Xin nian, xin de kai shi

Xin nian kuai dao le. Ni ming nian xiang zuo shenme? Xian zai zai Dallas, you yi dian meng. Danshi, ye bu cuo. Zhu de, chi de, shenme dou pianyi. Bi Toronto pian duo le! Tian qi ye bi Toronto nuan ho. Qeshi...wo hai xiang ban dao New York hor zhe Chicago, hui dao jianada ye ke yi. Wo yao hao hao nu li zuo gong zuo - zheng qian! Tan lian ai de shi...ke yi deng. Xian zai bu jue de yao jiao nan pen you - Wo hai nian qing...bu shi ma? ;)

Xian zai hen xi huan zhe shou ge...Shi Jasmin Leong de Ru Guo You Yi Tian.

Xiang zai ye zhi neng xin shang
Wei yi de he zhao yi zhang
Dan wang le de shi nei ge jie jiao
Xiang nian de shi dang shi de wei xiao
Shen huo zhong jiao cuo shi wang
Yue xiang nian jiu yue gu dan
Ruo zai bei ji muo ying tou gan shang
Duo gan shang yuan lai zhi shi zhen chang
Ni shi bu shi ye zai ping chang
Yi ge ren de ka fei he tian guang
Shi bu shi ye hu ran zha jue dao
Duo chu shi jian kan, tian se de bian huan

Chorus:
Ru guo you yi tian, wo men zai jian mian
Shi jian hui bu hui dao tui yi dian
Ye xu wo men dou bu yuan, hu xiang shang hai
Zhi wai de gan jue
Ru guo na yi tian, wo men dou fa xian
Hao ju hao sang bu guo shi zhong zhe yan
Ru guo wo men mei fa xian
Jiu gei bi ci duo yi dian shi jian

Shen huo zhong jiao cuo shi wang
Yue xiang nian jiu yue gu dan
Ruo zai ji muo ying tou gan shang
Duo gan shang yuan lai zhi shi zhen chang
Ni shi bu shi ye zai ping chang
Yi ge ren de ka fei he tian guang
Shi bu shi ye hu ran zha jue dao
Duo chu shi jian kan, tian se de bian huan

Snowboarding Virgin

It is amazing. If you've never tried it...you should!! Oh...and the pain? It's worth it - if you get the right board :) At the end of the day...2 extremely bruised knees, bruised left shin, bruised ass, bruised ankles, bruised right thumb and a very sore body.

The next day? I decided to hit the big slopes on my skis - can't let these wonderful hills go to waste! Guess this is the one of the few times pain is...good :o

On the 12th day of Christmas...

Since when did Christmas have 12 days??!! I am just glad that the ONE day is over. 12 adults, 6 kids and 1 dog later - I am exhausted and have major itis. I'll try and ski off the extra calories tomorrow....yes!

Happy Holidays everyone!

System Integration at AT&T

Sux. Big time. I am VERY peeved at them right now since I won't be getting my BB 8310 until after the New Year. AT&T sucks - they really need to get a better collaboration tool so I don't have to waste yet another hour on the phone trying to figure out where the phone is and when it shipped, who it shipped with.........................

Last Christmas I gave you my heart...But the very next day, you gave it away

Ah, Christmas. When I was young, it has always been about receiving gifts and eating yummy food. Now it's more about fighting for parking at the mall and scouring the mall for the perfect 'unique', 'personalized' gifts. I love online shopping by the way...

As kids, you don't really care about being 'alone'. Now with the holidays, sometimes it gets depressing. Here's to spiked eggnog and best friends who are always there no matter what.

For my Christmas present, I am getting the BlackBerry Curve 8310, which, to my dismay, I am still waiting for. I would have received it earlier had AT&T not screw up the order - they sent me the 8300 instead. Now I have to send that back and apparently when they said overnight delivery, they're lying. I am still waiting. My experience with customer service at AT&T leaves very little to be desired. I spent 1.5 hours on the phone being transferred and waiting. Then I had to wait for them to finish processing the order. I am not sure what system they are using, but it is very slow. They are in need of an upgrade - I will have to tell the Account Manager from my company to speak to the company. Unbelievable.

So what's the difference between the 8300 and the 8310 that I MUST switch it? Simple, the 8310 comes with a GPS, which if you know me...I need. There is also the 8320, which has WiFi capability. The 8300 doesn't come with GPS or WiFi, you can call it the basic model, although it still has great functions. I need the GPS. The new Google Maps is out and I can't wait to download it onto the new toy.

Leaving back to Toronto on Friday. Lets hope I don't get snowed in in Dallas again.

Watch out for falling ice

Chicago...the Windy City....kicked ass!! Went for the weekend and I am in love. The hustling and bustling, so many people...I felt so alive! Snow or no snow...I love the East Coast...and of course my beloved Toronto, I haven't forgotten about you!

Fruit Medley

I just have to say, who would've thought that dried fruit would be so fantastic for cooking?! YUM. Definitely my new fave ingredient.

Random Thoughts of TO and Stuff

It's been a little over a week since I got back to Dallas from American Thanksgiving - no, I didn't get turkey, that was done last month. I brought back from Toronto my Winter collection of clothes...well, what I could fit on my carry on anyway, which wasn't much. Oh...I also brought back the flu - fantastic. So much for the flu shot. I still haven't been able to kick it yet.

TO was awesome, so great to see everyone again. Met up with my mentor/advisor and we chatted about IT. If anyone had told me that I would be chatting to my advisor about IT a year ago I would've laughed. No way. But there I was at Schulich talking to Bill about CRM, BI and DW and the world of outsourcing. It was quite a motivating chat. Then I mosied on out back to the blizzard that had hit Toronto the night I arrived.

As I stood out in the cold Saturday night to get into this club, I wondered what it was that I missed about TO. The cold...not really. Waiting in line at a hip club...no. I think....I missed the vibrancy. The culture. The diversity of TO. Oh I missed the food too.

It appears that several of my friends had ended their relationships. I have to say, it's great being...free. Suffocation is a terrible way to die.

Back in Dallas.....I'm still a stranger.

I am in love with One Republic...and their song Apologize.

I'm holding on your rope
Got me ten feet off the ground
I'm hearin what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I'd take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it's nothin new I loved you with a fire red-
Now it's turning blue, and you say... "Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you
But I'm afraid...
It's too late to apologize, it's too late I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I'm holdin on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground...

Snowed in at DFW Airport

I've been to the Dallas DFW airport many times. This is the only time where I had to spend like 7 hours here. Apparently because of bad T.O weather, my flight was canceled and I had to go on the 12 o'clock flight to Toronto. In retrospect, I should've just gone back to the Park n Fly 10 minutes away, drive home, sleep, re-park, then back to the airport. Should've, could've, didn't. I slept for 3 hours on the chairs then woke up to have one of the most disgusting breakfasts ever. I thought I could cheer myself up by doing some airport shopping in LV or Gucci, but this airport has no class and does not have anything like it. So there goes that idea. Maybe the good stores are in another terminal...

From what I hear, the weather is not that bad in Toronto, maybe it's an en-route thing? Or perhaps there weren't enough people taking the 6:30am flight so they decided to consolidate - bastards. Either way, there goes 1/3 of my vacation! I should've left last night. Back to that again*sigh*. It is 10am now...2 more hours.

Southern Belles

Incredible. I have never lived in a place where women dress up to go to the grocery store. I've heard that it is difficult to make female friends here, now I know why. The women here are all in competition with each other! You cannot walk out of your apartment or house in "comfortable" clothes. People will wonder what is wrong.

I went out Saturday night, and I can't honestly say I was all "decked out", but it was decent (how does one go wrong with jeans?). I walked past the lobby where there were 3 girls waiting for their ride (or whatever), short skirts, skimpy top, high heels (alright, I know you boys are thinking that there's nothing wrong with that) ... it was COLD that night! So as I walked pass, I was going to be neighbourly and say "hi", but one of them gave me such a dirty look I got scared (well not really). So I'm thin (and she not so much), but seriously. Either that or she was giving me a look for my oh so simple outfit. Guess the yellow biker-style leather jacket isn't "in" in the South.

