Lunch at Hilkka's

Pastor Hilkka invited a few of us over to her and Misa's place for lunch last Sunday. They share an apartment on Bayview, not far from Tyndale University. After church I went up with her, while Willy drove Tony and Iris after dropping his son Wilson off at home.

Upon arrival I met their big, orange cat, Sammy. After checking me out he promptly went into the closet in one of the bedrooms to hide. Really, Sammy... really? He wouldn't even come out for a treat.

While waiting for the others to arrive I had a look through Hilkka and Misa's Shutterfly creations. Like me, they also like to make books with Shutterfly. While I usually make books of my travels, Hilkka concentrates on her many nature shots. She shoots all year round which is great.

Lunch was wonderful. Misa spent a lot of time preparing her version of different Indian dishes. She starts with a traditional dish and adds a signature twist to her particular taste.

After lunch we had tea and dessert and chatted about various topics around the table. We had an interesting talk about drawing trees which Tony started. He says you can find out a lot about a person from how they draw them.

Thanks to Misa and Hilkka for a lovely afternoon!

Yes, 186

We had another outing this past Sunday at Kennedy Bowl with the church group. We've started going there semi-regularly because they have a great deal on Sundays after 4:00 for $2.00 a game.

Unfortunately it seems to be quite popular. Sid tried to book a couple of lanes for 4:00, but was told the earliest we could get was for 5:30. It wasn't a big deal for me. I was coming from my boarding home visit.

To kill a bit of time beforehand I had my hair cut at the $6.00 place at Victoria Park and Lawrence.

The time wasn't so convenient for some of the others. It pushed into dinnertime so they weren't able to come. In the end it was just me, Sid, Willy, Steve Chong and Ed.

Ed and Steve joined the black bowling shoe club each buying a pair from Rodney's Pro Shop before the game. Now six of us (Ray, Sid, Willy, Steve, Ed and I) have the same pair of bowling shoes.

Steve came a bit late because he had to take his son to his hockey lessons I believe. The rest of us started first.

I found the same ugly, green 14 pound bowling ball that Willy and I used last time. I like the spacing between the thumb and fingers. Ed found a slightly lighter ball which he and Willy shared.

It was nice bowling two people per lane. The game went much faster. You could stay in rhythm much more easily.

Steve joined us after we all finished our first game. To catch up he bowled on both lanes.

I did quite well in my second game scoring a total of 161. That's my highest score since we started a few months ago.

On our next game Willy bowled a stellar 166 to beat my previous high. The pressure was on.

Normally we only bowl three games. But we decided to go once more. That's when I really got into a groove. In my first four frames I scored a spare, strike, strike, spare before bowling a clunker of 7 and 2.

I got back on my horse and bowled another strike, spare, strike, before the wheels fell off again and I bowled a 5 and 2.

Luckily I finished off with two strikes and a 7 for 186. Not too bad. I think I was fairly consistent throughout the evening bowling in the 120s, 130s, 161 and 186.

I sure hope I can keep it up.

Just Bowling

Willy's the man behind our bowling outings. For the past few months we've been going to Club 300 up in Markham to bowl every 4 to 6 weeks. Usually he manages to round up 5 or 6 guys. From pastor Tom to Winston Ling and everyone in between.

We've probably gone four or five times now. It's becoming a regular event. Most of us are beginners. Though, Tom, actually took bowling in college when he was back in Illinois. I guess they offer it in school in the U.S. Not so much here. He even has his own ball and shoes.

I don't know if that's what gave us the idea of getting our own shoes or not. Either that or we just worked the math out in our heads... if we were going to continue going this many times and we rented for $3.50 each time, how many times would we need to go before we could actually buy our own shoes?

Sid and Willy looked into buying shoes first. Sid found a couple of places in Mississauga. One was selling shoes for $40 a pair. I think I saw their website too. A couple of days later he told me he found a place in Scarborough at Lawrence and Kennedy. The store was in a bowling alley on the lower level of a strip mall. After talking with the owner a bit he bought a used ball and a pair of shoes.

Before our next bowling event Willy and I went there too. It was Sunday afternoon and we were actually on our way up to Club 300. We scoped out the alley and saw that they had a Sunday afternoon special - after 4:30 p.m. you could bowl for $2 a game. Wow... cheap!

We walked into the small store which was located right by the stairs where you enter. The owner remembered, Sid (who had yet to pick up his re-drilled ball with new custom-fit holes). We talked to him and he told us about bowling balls. Instead of buying a cheap new ball, he recommended getting a good used one for about the same price. It spins better he told us.

He also told us that heavier balls were better. We told him we liked using 10 or 11 pound balls. He said that's what the ladies used. Guys were supposed to use balls that were at least 14 pounds or more. Oh well. I guess I'm going to be bowling like a girl now.

We told him we were interested in getting shoes too. He showed us his cheapest pair at $60 before tax. They were the same ones Sid bought. We tried them on. They felt fine to me. I had no idea what they were supposed to feel like. We bought them.

We took them up to Club 300 where we immediately put them through their paces. Our first game wasn't very good. All five of us (Ray, Steve Chong, Sid, Willy and I) barely scored over 100. We took turns bowling for Tom who came late. He actually ended up with one of the top scores of that game due to our collective bowling prowess.

Our second game was slightly better. I improved the most bowling 152 if I remember correctly. Ray gave me a bit of advice about trying to hit the head pin on a slight angle. Ideally you would do it by spinning the ball. Since none of us could do that I stepped to the right a bit and tried to hit it from the side that way. It seemed to work. I got a number of strikes and spares that game.

19 more times... that's how many outings we have to go before we get our money back on our shoes. See you at the alley!