Recipes of cookies to be followed…

I’ll have to say, taking photos in the -20 C weather, started from cold, very cold, freezing cold, numbing cold, burning cold… very painful “thawing” process to get my hands warm up to room temperature again after staying out for just a mere 10 minutes. Oh well, that’s not the point.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

First Christmas tree ever!

The tropical decor reminded me a lot about tropical countries such as Malaysia. Miles and I went to this restaurant during lunch hour and enjoyed their lunch entree. It was a pleasant experience. We had the choice of mild or spicy for our food. Needless to say, we opted for spicy! Miles who used to take Canadian spicy has improved on his tolerance for spicy food dramatically by getting used to savouring the authentic hot & spicy Asian food ;)

Miles ordered this “Trini-Curry-Wrap up Roti (Indian flat bread).” A choice of chicken or tofu in cashew curry sauce with chickpeas and vegetables, wrapped in roti and served with garden salad tossed with in-house mango vinaigrette.

I had the “Twist of Jamaica.” Crusty Pastry filled with seasoned ground beef and Tandoori onion rings, drizzled in sweet chili sauce.

Last year, however, I celebrated Christmas with Miles and his family. A truly Canadian Christmas celebration; Christmas tree, treats, gifts, food etc.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was excited about Christmas and anticipated for the Christmas morning to come. Even though I never truly believed in Santa as a young kid, I was always looking forward to receiving my stuffed Christmas stocking on Christmas morning.

It brought back my childhood memory when I received a stuffed Christmas stocking in the morning! I’ve never had that many Christmas gifts in the past. Unwrapping each gift brought great excitement. That was one of the greatest fun celebrating Christmas!

Christmas decoration on the dining table.

Turkey and ham, with homemade beets and pickles for on Christmas day.

Homemade minced meat pie.

Plum Pudding. A must-have Christmas dessert in Miles’ family. It has a similar taste to fruit cake.

Hard Sauce, goes with the plum pudding. It is made of butter and icing sugar, and tasted like cake batter.

Christmas tree with gifts from Santa!

Cracking the nuts can be fun; walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds.

We had joy
We had fun
We had seasons in the snow
But the snow that we played
was just never last too long

* Modified from “Season In The Sun” by Westlife.

The womanized “Winnie the Pooh.”

The cute snowman blushed as being kissed on both cheeks.

Snowman is dressed in his manly black hat and a red scarf.

Snowwoman is dressed in a girly pinky scarf, with a purple and pink hat.

One year after another, and twenty four hours a day never seems enough; each minute passes by even before we realize it.

Canada, or Fredericton to be precise; a place that I called my second home, for more than a quarter of the chapter of my life thus far. I couldn’t be grateful enough for all the blessings that’ve been showered upon me, in this foreign land that I used to know no one and no one knew me.

Live the life to the fullest, and cherish every moment in life. Welcome to the year 2010! May this year be a fruitful and a blessing one to you and me!

Oh well, I shouldn’t say that. For someone who hops into the car from home, drive to work, hop from the card into the work building, and hop back into the car and drive home after work, maybe, those boots won’t be a bad option.

For me, a few hundred metres of walk to the bus stop everyday, and a few kilometres of walk for groceries or to downtown when the buses are not available.

Where can those boots get me to? No where! It doesn’t take long before they get soaking wet from the snow, and leads to wet socks, and freezing feet.

So, be practical!

I’ve a good pair of leather boots that I’ve been wearing for the past six winters. It has good water resistance and well insulated. However, over the years, soles are losing treads and the traction isn’t the best. There were times where I almost slipped and fell on the icy patches, and worse still, I could barely balance myself walking down a steep slope. That was terrifying…

The solution to this is, studded boots! Same idea as studded winter tires, they will give more traction as compared to regular winter tires. These studded rubber strap, “Stabilicers,” can be placed around the bottom of my boots.

Off I went! Instead of avoiding the icy ground, I can now walk in a straight line without much complications.

