Summer Staycation

Ahhhhh.... Summer-time. I Love Summer. I especially Love Summer and Vacation Time. For my Summer Vacation, I stayed home and enjoyed all there was to enjoy right here in my own home, backyard, front yard, and the Richmond Hill/Markham/Scarborough area. Come join me as I recount some of the hi-lites from my Summer Staycation.

According to Wikipedia, a staycation is a neologism for a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home and relaxes at home or takes day trips from their home to area attractions.

Caught the first Monarch butterfly of the season fluttering around my butterfly garden.

Here's the Monarch butterfly laying eggs on the milkweed plant. I will be doing a separate post on the Monarch Life cycle again later this month. Every summer, we continue to be fascinated by the miracle of watching a butterfly egg hatch into a caterpillar, watching the caterpillar spin itself into a beautiful chrysalis and then finally transform itself into a pretty butterfly. AMAZING!!!

We started off the week by visiting Chapters Indigo where everyone picked up some books for summer reading. I really enjoy reading about Zen Philosophy. In a "Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilbur did a great job summarizing and integrating the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers and sages throughout the ages as well as the various religions and scientific theories in an attempt to explain how we evolved from the Lowest Level of Nothingness into the Highest Level of Nothingness. Very thought-provoking.

Sadly, one of my cousin's mom had passed away and Dick and I attended the funeral on the weekend. This is the garden area of the funeral home. I wish I had taken more pictures of the event but I didn't want to break any funeral visitation etiquette. I found it interesting that there were Buddhist Monks chanting and singing while saying some prayers during the ceremony. I also found out that my parents' burial plots are located not too far away from my cousin's parents' plots. It got me thinking about my own passing but I still can't decide what's best: underground burial or cremation? Well, maybe some other options will come up before I make my final decision.

After the burial, we were invited to a dinner reception to be held about an hour and half later. To pass the time, my sister suggested we visit J-Town which was only 2 blocks west of the restaurant where the reception was going to be held. J-Town may be the only truly Japanese Shopping Centre, run by Japanese vendors, filled with all things Japanese. Kevin points to a poster advertising their upcoming Sidewalk Sales. Hmmm... better keep some of those dates open for a future visit(s).

Here we are enjoying a peaceful Japanese Zen Garden at J-Town.

Here are some of the exotic snacks on display.

There were many interesting samples on offer to entice shoppers into buying some of their delicious treats, including miso-marinated tuna, yellowtail fish, different seafood dumplings, seaweed salads, and come crispy-deep-fried duck liver snack. Of course, I tried them all and they were all very yummy.

The sales clerk even gave the kids some very creamy chocolate pieces to sample. Lucky for us, the kids gave them up to me and my sister to try. The piece wrapped in pink was strawberry flavoured. Hmmmmmmm.... so so good.

In the Chinese tradition, each guest visiting a funeral home receives a packet filled with a piece of candy and some spending money. The money, usually a loonie, can only be spent on buying something sweet to be consumed on the same day to counter the sadness of losing a loved one. I ended up buying two $1.00 treats at J-Town (the Peach Gummies for Dick and the White Chocolate Macadamia Nuts for me).



I also ended up buying this Rice-filled Squid Snack for a buck.


This is what it looks like on the inside. Very very tasty.

You guessed it. I liked J-Town so much, I went back again the very next day to pick up on some more of their specials.

As the sign suggests, J-Town = Sweet, Eat, Smile, Laugh and Talk. So Kuku and so Kawaii.

Lucky for us, we went shopping on a "Surprising Sale" Day!!! Woohoo!!!

Look, Anpan Man buns!!! So very Japanese.

We picked up some more Japanese delicacies. Marinated baby octopi and marinated seaweed & squid. They were excellent. The best part was that these were going for half price because we arrived one hour before closing time.


Stocked up on fresh Asian ingredients, our family made some Fresh Rice Rolls to bring to my parents.

We also brought along these are waffle-like cute little fishie treats filled with a delicious red bean paste. Dick pan-fried them first to give them a more crispy flavour.

My sister and her kids dropped by to visit and we had an Asian Themed Party.

