The tree comes down....finally

It is true that I love Christmas. In fact, I try to prolong it as long as possible. I put the lights, decorations and the Christmas tree in the first week of December. And I finally took the everything down today. Actually I had to do it as the recycling truck was due to pick up the Christmas trees tomorrow. They are destined for a new life as mulch. In fact, I had this tree so long, it actually started to sprout new tips. Alas, the end of the Yuletide season.

Masterpiece Dinner

Before Nardac and her hubby returned to Paris last Tuesday, they treated the family to a very special Japanese dinner. New York City's Nobu was an excellent culinary experience and Tojo's will always have a special place in my heart for being the first and best Omakase meal I have had. However, I was very pleased to discover that Toronto has its very own Kaiseki restaurant.

Sakura is a very quiet and unimposing restaurant. The Japanese staff were very attentive with serving and explaining each dish. We choose a six course Omakase meal. Nardac, her husband and I chose to pair our dishes with an alcoholic beverage. Nardac faithfully documented the meal in pictures and in words on her Flickr site. The highlight among highlights for me was the sashmi dish: grouper coated with rice crackers and yellowtail with gold flakes....who wouldn't love a restaurant that serves you gold. My favourite cocktail was a cucumber, peach and sake blend called ykuri. Each dish was a feast for all the senses.

I have since read some reviews complaining about the small portions at Sakura. Perhaps these reviewers ordered a few dishes, or maybe they did not take the time to savour the meal. After leisurely consuming the fourth of six courses which was the grilled dish of duck, scallops, shitake mushrooms, I had had my fill. To think I managed to consume the 3-day stewed beef tongue, a bowl of soba noodles and pickled shiso and dessert as well. However, I now have another theory. Perhaps these reviews needed more starch to fill their bellies. My own father declared that he still felt hungry after the meal was completed. But you see, he needs to eat bread with a meal in order to feel full. You could have rolled home the rest of dinner party.

Kudos to my brother-in-law for remaining upright and conscious when the bill came. Many thanks for a masterpiece farewell dinner.

Belated New Year Greetings

Thank goodness Christmas comes but once a year. After a fabulous Christmas dinner and other meals with the sister Nardac and her hubby, I set off to Winnipeg to met Mr. Hippo's family. Considering he has seen most of my immediate family, it did seem rather odd that I am just meeting his after a year of serious dating. The experience was not at all like "Meet the Fockers". It was a touching event and very enjoyable event.

Of course when everyone I knew hear about my coming sojourn to Winnipeg, the knowing smiles and nudges came to light. It is not long before someone who say, "so when's the wedding?" So greatly exaggerated is the importance of the "meeting the future-in-laws".

I was warmly greeted by the entire family. In fact, I saw almost all of Mr. Hippo's relations in Winnipeg (minus two estranged cousins). This is no small feat as two of his uncles are not on speaking terms and avoid all family functions where they may meet by accident. No one really knows how the rift occured. Curious to see that every family has its own estrangements. Another odd realization was that sibilings may not appear related. Nardac and I are rarely identified as sisters. Mr. Hippo and Bubba, his brother look even less likely to related.

I participated in a long time family tradition of welcoming in the new year at Mr. Hippo's parents home. They were engaged on New Year's eve those many years before and so the event is twice significant. So I break with tradition now and post a picture of the party.

I was also coldly greeted by a winter storm which dumped about 36cm in less than 12 hours. So much snow fell on the day before New Year's eve, it threatened most New Year's eve celebrations including my own. Mr. Hippo and his brother in law, diligently, spent most of the day digging out of his sister's home in order to get to his parent's home which awa just a mere 10 minutes away by car and about 50 minutes on foot...perhaps closer to 90 minutes with the snow covered roads.

But alas if this confirms your oldest sterotypes of Winterpeg, the temperature climbed to 6 degrees during the first week of January. Record setting temperature highs were broken not only in Winnipeg but all across Canada in fact. Perhaps there is some truth to that Al Gore film.

A very Family Christmas

It really has been six years since my family all sat down to have a meal at Christmas. My sister now lives in France with her husband and my parents until two years ago lived in Singapore. Hence, geography was not in our favour for the holidays. That all changed last evening with a grand Christmas even dinner prepared by my sister.

Turkey is NOT on our family Christmas menu. This is most unfortunate for my sister's husband and my boyfriend, Mr. Hippo who both simply adore it. In fact, Mr. Hippo cheekly remarked that he was returning home to Winnipeg on Christmas day for the sole purpose for eating this bird. A very expensive meal indeed.

