December 10, 2007

Let It Snow

Over the past few weeks here the weather's been miserable. It turned really warm but the sky's been constantly grey and overcast. In Toronto now the temperature is sub-zero but I'm so envious of the snow! Here's it's just been raining, bleh. I really hope we get snow before Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, for the first time ever, I started my Christmas shopping a month early, so now I'm done! All I have to do is finish wrapping and packaging and then ship everything out.

Every last Friday of the month my company holds pub nights in the office, so two weeks ago we had a Polish pub night. I saw the cupboards completely CRAMMED with alcohol - it was nuts. I tried some really good Polish food like breaded meatballs and a sort of coleslaw dish. Afterwards I left for a friend's wine and cheese tasting party. He's French so his mom mailed over TONS of difference cheese from France. I liked the milder cheeses, but I tried one of the stronger ones and I had a hard time digesting it. As for the blue cheese, I just stayed far far away from that.

I got together with a friend at her flat to make homemade Christmas cards and baked a mjuk pepparkaka. Unfortunately I didn't get to taste how the cake turned out but it smelled heavenly, and it must've been quite interesting with the jam mixed inside. A traditional Swedish holiday treat I did try though was glögg, a mulled wine with spices that we warmed up and added in raisins (you can also choose to add in almonds.) I actually quite enjoyed it — the alcohol was quite weak and the drink was nice and sweet. I only had a tiny bit of it yet I still felt like falling asleep while I was crafting... I'm so weak!

Posted by mich at 3:21 PM | return | dreams [0]

September 7, 2007

Summer, I Never Knew You

I can't believe it's already September. Where did the summer go? In fact, this whole year seems to be whizzing by. Well, technically summer's not officially over and the warm weather makes me happy still, but back to school always marks the end of summer fun. It especially sucks now commuting to and from work since the heavy traffic tacks on an extra 30 min each way.

Even though I didn't get to go away for the long weekend, it was still quite hectic, yet fun. I went to the CNE at night, which was my first time going to the Ex in probably 15 years. I've never been a fan of these types of fairs and midway rides, but all of a sudden I had the urge for Tiny Tim donuts and riding on the massive ferris wheel. I ended up having a great time: I rode the ferris wheel, which was a bit disappointing because it was quite slow, went into a cheesy haunted mansion, and then Christian forced me onto the big swinging pirate boat. My first and only time going on that kind of boat ride was when I was like 3, when I begged my dad to take me on it at Wonderland. It was a horrible experience and my parents claimed that my face turned green afterwards. Ever since, I had never dared to go back on that sort of ride... until last weekend. It was just as terrifying this time around and I was screaming like a banshee (I woke up the next morning with the worst sore throat), to the point where I got so tired of screaming that I wanted to stop, but couldn't suppress myself until the ride finally ended. The highlight of the evening was Aquarêves, an acrobatic and pyrotechnic street performance by La Compagnie Malabar. It was a mix of various acrobatic feats choreographed with stilt walkers and jugglers in alien costumes set against a gorgeous floating pirate ship. It ended with pyrotechnics, bursts of flying confetti, and a non-stop gush of foamy bubbles that blanketed the entire pavement. The whole audience ran into the stage area and just played in all the foam - it was fantastic!

The entire weekend mostly consisted of eating: junk at the Ex (butterfly chips, Tiny Tim's donuts, and deep-fried perogies), Italian dinner at Yorkville, Greg's ice cream, French brunch at La Palette in Kensington (must go back for dinner!), Japanese dinner with family, and breakfast at Chez Cora's with my sisters and almost-twin-brother, Jon :P

It was only on Monday evening when I concluded I need to go on a diet: I was putting on a dress I had bought in the beginning of the year only 45 minutes right before Eyal's wedding and came to the horrible realization that I could not zip up my dress! What was a girl to do? Naturally, I was freaking out. I tried on my sister's dress but it was a little too big, then I tried on my older formal dress but the fabric's started to pop out in weird places. My mom finally came to the rescue and with a little creative re-positioning and adjusting of the halter straps, she was able to squeeze me in. Whew, disaster averted. The wedding was great - it was a Jewish ceremony so it was quite festive and involved dancing, singing and lifting the bride and groom in their chairs. Quite different from the more reserved Chinese weddings I've been to! The food and desserts were absolutely delicious... which also did not bode well at all for my dress problem, shoooot.

