BBQ in Ajax

sunflowers @ Ralph & Beth's

I don't know why my blog always becomes like a food diary. I think writing about food does not harm much people and also can make some people happy by bringing them to their imaginary restaurant.

The place this time I'll take you to is a BBQ, a representative of summer!!
While many of my classmates were in Niagara Falls (probably in the rain), Me and my husband Luke were having juicy, well-spiced stake and chicken breast with marinated salad, baked potatoes and beans, in a beautiful house with an air conditioner. Mmmm. (great meal + great temperature = heaven)

The hosts who invited us are Ralph, Luke's ex-coworker and has been a good friend, and Beth, his wife. They got married in 2005 and moved to Ajax in 2006. They used to live in Toronto until then and we had seen once a while, so Luke was very sad when he heard that they were moving.
There were also a couple invited to this BBQ, Rob and his wife Michelle. Rob is also Luke's ex-coworker and has been a good friend. They also used to live close to us, so it also seemed to hit Luke strong when they moved out. However, we all have been keeping in touch and have great meetings once a while.


On the way to Ajax
Ajax is a little far from Toronto so Rob and Michelle always offer us a ride, very nice of them. We went their house in North part of Toronto by TTC subway. Soon as we got on highway 401 east, rain started to hit us strongly. I guess I was very hungry at that time (Rafael always tells me that I always am), so I started to be afraid if we will be told there will be no BBQ, because I thought BBQ must be held outside like people's backyard, beach or park mainly, from my experience in my country. But I could not see those feeling in any of their face. I was going to learn that BBQ does not mean outside always.

The style of entertaining guests is different as Japanese way, I meant, it is great! Basically, amount of food is amazing. At the beginning you get a drink and healthy vegetables with dips and have nice and fun chatting to catch up with everyone.. I like this part. Although I always realize suddenly that I ate too much of them, next moment my hand is reaching more for corn chips and fresh veges. I know I should reduce the amount of appetizers to have beautiful main dinner after, but they are too good to resist.
Beth made three kinds of dips and my favorite was hummus (which I can not pronounce well), made of chickpeas, sesame paste, garlic and lemon juice, mainly. (In this picture, the right one on the bottom.)
I should make those sometimes.. this is the sentence I always comment and never going to perform. Having something nice which somebody made for me is always happier than making by myself.

While we were chatting with drinks, Ralph was grilling BBQ foods for us on the deck of his backyard. Having my own barbecue would be nicer if we had place to set up in summer or to put away when we don't use; however, we probably will never own one: I would be too lazy to clean up after we use. My husband? Well, he says he is also too lazy ;-)
Anyway, I took a photo of my dish. After this dish, I had another one with chicken, of course.

And you know what? You can also hear from me about the gorgeous dessert that I had AFTER all these nice meals - Chocolate Berry Cake!!!

Amaizing!! The presentation of this cake was so beautiful, I admired Beth a lot! Berries are sweet and fresh, so good with chocolate pudding and cinnamon tart underneath of them. Ralph cut them for us and gave me a big piece so it filled me up with the coffee he made. Why sweets and strong black coffee are so nice to be together - such a fantastic combination. Sweet-n'-coffee-holic me!


Not only gorgeous dinner, they are very good friends of us even though we all are spread to different ages (Luke is the youngest one) and different areas to live. The conversation with them teaches me lot of things, even if the topics are sometimes "men" things. They gave me a big, warm welcome three years ago when I moved to Canada and had no friends here. I felt bad that I was very nervous at that time by not be able to understand most of things they were talking about, and I pulled the bottom of Luke's shirt to ask him to explain to me. Now I am very happy that I can feel more comfortable to listen and talk to them in English, and see myself having fun for it. Someday I will invite them to our place and make dinner for them, just like they always do to us, at that time I will be more confident to entertain them.

Summerlicious - Jaaadu

Second time for the Summerlicious 2008! Like I said, I LOVE FOOD.

