noël in focus

Christmas is one of my most favourite times in the year. What I love most is spending time with my family and friends (the presents and all the eating are just bonuses). As a child, Christmas was always a busy time with many dinners and parties. It's odd, though, that if asked what I remembered most about Christmas during my childhood, memories of quiet Christmas nights spent staring at Christmas lights conjure up in my mind. I have vivid memories of me lying on the sofa in my living room by myself just staring at the changing lights on the Christmas tree. I always had this feeling that I could never quite put my finger on that popped up when I revisited that memory. Maybe it was happiness or maybe I was just sleepy and a bit delirious from all the eating. I still have trouble describing it with words, but I get it every Christmas.

I was an odd little one.

May your Christmas be merry and focused on the people and things that matter most!

(Unlike the picture Nathan took of me that focused on the ornament. Maybe he's hinting something at me...)

back in my own bed

I'm back from cruising with a million photos to go through and what I believe to be a very slight tan! Due to the sheer volume of pictures my brother and I snapped, I will probably have to dissect my cruise into bits and pieces to avoid photo overload. And seeing as how I am entering Christmas mode, my vacation updates will have to wait until the new year (since documenting Christmas festivities is a priority in my little snow globe world). Speaking of snow, where is it? I am disappointed Toronto...

note: we didn't cruise with Disney, though I wish I did...

à bientôt

 I am off to find sunshine and seashells and to eat until my belly can expand no more!

I hope that Toronto will be covered in a nice fluffy blanket of snow when I'm back

(none of that dirty slush nonsense)

:)

macarons and wine

macarons. macarons. blurry face. burgers at earls.

queen, men and strikers

I would like to think that I'm a good carrom player, but to be honest, I have absolutely no aim. I've played only one other time in my life and although I won both times, it was always by default. All those years spent learning geometry and physics and science-y things was for moot. If only my teachers stressed the importance of angles and forces in high school. If only they warned me about how useful and relevant these things would turn out to be in my life. I would be living a glamourous life as a professional carrom player right now. But instead, I have to find happiness in a simple life where playing a board game is exciting enough to warrant a blog post...

 Maybe it was a good thing I was never very studious in high school.

little dates

Although it's fun to dress up once in awhile, in my books, simple dates that don't require nice hair and makeup are the best. Nathan has learned that the way to my heart is through my stomach which is why most, if not all, of our dates revolve around food and usually in casual little places. This time he took me to one of my go-to restaurants when I'm in the mood for something warm that does not require a lot of chewing: Sogong-Dong Tofu House. Since I've only ever had sundubu jjigae (or "soon tofu" as I like to call it) at this one place, I really don't know if what I'm eating is actually good. But my taste buds seem to like it so why mess with a good thing, right? Sometimes it's best to leave these kinds of things alone. Finding the best of something out there will just make everything else dull in comparison. It's just like how my taste buds for sushi evolved. Now I can't eat a.y.c.e sushi at my local Japanese dive without a bit of a snooty attitude. Although, sometimes I do appreciate the sub-standard sushi, for nostalgia's sake.

what's in the pot?

One of my most favourite things to do on a cold night is to gather around a table and have hot pot. Although I enjoy my big pot of boiling food all year around, it really hits the spot when the weather is starting to get colder. Which is why my aunt invited us over for an impromptu hot pot night at her place last weekend. For a last minute gathering, we sure had a great menu full of fresh seafood from a shady little seafood market (one of those hole in the wall type of places).

 

1  a very sad looking crab blowing bubbles (I try not to look at them because I love eating them so much)
2  a very rude looking clam (the geoduck) 
3  regular looking clams
4  3 lobsters that I forgot to take a picture of before they got chopped up

My belly was stuffed by the end of the night.

p.s I apologize for the graininess of my point & shoot

giant reindeers and holiday treats

photo credit goes to LilliChantilly who, thankfully, brought her point & shoot with her that day

 I love it when the malls start playing holiday music and everything is lit up and decorated like a giant Christmas tree! What gets me even more into the festive spirit is sipping on a hot drink in the middle of it all with a girlfriend who shares the same feeling. Christmas is definitely one of those holidays that just makes me feel happy for no good reason at all - which, in my opinion, is the best kind of happy.

I realize that it might've been a tad early to do a Christmas post, but in my defence, December is only a few days away!

Which makes it okay.


I think.

little surprises

November has been filled with little surprises from all directions. First, my aunt decided to buy me my long sought after perfume that finally went on sale. Then Nathan surprised me with a mini care package and a slice of my favourite cake when I was feeling under the weather. All this combined with a lot of Christmas shopping (yes, I've already started...) is turning November into quite a therapeutic month - of the retail variety!

Happy retail therapy-ing everyone!

taco night

In order to help Nathan finish up the giant batch of pulled pork he made, he decided to have a pulled pork taco night at his place. This gave me the perfect opportunity to test out a new lens that my brother got. It was a bit tricky because it has a fixed focal length, but it was fun to use despite having to physically zoom into my subjects. After stuffing our bellies, we played some Mario Olympics on the Wii to work off all the pork and had ourselves a grand ol' (competitive) time!

my beautiful human model

my delicious food model

jump

Ever feel like just jumping around the house for no reason at all?

It's been one of those kinds of mornings for me.

I better go to a yoga class to calm myself down.

just can't get enough

Ever since I ate my first batch of toasted pumpkin seeds (from my pumpkin carving night), I just can't seem to get enough of these crunchy treats. Due to laziness, I resorted to buying the packaged stuff that's already toasted and salted, but it's just not the same. It's probably because I like mine slightly burnt which actually gives the seeds a mild popcorn flavour. I actually contemplated throwing the packaged seeds on a pan and toasting them again...

