Bday’s cheat day with bestie!!!

Today was a long over due date with my best friend, Shelley!!! The reason I've alluded the post to birthday's is because we were technically celebrating (in person) her very over due birthday (back at the end of May) and my upcoming birthday (beginning of Sept)! Even though I had sent her a photo of the card I'd gotten for her, and then FINALLY sent it to her two weeks ago...at least we could celebrate in person!

While we spent three sweet hours together catching up in person (we'd actually spent a couple of minutes discussing when we had last physically seen each other...that would be December 21st at Fairview Mall where we had cinnamon buns for dessert!!!), hashing everything over a vegetarian wrap and a salmon and cream cheese bagel!

The best part was that even though we were becoming full, we ended up splitting up a Nutella waffle for dessert!!!

Even though we haven't caught up in person for some time, we've been very lucky to always remain in touch via text/WhatsApp messaging and phone calls.

Hopefully, we plan on not allowing this large amount of time passing again before catching up in person! It might be easier now that the my challenging year and half is coming to an end and she's getting into the groove with her new full time job and other part time past times.

WE SHALL SEE!!!

"So you’re a talking Pikachu with no memories, who’s addicted to caffeine?"

said by Tim

Just came back from seeing the fabulous Detective Pikachu with Louie! It's so good that I'm glad I actually caught it in theatres while it's still out. Definitely made my day! I would've gone so far to say week except I know that there's still more to the week to come... ;p

"Son of a b**ch… stole my line."

- Sean (Robin Williams) in "Good Will Hunting" (1997)

I miss seeing Robin Williams but gosh, I cannot believe it's been FIVE years since his passing!

I need a vacay from vacay (minor detail...). Point is, this weekend has been incredibly busy. Perhaps the point being trying to fit everything in before the long weekend partying. This will be detailed after the craziness to ensue... call it a 'hunch' ;p.

Mind you, this weekend's busyness isn't a bad thing. It's all actually been just enjoying the weather and partying with family. After all, Friday involved going to the woodbine racetrack and casino!

I KNOW...how long has it been since I've last been to woodbine?!?!? DECADES, at least!!! Gosh, the last time I can remember must have been at LEAST two decades ago. Back then, we would have gone as a family (myself, Ames, mom & dad) with Uncle Stephen, Auntie Winnie, Grace and Jules...and we'd watch the horse racing in the bleachers, where it could become terribly hot! BUT, at the same time, we'd have such wonderful times in a sense, betting (in our heads) which horse would win. And cheering/booing the outcome!

NOW, it has become quite classy. We didn't watch the horses race at the bleachers at all. THIS TIME we watched INSIDE, in such a lovely atmosphere. In fact, we literally dined while watching three races. We went for a nice promotion of a lobster dinner. The deal was that we could either have a steak/salmon/chicken & a lobster dinner. So while the horses were doing their racing bit, we enjoyed the show indoors in the best environment ever. We could either watch out the window OR via a television screen that was at EACH table.

After our dinner and 'show', we went to the casino section and because it was our first time at the casino (it's a new edition since when we were there last), we each had one of those free $5 card plays, which went uneventfully until the last game, where it worked in our favor! THEN, we called it a night, haha!

Yesterday was a quiet day where the 'event' was in the evening...after going to visit Ames and Trudeau in the early afternoon, we (the family) walked over to the Fairmont Royal York, to dine at REIGN, the newly renovated restaurant, where I had a lovely lemon thyme gnocchi (that included roasted mushrooms, smoked ricotta and heirloom tomatoes) meal. Dad had the aged tenderloin, mom the butter-roasted BC sablefish and Ames, the brown butter scallops. This was all finished off (for me & Ames) with a lemon poppyseed financier of lemon curd, olive oil cream and thyme!

I had originally anticipated a nice relaxing day of chilling at home in front of the television. HOWEVER, mom got the idea that the three of us should visit Unionville Main Street, after all, such a beautiful day. How could I say no? Once we got to main street, we discovered that there's a farmer's market (where we OBVIOUSLY had to check out) that had so much beautiful vegetables, cakes, fish etc! After getting our fill of what we wanted, we had lunch at Next Door Restaurant. Here, I had the Okonomiyaki Cheeseburger, Japanese pancakes with a 6oz grilled beef patty, mozzarella, iceberg lettuce, sunny side up egg, double smoked bacon, kewpie mayo, Japanese BBQ sauce, bonito flakes & nori. YES, I was able to finish the WHOLE thing!!! It was SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!! And SOOOOOOO FILLING....

