Though punching out the windows and doors from the ready-made gingerbread pieces came as an afterthought, it still looked wonderful. A great team effort!
It was really nice to see them all again, together.
Dec 18, 2008
Gingerbread Fun!
I got together with some friends I haven't met since we were all together in Beijing tonight for some gingerbread fun. Imelda extended an invite to me and though I was iffy at first about going because of how last minute it was and the fact that I would be a few hours late, I'm glad I went! I drove out to Richmond to meet with Imelda, Sue, her boyfriend Ryan, a Ukrainian guy by the name of Serge, and a guy named Sameer who's apartment we gathered at. In addition to the standard gingerbread house, we created a swimming pool with the gingerbread man swimming in it, a diving board made of cardboard with a Cathay Pacific airplane next to it (which looked more like a recreation of 9/11), a Christmas tree with a gummy bear as an angel on top, and a snowman/woman with large breasts, a penis, and balls. A little bit of icing was used to complete this vulgar image. Childish, I know!
Though punching out the windows and doors from the ready-made gingerbread pieces came as an afterthought, it still looked wonderful. A great team effort!
It was really nice to see them all again, together.
Though punching out the windows and doors from the ready-made gingerbread pieces came as an afterthought, it still looked wonderful. A great team effort!
It was really nice to see them all again, together.
Dec 17, 2008
Winter Harp.
Directly from work, I boarded the SkyTrain at Surrey Central to Waterfront Terminus station, hopped onto the SeaBus to the North Shore, then took the bus from the Lonsdale Quay to Capilano College for the Winter Harp performance at 1900h. I was amazed by how quickly I made it to the college from Surrey entirely by transit. The connection was just bang on-time!
Jen invited me out to see this concert of period costumes and medieval instruments with her parents, her brother Chris, and his wife, Karen. Throughout the instrumentals were narration by a well versed gentleman with an English accent who told stories, read poems, and painted a visual with words. His take on the Twelve Days of Christmas told through letters written to and from each of the true loves was especially memorable.
www.winterharp.com
Jen invited me out to see this concert of period costumes and medieval instruments with her parents, her brother Chris, and his wife, Karen. Throughout the instrumentals were narration by a well versed gentleman with an English accent who told stories, read poems, and painted a visual with words. His take on the Twelve Days of Christmas told through letters written to and from each of the true loves was especially memorable.
www.winterharp.com
Dec 11, 2008
First Snow.
We saw our first snow fall today but it didn't last long. It didn't even stick before the weather quickly turned to rain. It snowed yet again around lunch hour but like this morning, it didn't last for long. Temperature by nightfall hovered at around 5ºC.
Dec 7, 2008
Kuchenbakerens.
Sigrid and I got together to spend the weekend baking all sorts of yummy goodness. After a trip to her neighbourhood IGA and Safeway, we got to work in the late afternoon starting with a fusion dish of proscuitto and cheese wrapped in wonton skin, baked in the oven, and drizzled in honey as soon it came out. It was our first time making this, following a recipe found in TV Guide.
it was pretty okay, though I found the wonton shell to be a little hard and sharp. It broke in shards of little pieces. At one point, we had a small grease fire in the oven, but that was taken care of with quick thinking.
Next up were the pear apple pies. The original recipe called for Grannysmith apples but because I love pear apples, I used them instead. That turned out to be a mistake as pear apples were juicier, and therefore, runnier than the other varieties. That and the fact that we forgot to put in any flour made the pies look like apple sauce in a pie shell. Though the presentation wasn't there, at least we didn't forget about the cinnamon, so the taste was still okay.
I decided to spend the night on Siggy's couch because it was already getting quite late and all we wanted to do was watch Hot Fuzz and Top Gear on BBC Canada.
Sunday rolled around and I rolled off the couch for another day of baking. After languishing around for a bit, we drove over to the Wolf and Hound pub for brunch. Siggy had an appointment with a masseuse soon after, so while she was getting her tense muscles all relaxed, I wantered about around Point Grey and thought about the time Jen and I wandered around this same neighbourhood many moons ago.
