C'est la vie!

Outside Christmas Decorations

2011-12-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

Another revision to our decorations outside. Vincy wanted to change it, he wanted to correct my previous idea lol. I didn’t care as long as he will do the work. We bought the flood light to lighten up the Snowman. We also change the lights in the shrubs. The result is:

The previous one.

Lowe’s Toronto Christmas Market

2011-12-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

We went to the Christmas Market today at Toronto’s Distillery Historic District. We left the house around 3p.m.. It’s been a long time that I’d like to explore the distillery district but Vincy was occupied for the past month. It’s a perfect timing since Lowe’s sponsored a christmas market and it’s in the distillery. The weather was nice and cold. The crowd was unbeatable! There’s many things to see inside the distillery, mostly studios selling those paintings and modern art, stores selling modern knick-knacks, clothings, etc.. I find the goods interesting but pricey. I only bought a scarf from Alpaca and a Britto coffee mug.

This giant statue greeted us in the gate.Me and Vincy at the gingerbread house. The gingerhouse is too small for Vincy.Sometimes Vincy is not a good model. I told him pretend that he like this decorations. OMG!, he just stare at it! lol!Me and Vincy at the giant Christmas tree, located in the middle of the distillery district.The window of the store where I bought my Britto coffee mug.Vincy waiting for me outside one of the stores. He didn’t want to come inside, too crowded.Aside from different stores and small stalls, the market also presents entertainments like choir, carollers, etc., something for the crowd to feel the spirit of christmas. There are also sponsors offer free drinks, with alcohol to warm your body from the cold christmas day and night.The crowd was unbeatable in every corner of the distillery district.We decided to leave around 6p.m. It’s so cold and all the restaurants in the distillery are so crowded and you have to wait at least an hour to get a table.On the way home.

Trip to Niagara

2011-12-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

Thank God it’s Friday! Vincy take a half day off from work. His friend Anson and wife Cassandra invited us to watch the “Spirit of Christmas: A Magical Celebration” show at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.

The weather was great on our way to Niagara but the traffic was bad.We arrived around 4pm in the hotel. We waited A&C at the lobby.We roamed around the resort for a while then went to the Casino. Vincy played Sicbo and I tried the slot machines, I didn’t know how to play. A and C taught us how to play the slot machine.View of the casino from our hotel room at Hilton. We’re in the 20th floor. We had dinner at the casino buffet, the food was pretty decent for the price. The show was in the Avalon Theatre of the Resort. It started at 9pm.

Inside the Avalon Theatre before the show starts.

Outside Christmas Decorations-Part 2

2011-11-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

Finally we’re done decorating outside. I made some revisions. Now it look a little bit better. We bought this year the reindeer and the sleigh. Here’s our last year’s outside christmas decorations. Eventually we can fill up this area. I can’t control the lights we installed for security outside, the photos didn’t look good. It snowed today but not that much, it’s a bit visible in these photos.

Outside Christmas Decorations-Part 1

2011-11-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

The weather is nice today. I decided to decorate outside, getting ready for the Christmas fun. It’s a bit cold but tolerable. I asked Vincy to take out our christmas decorations. I started around 1:30p.m., have a break and resume around 4p.m. with Vincy.

We bought a reindeer at Home Depot after we went to the St. Lawrence Market.

Vincy after putting up the Reindeer..Yes, he is as tall as me!

Vincy is trying to keep up with his neighbour infront .

Vincy putting up the lights. We finished around 7p.m… but it doesn’t look good. I need to make revisions tomorrow. We need to get inside, it’s too cold already and I’m tired since I’m outside most of my afternoon.

Our White Christmas Tree

2011-11-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

We went to Wal-Mart today to buy our little white Christmas tree after our dinner at Chako, a Korean eat-all-you-can restaurant. It’s really my plan to buy a tiny one for the Christmas souvenirs we bought every time we travel and for Ate Irma’s Christmas hanging ornaments she gave us every Christmas.

I decorated the christmas tree right after we arrived home.

