Just like that a year had passed by. The busiest and toughest year I've had by far, but also gained the most knowledge.
Had 2 sumptuous xmas dinners, or I should say 3.
Made use of the boxing week sale quite fully this week. Got quite a number of items, especially proud of myself for finding a $2x.xx green pan (ceramic non-stick) (after 20% off) at the very last min of the boxing week and by chance... almost didn't walk in that lil store.
Workwise had no progress, totally stuck on performance issue with BIRT reporting framwork.
Was going to see Avatar but all sold out... both 3pm and 6pm show....
Met with high school friends on the very last day. It was SO much fun!!! We had sushi and then bubble tea.... yeah.. like when we were teenagers... hoho. I was so wired up till after 4am...finished watching 2 movies and still very awake... no wonder how I woke up at 8am the next day. (also a proof that I'm totally used to the skytrain noise).
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
busy as always
cleaned floor again this weekend.
in-law came over and did "gift exchange"
went to coquitlam again to fix skates.... and still not perfect and actually even worse...
had dinner at fisherman terrace. food wasn't as good this time. we let the manager ordered for us this time and 2 of the dishes were deep fried. one of them was deep fried + mayo on top!!! i wonder who thought of that recipe....
computer @ work got infected..... but the reboot was actually caused by Eclipse/BIRT tool... scary isn't it.... y would application make system shutdown?
cleaned floor again this weekend.
in-law came over and did "gift exchange"
went to coquitlam again to fix skates.... and still not perfect and actually even worse...
had dinner at fisherman terrace. food wasn't as good this time. we let the manager ordered for us this time and 2 of the dishes were deep fried. one of them was deep fried + mayo on top!!! i wonder who thought of that recipe....
computer @ work got infected..... but the reboot was actually caused by Eclipse/BIRT tool... scary isn't it.... y would application make system shutdown?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Winter is definitely here. Snowed a lil during the weekend but that didn't deter me from going in to fix my skates. Got new blades, Coronation Ace, and trying yet another new alignment for my right foot. It seems to be working better so far. The blade seems to be slightly wider, and thus more balanced. It's relatively easier to spin than my old pair of blades.
Worked during all free time during the weekend, but project is still not progressing as fast as I'd like.
Complete floor cleaning and vacuuming on Sat, had really really sore legs afterwards.
No cooking research lately... mostly cooked saveon marinated food. On Sun, baked chicken thigh and potatoes with (and marinated with) Korean BBQ sauce and sprinkled with crushed rosemary leaves. Yes, a pretty weird combination but it kinda worked. The chicken were good but the potatoes were not quite done for some reason.
Worked during all free time during the weekend, but project is still not progressing as fast as I'd like.
Complete floor cleaning and vacuuming on Sat, had really really sore legs afterwards.
No cooking research lately... mostly cooked saveon marinated food. On Sun, baked chicken thigh and potatoes with (and marinated with) Korean BBQ sauce and sprinkled with crushed rosemary leaves. Yes, a pretty weird combination but it kinda worked. The chicken were good but the potatoes were not quite done for some reason.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Had company xmas dinner on Sat. It was extremely small and crowded. It ended at 11pm!!! Record breaking late for our company. Entrees were ok, dessert was so so... only the raspberry mousse cake was good. As usual, won nothing.
Had hotpot for friend's bday on Sun. It was a lot of fun. We also played board game before the dinner and had a lot of snacks.
Cooked nothing and no vaccuum during weekend, will suffer during the week...
Skating continues to get worse. My right ankle has totally dropped inwards..... can't even do backward crossover... donno if I should just go check out my foot or go for custom boots...or try another alignment again.... on top of that.. i need new blades.
Had hotpot for friend's bday on Sun. It was a lot of fun. We also played board game before the dinner and had a lot of snacks.
Cooked nothing and no vaccuum during weekend, will suffer during the week...
Skating continues to get worse. My right ankle has totally dropped inwards..... can't even do backward crossover... donno if I should just go check out my foot or go for custom boots...or try another alignment again.... on top of that.. i need new blades.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Tried a slow cooker recipe, another beef stew. I think I bought the wrong kind of carrots and maybe I should have browned the beef b4 putting it in crockpot. It tasted kinda blend, but much less utensils to wash except for the extremely heavy crockpot, which I figured out a better way to wash; wash it while standing on a step stool.
Work has been going quite slow but much less interruptions these days.
Skating's still very inconsistent, one day the boots felt good, other day not so much. It seems like staying off the loop jump is the way to go. The only thing that's been improving is my flip... maybe I'll get to try a double flip one day.
Watched 3 movies in a roll, "Push", "Caroline", and "UnderWorld". "Caroline" would be my favorite amongst them all. "Push" is only good because it's shot in HK!!
Work has been going quite slow but much less interruptions these days.
Skating's still very inconsistent, one day the boots felt good, other day not so much. It seems like staying off the loop jump is the way to go. The only thing that's been improving is my flip... maybe I'll get to try a double flip one day.
Watched 3 movies in a roll, "Push", "Caroline", and "UnderWorld". "Caroline" would be my favorite amongst them all. "Push" is only good because it's shot in HK!!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Another short week. Weather was really nice but didn't get a chance to go out and enjoy.
Busy trying new recipes this week, Braised Chipotle Chili and Pork medallion with Onion marmalade. Both turned out pretty good. The Chipotle Chilli was a tad spicier but after 3 bites u get used to it and the taste was fantastic. Originally, I was planning to do the pork next week but the chili went away faster than expected...
The Pork Medallion and Onion Marmalade
I also came across an easy dessert recipe, Apple Crumble. It was very easy to make and only needed 35mins baking. The only downside of it is that it's quite hard to take it out without it crumbling.... and thus the name Apple Crumble.. hahaahaaa
Apple Crumble
Busy trying new recipes this week, Braised Chipotle Chili and Pork medallion with Onion marmalade. Both turned out pretty good. The Chipotle Chilli was a tad spicier but after 3 bites u get used to it and the taste was fantastic. Originally, I was planning to do the pork next week but the chili went away faster than expected...
Braised Chipotle Chili
The Pork Medallion and Onion Marmalade
I also came across an easy dessert recipe, Apple Crumble. It was very easy to make and only needed 35mins baking. The only downside of it is that it's quite hard to take it out without it crumbling.... and thus the name Apple Crumble.. hahaahaaa
Apple Crumble
Monday, October 26, 2009
Went to Fisherman Terrace for dad and mom's birthday... again.
We had abalone and shark fin set dinner. It was ok.
Tried new recipe "Arroz con Pollo" and substituted rice with cauliflower.
Totally tanked. Too much water in the end. Should have stopped at 1 cup of chicken broth.. instead of following the recipe with 2 cup. Maybe rice aborbs water more than cauliflower and thus the overflowing water..... This will be the second to last time (I still have some leftover tomato paste) I use tomato in my cooking, flavour usually ended up quite blend. What a waste of time and effort.
Picking up on new series, Sanctuary. Started on Durham County season 2.
Watched the usual Medium, Smallville, Heroes, and House. No Fringe or Vampire Diaries.
It seems like my right blade alignment is finally right.... *touchwood*
However, my left is now starting to give me trouble.
We had abalone and shark fin set dinner. It was ok.
Tried new recipe "Arroz con Pollo" and substituted rice with cauliflower.
Totally tanked. Too much water in the end. Should have stopped at 1 cup of chicken broth.. instead of following the recipe with 2 cup. Maybe rice aborbs water more than cauliflower and thus the overflowing water..... This will be the second to last time (I still have some leftover tomato paste) I use tomato in my cooking, flavour usually ended up quite blend. What a waste of time and effort.
Picking up on new series, Sanctuary. Started on Durham County season 2.
Watched the usual Medium, Smallville, Heroes, and House. No Fringe or Vampire Diaries.
It seems like my right blade alignment is finally right.... *touchwood*
However, my left is now starting to give me trouble.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
short week
A rather short week.
Tried out 2 new recipes, liked them both. First one more successful than the other, which burned the bottom of the pot....
Beets with Brussels Sprouts
This is my favourite veggie dish by far.
Apple Sake Braised Short Ribs
was able to savage most of it besides the stuffs that's stuck at the bottom
Went to Coquitlam and re-aligned my right skate... again. Tried first time yesterday, felt a lot better. Hopefully this time it's really going to work out. Next thing... new blades... starting to be able to completely go around near my toe-pick as I was going into my spin.
New skating season started. Yuna won again :D. Wohoo!! She's getting so show-likey now and totally at ease during the competition. I was totally surprised that she had 2 new programs out already..... wonder where she found the time in between all her competitions last season (i.e. before this summer) and all the shows that she's doing and all the commercials that she's doing. The programs couldn't have been more than a few mths old.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thanksgiving weekend
Had a pretty good thanksgiving weekend. Did not do one bit of work work and also not much housework. Should start cleaning the bathroom and coffee table and countertop again....
Made 2 meals, curry shrimp with rice and non-spicy version Dan Dan Mian. Brought the noodles to Sun's Thanksgiving dinner. I think I didn't boil the noodles enuf so I left it in the wok to simmer a bit more and..... the sauce was kinda dried out and soaked into the noodles afterwards.
My in-law made turkey using fresh turkey and the usual salad and also shrimp cocktail. I liked the fresh turkey more than the frozen turkey. Also, there was exceptionally good homemade pumpkin pie and chocolate cream pie (which I didn't try any). My sis also brought in some really good pastries from chinese bakery.
On Sun, we finished the left over turkey drumstick, shrimps, and pumpkin pie. I thought to myself that I didn't need to cook this whole week but it looks like I still need to, once.
Had a whole day shopping spree on Mon. Got John 3 pieces of clothing but going to return one. Bought myself a wood mortar and pestle (on sale, half price), a good spoon rest set (no more messy clean up from dropping chopsticks onto kitchen floor), and a wine stopper. All from my $50.00 The Bay gift card which I reimbursed with my points. I still have 9 bux left on it.
Also, bought 2 books from Chapters on Sat. I caved after a few hrs standing around in the store..... already finished one of them, Twenties Girl. It was great!!
