Oops...I wrote this blog sometime in the summer and thought I had posted it, but alas, I didn't!!!
Well...here it is now.

Wow, where has the time gone? Work has kept me so busy, but I enjoy it so much that the hours just fly by. Of course I also make sure to find the time to hang out with my dear family, friends, and my special someone <3, but there are still those that I have yet to see since I've come back. I apologize for that. Let's make sure to meet up soon!

Here's a quick recap of all that's happened since the last time I blogged. I hung out with Yit a lot until I started working the full-time shift. I don't get to hang out with her as much anymore. =(

Black Creek Pioneer Village for Doors Open Toronto. Free visit! Saved ourselves $15 and we got to bring our doggies. Yay!

Of course we went to Woofstock to check out all the doggie stuff! It was great fun, but I think it was a bit smaller than the one I went to last time.

First order of business? Breakfast. Grabbed a breakfast sandwich from a shop at St. Lawrence Market. Yum!

Just some of the dogs we saw at Woofstock.

It's the footstool from Beauty and the Beast and look! There are two of them!

What a cutie! Kiki went up to sniff the little Maltipoo.

How adorable! They had rubber ducks in the fountain for the dogs to play fetch with. Too bad Kiki hates the water.

Peanut was the runner up for the Mr. Canine Canada Pageant. Still can't believe he didn't win. =( He's so popular!

My very first class moved on to the next level. They were such a pleasure to teach although they were quite crazy at times! =D

Thanks for making my first class so memorable and enjoyable!

Danny came to visit me and we had a great time together. We had originally wanted to go camping at Algonquin, but settled on Wasaga Beach instead since it was so much closer. Although the weather forecast called for rain, we totally lucked out on the weather and it was sunny! Awesome!

First day-beach. I'd totally forgotten how to throw a frisbee, but then I remember and was awesome at it. =p

The girls.

<3

Good job making the fire! That Vodka Milkshake was really good. Ketchup chips...yum! Kiki is a puffball!

Thanks for cooking, Elaine!

Danny has two heads.

Sitting around the campfire making s'mores. Awesome!

Early morning at the main strip. Free coffee? Why yes, please. We also raided the free Nestea stand. The lady practically begged us to take them off her hands and we happy to oblige. =p

More fun in the sun.

Long Weekends...I've Missed You So! Well...I've Missed Weekends in General.

One of the best things about being back in Toronto is that after 7 years, I once again have a 2 day weekend!!! To have a long weekend is a rare thing indeed and so I really enjoyed it!

To kick off the long weekend, Fanny, Cola, Gary and I had dinner on the patio of this fantastic restaurant called Gusto. I had no problem ordering my drink. Alcohol please. The Peroni was quite good and a pretty good deal at $6 for 335ml. The house white wine was also very good and was only $1 per ounce. After going back and forth between some items on the menu, ( I thought about ordering the mushroom pasta, but decided against it after C told me that the mushrooms were a bit overwhelming and the sauce a bit heavy.) I finally settled on the Hambuger al Gusto, which G tells me is what they're famous for and boy was I glad I did. The fries were ok, but the burger, oh boy it was really delicious. It looked a bit small when it arrived, but it was very filling. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. C ordered the mushroom pizza and I think she finished it all by herself, so it must have been good!

My yummy hamburger. I want to eat you again. 

Enjoying the patio weather. G's trying to look cool in his Ray Ban's. Remember I said I liked your glasses? LOL. More on that later.

That beer glass looks huge!

We were then supposed to meet Su at Yorkday to watch Star Trek, but since we had some time to kill, we went to C and G's house to chill for an hour, but then an hour became like 4 hours. Oops. Sorry we bailed on you Su. Star Trek another time? My sister said it was really, really, good. Like really.

Tien came over, and because he was 4 minutes late, we decided to punish him by asking him 4 questions; 1 for each minute that he was late. Muahahaha....Fun times. Somehow as time passed, the trolling for fun became a heated debate with FF and T on opposite sides. Neither would concede and in the end, we just decided to agree on disagreeing. The topic that almost ruined a friendship? If you had to choose between a baby you just had and a child you had just adopted, which one would you choose to keep? LOL Talk about being skewed and unrealistic. The best was afterwards when T said he and FF should join a debate club and debate on the same team. They'd end up yelling at each other. Awesome!

