itsaboutnothing

this is a lot of watching

2008-08-03T05:57:00.007-04:00

Watched lots of movies lately. All these in the last 2 days.

The Happening - This is pretty good. Sixth Sense is still M.Night Shyamalan's best movie. I can never say his name right cause hubby calls him Shamalama-ding-dong.

To Kill a Mocking Bird - This is a very old black and white movie. Maybe my only Gregory Peck movie. I like the book, so I like this movie too.

Superbad - This movie is very juvenile. High school guys obsessed with sex. There were some funny moments especially the fake IDs scene with Fogell calling himself McLovin with no first name, and Evan (Michael Cera, Arrested Development) asked him 'What? One name? Who are you? Seal?' That was classic.

Brokeback Mountain - Not as many kissing scenes as I thought. I am not homophobic, just didn't like to see 2 guys kissing. I sort of got used to it watching Six Feet Under, but wasn't really comfortable with it. It's a sad movie. Heath Ledger is a great actor. I watched The Dark Knight 2 weekends back? Great movie, best Batman movie ever!!! Heath Ledger really is a great actor. It's really a sad loss.

Also finished Arrested Development and Sopranos. WTF with the ending for Sopranos??? I do believe Tony is dead though with the black screen and all.

this is surprising

2008-07-05T13:34:00.005-04:00

I just found out that one of my pictures received 'Editor's Pick' on BetterPhoto.com. I had sent the picture in for a contest a while back (actually a long while back), and I had forgotten about it. Editor's Pick means that I passed Round 1 of the contest judging. I didn't win but still. I am pretty happy about it. Yey!!!

montreal

2008-03-24T07:45:00.007-04:00

Went to Montreal for a quick Easter getaway.

Day 1 - Good Friday.
Arrived in Montreal around noon. Went straight to Omni. Hotel let us checked in early. Probably could have gotten a room on a higher floor if we checked in later.

Lunch - We followed my Montreal Eats cheat sheet to find Olive et Gourmando in Old Montreal. What a great find!!! I had a small salad with tofu, wild rice, celery, raisins and cashews and a cup of Borscht. Hubby had a Cajun Chicken Panini and a cup of Borscht. Food was fresh and tasty. Also bought a small square of brownie. The brownie was highly recommended in Chowhound. It was pretty expensive for a small square. We didn't eat the brownie until Saturday though. Oh... we also bought a green tea mousse from the chocolate place across the street. It tasted good but not sure if it's worth the $5. Brownie is a better deal at $3/piece.

Dinner - Le Taj. This is a recommendation from Frommer's. We wanted something close by as the weather was pretty frigid (much colder than Toronto). We ordered Daal Lamb, Roasted Aubergine, basmatic rice, naan, and hubby had wine. Food is good, service so so.

Day 2 -
Breakfast - Starbucks. We wanted to find a small cafe to have crossiant. We must be too early for downtown folks. We didn't really find anything and we were too cold. Finally settled on Starbucks. It's too cold to walk around just to find a cafe. I had a cafe au lait and a small bite of bagel. I am really not a Starbucks fan.

We walked around St-Denis/St-Laurent/Plateau area. Determined to try a bistro. Found L'Express.

Lunch - At L'Express, we had lunch when everyone else was having breakfast. It was strange cause it was close to noon but everyone was having breakfast. We are too early for Montrealers. We decided not to have a hugh lunch as we wanted to eat something else later. I had the Fish soup, hubby had Sorrel soup and we also ordered Bone Marrow with Coarse Salt from the appertizer menu. The bone marrow was interesting. Had to scrape the marrow onto the toast and top it with coarse salt. Not sure I would order it again as it's quite messy to eat.

We went back to the hotel and set out again to find some local food. I wanted to try sugar pie, Tarte au Sucre. So we set out to find this place called Ma'am Bolduc. After walking for 25 minutes from the Metro, we decided to call it quit and found some place that we could find for sure. Since we wanted some Quebec food, we settled for poutine. It was 2 hours later that we finally sat down at Frite Alors on St-Denis.

Late Afternoon Snack/Dinner - Frite Alors. We both ordered poutine. They have different sauces to put on top of the poutine. My sauce had harissa in it (never tried that) and hubby had a mexican flavored sauce. The poutine was hugh. We were too full to eat dinner.

Day 3 - Easter Sunday
Mall is not opened. We knew that going to Montreal so we had decided to visit the Marche Jean-Talon on Sunday. Following my tradition of choosing the wrong exit, it just took us an extra hour to find the market. The market was interesting. Not all stores were opened because of Easter. I do think TO's St. Lawrence Market is better. But then again, if we go back in summer, we might stroll around more and find more stuff. We bought some Quebec cheese, baguette, cherry tomatoes and smoke meat to bring on the train for dinner. We tried merguez and maple taffy for the first time. The taffy was made by pouring maple syrup on clean snow and using a wooden stick to roll the syrup. It was pretty good, but one was definitely enough. Also ate churros and had a coffee (tea for hubby). Produce is not that cheap in the market but tasty and fresh.

I have been to Montreal 3 times. Except the first time on a guided tour with my sister, I enjoyed all the restaurants that I had tried. I do think Montreal's restaurants are better. Toronto has more mediocre restaurants like Spring Roll that is popular somehow. Enough said.

I enjoyed staying at Omni very much. The hotel has a heated pool. I swam but it was kind of cold still. We enjoyed soaking at the hot tub at the end of the day. I found that Montrealers eat slowly, and usually have wine at dinner. I am not a wine drinker myself. Also, the sidewalks were icy. Don't they clear them?

Oh... I didn't have steak au poivre this time. Oh well, next time for sure.

All in all a pretty good long weekend. Our goal was to try different food, and we have done that.

enough snow already!!!

2008-03-09T12:09:00.010-04:00

Bring on Spring, pleeeeaaaaaasssssseeeee!!!

who is this idiot?

2008-01-04T16:08:00.000-05:00

I was searching for 煎蠔餅 on the web. Found this on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2tlxCNejkE

I want to know who this idiot woman is. She doesn't know that 咸蛋 is made from 鴨蛋and cannot tell the difference between the two??? Is she for real?

小嫻部落

2008-01-04T07:56:00.000-05:00

Found a blog by 張小嫻.

http://www.amymagazine.com/amyblog/siuhan/

I have only read 1 or 2 of her books. Kind of like 亦舒 I think.
I like her shoes and hangbags.

new year's day

2008-01-02T06:51:00.000-05:00

Went to walk on a nearby trail. Our town is full of trails. We have one near us less than a kilometer away.

Our complex. Snow has begun to fall.

Deliberate out of focus shot.

Maybe the shots are too dark? I used +0.7EV.

All pictures in ISO 200, WB = Cloudy.

books i read in 2007

2007-12-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Bare Bones, Kathy Reichs

The Broker, John Grisham

The Chamber, John Grisham
2nd time reading.

The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
OK story. One of the books that I bought for my trip to Hong Kong.

The Dive from Clausen's Pier, Ann Packer

The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls

Harry Potter, J.K, Rowling
I reread the whole series.