Caught up on all shows (Supernatural, Fringe, Vampire Dairies, Dexter, Flash Forward, Medium, Dollhouse, Smallville), except Desperate Housewives. "Vampire Dairies" is officially my favorite show, besides "Dexter". "Dexter" is getting very good now, can't wait for the next episode.
Made 2 meals, curry shrimp with rice and non-spicy version Dan Dan Mian. Brought the noodles to Sun's Thanksgiving dinner. I think I didn't boil the noodles enuf so I left it in the wok to simmer a bit more and..... the sauce was kinda dried out and soaked into the noodles afterwards.
My in-law made turkey using fresh turkey and the usual salad and also shrimp cocktail. I liked the fresh turkey more than the frozen turkey. Also, there was exceptionally good homemade pumpkin pie and chocolate cream pie (which I didn't try any). My sis also brought in some really good pastries from chinese bakery.
On Sun, we finished the left over turkey drumstick, shrimps, and pumpkin pie. I thought to myself that I didn't need to cook this whole week but it looks like I still need to, once.
Had a whole day shopping spree on Mon. Got John 3 pieces of clothing but going to return one. Bought myself a wood mortar and pestle (on sale, half price), a good spoon rest set (no more messy clean up from dropping chopsticks onto kitchen floor), and a wine stopper. All from my $50.00 The Bay gift card which I reimbursed with my points. I still have 9 bux left on it.
Also, bought 2 books from Chapters on Sat. I caved after a few hrs standing around in the store..... already finished one of them, Twenties Girl. It was great!!
Caught up on all shows (Supernatural, Fringe, Vampire Dairies, Dexter, Flash Forward, Medium, Dollhouse, Smallville), except Desperate Housewives. "Vampire Dairies" is officially my favorite show, besides "Dexter". "Dexter" is getting very good now, can't wait for the next episode.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Tried another vermicelli recipe. It's good except that I didn't put in enuf meat.
Went to Gary Point Sat. It was such nice weather. Saw turtles and cows. It was cool. There were some guys doing some kate boarding... or whatever that's called.
All TV series are back. There are almost too many of them to watch: Fringe, Supernatural, Heroes, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, Medium, Vampire Diaries, Eastwick. Also, picking up Ghost Whisperer now.
Went to Gary Point Sat. It was such nice weather. Saw turtles and cows. It was cool. There were some guys doing some kate boarding... or whatever that's called.
All TV series are back. There are almost too many of them to watch: Fringe, Supernatural, Heroes, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, Medium, Vampire Diaries, Eastwick. Also, picking up Ghost Whisperer now.
Monday, September 28, 2009
sick....
Did a bit of work Sat morning. My test plan was nothing close to done.
Got sick in the evening.... forgot to bring my jacket when I was going across the street for groceries. Now taking Bukley's Day Time Fast Relief. So far, nothing serious except sore throat.
Didn't sleep well on Sat nite. Had some sort of diarrhea, woke up 3 times. Felt better the next day and woke up at 7am as usual.
Made stir fry fish fillet with black bean sauce. John liked it. It was so so for me.
Went to cousin's bday on Sun. Had sun dried tomatoes chicken with cream of celery and thick twisty noodles. It was good and I ate it maybe a bit too fast. I had internal pain almost the whole time I was there. Could be because I didn't have anything the whole day except my big white chinese bun in the morning and a 1/4 of a ham and egg bun in the afternoon.
Caught up on House, Medium, Vampire Diaries, and Fringe.
Got sick in the evening.... forgot to bring my jacket when I was going across the street for groceries. Now taking Bukley's Day Time Fast Relief. So far, nothing serious except sore throat.
Didn't sleep well on Sat nite. Had some sort of diarrhea, woke up 3 times. Felt better the next day and woke up at 7am as usual.
Made stir fry fish fillet with black bean sauce. John liked it. It was so so for me.
Went to cousin's bday on Sun. Had sun dried tomatoes chicken with cream of celery and thick twisty noodles. It was good and I ate it maybe a bit too fast. I had internal pain almost the whole time I was there. Could be because I didn't have anything the whole day except my big white chinese bun in the morning and a 1/4 of a ham and egg bun in the afternoon.
Caught up on House, Medium, Vampire Diaries, and Fringe.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Not so exciting weekend
Worked a bit on Sat. Had such a hectic week. One of the days, I only had 3 hrs to work on my own stuff and all the other time doing support.
Tried out new recipe, "Stir Fry Rice Noodles". It turned out pretty good except that I didn't really like the marinate I'd used with the beef.
Watched Bruno. Extremely bad.
Went to driving range, continue to suck.
Skating-wise, I didn't have much alignment issue last week. Although I've noticed that my right ankle bone is hurting a bit after a while... maybe I need some more boot punching.
Started layback, had no idea what I was doing. But, I'm starting to notice how my blade should feel underneath me.
Changing my waltz jump prep, having much less swinging-around issue. Key is to "step out" left foot (and the right backward outside skating edge becomes forward inside edge) at an angle (45 degree-ish relative to your path). Because of the "step out", the right side of the body is very much behind (and does not cross much the "vertical mid-line" of my body). Because of that, when I bring the right foot up it can only go up and not around. I'm still tweaking the angle that I should step out and how much lean I should use while stepping out. When I feel comfortable and gutsy enuf, maybe I can try axel.. hohoho.
Tried out new recipe, "Stir Fry Rice Noodles". It turned out pretty good except that I didn't really like the marinate I'd used with the beef.
Watched Bruno. Extremely bad.
Went to driving range, continue to suck.
Skating-wise, I didn't have much alignment issue last week. Although I've noticed that my right ankle bone is hurting a bit after a while... maybe I need some more boot punching.
Started layback, had no idea what I was doing. But, I'm starting to notice how my blade should feel underneath me.
Changing my waltz jump prep, having much less swinging-around issue. Key is to "step out" left foot (and the right backward outside skating edge becomes forward inside edge) at an angle (45 degree-ish relative to your path). Because of the "step out", the right side of the body is very much behind (and does not cross much the "vertical mid-line" of my body). Because of that, when I bring the right foot up it can only go up and not around. I'm still tweaking the angle that I should step out and how much lean I should use while stepping out. When I feel comfortable and gutsy enuf, maybe I can try axel.. hohoho.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Another great weekend
Sat, took SkyTrain the first time! It was slower than I expected maybe because part of it was above ground and things seem to move slower when they were far away. We went to Oakridge and downtown. Had lunch at Sciue. It was way too slow and they weren't even busy. The server had an European accent, maybe New Zealand or sth.... we had trouble understanding each other. We also ordered at the wrong side.... the pizza side. Maybe we should stick with Pizza next time we go there... if. We both ordered egg benedicts. I expected more stuffs in my egg benedicts. There was only spinach on it and it's kinda blend. John ordered prosciutto but got ham instead. We also didn't know that we were supposed to get the cutlery ourselves. We were thinking of going to Chambar at first but they're only open for dinner and although they had a xth anniversary thing food won't be ready till 3pm.
Saw "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Drag Me to Hell". First one was good, second one was bad as expected. There were some gruesome scenes that were so exaggerated like they were trying to shoot a bad comedy. Saw "Dexter" season 4 episode 1 =). Then... too much staring at the computer and started to have a slight headache Sat afternoon and a full blown headache Mon....
Sun, made "Three Cup Chicken". It was good except for the basil... maybe the basil that I got was not exactly Thai Basil.
Saw "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Drag Me to Hell". First one was good, second one was bad as expected. There were some gruesome scenes that were so exaggerated like they were trying to shoot a bad comedy. Saw "Dexter" season 4 episode 1 =). Then... too much staring at the computer and started to have a slight headache Sat afternoon and a full blown headache Mon....
Sun, made "Three Cup Chicken". It was good except for the basil... maybe the basil that I got was not exactly Thai Basil.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Great long weekend
Had a really great long weekend. Did zero cooking and work :P.
Fixed my computer problem on Sat morning after a clean wipe and re-install. No more internet problem. Somehow the upgrade to Snow Leopard failed. Although the airport said online, my browser won't load anything. Same with my neighbour's open-to-public network that I picked up. Same thing with plain old ethernet connection. Something screwed up the interface.
Went to coquitlam and had my sharpening done and learned that I needed to replace my blade soon. The sharpening is now beginning to shave off the first toe pick. It's about time... been almost 8 yrs that blade. Went to Superstore @ Coquitlam and did my grocery shopping there.
Had family dinner w/ both sides of our family @ Fisherman Terrace. Lots of good food.
Sun did the usual thing. Went to church, then to parent's place to clean up the fish tank. Then, back home and did a bit of vacuuming.
Saw "I love you, man". It wasn't a big blockbuster but it was good and light.
Mon morning, did more cleanup because a friend of mine was coming from dt to visit me. Cleaned the bathroom floor, countertop, and mirror, even the scale inside the bathroom. For the kitchen, I only did the floor and one part of the countertop due to time constraint... and laziness.... and I'd probably mess it up Mon nite anyway... after cooking dinner.
Went to Richmond Public Market, waited for my friend a bit. Got bored and then walked to Richmond Center. Met a friend of mine in Richmond Center. We chatted a bit about golf and work, and he drove me back to richmond public market to meet my other friend.
Brought my friend up to my place and we talked about life and stuff and realized I had a lot of work to do to save my plants... I guess I'm not really a plant lover and maybe should have stick with plastic plants.
Went to Wii party @ my other friend's place. Lots of ppl showed up. It was a lot of fun and good food and from there I got my Mon's dinner taken care of =).
Fixed my computer problem on Sat morning after a clean wipe and re-install. No more internet problem. Somehow the upgrade to Snow Leopard failed. Although the airport said online, my browser won't load anything. Same with my neighbour's open-to-public network that I picked up. Same thing with plain old ethernet connection. Something screwed up the interface.
Went to coquitlam and had my sharpening done and learned that I needed to replace my blade soon. The sharpening is now beginning to shave off the first toe pick. It's about time... been almost 8 yrs that blade. Went to Superstore @ Coquitlam and did my grocery shopping there.
Had family dinner w/ both sides of our family @ Fisherman Terrace. Lots of good food.
