New Friends and New Life

Now that I have my own bike, Ilya and I went to the Kensington Market to buy a bunch of condiements and a few veges needed for my cooking adventure at my new place. Since we knew we would be going to the Sandbanks (provincial park up north approx. 2.5-3 hrs away from Toronto) on the next day, we also bought some fresh sandwitch meat and buns. We came back here, chilled a little having a tasty snack (fresh sour cream that tastes just like a very creamy cream cheese) and I went to the gym near my place for a quick exercise. I did not get to work
out for an extended period of time (I am usually there at least 1.5 hrs up to 2 hrs), but it is always good to get my cardio :) Getting my cardio/day makes me feel just very wonderful. Very important for me to stay in touch with my internal self and soul :)

Anyway, later on in the evening, Ilya and I went to visit Ilya's friends (my new friends), Asia and Yu-jin (sorry if I did not spell the name correctly) at their new apartment near St. Clair and Yonge where they were having some people over. I made some fresh Thai Salad Rolls and brought it to the house party, and met some of the people that I met the previous evening. I enjoyed talking with my new friends, especially with Svet who has lived in Florida for
two years after leaving Moscow a few years ago. I also enjoyed talking to a few other girls there. It is always fun to engage in an intellectual talk with new friends. I indeed appreciate such open attitude of people, and I have been having a blast meeting great new people.

Ilya and I were going to go and check out the Osunlade party at the Drake Hotel around mid-night, but my close friend, Ange was no longer heading to the party, and also since we were having such great time at the house party, we decided to pass the Osunlade show this time, but just enjoy hanging around with cool buddies.

People enjoyed my salad rolls and emptied the plate, so it made me great to know that I made someone's tummies very happy :) hehehe

We stayed there until 2:30 am or so, and left with Stath who gave us a quick car ride to a nearest major intersection from our place. We walked the neighborhood of our place around the castle, Casa Roma, and enjoyed checking out some of the beautiful housings and gardens there. I feel great meeting cool people thanks to Ilya's great friends network here in Toronto. :) I am excited to know that this is just the beginning!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

Yes, Friday July 1st was the Canada Day, so we saw a lot of people out in the city when Ilya and I went out to a Japanese grocery store and other shops on Queen street, China Town and Kensington Market in the morning. We bought a lot of stuff, starting from basic Japanese cooking condiments to fresh vegetables, fruits and kitchen tools.

I also got my BIKE !! so now I can travel to places riding it! (yes, Tatsu, I am expanding my gang crew here in the North America as well). It has been super great having my bike here! Being able to ride my bike provides such freedom and is indeed a beautiful thing to ride my bike into the fresh summerly breeze, if you know what I mean :)

We had so much stuff with us, but thanks to Ilya's friends, who offered to give us a car ride, we managed to bring all the bought stuff back into our place by car. I on the other hand enjoyed my first bike ride from the bike shop to my new home. :) hehehe We chilled with friends for a bit, and then I unpacked the shopping bags to organize things a little in the kitchen. Then his other friends arrived, and later fixed my bike into such a great condition that my bike is now worth double the cost that I paid to own it. LOL

Ilya and his friends are great. They generously help others without feeling any obligation or sneaky motives, but simply based on a pure desire to help another. I guess this is something to do with the fact that they are originally from outside of Canada and living here without the families and all, but it is very comforting to have people around me who have had the simlar experience of leaving home at such younge age and finding ways to become independent and responsible for our lives. I feel they understand where I come from, and feel very comfortable sharing my perspectives that I have on cultural differences with them, because I know that they are wise, experienced and open enough to hear how I perceive things in life (I love sharing perspectives/debating on a human behavioural/cultural topic).

Anyway, later on, I prepared a Japanese dinner, and enjoyed the meal with Ilya.
He took a photo of our dinner, so here it is. Take a look at how excellently he arranges dishes and chopsticks to create a balanced composition in space. He indeed is great at arranging things to create such harmony in space so naturally, and I really enjoy the created environment in my new place here in Toronto :)

Later on, Ilya and I headed to the Jay Jay Johanson concert at the Opera House which is located east on the Queen Street. I met a LOT of Ilya's friends there, and it was cool talking to them while waiting for Jay Jay to come to the stage. What I noticed is that all of Ilya's friends give off such positive energy and they indeed are open to meeting new people (myself). I felt really comfortable talking to his friends and I can not explain how much I felt happy about this,
because I am not always good with meeting new people...