We made more fresh rice rolls. The fresh picked mint and thai basil from my garden added a unique and refreshing taste to the rolls.

My sis made some home-made bubble tea. She made 3 different flavours: strawberry, mango and green apple. I made some mandarin orange flavoured jelly cubes the night before as an added fun ingredient.

Here's the spread.

My sis also brought along some freshly picked raspberries from her garden. Apparently raspberries are very easy to grow. Her neighbour had given her 6 raspberry twigs to plant 2 summers ago. They have spread so quickly, she now has over 20 bushes lining her property. She has been busily getting other neighbours and friends to take some of these bushes away.


Here's Colin hunting for some red currants. He found only a small handful. We'll have to wait a little bit longer to harvest them.

My niece and nephew are re-enacting a scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in front of our mini bamboo forest.

Meanwhile, my sister is weaving together a bamboo wreath from some young bamboo twigs.

We ended the afternoon of fun by baking some ice-cream shaped cookies. Even though Derek missed out on this get-together (the poor guy had to work that day), we made a turtle cookie just for him.

During my holidays, I was happy to spend more time tending to my garden. Here's my black raspberry bush. Not too many berries for this year. Maybe next year, we'll have a larger bounty?

At least the gai lan (chinese broccoli) were ready for harvesting. I dug them out and re-seeded. They take about 2 months to grow from seed. So I'm hoping we'll get another harvest by mid-September.

The bunch on the left is from my garden. The bunch on the right came from the Chinese supermarket. We cooked the home-grown bunch for dinner tonight and it tasted good. The stalk near the bottom was a bit woody but became more tender closer to the top.

So far, the sugar pea plants which looked so promising in the spring have been a big disappointment for me. Of the 9 pea plants I started from seed, none of them survived the transplant. Even when I re-seeded directly into my backyard, only 1 lone plant made it but even that one surviving plant doesn't look too strong.

Same with the ox-heart tomato plants. I had 4 really strong looking plants started but due to heavy winds from several severe rainstorms, it doesn't look like any of those tomato plants will make it either.

I'm now pinning my hopes on the grape tomato plants. I started out with about 12 or 13 of these plants, of which only about 5 or 6 are still standing. I sure hope they can withstand today's heavy windstorm.

So now my summer staycation is coming to an end. I really enjoyed staying up late, sleeping in, staying in my pjs for as long as my hubby will allow me, relaxing, indulging in all my favourite activities like gardening, reading, paper-crafting, cross stitching and cooking. Much as I wish I could retire for good tomorrow, I'll just have to be satisfied that I got a taste of what my retirement life will be like in the not-too-distant future while I still get paid to enjoy my time off from the 8-4:30 grind. Make that the 7am-6pm grind when commute time is included. Geez, 11 hours a day, 5 days a week, wasted, not doing things I'd rather be doing. Yes, Early Retirement is looking better and better all the time. Soon, very very soon....

Happy Canada Day!

Like most Canadians, I'm not all that patriotic. I'm not one to fly the Canadian flag proudly nor brag about Canada. Canadians may not be exciting nor flashy, but for the most part, we are quite a happy bunch and don't feel compelled to tell the rest of the world how great Canada is. Nevertheless, I will say this much. I'm ever so glad to be a Canadian!

My family came to Canada over 40 years ago from Hong Kong and I'm extremely grateful to call Canada my homeland. Aside from the weather, I really have no other complaints. Canada offers many things that very few places in the world can offer. Some of these most cherished things are: a high level of Freedom, abundant clean land with lots of open space and much of it still in its natural state, a stable government, and particularly in Toronto, a wide diversity of cultures that get along so well together because of our high level of acceptance and respect for each other (the Envy of the World, really). I could go on but these are the main reasons I feel so fortunate and I do love living here.

So, no fireworks for me tonight, no flag waving, no singing of the National Anthem. I'm thinking maybe it's time for a new National Anthem anyways. You all have to admit, "Oh Canada" is a rather boring anthem. The words sure could use some updating. I'm not so sure that too many of us would really "Stand on Guard for Thee". It sounds too militaristic.


