So, I just got back yesterday from a fun weekend in Montreal. I took Thursday afternoon and Friday off work so that we could spend a little more time in Montreal. Allan and Michelle came over on Thursday afternoon, and we were off to my city of birth. Didn't do too much on Thursday, mostly just driving, with a stop off at the Big Apple. Got to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency at around 11:00 and just chilled/explored our hotel.

Woke up early on Saturday and walked around town for a bit. Unfortunately it was so effin cold and I forgot my toque at home, so after walking around for a bit I was getting a headache and it felt like my ears were gonna fall off. We made our way to Schwart's for lunch for some of Montreal's famous smoked meat sandwiches. I thought the sandwich was really good, but I think maybe I was expecting too much cuz it just wasn't quite the same as the first time I had smoked meat in Montreal. Anyways, it was still good, and Schwart's is supposed to be the best. After Schwart's, we went back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and little time in the sauna. After our swim, we got ready for our reservations at a really fancy restaurant called Toque. We got a little lost finding the restaurant which was pretty annoying, especially considering how cold it was out, but we eventually found it and they held onto our reservations. It was a really nice restaurant, and my raw scallop appetizer were particularly tasty. I had some grilled tuna for my main course, and some kind of white chocolate mouse for dessert. Was a nice meal.

Saturday we got up and had brunch at some bagel place. Montreal really do have some really good bagels. It was just so fresh and really tasty, I really enjoyed it. After brunch we hit the Montreal casino for possibly my worse run in casino history. It was a huge casino, and I guess cuz it was Saturday, and maybe cuz it was March break, the casino was really busy. There were no low bet tables for black jack, so I decided to play a little Sic Bo. Man, I lost $100 in about 15 minutes flat. I won one game out of maybe 10, and that was it for me and my gambling experience in Montreal. After the casino, we head out to some mall and did a little shopping. After shopping, we met up with Justin and Karen for a little dinner. After dinner, we got ready to go to Tokyo Club. It was fun. I haven't been clubbing in a while, but it was pretty busy and the music was all right.

Sunday, we packed up all our stuff and met up with Justin and Karen for lunch. After lunch, we pretty much drove back home, with another stop off at the Big Apple. And that's pretty much my weekend in Montreal, good times.

Raaaappttooooorrrss!! Jon, Nat, Chris and I went to watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at the ACC. It's so disappointing the Raptors, the Eastern Conference, Atlantic division point leader lost to the Bucks who are tied with Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Charlotte who are second last in the conference. The score was a disappointing 81 ~ 94 loss. The Raptor's leading point scorer, Chris Bosh, just wasn't able to get the ball on Friday due to the double teaming. Bosh, who's been averaging approximately 22.8 points per game only got 14 points against the Bucks on Friday night. What a huge disappointment! Oh well, it was a really exciting game none the less!

I also got together with Eric and Neeta over the weekend. We had a very inexpensive Sunday evening consisting of buying food and bringing it home, and a night of games. We played a kind of nerdy game called Citadels. Yeah, I play nerdy games like Citadels, but at least I'm not afraid to admit it. Neeta on the other hand, let's just hope her coworkers don't find out about this blog and read this post.

So, finally made it to the slopes this weekend. Nat and a bunch of his friends from Queens planned a trip to Blue Moutain for the weekend, and I decided to tag along on Saturday. What beautiful weather conditions for skiing. The forecast was clear sky and -4C, there was plenty of snow on the moutain, and there wasn't too much ice. A great day for skiing, and I had a lot of fun. Went down some moguls, practised some jumps, had a great time. So, I finally got a chance to hit the slopes this year, and though it'd be nice to maybe hit Tremblant before the season ends, I can let the snow melt away in peace knowing I got a run in this season.

After skiing, I went over to Helen and Dave's place to meet up with Flora to try out a new board game called Puerto Rico. It was a pretty fun game. I'm still not sure what kind of strategy is involved in this game, but it was a pretty interesting game. I wonna try it again later and play it in a different way. Anyways, I had a fun weekend.

