Birthday Week

It was my birthday last week. I was privileged enough to be able to spend time with a lot of my friends. Most of it was spent doing my favourite activity - eating!

On Wednesday, Peter, took me out for fried chicken and beer at Buldak, a Korean restaurant on Yonge, north of Steeles. That was nice of him. I actually hadn't planned on doing anything that day because I worked late and didn't think I'd have time to meet up with anybody. So it was sort of a last minute thing.

On Thursday I met up with my friend, Will. We normally meet for each other's birthdays and quite often we have AYCE sushi. So, this time, I gave him a choice between that and India's Taste, a buffet restaurant on Denison Street in Markham. He chose that one. I've been there a few times and the food is both good and reasonably priced.

On Friday I met up with Gabe. We were hoping our other friend, Daphne, could join us, but she was unavailable. We picked a place Gabe had gone to in the past. It was called Café Hollywood and it serves Hong Kong-style food. There was a special where you could get a pitcher of Sapporo beer for $9.99 if you ordered 20 wings. So we had that.

On Saturday I met up with a few others from the Foodie Group. We went to a Japanese restaurant near Peter's condo called My Sushi. I didn't know it was an all-you-can-eat restaurant until I got there. Most of you know those are my favourite kind of places. So I was happy when I found out. I was also glad William and I had Indian food two nights earlier. Because, even though I like AYCE sushi, I don't need to eat it twice in just a few days.

Thanks, everyone, for being such thoughtful friends! I really appreciate your kindness.

Tony's 60th Birthday Party

Iris and her mom and a few others organized a party for Tony's 60th birthday at their house on Saturday. They did a great job.

Andrew manned the barbecue outside. Iris had gone through some of Tony's photo albums and posted a number of pictures of him taken over the years.

Pi-Yu told some stories about Tony from back in the day. Barbara hosted a quiz about Tony with mini Kit Kats as prizes. And Ferdinand, Kelly and Sarah sang some songs.

It was a chance to reconnect with a few familiar faces I hadn't seen in awhile. Since the last time Tony hosted a birthday at their home perhaps.

Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful birthday weekend. It started on Friday night with dinner at Kushi Izakaya. On Saturday the foodie group had hot pot at Peter's condo. Gabe and Peter bought a variety meat and veggies and other goodies. I brought some ice cream - Heavenly Hash and Black Cherry. Since we got there first we washed and chopped the stuff they bought.

Fiona made some cookies for me for my birthday. That was nice of her. Justin ended up eating most of them though.

After dinner they gave me a carrot cake cupcake with a candle on it. I made them sing, Happy Birthday, to me.

After that we played Monopoly Deal card game. I think Peter picked it up in Hong Kong while he was there. It ended up taking a lot longer to play than we expected. After than Martin and Edna went home. That left Peter, Gabe, Emily, Fiona, Justin and me.

We played Saboteur next. It's Emily's game. I played it once before when she brought it to game night at Shopsy's on Woodbine. I liked it.

This time we had seven players, which according to an online game players poll, is the best number of players to have.

The game isn't too complicated. The objective of it is either to build a path from the starting point to one of three cards opposite of it, one of which is "gold", or to block players from doing it.

At the beginning you are given a card which deems you either a miner or a "Saboteur" (the name of the game). If you are a miner you have to build a seven card path to the gold. If you are a Saboteur you have to block the miners from accomplishing that task.

You are dealt five cards next. The cards will allow you to build or block the path to the gold depending on your objective. Other cards are maps cards which allow you check one of the three cards to see which one might be the gold (so you know which one to build the path to); action cards which allow you to penalize or free people from taking their turn depending on who you believe is your enemy or ally. There is also a card that can blow up part of the path to delay the miners from their goal.

People take turns either playing a card or discarding one (if they choose not to play one). They then pick up a new card from the deck and the next player goes. If the miners don't build their path to the gold by the time the cards run out the Saboteurs win that round.

It's a really fun game. You never know who to trust. Games are short and miners and Saboteurs constantly change. Though, this evening, Justin ended up being the Saboteur at least 8 of the 10 or so games we played. I was a Saboteur twice.

We ended up staying at Peter's until nearly 2:00 a.m.

On Sunday I met Lawrence for dinner at Tucker's Marketplace near his place off Highway 401 and Highway 27.

Carol's Birthday Party

My friends Carol and Mike had a get together at their house at the end of last month. It was to celebrate Carol's birthday.

