Tochi's Hut

GOLD BABY GOLD!!! 2010 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Champions. This was the one podium, far above all others, that we wanted to own.

Those four words (despite being a great storename for foot massage therapy) captured my sentiments right now.

Thank you to USA for giving us such a great game. Thank you to all the atheletes for inspiring the best in all of us. Thank you Vancouver for hosting such an amazing games for these past two weeks.

Cannot wait till 2014 in Sochi... it's only one letter away from Tochi. :P

I'm going to spurt grey hairs soon with each day I have to work with contractors. This is the new front door we had installed over the past two days.

When they first installed the door, the two contractors found that the measurements were slightly off, so they trimmed the 2x4 on the left to fit the door. As a result, the entire door was shifted left by an inch. I didn't notice this unti they had the door installed and were putting up the casing. With the door shifted, the left casing had to be trimmed by an inch, making it look very imbalanced. :(

Well, I told them about the problem, and they tried to shift the door right, but only managed 1/4 of an inch. Which still wasn't good. They said the only way they were going to be able to fix that is to take the door back out (i.e. redo all the work they did yesterday).

The exchange between us was quite memorable. They did not want to do it, obviously. In the process, they kept on trying to make me feel like an ass.

Them: The door is centered!!
Me: An inch off is called centered?!?

Them: Your old door was like this too..
Me: What?
Them: You just didn't notice,...
Me: No way. I have pictures, we can check.
Them: ...

Me: You trimmed the left 2x4, and not the right, so of course it'll be shifted left.
Them: You don't understand, we had to trim the left 2x4 because the door won't fit otherwise.
Me: Yeah, that's why it's off-centered.
Them: No, we didn't build your house to have 2x4's like that....
Me: Well, I wasn't the one who measured the door wrong.


Me: I'm paying good money for this front door.. I expect my front door to be installed properly...
Them: ... (They had been priding themselves that they do a great job at installing)...

Me: Imagine if this was your front door, won't you want your door to be centered?!?
Them: Well, my door is centered at home, but your frame is not, so...
Me:So what you are saying, my house is not as good as yours, so I'll have to put up with an off-centered door.
Them: I rent... :|

Me: I am not trying to make this hard. I just want my door to be centered. :(

In the end, they grudgingly took out the door, trimmed the 2x4 on the right, and installed the door properly. I felt like an ass, but at least my door is centered now.

grr.

The contractors were coming in today to replace some of our windows and exterior doors.

We replaced this large frosted window with a clear one. Being the only second story western facing window in our house, this view is one we hardly saw before (except when I climbed onto the roof to do chalking), but can now enjoy through this window. The tree is a magnificent one in the evening sky.

Was at a Swarovski store after work today. They had this really impressive bird crystal on display. I would have taken that set if only someone wasn't mopping the floor in the background. So I had to settle for this other pair of birds, with a more pleasing backdrop.

Anyway, I moved onto another set of Disney crystals, when this lady waved at me from the back telling me I cannot take photos. Totally ruined my shot of Thumper....grr.

Big day for Team Canada... Total Domination of Ovi and his Russian Commrades. 7-3!!! :D Perhaps the nicest compliment came from Russia goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov of the Canadian onslaught, “They came like gorillas coming out of a cage.”

Following immediately after the game, CANADA 1 and CANADA 2 pwnd on bobsled.

In celebration (and lack of things to take a picture of in my house), I dug out my Joe Sakic Bobble-head from 2002 Olympics Gold Medal game against the USA.

Those infamous words by Bob Cole still ring vividly in my head: "They're going to hold on and get a break, it's going to be a break, IT'S JOE SAKIC.....SCORES!!!!!!!! THAT MAKES IT 5-2 CANADA, SURELY THAT'S GOTTA BE IT!!!!!!"

My new PS3. Part of my Final Fantasy XIII preparations.

Our first real snowfall in what seems like forever. I don't particularly enjoy driving in bad weather, but this is one of those days I'm glad I have a car.

Ikea Food @ Ikea.

The following takes place between 10:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M.

A GARBINO designed and autographed by Karim Rashid. Yeah, I overpaid for this bucket. At least it's useful.

Saw a giant puddle of water behind my car today, and I knew what I had to do....

Inspired by some of Doris's recent photos, this is a gift from Doris on my birthday last year. How many of you can recognize that autograph?

This tennis ball is so awesome. What a nice and thoughtful surprise. :D

Went out for dinner, and for some reason, I was mesmerized by this flame.

While at the restaurant, I saw a guy that I thought was an old friend Eric, but wasn't quite sure. He left soon after I sat down, so I never got a chance to speak with him.

When I got back, I receive this email...

"I saw you in restuarant today. You look so handsome. Just to say Hi."
Me: "ha... I caught a glimpse of you on my way back to the table... but wasn't 100% sure if it was you.. lol. should have drop by to say hi. :D How are things going?"
Eric: "I said hi to you my friend, using a secret buddhist way : ) This is a smile from my heart. Didn't you recieve it?"

lol.

Went to First Markham for the Fairchild Radio CNY show tonight.

Here are the 3 MC's of the night - 康翠瑩, 潘宗明, 孫小珊. First time I've seen in 孫小珊 person. Her wise-cracks in the morning often brighten up my morning drive to work. She's always been made fun of her height... ya. lol.

One of the HON's was definitely Frank Scarpitti, the mayor of Markham, singing 上海灘. No one was expecting him to sing. No one was expecting him to sing a Chinese song. No one was expecting him to sing so well. What a refreshing surprise. lol.

My SH date with Amelia doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon... I have to settle with eating the T.O. versions for now. :|

Attended a board meeting at the new Telus Building, a new office tower right beside the ACC. After navigating through Union Station and ACC, I found myself at the courtyard looking back at the Toronto skyline.

