March 15, 2011
This is how I accomplished goal number 77 on my 101 in 1001.
I painted this during our morning at Montessori.
It's hard to believe how such a simple exercise could be so therapeutic, and so rewarding to complete.
In fact, it's so therapeutic and rewarding that I'm going to go buy some paints for myself. Seriously!
March 13, 2011
Have you ever bought something, or contemplated buying something, and you thought to yourself, "I could probably make this myself for a fraction of the price"? That though pops into my head a lot, and for this round of Asian cooking, I followed through with that thought. Twice.
There were a couple days where I was craving char siu fahn (BBQ pork rice) so I went out to the nearby shopping centre to eat in the food court. As I sat there eating, I decided once again that I didn't want to pay for such a simple dish I could easily make for myself at home. Char siu and rice. How hard could that be?
Well, theoretically, it's quite simple. You get yourself a piece of pork, smother it with char siu sauce, let it sit for a while, then stick it in the oven. The effort was minimal. The results... well, let's just say I was a little disappointed. Even after following the instructions exactly, it didn't come out tasting like normal char siu. My mom suggested getting a different cut of meat or using chu hou paste instead. Either way, I'll probably give this one another go after I get over the disappointment. 
Then, I was craving some hot pot, so we had that one night. And by hot pot, I mean that I was standing over the stove tossing in all our typical hot pot ingredients while the boys played on the computer. The first time we had hot pot (steam boat) in Australia was with some friends for Chinese New Year. One of them had brought some potato starch noodles, which I was instantly hooked on. Nathan, on the other hand, fell in love with fish tofu.
I love having noodles with hot pot. In fact, when we hot pot with my family, I'm the designated noodle cooker. It's a very important job. I take it very seriously. 
I may have went a little overboard with the noodles. But the leftovers were soooo good. All that flavour soaked up into fat, slurpy noodles. Yum!
In another effort to save ourselves $14.50 for five measly pieces of meat, I attempted to make one of Andrew's favourites - salt and pepper pork. He used to order this all the time and I wouldn't touch it. I'm not sure why, but I think I had some sort of fear of the unknown. Well, I finally gave it a try and now I'm hooked (again) and regretting that I didn't try it sooner. 
This dish turned out much better than the char siu. It was gone in minutes.
The last dish for this round was "Swiss wings". In a quick search on the Internet, I found that there was no real way of making these. I ended up calling up my friend who gave me the typical Chinese "add a bit of this and that" type of recipe. Not really knowing how much of "this and that" to add, I threw together some of the ingredients I could remember and hoped for the best. 
The wings turned out fine. The flavour wasn't as intense as the time she made it, but I later found out it's because 1. she gave me the name for a marinade different from the one she used, and 2. I didn't use enough. Apparently, you're supposed to dump in half the bottle. I'll remember that for next time.
So for the sake of saving money, I have learned two new dishes. The only problem with the whole "I'm not paying for this anymore, I can make this myself" thought is that it doesn't take into account the amount of effort needed to plan ahead. While it takes mere minutes for a restaurant to whip up your order, at home, you need to look up the recipe, go out and buy all the required ingredients, prep the ingredients and then finally make the food. Some people may be able to do this with ease but in our family, our schedule doesn't really allow for too much of this.
February 23, 2011
One of my current 101 goals is to "Cook an Asian dish at least twice a month" (Number 94). My intention was to learn more Asian dishes to add to our rotation of meal ideas so we wouldn't be stuck in a pasta rut. However, the past year our schedules were way too hectic for me to spend time learning how to cook. We needed easy meals and we needed them fast.
Now that we're in Australia and I basically sit at home twiddling my thumbs all day (not!), I figure I can take this time to learn some new dishes and add some variety to our lives.
The goal was to cook Asian food twice a month. Since that amounts to 24 times a year, I'll just make sure I hit the 24 mark before the end of the year and call it good! And since I'll likely cook Asian food more than 24 times this year, I'll make sure that I cook 24 different dishes. Even better.
Round 1: dumplings, lemon chicken, sushi, pork with noodles
Bonus: macaroni soup with ham
February 21, 2011
Over the weekend, we tried out two new restaurants: Nando's and Dos Amigos.
Nando's serves mainly chicken. Lots of chicken. Overall it was pretty good. The service was quick (at least for us), the food was decent and the price, well.. let's just say we're in Australia. 
Dos Amigos serves Mexican food. I went with the beef fajitas and they tasted alright but the meat was a little on the tough side. I'm used to the soft, tender steaks fajitas they served at Jack Astor's back home. 
Andrew had a beef chimichanga.
