Molten Lava From M

She made it from scratch. The first picture shows the cake as it is just about to be baked. She used Dark chocolate for the recipe. The second photo is when I dug in, fresh out of the oven, and the chocolate was piping hot. The chocolate gushed out just like molten lava, with steam rising. It was very decadent. Cheers to my wife!

Snow is Fun!

 
A little after 8am, the light was better and the kids started to leave their homes to make snowmen. D went outside when his home boys called and they started to get into the fun. Winter is here, and I have to adapt. This means more coffee or hot cocoa. Better yet, hit the chocolate bar.

Here Comes the Snow

 
I wake up at 7 am to find white on the ground. Here's a picture of what 7am looks like here. The environment has little light, and I took the shot without a flash.

Sitting and Waiting.

These guys do the Asian squat. and wait. and wait. (Taken in July, 2010).

Cozy Library

Echi said the library looks cozy. Here are some pics inside that underscore his point. I took it when no one was around, privacy being a big thing here and all. It has all the features of a library, including a magazine and newspaper section that carries popular titles like GQ, Men's Health, PC Magazine, etc. They even lend TV and Movie DVDs and CDs. Why buy when you can borrow?


Natural lighting pervades the setting, which i thought was pretty smart. I took the second picture in the evening though. There is a quiet section, which looks like a typical library. This photo is just the section near the book shelves. The desks on the walls contain computers (see center of picture), where you can surf the internet.


Finally, there's a cozy nook for winter where you can read your books next to a fireplace that gets lit during November, December.

Mountain Highway

About six minutes from my house is the intersection of Lynn Valley Road and Mountain Highway. The latter has a steep incline for cars and bikes. Walking is not that hard. You can see the incline from this photo in the center. That's a road. When I take my walks, you can hear the roaring engine of cars going uphill. I have never seen a person on bike going uphill.

Summer's Done

So today, Sept. 6, is the last day for D's vacation. Tomorrow he goes back to school. The weather has now cooled down, and you can see the clouds covering the mountains from our view. Clouds mean rain, and a drop in temperature. I now miss the sun. Vancouver can get to be like London, UK --- dreary and wet. Nevertheless, I am grateful that the rains are here. The forest fires we have been experiencing have been a problem for many in the interior. The first two pictures shows a great day when the sun was shining on August. The third picture was taken today. Its all grey. For the first time, after a long time, I had to wear my rain jacket. When I went to the supermarket. I also noticed I wasn't alone. Its jackets everywhere. Therefore, I declare Summer 2010 officially over. Phooey.

The Community Library

Ever since Chicago, I've discovered the practicality of using the local library. For our neck of the woods, we have this nice looking venue called the Lynn Valley Library. It has a good amount of DVD selections, a fine choice of magazines, and a good crop of fiction and non-fiction books. While the computer books leave much to be desired, the place itself is very cozy. The outside is consistent with the overall look and feel of the Valley Centre (medium sized logs sticking out of the facade's architecture).

On the corner of the Library is an awesome cafe called "Delaney's" which serves, I believe, the best, kick ass coffee food bar none. They have what they call the Toll House Bar and the Rocky Road, which is probably 500 calories each. What the fuck, I'll still eat that bar with my fuckin latte.

Kins Market

Now, just because I go to Save On doesn't mean I have to buy their fruits. Kins is just next door, and it offers a great selection of fruits in season. They even have stuff from the local growers and farmers, which I prefer buying even if its a little bit more expensive. The stuff I got today: bananas, grapes, mandarin oranges, kiwi, 2 small boxes of raspberries and 1 regular box size of strawberries. About $20 bucks in total. There are times when they have interesting stuff, like dragon fruit from China which is a bummer to peel, but tastes good. They sometimes have "Manila Mangoes" which come from Mexico - obviously using a Philippine mango's DNA. Its not the same of course and tastes like the worst of our mango bunch. Pathetic. Blueberry season just ended, and I used to buy 2 big boxes, which my son promptly devoured. No more blueberries in September though. Its all downhill from here.

Lynn Valley Pics

So, Echi wanted an update. Its been some time since I've posted sh1t on this website, so here goes. Every now and then, I have to do some shopping. This is the supermarket I go to - its called Save On Foods. Its okay, and a walking distance from the house. The selection is limited, but one thing I like is the fact that the food sizes are good for small families, or seniors living on a limited budget. Instead of big ass milk jugs, they have small 1 Liter cartons, good enough for a family of three. There are other branches of the store, and they have different sized selections, depending on the needs of the community.

Green & Blacks - The gold standard

Well, its about fuckin time somebody gave me a good candy bar that wasn't a f*cking milk chocolate sugar sh*t. And this is an excellent bar. "Maya Gold" contains some orange and spices on fair trade dark chocolate (70%). Another good thing about this product is the way the flavor plays around with you. It is an exciting ride of spicy, fruity, and then the dark chocolate takes over. Plus, the price for this 100gm product is a whopping $3.50 only. Beat that Mink! Proceeds of the sale of this product goes to improvement of the lives of the South Amercian farmers who supply the beans for the company. Fair trade, and is a great flavor experience. What more can you ask? Verdict, give the man a raise, this is a 10. F*ck Yeah.