This time was an East Indian Restaurant, "Jaaadu Restaurant." Sounds a little strange, but I forgot to ask if it has any meanings - oh well, I will next time. Actually their location was in our neighborhood, just a little south east of us. However, the restaurant itself looks very expensive to me - tables are covered by white well-ironed clothes and napkins, glasses and cutleries are all set up nicely; therefore, I had never tried this restaurant before.

When we got the restaurant, nobody else was there. I was a bit afraid if their meals would not be good or they were not so popular. However, servers were very nice and polite and the restaurant was designed with a black motif and was sophisticated, which made its atmosphere very welcoming and calm.

The alcohol suggestion of the server was the special Indian cocktail, which I don't remember its name, contained at least rum, vodka, pomegranate, orange juice.. tasted little bit like martini which I don't drink much (I like gin though). My friend suggested to me to have more with her, but I guess one short strong cocktail was enough for me as a student who had lots of homework..

As you learned from my former posting, restaurants have special menu for Summerlicious. In Jaaadu, you can choose one of three each - starter, main, and dessert. This is the most exciting part at the any restaurant to imagine what each meals look and their tastes are.

Starter : Curried Squash Soup

Mmmm, very nice creamy soup, not so hot but had enough temperature that people do not have to wait to bring spoon to your mouth as often as they want. You still can feel smooth squashy taste with some kind of ethnic spices, and it is not persistent at all. Some people seem to dislike squash, but I love it.

Main : Curried Lamb Shank

"New Zealand Lamb Shank amazingly slowly braised and cooked with tomato, fresh herbs, cumin, coriander, ginger and poppy seed, accompanied with Long Grain Saffron Scented Basmati Pilaf Rice" (Jaaadu)

Soft!! Tender!! You don't even have to use knife, it would come off so smoothly when your fork touches its body.

Dessert : Gulap Jamun

"Dried milk and Flour cooked and dipped in Honey Syrup with Bay Leaf, Cardamom & Cinnamon. Strained milk froth & sprinkled with crushed Pistachio." (Jaaadu)

The deep fried balls soaked in Honey were very, very sweet themselves, and I could not have eaten without form milk on top. It'd be much better if more strawberries were there.

In addition, there was another choice: Rice Pudding (Rosewater scented carnation milk based Rice Pudding. Traditionally called "Kheer" - Jaaadu) which one of my friends chose. I've had rice puddings at Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Tibetan restaurants and did not like them at all. Warm sweet sweet sticky rice with something creamy like custard was not my taste, but this one changed my ground about rice pudding totally (recipes can be different depend on culture)
- it was very very good. I would love to come back anytime for this rice pudding if this restaurant was more wallet-friendly..


Their summerlicious dinner course was $25 (lunch was $15, before tax, tip and any additional order like drinks). According to their original menu, it can be around $50 or more per person for ordinary dinner like ordering appetizer, main, and drinks.
I love delicious, fancy Indian dinner of course, but the special lunch of the day "Butter Chicken" at the Indian restaurant in York Lane (@ York University) also makes me enough happy and satisfied, just by paying $6.50.


Jaadu Restaurant (Map)

1415 Yonge Street, Toronto,
ON M4T 1Y7
Tel : 416-944-8885
Email : info@jaaadu.com
closed Sundays

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Anything can be art.

When people create, invent, or even grow something, they can call it "Art" as long as it is proprietary, not a whole copy of something that already exists. The more original art is, the more value people seem to give it.
Therefore, I like to see arts. I like to see how artists reach to express their world and why they call their works "art". And of course, simply most of them make me feel rich in spirit. You can also float in your imagination world without somebody lecturing you on how you should analyze them.


Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2008 (TOAE) (47th) was held July 11, 12 & 13, 2008 at Nathan Phillips Square. Usually admission fees for art shows are not reasonable for the people who want to just expose themselves to arts and feel that air, like "One of A kind Show" or "Toronto Art Expo", sometimes it sounds like they want only particular kind of people. (Mmm, too much to say?) Anyway this one is FREE!! Anybody can go in, walk around as you like, and take your time as much as you want. Let's feel Art!!

There were so many booths in this exhibition. Some works and exhibitors were familiar to me from local galleries like Distillery District or Queen Street West Area. Some were new.. like THIS!!


