A Busy Week

I have been so overwhelmed with work (see below) these past two weeks that it has left little time for me to blog, which is too bad because lots have been happening.

Friday, June 12: We celebrated grandma's 84th birthday over a traditional 10 course Chinese dinner. Lots of food, lots of laughs and lots of pictures. Here's this year's family photo:

Whoa! So many Chinese people! I'm startled by it.
Photography by Aunt Elaine

Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14: I spent the weekend with my amazing Leaders of Tomorrow: Graduate (LoT:G) committee at Hart House Farm which is located about 1hr north west from downtown Toronto. It was my first time at HHF in 8 years as a UofT student and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it is. The purpose of the retreat was essentially to pass the torch to the new co-Chairs of the group. I have to admit that it was hard to let go but it is the right time =)

Aside from eating more than I did on Friday night, we had a yoga lesson (my first) which was quite challenging. I needed lots of help:

My attempt at yoga with support from Maygan and our yoga instructor
Photography by Erin Kim

It was also refreshing to breathe in the clean air, see the stars at night and roast marshmallows by the fire. Of course, we did some work but the retreat was really about building friendships with wonderful, intelligent and creative engineers - which I think we successfully did!

The only photo evidence of productivity
Photography by Erin Kim

Monday, June 15 - Present: The many deadlines that I have has translated into long hours of sitting in front of the computer reading and writing. Specifically, I have to prepare 3 presentations for 3 upcoming conferences, finish editing 2 scientific papers (one based on my Master's and the other on entrepreneurial education in engineering curricula), and work on my thesis (thank God for my summer student) as well as the annual report for LoT:G (my last duty as exiting co-Chair). Despite all this, I find time to miss Jeff (though I'm not supposed to say hehe). And the only breaks I have had from work and thinking about him were when I took grandma to the dentist on Tuesday AND Thursday morning to get her dentures realigned, and when I played Ultimate on Tuesday evening. I somehow got 5 bruises on my arms and legs but at least I broke my scoring drought. Yay!

I'm soooooooo glad tomorrow is Friday.

-ange xx

Shortbread Cookies Fuel Leadership Thoughts

I left school at 2.30pm this afternoon to hang out with one of my favourite persons in the world, Ann (my cousin David's wife). She lured me away from work by inviting me over to make shortbread cookies for grandma's birthday tomorrow. We made four batches of three different flavours: lemon, banana and vanilla. Below is a picture of what they look like after Chris, Maygan and I got to the cookie tin a few too many times ;-)

Shortbread Cookies (iPhone quality)

While they may not appear all that exciting (blame it on the camera), they are delicious - not too sweet and not too rich in butter. And they are very easy to make... I'll need to ask Ann for the recipe later! Or maybe she'll post it as a comment *hint, hint*

Anyway, these cookies were what fueled my 3 hour brainstorming session with Maygan (another favourite person of mine!). In this time, we developed the agenda and programming for a leadership retreat that we will be facilitating this weekend. I'm so proud of us for being so creative and innovative - it's days like this when I wonder why I'm doing a PhD in financial engineering and not in sociology or pyschology. The answer to this question probably looks like this: "$".

-ange xx

Back in Toronto

After 3.5 weeks in SUNNY California, I returned home to dark stormy skies in Toronto. Not a good welcome BUT at least I have our family trip to Hawaii on June 22 to look forward to (i.e. More sun! Though I am already sporting a nice tan!). I am happy that I also got to see my parents and Chris (we played Ultimate tonight), as well as Maygan and friends at school. Tomorrow I'll get to see Andrea when we play Ultimate (yay!) and I hope to also catch up with Zoe and Izzy (I miss my little niece!).

Anyway, I miss Jeff lots and lots already (I'm a big baby!) but find comfort knowing that we will see each other again in 18 days (not that I'm counting) on the Big Island. Over this past weekend, I made more of his favourite meals: curry on Saturday night and tomato pesto on Sunday night. Here's a close-up of what the latter looks like as I realized that my previous post did not show it clearly:

Tomato Pesto and BBQ Chicken

Very simple. Very tasty. Very healthy.