We got started with the 50% cocoa chocolate bark with chopped almonds and the shortbread cookies. It was time consuming and labour intensive beating the butter in with the flour and sugar. Siggy's electric mixer wasn't working well either so I had to do it manually! I got to the point where I was rolling out the dough on a sheet of wax paper and got all excited with the cookie cutters. I was stampin' out the gingerbread mens, the stars, and the hearts while listening to Siggy's iTunes playlist. The heads kept breaking off the gingerbread men, so I ended up baking more of the stars and hearts.
When all was ready, it was well past my departure time again. With Siggy's generosity to put a roof over my head for anther night, I slept on the couch again and left for work directly early in the morn, taking Tupperwares of chocolate bark and shortbread with me.
We had a splendiferous weekend.
it was pretty okay, though I found the wonton shell to be a little hard and sharp. It broke in shards of little pieces. At one point, we had a small grease fire in the oven, but that was taken care of with quick thinking.
Next up were the pear apple pies. The original recipe called for Grannysmith apples but because I love pear apples, I used them instead. That turned out to be a mistake as pear apples were juicier, and therefore, runnier than the other varieties. That and the fact that we forgot to put in any flour made the pies look like apple sauce in a pie shell. Though the presentation wasn't there, at least we didn't forget about the cinnamon, so the taste was still okay.
I decided to spend the night on Siggy's couch because it was already getting quite late and all we wanted to do was watch Hot Fuzz and Top Gear on BBC Canada.
Sunday rolled around and I rolled off the couch for another day of baking. After languishing around for a bit, we drove over to the Wolf and Hound pub for brunch. Siggy had an appointment with a masseuse soon after, so while she was getting her tense muscles all relaxed, I wantered about around Point Grey and thought about the time Jen and I wandered around this same neighbourhood many moons ago.
We got started with the 50% cocoa chocolate bark with chopped almonds and the shortbread cookies. It was time consuming and labour intensive beating the butter in with the flour and sugar. Siggy's electric mixer wasn't working well either so I had to do it manually! I got to the point where I was rolling out the dough on a sheet of wax paper and got all excited with the cookie cutters. I was stampin' out the gingerbread mens, the stars, and the hearts while listening to Siggy's iTunes playlist. The heads kept breaking off the gingerbread men, so I ended up baking more of the stars and hearts.
When all was ready, it was well past my departure time again. With Siggy's generosity to put a roof over my head for anther night, I slept on the couch again and left for work directly early in the morn, taking Tupperwares of chocolate bark and shortbread with me.
We had a splendiferous weekend.
Nov 25, 2008
The day I should have called in sick.
Even before I had a chance to take my coat off as I walked into work this morning, I was shocked, angered, frustrated, and annoyed when I received a fax from Nobel Biocare.
The custom abutment on this particular case went fairly smoothly, with only a slight modification in its design to add more retention. The coping to be milled on top of the abutment was anything but smooth. Working within a tight schedule, I scanned and designed the zirconia framework and sent the file out to production on Friday evening, wishing and hoping that the finished product will arrive back in our lab on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. On Monday morning, I get a fax from Nobel's production facility in New Jersey requesting a re-scan as there was an error in the file transmission. Disappointed now that it's off schedule, I reluctantly called up tech support to ask if it was okay to simply send the same file again as a new order instead of going through the time-consuming labour-intensive task of designing the shape of the coping all over again. With the green light, I did, and hoped for the best.
Then today came rolling in and yet another fax came in from production requesting a re-scan. This time I lost it completely with a tech support representative. I was even more livid when the guy on the other end started giving me attitude. This from a person representing Nobel Biocare, a leader in advanced restorative dental solutions? Even DELL had more class when I had to deal with a number of CSRs regarding new computers being shipped defective out of the factory.
Now I had to call the doctor up and ask for an extension because of technical difficulty with production. This was the third time now and I wasn't in the mood nor had I the patience and tolerance of having to do it all over again. To make matters worse, those Americans down there are taking this time to close down for Thanksgiving and won't be back until December 1st! Why can't they have Thanksgiving like the rest of us did LAST MONTH?
I'd never had such a terrible experience working and dealing with Nobel Biocare in the years past. In fact, I was excited to hear of their new direction for 2009 with the acquisition of BioCad and forming an exclusive partnership with Optimet to deliver a new scanner.
