我不爱浪漫 I am not romantic

情人节快乐！

photo by : Evoo73

我对浪漫这个玩意儿没什么要求。我不喜欢情情爱爱的电影和小说。 对我来说，那些东西有些造作和肉麻，也不真实。 所以，Ed是个幸福的男人。不用花脑筋来取我欢心。

可是，昨天 (加拿大的13日)， 当其他国家的情人庆祝着情人节时，我没留意到，竟然写了篇‘新年展望’的贴字！啊 ！真是太糟糕，太不识情趣了！亲爱的朋友读者们，真不好意思。现在补上，祝你们情人节快乐。

我们今天怎么庆祝呢？嗯，什么都没。我们不要出去吃晚餐，因为人多，我不喜欢。那些什么烛光晚餐的，我不习惯。一碗越南牛肉河粉或一碟泰式青咖哩饭已令我很开心。Ed说，‘唉呀！忘了买鲜花给你！’ ‘不用啦！’ 这句话是真心的。所以，他就真的不买了。哈哈！

不过，我们当然有对彼此说 ‘情人节快乐’ 啦。其实，我天天都会对Ed说 ’I love you babe’ 。 嘻嘻。那不代表我是浪漫的人。我知道Ed很受不了这些肉麻的用语。他越讨厌，我越爱作弄他！ 他是个木头，不喜欢这套 – 什么爱我啦，一生一世啦。他不说，我不逼，或者，我放弃逼他。心里知道就好。干嘛逼自己喜欢的人做他不自在的事。

嗯….或许，明天才去餐馆吃晚餐吧。

相关文章　：

• Our Valentine’s Day
• Vespa Valentien
• 情人节三不买
• 情人节随想

Happy Valentine's Day !

photo by : blmurch

I am never a romantic person, and I rarely watch/read lovey-dovey movies or novels. Frankly, I find them a little awkward or quite fake. Well, do you really believe in real life men will do all those things the movies and novels tell you they will do? I don’t.  Hence, Ed is a lucky man because I don’t expect any of those things from him.

Anyway, because of I am obviously oblivious of the Valentine’s Day, I posted a New Year Resolution post yesterday (13th in Canada but 14th in most countries), instead of something romantic ! I guess this shows how unmindful I am to all the fuss by the commercials and media on this V-Day.  Nonetheless, to all my friends and readers, wish you all a Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day.

How are we going to celebrate today? Umm…nothing special. We don’t want to go out to eat because we don’t like the crowd. I don’t really care about the candle night dinner because I won’t be comfortable with it anyway. A good bowl of Vietnamese noodles soup or Thai Curry Chicken will make me equally happy !　Ed said, ‘ Oh no ! I forgot to buy you flowers !’ ‘ No worries, it is ok. I don’t care.’ So, he does not.

Yet, of course, we still say Happy V-Day to each other today. In fact, I tell him I love him everyday. Heehee…not because I am a romantic person. Ed is someone who hates this lovey-dovey fuss, and the more he hates it, the more I like to say it to annoy him ! On the other hand, knowing him well, I never force him to say those things to me, or maybe I just give up. What’s the point ? Since deep down I know how much he loves me.

Back to this V-Day, maybe we will go out to eat tomorrow. Shall see…

Related posts :

• Our Valentine’s Day
• Vespa Valentine
• Thoughs on Valentine’s Day

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静静地过年

团圆饭

今年的农历新年来得比往年安静。

记得，前年第一次在加拿大过新年时，还会跑去什么最大型的农历新年庆典凑热闹，也会开电视找华人新年节目看看。

今年，除了那件大红上衣，我可是什么都懒得做。可能是刚考完试，紧张的心情还未平复。还好，去年，我和Ed在马来西亚和家人过，总算热闹了一年。今年，静静地，也好。

不过，团圆饭当然还是不可少。就如前年一样，Ed的父母为我们准备了一顿丰富的晚餐。

Ed这半个鬼佬终于开始了解一些华人传统。要回家吃饭，也不再诸多推辞。他这个人以前是很怕华人礼节风俗的麻烦的。不过，吃了饭后，他还是自个儿到地下室看电视。

今天大年初一，Ed去上班，我在家上网。年又过了．．．

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牛年快乐 ！恭喜发财！

恭喜恭喜！新年快乐！

试终于考完了！不过，身体还没轻松下来。现在，要好好休息，什么都不多想。:)

