S M I L E

Hello World,

Funny things that came up at work yesterday: , my colleague and I were saying that we smile quite regularly at work and my colleague said "the smile is the secret"

My colleague came up with some acronyms and then i came up with these acronyms for the word S M I L E. I thought it was pretty funny and that these could possibly be the reason of why someone smiles? hahaha, randomly came up with this while multitasking

Suave

Mischievous

Intelligent

Lucky

Excellent

Other than that, today I was speaking with this one dude from another department at the bank, and he was commenting on the work of someone else, saying "hmmm, well that's not very profesh" and i thought it was hillarious, profesh for professional...lol! okay, so i get amused by things like these at work, but it keeps me smiling!

Other than that, Thursday night is soccer night!!!!! YAAA! Anyways, here's the results

Rice 3 - 1 CCNM Students
J.Wang Red T-Shirt Guy
J.Wang
T. Dontsos

I scored two goals tonight!! My first 2 of the season. Thanks to the assists by Nancy and Dan! Both right footed one timed shots! Dontsos' goal really brought a cushion to our team, we were 2-0 up by the 2nd half, and then they got one back and just before the game ended, Dontsos cooly slotted the goal past the keeper in the bottom left corner. Good job! Secured another win! We're on a roll now, 2nd in the league!

The Weekend-ed

Friday 19th

Bulgogi Broiled Beef - Dong Soon Tofu - $11.50 incl tax & tips

Had dinner with Hendry, Jane & Claus after work on Friday. After which:

Bubble Tea - Chocolate Sherbet with Tapioca

A bubble tea session at Tea Shop 168. I also had some more snacks, was just feeling super hungry that night on Yonge StFried Tofu - $1.99+tax

at TS 168, I rekindled an old activity that i partook in when I was a child with my younger siblings
Chinese Checkers

Claus & Jane totally owned in the game. Well, this was what they did when they were in elementary school in China. Their tactics were clearly tactically sound. Anyhow, the Bubble Tea was good.

Saturday 20th

Saturday was a really busy day at work. I stayed back an extra hour after logging off my shift to finish off some work and some cases.
Warden Stn, where i took my bus home to rest. They often play classical music

And then I had a nice quiet pizza dinner and watched this fantasy/comedy movie, the Invention of Lying. Wasn't too bad, wasn't my usual cup of tea, but Jennifer Garner made the film bearable.

Sunday 21st
Bought a brand new HP D1660 Printer - $30 + tax

Went to Church in the morning, and had lunch with Churchmates at Congee Queen. After Lunch, we went to an open house on Vic Park & St.Clair to learn about "how to buy property in Canada", well that's what I would call it. Learned a thing or two from Jordan (from Church) who accompanied me. Had my first open house experience when looking to buy property.

Mushroom Melt Angus at Burger King

Was feeling lazy that evening, and walked to burger king to get a burger, onion rings and a diet pepsi for dinner.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

And I watched this DVD. I quite like the Justice League series from the DC Universe. This one was all the more interesting because of the alternate universes and the action in this animation was simply brilliant. Drawings were excellent. Loved the Superwoman Character who was evil! Owlman looks like the dude from Watchmen. Good stuff, something I definitely recommend.

Monday Feb 22nd

Went to T & T Supermarket in Markham in the afternoon. One of the renown Asian stores in Canada. Recently bought over by Loblaws. Went in to do some grocery shopping. Got a half pound of Siu Yok (Roast Pork) and had a delicious lunch with some steamed rice that I cooked at home.

I later on joked with Jayne who is now in Moscow, Russia that I should start a business selling roast pork and that I should call the store "Свинина жаркого "
Cool huh.

Snow is back!

On my way home at noon, it started snowing and it didn't stop snowing till about 8 in the evening. We got about 15cm of snow. Just when I wanted it to be spring it snowed.
Couples' Retreat

And then I tuned into another movie, Couples Retreat. It was pretty good stuff. Vince Vaughn is definitely sarcastic funny. It was sweet to see Malin Akerman in romantic comedies. Saw her recently in The Proposal, so different from her Watchmen Role as Silk Spectre II. Pretty good movie.

In the evening, I had small group meeting where we had dinner and later had a prayer and sharing meeting.

So yeah, the weekend is finally over. Time to go to bed!