I used to work with them at Trader a number of years ago. I believe Carol left in the mid-2000's. I was let go in 2009. I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen her since she left. And, of course, I hadn't seen Mike in four years.

We've "kept in touch" through Facebook. So I'm sure we all have a general idea of what the other person has been up to (depending on how frequently you update your status). But it's not quite the same.

I think one thing that prevented me from visiting earlier was the fact that they live in Brampton. I know it's not that far from where I live, but it's far enough. Anyway, when the invitations were sent out for Carol's birthday, I figured it was long enough. I had to go over.

I got there relatively early. Not too many people had arrived yet. Carol's sisters, Claudia and Jackie, were there as well as a couple of Mike's friends.

Some of Carol's co-workers from her latest, but still former job were there. She had been working at Blackberry for awhile. But, like many others in the now struggling to stay afloat company, she had been laid off.

I was the only former Trader employee who had made it out. So I didn't have a ready made circle of friends to chat with. I made small talk with some people, but most people tend to hang out with people they already know.

Carol's parents came too. I hadn't seen them in a long time. I believe they still live in their old home in the Finch and 427 area. It was good seeing them again.

Mike and Carol have a nice house. In the basement Mike set up a small office with some of his special Star Wars "toys". I suppose you wouldn't really call them toys since they're probably quite expensive and rare. Maybe you could categorize them as collectibles.

He also set up a small theatre in the basement. It's a miniature version of a full size theatre. I have to admit it looks great. He did a really good job with it. He showed a few of us some 3-D movie trailers on it. They looked spectacular.

One movie that looked particularly good to me was The Croods. It's an animated movie about cave people and their adventures in moving from their old home to a new place. I'll have to try and make it back to watch that one sometime.

Anyway, it was good seeing Carol and "Rock" again (as in Rocky Balboa, my nickname for Mike, after his Judge Dredd, Sylvester Stallone impression). Until next time...

Steve's Birthday at Montana's

My friend, Steve, celebrated his birthday recently. A mutual friend, Bobby, organized a dinner at Montana's Cookhouse at Don Mills and Steeles for him.

Most of the attendees were from Steve's Richmond Hill Christian Community Church fellowship. As well, there were a few of us stragglers; friends of friends like me, Dickie and Big Jon.

Since I don't see the RHCCC gang very often I decided not to sit with Dickie and Big Jon. Not that I don't like hanging out with them. I just wanted to mix things up a bit. So I sat at one of the far tables. I'm not sure of the name of the girl I was sitting beside. But, later on Sam and his wife Aileen sat by me. And Pastor Fred sat opposite me when he came. So I got to chat with those guys.

My dinner was fine. I had penne with chicken. Aileen and Sam shared a steak. It looked almost raw. She ordered it medium-rare. And she said it was a bit tough. So she wasn't too happy about that. Fred had soup. He had already eaten beforehand.

I went around to take pictures for Steve. He e-mailed me earlier about doing that. Of course, Dickie and Big Jon had their cameras too. We're always snapping away at different events. I tried to take my photos early so I could put my camera away and concentrate on eating and mingling with people. But, I had to take it back out for the cake presentation and opening of gifts and things. Oh well. That's typical for an event photographer. You never get a chance to rest at all.

It was nice seeing everyone again. I don't get a chance to see the Richmond Hill gang too often. We did go out on a Sandwich Run not too long ago. The previous meeting was probably Steve's birthday one year earlier.

Michael's Birthday Dinner

Amber's Photo.

My friend Michael invited me out to his birthday dinner on Friday. I know him through my other friend, Rob. They all work together at Nadurra an eco-friendly, hardwood flooring company near Yorkdale Mall.

Michael had e-mailed me earlier in the week telling me about the dinner. It was going to be at Churrasco Villa, a Portuguese restaurant located on Eglinton, near Mount Pleasant. Only a few blocks from where I live. He said they were going to meet there between 5-6:00 p.m., but he'd get back to me to confirm the exact time.

When Friday rolled around I still hadn't heard back from him. No problem, I thought. I only live about 5 minutes from the restaurant. I didn't think they'd be able to get there that early coming from work and having to worry about traffic and parking. 5:00 p.m. rolled around and still no word.

At 6:00 I sent Michael a text and told him to let me know when they arrived at the restaurant. A short time later he replied saying they arrived at the restaurant at 5:00. Hm. I walked over quickly.