Sun did the usual thing. Went to church, then to parent's place to clean up the fish tank. Then, back home and did a bit of vacuuming.
Saw "I love you, man". It wasn't a big blockbuster but it was good and light.
Mon morning, did more cleanup because a friend of mine was coming from dt to visit me. Cleaned the bathroom floor, countertop, and mirror, even the scale inside the bathroom. For the kitchen, I only did the floor and one part of the countertop due to time constraint... and laziness.... and I'd probably mess it up Mon nite anyway... after cooking dinner.
Went to Richmond Public Market, waited for my friend a bit. Got bored and then walked to Richmond Center. Met a friend of mine in Richmond Center. We chatted a bit about golf and work, and he drove me back to richmond public market to meet my other friend.
Brought my friend up to my place and we talked about life and stuff and realized I had a lot of work to do to save my plants... I guess I'm not really a plant lover and maybe should have stick with plastic plants.
Went to Wii party @ my other friend's place. Lots of ppl showed up. It was a lot of fun and good food and from there I got my Mon's dinner taken care of =).
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saw "District 9" 2 weeks ago. Fantastic movie. It's my fav movie of the year.. or of several years!!
Met with old highschool friends last week. Had such a great time. There were so much food. There were ribs and potatoes salad and curry fish ball and tunna roll (tuna in croissant) and pasta in white sauce w/ cheese on top, and weird but tasty greenish malaysian drink (avacado, jack fruit, young coconut, palm seed, green jelly), and very good watermelon, and very good fresh fruit cake. I also brought my banana bread over and had half of it take home. Friend's baby was more or less very behaved and didn't cry much.
Hectic week @ work working more than 10 hrs every day; support by day, development by nite. I'm now sick of work.
Met with old highschool friends last week. Had such a great time. There were so much food. There were ribs and potatoes salad and curry fish ball and tunna roll (tuna in croissant) and pasta in white sauce w/ cheese on top, and weird but tasty greenish malaysian drink (avacado, jack fruit, young coconut, palm seed, green jelly), and very good watermelon, and very good fresh fruit cake. I also brought my banana bread over and had half of it take home. Friend's baby was more or less very behaved and didn't cry much.
Hectic week @ work working more than 10 hrs every day; support by day, development by nite. I'm now sick of work.
Monday, August 17, 2009
short vacation
Went to Oregon last week. Did not check work email or work the whole week, but did do a bit of work Sat and Sun morning before leaving for the trip.
Oregon was very nice... aside from the traffic congestion from time to time.
My favorites:
- the Hecata Head LightHouse Trail and Sea Lion caves
- the zoo, the bats
- the sand dunes
Ran almost 4k on Sat, did not feel a bit sore. Probably from not doing any real exercise the whole week.
Had sis bday dinner @ our usual restaurant on Sat. The lobsters were nice.
Only cooked once and didn't do any major cleanup.
Oregon was very nice... aside from the traffic congestion from time to time.
My favorites:
- the Hecata Head LightHouse Trail and Sea Lion caves
- the zoo, the bats
- the sand dunes
Ran almost 4k on Sat, did not feel a bit sore. Probably from not doing any real exercise the whole week.
Had sis bday dinner @ our usual restaurant on Sat. The lobsters were nice.
Only cooked once and didn't do any major cleanup.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
extremely hot week
record high temperature everywhere
didn't feel like doing much this week
did try out 2 new recipes, an easy veggie stir-fry and sweet and sour spare ribs. The veggie dish was great except for my mistake of adding in mths old french beans from the freezer... which was the whole point of this dish, to finally use them up... they tasted totally like the fridge. The spare ribs were terrible. I tried it twice. Both time sux. First time with beef short ribs and some beef stew ... thinking that was one of my mistakes... not using the ingredients the recipe stated. So second time around, I went out and got pork spare ribs. Same results..... the sauce never ever thickened like the recipe said :(. I was greatly disappointed. But, we both liked the sauce (although watery) and I tried not to cook too much rice this time.....so there wasn't much left for this week. We're gonna have to eat our fingernails...
Met w/ some old friends last week. We went to 7th heaven hk style cafe restaurant. It was pretty good. Although it was a week nite, it was extremely busy.
didn't feel like doing much this week
did try out 2 new recipes, an easy veggie stir-fry and sweet and sour spare ribs. The veggie dish was great except for my mistake of adding in mths old french beans from the freezer... which was the whole point of this dish, to finally use them up... they tasted totally like the fridge. The spare ribs were terrible. I tried it twice. Both time sux. First time with beef short ribs and some beef stew ... thinking that was one of my mistakes... not using the ingredients the recipe stated. So second time around, I went out and got pork spare ribs. Same results..... the sauce never ever thickened like the recipe said :(. I was greatly disappointed. But, we both liked the sauce (although watery) and I tried not to cook too much rice this time.....so there wasn't much left for this week. We're gonna have to eat our fingernails...
Met w/ some old friends last week. We went to 7th heaven hk style cafe restaurant. It was pretty good. Although it was a week nite, it was extremely busy.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Cooked twice on Sat... since I knew that I might not have time to cook on Sun.
Made General Tso's Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice. The former was really really really good. I wish there were more to spare. We gobbled it up in half a day. The chicken fried rice was just so so. The $5 5-spice powder doesn't seem to worth it.
Ran on Sun morning, just 4K. Walked about 2K, probably. Really out of shape now.
Went to wedding on sun. Met w/ some friends there. It's such a small world.
The wedding was nice, at a Surrey golf course...but 3X degree is way too hot for outdoor wedding. It was slower than expected and didn't end till past 10:30pm. The food was really good. It's a 5-course dinner, salad (roasted tomato, pine nut, and spinach), soup (way too strong lobster bisque), entree (fish or steak), followed by cake.
Made General Tso's Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice. The former was really really really good. I wish there were more to spare. We gobbled it up in half a day. The chicken fried rice was just so so. The $5 5-spice powder doesn't seem to worth it.
Ran on Sun morning, just 4K. Walked about 2K, probably. Really out of shape now.
Went to wedding on sun. Met w/ some friends there. It's such a small world.
The wedding was nice, at a Surrey golf course...but 3X degree is way too hot for outdoor wedding. It was slower than expected and didn't end till past 10:30pm. The food was really good. It's a 5-course dinner, salad (roasted tomato, pine nut, and spinach), soup (way too strong lobster bisque), entree (fish or steak), followed by cake.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Extremely extremely busy @ work.... helping ppl left and right.
Totally didn't get enuf time to study for the upcoming security audit.
Didn't try out new recipes, made mongolian beef and eggplant with beef (instead of pork).
Went to superstore twice ... ended up spending ~$100 in total this weekend.
The soap bar and shower gel were on sale so I bought a few.
Bought a lot of fruit, blackberries (2 $3.xx @ superstore), blueberries (1lb 3.xx @ saveon and 2lb 5.xx @ superstore), rasberries ($3.xx @ superstore).
Got 2 kinds of meat, both organic, ~$6 each. Got 2 loafs of bread (otherwise I'd have to get it again @ saveon later the week). Got banana as usual. Got wipes, didn't get the $3.xx enviromentally friendly one (that was on sale last weeks but not this week) and got the 1.xx not-so-environmentally friendly. Also got some celery and carrots.
Didn't get granola bars @ superstore since they were not on sale, 2.77 each. Got them at saveon instead $2.50, and I got 4 of them. Oh... and also peanut butter, PC brand, the natural kind. It's so good and only $3.99. Really... no big items... but still so expensive.
Totally didn't get enuf time to study for the upcoming security audit.
Didn't try out new recipes, made mongolian beef and eggplant with beef (instead of pork).
Went to superstore twice ... ended up spending ~$100 in total this weekend.
The soap bar and shower gel were on sale so I bought a few.
Bought a lot of fruit, blackberries (2 $3.xx @ superstore), blueberries (1lb 3.xx @ saveon and 2lb 5.xx @ superstore), rasberries ($3.xx @ superstore).
Got 2 kinds of meat, both organic, ~$6 each. Got 2 loafs of bread (otherwise I'd have to get it again @ saveon later the week). Got banana as usual. Got wipes, didn't get the $3.xx enviromentally friendly one (that was on sale last weeks but not this week) and got the 1.xx not-so-environmentally friendly. Also got some celery and carrots.
Didn't get granola bars @ superstore since they were not on sale, 2.77 each. Got them at saveon instead $2.50, and I got 4 of them. Oh... and also peanut butter, PC brand, the natural kind. It's so good and only $3.99. Really... no big items... but still so expensive.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Had another short and rather boring weekend.
Made "Dan Dan Mien" on Sat. Since the "kung Pao Chicken" was too spicy last time... I only used a 1/4 of the specified amount for Sichuan peppercorn and totally skipped the chilli oil. The result was.... to me a bit disappointing. It seems to be lacking something... probably should have used 1 chili and maybe 1/2tsp instead of a 1/4tsp of the peppercorn.
Went to family July bday dinner on Sun. Got a brie melting mini claypot and some bath things. The claypot was cute but I donno what to do with it yet... since John shouldn't eat cheese. I need to do some research on sauce making probably.
Didn't get to make my onde onde again, put back my ingredients into the freezer the 2nd time...
Watched "Mall Cop".... kinda boring and not that funny.
Shopped for July bday gifts and also got myself 2 2010 tops from The Bay. They were on sale for $9.99, regular price $2x.xx. Very very good quality, made with Bamboo sth... Much more comfortable than regular cotton.
Made "Dan Dan Mien" on Sat. Since the "kung Pao Chicken" was too spicy last time... I only used a 1/4 of the specified amount for Sichuan peppercorn and totally skipped the chilli oil. The result was.... to me a bit disappointing. It seems to be lacking something... probably should have used 1 chili and maybe 1/2tsp instead of a 1/4tsp of the peppercorn.
Went to family July bday dinner on Sun. Got a brie melting mini claypot and some bath things. The claypot was cute but I donno what to do with it yet... since John shouldn't eat cheese. I need to do some research on sauce making probably.
Didn't get to make my onde onde again, put back my ingredients into the freezer the 2nd time...
Watched "Mall Cop".... kinda boring and not that funny.
