Several weeks back, YL suggested this restaurant known in the Korean community as the "spicy chicken" place. The joint is in this dinky little plaza on Yonge St & Glen Cameron (north of Steeles). One of those spots in town that you'd never visit unless you knew about it.
Apparently, this particular restaurant is part of a chain that became really popular in Korea two years ago. There are franchise locations every couple blocks in Seoul. Unlike most other Korean restaurants, this place does not serve any beef. It only serves chicken.
The restaurant has the darnest of names. It's called "Home of Hot - Taste". The menu's star item is "Blazing Fire Chicken". My favourite dish, a soup, is fittingly named "Egg Soup". It's actually steamed egg set in a base of chicken stock soup. Super tasty.
YL knew what to order and the food tasted super good. I'm totally not a spicy food eater, but the hotness was just perfect that I was able to enjoy it. That experience left quite a lasting impression on me to the point that I strongly recommended the restaurant as a must-visit to our food "gang".
While we usually stick with different Chinese cuisines, under my insistence, we descended upon Home of Hot Taste this past weekend. I tried to order the same things as YL did on the last visit, but added some kimchi rice and noodles.
I don't know if YL told them to make the dishes milder for my tastes before, but holy cow, Blazing Fire Chicken was really Blazing Fire this time. I could not drink enough water. Even after rinsing and dousing my mouth with water, that burning sensation was still persistent. Even YZ, who supposedly is our best spicy food eater, thought the chicken was too spicy! The servers eventually brought us TWO jugs of water. Surprisingly, the kimchi rice was super good. It had a strong flavour of seaweed, which I love. The rice didn't taste spicy at all, but that may have been due to the chicken.
In the end, everyone agreed that the food was very good. The spiciness is just one of a kind. So spicy yet so good. Definitely worth trying, but I need to check with YL to find out what happened. I guess the best way to describe our experience this time around is: 真正的貼錢買難受!!!!
We took a quick visit to the Korean supermarket next door afterwards. I saw a section stacked with BOXES of Chili powder. Man. Hardcore Hardcore. A newfound appreciation.
Some quick impressions from Edmonton.
People
One of the most surprising thing about Edmonton for me was the people. Everyone was super friendly, though half the time, they were trying to convince me to move out to Alberta. lol. Everyone I had the opportunity to speak to was quite proud of their city, but not to the point of arrogance. Definitely had a big impact on my impression of Edmonton.
Downtown
A very nice downtown core, spanning probably a dozen blocks in each direction. I didn't get to really explore it until nighttime. I did notice that the downtown core was eerily quiet after dark, with the exception of cars and the homeless. I must have just been exploring the wrong parts of town. Got to visit the City Centre Mall and the CBC Radio studios there. I noticed there was a Subway every couple blocks too.
Really liked the pyramid at Edmonton City Hall, though I wish I walked the extra half a block to the front entrance and gotten better photos of the building. Some idiot taxi cab driver told me the pyramid was a greenhouse for some exotic plants. A green house growing some exotic politicians and taxi cab drivers, I bet.
While a little out of my way, I stopped by Alberta Legislative Hall to visit the First Post survey site (something that I need to do at every Canadian capital city - I'm 2 out of 12 now). The legislative hall was quite beautiful in the night.
University of Alberta
Very beautiful campus. I love how a lot of the buildings are interconnected, either by underground tunnels or elevated walkways. My favourite places were the abbreviated buildings: SUB, CAB and HUB. Student's Union Building and Central Academic Building were student hubs with lots of food, lots of student orientated shops. Just a fun place to hang around with all the students. Human Union Building was really cool. It has a mall hallway on the "ground" level full of shops. For several stories up, there were full ceiling to floor window pods that stick out over the mall below. These were apparently accommodations for the hotel. It felt so futuristic and modern, despite being built 30 years ago.
West Edmonton Mall
The biggest mall in North America and 3rd biggest in the world. I've grown up hearing about it, so THE MALL was a must visit for me. To be frank, the actual mall wasn't that big. It just has a lot of these extensions (amusement park, water park, hotel, movie theatres, etc) that just grows the mall to it giant size.