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

Night, Elie Wiesel
This is about Elie as a young Jew being sent to Auschwitz and later to the concentration camp. Amazing human spirit.

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Robot Visions, Isaac Asimov

Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
Not your typical sci-fi novel. Like it lots.

Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
So so book. I like The Five People You Meet in Heaven better.

The Trial, Kafka
Very boring.

一個女人兩張床, 亦舒

电光幻影, 亦舒

stuff that i watched in 2007

2007-12-30T17:57:00.000-05:00

16 Blocks
This is not a bad movie. Bruce Willis played a washed up cop very well. Wonder why this is not a bigger hit.

24
I stopped watching half way. This show is getting tiring. Same formula over and over and over. Jack Bauer is like a cat with 9 lives. He never get hurt, not seriously anyway!!! And he is so loyal to the country that is not so loyal to him, it drives me bonkers.

The Break-Up - Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn

The 40 Year Old Virgin - Steve Carell

An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore
Al Gore did a great job. I think him losing the presidency might be the best thing for him and the world. It must be a hugh disappoinment to have the presidency at your fingertips, and poof... gone. But he didn't let that consume him. He made the best use of the situation. Not being the president free him to address the issue that is most dear to him in a bipartisan way.

The Aristocrats
I don't think this is funny at all. It's vulgar and I am used to swearing.

Arrested Development
Too bad this got cut. Pretty funny sitcom.

A Tale of Two Sisters
Korean horror flick.

Cache (Hidden) - Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteil

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Click - Adam Sandler

Crimes and Misdemeanors - Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Houston, Alan Alda
Watched this long time ago. I Watched this again, still like Manhattan Murder Mystery better.

Curb your enthusiasm
Haven't finished all the seasons yet.

The Departed - Leonardo DiCaprio
If you haven't seen the original Infernal Affairs, you might like this. I like Internal Affairs I & II better.

Elizabeth - Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren is a great actress. Glad that she finally won an Oscar.

Fearless (霍元甲)- Jet Li
I still like Jet Li's first Shaolin movie.

Free Zone - Natalie Portman
Rebecca, Hanna, and Leila represents the different forces at work in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The allegory is apparent, but it failed to deliver. The narrative is a bit weak. Since the film was shot in Jordan, at least that was interesting to me.

Flightplan - Jodie Foster

For Your Consideration - Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
meh... like Best in Show better.
Update - It's so meh that I couldn't even remember what the movie is about.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(IMAX)
The film cut out a lot of details from the book, and it changed some of the story line as well.

Heroes
The plot is more straight forward than Lost. Good substitute when Lost is not on.

House
I love Dr. Gregory House, but I don't like the new season. Too Survivor like. Thumbs down.

The Intrepreter - Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman
I like Sean Penn. He is a good actor.

I am Legend (IMAX) - Will Smith
Some scary moments. The camera works gave me a headache with the constant motion in some scenes. Will Smith is a great actor. He really can carry the load as most of the time it's just him and the dog, but you don't feel bored watching them.

Infernal Affairs I
Watched this again. Much better storyline than The Departed.

I, Robot - Will Smith
After watching this movie, I read Robot Visions. The book is much simplier than the movie.

K-Pax
I watched this for the second time because I missed the ending the first time around.

Placard, Le (The Closet) - Gerard DePardieu

Leon (The Professional) - Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello, Natalie Portman
Great acting.

The Life of David Gale - Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey
The story is well told. I am surpised this didn't get better ratings.

Little Miss Sunshine - Steve Carell
OK movie.

Live Free or Die Hard - Bruce Willis
Watched this on Christmas Eve. Not as good as the first 2 Die Hard movies, but still great fun.
Some stunts are little far fetched. I doubt a F15 can fly that low between bridges. Justin Long has this James Blunt look to him.

Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World - Albert Brooks
The movie is not funny. I know Albert Brooks is a low key sort of guy, but the improv bit wasn't even funny in the standup routine that he was doing in the school auditorium. Thumbs down.

Lost
Love this show. What more can I say.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh
I wouldn't have paid to watch this, because I don't like Zhang Ziyi. It's ironic how the main characters, the Geishas, are not Japanese, but Chinese. Wonder why the casting was that way.

Mission Impossible III - Tom Cruise

Monster House

The Name of the Rose
Watched this long long time ago. Still good for the second time. I forgot most of the plot, so it's kind of like watching it for the first time.

Ocean 13

The Office (U.S.)
I love The Office. I have watched the BBC one, but I am partial to the U.S. one as the humor is closer to home.

Pan's Labyrinth
Not as scary as I thought. Trailer makes it look scary.

Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest - Johnny Deep, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Too freaking long.
Surprised find: The guy that played Gareth in The Office(BBC) was also in this movie.

Run Lola Run
Interesting German flick playing the what-if scenarios with 3 alternate realities.

Syriana - George Clooney
Hubby find this confusing. I love the plot.

Thank You for Not Smoking - Aaron Eckhart

You, Me and Dupree - Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon
Not that great.

Three Extremes 三更2
The movie consists of three segments by three directors from three countries. I have watched 1 segment.
Dumplings
It's well done. Don't made the mistake of watching this after you eat. I did, and my stomach was very unsettled after.

Wedding Crashers - Owen Wilson
Not as bad as I thought especially it's free (from PVR).

WKRP
Classic sitcoms from the late 70s. Hubby bought this in New York City. He was wondering for the longest time when will this be on DVD. He got his wishes. I have never watched this since I didn't grow up here.

shoe diva

2007-12-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Went a little crazy today. Bought 2 pair of boots.

This one is from La Canadienne. Real soft Italian leather. The picture cannot capture its beauty.

This one is from Aquatalia.

Both boots are weatherproof, rain, sleet, snow, you name it, it can handle. Well worth the $$$.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

old email reply from hubby

2007-10-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

I am cleaning up my yahoo email, and found this response from Hubby to an email probably originated from my mother in law. Some answers are darn funny. Some answers are true. He hates Celine Dion.

-----------------------------------

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATRE? I don't remember, but the popcorn sucked.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? How To Succeed As A Male Stripper

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Naked Twister

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Let's just say that it comes in a brown paper wrap.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS? Popcorn!

6. COMFORT FOODS? Popcorn!

7. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The sound of popcorn popping!

8. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Running out of popcorn!

9. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? Why have I been handcuffed naked to this telephone pole?

10. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE? All of them!

11. FUTURE CHILDREN'S NAME. "Seven". Maybe "Soda".

12. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY, I WOULD..... Buy the Q-Muk Restaurant in Hong Kong, move it to Oakville, and pay the cooks to move here and cook me noodles every day.

13. DO YOU DRIVE FAST? Not fast enough to lose the cops.

14. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? My childhood dog, and he's starting to smell.

15. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Cool, but only IF they're scary!

16. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? A Lamborghini. But it was two inches long, and I was 5 years old.

17. FAVORITE DRINK? Battery acid. Try it, you'll like it.

18. FINISH THIS STATEMENT - "IF I HAD THE TIME, I would learn how to rob a bank and make Question #12 come true.

19. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? What's broccoli?

20. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? I would pick a different colour for each hair on my head. This could also be the answer to #18.

21. HOW MANY DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Oakville, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario. The Ontario police won't let me leave.

22. GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? I drink right out of the bottle.

23. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Female naked Jell-O wrestling.

24. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SITS NEXT TO YOU? My mother always said if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. So...

25. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? A couple of corpses. But trust me, they deserved it.

26. TOILET PAPER/PAPER TOWEL - OVER OR UNDER? I use pictures of Celine Dion.

27. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL? Whenever the guards wake me up.

28. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP? This is a trick question. You can't fry popcorn, silly!

29. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX? It used to be under my bed. See #25.

30. FAVORITE PIE? 3.141592654

31. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU E-MAILED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Boy George. As if he's got something better to do.

32. LEAST LIKELY? Santa Claus. I've been naughty this year.

thanksgiving

2007-10-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

We went to the inlaws to have thanksgiving dinner yesterday. They finally moved to an apartment building, our old apartment building in fact. It's a good choice as they know lots of people in the building already.

Something bad happened that ruined the day. Brother-in-law's SUV got vandalised. The back window pane was gone, all broken. Glass everywhere. Nothing was stolen though. He wouldn't be able to fix it today as it's a holiday. Whoever did that is scum of the scum!!!

new york city - part 3

2007-09-09T08:31:00.000-04:00

2007.8.30, Thursday

The Big Day had finally arrived for hubby. We went to a Yankees - Red Sox game. Hubby is a hugh baseball fan. We went to the Stadium 2 hours before game time, so we could see Monument Park in the Stadium. A new Stadium is being built across from this one, so it's very meaningful to see the park where the legends had played in.

We took the subway to the Stadium. Pretty convenient. I am not a big baseball fan, don't really understand all the rules. When we got the tickets off stubhub, we had a choice between the Yankees playing Red Sox or Tampa Bay. I picked the Red Sox game eventhough it's more expensive cause I knew about the long rivalry between the two teams. It turned out to be an important game for the Yankees according to hubby. Our seats wasn't bad. Behind home plate. We were at the top level in the box section. One level down would be better, but more $$$. The face value of the ticket was US$60, we paid around US$100.

I love the Yankee fans. I actually enjoyed watching the game because of them. They are a crazy bunch. The game was very entertaining. Two people were thrown out of the game, the Red Sox manager for arguing a call (Kevin Youkilis ran outside the baseline) and Joba got kicked out for throwing at Kevin Youkilis' head (intentional or otherwise). A drunken bitter Red Sox fan got thrown out of the game. 2 Home Runs by Robinson Cano. Pretty entertaining. If I lived in New York, I wouldn't mind going to a game once in a while. Way better than the Jay's games that I had been. Canadian fans are probably more reserved though, and all many Canadians are baseball fans.

The whole Yankee outing costed us around US$250.00. A big bottle of water was $4.50. Beer was $9. Didn't drink any beer. Couldn't pay that outrageous price to drink Coors Light!!! Yecch! Coors Light is yucky. Canadian beer is way better.

Taken from our seats. Seats are not as high as it seems from the pic.

Davis Schwimmer look-alike.

Eats:
Lunch - Hot Italian Sausage at the Yankee Stadium.

Dinner - Carnegie Deli. http://www.carnegiedeli.com/
The deli was very convenient for us. Right across from our hotel. We could see the deli from our room. The place was full of celeb pictures. This is a jewish deli. Not sure if we have something similar in Toronto.

We both ordered the hot pastrami sandwich, one order of matzoh ball soup and one order of french fries on the side. The sandwich is around $14. It's very expensive for a sandwich. But you could easily split it into 3 sandwiches. The Pastrami was tasty, and I liked the half sour pickles that they gave free.

The deli gave 2 kinds of pickes. The greener ones was the half sour.

2007.8.31, Friday

We had a leisurely breakdfast at the Europa Cafe. We were then off to the Metropolitan Meseum of Art to see the Temple of Dendur. Museum is too big to see it all.

Temple of Dendur.

We then off to the Guggenheim. The front of the meseum was in scaffolding. Everhwhere we went in New York, some buildings would be in scaffolding. I should have taken pictures and the theme would be New York in Scaffolding. I digress.

This is how the front of the museum supposed to look like.

Inside the museum.

One of the exhibits.

We then walked down 5th Avenue. Kind of hungry aroun 3:00pm, so we stopped for a pretzel. Right when we were buying the pretzel, we heard a loud bang, and saw that a Hummer had rear-ended a taxi. The hummer wasn't even dented. I felt sorry for the people in the taxi. Must be scared half to death.

We then went to the United Nations. It was an unplanned stop as United Nations wasn't on the top of our to-do list. Went on a 40 minute tour. Tours are being offered in different languages. Found out that the land where United Nations sit is not actually U.S. soil. That's why inside United Nations, they have their own police, post office everything. I was going to send a post card, but I was afraid to miss the tour, so I thought to wait after the tour. By the time we finished the tour, the post office was closed. : (

UN Security Council

Eats:

Breakfast - Europa Cafe

Snack - pretzel. Pretzel is too salty.

Dinner - Gahm Mi Oak in Korean town. We both ordered the oxtail and bone marrow soup. Very yummy. Our cheapest dinner yet. The soup was under $9.00. Come to think of it. It's not that cheap as we only had a few pieces of beef, some noodles and broth.

Oxtail and bone marrow soup

2007.9.1., Saturday

Home bound. I was sad to leave New York. Too bad that New York is not cheap, otherwise I can go frequently. There are still lots that we can do. We didn't get to do any night things as we were too tired after dinner. Maybe next time.

new york city - part 2

2007-09-04T20:36:00.000-04:00

2007.8.28, Tuesday

We had to go to the Foods of New York Greenwich Village Tour at 11:00am, so we went straight to Greenwich Village. We first went to Washington Square Park. The park is near NYU. Saw lots of students there. Wish I had gone to NYU. What a cool place to study!!!

Washington Square Park

OK, back to the Food Tour. I first found out about this tour on Fodors. People seems to rave about it. http://www.foodsofny.com/greenwichvillage.php

It's not just a food tour, but with a bit of history and culture thrown in. We visited a cheese shop, 2 pizzerias, an olive oil shop, 2 bakeries and some others that I cannot remember now. We also got to taste the food. Had the best pizzas and italian fried rice ball. We walked around Greenwich Village with tour guide Mike. He told us about the history of the village, the buildings, local legends etc. At one point, we sat on the front steps of the house allegedly bought by Leonardo DiCarpio to then supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen. Oh, we also visited this restaurant Palma. The restaurant has a farm house in the back for private parties. That's a picture of Mick Jagger there, so I took a picture of it.

Tour Guide Mike

Joe's Pizza has very crisp, thin crust. We each had a slice of cheese pizza. It was so good. True New York style pizza. Lots of celebs are big fans, like Ben Affleck and Kevin Bacon.

