So long my friend....

From the moment I heard about you, I lusted for you. You were exactly what I was looking for: fun and sunny, interminably cute without being ostentatious, a whole lot of fun to be around. You never failed to please nor protested wildly when things were not always so bright. You were the envy of men and women alike, young and old. Nary could a passer-by ever see you without casting a friendly gaze, a warm smile and even a wave.
Your good looks attracted many who just wanted to be around you as well as the few who sought to hurt you in a jealous fit of envy. Scars left deep and visible.
You were always with me and we went to many places together. You always my faithful companion; sometimes being with you was uncomfortable but we never failed to reach or destination. We shared nine good years of companionship and dare I say it “love”.
Lately, it’s been difficult for the both of us. Neglect and lack of attention on my part weighed heavily on us. And so my friend, I bid you farewell. It’s time we both moved on. You to someone else who will cherish you as much as I have and you will reward them with years of smiles just like you rewarded me.
Shakespeare was right, parting is such sweet sorrow but we both know it’s time to go.



And so it was, two weekends ago, I bid farewell to my beloved car. I watched sadly as that fellow from Gatineau loaded him up on trailer and hauled him off. I turned to have a final glance as the trailer rounded the corner and I could see Bullit’s shiny body disappearing down the street. The weather was cold and dreary; pathetic fallacy no doubt!


Sigh, how is that we become so emotionally attached to inanimate things? I will always fondly remember the 9 years I had Silver Bullit.

01:02:03 04/05/06

On Wednesday of next week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

This will never happen again this century.

You may now return to your (normal ?) life.

Serendipitous brunching and Oscar bumping.

Ever had one of those weeks that you keep bumping into various people that you haven’t seen in months or even years? Last week, I bumped into a friend that I hadn’t seen in months twice. I happened to bump into her at lunch time and then again completely randomly on the subway the next morning. On another day, on my way back from lunch, I happened to bump into an acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in what must be two years!

All of this serendipity became the catalyst for what became a weekend of catching with different friends at brunch and drinks in the evenings.

How is it that as we plod through the routines of our daily and weekly lives that we go months and months without randomly seeing anyone in particular and then all of a sudden, within a few days you happen to meet several people all at once? I even spotted one xanga blogger (Willariah) who I see in the virtual world and rarely in the ‘real world’.



Some random Oscar thoughts:



What the hell is Charlize wearing? That post apocalyptic costume reminded me of Rachel Ward’s outfit in Blade Runner. That shoulder thingie was bigger than her head!



Holy crap, Ludacris is short.



Hottest hottie – Jake G!



Reese – She’s so annoying!



“It’s hard out here for a pimp!” – LMFAO!!! … LMFAO!!!... That was the highlight of the evening for me. (just to make sure that no one thinks I’m disrespecting hip-hop, I am not. I do like hip-hop but come on … really… that song sucks! I just love the irony that the stuffy old conservative Academy would pick a song that glamourizes the worst stereotypes.)



Zhang Ziyi – Asians, represent! (despite the fact that Jon Stewart butchered her name!)



J. Lo – what the fok is she doing there? She certainly was gLowing though. I’m so jealous of her skin.



Best Jon Stewart joke – “Schindler’s List… Munich … I cant wait to see what happens to us Jews next!...”



How come Ang Lee didn’t say anything about Jake and Heath? He thanked everyone else, except the actors. Hmmmm…



I’m a big sentimental homo and was disappointed that Brokeback Mountain didn’t win for best movie. CRASH is an excellent movie though.

I saw dead people

I just saw the most fascinating exhibit. This is the final weekend for Body Worlds 2 and I must say how totally fascinating the exhibit was. I was really amazed and learned a lot about how the body's muscles are all interconnected. It was pretty amazing to see real human specimens and all the sinews and tendons and muscles in tact. Now, that I have seen all the muscles of the body, i will think about them each time I work out at the gym or at yoga class. It's pretty amazing how all the tendons and ligaments work together and how many there are in a forearm.

I wandered around the exhibit looking at every single display up close to see the intricate network of tissue. Oddly, some of the muscles reminded me of beef jerky and the liver displays reminded me of fois gras. (hehehe... )

I was not freaked out about the exhibit at all, the only one that was mildly disturbing was the pregnant woman with a baby still in her womb. It did not say how she died but it did show that she was a heavy smoker. Her lung was exposed and it was black! How sad...

I came away with a new appreciation for this beautiful vessel, this amazing machine that we call the human body. If Body Worlds comes to your city, go see it!

Call of Duty - my date with the justice system.

