03/7/2011



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extra loooong canada day weekend

i’ve been on vacation since last tuesday evening. and as we’re nearing the end of our july long weekend, i’m wishing for just one more day off.

it’s been a fun pack five days.

some best friends, ada and hoa, stopped by tuesday night for dinner - they were on their way from vancouver to welland for the dragon boat nationals. ada happened to have a lecture at UofT (btw, it’s so cool to have a friend who does university lectures - i wonder if one of these days, i can attend? how wicked would that be?)

that was the kickstart of mine’s and chaeli’s long-long-extended-weekend. doug had to work on the thursday but was able to get off early so we could go for the dog park and consume yummy sushi and japanese food at our favourite korean-run-japanese restaurant. it’s the best of two worlds - we get both kimchi and sushi.

the rest of our mini-vacation included chinese lunch with my parents, two trips to the dog park down at the beach, another dog park out west plus yet another one up north, lots of ice cream, swinning at my parents’ community centre (well, doug and chaeli went swimming - i use to go when it was salt water, but now they’ve added chemicals and i’m allergic to that), bbq steaks at my parents’ place, movies on netflix, fireworks, picnics at the beach and lots of sunshine!

we only bummed around thursday morning - since doug was at work.

the highlight was visiting fort york on canada day (free admission for that day only) which is a historical site the british built for protection from the invasion of americans in 1813. this site was what started the progression of our city. i hadn’t been back to it since my grade six 3-day trip. all i remember was dressing up in period costume, eating food made like it was made back in the early 1800’s and sleeping in the bunkers where the soldiers use to sleep.

kind of creepy when you think about it.

chaeli had a blast - especially as there were some special events during that day. one of my fave was actually a shadow puppet put on by a performing arts community of the first nations. the music had a spell on me - quite powerful and beautiful.


front gates of fort york with toronto in the backdrop


flag raising ceremony


chaeli helping out in the kitchen


rifle demonstration


view from inside a window in the mess building

Tagged: bliss, day trips, family, friends, hobbes, parenting, photography, solitude, .

21/6/2011



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catch-up

i am so very behind on my blogging. i even had photos i wanted to upload from a few weeks ago - all still on my camera.

then i got hit with a nasty bug mid-last week and have been recovering ever since. as of Sunday, i felt much better but am still coughing and blowing my nose. so this will be another random update of some sort.

  • last sunday night, i found myself alone at the beach. i had a challenging week and i needed some space. so i decided to let doug take care of chaeli’s bedtime routine while i took a drive. i didn’t plan on going back but that’s basically where i ended up. it’s a peaceful place. when i arrived, i couldn’t help but notice a lot of people park their cars and just sit there, staring off into the lake. did they all need some solitude as well? or were they just there to kill time?

  • wednesday was doug’s birthday but unfortunately, it was also the day i got sick. still, we had a nice steak dinner.

  • saturday was the day we celebrated doug’s birthday with my family. everyone except my aunt and my mom caught the matinee for x-men first class. excellent. probably the best written x-men movie yet and i do hope that they continue down this path.

  • saturday evening, we went to my aunt’s/uncle’s for some lobster. what a treat! i have not had lobster for quite awhile and my 1.5 little red dude completely filled my tummy.

  • sunday morning, we slept in and then first went to the dog park on the way to my parents’ place and then had both lunch and dinner with my parents. it was simply the perfect weather type of day. blue skies with only a hint of clouds, a light breeze and lots of sunshine (but without the humidity so quite comfortable).

  • we watched two movies on netflix - fearless and ichi. fearless was a great movie. reminds me what jet li is best known for. ichi was fun - mainly eye-candy. i would put it into the whole spaghetti-western quality genre (except all in japanese).
Tagged: bliss, family, geek, solitude, .

