Pretty

Pretty, originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Pretty summertime flowers ... memories.

The Hong Ping Restaurant

Hong Ping Lady

Yes, this very nice lady, who lived in Toronto for two years before moving to London four years ago, is a native of Shanghai, China. Jesse, knows how to run a dim sum. Delicious, reasonable and excellent service. The Hong Ping hasn't been open long, but it was fairly busy for the Thursday after Xmas.

The Hong Ping is authentic traditional food. Only two blocks from my house. How fortunate for me! It will take determination to only visit once every six weeks.

The Lucky Cat

Hong Ping Art

Last But Not Least

Mango Pudding. Words are not enough.

The Main Course

Sweet and Sour Pork with Taro in soy.

Chinese Broccoli

Chinese Broccoli with garlic. Good, very good.

Hong Ping

Wonton soup, homemade at Hong Ping.

Waiting For The Spring

These are very delicate looking, and cool looking too! I think we are looking at next years seeds probably. They sway very gently in the wind, but they never really get blown down or away.

It has been above freezing for seven days now and the mild weather is expected to continue until at least January 4. The large amount of snow that we had received so early in the year is now nearly all gone. It is a nice reprieve from the wrath of winter, which, no doubt will be here soon.

Postal Meltdown ... Of The Friendly Sort!

Check it out. There is a drop of water that is falling. I really am going to have to start carrying the tripod around. The tripod does make those "impossible shots", possible.

Here Comes The Christmas Bus!

Every year in our fair burg, the local elves put some of their spare time to use painting a city transit bus in a xmas motif of sorts. Kids of all ages enjoy getting the christmas bus on their route. So here it is coming down the street, with yours truly waiting for the bus. And I just happened to have the camera handy! What a stroke of good fortune.

Yes it is snowing, still it is a mild day weatherwise. Back to work as of the 27th, no rest for the wicked! Well, maybe very little rest.

Thing's Are Just Ducky ... Down At The River

Flowers

New Keyboard

Another gift to the family collective on the day after Christmas. Yes a new keyboard was in order. I have started doing a fair bit more writing and a lot of it is reading off the page. The left shift key had become gummed up with something a while ago. It had been driving me nuts for weeks, so I finally broke down and spent $20 on this one. What a ripoff! Oh well, that's the price to pay!

I just noticed that the shift keys are smaller on the new one as well. C'est la vie!

Harmony Grand Buffet

The Harmony Grand Buffet has got it all right from the start. The menu is expansive even by buffet standards. Of special interest to this diner was the seafood, sushi and oriental food. If I could have eaten some more I would have had some more traditional Christmas fare, but then again, I can make that myself. I had been here a few years ago and had promised to return, but never had.

A return visit in the near future is inevitable, just for the Asian/Seafood on the menu.

Christmas Dinner At Harmony Grand Buffet

I'm not even sure what this is. I believe it is some sort of squid, but that is pure speculation on my part.

As far as taste is concerned, the only flavour was that of the marinade. A vinegar or vinegarette of some kind. What was noticable about this was the texture, a tender but dense consistency to the 'meat'. In spite of the unusual appearance, trying this food was a favour to the palate and stomach. Although I only had two of them, I would try them again.

The Author Three Minutes Ago

The author three minutes ago. Circa Dec.24, 2005, age 50. My how time flies when your having fun!

The Author Thirty Years Ago

The author 30 years ago. Circa 1975, age 20.

Merry Xmas

The geraniums are doing quite well in light of their recent transplanting. It is early afternoon now and things have quietened down. Gratefully so.

Happy Holidays.

Swaying In The Dark

Taken with my steady companion for the last 10 months, the Olympus D-540Z. I still enjoy using it, it is so easy to carry and use. It's a 3.2mp camera with an x-D 256mb card. It gives me room for 326 photos. I really don't need that kind of storage. Still, if I went on a trip, it would be useful. The 5mp Kodak has a 256mb SD card that gives 159 pictures on a full card. Better to have more than enough, as opposed to not enough.

Last Sunday I transplanted the Geraniums and Christmas Cacti into larger pots. They all seem to be doing well. I was concerned for the cactus because I had also separated it into two. So far, so good. The wrapping needs to be done. The house needs to be cleaned. Time flies when you're having fun! At least all the shopping is done.

