Vinnie, Interview, Baldwin,... So Much To Say, Eh?

China Town's pho made my day!

Vinnie please!! Ah yea, that was exactly what I said to my cousin in law upon arriving in Toronto. That was almost two weeks ago by the way, and I find myself now doing some write-up about my short solo trip there. Should have done this earlier, but a few things earlier this week needed some attention. Okay, where should I start?? Hmm..for now let me just leave you clueless as for what Vinnie is all about! :D

Well.., let's start off with Toronto!
Was a bit disappointed as I didn't get to see much snow in Toronto. Hey, to me it was a major downer! Funny thing is.. it was actually a sweet deal for parents in law since they don't fancy driving on snowy roads to and from the airport. Last year, my mom in law even told me not to come over in the Winter time. Those who don't know her well will probably take it personally! It sounds a bit harsh after all, eh??  But not to me! She is such an honest person, not to mention practical, that she'll say to you exactly what's in her mind. Love the relationship I have with her, and do admire her for the integrity she has. She is not the lovey dovey type but..don't worry! If she likes you, you can definitely tell. Well I can. Nuff said.

Me + mom in law

My five-night stay in Toronto was awesome, in short. Thanks to Ms. Bennett (my piano teacher) for going away on a cruise vacation for 13 days! Had it not been for her I would not have ended up going to Toronto to visit the in laws again. I was pretty excited too because my parents in law has an acoustic spinet piano at their home, which I planned to play, even a while before I decided to fly out to see them. Guess what?? The damn piano hasn't been tuned in like 20 years. Yup, you heard me, in like blimmin' TWENTY YEARS! Surprisingly, it still played alright! I spent a few afternoons working on a menuet (also spelled minuet) by Bach. It's a lovely one and I FRIGGIN' LOVE IT! Been playing it nearly everyday since the day I'm back in Portland. Bach has so many menuets but this one is probably my favorite thus far. Nuff said -Err.. should I ask for your permission to keep saying this phrase?? LOL.

The appetizer bar at Vinnie's

Okay, I guess it's time to reveal the Vinnie mistery.

It is actually...
..an Italian buffet that I am crazy about! Its full name is Vinnie Zucchinis.
Food is decent there and the variety is great. It was my second time and I was drooling already upon arriving at the buffet. I particularly enjoyed the spaghetti and meatballs, which was freshly served since my cousin and I were the first two dining in there for lunch. They have so many other items by the way.. not sure how many.. everything combined (appetizer, main course, pizza, and dessert) counts probably over 100 items. I went to Vinnie when I did a day out with my cousin in law. Basically we started off having breakfast at Ikea (it's that Swedish furniture store), chilling at Vaughan Mills Mall (equals to shopping here), lunch at Vinnie, then checking out stuff at Galleria the 24-hr Korean supermarket. I enjoyed the last part soo much, by the way! I ended up ordering a wrong dish at their food court though. I was hoping to get 욕개장 (yukgaejang), which is Korean spicy beef stew for dinner. Instead, I ordered the beef-bone soup. It's that damn bland soup!! ARGHHH XD

Bubble tea time at China Town, T.O

Without doubts, I ended up pigging out throughout my entire stay in Toronto. Parents in law took me to another buffet on my third night. It was called Mandarin and it's Chinese (doesn't the name say enough?). Food was great. Or was I just hungry at the time? Heaven knows. But I think Mandarin is worth a try if you like oriental food and the concept of buffet. It doesn't necessarily carry authentic Chinese cuisine but it's pretty good. So what the heck.

I flew back to Portland on Friday January the 19th. Attempted to do so on Thursday but Seattle was hit by snow that day so I didn't make it. Not gonna talk details here since it will only stretch the length of this post.

DARN..
It's going to be a long entry, isn't it?
Hang in there, okay?

The mere snow I got my last morning in T.O

Here is another topic I'd like to bring up in this entry. It's the interview I had last week with a graduate nursing program (midwifery, by the way) at a university campus in Portland. Had no clue at first about the number of people they gave an interview. Turned out.. it was about 48 people total! The 48 were sought of several hundreds of applicants. Was pretty surprised upon hearing that, especially because they will only take 8 people out of that many. I got a chance to meet with about 14 of them (of which were all females) at the potluck that was held the same day of my interview. I guess it was jaw dropping. Yea, that would be the best way of saying it. These people came from all over the states. Met some from Arizona, New York, Ohio,..  and among other schools these people are also applying for are those of the Ivy league schools like Columbia, then private sorts of Vanderbilt and some other expensive schools in many different states. Man I didn't know that the program's so competitive! Well I actually did know it's that competitive; After all, the particular program I applied for is rated number one nation-wide. Not that it matters, by the way. To me, the fact that it's a teaching hospital matters the most. Oh yea, not to mention its proximity factor -am actually mentioning it now.

So then.. my attitude in this whole interview thing is that I am totally leaving it to God, where life takes me to. I believe I did my best. However, I will not be too disappointed if they decide not to count me into the group of the lucky eight. I was honestly so happy the interview went well. I was not so nervous that I was able to articulate myself, which was what I hoped myself to carry out. The acceptance affair is indeed only a matter of whether or not they consider me a good fit to be a midwife, whether or not I have the qualities that they're looking for -which goes beyond just good grades and a bunch of seemingly relevant experiences.

Wow, it's getting late. It's time to wrap up this entry with the most exciting thing to me that just happened today. Make a guess please?? Well.. ready to hear it now? Not going to sound exciting for you anyhow but it REALLY is exciting for me. I finally made up my mind and got AN ACOUSTIC PIANO!! YEAH, FINALLY!! I've been thinking about getting an acoustic piano, and if you follow my blog from time to time I think you'll remember me mentioning a wish of getting one. I've scheduled the piano to be transported tomorrow morning and I am SUPER EXCITED FOR IT!! I am MAD FER IT!!

So, here's the truth:

The Baldwin Acrosonic! :)

I've been running around since yesterday checking out a few used acoustic pianos that people offer on Craigslist. Obviously, the ones I was interested in. Man, honestly, making the trip here and there wore me out and left me emotionally tired. The first two days in my life that I drove so much, I'd say, as in leaving the house at 4 in the afternoon and returning at 10 at night (this was on Monday). I checked out this 1968 Yamaha and a few Baldwins, as recommended by Ms. Bennett.  This one Baldwin I settled with (fell in love the very moment I played it!) was owned by a family living somewhere near Portland. They're selling both of their Baldwins (yes they got two, for their two kids to do duet on) because they have decided to get a piano with a richer sound -their son has progressed much in his 5 years of piano learning, so this is definitely an exciting decision for them! This means they will probably either get an upright or even a grand piano. Anyway, these two pianos have richer sounds (grand being the richest, generally) because their strings are longer in size compared to those of pianos that come in smaller bodies (speaking of spinet and console pianos here).

I am still dreaming to own a baby grand piano one day! But I will wait till the moment comes. For now I am just too ecstatic to get an acoustic piano! Will still keep my digital one though, for me to play upstairs when the urge to play in the middle of the night comes up. Yep, it helps since others will not hear you play when you plug in the earphone. Hmmm.. or do you think I am reasoning this way to justify my greed? Could be.

Drop a comment! :)

PS. I'll upload more pics of my Baldwin once it's delivered to my home tomorrow!! Can't wait!!