Happy birthday Helen and Flora! To celebrate their birthdays, the family and I got together last night. We had a good time with plenty of food and cake for everyone. Unfortunately, the food preparation and the cleaning afterwards took so much time, we didn't have any time for any games after dinner. On the plus side though, I'm getting better at shucking oysters. Helen and Flora LOVE oysters (what kind of people order 20 oysters each at a restaurant?) and it's starting to rub off on me. I like my oysters with lemon juice and shallots.

Quick weekend updater. Friday was round two of winterlicious. Flora, Helen, Dave and I had dinner at the Ultra Super Club in Toronto, a pretty swanky kinda place. It seemed like a pretty "hip" place to be, but let's talk about the food. First off, there was not salt or pepper at the tables, I think it's cuz at these kind of places the chefs are insulted if you ruin their creation by adding salt/pepper.

For starters, I had a spinich and egg drop soup with wontons, a white twist to an asian classic. It was pretty tasty, I especially liked the wontons. Yeah, it was good, but didn't feel like I was blown away by it, needed a little more salt and maybe some pepper.

For the main course, I had some kind of salmon. I thought the salmon was really good, but not quite as good as the scallops I had at the other restaurant. But, I will say that the portion was definately much larger. I wouldn't say it was a good size, but I wasn't hungry after the meal.

For dessert, I had some kind of apple tart thing. It was really good, and not too sweet. But, I'd say the chocolate mouse thing I had at the other restaurant was tastier.

Overall, here's my expert critique on these two restaurants. In terms of atmosphere, Ultra looked more like a happening kind of place. The place was decorated nicer, and seemed like a place people might hang out after work. I'd say I liked the food better at Celestin, but, the portion sizes were also smaller. So, there ya go, that's my fine dining until Summerlicious.

In non food related news, went to London to visit Jon on Saturday. It was fun, mostly just hung out and stuff. Got to watch an episode of "The Joy of Painting" featuring the famous Bob Ross. What a mellow guy!

Sunday, had a busy day in the office. That's right, spent Super Bowl Sunday in the office. Well, looks like I'm gonna have an insanely busy week here in the office. Things are wrapping up for my project, but there's still so much to be done. Will we be able to get it all done in time? I really dunno. At least I got home in time to watch the game. Hokay, back to work!

So, the past weekend, I tried something new, so I thought I'd blog about it. I guess people have heard/been to Winterlicious, but I haven't been to it, until Saturday. Now, I've never been one for high end meals or fancy restaurants, but I figured it wouldn't hurt and it'd be nice to try some finer dining for a change. Anyways, this weekend, Flora, Helen, Dave and I went to some fancy shmancy (by my standards) restaurant called Celestin, so here's my attempt to be a food critic.

The duck fois gras appetizer was interesting. I've never had fois gras before, but it was unexpectedly creamy and smoothe. I also learned that ordering fois gras was not PC (politically correct), but I'd never tried it before and wasn't sure when I'd have a chance to try it again, so whatever. Portion size: too small.

The main meal consited of scallops (three to be exact) cooked in some way. I don't know anything about cooking, so I can't really comment on how it was cooked, but I can say that they were delicious. They were really soft, and cooked in some kind of tasty buttery sauce. Portion size: too small.

For dessert, I had some kind of chocolate mousse. It was really light and fluffy, and tasted amazing. Kind of like chocolate whipped cream, sooo good! Portion size: too small.

Anyways, I obviously know nothing about food, and I don't have the food channel, so that's all I got. Overall, I don't even want to think of how much the meal woulda cost if it wasn't a part of Winterlicious, and even though I ate a meal before hand, I was still starving afterwards and had to eat another meal, it was a good experience and I really enjoyed it. It was nice, but I don't think it's something I'd do often, except on Friday, we're going to another Winterlicious restaurant called Ultra. Stay tunned as I critique another restaurant a la Kwa.

