Bee-zee time...

My apologies for the lack of updates for the time being... hang in there... updates regarding last week of summer break, my birthday bash, and the start of school will be posted shortly!~ Have mercy!

along the week...

After a full Saturday of eating... I woke up early on Sunday.. early as in 5:00 a.m. - to get ready and head over to Rochester. Trying to get over to Pete's before 7:00 a.m. so that we could all make it for the 7:30 a.m. mass at St. Joseph's church in Greece, NY. Grandpa Mario called for a memorial mass for Pete's late grandma Mary. I never had the chance to meet her.. but I hear a lot about her from Nancy and Peter. All the cooking, arts & crafts and things we could have done.. dearly missed by us all.

I hung out at Pete's for a bit more before I headed back to Buffalo for a lazy sunday evening of lazing and watching dvds. Chele and I saw the Wedding Date - can't help it! We love Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney... plus, Michael Bublé sings a couple of songs in the movie :D

Monday was a real busy day at work... heck.. this entire week will be a crazy week at work. Orientation for international student begins and I am flocked with finalizing student's admisisons, last minute applications, late arrivals, and all type of weird cases. I am so thankful that we have a very supportive and hard working group of people in IA.

To kick of the hectic workload from day one of the week... Amy, Marie and I continued on to lesson #2 in ballroom dancing. This time we did the Cha Cha and further improved our Tango. It was pleasant and relaxing not doing work and just trying to make sure you get your footwork right. We can't wait to absorb more new dance combinations seing we got out basic down!

Got back home and Alex and Ray was hanging out with the girls and Ying Ye - Sharon's friend visiting from MN. Last chance to hang out with the boys before they head east to Syracuse for the State Fair. Bade my farewell and see you agains to Alex and Ray... have to head back to TX to see Alex and to NYC to see Ray.. in the near future that is.

Another intense day at work today... but we all survived. We always do.... thank goodness! There was also a reception at the Center for the Arts welcoming new international students and I met a couple of students with whom I have been helping and communicating with over their admission. It's nice to know that they all arrived in UB alright and are already getting themselves situated and ready for classes to commence. Not only was I able to assist them in some ways, I also found new friends in then :)

And so here I am... on a Tuesday night.. home alone - Chele left for NYC this afternoon for meetings till Thursday evening. I am finally updating this blog of mine while watching reruns of Sex in the City... and now to bed I will go.

Really need to catch up on those ZzzZzzs..... ;P

Ikea & Matahari Bar & Grill - Toronto, Canada

Here's yet another quickie update on what I've been since the weekends...

Saturday was specifically planned to head up to Toronto.. again... this time the group consists of Chele, myself, Leslie, Amy & Nicole. Before heading to our dinner reservation at 5.30 p.m. - a must stop by over at the Ikea store on Islington (apparently it is bigger than the one in Burlington ;P). Nicole and Amy bought some houseware stuff and Chele and I joined in getting a couple of stuff for our place. Lucky us that Nicole drove her Explorer so that we can pile our purchases in the trunk.

As for Leslie... he tried his best in making sure we were on time and not dawdling too much forgetting time since he really can't wait for dinner. He has been really homesick for Malaysian food - and the nasi lemak that I made him a few days ago did not put his heart and/or tummy to any ease for the time being. What's so special about dinner? Next to it being about 90 minutes drive from Buffalo and it only serves dinner on the weekends - it boasts of authentic Malaysian-Peranakan (Nyonya) cooking.

Located north of Chinatown and from the University of Toronto on Baldwin Street - Matahari Bar & Grill supposedly is the closest you can get of authentic Malaysian & Nyonya food. The owners are from KL - Cheras to be exact and all 5 of us were just giddy anticipating what we were about to savor from Matahari's kitchen.

