I really enjoyed the Batman movie yesterday.  The whole day was pretty good actually. J drove down, we had dinner at a fancy place.  We didn't plan on having dinner there.  I was really scruffy (didn't shave for about 4 or 5 days).  We passed by the restaurant and I mentioned the food was pretty good when I ate there with my colleagues.  So we went in.  I told J I wished I had brought my camera.  But he gets so embarrassed when I bring it out to take food pictures.  We hung out at a book store prior to watching the movie.  I couldn't resist buying a couple of books. 

The Dark Knight Rising is probably the best Batman movie.  As a kid, I used to tie a blanket around my neck and pretend I was Batman.  Mom could never figure out why the edges of the blanket would get frayed and dirty.  Until she caught me...  

Anne Hathaway was brilliant as the Catwoman.  She added a lot of depth and complexity to the character - a far cry from the previous, one dimension Catwomans.  It's like drinking a really good wine which has a lot of flavours and notes.  I would love to see her again.  Both Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were wonderful in their supporting roles.  Tom Hardy - wow, he played the villainous Bane to the hilt without making him seem cartoonish.  If only Heath Ledger were alive to reprise his Joker role.  It would be wonderful to see the two of them together against Batman.  Christian Bale's portrayal of Batman / Bruce Wayne is like eating a very well executed meal.  The strength and vulnerability of Batman laid out for all to see.  If I didn't know any better, he almost made Batman into a Jesus like character.  Christopher Nolan deserves major kudos for rescuing Batman from those previous campy, wimpy Batman movies.  I hope there's more.  It was well worth the 2 1/2 hours of my time.  

As J and I shared a goodnight kiss, I resisted the urge to seduce him with my deep, raspy Batman voice.  I suppose I should get to the gym first before I unveil Matman. 

 

I saw this in a store window (excuse the reflections on the window).  I have no idea what this poster is about.  But it's a bit of what I go through when I can't sleep.  There is this frenzy of thoughts that materialize causing my brain to go into overdrive.   Every single worry, to do, ideas, stray thoughts, what ifs, regrets, fantasies all take their turn in this freeway of uncontrolled brain activity.  Some nights, I'm still awake at 3 AM.  I think I'm going insane.

As I'm writing this, I just realize those "speech balloons" look like bloated sperm.  I wonder what I'll dream about tonight. 

We had dinner with my cousin and his family tonight.  On the way to the restaurant, my dad asked "How is C (my cousin) related to us?"  I told my dad that C is his nephew, the son of his youngest brother B.  "How is B doing now?  Is he still in Edmonton?"  I had to tell him again that his brother had passed away last year.  He paused as he grappled to understand.  He knew he forgotten.  He asked "What illness did he have?"  After I told him that it was cancer, he stopped asking questions and remained quiet for the rest of the trip.  My sister and I eventually made some small talk in the car.  It's not the first time he has forgotten family members (including me) and events.  He remembers some things but will forget others.  It used to be he would remember the old days.  But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. 

As we were having dinner, he smiled and waved at my cousin's baby girl.  He was genuinely delighted to see my cousin's 2 young daughters.  He greeted the kids as if he was the proud grandparent.  He would occasionally wave at them, make faces and make them smile.  I wonder if he did that to me when I was a baby.  I watched as my cousin carefully pluck the lobster meat out for his daughter.  She giggled and smiled as she ate it.  I filled my dad's bowl with food as he couldn't reach the lazy susan.  My cousin and I were almost mirroring each others moves.  Except I watched him with a mixture of happiness and envy. 

I have to remind myself there is happiness and joy at all phases in the cycle of life.  It's easy and apparent at the beginning when you have a baby.  It's a lot deeper and perhaps  meaningful near the end with an elderly parent.

When I have time, I prefer to make a nice home cooked meal.  Now you may think I eat like this every night but I don't.  Sometimes it's just peanut butter and jam or a quick meal of cereal. 

I can't remember if this is salmon or trout.  But I simply put some pesto on it, threw it into the oven and served it on some veggies.  The veggies are zucchini and carrots stir fried with garlic, salt & pepper with a dash of soy sauce.  It's simple and fast.

Roasted chicken thigh with asparagus and onions and carrots.  I placed the chicken on the onions and carrots.  The chicken simply had salt, pepper and some garlic underneath the skin. 

This is zucchini, carrots and shrimp stir fried.  I added a sauce that J had used for another dish (fried tofu) when I was over at his place for dinner.  I took home the extra sauce.  I used the sauce in this dish and it worked very nicely.  It was like a sweet soy sauce with shallots and other secret spices. 

This is the only thing I know how to bake.  It's whole wheat banana walnut muffins.  I added a bit of sugar at the top.  It was still a bit dry.  I'm trying to find the optimum level between a moist muffin and a healthy muffing.  I don't want to dump a lot of butter into it.