Shopped for July bday gifts and also got myself 2 2010 tops from The Bay. They were on sale for $9.99, regular price $2x.xx. Very very good quality, made with Bamboo sth... Much more comfortable than regular cotton.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Worked most of Sat (remotely), but managed to clean up side table and dining table... that were becoming breeding grounds of dust bunnies.
Also, went to Boston Steakhouse. We had the Roti Canal (Malaysian pancake with curry sauce) and Indonesian Fried Rice. Both were pretty good.
Visited the chinese supermarket, "Rice World". It's like a Superstore, asian version. Surprisingly, they have some cereal (altho not much variety) unlike the other asian stores. Downside is they only accept cash or debit card. Got some really good Singporean instead milk tea there, and crysanthenum chinese herbal tea.
Walked around in Aberdeen center too!! Tried out the new yogurt store. It was pretty pricey but very good. We had a small green tea yogurt for $3.xx.
All in all, it was a pretty good Sat.
On Sun, made Kung Pao Chicken... way way way too spicy .. will have to tone it down several notches next time. But, other than that, it was pretty good.
Also, went to Boston Steakhouse. We had the Roti Canal (Malaysian pancake with curry sauce) and Indonesian Fried Rice. Both were pretty good.
Visited the chinese supermarket, "Rice World". It's like a Superstore, asian version. Surprisingly, they have some cereal (altho not much variety) unlike the other asian stores. Downside is they only accept cash or debit card. Got some really good Singporean instead milk tea there, and crysanthenum chinese herbal tea.
Walked around in Aberdeen center too!! Tried out the new yogurt store. It was pretty pricey but very good. We had a small green tea yogurt for $3.xx.
All in all, it was a pretty good Sat.
On Sun, made Kung Pao Chicken... way way way too spicy .. will have to tone it down several notches next time. But, other than that, it was pretty good.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
TIBCO GI or ICEFaces
After a year or so of developing in Struts it's time to move on.
First I tried TIBCO General Interface, the IDE was quite impressive. It can run inside your browser, IE or FF. However, I found out that you couldn't really control the layout of the component by dragging.... In the end, still have to specify the css position and layout thru their properties editor. Same stuff as what I was doing before, with css stylesheet. Also, had a really hard time trying to put it together with struts. The example provided was using Struts 2.0 and we're on to 2.1.x already. The converting the GI data structure into struts action mapping structure seems too hardcoded and well... just plain didn't work with 2.1.x, eg. the getInstance() call for XWorkConverter is no longer available for struts 2.1.x. We might be able to get around with it by using conversion configuration file, xwork-conversion.properties, but just didn't have the time or patience to try it out.
So, now I'm onto ICEFaces. It seems to be cooler although maybe not as mature as TIBCO GI. But, it's J2EE. We can directly use the EJB data, no need to convert this and that. The only thing that worries me is that some ppl complain that it's quite slow when synchronize is turned on. However, ICEFaces said that could be turned off as long as you don't need the AJAX Push techonology. I'm hoping that's true for now...
Another lazy weekend
Didn't do much cleaning except for the usual dish washing and wipping the floor... briefly.
Made Korean Potatoes Noodles. It's ok, but not as good as I had hoped, not sweet enuf. The fact that it's unclear in the original recipe of how much sauce to use did not help. Everything was just eyeballed. Maybe I should have used brown sugar/corn syrup instead of just relying on my rogers granulated sugar and sweet soy sauce.
Had bday dinner @ Fisherman Terrace with family. My favourite food there is still the free pudding cake dim sum near the end. Maybe we should try another place next time... getting so bored of it.
Went to driving range. Had a few extremely good shots with my iron but totally sux w/ John's hybrid.
Tried to use my new VISA chip card again and failed... 4 times!! Donno if it's because it remembered that I entered in the wrong PIN last time and no longer accept PIN?
After a year or so of developing in Struts it's time to move on.
First I tried TIBCO General Interface, the IDE was quite impressive. It can run inside your browser, IE or FF. However, I found out that you couldn't really control the layout of the component by dragging.... In the end, still have to specify the css position and layout thru their properties editor. Same stuff as what I was doing before, with css stylesheet. Also, had a really hard time trying to put it together with struts. The example provided was using Struts 2.0 and we're on to 2.1.x already. The converting the GI data structure into struts action mapping structure seems too hardcoded and well... just plain didn't work with 2.1.x, eg. the getInstance() call for XWorkConverter is no longer available for struts 2.1.x. We might be able to get around with it by using conversion configuration file, xwork-conversion.properties, but just didn't have the time or patience to try it out.
So, now I'm onto ICEFaces. It seems to be cooler although maybe not as mature as TIBCO GI. But, it's J2EE. We can directly use the EJB data, no need to convert this and that. The only thing that worries me is that some ppl complain that it's quite slow when synchronize is turned on. However, ICEFaces said that could be turned off as long as you don't need the AJAX Push techonology. I'm hoping that's true for now...
Another lazy weekend
Didn't do much cleaning except for the usual dish washing and wipping the floor... briefly.
Made Korean Potatoes Noodles. It's ok, but not as good as I had hoped, not sweet enuf. The fact that it's unclear in the original recipe of how much sauce to use did not help. Everything was just eyeballed. Maybe I should have used brown sugar/corn syrup instead of just relying on my rogers granulated sugar and sweet soy sauce.
Had bday dinner @ Fisherman Terrace with family. My favourite food there is still the free pudding cake dim sum near the end. Maybe we should try another place next time... getting so bored of it.
Went to driving range. Had a few extremely good shots with my iron but totally sux w/ John's hybrid.
Tried to use my new VISA chip card again and failed... 4 times!! Donno if it's because it remembered that I entered in the wrong PIN last time and no longer accept PIN?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Went skating w/ friends on Sat. Surprisingly, it wasn't packed. The ice was pretty nice too. Saw the kid from our club that I used to skate with in the Bronze session 2 yrs ago. She's now doing single axel. Most of which she either fell or popped but a few of them were good. My feet went all numb after just standing around / skated very slowly... Didn't attempt my usually under-rotated double loop nor my sometimes-work-sometimes-don't-work camel spin. Had about 2 good scratch spins and the rest not-centered at all. But my back crossovers were good that day, partly due to the softness of ice. After many many years, I can finally skate backwards w/o too much tension and able to watch out for ppl. I'm still a bit weak on the clockwise direction but a huge improvement nonetheless.
Went to driving range afterwards. We forgot my club so I had to use John's clubs. Most of my shots sux but I had a few good ones w/ the hybrid!!! First time ever! It sounded so good. Ping!!!
Didn't do much cleanup other than the regular vacuum and wiping the floor.
Made chicken w/ tomato/egglpant/red and green peppers/onion sauce. It was average....could be because I only bought 1 eggplant while the recipe called for 2. In the end, I found it a bit blend so added in some ketchup and cumin. That did the trick or saved it...
Watched Quatum of Solace. It was ok. I went to sleep before it finished..... just too tired.
Went to driving range afterwards. We forgot my club so I had to use John's clubs. Most of my shots sux but I had a few good ones w/ the hybrid!!! First time ever! It sounded so good. Ping!!!
Didn't do much cleanup other than the regular vacuum and wiping the floor.
Made chicken w/ tomato/egglpant/red and green peppers/onion sauce. It was average....could be because I only bought 1 eggplant while the recipe called for 2. In the end, I found it a bit blend so added in some ketchup and cumin. That did the trick or saved it...
Watched Quatum of Solace. It was ok. I went to sleep before it finished..... just too tired.
Monday, June 15, 2009
lazy weekend
Husband going away this week again, left on Sun...
As a result... didn't cook at all this weekend, the leftover was enuf to tie us over.
So, had a bit more time to relax and clean up.
Altogether cleaned 3/4 of the countertops, bathroom floor, bathroom mat, and most of the hallway floors. Also, cleared out a lot of recycling and junk, and cleaned out the vacuum filter. OMG it was disgusting!!!
On Sat, we saw "Hangover" together. I was expecting non-stop laughing but that's not the case. I find it a bit too slow. It was totally a guy movie, very crude and disgusting at times.
Saw "Haunting in Connecticut" online... it was ok. Not too many grotesque scenes (ok... maybe just a few...). It's not like "Exorcist" or other famous horror films.
As a result... didn't cook at all this weekend, the leftover was enuf to tie us over.
So, had a bit more time to relax and clean up.
Altogether cleaned 3/4 of the countertops, bathroom floor, bathroom mat, and most of the hallway floors. Also, cleared out a lot of recycling and junk, and cleaned out the vacuum filter. OMG it was disgusting!!!
On Sat, we saw "Hangover" together. I was expecting non-stop laughing but that's not the case. I find it a bit too slow. It was totally a guy movie, very crude and disgusting at times.
Saw "Haunting in Connecticut" online... it was ok. Not too many grotesque scenes (ok... maybe just a few...). It's not like "Exorcist" or other famous horror films.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Went to dinner w/ old classmates on Friday nite @ Shanghai River. The food was very good. I especially like their marinated duck w/ lil white buns around it.
Tried 2 new recipes this weekend, beef fried rice and cashew chicken. Nothing extraordinary.
Went to the little Japanese food stroller 15 mins walk away from home.
(forgot to bring camera, photo taken with cell)
Tried the Wasabi Mayo and Japanese Plum sauce topping. The size was 2-3 times the regular.
Tried 2 new recipes this weekend, beef fried rice and cashew chicken. Nothing extraordinary.
Went to the little Japanese food stroller 15 mins walk away from home.
(forgot to bring camera, photo taken with cell)
Tried the Wasabi Mayo and Japanese Plum sauce topping. The size was 2-3 times the regular.
Wasabi Mayo
Japanese Plum sauce
Monday, June 01, 2009
Went to Connaught's Award nite on Sat. It's mostly for kids but since they invited us Adult Skaters this time... we might as well go. Because we volunteered for the ice show, we didn't have to pay that $15.50. There were lots of food, sushi, fried rice, steamed kale/choy sum, lasagna, salad, dumplings, BBQ pork, cheese/tomato/carrot with dipping.... etc. For desserts, there were 2-layer coconut jelly, raspberry cheesecake, mango cheesecake, and apple pie. They took out the mango cheesecake and apple pie too late... I was too full to try any of them.... or I should say too embarrassed to go for a 3rd round to the table...