"Product of Eden" Mary Catherine Newcomb (Sculptor, Ontario)
Award - Sculpture Honourable Mention

Do you know how to make this??
We asked the artist because we thought she carves the plants (it would be neat if she does). The answer was no. When the plant blossoms out, she covers it with this weirdly shaped mold which I assume that she made. So it becomes the shape of the mold! She harvests them and put them into a jar like making pickles so it lasts longer. How much? At least "$800". Wow...
It reminds me that we have "square watermelon" in Japan. More than just square, recently, they call them "Art Watermelon". I am not sure who started. They are $80-$1050 (according to the page of this link) and somebody in this world buying them!! The final purpose must be eating, but still, this is beyond of imagination.

OK.. Let's look at next one.


Wooden Box/Large Dressers
Paul Szewc (Decorative/Applied Art - Wood, Ontario)
Aren't they sooooo cute!?
First time I encountered his works was at A One of A Kind Show, 2 years ago. As he calls himself "a crazy cabinet maker", his dressers have "unusual" shape and looks like dancing itself - I am sure you will like them if you are big fan of Tim Burton Movies. This artist, Paul Szewc, has a studio "Masterpiece Cabinet" and says he loves building "wonky" furniture. The word "Wonky" - sounds like Wonka-ish - "Willy Wonka" from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", especially the movie of Tim Burton's version (2005). If it is affordable, I would buy it - their price range is $165 to $350 even for a "Mini" one.

Moving onto the next exhibitor.

Chip n Dip group/Issue Boxes(set of 5)
Sally Mccubbin(Decorative/Applied Arts - glass, Ontario)

Very simple, sophisticated, and also cool, pop, and soooo cute!
I would buy them if it is affordable.. but in reality I can't spend $400 to put my dip & chips into this cute bowl.
Also, it is practical, not perfectly though, because you can not split the big bowl and small one apart when you want to wash them.
I used to think that the craft of glass means vases, dishes, or useless objects like a glass swan or Christmas tree ornaments. Well, she makes those too, but most of her work seems to have messages. For example, the concept of "Issue Boxes" is, "the dysfunctions of our social container - Iconic imagery implies issues like gender roles, war, and monoculturism".


I wish I could introduce more and more if I had time. The exhibition itself was finished but you can visit the website of TOAE if you are interested, and check the works of award (more than $35,000!) winners or any other exhibitors.

Mr. Suicide - Isn't that too much?

Do you like taking a bath? We love it.
Recently we moved to the new apartment and it didn't have a plug for our bath tub. We decided to buy one which I had specific idea for. I searched on the internet where I can buy this product without walking around and wasting my time, and I found the shop "Ashley" in Downtown Toronto.

Have you been to this shop? This is an expensive gift shop which sells high quality plates and utensils mainly; such as china, ceramic, pottery, crystal, and so on. People seem to like register for their wedding gift or buy expensive gift for somebody else, there are always many customers walking around and getting advice from the shopkeepers.

Ashley also have big shelves of designer's collection of everyday sundries, which I love to browse like a gallery. One of my favorites is Alessi, an Italian company, established in 1921. They produce designer's goods which are modern, artistic, sophisticated, and neat. Some of you may have seen their products;

Wine Opener / Sommelier Knife

Kettle / Basket / Juicer
The bath plug I wanted was designed by Massimo Giacon for Alessi in 2000. It has a name, "Mr. Suicide".



He floats to the surface like reaching for air when you take a bath. When I saw him first time, I just fell in love with.

Yes, I went to Ashely and asked the shopkeeper lady. She told me that she is going to bring the product from the storage room after I purchased it, so I paid and waited. 5 minutes later, she told me to wait little more. "He" was probably the cheapest products Ashely has, I thought it was taking a time to look for. Then 5 minutes later, she came back with a bag and full of smile.

"I am so sorry that it took so long to wrap."



What? I didn't ask for wrapping. What is this golden box with this golden ribbon?
Hum, maybe it is somebody else's, because it looks more than three times bigger than Mr. Suicide..