The outfit of the night was this chick in a SUPER short (and I mean so short you can literally see up her ass without bending over) skirt. She must have forgotten to look into a mirror. Where were her friends (at least I have that excuse...haha). Apparently I was not the only one who noticed her skanky outfit - another female, obviously not from the South by her accent, was also making the same comment to her bf as I was to my friend. So we got to chatting and I voiced my disbelief. She completely agreed and says it's difficult at first if you want to make female friends - "you can't walk out without feeling like you're competiting". We swapped contacts at the end of the night - maybe I'm on my way to making some more female friends.

I must admit though, there are a lot of pretty females here - especially blondes. People here are good looking, I guess if you're a female it's hard not to feel intimidated/insecure by those around you...I guess I'll just have to play my exotic card. Hahaha....

I've also discovered something about myself this week - I like sunflowers!

Bills Bills Bills

*Sigh* The cost of living alone. Independence is great, don't get me wrong, but as the bills come in each month you realize the cost of independence. Granted, the first month is the worst because you see all the "extras" such as set up fee, initiation fee and whatever fee they can slap on your bill...it's there. My gas bill (what I used) was shy over $30, but the entire bill came out to be $145.......right. The same story goes for my electric bill and phone bill. My water bill was surprisingly very little...$4 - thank goodness for that! I suppose $70 a month for utilities isn't bad...is it?

At the moment, I have a small pile of dishes yet to be washed, the laundry is upstairs on the fourth floor, and I should probably vacuum sometime soon. Luckily, I made enough food for lunch that I can also have it for dinner...I'm so lazy!

So it's hockey season ... eh?

Yea...hockey season has finally started and I'm stuck down south where football is life. I missed the first two Leafs regular season game, but I suppose it's ok as we lost to the Sens (arrghhh) both times. I did however manage to watch the third game against Montreal, which we won it OT. It's coz I watched ;). How did I swing that? I went onto the Sabres site and signed up for Centre Ice free trial...heh. What a great game! Our new goalie seems to be not doing that badly from that game! I then proceeded to download two P2P online streaming programs, the two best ones that I've found are Sopcast, which shows CBC's Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) and Sports NEt and TVU, which has Versus and maybe Fox Sports.

Now all I need is a t.v and a S-video cable :p

At least I can stream all the American shows online now from the networks now that I am in the States. Who needs cable anyway?! Not me. And besides, I can't even get service because I can't sign up for satellite as they won't serve me because I don't have a credit history - big surprise since I just moved here. Idiots, turning away business for that. Their loss. One less expense to worry about.

Crazy Texan Driver

Well, perhaps its inevitable that this was going to happen eventually. My baby - my car - was hit by another car.

So here I was heading to work after a retail summit, going straight on a 3 lane road when out of the blue I see a white flash out of the corner of my eye and the next thing I know, I was hit on the passenger side door. WTF.

I was driving on the left most lane. Apparently she was making a right turn - apparently a wide ass right turn - and so happened to turn right into me. Her words? "I didn't see you." I don't care if she didn't see me, why wasn't she making a right turn into her own lane? Or even to the middle? That really pissed me off.

So we pulled over, then I suggested moving to the side street so that we don't block traffic since we were on a pretty busy road - which might have been a mistake.

She was very apologetic and seemed nice. Hopefully she doesn't dispute anything - that she was completely at fault. I don't have collision (stupid apparently - but it really is old....) but I have liability, but since I wasn't liable my insurance won't have to get involved. So it sounds like she is going to pay up - but we'll see. Cross my fingers.

Estimated charges, $2500 for the job, and $1800 for the paint. Apparently that is 73% of my car's worth. Which was really...REALLY funny. I didn't think my car was worth that much. LOL.

Anyways, hopefully this will pan out alright.

Grrr...maybe I should just buy a new car.

Dear Dallas...

It's been a few weeks now since I've arrived. I've finally settled down in my new apartment - which I love btw. There are however some things that I find very annoying - aside from earlier mentioned ones like those monstrous trucks on the road threatning to run me over if I don't go faster than 70 and the smeltering heat...

I don't understand why your computer systems in some of your biggest (even some multi-national companies like banks, utility companies etc) weren't programmed to accept international credit cards. Contrary to what you may believe - not all countries have zip codes soley based on numbers. Obviously if we can't input zip codes (in Canada we call it postal codes) with letters, then of course the credit card number and zip/postal code won't match! There is no problem with my credit. Right now my electricity provider is threatning to cut my electricity because my credit card is being rejected. Although we don't have as many multi-national, multi-billion, multi-whatever companies in Canada --- we're not discrimminating and allow any type of zip/postal code to be entered, once the country has been entered - even if the country doesn't have a postal code system (i.e. Hong Kong). Which by the way, is another annoying thing. You only allow American States to be entered into the address field.

I also find it quite exhausting how your portions are so big ... basically whatever I eat for lunch I'll have for dinner and lunch the next day again. You should consider making smaller portions (and not call it the kids meal because you have to be under 14 or something) for people who just can't eat 20 pounds of food in one setting. You can help start a new trend for eating smaller portions but at more intervals (if necessary). Throw in a "health" marketing campaign to it and you'll probably double your revenues...if not more. I must say...Texans are kind of plump. I haven't tried buying clothes here yet - not really looking forward to it.

I haven't experienced any racism yet - knock on wood - or rather, I don't think I did. Although a new friend said that the waiter was being racist by asking for my I.D when I ordered a Merlot. I found it quite flattering as I am more than just a few years over the drinking age...

On a good note, I spent 30 minutes or so driving to work today during rush hour. Normally it would take about 25 minutes :p (Think driving to Downtown from Richmond Hill). Sometimes you hate all the highways, sometimes you just have to love em...I haven't tried taking the tollway during rush hour yet and not sure I want to...it costs about $0.75 cents - $1.50 to go one way from where I am. This actually brings me to another annoying point. I can't get a toll tag because I don't have a Texas driver's license! So now unless I want to get fined like crazy, I'm avoiding the tollway as much as possible...and no, there's no person there taking your money because they've recently implemented this electronic system (ZipCash), which basically requires that you have a toll tag...

All in all, it ain't so bad -- now to get hockey channels (Canadian) ... think I'll even take a dip into the pool at the apartment this weekend :).

The Lone Star

I mean that literally and figuratively.

I am alone. No friends (for now), family or dog...it's quite strange. Although it's not like I've never been in this situation before :p

I've spent a little over a week now in Dallas. I've finally found a place to live that I totally adore (although the price is a little high for Dallas - but still lower than Toronto by about $400-$500 bucks a month...which is significant if you think about it!). You can check out my new pad here -- http://www.postproperties.com/ApartmentHome/PropertyInfo.aspx?PropertyId=Post%20Worthington&Type=PAH

Nice isn't it ;) I'm moving in tomorrow! The area that I will be living in is about 20-30 minutes away from work which isn't bad. But it's worth it as the area is pretty cool with nice restaurants and pubs/bars/lounges. Not that many, but good enough. It is also only 10 minutes away from downtown clubbing district (quite small compared to Toronto - but then again, Toronto has the highest density of clubs in North America -- the things about Toronto I learn after leaving...you really do take it for granted when you're there...). I have spent days shopping and signing up for utilities, which is really really not much fun. Hopefully my furniture arrives on time. My futon will be delivered by tomorrow though so at least I can sleep on that (he guaranteed that...).

