chinatown and kensington market adventures.

i spent the afternoon today enjoying the pleasantries that kensington market and chinatown offer. i went to kensington with my bro matt to enjoy some cheese empanadas, which were delectable, absoloutely delicious!! so good in fact, after eating one each, we just had to go back and get two more to satisfy. it's served with a great homemade salsa which, when eaten, is like a party for your tastebuds. it is flavourful and quite tasty. we walked around kensington and i saw a few cute little shops with unique stuff.

we then wandered down to spadina to check out chinatown. i think this is one of the first times that i was able to actually enjoy being in chinatown. usually i go down with my dad who loves the meat/veggie/fruit part of it, but i had the chance to visit the other smaller shops that have great (non food oriented) finds. i found a store with some really cool clothes, stuff that you wouldn't find in a regular store...! you can find great little gifts for people down there, nice lanterns, purses, cushion covers, clothes, serving plates (some of them are gorgeous!) i stumbled across this great little shop that specializes in beads, pendants and jewellry, and it is probably the best thing i found all day! for those of you who aren't aware...i am a bead fanatic! if i had the money, i would buy all the beads in the world and make jewellry. really though, they've got some absoloutely beautiful stuff! what else did we do...oh, i got some bubble tea [mmmm] - passion fruit green tea with lychee jelly, pretty good stuff...matt and i ran into our parents so we hung out with them while walking down spadina, and then of course we decided to grab a bite to eat, so we headed down to new sky garden. the place was quite busy, but we managed to get a seat within a relatively short period of time and placed our order of singapore noodles, orange chicken and stir fried veggies with cashews. we waited a while before the food came, but it was worth the wait. the food there is deelicious - i'd definitely recommend it to anyone who finds themselves hungry in chinatown :)

all in all it was a great evening, i enjoyed every bit of it. when i get me some bling to spend, i know where i'm headed...! for anyone who lives in the area and hasn't visited, i'd highly suggest taking an afternoon to explore, it's worth it.

oh, and shanghe - i found baldwin street, and yes, i do love it. we've gotta go one day soon.

school school school, i love school

well folks, i have started school. yes you read right, your eyes are not deceiving you! class started for me on monday and so far i am loving it. the people in my program seem really nice, and the profs are just great..! the prof we've had for the past two days reminds me a lot of poppy from seinfeld - anyone remember that episode? (the one where jerry's girlfriend's dad - poppy- owns this restaurant and he doesn't wash his hands...) annnyways, my prof looks like poppy. but he's a really good prof - he makes planning theory actually interesting! shoot, i gotta cut this short...dinner is a-callin my name...i'll be back in a while (hopefully..!)

i just wanted to let you know:

i saw jack layton yesterday at the taste of the danforth.


school starts tomorrow.


and that's all :)

nEw yoRk CiTY baby

we're back from new york city and though the visit was short, it was maybe one of my favourite trips down. dinner and drinks at seaport with my cousins, great conversation, a walk around times square at night (all in all the 'perfect date', really), lunch in the hamptons, catching up with my cousin after eight years and meeting her husband and two kids, walks in the park reminiscing over our younger days, strange men named anthony, late night chats on the back steps of the house, mosquito bites that are crazy itchy, shopping at the mall (two pairs of shoes for twenty bucks!), forever 21, victoria's secret 'love spell', a walk downtown nyc, late night bowling, midnight drive to coney island...like i said, one of my favourite trips down to the city to visit the fam. i'll post some pics when my cousins get a chance to send 'em over. peace out.

something to pass your time...and mine.

i decided that i need some tunes while i pack my bag for new york, so i'm currently burning what i will call my 'nyc beats cd'. it's unbelievable the amount of stuff that one has to do in order to get ready for a trip. i mean, it really takes the sweat off your brow to arrange everything within just a few days. by no means am i complaining however, although some may find this impromptu trip a little crazy, and would be calling for SOS to rescue them from the madness that surrounds them. but that is just one original thing that makes our family unique. i'm glad the temperature has gone down a little bit though...i wouldn't like to be in the city during a heat wave, that's for sure...! oh man, so i heard that a certain pop sensation is bringing sexy back..it's like a public affair, that guy and everything he does. i don't know how they do it. i'd just want the media to break it off and leave what's left of me in peace! well, i suppose i've passed enough time, and my cd is just about done. this entry may seem a little bizarre and disjointed, but there is a purpose in all of my madness :) i've incorporated ten song titles from my 'nyc beats cd' in this truly...interesting post. let me know if you can find them :)

hips don't lie...

yesterday, a remark about going to new york was made in our kitchen, and before we knew it, we were planning our trip. in my family, we are known for our spontenaity regarding such trips - an off the cuff decision was made one march break to drive down to atlanta to visit some family friends, just last month a trip to the bank turned into a wonderful drive to niagara falls, and the saga continues! we've been to new york city a number of times, but we haven't been in about three years, so it's about time that we made a visit. we've got family out there in queen's, so we'll probably be staying with them and spending time while at the same time taking in some more of the city. i'm quite excited for the trip, it should be fantastic...! 5am sunday morning we plan to drive out of our driveway to embark on about 8 hours of travelling time, give or take a few hours (more give than take though..! haha) i've never driven in the states before, so this will be some good experience. annywho, just thought i'd fill y'all in on the goings on, so if you don't see or hear from me for a few days, you can find me in nyc.

just another day on whitworth drive.

as most of you know, we've just recently moved to a new development in oakville. so new in fact, the houses across the street are still being finished and we don't yet have any grass. this morning, we noticed they were levelling what will someday be our backyard. the man in the little tractor rolled over it time and time again to make it as level as he could. we saw it and thought 'hey, progress!' later in the afternoon, i went with my mom to do some grocery shopping. we bought all our necessary stuff, packed up the car and headed home. upon viewing distance of our house, we noticed a rather large pile of dirt on what will soon be our front lawn, except, there was not a workman in sight. there was no one levelling, no one hammering, no one driving big trucks - not a soul. well, i figure it's not that big a deal, we'll just wait till tomorrow for the guys to come flatten it out. we drive into the driveway and i jump out to open the garage door when it hit me like a brick wall. this was no ordinary dirt. no sir, it was...yes, you got it - manure*! the combination of manure odors and the incredible heat is enough to make one want to pass out. i guess it would've been worse for the man whose job it was to level it! i think the construction men took a 'heat day' today, and packed in early cuz they weren't lingering around as usual this evening...hopefully tomorrow will prove to be a better day for them. and us.

* disclaimer: i cannot truly describe this pile of dirt as 'manure' because my mom says it is top soil - but whatever combination of various dirt varieties, let me just say, its odour is by no means pleasant.