Nathan had his old standby. Chicken nuggets with fries. With ketchup tomato sauce. Lots of tomato sauce.
February 19, 2011
We wandered over to New Farm in search of some good food. Unfortunately, our first option didn't have space for us. We'll have to remember to book ahead next time.
Slightly disappointed, we headed out to the streets to see what else the area had to offer. We were hungry and Nando's seemed like a viable option.
We ordered a "Two's A Party" platter, which feeds 2-4 people. The platter arrived after a short wait.
So apparently either Australians don't eat very much or Andrew has the appetite of 2-4 Australians. Either way, we had to order a second "Two's A Party" for Andrew.
All in all, the food was alright. Was filling enough, after we got the second platter. And we got to sit out on the patio area and enjoy the sunset and some fresh air without being eaten alive.
In other news, Nathan got his first Australian haircut today.
And Andrew got one too while he was waiting.
February 9, 2011
I promised to post pictures of my experiments with bokeh, and one of Andrew and Caleb at the hospital.
My sister's always willing to be my test subject.
And somehow, Nathan always makes his way into the picture as well.
I wish this picture wasn't so blurry. But my body was still a little shaky and you can't really expect to stand too still when you're holding a baby.
December 29, 2010
Taking a quick break from packing up my stuff. I can't believe we're moving out of our condo tomorrow and we still have so much stuff out!
17. Take my parents and sister out for dinner
I can't believe I've never taken my parents and sister out for dinner. There's some unwritten rule that you're supposed to take people out for dinner on your first paycheque. Clearly, I don't live by those rules. But, I felt it would be nice to share a meal with just them (well, and my 3 boys) before we leave to Australia so I told my mom they could choose whatever they wanted to eat. Somehow, she ended up choosing what we (as in the kids) all like eating. I guess that's just the kind of mom she is :) Can you guess where we went? AYCE sushi!
43. Participate in 10 creative challenges: 1
I should clarify - when I wrote that I wanted to participate in 10 creative challenges, I didn't actually mean that I would participate and submit my creations for the challenge. Sure, it'd be nice if I could but right now, I just want to develop my creativity.
The Pioneer Woman had a challenge out for holiday photographs with bokeh in it. I had read about this technique a while ago on Amanda's blog a while ago but I never got around to trying it out. But this year, we got over to my mom's place early and she had Christmas lights all over the house so I took that opportunity to try it out. I took a quick glance at Amanda's tutorial and gave it a shot.
61. Watch the sunrise from 5 different places
It's not exactly the most glamourous places to watch the sun rise from but after a long, sleepless night after Caleb was born, I watched the sun rise from my hospital bed. The view outside was actually pretty crappy, but I managed to capture a shot of Andrew holding Caleb in front of the window as the sun came up.
83. Get a laptop bag for the MBP
This one should have gotten crossed off a while ago. We sort of inherited my sister's laptop sleeve before one of our trips earlier this year. I think we may have borrowed it, then she said we could keep it. It's been put to good use this year with all our trips and such!
I'll have to repost this later on when I regain access to all my pictures
November 4, 2010
36. Learn how to use my mom's sewing machine
The other night when we were putting Andrew's Phantom costume together, we realized that Andrew needed a bow tie. Seeing as how this realization came to us at almost midnight, we really didn't have the option of driving out to a store to pick one up. So we needed to be creative.
Looking through my stash of fabric, I found some left over from previous projects. It was just good enough for us to use with the costume. Using Nathan's little bow ties as a template, I mentally planned out how it was to be constructed. And sewing was involved. Lots of it.
Not wanting to risk another incident like last year, where I sat for hours hunched over Nathan's little ghost costume, sewing around the eye holes, I asked Andrew to bring out my mom's sewing machine. My sister had given me a quick rundown of how to use it and I thought I remembered most of what she said.
I thought wrong. The next hour or so was filled with trial and error. Mostly error. But after about the 9th try, I finally got the machine working the way it was supposed to. I still don't know for sure exactly what had to be done, I have an idea, but in any case, I got it working.
Once that was done, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there and the bow tie was finished in no time. It's not exactly the snazziest accessory. And it should probably not be worn out in public, but it was the best I could do. Plus, it's the first thing I've really sewn to be used so I think I should be given a little bit of credit for that!
So now that I've successfully used my mom's sewing machine without any outside help, I think I can say I've learned to use it. Next step... learning to use it well.
October 13, 2010
Late last week, I was going through my Google Reader, sifting through the hundreds of posts I had apparently subscribed to. Occasionally, when I skim through, I find a little treasure.
This time, it was a recipe. It was for a brownie-based cheesecake.