The new American recruits weren't kidding, there are a lot of trucks and SUVs in Dallas. I honestly thought I was going to get run over in my dinky Ford Focus rental (which sucks by the way so don't ever buy a Ford Focus). I am glad to be getting my car back, the shipping company will finally arrive tomorrow with my car - it will be nice to drive manual again (especially since traffic is not that bad here!) and although I will probably get lost (there are sooo many highways in Dallas), I really have had enough of the Hertz woman (aka the Neverlost lady)..."Turn right in 2 miles..." ARGH.

So...so far so good. Right now I am researching on the accounts that I will be handling - so it's sort of like school at the moment, which isn't so bad. Guess I better suck it up and make some sales. Afterall, I have to beat Chris Clark's $150K goal..........

Bombing in Hyderabad

Well, here I am sitting in my hotel room after a short night of clubbing at Speed in Chennai. The clubs usually close at about 1am, but tonight was different. Around 11:30pm, the lights went up - the party was closing down. Dozens of confused faces looked up at the DJ while we all stopped dancing to the techno-house beats. I am no longer in Bangalore where clubs close at 11:30pm. What was going on?

A quick search on my BlackBerry revealed that there were two bombs that went off in Hyderabad and so the whole country is on national alert. Two bombs went off killing several dozens of people, while 2 were diffused. Apparently there are 14 more bombs left to be diffused in the city. I can't imagine what the Muslims are going through now as I think about my Muslim friends in the States and back home in Toronto.

The Americans keep on bringing up 9/11, but stuff like that happen in this part of the world all the time. It doesn't make it "normal". The severity is the same...yet people keep on talking about 9/11 like it was yesterday and breeze through the news of bombings over in the Middle East and the like. I wonder if that can be classified as a form of terrorism? Is ignorance a form of terrorism? There's a thought.

Can life begin at 60 for India?

Amartya Sen
The writer, who received the 1998 Nobel Prize for economics, is Lamont university professor at Harvard University and former master of Trinity College, Cambridge

Published: August 13 2007

Pablo Picasso once remarked: "One starts to get young at the age of 60." Something rather like that seems to be happening to India right now, at least on the economic front. There is much more sign of life there today than could be seen when political independence came to the ancient land in 1947, when its strait-laced economy moved at a slow and imperturbable pace – the famous 3 per cent rate of growth. The feebleness of the economic pace was in sharp contrast with the speed of political change in the new republic: India became overnight the first poor country in the world to be a full-scale democracy.

Democracy has indeed flourished well in India since then, with few hiccups and with regular and orderly elections, free and flourishing media, independence of the judiciary and, no less importantly, the willingness of ruling parties to vacate office when defeated in general elections, rather than calling in the army. This would be remarkable enough for any poor country, particularly one the size of India, but it was a much harder task in a land of so many important languages (each with its long and proud history) and such diversity of distinct religions (all placed under a secular but tolerant umbrella). Secularism has been threatened from time to time by sectarian groups, but massive support for secularism across India has asserted itself repeatedly.

On the economic side, India's comparative success is rather new. Some changes came slowly and the growth rate of the economy did move up to 5 per cent a year in the 1980s, which was much faster than in the early decades of independence, not to mention during a century of colonial semi-stagnation. But the decisive moment for the radical changes that have made the Indian economy so dynamic today occurred in the early 1990s, led by reforms introduced by Manmohan Singh, then the newly appointed finance minister (he has been prime minister since 2004, after a period out of office in between). It is useful to ask, in taking a long view of the Indian economy, what changes were needed in India and what really happened over the period of gradual transformation initiated by the reforms of the early 1990s.

India faced two huge problems of governance. The first one was government over-activity in areas of work in which its presence was overbearing, but where its ability to mess things up was truly gigantic. The so-called "licence Raj" made business initiatives extremely difficult and put them at the mercy of bureaucrats (large and small), thereby powerfully stifling enterprise while nurturing corruption. The going has sometimes been rough but the direction of policy change has been unmistakable from the early 1990s onwards (if still a little slow in many assessments), endorsed even by successor governments run by other political parties.

But India also had a second problem that needed to be addressed urgently. This was the problem of government under-activity in fields in which it could achieve a great deal. There has been a sluggish response to the urgency of remedying the aston- ishingly under-funded social infra - structure – for example, the need to build many more schools, hospitals and rural medical centres – and developing a functioning system of accountability, supervision and collaboration for public services. To this can be added the neglect of physical infrastructure (power, water, roads, rail), which required both governmental and private initiatives. Large areas of what economists call "public goods" have continued to be under-emphasised.

The radical changes in the 1990s did little to remedy the second problem. If things have begun to change here too (though rather slowly), a part of the credit for ushering in that change must go to India's democratic politics. There is a growing appreciation of the electoral relevance of the unfulfilled basic needs of people (related to schools, healthcare, water supply and other facilities) and there are also pressures generated by better-informed media discussions and by the activities of civil society movements demanding elementary rights.

So where does India stand now, after all this? The economic growth rate, now about 8 per cent (sometimes touching 9 per cent), is, of course, agreeably high, but the sharing of the benefits that flow from this is still remarkably unequal. Poverty rates have fallen, but are nowhere near what could have been achieved had the distributional side got more attention. Some failures are huge, such as continuing undernourishment, particularly in children, and of course the continuing scandal of a quarter of the population (including half of all women) remaining illiterate in a country with such high-technology achievements based on excellent specialised training and practice. A democratic country can hardly want to maintain a divisiveness that makes it part California and part sub-Saharan Africa.

The unequal distribution of the benefits of economic progress is not unrelated to continuing gaps on the social side, since the human capabilities that make it easy for people to use the new economic opportunities can be vastly enlarged by enhanced public services, such as universal – and good – school education, efficient and accessible public healthcare and good epidemiology. Remedying this calls for much more economic resources and better organised public services.
This is not, however, an argument for considering economic growth to be unimportant. Indeed, quite the contrary, since economic growth also generates government resources that can be powerfully used precisely to expand public services.

Government revenue will grow very fast if it keeps pace with the rapid growth of the economy. In fact, government revenue has persistently grown faster than the growth of gross domestic product: in 2003-04, the economic growth of 6.5 per cent was exceeded by revenue growth of 9.5 per cent and in 2004-05 to 2006-07, the growth rates of 7.5 per cent, 9.0 per cent, and 9.4 per cent have been respectively bettered by the expansion rates of government revenue (in "real terms", that is, corrected for price changes) of 12.5 per cent, 9.7 per cent and 11.2 per cent. Money will continue to flow very rapidly into the government's hands and what is critically important is to use these resources intelligently where they are most needed.

When Picasso said we start to get young as we turn 60, he also expressed the bleak belief that it may be "too late" by then. But changing the neglect of public goods and public services is in no way too late for a country that has already done so much with youthful energy. With a bit more deliberation and purpose, the best may be yet to come.

Sustainability in India

Having listened to various presentations by various executives, I am getting a better sense of what the company is like. Aside from its notorious lack of timeliness the company can be pretty cool to work for. What I've noticed so far however, is the company's lack of a sense of sustainability initiatives: reducing environmental waste, implementing more efficient waste management systems etc...

But when I finally asked about sustainability initiatives and how Western companies are implementing whole systems for this concept, I realized that sustainability and the idea of sustainability in India is not a new concept, but rather a very ingrained way of how things are done. Let me explain.

Unlike Western companies who are used to the idea of waste and creating waste. Indian companies like Wipro have evolved from constraints. So the idea of environmental sustainability, recycling and so on, is more a part of their culture more than anything. Now there is more to sustainability than environmental waste management and so on - but when it comes to money and working with what you have, Indian companies have it down to an art. After taking a second look around, I see recycled paper notebooks, reusable water bottles (and not bottled water) and water fountains. But that is only on the surface of what can be seen. I will have to spend more time at the company to really know what really goes on underneath it all. In fact, the company has implemented LEAN, six sigma, CMMI etc to improve process efficiencies as Western companies are trying to cut more costs and Wipro is trying to fight against cost pressures. Especially since the Rupee is appreciating in value.

