Last Thursday August 21st I went to Niagara Falls with my family. We stayed at the Fallsview Casino Hotel. In our hotel room we could see the falls and Marineland. We went with my grandparents and my cousin's family. We went to the swimming pool at my cousin's hotel because it had a waterslide but I wasn't tall enough to go on it. My cousin brought a shark and a fish toy to the pool and they swim underwater so we had to find it. Then we went to the Midway and we got a few jackpots at the games and by Saturday we had won enough tickets to get a giant Gutsy Smurf! The next day we went to the wax museum and got a wax hand made of my own hand! My sister M1 got one too, but M3 was too little to get one done. On the way back home we went to visit my uncle who lives in Burlington. When we got there, M1, Big Oh, and I played fuseball and then we had lunch. And that was my trip to Niagara Falls.
M2
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
T.M.N.T.
Last Saturday I watched Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles. I went with my friends. The turtles name were: Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, and Raphael. My favourite is Michaelangelo because he's the funniest. The turtles were fighting a bad guy named Shredder. My favourite part was when they played buck-buck. My least favourite part was when their master Splinter got hurt. I liked the movie.
M2
M2
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
It All Started with a Big Bang
Back in July, I wrote about the Golden Age of Sitcoms and how Seinfeld and Friends were the last sitcoms I enjoyed. Even though Friends lasted until 2004, it had lost its lustre or "Jumped the Shark", as they say in the business, in the early 2000s. So for a long time I had nothing to watch on TV. Then one day in 2007, I was channel hopping and I saw Kaley Cuoco, whom I liked from 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter. So I decided to watch for a bit. I was delighted to see that it was a show about a bunch of geeks. They would sit around and debate silly concepts from the world of sci-fi. This was like Seinfeld but with a geeky twist. Finally, some main characters that I could identify with. And that’s how I became a fan of The Big Bang Theory.
The show has many references to Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, physics, and other geeky/science stuff. Somehow the writers were able to make the jokes funny even though the audience probably didn’t have enough “inside information” to fully get them.
I must admit I don’t know all the references they make to sci-fi shows all the time but when you do fully understand what they are talking about it just makes it that much funnier. And when you can personally identify with what they are doing, it’s even better. So when Sheldon was trying to come up with his friendship algorithm and got stuck in an infinite loop, I laughed so hard I cried. If you ever took a computer programming course you probably got stuck in an infinite loop once in a while.
My favourite episode is when Sheldon uses Schroedinger’s cat to explain to Leonard whether or not he should go on a date with Penny. I love this because I had the exact same conversation in high school with my good friend JW. I wonder if he sold this idea to the writers of The Big Bang Theory.
Big Oh
Monday, August 18, 2014
Restaurant Review - Royale Fine Dining Banquet
Time for another restaurant review. Recently we went to a Chinese restaurant which opened this summer - Royale Fine Dining Banquet. It took over the premises of Star Walk Buffet in Scarborough. The new owners did a complete make-over to the restaurant to make it more upscale & fine dining; more on my opinion on that later on, but first let's focus on the food.
The menu had a lot of the usual Cantonese fare which my family enjoys. We had 13 people and wanted some of our usual favorites like: Sweet & Sour Pork, Beef Tenderloin With Onion, Crab Meat & Egg White With Broccoli (Choi Pong Hai), Seafood & Veggies In Bird's Nest, Crispy Chicken, and Cantonese Chow Mein. We also ordered a Stir Fried Lobster In Garlic & Onion Sauce, a Chinese vegetable (tong choi) and a fancy fish dish recommended by the manager. With 6 bowls of rice, tax, and tip the bill came out to be $280.
Let's start with the quality of the food. The food was very good - not spectacular - but good enough that I would recommend this restaurant. My family likes trying new restaurants (especially Chinese ones). Whenever we do try a new restaurant there are a few dishes that we always order to "test" the chef, namely the ones I mentioned above. The Sweet & Sour Pork needs to be crispy and tender and the sauce and the garnishes need to be fresh and in just the right proportions - this dish here certainly passes the test. The Crab Meat & Egg White With Broccoli (Choi Pong Hai) is a favourite of the the 3M's when done perfectly because it is a great dish to accompany a bowl of white rice - the egg whites must be scrambled light and fluffly with pieces of shrimp & scallops that are just the right size (not to big and not too small) - this one passes too. I liked the way the presented the Cantonese Chow Mein with the sauce on half the plate and the fried noodle on the other half - this way the noodles don't get soggy sitting in the sauce. The Crispy Chicken was good and it came with shrimp chips that weren't soggy or stale - pass & pass. Unfortunately the Bird's Nest wasn't made with shredded taro (I'm not sure what it was made with) - taro is really the best way to do a bird's nest.