Soccer Night

Marc Garneau's Gym at Don Mills - Maryse(in white) taking on two defenders

Yeah, Team Rice is on a roll! 2nd win out of the 5 games we played. Our game was at 8:45pm. Following our last game, a win of 6-0, we brought out the form and some solid defending.
Intensity


Results:

Rice 3 - 1 Tackled By a Squirrel
J.Tang Purple Shirt Guy
R.Wong
T.Dos Santos

Dos Santos vs Tackled By a Squirrel's Speedy and Skillful Attacker

The team was in high spirits. It was a good game. Haha, i actually took a nap after coming home from work, that's how tired I was but am glad I had the nap so that I was pumped for the game! We won! Efficient substitutions kept energies at a high level

Arguably the Best Sushi in Toronto

Sushi D - 671 College St, Toronto, ON

Directions by TTC, Subway to Ossington Station (Green Line). Bus #63 Southbound, stop at College & Ossington. Move east towards no.671, It'll be on the right side of the street by foot.
College St on a winter evening

After stopping at College St, I was walking eastwards. I loved the lights on College St and just had to stop to take some pictures.
Sushi D was recommended by Alex Chen

Despite having competition on the same street, Alex said that this was the best. I was pretty excited to see what Sushi D had to offer. This was my first time having all you can eat sushi in Toronto.
Rock Shrimp - Appetizers

We started off with the Rock Shrimp for appetizers. This dish alone had already won my heart and stomach by the time my chopsticks placed the first shrimp into my mouth, it was amazingly delicious. With a subtle batter, this not overly fried shrimp dressed with a honey lemon dressing was sooooo goood!
Farah - Eating Crew no. 2

Farah made the trip downtown from Missisauga despite a slippery snowing day in the very mild winter that we are presently having in Ontario.
Eating Crew no. 3 - Lilian

Lilian made the trip down south from Markham, currently on reading week break. Oh how i miss reading week break.
Pepper Tuna Tetaki - The Seasonal Order

This resto not only fulfilled the quality aspect of the sushi and the maki rolls, it was also about presentation. This Pepper Tuna Tetaki brought a smile to my face, the tuna sushi was accompanied by soya sauce, pepper and finely sliced green onions. I am running out of adjectives to describe how good the food is...

Further Presentation - Tempura Shrimp with Sweet Potato and Brocolli
The Scorpion Roll

The Scorpion Roll comprises of Asparagus, fried tempura shrimp, avocado, teriyaki saunce and eel wrapped to complete the roll. A fine addition to your list of rolls at a all you can eat joint. Well I ordered it because I was rather curious when Farah and I were looking at their menu of rolls
Teriyaki Grilled Salmon and Deep Fried Tofu
The Ambiance

The Ambiance, lighting was gentle, place is very clean, comfortable, small and cosy.
The Tiger Roll

The Tiger Roll, was something I wanted to order just because, its the year of the Tiger! hahahahah. And so here it is. It had crispy stuff in it, crab meat, and orange texture, I cant' remember what it was, but it was also very good. This was our last roll.
Tempura Green Tea Ice Cream with Kahlua

This was the first time I had deep fried ice cream. I need not mention whats inside as the caption tells ya! So good, i had to get a 2nd order. We ordered quite a bit tonight but unfortunately, I'm unable to post everything that we ate! :) The rest is for you to discover. I'm gonna leave you with a mysterious appetizer that you have to order, its called the "Treasure Island". Get it! It won't dissapoint.
A Very Satisfied Eating Crew - Alex and Lilian. Ira, if you're reading this, you missed out! That's what you get for being in Vancouver :p Come back and we'll hang out!
Farah and I

It was undoubtedly good times, good food and a good time of catching up! I haven't seen Alex in 2 years, Farah, since the summer of 2009, and Lilian since January 2010. After an excellent dining experience, quality and deliciously good, quantity satisfying, undeniably fantastic food presentation at a fantastic price at $20.99 +tax for dinner,

i hereby declare Sushi D as arguably the best Sushi All You Can Eat Joint in Toronto for February 2010 according to jamesintoronto.blogspot.com.

Definitely check it out and until you can find me a better Sushi AYCE joint in Toronto, Sushi D is up there for show!

Christie Subway Stn

Here I am making my way back home at about 10:24pm at the Subway Stn. I told myself, I think i'm going to collect pictures of every subway station there is in Toronto starting with Christie here.

My ride home.