Anyhow, the concert itself was AMAZING. Jay Jay's beautiful and soothing voice travels into your body and its love just spreads out into your soul. That is the feeling I gaiend while listening to his live show. It is indeed amazing how a human being can spiritually touches others by manifesting themselves. I truly enjoyed indulging in such comfort of human voice and love.

Later on, Ilya's friends suggested that we go and check out a live Funk band at Little Italy, so we went to check the band out.

My thought? I freaking LOVE dancing to music that makes me move so naturally. It was a three piece band that reminded me of one of my favorite house band, Tortured Soul from NYC. So although it was about 1 hr or so, I really enjoyed dancing to such great music. The vocalist spared his moment showing off his house moves with me on the dance floor, and I really enjoyed dancing with him.
Let the House-Lovers Unite in the CITY :) hehe I am excited to check out some deep house music events here in the city and just indulge myself in the love and peace of deep house music and dance with my soul manifestingly.

Job Interview & Moving into my new place in Toronto

I attended my job interview in the morning at Barrie, which is approximately
1.5 hrs away from Toronto.

The job interview went smoothly, and a lot of questions were asked how I function
as an interpreter/translator under stressful situations.

Because of my previous job experience with an automotive parts supplier in Guelph, I was able to reply to all answers supplying with my past experience as examples. I felt that they liked the fact that I already have a similar experience to the position that I applied for, and so I felt confident during the interview. However! shite, my legs kept shaking under this huge table in the meeting room. I tried my best to keep a positive attitude instead of letting such physical
reaction freak me out too much. LOL but afterall, the interview went well, and I received a call from my agent saying that they would like to set up a second interview in mid-July, so I think I managed with my nervousness fairly well. :) But anyway, there was this gentleman whom I could not stop feeling I have seen him before.

I asked him whether we have met before, but he responded back saying that it would be his honour if we did indeed met somewhere in the past, but he could not recall its details, esponding to me so politely.

But the past few weeks since returning to Toronto, my life is filled with countless de ja vus that it is not even funny. Sometime it freaks me out. Because I do not know what is going on!! LOL But all I know is that I am meant to go through the path of life that I am at right now, and I just need to appreciate what I have in my life and enjoy it to its fullest :)

After returning from the job interview, I went to the gym to work out really quickly, and then finished packing my stuff to move into my new place in Toronto. My friend, Ange and her friend, Chanelle helped me carry a bunch of my stuff to the main floor of the apartment, and I took a cab to my new place. Ilya, my new roommate and great friend helped me unload my luggage into the apartment. There, I met the landlord of the building, who is also from Japan, so we exchanged a few words in Japanese :) Ilya had already done some grocery shopping for us
that the friedge was full of fresh produce and products by the time I got there!
He was slicing potatoes for our supper, so I helped him cooking the potatoes, and we had already prepared cut-lets (russian style-sort of like miniture meat balls) and salad for our supper. It is really wonderful how Ilya just do things without having asked to do. Another thing that I have noticed about him is that he is very punctual and practical with his mind that whatever he says he will do, he will just do it, and will not let time slip by without completing whatever he commited himself to do. It has been a great influence on me and I know that I have been spending my day productively since I got to hang around with Ilya. :) It will be wonderful sharing my flat with such an influential friend. :)

my life here in Toronto

phew, it's been super busy! very most importantly, very very productive!

well, I had an interview with a local recruitment company that deals with Japanese clients in TO and surrounding area last Thursday morning, which went really well. The staff were such positive minded professionals and they shared such useful and insightful perspectives with me on my job search, and made me feel very comfortable working with them. Isn't is always amazing whenever you encounter inviduals who are purely positive on what they do in their lives?? I have fortunately had a few positive meetings with what I call: REAL people since I arrived here in Toronto.

Not to mention my great friend, Ange here in this city, our mutual friend, Voltaire invited me over to this house party last Friday to a studio where a few of his friends reside in down town Toronto. One of the tenants, Carrie was one of the people I felt so REAL communicating with, and she is such a talented artist (painter) and had her amazing work of portraits hanged on the wall in her flat. The style of her work is definitely influenced by the Japanese cartoons and American pop culture. White thick outlines define the feature of her painting and sort of reminded me of my old drawings that I did back in 2000:

also, meeting with ilya has been such a wonderful experience to me too.
he is my new friend and is my roommate for my new place in Toronto.

i am not able to describe the way he is in a simple sentence, but I really find this boy REFRESHING!

he has such a free spirit, ability to brightens up other people's heart and mind so naturally, and smiles and laughs so soulfully as well. i also appreciate him eating healthy (people say that I eat healthy), cares about the environment and nature and spends his money wisely. It's really exciting to know that I have such cool roommate and my living situation has been taken care of so smoothly like this :) Thanks very much, ilya. You are the best!!