This is suppose to be a "Fine Dining Restaurant" so I would expect a certain level of service - which I did receive. My one complaint is that I felt they were too pushy with their "Chef's Recommendations". The manager came by and tried to get us to order all these expensive seafood delicacies - things like sea cucumber, fancy fishes, shark fin soups, abalone, and other weird Chinese stuff that my family really doesn't eat - we ended up ordering a fancy fish dish which costs $38. I know that these delicacies cater to a certain Chinese clientele. People from China and Hong Kong seem to really enjoy these types of foods, but part of me wonders if they really do - or is it just a status thing? Going with the fine dining theme the decor was a lot of large chandeliers and gold accents - why do all Chinese Fine Dining restaurants go this route? But the restaurant was clean and the waiters/waitresses did speak English well - you would think that this is a basic requirement, but not so in many of the restaurants in our area.
Obviously you can get a good Cantonese style dinner for 10 people in this area for half the price of our meal. But if you want to treat you and your family for an atmosphere a little more fancy, with staff a little more attentive, and food that not only tastes good but is presented well then definitely go give this restaurant a try.
Y.C.
The menu had a lot of the usual Cantonese fare which my family enjoys. We had 13 people and wanted some of our usual favorites like: Sweet & Sour Pork, Beef Tenderloin With Onion, Crab Meat & Egg White With Broccoli (Choi Pong Hai), Seafood & Veggies In Bird's Nest, Crispy Chicken, and Cantonese Chow Mein. We also ordered a Stir Fried Lobster In Garlic & Onion Sauce, a Chinese vegetable (tong choi) and a fancy fish dish recommended by the manager. With 6 bowls of rice, tax, and tip the bill came out to be $280.
Let's start with the quality of the food. The food was very good - not spectacular - but good enough that I would recommend this restaurant. My family likes trying new restaurants (especially Chinese ones). Whenever we do try a new restaurant there are a few dishes that we always order to "test" the chef, namely the ones I mentioned above. The Sweet & Sour Pork needs to be crispy and tender and the sauce and the garnishes need to be fresh and in just the right proportions - this dish here certainly passes the test. The Crab Meat & Egg White With Broccoli (Choi Pong Hai) is a favourite of the the 3M's when done perfectly because it is a great dish to accompany a bowl of white rice - the egg whites must be scrambled light and fluffly with pieces of shrimp & scallops that are just the right size (not to big and not too small) - this one passes too. I liked the way the presented the Cantonese Chow Mein with the sauce on half the plate and the fried noodle on the other half - this way the noodles don't get soggy sitting in the sauce. The Crispy Chicken was good and it came with shrimp chips that weren't soggy or stale - pass & pass. Unfortunately the Bird's Nest wasn't made with shredded taro (I'm not sure what it was made with) - taro is really the best way to do a bird's nest.
This is suppose to be a "Fine Dining Restaurant" so I would expect a certain level of service - which I did receive. My one complaint is that I felt they were too pushy with their "Chef's Recommendations". The manager came by and tried to get us to order all these expensive seafood delicacies - things like sea cucumber, fancy fishes, shark fin soups, abalone, and other weird Chinese stuff that my family really doesn't eat - we ended up ordering a fancy fish dish which costs $38. I know that these delicacies cater to a certain Chinese clientele. People from China and Hong Kong seem to really enjoy these types of foods, but part of me wonders if they really do - or is it just a status thing? Going with the fine dining theme the decor was a lot of large chandeliers and gold accents - why do all Chinese Fine Dining restaurants go this route? But the restaurant was clean and the waiters/waitresses did speak English well - you would think that this is a basic requirement, but not so in many of the restaurants in our area.