Our little white Christmas tree!

My Early Christmas gift!

2011-11-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

Finally my iphone 4S Vincy ordered arrived today… all the way from China! At first I’m hesitant to get this kind of phone since it’s too big for my hand. But when I tried Vincy’s iphone, I like it! I can surf in the net, play games, post my photos directly to FB, and too many good things of iphone that I can’t find in my phone Nokia N97. Nokia N97 and iphone 4S has the same 8 megapixels, my criteria in choosing the phone. My N97’s battery is acting bad and sometimes I can’t receive a call from other phone. So I shifted to iphone4S. I really waited for months for this iphone4S to come out in the market. And finally I got it! This is my early christmas gift from Vincy, now I have to wait to get this connected to a provider.

Disneyworld Magic Kingodm: Day 3

2011-10-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

We woke up early, we need to be in the park around 9a.m. It’s still dark on our way to the park. It’s good because there’s no traffic and long line in the gate. The gate before reaching the parking lot. Me in the right side side of the gate above.The park was empty when we arrived. There was some confusion on what to take going to Magic Kingdom. At first the guy told us that there’s no service in the Mono Rail, it’s better to take the bus, we went to the bus station but when we arrive another park employee told us that the Mono Rail is in service. We went back to the Mono Rail station but later was told that we will take the Ferry. Finally they let us have the Ferryboat.So we took the Ferry boat going to Magic Kingdom from Epcot.. Vincy infront of the Monorail station. At far end, the Ferry Boat station.The amazing view of the Disney Floridian Resort against the sunrise.We had a breakfast reservation at the Crystal Palace. This restaurant is famous with Winnie the Pooh and Friends, we had a great time with them and the food was really good. It’s nice to be in the park early. There’s no crowd in taking photos with the beautifully decorated buildings in the Main Street. Vincy on his way to Crystal Palace.The flowers at Crystal Palace.The kids followed Tiger as they sang with Winnie the Pooh Songs. This is the higlight activity of Crystal Palace for the kids.Vincy feeling his nose is soo cute while drinking his coffee! lol!After our breakfast. Ready to explore the Magic Kingdom.We went to Tomorrowland, Fantasy Land, Liberty Square, Adventure Land and Main Street, U.S.A.

We meet with the gangs for our dinner at Olive Garden Restaurant, it’s close to our hotel. The food was really good. I wish we had this kind of restaurant in Toronto.

Us at Tomorrowland

2011-10-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and Friends: Day 3

2011-10-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Disneyworld Hollywood Studios: Day 2

2011-10-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

It’s our second day exploring Disneyworld. This time we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. From Cypress Pointe Resort it took us 30 minutes to get there. Some part of Disneyworld we passed by on our way to Disney Hollywood Studios. This is somewhere in the Disney Downtown area: Finally we arrived at the Park. Vincy at the entrance. As you can see in the back Elizabeth, Nora and Zoli, probably Nick take them a photo too.lol!Me taking photos of some of the tourist..they asked me and I’m willing to do so.lol!Nick and Vincy.Me in the right side of the entrance. The Landmark of the Disneyworld Hollywood Studios is Mickey’s huge Sorcerer’s hat right in the middle of the park. Vincy at the Great Movie Ride building. This is at the back of Mickey’s big Sorcerers hat.We went to the following attractions:

1. Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage - is a lavish 25-minute, Broadway-style musical for guests of all ages based on the hit Disney movie that brings to life the tender love story of Belle and the Beast. I love this show!

2. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - Terror lurks in the crumbling walls of the once-glamorous Hollywood Tower Hotel. We explore the mysteries of what happened one fateful and stormy night, then plunge 13 stories into the thrilling recesses of The Twilight Zone. My legs were shaking after the ride..oh I don’t like it!At the Streets of America

3. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure – this is a larger than life playground. Lots of of fun for the kids and for Vincy. We forced Vincy to try those kids slides! lol! and he’s having a good time! the kids were staring at him lol!4. Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show – This is a 30-minute show. We saw here how those big-time vehicle stunts were done for a blockbuster Hollywood action movies. They have some tricks on how to make it look so dangerous and deadly but in reality it’s not that life-alarming.

