About good-byes

Not too long ago, my ex-supervisor got transferred to a different store. He was moving to a different city with his boyfriend and the distance was too much to travel. So in his last day at work we had a cake for him and a small gathering at our usual pub across the street from our workplace. I had changed departments and we weren't working together anymore for the past six months, but I still talked to him and discussed work related stuff here and there. And even though we never got to the point of going out for a drink together, or talked about private things (something that many people eventually do after they've worked together for so long), I had my soft spot for him. And somehow, seeing him go was hard. Not only because he was one of the best supervisors we had, but because I believe it's human nature to get attached to some things and people.

It was even worse with my previous supervisor. She and I had become quite good friends. In a specific occasion, somebody had stolen 33 boxes of an expensive antihistamine. She had found the security tags glued to each other and made into a ball, hidden in the back of the cough drops shelf. I had spent almost half an hour tagging those boxes a couple of days before, and every box had a value of $35+. Our section had suffered a major robbery, and that had made me quite upset. My supervisor had noticed how frustrated I was and took me next door for a big, creamy ice cream. And that was a gesture that I will never forget. The day she left, I wanted to take her for an ice cream, but everybody had invited her for lunch/coffee/dinner, and all her breaks were unavailable. So I only gave her a hug and told her "See you soon".

I am not good with saying "good-bye". It makes me feel like I will never see that person again.
Even when I come back here from visiting my family and friends in Peru, I don't tell them "bye". I say "See you later!".

But there always has to be some sort of closure.
Not saying "bye" creates an "unfinished business". And although it's hard on the heart, it's peaceful for the mind. Knowing that whatever it happens, at least you gave them a smile.
And hopefully a good picture in their minds to carry you with them forever.

Elysium Echoes Demo release

My boys and I have been working hard and having fun working on great songs for our very first album. A couple of weeks ago we released our first demo in YouTube via our Facebook page. A very exciting step for us.

It was the very first song we wrote, and the lyrics had just been finished that afternoon. Overall, I think we sound pretty good. Great mixing skills thanks to our guitarist Mr. Trivedi made us sound very professional.

Writing is still a challenge for me. We are all new to this, so we are starting to learn how to ride the bull. But we are eager to make our dreams come true.

We are so looking forward to have shows during this summer! Stay tuned because more material will be uploaded. And make sure you like us on Facebook ;-)

Best app ever!

I've decided to dedicate a blog entry to a tool that I use everyday. In my phone, that is. I can't go a day without this app and I think it's the best ever invented.

I'm talking about TuneIn Radio. It is like a radio, but with ALL the stations in the world! For every taste or age. In seconds I can start listening to the main radio station in Berlin, or my old favorite radio show from Peru.


I truly love music. All of it. Even though I'm a metalhead I LOVE listening to other stuff like Top 40s, classical music, mediation music, electronic, salsa, blues, jazz, rock, pop, etc. Now, my favorite radio station in Vancouver has an app where you can listen to them in your phone, and they make so much publicity about it. I see people commenting and saying that they got it. I tell myself "Why?! Why have one radio station in your phone, when you can have them all?". And honestly, I use all the options I can. At least once a month I'll be looking for new stations to add to my list. Doesn't matter from where, and that's what makes it more exciting.


I don't think I can listen to the same kind of music 24/7. I always need something fresh that will expand my mind and please my ears.


Other things I love about the app is that you have options like Sleep Timer. If you are the kind of person (like me) that needs some music to fall asleep and don't want your battery to die, you can set a timer to which the music will turn off. Usually it takes me about 20 mins or less to fall asleep. So I select the 20 mins timer. You can leave it up to 120 mins.
With the full version (which is what I have), I get the Record button. You can record any song or pod cast and listen to it later. I was very glad I purchased the full version because one of my musician friends was going to be in an interview on the radio about his band's new album, and I could record most of it (I missed the last part because it was very late at night and fell asleep).
You can also select Set Alarm to use your fav station as an alarm in the mornings. This setting I don't use, just because I'm used to my usual alarm sound AND because my home's wifi is so bad in my room, it may delay the sound or even not sound at all. I'd rather not take chances ;-)

So I recommend this app 100%. Probably the best app I have ever purchased. Worth every penny! I was using the free version for the longest time, and it works just as good. The only difference is the Record button and the annoying ads. But overall you get the same thing. Get it! If you love music like me you'll enjoy it just as much ;-)

Weekend in Whistler

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I got invited for a weekend to a friend's relatives' cabin in Whistler, a famous little city at north of Vancouver known for being a skiing and snowboarding paradise to adrenaline junkies and winter sports athletes worldwide. I had never been there in winter time, just once in summer time when the mountain is green instead of white, and they held different kinds of activities like mountain biking and stuff like that. It was gorgeous! Just the mountains itself, plus the pines covered in snow were amazing. And we had great weather, too. The sun was shining bright and everybody looked so happy. There were many families too, since it was the province's first Family Day: a holiday that had just been instated the year prior by our premier, Christy Clark. So it was a very lively day out in the Village.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to get skii/snowboard rentals, nor I owed any winter sports clothing. So I stayed with a handful of our friends in the cabin that we were all staying in. We went for a walk and finally some drinks. It was a lovely day. Dinner and heavy drinks would come in later :P

The next day we were getting ready to go. But I didn't want to leave Whistler without at least trying ONE snow-related activity. Sure, I went ice skating the night before, but I can do that in Vancouver! So Jeff and me grabbed a sled and went looking for a nice snow-covered hill. There weren't that many of them, but I finally had the experience of sledding. It was so much fun! We had a blast. I wish I had the right outfit for it though. All in all, it was an awesome weekend, and I can't wait to go back. Maybe next time I will actually go skiing or snowboarding ;-)

Makeupless for a week

So last Sunday when taking my makeup off at night I discovered I had a tiny stye on my left eyelid.

I read on the web that a stye is a pimple that grows on the rim of your eyelid caused by bacteria, and that it usually takes a week to go away. I also read that you can't use any makeup (because you could grab the bacteria from your eye and reinfect it later when u applied it again). So I had to get rid of my month-old mascara and eyeliner.

At first I thought "Oh, a couple of days with no makeup. Easy-peasy". It actually was not.

I have seen myself in the mirror maybe 5 or 6 times in the last week. I refused to see how I looked like with no makeup. I knew I didn't look bad, but I look tired and sleepy without eyeliner.

This was no challenge or anything like that. I actually felt like I was in my pajamas all day long! No contact lenses on. No makeup. Everything had to be thrown away because it could have been contaminated.

So there I was. With my glasses on, no makeup on. Just the way I really was. I had no problem with that, but I knew people were going to tell me I looked tired. And that's exactly what happened. The funny thing is, they could tell I looked tired, but they couldn't tell I didn't have any makeup on. I guess that's a good thing. It means people can't tell you are wearing makeup, which makes it look natural.

Anyway, today is Friday night, and the stye was gone by yesterday night, but I decided to keep the makeup and the contact lenses off for an extra day, just to make sure the bacteria was gone. Tomorrow will be the first day I have makeup on again, and honestly I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT!! :D