I like the subway. I think its because I don't ride it to work :)

Family Day

Roast Pork Rice "Siu Yok Fan"

Jacey & Mike came up to Toronto on Family Day, a provincial state holiday in Ontario. It was the first time I enjoyed this holiday in Canada as it always falls on Reading Week, so it was a default holiday in school anyways. We made a trip to Congee Queen on Don Mills and more than satisfying quantity of food. Hendry ordered some Siu Yok, well, something I always have at Chinese New Year when at home in Malaysia.
Cantonese Chow Mein

I had to order Cantonese Chow Mein which reminded me of my cousin's cantonese fried noodles. Siu Hao knew how to cook up a delicious dish of Cantonese Fried Noodles every CNY. Claus said to me in our conversation when he picked me up, that this is my chinese new year meal! Haha.

A Chinese Tiger Woods

Being the year of the Tiger, I thought it was funny how we saw a Tiger Woods look alike in the Congee, sporting a plain black long sleeved tee, and a white nike golf cap almost. The resemblance was very resembling. I saw him, and the rest urged me to take a photo of him. Claus said "its the Chinese version of Tiger Woods"
The Razer Mamba Mouse

After Lunch, we headed to Hendry and Jane's where we played Risk. Prior to that, I tested our Jane's valentine's present to Hendry, the $180 Razer Mamba Mouse. Most expensive mouse I've ever used. A very gamer friend mouse, the mouse features programmable buttons for hardcore games for the hardcore gamer. All I did was farmville, a simple flash game.
Risk - Six Player Risk

I haven't played six player risk in a while. For once we had all six players played my risk set. Mike, Jace, Hendry, Jane, Claus and I. It was pretty intense. First game was a draw between Jacey, Hendry and Jane.
Hite Beer

We later had dinner break and went down to Yonge St at the Owl of Minerva for Pork Bone Soup. To treat myself this Chinese New Year, I got myself a Hite Beer. Korean made and imported from Seoul, its a smooth beer, very enjoyable and worth the $4.
Gamjatang - $7

We had the usual Gamjatang, and returned to Hendry's for round 2 at Risk. The next winner was Jane. And we stopped game at 12:30. And Hendry, Jane and I had to go to work the next day. It was fun, eat, play, eat play, sleep.

And this morning, I woke up to the real world.

Land of the Lost

on a side note, I finally saw Land of the Lost. It wasn't the best film but I had wanted to watch it last summer, but I'm glad i watched it at home. Two reasons to watch it? Anna Friel and Will Ferrell. Anna's definitely one of my favorite british actresses since watching Goal.

Happy Chinese New Year

Lunch at Don Mills :) taken at around 1:30pm, Feb 14

This weekend is quite a special weekend for Canadians. First of all the 2010 Winter Olympics began on Friday. And for the Chinese Canadians, it was Chinese New Year Eve. As per previous post, I had Korean BBQ all you can eat.

On Saturday, I had to report to work, as a professional, I did not go on vacation during my probation period, (I had initially wanted to go home to Malaysia during this CNY festivities.). My flight home is now postponed till April. I am not going to lie, I miss home, and I have not been home for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner in 5 years.


Last night, I decided to treat myself with some premium tropicana orange juice being the 1st day of CNY. I do not normally buy juice, it can be a bit pricy. I did buy some herrs chips as well. haha. Anyhow, last night was a quiet evening.
Dumplings made by the Chinese Congregation

Today, I woke up and went to Church a little bit earlier to serve on the ushering team. The Chinese Congregation were making homemade dumplings. Yummm!! Soooo good, they made everything from scratch, the dough, and they of course mixed the fillings. So good! BOILED DUMPLINGS! Love Em!!! Anyhow, we got some courtesy from them, and thanks to Sharon and Adrienne who has connections with the Mandarin side of the Church.
I had to try Jack Astor's Honey Chili Signature Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potato Fries

After service, we waited for Jo who was teaching Sunday School, and then, Jordan, Jeremy, Adrienne, Stella and I went to Jack Astor's for lunch. Well, its my first time there.
My Canada Beer Glass! See the Maple Leaf and the Hockey Stick? Canadian Identity

For drinks, they had a promotion where if you were to order a pint of Molson Canadian, you'd get a free beer glass to support Canada at the Winter Olympics. Courtesy of Molson Canadian. So yup, I had to get one to support my adopted country.