The day just got worse when the technicians had issues with other cases being worked on. It was one of those days when anything that could go wrong, did. And because Sherry and I work in the main office, we had to deal with everyone's problems as we are essentially the front line staff, the first line of contact with the doctors and other labs giving the good news and the bad.
It was a painful day.
The custom abutment on this particular case went fairly smoothly, with only a slight modification in its design to add more retention. The coping to be milled on top of the abutment was anything but smooth. Working within a tight schedule, I scanned and designed the zirconia framework and sent the file out to production on Friday evening, wishing and hoping that the finished product will arrive back in our lab on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. On Monday morning, I get a fax from Nobel's production facility in New Jersey requesting a re-scan as there was an error in the file transmission. Disappointed now that it's off schedule, I reluctantly called up tech support to ask if it was okay to simply send the same file again as a new order instead of going through the time-consuming labour-intensive task of designing the shape of the coping all over again. With the green light, I did, and hoped for the best.
Then today came rolling in and yet another fax came in from production requesting a re-scan. This time I lost it completely with a tech support representative. I was even more livid when the guy on the other end started giving me attitude. This from a person representing Nobel Biocare, a leader in advanced restorative dental solutions? Even DELL had more class when I had to deal with a number of CSRs regarding new computers being shipped defective out of the factory.
Now I had to call the doctor up and ask for an extension because of technical difficulty with production. This was the third time now and I wasn't in the mood nor had I the patience and tolerance of having to do it all over again. To make matters worse, those Americans down there are taking this time to close down for Thanksgiving and won't be back until December 1st! Why can't they have Thanksgiving like the rest of us did LAST MONTH?
I'd never had such a terrible experience working and dealing with Nobel Biocare in the years past. In fact, I was excited to hear of their new direction for 2009 with the acquisition of BioCad and forming an exclusive partnership with Optimet to deliver a new scanner.
The day just got worse when the technicians had issues with other cases being worked on. It was one of those days when anything that could go wrong, did. And because Sherry and I work in the main office, we had to deal with everyone's problems as we are essentially the front line staff, the first line of contact with the doctors and other labs giving the good news and the bad.
It was a painful day.
Nov 15, 2008
Iron Chefs II.
Our successful cook-off last week called for an encore performace, so this weekend, we made Thai food with the same helpful friends. Kathy and I went down to the Save-On-Foods across the street and brought a camera along to make a documentary. What we captured on video was just priceless. An employee of SOF asked me if I was doing a promotional special for SOF, to which I told her that I was in fact, doing a YouTube special. She then pointed us in the direction of a jolly display of Santa on the wall and above the refrigerated meats section. She was very proud of putting him up there and informed us that he came from Korea!
Our Thai dishes turned out pretty well, though it could have been a little more spicy. We'll take note for next time.
Our Thai dishes turned out pretty well, though it could have been a little more spicy. We'll take note for next time.
Shop Doc Part 1 of 5
Shop Doc Part 2 of 5
Shop Doc Part 3 of 5
Shop Doc Part 4 of 5
Shop Doc Part 5 of 5
Nov 9, 2008
Iron Chefs.
Kathy and I had made plans earlier this week to get together for lunch or dinner somewhere in town. After my visit to see a Genius at the Apple Store about Keychain issues on my PowerBook, I phoned up Kathy to make concrete plans as to where we should dine, but then a stroke of genius came to my mind (perhaps rubbed off from visiting the Genius at the Apple Store) when I suggested getting together for a home cook party instead of eating out and wondering how much to tip the server. She agreed and so the plan hatched. Sigrid, Leslie, and Andrea joined in on the fun in cooking pork chops, beef, smashed butternut squash, and a healthy bowl of fresh vegetable salad.
It was a roaring success and it only cost us $12 each. You can't get a delicious meal like this for that price, not to mention the tip on top of it.
It was a roaring success and it only cost us $12 each. You can't get a delicious meal like this for that price, not to mention the tip on top of it.
Oct 26, 2008
Peace Arch Provincial Park.
I got together with my 2 high school friends, Jen and Aaron, for a jaunt down to White Rock beach today. It was a beautiful day out for a walk so we followed the path along the promenade to East beach, and when the promenade ended, we continued East walking along the railroad tracks to the Semiahmoo Indian reservation and beyond. Taking the bend along the crescent, Peach Arch border crossing came into view shortly after. At the marker marking the International Boundary between the USA and Canada, we cut across the stand-still US-bound traffic and took in the beauty of Peace Arch Provincial Park and basked in the rays of the late afternoon sun.