Mike Jagger's picture at Palma

All in all, a very interesting tour. Highly recommended.

We then did the Brooklyn Bridge walking tour. We took the subway to Brooklyn, and walked on the bridge from Brooklyn back to Manhattan. I made the mistake of looking down through the cracks, and it scared me. I tried not to think about it the whole time. It took us about an hour. Tons of New Yorkers walk the bridge. It won't be a bad walk, probably under 30 minutes. They probably work in Manhattan and live in Brooklyn. What a good way to get some exercise.

On the way to dinner, we saw a 2nd Subway musician. All the street musicians are suprisingly good.

Eats:

Breakfast - Bagel with cream cheese from a cart. Very New York.
Lunch - Food Tour.
Dinner - Mandoo bar in Little Korea. Good value. We had kimchi mandoo and pan fried mandoo.

2007.8.29, Wednesday

We went to the famous Century 21 to shop in the morning. I got a pair of Geox for $50.00. Great find. Hubby got something too. But we didn't stay long.

We went back to Greenwich Village to have lunch as we wanted to try the risotto at this restaurant called Risotteria. They served gluten free food. Not that I am allergic to gluten, but the food looked sooooo good when we were standing outside the restaurant during our tour. We just had to try it. We weren't disappointed. I had the calamari, roasted red peppers & olives risotto. Hubby had the shrimp, hot peppers & argula risotto. They were both good, different, but good. Boy, I wanted to eat the risotto again. Hope I could find something like that in TO.

We then stopped by Battery Park on our way to the New York Public Library. The park is so cool. It's an oasis in an urban jungle. The park has tables and chairs, so you can relax, read, eat or work if you want (tons of people with laptops). They even have a "library" of sort in the park. A quiet area specially for reading. They also have books in the area which you can read.

The public library is very impressive. I have seen the main reading room in movies. It's quite something to be inside though. We didn't stay long. We went to Grand Central Terminal next.

Grand Central is hugh and has a very impressive food court. I remembered watching a program on the History Channel, something about the Secrets of Grand Central. The show talked about a secret entrance in Grand Central that led to an underground train platform. Reportedly, President Roosevelt used the secret platform.

We saw another subway musician, Heth and Jed, after dinner. We liked them so much, we got their CD. Only $10.

Eats:
Lunch - Risotteria in Greenwich Village. Best Risotto.
Dinner - Comfort Diner. Good old burger and fries.

new york city - part 1

2007-09-03T08:12:00.000-04:00

2007.8.25, Saturday

We took the train down to New York City. It was pretty convenient since we didn't need to go all the way to Union Station as it stopped right at Oakville. The train ride was long though, around 12 hours. On our way out, the train was delayed 2 hours. We didn't get to NYC until around 11:15pm. We had to call our hotel to make sure they didn't give our room out. So the journey was 14 hours long. Oh well. That's the price you pay for a cheaper alternative. Our two tickets only cost us $400.

The train ride was uneventful. Train was full. Rick and I had to sit separately from Oakville to Niagara. It started to rain an hour into the trip, around Hamilton. We had to stop at the border and got to walk around a bit. We arrived at Albany at around 9:00pm. We should have been 45 minutes away from New York instead of 2 hours away.

Arrived at the Wellington Hotel at around 11:30pm. The hotel reminded me of those hotels around Nathan Road in Hong Kong. Wellington is a 3 star hotel. Hotel is described as European. European therefore means small. The room was small and the hotel old fashioned looking. It was clean, so it was adequate. Bed was a double and mattress was not firm enough. However, location is great for tourists. It's in Midtown near Carnegie Hall. The hotel is near the action, but not right into the middle of it. Very convenient. Subways right outside the hotel. One stop to Times Square on the N, R, W, trains.

2007.8.26, Sunday

Something funny happened in the morning. Rick saw a lady showering at The Park Central hotel across from us. It's quite a funny picture. Imagine this: All curtains are closed except one with a woman showering, and she looked like an Italina mama. It's actually quite hilarious.

Off we went to Ground Zero first. The #1 train was closed at certain stops and we were instructued to take the shuttle. Without a transit map, we just followed the crowd and ended up at the Staten Island Ferry terminal by mistake. So we took the free Staten Island Ferry. The view on the ferry was nice. We could see Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. We walked to the Staten Island stadium and got to go inside as 2 Japanese teams were playing some sort of tournament game.

We took the ferry back to the Manhattan and went to Ground Zero. Ground Zero was a very big hole. It gives you an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy. No one was working in Ground Zero as it was a Sunday.

We went to Chinatown as it seems to be the easiest to get to without a subway map (we had our tourist book, but not a detailed subway map). I have been to Chinatown before. A madhouse that is. Hubby was surprised at how big Chinatown was. Some streets in Chinatown looks like Kwun Tong to me.

We then went to the Empire State building after lunch. I had been to the Empire State before in my prior visit to NYC, but didn't remember much. We got an audio tour included in our City Pass tickets. The audio tour was very detailed.

Vista from the Empire State building. You can see the Chrysler Building (the one with the distinctive crown).

We went back to Times Square afterwards for dinner. My feet hurt from all the walking.

Eats:

Lunch - Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. New York City seems to be very big on 小籠包. They called it Soup Dumplings. The dumplings were very juicy and big and tasty. We also had Shanghai rice cake and Spicy beef noodles. They are so so.

Dinner - Havana Central in Times Square. Kind of expensive cause we had a drink each. $8 for a Sangria and $9 for a Mojito. We paid over $60 for our dinner and it's US$. Food was ok.

Mojito in the front and Sangria in the background.

Cuban style ribs and Ropa Vieja (shredded beef in a tomato based sauce).

Some more Times Square pictures.

I have not seen a flashier policy station.

A ferris wheel inside a Toy 'R Us. Go figure!!!

2007.8.27, Monday

Went to Natural History museum bright and early. We had to wait for the museum to open. Museum is too large to see everything in a day, let alone a few hours. We went to see the dinosaur exhibits and a short film Cosmic Collision at the Rose Center and Earth and Space (part of the musuem). If I lived in NYC, this is one museum of which I wouldn't mind being a member. Toronto has no good museums.

Also went to Central Park. On the way to the Central Park 72nd street entrance, we passed the Dakota where John Lenon was shot. Lots of famous people lived at the Dakota. An apartment in the Dakota is worth U.S. $10 million. Isn't this crazy? Even if I have the money, I wouldn't want to live there. It looks kinda spooky. Rosemary's Baby was filmed there. Enough said.

The 72nd street entrance to Central Park led us to John Lenon's makeshift memorial, Strawberry Fields.

Our next stop was the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). We walked down Fifth Avenue to get to the museum. And then I saw Tiffany's, and had to make a detour. Even Toronto has a Tiffany's, it's just not the same. I caved and bought a necklace. $$$$$$

Picture from Tiffany's website.

Saw this funny car on the way to MOMA.

We finally arrived at MOMA. Didn't like MOMA much. I am not an art person. I cannot understand and appreciate art. I can understand music, but art is something else. I especially cannot understand modern art.