Christmas Day in the evening Mom and B are taking myself and my kids and B's daughter and her husband to the Harmony House for Chinese Christmas dinner. We are really looking forward to it because we have never been out for dinner on Christmas. Should be fun, and it should be a target rich environment for photos. Well, maybe, some don't like to have their photos taken, let alone published on a website. I can always get pics of the food and failing that, the cutlery and dishes!

It looks like it will be a reasonably quiet Christmas. A few phone calls to and from British Columbia and Saskatchewan to here. Hopefully the weather will be good.

Frost At Four

Four in the morning that is! This is some kind of weed coated in frost, outside in the dark. It is a crisp morning. Not really frigid, but cold and sharp enough to tickle the nostrils. It will be missed when it starts raining tomorrow.

Yes, that's right, rain for the next four days, and today is the first day of winter, go figure!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_55/

Our Snowy Street

Here is our street, taken a couple of days ago. Yesterday we did not get any snow. It has been 16 days since we recieved our 15" of snow. Even in a place that is accustomed to lots of snow, it takes a long time to move it all. It has only been in the last 2 or 3 days that the sidewalks have started to get cleaned. The downtown core started to become passable 4 or 5 days ago, but even for us only 5 blocks from the downtown core, it has just been yesterday that it was noticable, that the sidewalks are somewhat clear.

Downtown is pretty nice now, not only have the sidewalks been cleared but the snow has been trucked out.

A week today it will be Christmas. Ho ho ho. It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I must be having fun because time is flying.

While waiting at the bus stop yesterday, I was approached by a gentlman and his wife who needed some information about the bus. This guy and his wife are from Beijing, China. They have been in Canada just five years, and within the last two months they received their Canadian citizenship. They were obviously happy, proud too, but noticably happy. As with many new Canadians their point of entry had been Toronto, and after one year there, they moved to London.

As a result, I was able to practice the two words I know in Mandarin ...Ni Hoa and Shi ese. I probably didn't write them correctly, they are supposed to mean: Hello/How are you? and Thank you.

This couple love London and Canada and intend to return to China only for visits. He told me our weather here is like the weather in northern China and Mongolia. His wife and himself like it here despite the cold and snow. I told him how important it is to layer clothes in this climate.

Not a whole lot going on today, I am going to go for a walk and then probably will do some inside stuff the rest of the day.

Happy holidays.

Santa & Rudy

Here's that wonderful Christmas team, you know who, the guy in the red suit, and you know who, the deer with the red nose. I had to leave the house last night because my son was gone for the evening, and if I left too, that would leave my daughter with the house to herself to study. Which is good for her because this week has been full of exams, tests, and Independent Study Projects that were all due this week.

So I went to Victoria Park to see what the decorations and lights looked like this year. After experimenting with night shots and getting some photos of skaters and stuff, I headed off to the grocery store. After picking up a few groceries, I headed over to the bus stop to get a bus home.

At the bus stop, I met a Chinese couple who have been in Canada for just over two years. I think the place they said they were from is Shenchen (?). They both spoke reasonably good English, and they both spoke a little bit of Hangeul. In English we spoke about Chinese food and Asia. I told them about my interest in Asianism. That is the term I use to describe my interest in Korea, China, and Mongolia. Their advice was for me to just go, just do it. I should, but I'm not ready to step out of the comfort bubble yet. When we're ready, then we do it, right?

Today was a nice day here. That snow we got yesterday was just the tail end of a massive storm that zeroed in on the Ottawa Valley and Montreal. By this morning Montreal had over 30cms of snow and it was still falling. That's life in the snow belt!

Snowman In The Park

Here is the really nice couple that built this snowman in Victoria Park last night. They were Christmasy enough to let me take their photo. She was very sweet and pretty and her boyfriend was very pleasant and gentleman-like. And he was a big guy too. They said it took them about 5 minutes to build Frosty here.

Only about 5 minutes after this photo was taken, a tour of chaperoned little kids came by, so they got to thrill to the snowman. It was a beautiful night to be out. After about 4-5" of fresh snow it got really mild which made it just right.

No more election, politics BS here at Korea-bound, if I want to wax eloquent about that, I will have to do that somewhere else. Thanks for your patience.

