It seems like these days, that coming by good volunteer work is nearly as difficult as getting a good job.  The process is pretty similar; applications, references, background checks, police checks, interviews....And the dreaded, "Don't call us; we'll call you" words at the end of the interview.  

Having taken time from work since July 2012; I spent the latter part of the year busy with family engagements and a bit of travelling.  When the new year rolled in, I thought it would be a great time to get back into a bit of schedule and to utilize my time by doing something for the community.  I've since applied and interviewed for three differing positions and have started working on two.  

One of the volunteer work requires the delivery of a day's program at local middle schools; the program is on job readiness.  It's been almost half year since I've been in a classroom and I felt a bit nervous; but it turned out great.  The students enjoyed their day and came away with some understanding about the accepting differences and working with different people.  I truly felt it was time well-spent on my part today.  Looking forward to the next one in a couple weeks' time. 

I also started helping an eco-organization doing some admin work...Love how I'm re-connecting with my original choice of study; environmental studies.  It's been a challenging work area for me to get into; not having the environment science/engineering background.  Maybe I'll be able to hook up with an NGO or something later.  

I'm still waiting go hear from one place; if that one goes, I'll get to see the panda bears! 

It's the first Easter I've spent in Toronto for close to 10 years.  Today's April 2 and looking out the window...There's snow!  Just a bit...but there's snow!  Many have complained how I've brought wintry weather back...It was warm this time last year; people were already golfing!

Fortunately, this past weekend, there was bright sunshine; perfect day for little children dressed in rabbit ears; Easter egg hunts and all things furry and sweet...Thinking of little chicks and fluff-ball bunnies.  I've had two sightings of wild rabbits hopping about  and am charmed by these sure signs of Spring waking up from her slumber. 


Wishing everyone a beautiful Spring; may it bring new welcomed beginnings to all. 

Dim Sum.  One of my all time favourites...Sipping tea and slowly enjoying a variety of small dishes ranging from crispy or soft, steamed or fried, buns to cakes, meats to veggies...You really can have it all!  In Hong Kong, seniors are a common sighting in the early mornings enjoying earlybird discounts.  Families tend to crowd in for weekend lunches and the leisure ones enjoy the afternoon tea discounts. 

If you picked up anything about my character from reading this blog; you'd probably be able to guess my preferred dining times...That's right!  Afternoon tea from 2:30pm - 5pm...Ahh, it signals a life of leisure.

Since returning to Toronto, the parents have taken to Milliken Bar & Restaurant (the name is kind of mis-leading...No way you would think of this as a bar) near Kennedy and Finch.  The prices are good and the selection and quality reasonable...But, the Scarborough area has many nice dim sum places around.  It may not be the fanciest of locations but good food at good prices score high on my priority. 

A few of our favourites from this particular dim sum place: steamed spareribs and rice rolls, egg custard sesame balls and preserved egg pastry.  The usual standard of pork siu mai, shrimp dumpling 'ha-gow' and beef balls are tasty but similar to other locations.

After spending a good few days in New York; my low-carb diet went out the  window.  Running around, enjoying cheap thrills and eating burgers, cakes and  coffee have left me feeling guilty.  I did find a couple of nice cafes/restaurants but now that I'm back, it's time to go back to basics. 

Asians eat congee when feeling cold, blue or under the  weather.  It's warm and soupy texture makes it perfect for colder days and is truly enjoyed year-round (except when I'm in Hong Kong on a typical hot, muggy summer day).  I guess it is sort of like western porridge or oatmeal though it's just for breakfast.  Congee can be had any time of day.  I like it best on cold winter afternoons or late-night  snacks. 

But here is yet another difference I share with my sister  (I'm thinking paricularly of Bamboo Girl #2 here); I find it interesting where I would gravitate to congee as comfort food and she would probably choose chicken noodle soup.  One late night, she called for late night snack suggestions and I immediately thought of congee, rice rolls, wonton noodles and the likes.  She came back with McDonalds; not to say I didn't mind munching on a few french fries but it left me thoughtful about food choices and how it is a reflection of our characters.  I'd say my family is quite muliculturally diverse when it comes to food. 

