Staycation

After a 6 month (unintentional) hiatus, ya girl is back with some photos taken way back in mid October of last year.  Around this time, I started up will my third year of university, online, and I also began working full-time, 40 hours a week.  I had absolutely no room in my brain to even think about blogging for a long time.

For the next 5 months, all I did was school and work.  But in January, I made the right decision to put in my two weeks notice and give myself some room to breath.  I'm proud that I managed to work full-time while balancing school for a semester, but I don't ever want to do it again, haha!

Now that I have 40 hours of my life back, I've begun my journey to rewatching my favourite (15 season) TV show, Criminal Minds.  This is what, my fourth time rewatching it?

Anyways, I'm going to do my best to recall what happened on this day of... October 12 (I believe)?  I had met up with my mom and sister for a relaxing day of delicious food and exploring the Unionville area.  We enjoyed a delicious dim sum at Chef 88 and then drove to Unionville.  We strolled through the park and then shared bubble tea from The Alley, while wandering the streets of downtown Unionville.  I managed to spot a couple eccentric cars - the yellow one being much cooler than the tinfoil, bright blue one.

Then, as the evening was drawing closer, we hoped back into the car and my mom drove me back to Peterborough.  But along the way, we stoped in the small town of Port Perry for a filling dinner of fish and chips, and roast beef and mash.

Lots of walking + Lots of food!

September 20, 2020

My mom lives about a 2 hour drive from me.  And I just love it every time she visits.  We always eat amazing food and make an effort to walk/jog around town.

A couple weeks ago, she came to visit me for the day.  At around 11am, we decided to visit Jackson Park for a stroll.  I brought her to the same area that I had previously visited with my housemates, but we also covered a lot more ground.  We even tried to walk through the creek with our bare feet, though we didn't last long because the water was way colder than we expected!

After walking around for an hour, we were more than ready to grab some lunch.  So, we decided to go the the Kettle Drum.  Now, my mom and sister have already been here, but I hadn't.  And I have to say, I really loved the food!  We really went all out for lunch, ordering mussels, pizza, and a steak sandwich with a beet salad.  I would absolutely recommend their PEI mussels, steak sandwich, and beet salad!  I didn't know a beet salad could be so amazing, but it was and I am really eager to buy some beets next time I go grocery shopping :)

Stuffed from lunch, we came back to my house to relax a bit.  We watched one of the most intense Criminal Minds episodes (yes, I cried), napped, then went on a 40 minutes jog down the trail.  Oh, and I also brought my mom to the labyrinth garden and had her try some raw kale lol.

As soon as we finished our jog, it was time for dinner!  We ate at a new Vietnamese restaurant downtown called Hanoi and shared a large $12 bowl of pho.  It's definitely a great place to share a meal with someone!

After dinner, we said our good-byes, and she drove back home.  I really look forward to the next time she visits, which should be sometime in October!!!

Weekend Getaway

 August 27-30

Thursday

Spent a really fun and memorable weekend with my mom and sister.  We checked into the hotel on Thursday afternoon and just hung around in our room for the night.  A dip in the pool, a few episodes of Criminal Minds (ofc) and we were spent.

Friday

Bright and early the next morning, we hit the gym and then made our way to the Beavermead Beach for lunch.  Connected to the beach was the GreenUp Ecology Park which we also toured.

Diner was spent at Wimpy's Diner and I got to try my first Philly cheesesteak sandwich.  But the real treat was going to Kawartha Dairy to try out their famous ice creams!  We shared generous scoop of Moose Tracks and Blueberry cheesecake.  Moose Tracks was a 3-for-3 win!

Back at the hotel, we watched more Criminal Minds.  But, I also discovered how much I love Forensic Files and How it Happened on HLN.

Beavermead Beach

GreenUp Ecology Park

Wimpy's Diner

Kawartha Dairy

Saturday

Before heading to the gym, we spent the morning at the Farmer's Market.  We got some samosas, pikoras (with an amazing mango chutney), and fresh cherry tomatoes.

Lunch was spent driving down the "Fast Lane" as we liked to call it.  This included a stop at Mucho Burrito and KFC.  We took our goodies and headed up to the Riverview Park, but couldn't escape the downpour that followed suite.

Dinner was back at the hotel - cooking up some spicy noodles and eating leftover KFC.

Farmer's Market

Sunday

The final day :(

My mom and I went for our weekly Sunday morning jog around the beach.

Then, we had to check out of the hotel.  But not before cooking up a mean microwave egg sandwich for breakfast.

After, we strolled around the Otonabee River, then had a late lunch at the Silver Bean Cafe.  They had some incredible baked goods and drinks - notably their cranberry muffin, mocha walnut chocolate chip cookie, and raspberry lemonade.

My dinner was more leftover KFC with a even tastier pho takeaway from Saigon Boys that was waiting in my fridge (which I had for lunch AND dinner the following day).

Otonabee River

Silver Bean Cafe

I hope we have another weekend getaway like this.

Malaysia Diaries May 2019: Last Few Days

It's very comforting living so close to all my extended family members; even if only for a couple weeks.  There's big family dinners and lots of socialization.  Sometimes it's exhausting keeping up with everyone's lives, but it's even harder when you live a 21 hour plane ride away.

When I was younger, I used to come to the Garden with my sister and Kong Kong.  We would spend hours in the park.  I felt very nostalgic visiting it this time around even if it was only for a short stroll.

At my uncle's wedding, I ran into one of his friends who went hiking with me in Cameron Highlands 6 years ago.  We managed to squeeze in one last hike at Ketumbar Hill before I got on the plane the next day.  It was great hike, but I am definitely not as fit as my former 13 year old self.  At least there were wild boar and monkeys at the top of the hill!

This fella loved me giving him a good ol' back scratch that he actually laid down haha.  He must have been really enjoying himself.  Glad I could be of service :)

Dinner at LK Soup House two nights in a row.

 Delicious Japanese cheesecake!

One last picture at the airport.

Now I've moved into my new place in Peterborough.  Here's to the rest of summer!

P.S. I miss you, Kong Kong.