What would worry me is if the company decides to operate in a more "Western way" to cater to Western business needs. In fact, by hiring Westerners this just might happen. But then again, it might be the only way to do business in the West using Western ways in order to suceed. Time will tell.

Prologue: Dallas, India and Wipro

Dallas

So for those of you who don't know yet -- I'm moving to ....... DALLAS, TX. Yehawww....home of great Mexican food (in America) and cowboys. And very different from Toronto. Did you know that Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America (not including Mexico)? It will take some adjusting and I'm not talking about the size of Dallas. I suppose in a way it's better than Memphis, although I will miss Elvis, fried chicken and the blues.

According to people, Texas is sooo different from the rest of America that Americans from other states are aliens...Now I haven't moved to Dallas yet - I am still in India training with Wipro Technologies (that's my company: http://www.wipro.com). Don't ask how a marketing person ended up in IT.

India

I landed in Bangalore (Blore) late July, to have someone ask me if I was Hindu...which was quite interesting, but I guess the North-Eastern Indians are quite close to China. It's been about 2 weeks now and let me tell you, it was quite an adjustment. Just some quick points if you're ever in India:

Buy a Facemask: Although Bangalore is the Silicon Valley in India -- it is far from being developed. I had imagined high rise buildings, neon lights, large billboard signs etc (kind of like the big Chinese cities). The infrastructure here is horrendous - there are no highways and it took us 2 HOURS to get into the city. By the time we reached the city, I was so high on car fumes I wanted to puke.

Be Prepared for Beggars: The economy is somewhat like China - large income disparities between the rich and poor

Bring Pepto Bismol/Anti-Diarrhea pills etc: Aside from having a hole burned through my stomach with all the spices, the food here also does something funny to my system. The Indians put spices in EVERYTHING - I've eaten so much Indian food that I think there are spices in my blood stream.

Bargain - HARD!: I had someone quote me a lovely handmade wall art/carpet thing at 1100 Rupees (Rs), which is about 25USD. I bargained the price down to 600 Rs (13USD), and guess how much it really was? 200 Rs!!!!!!!!!! Fut!

It's been eventful so far. The training was kind of boring as I have learned most of it in B-school already, but oh well. Talk about knowing your audience when presenting! I did learn how rebellions start though!! -- with a handful of well spoken, good looking people!~
So I guess that's all for now...we have a whole day of Yoga and Meditation today - hard work. Looking forward to it!

Wipro

It's been about 3 weeks now, being immersed in "The Wipro Way"

• Intensity to Win
• Act with Sensitivity
• Unyielding Integrity

-- kind of a knock off of "The HP Way"...but people seem to really believe it here. I'm starting to get a better understand of the organization that I have signed up for. Honestly, I have never imagined that I would be working for an Indian IT company! Indian culture is so different...

Perception on Time

The culture here is very different and it will take some time getting used to. The obvious difference is their perception on TIME. Over the last couple of weeks, the American (and I) group has always been on time for meetings, whether it was at 8:30am or 9am or 9:30am. However, the Indian presenters were ALWAYS late, not just by 10 minutes, but by at least 20 minutes (except for the one that started at 9:30am). The most frustrating ones were when they cancel last minute when we're already at the conference room (which takes us 45 minutes to drive to sometimes), up and ready to be bombarded by PowerPoint presentations. Of course we can't be late as all these presenters are pretty high up in the organization. The afternoon presenters were on time and I will give them credit for that. Another example shared by a colleague, was when presenters would leave in the middle of a presentation to take a call that was supposed to last 10 minutes. She came back 45 minutes later. Apparently there is a saying in India, "God gave Germans the clock, and the Indians time." To us, it is a total lack of respect for our time. At least they aren't late for client meetings...I hope!

The Shake and the Funnel

It still takes getting used to...that side to side shake of the head not meaning "no" but rather "yes" or "maybe" or just plain indication that s/he is listening...I see Samir (IMBA classmate) do it, but it is strange seeing a group of them doing it when you're talking to them...Then there's the whole conception of the funnel...there is no such thing as lining up...they just gather around at the register...so even if you're there first, don't count on being served first. I don't understand how that is more efficient - or am I missing something?

Money

I don't think it's something that will happen in America. But sometimes when I'm 1 or 2 rupees short, the cashier says to bring it next time. It happens both ways though. If s/he doesn't have change, then s/he'll give it to you next time...This morning, I only had 100 Rs for a coffee that was only 22 Rs. The person didn't have change so I said I'll come back later to pay him...which I did. But surprisingly he said okay. Haha.

The Wipro culture is very laid back, easy going. Very informal...even the top levels. The coolest thing was meeting the CEO, Mr. Azim Premji. Definitely not the typical American-like CEO...soft spoken, genuine...yet still commanding...

Wipro Quo

So it seems that relocating to Connecticut may be out of the picture as I was set up to talk to a Senior Manager from Fort Lauderdale, which would not have been so bad if I were to relocate there (who doesn't want to live near the beach?) but it appears that he would like me to talk to a manager he is considering having me work under ... who so happens to be based in Memphis, Tennessee. Now I don't know much about Memphis, aside from the fact that the King was born there and the blues ruled, but I do know that moving to that part of the South is definitely not on my top list of places to relocate to.

So it appears that I have a dilemma, here I said I was flexible and adaptable in regards to relocation, so I must have to come up with a good reason why Memphis is at the bottom of my places to move to list and that I absolutely cannot live there - which is certain, as I would rather reject the job than accept it if it were to be in Memphis. So going through my list of reasons that would not convey that I am inflexible and unadaptable, I finally stumbled on some concrete "I don't want to move to Memphis" research that bypasses all others. Memphis is the second most dangerous metropolitan city in the US, right after - yep, you got it - Detroit. I think that is substantial enough. Me, a lone female, Asian (the lack of cultural diversity is not something to brag about), and miles from anyone that I know - the attraction and the safety of the city are definitely big minuses. How can I be productive in a city that I cannot live in and feel uncomfortable in? Especially after having lived in Toronto for all my life? If Wipro feels that this shows that I am not flexible and adaptable, well then I guess it is not the company that I would like to work for and it is better that we part ways now before I get sucked into the world of IT. One would think that a company of Wipro's size would be able to find a place where it would be mutually satisfactory - does not have to be my top three places to live, but the bottom 3? I am not looking for a place exactly like Toronto, but neither am I looking to be mugged, raped, shot or killed. Granted, that may be a big generalization, but when the US average for crimes is at 345 and Memphis more than doubles the average - at 937 - it's something to be concerned about. No income tax and low cost of living are attractive, but not enough to persuade me to start a life in Memphis. At least in Detroit, they have great sports teams - in Memphis -- the what? Nashville Predators? No thanks.

...update

So much have happened...

1. Raptors didn't make it pass the first round - but I thoroughly enjoyed the first two games. Whoever was in charge of the 'red sea' marketing for the Raps should get a spankin since red is what the Nets wore to the ACC...so it seemed like we were cheering for them..........not good. They should be pretty good next year...

2. Suns didn't make it either, so that officially ended my basketball season. Nash played amazing, but there is only so much one man can do. He had an accident and started bleeding and didn't really make it back for the rest of the 4th period since the trainer couldn't stop the bleeding. At the end of the game, one of the commentators (I think it was SportsNet) said something to the point that "there must have been a woman in the stands with a sewing kit to help patch Nash up and stop the bleeding." EXCUSE me -- did we just take a step back from the 21st century?!. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't carry sewing kits with me in my purse. Perhaps a MAN carried one. Jackass. Anyhow, and another incident with the Suns -- 2 players got suspended (Stoddemire and Diaw) and the Organization (or whoever) said "It's not about being fair, it's about what is correct." I thought the point of having a rule or a law is to ensure fairness. I guess what is right may not be fair -- so what's the point of the law/rule?

