I'm Back...

My apologies for the delay in coloblogging - it's been a busy week!

When I last left off, it was my birthday/first day of work in Sudbury. Then it was back to Toronto to see my sister from Vancouver, who was gonna stay in Toronto after having been in PEI for the 100-year Anne-iversary, and to see my cousin from Montreal. I had a great time..of course. Lots of food, inappropriate pictures, more food, more pictures, and more food.

When I took the bus from Sudbury, I found out that we get dropped off at Yorkdale. I didn't really care because I was planning to meet my sister and cousin downtown. BUT...they ended up not going downtown, so I figure I'll just get off at Yorkdale cuz my other cousin works near there and could drive me home to meet them. One problem: my luggage wasn't with the luggage of the people getting dropped off at Yorkdale! So, what does that mean? It means that I had to crawl into the luggage storage underneath the bus - of course it's buried in the back - to get my stuff. Luckily, I got it (without any help from the bus driver, I might add) and everything worked out. I got picked up at Yorkdale, drove back to Scarborough and came home to a wonderful barbecue prepared by my lovely, food-savvy cousins.

The next day we had some dim sum, and then celebrated my birthday at Jake's in Unionville. I LOVE Unionville. I actually just heard of the area? town? whatever it is, a few weeks ago. It sort reminded me of Niagara on the Lake, with small shops spelled with a "-ppe" (some of you may know about my affinity for "shoPPEs", especially if there is a "ye olde" at the beginning. About nachos, sweet potato fries, ribs, shrimp, 4 pints of beer, a McDonalds sundae run (NOT a fish-a-filet run one might expect), lots more "insert here" pics and some good times, we head back home.

The day after that was downtown day with my sis. We went to Spadina Museum, my new favourite Toronto attraction. Unfortunately my friend (a.k.a. the old lady in the kitchen that tests your knowledge of old-fashioned cookware) wasn't there, but I still had a great time. My sis missed it when she was in Toronto in March'07 cuz it wasn't open yet. Then we had a quick stop at Eaton Centre (so she can buy some hair products) and it was off to see my condo. My sis loved it. Took tons of pics. I especially like the ones she took from the rooftop with the CN Tower in the background. Then it was off for some Thai food, I guess it's our Toronto tradition now. After an amazing lychee martini and an awesome vegetarian 4 course meal, it was back da 'borough to watch Get Smart with my two other cousins. Really funny movie - I recommend it! I laughed out loud a lot and I bought cotton candy, which made the movie that much more enjoyable.

And finally, on my last full day in Toronto before I went back to Sudbury, was NIAGARA FALLS! After a bit of a late start (eating breakfast at Markham Station and some traffic) the 4 of us get to wineryland, a.k.a Niagara-on-the-Lake. We go to Hillebrand and take a tour. My sis and cousin fall in love with ice wine and buy 2 bottles each. 1 free tasting of ice wine in the store and another 3 wine tastings included in the $5 tour (one of which was another ice wine - yes!) . Then we got vouchers for a FREE tasting at Peller Estates! It's beautiful there, by the way. We get our free tasting, which included 3 wines (1 riesling, 1 merlot, 1 riesling ice wine - double yes!). We then go eat (my sis and cousin are starting to feel the wine by this point) and then it's off to the falls. Maid of the Mist = amazingness! I went for the first time last year, but this time was a lot more rough and I got a lot more wet ("that's what she said"). And finally, we drive back home, but not without a stop at our favourite dirty Chinese restaurant and get 4 orders of "#58" - A chicken cutlet, 2 pork skewers on Indonesian fried rice, topped off with a fried egg and tons of teriyaki sauce! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye. At least we got to hang out for a few days, and even have some time to watch some Perfect Strangers. It was really sad (leaving, not Balki), but I know I'll see my Toronto family soon (next week, in fact) but I probably won't see my sister and cousin 'til November for a cousin's wedding :(

So, back to Sudbury I went and I love it! Not so much the place itself, but I love work here! Everyone is super nice. I got my own workspace set up in a shared area with really funny and kind people. My first day on the job I got to go the mall...and I get paid to do this. Amazing! again, I can't go into too much detail, but things are moving along well.

This week, I also got taken for a mini tour around the city. I finally got to see the big nickel! When people first told me to make sure I see it, I thought they were talking about a giant deposit of nickel in the ground or something, but then I saw what it was in a brochure. It's actually a bid Canadian, 5-cent, nickel. I also went to the library, where I got a library card and got some books, including a Filipino cookbook that I'm looking forward to trying out. I finally did some major grocery shopping so I'm not eating out all the time. And, of course, the first day I make my lunch and bring it, there's a BBQ at the hospital!!! I'm not complaining, I mean, I love barbecues! I just wish I didn't waste time making lunch that morning (but I didn't waste it...I ate it today for lunch instead).

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to write more frequently. It's been a busy week, but I'll sure to update everyone on what I'm up to soon, that is, if the mosquitoes here don't eat me alive first!

mr. coloblog

p.s. I'm not sure if anyone saw the View, or at least the clip of it where Elisabeth Hasselbeck was being all stupid when they were discussing the usage of the N-word, but it infuriated me. Why can't she understand the empowerment of taking the word back?! I totally agree with Whoopi that it's taking the word out of the hands of White people and controlling its meaning. Elisabeth is so f*ing dense sometimes and cannot seem to understand anything outside of her own world view. It's simple. If you're not Black, don't use it. If you are, then you have the power to make the meaning whatever you want it to mean. Does that mean to say that its usage in pop culture isn't problematic? No, but at least there is a discussion about who uses it and why. Only then can we begin to address these important issues.

The more you know [cue music, shooting star]

http://perezhilton.com/2008-07-17-it-got-heated