Toronto for the holidays!

I really do miss Canada... and something about Toronto's diversity makes me miss it more. I can get good Chinese food any time and of course, most of my family and friends are there! JJ and I were definitely preparing for a hectic week back home...

Things changed a bit in downtown Toronto. Dundas Square is all done up nice now with flashy colourful billboards and that site on the NE corner is finally being built up. The Eaton Center got an updated look... I think it's trying to be a cramped version of Times square.



Inside the Eaton Center was a giant Swarovski tree! This photo doesn't do it justice as it was quite sparkly.


I blocked off time to spend with my family and eat my home-cooked meals, one of which was congee and noodles!

Mmmm so yummy!

For lunch on the 24th, my parents took JJ and I to a Viet/Thai buffet restaurant in Scarborough. It was great! After enjoying that, the first people we met up with were Lillian and Mike who came back from Philly for a few days (Mike had never had a Toronto streetdog before so we all encouraged him to get one as a pre-dinner snack. Lillian looked shocked at all the toppings he put on it!

Note that JJ is carrying bubbletea. That one was 2 of 4 (we had bbtea the night before - yes, we miss it!).

After that, JJ and I wandered around downtown a bit. Nathan Phillips Square's skating rink was quite crowded. There's a rather sad Christmas tree in the background - nothing like Rockefeller Center or even the Daley Center here in Chicago.


Christmas day lunch was at my favourite Chinese restaurant with my family, JJ, and auntie Connie's family. Everyone enjoyed that wonderful meal; JJ actually noticed that they arrange their signature dish in the shape of a turtle!


On the 26th, Tiffany held her famous food party; she is always so kind to organize it every time I come home so everyone can get together. Thanks Tiff! I got to play some xbox 360 (the boxing game),


got to eat a lot of food as well.



On the 27th, I had a good catch-up lunch with Hongsa and JJ's parents invited me over there for dinner. Yay authentic Korean home-cooked food! I also got to meet JJ's friends after dinner: Tim and Brian came to see Borat with us and we later had bbtea with James (3 of 4).

Justin and I went to lunch at the next day at Far Niente. It was a nice restaurant that I always wanted to go and I, for some ridiculous reason, decided to get the fancy lobster grilled cheese. It was fantastic but it was $26! Justin got a really good teriyaki steak, also for $26. Justin's birthday was on the 26th. Happy birthday Justin! (why so many 26's?)


Justin at Nathan Phillips Sq with his new camera


JJ came over Thursday night for dinner and then we went for our last bbtea of the week at Kotos (where else?) with my friends.

Friday was another catch-up lunch with Iris and Eric at Oliver and Bonacini at Bayview Village. Later that day, we went to have dinner with Lynne, Derrick, Julie, and Chris, most of whom had never been to a Korean bbq before! Derrick was a pro - leave it to guys and their bbq'ed meat.



They seemed to have a lot of fun and we got some Ben & Jerry's for dessert!

Too bad we missed you Sue! Happy birthday and thanks for the chocolates!

We managed to squeeze in one last fantastic meal before we left for the airport at Hello! Saigon (formerly Miss Saigon) for my favourite Vietnamese restaurant. It was quite crowded so we were feeling a bit rushed. Food was excellent though. After that, it was off to the airport and back to Chicago for a relaxing two days before working late hours again. Happy new year!

Mark and Sue's Wedding - Holguin, Cuba

Good friends Mark and Sue got married in Cuba on Dec 13. Donna wasn't able to go, but I got a much needed vacation, saw old friends, and had a great time.

The first two days had some rain issues, but we still got in quality pool time, ate good food, and toured a local village.
Sue, Julie, me, Lynne, and Laurie in the pool.

Sue prepares our dinner at the DIY teppanyaki.

Julie and Lynne fitting in with the locals. They don't stick out at all.

A look inside a Cuban classroom.


The night before the wedding, we had a really nice dinner at the beachside restaurant. Mark sits and watches as the staff hustle and bustles around.


By wedding day, the weather cleared up very nicely.


The wedding itself was held in a beautiful secluded beach and everything looked just right.
Waiting for the bride and groom.

The ceremony

Now, it's official.

Nope. NOW, it's official.


The reception was at the poolside restaurant.
All setup and ready to go.

And the people show.


I thought everything went beautifully and I was really happy I got to be there to see Sue married off. She's in good hands with Mark and I don't have to worry about her falling into a life of gangs and crime anymore.

The rest of the week was nothing but perfect weather so it was just a lot of R&R.
The resort let us go out on little catamarans. I had no idea they went up on such an angle! I can't wait to do that again.