Mountain Morning

Mountain Morning
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

This beauty of a shot was taken by my brother who lives in West Vancouver, BC.

We blab a fair bit by e-mail and by phone as well. The last few e-mails we've been yakking about cameras and printers and photo paper, you know all the important things in life.

Anyway, I was telling him how I would like to get a Canon DSLR at some point if prices ever came down toward the $500 mark. And then I got to thinking would prices ever come down that far? So I did a price comparison between a 2.1mp Canon Powershot S300 circa 2001 and a Powershot SD300 which is a 4mp bestseller for Canon today.

I was surprised at what my quick little research showed. The 2001 2mp Powershot sold new for $699.95. The 2005 SD300 lists at $399. Of the four places listed all sold the SD300 for a price between $257 and $349.

I don't know how much a Canon DSLR will cost in 2010. But today an EOS Digital Rebel 300D can be bought for $560, $778 and $799.

What's my point? How low will prices go? Will we see a $500 Rebel in the next few years? Or have prices bottomed out? Not only that how cheap will the cheaper DSLR's go?

It will be interesting to see which niches the players end up in and to see how many survive the falling prices in the camera business.

Today I could have bought the camera I bought not even 2 weeks ago, for $30 less than I paid or $50 more. Maybe it's just Christmas.

Happy Christmas shopping.

Candle In The Dark

The minimalist in my eye likes this. Clean and uncluttered. Black, red, and flame ... the rule of three is hard to mess up. Taken on the kitchen table, no flash.

The Other Side

Here are the blossoms, from the other side. They still look cool, I think. This one will get transplanted into a bigger pot to allow it to get some good growth. I also have a Christmas cactus that I am too shy to show because it needs some work. But no pot in the pot, despite this being Canada.

The camera is a welcome learning experience. With powerful zoom and macro capabilities, a whole new vision of photography, has become possible. Please pardon the pun. This week a competitor has the same camera on for $30 less than what I paid, whereas another has it priced at $50 more than what I paid. It's all relative, I suppose. Anyway, the experimenting and research is fun too.

Shooting The Moon

Waiting for the bus this evening around 4pm. Bright and sunny but cold. Another few inches of snow last night.

Where Are You, Asiana Restaurant?

Yes , where are you and more importantly when are you coming back? I need some tolsotbibimbap, mandu and panchan. But what I really need is the Korean immersion. Yes, you are the only totally Korean restaurant in London, On. I enjoy going there and being the only non-Korean there. The other thing I enjoy besides the food, service and hospitality, is the Korean language immersion and cultural immersion that is available there. The other place or two just don't offer that. Besides they're full of non- Koreans. I don't want sweet and sour chicken balls! I want kimchi hot! The sooner the better!

Yes, I can make it here at home, but it's not the same, sometimes I want more than that. Besides, the kids won't speak Korean here. When I take them to the Asiana, then at least they try without the self-consciousness that holds them back here.

Ps: click on the picture, you'll be able to see the birds' eye.

cheonyeokshikssa

Ramyeon, bap, galbi, sangchu and kimchi.

께이끄버찌

Um- oom! Words are not enough, but yes, it is delicious! Being the tower of self discipline that I am, I did not purchase any ice cream ... but darn I wanted too.
Actual name is Cherry Blast Cake.

Fresh Snow

Fresh Snow
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

We got another few inches of snow last night. Enough to give everything a nice fresh blanket of the stuff.

I went for a walk down by the river. The water birds were there for the most part. It gave me an opportunity to try out the zoom. It is very useful. It makes it possible to take photos of birds. I was looking for a great blue heron, but none around when I was there.

Most of the heavier snow had stopped by the time the ploughs got out, so the roads are in pretty good shape. If you would like to see more photos of the walk along the river, or from last night, just click on this posts picture and that will take you into Flickr.

It is not necessary for me to cut grass or shovel snow. There is a man that comes to do that. Sometimes if I really want to, I will do it. That doesn't happen very often ... I would rather go for a walk by the river for my exercise. It's alot less stress and work to go for a walk and to play photographer, than mowing or shovelling.

Hi Jin at the store says that in Seoul if there is 3 inches of snow everybody is happy and excited. So I suggested to her that she must be very happy with the 4 or 5 inches we got last night. She says it snows too much here.