Well, we did consume this many bottles of beer. (Pic courtesy of Gary Shew.)

As we were leaving, I told G that he had nice glasses (referring to the ones we drank the beer in) and he said ya, they're pretty hipster (referring to his prescription glasses.) I clarified that by telling him not the ones on his face and somehow that made everyone laugh. I didn't say that purposely to make fun of him. ><

Proof:

C&G's glasses look like these. Pretty cool, right? And to be fair, I was holding one up as I said that. Too bad G had already walked into the kitchen. 

On Saturday, the K bug bit us and we all headed to Encore for a session of karaoke. What fun times we had and oh, the pictures that somehow ended on my camera! At first, it was pretty lame because T decided to introduce the guys to a dice game that involved math. I don't know about you, but any "game" that involves math, just isn't a game to me. It's just waaaay too much work to be fun and boy did it move slowly.

Not surprisingly, things eventually winded up like this. I really wish I had a picture of the guys all staring at the dice, like they were trying to move them with their minds. *Yawn!*

In the end, we had a grand ol' time. We always do, don't we? (More details of our K adventures will be emailed to those who were there because they are of the mm geen duc gwong-can't see the light of day variety. Just joking. They were that bad, but there were a few pretty embarrassing ones.)

Update: On account of complaints, I have decided to include the best picture taken that night. Presenting, the Tienasaurus.

Best picture ever!

On Sunday, it was a beautiful day so we took advantage of it and went to Sherwood park. Click here for a review of it from Gary. Pretty much, if you have dogs and you want to take them to an off-leash park without making the trip all the way to High Park, this is a very good alternative.

Kiki baby chilling in the car with Auntie Cola and Uncle Gary, waiting for her mommy to come back from using the washroom at Starbucks.

LOL...after spending a whole afternoon with babies and their parents, Fanny got to spend the rest of her day with dogs and their parents. Talk about a double whammy for someone who is pretty much adverse to both!

You could never tell from these pictures though that FF is afraid of dogs. Kiki and Comet are having a field day!

Comet is such a cutie! She is a big dog, but so shy. Once she got off leash though, she'd make a mad dash to any dogs that were smaller than her. A few times, she started to run at a dog in the distance, but once she got  a bit closer, she was like, ummm...they're bigger than I thought, retreat! At one point, we thought she was going to surprise another little dog, but instead she just went right up to the owner and sat in front of her, asking to be petted! So adorable! Kiki was in heaven and as G put it, she went on a smelling spree. She zip-zagged here and there trying to sniff as many things, people and dogs that she could. She's so dirty right now. I need to give her a shower after this post.

See? Sniffed everything in sight.

Lovely day for a stroll around the park.

Girl pic! All the female dogs and the female humans. (Courtesy of Gary Shew)

Kiki thoroughly enjoying Comet's water while Comet refuses to drink it, but finally succumbs to mommy's demands. 

On Monday, it was my mom's birthday and we went to Yellowtail for all you can eat sushi! For a review of it, visit my yelp page here.

It's the first time in 7 years that I've celebrated my mom's birthday with her in Toronto. Last year, she was in TW for her birthday so that was nice.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

It's really so good to be back. I know I've said it before, but I really mean it so I'll say it again. I'm extremely happy to be back. I love you all and have missed you all dearly.

How did you spend your long weekend?

Would love you hear from you,
Mel

My Welcome Back Chili Bash!

Thank you everyone for coming to my welcome back chili bash! It was really nice seeing you all. A special thank you to my youngest sister, Hay for hosting. She did a fantastic job cooking everything, but don't forget, I helped grate the cheese...and then, I took a nap.

Chili station with hot dogs, pasta, fries, chips and baked potatoes. Can you say YUM?

After a bit of persuading-because Chinese people are so "hak hei" (polite), everyone dug into the food and declared it delicious!

Maggie was even able to convince Athan to eat this time!

I had a great time catching up with some old friends-especially with Ken whom I haven't seen in who knows how long?

Kiki is so sneaky.

