Vancouver & Banff Trip Overview

Vancouver and Banff Trip (2011-09-26 to 2011-10-08)

Wen and I went on a trip to Vancouver & Banff.  We first flew to Vancouver and rented a car.  The car we got was a Volkswagen Golf.



View Vancouver & Banff Trip in a larger map


Day 1 - Flying to Vancouver

We arrived at Vancouver in later afternoon.  After checking into the hotel, we went to a Japanese AYCE (all you can eat) restaurant, Richmond Sushi, for dinner.  We ate hamachi sashimi, toro sushi, geoduck sashimi, sockeye salmon sashimi, tuna tataki, sockeye salmon tataki, grill black cod, etc... Their tuna was different from the Toronto ones. Their tuna was yellowish, like skin colour. The ones in Toronto were either white or red.


Day 2 - Vancouver to Kamloops

After checking out from hotel, we headed off to Nitobe Memorial Garden inside UBC. It's a beautiful japanese garden. 

After that, we started driving to Kamloops. Vanouver streets in general go up and down... More challenging than Toronto. The highways had only 2 to 3 lanes. Ridicules!

On our way to Kamloops, we stopped at Tim Horton for washroom break near Hope. Since I have nothing to do in the car, I've started the journey in search of hope. What does it mean? Well, I am using my camera to take photos of any Hope signs until we reach Hope. Of course, we eventually reached Hope. Get it? Hahaha. ;)

We arrived at Kamloops around 4pm. After resting a bit, we went first to the Kamloops downtown. It's just a section of Victoria St. It was just like an old part of town... Nothing special... I was hoping that it would be similar to Main St. Then, we went to Riverside Park. Kamloops did have a lot of cars for a small town. Scenery at Riverside Park is beautiful. It was at the joint of 3 rivers: North Thompson River, South Thompson River, and Thompson River. After that, we went to the viewpoint beside Howard Johnson Panorama Inn. This was where the unfortunate accident happened. I was trying to use my camera on tripod to take a photo of us. I guess the place was too windy and the tripod was not strong enough. The tripod felt and the camera felt with it with lens faced down. That was the death of my camera. :'(

From the viewpoint, I could see the whole town of Kamloops. Then, we went to the Thompson Rivers University (TRU). According to the Inn staff, TRU had interesting buildings, but we didn't see any interesting building.

For dinner, we went back to the main downtown area and ate at an Italian restaurant: D'agostino Restaurant (258 Victora St.)  Wen had spaghetti and meatballs. I had spaghetti and claims. We also had bruschetta for appetizer. The bruschetta was more like bruschetta pizza.... Instead of using french bread, it used thin pizza dough... Overall, the food is ok good.  


Day 1 and 2 Photos


Day 3 - Kamloops to Banff

The good thing of traveling ourselves was that we didn't have to wake up early.  ;)

The drive to Banff was a breeze. My daily drive to Bampton had well prepared me for the long drive. I didn't have to use my brain to drive. I only had to use my brain to keep me from driving too fast and to refrain from cursing the slow car/truck driving in front of me in a one lane highway. Physically, I was a bit tired for sitting in the car so long, but it would be the same even if I wasn't the one driving. The drive to Banff was approx. 6 hrs according to GPS, but I think I only took 5.5 hours. 

At 1384 m (4540 ft) above sea level, Banff is recognized as Canada's highest town. After checking into our hotel (Rudlestone Lodge), we walked to town. Our hotel was actually one of the farest one from the main downtown area. The walk was about 3 km. The distance wasn't bad, but I was a bit cold. The temperature was pretty cold at night at Banff.   We had dinner at the Keg Steak House... very good steak.

Day 3 Photos


Day 4 - Around Banff

We had breakfast at Evelyn's Coffee Bar.  In Banff downtown, there were 3 Evelyn's Coffee stores!!

After breakfast, we visited Surprise Corner, Bow Falls, Johnston Canyon and Ink Pots. The hike at Johnston Canyon and Ink Pots took approx. 3.5 hours.  The hike would be shorter if you are just hiking and not taking photos.
(Ink Pots - brilliant blue and jade green springs, whose constant temperature remain near 4 degree celcius.  The pools' bottoms are composed of quicksand.)


Day 4 Photos


Day 5 - Lake Louise, Moraine Lake

We drove to Lake Louise Gondola and had breakfast buffet there.  Then, we took the ski lift up the mountain. It was a nice day, so no one want to sit in a Gondola. 