The meal was mostly inspired by french cuisine with a little Singapore side addition. Nardac, my sister, prepared an excellent meal of Roast Duck with a lovely citrus sauce. She then rounded off the menu with beans and asparagus in garlic and butter, wild rice with chanterelle mushrooms, fresh orange wedges and fried bean sprouts favoured with salted dried fish (more singaporean than french of course). The real surprise for me was the apple, potato and leek puree with a hint of Guiness. Yum Yum. Mr. Hippo was slightly appalled to discover the half drunk can in the fridge later.

This was washed down with French Champagne, French Red Wine, Italian Chanti and English Guiness. After the Anglo-French summit was concluded, other strange and bizarre photos were found. Merry Christmas everyone....*hic

VOIP evolution: Skype to Freecall

I may be a late comer to this game but let me express my absolute delight at discovering the joys of voice over the internet phone access. First there was Skype to which my sister introduced me and then Mr. Hippo re-introduced me. To date, computer to landline calls within Canada and USA through Skype have been free but in the new year, a charge of $15 per year will apply in January 2007. Again, this is no big expense considering what long distance companies have been charging for years. Overseas calling of computer to landline or mobile through Skype is quite low at 1-2 cents per minute.

As torrents have overtaken Kazaa/Limewire/Napster, a new kid on the block has appeared in VOIP called Freecall. Free calls from computer to landlines to many countries throughout the world from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, France, etc. I tried it out last night and called my grandmother in Singapore. Wow, the clarity was amazing and she certainly couldn't tell the difference. A whole hour (that was the limit) free long distance calling...so why are we still paying for long distance with Vonage, Rogers, Primus, Bell, etc. With Freecall, you can even choose to take the long distance calls on your home phone (no added technology required).

Google FreeCall and check it out yourself.

The Smells, Sounds and Sights of the Season

Nothing says it better with food. So I must begin my holiday season with a kitchen party. A small gathering of friends with a twist. In place of cooking for them, I decided to hold a cooking party. After all, everyone is always wondering where the recipe for this or that is. On this holiday menu was no ordinary, run of the mill standard fare. No turkey or roasted ham or stuffing or cranberry sauce....none of which I have any liking for.

Instead, a spread of mee siam, rojak, chicken cacciatore and ayam prawns (many thanks to Ms. Crowded House for getting these from Loblaws) was prepared with a little help from my friends. These celebrations also allow me to catch up with their lives. Desi assured us that no other misfortunes visited her on her dive trip to Palau. Despite a hard week with her two sons, Ms. Jane Austen enjoyed the party as did her husband. Can't wait to see their new BMW SUV! Desi is getting a little something of this deal too. Not just a new car but an Audi A4. My little Jetta is going strong after the repair work from the accident was done. The party was such a success that I think another session will be planned soon for Chinese New Year.

The sounds of the seaon were brought in by the annual reading of a Christmas Carol. This event is sponsored by the CBC each year with ticket sales being donated to literacy groups across Canada. This is my third year of attendance.

It all started with an invitation from my pals in Hamilton, Juventus and his wife Limerick. Last year, I introduced Mr. Hippo to this Christmas tradition of mine. We went to Oakville and for this year's reading, it was off to Georgetown. Ken Sylvester was the CBC reader present. Although his recitation of the Ghost of Christmas Present was very boisterous, jovial and entertaining, it was Vera MacDonald who stole the show while she read the staves on the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Carols were sung between the chapters and I was not surprised to learn that Dickens himself had started this Christmas tradition of public readings of this truncated version of his tale.

It is nearly here now, one week before Christmas eve. I am a big fan of Christmas despite not being a devout Catholic. I also love the decorations and get started early on the trimmings of the season.

The sights of the season begin with the Christmas tree. This year, it is a Douglas Fir and more appropriate in size for the living room. Yesteryear's tree was nearly eight feet where this one is closer to seven feet. This tree also sheds a lot less needles but provides sufficient room for the cat to slumber beneath its branches.

The smell of the tree is great too. Imagine walking in a forest beneath the bright moonlight crunching on a blanket of fresh snow to stimulate those scents in your brain. This year, a simple theme of Red and Gold in ribbons, balls and lights.

This year's celebrations will be made even more special with the arrival of my sister Nardac and her husband, Mr. Moustache. In fact, this is the first Christmas when we will all be together since I don't remember when. Very exciting as Nardac and Mr. Moustache will meet Mr. Hippo too. I hope there'll be a some snow too. Can hardly wait!