We had lunch at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano at the Street of America. After lunch we watched:

6. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular – Another 30 minute live show featuring edge-of-your seat stunts and adventure of Indiana Jones. It’s a bit boring and they have some technical problems.

7. Muppet Vision 3-D – This is a hilarious 3-D film, starting The Muppets. It’s continuous 25-minute shows, presented by Kodak. I like this show, very funny!After the “Muppet Vision Show”..8. Star Tours – A very nice ride! It’s a thrilling Star Wars flight simulator. I’m having fun! You can see the cast of Starwars as you entered through the queue.Then we went to the Animation courtyard had some photos with the characters like Mickey with his Sorcerer hat. Zoli, Elizabeth and Vincy resting at the Animation courtyard while waiting for Nora and Nick, while me is busy roaming around taking pictures.9. Voyage of The Little Mermaid – A 17-minute musical shows of the Little Mermaid. Too short!10. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: Starring Aerosmith – Me and Elizabeth didn’t try this attraction. We just stayed outside. I just took photos of the giant guitar. This ride is more or less a roller coaster, a road trip with a twists, turns, and loops through Tinseltown.11. Fantasmic! – This the final show we watched. It’s nighttime spectacular with lasers, fireworks, lights, dancing fountains and special effects. A 25-minute show with limited capacity. We waited in the queue for about an hour. I like this show but I didn’t enjoy that much since we got the bad location in our seats.The show finished around 11pm.. These pictures were taken after the show. Some stores were still open in the park, this gives us opportunity to buy some christmas ornaments. I took some photos while waiting.

Disneyworld Magic Kingdom Park: Day 1

2011-10-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

We finally arrived at Magic Kingdom taking the ferry boat from Epcot. You will see these stones with the names of the visitors right infront of the railroad before the entrance of the Magic Kingdom park.The entrance of the Magic Kingdom park! security is never-the-less tight like at the Epcot.Going to the railroad station on our way to the Frontierland. Inside the railroad train. At Frontierland.

We went to the Pirates of the Caribbean boat ide. It’s dark inside, with different scenes of the movie. The boat got stuck for about 20 minutes, and we’re in the part where Captain Jack Sparrow sang “Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me” more than 20 times.

Long waiting line at the Pirates of the Caribbean.Inside the chamber.After the Pirates, we went directly to the Main Street, U.S.A. to get a good spot for the Disney Electrical Parade, and Wishes Night time Spectacular Fireworks. Watch this!

We didn’t get a chance to experienced, the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Epcot Park: Day 2

2011-10-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

On our way to the Germany Pavilion we passed this part of the park.

It’s also Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival.We passed by Mexico Pavilion. Busy and crowded!China Pavilion.and we got lost! looking for the Biergarten Restaurant. It’s good Nora found us outside.

The Biergarten Restaurant at Germany Pavilion for our lunch. This is buffet-style resto with entertainment while your dining. We didn’t wait too long for our table because Nick made a reservation. It’s so crowded. This restaurant is famous for their German Oktoberfest, wines and Radeberger beer.

After our lunch, the gangs pose infront of the China pavilion. My first photo I took with them.Donald Duck in his Mexican attire!Vincy and Nick infront of the Mexican Pavilion landmark.

At Epcot park right in the middle before hitting the exit of the pavilion area.

There are two ways you can reach Magic Kingdom from Epcot, either by Monorail or by Ferryboat. We choose Ferryboat.

Me and Vincy on our way to the Ferryboat station.

The gangs infront of the ferryboat gate of Epcot to Magic Kingdom.Nick and Vincy inside the ferry..The Magic Kingdom, the Floridian Disney Resort and the Disney Contemporary Resort taken from the ferry boat.Arriving at Magic Kingdom! This is the docking station of Disney’s ferryboat.

