Some of you asked about my housemates, so I'll talk about the (behind their backs :P) here. There are 6 ppl staying here, including me; 4 guys and 2 girls. 2 of the guys are from China and have graduated, one, Ping, is doing his PhD in maths, another, Tony, taking extra undergrad courses. Both are really nice. They lent me the rice cooker, help me hook up a tel line, and let me have free use of their kitchen stuff. Their accent is rather heavy, but still understandable, and they have been in canada for many years already. Another guy, Mat, is a canadian chinese, and is staying next to me in the basement. He can speak cantonese but not mandarin, and is the macho and tough kind. His speaker set is powerful, but luckily he's considerate enough to turn down the volume late at night. One of the girls, Jade, is a canadian ang moh, whom I have not talked to much. The last girl, Fei, is a 1st year student from Beijing. Surprisingly, unlike most Beijing ppl, her accent is not heavy at all.

The house's residents don't do stuff together, and only chat when we happen to be in the living room or kitchen at the same time. We also cook our own meals seperately. Since 5 of us cook, it can get quite messy during meal times. Just imagine 4-5 rice cookers on the kitchen table.

I cook purely to save costs. Cooked food here is expensive, even fast food. A chinese economy rice with one vege/meat costs $5 here(and 15% tax on top of that), and $1 for each extra vege/meat, whereas I can make a meal with 3 vege/meat for $1+. The cheapest fast food here is subs and burgers. Subs is like a hot dog burger with different kinds of meat and vege, and also can be up to 12 inches long. I haven't ate at a restaurant here before. Cannot tahan, cos have to give tips, as if 15% tax not enough.

I also got a bicycle here d, so no need to rely on unreliable buses anymore (YAY!!). A previous tenant dumped his bike here, and the landlord let me have it. So I brought it for repairs for $15.

I went to toronto (visited CN tower and walked around) last sat, and Niagara Falls last sun. I don't have time to talk about it now though. Studies here are rather difficult, and I'm rather stressed recently. So continue next time..

PS. The photos taken in toronto and niagara falls are available at my MSN webspaces. Got some videos too, so ask me if you wanna see them