At the start of the meal, 2 kids played piano and showed off their talents. The first kid was very very very good, she's only 6!! She played a very long duet; she brought along her personal boom box and played along w/ it. The MC said she's chosen to play at the Canadian National Competition. She should go on to "Canadian Got Talents" if it exists.
We had dancing at the end of the dinner. The kids went crazy on the dance floor. They also had DJ giving out glowing sticks to ppl.
On Sun, woke up early and made shrimp omelet. It wasn't that successful, not enuf eggs. I only made it so I could use up the white mushrooms and Tomatoes that's been sitting in the fridge for a week.
Then went to church and met w/ friend from Taiwan afterward. We saw "Angels & Demons". It was ok but not extremely good. I still like "Da Vinci" better, the book version.
We had "lunch" before the movie, smoothies from Orange Julies and shared a pad thai from Thai Express. The pad thai was very very good, but $6.99 food court food... maybe a bit too much.
Then, I drove her luggage from Van to North Burnaby. It was a long drive esp we took Hasting, traffic jam + lots of stop lights. On the way back, we took Boundary and Joyce, way easier.
Then, too tired to cook after all that driving. So, cooked the dinner on Mon morning instead.
Made "Ma Po Tofu".
At the start of the meal, 2 kids played piano and showed off their talents. The first kid was very very very good, she's only 6!! She played a very long duet; she brought along her personal boom box and played along w/ it. The MC said she's chosen to play at the Canadian National Competition. She should go on to "Canadian Got Talents" if it exists.
We had dancing at the end of the dinner. The kids went crazy on the dance floor. They also had DJ giving out glowing sticks to ppl.
On Sun, woke up early and made shrimp omelet. It wasn't that successful, not enuf eggs. I only made it so I could use up the white mushrooms and Tomatoes that's been sitting in the fridge for a week.
Then went to church and met w/ friend from Taiwan afterward. We saw "Angels & Demons". It was ok but not extremely good. I still like "Da Vinci" better, the book version.
We had "lunch" before the movie, smoothies from Orange Julies and shared a pad thai from Thai Express. The pad thai was very very good, but $6.99 food court food... maybe a bit too much.
Then, I drove her luggage from Van to North Burnaby. It was a long drive esp we took Hasting, traffic jam + lots of stop lights. On the way back, we took Boundary and Joyce, way easier.
Then, too tired to cook after all that driving. So, cooked the dinner on Mon morning instead.Made "Ma Po Tofu".
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Started to get real busy @ work again.
Finally finished the release for the current project and had to finish another project in a week or so. In between also painstakingly reviewed every single line of code for my coworker's code review. I found several potential issues so I guess it's worth the effort.
For Fri and Mon.... on the project schedule... I put in 12 hrs for code review and 8 hrs for release. I should have 4 hrs of OT.... I should put that down in my timesheet.... but i hate keeping track of all these hrs and had to request for time off and stuff. I did put down 5 hrs of OT last time in timesheet...but I haven't requested time off for that yet.... donno if they're still available.... it's been several mths.
I feel like I need another vacation again, something that doesn't require traveling or housework.
Speaking of vacation, I think I should have 12 days left for this year (since I took 10 days off in Jan) and I could carry 10 days forward.. so I'm just gonna take 2 more days this year. Hmmm..when....?
Baked another loaf of banana bread on Sun for in-law bday. I remember to put in wheat bran this time. They seemed to like it. I thought there'd be more ppl at the dinner but turned out not... hopefully that cake wasn't too much for them.
Made Fried Rice Noodles with Prawns on Sat.
Made Spicy Eggplant with Pork on Mon.
Finally finished the release for the current project and had to finish another project in a week or so. In between also painstakingly reviewed every single line of code for my coworker's code review. I found several potential issues so I guess it's worth the effort.
For Fri and Mon.... on the project schedule... I put in 12 hrs for code review and 8 hrs for release. I should have 4 hrs of OT.... I should put that down in my timesheet.... but i hate keeping track of all these hrs and had to request for time off and stuff. I did put down 5 hrs of OT last time in timesheet...but I haven't requested time off for that yet.... donno if they're still available.... it's been several mths.
I feel like I need another vacation again, something that doesn't require traveling or housework.
Speaking of vacation, I think I should have 12 days left for this year (since I took 10 days off in Jan) and I could carry 10 days forward.. so I'm just gonna take 2 more days this year. Hmmm..when....?
Baked another loaf of banana bread on Sun for in-law bday. I remember to put in wheat bran this time. They seemed to like it. I thought there'd be more ppl at the dinner but turned out not... hopefully that cake wasn't too much for them.
Made Fried Rice Noodles with Prawns on Sat.
Made Spicy Eggplant with Pork on Mon.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
long weekend
Made Ma Lai Go again. This time I followed all the steps exactly, specifically the step that I missed. I put the caramelized sugar into the water bath for cooling down but it solidified almost instantenously. Next time, I'm going to put it into the margarine right away.
For entree, made Potato Chicken Stew and Apricot Chicken this weekend. The stew was gone in 2 days. It was still my favourite recipe. The sauce was just as runny eventhough I put in less water this time. In the end, I had to pour in some more cornstarch mixture to thicken it up. This time, no sauce was stuck at the wok and cleanup was pretty easy. It's probably because I put in more oil to brown the chicken. I guess I didn't need to buy a non-stick wok afterall.
The Apricot Chicken was a bit too sweet. Next time, I'll use sour cream instead of yogurt, and half of the jam in the recipe.
Next dish in plan: Braised Chicken With Asian Basil... but I couldn't find Thai Basil/Sweet Basil/Asian Basil in Langley Farm Market or City Fresh....
Went to QE on Sat and took some pics. It was grey but not rainy. On Sun, walked around Granville. Went to William Sonoma but didn't get their vanilla paste. $16.99 for a jar was a bit too pricey if I only needed a few tsp at a time and only make creme bruelee once or twice a year. It took almost 2 yrs to use up last time and most of it were eaten as-is.... not baked.
Tried out the frozen black sesame bun @ City Fresh. They're quite good but 1 pack only has 6 buns in it.... only have 1 left in the fridge after 2 days.
For entree, made Potato Chicken Stew and Apricot Chicken this weekend. The stew was gone in 2 days. It was still my favourite recipe. The sauce was just as runny eventhough I put in less water this time. In the end, I had to pour in some more cornstarch mixture to thicken it up. This time, no sauce was stuck at the wok and cleanup was pretty easy. It's probably because I put in more oil to brown the chicken. I guess I didn't need to buy a non-stick wok afterall.
The Apricot Chicken was a bit too sweet. Next time, I'll use sour cream instead of yogurt, and half of the jam in the recipe.
Next dish in plan: Braised Chicken With Asian Basil... but I couldn't find Thai Basil/Sweet Basil/Asian Basil in Langley Farm Market or City Fresh....
Went to QE on Sat and took some pics. It was grey but not rainy. On Sun, walked around Granville. Went to William Sonoma but didn't get their vanilla paste. $16.99 for a jar was a bit too pricey if I only needed a few tsp at a time and only make creme bruelee once or twice a year. It took almost 2 yrs to use up last time and most of it were eaten as-is.... not baked.
Tried out the frozen black sesame bun @ City Fresh. They're quite good but 1 pack only has 6 buns in it.... only have 1 left in the fridge after 2 days.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Another busy weekend as usual. Tried out 3 new recipes, steamed banana cake, steamed chicken and broccoli, and "Ma Lai Go".
The banana cake was ok. The texture was very good, very light and fluffy. Tastewise it's lacking something, the butter.
The steamed chicken had too much water, donno if it's from the broccoli or from the mushroom. The brocoli was very good though eventhough I didn't put any seasoning into it. However, I did soak it in salted water for a few mins to clean.
The "Ma Lai Go" turned out to be sort of a disaster. I missed the step about cooling the browned sugar in icy water bath and I just let it sit in the pot... and it turned into caramel candy. In the end, had to put some water in and re-heat it so that I can use it. Also, stupidly used my fingertip to test the sugar temperature when it looked cool enuf. I now have a blister on 2 of my finger tips. I had to work fast before it became candy again... so I dumped the whole thing into the flour... and there were too much water and I couldn't mix the flour well. However, it tasted very good and the texture was interesting w/ the lumpy flour. It's like chewy mashmallow caramel cake....
Grocery bill is on an incline w/ all these baking and cooking. Next time, I'm only going to use half the meat and cut it smaller so that I can split the $12 or $17 into two cookings instead of using them all at once. Also, I think I'm sick of banana bread now.... probably no more baking for a while.
Cleaned out some closet space together w/ John. We need 3 trips to the garbage room, not fun. The flies were having a convention down there.
Cleaned the 1/4 of the countertop that's closer to the stove and also all the dust-covered utensils that's sitting at the corner.
The banana cake was ok. The texture was very good, very light and fluffy. Tastewise it's lacking something, the butter.
The steamed chicken had too much water, donno if it's from the broccoli or from the mushroom. The brocoli was very good though eventhough I didn't put any seasoning into it. However, I did soak it in salted water for a few mins to clean.
The "Ma Lai Go" turned out to be sort of a disaster. I missed the step about cooling the browned sugar in icy water bath and I just let it sit in the pot... and it turned into caramel candy. In the end, had to put some water in and re-heat it so that I can use it. Also, stupidly used my fingertip to test the sugar temperature when it looked cool enuf. I now have a blister on 2 of my finger tips. I had to work fast before it became candy again... so I dumped the whole thing into the flour... and there were too much water and I couldn't mix the flour well. However, it tasted very good and the texture was interesting w/ the lumpy flour. It's like chewy mashmallow caramel cake....
Grocery bill is on an incline w/ all these baking and cooking. Next time, I'm only going to use half the meat and cut it smaller so that I can split the $12 or $17 into two cookings instead of using them all at once. Also, I think I'm sick of banana bread now.... probably no more baking for a while.