Speaking of taking care of things in my life...yes, JOB situation.

Well I wrote above how I had a meeting with the recruitment company last week.
They kindly sent two applications for opening positions already, one of them showed their interests after seeing my resume. They asked me to complete a translation test to see my translation skills, and I have obtained an opportunity to attend an interview with the company tomorrow late morning already.

The company is located in Barrie, so I still how to think about how to commute there, but I think it will be always a positive experience for me to go and present myself to the Japanese company seeking an international candidate for their translator's position and see what they see in me as their potential employee. :)

So yes, it seems as though everything that I worried about soooo much while living in Japan is falling into the right places so naturally.... I feel such a bright sunshine in my body and know that everything will be super positive for my life here in Toronto.

After black rain overcasting my mind and soul in my journey to re-gain the strength within me, finally everything seems to be taken care of smoothlly, and I am very appreciative for all that I have in my life right now. Thank you :)

Meeting old friends at Tequilla Bookwarm

in 2003 when i returned to Toronto after working for an american university in Japan for my career experience, i worked for this lounge/cafe type of an eatery place on queen street as a food prep/chef for about a month until i got my translation job for an automotive industry outside of Toronto. anyway, all the people who worked there were super laid back and cool, and really enjoyed working there with them (although the pay could have been better..hehehe). anyway, one of the people, Randy who has been working there for quite a few years is leaving to South America tomorrow for a few month (may not return here..will see), so my friend, Tomo and I decided to meet at the cafe to see each other and also to talk to our friend, Randy.

Randy follows and practices the teachings of buddha, and it was always great sharing each other's perspectives on life with him when the business was slow at the cafe. i always admired this strong and bright energy that he emits from the opening of his soul (his eyes), was always very positive communicating with him. Seems as though a new chapter of his life is about to unfold on its own, and I am very excited for the decision that he made for himself and am very positive that he will have an exciting journey in South America reflecting on the truth within him and gain much fulfillment and love in his life :)

Randy: yes, no wonder all these hotties (metrosexual, straight, gay, you name it! LOL) keep coming to the cafe to hit on him eh? LOL

Randy and myself:

It was also wonderful finally having had an opportunity to take to Tomomi in person. We shared some updates on each other's lives, and I enjoyed our talk very much :) thanks, Tomomi! While talking to her other former co-workers, Donovan and Kevin hopped into the cafe. I could not take a photo with Donovan since he was super busy, but I snapped a shot with Kevin with Tomo:

Isn't it always so wonderful to unite with warm souls when you least expect it?
I had such a wonderful time meeting with these people in that evening. I love and enjoy my life here in Toronto already. I LOVE my FRIENDS to the bottom of my heart :) wheeee :D

TORONTO PRIDE PARADE

sneaky and crazy ninja crew in business, "get the hotties walking on the street with the water-guns!!"

last sunday was the PRIDE PARADE DAY in Toronto (universal cerebration in the world), so ange took me and ilya to her friend's flat on yonge street so that we could see the parade and shoot some water to some pedestrians and loving people participating on the parade from the flat and top of the roof!!!please enjoy seeing these photos from the parade and imagine how much of fun time we had on that day.. beautiful :)

my girl, ange aiming some targets from the flat:

i am in the pink/black outfit earing my crazy penis earrings. LOL:

ilya shooting some water at people although he was feeling a little guilty about this. (you are too kind!!):

I know, ange is such a hottie...

check out some sweet bums of these hot looking gay boys :)

asia having fun with her water gun:

better watch your arse cause ange will come and get you any moment!!

:)

oh it was such a fun day. thanks very much, ange for taking us to the roof :)

then later on, ange and I met up with our mutual friend, Will and his friends and went to check out DJ Dan at the main stage. We were also meeting up with Tom near the stage, so it was super cool that I finally got to see my great friend, Tom there. We enjoyed listening to music, seeing people enjoying themselves at the parade. it was also fun participating on the long jumping rope where we tried to jump as long as possible. We got super hungry, so we decided to grab some food at a restaurant on yonge street, chilled there until almost 10pm and then went back to ange's mom's place :) it was such a fun day here in Toronto.SUPER!!