This would appear to be a typical scene of Mark passed out after a rough night, but turns out he was just stretching.


On the last day, I got caught up on some reading, saw the sights, and called it a week.

Thanks for the amazing week and congratulations, Wrighties!

Donna in Atlanta for CAS COP

This time, I went to Atlanta but not for work. I went to the CAS Course on Professionalism and I went there on an early flight to check out some of Atlanta's landmarks.

I did a tour at the CNN Center but no photos were allowed on the tour...



Then I walked through Centennial Olympic Park...



And then I headed towards the Georgia Aquarium!
I wanted to see the big tank with the whale sharks first...


That fish in front of the whale shark is really big... I think it's a grouper and it's probably half the size of me! Go back to September blogs to see JJ's photos of the tank!

I wandered over to other sections of the aquarium and saw some neat stuff...
Sea dragons:


Penguins:


Jellyfish:


Strange eels that look like worms:

and more!

The dusk view of the exterior:


Downtown at dusk:


View from my hotel room:


Melissa and I topped the night off with a dinner at a local restaurant, Gladys Knight & Ron Winan's Chicken & Waffles.


That's right! The food was amazing! Despite the fact that we were completely out of place, our waitress was super nice and made some great recommendations!
Melissa had the fried chicken and strawberry waffles:


and I had the smothered chicken with mac & cheese, collard greens, and a corn bread on the side:


That was probably the best corn bread I've ever had!

The rest of my trip was a less-interesting COP filled with case studies and discussions that was better than I expected. I'm glad I got to see some old friends too!

Beaver Creek, CO

Over US Thanksgiving weekend, JJ and I flew to Denver to visit his brother's family. We got to hang out with the family for a bit and then we drove 2 hours to Beaver Creek after Thanksgiving dinner. My lesson the next day started early so we figured this was the way to go.

When we got to Beaver Creek, we could see the stars! Lots of them! That's what I love... in the mountains, not too bright so you can see the stars, but still have first class accommodations! The one bedroom condo we got was huge and not too expensive either! The kitchen was fully stocked with glassware and appliances and the bathroom was huge too complete with a jacuzzi! The condo is actually owned by this couple and the entire lodge is rented out like a hotel. We signed their guest book and everyone agreed on how much they love the place!
The condo:


Upper Borders Lodge:


Beaver Creek village is really nice.





They have free cookies in the morning and in the afternoon too!

It wasn't too crowded that weekend so there weren't long lift lines.


I spent most of the first day on a bunny hill getting comfortable with the heel edge and a little toe edge and doing the falling-leaf.
JJ went exploring and did some blacks since he didn't have me around haha. He got some nice shots that day! It was a little warm so the snow near the base of the mountain was kinda melty and there wasn't much snow on the nearby hills.

It was much nicer near the top where JJ went on the first day.

You can see those jagged snowy peaks in the distance.


For both the first and second day, I only got maybe 2-3 hours total coming down a green. In my group lesson, one girl kept slowing us down. She never wanted to go up the hill... one run and she'd be done. JJ and I decided that it was probably best that I didn't go on the third day and that he'd just take me up to the top where the nice snow is and on the green runs.

The first night, we went to check out the Tree Lighting Ceremony. They had really fancy fireworks! Those huge ones!

There were so many people so we just settled for this mexican place to get a dinner quick to beat the crowds.

On the second night, we had a much more satisfying meal at Rocks Modern Grill in one of the lodges right in the village. It is self-proclaimed "upscale casual dining" and I had no idea what that meant until we got there. The prices were really reasonable, the decor was modern and upscale looking, and the food was great! There was this "early bird" special (it ended at 7pm) where you could add a salad and dessert to your entree for only $5 more. WOW!
A crab dip appetizer:

Yummy salad:

JJ had the prime rib special:

I had the ribs:

Apple cobbler dessert was fantastic too!

On the third day, it SNOWED! Yaaaay! You can actually see snow on the nearby hills.


Check out that toe-side turn :)


We went up the Centennial Express after a practice green run near the base



We had lunch at the Spruce Saddle near the middle of the mountain. It's behind us in this picture.


Their pasta was reeeeeally good!


From the lodge, you had a clear view of a snow dump happening in the distance.
(That snow eventually made its way to us.)

We went up even higher after lunch where the green runs were at the top of the mountain.




That pretty much concludes our trip...


We spent Monday morning with Young and the kids and then made our way back to flat Chicago... I want to go back to the mountains and snowboard!!!