3. So I got a job in the States...it's yet to be decided where, but now I have to understand all this mumbo jumbo about declaring non-residency, the US-Can treaty tax and residency exemptions, how much tax should be paid, what exemptions I'm qualified for. So far I have spoken to a manager in Connecticut (3 and 5 per cent state tax) and will be speaking to another manager based in Florida (no State tax!) according to his area code, which I looked up. Seems to be in Fort Lauderdale. Amazing, how I said that I wanted to work in the States, be relocated somewhere warm...it might actually come true! And with the salary that I aimed for! It is much cheaper to live in FL than CT - it seems like I can get a pretty amazing 2 bdrm place in FL for the price of a studio in CT!! Still have to work things out with the bf though. But perhaps he'll feel better about FL than CT...better golf courses...lol.

4. I'm going to Varadero, Cuba!!! Sun, fun, beach...wowowowow. I've never been before and I was told that I should bring stuff for the people there since they are really poor and things are really expensive there...so I will bring markers, crayons, coloured pencils and the like as well as soap and toothpaste. I can finally get rid of all the colouring stuff!

5. Corey went to his first dog park!! Here are the pictures :p

Corey, sniffing out the place...

Corey...checking things out...

Corey, making new friends -- sniffing Potroast...yes, that is his name...and that is a 5 month old Irish Setter.

Metal Sound

So...there was metal sound coming from my car...*sigh*. I finally figured out what it was...here's a picture. So far I don't know which the car is giving me more of...pleasure or headaches.

What does this light mean...

I can't figure out what this means on the car....keeps flashing once then goes off, so I can't even take a picture of it...it SHOULD look like that...from what I can remember.

Spoolsv.exe

So here I am in class, falling asleep since I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. I am resorted to browsing online since I really didn't care about discussing the Dell case.

All of a sudden my computer stops. I reboot it 4 times yet it takes forever for it to load up. I managed to get into Task Manager when I realized that spoolsv.exe is taking up 99% of the CPU. I end it and my programs start loading. I went into Control Panel to access my printers and realized there are 4 print jobs waiting to be printed -- which was weird since it wasn't me who wanted to print, it said "Guest". I deleted the print jobs, then went into their properties to change the share function so that my printers were no longer being shared. Now spoolsv.exe is down to 00%! and my system is back to "normal." Drove me crazy for about an hour :p

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Man...it's been so busy lately with so many assignments due. This was a week of relaxation and I spent it sending out resumes, watching Desperate Housewives and sleeping. Not that that was bad...I definitely FEEL better...hopefully all the wrinkles that were starting to build up will go away...hehe.

Reading Week

Reading week has come and gone *sniff*. Although I did spend most of it in Montreal doing a group project. Spent the first day skiing at Tremblant's moguls --- well, to ME they were moguls! The first two runs were on greens where I tried to get back into the hang of skiing (it's been over three years since I last strapped on skiis). Then it was blues. Man --- they were like blacks at Blue Mountain! I damn well nearly killed myself 12 times (that's how many times I fell during my 4 runs at blues). There was one hill I can't seem to go down without killing myself. I also accidentally went on a black because I didn't see the sign...that was alright though, it was near the bottom so it wasn't like I had to ski 10 minutes down a black (thank goodness).

Then --- it was the last run. I was thinking I'll just go on the green and take it easy (or not ski the last run at all because I was tired and my arms and butt were hurting), but noooo, I wanted to get my money's worth so down the blue I went racing. Really, I went super fast down the slope because my thought was, the faster I get down, the faster I can go home and take a nice long hot shower...I was doing pretty well until I crashed into someone (ouch). In fact, it wasn't just any crash, I hit him (thank goodness it wasn't a kid) while he was in mid-air doing a jump (which I didn't see because I was anticipating him to go left in which case I was going to pass him on his right). So of course, he jumped straight and then BAM - down we both went. My head smashed into his leg (or something hard cause my head has a bump), my hat, goggles, skis and poles flew off as I tumbled in the slow, it must have been a hard fall since the previous falls I was able to keep my hat and goggles and poles. Don't remember much but when I finally stopped rolling, there was a second guy with his snowboard asking me if I was alright and how many fingers he was holding up. I guess they really do ask these questions! I told them I was fine...then the guy whom I crashed into asked me if I was going for a jump as well...as if. I apologized for ruining his jump all was alright. Andrew showed up eventually to see me sprawled on the snow. He didn't see my crash, which was good? LOL.

I skied down to the bottom with one more fall (at the same usual spot dammit!). I limped back to the ski rental place to change. My thumb was bruised and swollen, and I thought about putting ice on it, but it was so cold outside I don't think it would have made a difference! We finally made it back to Mike's place (Andrew's friend) and I took a nice hot shower. My poor body...I think I will stick to the Blues (maybe even some of the blacks) at Blue Mountain from now on....

Auberge du Pommier

Auberge du Pommier
Yonge and York Mills
The complete package: Romance, scrumptious food, great service...

It's great to know that you don't have to drive all the way downtown to find a romantic restaurant with amazing food. This French restaurant exceeded every expectation and was a fantastic dining experience.

The decor was classically simplistic. Two main rooms and one private dining room. The two fire places gave the rooms a 'warm' homey feel. The walls were not decorated much with paintings, but rather with small little wall lamps that gave the restaurant a rather nice ambiance. One thing I would recommend however is for the restaurant to paint its ceilings...wouldn't want chippings to fall into my food...

We had arrived a little earlier to grab a couple of drinks at the bar. FYI, they make AMAZING apple martinis!! I really liked how they carved little apples out and put them on the stir stick, really nice touch. Compliments to them!

We were then shown to our table by the corner of the restaurant. Our table was by the window looking out into the terrace, it was nice, but a bit chilly. The manager gave us complimentary sparkling rose wine (it was my birthday...it also helped that the bf was consulting for the O&B chain!). For appetizers, we had the escargots and wild mushrooms wrapped in a cabbage leaf and foie gras terrine. The foie gras terrine was the best that I have ever had and I would go back just for that! It wasn't on the regular menu but rather the tasting menu (but you can order it separately - don't know how long the same tasting menu will be there though). I really don't know how to describe it but imagine a creamy foie gras ice-cream...smooth. The escargots were good too (below)!

Then the server brought us two Cappuccino de Truffle appetizers, compliments of the chef! This was a pureed wild mushrooms soup presented in a cappuccino glass. Very very tasty, in fact I was deciding on that and the foie gras, so now I got both. But this was very filling. Everything was so rich. I couldn't finish it so I gave it to the bf.

Our main was the Homage Glacage - butter poached lobster with citrus salad. By that time, I was pretty stuffed and barely finished it. In fact, I had to pass some over to the bf. The salad added a nice touch and helped balance out the richness of the dish (they gave us citrus flavoured ice earlier to clean the palate before the main) because of the citrus and terragon mousseline sauce.
It was very sad...I couldn't have dessert because I was so full!!! I was in pain or else I would have had something! But the restaurant was so great that they brought out two bite sized desserts (size of my thumb) with "Happy Birthday" written on the plate.

I have to say that Auberge is the BEST restaurant that I have been to so far. Special treatment or not, this restaurant deserves to win "most romantic" restaurant in Toronto (and it has!). I will have to make a reservation to go back and have one of their desserts...and try out other drinks...

Winterlicious - Pangaea

Ah, another treat for myself. This is definitely the last Winterlicious this year - I'm going broke. I went to Pangaea with a friend last Sunday (okay so I'm retracting a little)...but I've been busy with the car trouble.

I thought Pangaea was a very interesting name, so I looked it up: Pangaea or Pangea (derived from Παγγαία, Greek meaning 'all earth') is the name given to the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the process of plate tectonics separated each of the component continents into their current configuration. ~Wiki

Pangaea
1221 Bay Street
"An unpretentious charming little place...in Yorkville!"

