On the road

The other day, I wrote on my blog saying sometimes that I don't know the answer, I just have to believe it...

Lately I've been thinking about a career change... Since life in Canada isn't as easy as I thought and the time I'm away from program management is getting a bit too long to go back. Instead of sitting in front of a desk doing something I don't like, not as good at or not getting as much pay, maybe it's a good chance for me to finally do something I like to do and could be good at!

By doing so, going back to school to prepare myself in the career change will be the next step.

It's never easy to change or start a new page. However, when you still have chance to do so, then your life isn't so bad.

Choices are there, I just need to make my mind and decide, and never regret.

After all, life is full of possibilities and surprises while you are learning.

Share this video with all of you to remind us what we love about traveling:

We like it because we are learning :)

sometimes...

Sometimes, I don't know the answer.... I just have to believe...

Change

"I've been afraid of changing cause I have built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older, too"

This lyrics makes me think of my career...

Pumpkin Fun

Autumn has arrived the harvest time of year has just begun. Followed by boxes and boxes of apples, it's time to have fun with all the fresh pumpkins and squash!

There are so many ways to be creative with this beautiful colour, hard shell, and full of flavour veggies.

Here are some past recipes I tried to share with all of you.

Have fun curving, cooking, baking with your pumpkins!

Rissotto in Pumpkin dish casserole

Pumpkin Pie: Recipe

Double layer Pumpkin Cheesecake: Recipe

and the best I've tried this year... Pumpkin crème brûlée!!! (recipe)

It was a big hit on the Thanksgiving night this year, but unfortunately... I forgot to take a picture! But it's so good that I will soon make it another time so the pictures will be posted soon! Keep exploring!

深夜... 與麻木自己的把戲周旋，又再次地....厭倦了、膩了.... 生活是在尋找著什麼刺激，還是再尋找著什麼熟悉...什麼可以依附著就不再空虛的熟悉...

---with Music "Looking back" by Kerry Muzzey

Ideas and Insprirations

Inspiring stories of life:

1. Kurt (Chris Colfer) from Glee

He went for audition for a character in wheelchair (Arty) but turned out he's so special that the crew not only hired him but created a whole new character specially for him.

2. Andy Serkis who played Caesar in the rise of the planet of apes. He also played Gollum in the lord of the ring and King Kong which he spent 3 months in forest to observe monkeys. He became an expert actor for motion capture techniques.

and....

a Catch 22 example: Being a photographer for living!! :)

批R

應該是快樂的日子...怎麼沒有開心的感覺...

我應該努力讓自己開心...不管開心的來源是什麼...

人就以這個方向認真努力就對了...加油吧~

人生

30歲的五月，體驗了人生的豐富，喜怒哀樂都用上了...

5/6 拿到了人生第一棟房子的鑰匙

5/7 第一次在台灣以外的地方考試 (IELTS)

5/14 搬進了我們的第一個'家'

5/23 好朋友從台灣來訪，Nancy的第一趟加拿大之旅

5/25 好友Apan的女兒出生了

5/27 得知考試分數沒達到預期...

5/28 Fifi 走了...

5/31 zu驗孕, 發現小寶懷上了

六月，又是嶄新的月份... 晚上和著紅酒來複習一下慾望城市吧...

(可惜Nancy來的時候沒有電視，不然就應該這樣過~)

to my dear fi

Would you know my name

If I saw you in heaven

Would you be the same

If I saw you in heaven

I must be strong

and carry on

Cause I know I don't belong

here in heaven

Would you hold my hand

if I saw you in heaven

Would you help me stand

if I saw you in heaven

I'll find my way

through night and day

Cause I know I just can't stay

here in heaven

Time can bring you down

Time can bend your knee

Time can break your heart

Have you begging please

begging please

Beyond the door

There's peace I'm sure

And I know there'll be no more

Tears in heaven

Would you know my name

If I saw you in heaven

Would you be the same

if I saw you in heaven

I must be strong and carry on

Cause I know I don't belong

here in heaven

Cause I know I don't belong

Here in heaven

Good night, my sweet Fi~ I'll love you forever. See you later...

