Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Canada

Me & B at Kildonan Park where he used to play when he was a kid

Enjoying autumn at Kildonan

Kildonan Park

First meal in Canada - at Sammy J's with Oscar, Shannon and Chris Rollo
Chris picked us up from Vancouver airport as we had 6 hours to kill before the flight to Winnipeg...I tell you, travelling 30 hours is no joke

Oscar & Shannon

Chris Rollo and B - as goofy as ever


We have been in Canada since 15th October. Spent first 2 weeks in Winnipeg.... Brrr...Cooooooold!!! It snowed on the first week while we were there. SNOW! In autumn!

Me - At The Forks, Winnipeg in the snow after dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory with Barry, Alisa (B's sis) and Boycie (B's aunt).

Good thing weather warmed up from -6 deg C to about 10 deg C. So, had a not-too-bad last 3 days in Peg. So, am now in Vancouver with a slightly warmer temperature but oh! the rain! It can come as sudden as before you can say RAIN!

I am totally hamburger-ed out! Barry had this list of his comfort food places to go to in Winnipeg and Vancouver. And this is part of the list. I will add in when I remember more of them.

1. Salisbury House Nip (That's a burger - a yummy one with grilled onions)
2. Wendy's Triple Burger (We do not have Wendy's in Malaysia)
3. Junno's Burger (Junior's)
5. George's Burger - I had a Greek burger with a thick slice of feta
6. Homemade Burger
7. Slurpee (Apparently, Canadians swear by their Slurpee - and yes, it is different from those in Malaysia and the States)
8. Tim Horton's Boston Cream Doughnut (yummy)
9. Olive Garden's salads
10. All-you-can-eat sushi in Vancouver

So, it was big, bad food for me in Canada with exception of his stepmom's (Hilda) great roast chicken, roast pork, salad at Mona Lisa and my own cooking (yes, I cooked on 3 occasion for his family). Love Hilda's moist carrot cake made with carrots from his dad's garden and pineapple tidbits topped with cream cheese frosting.

I discovered that I prefer Quiznos to Subway - love their new Prime Rib Garlic subs! And the pickled peppers.... all you can eat peppers!

Canada is truly beautiful (we did miss the autumny colours of the leaves though by a week - trees, except those evergreens, are as bald as B when we arrived) - fresh, crisp air - am glad to be out of the haze in Malaysia. Took many pictures at Kildonan Park in Winnipeg. Should be heading out to Stanley Park in Vancouver soon.

Homes across Kildonan Park

The outdoors is lovely...Ahhh...fresh air! And sky is always blue and cloudless or near cloudless - ducks in the rivers too - Kildonan Park

Squirrel on the tree in Kildonan - they are everywhere! And, I saw rabbits at the backyard of Jerry's (B's dad) home

B & I at Kildonan

Homes here are awesome!! With nice, cosy, liveable basements. We stayed at Barry's dad's. Met up with the family - even went to an unveiling - visited Liam and Lana - they have a cool pad now with a plasma tv and leather couches - AWESOME! Liam got himself a snazzy new Honda Civic in black.

Me, Jerry, Barry at the kitchen area

Me, with Dylan, Shayna and Tyler (B's nephews and niece)

Arlene (B's sis; also Shayna's mom with their cat Tisha)

B and his friends from school and their wives at Earl's - Left to Right : Frank R, Frank C, Tracy, Darren, B, Dina, Eddy, Rina.

Me with Liam & Lana at Earl's - chicken wings here are the yummiest EVER! And so many flavours to choose from! And criteria to be a waitress at Earl's : waist must not be bigger than 25inches..LOL! Just kidding but you get what I mean.

Jerry's home.


B & I - At the front of Jerry's home

A street in Winnipeg - Quiet, laidback, relaxing....

We also went to this mansion owned by John, Boycie's friend - every room (including toilets) is covered wall-to-wall with paintings - John has like 4 Rolls Royces, 800 over violins, 2 grand pianos AND more toilet rolls, Kleenex and soaps than Safeway!

And.....I went to a Bombers' football game at CanadInns Stadium courtesy of Jerry. He has the best seats in the stadium. Winnipeg Bombers were playing against Calgary and won! Woohoo! Mind you, it was an open stadium. So, I had on lots of layers including thermals and a sweatshirt followed by parka with a hood - a red parka. Mittens on my hands. Hotshots in my shoes and the mittens. Seriously, I felt like a giant red ant. By the end of the 3-hour game, I could hardly speak as my face was frozen from the cold air from the North Pole.

The Blue Bombers...our seats were just behind them - check out those butts!

B & I - we were in Smoochie Cam too! Videod by TSN...Haha! Kinda funny thinking about it....

We also went to the casino but just for dinner with a couple who are close old friends of Jerry and Hilda before we head to Vancouver.