Luckily, afterwards we walked it off checking out the entire main street (it's not too long), dad and I each had a scope of ice cream! His was chocolate something or another (mom wasn't all that pleased but whatevs), mine was a scope of black raspberry thunder, yum! (Did I not mention that I was full? Mind you, dessert always has an extra spot in my fullness...another minor detail that may/may not come back to bite me later on...we shall see.) As we were all full and tired afterwards, we've since gone home.

The most exciting discovery while we were on main street was that there will be a GILMORE GIRLS FESTIVAL taking place on Octover 4-6. Why? What kind of blows my mind is because the actual pilot was filmed on this main street! Apparently Scott Patterson (Luke Danes) will be in attendance!!! WHAT?!?!?!?

Ok, not just him. The town troubadour Grant Lee Philips, Miss Patty (Liz Torres), Caesar (Aris Alvarado), Brian (John Cabrera), Madeline (Shelly Cole), Olivia (Tana Shrick), Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda) and writers, producers and costume designers that will be also attending this event. This is all nice to know! :)

What's so incredibly crazy and thrilling is the fact that even though this show ran from October 5, 2000 to May 15, 2007, 12 years later, it's still so enduring! Honestly, THIS has made my day!

My last comment may be incorrect *wink wink* but this will be to be determined, hopefully in the near future! But until then, looking forward to the upcoming long weekend! :P

A tease...to myself...

I'm still binge watching Jerry Seinfeld's 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' on Netflix.

Just finished the 20 episodes in 'First Cup' and even though I'm thoroughly enjoying each episode with car information and comedian interaction...I keep telling myself I'm mostly watching the show for the interaction...ALTHOUGH I am also at the same time telling myself that I should just ride out the whole premise of watching the pouring and drinking of coffee in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE...mind you, I find it so interesting that even though Jerry and the comedians are enjoying such exquisite food choices in each episode as well...it's the drinking of the coffee that puts me over the edge each time.

However...I will not stop watching these episodes for the time being.

M.Y. B.A.D.... shrugs

Leo celebration

This weekend included celebrating Ames' birthday!

We had gone to visit her Saturday afternoon and for dinner, celebrated at 'Spring Sushi' on the 5th floor of the N/E corner of Dundas and Yonge St. An interesting point that was noted...even though it's put as an 'all you can eat' sushi price, they sneak in other additional prices if you're not quick to notice the price difference in the menu. SNEAKY... Which leads me to this review...if not for the pretty skyline on a nice sunset, I've decided that even though the food is the normal type of sushi that you get at a sushi place, it's not some place to be recommended nor where I would gravitate toward again.

Sunday was my lazy (except for a hardcore gym workout) day where I had a late lunch with Louie at Fortune Stone Restaurant (NW corner of Warden and Steeles), having a Portuguese chicken meal, Louie a club sandwich, and then we split a French toast for dessert. Afterwards we had tofu drinks at zenQ (NW corner of Steelcase Rd W and Woodbine Ave). Totally my first time trying this out and I went for the sweet potato tofu drink while Louie went for a grass jelly tofu drink. I enjoy trying new things and so far, as long as I've known Louie, he's been introducing me to a lot different types of foods and drinks. I LIKE!

Tdot's brought one back!!!

After spending nearly 6 years in Seattle (I'm not going to lie, I only remember her location due to the fact that grey's anatomy was based there...;)), I've learnt earlier today that my good friend, Mich, will be coming back to the Tdot in another two months!!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! :) I've missed this friend interaction soooooooooo much!!!!!

Considering our history...we had first met in Tokyo, Japan back in the mid-2000's...I'm going to say 2004/5?...when I was visiting Liz, who was teaching English in Osaka, and she had come on this trip to Japan with her then new bf (and my friend), Christian.