而我知道

而我知道那真愛不一定能白頭到老

而我知道有一天你可能就這麼走掉

而我知道我知道 這一切我全都知道

我就是受不了

而我知道我們曾天真的一起哭一起笑

而我知道放開手但不知道怎麼忘掉

而我知道你走了以後的每一分一秒

卻還是這麼難熬

微笑緊緊咬牙給你祝福你自由飛吧

就這樣吧 就這樣吧

我同意可是我淚如雨下

It's time to let you go

It's time to say goodbye

There's no more excuses

No more tears to cry

There's been so many changes

I was so confused

All along you were the one

All the time I never knew

I want you to be happy

You're my best friend

But it's so hard to let you go now

All that could have been

I'll always have the memories

She'll always have you

Fate has a way of changing

Just when you don't want it to

Throw away the chains

Let love fly away

Till love comes again

I'll be okay

Life passes quickly

You gotta take the time

Or you'll miss what really matters

Miss all the signs

I've spent my life searching

For what was always there

Sometimes it will be too late

Sometimes it won't be fair

願病痛早日遠離my dear Fi...

an ideal day of life

I saw a video on TED that it's an Australian author who wrote a book about how he got himself back from the status of 'Fat, Forty and Fired'. His 2nd book, which I was more interested in, is called 'overworked, underlaid'. Which has nothing to do with my current situation but his first couple sentences in the speech was attractive to me. He said he was working 24-7 for his previous company and had no life at all although later on he found himself could do a great job to balance his life and work when he doesn't have a job. He spent a year not working and try to find his life back then realized he can't never learn how to keep these two elements balanced without working. Therefore, he emphasized that it's depending on ourselves to make the two balanced, not the companies, not your bosses.

First step, you need to set up an ideal life you want. Then he shared his ideal day which involved lots of sex :P with his wife and of course that's not gonna happen. Which means, there are lots things you want to accomplish but one day is too short and one life is too long. We need to find the adequate time period in between as a goal to your life goal. With that, you will then have a better picture and ideas of how to make it happen on time.

I found that very true. Most of time, people waste their time for endless work because they don't have anything else to do. To fill in that emptiness, they work and make themselves look busy while someone in the same situation might have energy and always have plans for the night after works or on the weekends.

It's a question that we should all ask ourselves while complaining.... What do you really want for yourself? and how to make it happen?

Within a month, I'm going to move in to our new house, the first real estate possession of ours.

While skim through pages of Home magazines, I can see myself more and more standing in a 'home' again. And this time, it'll be permanent which I haven't been for a location for a while, another big commitment of life, to a location, to a city, to a country. Things from here are all more clear now. No matter what an ideal day of mine will be determined, I've always have a home to reach at the end of the day, a home that I don't need to spend 24hrs on plane to reach on this side of the globe.

元宵

今天元宵節，晚餐當然要是中式，還要來個飯後甜點-花生湯圓~~ ^^幸福滿分...

除了網路新發現的食譜味噌燒肉，還做了炸豆腐，配上媽媽教的沾醬，和蠔油青江菜，整桌滿滿的臺灣味呢.. (因為都有加糖... 哈哈)

p.s. 肚子太餓來不及照相 >_< 如果我妹這時候還在就好了... 呵...

照片、食譜出自楊桃文化 他們網站有很多值得參考的小食譜，可以用食材搜尋很實用喔~ ^^

【材　 料】
五花肉片	200公克
洋蔥	1/4個
熟芝麻	1茶匙
萵苣葉	10片
蒜泥	1/2茶匙
【調 味 料】
味噌	1大匙
糖	2茶匙
米酒	2茶匙
水	2大匙

【做　 法】

1.洋蔥切絲，備用。

2.將調味料混合均勻，再加入蒜泥拌勻，即為味噌醃醬，備用。

3.將五花肉片加入作法2的味噌醃醬內拌勻，醃漬約3分鐘。

4.熱鍋，加入3大匙沙拉油，放入作法3的肉片以半煎炒方式煎約3分鐘，再加入作法1的洋蔥絲炒約2分鐘炒勻，盛盤後撒上熟芝麻即可，食用時可用萵苣葉包裹肉片搭配食用。

Vimeo, my new found land.

Vimeo這個網站常常會有另我驚奇及喜愛的影片

最近又有了一些新的發現，在這裡記錄下來也做分享囉~

Clemento專業的影像傳達：

還有這個人喜愛將喜愛的音樂和電影配做堆，這是我最喜歡的作品:

Witchi Tai To 和 Into the wild

Menu next week

So... my sister is her!! She arrived last night and we chatted till 2am until we can't keep our eyes open anymore.

Sophia will be here for 6 weeks. In the meantime, I will have another person to make supper, lunch, breakfast and desserts for...

Awesome!!

Now I have chance to try more new recipes!! Can't wait!

Menu next week:

Monday

Cuban chicken

(This is cuz we know it is so good and I want to impressive my sister with it ;))

Tuesday

Pineapple chicken thigh

(Always wanted to try, especially when I got a fresh pineapple two days ago)

Wednesday

Beef Lasagne

(The cottage cheese MUST be used!)