After the Credits

After having watching over 10 movies on the flights to and from Singapore to Toronto, I made a little observation regarding a new trend in movie making. I am referring to that little extra teaser or perhaps reward for those few who have sat through the last 5 minutes of the movie watching the credits. This little 1-2 minute film strip can be just a fun tid bit or a meaningful link to a sequel. I cite these films:

First, in animated film Cars, the end film strip is of the "typical" american couple (depicted as cars of course) still lost somewhere in America. The "wife" car pleading with her "husband" to please stop and ask someone for directions. The scene ends with a "fly" car hitting the screen.

Second, in Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Men's Chest, the extra scene is of the dog on Cannibal island is seated on the throne of bones with (yes, you guessed it) a long bone in its mouth. The natives of the island are celebrating the coronation of their new canine lord.

Thirdly, in You, Me and Dupree, the last few minutes belong to Lance Armstrong who makes yet another cameo appearance in this movie. He lies on the grass reading a motivational book written by the Dupree charater speaking the words: Lance-ness, Lanceness.

Fourthly, in X-men 3, this last film's extra post-credit scene was so important, the ushers at the theatre were actively instructing movie patrons to stay and see it. The voice of Xavier arises from his hospital bed. The audience learns that he didn't really die in the film. Then again, it is a comic book and does anyone really die in the comics. Jean Grey already did it once. However, the movie foretells the return of the Professor in likely the 4th X-men movie.

I still puzzled as to the reason for this trend in movie making. Is this to force us to stay through the credits and read who the Gaffer was or who the Personal assistant to Mr. B. Pitt was? Aside from the X-men 3 scene, most of these film scenes add nothing to the main body of the film. Most of the audience at these movies have actually begin to review the movie as they wait for that "after credits" scene. But, in the advent of DVD, most of us will probably just fast forward to the end... the "after credits" end that is.

Misadventures in Diving

Desi and I also spent a not so busy day diving near Menjangan Island (Deer Island). It is a national park and the waters are protected from the usual currents around Indonesia. The reefs are in quite good shape and I did see some lovely clownfish, scorpionfish, a small lionfish as well as several interesting nudibrachs.

The final disaster (to date on this trip) for Desi was the onset of a crippling headache at the end of the first dive. She could barely raise her head after exitin the water and was profoundly lightheaded too. The divemaster had to help her off with her equipment as she sat paralyzed by this blinding headache. Perhaps it was the heat or maybe lack of proper hydration or maybe a combination of the two. This headache did not let up until about an hour and a half. She reported feeling 98% better. However, about 7 minutes into our second dive, she had to abort the dive as her headache returned. She surfaced quickly as the divemaster and I completed the remainder for this second 55 minute dive. I beginning to worry that she had a case of decompression illness and recalled that the nearest decompression chamber was in Singapore (2.5hours away by air).

Thankfully, she recovered and all seemed well on the ride home. After dinner, she had a precipitous relapse of lightheadness and nausea. She went to bed immediately. I hope this is not a harbinger of her future experiences in diving as the next stop in her vacation was a seven day liveaboard trip in Palau. One further insight into what may have been the cause came from Wayan, the divemaster. He commented that she had issues with buoyancy. Her depth would fluctuate rapidly during the dive and hence, the wild changes in baro pressure may have contributed to her headache. Sadly, not the first time I have heard this comment about her diving.

Ubud and Tanah Lot

Desi and I did manage to leave the resort on two day trips. The first was to to area about Ubud, the cultural and artscentre of Bali. The most amazing trait of the various "factories" from the silversmiths to the Batik makers to the wood carvers is the attention to detail.

There was a 70 year old woman putting micro size silver petals on flower earrings....see the above pictures. Another episode of Desi's unlucky adventures occured at the start of the trip. Her digital camera of only a year old malfunctioned. The LCD screen colours were totally off. Everyone's skin looked ashade of green or blue making Hulks and Beasts of all in the camera's eye. I think this may be the monitor only and suggested she not give up on the camera. Unfortunately, she did not takeany other above water pictures of Bali. Thankfully her dive camera was in working condition. I did suggest that maybe she should try to get the camera repaired before buying another one....but she seems set on getting a new one after seeing my newest toy.