As for the Entree, I wasn't too sure about their signature honey chili fingers, I think I only got about 6 pieces of Fingers(for $12.53)? and the upgrade to the sweet potato fries was not worth the extra $1.79. Saw the picture? It tasted good for sure, but you'd be better off with McCain's Sweet Potato Fries and Jane's Pub Style Chicken Fingers spending less in the comfort of your own home and the work of a trusted oven ;)

Other than that, the experience at Jack Astor's wasn't too bad, It was nice, they had nice TVs (Huge Screens), nice lighting and excellent servers. Maybe I should have gone for their burger. Well, i saw the word, Signature, what can i say? I had to try it!

Fridays

Korean Grill House - AYCE - All You Can Eat

My life in Toronto has been quite interesting!! I work a shift from Tuesday to Saturday. Friday nights are kinda like a tease, because I feel like i'm entering into a weekend, but in fact, I go to bed knowing that I will have to wake up the next morning to report for work. It isn't too bad though, because on Saturday nights, my weekend really begins, and my weekend goes to a Monday.

Tonight, I initiated a pre-chinese new year eve dinner being the eve of chinese new year eve. FOR me CNY, has always been about the FOOD. Thus, it is only fitting to have all you can eat, and i proposed Hot Pot or Korean BBQ, the consensus for Korean BBQ. Thus we headed to the Scarborough location and a good meal. Salmon, Squid, Beef Ribs, Taiwanese Sausages, Fish Filets, Chicken, Beef and Pork. A very high meal in protein.

I had my last tea-bag of Boh's Seri Songket Passion Fruit flavored tea.

Haha, so that's my piece for today. For this blog, there shall be no delayed posts. Everything will be posted as it is...

XTSC Soccer

Played soccer tonight. Back to Back Games.

1st Game

Rice 0 - 3 Drunken Samba

2nd Game

Rice 6 - 0 Blue Balls

I'm in team Rice by the way. =) and we wear white tees! lols

Scene Movie Night

Cineplex Odeon, Eglinton Town Square

After a few months of voting at scene.ca, scene.ca members thought that the best movie of 2009 was The Hangover. I voted for Transformers 2, Revenge of the Fallen, but alas, Canadians really love The Hangover.

Anyhow, the date for the screening was set to 7pm, on Feb 10th 2010. After putting this date down on my diary about 2 weeks ago and at 6pm, I was done work and I made my way towards the cinema above to find out that they were not participating in the free screening. By the time I got there it was 6:20pm, and I found out the next nearest participating cinema, was at Scarborough Town Centre. I decided to give it a go anyways, I thought to myself "I gotta try".
Scarborough's RT arriving at Kennedy Stn.

I did try, and arrived at 7:07pm after riding the Scarborough RT. I was too late, tickets were sold out and the workers at Cineplex said It was probably sold out by late afternoon. For the working men and women out there, 6pm will not get you any free tickets! hahaha.

I guess that's why we have jobs, so that we can pay for movies not attend free movies! I guess people at Toronto love their free movies!

I now leave you with a free song from www.youtube.com. Fantastic acoustic rendition by Singaporean Kenny Goh Wei Zhi. Definitely check it out. I was looking for an acoustic version of Brooke Fraser's Hosanna, and this is definitely one of the best interpretations I've heard so far...

The Price of Professionalism

My Daily Mode of Transport : Toronto Transit Commission's Buses.

To be a professional, there is a price to pay, and that price to pay today came in the form of $7.75 Canadian Dollars.

How did that happen today? Well, everything went according to plan, I was there doing my own thing, being at the bus stop of Street A & B exactly at 9:30am, where bus no.AA is supposed to come right after Bus no.BB.

The thing is, Bus BB always passes by after bus AA and this happens from 9:30-34am. Both buses head up to Street C, but BB takes a longer route. So being smart, wanting to have the shorter ride to Street C, and having faith that AA will show up, I gave bus BB a pass when it came by at 9:31am. I actually signaled to the bus driver, that he can go on without me even though he stopped for me. THAT WAS THE SIGN! He stopped for me even though I didn't wave him down or walked out to initiate the stop. I was still standing in the shelter.

