Tochi's Hut

The weekend I was in DC was when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom at High Park. Despite the rain, I still wanted to see whatever's left, so I loaded up M and Pekoe and made the drive down to HP. Unfortunately, 70% of the flowers were gone by now, and the green leaves were already budding. The remaining cherries were still very beautiful though.

Mr. Heart invited us over for a Chinese BBQ. Mushrooms with garlic butter filling on top of a raging fire below. A few mushrooms, a chicken wing, and a pork chop were sacrificed into the fiery pit during the course of the night.

A New Leaf... in the evening sky..

Been itching to get outside and play some sports. Several people have asked if I wanted to play Tennis this summer, and with all the Roger Cup emails, I've been considering actually giving the sport a more serious try. Now, first step is to check if I even have a racquet at home...

Need help ID'ing this tree....Pekoe?!!?

PEEPS ATTACK!!!!

Peeps, a lot of peeps - seen at the only Peeps store in all of USA... located at the National Harbour in Maryland.

One of the classic vantages in Washington D.C. - the view from the top steps of Lincoln Memorial. The second full day of VO:6 called for a tour of the many national monuments. Unfortunately, we had wasted so much energy trying to prevent eLemonator from claiming victory in Munchkins the night before, all of us slept in till 11:30am A late start, but we made the most out of it. Lots of walking, lots of snapping and lots of stamping. My kind of day. :D

Was in Washinton DC for VO:6 this weekend. Really hard to select one photo when you take so many during a vacation. But this is a good problem to have. :P

One of the stops today is the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Natural History. While Hope Diamond is likely the most famous relic in this museum, this sea turtle skeleton is by far my favourite.

Turtles are a Chinese symbol of longevity, strength and endurance. Influenced by this during my upbringing, I find the giant sea turtles to be an awesome creature. Something about its geometry and structure just resonates - even if it's just a skeleton.

To be honest, I was not expecting much from Detroit Metro Airport - given it's Detroit and it's a Metro-not-International airport... So I was pleasantly surprised to find this beautiful Terminal A concourse during my brief stopover. It even have an interior Express Tram running down the length of the terminal! I then realized, being the home of the Big Three, I should have expected a fancy airport.

My neighbour's cat... a frequent visitor across my yard to my other neighbour's house to visit another feline friend.

Stop Sign in Whitby...

I've taken an inking for mediterranean cuisine recently... nope, I didn't go here for dinner tonight.. lol.

I love the spring, when it's dry. This is my favourite time to run through trails in forest, without being swarmed by bugs. For some reason, when I saw this scene, it reminded me of Robert's Frost's "The Road Not Taken".

Went to this Korean place that opened a few months back near my house. Every day, it's always packed. Two of their top dishes were King dumplings (really unique texture) and Noodles!! I'm a big time noodles fan, and the most important part of a good bowl of soup noodle is of course, the soup base.... wow, this place delivered. I don't normally drink the soup base, unless it's really good. I drank all of this one.

The service was excellent, the food was awesome. Price was a little expensive, but I'll definitely will be back again.

After I took pictures of the soup and dumplings, the waiter walked up and told me in Mandarin that photos are not allowed!! I was more shocked that she spoke Mandarin. 對不起! 對不起!! -_-;;

Someone is stealing a chunk of the forest!!!

I don't play the piano... but sometimes, I wish I could.

An unexpected result at Halftime... Grey Goose, the heavy favourite, guaranteed-to-win team was down by 2 points at half time. Definitely the best Ultimate match I've watched. See-saw battle both ways, with both sides exchanging leads in the dying minutes of regulation....

The victor? A tie. :x

It was a match for the ages. Congratulations to both champions!

I love the dimples on this little guy! A good chunk of my spare change gets donated to this piggy bank. Once full, we bring it to the temple and empty him as donation.

Doris invited me to her department's party tonight - Geography was celebrating 40 years! I got to meet many greats, whose name I've only heard of until now. The food was excellent, so were the conversations.... but the HON was definitely the poem that the GPD Philip presented about the life of a PhD student. Thanks Doris for the wonderful night!

Connie, I cannot believe you NO SHOWED!!!

Picture was taken at the end of the party.

It's OPEN!!!

Spent the day at Bruce Mill's participating in their Maple Syrup tour. Haven't done this since I was a kid. Learnt (or maybe relearnt) may interesting maple syrup facts 40 buckets of sap makes 1 bucket of syrup. Maple Trees are Acers. The best part? The maple syrup and pancakes, of course. :)

I can't believe it has taken me till April to post a picture of a Geocache. Well, spring is here. Time to get outdoors!

I've been anticipating this day since last fall - the next Iroquoia segment in Ralph's series of Bruce Trail Hikes.

Weather was nearly perfect - bright and sunny with a high of 24C. Finished hiking ~36km in just under 12 hours. My favourite sight along the hike was the look back across Dundas Valley at night. My mind had difficulty reconciling the vast distance my eyes were witnessing with my mind, which knew we really did start at the opposite side the escarpment!!

This picture depicts the white blazes that mark the Bruce Trail. I have been mindlessly following these blazes for 264.6 km of the Bruce Trail thus far, with ~630km to go.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of today's hike was meeting Jan, who shared her goal of covering the entire Bruce Trail this year. What a challenge. It made me think how lucky we are to have so many inspirational friends and people around us. They are the ones who challenge us to greatness, motivate us and support us every step along the way. I would have never considered hiking the entire Bruce Trail as a goal without Ralph's GCZZZ*. Thanks Ralph and all my fellow BT Hikers!

I definitely look forward to the day we arrive at the other cairn in Tobermory.

Went grocery shopping for tomorrow, and made a collection of special fruits, veggies and tea. I went to the pet aisle in search for catnip products, then realized I didn't quite know what I was looking for.

Direction. Right.

This is an album of my favourite photos that I've taken over the years. When non-tech-savvy people want to view my photos, I just show them this little book. I also love reviewing these photos, as each one photo captures so many great memories.

From top left going clockwise:
1. Chinese Latern Festival, Ontario Place, Toronto, ON
2. Duck at Kirkland, WA.
3. Luminato Festival, Toronto, ON.
4. Bridge near McGregor base at Stehekin, WA.

Just uploaded another batch of photos to Black's to be printed. Hope to finish filling this album by year's end. :)

Another texture shot - Bubbles.

This time, it's water bubbles forming at the perfect temperature for poached eggs.

My water quote of the day... "It's a simple recipe – just add water for F1 success" - in reference to the Aussie GP over the past weekend.

Doris and I baked a cheesecake for her birthday. The looks could use some help, but it tasted awesome. An impartial third-party, self-proclaimed Cheesecake lover even attested to the great taste that is this cake. lol.