今天，我和Ed去他父母家吃团圆饭。难得农历新年，我特地穿上新买的大红上衣。过年嘛，好意头。嘻嘻！Ed看我那红得耀眼的上衣，灵机一动，要我坐在家中的红椅子拍照。

哈哈！好主意！就让我以红色来向大家拜个年…

祝大家牛年快乐，心想事成，身体健康，天天开心，一切安好。

祝单身的，今年遇到心上人。已婚的，祝婚姻快乐，早生可爱的牛子牛女。已有小孩的，祝小孩们快高长大，无忧无虑。

上学的，祝学业猛进。工作的，祝事业有成。努力勤奋，站好工作岗位。别多担心经济衰退，船到桥头自然直。不幸失业的，塞翁失马　焉知非福。穷则变，变则通。另一份新的工作，或搞个小生意，转个行，或更多时间陪家人，或终于有时间读书深造等等，你可能会更开心。祝你在新的一年里，有好转机。只要不被小挫折打败，继续努力，将来一定会有好成就！:)

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Happy New Year (Dawn) !!

Year 2008 has been eventful for many of us and for the world. While all the glories, worries, uncertainties, downturns, triumphs, happiness, challenges, violences, joys, have flown by, I wish the world and you all a very happy, wonderful, healthy, peaceful, fun and fulfulling new year ahead ! Like the boater, waking up early, setting out eagerly and wholeheartedly, with hard work and sweats, yet pleasure in the heart, to welcome a new dawn….

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Boxing Day Sale

Boxing Day Sale at Eaton Center

Boxing Day Sale at Eaton Center

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愿祝圣诞快乐 ! Wish You All Merry Christmas !

圣诞娃娃

昨晚，我一边包圣诞礼物，一边在自言自语．．．．

记得，约十年前，我药剂行的澳洲洋人老板问我，“你是华人，不庆祝圣诞的，对吗？你是佛教徒，不庆祝圣诞的，对吗？那你在圣诞当天上班一定没问题吧?＂这哪是问我，简直是要我内疚，要我上班　（注：我是那间药剂行唯一的亚裔药剂师。那间药剂行365天都开足13个小时）。

我心里算一算，“哗！十三个小时，双倍工钱，即可赚二十六小时的工钱。划算划算。”　那时，我刚大学毕业，穷，又要学人储钱旅行，傻。我假装推迟一下，就答应下来了。反正，我是真的不庆祝圣诞的。接下来的五，六年，我的圣诞都是在店铺里过，从早上七点到晚上十点。我一点都不在意，顾客很少，很空闲，不难挨过。

一直到四年前，圣诞还是与我无关。没想到，现在，圣诞突然变得这么重要　－圣诞树， 礼物，卡片，火鸡，团圆，假期，派对，还有白雪飘飘。

人生一个转弯，有些重要的好像变得不重要了，不重要的好像开始重要起来．．．．

今早起来，我忘了昨晚思考的问题，匆匆赶去预定两个蛋糕 – 一个要带去明晚朋友家的派对，一个要带去圣诞晚Ed大家族的团圆晚餐。今天不预定，明天一定卖清光！26日晚，和Ed父母吃饭要带的已准备．．．．

愿祝大家圣诞快乐！

Christmas Dinner

Last night, I was talking to myself while I was wrapping Christmas presents….

I still remember vividly how my boss asked me to work on Christmas Day. It was about 10 years ago, ‘Shirley, you are a Chinese, Chinese doesn’t celebrate Christmas, right? You are a Buddhist, Buddhist does not celebrate Christmas, right? So, I think you are the best person to work on Christmas Day !’ Since I was the only Asian in the pharmacy, and he was right about a Chinese Buddhist (plus as a immigrant whose family is in Malaysia) does not celebrate Christmas.

