The Easter Long Weekend

Finally found time to blog about my Easter weekend trip to Fishkill, New York to visit Sam, Steph, Hong, and Hung. It was the first time Jeff and I took the trip down together. We were not sure how we were going to make the entire 7 hr drive but we were determined to do it. Jeff and I are always late for everything. We are known as the "tardy two". So we left Ottawa around 7:15 pm to try and make it to the Alexandria Bay border and meet up with my Ma, Karen, Mike, and Dai Ga (my older sister). We made good timing but the drive out of Toronto was brutal that weekend. So what did Jeff and I do while we waited for everyone? Duty-free, of course. :) It was a strange experience but we did not leave without a purchase. Jeff bought this freaky looking bottle of XO. Hey, XO for under a $100? It was worth a try.

The drive to Fishkill was kind of boring. At night, there's not much to see or do - driving during the day was no different. However, there were some flash snow squalls that made parts of the drive difficult. We made it to the hotel at 4 am in the morning and we were glad to see a bed. We stayed at the Ramada Inn. For the money, it was a decent hotel with a reasonable breakfast and free wireless internet. The breakfast was quite good. How many hotels have a make your own waffle station? :) The last time we stayed at this hotel, we didn't get to try out the waffles. Some guy didn't read the instructions on how to make the waffles and ended up ruining the waffle iron. He got plenty of dirty looks from us that day.

At Sam and Steph's.

Sam and Steph had a very nice apartment. They were very welcoming and we were very happy to see them. We got to meet my new nephew Sephin. He was so tiny! He didn't cry or complain. Hong was very cute and well-behaved. He was shy at first but got used to us quickly. Other than Sephin, the other distraction was Sam's new TV. I think it was a 60". Did you know they had Food TV in HD?! I hope we get Food HD in the near future cuz I'd be all over that one.

Mall Madness

You don't go to Fishkill/Poughkeepsie without going to an outlet mall. And holy cows, did we shop. Woodbury Commons, TJ Maxx, Poughkeepsie Galleria mall, and even Walmart! We were so bummed that we didn't bring our cooler with us. We bought food items from Walmart that you can't find up here. My favorite was the Vitamin Water. You wouldn't think of Fishkill as a great shopping place but it's a hidden gem. Other than shopping, there isn't much to do there. Food-wise, it is pretty bland. Ruby Tuesdays, Friendlys, Dennys, Red Robin, Chili's, TGI Fridays, Applebee's .. do you see a trend here? They all serve the same kind of food. Not much variety. According to my brother, the Japanese food there isn't very good either. It's no wonder they don't eat out much.

The I-84 Diner Experience

Jeff heard the rave reviews about the I-84 diner and our Fishkill trips are never complete without a meal at the I-84 Diner. The place is always packed and that day was no exception. As we stood in the waiting area, we drooled over the cakes, pies, and tarts in the dessert bar. The muffins at the diner station were supersized too. I had the two eggs breakfast while Jeff ordered his favorite - pancakes. The food was great and the portions were large. We finished breakfast around noon and started our journey home. We made pit stops along the way but nobody was hungry after that big breakfast.

Overall, I truly enjoyed the trip. It was nice to be somewhere that was not covered in snow. I was a bit depressed when we got home to our snow-covered city. This winter has been too long and too harsh. I can't wait until spring and summer. We really wish Joyce and Samuel were there too. Joyce, you just had to be there when we stopped at the last Sunoco gas station - only to find out that it was closed.

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A Record 52 cm!