After our great experience in Japan, we continued our friendship within the CS (comp sci) group, what both she and Christian were studying at U of T. We discovered that we both liked to listen to music and eat out with the group of CS friends (back then, I was the social butterfly back at SMCSU and we had shared friends from CSSU). This led to us sharing great times going to the TSO (Toronto Symphony Orchestra) on the cheap TSOUNDCHECK tickets, scoring symphony tickets for as low as $19, an exclusive program for people ages 15 to 35.

Either way, even though we haven't seen each other as much since she's been away, I cannot wait to reconnect and hear how the train ride in to the Tdot was when she's back in October!!!

Binge watching shows...

Is pretty much the only thing I can do at this moment.

Especially as I cannot be working (or maybe I could if I still was? Perhaps...), volunteering, just waiting for a phone call for this over extended appointment that I've been waiting for over half a year now.

Therefore, I've been binge watching many television shows that I've taped or catching on Netflix including (but not only): - Elementary (disclaimer: I just saw the last episode of the series, it was a good wrap up!; - Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee; - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction; - You; - Lee Daniels' Star; - When They See Us; - Oprah Winfrey Presents When They See Us Now; - many stand up comedy acts on Netflix;

As well as still wanting to start watching The Umbrella Academy and finishing watching Designated Survivor and Lucifer (now that the shows have been canceled and on Netflix)

You would think I'm thrilled to just be watching tv...but I find myself falling asleep (thus needing to re-watch once I've woken up) or needing something to keep me occupied on the show (I mostly miss when I used to do my work and watch shows at the same time...I call THIS multi-tasking at my best...details...)

That is all for now...

8, not for me...

For people of Asian descent, the number 8 is regarded as the luckiest number in Chinese culture. Apparently, with pronunciation of 'Ba' in Chinese, number 8 sounds similar to the word 'Fa', which means to make a fortune. As it contains meanings of prosperity, success and high social status, Asians (like myself) favor this number.

Therefore, today hypothetically, was the perfect day for me, except that it was not meant to be...

Due to a previous situation, I was pushed back to another day yet to be determined.

Too bad, so sad...C'est pas pour moi, quel dommage.

Getting ready for it...

Highlights after spending the long weekend in Buffalo and Niagara Falls include dining at Cora's and Canyon Creek (yum to ravioli!) and seeing Toy Story 4 (after missing 2 & 3, it wasn't difficult to fall back in with 4...especially with Duke Caboom, Keanu Reeves!).

Back in the Tdot, I've had an exception dinner with Louie at Petit Potato (you've got to love the French name that's run by Asians!) and gotten a haircut at Pac mall before my D-day occurring tomorrow morning...I've been asked how I'm feeling about it but honestly, I'm very nonchalant about the entire process. It definitely helps that I'll be out the entire time as well as the fact that this is sadly, nothing new for me.

C'est la vie...

The art of disclosure

In a sense, this blog is a type of disclosure, the action of making new or secret information known as even though I am pretty much an open book in person...I find that sometimes when I write things down, I can organize my thoughts more into a coherent sense. Also, in normal conversation with people, it's a natural ebb and flow conversing on topics but here, I direct the reader in where my mind is going!

One of my favourite subjects to disclose about is food!!! I went to Tuesday dinner with Louie although the vegetarian restaurant we wanted to try out, Blossom Vegetarian didn't open at the time it was listed as opening at. PLUS, after hanging around for about 10 mins, we decided that even if it HAD as we were the only two customers, it didn't feel worth it. We ended up going to Turtle Jacks, where I had a delicious French onion burger & fries combo while Louie had Honey garlic roasters (wings) that he studiously ate so well that I had finished my combo wayyyy before he finished (I was hungry).

As we had such an interesting dinner conversation that didn't feel like we had enough time to finish, we continued the conversation by having bubble waffles (Asian dessert). He had a strawberry Nutella waffle with a whisky cranberry orange green tea while I had a banana Nutella waffle with a handmade taro milk tea. It was all so delicious!!! HOWEVER, only after the fact, I realized that I had over eaten as after we had left and he'd driven me home, I made sure to stay up a little later (it was late but hey, I had no reason to worry about the time) to make sure the food was properly digested before going to sleep.

