BBQ at Tony and Iris' Place

The day following the BBQ at Daryl's house we had another one at Tony and Iris' place. This one was to thank the people involved with helping them with their second wedding and their move to their new place.

I got there quite early having come straight from the boarding home where I visited in the afternoon. We finished at around 4:00 p.m. Rather than going home and coming over right afterwards I came straight here.

I can't remember exactly who else showed up early. But, after looking through my photos Tae Hoon, John and Cora would have been among them.

Being the good brother that he is, Tae Hoon helped Iris preparing food in the kitchen. Tony was outside with Andrew manning the BBQ. John and Cora were engrossed in the Camouflage game that I brought once again to another party. Since it had been such a big hit at Daryl's place the night before I thought I'd bring it again.

The main dish Tony and Iris were preparing was Samgyeopsal. It's a popular Korean dish consisting of thick, fatty slices of pork belly wrapped in lettuce. You can add other seasonings inside as well before eating. The photo above is the table full of items for the Samgyeopsal. Iris made one for John as a demonstration.

Quite a few people came over. We hung out in the yard for most of the evening until it got too dark. Then the people who were still there came inside.

Carny, Mike, Ying and her friend came late. I can't remember what Carny was doing, but Ying and Mike took Ying's friend around Toronto to see the sights. She's a flight attendant and was in town for the day. So they went to the C.N. Tower and Taste of Danforth among other things.

The evening wrapped up shortly before 10:00. Not long after the latecomers filled their bellies and played a bit of the Camouflage game. A nice way to end the weekend.

BBQ at Daryl's Place

Grace, Maria (?), Daryl, Sasha

Daryl invited a few of us up to his place in Markham for a potluck BBQ dinner. I know him through Tom who I play hockey with in the winter. Daryl and I car pooled it up to Bracebridge for our cottage/zip-lining adventure.

Tom and Florianne were the first people to arrive along with their friend Jo Woo. She's an artist from Korea who will actually be going back pretty soon. I was next followed by Denise and Lena. I would have arrived earlier had I not witnessed an accident at the Superstore at Don Mills and Eglinton. I stopped there to buy some pies to bring up to Daryl's place.

As I was making my way through the store this fellow around my age slipped on some water that had accumulated on the floor next to a freezer. I guess it wasn't working properly and the food in it had started to defrost leaving water on the floor. As he was walking by he didn't notice it and slipped on the floor landing very hard flat on his back (probably hitting his head too).

He was a bit dizzy after he got up and said he felt nauseous as well. A few of us saw the whole thing. I waited around until the assistant manager came and wrote out what I had seen on a piece of paper along with my contact info. I sure hope the guy will be okay. I told him he should go to the hospital to get himself checked out just in case.

Anyway, back at Daryl's place people started arriving "fashionably late". Tom worked his magic on the BBQ and people were chatting on the deck in the backyard. We ate our dinner there even sitting through a light rain shower. It was only when the light started to fall and the mosquitos came out that we headed indoors.

Back inside I brought my nephews' Camouflage game out. It's a puzzle game where you have to fit six tiles (with polar bears and fish on them) onto different backgrounds that have snow and water printed in various patterns on them. The polar bears have to land on the snow and the fish in the water. There are 48 levels. It can get quite difficult once you make your way up to the higher levels.

Throughout the evening most people got a chance to play at least once. I know they all got a kick out of it. Everyone likes a challenge and the chance to outdo one another. I have to say, Daryl's brother was quite good. I think he was one of the ones who had the most success.

Saturday was Fun

This past Saturday was fun. I met up with my friends Diane, Daphne and Taku. Diane invited her friend Myron out too.

Our first stop was the Centennial College Campus near Broadview and Danforth. They had a bbq there with sausages, chicken and pork Souvlaki and other Greek related food items. It was to coincide with the annual Taste of the Danforth which is a street festival here in Toronto where they close off a stretch of road in the Greek area of town and set up stalls that sell food and other things related to Greece. There's music and other performances as well. This year they expected one million visitors over the 3-day event.

We didn't actually go down to Danforth to experience it. We were more than satisfied with the food we got at the college. Instead we decided to get our in-line skates out and go blading.

Originally we had thought about going around some of the local streets in the area. Our friend, Taku, lives close by and would have been able to show us some quiet roads to go along. In the end we decided to stay put and use the relatively empty parking lot there.

It was quite fun. We spent a couple of hours blading around. Except for the odd fall or two everyone emerged pretty much intact. We would have gone on a bit longer, but the security guard at the college kicked us out. There was a sign stating no skateboarding or in-line skating which we had chosen to ignore.

Next on the slate of things to do was visit nearby Todmorden Mills. From the City of Toronto website this is a description of it -

Set in the scenic Don Valley, Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre is a complex of historic buildings which were once part of the small industrial community of Todmorden.

Today the site consists of two historic millers' homes dating from the early 19th century, the Brewery building and the recently renovated Papermill Theatre and Gallery. Adjoining the site is a 9.2 hectare wildflower preserve with walking trails exploring a number of natural habitats, including upland and bottomland forests, dry and wet meadows, swamp lands and a pond.

We went on a short guided tour of two of the homes there. I have to say I found it quite fascinating. I always love looking through old buildings and hearing stories of historical events.

We were all pretty tired after visiting Todmorden Mills. I think it was a combination of the walk there and going around the grounds and the time we spent in the sun in-line skating. It was still a bit early for dinner so we decided, sans Taku, to go to Tim Hortons to chill for a bit before grabbing dinner. Taku had to go home and do some shopping after.

We drove to the Tim Hortons across from the Shops of Don Mills. We went there because we wanted to grab dinner at the nearby Congee Queen afterwards. While there we ordered shrimp dumplings in noodle soup, slightly spicy, fried turnip cubes and a plate of beef and Chinese broccoli and a couple of bowls of white rice to eat. I think it was Myron's first time having some of those things. He was the only non-Asian in our group. I'm sure he enjoyed everything though. After dinner we took him to participate in another favorite Asian pastime - Karaoke.

We headed to a Korean place we often frequent up Yonge near Finch. Since she can read Korean Diane ran the show there. The buttons on huge remote control that run the machines there are all in Korean. If you go up to Richmond Hill you'll run into the same problem, only the remotes have Chinese characters instead.

Anyway, we drank beer and sang songs for three hours. Part way through Daphne went to grab a couple of tambourines and we banged on those as well. It was immensely fun. I forgot how much I enjoy going to Karaoke. The only thing I'd like to see changed is the book of songs have a section with artists/bands grouped together with their songs instead of just a list of songs in alphabetical order from random artists. It's just a suggestion...