My introduction to the idea of collection miniature bottles came from seeing my Toronto aunt’s mini-perfume bottle display. (Isn’t everything better in miniature?) Now, that is a normal and presentable collection to have.
“Collecting” the miniature lotions from hotels I’ve stayed at, not so much. Whereas I would be loathed to use mini-perfume and empty those bottles of the liquid whose colour may be contributing to the bottle design, I’m less reluctant to use the lotion. I have so far been a bit reluctant to use and then dispose of the …

I don’t know which website has the most comprehensive Toronto restaurants listings+reviews (like I believe dinehere.ca in Vancouver to be), so I’ve uniformly linked every restaurant to their Urbanspoon page.
Asian Legend. Sweet Gallery. Il Gelatiere. dozo sushi. Gui Hua Tang. Restoran Malaysia. Chili Secrets. New Choice. Oh Geul Boh Geul. Simple Bistro.
Asian Legend
We met up with family (two uncles and one married cousin with his wife) and I was sooo relieved that we did not dine at our stand-by regular restaurant, Scarborough Grand, although had we dined at a traditional …

Just a few years ago, I only had the faintest idea of when American Thanksgiving occurred. In Canada, we get it out of the way in early October while Americans get around to it in late November. I did not realize how important or long a holiday it was for them.
Besides my secret impression that Vancouver is a very American city, it just cannot be faulted for being located very close to the border, right? Another reason why I love where I live: it’s like a straight line drive from my …

Sometimes I feel like I do not need to live in Vancouver to “keep in touch with my culture”; except for the personal touch of being in a city that is about 15% Chinese, a lot of my daily fix comes through the Internet and other widely available resources.
With the magic of RSS feeds piped through Google Reader, I get sufficiently bombarded with Asian information from the few feeds I subscribe to.
It seems the longest-standing pillar of blog-style Asian-American information is Angry Asian Man and NPY has noticed how much stuff I’ve seen …

While I have been to New York at least twice in my life before, NPY had never been so we hopped on the opportunity to show him something new and to visit his long-time friend who has been working and living it up in New York for several years. The last time I was in New York was in 2001 or earlier on a family trip and I can only recall a large part of my time occupied with being on a private Chinese tour of Manhattan then a larger …

Yay, I’m back and it feels like I’ve had a second job this week uploading, captioning, tagging, and deliberating on photographs from a mere ten days spend on the Right, er, East Coast….
First off, you must know that NPY was along for the ride – and I do plan a crazy ride – and he was Meeting the Parents for the first time. However, it went smoothly, much unlike the movie, and only I felt a twinge of guilt that while I was physically in Halifax, I kind of had …

For the time being, I like being able to say, “Well, next weekend, I’ve got my marathon. The weekend after that, I’m going to to be in Halifax. And the weekend after that, I’ll be in New York City. I’m sorry but I cannot hang out with you.”

Why did I not play with Google My Maps until now??
I’ve already become dependent on Google products, deeply integrating them into my life: GMail, Google Reader (106 subscriptions), Google Documents (my comprehensive to-do list and documents I share with NPY), Google Calendar (I have 2 calendars for separate activities) and, until recently, I was using Blogger by Google.
Using Google My Maps came about first because I was using it for work. For that case, I couldn’t stab and change the placemark colour for my 1,000+ points so I started learning …

I’ve decided I need more culture (and excitement) in my life….!
For starters, next month, NPY will be taking our biggest trip together to date: four days in Halifax and four days in New York City. NPY has never been to either of those cities so I’m super-excited about him going and me getting to be with him for such an experience.
I think I’m suffering from burnout (or boredom) regarding running. When you do nothing but running like I do, each run completed  is just to be better at the next …

NPY surprised me arranging that we go to Seattle this weekend. It it is President’s Day on the Monday the 16th. Oh, and it’s Valentine’s Day on Saturday!
All he did was book the hotel. I’m doing the rest. =P
The following list is racing through my head like a ticker.
Red Mango. P.F. Chang’s. Cheesecake Factory. Oh gosh, will we get to dine anywhere on V-Day? University Village. Bellevue Square. Ann Taylor. Banana Republic Outlet shopping. Don’t forget your $150 GC. Don’t forget your USD cash. Don’t forget your passport. Finish Line …