And then, I kept a close watch on the time, it was 9:34am, AA still didn't' show(it must have came very much earlier), when it was 9:37, I was really nervous, by 9:43am, I knew I had no more choice, I have to maintain professionalism by showing up to work on time. I knew I had to call a taxi, and I called Royal Taxi, but just as i put the phone down i saw an empty taxi, and I waved it and took it. Upon entering the taxi, I canceled the Royal Taxi booking. What an expensive fee for a 1.7km taxi ride, $7.75 and I tipped the taxi driver $0.25, for being interesting and entertaining as we had a pleasant chat in our 1.7km ride. Took my mind off being late.

I took the taxi to Street C to save another $8, so that I can catch the bus CC. I got on the bus as usual, and halfway towards my work place, I saw the bus driver getting his stuff. I knew that wasn't a good sign, and sure enough, he stopped the bus at the stop, got out of the bus and LEFT THE BUS DRIVER-LESS. At this moment, I tweeted:

"I don't like it when they switch bus drivers, n the other bus driver is not here...do u want me to drive the bus for u?" about 12 hours ago from Echofon

I'm going to tell the truth, that it was a good 2 mins before the next TTC bus driver came on board, taking his time and drinking his cup of Tim Horton's before getting into his driver's seat. He should have been ready to get on the bus when the other bus driver finishes his shift. But he was quick the minute he entered the bus, and drove immediately. But 2 minute delay?

Here I had just paid $8 bucks not to be late (sorry i just have to vent) but anyways, it's a good thing it was only 2 minutes. I'm thankful I arrived at work 2 mins before the time I start. I managed to maintain professionalism by not being late but at the cost of $8. The meter starts at $4 the minute you enter a Toronto taxi. What can I say to myself but "Welcome to Toronto my friend!"

Names of Buses and Streets have been renamed to generic names and numbers for my protection. I learned from the taxi driver that the TTC Bus drivers aren't too happy because there are people who took their pictures and reported them.

Professionalism as per the definition: http://www.merriam-webster.com

Main Entry: pro·fes·sion·al·ism

Pronunciation: \-ˈfesh-nə-ˌli-zəm, -ˈfe-shə-nə-ˌli-\

Function: noun

Date: 1856

1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person
2 : the following of a profession (as athletics) for gain or livelihood

Superbowl Sunday

Miller Genuine Draft, personal Pitcher

My Superbowl Sunday did not involve any Superbowl Footballing Events. My day started out with going to Church at East Toronto Chinese Baptist Church for worship, and later, a couple of us went down to St.Louis in North York to have the All You Can Eat Chicken Wings :) deal with the personal pitcher, all for $19.99 + tax.

Too bad I didn't take any shots of the wings, today, but here's a picture of what St.Louis wings look like ( just to have an idea what they look like, shot taken the last time I had Wings at St.Louis downtown Toronto, Nov 09)

I ended up eating 35 wings, ordered 5 bowls: Sweet Asian BBQ, Hot and Honey, Jerk, Curry and the Hotter than Hell. I had to do the Hotter than Hell flavour because i saw their ad "So hot, that you'll have hair on your chest once you're done with them". haha. They did the job. It was good stuff.
Francophones on the ball yesterday. Sorry for William, but Didier had the better day! shot taken from guardian.co.uk

While at St.Louis, they had the Chelsea vs Arsenal game. I felt bad for Arsenal, they really need a quality striker. They lost to Man Utd last week, and this week they lost to a in form Chelsea side with Drogba flying on a high. 2-0 was the result. And I was there to witness the sad loss that Arsenal had to endear. Funny thing was, Matt Damon was at that derby game in London! Camera shot him as a spectator.Yeah, EPL action! Haha, funny comment i'm rephrasing "Matt Damon thinks that Football is more important than the superbowl" (that's right real football). I'm glad that Matt and I think alike.
We later hit up Band Hero at Allie's

We then headed to Allies for some Band Hero action! :)
Band members: Allie on guitars, Euge on Drums, Euni on Bass, and Howie as vocals

We later unlocked Taylor Swift in Career mode and form a Taylor Swift band, being TS on drums, guitars, and vocals and a Quincy Styles on Bass, well apparently to represent Kanye, haha.
Unlocked Taylor Swift on Band Hero: image from uk.eonline.com

That's right, we love Taylor Swift. After some evening napping, I had dinner and watched "Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past".
Loved the movie, especially the Time after Time Montage of Connor and Jenny feat Cyndi Lauper.

I'm a sucker for Romantic Comedies. I really enjoy them! Great movie, apparently adapted from Charles Dicken's, "A Christmas Carol". Check it out if you can