I did spend Canada Day enjoying my favourite activities like gardening, cross stitching and other crafts. To commemorate the day, I made an Origami Box with pages from the LCBO booklet. Here's to Good Ole Canada.




I also took time out to visit the local Farmer's Market.

There were lots of fresh produce to sample.

These all tasted mighty fresh.

Some booths offered freshly made baked goods.

I haven't had a soft butter pretzel in ages.


One of the very friendly vendors offered me a large piece of white nectarine to sample. Even though there were "Foodland Ontario" logos everywhere, I found out that these white nectarines I picked up were actually from the USA. Oh well, maybe later in the summer, there will be more Ontario Farm produce. We only have a very short growing season, after all.

Here are some very tropical looking plants I'm pretty sure aren't native to Ontario. A Pineapple Plant and some Banana Plants?!?!!


These are some of the goodies I picked up. Nectarines from the USA, a cheese and tomato foccacia, a soft German Pretzel, some Greek pastries. (see what I mean about the diversity).

I couldn't resist and picked up the Pineapple Plant. Unfortunately, the pineapple is not edible but if I can manage to keep it alive for the long term, it should make for a great conversation piece.

It'll feel right at home next to the Mimosa Plant, another tropical plant that is native to South and Central America. That's why I love Canada. I can easily enjoy so many foreign items from faraway places right here in my little corner of Canada.

This is as Canadian as I got to celebrating Canada Day. Enjoying a butter tart topped with strawberries and Cream. According to Wikipedia, A butter tart is a type of pastry best known as a Canadian treat. The strawberries came from my very own Canadian Garden and the whipped cream is made by a company called Saputo, based in Montreal, Quebec. Can't get more Canadian than that. Happy Canada Day Eh?

The Month of Colin

The month of June 2009 truly belongs to Colin, my oldest son. I hereby proudly present all the hi-lights for the month of Colin in which he turned 18, participated in a Multi-Cultural Show, attended his High School Prom, the Graduation Ceremony and a Post Graduation Pool Party.

For his 18th Birthday, we had a low-key celebration since Colin didn't want to make a big fuss about his birthday. Derek and I made him his favourite, a Chocolate Cake decorated with banana and strawberry slices and strange meringue mushroom figures.

His grandparents also joined in on the celebration and presented him with a great big cheque for reaching this milestone. It's really gonna come in handy towards his upcoming Tuition Bill. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Here are some of the participating members from the Multi-Cultural Event held at Langstaff Secondary.

Colin choreographed the moves for the Kung Fu Skit where 2 rival chinese gangs rumble.

Got a good shot of Colin in action.

Here's the Group doing some Tai Chi moves.

I really enjoyed the Japanese dancers with their beautiful costumes and lovely moves.

The Korean Dancers also put on a spectacular show.

Here is the party of 10 that Colin shared a ride with to get to the Prom.

For Prom Night, Colin's group rode in style in this Stretch Limo.

The Limo Rental cost them $40 per person. Not bad considering it got them all the way from Richmond Hill to the Waterfront and back.

Here's Colin's Prom Date. Jessica is a sweet and multi-talented girl who not only participated in 3 of the Multi-Cultural shows, but also co-hosted it. She even made some Cream Puffs for Colin and making Puff Pastries requires great skill. Colin is so lucky!

Martin is one of Colin's best buddies dating from Elementary School

They held the Prom at the Atlantis Banquet Hall in Ontario Place. Coincidentally, the same place where my High School prom was held!

Colin's graduation momentos.

Colin also received a Certificate of Endorsement in Business Studies along with his High School Diploma. The Class of 2009 consisted of nearly 300 grads. That's huge. No wonder the ceremony took so long. I think that may be twice the amount of students as when I graduated from High School.

Proud parents

The Graduation Ceremony was held at this beautiful venue. I think my own high school graduation ceremony was held in our High School auditorium. How times have changed.




Colin receives his High School Diploma!

The Valedictorian, Mark Lee is a very charismatic fellow and also receipient of numerous awards. His speech was very funny and witty and he ended the speech with song. He is really quite the singer.