So, I accepted the offer. Well, who won’t? The shop opened on Christmas Day for 13 hours, and I got paid double. In fact, being a poor newly graduate who dreamed of saving for travel, I felt grateful to have the shift ! Since then, my boss never failed to give me the Christmas shift and all my Christmas for the following 5 or 6 years were spent in the pharmacy from 7am to 10pm. Frankly, I did not mind at all. The pharmacy was normally quiet on Christmas Day and it was not a difficult shift.

It was not until 4 years ago, I stopped working on Christmas Day. Prior to that, Christmas was just another day for me. I am surprised to realise that it has suddenly become important in my life – the Christmas tree, Christmas presents, the turkey, Christmas parties, family gathering, holiday, Christmas cards,  and the previously unthinkable White Christmas. I have them all now.

Life is interesting, just a small twist and turn, previously important things are no longer important, and what never appeared important has suddenly play an important role in my life….

Woke up this morning, totally forgot what I was pondering last night, I rushed to Loblaws to order two cakes – one for tomorrow night Christmas Eve dinner with friends, one for Christmas Day dinner with Ed’s extended family.  I know if I don’t order today, I will have trouble getting the cakes I want tomorrow. And we have already prepared what we want to bring for 26th dinner with Ed’s parents….

Merry Christmas to you all !!!

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明年冬至要做汤圆 !

汤圆

前天，一早醒来看到妈妈从马来西亚捎来的短信。那时，我迷迷糊糊，看了也没去多想。后来，逛到一位朋友的部落中，才惊觉冬至将至，是做汤圆的时节。原来，妈妈告诉我，她做了红豆汤圆，很好吃。虽今天才是冬至，不过，星期天弟妹都往外溜，家里提早两天做，一家团团圆圆吃汤圆。

妈吩咐我做汤圆来庆一庆。我随口带过。在外国那么多年，哪记得冬至这回事。虽然，妈妈都会捎来短信，我也是知道就算了。马来西亚的家当然有做汤圆。记得，我每次吃时，妈妈都会来一句，“吃了汤圆就长一岁啦！” 不过，冬至的气氛没过年或中秋的浓厚，只是吃汤圆。不提，我一定不会记得。加上，我这个蛇年出生的，特别‘蛇’，很少帮忙妈妈搓汤圆。不过，我超爱甜食，吃汤圆少不了我的份。

在澳洲，没认识Ed之前，多是自己一个人住。自己一个人吃汤圆，好像更显孤单。加上，日子特忙，所以，我好像从来没在国外庆祝过冬至。

我想，在外国长住，最可惜的是，很多传统很难维持。这可能是千万华裔移民的矛盾。

现在想一想，我真的应该庆祝一下，尤其是在加拿大特别有‘气氛’。这个‘气氛’不是华人‘过冬’过节的气氛，而是，在加拿大，冬天真的正式到来了。‘冬至’，突然变得很有‘身有同感’。冷冷的天气，手上有碗热腾腾的汤圆，多温暖。以前，在马或在澳，这个时候都是炎热当天的。‘冬至’这个字眼对我来说，是没什么意思的。

向Ed提我要做汤圆，他说，我自己吃就好了。他不爱又甜又粘的东西。做了自己一人吃很没趣。加上，考试大过天，我以前也没向妈妈偷师到，真没时间花上大半天来学来找材料来搓来煮。我还是上网看看汤圆图片来庆祝就好了。

