One month being home

I’m mostly over reverse culture shock.  Subtle things are the worst. Like I’m still a little surprised when people hold a door open for me, or say sorry when they just happen to be in the area I’m walking towards.

Then there is the food!  Oh it is so nice to have variety once again.  I can once again walk over to a deli, ask for “some of this and some of that”. There are tons of foods that I want to grab when I’m in a grocery store.  I’m trying real hard with not over doing it. Just but one thing different/extra each week.

I’ll try not to grumble too loudly about the f’ing insane cost of my 10GB mobile data plan…..>:(

I also bought a car. You really do need one in Canada unless you are a hermit.

Is a 2002 Volvo S40. Only had 159K on it. Need to attend to some minor issues but once the weather is nice out.  It’s a good car and the turbo is fun to play with :)

Also, each week a connect with another friend/family member.  I realize this is a good plan as trying to contact every single person I knew at once would be hard.

Yes, it is nice to be home. Good to catch up with family/friends/food/cars again.  We’ll see how long it lasts ;)

Pretty adjusted now

I think finally back on track with proper sleeping schedule. I picked up a cold when I got back, it’s finally down to a niggling cough and McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes such these days.

Sigh. I’m really trying to like it back home…. honest!

Friends are nice to see, Tim Horton’s coffee is still good. Family is always good to me. Hmmm, need more time to plan my next move.

Touchdown Toronto

Made it here without any real issues!

Aaaaand we’re booked!

 

4.5 years seemed to have come to an end fairly quickly.  Don’t worry, will continue the adventures even after I leave here.  Stay tuned to find out where I’ll land after going home for awhile!

That moment….

Despite being in a South-East Asian country, I still like to do some ‘home cooking’.  My favourite is Apple Crisp and Apple Sauce.  We are going to a pot-luck dinner tomorrow so I’m making some of both today.  As with anything, you always have “that moment”:

That moment:

• when you look at the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and think “that’s too little for my taste” and you use the container to add ‘just a little more’ when ‘whompf!’ it ends up being a weeee bit more than ‘just a little more’
• when you go to type up your experience of cooking on a blog when you see ‘sssssss’ and know that the 8 cut-up apples in that little stuffed pot was probably more than it could ideally handle and now the simmering heat has made it boil over some

Yes….we have all had ‘that moment’ while experiencing life.

 

19 Ways Vinegar Can be Super Helpful Around the House

Yeah, after using too much bleach in my bathroom this morning, I need to use this stuff more often….

Family Survival Protocol - Microcosm News

Desert Rose Creations / Family Survival Protocol  2013

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Bet You Didn’t Know: Vinegar Keeps Coffee Fresh, Gets Rid of Sweat Stains and Has 17 Other Magical Uses

You cook with it, but do you clean with it, too? Check out these inspired ways to use vinegar

By Christine Petrozzo – June 17, 2013

That humble, no-frills bottle of vinegar in your pantry isn’t just a salad staple; it’s an effective household cleaning agent. Here, 20 practical (but surprising!) uses for the acidic wonder.

1. Keep your morning cup of coffee fresh. Mix two cups of water with one cup of undiluted white vinegar. Run it through your coffee maker and repeat the process two to three times before brewing a fresh pot.

2. Disinfect household sponges. Soak sponges in undiluted white vinegar overnight, and let air-dry before reuse.

3. Dissolve crayon marks from the walls. Moisten a toothbrush with…

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Trip home!

Well, it’ll be nearly 17 months since my last visit home so it’ll be nice….almost.  See, my last visit home was during the summertime…this time…Winter.  What kinda makes this worse is that where I live now, it rarely gets below freezing and rarely gets snow.  From that to go to Canada during January?  Well, at least it won’t be as bad a February’s are.

Ok, so I’ll be in Canada from Jan 14th to the 28th.  I know that at the weekend of the 18th we’ll be in the Ottawa area.  Outside of that, I’m fairly open to meeting anyone in the Golden Horseshoe area or in the Ottawa area if you live that way too :)

The rough plan is to hit Toronto on the 16th(Thursday) and meet up with people there in the evening at a restaurant.  Then Friday we head out to Ottawa, stay there till Sunday and come back.

I’m staying the next weekend but my wife is not.  (oddly it’s the same price for me staying 3 more days…).  So I have one more weekend back home as well.

Will be nice to have a Tim Horton’s coffee again :D  Oh…and see friends/family too ;)