"Oh no, this is yours, a bath plug. Thank you dear, have a great evening."

Ooookkkkaaayyy.
She gave me the bag has a big golden box with a big golden ribbon, and a receipt looks like a small birthday card. This hard, again "gold", card was folded in half, had date, my name, address, phone number, - Wait a minute, how did she know my personal information? Oh yes, she asked me when I paid! It was so natural and fast and I didn't even notice that I was asked. Wow, she could do a good job if she was a scammer..(or I am a damn) It also had information of price, product name, company's name and how I paid. Now I have to shred this golden receipt after I check if the product has no problem.

On a way home, there was the elderly lady waiting for light next to me. She saw my clear bag showing a golden box with a golden ribbon so obvious, and asked me what I bought.

"Ahh, some daily goods."

I could not say that it was a tiny bath plug for myself. She said, "I love Ashley. Your friend will be very happy with that gift, whatever it is."

After I got home, I started unwrap it; took it out from the clear plastic bag, took of the top ribbon (it was stapled on the other part of ribbon), untied the ribbon, open the box, unwrap the paper with logo of Ashley, and unwrap the paper stuffed in the box...

There you are, Mr. Suicide!!!
He was in the box which Alessi originally packed him in as his own package. His face was exactly telling me how he suffered from such amount of packing supply made him difficult to breath. And the actual length of him was the one fifth of the box Ashley used.
Now every time I take a bath, he looks very comfortable to float on my bath tub, doing his job well. However, he also reminds me how much human being wastes resources for unnecessary stuff. Unnecessary - he might not be necessary to exist, he is valuable to me. So much wrapping could be valuable to somebody else. Humans might be already "Mr. Suicide" himself.

Summerlicious - Bloom

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, Summerlicious!!!
I can not miss this. I LOVE food.

Summerlicious has been started July 4, 2008. According to the City of Toronto's website, over 130 restaurants are participating and providing their special course menu for this event, you can have them by reasonable price such as $15-$20 for lunch and $25-$35 for dinner.


The restaurant we chose this time, Bloom, is located between Jane station and Runnymede station on Bloor Street West. Although I made our reservation few hours ago, luckily we could get a table for four people for Saturday lunch. I walked into at the head as exactly as I was proud of myself since I failed making reservations last year for Winterlicious, and I told the server about my reservation. He asked me what my phone number was, with full smiley face. I explained him that nobody asked over the phone. Then suddenly, his face got frozen.

"What? No number? What a beautiful!!"

I pretended that I did not hear it, but his voice was high enough to hear. I could not understand whether he got upset or it was not a big deal. Maybe he was having a bad day? I don't know. To me, if the customer who has right name with right number of people arrived at the restaurant right on time, missing the phone number should not be a problem. It also didn't sound like joking at all.

Anywayyyyyyy. Let's talk about FOOD. That must make me feel much better.

For Summerlicious, basically you choose each one you like from appetizer, entree, and dessert. By the way, has any of you had an experience that looking at the menu confused you? I had, when I came to Canada first time in my life. Why? Because menu here doesn't have any pictures; names of meal are gergons to me, it takes a while to imagine what you are reading about items. I came from a big service country (which has good and bad though), Japan, which has pictures of items at most of restaurants so there was no need to imagine and no need to ask.

Oops, let's go back to food AGAIN. In most cases, I get lost easily when I am really excited to talk about my favorlite things.

Items I had;

"Mixed seafood ceviche, melon salad"

- The seafood on this plate were shrimp, squid, and scallop. Presentation on this dish amazed me and made me wondered where I should start. I felt that didn't want to make any mess on this colourful, beautiful plate. Of course I finished in 5-7 min. though - too hungry to FEEL food.

# Ceviche : (South America, Peru) Flesh seafood, mixed with onion and chili pepper, marinated by lemon zest.

"Marinated salmon filet, mango salsa, seafood risotto"

- Seafood again. I love them, as much as rice. This usually is the moment I recognize that I am Japanese. I don't like spicy food like chili something, but this meal had good spices which lead risotto as boring taste usually, to wonderful delicious meal.