Posted by mich at 6:30 PM | return | dreams [0]

August 22, 2007

Reasons Why I Can't Wait to Go to Sweden

vacation_days.jpg
[Source: New York Times]

Yeah baby!

It's also the world's best country for women because it's such an egalitarian society. Men in Sweden apparently do more housework than men anywhere else in the world... now why can't others follow suit?

Posted by mich at 5:03 PM | return | dreams [1]

July 5, 2006

Shopped 'til She Dropped

During the Canada Day weekend, my parents and I were quite the patriots- we headed south of the border *hangs head in shame*. But seriously, if you're not going to celebrate in Ottawa, what point is there in staying here for the lame/non-existent celebrations in Toronto? So my family hit the road and drove down to Grove City, Pennsylvania, where there just happens to be a super duper humoungous factory outlet mall. SO many stores and so many sales; it took us 2 days to go through the whole place. They had a Coach store that was milling with women holding armfuls of bags, purses and wallets. I joined in the craze and got a cute shoulder sling bag. I also scored myself a pair of Adidas running shoes for $30(!!!), and I went absolutely buckwild at Bath & Body Works, where all their lotions, body sprays and shower gels were $5. *jackpot!* I also have a new favourite American store now called Jimmy'z, - carrying a unique style that melds together punk, rock, and surf - where I bought myself a few tops for a measly $4. The biggest doorcrasher I found was a funky Fossil bag that went from $60 straight to $10. How could I resist?! All in all, it was a completely satisfying weekend of shopping. For a 5-hour drive, it makes for a reasonable shopping destination.

---

On a completely different subject, what the hell is going on with this World Cup? It's turning into a disaster. How can a bunch of old has-beens, who beat out my 3 favourite teams when they barely even survived the round-robins, make it into the final to play another team who can't play for their life that make a sport out of diving on land? My head keeps shaking like a bobble-head doll. I'm boycotting the World Cup on Sunday.

Posted by mich at 10:19 PM | return | dreams [0]

June 30, 2006

Caban Sale

One of my favourite stores, Caban, is going out of business and holding a blowout sale. I found a gorgeous matte black cup and saucer set with shiny turquoise glaze on the interior that I bought for 20% off. They also have my cupcake book I was eyeing at Chapters for 30% off. I think I'll go pick that up next week. Oooh, the savings to be had!

I saw Superman Returns last night. It was a great movie, with amazing efects, good storylines, humourous moments, and.. eye candy actors :P Highly recommended *thumbs up*

Tomorrow I'm off to Grove City, PA for some hard-core shopping. Happy Canada Day!

Posted by mich at 8:38 PM | return | dreams [0]

May 11, 2006

Lovin' My New Skirt

<-- Look how cute! I'm still in disbelief over how much I had splurged for this skirt, but all the compliments I've been getting for it kind of justify the purchase :P Now I need to find some cute matching shoes to go with it, perhaps these super comfy Lacoste ones. Hopefully Sandra can help me find cheaper ones over in HK! :D

I finally put my Home and Garden Cookbook to use and tried the Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce last Saturday. I had put in too much curry powder and sugar rendering it too spicy, yet without too much flavour. I gave it another go this evening and it turned out a bit better; I added lots of salt to bring out flavour, but I was a bit short on the curry powder and coconut milk. Third time's a charm I guess? The previous evening I had Salad King's famous Golden Curry, and I must say, my own curry paled in comparison :( My mission now is to figure out the secret to making curry like Salad King.