Mark was good enough to co-ordinate this photographic moment for all the proud parents to capture as all the New Grads tossed their graduation caps into the air at the end of his fine speech.

Notice the little baby in the arms of the woman in red? I was totally amazed that this baby sat through a 2 hour long ceremony without fussing or making a sound. Such a good baby.

Here's Dick clowning around with Colin.


At first, I thought we were gonna have to do some serious photoshopping to remove this clown who snuck in his smiley face out of the picture. But it turns out this clown is the High School vice-principal, so we decided to keep him in. Very Funny, Mr. Hilmer.

Here's Colin and the very lovely Jessica who won the Governor General's Academic Medallion, awarded to the graduating student with the highest final average of all Grade 11 and 12 courses. Her overall average was 96%. Way to go Jessica!!!

Colin ended the month with a BIG SPLASH by attending a Post Graduation Pool Party. Colin became an instant hero by bringing a Party Size Platter of Sushi. Too bad nobody thought of bringing a camera to commemorate the Final Good Times before everyone parted ways for the summer.


So now Colin will be off to Ryerson University to study "Information Technology Management" in September. Coincidentally, Ryerson happens to be the same post-secondary institution that both Dick and I graduated from more than 25 years ago. Of course, back in those days, Ryerson was not yet a University. It was a Polytechnical Institution and a fine Institution it was when it was known to us affectionately as "Rye High" because it still retained the same atmosphere as a High School. We hope Colin will continue the tradition by joining the "Ryerson Chinese Student Association"(RCSA) where Dick and I met and still hold many many fond memories of.

Heartfelt Thanks to my most favourite niece, Patricia, for giving Colin this Ryerson Hoodie as a most fitting Graduation Gift.

First Day of Summer/ Happy Father's Day

Aaaah!!! Finally Summer (my most favourite season) has officially arrived and I was not disappointed. Time to soak in all the glorious sun rays and go strawberry picking from our strawberry patch. We've had a strawberry patch growing in our front yard for several years now. I remembered the first year we had strawberries, they were quite small and there weren't all that many for picking, but they were really sweet and tasty.

Over the years, the strawberry patch has grown in size and the berries have gotten bigger too. This year, I weeded out alot of the other plants that were fighting for space in our front garden and pruned back a lot of the cedar bush to make more room for the strawberries. It worked and it looks like we will have our best harvest yet. Unfortunately, more berries meant more pesky critters coming by to visit.

Dick thinks it may be birds eating up our berries and suggested that we stick a brightly coloured object that will make rapid movements in the wind, such as a pinwheel, to scare them off. We couldn't find a pinwheel but we did find a Spinning Hot Air Balloon that might do the trick. I think we were somewhat successful as I did mange to gather at least 3 pints of strawberries so far. Of course, I had to pick some that weren't fully ripe yet because I didn't want to take the chance of losing them to those pesky critters. The result was that they didn't taste as sweet to me but the rest of my family still enjoyed them.

In fact we had enough to serve for a Father's Day Breakfast this morning. We made a whole pile of pancakes, served with honey, freshly picked strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmmm... it was very yummy. We completed the meal with some hamburgers patties and peameal bacon. Needless to say, it was very filling.

For some reason, Dick owns a Pink version of the Nintendo DS and some years ago, Derek had pasted some eyes, cheeks and a mouth on it to make it look like Kirby. So, for Father's Day, I made Dick a Pop-up card to resemble his pink Nintendo DS. The boys chipped in and we got him a new Nintendo DS game (Ninja Gaiden-Dragon Sword). Since Dick seems to have taken an interest in Chinese music of late, I had also asked my friend Anastasia to download some of her favourite Chinese Pop tunes for Dick to transfer onto his IPOD to enjoy.

Happy Father's Day and Happy Summertime!!!!!!!



What's this? Some pesky critter has gotten to some of the berries before we could get our hands on them.


More chewed up strawberries. Could this be the work of some hungry birds? I think so because they left other evidence such as white streaks on some of the leaves.

Dick having fun with the Spinning Hot Air Balloon. My son, Derek had to assemble it because I'm not very good when it comes to following directions for this sort of thing.