Everyone had already ordered their food sometime between 5:30 and 5:45. When I got there they had just been served. I glanced through the menu, but instead, to be quick, asked for suggestions. Brian said, the fire-grilled chicken was good. So I ordered the double-leg with seasonal vegetables and rice pilaf.

The waiter brought my dinner less than five minutes later (I'm estimating). I believe he put my order in ahead of the queue so I could join the others at my table who were already eating. That was nice of him.

It was good seeing everyone again. I don't go in as often to help at Nadurra. Normally I go in and help with labeling samples at the office. And, sometimes, they ask me to help set up or tear down at trade shows. I think they're trying to cut down on costs now. That's alright. I'd rather have my Fridays off to tell you the truth.

I got the chance to see Sandro again. He left the company a few months to a year after I had first started going in. I thought he was a really nice guy. Brian, Ian and Samantha were also there along with Ian's wife and daughter and Michael's friend, Gary, and Michael's wife, Amber. Sandro brought his young son, Luka (sp?) too.

After dinner Michael, Gary and I hung out a bit longer. We grabbed beverages at the nearby Timmies and headed over to the new Minto condos on Yonge. They have a courtyard with outdoor seating. Since it was nice out we decided to take advantage of that instead of sitting inside.

We hung out there for an hour or so and talked about a variety of things from the condition of Gary's father who is in hospital to Shin Dong-hyuk, the Korean man who escaped notorious Camp 14 in North Korea.

It was nice hanging out with the guys. I'm happy I made it out. Even if they almost forgot about me at the beginning of the night.

Dickie's Birthday

Perry organized a get together for Dickie's birthday on Sunday. We went to Japanese restaurant, Matsuda, on Steeles at Middlefield. It's an all-you-can-eat place. Our favorite kind.

This was a special birthday for Dickie, being his 50th. We had a small group of people who've known Dickie for many years. It consisted mostly of current or former CPCers (guys from Toronto Chinese Presbyterian Church). Will, me, Perry (now at RHCCC), Big Jon, Ben and Raymond (Judy and May's brother) were part of that group. So were Sid and Lawrence who couldn't make it because of prior commitments (Sid was at his niece's birthday and Lawrence at his cousin's wedding).

Steve from RHCCC (Richmond Hill Christian Community Church) and Mike who Dickie knew from working at Kodak were there too. As well, Dickie's daughter, Liana, and his mother came out. They all had birthdays around this time.

It was nice seeing the guys again. I don't see them too often. None of them attend CPC downtown any longer. They've all found new churches closer to where they live.

Of course it was great eating as much sushi as we wanted. Food is the best reason for getting a group of friends together. Eating and catching up on what everyone's been up to over the past summer. Who can ask for anything more?

Birthday Dinner #2

After my visit to High Park to see the cherry blossoms I quickly drove home. My friend William had planned a birthday dinner for me at what I thought was supposed to be 5:30 (but was, in fact, 5:45). We had decided to go to Ajimi, the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in my neighbourhood.

Will invited Dickie, Big Jon and Lawrence along. Since I got the time wrong I arrived there first with Will. Dickie and Big Jon came together, next. Lawrence was last. Late as usual. We started ordering ahead of time so we wouldn't have to wait too long for the food to come out.

It was nice having a slightly larger group. It gave me the opportunity to try more things. Normally I come here with only one other friend. So I don't get the chance to order so much. The food here is great nevertheless. And the price, $18.99 (-10% if you pay cash) for dinner is very reasonable.

Even though I see most of the guys semi-regularly, it was nice to meet up again. I'm grateful for their friendship over the years. ... Now I sort of feel old (which I suppose I am) ... Cheers.

Birthday Dinners

My friends and I went to Zakkushi Izakaya on Carlton east of Sherbourne on Friday. A couple of us were celebrating birthdays. This is the first time I've ever been to an Izakaya. It's a Japanese charcoal grill diner. Normally I go to sushi restaurants. So this was a nice change.

A few of us had Sapporo beers. This was followed by an array of appetizers, sampler Yakitori (shish kababs), tapas and deep fried items and dessert. I'll eventually post a few photos on Flickr.com/photos/mtnbiker404 . Stay tuned.

We ended the evening across the street at a small café for coffee and more dessert. A nice way to cap off the night.

Steve's Birthday

Photo by Dickie and Alan and Photoshopped together by me.

It was Steve Quan's birthday recently. I know him through Lawrence Chui. He's part of the group of young professionals who attend Richmond Hill Christian Community Church.