Eats:
Lunch - Natural History museum food court. Chicken wings and fries. Shared a yummy chocolate chip cupcake with hubby.

Snack - Gray's Papaya hot dogs. 2 dogs and a papaya drink for $3.50 tax included. Hot dog is juicy. Cheap snack.

Dinner - T.G.I.Friday's. Worst dinner ever at the Friday's and the most expensive for the whole trip. We paid US$70. I didn't really want to go to a chain restaurant, but I thought since hubby had never been to a Friday's then we could give it a try. Boy, was I disappointed. My steak was ok, but the broccoli was clearly from a bag. Hubby made better steaks than Friday's. Should not have eaten in a chain restaurant.

My trusty comfy shoes:

All pictures from my little Canon A630.

another thing off my wish list

2007-08-25T06:45:00.001-04:00

I bought the Canon Powershot A630 earlier this week. Thought to have a smaller camera for my trip. It's a pretty good camera. I especially like the vari-angle LCD. Very handy.

i am choosing to be happy

2007-08-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

there, I have said it. It's now a committment. I am choosing to be happy at work. I refuse to be negative. I hate being negative. It's not me. It's not who I am. I have asked hubby to remind me of my committment. I can still be frustrated at work, but I am NOT going to let that bothers me, at least not for long. I realized this is a very tall order, but damn it I will try.

not very happy lately

2007-08-18T12:16:00.000-04:00

about work that is. I guess I am disappointed. Disappointed in the corporate world. Hubby said by nature I am not a 'content' person. I always remember the bad stuff, not the good. I guess he is right. I hate being bitter, and I am very much so lately. It's not very becoming. It's so not me. I need to change. Something needs to change.

For the past year, I keep trying to find my passion. I don't know why that is so. I just want to do things other than work. Sadly, I am not too sure what my passion is. I have things that I like to do, but not extremely so. I am an even steven. Nothing over excites me. That to me is the worst. Worst!!! I admire people that have passion. I realized this morning that maybe work IS my passion. What horror!!! As sad as it sounds, it probably is true. And maybe that's why when it disappoints me, it's so hard for me to deal with. I need to learn to accept things that I cannot change. Otherwise, I will never be happy at work. At least, not in any corporate job, cause it's the same b.s. everywhere.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-08-05T18:26:00.000-04:00

Watched the iMax version. Pretty good effects.
Certainly not a kiddy movie anymore, a far cry from the first Harry Potter. I don't like that they changed the plot. Lots of big names in the movie, but their screen times were limited. Overall, pretty entertaining I guess.

finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-24T07:08:00.000-04:00

Got the book Sunday afternoon, and finished last night. I read it really really fast though, so I will have to re-read certain parts. It's sad that there's no more Harry Potter books.

time to move up the weight

2007-07-21T12:20:00.000-04:00

The first Body Pump class this past Sunday was tough, but it's not so tough any more this morning. Granted, I used only 1-2 lbs weight. Because of the high repetitions, I didn't dare to use a heavier poundage to start with. I am not satisfied with this morning's workout though. So for the next Pump class, I am going to use heavier weight.

step up, step down

2007-07-18T16:28:00.000-04:00

Finally tried the Body Step workout. It's not as fast paced as I thought. Not sure if it's because it's a new release, and everyone including the instructors have to learn the routine, so it doesn't seems that bad? I think Body Attack is harder. Too bad, the class time is not too convenient for me. I will stick to Body Sculpt and Step.

Oh... I didn't write about Body Sculpt. This barbell workout had me sored for days after. I did the class on Sunday. I could barely walk down the steps after the class. Drove home like a zombie. I used 1 to 2 lbs weights. I sucked!!! The tricep works just about killed me. Have to get stronger...

醜聞纏身朱培慶下台

2007-07-10T09:01:00.000-04:00

I think I am missing something here. Not sure why 朱培慶 needs to go. It's his personal life no? Who cares? People in HK care? I don't see why RTHK employees would care. If I worked in RTHK, I certainly wouldn't care. 朱培慶 apologized to RTHK employees, why? He should apologize to his wife, and no one else.
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20070710/gaa1h.htm

i am a combater, ha!

2007-07-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

I tried the Body Combat class tonight. Not as intense as the Body Attack class, but still a good workout. Instructor said I did well. Ha ha... she didn't know I have done kickboxing exercise tapes before. My problem with exercise is that I am inconsistent. So far, I am enjoying the classes. The real challenge is to keep going to the gym. I really don't have an excuse not to go as it's on my way home from work. I have to drive by the club Monday to Friday. Hubby is working out too. He signs up for personal training and he is also in this 'learn to run' class. He is really liking it as well. He used to do track and field in highschool. I know, it's hard to believe looking at him now. ; )

balance... what balance???

2007-07-03T21:23:00.000-04:00

Tried Body Balance class tonight. http://www.lesmills.com/global/en/members/bodybalance/about-bodybalance.aspx

Me not impressed. I didn't have high expectation going in as it's a fusion class. The instructor didn't show any modifications at all. I see so many people straining themselves as some of the postures are quite difficult. Lucky I have taken yoga and pilates before, so I know how to modify. The class totally missed what is supposed to be yoga or pilates.

one thing off my shopping wish list

2007-07-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

Bought the remote control for my Nikon D70s. It's cheap, only $24.95, and I got 10% off thanks to big sis. She was buying the Canon Powershot A560 and she got 10% off just by asking for a discount. Pretty good. We talked her into buying the A560 instead of the A550. For $20 more, you got a bigger LCD. We tested out the camera at Nathan Philip Square. It's pretty good point and shoot. Now I want my Powershot A630. : D

attack, attack, attack

2007-07-02T11:20:00.000-04:00

Today's my first Body Attack aerobic class at Goodlife. http://www.lesmills.com/global/en/members/bodyattack/about-bodyattack.aspx
Boy, was it tough!!! 15 minutes into the class, my heart rate was already up, and then the instructor said, 'OK. Let's begin the cardio.' What!!! That's just warmup??? I am proud that I went to the gym on a holiday AND finished the class. When I was tired, I just modified the moves, so it's a bit easier. I will go again. It's fun and I like classes in general. The instructor said the class burns 800 calories. Since I modified the moves, I will say I burned 400 calories. Still pretty good. Better than sitting on my butt and be unfit.

canada day brunch

2007-07-01T17:49:00.000-04:00

Went to TO to have brunch with hubby and sis. The place is called Fire on the East Side http://www.fireontheeastside.ca/ on Gloucester near Bloor. The food is serioulsy delicious. I had the Stuffed French Toast with Bacon. It's stuffed with cherries and it's not greasy at all. Hubby had Smoked Salmon with Poached Eggs. Big sis had some sort of Western egg things as well. Theirs came with mixed greens with toasted walnuts lightly spiced with cumin. Too bad I didn't take any pictures.

I want to go back and have dinner. It's a cool place with good looking wait staff and clients. I think being in gay town helps cause most men are good looking. : )

went to gay pride parade

2007-06-24T21:01:00.001-04:00

Didn't really want to go in the beginning cause we were really really tired, but we forced ourselves. I am glad we did. It's sort of fun.