We did a little bit of shopping in the Batik (fabric printing), Silverand Wood carving factories. I did try my hand at some bargaining and did get them to lower their prices to about 60% of the asking price atone locale. The Neka Art Museum was also stop....yes there was some mordern art as well interesting photographs of Bali from before WWII. The day ended with a wonderful sunset viewing of Tanah Lot Temple...there is never a bad sunset in Bali. This Hindu temple is carved from a rock on the beach. At high tide, the temple is isolated from the mainland. Waves crash along its side making it quite a tourist attraction at dusk.

Bali Resort

Medewi Beach resort seems the perfect get a away. There are no land lines, no internet and a few TV channels accessible by satellite. Just the way I like it. This area of Bali is noted for its black sandbeaches. However, the long stretches of the beaches remind me of Pelican Beach in the Bahamas where I last had a romantic walk with Hippo.

It was the rainy season but on most days, it rained for but 2 hours in the afternoon before clearing up to offer that gorgeous Balinese sunset. The pool at the resort was a lovely oasis from the humidity of the day. Desi and I relaxed by the pool and enjoyed a Balinese massage and facial treatment.

My episode of vomiting in Singapore only lasted 24hrs which means it was likely food poisoning. No problems with sampling the diet of Indonesia.

In the continuing adventures of Desi's luck, we can add another chapter....the missed flight. She stayed in Manila overnight after flying from Toronto. She was to catch her flight to Bali at around 10am. However, she misread the flight departure time at noon and missed her flight by 2 hours. Singapore Airlines was quite flexible and she managed to get on a later flight at only an added cost of $50. She arrived at shortly before midnight instead the expected time of 10pm. Needless to say, I was fast asleep.

Singapore Food

In no particular order, these are just some of my favourite foods in Singapore. The next evolution of technology should incoporate some element of taste or smell. Boy am I hungry again.

Po-Piah
Otah






Chili Crab (Left)


Gado Gado (Below)

Mee Siam (Hawker Stall)

Fish Head Curry (Banana Leaf Apollo)

Sleepless Birthday

Okay it is 3:30am and I just woke up after going to bed at 6:30pm yesterday. This jet lag thing is quite drag with the additional bonus that I have to work tomorrow. Thankfully, Red didn't put me on call (so considerate and so knowledgeable that it is my birthday today). However, given my sleep alterations, being on call may not be a bad thing.

Hippo picked me up from the airport at 6:30am yesterday morning. Poor fellow was rather tired too. I unpacked my clothes, souvenirs too and washed and put everything away before heading to bed 12 hours later.

So after lying in bed for the past hour, I answered my emails (personal and office), paid my bills (internet, snail mail), sent some books to my sister nardac for her birthday and am now proceeding to organize my photos from the trip. Gradually becoming more tired again.

Can't wait to fall asleep at tonight's birthday meal. What a way to begin my 34th year of existence.

Internet access

Well for a country with lots of computers, my search for free internet access has ended with great success. These coffee shops and mobile phone stores in Singapore were the jackpot. So what has happened in the past week.

I paid a surprise visit of a former vice principal of mine, Miss D, with my sister's godmother and wouldn't you know it but she recogized me despite the fact she hadn't seen me in almost 25 years. She could identify that I was one of two daughters that my mom had. Although she could not recall my name or if I was the first or second daughter.

The list of food is quite endless but I have documented each meal with my camera which will feature in a future blog.

I have been out with my cousin, Tym quite a few times including a lovely Tiffin at the Raffles Hotel. She was not surprised to know Mr. Hippo...given that she reads my blog and has access to the pictures on Flickr too this should come as no surprise.

I had also been to Man Fatt Temple, the temple where my maternal grandparents reside in the afterworld apartments of urns. Lots of renovations to the temple have been done but there seemed to be more monks about that I recall.

One of my mother's brothers brought me here. He is losing his hair and his wife is losing her hearing. She seems to shout rather than talk to everyone. After visiting Man Fatt Temple, it was off to have a grand dinner of chilli crabs, black pepper baby squid and a noodle dish called meegoreng.

No shoe purchases to date but my cousin's husband Terz, took me shopping for a new digital camera. Now, I am the proud owner of aCanon IXUS 850 IS....7.1 mpeg with image stabilization (just what a drunk photographer or underwater photographer needs). I did check out the camera on line and there is an associated underwater housing available too. Nothing like a little technology to please miss gadgetgirl.