Dineyworld Epcot Park: Day 1

2011-10-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

We are now in Epcot Park! It only took less than 5 minutes riding the tram. Security was very tight. They really dig to the bottom of your bag. The park’s amazing icon - the big ball. It’s located in between the Future World East and West Attractions.

The waiting time is crazy in each attraction. You have to wait from 10 to an hour or almost 2hrs.

Future World East Attractions

1. Spaceship Earth – is inside the big ball.

It’s a ride where it shows you to the past then bring you to the future of earth. While you’re riding, there’s an interactive game of your present lifestyle, the result will show how your future lifestyle will be.

Going to the Mission’s Space. You will pass this fountain of water and the Mouse Gear Store where I bought my Minnie ears.

2. Mission’s Space – There are two rides to pick – Orange and Green. We picked the green since it is less intense than the orange. I love this ride! We travel 8,000 miles in 5 1/2 minutes in a space shuttle flight to Mars. We’re working as a team of astronauts. Each member of the team has an assignment. Our goal to land in mars successfully. I am the Commander while Vincy is the Engineer. Yes, we did make it to Mars! I like to try this ride again.

At the Mission Space store, right after we had our simulation astronaut's ride.

3. Innoventions - we did go inside but we don’t like this part. It’s so boring! This is located in-between the future world East and West.

Future World West Attractions

1. Epcot Character Spot – We meet Mickey and his pals at. We had a great time taking pictures with them. The long wait is worth it.The worst waiting time we had was in the Character Greeting Spot. Vincy managed to get a pass in the Mission’s Space Earth while me waiting in the Character Greeting Spot.

2. The Seas with Nemo and Friends – we ride a clam mobile and entertained by the animated sea pals on a quest in finding Nemo. This is perfect for the kids. It’s dark and I didn’t get a chance to take good photos, it’s all blurry.

Then we went to “The Land” part of the Future World West where experienced these attractions:

3. Soarin - oh I love this ride! the BEST! it’s like we’re flying visiting the different landmarks of the world. Like, San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Redwood Creek, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, etc.. You can even feel the wind rushing to your face as you soar around these places, very exhilarating! The entrance of Soarin – very inviting! all the shades of blue!

3. The Circle of Life – it’s an animated film inspired by the Lion King movie. It teaches us the importance of our planet, where the decisions and actions we made impact the different parts of the environment and that everything in this planet is a circle of life and we should take care of it.

In The Imagination part of the park. We didn’t see any attraction in this area but I took a photo of Vincy infront of the building. We don’t have anymore time, we need to be in the Germany pavillion at 3pm for our lunch with Nick, Nora and Nora’s parents.

Getting ready for Epcot

2011-10-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is our first day exploring Disneyworld. Vincy getting ready with the car, to make sure the GPS is working and ready to hit road.

The resort where we stayed at has a big swimming pool, some of the guest woke up early to go swimming in the pool. Here’s one of them. I took this photo while I’m waiting for Vincy.This is the resort where we stayed at. You can see Minnie as your enter Lake Buena Vista. On the other is Mickey.What do you think of the parking fee?The entrance to the parking lot of Epcot Park You can see the big ball from a far. It’s very visible from the parking lot.There’s a tram that will bring you right to the entrance to the Epcot park. Disney is so very organized. Vincy posed for me inside the tram.

Shows at Magic Kingdom: Day 1

2011-10-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

We watched these the whole evening. We went back to the hotel around 11p.m. Tired and sleepy. We got lost again because our GPS is not working.

The Magic, The Memories and You!

Wishes Nighttime Spectacular Fireworks–The biggest, most dazzling fireworks spectacular ever to grace the Magic Kingdom skies. And you can see it througout the entire Park!

Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom, Orlando. This parade will brighten your night and you feel like dancing with the music played in this parade. I used the same music.

Going to Orlando–to Disneyworld!!!

2011-09-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Now the time has come, we’re going to Disneyworld! We booked our flight and hotel last February. Vincy’s friend, Nick and wife Nora invited us to go with them together with Nora’s Mom and Dad. Now the adventure begins. We left Toronto with a rainy weather and heavy traffic.

