Taste of Lawrence Festival 2011

After having fun at the Taste of Asia back in June, here is the Taste of Lawrence.  This event last for 3 days from July 8~10 and it is held between Warden Ave. and Birchmount Rd on Lawrence Ave.  It's pretty hard to find a parking spot around the area.  So instead of parking at the plaza near by, we parked on a side street behind the event location. 

 This section of the street is pretty quiet because this is the kid's ride zone.

 This ride looks like a spaceship.

 Hoop shots.

 Diana's seafood!!

 This is their special offer during the event.

 Folks working hard to open the oysters.

 Here is a closer shot.

 'The Stage'.

 Water walking ball - this reminds me of an old English movie (which I've forgot the name...)

 A closer shot of the balls.  If I were a kid, I would have played!!

 Kids are lining up to play this game and the staff is getting ready.

 OK, show time!  A kid climbed into the ball.

 Air was pumped into the ball to get it 'round'.

Game starts!!

I guess it must be really hard to stand up 'coz these kids tried to stand with their feet but never success.

More kids joining the game.

This kid was so concentrated trying to stand up but she couldn't do it.

Seeing some Chinese booths now...

This section of the event is getting crowded.

Super Buffet booth, selling fry noodles and other Chinese dishes.

Typical Hong Kong style curry fish ball and beef tendon balls.

BBQ chicken legs.

BBQ lamb skewer booth.

A closer shot of the lamb skewer.

Looks delicious!!  Yum!

Chinese style buns.

Mini bread sticks topped with different goodies.

Grill octopus skewer.  Looks good!

Typical bubble tea booth.

Free water from City of Toronto.

Mini live band.

This booth offers free drinks and snacks.  I tried their green apple pop and it was not bad.

Graffiti on a truck.

This food truck sells ice-ream, sundaes and slush.

I guess this is a booth operating by Philippines.

Mango salad $3 per portion.

These deep fried stuff looks good especially those fried won ton.

Psychic, palm and card reading booth.

A closer shot of the psychic stuff.

BBQ ribs.  For $3, you can get a plate of rice and BBQ ribs, served with kimchi.

Guess what this is?!  Deep frying potato ring!

Here is the raw potato rings before deep frying.

Potato rings done.  =)

Nice looking chicken skewer.

Malaysian famous food Murthabak.

They actually show you what kind of ingredient you need to make this delicious Murthabak.

Their dough looks really greasy and soft.

Chef flatten the dough first.

Place it on the frying pan and put the stuffing there.

Fold and pan fry it.

I think this booth is operated by Jamaicans.

Jamaican chicken grill.

Souvlaki?!

A closer shot of the Souvlaki.

A pork stew?  Not sure what this is...

Not sure of what this is at all...

Pork stew on a bun I guess.

Stir fry of chicken, onion and red pepper.

Another kind of ??  stir fry I guess.

It's so crowded at the food section.

Grill corn.

A stove of where they grill the corn.

Chicken souvlaki salad I guess.

Sampling booth.  They are selling the sauce which I didn't try.

Fast food truck, we have a lot of these trucks here in downtown Toronto.

Can't believe Shoppers Drug Mart is promoting too!  Enter their draw and you could win this SUV.

I took a picture of this because these chips look cute.

Pineapple slush.

Freshly fried potato chips.

Naughty Squirrel

Squirrels look cute when they are in the wild or when you seldom see them.  However, those that live near my Mom's place are outrageous!!  They dig and make holes, then hide their nuts at her garden; they stole Mom's home grown tomatoes and bite off her plants; bad neighbours fed them with bread and they stood right in front of you eating it, not even afraid of you.  These squirrels are getting so outrageous and we don't know how to control them.... 

This bastard sneaked into Mom's garden from a tree bark outside our home.  He didn't see me standing near by...  I chased him off (took me some time to do so 'coz he wasn't afraid of me) just before he started digging and he has escaped to our neighbour's house...

Two minutes right after the 1st bastard was gone, came the 2nd one!!  I chased this fellow off too and he climbed to our neighbour's balcony...

