with great vengence and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brother. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengence upon you. BOOM" Pulp Fiction. Best movie ever.

Who is the most famous person you have spoken to?
Hmm... Can't remember...

How many bags/boxes of Potato Chips are consumed at your place in a month?
Not many. Having to carry groceries home, the worthiness:volume ratio of chips is very low.

Who is your all time favorite Cartoon Character?
Balooga from the Jungle Book.

What foreign food dish do you prepare from scratch and serve?
None.

What is your favorite section of the Supermarket?
T&T Noodles aisle.

What was your high school teams mascot and what were the school’s colors?
Meadowvale Falcons; blue and white. University High School Torjans don't remember the colors.

Categories: Blogging    Omnoratus    Life    

Tags: Blog Game, Personal, About Me

Comments: 1 so far

Blog Game: 41 Questions

Got this off some random person's blog. I don't play blog games, so consider yourself tagged if you want to play along.

1. Were you named after anyone?
Yes.

2. When was the last time you cried?
Not sayin' 


3. Do you like your handwriting?

I'd like to think it's good. Unfortunately people tend to disagree 


4. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? 

Not too sure! Probably not though I'm weird! 



5. Do you use sarcasm? 

huh ummm yes! 


6. how did you meet your spouse/significant other? 

Haven't done so yet. 


7. Would you bungee jump? 

YES!



8. What is your favorite cereal? 

Honey nut cheerios? 



9. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Nope
 


10. Would you move again?

At some point. 



11. What is the first thing you notice about people? 

Depends on if there's something that stands out… 



12. Red or pink?

Pink FTW.



13. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? 

I can be annoying at times. Even to myself. 



14. What do you miss the most? 

SMV. Vancouver. School. Summer job at the warehouse, surprisingly 15. Do you want everyone to complete this list?

I don't do blog games/tags. 



16. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now?

No shoes only socks. And grey comfy pyjamas. I've been wearing them for a week now 



17. What are you listening to right now? 

Nothing!



18. What annoys you the most?

Dishonest folks. Liars. 



19. Favorite smell?

Don't really have one… Roast beef I guess! I've been smelling the fat my mom collected in a bowl several times a day.



20. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? 

Hmmm.. cell phone is too far to check.

 For txting, it was SMV most recently if I recall correctly.

21. Do you like the person who sent this to you? 

Don't really know them… 



22. Favorite sports to watch?

Ice Hockey. Colorado Avalanche



23. Hair color?

Doesn't matter. It's what's in the head that matters more haha. 



24. Eye color?

See #23.



25. Do you have any major regrets?

Nope. Live life once and don't regret decisions you make. Of course everyone does stuff they are sorry for, but I don't regret anything. 



26. Favorite food?

Umm roast beef, biryani, many many more.



27. Scary movies or happy endings?

Comedy? 



28. Last movie you watched, and with whom? 

My Sister's Keeper with SMV. That relates to #2 btw 



29. What color shirt are you wearing? 

Free black-colored Mac OS X tshirt I got for standing in line to buy Leopard when it came out. 


30. Summer or winter?

Summer is good, but it has to snow so I like winter too! 



31. Hugs or kisses? 

Both? 



32. Most likely to respond?

I don't play blog games. 



33. Least likely to respond?

See #32.



34. What book are you reading now?

The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson. 



35. What is on your mouse pad? 

Nothing, I'm on a laptop. 


36. What did you watch on tv last night? 

Haven't seen TV in ages. 



37. What little thing makes you happy?

Really random things…



38. Rolling stones or beatles? 

Neither. I like music from the decades I was born in. If I had to pick one it'd be the Beetles.



39. What is the farthest you have been from home?

Pakistan. Other side of the world. But I guess that's home too, sorta. 



40. Do you have a special talent?

Hmm I dunno.. Web design?!



41. Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? 

See #33/32.



Categories: Life    Omnoratus    Blogging    

Tags: Blog Game, Personal, About Me

Comments: 5 so far

Friendly

Canada is the second most friendly country in the world to expatriates.

Canada, which ranked first in a similar survey last year, fell to second place on HSBC's integration score, which measures how easily foreigners and their families can settle into a new country. Australia, Thailand and Malaysia rounded out the top five. Foreign workers in these countries found it easy to make local friends and said they enjoyed a higher quality of life than in their native countries.

The list for the top ten is: Bahrain, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, United States.

It just makes me proud that we beat the US in some quality of life survey... yet again!

Via Forbes

Categories: News    

Tags: Canada, Quality of Life, Expat, Forbes, News

Comments: 2 so far

Reese's White

Merry Christmas!

Recently when I was in the US, I tried Reese's White chocolate. I haven't seen this in Canada anywhere, and I love both regular Reese'rs Cups and white chocolate so I decided to give this a spin, hoping it'd become one of my US-only-favorites (like the Flaming Hot Cheetos for example).

The packaging is the same as normal Reese's chocolate but white in color, and the actual cups are held in black paper also like regular Reese's Cups. The smell was AMAZING; the cups smelt strongly of white chocolate! Unfortunately, unlike the smell, the taste disappointed big time. Unlike milk chocolate and peanut butter, the white chocolate-peanut butter combination does not bode well with my taste buds at all. I gave the second one to my brother I think.

3 Stars out of 5.

Categories: Reviews    

Tags: Christmas, Reeses, US, USA, America, Chocolate, Reviews

Comments: 2 so far

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Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, NV was one of my favorite cities to visit even when I was in grade 8 and couldn't get anything out of it! This was back when we lived in California. Unfortunately this time (i.e. yesterday), I was only there on transit and so didn't get the opportunity to walk around as I did with Phoenix, Arizona.

I think I'm just attracted to the desert, and since both Vegas and Phoenix are in the desert I love both of them.

Still, you can see the three Southwest Airlines planes and the Las Vegas Strip in the background of the photo.

Categories: Life    Photography    

Tags: Camera Phone, Las Vegas, Strip, Nevada, Desert

Comments: 1 so far