Our flight was delayed for an hour. I’m killing my time taking pictures with the kids in the gate. They were restless and tired waiting for our flight, while Vincy is doing his work wearing his favourite hat.

Finally we’re on board in the plane. Now it’s time to rest. But we can’t resist the movies in the plane.

We arrived around 1:00a.m. @ Orlando International Airport.

Since we arrived late, not too much car selections in the car rental. We didn’t get a car with GPS and our GPS was not working when we plugged in the car. It cannot get our location and the battery is dying. We transfer from one car to another and we spent about 45 minutes trying to get our GPS working. Vincy panicked and was worried with no GPS and maps. The road in Orlando is very tiny compared to Toronto plus there’s no highway lights.

We reached our hotel around 2a.m…after so many delays and problems. We’re tired and sleepy. This is so far our worst travel experienced. We left Toronto with a bad rainy weather, flight delayed, arrived with a bad rental car with no gps, no lights in the highways, road was tiny, our gps is not working and the battery is dying.

We stayed at Cypress Pointe Resort,8651 Treasure Cay Lane Orlando, Florida 32836.. Rm. 3306.It’s good our bed is so comfy and the hotel is in good location.

Trip to Ottawa

2011-05-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

We went to Ottawa for a week vacation. This is our second time going to Canada’s capital. Same time of the year before the Victoria Day. I go for the Tulip’s festival, hoping to get some nice photos with the tulips. We left around 6:30a.m..

We need to force ourselves to wake up early so that not to get caught by the traffic along the way. The trip was interesting, we experienced rain, fog, sunny, and traffic.

I’m not that bored, just taking photo of my tattered pants.

We arrived around 11a.m., not bad. We found our hotel without a problem. The hotel is better than the one we stayed before.

Just a couple of minutes from our hotel, we had lunch at the Shawarma King. The food was not that bad, one order below is too much for 1 person.

my order…

Vincy’s order..

Lawrence Market

2011-04-09T17:40:00.001-07:00

It’s Saturday and we decided to go back to Lawrence Market. We went last week and we got more of our dollars. We got addicted by the good bargains. The market is located at Front and Jarvis Streets which is the centre of the historic Old Town Toronto. This time we went down to the basement in South Market. Lots of things to see and buy. However,I was not able to take photos.. I’m too busy wondering around and look some interesting stuffs, which really entertains me and I forgot to click my camera.

The weather is perfect today. We should have stayed longer but the things we bought are too heavy to carry.

A couple of photos for todays market day!

On our way to park the car, right in the next block. The South Market where it has many many vendors selling specialty food, dairy, meat, seafood, fruits, vegetables and other good stuffs! You can have your morning coffee here too! The prices here is a bit more than the North Farmer’s Market.

On the other side of the street is where the North/Farmer’s Market is located. In this place you will find more or less the same from the South Market but no seafood but there’s homemade fresh bread! The set up is more simpler and lot cheaper but fresh foodstuffs!

I want to visit this place again, and explore the Historic Old Town Toronto. St. Lawrence Market is surrounded with old buildings.. An interesting place to walk around and take photos.

Christmas Decorations Outside

2010-12-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

It’s christmas time once again. We decided to decorate our house outside. Outdoor decorations are very expensive. We closed our eyes when we bought these stuffs.Here’s the look of our house after we put the decorations.

Alberta

2010-10-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

My Flower Garden Blog..

2010-04-10T18:23:00.001-07:00

hi Guys, I decided to create another blog for my flowers in the garden… check this out! http://vanezasgarden.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Cathy a.k.a. Bchai for this idea.. it took me one year to start LOL!.. it’s a perfect timing since the flowers in the garden started to show up, ready for spring time bloom.

