Tochi's Hut

Saw this at Vaughan Mills...

Happy 10/10/10

Hot pot tonight!

10213 Shuttle Adventure.. one of the Lego sets I've been anticipating the most. The shuttle itself is quite impressive... the launch pad however could have been better.

My paradise... lol.

I remember all that time wasted searching on the wrong side of this bridge. :x

Now that the basement is done, we're restocking our supplies.

New Pooh n**ked. XDDDD

Connie and Brian were so kind to invite us over for a most wonderful dinner. First time I got to meet Pepper too.... I've never seen a dog so active, even when he's tired. lol

Grr.. with so much going on, I totally forgot that I had a book overdue from the library. Good thing they called to inform me to return the book!

My therapist asked me to guess who's hand print this is... Me: not yours...much bigger than mine... the surgeons (he's a big guy)...

Well, it's a chimpanzee's hand. lol.

The best part about Mid Autumn Festival is the mooncake that goes on sale right after the festival is over! :D

My right hand's pinching strength was a pathetic 1.8 compared to the 12 (max on the device) of my left. In order to regain the muscle power, I am now playing with Play-Doh again... as my therapist joked, "You got a Cornell degree just to play with Play-Doh again!"

FF XIV... Jerry gave me the game and 30-day trial... I really don't feel like forking $13 a month for a game... but I'll try it for 30 days, just to say I've played this FF too. lol

I've been searching everywhere for the elusive Spartan LEGO minifigure. I almost resorted to eBay (@3-4x price) but decided to give my favourite TRU in Newmarket a try. This was where I managed to get a Wii soon after launch. The demographics of the population here are less hardcore about games. lol.

At first, we didn't see the LEGO minifigures box. When we found it, there were only 15 or so packs left.. I felt pretty dejected, as what were the chances of finding a Spartan? To my utter surprise, the first pack I picked up matched the Spartan barcode!!! And what, a second Sparatn!!?!? :DDD

I think it was moonfleck who mentioned how incrediblely awesome the rain shower heads were.... so we decided to go with one! Don't regret the choice one bit.

Silverkiwi saw one of these bears at Yosemite...awww..so cute.. I must get...only to find out later that it's part of the No Evil set. lol. She ended up getting all three.

I'd always said I'd make a photo book of pictures whenever I take a big vacation.... but it never materialized. However, Silverkiwi made a photobook of Greenland! I was surprised at how well it turned out.

One of Silverkiwi's favourites. She didn't want me to post a photo of her wolfing these down like a pig. :D

They were all lined up...

My old bathroom tiles were really fugly. We selected these ones to give it a more modern look. The black and white mix on the left only covers 1/3 of the wall...for a bit of a unique style.

Went to The Keg for the first time yesterday, and ordered Chicken!!! For $16, you get Chicken... and shrimp.. and scallops. What a steal.

Was down at TIFF's new Bell Lightbox (love the name, and the building). This is probably the closest I'll ever get to a real Academy Award statue. lol.

What's with my luck? 16 different figures, I picked 3 packages at random, and I got two Ring Masters! grr.

Surgeon for a day! Cleaning my hands and nails with the iodine brush. lol

I finally applied for a Rona Card...just to get the 10% off first purchase and 5x Air Miles (+ 3x Air Miles this weekend). Saved it for a fairly large purchase too. :(

I feel like an old person who clips coupons, etc. :(

Inspired by Eva's profile, I had to take a similar shot, even though there's no bird hanging upsidedown. lol

A old hanging lamp that was soon to be replaced. I rather liked the design, especially in the dark, it lights up like a full moon lantern.

Thumb, meet Pinky! First time since injury I was able to touch my pinky. :) A monumental milestone in my road to recovery. :P

I don't have much to like about O'Hare, except their underground walkway tunnel.. I'm a sucker for these things.

The drive from SFO to/fro Yosemite is actually really beautiful...but the last time I was there, I had a cold, was dead tired, and I felt bad for taking pictures when my buddy was without a camera. This time, I made sure I make up for it. lol.

Huge windmill farms just east of San Fran.

View from Glacier Point...Half Dome is still as impressive as it was last time around. I still get that incredible sense of awe and disbelief that we'll be climbing that rock tomorrow... or just the fact that you can climb it at all. lol

Flew into SFO today for a short weekend trip to Yosemite and Half Dome!

Despite his comments, I've learned so much more about tiling and how to make it look good from these pros. If it weren't for my thumb, I'd be really itching to do more tiling myself. lol.

New tiles... The contractor we hired kept on commenting on how hard tiling is and how good of a job his team is doing. The best part is that he studied the tiling in my kitchen and claimed so many issues with them... little did he know, he's talking to the tiling master who did the work. lol.

Delivery of Tiles for my basement...

Spying on a plane that was flying overhead.

The control of our new shower... so many different brands to choose from...Ended up settling on a Kohler set.

I'm so used to just taking photos of my basement that I didn't even bring a camera to Harvestfest! lol. The personalized pin was so cool! :P

Some pipes and openings in my laundry room.

Site of a new bathroom. The guys dug out a trench to lay down new drainage pipes. They had told us not to flush any toliets. The alarm technician also came by today to rewire some stuff. Despite knowing about the no-flush policy, he totally forgot about it. He only realized after he flushed, and thought he might have been safe when he didn't hear any immediate feedback. Unfortunately, it only took a few more seconds before yells came from the basement. The guy was so embarrassed, and the renovaters were not very happy. The worst part? I couldn't stop laughing.

My camera took a tumble, and Hoya is no Nikon...the filter didn't take it too well. Good thing it wasn't one of my B+W filters. lol.

Applying fresh R-12 insulation to the walls.... might as well get the maximum rebate!

I'm impressed at how a group of 10 people can tear down a basement...reminds me of the TBP volunteering event, where we helped demolish a 1900 home. First time using a sledge hammer, and I found a 1915 newspaper inside the walls... A large bag of coal for 5 cents! But I probably breathed in so much abestos during that day. :(

Last look at the old basement (and fireplace we never used) before the demolition tomorrow. Be prepared for lots and lots of related photos.

Another Camiko trip. This factory is right beside it.. I wonder what it produces?

On Tylenol 3...Random shot of Legos in my room. Needed a picture for today.

Day of operation, I was instructed to not consume any food or drink after midnight. Well, by 10 am, I got hungry and following my instincts, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a cookie. I only realized what I had done after I consumed it - much to my horror.

I am so stupid.

Well, the cookie pushed my operation back to 4:30pm. There was a giant sticky note on my charts with the message. "PT ATE COOKIE AT 1030".

When the anesthesiologist came to prep me, I told him about the cookie. He looked at my chart and said, "That's not a problem. Cookies are good for you."

Back for the umpteenth time at Camiko. Needed to pick up designs for the bathroom renovations. But man, every design that I liked, it had a T.O.S. sticker on it... Temporarily Out of Stock :(

Thumb, I need you to STAND BY ME!!! Saw a plastic surgeon today, and confirmed that a ligament is over my joint, preventing my thumb to be reduced properly (Apparently, the trauma I endured at Renfrew wasn't the smartest idea. :( ) Currently awaiting consultation with a hand surgeon on how to approach my operation.

I got a fancy thumb spica though!