I was chatting with my friend, Dickie, (who also knows Lawrence and Steve) and he mentioned they were taking Steve out to dinner on Sunday. I hadn't done anything with their group in awhile so I thought I'd join them.

I arrived at 6:00 (half an hour early) from Fairview Mall where I had gone to kill some time after volunteering at the boarding home (where I go every other Sunday afternoon). Of course I was the first one there.

A couple with a baby arrived next. Unfortunately I can't remember their names.

There were other new faces as well, plus some old, familiar ones. Glen was there. So was Ernest, Wanmy, Pastor Fred and his two boys, John, Ken and Elaine, Rebecca and Bobby (from RHCCC). Of course Dickie and Big Jon came too. They're ex-CPCers who started attending the fellowship up there.

It was nice seeing everyone again and sharing a meal together. I know Steve really appreciated everyone coming out in his honour.

Sky Zone 3-D Dodgeball

On Saturday my friend, Benson, organized a group of about 20 of his friends to go to Sky Zone to play 3-D Dodgeball. The facility in Mississauga offers many different trampoline based activities. It looks pretty cool. Most of us had never done anything trampoline related before.

Benson had first become interested after seeing some photos posted on Facebook by his friends. That's how I found out about it too.

In my mind I had thought about all the different things I wanted to try. Like doing flips and things like that. When we first arrived there was a instructional video playing saying what you could and could not do. Some of the people were doing flips and twists and things. All I can say it's way harder than it looks.

We booked an hour on one of their courts. Once there a girl with Sky Zone gave us some instructions then we divided our group in two and proceeded to play. Surprisingly enough 15 minutes in we were all pooped. I for one certainly didn't expect that. But, all that jumping was more tiring than we thought it would be. Still we pressed on taking short breaks between games. It was fun for sure.

At the end I don't think there was a dry brow to be seen. Time for everyone to go home and shower before heading over to Benson's for his birthday, potluck dinner later in the evening.

Tony's Birthday

It was Tony's birthday last week. We went to his house for a barbecue on Monday, Victoria Day. Tony and Iris invited quite a few people over. Some were from Tony's home church, others were international students and some, like me, were from the church he attends regularly.

In an unusual move for the birthday boy, Tony, prepared all the food (along with his loving wife, Iris) and manned the barbecue for the duration of the afternoon.

They had a variety of yummy eats (as they usually do). Tony even barbecued some home made sausages. He made two varieties. A regular one with pork and whatever other traditional filler you use and another one with Kimichi added for a spicy kick.

You couldn't have asked for a better day. It was sunny and hot without a cloud in the sky. We spent the afternoon in their yard chatting and enjoying each other's company.

Yonni's Birthday

Back row - Sae, Haruka, Kelly, Laura; Front row - Emi, Yonni, Emily

Emily invited us over to her place for dinner to celebrate Yonni's birthday. It was a potluck dinner. As usual I brought apple pie that I bought from Metro. Trust me... I had everyone's best interest in mind. You don't want to eat my cooking.

Contrary to what the above picture shows it wasn't only me and the girls in attendance. As well as me, Mark, Kyle, Steven and Danny represented the boys. Only I never got a shot of them. Steven really wasn't a big fan of having Kyle and I taking many pictures. C'est la vie.

As well as Yonni's birthday we celebrated Danny and Sae getting engaged. He recently proposed. Steven played a sort of newlywed game where Sae and Danny had to answer questions to see how well they knew each other. It was kind of a silly game. Oh well.

We also sung on Emily's roomate's friend's Karaoke machine. Actually, it was mostly me who used it. It kept everyone entertained one way or another.

Grandma's 99th Birthday

We celebrated my grandmother's 99th birthday last night (November 18th, 2010) by going to dinner at a Chinese restaurant at Market Village (Kennedy and Steeles).

I believe her actual birthday is either on the 20th 0r 22nd. My sister couldn't remember which day either. My mother's birthday is on the other day.

My aunt, Betty, and uncle, Cheuck, from Long Island, New York drove up last Saturday. My aunt, Angela, from France flew in on Monday. My eldest cousin, Zena, and her daughter, Nicole, flew in on Wednesday. Betty is my grandmother's eldest daughter, Angela is the youngest. My mom is in the middle.

Also joining us for dinner where my father, my uncle, Jit, my sister, Karleen, and my two nephews, Avery and Aaron.

Pictured here are my grandmother and her daughters.