The five of us feasted like there's no tomorrow... we started off with a couple of appetizers...
1. Eggplant Malay - eggplant brushed with belachan and grilled
2. Chicken and Beef Satay served with Matahari’s Own Peanut Sauce
3. Achar - Achar - Cabbage, green beans, pickled cucumber, carrot and pineapple salad marinated in spices and topped with peanuts and sesame seeds
4. Green Mango Salad (Kerabu) with mixed greens in a spicy lime pepper vinaigrette, topped with peanuts and sesame seeds

For our entrees...
Leslie ordered nasi lemak - which was prepared specially for him :P
Nicole had the Chicken Kapitan - marinated chicken breast with fresh lemongrass, galanga, lime leaf, lime juice and coconut milk served
I had Mee Goreng (simple Sher) - egg noodle stir-fry with blend of spices, prawns, tofu, bean-sprouts, egg, and topped with ground peanuts and shallots
Both Chele and Amy ordered the Curry Laksa (in Penang, this is Curry mee) - egg and rice noodles in a coconut curry broth with chicken, prawns and tofu

For dessert....
Another round of Tiger beer for Leslie, Sago-sago for both Amy & Nicole, Ais Kacang minus the "hidden treasures" for Chele and Passion Fruit (markisa) sorbet served with blueberries, grapes, mango, kiwi and a drizzle of passion fruit liquer. The owner, Mr. Zenn Soo (thank you for the pandan crepes!) dished out a complementary dessert of Pandan Crepes - fresh screwpine (pandan) leaf crepe filled with freshly grated palm sugar and coconut. It was oh sooo... Sinfully yummy!~!~

If I had to compare all the other Malaysian restaurant I have been to in the US and Canada.. this has to be the best of them all. Everything was so good!! Leslie made a take out order of 11 items and I added on 4 additional items to bring back to Sharon & Pete. The pandan crepes for example were something I have not had for ages and special orders of Sar Hor Fun to go! Leslie made an order of almost everything on the menu and additional special orders. Good thing we brought the cooler with us to set the food in. Driving back to Buffalo was interesting seeing that Nicole's Explorer was a few hundred pounds heavier!! If you have not been to Matahari yet.. make that a must!~!

A dancing we will go...

So after work yesterday... Amy, Leslie, Marie and I went for a ballroom dancing class. This is something that we have talked and planned about most summer.. and now that summer break is coming to an end... we finally did it. It was a lotta fun just being outside our work zone and to just be together doing something else than work! :P

We did the merengue and the tango... what fun!~ I remembered just bits and pieces of what I previously learned in my undergrad years at UB in Ms. Blythe's Latin & American rhythms class... but some of the steps came to me easily seeing that I had practiced them before. I had an awesome partner then... I convinced Aaron to take the class with me. Thanks Aaron... you're the best!~ It was in that class where I first met Mindi a.k.a. mummy Mindi, Greg, "Doctor" Mike and Paige...


Here's a picture of Me, Mindi and Paige back in the late spring / close to early Summer of 2001.

Happiness Fairy...

Just got this from Claire... in case you are having a not so happy or an uneventful day.... smile everyone!~!~

Caught a bug...

Alex has been feeling under the weather - according to the doctor who first suspected mono - Alex caught some viral infection. I picked up Alex from the airport last night - he went back to Kansas city on Sunday for a surprise brithday party for his grandma. After he got his checked in bag (it came this time!), I rushed him to the doctor's. They did more tests on him and prescribed even more medication for Alex. And later, I picked up Chele who accompanied me driving Alex back to the hotel by the fairgrounds.

Poor Alex... he's been in and out of work, airports, doctor's, work and more work. He needs big time rest to fully recover. He's been working soo hard and all the travelling and being in confined spaces is not much help at all in getting any sort of speedy recovery. Get well soon Alex!~!

Friends....

Alex's in town again... what bring him over to Buffalo again? Work... what ever it is... it's always great seeing him again. I used to complain to him about how I used to keep heading back to Austin and meeting up with him. Heck.. I lived in Austin the entire summer in 2001. But when will he ever come and see me up in WNY? Well.. since he made his first visit to Buffalo last year (around this time), this is his 4th trip to Buffalo - so... I call it truce on the "how many visits who made" :D

This time, Alex brought a friend along.. Ray... he's really cool. Poor Ray had to put up with us loud girls! Got the boys from the airpot.. unfortunately, there luggages were "misplaced" and will be on the next flight to Buffalo where ever they may be. We headed home waited for Chele and later met up with Sharon for dinner at Lebro's. We went there the last time when Alex was here with his parents, and Alex specifically requested to go there again.