Peder insisted on hosting our meetings once his company moved into their new office. Today, we finally saw what he wanted us to see. The view from their boardroom was really breathtaking - unique views of Royal York + the financial district and the lake, with skydome and CN tower. Sunset is supposedly super awesome.. next meeting. :D

I love the bold UNION STATION letterings.

We got an inch of absolutely beautiful powder snow overnight. It was so soft and fluffy that made me itch to hit the slopes.

Came back tonight and saw the glittery snow across my front lawn, with my neighbour's house lit up in the background.

Winter is beautiful.

That :) totally sold me on this cake when I went to pick it out.

It's almost Chinese New Year!!! Can't wait. :D

Sometimes I wonder if life would be better as a Guinea Pig... eat, sleep and eat some more. All day, every day.

Took this photo while visiting a Pet store. I think this guy was $20, if you want to bring him home.

Went to Le Papillon On the Park for dinner with some coworkers.

My courses for the day:
Escargots de Tante Margot (Broiled snails in garlic butter)
Magret de Canard au Grand Marnier (Grilled boneless duck breast with a Grand Marnier sauce - accompanied with potatoes and seasonal vegetables)
Pouding Chomeur (Golden cake with caramelized maple sauce and ice cream)

Ivan summed it up the best "Nice restaurant. Nice food. Nice portions. Nice price." lol.

The food was very good.

The photo above is this long corridor on the 2nd level of the restaurant. You need to navigate this complex building (including this long hallway) to reach the restrooms. The sink and faucet they have installed are uber awesome.. probably one of the most unique sets I have ever seen.

I used to be an avid Fantasy / Sci-Fi reader. Renee introduced me to the Wheel of Time back in 9th grade. He won't stop talking about it, so I picked up the box set, and couldn't put the books down until I finished them.

The series started going nowhere in Lord of Chaos, but I kept at it. I couldn't take it by A rown of Swords so I stopped. I still kept buying the paper back versions of the sequels, with the intent of reading them once the series completes. (I didn't want to start and not finish)...

With Robert Jordan's unfortunate passing in 2007, I've been waiting for Sanderson to finish the last 2 novels before picking up the series again. It'll be a struggle, but I want to see what happens to the Dragon Reborn in the Last Battle.

During my travels, I usually do not buy many souvenirs, unless they are cute little trinkets.

Left is a puffin I picked up in Akureyri, Iceland. It was during the early days of my tour of Iceland when I saw this puffin. I probably visited the gift shop several times to check out this little guy. Being a bit pricy for its size, I debated whether to pick him up there, or later when I return to Reykjavík, where I might find it for a better price. I decided that I can't get ripped off that badly, which turned out to be a good thing, since I didn't find another store that sold these puffin miniatures.

The fishbowl is from Murano in the Venetian Lagoon. Famed for its glassmaking, this goldfish was again, love at first sight. I debated a while agian before making the purchase. Afterwards, we returned to Rialto Bridge where Jia Mei and Amos spotted an identical fishbowl. They told me not to check the price... it was for 25% cheaper (i think). But it cannot beat mine, because my goldfish is from Murano. :D

I totally cheesed today's picture. After a long and exhausting day at work, I rushed over to Camiko to pick up some specially ordered tiles that I requested over the weekend. After missing my turn onto Denison, I got stuck on Steeles by PMall waiting for this uber long freight train to pass. Such was my day. :x

Upon reflection, it's quite amazing how much tiling knowledge I've amassed over the past 2 months. Everywhere I go, I'm studying the quality of the tiling work, i.e. type of tiles used, patterns, quality of the grouting, etc.

The sense of discovery into an field that I was previously oblivious is really rewarding. Last time that happened...? Formula 1 after attending Monaco GP, of course. :P Btw, the MP4-25 is a beauty... 37 more photos of the day before Bahrain!

I thought I'd start February on a good note with a picture of the bright sunny day we had here in Toronto. If you ignore the cold -4C weather, you might be fooled by the brilliant sun (and lack of snow) outside.

I love interesting cloud formations. When I saw this, I knew I had to take a picture of it.

Finally got a chance to hit the slopes for a day of skiing. Went to pick up my Blue Mountain Double Down passes. They tried to rip me off by giving me only one set of passes, even though I ordered two. After seeing how much my CC was charged, they issued me another set.

The snow was pretty sweet today, especially with the flurries. Started off with a set of green/blue runs before breaking for lunch. I usually get the same grilled chicken sandwich every time. Today, I tried the BBQ Ribs sandwich, which tasted surprisingly good (a lot better than the chicken).

After refueling and dropping my camera back in the car, I was ready to tackle more challenging trails. Ever since Vail, my goal has been to master the moguls. Standing at the top of the moguls today, I still cannot visualize the path through the humps, and always end up going over top of them. :( While I didn't fall, I had to stop several times to regain my composure. One day....

Afterwards, we went to the blacks and double blacks trails at the north end of the resort. To our surprise, Jerry and Sasha decided that they wanted to try a double black. Today was Sasha's first time on a black, and now he wants to do a double black!!

I wanted to do Elevator Shaft next, because I wiped out quite spectacularly there several years ago. It was one of those trails I need to do every time.

Me: "Let's do Elevator Shaft!"
Jerry: "Okay, let's try it.."
Me: "No, you should start with Spectacular, it's wider"
Jerry: "Huh?"
Sasha: "We're doing Spectacular..."
Kirk: "Elevator Shaft is narrow... "
Sasha: "Like a shaft!"
Jerry: "OHHH! The name means something!!"
Sasha thumps Jerry's head.
Jerry: "Yeah, we're doing Spectacular".

They both survived, even though we waited at the bottom for a few minutes. Quite the accomplishment!

P.S. Federer won the Aussie Open!!! :D