This bird built a nest at the edge of a ventilation duct across from where I live.  She just came back from a hunt and there is a small tiny worm in her mouth.

McDonald's Aquarium

I like going to this McDonald located at Yonge Street / 16th Ave. because they have a very big aquarium!!  There are quite a lot of tropical fish in the tank but I can only recognize several of them.  Its good that you sit in front of the aquarium enjoying your meal while looking at the fish.  Some fish are very responsive: you  raise a french fries or a cup of coke at them and they will come to you, so cute~~~

My all time favorite Micky D.

 I think this is some sort of African Cichlid, but don't know the exact name...

 Another kind of African Cichlid.

 This is a Tri-color shark, a jumbo one.  This fish looks more like a 土鯪魚 to me.

 This is a giant gouramis, over two palm's size!!

 Another shot of the gouramis.

 Here is a giant pleco.  They have over 4 plecos in the tank!!

Oscar, it looks a bit like a 羅漢 but it's not I guess.  There is a pair in the tank, over the size of a palm.

 Here is a Cichlid.  Taking pictures of these fish in McDonald are a lot easier than taking pictures of my fish at home.

 ET gouramis.

 Another shot of a giant pleco.

 I have totally no clue of what this is....another 鯪魚?!

 A yellow African Cichlid (yellow lab).

 One nice color African Cichlid.

 Another shot of the '鯪魚'.

 Two Cichlids swimming together.

 It's easy to take pictures of these fish here, so I kept taking pictures of them.  =)

 Another yellow African Cichlid.

 These two fish usually stay in pairs.

 Another shot of a giant pleco.  You can see it's coarse skin...

 A side shot of this '鯪魚'.

Picture of My Day - Balloon Molly

It took me at least half an hour to take a good shot of this balloon molly here.  I specifically took a picture of her because she looks so...ugly...  We got some issues with the tank's hood light and we don't know how to fix it.  So instead of switching it on, we switch on a side light.  With the side light, I can clearly see the scale and curve of each and every fish when I get REALLY close to the tank.  Most fish look very normal except this one!!  The scale near her head is so...'bumpy'!!  Perhaps you can't really see from this picture, but when I get close to the tank seeing her swimming right in front of me, with the shade and shadow...gosh!!  She looks so...HD and so...alien!!  @.@

Shower Time, Ham Ham!!

People may think it's normal to shower their dogs, but who will consider giving shower to a hamster?  I do!  It's pretty fun to clean a hamster I think.  At first my hamster was a bit afraid, but he gets used to it after a few times and he seems pretty enjoys it, especially the 'water massage'.  He hates the blow dryer for sure...but after all, everything is about hygiene.

My dirty little hamster.  It's all my fault because I was too lazy and I didn't clean his beddings...  =(

'Face it!  Jump in and start swimming!!'.

'There you go!  Good boy!!'.

After a while, he is all soaked.

I let him swim for 3-5 minutes, then I drained the water and rubbed him with body wash.

Water massage, his favorite time.

After the massage, I wrapped him with a dry towel and blow dried him.

All nice and clean now.  I treated him with an almond.  =)

My hamster usually rolls up like a ball when he sleeps in the cage.

A few weeks ago before my AC was on, it was pretty hot in the house and he sleeps like this...

飯後7大習慣 - 吃飽不發胖

沒 有 壞 的 食 物 ，只 有 壞 的 吃 法。為 了 讓 我 們 的 飲 食 習 慣 更 健 康 ，學會 飯 後 的 個 小 招 很 重 要 啊！

吃 得 太 油 膩 ，喝  杯 芹 菜 汁
如 果 一 餐 中 吃 的 油 膩 食 物 較 多 ，喝 杯 糖 份 低 ，纖 維 素 含 量 高 的芹 菜 汁 大 有 裨 益 。芹 菜 中 的 纖 維 素 可 以 幫 助 帶 走 部 分 脂 肪 。