Gay Pride Parade is really popular. Even the politicians will show up at the parade.

I have pictures of guys baring it all at the parade. It was actully quite funny. Remind of the movie Porky's.

this is why i work part 2 cont.

2007-06-13T20:51:00.000-04:00

Shopping Wish List cont. :

5. or or

Not sure which one I like better.

6. Wide angle lens
7. Macro lens
8. Nikon MC-DC1 Remote Cord
9. ND Grad filters - 1-stop and 2-stop
10. Green High Heeled jelly shoes

Seriously, it's , in white or brown.

Realistically, I think I can only afford the remote cord for now.

in the moment of action

2007-06-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

Found this pic while surfing.
A bullet is filmed passing through a soap bubble.

i am going to nyc

2007-06-09T12:02:00.000-04:00

Finally decided on going to New York City this summer. Originally, we wanted to go to Arizona, but it's too expensive considering we wanted to visit Beijing next year. Beijing is on the radar as long as I am still getting my bonus this year (it's looking grime at the moment, but that's another story).

We have both been to New York, but it's only for 2-3 days in a stretch. We have decided to take the train. Flying costs way more, but the train is way slower. Anyhow, the train ride is also an experience on its own though I have done it.

We have a spreadsheet that list out all the places/attractions we want to see, and the list is growing. Some must:

1. Yankees vs Red Sox - even as a non baseball fan, I am interested in this old rivalry. Since they are also building the new stadium, will definitely have to visit this history making stadium. The tickets costed a small fortune, had to get it from eBay since it's all sold out.

2. Brooklyn Bridge - plan is to walk the bridge and take some pics

3. Empire State - been there but still...

4. Ground Zero

5. Foods of New York Tours http://www.foodsofny.com/

6. Grand Central

7. Rockefeller

8. Central Park

9. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

10. Museums - tons to choose from

this is why i work part 2

2007-06-06T21:56:00.000-04:00

Shopping Wish List:

1. Canon A630

2. Pashmina

3. Sheepskin coat

4. Pearl and multi-gemstone white gold necklace

to be cont...

this is why i work

2007-06-06T21:52:00.000-04:00

Bought this last week. Isn't this cute? It's from Privo by Clarks. It's comfortable too. The real test though will be walking around with it for a whole day and we shall see.

happy belated easter

2007-05-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

Went to the in-laws to have Easter Dinner yesterday. Brought home some turkey, yum yum. Should have taken some pictures of the turkey. It's a 23-lb bird.

chicago business trip

2007-05-13T17:45:00.000-04:00

The May 2nd business trip was 20 hours in total, not counting the getup time.
I woke up before 3:00am and left the house at 4:45am. Didn't get home until 12:45am!!! Stupid airline kept delaying and delaying.

The business folks wanted us to go back next week. No freaking way!!! Lucky our boss agreed that we didn't need to go. Otherwise, will have to stay in Chicago for at least 2 and a half day this time.

i am so not a gardener

2007-05-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

Our front lawn was crying out for help. We went to Homo Depot (Home Depot) and got topsoil and grass seeds. We dressed the lawn and also planted some dahlias (天竺牡丹) in the backyard.

I am tired now.

This will be our third year trying to fix the lawn. We patched some bare spots last year. Unfortunately, the drought killed our lawn. Hopefully, the top dressing works this time.

what?

2007-05-08T07:05:00.000-04:00

Found out yesterday that the new hires in our team will be one grade lower than me. Their titles will have the word Senior in it. We are talking about someone with 1 year experience vs 7 to 10 years or more. This ticks me off. I understand these new hires are top in the class, and are really smart etc. etc. Does that equal experience? I understand they should be compensated better than the average graduates, but how can there be such a jump? If they are getting the senior title, then they'd better do the senior job.

ramen in cheese sauce 芝士撈公仔麵

2007-04-29T19:01:00.000-04:00

Stumbled upon this while surfing. Never knew such food existed before. Apparantely, this dish is very popular in 新記咖啡茶檔 (Sun Kee Coffee & Tea Kiosk) in Tsim Sha Tsui. Kind of intriguing.

Found this recipe in a forum:
芝士撈麵家常版 : 用一般方法煮好任何口味的"一丁"或"公仔麵", 倒少D湯, 襯熱在麵上放一塊卡夫芝士, 溶左, 撈勻, 完成.....好好味架! 5分鐘, 都唔駛10蚊.
Cook ramen as directed. Drain but leave a bit of soup. Put a slice of Kraft cheese on top. Mix well once cheese melts a bit.

Also found out that some make this with Korean ramen (Shin Ramen), add cheese and seasoned seaweed. 麵就用韓國辛辣面... 加芝士紫菜. I want to try this.

have to go to chicago for work on may 2nd

2007-04-29T14:25:00.000-04:00

Taking the earliest flight, and returning same day. If we can take an afternoon flight back, there's hope I will be back home around 8:00pm. It will be a very long day. Just hate it. Business travel to me is a loss loss situation. My work day is extra long, and have to makeup the lost time for doing my other work (cause we are supposed to be multi-tasking).

first day back to work

2007-04-16T19:41:00.000-04:00

and I am freaking tired already. Have to take hubby to see the surgeon in the morning. He is healing well, but still needs around 2 weeks for the incision to close.

Meanwhile, I am back at work in the pm and was told that I have to go to Chicago in May. I was supposed to go to Chicago tonight for a meeting tomorrow, because of hubby's operation, I didn't have to go. Now I have to go in May. I freaking hate travelling for business. I don't even like this application that I am supporting. I am just too lazy to update my resume and find another job. But work has been nice to me. I didn't need to take any personal timeoff for taking care of hubby. So I still have my vacation time. I guess going to Chicago once in a while is not too too bad.

what a couple of weeks!!!

2007-04-15T18:53:00.000-04:00

Hubby had to go into surgery for his perforated appendix.
Hubby had been having fever and complaining about abdomenial pain 3 weeks ago. I thought he was having a stomach flu. So after a week of having an on and off fever, on April 1, he told me his back hurt. So I asked him to do a back exercise that my physiotherapist taught me. He couldn't even finish one, complaining about a sharp pain near his groin. I told him he should go see a doctor. So he finally went to see our family doctor on April 3. Doctor ordered blood work and scheduled an ultrasound for him on the Wednesday April 4 around 10:30am. They sent him straight to the hospital after the ultrasound. I rushed to the hospital from work. I wasn't too worried then. The hospital kept telling us they would operate on him soon, but he kept getting bumped down the queue as more urgent case came into the hospital. I started getting anxious when they moved him to a room and told him that they couldn't operate on him until midnight. I was worried that his appendix might burst (little did I know it already did). The nurse told me to go home, so I went home to rest at around 7:30pm. I was tired and hungry. I had only a cup of coffee in me the entire time. I called the hospital twice at 11:30pm and 1:30am, asking whether hubby was in surgery yet. Finally, hubby called me at 2:00am and told me they are ready for him after waiting for 14 hours for the surgery. I drove to the hospital. It started to snow already, so I didn't dare to drive fast. Luckily I didn't. Saw so many cops on the way to the hospital. Once in the hospital, I didn't want to stay in the waiting room cause no one knew I was there except hubby. So I waited outside the operation area. My waiting around paid off. Two nurses saw me and confirmed that hubby was in surgery. The surgeon came out and talked to me at around 4:00am. She said that his appendix had already perforated, and probably had been for a few days. Hubby could have died from peritonis. At least, he learned his lesson, and would pay attention to his body. Because of the perforated appendix, they couldn't do a laparoscopy. So hubby has a 4/5 inches incision. It will take longer to heal than a laparoscopy, but at least he is on the way to recovery.
I took a week off to take care of him and am going back to work tomorrow after taking him to his appointment with his surgeon. It's very tiring taking care of the sick. I need a vacation!!!

my weekends are so boring

2007-03-25T12:17:00.000-04:00

What can I do to make my weekends less boring?