25/4/2011



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first e-book purchase, easter feast and sunday dog park

i know - what a weird thing to get excited about. especially since i’m probably one of the last on earth to have purchased a novel in it’s digital format. and it’s not that i’ve never read a digital book - i’ve gotten several from the library in the past but at the time, i had to read it on my computer. which wasn’t exactly mobile. and this is my first purchase - through kindle-amazon, to be exact.

but still, i’m happy. happy to have discovered that it was $5 cheaper then the print version, happy to have it available on my ipad, happy to support the earth by going paperless in one more area and happy to be reading a novel by an author with mad writing skills.

so yesterday, i downloaded alice munro’s too much happiness and was able to start reading it last night. i mentioned in my previous post that reading was one thing i really missed and am hoping to bring back. the last time i finished a book was sometime last july/august.

as for the rest of the weekend (and no, the above was certainly not the highlight), it went very well.

friday was rainy and uneventful. but the rain couldn’t have come at a better time as i spent all day indoor to clean and prepare any food preparations for the next day (at least anything i could make ahead of time). doug had to work but as it was a holiday, it wasn’t very busy. he started work at 6am and was able to be home not too long after 2pm. i was so tired by the end of the day - while chaeli and doug stayed up to watch a movie, i fell asleep around 10pm (not too long after they inserted the dvd).

saturday was busy - there were a lot of cooking and setting up the table and giving chaeli a head to toe and last minute cleaning/organizing… but i managed to get whatever i could get done in time to do a bit of yoga. which meant that this week, i was able to do yoga twice - yeay!

my family and one family friend from japan (he was able to get his company to transfer him back to canada), arrived after 5:30pm. the friend is here to get things settled (i.e. finding a new home) so that he can move his family over as soon as school for his two teens is done with. the earthquake and radiation scare made the decision to move back pretty simple - no hesitation what-so-ever. it will be nice to have them all back here.

our easter menu this year was a great success. everyone had seconds (and some had thirds). in the end, we hardly had any leftovers which was a good sign (they loved it and we made just enough to be filling without creating very little room in our fridge for the next few days).

sunday morning, we slept in. all of us. chaeli didn’t come get us until 9:45am which shows how tired she must have been. in fact, she was so tired, she had forgotten about the egg hunt until we reminded her. after that, it didn’t take long for her to hurry us all downstairs where she began finding treats and little easter gifts scattered everywhere in the living/dining room.

it was a challenge this year to hide everything - we had to take into account that hobbes is a great sniffer. but it turned out that hobbes so tired that all he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and snooze with all the egg-hunting excitement going on.

after our traditional, easter sunday brunch, we did the egg colouring and then went out - we took hobbes to a dog park not far from my parents’ place and then visited with my parents for a couple of hours.

once again, i was exhausted. doug and i started to watch ‘salt’ and i fell asleep mid-way. which is becoming my thing. in the past year alone, i have watched the first half of movies way more then any movies from beginning to end. i have a collection of movies i have yet to finish. how sad.

our 2011 easter menu:

deviled eggs

bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms

salad bundles

herb-marinated roasted lamb

  • rosemary, oregano and thyme: all fresh and finely chopped
  • olive oil
  • garlic
  • salt & pepper
  • basically mix everything and rub all over lamb
  • warp with seran wrap and marinate in fridge overnight
  • slow roast/grill on low heat

roasted vegetables

  • red potatoes, halved
  • big chunks of carrot and parsnips
  • brussells sprouts
  • toss veggies with olive oil and dry herbs (oregan and parsley, for example)
  • roast in oven

pistachio cheesecake

Tagged: bliss, family, friends, geek, health, hobbes, parenting, solitude, .

21/4/2011



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things i miss doing that i want back in my life

reading. oh how i miss always having a book on hand. it’s been months since i’ve read a book. and really, it’s my quest to start reading again as the summer months approach.

i loved using the library and still hope to take books out. but the reality is that unless i take a book out that’s not on hold (i.e. popular books), i won’t have the chance to finish it before i have to return it.

i may resort to purchasing books through kindle-amazon - digital books. if the price is good and it’s a popular book i really want to read.

blogging. of course, i still blog but it’s not as often as i like. but i want to get back to posting at least once a week. blogging has always contributed to me creativity and to not get this outlet as frequently as i use to saddens me.

traveling. unfortunately, this is one area we won’t be able to afford doing for awhile. but i think it’s important that we do one or two weekend get-aways. just for our own sanity. i’m not placing this high on our list but it’s definitely something not to be completely ignored.

hiking. the weather is getting warmer which means we’ll be taking more walks and hikes on the weekends. yeay! it wasn’t just the exercise it gave all of us, but a chance for us to explore different trails and towns outside of our city.

yoga. i do do yoga, but not weekly like i want to. in fact, there was a time i did it twice a week and it felt great! so i’m going to try and squeeze it in at least once a week, on top of my other workouts.

the one thing i have had more time for is working out. for the past couple of months, i have found a way to introduce it back into my life - on a more consistant basis. it’s not perfect and sometimes, it needs to change week to week in order to fit it into my busy lifestyle, but i’m happy that i’m at least doing something.

so here’s to the end of winter and all the things i hope to do!