True to its name, one will find Pangaea to be a very natural looking place. Its decor is simplistic with dark wooden chairs and soft coloured walls that seems to be striving to bring out the earth's elements. What I really liked about the restaurant was the down-to-earth service (and we had a really fun and easy-going waiter)! Notorious for its desserts, I was anxious to find out whether Pangaea can live up to this reputation. Guess I will find out after the entree and main!

For the entree, I had a very delicious Pear and Endive Salad. If you've never had a cooked (roasted) pear before you should definitely try it! Coupled with the pear were Stilton cheese (mmm, cheese...), watercress and mustard dressing. The pear was sweet and succulent (yes, even when roasted, does that sound strange?) and makes me start eating more fruit (I'm not really a fruit person). Although I have to say, the best cooked/roasted pear that I've ever had was at a little restaurant named Verona (on King St) but this was pretty close.

My friend had the Lobster bisque soup - I guess it must have been really good because he scooped everything out of that plate!

For mains, I opted for the Ocean Trout since I felt like I've been eating too much red meat lately (steak, grilled meat, lamb shank...). I'm not a fish person but I didn't feel like eating Sweet breads as a main...my friend ordered the Grilled Lamb Chop. For wines, he ordered the Australian Shiraz and I ordered a Niagra Sauvignon - it's also been a long time since I've had white wine. This night is a night of eating food that I'm not a fan of it seems!

The Ocean Trout was surprisingly good, although I found it a little bland, but Pangaea is also known to use very natural ingredients and aims at retaining its 'true' taste.' Since I wasn't a fish person, I would have preferred a slice of lime. If I had to compare it with other fish, it was 100 times better than the salmon that I had at Far Niente (I will never go back there), which was dry and seemed like it came out of a Hi-liner box (no offense to HL). The trout was presented on a bunch of lentils...I ate some of it, but I don't like lentils, or any sort of beans except maybe refried beans (lol). Fine onion rings were added on top of the trout.

Don't know how the lamb tasted, but again, my friend seemed like he enjoyed it. He enjoyed it all except the lingot beans. He hates beans and there were a lot of it!

Finally, it was dessert time and according to my friend, he's not a dessert person (...!). So, we got the Passionfruit pot de creme and the Ginger cake - what can I say, it lived up to its reputation. I especially enjoyed the passionfruit pot, but the maple candied pecans that came with the ginger cake was mmmmm....good! This was definitely a pleasant fine dining experience! Will have to come back for sure!

So that's all for Winterlicious...next round would be Summerlicious....hehe.

Public Transportation

So I'm resorted to taking public transportation now because the car is in need of a lot TLC. So here's my yucky morning on my first public transportation in a long time (not including subway):

6:30am: Wake up - that was brutal. I got cleaned, dressed, said hi to the dog, packed lightly (meaning no laptop or heavy course kits)

7:05am: Left the house, 5 minute walk to the YRT bus stop, which is ok, a little exercise. Waited at the bus stop on Bayview and Briggs.

7:20am: It shows up 10 minutes later, late. I get on, pay $2.75 (wow, it went up 50 cents last time I took it), it moves at 30km/hr and I'm here thinking I'm going to miss my connection at 7:40am.

7:35am: Finally the bus gets to the transfer point at Bayview and John (note - this distance is literally a 5 minute drive in a car...), I get out (remembering to ask for a transfer ticket) then crossed the street to the other side.

7:40am: A bus with York U shows up, I ask to be sure, he says no, sign is wrong (then you should change it darn it!).

7:45am: 3B shows up - this one actually goes to York U. I hop in showing my transfer ticket - I think I was supposed to add another dollar for a new zone or something but I didn't because he didn't ask. I sit on the bus, did my readings so that was a plus. The bus continues on some weird route but I don't care, as long as it gets to York U. On the way to the school, the bus did a completely USELESS loop wasting 3 minutes of my life (lets face it, this bus trip wasted an hour so I guess the 3 minutes was negligible).

8:28am: Bus stops at York U (class starts at 8:30am)

8:33am: Get to class --- for once he starts on time (great)

So that was my morning. There are some plus and minuses of course, but seriously, lets do the math.

Bus:
Round trip tickets: $3.75 each way x 2 = $7.50 (holy sh*t)
4 trips per week = $23/week
4 weeks = $23x4 = $92

Car:
I fill the tank up every 1.5 weeks - 2 weeks, average fill is $35~$40
Twice a week = $70~$80/4 weeks
Parking = 440/4 months = 110/month
4 weeks total cost = $180

Parking's the killer, if I could get parking back, it's cheaper to drive, saves lots of time, less cold and is more convenient. Mind you, I drive to other places too so the gas allocation is not just for driving to school. So lets say 50/50, which means 4 week cost is approx. $130. Of course, it's not environmentally friendly and I can't read. Technically speaking, parking is a sunk cost so I should take the bus...but time and cold...and sleep...

The alternative is to wait for a cheap head to go on sale then buy it...in the meantime there is a cheap car for sale, I think I can bargain it down to $100-$200, but it's a 1990 Mazda and who knows how long that will run or how safe it is to drive...it is cheaper than renting a car...

Popped Spark Plugs

So after passing the 100,000 miles mark, the engine decides to play "I'm gonna die on you now!" One of the spark plugs popped out of it's socket and now a new one doesn't seem to want to go in. Dunno how or why it happened, perhaps you can help me figure it out...here are some pix for you engine experts! Click on pictures for a full sized viewing.

(Above) The last one on the right is obviously new, that is what I bought to replace the old ones.

(Above) Another angle for your analytical pleasure.

(Above) Don't know if this view helps with the diagnostic...

New Addition to the Family

It's been a week now and Corey has settled in nicely in our home. He is about 10 weeks old and weighs about 5.8 pounds. So far crate training has been a success and he now knows how to sit when told to. The new challenge...toilette training....*sigh*.

His third day home...that's his new toy that he's playing with...

Sleeping on his back in my arms - I was typing on the computer at the same time...sort of.

Isn't he adorable?! He's a snorer though...

Looking cool...

I'm looking at YOU!

Ohhh...that feels GOOD!

Hi, my name is Corey!

And I'm a good dog...

...I'm very obedient...

...most of the time...damn I'm cute!

Winterlicious - Hemispheres

By the time we arrived at the Metropolitan Hotel, we were late, but just by 10 minutes or so. One of the hosts took our jackets and showed us to our table. The Winterlicious fun begins...

Hemispheres, Metropolitan Hotel
110 Chestnut Street
"New luxury chic"

For those who are not familiar with the term "New Luxury" (as opposed to old luxury), new luxury primarily refers to a more minimalistic style of luxury. Luxury that accentuate rather than define who you are. It's quality without the pretense - think Prada vs. M0851.

The bistro, which was newly renovated, accommodated about 25-30 tables in the main room and another 10 or so in the adjacent room (which looks more like a bar). The wall that separated the two rooms was filled with over a hundred wine bottles accentuated with pieces of modern art.

As we took our seats I noticed that one can see the chefs cook up their magic through a large glass window. Food AND entertainment!

We took a look at our menus (the truncated version of the main and the Winterlicious menu) and thought that it was a nice subtle way of encouraging add-on selling. I mean, what if I wanted soup and/or salad in addition? For an extra $9 I can get it from the regular menu since the Winterlicious only offered you a limited choice.

I started with the Prosciutto wrapped shrimps, which was absolutely delicious (although the shrimp in my opinion was a little too chewy). The saltiness of the prosciutto and shrimp (on a skewer) was balanced out by the blandness of the polenta cake (cornmeal), which was shaped into a triangle. The bottom layer contained spinach, which added a subtle taste to the overall entree. What I really liked was the mango bits that the chef included to add a little zest to the dish as well as the red pepper coulis (puree). I give it an "A" both for taste and for presentation.