以前，有妈妈来维持传统，现在，是我的责任了。不过，我好像不是很称职…

明年吧，明年冬至，我要做汤圆！！

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美国总统选举 – 历史性的一天

奥巴马 - 美国新总统

Photo from theage.com.au

从来没追美国政治，至到今年。

今晚，美国人投下神圣的一票。

选出美国有史以来第一位黑人总统。

加拿大是美国邻居，气氛当然也很浓厚。

我和Ed坐在电视前，观看这历史的一页。

X     X    X    X

一个人，可以做到什么？

一个人，可以带来这么多希望吗？

一个人，可以影响那些多人相信同一个信念吗？

奥巴马都做到了。

终于，马丁路德的梦想实现了。

内在被证实重要过肤色。

X    X    X    X

虽然，很多人说，期望太高，失望也会更大。

可是，今晚，不需谈这些。

今晚，我们要相信希望。

相信只要有心，只要团结，什么困难都难不倒我们。

美国人愿意相信，全球很多人都愿意相信。

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最酷万圣节装饰 The Coolest Halloween Decoration

Halloween at Elora

两个星期前，Ed带我去一个小镇， Elora, 看秋叶。

暂不谈这个小镇。先要给大家看看Elora镇上最酷的万盛节装饰！

怎么样？超棒吧? 铁线加棉纱，就是是鬼怪妖精，厉害！

以上的图片是在Elora旅客中心的庭院拍的。

镇上很多商店都有相似的装饰。

看来是镇中心请来专业艺术家把整个城镇装扮，以吸引游客。

明天就是万圣节了，以上的照片是送给你们的。

有去派对的朋友玩得开心点哟！

Two weekends ago on a drive to see autumn leaves colours, Ed and I went to a small artsy village town just outside of Toronto called Elora.

The most interesting thing about the villatge were the decorations they did for Halloween, by far the most elobrate and createive I’ve seen.  The town organised an artist(or a group of artists) to build goulish scuptures out of metal wire and cotton gauze.  The above photos were taken in the front of the Elora tourist center but the village had set up scupltures all over the main street and shops.

Tomorrow night is Halloween (All Hallows’ Even) so enjoy the celebration of ghosts and goblins and have fun !!!

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感恩节假日 Thanksgiving Weekend at Calabogie

Fall Colours at Calabogie Lake

刚过的星期一是加拿大的感恩节公共假期。

去年我忙着写Mount Tremblant, 忘了解释什么是感恩节。今天就先谈一谈吧。

感恩节是北美特有的节庆，约始于16或17世纪，为了感谢上天赐予的好收成。由于加拿大位置偏北，冬天来得早，所以加国的感恩节比美国早一个月左右 （加拿大感恩节在十月的第二个星期一，美国则在十一月的第四个星期四）。依传统，感恩节是一家团聚吃一顿丰富火鸡晚餐的节日。在加拿大，很多人趁这个三天假期到郊外休息和看秋叶。

Last Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving Day is unique to North America. It is believed that Thanksgiving started around 16 to 17 century. It is a day to express gratitute for the things one has at the end of the harvest season. Locating more north and with a colder weather, Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving about one month earlier than USA. (Canada’s Thanksgiving is on 2nd Monday of October, and USA on 4th Thursday of November).

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a day for families to get together and enjoy a large meal, usually centred around a large roasted turkey. Often, it is also popular long weekend cottage getaway and to observe the autumn leaves.

Calabogie Lake and Resort

就如去年的感恩节，今年我们和Ed弟弟的一家人租了一间郊外屋舍(cottage) 来渡感恩节。这次Ed弟弟选了一个人烟稀少的小地方 – Calabogie，它离多伦多约五个小时车程。这个小镇主要依旅游业来维生。镇上有座小山。兴建Mt Tremblant 的发展商在这里也建了个小型的滑雪场(如图）。山小，很适合新手学滑雪。

有趣的是，没下雪的日子，很多脚车手来这里downhill mountain biking （嘻嘻，抱歉，不知道它的中文翻译）。 Downhill mountain biking 就是，坐平时滑雪的缆车上山顶，再坐特别设计的脚车，一路从山顶‘滑’下山脚。做这种运动的都是年轻小伙子，为刺激。这还是我头一次见到这种运动，看他们脚踏车下山坡的速度，真为他们捏一把冷汗。

Like last year, Ed’s brother family and us booked a cottage for this Thanksgiving. Unlike Mount Tremblant, this time we chose a much quieter small town – Calabogie. It is about 4 to 5 hours drive from Toronto. Tourism is the many economy here, and there are also skiing facilities, built by the same company who developed Mount Tremblant. The hill is pretty small, hence it is a good place for skiing beginners.