The Year of the Dog sure has started off with a woof-woof and a thorough exercising of my Canadian citizenry. After voting in the somewhat disappointing election (Citizen Right and Responsibility #1), I received notice of a call for jury duty (Citizen Right and Responsibility #2). This being the second time I have been called for jury duty, the first being 12 years ago, I willingly showed up at court among the huge group of people for the endless waiting. For the record, there were about 320 people called in order to select a jury of 12. Of the 300+, 6 groups of 20 are randomly chosen. Out of the 6 groups, one group of 12 makes the final selection to sit as a jury member.
I sat outside the courtroom and observed the anxious people. Funny how much you can just tell by looking at them: Most simply just don’t want to be there, some know the drill and are patient, some are just frustrated at having to wait. Most were female and most were in their 40s or 50s (boomer demographic, I guess).
With such a large group, we had to be split into two courtrooms and so the all the instructions and charges had to be read twice. Once all the charges were read, then began the slow process of choosing names at random in order to select potential jurors. If you had a good excuse and if participating as a juror would cause you “undue hardship”, you could then ask the judge to be excused for the trial. All of this takes place in front of the accused, all the lawyers, the judge, the court services staff and clerks.
Note; being an “important person” at work with a high position does NOT qualify as an excuse to be excused from jury duty. As the judge put it, “I’m sure the business will carry on just fine without you.” If one appears overly emotional and start to cry while explaining why you can’t serve, the judge will probably excuse you.
I sat in the courtroom curiously placed right beside the accused box (Lord knows how I ended up in that seat) listening patiently as each name and number was randomly drawn from a tumbling box and anxiously awaiting for mine to be drawn. As I sat waiting, many thoughts ran through my mind about our criminal justice system. It has been three years since the incident took place and the case is just now coming to trial. Gosh, what a backlog there must be. I had a bit of sympathy for the accused for having to wait that long. Innocent people shouldn’t have to wait that long but what of the guilty people? I think we should have a right to speedy trial as long as it is thorough. I thought about how disappointing and sad it is that so many lives were ruined or lost because of this crime. The accused (if guilty) not only ruined their own lives forever but also inflicted so much pain and suffering on the family and loved ones of victim, not to mention the young life lost forever.
I thought about the fairness of our system compared to a country like Singapore, for example, where a young fellow was caught, charged, tried, sentenced and executed in 40 days! Some of the potential jurors whined and complained about how inconvenient and cumbersome our system is and how disruptive it is on THEIR lives. Excuse me, but I wish they would put things in perspective and think about the fact that someone was killed and the future of the accused is in our hands. Punish them to the full extent of the law if guilty but afford them at least a small shred of humanity.
I thought about the two accused. They “look” like your typical clean cut guys who could easily have been a friend or acquaintance. They bore no resemblance to what one would expect a cold killer to look like. For a fleeting moment, one of them happened to catch my eye and offered up a half smile. It was a look that I had grown accustomed to in completely different environments but would no doubt qualify as a very awkward moment for me. In a large courtroom full of non-Asians (by that I mean ‘white folks’), me and the two accused were the only young Asian males there (and if you count the Filipina woman that makes 4 Asians). Accused number 2 and I exchanged that glance of recognition that minorities sometimes share in big crowds. Minorities know the look to which I am referring. How odd it was to occur at that moment.
In the end, after being selected in the first group of 20, I did not get chosen to sit on the jury because I no longer live in that area. My only hope is that those guys get a fair trial whatever the outcome might be.

Winterlicious 2006.3 Truffles

Truffles

And so there I was at the uber-poshy Truffles (@ Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto) glancing around the lobby to see if I can spot any celebrities. I wonder who is in town these days. I’ve been to Truffles a few times now for various “…‘liciouses” and couple of other occasions for over-the-top outrageously glamourous dining. I have not been disappointed yet. Going to Truffles always makes me feel like royalty and this time was no exception. I like the dim lighting, the comfortable seats (especially the double chair/love seats) and the blonde wood walls. I scanned the room again for celebrities but still none were in sight.
Companion B kept commenting on the ‘granny china’ on which the food was served. We checked and sure enough, it was “Royal Doulton”! This all added to the royal atmosphere even though we kept giggling as each piece of granny china was brought out. Note also that the silverware was definitely silver. I wonder who has to polish all those forks and spoons. Hmmm…

What I ate:

Fennel Soup
Tomato Marmalade

The fennel soup looked a lot like a potato and leek soup except that it was more of a caramelized creamy colour instead of the greenish tinge. A dollop of tomato marmalade peeked through the pearlescent broth. It was smooth and silky and went down like a warm blanket. Gorgeous stuff! The tomato marmalade was a very pleasant surprise as well. The little cherry tomatoes burst with sweetness and goodness and complemented the slight liquorice flavour of the fennel soup very nicely. Oh man, I could have had a giant bowl of the stuff.