This was a lamb chop that I got from the farmer's market a couple of weekends ago.  I simply marinated it in olive oil, garlic, onions and pepper overnight and panfried it.  I boiled the potatoes first until they were soft, crushed them a bit to open it up and roasted it with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and the onion that I used for marinating the lamb.  I added some tomatoes (same size as cherry tomatoes but I think they call these heritage).  It was big enough for two meals.  But I was hungry and ate it in one seating.  I went into a food comatose afterwards.

No more food porn... the well is dry.  I have to reload.

 

I was trying to show Gene a picture if Sisig Fries and of course Xanga is still acting up.  So I'm posting this instead. 

The caption for Sisig fries (I've never heard of this) reads:

Sisig is a "labour of love" dish.  Offal meat (pig's ears and snout) has been boiled, grilled and chopped into fine pieces.  Marinated in lemon, vinegar and spices.  Topped with Lechon Kawali (pork belly), garlic lemon ailoli and crispy fries.

Some time ago, I visited my cousin and had:

Lumpia (spring rolls).  These weren't home made but I couldn't stop eating them.

Pancit Luglug

It's hard to describe the flavour - but it has a rich almost a mild shrimp taste.  The sauce is ladled over rice noodles.  The sauce was made from scratch and apparently it took many hours.  The orange / yellow colour is from Annatto seeds and the sauce has pork / shrimp and some veggies.  I had multiple servings.

The whole dish is then topped with hard boiled eggs, chicharon (pork rinds), lemon, green onions, deep fried garlic and I think fried scallions.  Drizzle with fish sauce to taste.

For dessert, I had this and I thought it was called halo halo.  I Googled it just to see if I got it right but the other halo halo dishes had ice cream.  The one I had didn't.  The base is coconut milk and evaporated milk.  The green and red strips I think are from tapioca?

That's all folks.

@oxygene-08 (Gene)

I step out of my condo on a very bright day.  I put my sunglasses on and walk slowly to the drug store to do some errands.  Even with my Ray-Bans, I had to squint.  Maybe I've been holed up in my condo too long.  As I'm walking along, I gradually notice people looking at me.  I wonder if my zipper is down.  When no one was looking, I discreetly check by pretending to pull up my pants.  But it's zipped up nicely.  I pass more people and I get more stares.  When I reach the drug store, I take off my sunglasses and notice one of the lens in my sunglasses is missing. 

How can that be?  I look around the entrance but I can't find it.  After I pick up my stuff, I retrace my steps to see if I can find it but to no avail.  I still couldn't figure out how I walked in the bright day and not notice.  Eventually (a couple of months afterwards) I find the missing lens in the bottom of my knapsack. 

So next time you see someone walking around and something doesn't look right - it's probably me (especially if you catch me checking my zipper).  Just say hi... I won't bite.

 

 

They sit together in timeless eternity.  They reach out to each other but their hands will feel nothing but air.  This is their fate which they have quietly accept. 

J and I went to the Waterfront Night Market at the T&T Supermarket lot on Saturday night.  It was jammed with people and I don't think the organizers were as prepared as they thought.  I think this is part of the growing pains of an event that has become very popular.  There was a wide array of foods but did we really need several stinky tofu stands?  What happened to Susur Lee's food from a couple of years ago?  What happened to the Bahn Mi Boys from last year? Parents who brought baby carriages had no idea how to maneuver them through the crowds.  Kids walking around and eating from skewers while being bumped would have made a nice but gory photo op.  Thankfully while I heard some children crying, none were injured.  There were rides for kids but I never saw anyone on them.  The folks from Reel Asian were there with a film but there weren't a lot of chairs set up for it.  There were some grandparents there.  I have no idea how they survived.

The parking lot across the street was big although it could have been better organized.  After a few hours, the attendants couldn't be bothered keeping the cars lined up.  Just like last year, there were no lights in the parking lot.  But at least they had several policemen who stopped traffic so the pedestrians could cross.  There were several workers trying to keep the place clean.  They were busy cleaning out the garbage bins which were scattered throughout the area.  They still could have used a few more bins.  I just wished the workers didn't use the supermarket carts to carry out the garbage.  Couldn't they have at least lined it with something?  I hope the organizers cleaned those carts afterwards. There were several outdoor toilets (thank you).  The one I used didn't have any toilet paper & the seat was soaking wet.  One of the portable sinks was clogged and there weren't any paper towels.  A few more attendants to keep it cleaner would have helped.  I thought I would be smart and use the one inside the supermarket.  But the lineup there was longer than the one for the stinky tofu. 

