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Friday, August 24, 2007
more tomorrow than today | 9:29 PM |
"Truth be told, most of us are faking our way through life. We pick only those battles we are sure to win, only those adventures we are sure to handle, only those beauties we are sure to rescue." [W@H]
Since coming back from Montreal, a lot has happened...the good, the bad, and the delicious. Another academic term has ended and another is about to begin. The past 4 months has been a whirlwind of events, most of which i cannot recall. But with every season in life, a new lesson can be learned. Starfield said it best, "The other day while I was driving home my world was shaken. It occurred to me that I had left too many risks untaken. I'm always sitting here just waiting for a revelation. Is it ever gonna come?" [Tumbling After]
Taking risks, stepping into the unknown, doing something that is more than pedestrian...none of those are my fortes. But i think i'm beginning to understand the essence of living with no regrets. How would one know the results of an action unless....one takes action? i think i've been sitting around and waiting for too long...but then, i've become so comfortable with inactivity that i may need to re-learn the basics of mobility again.
On a yummy note, these past few weeks has been foodelicious...it has definitely been a lot of stepping outta comfort zones to try new places. Summary of my experiences: Rex Saigon - This place was actually quite packed, so you know the food served was fresh. The lunch combo consisted of tom yung soup, mango salad, a spring roll, and a choice of pad thai or curry with rice. i chose the pad thai. The soup was mediocre, salad refreshing, spring roll piping hot, and pad thai cooked pretty darn well. A side of calamari was also ordered. It was spiced perfectly and had a succulent texture. The decor of the place was prehistoric, and the service could use improvement.
Overall: 3.68/5.00 Portion sizes were great, but nothing stellar that stuck out. Good place to bring a significant other for a 5th or 6th date.
Thai Fusion - A new restaurant that recently opened up. Open concept decor, fairly simple and clean cut design. i ordered fresh watermelon juice, which was quite...fresh and stellar. the lunch combo consisted of pad thai, vegetable spring rolls (2), side salad and tom yung soup. This place definitely was sub-par compared to Rex Saigon. Pad thai was clumpy, soup was slightly watery, and the flavour combination and texture of the ingredients in the spring rolls did not work well for me. The redeeming part of the experience was the superb calamari that was served in a martini cup.
Overall: 2.99/5.00 The lunch menu was disappointing, but i'm sure other items (such as the calamari) would taste dandy. Good place to take revenge on an ex by ordering them half a dozen spring rolls.
Le Brix (Napa Valley and Grille) - A cougar lounge by night, but it's fairly safe to go before 7pm. In fact, i was early enough to catch the half-priced apps. i ordered calamari, lamb rack, duck gyoza, pesto chicken flatbread, PEI mussels, fries AND a sangria all for under $50 (split between 3 people). Calamari was tender, but could be spiced more. The dipping sauce was delish. The lamb was juicy, interesting choice of a Mongolian BBQ sauce. Flatbread was loaded with goat cheese goodness, mussels cooked to perfection and fries...well, they're just fries. Sangria wasn't bad either. Fairly typical lounge-ish decor, nice touch with TV ads in the washroom stalls.
Overall: 4.01/5.00 Half price apps are the way to go, other items on the menu are fairly steep. Good place to bring your cougar friends.
Ichiban Sushi (Richmond Lane) - Small cozy place with nice pictured-menus. The price is fairly steep for an a la carte place, but you pay for what you get. The sashimi here is glistening fresh. Salmon, tuna, mackeral...all melt in your mouth consistency. Service isn't too shabby either. You can find your favourite sushi, specialty rolls, tempuras and noodles made to perfection. A minor caveat, don't get the green tea ice cream...it tastes kinda funky.
Overall: 4.35/5.00 For a few extra bucks you could go to an all-you-can-eat place, but this place's quality definitely trumps a lot of others. Good place to bring sashimi-fanatics.