After that, we went to Lake Louise. It was beautiful. The only complain that I have is a bit too man made. The side near the famous hotel was not natural enough. We walked on the Lake Louise trail along side of the lake.  We also went inside the hotel and looked at some shops.

Then, we went to Moraine Lake. It was the lake shown on the old Canadian $20 bill. In the summer time, the parking could line up to 2 km long. I guess I was a bit glad that I am not here during summer. The lake was nice, bur Lake Louise was more beautiful.

At Moraine Lake parking lot, we saw a car with right front wheel turned 90 degree. Well, we heard a big noise like car stopping sound. Then, we saw a car, who was trying to turn right up a road, sat at the bottom of the road with the right front wheel perpendicular to the car.  When I looked back, it was kind of funny. But ar that time, I felt sorry for the owner. Wen told me that's an old car.  

After that, we went to Bankhead. Lower Bankhead was an abandoned coal mine and Upper Bankhead was the site of previous coal mining community.  We went to Upper Bankhead and walked on the trail. The trail was tough. It went upward 35 degree. We saw an abandoned house and some mine shafts. After walking up for 55 minutes, we decided to head back. The end of trail was supposed to have a nice viewpoint called C-Level Cirque, but I guess this trail was too difficult for us. On our way up, we saw an old couple coming down. They had reached the top. I was a bit ashamed when I decided to head back without reaching the top since the old couple could do it and we couldn't do it.

On our way back to Banff, we did stop by Lower Bankhead to see what's there. From a distance, we saw some coal mining cart. We were too tired to go down and explore.


Day 5 Photos 



Day 6 - Around Banff

Since it was a rainy day, we decided to go for a ride. We went from Buffalo St. to Tunnel Mountain Dr.... Stopped by a couple of viewpoints... Stopped at the Hoodoos... Went to Banff Ave and then Minnewanka Loop... Went pass the Upper Bankhead and Lower Bankhead that we were at yesterday... Stopped at the Lake Minnewanka... Saw a bunch of people scuba diving...  (Lake Minnewanka  means "Lake of the Water Spirit".)

Then we stopped at Two Jack Lake.  It was beautiful! I loved this lake.  The water was very clear.  It made me wanted to swim in it.   The lake surface was like a mirror showing the moutains, trees, clouds, and sky.

After that, we went to Johnson Lake. This one was just like any other lake. It's beautiful but nothing special. Then, we finished the Minnewanka Loop and went back to Banff Ave. I was hoping to see some animals during this drive, but all I saw was birds and squirrels. 

Then, we went to Upper Hot Springs. On the way, I was 2 deers. Hurray! :D 
Hot Springs was a 39 degree hot swimming pool.
Upper Hot Springs is the highest hit springs in Canada - elevation 1585 m (5200 ft).

Day 6 Photos


Day 7 - Jasper

After breakfast, we drove to Jasper. During the drive, I saw a small caribou quickly crossing the street. It passed by every fast. When we were close to Jasper, we saw an elk. Of course, I got out of car to take photos. I originally thought it was a deer. I found out it's elk by looking at postcards.

We arrived at Jasper at noon, first stopped by the visitor info office and then walked around downtown area. It looked old. Banff downtown is much nicer.

We drove to Maligne Lake, which is the most famous place and the largest lake in Jasper Provincial Park. On the way, we stopped at Medicine Lake. For Medicine Lake, the Maligne River flows in but there is no surface outlet. Instead, the water flows underground for many kilometers, emerging in such places as Maligne Canyon and Lac Beauvert.

Maligne Lake was a beautiful lake. It was less commercial than Lake Louise. This lake was more natural. I loved it.

While driving away from The lake, we saw a big rock and some small rocks on the road that weren't there before. Those rocks had been fallen off the mountain. I hope no car was passing by when the rocks felt.

Afterwards, we went to Maligne Canyon. We walked part of the trail. Then, we went back to town. We visited some souvenir shops before heading back to Banff.   On the way back, we stopped by the Columbia Icefield and took some photos.

Day 7 Photos


Day 8 -Banff to Kamloops

After checking out of hotel, we went to Banff Gondola.  Gondola climbed 698m (2292 ft) to an elevation of 2281m (7486 ft) on the Sulfur mountain. I had a soup for breakfast in a restaurant inside the Upper Terminal. The restaurant had windows all around to see nice views. The views up on top on Sulfur Mountain were magnificiant. We walked up to the Cosmic Ray Station which was at the highest point of the mountain.