Unfortunately I had a bout of food poisoning likely from the meal with my godmother and her family. It did not surface literally until I was out with another family friend and also our lawyer. She was quite thoughtful when last evening's activities was cut short after I threw up three times after dinner.The night however was not without a little shopping success in LittleIndia. I did obtain a few Bollywood films: Mangel Pandey and Devdas.

Despite the recent illness, I am looking forward to the last dish on my must eat list in Singapore: Fish Head Curry.

A quiet day

Well the jet lag finally caught up with me. I slept through most of yesterday afternoon and evening. Thankfully i have gone out to get some fine dining: gado gado and rojak to sustain. My aunt's place in addition to a lack of home computer also lacks any real food in the refrigerator. I did buy some soya milk, regular milk and fruit too.

It is suprisingly easy to get a sim card, phone number and prepaid calling cards in Singapore as a visitor. So now my relatives can contact me any time and anywhere. Even managed to get some groceries for my sister and mother.

I did discover that I have the same shoe size as my aunt which is quite a joy as I did not bring any flats to Singapore....silly me and we share the same taste in movies: serious, and subtitled i.e. foreign. I even watched Ararat, a Canadian movie, I do acknowledge the irony of watching this in Singapore.

Today, my cousin and I did a brief tour of the soon to be torn down National Stadium. There is even a Sports museum in stadium. I didn't know there was a Grand Pree in Singapore. Built in 1973 but soon to replaced by something newer and more modern. Such is the way of Singapore.

Returning to the Native

It has been a busy build up to my trip to Singapore. I finally got my car back from the body shop and the repair is quite amazing. Then my computer also came back from the repair shop after being bogged down by adware ads! The flight or rather flights to Singapore were uneventful.

Trans-pacific flights have much in common with the field ofobstetrics. The sleep deprivation for one thing is easier to dealwith. I did manage to grab a solid three hours on the flight leg from Toronto to Vancouver, another 5 hours on the Vancouver to Soeul portion and another four hours from the Seoul to Singapore leg. 'Tis a gift to sleep upright in an uncomfortable chair but that's another skill I mastered as a resident in obstetrics.

Then there is the eternity of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror (bad turbulence) or joy (the arrival). In obstetrics,this would be the equivalent of waiting for the delivery and then having to do a stat C-section (terror) or then the birth (joy).

Finally, the very close quarters and lack of space which recall theliving conditions of Roman galley slaves predispose to a DVT...blood clot which forms in the leg which may fragment and migrate to the lungs...extremely bad. Naturally, after my left leg became swollen on the third and final leg of my flight, I became concerned.
There was no pain in the leg and the skin colour remained unchanged (both good things). By the following morning it was back to normal. After experiecing this degree of pedal edema, I will soon be doning TEDs pressure stockings. This does not bode well for future pregnancies.

After arriving at about ten after midnight, I then had some roti plata (great dish consisting of indian bread and curry dish) with my cousin and her family. Then it was off to my aunt's place. It is a gorgeous apartment on the sixteenth floor. Although the night was warm, there was a cool breeze blowing through the place.

Her apartment though is most certainly not kid or pet friendly. It has a NC-19 rating: you would need to be a mature individual of at least 19 years to enter. The place is decorated with loads of paintings, rugs and ceramics as well as other antiques. The most striking thing is the lack of a home computer (by choice of course).

I have contacted my uncles and soon to enjoy some family time in the next few days. For today, I walked a bit about the Merlion Park and Esplande (one of the newest malls in Singapore). The Merlion is the symbol of Singapore (at least the one adopted by the tourism board) and sits at the mouth of the Singapore river. It has the head of a lion and the body of a fish...hence the name.

The Esplande is home to the new arts centre (performing and visual). The building itselfi s quite controversial as it resembles a local fruit called the durian. That's art for you.

Thanksgiving

My family's Thanksgiving meal is not a traditional one. No one can stand turkey or ham. We're not real fans of stuffing either...or at least the bread crumb kind. Instead, we had a BBQ in honour of the lovely warm weather. Chili chicken skewers, pork cutlets, beets, corn and rosemary roasted potatoes were washed down with some chanti.

Instead of the usual football game, we took pictures from my parent's recent holiday in Ireland. The seascapes and ruins left me with the impression that Ireland is very windy and very wet. In fact, it did rain a little everyday they were there. It is no wonder with such a climate that the emerald island has earned this island its nickname.