Tagged: bliss, family, health, parenting, solitude, travel, .

20/2/2011



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i heart postsecret

for several months now, i’ve been diligently following the weekly postsecret posts.

of course, like most, i’ve been hearing about this site for a very long time and while i peeked into it in the past, lately, i’m starting to get addicted to it. i look forward to sitting at my computer every sunday morning with my freshly brewed cup of coffee as i read each posted postcard.

i sometimes wonder what wakes me up more - the caffeine or some shocking confession from some anonymous stranger out there.

i think it’s very much the latter.

some secrets are sweet and touching. others are truly sad. though, i think i like the quirky ones the most. the kind of secret that defines how human we really are. that we all have these weird idiosyncrasies. like one recent person stated that he/she sits on toilets sideways. and another admitted that cleaning out the lint from the dryer as being her favourite laundry pasttime (which made me realize that i quite enjoy that part too - the thicker the layer, the better! and i hate doing laundry.) such strange revelations. but to me, the most fascinating!

then there are the dirty secrets. usually involving theft or infidelity. and they are bad… really they are. yet i enjoy reading them. so much that lately, i started to question whether i’m becoming the type of person that i never wanted to be. you know, the type of person that enjoys gossip.

sure, i suppose it’s a bit better that i don’t know any of these people but there is a sickness to the pleasure i get from reading the naughty postcards. it obviously doesn’t paint me as a good person - but it’s true. i suppose while i try not to indulge in the workplace gossip (especially as 95% of the gossip turns out to be untrue), if i need to have an outlet, indulging in postcards from strangers, sharing some controversial secrets, is the best way to go.

anyway, the website doesn’t archive pervious weeks but i have them archived by grabbing their rss within my google reader.

here’s one posted a couple of weeks ago that i found quite amusing:

Tagged: geek, random, solitude, .

01/2/2011



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cravings…

and i’m not just talking about food cravings. though, there are a few to add to that list as well… but it’s now february and as with all february’s, the darker and shorter days of winter added on to the cold, dry climate (not to mention, miserable and dangerous driving when the roads are slippery), always makes me day-dream more of things i want to do or have at that respective moment.

i’m sure this is the result of being more caged in at home. not that i don’t love being at home but there’s more work involved in getting out of the house. with the longer drives and the preparation of staying warm, our very hectic and crazy life gets a tad more crazier.

anyway, here’s a list of cravings - both big and small:

  • full-back massage
  • a 3-night trip to vegas
  • manicure
  • fresh hot cinnamon rolls
  • lobster and steak dinner
  • summer
  • yoga retreat
  • new furniture for our living room
  • fried squash blossoms (never had any but am craving to try one - preferably in italy)
  • edward cullens*

*i had a dream the other night about edward cullens. it was a very cool dream but unfortunately, i would much rather have dreamt about jasper. i blame this on watching eclipse while i was sick.

Tagged: bliss, geek, random, solitude, .

25/1/2011



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snubbed ubb - day 2

i stayed home again today. feeling a smidge better then yesterday but only got my voice back (sort of ) near the end of the afternoon. both days, i actually had to email my manager to let him know i was still off sick because a voicemail from me would have just sounded like some random squeeky noise.

i got a chance to watch ‘the switch’ which was definitely a nice movie to take in while one’s head is fuzzy (both from the sinus congestion and cold meds). i normally do like jennifer aniston but she wasn’t at her best in this movie. no, no - she wasn’t bad. just not one of her shining moments. i suppose the spotlight goes more to jason bateman. and even jeff goldblum (though his character was like a lot of past characters he has played - the neurotic, playboy-like friend, trying to talk some sense into the main character - still, very likeable).

it just got me thinking - i’m so happy jason batement has been having such a better come back. he’s come a long way since ‘the hogan’s family’.

so i am back to work tomorrow.

and i really wish i could have some bailey’s irish whiskey right  now - but apparrently, one mustn’t mix cold meds with alcohol. damn. it’s robbie burns day, too.