Lemongrass (Richmond Lane) - Typical pho/noodle shop. Tables were slightly greasy, and the servers looked more ticked off than a constipated fat man. i ordered a Satay beef noodle soup. The portion was big enough but not all of our food came at the same time. Flavour was mediocre at best.
Overall: 2.13/5.00 The price was okay, food was okay, but the horrible service was a big turn-off. Good place to ignore.
Spices - A new restaurant that opened up this week. Dark, romantic decor. i ordered their signature Pineapple fried rice and a side of rice paper spring rolls. Fried rice was beautiful, and the spring rolls were refreshing. Instead of a bread basket, there was a bowl of deep-fried spring roll wrappers (with thai dipping sauces) which was rather phenomenal. The service was top-notch, my glass of water was always filled. To say that the waitresses were fair maidens is an understatement. The salty-wet manager looming around the room was kind of awkward.
Overall: 4.55/5.00 The food wasn't too bad, nothing really special about it...but the excellent service made the experience worthwhile. Good place to bring your desperate buddy to pick-up...the bill.
Center Street Deli - We went during the lunch hour rush and this place was PACKED. Despite the fact, we didn't wait too long in line as the turnover rate was rather quick. i got the Center Street special...a fatty old fashioned smoked meat sandwich with fries and coleslaw, and of course, a black cherry coke on the side. The food came quickly and in good quantity. The smoked meat...was almost as good as the ones i've had in Montreal. The decor had a diner fascade, and the service was spectacular. Fast and friendly. We got complimentary digestive cookies at the end.
Overall: 4.75/5.00 Worth the trek to the west end of the city. i would definitely go back to try the other kosher items on the menu. Good place to come back to again and again and again...
Fire on the East Side - Nice, relaxing bar. Had their lunch pulled-pork sandwich with fries. Huge portions and not-too-shabby service. The molasses BBQ sauce was a bit too sweet for my liking but the pork was ridiculously tender. Fries were addictively greasy.
Overall: 3.50/5.00 Most of the items on the menu can be found elsewhere, unless you're in the area, it's not worth the subway ride downtown. Good place to chillax after a long day at work.
Duff's - [not a legit review] Heard this place was famous for its wings, so when i was in the area i had to drop by. Got 10 hot-honey garlic wings to go. The sauce tasted funny and the wings were a bit drier that i would've liked...definitely didn't live up to the hype i was anticipating.
Overall: 2.50/5.00 Can't judge the rest of the restaurant based on just the wings, but All-Stars and Morty's trumps their wings anyday. Good place to go for their dill-ranch dip.
Hollwood Gelato's - Fast and speedy service. The two times that i went i got their coconut cream pie...and man alive, it's pretty darn good. You can see chunks of fresh ingredients in their gelatos and sorbets, almost as good as the place i went to in Montreal. Ginormous scoops.
Overall: 4.77/5.00 Excellent flavour selections that changes frequently. Good place to go to on a hot, humid day...or after a long day at the beaches. Date-worthy factor: 4.99/5.00
Grand Island Seafood Oyster Bar & Grill - We went there for their summer oyster deal: half a dozen oyster and a glass of wine (or beer) for a reasonable price. i ordered 2 malpeques (PEI), 2 mayagis (BC), 2 kushis (BC), and a glass of white Pinot. All of the oysters were shucked fresh and tasted beautiful. Mayagis were my fave out of the 3 due to its perfect balance of meat and liquor, and the sweet finish at the end. The chilled Pinot worked perfectly as an accompaniament. There was also a live jazz-pianist performing...it was a fairly chic place.
Overall: 4.68/5.00 Quality service and ambience, some of the items on the menu can break the bank, but it's worth it. Good place to go on a first date.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
more tomorrow than today | 11:51 AM |
"Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet."
