Dessert By Candy

I finally got my passport photo taken and I am not at all happy with the results. After years of bad pictures, I know that I’m not particularly photogenic. If I do not smile for the camera, my chance of having a good looking picture is practically zero. Since the last time I had my passport photo taken, things have changed much. For security reasons, all passport photos must now satisfy some strict criteria. This is what was posted:

• neutral facial expression
• no glasses
• no hair accessories
• no white shirts

I don’t know, I’m sure there must be loads of reasons to justify these requirements but they seem quite ridiculous to me. The neutral facial expression requirement particularly rubs me the wrong way. I think we’ll soon end up with a nation of citizens with passport photos looking pissed off and bored.

This is not as serious as you may think. I spent the whole day taking care of my appearance so to speak. I went to the day spa for my facial in the morning and then had my hair appointment at the salon in the afternoon. If I remember correctly, the last time I got a haircut was 8 months ago. Hmmm….

It sounds like an awfully frivolous way to spend a day but I do have a very good reason. It’s time for me to have a new passport picture taken. Since I need to put up with this picture for 5 years, I want to look my best.

Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up….

I woke up in the middle of the night by a nightmare. I didn’t even recall the nightmare until middle of the day. Out of nowhere, I suddenly recalled this strange dream and I had an uncontrollable fit of giggles because the dream was just so ridiculous.

I was walking in an open-air market pass a poultry vendor. It was not just any usual poultry stands, more like a petting zoo because it had a fenced area where the birds ran free. Anyway, as I walked by the fences, a giant black goose as tall as me bit me and flew over the fence. I didn’t realize that I was dragging a goose until the goose trapped my leg between its wings. As I was wrestling with the giant goose, I woke up in a cold sweat from this scary nightmare.

After our softball game last night, I returned to the office and was originally planning to do some work. It was only past seven and absolutely gorgeous weather outside. Although my legs are still not entirely healed, I was itching to go inline skating. Just to make sure that I don’t abuse those sore muscles too much, I skated a practice round around the office parking lot. Legs felt okay so I packed up immediately and went over to lakeshore (Sunnyside Pavillion). I was so glad to squeeze in an hour of skating. Burn, fat, burn!

I received a gift today that made me very very happy. It’s surprising that a few choice words together can convey so much meaning. I would love to brag about this gift in more details but you know what, some things are sacred and not meant to be shared. Definitely one of my prized possessions.

Okay, with a name like Eggspectation, how can I resist making a stupid pun? T and I went to the Eggspectation outpost in the Vaughn Mills Mall today and it was one of the more disappointing meals I had in recent memory. For $40, we had a glass of tropical smoothie that tasted slightly bitter, a crab cake that smelled a bit off, a steak-and-egg breakfast with overcooked scrambled eggs, an eggs-and-sausages breakfast that I swear the sausages have been through the deep fryer, and a toasted brioche that tasted more like a tasteless cinnamon bun. How can anyone ruin breakfast so completely?

I know, I know…I claimed a while ago that I learned the flip jump. The truth is, in the very next class, my instructor told me that I was jumping from the wrong leg and I had to entirely correct my technique. So for the past few weeks, I was just practising this jump over and over again, trying to grasp the timing. I’m happy to say that I’ve finally got it last night. It still felt very awkward and I had absolutely no flow out of the jump. However, I did take off and land the jump correctly with one full rotation. Even small progress is encouraging.

I met up with E for dinner at one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto, Jacque’s Bistro du Parc in Yorkville. I like this restaurant for sentimental reasons alone. I mean, yes, their omelette is the best in the city but if I want to go for French food, there are many other restaurants that come to mind. However, there’s just something so charming about Jacque’s that I want to come back again and again. I love to sit at one of the window-side tables. The window overlooks a modern garden with a fountain/waterfall. Just today, when I turned to look outside, I noticed that the trees by the fountain were full of pink blossoms. It was absolutely gorgeous. Everything about Jacque’s reminds me of the little bistros that I love to frequent in Paris.

I was determined to go to either Ed’s Real Scoop or Greg’s Ice-Cream today. Since the Beaches area sounded more inviting, I decided to save Greg’s for another day. In my usual manner, I refused to write down the exact address that I needed to look for. I knew that the store is located around the Queen St East and Victoria Park intersection and the street number is in the 2000’s range.

J & I parked our cars in one of the green P lots around Queen & Woodbine and took a leisurely stroll towards the store. Since it was almost nine o’clock, I did not have much hope that the store would be open. Luckily, the store was only about to close in a few minutes by the time we got there. Looking at all the flavour choices, I knew immediately that I want to try Lemon Meringue. J chose pistachio gelato. We sat on a bench outside the store and proceeded to enjoy the tasty ice-cream in front of such picturesque surrounding as street car construction site and a port-a-potty. Hmm….not the best environment but I was too happy with my ice-cream to care. The lemon meringue ice-cream was creamy and not very tangy. Sort of reminded me of a lemon meringue pie with more meringue than lemon curd. It was delicious.

This is one of the many reason why I was so happy today. Well, as for the other reasons, that’s for me to know.

I’ve been meaning to try the toasted marshmallow flavour ice-cream at Greg’s Ice-Cream. Perhaps I should make a trip there this week. Just to treat myself for all the injuries I’ve accumulated this week. Let’s see:

• pulled a muscle in my left thigh
• sore right elbow from my incorrect throwing technique
• bruised left forearm by not catching the ball with my glove
• bruised right knee by letting the ball bounce
• sore right thigh by over-compensating for my left leg when I ran

Okay, I really should be more careful.