Dick had hung it up on the Lilac Bush about a week ago. Let's see if it works.

I still found some berries with bite marks in them, but the area right below the Hot Air Balloon seems to have the most whole berries suitable for picking. In fact, this is our third harvest so far this season.

These were the first 2 berries of the season from a week ago. They are small but still tasted good. They were about 1/3 the size of the heart shaped strawberry Kelly had given to me from a few months ago.

Here's the giant sized Heart Shaped Strawberry I got from my friend Kelly.

Looks beautiful.. Doesn't it?

Here's an alien-looking strawberry looking red and juicy and almost ready to pick.

In honour of Father's Day, I made Dick a Pink Nintendo DS Pop up Card. It resembles the one he actually owns. Don't ask me why he owns a Pink One. Must have been on sale.

It's got pop-up control buttons inside the card. Happy Father's Day.

Healthy Yards Event

Last week, I attended the Richmond Hill Healthy Yards Event where I got to pick up a Small Native Tree & Plant Kit. I was quite excited because for less than $25, I received a Kit consisting of an edible Black Raspberry Bush, a Red Dogwood Bush and assorted native wild flowers. Just like last year's event, there was a spot where you can pick up all the free mulch you can take back with you, as long as you bring your own shovel and containers. There were gardening experts on hand if you needed any gardening advice. There was even a Games booth where you can play assorted nature games.

Last year, I was initially disappointed that I had placed my order too late to receive a Small Plant Kit, but I decided to attend the Event anyways. It was a good thing too because I ended up playing a game where you had to match up pictures of leaves to pictures of the trees they came from in order to win a prize. I managed to match up all the leaves to all the trees correctly and I won myself a great prize! I was so ecstatic because I ended up winning the White Birch Tree that I had wanted to order. I was so very lucky that I won the White Birch because it wasn't even available on the order list this year.

This year, Dick helped me plant the bushes in our backyard while I transplanted the native flowers into my front garden. After several weeks of growing veggies and herbs from seed and transplanting them into our backyard, I think my garden is finally complete. I just need to see whether any of the flowers will bloom and if there'll be any goodies to harvest later on in the season. Stay tuned.

Here I am sitting in an Industrial Plough with my Native Plant Kit

A lotta folks helping themselves to the free mulch. Some brought garbage bags while others brought garbage bins or blue bins to fill'er up. There was even one guy who filled up the entire back of his pick-up truck. He must own a farm or something.
Here are the garden experts giving out some gardening advice to novice gardeners

Here's the Games booth where I won a prize last year

Here's the Red Osier Dogwood bush. It's suppose to bear tiny white flower clusters and white berries in the Spring and Summer. I may have to wait til next year to see that. The leaves will turn a maroon red in the fall and the branches will remain red, making for an attractive winter plant against a snowy backdrop.

This is the Black Raspberry Bush. I can see buds forming already. I hope we'll get some raspberries later this year!

Here are some Blue Vervain (the 2 largest plants), Showy Tick-Trefoil (the 2 small plants on the left, and some Harebell, the small plants on the right. Because these are all plants native to this region, they should grow very easily here.

According to the Fact Sheet I got with the kit, the Blue Vervain plant will produce beautiful electric blue flowers on the candelabra shaped flower head every year from July to September. The Showy Tick-Trefoil will produce magenta flowers in mid-summer and will attract butterflies and other pollinators. The Harebell is the classic bluebell flower that looks delicate but is a very hardy plant that tolerates drought very well, blooming from July to October. Now, that's my kind of plant. It won't readily die on me even if I forget to water it, has a long flowering season and has flowers in my favourite hues - blue and purple.

Here are some Ox-eye Sunflower (top), Spotted Joe Pye Weed (middle and some Dense Blazing Star (bottom).

The Ox-eye (false) Sunflower is an easy to grow butterfly plant. It's a tall plant producing sunny yellow flowers. It won't be my favourite, but I threw it into the garden anyways.

The Spotted Joe Pye Weed is another tall butterfly plant with clusters of magenta flowers.

The Dense Blazing Star is also a butterfly plant with spiky purple flowers. I like the colour but I'm not sure I like the shape. Looks like I may have a Butterfly Garden forming soon.