Thursday

Off to Toronto

Yeah Yeah! The menu of Toronto will be....

*Catch up with old friends

*Fetish party with girls and gay

*Restaurants!

*Good meals and good chats!

*Opera or NOT...

Menu this week

最近一整個的有點懶散...雖然飯還是每天要吃的，可煮完就懶得照相了...

來報告一下上禮拜的菜單，現在正在計畫這週的，稍後再update這週的吧~

Menu 'last' week:

Monday

Chorizo + 芥藍菜(Chinese broccoli) Penn

This time I got 'real' Chinese broccoli from T&T and 'real' Chorizo from IGA extra and I added less olive oil but some chilli powder and red pepper to brighten the color. The result turned out well and both Kirk and I loved it!

Tuesday

Salmon + Veggie + Potatoes

Wednesday

Chicken casserole + Pumpkin soup + Homemade artisan bread

Thursday

Beef Stew + Rice

Friday

Green Curry Chicken + Rice for lunch

Saturday

Homemade Pizza (tomato,basil,mushroom) + Baked chicken wings

Sunday

Grilled chicken with pesto bow tie pasta casserole (Lulu recipe)

Apple crisp plus woo-long tea for dessert with movie 'Julie & Julia'

Walk into the unkown

Walk into the fog; walk into the unknown...

We were sitting at the dinning table in our 12F park-view apartment. Looking into the dark outside, I heard 'You are not afraid of going to Canada; you are just afraid to choose the future of a question mark.'

I guess I am... We all are.

That was more than three years ago when we were still in China. We were living in a three bedroom apartment with parks all around. Nice tree & grass view from two of our balconies and all of our bills were paid by the company. Company car drove me to work every morning and Kirk was teaching in a British university and had 3 months paid vacation every year.

Even though, the plan moving back to Canada seems firm in Kirk's mind, especially after Terry's 1st heart attack. I wasn't sure whether we should come to Canada, a place that I need to start all over with a new job, a new identity, new friends, new bills and a new life.

It is not just one question mark; it's dozens.

I know life is composed of millions of choices.

If you asked me what I'm thankful to my parents the most, I'd say it's they taught me how to make the best choice for myself by logics.

But it took me a while to realize:

The best choice can be made by logics most of the time with no problems. But sometimes, it has to be made by heart.

With all the pros and cons, you can find your right answer for an espresso machine or a coffee grinder... But you can't always find the happiness of you or your family.

My dad once yelled at me '家是給你拿來談感情的，不是給你講道理的!!'

it means 'Home is where you should treat with your heart, not with your logics.'

Now, I know I can't agree with him more...

Therefore, I followed my heart to walk into the fog; to walk into the unknown where I believe we can find our happiness and future altogether.

After all, sometimes the most beautiful scene happens when you can't see it that clear. ;)

是公主，也是皇后...

記得曾有個朋友這樣對我說過："你這點很厲害...你是女強人，但是你不會再你老公面前表現..."

不本來就是這樣嗎？

在兩人世界中，你扮演的是什麼樣的角色，引導著你們生活平衡的模式。為了維持翹翹板的平衡，我們都得學會在適當的時候沈默、在特定的方面放手...

野炊烤肉，王子必定拋下白馬升火去；

安裝IKEA的書櫃，當然要王子出馬；

王子在公主手拿車鑰匙往車子走去的時候問了一句"You want to drive?"，這時就要將車鑰匙扔給王子說自己不想開車....

切菜炒豆干，皇后的工作；

切到手了，可以像公主一樣大叫，要王子拿ok繃來幫她貼上，但是待王子離開，包紮好的公主，要自己將拆掉ok繃的包裝扔進垃圾桶...

要不然，難道要向王子咆嘯說:"垃圾應該要丟進垃圾桶"嗎? XD

我們都是公主，也是皇后.... 畢竟王子也是需要人照顧與叮嚀的... ;)

台灣人的碎碎念

這要從國父和蔣中正那時代說起，戰敗的國民黨，遷到台灣，開始了不是那麼民主的民主政治，"創建"了中華民國這個不是那麼民主的民主政府，台灣的人民，不管是不是當時來的"外省人"，還是更早之前從福建省來的，或是更早就在島上的原住民...大家始得"統一"，成為了中華民國台灣人...

不管喜歡與否，歷史沒得改...只不過不同的立場有不同的詮釋和加註，中間的冷暖若不細說，大概的情況就是這樣...