Wanna know what 52 cms of snow looks like? Yes, my Toronto friends .. this is what 52 cms looks like. Francis W. asked me the other day if I could see outside my house and at the time, I was still able to. But after the weekend, wow. I wish I could show you more pictures of what we saw on Sunday morning. It was almost funny. In one of my previous blog posts, I showed my back neighbour's house. At the time, I marvelled at how the snow covered his fancy deck. Yesterday, not only the deck was covered but so was his barbeque! Look at the roof! There's a slab of snow hanging off the edge. Man, can you imagine .. one big sneeze and you have yourself an avalanche. Our driveway was impressive. I opened the garage door to find the snow up to my knees. As I walked out to the end of our driveway, the snow was higher. I looked out on to the street and you literally could not tell where the road was - see picture at the top of the post. All you could see were rows and rows of snow walls on everybody's lawn. I think the guy across the street had the highest pile of snow on his lawn. It was easily 10 ft high. Ours was pretty high already and I think after we were done, we won the biggest snow pile contest on our street. Down the street, the kids were snowboarding off of their snowbanks. Our community is thinking of starting our own ski resort. :) For the 1000th time, we are truly running out of space to put this stuff!

Toodles,
Pudge.

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More Snow?

Sigh .. more snow. Another 10-15 cms. I dunno, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm beginning to wonder if Wiarton Willy is fooling us with this 6 more weeks until spring prediction.

My winter boots have been getting a pretty decent workout this year. I think we've had over 9 ft of snow this winter season so far. I heard there's more on the way.

Toodles,
Pudgy

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What's Up, February?

February 7th - Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year went by so fast. I enjoyed my time in Toronto but it always seems to go by really quickly. I got to spend time with family and even help my parents run errands - something I really miss doing. I was disappointed that I didn't get to spend enough time with my younger sisters Joyce and Karen. The three of us look out for each other all the time. Karen is a great fashion advisor for us and whenever she sees something in the stores, she'll buy three of the same thing - one for each of us. Thanks Karen for the great clutch! This is my favorite pic from the week we were in Toronto. Jeff is giving Anson his red pocket. Jeff was soooo good with him. Jeff sat Anson on his lap one day and Anson was so comfortable in his "Jeff Lounge chair" .. he let out a super poop. It was NA-STY. :)

February 14th - Valentine's Day

Jeff and I did not make any special plans for Valentine's day this year. It was very much a non-event for us. We don't need a specific day to declare our love for each other - in fact, setting aside a date for the occasion seems to make it less special .. less genuine. It means more to me that Jeff went grocery shopping on an ordinary day and picked out my favorite flavour of potato chips than to pay inflated prices for roses on Valentine's day. The latter is way too predictable. Okay .. I think you get my point. :) But we did spend the 15th making our Williams-Sonoma molten chocolate cake. My picture taking skills aren't as good as it used to be. But this was one pic that I liked. Our cakes were really good. We froze some of the cakes for future consumption. We also received lots of Valentine's day treats from Jeff's parents. I got my own tub of caramel cornflake balls!!! With all of these sweets, Jeff and I are going to have to hit the gym and play more badminton for cardio.

February 18th - Family Day

Did you know that the federal government doesn't observe Family Day even if you are in Ontario? Yeah .. I didn't get Family Day off. What's that all about? Sigh .. I hope everyone had a great Family Day.

February 21st - I am an Aunt again

Last night, my brother called us to say that he has become a father for the second time to a baby boy. Hong Hong will now have a baby brother. Father, mother, son, and baby are all doing well. Can't wait to see the pics.

Coming up in March?

Well, Good Friday and Easter Monday falls in March this year. Looong weekend! I'm excited .. where should we go? Quebec City? Also coming up?

- RRSP deadline

- Income taxes - boooo!

Until next time ... toodles from Pudgy.

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Jeff and I wish everyone good health and happiness in the new year.

So far, it's been pretty fun being in Toronto. It was nice being with family and catching up with friends who I have not seen since our wedding - that was almost 2 years ago!)

I loved seeing my nephew Anson. He's got a skin irritation on one side of his forehead. He keeps scratching it and making it worse. :(

We also managed to make it out to Yorkdale to pick up a few things from Williams-Sonoma. That store is so overpriced! $24 for a mini spatula? I wanted one but the price tag made me put it down. However, the sale table was very attractive. Hehe ..