We started our trip back to Kamloops around noon.




Day 9 -Kamloops to Vancouver

Our first stop was the BC Wildlife Park. Since we didn't get to see any bears in Banff, we wanted to see them here. The BC Wildlife Park was not huge. It had grey wolf, black bear, brown bear, elk, bison, cougar, etc. The best part was the 2 grizzly bear cubs. They were the cutiest. I wanted to hug them and squeeze them. I know. I know. I couldn't really to that since they would kill me. However, they do look stupidly cute with their fluffy hair and their cute movements.

We started our drive to Vancouver around noon.

For dinner, we went out to Club House Sushi. This restaurant was ok.  It was more geared toward western people. 

Day 8 and 9 Photos


Day 10 -Vancouver

We first went to Standley Park. Then, we went to Robson area. We had lunch at Japadog and walked around the area.  Robson St was like Yonge St.  We had dessert at Beard Papa. The mango puff wasn't very mango.  The Paris Brest puff was pretty good.

We went to Gas Town and China Town.  Vancouver China Town was like Toronto China Town.... Nothing special...   Gas Town was kind of like main St. 

Then, we went to MetroTown.  It was a big shopping mall in Burnaby. It reminded me of Eaton Centre, but it had the same stores as Toronto's mall.

For dinner, we went to Sushi Garden, close to Metro Town.  It was a very busy place.  The portion was huge.  The quality was good, but not excellent.

After that, we went to Cheesecake Etc.  This place had very good cheesecakes and live piano music.  It was a nice place to hang around at night.  



Day 11 - Vancouver

We went to Capilano Suspension Bridge.  It was fun with the suspension bridge (450ft long and 230 ft high), cliff walk (300 ft above the canyon floor), and tree tops adventure (10 stories high). We walked the suspension bridge and treetops adventure twice!  ;)

We saw a TVB actress there: 唐寧

After google, I found out that she was in Vancouver for the 首影 of 大藍湖 in Vancouver Film Festival (Oct 4).  I guess she was taking a tour after work.  ;).  I saw 3 other women with her too.

Then, we went to Lynn Canyon suspension bridge. It was nothing compared to the Capilano one.  This was was small and little slippery due to wet wood.

For dinner, we went to Griffins in Fairmount Hotel to taste their dessert buffet.   Both of us ordered their 3 course dinner (for $23):
Me - Griffins Casear Salad (w roasted garlic, olives, rosemary lavash), New York Steak, dessert buffet
Wen - Philipane style chicken soup, New York Steak, dessert buffet

Their desserts were all western style. I had 2 big dishes of dessert.   I was so full.  I had tasted:
- lemon cheesecake
- strawberry mouse cake
- strawberry shortcake
- banana cake with passion fruit
- pumpkin cheesecake
- fruit square with berries inside
- cream puff
- chocolate mouse 
- some fruits
 
Day 10 and 11 Photos



Day 12 - Whistler

After breakfast at Starbucks, we were on our way to Whistler. The drive was pretty nice. Half of the distance was beside sea (Howe Sound). Half of the distance was inside forest & mountains... Kind of like driving in Banff, but there were tons of electrical wires.  Those electric wires reminded me that we were still in city areas. You would not see them when driving in Banff.

On the way, there is a place called "Cheeye". It's a funny name. I guess next time when we take photos, we can say Cheeye instead of Cheers... Hahaha.. :D

We were there around 1pm. We walked around Whistler Village and then went to Upper Village.  Afterwards, we went on a trail from Whistler Village to Lost Lake.  Then, we followed the trail around the lake and went to the beach at that lake.

I think I know why this lake is called "Lost Lake"... It is a beautiful lake...  It is a "lost" treasure.... The water was so clear that I wanted to swim in it.

After walking back to Whistler Village, we had a drink at Blenz Coffee.  Blenz Coffee is a chain coffee shop in BC. We saw a little bird walking inside the coffee shop while we were enjoying the drinks. 

After driving back to Vancouver, we then searched on Internet and decided to have dinner at The Boathouse.  It was a nice restaurant at Horseshoe Bay near BC Ferries and the food was very good.  