Tagged: geek, random, solitude, .

24/1/2011



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snubbed ubb

ugh - my nose is totally stuffed, my sinuses are achy and my throat is a bit phlegmy.

the worse? i had the weekend all to myself - but how did i celebrate this much needed solitude of mine? by getting sick. not ideal at all.

but anyway - i tried to salvage the alone time as best as possible. even though the majority of my weekend was spent in bed.

doug and chaeli had a last minute trip to t-bay to see my in-laws. i chose not to go - work has just been crazy with a lot of overtime. and even if i didn’t have to put in some overtime this weekend, i was just completely exhausted.

hobbes stayed with me though. in fact, when i started to come down with this cold, he really stayed with me. for most of sunday, he was glued to the side of my leg. faithful dog - but a little bit of a space hogger.

i managed to at least do two things from my list of me-time things to do:

  1. finished watching the final season of the L Word. I was actually really excited that the first episode showed them wheeling away a very dead jenny from bette’s and tina’s house. unfortunately, i still had to endure the annoying jenny as the rest of the episodes was a built up to the climatic ending. it’s not just that jenny is one of those characters you love to hate, but in all honesty, as much as i loved the show as a whole, i wasn’t at all convinced that the jenny character was believable enough. perhaps because her persoanlity really went through too many different transformations from season 1 - i felt as if the writers couldn’t make up their mind what to do with her. and i also found it really hard that all those other ladies actually stayed her friend for that long. if it were me, i would have kicked her out of my life a lot sooner.
  2. watched twilight eclipse. fun and an improvement from the first two movies. but when jacob first makes his appearance in the movie, they did that cheesy soundtrack in the background. that almost killed the whole thing for me. overall, it was entertaining but really, what i’m truly eager for is part I and II of ‘breaking dawn’. i have a lot of questions and curiosities of how they are going to illustrate the last book on the big screen.

okay - i’m hoping another night of sleep (good sleep) will allow me to get back to work tomorrow.

Tagged: rant, solitude, .

01/1/2011



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2011 - happy new year!

what should have been a fun night with friends and then ending with a post-party with family, was just not in the books.

with chaeli’s cough not getting better and me waking up feverish and woozy, we decided to cancel all plans and stay in.

and you know what? as much as i was looking forward to hanging out with my friends, it ended up being a great night. there’s always the added bonus of not having to change out of one’s pj’s and being able to watch tv in the comfy setting of one’s bedroom.

doug, chaeli and i even planned to do our own countdown (after i napped for the evening) but ended up completely missing it.

why?

we were watching lilo & stitch. after seeing disney on ice on wednesday, doug and i both realized that neither of us have ever seen the movie - and we’ve all seen pretty much all of disney animated movies. since the rental was on demand, we could have paused it, but we got so caught up in the movie that when i looked over at the clock, it read 12:01am.

oh well. we did pause the movie so doug could get the champagne. and with chaeli and her apple juice we did the fastest 10-second countdown ever.

i think we did it in 3 second. upon chaeli’s request to “just do a really quick one.”

the movie ended just 30 minutes later and when i tucked chaeli in, i could see her eyes already figting to stay open as she said, “wow. i should be asleep by now. it’s very late.”

and that’s how we, as a family, started our new year.

all the best to all in 2011!

Tagged: bliss, family, solitude, .

24/12/2010



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twas the night before…

i am exhausted. chaeli’s been in bed for over two hours now and we just finished laying out all the gifts under the tree and stuffing the stockings as much as possible. when we were done, doug and i just sat there. i turned to him and said, “i thought we were all going easy on the gift-giving this year?”

it still looks like a crazy amount of gifts to go through tomorrow.

hobbes definitely senses something is up. he’s been excited all night, following one of us right at our heels as we walk back and forth, each trip carrying more gifts to the tree and stockings. i find it funny - he has no idea why he’s excited. just that he simply knows something is up.

anyway - it took a lot of energy to get everything ready for tomorrow morning. but i think both hobbes and chaeli are in for a real treat.

i just hope she lets us sleep in.

and with that, merry christmas to all and to all a good night!

Tagged: bliss, family, hobbes, parenting, solitude, .

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