But about Congeetown in Scarborough; now this is my kind of place.  For less than $5 you get a huge bowl of congee, enough to feed 2-3 people depending on what other dishes are ordered.  I had one of the most typical version of congee today, Lai Wan congee.  It's a mixture of squid, pig's skin, shredded lettuce, a bit of meat and topped with spring onion and a bit of roasted peanuts. 

Now I know I talked about cleasing the palette with a simple rice congee...But seriously, one cannot have congee without something crispy to go with it.  Usually, I go for the deep-fried doughsticks, or sweet cruller.  But today, Rice-noodle covered doughsticks and minced beef caught my eyes. 

The minced beef tender and flavourful but the fried dough could have been a bit crispier.  It came sprinkled with toasted sesame and small dishes of soy sauce, sesame sauce and sweet sauce.  Although it was interesting and tasty, I think I prefer having it separately...Rice Rolls with Fried-Doughsticks and Rice Rolls with Beef. 

While there ain't much free these days...And if it is, do exercise some caution...But if it's coming from McDonalds?  You take it!  I don't care how my coffee aficionado friends swear by their gourmet cups of coffee...It's all caffeine in the end.  And if it's free, I say it tastes even better ;D

And nothing beats a nice, hot cup of free coffee after shovelling 3 rounds of wet and heavy snow.  When the driveway and sidewalks are cleared of snow and you're tucked warmly inside the familiar neighbourhood McD and only have the strength left to lift that fraqrant cup of coffee and play a little Sudoku from the free Metro News paper...Ahhh...Small pleasures, small pleasures.

Fushion food is fun...You get mix-matched items and the pairings can be endless.  It either suits your personality or not...And since I'm a 'Bamboo Girl' (mish-mesh of Western/Asian upbringing) fushion is me!  Though I must say, of the three bamboo girls in this family, I am probably the one who would most often opt for asian fare...Give me a HK-styled milk tea over a latte any day!

Perhaps more accurate to describe this as Hong Kong-styled breakfast; it usually includes or a variation of: choice of eggs, choice of breakfast meats (ham, luncheon meat, bacon or sausage), toast and bowl of soup noodle (Macaroni or vermicelli with ham, satay beef or minced pork with peserved vegetable.  This all gets washed down with a hot drink, lemon tea, coffee or Hong Kong-styled milk tea. 

Pros: Very filling breakfast at around $5-$6.00.  Much cheaper than a western brunch and healthier than a fast food breakfast.  Love the mix of dry, salty food (eggs and bacon) with a soupy noodle (this is the Asian side of me coming out).  Love milk tea!

Cons: My pet-peeve...They use the word 'sausage' but it's really hot dog wieners which leaves me disappointed.  Places that serve this food tends not to be a place where decor and comfortable seats are priority.

But here at 'Made in China', the place is relativey clean and they've got some interesting bird cages going on as their ceiling decoration.  The booth seats are much too wide to eat comfortably though and we changed to regular tables/chairs.  It's an interesting restaurant; it shares the kitchen in the back with their sister restaurant next door, a Korean BBQ.  Made in China is a hot pot lunch/dinner restaurant but they're clever to draw in the morning breakfast people.  The staff are young and can be a bit abrupt but I'm here for good food and value. 

Was out running a banking errand and decided to stop by a store, part of a chain, which was closing down.  There used to be one close to where I live but that must have been when I was still in elementary school.  Over the years, they started closing them down, one by one, especially when Wal-Mart came in.  Now that Target is coming, they just couldn't compete.  Big box stores are great...When it's raining or snowing, there's lots of aisles to wander about...But it's the smaller guys that have their own indpendent character and contribute to the local neighbourhood identity.

Anyway, with everything priced to go, I indulged by buying some games; Game of Life and Battleship in card form.  Hmm, it's been awhile since I played boardgames.  Maybe I should host a games night one day.  Too many kids and adults these days are glued to their electronic gadgets...Sometimes a good ole-fashion boardgame can be even more rewarding.