I really wanted to play around in the Water Park. Those slides look SO fun. Gigantic wave pool. Swimming in the winter. man.
At the center of the mall, there was a skating rink. Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers used to practice in this rink back in the glory days from 1980's.
The Sea Lion's Lagoon was quite cool, with a giant replica of the Santa Maria. There was an exhibit of real flamingos too.
There was a Segway exhibit where for $10, you get a lesson with a certified Segway trainer followed by 20 minutes of free time. Since I missed riding the Segway while at Cornell, I was really tempted to give this a try, but the line was too long.
Finally, I was most surprised by find a T&T in Chinatown part of the mall. Represent!
Miscellaneous
The Light Rail Transport (LRT) through the city was nice. It's like a streetcar that goes underground, like some of the T streetcars in Beantown. Bay station's decor was especially nice, with its full metal railing bars.
Edmonton is really really dry. I knew it was expected given their locale and the Chinook winds. I certainly felt the dryness immediately when I stepped out of the airport.
On my flight out of Edmonton, I met a media spokesperson for Transportation Safety Board of Canada. He described to me what it was like when he first heard about the Air France accident at Toronto Pearson in 2005. He was actively involved in the investigation and was sent on scene right after the accident happened. I never knew that most flight landings were done with auto-pilot. I also finally found out why planes needed a cart during "push back" from the gates.
For some unknown reason, I always get thrown in such situations. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I was deployed to Edmonton, Alberta on one day's notice.
My task in Edmonton is to give two lectures and host a recruiting event at University of Alberta. That gave me two days to prepare for these 3 events. Fortunately, I've meet and interacted with the host professor before, so I wasn't going into UofA blind.
First talk was geared towards graduate students and professors - though more people, even some folks who've graduated in past years, showed up than expected. "Real World" Compilers. It was very well received. One professor even commented that I should remove the quotes around Real World, because some 'techniques' I discussed are used in the real world and will never be found in the 'toy research compilers'. I wasn't the one to make fun of research compilers. XD They totally found it interesting how production environment can add more constraints and challenges.
Second talk was a lecture to a 4th year Computer Engineering class. Think ECE 314/475 level. I was talking about System Z and hardware/software interactions. It was so weird seeing these young kids in the seats. I was a little rushed on time in this talk. I thought I had an hour, but apparently, I only have 50 minutes. So I had to simplify some of my explanations to keep the talk at 45 minutes with some time for questions afterwards. In the end, the people with whom I spoke really enjoyed the lecture, though it's hard to tell with some of the other members of the audience. lol. Apparently I went over some concepts that they hadn't covered yet (early in the semester still). The professor assured me it was perfectly fine, since when he does cover it, he can tell them that this stuff you guys are learning is really used in the computers out there!
After the talk, some students came up and started handing me their resumes. jeez. I haven't even hosted the recruiting session yet. A few came up and said they recognized me from some conferences in past years. I was like, wow, I totally don't remember meeting them...sigh.
My voice was starting to crack after giving the two talks in 3 hours. "Now you know what it's like to be a professor!!! I get so drained after teaching two classes that I just go home." I totally feel ya buddy.
Interesting conversations with some professors and grad students afterwards. One professor was describing his 3.5 year old child learning to skate. The kid had big ambitions - envisioning himself performing all the great hockey moves he watches on TV. This was his first time skating. As his father watched him stumble and tumble, he became worried about how his kid was feeling - probably "man, this is a lot harder than it looks!". Anyway, after the lesson, his son was super excited that he was able to stand on his skates without falling now! The professor remarked... this is so much like research! You aim high, but will settle for anything. :)
""Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away..." - Author Unknown
Saturday, snowshoed to Buzzard Lake in the Kawartha region, an hour north of Peterborough. Bear Grylls had inspired me to give snowshoeing a try, so when jeff-trex was soliciting people to go snowshoeing, I jumped at the opportunity.
Given the super warm temperatures last week, we were afraid that there won't be snow left on the ground. The snowshoeing trek might turn into a hike. Fortunately, we got a couple days of flurries and cold temperatures. Ended up with a nice 4-6 inches of snow on the ground, just enough to warrant the snowshoes.