This one is a Wild Bergamot. This is Dick's favourite of the lot because it produces the scent of Earl Grey Tea. He loves that scent. I like it too because it is generally an undemanding plant and will produce showy lavender flowers in its second year.

These are the plants I didn't get around to transplanting. They are just a bunch of Prairie Ornamental grasses and some more yellow flowers. I may have to give these away or Dick might find a spot for them seeing as how he likes yellow flowers and grass more than I do.

Here's the White Birch tree I won a year ago. It was a short little thing back then.

This year, it has grown as tall as me. No white bark yet. In fact, it is not advisable to remove the bark from the tree until the diameter of the tree trunk is at least 6 inches. Even then, this can damage the tree unless it is harvested carefully and at the right time of the season, that being between mid-June to early July. So it looks like it will be a good long time before I can get my hands on any home-grown birch paper to use for my paper crafts.

Celebrating a 90th Birthday

We celebrated my dad's 90th Birthday today. Because my dad has trouble moving around, it wasn't possible to have the celebration at a Chinese Restaurant. Instead, our family gathered together to have a Chinese Banquet catered in at a Party Room of the Seniors' Home. I liked it because it was uncomplicated and still very festive and it was nice to see the Fong Clan all gathered together again.

Here are some select pictures to commemorate the day.

Mom & Dad

My sister Cathy's family and my family (Both Setos, by marriage)

My oldest sister and her family

My second oldest sister and her family

My oldest brother's 2 daughters, son-in-law and mother-in-law

My third oldest sister and her family

My family

Some of the seven siblings and some of the spouses and a cousin

Two of the Great-Grandchildren helping to blow out the candles


Here's the Pop-up Card I made for my Dad's 90th birthday

... all our names are signed in chinese characters

I also made a Mother's Day Card for my Mom

It's another Pop up card filled with "Spring" Flowers. The flowers are attached to paper springs for a fun interactive card. Boing, boing, boing.....

I thought the 3 flowers were too lonely, so I attached a few more for extra fun!!!!!

Pop-Up Cards

I just found another distraction to pre-occupy my time. Making Pop-up Cards!

It all started because Connie, our summer student returned to the workplace. I was quite excited to see Connie back because she is an amazing worker. I can give her a pile of work and she'll complete it in less than half the time expected and she's always eager to do more. The other thing great about Connie is her love of card making and cartooning. You can check out one of her artwork here. She's delighted a lot of people with many of her offerings like Birthday Cards, Christmas Cards and even cute little personalized Chinese Takeout baskets containing candy treats on her last day of work last summer. So of course, I wanted to return the favour by creating a Card made especially for Connie.

Anyways, I was always fascinated by Pop-up Art. I can spend hours browsing the Kids Book section admiring all the pop-up and peek-a-boo illustrations and pictures which can slide in and out in the kiddie books. They make reading so much more fun. So, here are my first three attempts at making Pop-Up Cards. They are not as polished or professionally looking as the Hallmark Cards, but they are all unique and can be personalized!

Here's Connie's "Welcome Back" Card

... which opens out into a Birthday card. It's a "Welcome Back/Birthday" Combo Card. I have to give some credit to my son, Derek, who showed me how to properly fold the nose part to make it stick out the right way. If you close and open the card, it looks like the Beaver is talking.

Here's a Mother's Day Card I made for my Mommy-in-law.

I goofed already because I forgot to cut out a connecting section on the top part of the Orchid Plant to make it stay in place. Fortunately, my hubby, Dick made a really good suggestion. Can you see the pink spring-like paper tab I stuck to the back of one of the flowers?


Here's a Birthday Card I made for my Dad.

I don't know what Dick was thinking of, but this is not a "Happy Goth" card, it's a "Happy 90th" Birthday Card. I sort of messed up this card a bit too with some smudges. But again, Dick came up with another helpful suggestion. He said I should draw a couple of pandas waving around some bamboo to cover up those smudges. That was a great idea and it really added more cuteness to the card.

Yes, I had to cover up another smudge on the back of the card with another panda waving bye-bye.