Last weekend wasn't so bad. We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Toronto. We took some pics. Not too happy with my pics though. Hubby's was better this time.

This weekend is again a boring weekend. But I did put away 3 boxes of books to throw out. Definitely need to clean the spare bedroom and the office. At least, that will be an accomplishment when it's done. Watched 3 episodes of Heroes. A few more episodes to go. Need to find a site to download tv shows for my Creative Zen M.

got a free phone

2007-03-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

Rogers is shutting down their TDMA/Analog network sometime in May 2007. For that, Rogers is having this awesome deal to upgrade the customers that are still on the network to a new GSM phone, for FREE!!! Since my phone is so ancient, I am one of the lucky ones. The phone retails for $89.99.

Score baby!!!

transexual and the work place

2007-03-13T19:36:00.000-04:00

First heard this on As it happens podcast.

Steve Stanton from Largo, Florida was fired from his job as a city manager because of his plan to get a sex change. Steve is a transexual. He had been a city manager for 14 years. He was planning to annouce to the city that he is a transexual and his plan on having the sex change operation in the summer. However, he was 'outed' by one of his confidantes leaking the story to the press. He had no choice but to go public, and subsequently fired by the city.

This whole thing is sad. I feel sorry for his son having to deal with all these publicity. I can understand people's discomfort in this, but I strongly disagree with the city firing him. They are discrimnating him because of his gender. Too bad that his contract with the city allows them to fire him without clause. As to the 'friend' that betrayed him, it's classic, isn't it? Otherwise, what else is new with human if we don't back stab each other?

one of this please

2007-03-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

I want an iPhone. I definitely cannot afford it. It's going to be available through Rogers in Canada. The data plan is a hefty $100 per month for 200MB. The phone itself will probably be around $600. This is just too too much. The phone is super cool though. I want the phone. I want the phone. I want the phone.

grrrr... it's freezing!!!

2007-03-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

It's freaking cold today. I think this morning was -18C, with windchill more like -28 or -30. At least, we didn't get any more snow. I wouldn't know where to pile the snow anymore. Snowbank in front of my house is almost as tall as me. Have real trouble seeing the road when I am pulling the car out of the driveway in the morning. So much for global warming. ; )

people never failed to amaze me

2007-02-28T18:17:00.000-05:00

We had a very interesting staff meeting this afternoon. Cannot believe some of the things that I heard. These people don't even understand the fundamental difference between unit, functional and integration testing. Here are some of the bizarre things that I heard today:
1. they expect the Business Analysts to understand and have a working knowledge on other systems that we interface with.
2. they expect to have a ready environment from the systems that we interface with to test starting unit testing.
3. they expect to have production access to our own system
4. they expect to have production access to the other systems that we interface with

Mind you, these are very senior staff. I truly am amazed at how these people get hired. I blamed that on old management. One word: Unbelivable!!!

tgif

2007-02-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

Finally, it's Friday. I have been waiting for today since Monday basically. Not that it's a particularly trying work week, but I am just tired. Have not been sleeping well. Waking up frequently during the night. Not getting a restful sleep. -0

i love this photo

2007-02-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

I was browsing Betterphoto.com, and came across this picture.

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetail.asp?photoID=2976734

The photographer won the Grand Prize in the photo contest. Not only is he talented, but he has so generously explained his techniques. I wish one day I could take picture like this. Not sure even how to proceed. Too many things to learn. Need a methodological way to practice. Just not sure how.

恭喜發財!

2007-02-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

Today is 恭喜發財 day. Not much happening here. Still doing the usual, grocery shopping, prepping the veggies for next week. Usual boring stuff. That's why I like holidays/vacation so much. No need to worry about the work week.

That's my wish for the year and the year after and the year after to infinity.

年年有餘. 歲歲平安.

thanksgiving

2006-10-07T22:42:00.000-04:00

It's the time of the year again. Got back from hubby's parents about 2 hours ago. Lai Lai decided to have Thanksgiving today instead of Monday cause Lai Lai and Low Yeah were planning to go to Tennessee tomorrow morning, but they are not going now. We had to leave early though cause hubby was supposed to work his last shift at Bower. He just called from work and said they weren't even expecting him. What a screwup place!!! They told him just this past Wednesday that he had to come in Saturday night instead of working Thursday. I was pretty ticked off when I heard that cause it's a Thanksgiving weekend, and change of plan last minute is not a good thing. Couldn't say I was surpised though. They have changed the work schedule on him so many times that it's not funny. I am so glad that he left this shit place.

best sushi joint ever.

2006-10-01T08:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, hubby and I went to Eaton Center to shop for him. He needed some dress shirts for his new job. We were planning to have Soon Tofu but decided to try Japango last minute. I have been talking about trying Japango forever after reading a review on Now magazine.

Japango is a very very small sushi joint. Only have around 20 seats. We were very early, around 5pm, so we have no problem getting a table. Hubby ordered the sushi deluxe dinner and I have Unagi Donburi and Hamachi sashimi. The dinner came with miso soup and salad. Everything was exceptional. OK, maybe not the tea. Miso soup tasted like miso soup and not some watered down version. The salad was exceptional. The dressing was not the typical Japanese salad dressing. It had lots of minced ginger in it. Lettuce leaves were fresh, not wilted down. I was so excited for my sashimi and main course after I tasted the salad and soup cause it's living up to the review. My hamachi sashimi came first. It's really fresh. But I would like the sashimi to be bigger. Ugagi Donburi was good too. Hubby's deluxe sashimi had 12 nigiri and 6 maki. The maki was not your standard fare like california rolls or cucumber rolls. It's shrimp tempura maki. Needless to say, the nigiri was really fresh.

I asked them about the omakase. It's 65/person. Now I have to go try it and have to bring my camera next time.

Japango is now my favorite Japanese restaurant. The only thing though, it's not cheap.

hubby got a new job

2006-09-30T06:18:00.000-04:00

yeah... found out about it a few days ago, but he just got the email confirmation. I can finally write it down. I am superstitious that way. I won't say a word about things if it's not certain yet.