This week I also went to see the Boygroove play/musical with Christian, Justine, and Janine. It was my second time seeing it, but it was still hilarious nonetheless with a few new bits added. Definitely recommended! *thumbs up*

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 large red onion, chopped (1 cup)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and finley chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 13 1/2- or 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
a tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablesppons snipped fresh basil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 cups hot cooked rice

1. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place chicken in a medium bowl. In a small bowl stir together the curry powder, salt, black pepper, and chili powder. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken, tossing to coat evenly. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours to allow spices to penetrate meat.

2. In a large nonstick wok or skillet cook and stir onion, garlic, and jalepeno peppers in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove onion mixture from wok. Add halk of the chicken to wok. Cook and stire for 3 ot 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from wok. (If necessary, add additional oil.) Cook remaining chicken as above; remove from wok.

4. Combine coconut milk and cornstarch. Carefully add to wok. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Return chicken and onion mixture to wok. Stir in basil and ginger. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more until heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Posted by mich at 10:29 PM | return | dreams [1]

April 23, 2006

I've Gone Red

I actually did it. I got my hair coloured along with a spanking new haircut. I pretty much left the stylist to figure out what would look best for my face shape and skin tone and this is the end result. Quite a drastic change for me- it'll take a while to get used to it. It ended up costing double what I was prepared to pay, but since my hair was so dark to begin with, they had to lighten up my whole head before even applying the highlights. Aiya... but oh well. I can't believe I did it, gah!

Posted by mich at 6:56 PM | return | dreams [1]

January 14, 2006

Buuurn!

I wish I had known what a slow cooker was before I attempted a recipe I found in my mom's slowcooker recipe book. When I asked my mom what it was, she made it seem like it was a crock pot. So that's what I used to make my Sweet and Spicy Cashews for the first 10 minutes of cooking, until it dawned on my mom that I was using the wrong thing to cook with. A few cashews were already burned a bit by the time I transferred them to the slow cooker. In the end they came out looking a little more than toasted:

Oh my goodness! After typing out the recipe, I just realized I did a huge boo boo in following the recipe: I added the butter in the beginning instead of mixing it in after the cashews were toasted. No wonder they burned. Noooooo! What a waste of cashews! I scrounged around the bowl for the lightest coloured cashews; once those were gone, I settled for the ones with only one side that was burned and ate the less burned side. When the only choices left were burned or very very burned, I was left nibbling at the tiny parts of cashews that weren't as burned as the rest of the nut. Yum yum, haha!

This afternoon I went for a spa treatment that was my xmas gift from my mummy. An hour and a half of soothing facial treatment and relaxing massage- I wanted to stay on that bed forever.

Spicy Cashews

2 cups raw cashews
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Sweet and Spicy Cashews: Substitute 1 tbsp butter for the olive oil and add alon with 2 tbsp brown sugar.

1. In slow cooker stoneware, combine cashews, chili powder, cayenne and cinnamon. Stir to combine thoroughly. Cover and cook on High for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, until nuts are nicely toasted.

2. In a small bowl, combine sea salt and olive oil. Add to nuts in slow cooker and stir to thoroughly cominbe. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl and serve hot or allow to cool.

Posted by mich at 5:21 PM | return | dreams [1]

December 8, 2005

The Girl's Version of Snow Pants

I was just reading the paper this morning and found a blurb about a brand new type of garment: snow skirt. Down filled and everything to keep your legs nice and toasty if you ever want to wear a skirt out in the winter. How cute is that? Too bad it's $$$!

Has anyone heard of Crumpler bags? These bags are specially made for equipment like laptops and cameras but they don't look like your typical laptop or camera bag. I went scouting for a 4 million dollar home for my camera but I couldn't find any at Henry's. The ones they carried were either too small or too big. :S

Also while flipping through the paper, I found out that the new Disney Treasures are out already! Wooo! *Jumps for joy* This year they're releasing Chronological Donald, Vol. 2: 1942-1946 and Celebrated Shorts: 1920s - 1960s. Reading through the list of shorts made me so excited... like Lambert, the Sheepish Lion, Pigs Is Pigs, Toot, Whistle, Plunk & Boom. Gaaaah, I want my childhood back!

Posted by mich at 11:07 PM | return | dreams [0]