Before Ren and her family left, we just had to take some pictures with the kids!

Athan and Fanny are wearing leather jackets. So cool!

And of course we had to take a picture with just the Henry girls.

<3

Kiki was so popular! The next day, she was really exhausted from all the attention she got and all she did was sleep. Can you believe it? It's not like she did anything besides getting petted. =p

Old pals from TW.

After my sisters went to Walmart to get some ping pong balls, I guess you can say that's when the party really started.

Beer pong! G will later get his cheat on.

Hanging out with my awesome sisters. Thanks Hay for hosting and thanks Yit for coming even though you didn't know anyone. =D

And of course I had to get a group picture with my fantastic girls. Thanks Mon for the eye shadow palette. I love it!

Ying and Kiki are certainly enjoying themselves.

Don't forget about T-Chat with SpongeBob!

Fun times!

I have the best friends in the world!

G looks really tall for some reason.

Now for the silly pose.

This is why I love ya'll!

Thanks everyone for making my day special and for welcoming me back! It's been an adventurous 7 years and as much as I enjoyed it, there really is no place like home.

For a complete set of the pictures, click here and ask me for the password.

Lots of love,

Mel

P.S. We found the cell, G! YAAY!!! Whew...what a relief!

High Park-A Not So Hidden Gem In The City, But Still A Gem Nonetheless.

This past Saturday, I woke up at 9am to get ready for my first outing to High Park at noon with R, her kids and M. I put myself in charge of makings the sandwiches (something I would later regret), so that R wouldn't have to take care of that on top of everything else one has to deal with when they have kids.

So why did I regret volunteering to make those sandwiches? I had this grand idea of making turkey, lettuce, cheese and avocado sandwiches. Sounds simple enough, right? The problem was that, that was my first time making sandwiches for kids. I had so many questions, do they eat avocados? Should I toast the bread? Do they eat mayonnaise? On top of that, I had no idea how to prepare an avocado. They were not popular before I had left for Taiwan, and they weren't popular when I was in Taiwan, but boy are they popular here now. So I had to call my sister Y for instructions. Thank goodness she helped me out although she did ridicule me for being so avocado-preparing-clueless. Oh well.

After getting a bit lost on the way there, we found some parking on a little side street a few blocks from the park. Just after entering the park, we saw a small cluster of Cherry Blossom trees and decided to procure a spot and declare it ours. R then proceeded to whip out two blankets and a little tiger tent and we made ourselves at home.

Our little picnic spot under the Cherry Blossoms.

I was so relieved when M took a bite of a sandwich and proclaimed that it was really good. All my efforts didn't go to waste. However, the kids were so interested in everything around that they didn't really eat. Can't blame them though. There really was a lot going on and more interesting things to do rather than eat.

Like hanging out in the little tiger tent.

We even saw a guy up on a tree playing the guitar!

That's actually quite romantic. Wonder who he was playing that for.

I guess the tiger tent really was fun because after awhile, mommy decided to join her kids.

Move over, kiddies.

After trying to feed the kids again and again without much success, we took some more group pics. Unfortunately, we had a super hard time getting A2 to sit down. He would only come over with the promise of "zi choi" (dried seaweed) but after M had tried to lure him a few times with an empty promise, he decided to ignore her altogether. Smart boy! Then A1 started getting silly too.

The pictures getting progressively worse.

In the middle of taking one picture, A1 decided she'd had enough and decided to show us just what she thought about the impromptu photo session.

Take that! Now, can we go to the playground?

M tried her very best to make the kids eat.

Trying to explain the facts of life to A1. If you don't eat, you'll die. (Not her exact words.)

Whatever M said to A1, it pretty much didn't work. However, when A2 tried to feed her some sandwich, lo and behold, she ate it like it was the tastiest thing on Earth! (Not to be conceited, but it was rather tasty.)

Little brother feeding older sister. It's a miracle! What's even more of a miracle is that when A1 didn't want anymore, A2 actually started feeding himself!

You're eating my sandwich! Yay!

The humans weren't the only ones enjoying themselves. Kiki got her fair share of attention from random people. Our favourite was the little boy wearing sunglasses.