The snow has been unbelievable here. And I thought Ottawa was bad. Jeff and I helped my parents dig their driveway this morning. I couldn't have the two of them shovel all that snow - it was so heavy too! To thank Jeff for his effort, I took him out for breakfast at Skyway Jacks. It's a small truck-stop kind of breakfast joint with a pig as its mascot. It sure lives up to its slogan of "Home of the Healthy Portions". We could not find fruit of any kind (ie side of fruit, fruit with granola, fruit salad, etc) on the menu .. :) Luckily, we don't go there on a regular basis.

We are having our New Year's dinner tonight. We ordered a dinner pot from T & T this year. My mom wanted to try it so I figure I'll treat her to something different. It looks cool and it's got layers of dicon radish, black tiger shrimp, bbq pork, sea cucumber, black mushroom, etc. I'm getting hungry as I type this.

In a few days, we'll be heading back to Ottawa. I wonder what the weather was like there for the last few days. I hope we didn't get the same snowfall there. :(

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Double J - the Gym Rats

After almost 2 months of being away from the gym, Double J (Jeff and I) headed to GoodLife yesterday. It was chest and biceps day. We did a simple routine to kind of ease our way back into it. Three sets of benchpress (yes, I do this too), three sets of flies on the machine (I think it's called a pectoral press?), three sets of standing curls, and 3 sets of preacher curls with free weights. After the weights, it's about 20 minutes of abdominals and 20 mins of cardio.

The Day After ...
Owwwwww! My body is in pain .. good pain. I know that after a few more sessions at the gym, it won't hurt like this. I love going to the gym but I'm not big on the cardio part. I much prefer tennis or ultimate frisbee for cardio.

Tomorrow?
Even though the body is in pain, tomorrow is shoulder, back, and triceps day. I'm soooo looking forward to doing melon crushers, more abs, and dreaded cardio. I really admire those who can run on a treadmill .. it requires some kind of coordination and I know if I got on a treadmill, I'd stumble and fall flat on my face. :) Not that it's happened before but I've seen it happen to others and I just think .. that could be me.

Toodles,
Pudgy - one of the Js.

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A New Year Begins ...

It's been a while since my last post. Just a small update on what's been up since my last post.

Christmas in Edmonton
Jeff and I have spent Christmas every year in Edmonton since we got married - Chinese New Year is spent with my family since it's the equivalent of Christmas to us. More on that later ...

Due to the new house and work commitments, I haven't taken time off for a real vacation. My last real vacation was our honeymoon, way back in 2006. So I was looking forward to going to Edmonton and getting out of Ottawa. We had a great time there this year. I finally got to meet a few of Jeff's university friends and they were all very nice and welcoming. Mark and Asil were in town and they came through for us this year ... true Russian caviar all the way from Kyrgyzstan! This may be the last caviar we have as Mark is returning to Edmonton for good.

Christmas was a classic. It was a family affair and that's the way I like it. Turkey, stuffing, and Sharon's fabulous baking. It doesn't get any better than that.

The shopping in Edmonton is always great - with one less tax, it's much better to shop there than in Ontario. I held off on shopping for most of the year and saved my real shopping until I was in Edmonton. Jeff and I stocked up on jeans and I bought slacks/pants for work. Being the shorty that I am, I have to get every pair of pants hemmed so they are still sitting in the closet as we speak. Sigh.

I need to point out that if you are ever in Alberta, you have to try the beef. It is truly the best I've ever tasted. I've had steak in Ottawa and nothing compares to Alberta AAA.

The Big Thaw
Shortly after our return, we had some nice mild temperatures. It was much needed. Our 7' high drifts are now knee high. I hope it stays this way until the end of winter. Oh who am I kidding? I'm in Ottawa and it's only January .. what are the odds? :)

Chinese New Year
Our next trip to Toronto will be in early February. I'll be happy to be with my family for Chinese New Years. The last time I was in Toronto, was for Ka and Corrie's wedding. Haven't been back since. I miss Toronto ... sniff sniff ..

Kudos
My buddy Damien recently told me that he was engaged! Congratulations D & A! I've known Damien for many years .. he's always been a great friend and I'm so happy for him.

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