I'd probably go back again next year.  Why?  Because I can't get enough of these things.  I hope they get rid of the rides and the small basketball court to free up some more space so that people can move around easier.   I have mixed feelings about the booths from the sponsors (Campbell and Canada Dry Ginger Ale) - they just didn't seem to fit in.  What happened to the cars you promised?  There were a lot more last year.  Aside from the Subaru BRZ and an old Porsche - there wasn't anything else.  But while I like cars, I think they too can be sacrificed.  I hope the organizers can just focus on a nice night market experience and not worry about trying to do too much. 

Here are some pictures... most are self explanatory.

Lobsters and welk.

Coconuts.  I actually have a pet peeve about this.  Everyone drinks the coconut water and throws the coconut away.  There's still some good coconut meat inside - what a waste.

It's sort of like a steamed flour with various toppings and a spicy broth.  

I think this is sticky rice with peanuts, sugar and coconut on the outside.

Grilled squids

stinky tofu

Oyster Omelet

It's like a very crowded Chinese restaurant... do you want to share a table?

The "car show"... Subaru BRZ. 

The Pinoy community was well represented.  J took an unusual interest in this booth.

Pancit Palabok - I don't think the napa cabbage should be there.  It wasn't that warm and the shrimps were overcooked.  But the taste was still ok and there
 was some chicharon on top. 

When J left my condo, I asked for a goodnight kiss.  He said I smelled like stinky tofu and advised me to take a shower.  I sniffed myself and said I didn't smell that bad. But he wasn't buying any of it and left without giving me a happy ending. 

I went to Pride Parade last Sunday for the first time on a whim.  The following Monday was a holiday and I was able to put off my chores and work stuff for another day. 
The Pride Parade always seemed to be delivering a mixed message to me.  On one hand, it’s the celebration & assertion of gay rights; the recognition of the struggle for freedom and equality and also of the contributions and breadth of the LGBT community.  One the other hand there’s the overt, in your face, sexually charged aspect that attracts most of the attention.  In the past few years, there’s also been a heavier corporate hand making it feel more commercial.   

This year's Pride Parade seemed less corporate.  There were corporate signs but it wasn’t overpowering.  There was some nudity (none in the pictures here) and the usual scantily dressed men and women.  There were quite a few eye candies.  I saw church groups, the military, the first respondents, groups different cultures and school groups.  I left early as I had to meet up with my dad & sis for our weekly dinner.  I know I missed the guys in leather (but I’m not into leather).  The one group that really puzzled me was a handful of folks walking with signs proudly announcing they were asexual.  It was tame for the most part and I liked seeing the broad spectrum of the community and its supporters.  I don’t think the debate about whether or not pride is good for the cause and representative of our community will ever be settled.  But it was good for me to see the LGBT community. 

Here are some of the pictures I took.

The co-Grand Marshals of the parade, the Provincial Education Minister Laurel Broten (on the left) and Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Cheri DiNovo). 

Toronto Gay Gamers - I read that this is the first time they are in the parade.

These guys looked good together.

From our military (the Navy), they were playing Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline when they marched past me.  They had the crowd singing along.

Someone from the Navy with a nice smile. 

I don't know if he was winking intentionally when he saluted.

He wasn't smiling. But then again, it must have been a long walk for him.  He just had this determined look in his face.

I didn't see what group they belonged to.

Rev. Brent Hawkes who has been active in the gay community for a long time.

More of the parade participants:

 

 

Comedian Rick Mercer and Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke.  This is the 3rd year Mr. Burke has marched in the parade in memory of his son.

I like the flag on his cheek.

 

One of the guys from MTV Canada's 1 Girl 5 Gays (I think he is one of the high school students that was in a special edition of that show)

I liked their sign.  (Free Hugs from a PFLAG Mom / Dad)

Despite the crowd, the heat, getting sprayed on and getting bumped all the time, I probably would go back again.

 

It's been some time since I posted some photos.  When I started to play with my camera again, I forgot how to change a lot of the settings again.  It's a bit frustrating because I do enjoy photography.  I just wished my mind could remember all of these things. 

Since I work from home now, I sometimes will go for a quick walk after work.  I can still catch a few rays by the park and walk around a bit before heading back to make dinner.

One weekend, I went out for walk after dinner and heard music by the park.  It was Portugal Day festival.  The neighbourhood has a large Portuguese heritage.  There was a concert (all in Portuguese of course) as well as some rides.  A lot of folks wore the red and green colours. 

A picture of one of the rides (yeah yeah... the guy with the bike is not Portugese).

Since it's the summer, the Farmer's Market (2 in my 'hood!) are on again.  This is in the same park.

I stocked up with some jams, muffins and maple syrup. 

This sign started to appear in the 'hood a couple of years ago around Pride (July 1st in Toronto).  It's a play on the neighbourhood name of Queen St. West.  A lot of the stores have this on display to support Pride week.