Thanks to Miles for the great idea. It’s a nice Christmas gift, that allows me to walk in the winter with confidence ;)

My winter boots made their first appearance of the season this past Sunday. Taking pictures in the winter can be enjoyable, yet torturing. By the end of the session, my hands were nearly frozen. Gloves and camera don’t seem to go along very well. I was snapping pictures with my bare hands. Cold… freezing cold… but it was worthwhile :)

Snow has finally arrived, on the last day of November. Despite a few freezing cold days in September and October, we’ve been blessed with a mild November weather (yes, after Miles and I stopped biking to work).

Days are shorter and nights are longer, as we gradually approach the end of December (Dec. 21st has the shortest daylight hours). Going to work in the dark and returning home from work in the dark. The bright sunshine can only be admired from afar when I’m at work.

While everyone is hustling to Christmas shopping and trying to have it squeezed into their busy schedule, Miles and I have already accomplished most of the shopping needed to be done. Believe it or not, we started Christmas shopping early September!

No major plans. No major trips. This is one of the very few years that I’m not visiting any new places during Christmas/New Year’s Day.

Here is a glimpse of what I’ve done in previous years:

2003 – Stayed in Fredericton and celebration Christmas in the residence.
2004 – Spent “Boxing Day” shopping in Moncton.
2005 – Participated in International Christmas in Nova Scotia.
2006 - At Urbana Student Mission Conference in St. Louise, Missouri.
2007 – Travelled to Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City for Christmas; New York and Boston for New Year’s.
2008 – Visited Calgary and Edmonton for Christmas and New Year’s.

This year, I’ll be in Fredericton/Grand Bay/Saint John for most, if not all of my Christmas/New Year’s vacation. Hopefully, there will be skiing opportunities should the weather be favourable, and also chances to go skating during the holidays.

It’s going to be a quiet, joyful Christmas this year, for the seventh year in a row celebrating the festive season without family around. Next year, hopefully, Christmas will be different, a good different.

It was Sugar Bush weekend on Mar. 21st and 22nd this year. Special events were held at the Kings Landing Historical Settlement, which generally opens to the public only during the summer and fall seasons.

The busy crowd has taken me by surprise when I arrived with a group of friends around 10 a.m. last Saturday. There were long lineups to purchase admission tickets. After standing in line for fifteen minutes to pay for the ticket and breakfast, it was an hour later before we were being seated for breakfast. The busy crowd was unbelievable. I had been there in the previous years and it was usually quiet in the morning. Everyone decided to be there early to beat the crowd this year, I supposed. Unfortunately, things are unpredictable sometimes.

The pancake and maple syrup breakfast is an annual fundraiser event organized by the York Sunbury Search & Rescue. A hearty and delicious breakfast. It was worth the wait!

The volunteers in orange shirts were busy serving the crowd.

A generous serving of breakfast; two pancakes with maple syrup, toast, two sausages, two strips of bacon, baked beans, and scrambled eggs. Yummy!

Horse-drawn wagon rides were offered to visitors.

Maple sap was boiled in iron cauldrons over an open fire, as a demonstration of maple and sugar making 150 years ago. A lady in costume was scooping out some piping hot maple syrup to make maple candies.

A sweet treat of candy-on-the-snow was sold for $2/stick.

The making of candy-on-the-snow: pour hot maple syrup on snow, and roll the slightly harden candy with a stick when settled.

The super sweet maple candy. It was a nice treat!

How much maple sap is required to produce pure maple syrup? The ratio of maple sap needed and pure maple syrup produced was a stunning 40:1!! The making of maple syrup is highly weather-dependent; slightly above freezing point during the day and a few degrees below overnight is perfect for maple sap flow. The harvest season again, is weather-dependent; usually about three weeks. Pure maple syrup is costly.

A demonstration of wool processing with a spinning wheel.

An iron cooking stove/oven in a farmhouse.

A close look at the ancient cooking stove/oven.

A sampling of buckwheat cake was offered.

Subsequently, we made our way to the Joslin farm to visit some animals; sheep, chickens, pigs etc.

Sheep in the barn.

The grist mill and frozen stream.

Winter view at the waterfront.

I’ve been participating in the Sugar Bush weekend for the past few years and truly enjoyed it. It’s a must-see for those who like to experience the welcoming of spring in a traditional New Brunswick fashion.