由於共產黨和國民黨，當年都同樣是革命黨派，推翻了滿清，同樣都稱孫中山為國父；因此，台灣雖小，也是個獨立政府運作的國家，雖然中國不承認，但當年沒光復或統一的，如今還是存在著... 就這樣，我們這段特別的歷史，造就了我們今天這樣個特別的局面... 其中的愛恨糾結，可能連526集的'意難忘'也演不完吧~哈哈 XD

今天，在朋友的留言板上，看到了一則這樣的留言，說"不管你喜歡它（大陸）、討厭它（大陸），你都一定要認識它！" 這樣的語言我是認同的... 可之後的討論卻說，"不管是中國還是其他國家，總比留在台灣好..." 很想問"為啥?"

不過心底深處早有太多個可能的答案...台灣舞台太小了? 國力太弱了? 政治太不穩定了? 有能力的都出走了？考的上北大的，就不屑上台大了？

其實幾年前人在深圳的時候有過這樣的想法: 若中國的經濟有天超越了台灣，也許台灣就不會那麼介意是不是被稱作中國了? 多年來，台灣花太多的力氣和時間，在爭一些很基本的東西，例如：奧運會用自己的國旗，運動比賽上要以台灣還是中國台北代表出賽...etc. 感慨是真的，可悲不是我們的錯，但，是有些人必須做這樣的事的... 所以我沒做並不代表我不贊同，我若不贊同全部，也能理解部分，每個人都有自己相信自己必須做的事，我深信...

Kirk前陣子在讀一本Douglas Coupland寫的傳記，他提到Marshall McLuhan在加拿大慶祝百年獨立的時候說 "Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity."

我一聽，眼淚都要在眼眶裡打轉的... 我說"那他還不知道台灣..." 這句話形容台灣真是恰當... 一個沒有身分的國家... 我們試著以此生存，跌跌撞撞...

其實放下一切，只要大家不忘本，不管是在地球上的哪一個角落做努力，都是在為台灣盡一份力，何必拿自己的想法套在別人身上爭的你死我活的呢~ 台灣，你我，都加油!

p.s. 不過想想，也許Marshall (1911-1980)是知道台灣的，只是在他有生之年，尤其是說這話的當年(1967)，他沒有辦法斷定台灣是否會'live'下去...所以自然是要把我們排除的，呵呵... (苦笑)

3度C

10.21

今晚發瘋似的抓起三腳架，和Kirk一起溜狗去...

這禮拜，Kirk接到了新的課程安排---黎巴嫩的外交官家教，晚上要回到家都8:30了，吃個飯也九點了...加上他學校的assignment...

晚上10:30,兩個人各抓了一支狗、一台相機、三腳架，圍上圍巾，穿上兩層外套，往家附近一片靜寂的腳踏車道走去....

今晚的月亮藏起來了，不像兩晚前，走在漆黑的腳踏車道上，一點都不覺得暗，月亮照出的我兩的影子，清晰可見，一點都不模糊...

我假好腳架，任Kirk帶著Coca朝漆黑走去，我站在原地，聽著風呼呼吹的樹枝嘎嘎響的聲音，望著月亮，突然好喜歡這裡，一切的一切，都可以這麼的美麗，那晚我在3度C的夜裡，見識到了夜的美麗，幸運的，這次帶上了相機，記錄了回憶...

The bike path

The moon in 3。C

Another new thing I learned in Canada

今天在網路上瀏覽時看到一個加拿大的網站，寫著"Proudly Canadian owned and operated"...

讓我不禁思考...加拿大雖然坐擁面積世界第二大的排名，但因為大部分的土地都太冷，人口不多，農夫得趁沒雪的的時候趕緊工作；很多東西還是得靠進口，因為國家關稅高，很多奢侈品的價格都比不上就幾小時遠的美國... 更別提要獨自擁有一個會賺錢的企業卻不靠大資本家的幫忙....

最近看到一則新聞，由於K-cups的風行，讓美國的Green-Mountain Coffee股市四年內漲了9倍，由於K-cups包括的品牌很多，其中在Quebec省興起、總部位於Montreal的Van Houtte (你在這裡的各大超市都可以買到他的咖啡豆)，和Timothy's coffee of the world也是其中獲利的咖啡品牌，這兩個都是加拿大人熟悉的所謂"加拿大"品牌...

然而，去年11月Green Mountain買下Timothy's coffee，今年九月又買下了Van Houtte，這兩個你會以為是加拿大擁有的品牌，其實都是美國擁有的...

雖說這就是開放經濟，沒有什麼不好的，不過我也許為自己剛搬來加拿大的時候很好奇的一個問題，找到了部分的答案...

"加拿大為什麼很少有大品牌呢?" 原因之一，也許是"因為成型的初期就被美國併購了..." 哈哈哈(苦笑)