Kiki spots some four-legged friends.

Not to be outdone, A1 put on her sunglasses as well!

And immediately strikes a pose.

After R gets A2 to put on his jacket...

He puts his sunglasses on as well.

Wow, very "yow ying."

I guess M thought so as well because she tried to kiss him.

Not sure if she succeeded, but she was super happy nonetheless.

After packing up our things and making sure to pick up our garbage, we headed to this really amazing playground. It's too bad I forgot to take a picture of it. Upon entering the playground, you'll see Arthur's sword in stone. That was a really cool detail. Click on this link for photos of the playground. The story behind it is that in 2012, someone intentionally torched the playground and immediately, the community responded by donating money to rebuild it. Children were asked what their dream playground would look like and the end product was derived from their descriptions. Mike Holmes along with the help of the community undertook the project to rebuild the park, and they did a wonderful job.

As we walked into the playground, we were enveloped by the shouts and laughter of children having a grand ol' time. Had I been a child, I would've gone bonkers too! Being adventurous, we took the little kiddies to the big kids slide, and they made it down in one piece. =D

A1 made sure to have a tight grip on her little brother.

After leaving, we passed an ice cream truck. A1 really wanted some ice cream, but after taking one look at the line, we decided to pass.

Were they handing them out for free or something?

It was the first time M and I had gone out with the kiddies, and we had a hard time steering the stroller. It was pretty massive, with all the bags hanging off the side, but R had no trouble with it at all.

R is supermom.

At the zoo, we saw all kinds of strange and smelly animals, like emus, yaks, wallabys, llamas etc...It a great little zoo that's free for everybody, but is struggling to remain open because of a change in the City Council's budget and is now relying on donations to stay open. The zoo has been opened for 112 years, and it would be a pity if it closed down. If you have change to spare, click on this link to donate.

At the zoo, we bumped into C and G. It was a planned meeting and I got to meet their dog Comet! She is so cute, but so shy. She and Kiki haven't hit it off yet, but they are definitely going to get to know each other more whether they like it or not! Kiki tried to sniff Comet's bum when she wasn't paying attention. haha...

Now, this is the part where my day at High Park got weird. So there we were standing with our dogs and chatting, when a lady just goes over to Comet, pets her without asking, gives her a big kiss and then jogs away! It was as if we weren't even there. Then another girl comes along and asks me if she can "pet" Kiki and I say yes, she immediately scoops her up and starts petting her explaining to me that she also has a Maltese blah blah blah, which was ok, but then she almost drops Kiki! OMG!!! I almost had a heart attack! Like G said, why have my days back been riddled with weird occurrences? Nonetheless, I don't regret having moved back.
Anyways, afterwards, C and G took Comet to the off-leash park. I really wanted to take Kiki there, but we didn't have time. That's ok-this gives me an excuse to go there again!

After we left the zoo, A1 decided that she wanted to walk Kiki herself, and she did a great job!

Do you like her hat? I bought it for her. Yup, little things make me proud.

In the last picture, she A1 bent down to pose with Kiki. How adorable!

On the walk back to the car, guess what we saw? A popsicle cart that didn't have a ginormous line up in front of it. Guess who was as happy as a clam?

That's right, our little princess.

The same couldn't be said for her little brother who apparently doesn't like anything cold so the cookie sandwich mommy bought for him was a waste, but mommy ate it so it wasn't really a waste, just a waste of his time, I guess. haha...

Afterwards, we headed home and got a bit lost on the way back. Yup, all in a days work.

Thanks R, M, kids and Kiki for such a lovely afternoon. I can't think of a better way to have spent that Saturday afternoon.

When's our next outing going to be?

Tips by Mel (I just copied this from my Yelp review. Click here to see it.):
1) If you can't find a spot in the parking lot, try parking on the side streets outside.
2) Make sure you have tissues to bring to the washroom.
3) Go early to avoid massive line ups to pretty much everything. We were there from 2-6 and there were line ups for the washrooms, ice cream truck, hot dog stand etc...
4) Bring your own food, drinks and a blanket so you have something to eat, drink and a place to relax!


Thank you for reading and please leave a comment for me. =D

Mel