Hokay, time for a new post! So, hope everyone had a nice holiday and a great new year. I had a nice holiday spent with family and friends. The one thing obviously lacking this holiday season is snow. For anyone living in the GTA, we're having a record breakinly warm winter. I think yesterday it was over ten degrees outside, I was walking around without a jacket on and was perfectly fine. It's kinda weird, as much as I hate waking up half an hour earlier to shovel my drive way, or walking through snow covered sidewalks, or driving one snow covered roads, I dunno, I guess growing up in Canada I expect a certain amount of snow in winter. It just isn't quite the same when there isn't even a single day of snowfall for the entire season. What's most disappointing is the lack of skiing this year. It's kinda been a tradition for my friends and I to get together and tear up the slopes at least once a year. True, most of us have been extra busy this year, and I'm not sure if we'd be able to get together anyways, but even if we did want to play a small trip to Blue Moutain, there's no snow there anyways. Skiing really is one of the things I look forward to during the winter, and it really sucks that I haven't even skied once yet. Ok, time to make plans for a trip to Tremblant! I'm gonna check their website to see what their snow conditions are like, right now!

On another note, on Friday I got together with Britta and Puja and some of Britta's friends. It was a lot of fun, it's always nice seeing them, and a whole bunch of other RHHSers that I don't see too often. Well it was fun, but the game of Cranium kind of went undecided. Even though my team sort of won (with my team who have never played Cranium before vs Britta's stacked team of Cranium elites), things kind of fell apart towards the end, so I won't count that as a win. Oh well, till next time!

Here's a quick update. Things have been going great. My last week was pretty busy, at least by my standards. I know a lot of people in my field are used to and expected to be working over time, so I really shouldn't be complaining, and I'm not, but for me working over fifty hours a week is a lot. I had a lot of work last week because of a demo that was being presented on Friday, so everything had to be working smoothly and presentable by then. Anyways, I'm really not complaining. I think the demo went well, not perfect but pretty good, and I learned a lot and I think I showed my company that I'm dependable and capable in a tight spot. I'm the type of person that really values my free time, and being expected to work overtime on a daily basis is not something I ever want to be doing, but once in a while when important deadlines are approcaching I think is all right.

Outside of work, things have been going well. Working out is still going strong. The previous weekend I went to London and hung out with Allan and Jon for his birthday which was fun. The past weekend I had a little family potluck get together. Good food, a nice gift exchange and fun playing games was had by all. I was also the champion at ping pong for the night.

I can't wait till Christmas!

Well, things are going well. I met up with Care a little while ago which was nice. I used to see this girl just about everyday in undergrad, and she lives about a 5 minute walk from my house, but I couldn't even remember the last time I saw her. We both figure it was sometime about last April on her birthday that we last saw eachother. Time really does go by fast these days. Anyways, it was really good seeing her again, we just went to Williams for some drinks/desert and catch up on what's been going on in our lives.

Friday I attended my company's Christmas party. It was a fun event where I got to hang out with some coworkers in a non-working environment. The food was good, and the speeches/slideshow where nice. My table won the prize for the writting the best poem/limerick during dinner. We each got a $5.00 gift certificate to Timmy's, booyah!

Saturday I met up with Neeta and Eric, we went to the AGO to look at some art and get a little bit more culture. I really enjoyed looking at the sculptures and the paintings. There was also a huge exhibit with photographs by some guy, and it was all right at the start, but then it just became too much and I couldn't take any more photographs. I think I have more appreciation for things like sculptures or painting, things that take more time and effort to create. I'm not saying photography isn't a valid form of art or anything like that, I definately think photography is an interesting form of art and you can take some really amazing photos, but I just think there's a difference between making something with your two hands and snapping off a round of photos. My two cents.

So, things have been pretty busy lately with work and all. I guess some people have been coming home cuz of the long weekend in the states, so it was nice to see some friends south of the border. Justin was back the past week, so him, Allan and I went out for all you can eat sushi. It was fun, and a little painful towards the end stuffing my face with sushi. We really ordered way too much that night, but it was fun seeing Justin again. Ryan was also back for the long weekend, and a bunch of his friends and I went over to his place for a Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was amazing, with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce and pie. I couldn't ask for anything more, espcially right after a great workout. The big shocker of the week was going over to Allan's for some home cooking. Never thought I'd hear that one, but I guess it's finally time for some payback after all the food he's mooched from my place. But honestly, I was just stoked for some home made spring rolls, and those spring rolls did not disappoint. Niiiice... I like... Anyways, not sure what else to write on this blog, it's just more of the same stuff. I guess since I haven't played warcraft for the past month or two, there just isn't anything interesting for me to write about.