Cleaned out some closet space together w/ John. We need 3 trips to the garbage room, not fun. The flies were having a convention down there.
Cleaned the 1/4 of the countertop that's closer to the stove and also all the dust-covered utensils that's sitting at the corner.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Put together the IKEA cabinet that we got last x'mas. This is perhaps, one of the few things that me & John do together. I was very tired and not quite into it.... since I was awake since 5:30am 2 days in a row. Except for that one drawer that we had to remove the front and re-insert the bottom, it went ok. Hopefully... it'll allow us a bit more room to store away junks....
Made another new dish, pan fried beef with onions and spring onions. I think I like making chinese dishes more now, esp if it has ginger in it. After staring at some steaming recipes... I went and got myself a bamboo steamer. I spent an hour washing it and another hr steaming it to get rid of the bamboo smell. I'm planning to make "Ma Lai Go" with it this coming weekend.
To get the steamer, I walked all the way to Big Crazy, SuperStore, S & N Supermarket, Zellers, and then finally I got it in CityFresh. Zellers had the best quality (all bamboo and no metal wiring), but it was a bit too small and $19.99. Big Crazy had the cheapest ($3.xx) and also more varieties... from tiny one to like 20-inch. But, it also had the crappiest quality (at least for the big one)... it looked like I made them. In the end, I settled for the $11.99 10" one (Zeller's one also claimed to be 10" but it looked like 8") in CityFresh. Its quality is not as good as the one in Zellers, it uses metal wiring... but at least the wiring looks sturdy.
I also got a 5" tall steam rack, good for making bigger dish/steaming dumplings that I don't mind having water dropped on it.
Did some more research on carcinogens and soy sauce... it seems like the oyster sauce that I had used at home was ok. It was amongst the list that they re-tested and certified after the "incident"... several years ago.
Another success with banana bread. I put in some bran flakes this time, more stuffs to chew on.
Made another new dish, pan fried beef with onions and spring onions. I think I like making chinese dishes more now, esp if it has ginger in it. After staring at some steaming recipes... I went and got myself a bamboo steamer. I spent an hour washing it and another hr steaming it to get rid of the bamboo smell. I'm planning to make "Ma Lai Go" with it this coming weekend.
To get the steamer, I walked all the way to Big Crazy, SuperStore, S & N Supermarket, Zellers, and then finally I got it in CityFresh. Zellers had the best quality (all bamboo and no metal wiring), but it was a bit too small and $19.99. Big Crazy had the cheapest ($3.xx) and also more varieties... from tiny one to like 20-inch. But, it also had the crappiest quality (at least for the big one)... it looked like I made them. In the end, I settled for the $11.99 10" one (Zeller's one also claimed to be 10" but it looked like 8") in CityFresh. Its quality is not as good as the one in Zellers, it uses metal wiring... but at least the wiring looks sturdy.
I also got a 5" tall steam rack, good for making bigger dish/steaming dumplings that I don't mind having water dropped on it.
Did some more research on carcinogens and soy sauce... it seems like the oyster sauce that I had used at home was ok. It was amongst the list that they re-tested and certified after the "incident"... several years ago.
Another success with banana bread. I put in some bran flakes this time, more stuffs to chew on.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Very very busy weekend, washed my car, cleaned and changed water for my fish tank, and tried out some new recipe. Also made another loaf of banana bread.
Started the potato and chicken stew on Fri. The cutting and removing of the skin and fat (there were lots of fat in between the muscles) from the chicken took like 2 hours. The dicing of the shallots was very painful; my eyes were very sensitive and were having spasms. I started the dish around 8:30pm.... and didn't finish putting everything together till 10:30pm. By then I was too tired to finish cooking it, so I left it in the fridge to marinate overnight. More time in marinating couldn't hurt.
Cubed the potatoes and soak it in water
while cooking the chicken in the wok
covered it with water (should have used half the water than what I've put in)
took out the extra water and then add in potatoes and let it cooked a while
On Sun, made Thai Pineapple Rice. Bought 1.5lbs of shrimps this time. Took a while to devein and cleaned up the shrimps, but not as long as prepping the chicken.
Learned some new steps sequence/exercise in Thurs nite class. Leya was teaching us this time, not Kevin. It was 2 forward crossovers, bracket, step backwards, 1 backward crossover, and repeat.
I was better at it with my right foot than my left.
Started the potato and chicken stew on Fri. The cutting and removing of the skin and fat (there were lots of fat in between the muscles) from the chicken took like 2 hours. The dicing of the shallots was very painful; my eyes were very sensitive and were having spasms. I started the dish around 8:30pm.... and didn't finish putting everything together till 10:30pm. By then I was too tired to finish cooking it, so I left it in the fridge to marinate overnight. More time in marinating couldn't hurt.
Mixing the chicken with ginger, garlic, shallots, rose cooking wine, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, cornstarch, and tiny bit of oil, salt and sugar.
Cubed the potatoes and soak it in water
while cooking the chicken in the wok
covered it with water (should have used half the water than what I've put in)
took out the extra water and then add in potatoes and let it cooked a while
The banana bread turned out pretty good this time, even though I didn't measure the melted butter and just dumped the whole thing in... and then it looked like there wasn't enuf... so I added a spoonful of olive oil in.
On Sun, made Thai Pineapple Rice. Bought 1.5lbs of shrimps this time. Took a while to devein and cleaned up the shrimps, but not as long as prepping the chicken.
Learned some new steps sequence/exercise in Thurs nite class. Leya was teaching us this time, not Kevin. It was 2 forward crossovers, bracket, step backwards, 1 backward crossover, and repeat.
I was better at it with my right foot than my left.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sun Run
Participated in Sun Run.
Official result: 53:17, 5:20/km, Place: 5938
I swear the clock at the finish line said "10:31" when I ran to it, and my friend said we started at 9:45, her watch. Could be because we waited a bit over the start line b4 we actually started.... I think I could have done 52mins... or maybe even 51mins.
My right ankle/arch started to hurt at about 7km and I had to run with the side of the right foot for about 1km... luckily it eased up and I was able to run normally in the last 2 km. If it wasn't for my misaligned right foot, I could have finished it in 50mins I think.
Sadly, eventhough we had a good team this year (2 of us finished 4Xmins, many around an hr or just under or just over....)... we couldn't find our team coporate results... maybe because we didn't have enuf ppl, it was just 9 of us.
Made banana bread again on Sat, hoping to have some of it on Sun after the Run... but sadly it's already all gone by the time I got home.
Found wholewheat goat cheese ravioli in SaveOn while getting the on-sale halibut steak. The ravioli was very very good. Somehow only the one on No.3 has it, not the one in IronWood.
Was going to make curry chicken on Sun but legs aching too much... couldn't stand for too long at a time. Somehow managed to do a light vacuuming around the kitchen and cooked the halibut for dinner. Having some fish is good and probably worth the $ 6.xx.... I'm getting very sick of ground meat.
Official result: 53:17, 5:20/km, Place: 5938
I swear the clock at the finish line said "10:31" when I ran to it, and my friend said we started at 9:45, her watch. Could be because we waited a bit over the start line b4 we actually started.... I think I could have done 52mins... or maybe even 51mins.
My right ankle/arch started to hurt at about 7km and I had to run with the side of the right foot for about 1km... luckily it eased up and I was able to run normally in the last 2 km. If it wasn't for my misaligned right foot, I could have finished it in 50mins I think.
Sadly, eventhough we had a good team this year (2 of us finished 4Xmins, many around an hr or just under or just over....)... we couldn't find our team coporate results... maybe because we didn't have enuf ppl, it was just 9 of us.
Made banana bread again on Sat, hoping to have some of it on Sun after the Run... but sadly it's already all gone by the time I got home.
Found wholewheat goat cheese ravioli in SaveOn while getting the on-sale halibut steak. The ravioli was very very good. Somehow only the one on No.3 has it, not the one in IronWood.
Was going to make curry chicken on Sun but legs aching too much... couldn't stand for too long at a time. Somehow managed to do a light vacuuming around the kitchen and cooked the halibut for dinner. Having some fish is good and probably worth the $ 6.xx.... I'm getting very sick of ground meat.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Very nice long weekend
4 days off!! Such a treat.
Had 2 family easter meals.
Saw "Knowing". It's much better than "Next".
Easter egg hunt ended in fluff, got 2 sparkly eggs... not too bad.
Couldn't claim the ultimate prize, about 2 sparkly eggs short and almost 200 points....oh well
Made Banana bread again, used original ingredients from recipe. It turned out good this time. Wonder if I should make it again this weekend since the other bananas r starting to have black speckles...but maybe it's smarter to let our body used up the calories from this batch first....
Also made Thai Pineapple Rice w/ store bought paste and my usual Shepherd's pie.
Weather is getting nicer these days, but didn't really make use of it... got a cold.... didn't run at all.
Had 2 family easter meals.
Saw "Knowing". It's much better than "Next".
Easter egg hunt ended in fluff, got 2 sparkly eggs... not too bad.
Couldn't claim the ultimate prize, about 2 sparkly eggs short and almost 200 points....oh well
Made Banana bread again, used original ingredients from recipe. It turned out good this time. Wonder if I should make it again this weekend since the other bananas r starting to have black speckles...but maybe it's smarter to let our body used up the calories from this batch first....
Also made Thai Pineapple Rice w/ store bought paste and my usual Shepherd's pie.
Weather is getting nicer these days, but didn't really make use of it... got a cold.... didn't run at all.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Spring is finally here
After weeks of rain and snow (can u believe it we have snow in spring!), good weather is finally here. Ran twice last week. I'm starting to regret that I'd joined Sun Run. It's been extremely hard to practice, my thighs r usually too sore from skating. Skating has been going good. I can finally do a corkscrew spin and I'm getting my camel spin back. I find that with the new skates it's much easier to balance on my left foot. However, I'm loosing my sit spin. I can still do it but just not as centered. Also, my waltz jump that I'm finally getting the hang of before spring break is completely gone. I could no longer feel the rise up the edge before I jump. My under-rotated double loop is still under-rotated, but at least it's an under-rotated double loop now and not an over-rotated single loop...hahaa. I swear a couple of times I was only one eighth of a revolution short.