Yesterday, I had an out of the blue dinner date with Henry, Laurianna and one of their family members at sushiOne due to the fact that Henry and Laura wanted to catch up with me before my big 'date', to be disclosed by the end of this post. They had originally suggested meeting up for $1 oysters but in the end they had to abort due to the long wait time (surprised? not really). They went for the all you can eat dinner while I decided to go with the salmon sushi pizza. Normally, they don't allow one person from the party to not have the all you can eat dinner but luckily, due to the fact that it was a weekday evening with not too many people in the restaurant, it went off without a hitch! The restaurant was so nice that I actually got a free green tea ice cream for dessert out of it!

This morning, I went out with my rents to a Dim sum lunch at the relatively new Yanyu Chinese dining off of consumers rd. I'm not going to lie though, I find dim sum pretty similar at most places we go to so regardless of the fact that it was new, I didn't find the reso good enough to stand out and make me want to go back in the future.

Enough with the food disclosure for now, as I will continue with the backlash over The Bachelorette Finale 2019 (full disclosure, I normally don't watch any of the Bachelor shows as I have no interest in following a show where people are trying to find their mates...as I am in the exact same situation...I focus on myself first, why root for someone else? *minor detail*)...however, I'd been hearing about the fact that the guy that the most recent bachelorette had chosen had NOT DISCLOSED being in a relationship before going on the show. I applaud the fact that she broke off the engagement and it seems like she and the runner up may try again...off camera. But this is an example how not disclosing information can work negatively.

There ARE situations where disclosing can work positively but speaking out of experience, this is a very tricky subject. EVERY situation is different, there's absolutely no map book to help with this situation. Which brings me to the fact that I have been disclosing about my own health battle to people who I feel comfortable about sharing this information to (this is where Henry and Laura come in). Only my family, closest friends and people from my work know about this battle I have been fighting since after Faye's wedding last year. 15 months later, I'm now able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After next Thursday (note for Asians that this is August 8), this will hopefully be the end to another chapter in my book of life.

I'm most excited about having coffee again!!!

Hakuna matata!

Enjoyed a wonderful summer weekend spending Saturday visiting Ames, catching the newest rendition of 'The Lion King' at the theatre closest to her place. This was a really nice theatre where the seats could recline back so we watched the movie with much comfort! :) My review of the movie? I enjoyed the realness of the animals in the movie so much more than the Disney version! Plus it really helps knowing that Beyoncé is voicing 'Nala'!

Thanks to Wikipedia, "Hakuna matata" (pronounced [hɑˈkunɑ mɑˈtɑtɑ]) is a Swahili language phrase from East Africa, meaning "no trouble" or "no problems". (The word "hakuna" means "there is no/there are no", while "matata" means "troubles" or "problems".) This phrase is translated as "no worries".

After catching the movie, we tried to go to the 'Spaghetti Factory' but due to long wait times, we decided to go over to 'The Keg' where I had the delicious Keg burger with fries.

Sunday was spent going for a late catch up lunch at Ten Ren's Tea with Purple and Rebecca where we shared three different combo meals of pork cutlet, crispy chicken and beef ribs. The combos included sides, drinks and dessert.

It's always nice to catch up with past convexE2 coworkers, as I had such great times there when the company was still around. Even though the three of us had a great time eating, drinking tea and catching up, I hope that we can try to meet up again with more coworkers in the near future!

Being a flâneur

What a good way to learn about exploring Toronto through listening to a podcast. It's another way to learn about areas of our wonderful city!

Considering I was born and raised in Toronto, I find that too many people are stuck in their habits of simply going to work or school and then back home. We don't normally take the time to leave our routine and explore the many faceted areas of our very integrated city. There are actually so MANY different and wonderful parts of our city to explore on foot, literally right in our backyard! The best part of walking is that you don't need to rush around and can go at your own leisurely pace. (MY style ;p)

Toronto has some really nice areas to walk around in, I particularly like walking in the distillery district, st. Lawrence market and Kensington market areas to name a few. They're really good areas to get coffee and shop around in for little niks and naks.