So, what's been going on since my last post? Well, my mom's been back for a week now from her trip, and things are back to normal. I think my mom's little trip was good for me though, cuz I think it showed that I can be independent if I wanted to, and that it isn't too hard to help out a bit more around the house. It's about time I grew up a bit and helped my mom around the house a little more. I'm sure everyone who knows me has already told me that, but it's a start. Speaking of growing up, the past week I've been looking into getting a new car. I've been checking the internet for new cars that are in my price range. I'm thinking of something cheap but reliable, something like a Civic or a Corolla. Went car shopping this weekend with Jon and KennyG, but apparently car dealerships are closed on Sundays.

It was also Jason's birthday this weekend. We went over to Helen's to play some settlers and have some ice cream cake. Jon was the surprise guest who tried settlers for the first time. No worries man, one day when you meet Sofi, you'll have something to talk to her about.

On Saturday, I went to a conference with Eric in the morning. Afterwards, we met up with Neeta and went out for a little Congee Wong. After dinner, we watched Saw 3. Uhhhh... my personal opinion on the movie is that it wasn't very good. The first one was the best, the second was a little worse, and this one really fell. A lot less story, and more unnecessary gore didn't help the movie out.

Aaarrggoooooosss! Yesterday, Jon and I watched the Argos make a stunning comeback in the fourth quarter of the eastern conference semi finals beating the Blue Bombers 31-27. The Argos had the lead for the start of the game, but were slowly crumbling and were down in the fourth. That's when they switched up Allen for Bishop to throw two touch down passes in the fourth quarter to win the game. Really exciting game. After the game, we met up with Britta and Puja down town. We went to dinner at Baton Rouge, where I learned how to stalk someone/everyone on Face Book. Watch out people, there are some pretty crazy stalkers stalkers on the loose. After dinner, we went back to Britta and Puja's apartment where Jon and I taught the girls a thing or two in how to dominate at Cranium. They were high-schooled pretty badly even with their room/closet mate connection.

My mom should be back by now from her little trip. I tried to do some major cleaning this weekend, so hopefully my mom doesn't freak out too much when she gets back home.

Well, my mom's been gone for almost two weeks now, and things are going well. I'm keeping myself fed on ham sandwiches and spaghetti. The house is a little dirty, but I'd say we're doing fine. I've also been working for two weeks now, and things are going well. I'm starting to understand what I'm doing at work and able to fix some problems, so that's good. Got some friends to hang out with at lunch, and just joined a new gym, so everything's going according to plan.

The newest craze to hit the Kwa family has been the board game, Settlers of Catan. Anyone heard of it? I've been going to my cousin's place every week to play this game. We play like 5 games every time, and each game taks about 1.5 hours. Last weekend, I was over at Flora's till three in the morning playig Settlers. It's a pretty fun game, now that I actually win once in a while.

Well, my mom's heading to NYC and San Fransisco today, and she's gonna be gone for three whole weeks. I dunno what's gonna happen to the Kwa household at 46 Devonsleigh while she's gone. Will we be able to find a way to feed ourselves and keep the place clean? I really don't know. If I don't have any new posts on this blog for the next couple of weeks, someone should send the police over to our place, just to make sure we're still all right.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I had a great weekend, with lots to be thankful for. Good ol' Rach came for a visit this weekend, so her, Neeta, Eric and I got together on Friday to hang out. Went to the Keg for dinner, and just hung out at Neeta's afterwards. Team ESL (Eric and I) lost by a single point in a game of Taboo, which sucked.

Saturday was fun. Got up early and went to Congee Wong for lunch. It was the girls' first time at Congee Wong, and I'm glad they weren't disappointed. Did a little bowling, and went back to Neeta's to make a nice Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner we went out to watch The Departed. I thought the movie was really good, and I'd recommend people watching it. On Sunday we made a stop at Pacific before seeing Rach off to the airport. Yeah, it was a fun weekend, and it was really good seeing Rach again.