-ange xx

Banh Cuon

My first time making banh cuon was definitely an experience. I screwed up the first few rolls before getting the technique right. Below is a picture of them, though I suppose I should have dressed them up with vegetables and herbs to make them look more appealing (we had greens but I was just so excited and wanted to take a picture immediately!):

Banh cuon without the fixings

Needless to say, they tasted amazing and Jeff and I ate them all! Mom was impressed when I showed her over the webcam, and I'm sure both Dad and my po po would be proud that I can actually cook up a true Vietnamese meal!

-ange xx

The Return of Tonkatsu

When something tastes as good as tonkatsu, it's inevitable that Jeff will request it for dinner again. And when I get a sweet compliment like "You're amazing" for cooking it, how can I not make it again? =)

The tonkatsu was even better than last time; in fact, there is "no evidence" that I made it except for our happy tummies.

Tonkatsu before it disappeared

For those who are interested, here's a quick recipe:
1. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of a thin piece of pork loin
2. Dust both sides with flour
3. Coat the pork in an egg-water (3/4 : 1/4) mixture but make sure there is no dripping
4. Now coat the pork with breadcrumbs - the denser the better!
5. Deepfry in vegetable oil (medium to hight heat) until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
6. Consume with a smile

-ange xx

Dumplings

To kick-off Asian-themed dinner week, I made dumplings. They were delicious and as Jeff complimented, "They are just like Mom's!"

Here are some close-up pictures and instructions on how to make them.

1. Mix ground pork with diced shitake mushrooms and napa cabbage. Flavour with soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and black pepper. Fold dumplings with store-bought wraps (very convenient!) so that they resemble the following:

Raw dumplings

2. Boil dumplings for 3-4 minutes. Dumplings will float when they are ready!

Boiled dumplings fresh out of the pot

3. If desired, pan fry boiled dumplings until light brown with olive oil over medium heat.

Pan-fried goodness

4. Enjoy the yummmminess!

-ange xx

A Canadian Weekend

On Friday night, we made our way into the City (SF, San Francisco) and hung out with Jeff's friends who he went to grad school with at UofT. It was fun going to 3 pubs/bars and a yummy taco/burrito place in the Mission District with a bunch of Canadian engineers!

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I decided to try our luck again with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The story is: since October, I have been in SF three times. Each visit, we want to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which sits atop a Macy's and overlooks Union Square. It is ALWAYS packed with wait times of 3-3.5 hours! But this time, there was no wait and we got to eat outside on the rooftop! Finally!

View of Union Square from The Cheesecake Factory (iPhone quality)

As you can see, the weather in SF is not the most appealing - often windy and overcast - so we quickly drove back to SJ. It's amazing: after driving less than 10mi out of the City towards SJ, it was clear blue skies and sun again!

On Sunday late afternoon, we had fun catching up with another Canadian friend, Scott, over dinner on Santana Row in SJ. Santana Row is SJ's equivalent of Yorkville in Toronto and has an amazing pizzeria! Anyway, Scott and I know each other from the LoTGrad committee back home, and we worked together until he moved out here in the Spring. He now works on complex electrical engineering stuff at Fujitsu Labs in Silicon Valley - very close to Nvidia (where Jeff works).

Me and Scott at Pizza Antica
Photography by Jeff

After amazing dinner (we all had one pizza each!), Jeff and I drove to Oakland to participate in a Canadian activity. What kind? Well, every Sunday, a group of people in the Bay Area organize pick-up hockey! Yes. That's right. Hockey. In California. In June.

A superstar warming up for the game

Most of the players are from the East Coast and a handful of them are Canadian! My job is to keep score and I do a pretty good job, considering this is what I have to work with:

Fancy score-keeping technology

So all in all, it was a nice weekend with warm reminders of home =)

-ange xx