Totally slacked off this weekend. Didn't cook any dinner ahead of time. I'm prepared to suffer during the week...
Cooked banana bread w/ barely riped banana. I couldn't find overly-riped banana anywhere and I didn't want to wait.... so.. in the end.... the banana bread tasted like flour-sugar bread. Also, for health reason, I used becel instead of unsalted butter and 50% wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour. Although it doesn't taste that good, I still managed to finish half of it in one day.
Totally slacked off this weekend. Didn't cook any dinner ahead of time. I'm prepared to suffer during the week...
Cooked banana bread w/ barely riped banana. I couldn't find overly-riped banana anywhere and I didn't want to wait.... so.. in the end.... the banana bread tasted like flour-sugar bread. Also, for health reason, I used becel instead of unsalted butter and 50% wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour. Although it doesn't taste that good, I still managed to finish half of it in one day.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Show
Participated in Wizard of Oz. I was Zeke, one of the farmhands, in ACT I. Was good for the first 2 shows, somehow fell twice in the 3rd for no reason. I wasn't even doing anything.... just mucking around the house and skating backwards.... somehow back of my right edge caught the ice. Hopefully... the spotlight was on Dorothy and Toto...
It was kinda fun moving the props around. It's like ok you move this while I do this and this go there and that go there... and "123, go!".
It was not fun for the late nite meeting... the one that started after 10pm, after the dress rehearsal and after the regular club meet.
Disorganized was an understatement. Most of us didn't know who's doing what and what props go where and when. They did have a sheet for the whole program, listing what props for what scene. But, we were in the back of the curtains most of the time during the dress rehearsal. So, no one understood what and when is "Emerald City" or when is "Winkies"... etc etc. Also, there were no diagram of which prop goes where.
In the 2nd show, while I was downstage doing the fog. One of the skaters complained that no one was helping her. I checked the program sheet and it did say getting VIPs' skateguards but no name was assigned to it... so no one did it. Since I was there, I took her skateguards for the 2nd and 3rd show. Donno how she managed in the 1st show. Hopefully, she didn't have to walk on her bare thousand-dollar blades on the concrete floor all the way from the back to the front.
I was assigned to get the lions (one of the canSkate groups) skateguards from stage left after doing the fog, but I went there (during 1st show) and there were no skate guards for me to pick up. So, I just totally ignored that part for the 2nd and 3rd show.
For the 1st show, I went there early for the director to show me how to use the fog machine. But, no one was assigned to setup the machines so they were not setup and so she couldn't show me. I asked around and heard that Victor was going to set them up... but later.... Kathy told me that Victor was not supposed to do that... that he was only bringing in the extension cords. In the end, Ryan set them up and showed me how to use it.
The last show was the most relaxing and while waiting backstage Kevin showed me how to do the loop, one of the figure moves. After 10 times, I'm still not getting it. That'd be one of my goals for this year or the next. I also asked Eric to show me, he did it a bit differently... but same idea.... and yup... still not getting it.
Because of the show, didn't get time to buy groceries or cook dinner early this week. Fortunately, John is away so it didnt matter. Did manage to do my laundry in between the 1st and 2nd show.
It was kinda fun moving the props around. It's like ok you move this while I do this and this go there and that go there... and "123, go!".
It was not fun for the late nite meeting... the one that started after 10pm, after the dress rehearsal and after the regular club meet.
Disorganized was an understatement. Most of us didn't know who's doing what and what props go where and when. They did have a sheet for the whole program, listing what props for what scene. But, we were in the back of the curtains most of the time during the dress rehearsal. So, no one understood what and when is "Emerald City" or when is "Winkies"... etc etc. Also, there were no diagram of which prop goes where.
In the 2nd show, while I was downstage doing the fog. One of the skaters complained that no one was helping her. I checked the program sheet and it did say getting VIPs' skateguards but no name was assigned to it... so no one did it. Since I was there, I took her skateguards for the 2nd and 3rd show. Donno how she managed in the 1st show. Hopefully, she didn't have to walk on her bare thousand-dollar blades on the concrete floor all the way from the back to the front.
I was assigned to get the lions (one of the canSkate groups) skateguards from stage left after doing the fog, but I went there (during 1st show) and there were no skate guards for me to pick up. So, I just totally ignored that part for the 2nd and 3rd show.
For the 1st show, I went there early for the director to show me how to use the fog machine. But, no one was assigned to setup the machines so they were not setup and so she couldn't show me. I asked around and heard that Victor was going to set them up... but later.... Kathy told me that Victor was not supposed to do that... that he was only bringing in the extension cords. In the end, Ryan set them up and showed me how to use it.
The last show was the most relaxing and while waiting backstage Kevin showed me how to do the loop, one of the figure moves. After 10 times, I'm still not getting it. That'd be one of my goals for this year or the next. I also asked Eric to show me, he did it a bit differently... but same idea.... and yup... still not getting it.
Because of the show, didn't get time to buy groceries or cook dinner early this week. Fortunately, John is away so it didnt matter. Did manage to do my laundry in between the 1st and 2nd show.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wizard of Oz
Got lots accomplished last week.
Did many loads of laundries, including my new and old bedding sets. Finally got to use the new set that I bought in boxing week :D!!! They're saying that there is formaldehyde in the wring-free (2 in 6) clothings and we must wash all clothings before wearing them. But I think wring-free or not, it's always a good idea to wash anything new before wearing them.
Cleaned the kitchen floor and half the hallway. Also, did the usual vacuuming.
Went to SuperStore on Sat and did all my shoppings. Made Chicken Korma with the Korma sauce from SaveOn. The Indian Butter Chicken sauce was better.
Went to Minoru b4 10:00am for the bi-anuual ice show after my 8am church. Turns out that I'm Zeke, not Hunk. It's very hard to hear the lines over the speakers. Hopefully the sound system will be better in the show as promised.
Made Shepherd's pie again on Sun after the rehearsal. This time I used the seasoning mix from Club House. It's pretty good, I think I'll get that again next time.
Unfortunately, didn't have enuf potatoes so I mixed the rest of the "stuffings" w/ whole grain spaghetti.
I'm now into organic food, after watching the documentary by CBC news. I'm gonna start buying organic veggies.
Also, bought a pyrex container for my lunch and another small casserole from Zellars...... I should stopped poisoning myself w/ the cheap plastic container.
Had the steak (topped with Club House gravy) that I bought from Superstore for dinner. It was better than I had expected. I guess a better steak is worth the price.
Finished "Dead as a Doornail", started "All Together Dead".
Did many loads of laundries, including my new and old bedding sets. Finally got to use the new set that I bought in boxing week :D!!! They're saying that there is formaldehyde in the wring-free (2 in 6) clothings and we must wash all clothings before wearing them. But I think wring-free or not, it's always a good idea to wash anything new before wearing them.
Cleaned the kitchen floor and half the hallway. Also, did the usual vacuuming.
Went to SuperStore on Sat and did all my shoppings. Made Chicken Korma with the Korma sauce from SaveOn. The Indian Butter Chicken sauce was better.
Went to Minoru b4 10:00am for the bi-anuual ice show after my 8am church. Turns out that I'm Zeke, not Hunk. It's very hard to hear the lines over the speakers. Hopefully the sound system will be better in the show as promised.
Made Shepherd's pie again on Sun after the rehearsal. This time I used the seasoning mix from Club House. It's pretty good, I think I'll get that again next time.
Unfortunately, didn't have enuf potatoes so I mixed the rest of the "stuffings" w/ whole grain spaghetti.
I'm now into organic food, after watching the documentary by CBC news. I'm gonna start buying organic veggies.
Also, bought a pyrex container for my lunch and another small casserole from Zellars...... I should stopped poisoning myself w/ the cheap plastic container.
Had the steak (topped with Club House gravy) that I bought from Superstore for dinner. It was better than I had expected. I guess a better steak is worth the price.
Finished "Dead as a Doornail", started "All Together Dead".
Monday, March 16, 2009
Yucky weekend. Weather is still very cold and wet. Had wet snow on Sun morning, didn't get to wash my car again. Did manage to go to SuperStore and CityFresh for grocery shopping, and cleaned the fish tank.
Made beef spaghetti w/ Italian sausage pasta sauce for Sun brunch and lunch.
For Sun and Monday dinner, made beef stew w/ the ClubHouse beef stew seasoning mix, stew beef from IGA, and vegetables from SuperStore (carrots, onions, and potatoes). It was ok. I actually prefer the flavour in the McCain's frozen beef stew package more, but it's only enuf for one meal and there's not that many beef pieces in it. I'll look for other brand's stew beef mix next time.
Saw Watchmen on Sat afternoon. The credits at the beginning was a bit too long and the pace a bit too slow. But other than that, it's quite good. It was very much different than X-Men and other super heroes movies.
Started rehearsal for the ice show during last week's class. It's quite messy. I'm still not 100% if I'm Hunk or Zeke. Karen said I'm probably Hunk... so I'm going to "remember" the lines for Hunk. Also, the CD that they gave us to listen to is not the same as the script. Maybe in the end... we'll just end up chasing Dorothy around and not do anything else. I'm starting to regret doing the show....so disorganized and what a waste of time ... not that I have a lot of time to do anything else already.
Spring break is here, no skating for me this week. Hopefully my boots won't be too stiff by the time of the rehearsal/show....
Made beef spaghetti w/ Italian sausage pasta sauce for Sun brunch and lunch.
For Sun and Monday dinner, made beef stew w/ the ClubHouse beef stew seasoning mix, stew beef from IGA, and vegetables from SuperStore (carrots, onions, and potatoes). It was ok. I actually prefer the flavour in the McCain's frozen beef stew package more, but it's only enuf for one meal and there's not that many beef pieces in it. I'll look for other brand's stew beef mix next time.
Saw Watchmen on Sat afternoon. The credits at the beginning was a bit too long and the pace a bit too slow. But other than that, it's quite good. It was very much different than X-Men and other super heroes movies.