You can listen to the Toronto Library Podcast called Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto here Focusing on being a flâneur and their love for walking around in the city of Toronto, this is a interesting talk between Toronto Star columnist Shawn Micallef and my SMCSU friend, wongie.

"The more I have walked, the more I have discovered that there's more to walk and understand." -Shawn Micallef, Toronto Star columnist and noted flâneur To listen to other different types of podcasts, you can check it out here.

This is one of the past-times that I love to do...walk! It's a really good stress reliever and type of exercise, just by being out and active.

Unsuccessful at multi-tasking

Note: please refer to my note on watching the Oscars from two posts back...I HAD finally finished re-watching the 2019 Oscars.

Kind of...I'm currently watching the Oscar after party while trying to blog at the same time. I say kind of because I know that I am the most horrible example of someone trying to do two things at the same time. Main point is that I CANNOT. The long and short of this point is that it takes an exceeding long time to finish this blog while I'm watching the after award-Governor's ball interviews with the happy actors.

Actually, what I've finally smartened up to doing is blogging during the commercial section (that I had been fast-forwarding) so that I can pay attention to this task...ish...

Considering I am taking advantage of the summer, weather and all, I've been pretty actively out and about this week. I started off the week with obtaining a new bank card (as I had seemed to have misplaced my debit card) after determining that it was me and not having had it stolen.

The rest of the week's events centered around eating out...a dinner with Louie, Tuesday evening at Donburi Japanese Restaurant...finishing off the lovely meal with a first time Toraro (rice milk tea - Louie's recommendation) at OneZo Tapioca. Dinner at Touhenboku Ramen Wednesday evening with Winnie, before attending her Eglinton-Yonge Toastmasters again because I enjoy the relatively smooth/flawless way the meeting commences (due to the fact this club has been in existence MUCH longer then my (MSIT) club. *minor detail that I actually have not attended my own club since the beginning of the year, even though I've paid for the year...*. Finished this week off with having Moto sushi lunch updates with Grace and Alice today.

This week also happened to be the same week that Jennifer Lopez celebrated her 50th birthday with Alex Rodriguez. Gosh, she does NOT look even close to this age. Just someone to look up to as a model for myself. hrm…

In closing, I've realized the biggest mistake I've made, ESPECIALLY as I'm multi-tasking...I shouldn't have made the decision to blog so late in the evening...when I'm at my most vulnerable time in terms of thinking...oops! Anyway, signing out for now. :)

The green-eyed monster...

is trying to claw out of me and I'm trying desperately not to let my imagination go wild.

I had recently been receiving alerts that a close university friend (whom I've since lost touch with) from mostly my first and second year has started a wedding and event consulting business.

What stings is the fact that in our past days on SMCSU (st. Michael's college student union), our roles were as the communications commissioner (her role) and officer (my role) and after we had graduated our under grad, one of my first steps was to study wedding planning. I ACTUALLY am a certified wedding planner....but this came to no use as I never did anything with this certificate. Although, this was a stepping stone...as it eventually led me into studying communications where I would have succeeded in my goal had life had not intervened with different plans. *minor detail*

So due to curiosity, I looked into her website and then looked into where she was in life...she's married to the guy she was dating back in university and has a child! ***disclaimer, THIS is where my green-eyed monster started to try to crawl out of me...it's sickening...

The long and short of this post is that even though I am so jealous that my girlfriend seems to have fulfilled a lot of what I may have secretly been trying to fulfil in life, I'm actually pretty proud of knowing that we had (mine have now veered onto a different path but this is besides the point) such similar goals in life. GREAT minds DO think alike!!! That we spent some fabulous times of our lives together and mainly that I can remember that time!

Even better is that I know that there's still more life in the future for me!

So THERE green-eyed monster!!! I HAVE overcome YOU.

THE END

Now moving on...

What an exhausting weekend....but it was a GOOD kind of exhaustion, the type where you have a really restful sleep thus waking up to a new day!

I spent both mornings with a really nice & long aerobic walk in the little stretch of park walkway through the neighborhood as the sun was rising. This is the best time in the morning because the sun hasn't fully come up so the air is still slightly cool enough to walk with a rain breaker (in case it is cool or has drops of rain) as the heat has yet to gain it's full strength (and it DID both days). I love waking up with the birds chirping and the squirrels fighting over food! My favorite routine is after my morning walk, I cool down with breakfast before showering and getting ready for the day.

