What You Pay = What You Get
1. Happy Birthday Ann!
2. For Ann’s birthday, we ordered bras & bikinis from VS and shipped it to Will - @ 2am in this morning. Happy Birthday!
Since I left Toronto I’ve been searching for a good esthetician to go to. Back home I used to go to a lady who ran her own salon business in her basement. Yes it was a bit shady at first, but Teresa was referred to me by a girlfriend of mine so I went into her home in almost-full trust that she wouldn’t butcher me. From threading my eyebrows to getting a paraffin hand treatment, all in all Teresa was a good esthetician. I’m hesistant to say “great” because if she was great, she probably would have her own salon outside her home. I went to her for years and I knew I would have a hard time finding someone like her out her in Surrey. Her prices were very reasonable, and her style was relatively painless (SO IMPORTANT). I’ve been to 3 different salons in the last 7 months to find my “Teresa” out here:
October ‘08 - Suman’s Beauty, Bride & Boutique, Abbotsford
Service: Eyebrow Threading, $5
I didn’t actually go to their salon, but they were a vendor at the National Women’s Show and I got my eyebrows done at their booth (along with hundreds of other women). They were quick & did a good job, nothing much I can say - I didn’t lose an eyebrow or anything!
November ‘08 - Merle Norman Cosmetic Studios, Guildford
Service: Bikini Wax - $55
When I first shopped around for quotes I couldn’t believe what I was being told - everything was $60+. I decided to try out this salon anyway because I was due for a wax and they were the cheapest I could find at that time. I must say I was impressed by their professionalism despite their steep prices. They lady was friendly, her approach was almost painless, clean and quick. Not sure about others out there, but PACE is ultra-important to me. The quicker you are, the less time for pain, the less pain, the less I cringe. I think the whole thing took no longer than 15 mins. Best part was she didn’t leave me in pain for the next 2 days (like the salon below)! In the end I liked their service, but not their prices.
April ‘09 - Crystal Nails, Surrey
Service: Bikini Wax - $34.50
In my hopes to save a bit of money, I found this place near Surrey Central quoting me $30ish for a wax down there. I knew they were Vietnamese-owned and thought ‘Hey they can’t be so bad, lots of nammers are esteticians.’ I walked into the waxing room and OMG - was I ever more wrong in my life. The room was dirty & gross, and no place for me to put my handbag or clothes. I ended up hugging my clothes while she did her thing. Not only was she ON THE PHONE talking to her husband while waxing me, she used the tiniest strips of cloth possible (probably the width of 2 bandaids) which didn’t cover much surface area. That meant she had to do more strips to finish the job. Ontop of that, she worked at the slowest possible pace I’ve ever experienced. I mean - CMON lady, I’m lying here ontop of your dirty salon bed covered with bits & pieces of other people’s hair and she tortures me by prolonging the pain. If it was Teresa, she’d be done in 10-15 mins MAX. And she kept telling me that I need to wax EVERY week to keep groomed. No one has ever told me to wax every week, always 2-3 months. What a psycho! In the end my wax job took 35 mins and I wasn’t a happy camper. I left the place in pain and probably had other people’s hair on me. Never ever getting a bikini wax from her again.
June ‘09 - Cinderella Hair & Spa, Surrey
Service: Eyebrow Threading, $4 and Full Arm Wax, $25 $20
Like everytime before summer starts or before a tropical vacation, I usually de-hair myself so I don’t gross myself (or other people) out in my summer clothes. This time I have the added excuse of being part of the bridal party at my aunt’s wedding in 2 weeks. So yesterday I called around to all the local salons to get the best prices and I ended up at Cinderella. They quoted me $4 eyebrows & $25 for arms and the Chinese in me felt I could bargain it down, and I did. First of all I’m not as hairy as some people and my hair is pretty fine so I could’ve done away with just a 1/2 arm wax. However I don’t like any hair so I’ve always done full arms. I got my wax for $20 :) The place was relatively clean, but still not as clean as Merle Norman. At least I wasn’t afraid that I might get herpes like previous place. She was very friendly and nice - BUT worked like a sloth. She didn’t do a clean job because I think she couldn’t see very well. I had to tell her all the spots she missed. Needless to say, this service ended up taking quite a while. If it was Teresa, she’d be using the wax roller thingies (so she doesn’t miss a spot) and doing a nice, fast & clean job. In regards to the ouch factor - it didn’t really hurt much at all except for my elbows. Of all places she put extra wax on my elbows. Wth? There wasn’t even any hair on my elbows to begin with! So strange. I would say I like this place beause of the friendliness and the prices, but they need to hurry it up with the waxing. I’m kind of iffy about scheduling a bikini wax with them next time…
Saved by the Beer
I was having heart palpitations for a couple of days and decided to get myself checked out at the walk-in on Friday. I had a feeling my heart wouldn’t do the funny beating it did for the last 2 days while the doc was examining me and I was right. “I don’t hear anything, you seem fine to me right now, but lets do some labwork just incase.” So off I went to the lab to do a urine test, ECG, and bloodwork. No prescribed meds but I also expected that too. Although I know OF what ECGs are, for some reason it still took me by surprise when I was told to get topless (INCLUDING bra) and cover myself with a piece of tissue paper. It was so thin that it was still see-through after I folded it in half. Turned out I wasted my time cause I was going to be more exposed than I thought. I was feeling quite naked when she didn’t bother to explain the procedure before she uncovered my covered body and started attaching the sticky pads around my chest. I was lying there thinking “okay…this is weird, hurry up!” Not only did she take her sweet time but she had to feel around to find “the right spot” to stick that pad too. I think altogether I had 5 or 6 on my chest and a few on my legs/feet. In the end it took her longer to set up on me than to do the actual ECG. Such a strange experience. Lets hope my results turn out normal, whatever that is.
I still went accordng to plan and went to the States to visit Will Friday night, despite my dying heart…and I’m sure Luke was a bit nervous driving me with my condition lol. Throughout the car ride & into the next morning I was sure I was gonna die at some point due to heart failure and decided that I may as well enjoy 1 last beer. Low & behold - my heart palpitations disappear & I no longer had to keep warning everyone “Don’t stress my heart!” Thank-you beer, you saved my life.
P.S. Happy Birthday Amrik! Hope you enjoyed your birthday picnic and your Chocolate Thunder from Down Under =)
Toronto!
Toronto Checklist
To Eat:
- lots of parent’s cooking:
worchester sauce garlic shrimp
ong choy
dad’s lobster tails
mom’s pasta salad
tomato-egg-beef
dad’s honey garlic chicken
baked salmon
mushroom-chicken-rice
mom’s cantonese fried noodles
mom’s wonton noodles
oyster pancakes
lemongrass porkchops
and lots and lots of mushrooms
- green tea slush from Ten Ren’s
- taro ice cream bbtea from Food Jungle in Pacific Mall
- dimsum
- lots of viet food - mom’s springrolls, viet subs/buns/rice wraps from Nguyen Huong
- grandma’s Fukienese noodles
- soon tofu from Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu
To Go:
- Yorkdale/Fairview
- Pacific Mall
I can’t wait to go home!!!!!
Trading Spouses
Dave & I (and eeee) have been randomly watching episodes of Trading Spouses whenever we come across it while channel surfing. For those who don’t know, it’s about 2 families trading their moms for a week and each family gets 50k at the end of it. The only catch is that the mom of the other family decides where to allocate the 50k.
Tonight we watched the funniest episode ever - the God Warrior.
Who knew such a crap show could be so entertaining! This lady has had a surprising # of hits on google too…