Misty Thursday

2010-04-09T10:14:00.001-07:00

It’s always raining here in Toronto this week.. Yesterday we got a misty foggy weather and a little bit of rain. This weather is perfect for picture taking. We seldom have this kind of weather here in Toronto. I took the opportunity to have some pictures taken and it’s good that I’m prepared I bought my camera along with me. I love looking the fog as it covers some bald trees ready to bloom in spring. Looks so eerie…

Here’s the photo I took in the morning ..

The photo in the afternoon, after work..while waiting for Vincy to picked me up. There’s a cemetery straight ahead, a bit far to walk. If I only have time I should have went there…and that will make a perfect eerie picture.

Indian Spicy Shrimp Curry

2010-02-18T18:46:00.001-08:00

I love my mother-in-law`s cooking especially the Indian Spicy Shrimp Curry. In India, I guess curry is their national recipe. Curry in the morning, lunch and dinner. If Filipinos have rice in each meal, Indian peps have curry. The not rich family in India will make their curry with lots of sauce, they can pair the sauce with rice and will complete their meal.

Indian Spicy Shrimp Curry is very spicy with a sour taste on it. I can`t explain the taste of the sauce. I`m bugging Vincy to ask his Mom to teach us how to make Indian Shrimp Curry. Vincy went to his Mom`s place last December and had cooking lesson with her. I didn't go with him. It's his main dish served last Christmas get-together with his friends. Unfortunately Vincy didn't get how to cook the recipe. He said - Mom was sooo fast putting the spices! LOL!

This recipe is very complicated. Mom came over at our place last week for another cooking lesson. I had a hard time following what she did to the curry lol!. I tried making video and taking pictures at the same time.

Here's the video of our cooking lesson :D

Ingredients:
Shrimp (peeled) (rubbed with 1 teaspoon salt) take out the heads.
1 whole garlic - crushed
Ginger - crushed
Vegetable Oil
Cider Vinegar white
Cider Vinegar brown
4 pcs. chopped onions
Coriander leaves

the Spices: (for now, please refer to the video below for the measurement. I`m going to edit this blog for the measurement of the spices)
ground Cinnamon
ground Saffron
ground Pepper
Paprika

ground Hot chili pepper
Cumin
I packet Tamarind (soak in water)

Directions:
Pot #1.
1. Clean the shrimp and removed the heads. Boil the heads with 1 cup of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to taste. Drain. Set aside the soup.
Pot #2
2. Fry the shrimps until it turns to a little bit of pink. Don`t fry it too long. Set aside.
Pot #3
3. Fry the onions with vegetable oil until golden brown. Add the crushed ginger and garlic. Fry until the ginger and garlic is a little bit brown. Then put the fried shrimps.
4. Rinse the Pot #2 where you fry the shrimps using the soup of the boiled shrimps heads. Pour it to Pot #3.
5. Add 1 cup of white cider vinegar.
6. Pour the blended spices (with 3cups of brown cider vinegar). Here's the video for the spices.

This is the most important part of the recipe:

7. Pour the tamarind juice. (take out the Tamarind from the water and blend it. Separate the juice using the strainer) (Mom used her hands hehehe)
8. If you want your curry to be more spicy, blend more chilies in the blender, and add it.
9. Let it simmer.
10. Serve and put coriander on the top. Perfect with rice.

The Tamarind gives the sour taste of the curry.

Good luck to all of us!.:D

BlueBerry Muffins

2010-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Making use of our new oven and practicing my baking skills with this easy to bake Blueberry muffins.

I bought this ready mix Quaker Muffin..followed the directions given in the package and the result - so delicious yummy BlueBerry Muffins. Never underestimate that it is from the package. It will save you some headaches :D and it's really tasty, perfect for afternoon snacks and something to grab in the kitchen when you're hungry.

Ingredients:
3 cups or 1/2 of the package mix.
2 eggs
3/4 cups water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix all ingredients until it’s smooth. You can mix it manually using the spoon.
2. Put 3/4 of the mixture to the muffin pre-cut paper.
3. Top with fresh or thawed blueberries. Put as many as you want.
3. Bake it for 17 to 19 minutes or until golden brown.