吃 火 鍋 後 喝 點 酸 奶
火 鍋 湯 溫 度 高 ﹐ 配 料 鹹 辣 ﹐ 對 胃 腸 的 刺 激 大 。 吃 火 鍋 後 喝 點 酸 奶 ﹐ 可 以 有 效 保 護 胃 腸 道 黏 膜 。 此 外 ﹐ 酸 奶 中 含 有 乳 酸 菌 ﹐ 可 抑 制 腐 敗 菌 的 生 長 。

吃 燒 烤 後 吃 根 香 蕉
燒 烤 類 食 品 會 產 生 較 多 的 苯 並 芘 等 致 癌 物 。 軍 事 醫 學 科 學 院 食 品 與 營 養 系 博 士 芮 莉 莉 表 示 ﹐ 最 新 研 究 發 現 ﹐ 香 蕉 能 在 一 定 程 度 上 抑 制 苯 並 芘 的 致 癌 作 用 ﹐ 有 保 護 胃 腸 功 能 。

飯 後 喝 大 麥 茶或 橘 皮 水
消 化 不 良 ﹐ 飯 後 喝 大 麥 茶 或 橘 皮 水 。 大 麥 中 的 尿 囊 素 和 橘 皮 中 的 揮 發 油 。 可 曾 增 加 胃 液 分 泌 ﹐  促 進 胃 腸 蠕 動 ﹐ 對 食 物 的 消 化 和 吸 收 很 有 好 處 。

吃 方 便 麵 後 吃 水 果
進 食 方 便 麵 後 吃 一 點 水 果 ﹐ 如 蘋 果 ﹐ 草 莓 ﹐橙 子 ﹐ 猕 猴 桃 等 ﹐ 可 以 有 效 補 償 維 他 命 與 礦 物 質 的 不 足 。 此 外 ﹐ 提 倡 煮 食 方 便 麵 。 煮 後 的 麵 條 更 柔 軟 ﹐ 有 利 於 腸 道 吸 收 水 份 ﹐ 幫 助 消 化 。

吃 蟹 後 ﹐ 喝 生 薑 紅 糖 水
蟹 肉 屬 寒 性 ﹐ 脾 胃 虛 寒 的 人 吃 後 可 能 引 發 胃 痛 ﹐ 腹 瀉 ﹐ 嘔 吐 等 。 吃 蟹 後 喝 一 杯 性 溫 的 生 薑 紅 糖 水 ﹐ 能 袪 寒 暖 胃 ﹐ 促 進 消 化 ﹐ 緩 解 胃 部 不 適 。 但 糖 尿 病 患 者 不 宜 食 用 。

潤 肺 止 咳 ，飯 後 吃 個 柿 子
柿 子有 潤 肺 生 津 ﹐ 養 陰 清 燥 的 功 效 ﹐ 對 於 有 呼 吸 道 疾 病 的 人 來 說 ﹐ 是 理 想 的 保 健 水 果 之 一 。 但 柿 子 不 能 空 腹 吃 ﹐ 其 中 的 鞣 酸 成 份 在 胃 中 形 成 結 塊 。

Have You Ever Seen My Yoyo Sleep?

The first time when I saw how my Yoyo sleep, I thought he was dead!  Scared me!!  He laid flat at the bottom of the tank, motionless...  However, when I walked closer and looked at him, he flipped and starred at me, and swam away!  Geez!!  What an attitude fish!  Taking pictures of him when he is sleeping is hard 'coz he is very alert.  I cannot sit too close to the tank, indeed, I need to sit on the floor and pretend that I'm watching TV but peak at him, then I raised my full arm, eyes still focus on the TV, and zoom in my camera to get the shot!  So challenging...

See!!  Doesn't he looks dead to you?!  I can't zoom in any more as this will 'wakes' him up...  Taking shots like this is pretty hard since I only got 1 okay picture out of 10 shots.  Next to my Yoyo on the right is my flying fox.  At least the flying fox here just sat there and didn't play dead!

 It's a bit blurry but at least the shot is a lot closer than the previous one.  He is getting more hilarious...  Have you ever seen a fish using a stone as a pillow and rest it's head on it??!

I took this picture on another day and again, he was sleeping.  But he was not laying as flat as he used to because he slept between rocks and there were support for his rear!