I showed her the cam and asked if I could take her picture. She said that because she didn't have any makeup on it wasn't possible. I suggested to her that it would be fine without makeup. She assured me she would look much better with make-up on. I'll have to wait till makeup day before I can get a photo of her, I guess. Her husband didn't want his picture taken either. At least his was a flat out no. I guess he doesn't wear makeup.

Well I better run, I have to go to the store and get some yogurt and stuff.

On Stage At The LMC

This pretty little lady's name is Ashley. What a cool combo ... little lady - lotsa voice! She can sing them loud and edgy or soft and sweet. This lady has presence and is not afraid to share her talent with the audience.

I'm not sure who the guitarist on our left is, but the dude is a wicked blues axeman with a good, goood voice.

Non-stop music for the hour and a half I was there. Two drinks and beefeaters with gravy, less than $14. Unfortunately it had to be an early night for me.

London Music Club

Last night at the London Music Club. The open jam nights are fabulous. It is not uncommon to see and hear Rob Antone, Paul Langille, or a whole list of working musicians, who like to use this venue to jam. The quality is of a very high calibre. This facility is a breeding ground for new talent as well, so any surprises are a real treat.

This wonderful musical concept is the work of Peter and Jan Denomme, who of course, are well known in the local music scene. There are a number of well known acts that come through here. If you are in the London area keep a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night free, so that you can enjoy yourself here. There is a whole range of tastes and genres that get represented here, so be prepared for blues, rock, jazz, or bluegrass or whatever. The food is good and the service is excellent.

The atmosphere is warm and original and makes a visit here well worth it. I have a membership here and it is in the first 100.

Budding Geranium

Here is a geranium budding in the kitchen. I've had these geraniums since a year ago last July. I put them out on the veranda for the summer and bring them into the kitchen for the winter. They actually do better inside than out.

Spageddy Eddy's

Here's last nights supper. Two big bowls of spaghetti, garlic bread with cheese, a large ginger ale for Rach and a Canadian for me. It is such a good helping that we both brought some home. The perfect opportunity for a photo-op with the new cam.

This meal had been postponed since last week. It was still spontaneous though. We ran into each other uptown and Rach had an after school hunger on and since I hadn't had breakfast yet, I was game. Rach had spagetti and meatballs with onions and vegetable sauce. I had spaghetti and mushrooms with meat sauce. We called the big guy but he wasn't home yet.

This is a real spaghetti "joint". It's located down an alley in the basement. The joint is full of old knick-knacks and pictures and stuff. For two huge bowls of spaghetti, garlic bread with cheese, and drinks, under $35C. And you get at least 4 helpings out of the two bowls. Good helpings. Great service. They do a good trade in here. Go early.

Look At The Head Of Snow On This!

This is the view of last Fridays snow piled up for everybody to clearly see. I know the northerners amongst us who are currently 'snow denied' will appreciate me sharing the winter vision. Winter seems to be here for the next little while, oops, pardon me. That's right, it's still autumn here in southern Ontario. Winter won't arrive until sometime on December 21. Gee ... what was I thinking? Well if any of you snow denied people are around here this Christmas, you should be able to still enjoy the snow. It's supposed to warm up around here in the next couple of days, so you know what that means? Yup, more snow. But ya never know, it is possible it could be a green Christmas, maybe.

It really is very pretty with the snow. It's making things feel pretty xmasy, and I think that's why a lot of us already have most of our shopping finished or nearly done. It's still pretty easy to get around in spite of the snow, it slowed things down for a day or two, but it hasn't snowed much since last Friday, so that has helped.

It's Working ... I Think!

Everybody's happy! It appears ... and I was hoping it would! It looks like once again I can start taking and posting photos with wild abandon.

Last night I ended up watching Braveheart for about the 67th time, and I still enjoy it immensely, laddie! Especially since it had been a few years since the last time I viewed it. This was the DVD version so it had "The Making of Braveheart", and interviews with Mel and the gang. Of particular interest were the interviews by Catherine Macormack and Sophie Marceau. It's not our fault they put good actresses in there who are also kinda cute, a little bit, well ya know, sorta hot, especially in medevial garb ... days of yore and all. None the less, it made for an evening of fine entertainment.