Day 12 Photos



Day 13 - Vancouver

The Fisherman's Wharf at Steveston Village was a fish market at where fish boats parked there selling their fresh catch. People were buying big fishes and shrimps.  The prices were cheaper than grocery stores and the fishes were fresher. I would've brought some if I live in Vancouver. I saw salmon roe too. However, they didn't look clean enough to me for eating without washing first. Since I was not a big fan of salmon roe, I decided to skip.

Then, we went to Aberdeen Centre (時代坊) for lunch and shopping.    I loved Daiso, the Japanese toonie store.  We also walked to other Chinese malls around Aberdeen Centre.  The ones I remembered are 統一 and 八佰半中心, etc.   None of them were interesting. One thing did surprise me was that I didn't see any bootleg CD/DVD stores in any of the malls.

We drove around Richmond to see the expensive houses. We searched the realtor site for homes over 1 million, 2 millions, etc.  Those homes had 3-4 garages. It seemed a lot of people buy old houses to get the land and rebuild with new houses in Richmond. 

We had dinner at Sushi Hachi. I made a reservation for "name your price chef menu".  Since the minimum was $45, we had that ordered as well.  The first dish was a lobster seaweed salad. The second dish was sashimi. The sashimi were fresh and tasty. I could taste the sweet fish taste in the fishes.  The third dish was grilled fish. It was really good.  The fourth dish was spicy octopus cucumber fish eggs salad.  The fifth dish was sushi.


Day 14 - Flying back to Toronto

Day 13 and 14 Photos

My new favourite 出前一丁 favour

I don't eat 出前一丁 (Demae Itcho) a lot... may be a few times a  year...
My favourite 出前一丁 noodle favours used to be:
1) 麻油麵
2) 五香牛肉麵


Recently, I've purchased the new 黑蒜油豬骨湯味.  
I think it's the best.  It's now my #1 favour!  :)

Basically, Nissin has replaced the seasme oil (麻油) with black garlic oil (黑蒜油). 
The black garlic oil added to noodles smells good and is very tasty.  I guess I like strong taste in soup.  That's why I like this new favour more than the seasme oil favour. ;)

1st Anniversary

Sept 18 was our 1st year Wedding Anniversary. :)

Wen and I went to Kaji Japanese restaurant for our anniversary dinner.  We went to this restaurant before, but this time we were sitting at the sushi bar.  Actually, I like sitting in the sushi bar.  I could see the chef making sushi and sashimi.  :D   They made sushi creation look so easy.

I had the "Waza" tasting menu and Wen had the "Takumi" tasting menu.

For my Waza tasting menu, I've got...

Grilled black cod - This is good.

Chicken nanban and sea eel & cucumber rolled with egg sheet - This is ok...  It's more like Chinese than Japanese.

Simmered winter melon with duck and shrimp cake

This dish is beautiful.  They made the lily to look like sakura.

Grilled matsutake mushroom / hosho style - It's interesting that they used pine in this dish.  Pines were not just used as decorations.  Some pines were cooked with the food.

For Wen's tasting menu:

Sauteed scallop in pumpkin sauce

Simmered daikon and eggplant - I didn't try this one since it had eggplant in it.  Wen said it's spicy.

Grilled crab, tomatio & kuzu cake, and persimmon sunomono - This dish is good.  I like the persimmon sunomono.

Matsutake mushroom soup in tea pot - interesting way to drink soup...

 Lily bulb and sea urchin cake with crab sauce  - I like urchin.  ;)

Grilled shrimp and matsutake mushroom - This dish was beautiful... using maple leaves and pines as decorations...

We had some dishes that are the same for both tasting menu: sashimi and sushi & cold noodle.

For sashimi, we've got sea trout with fish eggs, lobster, cucumber & Japanese beans, bass, tuna, tuna salad with egg and potato, sesame salad.

For sushi, we had multiple dishes.

Cold noodle, urchin on top of rice, eel sushi - I love urchin.  Also, the eel sushi was good.  The one I had at Guu felt apart when I picked it up using chopsticks.  This one didn't fall apart.  It only felt apart after I bite it.  ;)  It was too big to put the whole piece in my mouth.

Lobster with apple sauce on rice, tuna on rice, eel on rice

Notice that the restaurant gave us a different soy sauce when eating sushi. It's darker with a stronger taste.