Obviously you can get a good Cantonese style dinner for 10 people in this area for half the price of our meal. But if you want to treat you and your family for an atmosphere a little more fancy, with staff a little more attentive, and food that not only tastes good but is presented well then definitely go give this restaurant a try.
Y.C.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Fresh Intensive Dance Workshop
I went to a dance work shop this weekend with M2. It was really fun. Well, some of the classes were; some I didn’t really like because they were a bit weird. If I could rank the classes I would rank,
1. Improv. I liked improve. It was my favourite because we got to be crazy and it was teaching us dynamics like when we were walking around the room we could choose our path, direction, speed and height.
2. Contemporary combo. I liked it because we first got to do improv and dance whatever we want. Then we did a combo to let it go and it was really fun.
3. Jazz. I liked jazz because they were all really easy moves but the teacher was treating us like babies.
4. Jazz. This is another jazz that I did but it was more musical theater and it wasn’t me at all, it was like a broadway show.
5. Hip hop. I liked hip hop because it was fun and it wasn’t too hard and it wasn’t too easy. I also liked it because we had a dance battle.
6. Jumps and turns. I liked jumps and turns because we got to do our favourite jumps across the floor. I didn’t like the turns because I wasn’t used to the preparation, but my mom says to try new things.
7. Lyrical. I liked lyrical because the combo was fun. But I didn’t like it because it was partner work and I was partners with someone I didn’t even know.
8. Group improv. I liked it because we got to copy one another, but what I didn’t like was that my group was mostly 6 year olds and they wouldn’t let me have a turn.
9. Contemporary tech. I liked it because it was new and it seemed fun, until the dance part. The choreography was so hard!
10. Ballroom. I liked it because we got to learn it but I thought it would be like dancing with the stars ballroom.
11. Floorwork. I didn’t like it because our teacher was a bit weird and she said we were babies and at one point she said “I’m so proud of you, you can finally walk!
Well, I really liked the workshop and I’ll probably go back next year.
M1
M1
Thursday, August 14, 2014
A Second Chance
Around the end of July, a TTC driver was caught on film running a red light and swerving before nearly hitting a pedestrian. The TTC fired this employee. A few days later I saw a segment on CP24 where people were interviewed about whether or not the employee deserved a second chance. Most people thought the TTC's reaction was too harsh and she did deserve a second chance. Many thought a more fitting punishment would be to have her not drive for a period of time and have her be a token collector.
If I was asked by CP24, here's what I would have said ...
"Well, if we as a society give murderers, rapists, and pedophiles many chances to commit their crimes over and over again, we can surely forgive this lady for running a red light."
She didn't actually hit anyone so her only crime is running a red light. Okay, I know, the police may charge her for running a red light but it was her employer that chose to fire her for being careless and potentially causing harm to a pedestrian. But in the end there was no harm, so maybe the TTC could have said, "No harm - no foul".
Let's look at a comparable incident one week later. A pickup truck driver crashed into the Burlington Skyway, causing lots of damage to the bridge. Traffic was jammed, more so than usual, and the Skyway was shut down for the long weekend. I would say this was a lot of harm - a serious foul. In the end, it was determined that the driver had a high blood alcohol level. I don't know if he lost his job, but he was charged with impaired driving and his license was suspended for 90 days. In my opinion, the punishment for impaired driving should be a minimum of a 2-year suspension for a first offense. For the 2nd offense, it should be a lifetime ban from driving. When that happens, then we can talk about punishing this poor lady that ran the red light but caused no harm to anyone.
One final note - I believe the TTC fired her because the incident was caught on camera and they felt they needed to react that way or there would be a lot of public backlash. If there was no video evidence, but her boss happened to see it, the incident would most likely have been swept under the rug. Poor sacrificial lamb.
Big Oh
If I was asked by CP24, here's what I would have said ...
"Well, if we as a society give murderers, rapists, and pedophiles many chances to commit their crimes over and over again, we can surely forgive this lady for running a red light."
She didn't actually hit anyone so her only crime is running a red light. Okay, I know, the police may charge her for running a red light but it was her employer that chose to fire her for being careless and potentially causing harm to a pedestrian. But in the end there was no harm, so maybe the TTC could have said, "No harm - no foul".