I've decided that I'm one of those people who will obsess over one thing for a short, but intense, period of time. But who will also get sick of said obsession quickly and move on to the next thing. Maybe I should exercise some self control so that I can enjoy the things I like for a little longer (like  pumpkin seeds). It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure one day I'll be able to do it...maybe.

wine, rings and kisses

Having been a bridesmaid twice, I quickly learned to appreciate being simply a guest and spectator at a wedding. You are able to take your time to fully take in all that's happening around you and just enjoy your time at the party. It also gives you time to perfect the arm pose that gives your arms a slimmer appearance (refer to photo below). Fall weddings also have an added advantage (aside from the colourful backdrop in all the photos) of having chilly weather that prevents makeup from melting off your face.

The actual wedding ceremony took place at the Cave Spring vineyard near Beamsville and the reception and dinner took place at Inn on the Twenty Restaurant which was conveniently located right beside the Cave Spring retail store (where we took part in a small wine tour). For dinner, I had chosen the stuffed hen which turned out to be the better choice since Nathan had a pretty rough time chewing through a very well done piece of steak. As for my drink, I had opted to go non-alcoholic and settled for a tasty shirley temple. Nathan noted that I started a shirley temple craze at the wedding (partly due to all the pregnant women present). Everyone kept coming up to me asking what I ordered and the next thing I know, every other person was holding the little pink drink in their hands. I'm sure the bartender hated me by the end of the night...

Food and drink aside, it was a very small and intimate wedding which is just the way I like it. Coming from a family where emotions are rarely expressed (either through words or actions), it took a little getting used to as my cousins took their turns saying their speeches. I'm pretty sure everyone teared up a little and felt the warm fuzzies by the end of the night.

all smiles 
♥

The last wedding of 2011 is officially over which means that I don't have to feel bad for eating all the Halloween chocolates by myself.

my favourite old grump in the world

too excited to pay attention to me

It's been raining cats and dogs in Toronto lately so when the sun finally came out to say hello again, I grabbed Yoshi's leash and explored the newly paved paths in our neighbourhood. Since this was all new territory, Yoshi spent a lot of time smelling new trees and plants along the way. He also discovered the joys of running through piles of leaves (sorry, neighbours!) while dragging me along behind him. Sometimes I feel like he's walking me instead of the other way around.

boo!

Ever since I was little, I have always loved Halloween. You get to dress up, eat free candy and chocolates and sometimes, if you're brave enough, you can even walk through a haunted house! I'll be honest and admit that I only stopped trick-or-treating after second year university (I was always in costume too!). Since then, I've stopped taking candy and have been giving back by spoiling all the kids who ring our doorbell with handfuls of the good stuff. Partly because I owe it to my neighbours, but also because the kids who trick-or-treat are dwindling in numbers and I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm left alone with boxes of chocolates.

Aside from the costumes and candy, when I think of Halloween, I think of a big orange pumpkin. This year was the third year I hosted a pumpkin carving competition at my house and I was determined to win, so much so that I rigged the scoring card so that my biggest competitor would be at an obvious disadvantage. I decided to go for a more unconventional design, hoping to score some creativity points. It was a crude replica of a painting by Edvard Munch entitled The Scream. I think I was a little too ambitious this year. Next year I will probably pick something that is a little less detailed so that I don't give up half way through. In the end, I didn't following the points on the rigged score card due to my conscience...okay, the real reason is because the prize was comprised of candies, chocolates and cookies that I couldn't afford to eat due to an upcoming wedding and a dress I had purchased one half size too snug. After the fair version of judging, I came in second with only three points less than the winner! Next year will be the year...

enjoy acting like a kid again and stuffing your bellies with sweets without feeling guilty
have a happy halloween everyone!

taste buds on fire

Nathan has trouble focusing with my camera 

Two years ago, my taste buds died at Anjappar Chettinad, an Indian restaurant, in my attempt to train them to withstand more heat. It was so spicy that it didn't just burn my entire mouth, but also my lips until they were slightly numb. Luckily all that pain was not for moot!  I noticed that after that night, I was able to eat spicy foods that I normally wouldn't be able to handle. Unfortunately, since then I haven't had a chance to regularly maintain my spice tolerance simply because I'm not normally drawn towards eating spicy things (I'm a bit of a bland girl).

For some reason though, I had a huge craving for Hakka food last week. I've never really had Hakka food before, but Nathan made it sound so tasty that eventually I started wanting it as well (Nathan always says that I am very easily influenced). We had a couple places that we wanted to try together: Frederic's and China Cottage. We ended up at China Cottage because it was a bit closer and there was word along the grapevine that this place might actually be better.

We ordered one non-spicy item (a vegetable fried rice) and one spicy item (manchurian beef). First off, the fried rice was enormous! It could have easily fed four adults or maybe 3 really hungry ones. I really liked the rice for two reasons: it didn't burn and it wasn't mushy. I've grown up to believe that fried rice should be made with day-old rice to make sure that the rice doesn't stick or clump together, but there seems to be a lot of heated discussions surrounding this! As for the beef, I didn't enjoy it because it was way too spicy and it wasn't the kind of flavourful spicy that I like to eat. According to Nathan's sister, we should've ordered the crispy beef instead. Gives us an excuse to go again! I think some of my friends who like the heat would love this place.

So I think Nathan and I are officially over our Japanese food craze...for now.