Anyhow, it's a M-F 9-5 job. No more night shift. Yippee!!! And it's what he likes to do, more analytical stuff. Hope it's a good place.

i hate birthdays

2006-09-17T14:22:00.000-04:00

mine specifically. I cried last friday. I felt crappy at work. First I found out some people get promoted and then my boss was putting me in an unfair situation. Anyway, the situation was resolved, but I was still bothered by it. I guess birthdays are bad cause that's when you take stock to see where you are in life. I do think that I should be better careerwise than where I am now. I was also upset cause I think partly is my personality. If I really don't care to be a manager, why do I care if someone is? Is it too much to expect someone competent to be a manager? Hubby thinks that I am too much of a realist, and expect the world to be orderly and fair. I guess that's why I like being a student. When you are a student, if you study hard, you will get the grade. That's no luck, no politics involved. I should learn to not let things bother me so much.

my panning shots

2006-09-10T16:43:00.000-04:00

I finally went out and took some practice shots. Need to take more pics to get good. I walked out to the direction of the neighborhood park and took some shots of cars and practiced my panning skill. Didn't practice too long, around 45 minutes.

This is not a panning shot. Just me goofing around. But it does stick to the same theme of the practice. The shot implies motion.

my house stinks

2006-08-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

ok... it's from the paint.

The painter just finished painting the first floor.

Here're some pics:

Living Room

Kitchen

I am not sure what color I should pick for the window treatement. But I found this picture from HGTV, and I am now inspired.

Big sis reminded me that curtains might be cheaper in Hong Kong. Since I am going back in November, I might as well wait.

time for a party

2006-07-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

I was reading the August issue of Canadian Living, and came across an article on cocktail party.
So I thought it's time for me and hubby to have a little party ourselves, just the two of us. It's sort of a tradition of ours. We like to have our little hors' dourves party once in a while. It all started with our anniversary. Our anniversary is in November, not the best of month to celebrate especially in Canada. So for our first anniversary, I threw an hors' dourves party just for the two of us. We had a blast. So now, we will have our little party once in a while. It's a good way to connect and have fun.

Here's what I am thinking to serve:

Smoke Salmon Roll-Ups
BBQ Chicken Wings
Brocconcini Bites
Sizzling Shrimps
Lemon Gin Fizz
Sushi???

Seems like too much food... I will think about it some more.

hubby's job sucks

2006-06-24T16:09:00.000-04:00

Hubby got this job at this logistic company in May. He did very well, maybe too well. The company started putting him on nights in June. The original plan wasn't for him to go on nights, maybe after summer the earliest.

The night shift wasn't the problem. Problem is that the company just gave him a 4 day "training", i.e working with someone on nights, and then he's on his own after. There're still so many things that he didn't know cause he's only been with the company for a little over a month. The night shift involves recording what has been happening during the day. And he literally has to remember thousands and thousands of codes to enter the transactions in the system. Needless to say, he is very slow cause he doesn't have those codes memorized. It's even worse when there's a crisis, as he has to deal with the emergency on top with all these endless keying. What bug me is, all these keying wasn't necessary. They had an old working system. The manager decided to stop using the old system, because he was tired from ordering some cartridges that the old system had to use. Meanwhile, the manager is too busy to implement the new system. So they are on manual procedures still after a year. WTF???

Hubby has to work extra hours just to finish everything that he's supposed to do in his shift. I am sooooooooooooo pissed off and so worried. One day, he went to work before 7:00pm and didn't come home until 12:30 pm. And of course, no one asked him to go home. He's so tired and frustrated. I want to know what is the resonable expectations. If the work is so much that you can't finish in your shift, should the company re-evaluate what needs to be done??? He didn't get paid for working all these extra hours either. On top of that, he is not even supposed to be on nights giving his job title. Only supervisors are supposed to be on the night shift. He is doing the supervisor job, but not getting paid for it. This company has serious management issues.

whole foods market rocks

2006-06-10T18:34:00.000-04:00

I went to the Whole Foods Market in town once before, and I was very impressed with it. When you walk in, this delicious smell just hits you. You just want to follow the food and see what good food awaits you.

Anyway, hubby and I went today. We got shrimp bisque and some crab cakes and some scallops. It was $$$, but was it ever delicious. We made grilled miso glazed scallops with salad on the side. Great summer dinner. Whole Foods has a great cheese selection as well. They also have good ready made food. I want to shop at Whole Foods all the time. It's just so expensive. : (

stupid movers

2006-06-06T08:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my first day in my new group at work. They moved everything except my CPU. I went back to my old floor, and couldn't find it. Since they were doing renovation on my old floor, it was a mess. My boss called the move coordinator for me cause I had no phone (they didn't give the phone model and line number ontime for the move to Bell). Finally, we found my CPU by accident. This manager in my new group happened to overheard our conversation. He mentioned that there's a CPU sitting in his area this morning, and no one knows who it belongs to. So we went to check it up, and it's mine!!! My CPU and monitor were side by side on my old desk, both labelled with my new location. How can they end up in different area? The mover is blind as a bat.

so proud

2006-06-04T09:02:00.000-04:00

I posted the t shirt that I made earlier on the chatboard that I frequent. The ladies love it there. Some even follow the instructions and made some cool tee themselves. It's a nice summer shirt for sure.

why oh why?

2006-05-27T05:51:00.000-04:00

Why is that my hubby only snores when I am trying to sleep? And he stops when I am out of bed?
And why is that it only happens on weekdays that I have to go to work, but not on weekends?

His snoring woke me up Friday morning around 2:30am. I tried getting back to sleep, but everytime I got into bed, he started snoring. I got out, he stopped. WTF??? I was like a zombie at work. I think it's a ploy to get the whole bed to himself.

my new t-shirt

2006-05-24T20:04:00.000-04:00

I was walking on the treadmill today, bored out of my wit, flipping channels just to take my mind off the blah, and I saw this lady on Martha transforming a t-shirt. It was so easy to do, so I have to try. I used one of my hubby's old t-shirt.

Here's what I did:
1. Cut off sleeves and the bottom. Save the bottom fabric.
2. Cut 3-6 inches off each side, depends on how loose you want the t-shirt to be.
3. Use a scissor to poke small holes down the side of the shirt, about an inch apart. Make sure you poke through both layers. Repeat on the other side.
4. To make the laces, take the bottom fabric from step 1, cut two 1-inch wide strips.
5. Start lacing at the underarm. Tie ends in a bow. Repeat on the other side.

our wisteria

2006-05-24T14:42:00.000-04:00

Our wisteria is doing so well this year. No leaves just flowers. Not sure if it's the result of our aggressive pruning last fall. We saw another wisteria in the neighborhood that didn't look as lively.

Our backyard this year is a sea of purple. The Chocolate Chips (ground cover) also has purple flowers, and they are growing quite well. I hope they won't turn out to be like the Lamb's Ears that we had. Not sure why, but our Lamb's Ears grew so big and tall, it's a Lamb's Ear jungle. We finally had to pull all the Lamb's Ears out cause it's so messy. No Lamb's Ears ever for my backyard!!!