Let's look at a comparable incident one week later. A pickup truck driver crashed into the Burlington Skyway, causing lots of damage to the bridge. Traffic was jammed, more so than usual, and the Skyway was shut down for the long weekend. I would say this was a lot of harm - a serious foul. In the end, it was determined that the driver had a high blood alcohol level. I don't know if he lost his job, but he was charged with impaired driving and his license was suspended for 90 days. In my opinion, the punishment for impaired driving should be a minimum of a 2-year suspension for a first offense. For the 2nd offense, it should be a lifetime ban from driving. When that happens, then we can talk about punishing this poor lady that ran the red light but caused no harm to anyone.
One final note - I believe the TTC fired her because the incident was caught on camera and they felt they needed to react that way or there would be a lot of public backlash. If there was no video evidence, but her boss happened to see it, the incident would most likely have been swept under the rug. Poor sacrificial lamb.
Big Oh
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Ripley's Aquarium
On Sunday my family went to Ripley's Aquarium. It was downtown. We went with my cousins and aunts and uncle. First we ate at a French restaurant. After brunch we went to the aquarium. My favorite place was the Dangerous Lagoon. You stand on a conveyor belt and fish, sharks, and sting rays swim on top of you. I want to go back.
M2
M2
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Funny things happen
My parents have a good friend - I'll call him Uncle Vader, a lot of funny things happen to him. In this blog I am going to describe a couple of funny things that have happened to him.
Once Uncle Vader went with his family to buy a bike for his daughter. Now, Uncle Vader is really tall and his daughter is 9 years old. So, he did not want to put it in his car and drive home because he thought that was ALOT of work. So, can you guess what he did? He rode his daughters bike home! And I bet you can guess what happened after, he had a butt ache.
Another thing Uncle Vader did when he was going out somewhere he got outside of his house and he was trapped by a family of raccoons! So he growled at them but they just came closer! He didn't want to go back inside because he was afraid they would follow him in. So, he started to run around screaming and flailing his arms like a hillbilly hoping his wife would let him in, but no, nothing.
Anyway that's just some funny things that happen to Uncle Vader.
M1
Once Uncle Vader went with his family to buy a bike for his daughter. Now, Uncle Vader is really tall and his daughter is 9 years old. So, he did not want to put it in his car and drive home because he thought that was ALOT of work. So, can you guess what he did? He rode his daughters bike home! And I bet you can guess what happened after, he had a butt ache.
Another thing Uncle Vader did when he was going out somewhere he got outside of his house and he was trapped by a family of raccoons! So he growled at them but they just came closer! He didn't want to go back inside because he was afraid they would follow him in. So, he started to run around screaming and flailing his arms like a hillbilly hoping his wife would let him in, but no, nothing.
Anyway that's just some funny things that happen to Uncle Vader.
M1
Saturday, August 2, 2014
7,305th Day Together
Eight days ago, my wife posted a blog about her 40th birthday. Well, four days after that, we celebrated our 20th anniversary (dating, not wedding) together. Now, another four days have elapsed. So why is this significant?
Today marks the day that my wife has been with me for the same amount of days as the number of days that she has not been with me. We started dating when she was 20 years and 4 days old. She is now 40 years and 8 days old (with 5 leap years conveniently situated in either side of those time periods). This means that from this day forward she will be with me for longer than she has not been with me.
I can't take credit for this observation. My brother, Kaka, first pointed this out when the date with his wife arrived. My co-worker also mentioned this, but he was talking about the number of years in the working world vs. not working in his lifetime. Yeah, I mainly associate with nerds.
Big Oh
Today marks the day that my wife has been with me for the same amount of days as the number of days that she has not been with me. We started dating when she was 20 years and 4 days old. She is now 40 years and 8 days old (with 5 leap years conveniently situated in either side of those time periods). This means that from this day forward she will be with me for longer than she has not been with me.
I can't take credit for this observation. My brother, Kaka, first pointed this out when the date with his wife arrived. My co-worker also mentioned this, but he was talking about the number of years in the working world vs. not working in his lifetime. Yeah, I mainly associate with nerds.
Big Oh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)