What is sweeter than the love of family and friends? What is stronger than the bond of blood?
so this will be the last post on this blog of this calendar year. click [here] for future non-sensical updates. =)
So anywho, i read over the story of my son recently, Samson (hahaha, get it? Sam's son = Samson...har har har), and what a phenomenal story. it was like...a story taken out of a comic strip. i see a lot of parallels between the character of Samson with Batman and Superman.
Besides kryptonite and low-fudge non-fat over-priced ice cream, the Achilles' heel of all these characters is, yup, you've guessed it...women.
A lil' background on Samson...he was a judge over Israel when the Philistines ruled over them (because of the nation's sins). He was a man set apart from birth to be a Nazirite, which required them to abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, and raisins, refrain from cutting one's hair and/or beard, and to avoid corpses and graves, even those of a family member.
Couple of things stood out to me in the 20 years which Samson was judge...one of which is Samson's constant desire to get revenge. He wants to seek justice for the wrongs committed to him (kind of like Batman). even though i found it to be selfish, God still used this to judge the Philistines. this goes to show that despite my impurities and imperfections, God can still utilize me for His purposes.
Second thing, there were two predominant women in Samson's love life. The first was indicated "of the Lord" [Judges 14:4] while the second was not. The second eventually led to his downfall. Interestingly, i'm reminded that when we seek a relationship which is not of the Lord, it WILL lead to your demise (speaking from experience).
The downfall came about due to his lack of patience and perseverance. Because of the nagging of both these women, Samson eventually gave away the answer to his riddle and the secret to his strength. i'm reminded of the constant "nagging" and struggles that i have with temptations. no matter how fierce it gets or how annoying, or even how it will tire me to death [Judges 16:16], i must choose not to obey it nor succomb to it.
Also, the source of Samson's strength was not of his own, but rather, of the LORD. "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power..." [Judges 14:6, 14:19, 15:14] This reminded me of Superman...how he gets recharged by the sun, whereas Samson gets recharged by the Son. that's how my life should be as well, being constantly refilled before battle by His Spirit. cause by my own strength, i WILL be defeated, no question about it.
oh, and check out this video if you guys have time, it's definitely worth the 9 minutes or so of your life...
"We were meant to live for so much more." - Switchfoot
wanna know more about the ticket? leave a comment =)
Saturday, November 25, 2006
more tomorrow than today | 1:43 PM |
Rethunk
...over the past week or so...i did some contemplating of why i started this blog in the first place. then i'm reminded of what brought me to the world of web logging. in first year of univ...i wanted this to be a medium in which to share the going-ons and happenings with friends out of town (and in town). it was to serve as a tool to share my joys, struggles, and ambitions. most of all...i wanted to share His story on this blog with those who read it.
for the most part i think this goal was accomplished (despite the few "personal-ad" type kinda posts that were written...all too frequently). now that a new chapter is gonna begin (well...at least until April 2007)...the birth of a new blog will begin.
"A Leaf in Habs Town" will journal my journey into...untrotten territories (ie. a place with french street names).
ttyl. brb. afk. easy.
oh...and what do you call a bone that lies a lot??? a FIBula....har har har. =D
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
more tomorrow than today | 2:22 PM |
Redeem
read this off a former teacher's site...
"In an attempt to simplify my life, I made the decision to shut down my Xanga site. I had initially started that site to join the blogring for my church and get to know people better in an informal manner (which was accomplished). It was also a great way to get reconnected with people from my past, esp. from back home. But what started out as a good intention turned into something that I found myself spending too much time doing, and with only 24 hrs. in a day (and who knows how many more years on this earth), I realized that there must be a better use of my time.
Another reason I made this decision was I saw how the desire for comments, to be visited, etc. became a temptation to win the approval of man (i.e. fear of man), and become self-absorbed. This is something that I know is revealed in other areas of my life, but I've been challenged this month to reassess not only my attitude toward things, but also how I've been spending my time."
Ephesians 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
...it really convicted me, i truly needa re-evaluate my motives...why i do the things i do...