Interestingly, the ski lifts are used by downhill mountain bikers during summertime. They take the lifts to the top of the hill, then go downhill with their bikes. We saw a group of young bikers, obviously, enjoying the speed and thrills for this possible last sunny weekend before winter arrive.

Sunrise at Calabogie Lake

镇上有个湖，叫Calabogie湖。我们的屋舍就在湖边。每天一早醒来时，可以见到日出，天边湖上都染了粉红色，很是好看。渥太华离这里很近，很多人在这里投资买渡假屋，周末一小时就可到达，有山也有水。我们租的屋舍就是Ed弟弟妻子的同事的。

Ed弟弟一家来过Calabogie好几次，对这里很是熟悉。很幸运的，整个周末的天气都很棒。为捉紧机会享受户外活动，我们将四天的节目排得满满的。早上多到山上小路走走，看落叶，看秋天玩颜色的游戏。中午骑脚踏车，傍晚到屋前的湖划船。晚上晚餐后，就到湖前起火看天上的月亮星星。这种生活好不写意！

我们都很喜欢这里，明年夏天会再到此一游！

The Calabogie Lake and the Calabogie Peak in town make this place a paradise for cottage getaway, especially for people from Ottawa, which is only one hour away. Many of them buy cottages here, like the one we booked is owned by Ed’s sister-in-law’s colleague. Our cottage is located right next to the water. Everyone morning, the beautiful sunrise wakes us up, to see the stunning pink dye at the sky and on the water.

Ed’s brother’s family has been here a few times, they know this area really well. Thanks for the gorgeous weather last weekend, we were able to jam-pack many outdoor activities throughout. In the morning, we would go out for a hike, then a bike ride in the afternoon, then boat rolling during the evening. After dinner, we then set up a camp fire next to lake, and enjoyed full moon in the sky ! It was absolutely a perfect long weekend away !

We love this place so much that we already started talking about another getaway here next year summer !

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今晚是白色的夜晚 Nuit Blanche

最近几天很多人找有关Nuit Blanche 的资料找到这里来。

嗯，今晚就是Nuit Blanche （即白色的夜晚）了。

如果，你正在考虑要不要去，我推荐你去看一看。

有些东西是蛮有趣的。

很多艺术馆，展览馆，大学等，会免费公开给大众。

趁机会到建筑内走走也好。

那，今晚见了！ 🙂

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最喜欢的TIFF电影 ：善.恶.怪 My favourite at TIFF : The Good, The Bad & The Weird

一年一度的多伦多电影节(TIFF)，匆匆上映，匆匆下映。

今年，虽忙婚事，也忙TIFF自愿工作，我还是有办法硬抽出时间看了七部电影。

在这七部中，我的最爱是 : 善.恶.怪 (The Good, The Bad and The Weird) 。这是一部韩国西仔片，也是有史以来花费最贵的韩国电影。 以上是有英文字幕的电影预告片，可是我比较喜欢另一个没英文字幕的预告片（如下）。

这部戏真的是好看得不得了。刺激，好玩，又好笑。有很多次，我真想站起来大声欢呼尖叫。当然，我不可这么失礼，只有大力捉捉坐在旁边的Ed的手，以告诉他 ‘我很喜欢也！’ 我想，在戏院中很多观众与我同感，因我常听到有人忍不住’wow’, ‘wah’ , ‘ah ‘ 地轻呼。

戏后，导演金知云 (Kim Jee-woon) 上台让观众问问题。其中一个是，‘身为韩国导演，你为什选拍这种较冷门的西仔片呢？’ 他说：…‘because it is cool…’

他真的做到了！ 这部电影真是太cool 了！

This year Toronto International Film Festival, comes and gone. Though I was very busy with TIFF volunteering work, as well as preparation for the wedding, I still managed to squeeze some times to watch seven films !