Crispy Duck Confit
Savoy Cabbage, Pancetta and Caramelized Chicory

Owing to my obsession with duck, I HAD to have duck confit again (see previous post). This confit was even better than the one at Pangea. Still moist and tender from its warm oil bath, the skin was just crispy enough to add a bit of texture to the silky smooth flesh as it fell off the bone. I was in duck heaven, yet again. Companion C thought that his confit was better at Pangea when he went but this one was better than one I had when I went. I will not stop until I have accomplished my life’s mission: to find the world’s best “confit de canard”
The slightly bitter savoy cabbage was a nice complement to the sweetness of the confit.

Bergamont Crème Caramel

What the heck is bergamont anyway? I must confess to being slightly puzzled by this dessert. Companion B, yes him again…ever the jokester asked, “Is that a Del Monte fruit cup?” It was surrounded by little bits of FRESH citrus fruit (grapefruit and orange). I was also puzzled by the jelly like texture of the crème caramel. It didn’t taste bad but it was unexpected. I should have had the chocolate tart.

And so ends my gourmet adventures for the winter. I really did enjoy Truffles this time around and was only spooked by the curious crème caramel and the shaking hand of the man who poured my hot coffee. He was a nice old fellow but come to think of it, I think he was afraid of Companion B.

Winterlicious 2006.2 Pangea

Pangea


What I ate:

Rainbow Trout Gravlax
Black pepper & dill cured, served with baby greens in a sturgeon caviar vinaigrette

Duck Confit
Duck legs on apple & cinnamon braised cabbage, roasted duck and juniper reduction

Pot au Chocolat
Dark Belgian chocolate mousse with brandy,
orange and triple chocolate-almond biscotti


Due to a freakish "snowstorm" in the north of the city, my dinner group of 6 fell to 2 since the others were stuck in traffic for hours and decided that they would be even later. Oh, it was just as well. It gave me some time to chitchat one on one.

I had been anticipating my return to Pangea ever since Summerlicious 2005 at which time, I ordered skate wing but was quite disappointed for a number of reasons. I've enjoyed skate wing grilled in a banana leaf on some beach in Malaysia and thoroughly enjoyed it then but I guess it was because the wine I was drinking this time around was totally wrong for this type of fish. I think some fish react with tannins in red wine to leave a metallic taste in your mouth; very unpleasant. Anyway, I stopped drinking the wine and just finished the fish as is. It was still a bit "fishy' to my liking. My companions at the time all had duck confit instead which is one of my favourite things in the world. (Ah hell, duck prepared any which way is my favourite.) I did get a sample of my friends' and was thoroughly blown away. I wanted to come back the following week, just to have the duck!

My guest and I checked in and were seated at a nice table for two. We recounted the other places we have been to so far. I told her about Flow and she told me about Epic ("very very disappointed", she said) and so we were both quite looking forward to this meal.

Pangea is very comfortable and contemporary dining room. Shaker-style tables and chairs combined with modern slick fabrics and eclectic art pieces combined to make a large room seem rather cozy. Our waiter was prompt and cordial. Oddly, all the good looking staff that I remembered from last year didnt seem to be there this time around. Nevertheless, our waiter was pleasant, and not bad looking either (save for the goatee).

My companion and I ended up order completely different things. She had the fois gras, I had the trout gravlax. She had the shrimp, i had the duck. She had the lemon cake, i had the chocolate. It was all good as we got to try each other's food.

The pumpkin (or squash) spread that they gave us with the bread was yummy! It was a gorgeously smooth texture and looked faintly like peach and cream gelato. The gravlax that I had was nicely cured and enhanced with the vinegrette. Where the caviar came in, I wasn't sure. My companion was equally happy with her fois gras and was quite thrilled at the delicate little toasts it came with.

Then it was time for the duck confit. If i remember correctly, they served 2 legs at summerlicious but this time they only served one. The duck was delicious! It was perfectly served atop the purple cabbage and flaked off the bone elegantly, it had the right spices and not a hint of greasiness or oversaltiness that one might find in an inferiour confit. This was EXACTLY what I had been pining for these several months. YUMMY!!! The shrimp that my companion had were equal in their plump crispiness.

The pot au chocolat was seductively smooth and rich and not overly sweet to detract from the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate. The lemon cake, from what I could tell was nice and fluffy and full of the nice bright lemon flavour that you would expect.

All in all, we were both well satiated with our dinners. I will definitely go back to Pangea perhaps even to eat of the "regular" menu.

Oh one added bonus, our pleasant waiter forgot to add the glass of wine that I had to the bill. Hoorayy ;-) free wine!