Series 9

Some Lego I picked up today.

Lego sells these small packages of Lego with a random character or action figure. In the series 9 packages I bought I got a judge and a guy in a chicken suit. I`m glad I got the chicken suit.

Dim sum tour guide

Dawn at dim sum

Living in Toronto in this day in age I keep forgetting that there are people out there that do not have the culinary expanse that I have been accustomed to growing up in the city. If there was any really amazing thing to tell tourists visiting Toronto it would be that Toronto, compared to anywhere else in the world, has a wide range of food, spanning multiple cultures and tastes. This is based on the limited travel I have done.

I'm not saying that other cities have lesser quality food, while you can get a po'boy in Toronto the fried fish/shrimp sandwich doesn't hold a candle to one made in New Orleans. It's a food that i've looked for in the city and just haven't found a place that is comparable. Even something like a donair is hard to find, especially if you're looking for that sweet white sauce that donairs are smothered with when you go to the east coast (Halifax).

The donair has sweet white sauce in Halifax, is called a Gyro served with taziki sauce in Toronto and is called a donair in Edmonton but served with burger condiments (ketchup, mustard, onions, relish). It's pretty fascinating.


The coveted spongy coconut custard roll

10 minutes of light

The Professor in a bowl lit by the sun

I've recently noticed my apartment gets only about 10 minutes of really bright light during the day. I think it's a seasonal thing as I don't remember that much light coming in before. It's also possible I just slept through it with the wonky hours I've had due to my sleep cycle or maybe I wasn't in the apartment at all (eg. At work, outside, or maybe even in another country).

Most of the light gets blocked by a large tree outside the house for most of the day. Today however there was so much light coming in from the window that I could have been outside. I thought it would be cool to build a miniature model with a stick and a magnifying glass as a nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Maybe this might be a bit unpractical. As my apartment is small perhaps instead of a model of a tiny city a rotating disco ball should be installed? That's fun. It's amazing the stuff you can come up with when you're half asleep.

In the end I put the hamsters in a small bowl and placed them on the window sill to take photos of them. Previously I had been taking photos of the hamsters using flashes and my studio strobes having them "pose" on a white seamless background. While the photos have been turning out okay I think the flashes terrify the hamsters, one of them at least. With Peppy there seems to be a direct correlation between the flash going off and poop being expelled. The Professor doesn't seem to be affected.

Lit by consistent light they seem fine and wander around more leisurely. I'll have to take them outside when the weather gets warmer.

Snowmageddon 2013

There`s something about wandering around taking photos when everyone has to go to work. So that`s what I did today. I wandered around in my snow boots, enjoying the outside weather, snapping some photos. To my friends that live in warmer climates, snow is fun, unless you have to shovel it.




































































Bumped into Lisa with her brilliant store sign.




A bunch of strangers help this guy in the van up a hill

Custard's last stand

Custard Tart

It was snowing today. According to the news and people on Facebook it was supposedly the start of a snowmageddon. Weary, I poked my head out of the apartment. Yes, there was snow on the ground and yes, snow was falling from the sky.

My brain told me that I should stay indoors where it was nice and warm. I looked at the ground. The snow was still fresh, there was no slush on the ground yet. Not that it really mattered, I had boots. No slush meant no ice. Snow would have had to melt then refreeze for ice covered sidewalks. It really wasn't that bad out.


There's a cyclist biking, how bad can the snow be?

I decided it was optimal conditions to do a custard tart run. About fifteen minutes away by foot was the Paris bakery, it specialized in custard tarts as well as other Portuguese breaded delights. Dumplings, custard filled buns, sugar topped baked goods, fried dumplings with chicken or shrimp, muffin like things. My mouth was watering at the thought of eating this stuff.  Also due to waking up late I hadn't had lunch yet.

I had to go outside anyway. I wanted to pick up some elastic bands to organize my AA batteries. I charge them in groups of four and have them labelled into those groups. It helps keep track of them in terms of age. If one starts to die I know the others in that group are soon to follow.

Battery sorting aside I had custard tarts on the brain for the last few days. I'm surprised I lasted this long. Part of the waiting is that the bakery is not open 24 hours. I suppose that's the only thing from keeping me from being fat, the inconvenience of acquiring these baked goods. Not today. Today I would fulfill the custard tart calling.