October 6, 2010
2. Get a massage (#1-2)
I've always bothered Andrew for massages. It's not his favourite thing. So when my naturopath suggested I get massages to help my body relax so I can sleep (I was having sleep issues), I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, this is a medically relevant issue! My health was at stake and massages were the answer. This week, I went for my second 1-hour massage. The doc never specified the length of the massage, but I figure 30 minutes just isn't enough time to relax and actually benefit from the massage, right? Right.
11. Let Andrew choose 10 movies to watch (#1-3)
So far, we've watched the Bourne Trilogy. We haven't had a whole lot of time to sit down and watch movies but we managed to sneak those three in, either while Nathan was sleeping or while he was sleeping over at my parents' place. I had already watched the first one way back when it was in theatres. The second one was alright, but the third one, I was a little disappointed. I didn't find it as exciting as I had hoped for it to be. Maybe they were hoping to squeeze a fourth?
27. Be more supportive of Andrew when he wants to play basketball
Andrew wanted to play basketball last weekend. I said yes. He didn't have a car to go. Too bad.
73. Go out for breakfast before church (#2)
This past Sunday, while Nathan was sleeping over at my parents' place, we headed out for an early breakfast at a local bistro called Creme de la Creme. (See below.)
91. Try out 10 new restaurants (#3, 4)
Sushi Maru
While we were in Seattle, our good friend introduced us to one of his favourite sushi places. You see, our little guy decided straight off the plane that he wanted sushi for lunch. So sushi we had to have. Plus, we were starving so we settled for whatever he wanted.
I guess it's a little unfair for me to put Sushi Maru as a new restaurant, seeing as how it's in a city I've never been to so basically any restaurant I patron there would be new, but I have reasons. First, this was our first conveyor belt sushi experience. Nathan especially enjoyed that he could choose whatever he wanted and pick it off the conveyor belt himself. Second, it was a really cheap option and filled our bellies nicely. Third, we like it so much, and it was so close to our hotel, we managed to visit 3 times over the course of a single weekend.
Creme de la Creme
A little family-run cafe nestled in among the other independent establishments, it was really busy when we got there around 9:30am. Always a good sign, according to my parents. We stepped inside and were greeted by warm air and early-morning chatter. The service was okay considering they only had 3 servers and not a lot of space to move around, and breakfast was yummy. But then again, I had a waffle with ice cream, and how bad can it be when you have ice cream for breakfast?
September 21, 2010
What better way to end the summer than with an hour-long massage and a freshly-made fajita dinner.
September 20, 2010
There's been a lot of baking going on in the Tsoi household lately. Mostly because we've had a lot of fruit sitting around that was getting too ripe too fast. But also because we enjoy freshly baked goodies.
On Friday night, I coerced Andrew into staying up until 2am with me (unheard of since we decided we needed to start acting like adults and get more sleep) to bake a double batch of apple cheddar muffins. We specifically had to make apple cheddar muffins because we have a certain friend who has been longing for those delicious treats since the last time I bake a mountain of muffins and we just happened to be celebrating her birthday this weekend.
We also had to make it on Friday night because we knew we'd be super busy all of Saturday with various appointments and a wedding to attend. Luckily, Andrew was a super help and we got them all baked and ready to go. 
I'm glad I got this opportunity to cross off #54 on my list (Bake something to give away) and add one to the count for #26 (Achieve 10 goals with different friends) because the times we get to meet up with old friends are so few and far between, and I know she was really craving those muffins.
(Wow. Is it just me, or do I look like I'm sitting on top of everyone?)
September 10, 2010
Mmmm cinnamon buns.
Who doesn't love a nice, warm cinnamon bun, smothered in thick, creamy frosting?
(Goodness, that sentence is making me drool!)
Last weekend, my sister and I figured it was high time we tried to make our own cinnamon buns. So we gathered up the ingredients and went at it.
There's a few steps involved in making cinnamon buns, and a whole lot of waiting time which is good for me because it's getting way too exhausting for me to be on my feet for long periods of time. My sister was even nice enough to bring a bar stool up for me to sit on so I'd actually help her make the buns.
(Don't tell Andrew, but I think I might like her candy apple more than my green apple. Or maybe it's just the lighting. We'll say it's the lighting.)
After a long time of waiting, the dough still hadn't "doubled its size" like the recipe said it would. It was a little disappointing but we figured we might as well just finish off making the cinnamon buns and hope they turn out okay.
See how disappointed my sister is?
We slathered on the butter.
Loaded it up with cinnamon and brown sugar.
And in a joint effort, rolled the sucker up.