Last sushi dish... tuna sushi, white fish sushi (I forgot what the fish is), abalone sushi, toro (tuna belly) sushi, scallop sushi, and toro sushi again but the outside is cooked.  My favourite one is toro sushi.  It was very tasty and melt in my mouth.  However, I did felt a little bit of tendon in it.  I guess it wasn't the highest grade. ;)  In HK TV series, they always say that you don't feel tendon in highest grade toro.

For dessert, I had fruit jelly and green tea macaroon

Wen had peach and strawberry

Overall, this restaurant is very good.
For me, it was a bit too much food for me.  I was very very full at the end.
I love their sushi and sashmi... very fresh... very good... ;)

Day Trip to Elora and Fergus

The morning of July 2 was cool and cloudy.  I was kind of disappointed.
We had breakfast at the nearby Starbucks... I needed coffee... ;)

On our way to Elora, the weather became sunny...  It was wonderful!
Thanks God for giving us good weather for our trip! :D

First, we stopped by the Tourist Information in Elora getting the maps.
We walked around the Elora Downtown.  It's a beautiful small area.

Then, we went to Victoria Park.  Inside the park, there's Lover's Leap Trail and Lover's Leap overlook.
It is called Lover's Leap to commemorate a legendary Indian princess, said to have leapt to her death here after her beloved had been killed in battle.
The trail was very short.  Because of all the trees, I couldn't really tell which rock is the Lover's Leap.  I guess it didn't really matter. ;)

After that, we went to Bissell Park.There was a farmers market there.  When I was there, they are near the end.. a lot of stuff had been sold.  I just quickly looked around.  They had fruits, vegetables, honey, bread, socks, etc.  I did buy a bottle of cedarwood honey.  :)

We had lunch at Metcalfe Restaurant.  It was a very popular restaurant.  The patio was full.  We had to eat inside.  I ordered sweet potato fries.... yummy...  :9

After lunch, we went to Elora Gorge Conservation Area.  Tubing was all sold out.  We continued with our first choice of activities: hiking.  There are 3 trails in this conservation area.  The trails are short.  We hiked on all three of them. 

Then, we went to Elora Quarry Conservation Area. Lots of people were swimming there.  There were one crazy person jumping off the cliff.  I think he got into trouble since I saw a security guard walking toward him, but I didn't stay around to see.  The water was good for swimming but not clean enough for me to want to swim in it.  I wished I had a floating boat. :)

We've decided to go to Fergus, since it's very close to Elora.
First stop in Fergus, of course, is the tourist information.  It's a bigger office than the one in Elora.
We walked around the Fergus Downtown area.  It was like a semi deserted town. 30-40% of stores were closed and waiting to be sold.  It didn't look anything like the photos from tourist materials.  Those photos have tons of people on the streets.

Well, we decided to head back to Elora downtown since I wanted to eat ice-cream.  ;)
We went to Jenny's Place (one of the Elora Mews Shops) for ice-cream.
I had green tea ice-cream and mango sorbet.  The green tea ice-cream is different from the usual green tea ice-cream.   It had darker layers that had stronger tea taste with a slightly rougher texture.  Wen had watermelon sorbet and mango sorbet.  The watermelon sorbet is very interesting.  It has chocolate chips representing the watermelon seeds. :D

Click here for my photos on the trip.



View Elora & Fergus in a larger map

Day Trip to Prince Edward County

May 21, 2011 is a beautiful day to go on a day trip...
After approx. 2 hr of driving, we arrived at the tourism office in Picton. 

First Stop - Main St., Picton
We walked around Main St... saw the Regent Theatre, the Shine Hall, the Crystal Palace, and the Picton Harbour.  There were some nice houses in that area.

Second Stop - Bird House City
I heard a lot of birds singing, but I hardly saw any birds.  I guess all the birds are hiding in the bird houses.  The Bird House City is not very well maintained.  A lot of posts are missing bird houses. 
I did discover a McDonald for birds... hahahaha... :D   It's probably selling MacWorms... worms burgers... hahahaha....


Third Stop - Glenora Ferry
It's basically a part of the Loyalist Parkway. The ferry will take cars across the Picton Bay. According to the guy at tourism office, the ride is approx. 7 mins. Since there was a line up of cars and ferry frequency is every 30 mins, we decided not to go.


Fourth Stop - Lake on the Mountain
This is exactly what the name implies... A lake up on the mountain...
I think this is the most beautiful place in Prince Edward County.
There is a restaurant there.  If I go to Prince Edward County again, I would try this restaurant since it has nice view.