For mains, we both opted for the Metropolitan Mixed Grill, which contained alligator and apple sausage, flat iron steak, lamb chop and mixed vegetables. First off, the alligator and apple sausage was good, although again, for me it was a little too salty. The flat iron steak, I did not enjoy so I gave it to my partner who seemed to like it even though it was slightly tough and over cooked (it was medium and I was surprised that he didn't ask us how we liked our meat). The lamb chop was good, but again, I would have preferred it to be a little less cooked, it was tender enough though that I could cut it with the non-sharp steak knife. What I thought this main excelled in was the amount of vegetables that it came with, unlike Truffles. A nice balance of meat and veggies! The 3 brandy sauce was perfect and nicely complemented the meats. For wine, I chose the Pinot Noir and our waiter (we'll call him Trevor) recommended a Red Zinfindel to my partner.

At last, dessert time. I was watching the pastry chef prepare some of the desserts through the glass window and I couldn't wait for mine. For dessert I ordered a classic New York cheesecake with sherry macerated berries and icing sugar. What can I say, it was creamy soft and I would have inhaled it if I wasn't in a public place. One negative: the two pieces of chocolate on top tasted a little waxy. The coffee was nothing special, but it did nicely end my meal.

My partner ordered the the Chocolate Daquise with Rum Pot Cherries. This was an amazing dessert as well. You can definitely taste the rum in the cheeries and the chocolate mousse just melted in your mouth. As can be seen below, it was very nicely presented with a wintery theme (notice the silver balls and gold leaves), almost a pity that we had to eat it...almost.

All in all, I enjoyed my experience at Hemispheres much more than Truffles. Not only was the food better, but so was the service. At the end of the night, Trevor waited at the coat rack with our jackets before we got there and helped us into our coats. I would definitely come back here, Winterlicious or not. Next stop: Pangaea.

A final picture...

Winterlicious - Truffles

We pulled into Cumberland St. and parked the car before taking a short walk to the Four Seasons.

Truffles at The Four Seasons Hotel
21 Avenue Road
"If only the food tasted as nice as the place looked..."

We went up to Truffles where we were greeted by the Hostess. A man came by to take our coats before we went into the restaurant. Very nice so far. We were then shown into the Private Dining room where a table for two was waiting for us. I have never been into the Private Dining room before but as Andrew said, it had a very aristocratic feel to it. The walls were decorated with numerous paintings in gold coloured grids. Mirrors were plenty so as to make the room feel larger than it is and allows you to discreetly look around the room without turning. White table cloths draped over the table with another gold heavier table cloth underneath to contrast. Each table had its own candle and flower display holder, which added a nice, romantic touch. There was a new Executive Chef (Rob Bartley) at Truffles since Lynn Crawford moved to New York to become the Executive Chef of the Four Seasons there. Lets see how good of a replacement he is.

We made our choices and ordered a Californian Merlot with our mains. The maitre'd brought us a nice basket of mixed bread and we munched on that while we waited for our food.

For entrees, I ordered the Winter Greens, which was good. Croutons were made of beet and blue benedictine (tastes like blue cheese-ish) and very thin, dry pieces of fruit (?) added a nice sweet flavour to the mix. Apparently the salad came with a horseradish vinaigrette but it didn't really taste like it as the dressing was more thick and creamy than I expected - almost like a ranch. Then again, I'm not a chef, I only know what tastes good :p Andrew ordered the soup - Roasted Cauliflower Veloute, which was good. It had a nice creamy texture (not too thick) and did not congeal at the top (unlike the soup at Nectar apparently)!

We waited...and waited. Neither our wine nor our mains came. Finally, our maitre'd realized that he forgot to bring us our wine and apologized and offered to not charge us for one glass. As he poured our wine, a few drops dropped onto the table cloth, which I have never seen before in a nice restaurant. As we sipped our wine, our Lamb Shanks arrived. The portion was huge. But I have to say - the shank wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was quite average that I didn't even bother taking a picture of it. The shank was quite tender however and it really wasn't bad at all. Just wasn't up to par with my expectations. Andrew enjoyed it however. The maitre'd came by later to clear the table of crumbs which he subsequently brushed onto the floor with his hand...very un-four star like...

For desserts, we ordered the Caramel Apple Mousse with Calvados Anglaise and the Blood Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Sorbet. For me, the dessert was the highlight of the meal (pictures below). The caramel was made into swirls and hardened (like candy apple) and was paired nicely with the apple mousse. Pieces of apples were put inside the mousse, which added more texture and taste. Calvados as I found out is fermented apples (like fermented grapes for wine).
The Cheesecake was very good as well although I only had a bite. Of the two though, I enjoyed mine more :p
We asked for the bill and it came shortly after. The maitre'd pointed out that he only charged us for one glass of wine because of his mistake. So I opened the bill and lo and behold...there was a charge for just one ... BOTTLE of wine! We pointed this mistake out to him and he apologized again and returned with a new bill. This time it was just for the meal. He didn't charge us at all for the wine because of his mistake. Fantastic. I tipped him well enough, mistake and all and we left.

All in all, it was a nice night out - although I would not rush to go back to Truffles anytime soon. Next stop: Hemispheres at the Metropolitan Hotel.

Winterlicious - Brant House

We ended up being an hour late for our reservation at 6 because of all those rubberneckers who apparently have never seen cops giving tickets to a couple people before. We were backed up soooo much - with no lanes being blocked at that! People...KEEP DRIVING!!

We finally arrived thinking that they probably gave our table away but luckily someone had canceled so we were able to enjoy our dinner at leisure.

Brant House
522 King Street W
"Not just a trendy lounge"

After we settled down into our nice, big, comfy booth, we all checked out the menu and we ALL got steak - even the ex-vegetarians! It was wonderful. A note to self though, although it was nice sitting in a comfy booth, the table was definitely too low for dinner and was only appropriate for drinks and snacks. We spent the whole dinner practically hunching over our food.

The entrees: salad was great apparently and the leak soup with grilled flat bread was alright - nothing spectacular.

My flat iron steak with ponzu sauce was perfect (the second time around since they overcooked mine the first time, I had asked for Medium-rare) - it was a decent size, succulent, perhaps a tad too much pepper (this is coming from someone who LOVES pepper) but overall it was delicious. I allowed Anita to taste mine (she had ordered hers Medium) and in her words "this is like a different steak, it's soooo good!" Now she knows ;) The side asparagus and thick fries were a nice addition. For $25 the meal was definitely worth it.

The dessert - Pumpkin Ginger Torte with caramel - was really good. It wasn't fantastic but it was better than expected. It wasn't too sweet and the ginger gave it a tang that help brought out some of the pumpkin taste.

They have their Australian Shiraz, which I don't recommend - it tasted terrible. The Merlot however was decent.

Brant House changes into a lounge/club around 11pm and by 11:30 the place was packed with people. The crowd was mainly Caucasian around late 20's to mid 30's, which was good. Overall it was a fun night! Look forward to Truffles soon!

Dream Job

It's not Brand Marketing (although that's close) - it's .... A PROFESSIONAL BED TESTER!! I actually have put a lot of time into this thought and in all honesty meets all of the following criteria:

1. I'm allowed to sleep on the job (or work in my sleep probably sounds better on the resume...with this whole thing about dedication)and no one would fire me for it
2. I can make money sleeping (like Bill Gates and Donald Trump although not as much money...eventually maybe)
3. Be challenged - dreams are sometimes difficult to interpret! I also like the whole non-repeated aspect of this...
4. Not have to deal with politics
5. Have time for myself during the day
6. Enjoy work (who doesn't like to sleep?)
7. Relaxing, non-stressful job (although some dreams can be a mindful!)
8. Can work on multiple projects so I am not bored -- I can test pillows and comforters too!
9. Time is flexible
10. It's something I have to do anyway!

