Some fun facts about car rental

Some fun facts I learned today
Enterprise office @ Waterloo, Ontario, Canada = 200 rental cars
 - also has some unusual cars for rent: Honda Civic, CR-V; Ford Fiesta, Mustang Convertible in summer

Enterprise office @ Toronto airport, Ontario, Canada = 400 rental cars

Enterprise office @ LA airport (LAX), California, USA = 3500 rental cars

Enterprise office @ Orlando airport (MCO), Florida, USA = .......... 22,000 rental cars!!! Wow

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Richer vs. Thinner vs. Younger vs. Smarter - I choose Younger

Heard this on the radio today and totally intrigued me - what would I pick?
An AdweekMedia/Harris Poll asked respondents which one of those they'd most like to be - Richer vs. Thinner vs. Younger vs. Smarter

I think I would pick Younger, because I wish to re-live and stay in this world few more years. Everything else I can work for - Richer, Thinner, Smarter - if I am younger :-)

Plus, I am rich "enough", smart "enough", unfortunately not thin "enough" and happy with my life now to only want to be younger to spend more time in this life with my family.

What would you pick, my dear blog readers? ^___^

Week Recap

• Furnace broke and shopping for a new one is not fun, with prices starting at $3000+
• Dad was here for 1 day on Business trip before he flys out again
• I am starting to play Wii Fit for 1 hour daily, exercising and losing weight! Wendy joins me too ^_^
• Started watching the new Taiwan drama - Rookie's Diary (新兵日記). 8 hours of Sunday for 8 episodes!
• I managed to buy the Virgin America 2-for-1 voucher before they got deleted by eBay ($10) trying to book Toronto - LAX flights for half-price
• BUT, prices increased by $100 total before I could book my trip to LA, ARGH!!! I hate this
• With the price increase, I decided to boycott Virgin on the way there (Sat morning) so I booked AA instead with Friday night departure for extra $30/person
• Return is still with Virgin ($188 USD for 2) and land in Toronto early morning for me to work :)
• Total:
• Aug 21 2 am = $472 usd for 2
• Aug 21 11 am = $572 usd for 2 (I lost $100 usd while I was sleeping.....)
• Aug 25 9 am = $670 cad for 2
• Anyway, my first trip to LA and west coast, quite excited!
• Lesson: Don't wait too long with hot deals. If prices are okay, buy it! Think later!

2010/8/1~8/2 Cleveland Trip

It's the Civid Holiday long weekend and we were bored, so decided to head to US (because it's not a long weekend in US). Because we have been to cities within "short" driving range (Pittsburgh, Erie, Buffalo, etc...), Cleveland ended up winning and here is the 2 days 1 night trip summary.

Day 1 Sunday Aug 1

• Left home at 6, crossed US custom (we stopped as Wendy needed to get I-94)
• Drove to Erie Walmart, shopped a bit
• Drove to Cleveland Museum of Art (free entrance)
• Lunch at Tower City
• Walked around Tower City without much shopping
• Checked in at the Crowne Plaza hotel (won at $45 USD/night on Priceline) + $18 parking
• Dinner at Cheesecake Factory 
• Walked around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (didn't go in as we weren't R&R fans)
• Back to Hotel

Day 2 Monday Aug 2

• Visited the Great Lakes Science Center (really for kids)
• Lunch at The Old Arcade
• Left Cleveland
• Visited the Millcreek Mall at Erie for some shopping again (bought A&F clothing without tax)
• Drove to Buffalo
• Dinner at Cheesecake Factory again (the Buffalo Walden Galleria location)
• Back home

Expenses

• For 4 of us, $407 USD on the US VISA - gas, clothing, meals, tickets, etc...
• Hotel is $70 CAD

Notes

• Cleveland is a nice pretty town to walk around
• Shopping sucks
• Attractions sucks too
• Conclusion - come here if you are bored, but visit Pittsburgh first if you can :-)

Canadian Custom - To love, or to hate

The Good
When we returned from US Monday night from our Cleveland trip, the custom officer asked only 3 questions - Where do we live, when did you leave Canada, what did you buy - and let us through without seeing our passports even. It took 1 minute

Except... we forgot to hand over Wendy's I-94 form. Oops

The Bad
Express parcel sent from Taiwan to Canada on March 22, 2010 trying to make it in time for our honeymoon.
The contents were sunglasses, travel adapter, electric heating spoon for instant noodles

It arrived August 3, 2010 - 4 months and 12 days later, no thanks to Canadian custom. Just simple WOW!

Week Recap - Spending more to create a home

LG 42" Plasma - $481. Thanks to Best Buy door crasher and Future Shop price match

IKEA shelves - $399. Furnitures are not cheap, even at IKEA.
Not having a minivan to buy cheap used furnitures either (e.g. 4x4 EXPEDIT shelf is $170+tax vs. $50 used)

Eating out - $25, $11, $20
Eating out at Canoe for Summerlicious - $150 for 4 of us

Spending time with Wendy to make a house into a home ... priceless!


And thank you FIFA World Cup for helping me kill the boring time in July

Week Recap - Wendy is here

Wendy is here, finally

• Got SIN done in 10 minutes, still need to apply OHIP
• Got a family doctor
• Shopping for IKEA furnitures
• Opened TD bank account, got TD VISA
• Going to Canoe for Summerlicious

Other things in the news

• Interview with Brandy Halladay (Roy Halladay's wife) - classy and true to Blue Jays
• World Cup soccer, in LEGO