After another little wait, we stuck those buns in the oven and a short while later, out popped these babies. 
Then we smothered them in icing. Lots and lots of yummy icing.
They tasted beautiful.
101 Update: I used yeast for the first time in this recipe
May 10, 2010
The original intent behind this goal was to give myself enough time to leisurely get ready for work so I could start my mornings off right.
Well without my consent, my body has programmed itself to wake up at 6am each. and. every. day.
That includes days when my alarm isn't even set. Like last week, when I was in training and I could have slept in until at least 7am. Or even worse, on the weekends when I can sleep in even later!
At least I don't have to worry about sleeping in and being late for work.
April 6, 2010
One of the more important search topics while we were planning our trip down south was food. I mean, come on. It's Andrew. And me. So I casually mentioned to Andrew a couple of the restaurants I've always been meaning to try out, one of them being The Cheesecake Factory.
Like the awesome husband he is, he located the closest one to where we would be and made sure we went. Though I was the one who wanted to go, I protested that maybe it would be a little much for our budget and we should just go for dessert instead of dinner. We ended up compromising and going for a lunch instead.
Their food was delicious, albeit a little on the pricy side (I mean, come on, how much does it really cost for 3 miniature-sized corn dogs?) but what won me over was one of their feature cheesecakes.
May I present to you, Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake™
I know it's a little hard to see from my phone picture but that baby is made up of layers of red velvet cake and original cheesecake, covered with their cream cheese frosting, coated with white chocolate.
Tell me your heart didn't just skip a beat.
It is officially my new favourite cake. Now, if anyone can bring me a slice slab of it, I will love you forever.
I would definitely recommend trying it out, even if you go *just* for their cheesecakes. They're soooo smooth.
March 12, 2010
I really didn't think I'd achieve this goal all in one go. I had intended to slowly buy a few movies here and there because I have a long list of movies I'd like to buy and I'd go crazy and spend my entire savings all at once if I didn't restrict myself.
We ended up getting Hitch and Love Actually for Andrew and I.
And Monsters, Inc. for Nathan - we're working on getting him more familiar with Disney characters, because it'll be helpful in achieving Goal #10.
Thanks for Nathan's new pj's, Charita! He loooooves them!
March 7, 2010
Number 91 on my new 101 list is to try new restaurants. I want to branch out from my usual choices and try out some new cuisines and new places.
Last night, I went out for some Korean with the boys and Jay. Usually, I don't eat Korean unless we're with my parents - they're big fans. And usually when they get the idea to eat Korean, it's really hard to convince them to choose something else.
Anyway, last night, I was up for trying something new so my sister brought us to Hana Korea.
It's a small establishment on Baldwin St. in Downtown Toronto, run by a Korean couple. My sister tells me that it literally is a two-man.. well, one-man-one-woman show. I found this out after I commented on how the man was running up and down the restaurant as if he was the only server. Well, turns out he was. 
I usually don't know what to order at Korean restaurants. I usually stick with something "safe", and my safe food is noodles. 
But last night, I dared to try something else. I can't say my dish was anything spectacular. I've eaten something like it before, but never ordered it at a Korean restaurants so I consider this a little step outside of my comfort zone. 
I also thought maybe that might not be enough, so I ventured even further out of my comfort zone by trying the banchan served before our entrees arrive. Typically, I'd just sit and watch as the rest of my family ate them. This time, I joined in and now I can officially say I have eaten kimchi. 
Can't say it's one of my favourites. 
The kimchi I mean. The restaurant was cute, and if you don't mind getting your own water, it's a nice little place to get a cheap, hot meal.
February 26, 2010
On Monday, I started my first day of my brand new, real-life, I'm-an-adult-now job.
It wasn't much different from when I was a student there just last week, but at the same time it was. Now I'm getting paid to be there every day, as opposed to the 210 hours I worked there for free.
I had it pretty easy the first day, not a whole lot to do and we even got to go home early because of the bad driving conditions. It's nice to know that your work place cares about you and wants you to get home safely!
But the next day, they were short-staffed so they threw me in there all by myself. Luckily, I was put with a client I had experience working with so it went by pretty smoothly.
I'm surprised at how well I'm adjusting to my new routine. I get to bed early and I'm up before the sun! It's going to get harder from here on in, I'm sure. But hopefully I'll be able to deal with the challenges as they arise.
YAY! I have a full-time job! With benefits!
February 12, 2010
I can't believe I'm 24! I'm so close to the middle of my twenties, I may as well just start having a quarter-life crisis now. (But I won't. Because my life is just too good right now. Crisis averted. For now.)
To celebrate my 24th birthday, I'm going to start a brand new 101 in 1001 list!