In direct contrast, the Niagara escarpment is going golden and scarlet. Walking through the various parks and conservation areas around Milton, crisp scent of autumn was in the air. Quite wonderous to take in nature that is but a few steps from your home. The afternoon hike around Mill Pond revealed a bit of history. The hiking trail lies on the path, millworkers of old would take to the Old Mill. Today, only the pond is left from Milton's early days as a rural village.

La Nuit Blanche Boring TO

That all night art festival in the wet night in Toronto was quite a disappointment. This event that was launched in Paris and held in other world capitals from Madrid to Brussels and even in Montreal was to be showcase of art in Toronto. It was more tacky than style. The best of the night's offerings were in Yorkville. The "Hold that Thought" exhibit in the lovely church at the corner of Avenue Road and Bloor Street was what the night could have been. A chance to encounter the quiet private spaces of the city normally reserved to a precious few. "To a watery grave" at the UC college was another clever collection of pieces in private gallery mixed with a sound bite of a ?drowning death in the UC quadrangle.

The rest of it,well it was very weird and quite frankly lacking in originality. The students chained to the stairs in front of UC college attempting to paper the floor, the collection of family board games in the OACD courtyard and the neon word poetry on Baldwin were quite uninspired. The fog at Philosopher's Walk was more touristy than art. Surreal though it was to see the mayor TO David Miller stubbling the mist with the students. The little round table discussion on art in the Buttery park was quite lame.

Not sure if I can recommend La Nuit Blanche to anyone if there was a second event or perhaps the question is will there be another La nuit blanche in TO.

Is this really ten thousand dollars worth in damages?

Well statistics finally caught up with me and I was involved in an accident a major highway. The story is short and rather ordinary. Jeep fails to stop and then rear my Jetta which then hits the Saab in front me which then hits the Minivan in front of it. Everyone got out of their vehicles uninjured. In an ironic twist of fate, the woman driving the Saab was 30 weeks pregnant and somewhat distressed. In the end though, the jeep, my jetta and the saab were all towed. For the past two weeks, I have been driving a rental Civic at some other insurance company's expense. Now I get to drive it for a bit longer as Ms. Greta Jetta gets a $10 000 makeover. All this is a result of a night out to the last film I was to have seen at the Toronto Film Festival. How anti-climatic was this end.

A List Stars

At this year's Toronto Film Festival, I have already seen more stars in two days than in all the days I spent at last year's film festival. I am seeing the same number of films but this year, the movies all seem to be more mainstream. Is mainstream a bad thing?

Well I guess it depends on why you want to see the movies. Sure some of the films seen here may never to show anywhere else. Either lack of interest, inability to find a distributor, perhaps some are so awful, they do belong in a straight to DVD pile. Others are hidden gems lost forever.

However, seeing Stranger than Fiction was a mainstream film that was worth the price of its A-List stars: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman. A few words of introduction and some improv humour followed by a really enjoyable, darkly comic and romantic movie. It reaffirmed my belief that TIFF is the film festival that is most accessible to the public. Today's screening of The Last Kiss, with a screenplay by Paul Haggis echoed this sentiment.

In direct contrast is the Post-modern life of my Aunt. Captivating acting by the lead but the story line meandered. The perspective of the story was allegedly from that of her nephew yet the boy makes appearance only the start and end of the film. Add in a "moon" fantasy sequence that left most people scratching their heads and jarring change in the tone of the film from romantic comedy to greek tragedy to get a thoroughly disjointed movie. Yet, I do think it was worth watching if only of the delightful performance of Chow Yuen Fat.

And so I await the coming 6 films left to view at this year's TIFF with great anticipation for each movie holds new promise.

TIFF

Yes, just like that Staples commercial says, it is that most wonderful time of the year....the start of fall. The air gets crisp, the leaves change colour, the harvest comes in and the film festival in TO gets the whole season off to wonder start. I love movies. Not just the artsy type too, although my family and friends would probably defer. Going to TIFF is for me like a food tour of Singapore. The choices are wide and varied and never a disappointment.

There is also something to please everyone's palette. This year is no exception. An opera based on a ancient Hindu text, a documentary on a landscape photographer, a film noir cartoon feature. What about the stars you say? Well, yes sometimes festivals are measured by the number of stars who attend or rather by the parties they attend. Although I don't go out of my way to see them, it is rather fun to run into one or two as they prowl the city.

And the food of course. Nothing like being downtown to get back to some of my favourite restaurants. Recently, someone commented on how well I knew the restaurants, theatres, shops, etc of the city. This despite the fact that I have not lived in Toronto for more than 10 years. However, each time I make the trip back, it is like going home again.