Fifth Stop - Millennium Lookout
We could see the whole town and Picton Bay from this location.
This place is not very well maintained. It could be skipped if someone is planning for a visit.

Sixth Stop - Sandbanks Provincial Park
The map that we got is kind of confusing.  Overall, it's a nice Provincial Park.  I think it'll be better in the summer time when there are more greens and more flowers.
We went to Cedar Sands Nature Trail first... lots of leaves-less branches on the way.  The trail was kind of brown in colour.
Then, we went to Dunes Beach and Dunes Nature Trail.  This trail was more difficult to walk than the Cedar Sands Trail because a lot of the trail areas were sands.  This trail was kind of grey in colour. We saw the sand dunes.
Since this provincial park is called Sandbanks Provincial Park, we have to visit Sandbanks Beach.  The beach is nice, but the water seemed dirty.  I guess Lake Ontario is polluted.  Comparing to Dunes Beach, I would rather swim there even though the water is not that clean. 


Seventh Stop - Huff Estates Winery & Inn
Two wine tasting for $1.
I ended up trying 4 wines.
Their red wines are more acidic.  It's good but not really my taste.
I did buy a bottle of first frost.  It's a fruity and playful wine.  ;)


After a long day, we decided to head home...


Click here for my photos on the day trip.


Map of Prince Edward County

Sakura @ High Park

I went to High Park to see Sakura past Sunday.
The flowers are very beautiful.
However, they lack the supporting garden design beside them.
In Canada, they are just like any flower trees in a park.
They are much more beautiful in Japan because those trees are surrounded by other garden design.
Ok Ok.... I actually haven't personally seen sakura in Japan... All I've seen are photos of them in Japan...

I took tons of photos... Here are some:
Sakura@High Park

Photos

Yesterday, I've downloaded a lot of photos from my blackberry to laptop...
I haven't downloaded any photos for months...  decide to put some nice ones here...


Aug 15... Testing your eyesight...  Can you see the rainbow inside the photo?

 
Took this one on July 26... on my way downtown to birthday dinner... :D

July 20... One big happy family living near my office...

With a nice front/backyard view...

July 11... A group of us were watching the World Cup Final at Wild Wings...

CaCa:  Hmmm... Which team should I support... Spain or Netherlands?

Ca Ca: Let's see which team is winning...

CaCa:  Score is still 0:0??  Not fun... I rather play with blackberry...

Ca Ca:  The teams haven't score anything... still 0:0...   I am more fun to watch than them!! :)

CaCa:  Game ended and it's still 0:0... need extra time...  boring!!

Took them on Metro Square Night Market... This is HK style smelly tofu...
I did try it, but it's not really that smelly.  ;-)

Took this one on June 6... A happy human house...  The person inside doesn't really look that happy... :P

Stress

I went to a nutrition lunch and learn session today.  The speaker talks about different things... Most of them are well known by most people... Whether we can follow them?  ha ha ha...  sometimes...
It's very difficult to give up some pleasures in life... especially our taste buds...
We all work very hard, so we all need something that we can enjoy.... Delicious Food!!!

But I did learn something new in this session...

"Stress"... I like the definition of stress in this session:
Stress is about not being able to meet a demand & expectation!
I've never thought of stress in this sense...  When I hear the word "stress", I usually think about stress in terms of work...  lots of work... tight deadlines... etc...
"Not being able to meet a demand & expectation"...  That's what makes us unhappy...
In that sense, unhappy is a result of stress.
Using this definition...  I do agree that I am very stressed!   Not only me, I think 99.99% of world's population is also stressed.  :P

Another thing that I learned is that obesity may not be caused by too much eating and not enough exercise.  It could be caused by Hormone Imbalance.  Different hormone imbalance will cause different body area to be fat.

The speaker suggests the following good books.  May be I'll buy a copy and have a look... ;-)

•  The Hormone Diet: Lose Fat. Gain Strength. Live Younger Longer (by Natasha Turner)
• The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why (by Jonny Bowden)

有要求

對自己的工作有高要求是好事還是壞事?

如果是好事...   為什麼我覺得好累?
高標準 = 長工作時間

如果是壞事...   假如每個人都只做最低標準... 這個世界會變成怎樣?
沒有競爭 = 沒有進步

專家告訴我們要有工作和生活的平衡...
換句話來說...  我們要降低工作的標準令自己有更多生活的時間...