This is my first real opportunity at snowshoeing. I had done it once back in high school during a winter camping trip, but I was just fooling around back then and never tried them a serious hike. We planned on starting at 7:30am, but the drive shaft of one of our fellow hiker's van fell off on the way, so we had to arrange a tow truck for him. Ended up moving out at 8:45am.
The weather was almost perfect for the trek. Around -5C with cloudy skies and the occasional breaks of sunshine. Best of all, there was very little wind. We had the trail log from a previous hiker, so we kind of just followed along.
At one point, we missed a side trail entrance and continued down the main trail for another 400m before realizing our mistake. We were left with two unpleasant options, either backtrack and try to cut around the top of a long lake, or continue southward to go around the bottom of the lake. Looking at our maps, we saw that at our current point, the lake was only 40m wide. Perhaps we can make a break for it and run across?
I thought that was totally insane, given that it was so warm last week, the ice must not be very thick. I was carrying TochiCam, so I cannot afford to break though the ice! We got to the edge of the lake. Greywynd was our guinea pig, since he was the biggest and fattest. After the pole jabs failed to crack the ice, Greywynd took a few timid steps. Nothing happened. A few minutes later, we were all on the lake sliding around. All my prior uneasiness vanished. It was so cool moving along the pristine surface, feeling the open exposure to the elements and seeing the trails we are leaving behind us.
The next highlight was at a point where our trail popped out onto this high ledge. We looked down and saw a fast flowing stream down below. Reminded me of that ledge halfway up McGregor. Anyway, we were all taking in the sights when TOMTEC pointed out that we needed to get to the other side. Eek. There wasn't much ice on the stream, so we won't be able to pull another repeat of the Lake trick. We decided to hike further up the ridge, to see if we can find a crossing point.
Now, I'm going to switch topics for a second and talk about one of the coolest animals in the world. The Beaver. Aside from being a national icon, trading of its fur and pelts sparked the commerce between European traders and native Americans that led to the founding of Canada. Of course, we cannot forget about the all important, super delicious beaver tails.
Back to the trek. Beavers literally saved our butts on this trip. Further up the ridge, we spotted a very well constructed beaver dam - our bridge across the stream! TOMTEC took out his hatchet and cleared some branches blocking access to the dam. I had no idea he brought an axe, but it was definitely useful!
Crossing the dam was quite the experience. Water was flowing just over the top and given the mangled mess of branches and twigs that made up the dam, you'd never sure if it'd be stable or not. After crossing, I had a new found respect for beavers. The bridge was rock solid. Quite a feat of engineering. And yes, I took a lot of dam photos too.
After crossing over a couple more lakes and climbing over and down several more ridges, we finally got to Buzzard Lake. It always sucks in these one way trips (compared to loops)because when you reach your final destination, you've only really come halfway.
On the way back, we got caught in some strong flurries briefly, spent some time huddled underneath a tree to relax and eat our lunches. Decided to cut across the first lake to take a shorter path back to the main trail. Overall, 18.8km in just over 9 hours. The following is a trail log from the hike.
Winded down and spent the night at Jeff-trex's cottage. Had a little potluck consisting of stew, sushi, pizza, scallop potatos, meatballs, beer, wine, etc. The stew had been cooking for the entire day and was really tasty after the long trek. Chatted for quite a bit until 11pm, when we all decided to retire early. The trek was draining and catching only 3 hours of sleep the previous night didn't help.
With regards to snowshoeing, it is really like walking and the clamps helped tremendously on the hills. The "expert" snowshoers in the group corrected me on how to go downhill properly, which was the only part that wasn't too intuitive. Overall, the snowshoes kept me from sinking too far into the snow, so it felt like a normal hike on a autumn day, with no snow on the ground. After 18.8 km, I just felt a little tightness in some of my muscles, nothing compared to the unbearable pains from BT Hike.
A fun, enjoyable trek overall. Regarding to the quote at the beginning, I saw it on a geocoin jeff-trex shared with me. Cannot think of a more fitting quote to describe the sights and experiences of our journey to Buzzard Lake.
The drama continues to unfold.... though the end is near.