After dinner.. we headed back to the airport to retrieve 3 out of the 4 "misplaced" bags. We thought that the last missing one was Ray's but it turned out it was Alex's instead. Poor Alex... at least he got his luggage with all his clothes in it! Headed back home so they guys could freshen up and for Alex to do laundry.

Michaela a.k.a. Michele stopped by and hung out with us for a bit. We did not manage to hang out as much as we would like this summer. Things came up on Michele's side when we were supposed to head out together. Nevertheless, we managed to still grab some dinner and drinks together. Today, she heads back to Slovakia to see her family before she goes back to school in Prague. Gonna miss you Michelle!! Can't wait to see you this Christmas!

*sigh... friends come and go... but we are all still best of friends!~

Food for thoughts...

It's been another busy week... with some more moving of Sharon to her new place, tennis games, eating our dinners out - we went from Irish/American to Indian to Thai and Dim Sum.

Sharon officially moved in to her apartment on Thursday where we both spent a night there. We unpacked and put some of her stuff together to make her room as complete as we can. It was an interesting experience waking up the next morning... the neighbors were a little bit louder than what we are used to as compared to the townhouse we have. From the senior citizens' apartment upstairs on the left to the apartment on the top right side of the guy who always seem to be cooking up a storm without a shirt on (I don't think he believes in blinds or curtains!) it sure was a new and amusing place for Sharon to be in.

Peter came up on Friday and that is when we all went out for Indian food. Watched a couple more of Stephen Chow's movies as a start to one heck of a lazy weekend. Saturday was spent doing some semi-unproductive stuff. Us girls woke up to an energizing start of a game of tennis with Chee Ming which lasted for a couple of hours. After that... Sharon went off to more organizing and cleaning of her apartment while Chele, Peter and myself spent the rest of the afternoon just lazing under the sun by the pool in our townhouse complex. Got ourselves some decent tan - whenever it got a bit too hot, we just jumped into the pool :D

And finally, the long awaited Dim Sum trip to Canada was made with Amy & Leslie. Leslie was delighted with the thoughts of Char Siew Bao and Low Mai Kai. We consumed a lot of dimsum for a table of 5. The waitresses were amazed at how much stuff we kept ordering and demanding. We also managed to make a take out order of 27 Baos and 8 Low Mai Kais. After brunch, we headed to the next door grocery store for Amy & Leslie to indulge in more Asian yummy treats - stuff to stock up with.

Proud moment...

I got a good chunk of my work pile done today..... accomplishment!!! Amy's on vacation so it is me holding down the fort.. *chukle... I had better be on top of things going around the office :P

Okies... quickie updates on what went on... There was dinner at the Old Toad in Rochester - we got our fish & chips fix. Got back to Buffalo the following day and immediately we went car shopping for Sharon and other big items for her new place.

A big thanks to Leslie & Amy for helping Sharon out in making her first car buying decision a lot simpler and easier. It's great to know that you have really great friends who look after you and help out so much. Sharon decided to get a 2005 Chevy Cobalt Sport - it's black in colour.

Sharon's excited!!~ It was the perfect size and car for her to start off her new working life.

More good news for Sharon - her H1-B Visa has been approved. This means she gets to go to Canada with us. The Dim Sum brunches crew is now complete with Sharon's presence. Looks like she is definitely all grown up now... our sister... with a great job, new place, new car, new start... very proud of you Sharon@Ann!~!

Lotsa love... Pete & Sher

Lights out!

The storm from last night has come and gone... and its back to being one of the best hot summer in Buffalo ever! The power was cut off last night (due to thunderstorm) about 9.30 p.m. and we just sat around the living room with candles lit and flash lights in hand telling ghost stories. Thanks to Chee Ming for the scary tales... I've been tied up with a lot of stuff lately.. barely in the house.. and when I do stay at home... I'm just not in front of my PC. Updates coming soon...