Out of these seven films, the one I loved the most, is the western movies made by a Korean director, Kim Jee-woon – The Good, The Bad and The Weird. It is also the biggest-budget Korean film ever made in the history so far. The above is its trailer with English subtitles. I also posted another trailer without subtitles (as below) which I like better.

This movie was just fantastic ! Awesome, funny, lots of adrenaline and weird ! I was so hyped up and nearly wanted to jump off the seat and shouted ‘I love this !’. Of course, I could not do this in the cinema. The only way to show my mad love to this film was to squeezed Ed’s hand tightly. Poor Ed ! 😉 I think there were many audiences felt the way because I could hear many ‘wow’, ‘wah’, ‘ahh’ in the cinema.

After the movie, there was a Q & A session with the director. Someone asked, ‘ as Korean director, what make you wanting to make a western genre movie? ‘ Kim Jee-woon answered coolly, ‘ …..because it is cool…’

And he did just that !

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异国中秋

最近几天，很多网友找‘中秋节’或 ‘happy mid-autumn festival’的文章时，无意间来到我这个部落。

每逢佳节倍思亲。如今，在外国生活或工作的华人越来越多。在中秋时节，上网看看其他华人如何在异国过中秋来解解乡愁是可以明白的。不知找到我这里来的网友多是哪里的朋友呢？看来，他们有点想家吧？

小时候的我很爱中秋- 吃月饼，点灯笼，玩腊烛游戏…马来西亚的中秋气氛还算浓厚。那么，现在的我呢？今天是中秋，我怎么在多伦多庆祝呢？

在多伦多，是没什么中秋气氛的。我是在去华人经营的杂货店买东西时，看到很多月饼，才惊觉中秋将近。 墨尔本的情况一样。不同的是，在墨尔本，我有很多华人朋友。有几年，刚好大家空闲时，会搞个中秋晚会或大吃会。

在多伦多，我们没有熟识的华人朋友。Ed的家人在这里住得久了，已没有庆中秋。

至于月饼，虽然我很爱吃（尤其是脆皮的上海月饼！），可也懒得买了。在墨尔本，有散卖的月饼，就算没和朋友庆中秋，我也会买一，两个来吃。这里呢，我没看到散卖的。要买就是必须整盒买。Ed不爱甜的食物，虽然我其实可以将整盒月饼一个人吃完。可是，才不敢呢！很怕自己变成大肥猪！看来，要等到下个周末，去Ed父母家吃饭时，我们才买一盒月饼一起吃吧。

今天中秋，虽有点冷清清，不过，我也习惯了。我和Ed呆在家里看电视，煮饭吃，悠闲自在，也很快乐。虽没月饼，没灯笼，我们一样有圆圆的月亮！

嗯…今晚，我必须记得摇个电话给妈妈！

还有，当然是祝大家中秋快乐！

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….it happened yesterday….

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Festivals for Everything ! (Part 2)

Outdoor Art Festival at Nathan Phillips Square

除了以上提到的，还有很多很多，如Carabina Festival 啦，南亚节庆啦，户外艺术品节 (上图）, Hot and Spicy Festival ， 手工艺品节, 台湾美食节，沙滩爵士音乐节， 应有尽有。

竟然还有街头表演者的街头节庆，有些街头艺术者还山长水远地从英国，澳洲, 日本等国来表演。我在那溜了整天，看惊险的杂耍，看小丑讲笑，喝咖啡，听拉活音乐…..又刺激又写意。

Apart from what I mentioned above, there are also Carabian Festival, South Asia Festival, Outdoor Art Festival，HOt and Spicy Festival, Art and Craft Festival, Taiwan Festival, The Beach Jazz Festival….you name it, you get it.

I was excited to know there is also a street festival for street performers/buskers, it is called BuskerFest here. Some of performers came all the way UK, Australia, Japan etc. I spent a full day there, laughed at the jokes from street comedians, watched jaw-dropping fire juggling, listened to live music, sipped my afternoon cup of coffee….both thrilling and relaxing…

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