At this point last year, things were really rosy for Toronto First Radio - 多倫多第一台 AM 1540. They had introduced a morning show on AM 770, finally giving Cantonese listeners an alternative to Fairchild Radio FM 88.9. They also introduced their own newspaper 多倫多第一報, which for many months, were highly sought after at restaurants and vendors all around the GTA.
On July 31st, in the height of their prime, AM770 abruptly ended. The reception on AM770 had always been spotty at best. The transmission towers were supposedly based in NY state. I clearly remember on that fateful morning. I turned on my radio on my way to work and was curious when I only received static. Apparently AM770 owners decided not to renew their contract and sold their airtime to some Indian broadcaster.
The only way I can describe the event is.. 大傷元氣.
This was only the beginning of their downfall. In prior months, they had hired several high calibre DJ's from their rival station to cover their morning slot. Now, they only had their regular afternoon airtime on AM1540. Too many DJ's, too little airtime. Their programming degraded as a result. I'm sure reimbursing their advertisers and sponsors costed them a pretty penny.
Soon afterwards, their newspaper 多倫多第一報 went out of print. Didn't hear any official reason, but you can venture a guess.
The final bombshell dropped two weeks ago. The parent network CHIN Radio who owns the bandwidth for AM1540 decided not to renew their contract with Toronto First Radio. Instead, they awarded the contract to a joint venture between Sing Tao Media and Toronto First Radio's rival network, Fairchild Radio.
You would have expected that after their negotiation failures on AM770, they would try much harder to maintain their AM1540 airtime. Though I guess it's difficult when you are up against a media giant with a very fat wallet.
It was kind of sad listening to the DJ's in their final days of broadcast. They were essentially counting down their time before they "收檔". For example, listen to the daily ghost story portion of my favourite show - 男人咀對咀. Such bittersweet commentary and laughter.
There has been quite a bit of coverage from local, national and international media and forums. Globe and Mail. Ming Pao. I'm still kind of numb by the entire ordeal. Gives you a taste of the harshness of competitive business environments. A sad, sad time in Toronto.
Adios TFR. Thanks for the good times.
The home opener of Toronto Rock was on TSN tonight. I hardly ever watch lacrosse, but the sport is close enough to hockey that we decided to tune in. Five minutes into the telecast, we see this fight break out between a Rock and a Minnesota Swarm player.
After watching that, I must say, fights in lacrosse are more hardcore than in hockey. The players seem to wear less protective gear and since they are not on skates, the players can get more traction and leverage to land better punches. In this particular fight, one guy earned a giant welt on his forehead.
After the fight, the referees begin to assess the penalties. The camera zooms onto chief referee #2.... hey, I recognize that guy! He was one of the guys I met on my flight from Toronto to Denver who also had a ticket to the Colorado and Detroit hockey game that night. He was in Denver for a National Lacrosse League referee conference. We had thought that the NLL season was cancelled due to failed collective bargaining talks, but Mr. referee kindly informed us that the NLL season has been reinstated. If I remember correctly, he has a son who was drafted to the San Jose Sharks.
He was the only one out of the 10 of us with hockey tickets, who did not need to collect skis/snowboards from the flight. He decided to take a taxi (30-40 minute ride) to Pepsi Center, while the rest of us foolishly waited for baggage that won't be arriving that night. I bet he made it for the second period.
6.6 billion people in the world. The people you run into, the people you meet, the people you see again. Kind of a small world. Quite amazing if you think about it.
Played my first squash game of 2008 today against a long time squash buddy. Right before Xmas, we played a gruelling match where in the final and decisive game, I fought off triple match point to steal the game and the match.
Today, we had yet another tight match. After being tied 8-8, I got the last two points to take the first game 10-8. During our break, my friend examines the ball and discovers a small hole. I was heart broken to find that my trusty ball was busted. The guy then goes on to say we have to redo the last two points of the previous game. Restart it at 8-8.
WTF.
Now, when it comes to sports, I can get pretty competitive, but I play fair. This was just a friendly game. The previous game was over already, why whine and try to reverse the outcome?!? He argued that the ball was bouncing weirdly in the last two points. No, it couldn't have been some really nice spin that I had put on the ball. I mean.... I played those last two points with the same busted ball too. Jeez.
