Friday, May 23, 2008

telemarketing calls

I came home to this voice mail.

Hello this is X Carpet Upholstery and Airduct Cleaning. Sorry we missed you. We are currently working in your area so we are offering a great specials. 3 rooms professional steam cleaned for only $79.95!!

If they were really in the area, they would know that we all live in condos. Good deal...if I actually had more than 1 room perhaps. And maybe if I had carpeting.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

yum yum dim sum

One of the best-rated dim sum places in town is in the Metropolitan Hotel. The restaurant? Lai Wah Heen. The food I tried? Samples below. Delicious though the service by one server tended on the snobbish side.


珍珠鵝肝鴨絲餃
Steamed duckling dumpling filled with foie gras paste, job’s-tear & heart of garlic.

臘味茸韭菜餃
Steamed cured ham & baby leek dumpling.

清湯雲腿金魚餃
Assorted seafood & enoki mushrooms coated with shrimp mousse served in a clear consommé

花膠菜苗鳳眼餃
Steamed phoenix eye shaped purse, stuffed with fish maw, shrimp mousse & vegetable sprout.

蟹肉腿茸金粟餃
Steamed crabmeat & sweet corn dumpling flavored with minced cured ham.

馬來咖喱蟹芋盒
Deep-fried dumpling of crabmeat & taro flavored with Malaysian curry.

茉莉荔枝花茶凍
Chilled duo tea pudding of lychee & jasmine flavor.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

finding one's bliss

I shake my head in awe. I just found out that two people that I know have both gotten married. Not to each other, mind you, but still... I'm not saying I'm jealous. Just that these were just sudden marriages that it blows my mind. I think it's awesome for them. In the meanwhile, I will go back to enjoying my partner, yoga...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

yoga mania

At the yoga show a few weeks back, I bought a passport which allows me to try out a whole bunch of different yoga studios. I took advantage of the long weekend to go and try out the moksha studio. It's basically like Bikram's but less militant. (I haven't gone to Bikram's yet but that's what I've heard.) So you go into this room and the heat is cranked up to around 39 degrees. Yup. A sauna.

I took the vinyasa class, so it wasn't even the pure moksha that I tried. I saw a few people with sweat dripping off their foreheads and onto their mats. Gross. Mind you, I wasn't a pretty sight either but I took it better than I thought I would and did not pass out due to the heat. (They had a dehumidifier and ceiling fans so it felt just like being on a very warm tropical island... if I closed my eyes.) Can't say it's my favorite but they are so popular there are 3 other studios in the downtown core (it is a chain) and one more opening up in Mississauga in July. I'll probably go back, if only to get the stamp in my passport. :P

Thursday, May 08, 2008

hair flop

When I visited New York City several years ago, I wanted to see as many musicals as was realistically possible. I wanted to see Movin' Out at my dance teacher's recommendation, which turned out to be a fantastic decision. I ended up seeing the show here again when it came through Toronto on tour. I also saw Rent, which was not such a good decision. They always play their catchiest tune to advertise the show; unfortunately, that also happened to be their best tune (in my opinion).

On a bus tour, I heard some other tourists discuss the show Hairspray, saying how great it was. I didn't have the time to squeeze that in, and I had missed it as it played in Toronto before I moved out here... so when I heard it was coming for a week, I decided to see it.

Ok, so the show itself was fun and silly. I expected that considering they turned it into a movie. Great catchy tunes. BUT, the experience would have been so much better if I hadn't left the show with my ears ringing (and I was sitting in the dress circle), and the lighting guy had actually known what he was doing. I was actually really disappointed that it felt more like a rehearsal. The main lead would be singing and the spotlights would be shining on the counterparts. How crazy is that? And speaking of disappointments... the lead (Tracy Turnblad) was played by the understudy, as was her parents. Seriously... I would have expected more considering that they were in town only for a week, and tonight was their opening night.

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

yoga - from hardcore to snore

I have been doing yoga so much lately that I am contemplating teacher training. Not so much for teaching, but to learn the corrections that I can do on myself and to understand the philosophy behind yoga. Today, too much of yoga has been westernized to the point that classes are just a pure form of exercise.

To explore a bit further, I have been going to different studios and trying different classes. Today I rushed off to a class, bypassing a lady going up the stairs. She had her arms outstretched across the banisters and let me pass. I changed quickly and dashed into the class. To only find out that this grandma was instructing.

Turned out to be a hatha class. A super s-l-o-w hatha class. Memories flooded back to me and I realized again why I hated yoga when I started. Because this was what I was introduced to. I almost fell asleep. At least now I know not to go to that class on Sundays...