我相信所有的上司和老闆也不會同意這些專家的說話...
所有的上司和老闆一定會說...  工作時間可以減少但必須保持工作量和高工作標準...
哈 哈 哈 哈... Mission Impossible!

硬齋雞粒

A friend brought me some 硬齋雞粒 from HK...
I haven't had this snack for a long long time...
They are very good...  Once I've started eating the first piece, I don't want to stop...
I do feel very guilty since I need to lose weight... but I just can't stop...  :P
This is a battle between my brain and my mouth... 
In the end...  My brain wins... so I am saving the rest for another day...
Stay tune for the next battle... ha ha ha ha...  :D

無力感

你是否曾經感覺很無力?
一種非常非常無力的感覺...
很想要完美地完成每一件事...
但...
有很多事情不在你的控制...
他人的偏見... 他人的固執...
看到其他人走向懸崖...  想要阻止他們...  但控制不了...
所以很無力...
有時想想... 這其實不關我的事... 為什麼要在意?
但...
當看到其他人走向懸崖... 我不能什麼也不做...
這就是我... 
所以感覺很無力...

Mamma Mia!

Tonight is the Mamma Mia night!
I've brought the Mamma Mia show tickets a month ago...

I drove downtown after work... It was a slow drive... :(
A downtown condo near CN Tower was on fire... Cars were stopping to see the smoke... 
By the time I reached closer to CN Tower, firemen have already put off the fire, but you can still see some smoke in the sky.

After the slow and boring drive to downtown in rush hour traffic, I had dinner with Wen at Verona Ristorante...

The breads at Verona come with an olive paste.  I normally don't like olives, but this olive paste is pretty good.  I had 2.5 piece of bread.

For main course, I had Grilled Lamb Tenderloin:  Marinated with Rosemary & Pommery Mustard, Truffle Mashed Potatoes, French Beans, Portobello Mushroom, A Pomegranate-Red Wine Reduction

The tenderloin is very tender.  It is very good.
 
For dessert, I had Traditional Tiramisu: Dark Chocolate, Sweet Mascarpone and Kahlua

The tiramisu is very good... It's not very sweet and has Kahlua taste...  This tiramisu is better than most restaurants' tiramisu.  However, I still prefer the Tiramisu that is made with Espresso coffee and vodka. 

After dinner, we went to see the Mamma Mia show...

I would give it a 8/10.   It's an excellent show.  It is funny and I love the songs.
However, the backdrop is pretty simple.  It has no surprises at all.
Overall, it's a good show that I would recommend other people to watch!!

I've found a site where you can download the musical recording in mp3.

想食野?

當開心的時候，人想食野去慶祝
當好忙的時候，人想食野去增加能量
當有壓力的時候，人想食野去減壓
當唔開心的時候，人想食野去令自己開心D

但我發現...

當開心的時候，人想食野去慶祝... 但想想之後需要減肥，所以我們可以唔食
當好忙的時候，人想食野去增加能量... 但沒有時間去吃，所以我們可以唔食
當有壓力的時候，人想食野去減壓... 但想想之後有可能增加體重， 增加壓力， 所以我們可以唔食
當唔開心的時候，人想食野去令自己開心D... 已經唔開心， 所以沒藉口叫自己唔食

下次想食野的時候，問問自己是不是唔開心!!!

New computer

I've just got my new computer from Wen today...
I've brought the computer case a while back when it was on sales... but didn't buy any internal components yet...
Since my old, slow, grandfather computer broke, it gave me a very good excuse to build this new computer... Or... to have someone built it for me... :P

To my surprise, there is a new 24" monitor and keyboard/mouse set that came with it... ;-)

Wow.... The new computer is so fast! :D
Watching video is so nice...

Intel Core i5 CPU
8G RAM
Window 7 Ultimate 64 bit
1 TB HD [This computer can support 10 HDs.... I'll be adding more... soon.... ;-) ]
video card [hmmm.... not sure which one...]
DVD writer [Blueray disc is still too expensive... so no blueray writer... ]
mother board [hmmm.... forgot which one...]

非常非常糟糕的一周...

本週是非常非常糟糕的一周... :(
很多問題發生... 工作上地震... 老細走了... (Hint)...
接下來還會發生什麼事呢？
有D depress添... 點算好呢？

Cold

I've got a cold since last Monday.
It's just a cold... NOT H1N1!! ;)
I am better now... but the coughing won't stop...