Anyway, the guy was adamant. I was a bit ticked, but it wasn't worth my effort to argue. I still have a game to win.
I could feel this as one of the turning points in the game - a potential momentum shifter.
Score 8-8.
I lined up in the serving box.
Ready.
Slow swing. Contact. A really high lob serve. Up and over. Lands and dies right into the corner. Textbook execution. One of those serves that I get once in a hundred tries. No chance of return.
Score 9-8.
Slow swing. Contact. Another lob serve, but it was short. Service return catches the side wall and pops out right at the T. Also happens to pop out right to Tochi. I put the ball into the near-side back corner. My opponent just came from there and couldn't turn back in time.
Score 10-8.
A fist pumping moment. My opponent remarks, "That was quick."
I definitely had the momentum in the next game and ended up winning the match 3 games to 1. Maybe it was just me, but thinking back to the incident, I still think he deserves 2 minutes in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. But whatever, in the end, I got the sweetest revenge of all. bwhahahaa.
Skiing in Colorado this winter proved to be quite the adventure.
Eldora
One of the smaller resorts in Colorado, 30 minutes away from Boulder. Visited this park as a training step for the bigger resorts. Nearly half the slopes on the north side were closed, including their "bowl". On the lift up, we saw that they were preparing a slope with machine powder .... >_<. The only open black diamond trail was Corona, which was really really icy. The green slopes chairlift lines for quite long too. We didn't really come to Colorado for this "East coast" style skiing.
Vail
The epitome of Colorado skiing. Drive in on I-70 was not too pleasant. Blowing winds and drifting snow. Having been warned about the exuberant parking, we found out it was $20 for 5+ hours... yeah. At least it was covered parking on a snowy day, so we got some luxury in return.
Took lift up to Mid-Vail village and then onward on MountainTop Express to Patrol Headquarters. Visibility was rather dismal, so we did not get to enjoy the famed panoramic views of Vail.
However, powder was what we were truly here for, and the snow was absolutely beautiful. Blueberry and I decided to attack the famous bowls first and then hit up on the glades by Blue Sky Basin. Even at Patrol HQ, the snow was up past the ankles. Cruising over to the top of the bowl felt like we were gliding across a calm sea of white.
Our first bowl was Sun Up Bowl. A bowl is just really a wide expanse of pristine skiing slope down the side of a mountain. You essentially make your own trail down. This is my first time skiing in true powder down a bowl. Vail was as good a place to do this as any.
The powder was halfway up to my knees now and it feels so weird not being able to see your skis. People had warned me about this beforehand. I didn't have too much problems about not being able to see my skis. However, I had some issues about not being able to see the hidden terrain changes underneath the powder. Hidden snow banks and crevices totally caught me off guard during the first run. Just not being to anticipate the upcoming terrain and having to absorb any sudden changes with my knees led to a couple early spills. After a few tumbles, I soon got the hang of staying on my feet, but the effort was really taxing. No wonder people say it's more tiring to ski in deep powder - I had originally assumed it was the resistance of the snow.
Sun Up Bowl was really fun and we continued to the Teacup Bowl to Blue Sky for some glades. The blizzard had picked up now and we could barely see more than 20m ahead. Came up to this ridge with a slope that would be double black on any East coast facility. I gulped and headed down. Maybe 50 ft down the slope, during a turn, my left ski caught something unexpected and popped off. I completed my turn a few feet further down. Turned around I looked up towards the site of my "crash" and, to my horror, I did not see my ski. It was hidden somewhere in the snow! SL had warned me about the difficulties of finding skis in powder. All the horrors of her stories came crashing back.
I used every technique in the book. The most useful being something I read in Ski Canada magazine on how to travel up a steep slope with just poles. I searched, dug, searched and dug a lot. People yelled advice down to me from the ski lift giving tips on how and where to search. Blueberry and another skier came by to help. After 1.5 hours, I decided to call the search off. It was pointless digging around in the middle of a blizzard. Little wonder why I hate winter caching so much. Since I read someone else's calculations, I did some mental math in my head. $92 for lift ticket, just slightly over 1 run in the day. $92 per run. :(
Called ski patrol to take me down the mountain. Todd the patrol arrived and asked what was going on.
me> Lost my ski somewhere here.