I'm not giving up on my old list just yet, I'll keep on with it until the end. It's just hard to know what you'll be doing three years from now. What you like/dislike now might be totally different. What you want to achieve now, might be a silly idea 3 years from now. And you'll discover things about yourself that you didn't know before. But I gave this list a lot of thought, and edited it many times. I'm hoping that this list will be a little more successful (read: applicable to my life) than the first, so without further delay, my 101 - 2nd edition.
Health & Fitness
1. Develop a habit of waking up at 6am each day
2. Get a massage (x6)
3. Snowboard without falling
4. Lose 10lbs of fat
5. Play on Wii Fit at least once a week
6. No fast food for at least 100 days
7. Finish a kettlebell workout routine
8. Play a game of a team sport
9. Get into a habit of drinking water frequently (don't get dehydrated)
Because I love them
10. Make Nathan's 4th birthday amazing
11. Let Andrew choose 10 movies to watch
12. Grant Nathan's big wish
13. Be in someone's wedding party
14. Take Nathan to a sporting event
15. Get a family picture taken
16. Host the party I've been meaning to host
17. Take my parents and sister out for dinner
18. Go on a road trip with just the boys
19. Roast marshmallows with Nathan
20. Teach Nathan how to ride a bike
21. Take Nathan to the neighbourhood splash pad
22. Let Nathan decide what we do for a day
23. Teach Nathan more Chinese so he'll speak spontaneously
24. Go on "family dates" once a month
25. Send a family picture to my grandmother
26. Achieve 10 goals with different friends
27. Be more supportive of Andrew when he wants to play basketball
28. Celebrate one of our anniversaries away from home
Intellectual & Spiritual
29. Learn 5 hymns by heart (lyrics)
30. Find my quiet place
31. Memorize Psalm 23 in 3 languages
32. Read 5 books that will help me become a better person
33. Keep a prayer journal for at least 3 months
Creative
34. Get published in a magazine/book/website
35. Sell 10 things on Etsy
36. Learn how to use my mom's sewing machine
37. Buy something from Etsy
38. Make a bag for my Hot Chillys
39. Make Nathan's scrapbook
40. Make a set of ornaments for our Christmas tree
41. Make 365 cards
42. Use up/purge 50% of old paper stash
43. Participate in 10 creative challenges
"She works hard for the money"
44. Get a real job
45. Invest more in Nathan's education
46. Add 3 movies to our DVD/Blu-Ray collection
47. Stay on budget for 6 consecutive months
48. Buy 5 of my favourite childhood books for Nathan
49. Collect 10 ornaments for our Christmas tree
50. Add 5 outfits to my work-clothes selection
51. Acquire my own snowboard
52. Top up TFSAs each year
"I would like to reach out my hand"
53. Donate one million grains of rice to Freerice
54. Bake something to give away
55. Learn basic sign language to work with nonverbal children
56. Do 5 random acts of kindness
57. Participate in a fundraiser/charity event
Enjoying the simple things
58. Get another dress with pockets
59. Drive a rental car
60. See cherry blossoms in bloom
61. Watch the sunrise from 5 different places
62. Watch the sunset from 5 different places
63. Spend a day in a museum
64. See Cirque du Soleil's "O"
65. Go to a drive-in theatre
66. Spend a day on a beach
67. Skate on the Rideau Canal
68. Spend a day wandering around a town/city
69. Go berry picking
70. Relax in a hammock
71. Eat in a park
72. Visit a winery
73. Go out for breakfast before church (x5)
74. Attend an out-of-town wedding
75. Write in the sand
76. Take a walk around the neighbourhood I grew up in
77. Paint something
78. Spend a day taking pictures
79. Watch a ballet
80. Dress up to go somewhere nice
It just needs to be done
81. Find a way to consolidate/link my blogs
82. Find out my blood type
83. Get a laptop bag for the MBP
84. Graduate from ABS program
85. Change name for ABS certificate
86. Get piano tuned
87. Print 2 pictures to fill large frames
88. Figure out how to use the dSLR
89. Get rid of socks/underwear/bras I'd be embarrassed to be seen in
90. Get a car
Food
91. Try out 10 new restaurants
92. Eat (or drink) on a patio
93. Use 10 new ingredients
94. Cook an Asian dish at least twice a month
95. Order a medium rare steak
96. Make a meal using only recipes from PW Cooks
97. Host a holiday cookie exchange
98. Add 5 recipes to each section of my recipe box
99. Find 20 quick meal ideas we'd actually use
100. Get 5 new kitchen tools
101. Try 10 new cooking techniques
