Merry Christmas!!!

hi everyone... the annual christmas tree & lights photo shoot... its funny how we ran in there ONLY to take a photo!!!... it wasn't easy trying to battle all the shoppers.... but.. i think we found a nice spot!
and... this year.. the city hall is dressed up as well!..... nice big tree!
and some ppl skating...

it was a really cold night.. tough to stand there and take photos without freezing!!!

plato or aristotle? ... determined at birth

some say.. u are either plato or aristotle.... and its in you, predetermined in your mind... but of course you can always argue you're a bit of both... since you can never be perfect 50/50.. you'll always lean more on one...
this image taken from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens
the famous raphael painting... to the left is plato.. and right is aristotle..

now lets look at an image of me at 3 or 4 years old...

let the truth be told... haha

Summer / Fall 2009 Toronto

hello everyone!!! sorry for the long delay in updates... i will make it up to you all in one entry!!! here we go:

to begin from the beginning of the summer... with a visit to center island with the girls:

kristy's new puppy... 
and we tried to stuff her in her backpack!... it fit.. but it didnt' work so well.. he wanted to get out!... too bad... 
that day continued to the luminato festival along the harbourfront!.. crazy acrobats!
along with a crazy bird... not sure if its a blue heron.. or a seagull?.. i think its a mix-breed?
... looking back.. we really didn't have many good weekends this summer.. most of the summer was drenched with rain.. and too cold for summer activities like the beach... i don't think i was at the beaches this year... boo!

... instead.. i did a lot of biking this year.. travelling to as far out as the niagara region:

this weekend... we rode the scenic route for a full day with another couple... its a great route... some physically demanding parts.. otherwise.. its very leisurely... and scenic!!!

another place i've never visited is the point pelee national park.. so we paid a visit on the civic holiday long weekend:

the part is a wetlands park... we spent the most wonderful time canoeing.. lots of photos were taken

below is the "point pelee".. its known for the whirlpool affect that occurs at the tip of the land.. hence "point"... this peninsula/beach has crazy waves on one side.. and calm waters on the other.... and the two waters meet at the whirlpool u see in the photo below (behind me):
more wetland lilies/birds

after that civic holiday weekend in august.. i really don't recall having any other decent sunny weekends... most included some rain/clouds.. like when we headed for a bike ride to center island:

sorta cloudy with some sunny breaks... (risking thunder storms)... but we had to get out... and enjoy as much of the summer as we can!
i also started doing yoga with my sister at the nearby community center this summer/fall!!!
and of course.. i continued with photography... we took the camera everywhere we went... and especially as we biked... it was the best way to travel thru the city... be able to cover great distances.. yet stop anywhere when i wanted a photo!... once again.. we were biking the labour day weekend with the air show at CNE:

we had parked on the west side of the city .. near this etobicoke bridge... and biked towards dt toronto... this bridge is one of my favorite places in toronto... and i love the classic corbu style pair of condos beside this bridge... i wonder what it takes for a unit here ?

and then.. after 7 years.. my best friend got engaged!!! finally.. yah!

and of course... the girls were over to help prepare some food.. and here i am having some fun:
congrats janine and jason!!!! muah!

and then a little further along in september... we made a visit to the zoo.. here's a crazy shot i love!!!! its one of those moments that just happened to be captured... 

we meant to capture this instead: (haha... i guess in the previous photos.. the owl needed a stretch)
and also my favorite.. polar bear... his paw:
i love this photo... it sorta says the world!!!! 

and then.. b4 we knew it.. fall had fallen upon us!!! time for hikes!!!.. this is silver creek trail... somewhere along the bruce trail:

it was a busy fall.. many family events... i was glad that thru all the issues we had... we were able to take some time for a great walk!... it always relaxes the mind!

and then.. just a couple of weeks ago... b4 cirque de soleil "ovo" show leaves town... we were able to see the wonderful show!!! 

and then the lastest photo at the distillery district... a new wall of hoarding had gone up for some new construction activity... it was nice hoarding.... i happened to match it.. hohoho:

hope you enjoyed this update!!! i will try to keep up the posts... i dunno why its slipped out of my schedule to do so... oops

take care everyone! more posts soon.. for sure!

Japan 2009 ~ Part 21 - Tokyo

Day 13 > Tokyo (Tsukiji Fish Market > Asakusa > Ginza > Tokyo Forum > .... toronto

we packed our bags early that morning and left it at Tokyo JR station.. from here.. we would grab the Narita express to the airport later that day... we locked our luggage here.. let me explain later how difficult this actually was.. 

but for now.. lets go for some of the best sushi/sashimi in the world!!!!..  this is the outskirts of the fish market:

those trolleys/carts are unique for shipping fish around in this market... they're small for easy maneuver around the tight spaces of this market... some other ingredients for sushi making.. fresh wasabi.. pickles.. pepper..:
and.. after walking for a while.. we decided to eat here:
some fresh fish.. still in the box:
our sushi chef:
yummy !!!

more big eye red fish:
we had to save the best meal for last... so we leave with a good impression... the fish was amazing.. absolutely delicious.. 

after that.. we would head to asakusa.. for the famous temple there.. a tourist must in tokyo.. keith wanted to see.. so...here we are:

not much there... as kyoto and nara has proven to be much more impressive... plus... there are too many tourists here.. and much too commodified.. we moved to Ginza... just to see what high end shopping is like:
crazy parking lots with no room for turning radius.. so there is turning mechanism and elevators to send cars up and down...
from Ginza.. we walked thru the Tokyo Forum.. to make our way back to Tokyo station to pick up our luggage:
this is a big conference center... the architecture is world renowned.. so i had to visit:







no more need to be said... and now back to the story about storing away our luggage... in a world where everything is so advanced... so are the lockers.. to live in tokyo ... one must have a 'Suica' card... which is like the octopus card in hk.. where u store money on it.. and it gives u credit to do anything.. from buying groceries.. to paying for bus fares.. in tokyo.. they've taken this system to everything.. including luggage lockers:
these were everywhere... it was all they had... almost.. because we were travelling on the JR pass.. we did not want/need to buy a suica for public transport... we had trouble finding a locker to lock up... after much running about.. we found these 'ancient' lockers:
yay... so.. now it was time to say good bye... fish our luggage out again.. and head on the narita express to the airport:

farewell japan... until next time!