The mask pictured above hangs on Jamie's living room wall. He brought it back with him when he returned from Anyang-shi a few years ago. This is the first photo I have posted from the new Kodak cam. So it looks like I am back in posting mode.

It's chilly here this morning, -18c which works out to about -2F. The good thing is when it's this cool, we don't have to worry about mosquitos. I saw a beautiful buck and doe running through a field day before yesterday. He had an impressive rack, obviously he was more than a few years old. The camera was in the bag.

Get your xmas shopping done, time is moving on. I have to get started wrapping this stuff, now that the kids are finished checking out what they got. Kids ... gotta love 'em.

Y'all have a nice day now.

New Camera

I recently upgraded my photo taking ability by acquiring a Kodak Z740. Compared to the point and shoot snapshot takers I am accustomed to, the abilities of this camera are varied. The 5.0 MP resolution is a plus because of the size of photo that will now be possible to print with good results. My trusty Olympus D-540 Zoom, which exhibits 3.2 MP will still be my constant companion on walks and at work. More than likely, on walks I will have both cameras with me.

One of the key reasons I purchased this one was the 10x optical zoom. It also has a 5x digital zoom, but I was interested in the 10x optical because so many of the things I photograph require zoom. As far as I can guess, if one is buying zoom, optical is preferred.

A tripod is needed at this point in my photography hobby. A camera bag of some kind is also needed. I will have to determine how much of a hobby I would like it to be. Obviously, I would like to learn to take better pictures. With a better camera there is an obligation to take better pictures, I think.

I also purchased a 256MB memory card for this camera, which allows room for 160 photos at 5 MP. The learning curve starts as soon as I take the first pic with the new cam, I guess. Yes, I am looking forward to the learning.

Well, off to take a picture or two.

Fresh Snow

It is beautiful to look at but definately inconvenient to move around in. Yesterdays weather blessed us with at least 25cm/10" of the fluff stuff. When we get that much snow you might as well throw the bus schedule into a snowbank. Still it is entertaining to watch people reading the bus schedule.

The 401 was closed just west of Woodstock, so my journey back from Cambridge, instead of taking the usual 70 minutes, ended up being over four and a half hours long. A tanker truck loaded with beer hit a bus with a hockey team in it. Amazingly, only one serious injury, although a dozen were taken to hospital. And no, I'm not sure how the beer is. The beer was on it's way to the Labatt Brewery 3 blocks away from our house. I've lived near the brewery since 1985 and the smell of hops and malt emanating from there has become a smell I enjoy.

The snow wasn't really a big concern for our little family as I had just bought loads of groceries after the first big dumping of snow last week. But this one will be a shoveller, there's loads of the stuff and it's going to stay because of the temperature. No 15C to bail us out this time.

Normally, we get snow about a week before Xmas, so it is a little early to get this much twice in a week. We always have a white Xmas, it is very rare for us to have a green one.

Oh well, at least it happened on a Friday, so everybody has an excuse for staying put for the weekend. Yeah right! The malls will still be packed!

It's almost 6:30 in the morning. Time to head out for a walk and then shovel some of the white stuff while it is fluffy and light. When it gets wet it gets heavy.

Peace.

Galbi At Home

Lettuce, rice and grilled mushrooms with Galbi. Sometimes I'll also throw a slice of chicken breast on the grill as well. It is very good and healthy too I think.
The proof is in the lack of galbi. It gets eaten pretty quickly in our house.

I buy what's referred to as LA Galbi. It's sliced and packaged, just bring it home and cut with scizzors and throw it on the grill. Plus cooking on the grill makes it fun too.

Hockey Art

This is a painting of a hockey player that hangs near the snackbar at Western Fair Sportsplex. Painted by T. Denomme '01.

Lighten Up

And this Mango Mousse Cake is a delicious way to do that! I love mangos, and I really enjoy persimmons as well. I find them similar. I also picked up a double chocolate loaf cake. Delicious too, although not quite as light.

The main event was three cheese pizza and a pepperoni pizza, all from Angelos here in town. A long time popular Italian bakery, delicatessen and grocery import store.

After that it was of to the Western Fair Sportsplex to watch the London Nationals do battle with the Strathroy Rockets. A London victory ... 4 to 1.

Winter has eased up, we've had some really mild weather. On the 28th it was 54F. Now it's back to light flurries, then rain.