The Peace Arch Provincial Park is an interesting and unique park in that the 9 hectares of the north end is managed by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, while the 20 hectares to the south is managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. During the Vietnam war, thousands of Americans fled the US and came to Canada to avoid being drafted. Between 1967 - 1974, Canada harboured more than 30,000 of them, many of whom entered through this border crossing to start a new life and settle in Vancouver.
The Peace Arch Provincial Park is an interesting and unique park in that the 9 hectares of the north end is managed by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, while the 20 hectares to the south is managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. During the Vietnam war, thousands of Americans fled the US and came to Canada to avoid being drafted. Between 1967 - 1974, Canada harboured more than 30,000 of them, many of whom entered through this border crossing to start a new life and settle in Vancouver.
Oct 19, 2008
Vancouver Public Art Walk.
It was time to once again, explore our own city and discover some of the newer, as well as to rediscover some of the older, public art installations scattered all over or beautiful city of Vancouver. Armed with only a brochure of new installations and a fold out map inside, Jen and I took the bus into town and began with Public Service/Private Steps, 2002, a collection of five cubes just outside a building gliding up and down a steel structure in direct correlation to the movement of the elevators inside the building.
Our tour continued towards the art deco Marine Building, 1930, built during the difficult times of the great depression, then to Working Landscape, 1998, a collection of three circular platforms with a tree and a bench on top moving ever so slightly, the same area where Georgia Lass got hit by a flying toilet seat in the short lived television series called Dead Like Me. Right across from here was a new chocolatier called Mink to where we stopped to warm our chilly hands up with a cup of hot chocolate before moving along to Canada Place.
Through Gastown to False Creek and Yaletown, we took our city in with wide eyes. We stopped by a cafe called Bojangles right off the False Creek marina where I had a bowl of Boston clam chowder and gave my tired legs a rest.
We had only covered slightly less than half of the city on foot and missed out on several other installations, buildings, and monuments in the brochure, but when our weary legs regain its strength, we'll set off on foot once again at the crack of dawn and see the rest of this world-class city we call home.
Click here to download your copy of the Downtown Shoreline Public Art Walk brochure + map in PDF.
Our tour continued towards the art deco Marine Building, 1930, built during the difficult times of the great depression, then to Working Landscape, 1998, a collection of three circular platforms with a tree and a bench on top moving ever so slightly, the same area where Georgia Lass got hit by a flying toilet seat in the short lived television series called Dead Like Me. Right across from here was a new chocolatier called Mink to where we stopped to warm our chilly hands up with a cup of hot chocolate before moving along to Canada Place.
Through Gastown to False Creek and Yaletown, we took our city in with wide eyes. We stopped by a cafe called Bojangles right off the False Creek marina where I had a bowl of Boston clam chowder and gave my tired legs a rest.
We had only covered slightly less than half of the city on foot and missed out on several other installations, buildings, and monuments in the brochure, but when our weary legs regain its strength, we'll set off on foot once again at the crack of dawn and see the rest of this world-class city we call home.
Click here to download your copy of the Downtown Shoreline Public Art Walk brochure + map in PDF.
Password, 1994. - Alan Storey.
Sep 28, 2008
Volunteering & Vacationing in Vancouver.
It was only meant to be a day-trip in downtown Vancouver, but one thing lead to another and I found myself having a splendiferous weekend with friends in town!
After getting together with Siggy for coffee on Saturday afternoon to catch up on life, we waltzed down to English Bay to meet some more of our mutual friends volunteering for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada's Light the Night walk. Siggy registered herself as a volunteer as well and I thought it would be nice to meet my friends and keep them company, if only for a short while. There was a cool and gentle breeze in the air and the evening sun was beginning to set over the bay. Fresh fallen leaves of autumnal colours was the ground cover and the trees, though not completely naked yet, began to show signs of the change in season.