"White chocolate, Vanilla, Creme Brulee"

- I LOVE CREME BRULEE!!!! When I hear or see this word, I just can not resist. Have you seen the movie "Ameri"? Like her, I always get so excited about breaking this caramel top gently and calmly with my little spoon. This is the one which has never betrayed me. So I went for it. Tasted beautiful, as always.

These below are plates others chose;





Now.

Are you done with your imagination for this topic? Then I have some addition for you.

Their washroom might be able to be one of topics you can make, during the conversation. The washrooms have mirrors at three dimensions on the four walls. If you are female, you would not care so much, because the wall you are looking at does not have any mirror. But if you are male - you have to face to your face when you are having a small business.

A husband of my friend found it first and immiedately made rest of us feel excited to see. Of course, my husband was the only one another person who reacted and agreed so much with his discovery.

After all, it was a very wonderful lunch at the nice, sober and sophisticated restaurant, even though the server left us a little question and mirrors were wierd.

The event continues until July 20.

Try summerlicious as many as possible, if you are FOOD lover!!

* find participated restaurants and their menu for Summerlicious 2008


Bloom Restaurant

2315 Bloor Street West,
Toronto, ON (MAP)
Tel : 416-767-1315

I, Student

Trying to come up with the best naming of this blog, is not easy. Actually my result was not that cool as I expected. But it's me. I am a student who had never imagined to become a student again, in my life.
After I graduated the University in Japan obtaining Bachelor of Arts ABOUT 10 years ago (Oh my gosh, a decade!!), I had built up my life there via several job titles and careers. Getting married supposed to be just a part of my life event, moreover, my life build there was about to go on as it had been, with my husband-to-be.
We used to talk about visiting his country Canada or living there in future, however I never imagined that our Canadian life would start in right away. It came so sudden.

"Can I quit my job?"

It was the day we paid for the upcoming wedding reception.
I couldn't really say no. I knew his company was doing something wrong legally and the managers were something wrong professionally. So I said "If you want".
Amazingly, He got job soon as his job hunting started in Canada. As the result, I left my country to live with my husband, and that's how I got here.

As some of you may know, people who have visitor status in Canada are unable to work while waiting for your immigration status. I was one of them, so I decided to start doing volunteer for "Canadian experience" which seems to be a common thing that employers would ask you at interviews. Then I met Social Work there and I became really into it.

Although the office did not have enough both social workers who are obtaining degrees and trained and budget to hire them more, cases which volunteers are not allowed to touch and number of clients were waiting for their tern to talk to the workers. To handle cases you need knowledge - of cause, and special training to understand them and lead them. For example, you may have some friends who are very talkative or expressive and you don't really have to guess what they are really thinking in their mind, and some who you have to doubt that they are hiding their mind behind their words or expressions so they don't throw the ball straight back makes you confuse or hard to catch. You have to know how to catch their balls even if it was extremely curved or awfully bounded. Sometimes you may have to start looking for where the ball has gone, some clients may even not be able to throw the ball with some reasons.

Anyway, I understood the path that I have to take to be a social worker. To apply the university course my resume needs more than one volunteer experience and reference letter from them, so I did another volunteer at the senior home. I will be ready to apply after I pass the ESL class safely.

My parents were not happy with my decision because of my age. They think I should have baby before it hits my limit physically. In Japan, this "next to marriage is the baby"(baby comes first in some cases) thing is very general among their generation and some still remain nowadays. Of course it is totally depends on individual values and I am NOT a feminist. There are some people actually being parents and also students, but I know I can not handle both at once. This is a lack of my ability, but that is life. You may be able to give up being a student or having a job but you will NEVER be able to quit being a parent whatever the way you attach to them, once you became.
Moreover, you never know what is going to happen to your life, just as 10 years ago I could never imagined to have my life in a different country and become a student there. My husband and I talk about our life often. He supports me and my decision happily, I may be the luckiest person in the world.

I want to be an independent. I want to be able to make choice of my life, on my own.

I, Student.
I am an ESL student now and I want to be a student in the university. You are going to know what kind of path actually I am going to walk.