Todd> Use your pole handles and punch the snow like this.
me> I've been searching for the past 1.5 hrs. :(
Todd> Oh man... in this weather?!? We just closed all the bowls.
me> Really!??!
Todd> Yeah, strong winds, low visibility. Too dangerous. I just finished roping off the top of the bowl. Ahhh... here's your ski!!
me> OMG. You're serious!?!
Todd yanks my missing ski out from the snow... 2-3 feet downhill from where we were searching. I had gone through all the scenarios of what to do about my missing ski. Wait till the summer thaw and have Vail send it back to me? Can I replace one ski? What am I going to do about my Blue Mountain season pass? I did not consider the scenario that my ski would be found!!! [After some Google searches, I found guides on how to search for lost skis and even patents for devices to locate lost skis... hardcore!]
I still had to make my way down the rest of the bowl. My body has never been this sore. I was sapped of energy and my confidence was totally shot. Todd essentially took me down slowly by making several passes traversing the entire face of the bowl. Absolutely the most strenuous skiing in my life.
Got to the Cloud 9 trail and Blue Sky Basin. It was so beautiful down here, with nice coniferous trees, gorgeous creeks and trails and bridges to pass over. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time, energy or opportunity to explore.
Back at the top of Teacup Express, I still had to make my way to Mid Vail Lodge, where the gang was waiting. Black Diamond trails were the only routes back. In the freaking blizzard, my fingers were numb from the bitter cold. I was seriously afraid of getting frostbite, so I took the catwalk (strenuous) over to Two Elk Lodge for some healing and rest.
Took a green trail down to Northwood Express afterwards and waited 30 minutes to get on the chairlift. Essentially, everyone who was skiing on the bowls were pushed to this lift. Took Swingsville to Mid-Vail. 30-40 mph gusts were blowing straight up the slope. The winds were so strong that at one point, it pushed me into the hill. I really didn't want to lose any appendages, so I willed my way down to Mid-Vail as fast as possible, despite the searing complaints from my body. That furnace hand warmer thing outside of the lodge was a LIFE saver. It was so good to see the rest of the gang in the lodge. Took the chairlift down to the village to end my first Vail experience.
Vail.... I'll be back (on a nicer day).
Adventures didn't end here. The storm and high winds shut down I-70 eastbound from "mile marker 205 to Eisenhower tunnel" and beyond. Got stranded in Frisco (a mythical town until now) and spent the night in a Red Cross shelter. Not all was lost though, as because of the storm, we were able to see the spectacular landscape of the plains of Colorado along US 24 and the "rocks" near Colorado Springs.
I should mention, we found a lone pinnacle of civilization known as a Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere. The sun had come out, food was almost at hand. I inexplicitly felt this gush of "happiness". It was almost to the point of giddiness, like that of a happy "ballerina drunk". Part of it must have been the wash of tiredness and the definitive escape from the blizzard that had ensnared us earlier. Freedom and escape. I never felt a sensation quite like this before.
Winter Park
Best day for skiing. Only -19F. Blueberry led me to this blue/black diamond with moguls. First section was alright, but the second half had these huge moguls. I did not heed my own advice - I was "scared" to fall. Took me like 10 minutes to get down. Next went to the glades by Sunset Express. First time skiing through trees. I made it through the first part okay. Later on, there were some mogul like features and I had some trouble making the sharp turns required. At one point, I almost pulled a Teacup repeat, but I managed to catch on and hug a tree for balance. That would have been quite a sight if someone saw.
Blueberry took me to a terrain park. Did my first ever jump and I supposedly landed on the lip of the landing zone. Impact was harder than I expected and I lost control and wiped out. I need to invest in a helmet.
Meet up with Catnipped and Cucumber for lunch and did some green trails as a group afterwards. Was quite a fun experience all around. Definitely enjoyed the skiing a lot more today.
Summary
Colorado was super fun. One of the most adventurous trips ever. I got to truly experience "deep powder" like no one else. Loved the longer trails, the mountains and the snow. An experience to remember for a lifetime.