Upon arrival, I met Amy and Kathy working the booths and Norm and his girlfriend patrolling the VIP parking spaces. Even Leslie was there decked out in full cycling gear! Like myself, Leslie only came to say hello and had not intended to sick around. As we were socialising away in the thick of it, Kathy came out of her booth in desperation as she needed more volunteers to help out. And that's when Leslie and I got roped in, albeit, without much hesitation.
We were sent to assist other volunteers at the registration tent, and before long, donning a swanky red t-shirt with VOLUNTEER printed on our backs, we were thrown right into the pit collecting donations, giving away t-shirts, and registering people. It was actually quite exhilarating! I can't remember the last time I volunteered for anything, so this was a nice experience to break my poor track record as well. Did I mention the free t-shirt?
The sun had set leaving just enough light to highlight the cirrus clouds in the navy sky. Light the Night was in full swing by 1900h with hundreds of people of all ages and their dogs participating, holding up red, white, and gold helium balloons signifying in support of, survivor of, and in memory of, respectively. And just as a live band started performing on stage, the walk around Stanley Park began. The lead singer commented: "This must be the first time we have people walking out on us in droves!"
I stuck to the end helping out with the cleanup crew taking down folding tables and chairs and collecting litter. Kathy was having wings night at her place right after the cleanup and everyone in our immediate circle of volunteering friends were invited! I had decided right there and then that I wasn't going back home that night.
After spending the night on Kathy's KLIPPAN couch, we went out to Pastis for breakfast where I had a decadent serving of ham and cheese omelette, followed by a screening of The Duchess at Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Soaking in another day of sun, Siggy and I took her Mac mini to the new Apple Store at Pacific Centre to speak with a Genius at the bar about an audio issue she was experiencing. Of course, it worked flawlessly at the store, and fortunately, it remained that way when we brought it back to her place. To end a perfect Sunday, it was dinner at Trattoria Italian Kitchen on West 4th.
Just the weekend vacation I needed to rejuvenate.
After getting together with Siggy for coffee on Saturday afternoon to catch up on life, we waltzed down to English Bay to meet some more of our mutual friends volunteering for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada's Light the Night walk. Siggy registered herself as a volunteer as well and I thought it would be nice to meet my friends and keep them company, if only for a short while. There was a cool and gentle breeze in the air and the evening sun was beginning to set over the bay. Fresh fallen leaves of autumnal colours was the ground cover and the trees, though not completely naked yet, began to show signs of the change in season.
Upon arrival, I met Amy and Kathy working the booths and Norm and his girlfriend patrolling the VIP parking spaces. Even Leslie was there decked out in full cycling gear! Like myself, Leslie only came to say hello and had not intended to sick around. As we were socialising away in the thick of it, Kathy came out of her booth in desperation as she needed more volunteers to help out. And that's when Leslie and I got roped in, albeit, without much hesitation.
We were sent to assist other volunteers at the registration tent, and before long, donning a swanky red t-shirt with VOLUNTEER printed on our backs, we were thrown right into the pit collecting donations, giving away t-shirts, and registering people. It was actually quite exhilarating! I can't remember the last time I volunteered for anything, so this was a nice experience to break my poor track record as well. Did I mention the free t-shirt?
The sun had set leaving just enough light to highlight the cirrus clouds in the navy sky. Light the Night was in full swing by 1900h with hundreds of people of all ages and their dogs participating, holding up red, white, and gold helium balloons signifying in support of, survivor of, and in memory of, respectively. And just as a live band started performing on stage, the walk around Stanley Park began. The lead singer commented: "This must be the first time we have people walking out on us in droves!"
I stuck to the end helping out with the cleanup crew taking down folding tables and chairs and collecting litter. Kathy was having wings night at her place right after the cleanup and everyone in our immediate circle of volunteering friends were invited! I had decided right there and then that I wasn't going back home that night.
After spending the night on Kathy's KLIPPAN couch, we went out to Pastis for breakfast where I had a decadent serving of ham and cheese omelette, followed by a screening of The Duchess at Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Soaking in another day of sun, Siggy and I took her Mac mini to the new Apple Store at Pacific Centre to speak with a Genius at the bar about an audio issue she was experiencing. Of course, it worked flawlessly at the store, and fortunately, it remained that way when we brought it back to her place. To end a perfect Sunday, it was dinner at Trattoria Italian Kitchen on West 4th.
Just the weekend vacation I needed to rejuvenate.
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