In other news, I'm really thankful for my new job. Today's the marks the end of my first week here, and I'm just really excited to be working again and to be doing something productive, like writting to my blog and checking emails.

The second Harry Potter book, done and done!

So, I just got back home from working out at Goodlife with my cousin Helen. I decided I'd workout legs today, so I started off with squats. Well, things started off good, pushing those quads and gluts until I notice a small tear in my pants, right in the crotch. My shorts are kind of old, and it always tears there, and I always have to stitch them back up again. Well, it's just a small hole, so I continue working out hoping nobody notices. I keep doing the squats, and after my last set, when all of a sudden I feel a draft riding up my shorts. I turn around to check my arse in the mirror, and there's a HUGE tear across my shorts. The tear literally goes across the entire backside of my shorts, and my arse is just sticking out. I just got home and measured how long the tear is, and it's 14 inches long. I really don't know how I did that to my shorts. Anyways, I decided to cut my workout short and show Helen what happened to my shorts. She saw the hole in my shorts and just wouldn't stop laughing. Thanks a lot there Hel. Thanks for understanding my incredibly embarassing situation. In conclusion, my arse is just getting way too big.

Phew! Finally finished the first Harry Potter book. What a long read that was. It seems like the books get longer and longer. I think I'm gonna have to just rent the movie for the next one.

On another note, I've just noticed I've been blogging for over a year now. Happy anniversary blogger!

I effin hate mowing the lawn. I finally decide to get off my lazy arse of doing nothing and mow the jungle of weeds outside of my house otherwise known as my lawn. Well, I'm definitely partially to blame for my lawn getting so out of control, but that's not the point. So I'm mowing the lawn, and everything going nicely when the back left wheel stops turning. Not only is it not turning on its own, powered by the motor like it's supposed to, but it's all jammed up and doesn't spin at all and just drags through the grass. I stop the motor and try to push the wheel back into place, and it starts to work for a bit. I continue mowing the lawn when the entire wheel breaks off the mower. What a pisser that was. I had to go to the garage and take the wheel off our old lawn mower to replace the broken wheel so that I could finish mowing the lawn. Anyways, that incident alone isn't that big a deal. But, considering last year, our lawn mower broke down completely and we just bought a brand new lawn mower last year. And this year, the one year old lawn mower stopped working and we had to bring it to the shop to get it repaired. It all just adds up and just gets really frustrating. I effin hate mowin the lawn.

Well yesterday was a fun day with family and friends. Ryan ol' bean is back from Conneticuit for the long weekend, so we decided to just hang out at his place for a bit. We didn't do much, but it was fun watching some stuff at his place and looking at pictures from his recent trip to London. Some of the pics aren't so bad, he doesn't look like a serial killer in all of them.

After spending time with Ryan was karaoke/bbq with the family. I met up with Andrew, Jeanne, Helen, Dave and Flora for some karaoke. Apparently Dave's got a secret talent for singing, that isn't so secret anymore. That guy can really belt out a tune. He's my vote for the next Canadian idol. The bbq was fun. It took forever to cook all of the food, and I was starving by 10 when we finally started eating. (singing really works up an appetite) Well, there was plenty of delicious food and I was stuffed by the end of it, so it was definitely worth the wait. Thanks to everyone who helped make the food, it was great. For people who know me, I try to stay away from kitchen duties and wasn't really involved in the food making process.

After the bbq I met up with some high school friends. Jon brought a special guest this time, Megan, who I've only met once before last night. Well, I showed up a little late, but it was nice of them to save some delicious cake for me. It was also a real surprise to find the seat beside Puja empty when I got there. Anyways, it was a lot of fun, but I'm not too sure what Megan thinks of me. I don't think she was too impressed when I said she wasn't quite a doctor, or when I said I'd try to swim to the surface of the water from a submarine, or when I said I'd start my own bobsled team to make it to the Olympics. Oh well, what can ya do eh?