Saturday was spent visiting my really good university friend, Alicia and family. I'd brought some really cute types of colorful pasta as a gift for their having me over. It was really nothing considering they had me over with a wide selection of food, including blueberry pancakes made from scratch! Sunday involved no less food as I had afternoon tea (it's been some time since I'd last had afternoon tea!) with two abbeyite friends, Fayewood and Romz at T-buds off of Yonge, between Wilson and Lawrence. This is why I maintain my exercise schedule...not to lose weight but really to MAINTAIN my weight!

Normally this is where I chime in that come tomorrow morning, I'd go to work to gain back a 'normal' schedule...I'm not worried though. I have plans for this upcoming week. We'll see how this goes...

Now I'm off to catch up on Oscars (yes, this was back in February...don't judge!) before I catch some zz's!

Ambitions

As I've been unemployed again for 3 weeks now, I've been taking the time to catch up on tv (note, it will never happen) and on the side I'd been re-reading my old posts. I've realized that my blog used to be a very good calendar-eske indication of what was happening in my life from back in the day.

Considering I like to write how I think (which to some may be considered garbage...lol), I appreciate my own writings as like a diary of some sort, keeping account of what was happening in life back in the day. As I've been reading my old blogs, I have been mentally patting myself on the back because I'd been in a sense helping myself keep track of life for over a decade.

Therefore, I've decided that I'm going to try to blog more regularly again, keeping account of what's been happening (well, other than my planner, which I've got like nearly a decade of those) and try to be more in depth and descriptive again. Who knows, I could be re-honing my writing skills again but in this sense, this is more like an online thought process into my mind/imagination. Again, it can be scary but I will try to keep it at bay (as duh, I recognize this IS online and ANYONE can come across this....especially if they know me...plus plenty of people used to know this existed. Just may or may not know it will be revived).

Besides, I LIKE reading my writings and remembering what's happened. Who knows, this could help in my memory in the future. But of course, this means I will need to go out of my way to post more regularly. We shall see how this goes...for now, I will get ready for the weekend!

We the North...

has become We the Champions!!!! Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors who have won their very first-ever NBA championship title as of June 13, 2019! They, the rogue team winning in the oracle arena, wow...good times to the Raptors!

When They See Us

I just finished watching the 4 part Netflix series 'When They See Us', directed by Ava DuVernay. Considering I never followed the story when it occurred (I was too young to have known about it); even though I know very little about Central Park Five case, I feel it's given me a better understanding of what happened back in 1989.

The acting was phenomenal and made me feel so bad about whatever sort of trauma that the kids went through. So many emotions went through me as I was watching it. Bravo to such a well told story of such a brutal event! It definitely puts a different perspective on how I view life, considering what others have gone through.

I plan on watching the special Oprah Winfrey Presents When They Se Us Now that's going to come out tomorrow.

A very well titled series: I (we) see you...

And the aftermath continues...

This one's from back in April 2013
We come into this world unknown But know that we are not alone They try and knock us down But change is coming, it's our time now
Hey… everybody loses it, Everybody wants to throw it all away sometimes And hey… yeah I know what you're going through Don't let it get the best of you, you'll make it out alive
We are all misfits living in a world on fire Sing it for the people like us, the people like us
Hey, this is not a funeral It's a revolution, after all your tears have turned to rage Just wait, everything will be okay Even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames
They can't do nothing to you, they can't do nothing to me This is the life that we choose, this is the life that we bleed So throw your fists in the air, come out, come out if you dare Tonight we're gonna change forever
People like us we've gotta stick together Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever Here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom
Kelly Clarkson - "People Like Us"

Another new year of 2013

so another year has begun... had a wonderful new year's in niagara falls...the best because I was able to watch all the festivities that was happening outside (in the cold) from the nice, warm and comfy environment of the television at the hotel I was staying in! Classes started this week and although it's nice to be back in the school environment (that our program just happened to start early), another part of me would have liked the break to be just a tad bit longer ...