Ta Ta suggested a Chinese herbal drink. I've drank it for a few days. I seems to cough a bit less.

The Chinese Herbal Drink:
羅漢果 - 1
無花果 (Figs) - 6 (add more Figs for sweeter drink)
南北杏 (Almond Seed) - some, a small bunch
Boil the above ingredients in 2.5L of water for 35 mins.
Turn off heat and let stand for 30 mins.

It's easy to make. :D

Destopdating invitation is malware!

Today, I've received 2 email invitations from 2 different persons asking me to join Desktopdating. It could be a new site like facebook, but the name "Desktopdating" doesn't seem legit. So, I did a search in the internet...

If you have received an email with subject " has sent you a Desktopdating invitation", don't open it and please delete it immediately!

Based on people's comments, it seems this malware only targets windows/outlook/IE. It will search your address book and send similar invitations to all of your contacts.

I didn't open my emails in outlook, so I hope my computer is not infected.

Keep Waking Up at Night

Recently, I have been waking up 3+ times at night. I don't have a problem going back to sleep but I am still very very tired when I wake up in the morning. I am not getting quality sleep.

I think it all started when builder put 2 big fans inside my condo to dry the walls. I don't really know the cause, because sound usually doesn't bother my sleep. I can fall asleep when TV or radio is still on. For the last 2 nights, I've turned off the fans at night time. Unfortunately, I am still waking up multiple times. I've slept for 12 hours on Saturday night, but it just feels like I've slept for 7-8 hours.

What is happening to me??????

規則

大公司的規則... 複雜的流程... 過時... 不恰當... 耗時... 浪費錢...
想要更改... 但無能為力...
非常痛苦...
每個人都看到... 都抱怨... 為什麼高層看不到?

Battling with Water

I had been battling with water all night last night to protect my condo... I only had 2-3 hours of sleep... but it didn't matter... I had to save my condo...

Last night around 12:30am, the fire alarm in my condo started ringing. I didn't pay attention at first, but since it kept ringing, I went out the balcony to see whether anyone went outside. I didn't see anyone. Since it was raining outside, I was hoping that this was just a false alarm. To be safe, I planned to check on my neighbors to see their reactions. Then, as soon as I opened the door, I was stunned by what I saw in the hallway. The hallway was filled with smoke... not from fire... but steam from hot water... There was a layer of water on top of soaking wet carpet... The whole hallway was flooded by hot water!!!

The water was leaking into my condo from the bottom of all common walls... I had got water coming inside from the bathroom wall, the door, and closet wall. I immediately searched for something to stop the water... I put some older home clothes (clothes that I wear at home only) at the edge of the wall to block waters as my first line of defense... Then, I searched for some towels (bath tub towels, kitchen towels, etc.) to soak water as my second line of defense...

In the mist of searching and placing the defenses, I was using one hand to keep dialing the security phone #. Every time I got the security voice mail, I wanted to swear. After many tries, the security guard finally answered the phone. I told him about the flooding and he said he'll notify the firemen immediately.

Well... Water kept coming in... And of course... I am the third line of defense!!
I kept running back and forth drying the towels in bath tub and put them back on the floor to soak more water... I needed to stop the water from entering the laminated floor areas... I didn't want my stuff to be damaged...

Eventually the firemen came... I heard a lot of banging... The owner of the water leaking condo wasn't home... The firemen had to use an axe to break open the door...

I took a peak outside from time to time... At around 1:30am, one fireman told me that there was a broken water pipe in the heater of another condo... They had stopped the water leak but the water had went down 5 floors... All hallways are soaked...

At around 3:30am, the firemen had pushed a lot of the water out the hallway down the stairs. Water is still leaking into my condo but at a much slower rate. I dried all towels/clothes one more time and put some paper towels around them to replace me as third line of defense before going to sleep.

At around 5:30am, I was awakened by some loud noises. I guessed the builder had sent some people to clean up the mess. I got out of bed to dry all towels/clothes again. I had also put some new paper towels before going back to sleep.

At around 7am, some people from the builder knocked on my door asking about the damages. They said they would use machines to clean my condo but never came. I guessed they went to the other condos with more serious damages. Since I had been soaking water all night, my condo's damages were minimal compared to some other condos.

Elevators had stopped working due to the flood... I had to walk down many many floors to go to work... I was afraid that I have to walk up many many floors to go home. Luckily, when I came home from dinner, one of the elevators is working.