B's Vancouver budz - Mike, his wife Julie with baby Taylor (all the way from Salem, Washington to get B's Landcruiser across the border for restoration), B, Al, Mel and Daven.


Me and Taylor - a great baby - just 6 months - she was all smiley and laughing and cooing the 2 days I saw her - totally adorable with long curly lashes

Taylor and mom Julie

B and his Landcruiser and Mike

Landcruiser on the trailer finally all ready for the United States of America - I missed going to the outlets in States as we crossed the US border at 6pm - had some difficulties with getting the truck onto the trailer (couldn't find keys to the steering wheel)

Another bad but yummy dinner tonight at Milestones.... Food is great but best to ask them to reduce salt - super super salty


Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip - simply out-of-this-world with crispy red tortilla chips (below)


"Thai-style" Drummets with sauce - interesting flavour - am more of a wing fan

My main - Lamb with Portobello Shrooms and Sundried tomatoes and Mashed Potatoes - I had to doggie bag one of the lamb pieces

The boys' burger and curly fries - you can ask for their signature watercress dip for the fries, add quatro formaggio, shrooms, bacon etc etc....makes me fat just looking at it....

Hope to post more soon on Canada....... especially the sights... food here is not really my style...

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Hurrah! Holiday time is here!

Leaving for Canada on 15 Oct 2006 for 3 weeks followed by 2 days meeting in Singapore. Back 8 Nov 2006.

My Own Little Earring Stand!!!!

Sunny and Irene came by today and look at what they have brought along!!! An earring stand!Been wanting this since mid-year.... it's the most amazing thing to own if you have loads of earrings!


Disorganization drives me mental and this baby organizes. It's also a beauty on the dressing table. It's made of bronze-y metal (not sure the exact alloy though) and design ischarmingly simple....simply charming.

Holds up to 128 pairs of earrings!

No excuse not to rotate them earrings!

Great excuse to buy more earrings!

Now, I do not have to go through all my jewellery boxes to find the right pair of earrings. Perfect when in a rush. Love it!

Thanks heaps, guys!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Singapore 8-9 October 2006

I had been running around like a headless chicken.... Budget meeting is finally over... the major deals have been closed and claims tabulated and submitted. Am now working for final quarter of 2007 and Year 2008.

Best of all, I am going for a much needed holiday!

Anyway, a glimpse of what I had in Singapore other than champagne at Swissotel's bar on 70th Floor...

Not all pictures turned out well as I had to hurry... not easy to snap picture of food at biz functions.... and I certainly missed out on a alot of picture-taking opportunities.

So, after fine drinking at Swissotel, we went to the upclass hawker centre, Newton Circus....

Dinner spread at Newton Circus - mainly for the gwailos' sake - you can tell that we are actually not that refined from the mess made...When in hawker centre.....LOL!
Chilli Crabs - personally, I prefer black pepper crabs - and must be female crabs with roe - cholesterol is good sometimes.

Lunch the next day was at Straits Kitchen, Grand Hyatt where we stayed and had our 2-day meeting. So spoilt for choice as it was a buffet. The typical Nyonya fare but very delicious - love the roast duck, spring rolls made fresh, gado-gado, acar, arrowroot soup, the sweets and lots more..... and fruit juices made there and then....

Dinner the next day was at Min Jiang Chinese Restaurant at Goodwood Park. I committed multiple sins at one sitting ...Read on and you will know what I mean...

We had Lobster Sashimi (with wasabi and soya sauce of course!) as starter followed by Buddha/Monk Jump over the Wall.

2nd Bowl of Budhha/Monk Jump over the Wall (Mushroom, Sea cucumber, scallops while the first bowl was mainly sharksfin). Goes well with dark vinegar...
Third serving of Buddha/Monk Jump over the Wall - abalone

Suckling Pig with Foie Gras on Man Tou

It was followed by a fish dish and a bowl of porridge flavoured with shells of the 2 lobsters we devoured raw as appetiser. By now, the gwailo bosses were full from liquid (2 bowls from the Buddha/Monk Jump over the Wall course and a bowl of porridge). I loved the soups and porridge though.

Dessert - Steamed Bird's Nest and Hasma in Almond Milk - I like Birds' nest and Hasma but I don't like the smell and taste of almond milk. I finished it anyways as not to waste. It's good for the skin...yea, I am sucker..anything to make me look good...

More dessert - Lotus paste sweets - by this round, everybody's tummy was full to the brim, so lots left.... on top of this, we had ice-cream cake to celebrate >10th anniversary of a colleague and 2 agents with the company...The colleague got a spanking new diamond encrusted Tag Heuer watch... I have to wait at least 7 more years.... hopefully, they still maintain this practice......