So as you can see, there are not a lot of jobs like this...I mean, there are people who get paid watching t.v and playing video games...why not bed testing?! It's a big industry and EVERYONE is a customer! If only...*sigh*

Evilness of Financial Institutions

I am so tired of banks and financial institutions squeezing every single penny out of us using sleezy ways!!! First it's the "service" charges, fine, I let that slide, then it's the double interest rates where if you fail to pay on time (I forget sometimes), interest is incurred twice even if you've paid off the balance, which I'm still fuming about! The most current episode is allowing you to go over your credit card limit and then charging you a fee!! What is the point of a LIMIT if they're going to let you go over?! That's crazy! They're supposed to right off REJECT the card once your limit is up! I will simply use the other card. I will remove myself as a client from BMO once they give me back that overlimit fee!!!! Evil evil banks, isn't there one out there that isn't a scheming jackass?!

The Red Carpet

I'm here watching the Golden Globe awards and I just watched Martin Scorcese win an award for Best Director for The Departed. I absolutely detested the movie and in my opinion, the movie could not even light a candle compared to the original Infernal Affairs. I could not finish the movie although I did try. It did not have the same intensity, generate the same excitement or have quite the same passion as Infernal.

I went to Rotten Tomatoes to see critiques' reviews and I was shocked to see "92% Fresh" - how can it be "fresh" if it was an imitation (a poor one at that) of an existing film. There was no originality and completely lacked "spirit" . For those who said The Departed was a fabulous film, I suggest that they watch Infernal Affairs (although it would be in Cantonese with subtitles). The acting in The Departed was good I can admit, but this love triangle is completely unbelievable, the lack of development between these characters was a major weakness in the movie. In the nutshell, I just didn't feel it.

Winter Driving Phenomenon

G-d, I hate traffic, especially when there shouldn't be any. I don't understand. A little snow and a little ice and people start driving like they're new drivers. I mean come on, you'd think after 10-15-20 years of driving in Canadian winters, you'd expect people to be able to drive better than an 80 year old. Not only that - these drivers drive in ALL the lanes because they want to put DISTANCE between their cars and other cars. So here you have 10 cars spread along 10KM of highway going at 40KM/Hr. Then of course, they complain about us drivers, who have to get places without having to drive 1 hour that normally takes 20 minutes. Not to mention the fact that it's gas consuming (don't forget the heater to keep you warm from sitting at the same left turn lane for 30 minutes). So people who can't drive significantly increases inefficiency and pollution. I think that in order to get one's driving license, the person would need to go through a winter driving test. You can only really judge one's driving ability in the right environment after all...

Winterlicious

I know the previous two posts were basically food reviews, but it's that time of the year! Not to mention that Winterlicious (http://www.menupalace.com/menupalace/Winterlicious.aspx) will be starting in less than 2 weeks! It's a general food tasting extravaganza that happens in Toronto twice a year, the other being Summerlicious (not counting cultural food festivals...those are fantastic as well).

Andrew and I made reservations for Truffles at the 4 Seasons and Hemispheres at the Metropolitan Hotel (guess we're doing a hotel theme this year for Winterlicious!). Their menus look fantastic and I can't wait to go. Last year we tried out Far Niente (which was mediocre and I was disappointed) and North 44 (which was great!). Although we tried to book Canoe this year, it was near impossible. The restaurant booked 2500 seats on the first day (AMEX card holders get two days advance booking, which left the rest of us no chance for Canoe)! Even holders had difficulty getting reservations! I'm looking forward to that, not to mention my birthday dinner...I think we're going to Auberge, but I'm trying to get my boyfriend to go to a vegetarian restaurant...he's fighting it.

Chez Thuet!

Just a few days later, Andrew's parents took us out for dinner for his birthday - it must be one of the longest celebrated birthday I have ever partook in... So on Saturday night, we went to Thuet - right beside Lee (see previous post for review).

Thuet
308 King St
"Qu'est que c'est un..."

Unlike Lee, Thuet (which reopened tonight) was situated upstairs and from the moment we went in we saw a dimly lit room with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling - each with its own charm. The paintings that decorated the walls acted as a nice backdrop for the two dozen or so tables draped with cream coloured table cloths. I also couldn't help but notice a lot of rooster ornaments. We checked our coats and eventually we were seated (it seems like they couldn't decide where to put us or something). By 7:30pm, the restaurant was full and the 3 or 4 black and white clad waitresses were bustling around. This is definitely a place where you have to make reservations. There is also a small private dining room that can hold about 12 people as well.
After staring at the menu for about 15 minutes and asking our waitress what some of the dishes were, we were finally ready to indulge our taste buds. We ordered a bottle of Australian Shiraz, which was recommended by the waitress, although I have to admit, she did not seem very knowledgeable. She also wasn't as attentive as she should have been for a place like Thuet.

My appetizer (above), which was part of the Seasonal menu -- Pan seared foie gras with duck confit. This was absolutely delicious! The foie gras practically melted in my mouth (ok, so it was basically fat...), it was lightly seasoned on the outside with spices and perfectly prepared. The duck confit was wrapped in a small cabbage leaf and went well with the foie gras. Although by itself, the confit was a little too salty. It was actually my first time having foie gras prepared this way, I generally preferred the pate.

From the Classic menu, Shirley chose the Arctic Char, which looks very nice but was a little too salty for my taste. The greens on top will lighten the salty taste - but just a little.

This was the most interesting looking appetizer. Can you guess what it is? Marrow (Seasonal menu). Although I did not taste this, Raymond said that it was quite interesting since he's never had marrow before. The marrow came with crispy bread, salt and pepper to taste. If you like to try something different and don't mind working a little for your food (the scraping of the marrow out...), this is the dish for you.

Andrew ordered the Scallops from the Seasonal menu. A sea urchin vinaigrette gave the scallops a very unique taste although the urchin was very light and did not overpower the taste of the scallops. The presentation of this dish was also very nice as can be seen from the picture above.

Now it was time for the mains. It took quite awhile for it to come out after we finished our appetizers - they must have been still catching the pigeon and killing the lamb. Either that, or as we suspected, our waitress had forgotten to tell the chef that we were close to finishing our appetizers...
Also from the Seasonal menu, this is the wood oven pigeon and lamb loin farci duo. Both were stuffed (farci) in something neither I nor Shirley could figure out (we both had the same dish). To me, it tasted like gefilte fish with poppy seed, at least the texture and taste reminded me of the Jewish dish. The lamb was good - slightly over cooked in my opinion, but the pigeon was basically raw-rare, which was not what I was expecting. It was still good though and the sauce paired with this course was great. It was slightly sweet, which helped cover some of the raw taste of the pigeon. One thing that I would have liked was to have slightly more vegetables (I guess you have to order it as a side but in my opinion, for a $40 dish, it should have came with...).
This was the other dish on the Seasonal menu I liked - the Red deer. Although I can't seem to remember the garnishes that this main came with...maybe you can tell by looking at the picture above! The portion was a little small and I knew Andrew wouldn't be full from it, so I shared my pigeon with him (I was getting full anyway).

Raymond was the only one who ordered from the Classic menu. This is the Braised lamb shank Provencal. I think Andrew was visibly drooling when he saw the size of this main in comparison to his! The shank sat on top of what looked like lentils. For the size of this, $25 was definitely worth it!

It was close to 10 now and we've been here for nearly 3 hours now. It was time for dessert! During intermission (as we were patiently waiting for our meal), we noticed the couple next to us. Shirley and I guessed it was a "date" and Andrew initially thought they were bf/gf. They seemed to be on a date by looking at their body language. It was very interesting though because the girl then gave the guy a birthday card. So we were wondering who would have paid the bill...we tried to wait them out to see, but alas, we finished our dessert and coffee before they asked for their bill. Speaking of dessert, here's ours!

Swans!! This is a Profiteroles with warm Soma chocolate sauce. One word: delicious.

This is after Andrew and I rearranged the swans. Originally I only put two heads together (trying to make a heart shape) but Andrew wanted a threesome, typical. He said it was a "conference".

So we finally left a half past 10 and made it home by 11. I was definitely farcied out...