PBJ From Mink

In keeping with my past entries, I present to you Mink's product, called "PB with a hint of J." You probably know what's inside - peanut butter with a hint of jelly. It sounds good on sandwiches, but Mink asks "Why not on chocolate bars?" The product is a 3 out of 10 for me. Personally I am a peanut butter guy, but this just doesn't work. It sucks. The redeeming thing about this product: the fact that they try out a wacky idea. But I just don't like the mix in my mouth. Maybe its the jelly, or maybe its the peanut butter. Whatever. It just sucks. Plus the packaging is so sissy. The Price is even worse: for this 50 gm bar, I paid Cdn$6.95. Not worth it. Move along now.

Seriously, Facebook. Seriously?

Look what popped up from someone's FB ads. This is becoming ridiculous. Then again, it shows any douche can make an ad at FB.

The Coming Browser Wars - Video Standards?

ARS Technica has just reported that the wars for standards have taken a new turn. Now that Microsoft and Apple have gotten behind html5 and kicked out Adobe Flash, the question on video codecs remains: Theora codecs vs. H.264. Safari and IE9 will support H.264, while Opera and Firefox support Theora, citing it's open-source license. Guess what? Google's Chrome will win - because it supports both, and FLASH. I predict that Firefox will also support H.264, and will have a new add on to do just that. I personally happen to watch all my videos on flash, so I think I am switching to Chrome. Screw MS and Apple. I think its a done deal. Google again is master of the information super highway, and we are all just along for the ride. For more info, go to ARS Technica website. http://tinyurl.com/35me46a

Downloadable: "My Year in MixTapes!"

A mixtape a week for a year... Detroit Techno, Giorgio Moroder, Quebecois Disco, Kraftwerk, Bobby Orlando, Synth Pop and loads more. Hello 80s.

Link: http://yearofmixtapes.blogspot.com/

Make your own Reese Peanut Butter Cup

My new project. I think this will work. But if you check out the amount of sugar in the recipe, I think its enough to make you become diabetic. Go here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-milk-chocolate-peanut-butter-cups/

or here:

http://tinyurl.com/ygh2uab

Ubuntu 10 is Purple

They've dropped the brown sh*t, and have now gone to royal colors: purple! Like Barney. What do you think? I think it still sucks.

Thomas Haas - Matcha Tea Chocolate Bars

I am a big fan of Thomas Haas Chocolates, and adore his hot cocoa. It truly is the best tasting hot chocolate I have ever had. So it was natural for me to move on to his Chocolate Bars. First up was this piece called Matcha. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. I am not happy with the flavor concoction because I am not a big white chocolate fan. However, the blend is milky and smooth, and I think he did a good job at trying to mix a bitter tea with chocolate. We'll try another bar soon.

Mink Chocolates, Vancouver

Just discovered a wonderful chocolate shop along West Hastings, called "Mink Chocolate Cafe" where they sell the most intriguing chocolate bars at a premium. The products are handmade / hand wrapped, and their video on their website shows how they do their chocolate bars. I just bought 3 bars for M and I to taste, and the first was called "Tawny and Ruby are Friends." The dark chocolate bar has port wine mixed in the ganache. Website: http://www.minkchocolates.com/. I am unsure if the chocolate they use are fair trade, which is a deal breaker for me. I would like to try the bourbon and mint combination called "Open in Case of Emergency."

Now, Anybody Can Make a Store on the Net

Remember a time when you thought you needed to have a knowledge of html code to make a website, assuming you even had the bandwidth and space to have a store? What happened? Web 2.0 happened, thats what. Now you can easily make a blog or website without knowing code at all. But that's so yesterday. You now have the ability to create your very own store on the net, without hiring 'internet experts' or an expensive advertising agency to create it for you. Enter tinypay.me and Zlio. The latter is a french website where you can create your own e-store in 5 minutes. The former beats this record by creating your own store in just 30 seconds, with a twitter like UI. Both stores do a good job at making their sites as intuitive as possible. And, it helps mini-prenuers deliver a store front at very low cost (free!) Imagine selling your used games or books or whatever to a worldwide audience. Good luck!

5km, Richmond, BC

On the West Dike Trail. We started at Garry Point, Steveston, and then ended up near Terra Nova. That's 5km one way.

The Lonely Bench.

Took this at the West Dike, while M and I were biking on a 5km trail in Steveston, Richmond.

Encr1pt3d

If you want to send a secret message to someone else, this is the website to go. Let's say you want to send a message to the government and don't want people to find out, use this website. The important thing is that your message will be safe. As soon as someone reads it, its gone. From the website:
"The message can be picked up using the message id and a previously agreed upon password. Messages can only be read one time and then they are automatically securely deleted. " http://www.encr1pt3d.com/

My Vancouver 2010 Torch...

...NOT! I did not run the Torch Relay, but wanted to have this photo with my friend's torch. Its awesome!! My head had to be in an angle, away from the butane smell....

The Torch - C and A

Carla and Arnaud with the 2010 torch. Carla ran in Kamloops!