Leather gloves: These are cool! They look great and match well with almost any clothing. Having said that, keep in mind that those with 100% cashmere lining are not very warm gloves. Unless there’s extra lining (i.e. fur, wool etc.) to go with the genuine leather for extra warmth, it’s not recommended to wear them below -10 °C.

Ski gloves: These are warm gloves and perfect for outdoor activities, e.g. skiing, building snowman etc. The water resistant nature and 100% polyester lining of these gloves keep hands warm at all times! The Velcro straps around the wrists help to lock in the position of gloves, as well as to avoid the exposure to snow and cold wind.

Is there any disadvantage? Sweaty palms can lead to freezing cold hands under low temperatures. This has happened to me before, during ski trips. Any solutions? Choose gloves made with breathable materials whenever possible; otherwise, avoid wearing them for long hours without allowing palms to be in contact with fresh air.

Mittens: Polar fleece mittens that made of 100% polyester are rather common. Acrylic and wool are some other materials widely used in mittens. Mittens are generally nice and warm. Disadvantage? There’s very limited finger joint mobility when wearing mittens. To snap pictures in the cold weather, I’ll have to take them off and use bare hands instead. It won’t take long for hands to turn blue and purple. Ouch! It hurts! The freezing cold hands will then need to be “thawed” under room temperature. :P Picture taking in the winter can be rather challenging!

Gloves: These are the common type of gloves, typically made of polyester, acrylic, and/or wool.

Mitts-gloves hybrid: This is what I’d name them, since I’m not sure if there’s a specific name for them ;) These are my favourite! I got a pair of them last winter and have been wearing them almost every single day during winter ever since. The outer shell and lining of these gloves consist of 100% polyester. What’s so cool about them? The part on finger tips can be popped open! This enables great flexibility for finger joint movements for various activities, e.g. shooting pictures, controlling light switches, locking/unlocking with keys etc. What an awesome invention!

Have you made up your mind what to get yet? The best thing to do, is of course to keep several different pair of gloves. Wear a suitable pair, depending on weather and according to special needs.

Fascinated by the co-existence of sun and moon that came into view during an evening walk, I couldn’t help but paused to admire this gorgeous scene at dusk. It was a full moon! Walking on the moonlight-lit street that would otherwise be pitch black, I felt a sense of peace in me.

The picture below was taken on a different day, at dusk. The setting sun in the winter that splashed a palette of colours into the sky was simply mesmerizing!

These scenarios are weather dependent. Curious to find out how these scenes might look like? Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure ;)

Snow everywhere… Hmm….how am I supposed to get to the bus stop?! Dive in! :D

The rising temperature resulted in melting of snow. A pair of waterproof winter boots would help, when walking through puddles.

This is the tricky one. Ice!! A pair of skates would come in handy!

I seized the opportunity to have a bowl of A.B.C. during my visit home in Malaysia last year.

The fancy A.B.C. with ice-cream!

Snow is wonderful for building snowman, making snow angel, and then what? I came up with this idea of preparing A.B.C. from fresh snow! What?? Eating the natural snow?!

Here is my version of eco-friendly “natural” A.B.C.

Disclaimer: Try at your own risk!

It has been more than 24 hours since I had it. No peculiar happenings just yet. I kept thinking: if we can stick out our tongues to taste the snow, what difference does it make to eat snow? I was mentally prepared, if I ever have to make use of my medical insurance coverage… Thank God I survived from that bowl of yummy A.B.C.!

How does snow taste like? Is it different from the regular slush ice you’ve had? You bet! The disparity in taste is comparable to boiled water and mineral/distilled water. That’s the difference I found between slush ice and natural snow. Despite my best of intentions to serve my roommates A.B.C., they opted for just an itty bitty taste of the snow, and had their “A.B.C.” without the “shaved ice”! *faint*

Now that I regain my sanity (too excited over the snow yesterday), I’m carrying out a microbiological test on the natural snow for detection of coliforms, E. coli, and any other “junks” that could be in it.

Do I catch your attention now? I can’t wait to see the results either! Oh well, no matter what the outcome is, I’m willing to accept it. If snow is proven to be clean, maybe I can consider selling A.B.C. in the winter (just kidding); otherwise, I’ll quit making A.B.C., that’s all.

The test results should be out tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates! ^v^

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