Started rehearsal for the ice show during last week's class. It's quite messy. I'm still not 100% if I'm Hunk or Zeke. Karen said I'm probably Hunk... so I'm going to "remember" the lines for Hunk. Also, the CD that they gave us to listen to is not the same as the script. Maybe in the end... we'll just end up chasing Dorothy around and not do anything else. I'm starting to regret doing the show....so disorganized and what a waste of time ... not that I have a lot of time to do anything else already.
Spring break is here, no skating for me this week. Hopefully my boots won't be too stiff by the time of the rehearsal/show....
Monday, March 09, 2009
nice weekend
Had a pretty nice weekend aside from the fact that I'd no idea how to solve an issue at work on time.
Pre-ordered my skating club's iceshow DVD, $5 discount. Since I was near the library, I went by and checked out some more books. So far so good... no late fine to pay yet.
Ran on the track yesterday after church, about 11 laps! Improvement! Could be because of the fact that we're running later. Also, I changed my technique a bit. I tried to run more w/ my thighs than my lower legs, went easy on the ankles.
Also, very good timing for us. It started to snow just 2 hrs after or so !!
Made Butter Chicken w/ curry paste bought from Superstore. It was yummy. It said to use milk and fresh cream on the instructions, I used coconut cream instead. I think the trick to any curry recipe is coconut cream :D.
Made pasta on Sat, would have that for the rest of the week + the butter chicken leftover. I'm set for the week.
Next meals in line: stewed beef, shepherd's pie.
Pre-ordered my skating club's iceshow DVD, $5 discount. Since I was near the library, I went by and checked out some more books. So far so good... no late fine to pay yet.
Ran on the track yesterday after church, about 11 laps! Improvement! Could be because of the fact that we're running later. Also, I changed my technique a bit. I tried to run more w/ my thighs than my lower legs, went easy on the ankles.
Also, very good timing for us. It started to snow just 2 hrs after or so !!
Made Butter Chicken w/ curry paste bought from Superstore. It was yummy. It said to use milk and fresh cream on the instructions, I used coconut cream instead. I think the trick to any curry recipe is coconut cream :D.
Made pasta on Sat, would have that for the rest of the week + the butter chicken leftover. I'm set for the week.
Next meals in line: stewed beef, shepherd's pie.
Monday, March 02, 2009
another busy weekend
Was extremely busy last 2 weeks. Two consecutive teams needed support (and one needed feature "enhancement"), both w/ 1-week deadline. Worked close to 10hrs for 2 days at least. This time around we're required to record our OT..... hoping I can use them next mth.
Ran 11 laps, 5/6km @ the Minoru track. Thighs were protesting the next day... had a really hard time doing my Sun chore, 20mins to and from Superstore, cooked 1-week (and maybe more) meal, laundry, fish tank maintenance, and washed car. Also, on Sat, walked (20-25mins) to Library to return books and got more books. Thinking of giving up on "Swallowing Darkness", really couldn't get into it. Started "Narcissus in Chains". Although couldn't quite remember what happened in the prev 4 books, but it's still entertaining. I like the character I guess, her attitude.
Saw Slumdog Millionaire..... It's ok... not my fav.
Also logged into work and did a bit of work.... took a while to finally get some progress.
Ran 11 laps, 5/6km @ the Minoru track. Thighs were protesting the next day... had a really hard time doing my Sun chore, 20mins to and from Superstore, cooked 1-week (and maybe more) meal, laundry, fish tank maintenance, and washed car. Also, on Sat, walked (20-25mins) to Library to return books and got more books. Thinking of giving up on "Swallowing Darkness", really couldn't get into it. Started "Narcissus in Chains". Although couldn't quite remember what happened in the prev 4 books, but it's still entertaining. I like the character I guess, her attitude.
Saw Slumdog Millionaire..... It's ok... not my fav.
Also logged into work and did a bit of work.... took a while to finally get some progress.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Valentine's weekend
Had a very relaxing and lazy Sat.
The only thing we did outside was running on the track and had lunch at Shanghai River. My arch/ankle started to hurt just after about 7 laps.... sun run is like 20 laps.... not too sure if i'd be able to run the whole way this year.
Then, we stayed home the whole day. Watched "Zack and Miri", John's choice. It wasn't very good. I wanted to see "The day the earth stood still" but I don't think it's out on DVD yet.
Sun, went to church as usual. Then, went to parents home and cleaned my car and also the fish tank. It's about 3 hrs of work. Since there was enuf food in the fridge, I didn't need to cook again. So, logged into work and did a bit of work. Was thinking of going to the Oval, but too lazy to get out.... Donno y, these days I like to stay at home more than going out..... becoming a turtle.
The only thing we did outside was running on the track and had lunch at Shanghai River. My arch/ankle started to hurt just after about 7 laps.... sun run is like 20 laps.... not too sure if i'd be able to run the whole way this year.
Then, we stayed home the whole day. Watched "Zack and Miri", John's choice. It wasn't very good. I wanted to see "The day the earth stood still" but I don't think it's out on DVD yet.
Sun, went to church as usual. Then, went to parents home and cleaned my car and also the fish tank. It's about 3 hrs of work. Since there was enuf food in the fridge, I didn't need to cook again. So, logged into work and did a bit of work. Was thinking of going to the Oval, but too lazy to get out.... Donno y, these days I like to stay at home more than going out..... becoming a turtle.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Been extremely busy. Finally adjusted to vancouver time after >1 week.
Went to 4 Continents Championship @ Pacific Coliseum. Saw Yuna Kim Live!!!! It was so exciting! I had a very good seat, 2 sections away from the kiss and cry area and 11th row. Many of the skaters tend to do their jumps at the corner. I saw many flip and lutz right in front of me. All of the final group skaters were so very good. I've never seen skaters w/ that much speed and smoothness. You really can't get a sense of that on TV. Yuna by far had the best double axel, extremely good height. It was done right in front of me! Cynthia was very good also; clean short program and very good artistry.
Finished my John Saul books, started on my Laurel K. Hamilton book.... couldn't really get into it.... it's a bit much on the science fiction/fairy tale side....
Went to Terry Nova again. Didn't see the eagle this time, just some ducks and the same old heron.
Went to 4 Continents Championship @ Pacific Coliseum. Saw Yuna Kim Live!!!! It was so exciting! I had a very good seat, 2 sections away from the kiss and cry area and 11th row. Many of the skaters tend to do their jumps at the corner. I saw many flip and lutz right in front of me. All of the final group skaters were so very good. I've never seen skaters w/ that much speed and smoothness. You really can't get a sense of that on TV. Yuna by far had the best double axel, extremely good height. It was done right in front of me! Cynthia was very good also; clean short program and very good artistry.
Finished my John Saul books, started on my Laurel K. Hamilton book.... couldn't really get into it.... it's a bit much on the science fiction/fairy tale side....
Went to Terry Nova again. Didn't see the eagle this time, just some ducks and the same old heron.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
HK Trip
Went to HK for 2 weeks.
Been to the following places: HK Island, Macau, Kowloon, Ngong Ping, and Cheung Chau.
HK Island
Victoria Park (CNY fair), HK Park (Aviary, Greenhouse), HK Botanical and Zoological Garden, St. Joseph (accidentally went by my old church), Ocean Park (very cool aquarium and ice show), Pacific Place, TaiKoo Plaza (went there too early, nothing much opened, nothing much to see), Stanley Market, and the Peak
The owner of the stall told us that this is called "5 generations living in the same place"... we wonder y that's a good thing.....
Fisherman's Wharf, St. Paul and streets (bumped into a wine & car museum).
Took us almost an hr to realize that... that thing is just the top of a parkade...
St. Paul
Ocean Park
Weedy Seadragon
He says: "Look at my hair."
Opening of Ice Odessey
Kowloon
Kowloon Park, Festival Walk, Wetland Park
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Festival Walk
Wetland Park
Nature surrounded by buildings
Looking thru the telescope
This is not in wetland park. It's just in a restaurant that we walked by.
Shatin
Bo Fuk Cemetary
10 thousand Buddhas Monastery
a long walk up
More walking to the temple next door
Cheung Chau
we went for a hike.
There are many interesting rocks on Cheung Chau.
ahhhhh so cute
Going back to the big dock
Been to the following places: HK Island, Macau, Kowloon, Ngong Ping, and Cheung Chau.
HK Island
Victoria Park (CNY fair), HK Park (Aviary, Greenhouse), HK Botanical and Zoological Garden, St. Joseph (accidentally went by my old church), Ocean Park (very cool aquarium and ice show), Pacific Place, TaiKoo Plaza (went there too early, nothing much opened, nothing much to see), Stanley Market, and the Peak
CNY Fair
The owner of the stall told us that this is called "5 generations living in the same place"... we wonder y that's a good thing.....
HK Park
HK Botanical and Zoological Garden
Ruffed Lemur
Golden Lion Tamarin
Nepenthes sp.
Pacific Place
they were rehearsing
Unlike Paris, no one said "Na pa de photo".
The Peak
"Attacked" by students.
Stanley
Macau
HK Botanical and Zoological Garden
Ruffed Lemur
Golden Lion Tamarin
Nepenthes sp.Pacific Place
they were rehearsing
Unlike Paris, no one said "Na pa de photo".
The Peak
"Attacked" by students.
Stanley
Fisherman's Wharf, St. Paul and streets (bumped into a wine & car museum).
Fisherman's Wharf
Took us almost an hr to realize that... that thing is just the top of a parkade...St. Paul
Wynn Hotel
Ocean Park
Weedy Seadragon
He says: "Look at my hair."
Opening of Ice Odessey
Kowloon
Kowloon Park, Festival Walk, Wetland Park
Kowloon Park
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Festival Walk
Wetland Park
Nature surrounded by buildings
Looking thru the telescope
This is not in wetland park. It's just in a restaurant that we walked by.
Ngong Ping
Ngong Ping 360
Ngong Ping 360
Bo Fuk Cemetary
10 thousand Buddhas Monastery
Bo Fuk Cemetary
10 thousand Buddhas Monastery
a long walk up
More walking to the temple next door
Cheung Chau
we went for a hike.
There are many interesting rocks on Cheung Chau.
ahhhhh so cute
Going back to the big dock
Fireworks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)