After shopping about, decided it was time for a coffee.  It's TIm's Rrroolll Up the Win time!  Saw a newsclip of this guy who one big...Made me feel like I needed a cup of coffee too and see if I'd win anything.  Nope...All I got was 'Please try again'.  How discouraging.

So, Day 2 of my no-carbs diet saw me grating cauliflower as a rice substitute.  Was not bad actually.

Stir-fry Cauliflower Rice with Tofu:
Ingredients:
-cauliflower, red bell pepper, onion, bok choy, ground beef,
-1 tube of smooth tofu
-crushed garlic, black pepper, salt

Instructions:
1.  Roughly cut up a cabbage into several large pieces.  Run each piece through a grater carefully creating small rice-like pieces.  Set aside.
2. Dice the red pepper, onion and bok choy.  Set aside.
3.  Brown the ground beef in a skillet.  Season with some salt, black pepper and chilli flakes as desired.  Set aside.
4. Heat a little olive oil in the skillet.  Add the garlic and brown lightly.  Add the grated cauliflower and stir-fry lightly for about 5 mins, stirring occassionally.
5.  Add the diced vegetables.  When cooked, stir in the cooked ground beef.   Add a dash of salt and black pepper.  Once everything is heated through, dish out in to serving bowl.
6.  Slice up tofu into 1cm think slices.  Heat a little oil in the skillet and brown the tofu on both sides.  Once cooked, layer tofu on the cauliflower rice.
 
TIPS:
**A variety of ingredients can be used such as diced carrots, peas or corn.

So, first day of no-carbs diet....I LOVE my breads...Crusty, fragrant and with a good bite.  This whole day, I kept feeling something was missing.  Had a handful of home-toasted cashews to have something to chew on.  Thankfully, mom keeps and array of fruits in the house.  There's apples, oranges and a few Asian pears.  What you see in the pictures, for those not familiar with Asian fruits, are dragonfruits (the bright pink skinned one) and longans, which translated means dragons' eyes.  

The dragonfruit was introduced to me when I moved to Hong Kong about 10 years ago.  They're big and hefty and like watermelon, great for quenching thirst.  They're bright pink on the outside with green leaf-like petals. When I was visiting Malaysia, I saw purple dragonfruits. Looked the same on the outside but once you cut it open, there's this shocking bright magenta colour.  But, for all their prettiness, dragonfruits can be a bit bland at times.  I heard that many Asians eat it as part of their diet plans; kind of like how we eat grapefruits here.  I phoned mom to tell her I've discovered where black sesame comes from...From dragonfruits!  Too which she chuckled and said 'No dear'. 

Longans and lycees are similar.  There's a shell on the outside, juicy white meat on the inside with a seed in the middle.  Longans are smaller though, about the size of a cherry.  You need a little patience to eat them but sweet and tasty and well worth the effort. 

So, with all these pretty fruits around me, I hope my carb craving can be abetted somewhat.  And I also have the cashews we made for munching.  

Mom saw raw cashews on sale and decided to toast her own; thereby controlling the amount of salt added to the nuts; saves money too.   For the amount she paid for all these cashews, you would only be able to get one tub of the toasted variety. 

So in my attempt to tackle my muffin top and to achieve an overall sense of well-being, I decided to take up zumba with TDSB's Continuing Education program.  Was SO sore after my first class...Could really feel it going up and down the staires.  Thankfully, after my 3rd class tonight, I'm delighted to say I've picked up most of the steps and don't feel as tired now. 

It's a room full of ladies with similar health concerns so we're cheering each of us on...Especially at the halfway mark of each class.  The spring session is up for registration and I wonder how many of us are going to stick to it. 

With thoughts of weight, exercise and health on my mind, I found myself staring at a magazine on the rack next to the cashier at the neighbourhood grocery.  It talked about people who loved eating breads and pasta and having wheat bellies.  I superstitiously eyed my own tum-tum while I waited for my turn to pay and thought "Yup, I've got a wheat belly"  

So, starting tomorrow, I'm going on a 14 day no-carbs diet to see if it will make a difference.  More fresh fruits, veggies and lean meat for me....AND, I figured, since I've written this down here, I have to stick to it. 

I decided to reward myself for making a possible change to my health and diet with a nice croissant.