New Gears for Tremblant

Since B's binding lost a strap when we went snowboarding on Thursday and the end-of-season sales are starting, we had all the excuses we needed to check out Corbett's in Oakville.


We learnt our lesson last time when we didn't go check it out early enough and missed the deals. (quantities limited - and the best deals are often what they have low inventory) So this time we made a point to be there soon as it opened, but even so the store was already packed with fellow bargain hunters. We had clear goals - bindings for him, boots for me ( I can't stand my old boots anymore since they are too big that my heels lift when carving and they take so much efforts just to be laced up properly.). B had also been eyeing the new style of goggles - the ones without the bulky frames. We had to fight for the attention if the staff to get what we wanted, and the lineup weaving through the store took us over an hour to get through, but in the end it was worth it. Everything was half off, so we afforded to splurge a little and picked up more than what we aimed for.


Here are my loots:




B got what he wanted:

Mont Tremblant

I just LOVE skiing at Mont Tremblant - whether it's about the sheer size of the mountain or the amazing scenery or the great restaurants - it's just so much better than the local ski resorts in Ontario so much so that it's totally worth the 6 - 7 hours drive.

Can't really remember how many times we've gone skiing at Mont Tremblant, but we try to do it once a year - and this year we only managed to go at the end of my brother's March Break - which is fine, except that it's been exceptionally warm this year and the conditions weren't the best we've seen on this mountain.  Either way, we can't complain - we still got 2 full days of snowboarding and didn't miss all the trails that were closed.

And because of the warm weather we weren't expecting much in terms of snow - in fact we even considered cancelling the whole trip - so we weren't really disappointed or anything with the slush and ice.  Friday was so warm that my brother was snowboarding in just his T-shirt and jacket - without any fleece or scarf.  Even in the evening we were able to walk around without our outer shell.

active week

I only made it to the gym once this week for Zumba, and even then we couldn't finish the class because there was something wrong with the air conditioning and the studio was getting so hot and stuffy that we sweated more than we would have in the sauna.

And yoga didn't happen yesterday.  We wanted to wax our snowboards last Saturday - I knew I wasn't gonna have time during the week and we were not doing anything until later on - but no, Dad insisted that he be there when we do it and he insisted that we do it later.  Well, that "later" happened to be the same night as my Yoga class.  It also happened to be a night when I don't have B around to help me with it.  In the end we managed to wax all 3 boards, but somehow there were grey streaks on B's board.  Maybe because our boards were black on the bottom so it's not noticeable and his was a neon lime color so it showed.  *shrug*  It didn't happen on my board, so I guess it's OK.

Despite missing gym time, I did attend our Volleyball practice - this is our second year participating in the Icewave Fundraising Tournament for SickKids.  It was also my second time playing volleyball.  (Hey, they did say newbies were welcomed!)  Now I'm typing with purple thumbs and bruise marks are also showing up all along my forearm!  But it's all for a good cause because without money going into cancer research these poor kids won't see advances in medicine that could help them.  If you'd like to become a sponsor for our team, go here to donate on-line.

And that's not all, I have badminton lined up tonight and a day at Blue Mountain tomorrow - I'm so excited about snowboarding with Mish and Em again I can hardly wait!

winterlicious @ annona

It was the last weekend in January when the annual Winterlicious started.  Having made reservations early this time around, we were able to book a table at Park Hyatt's Annona Restaurant.  It was something I've always wanted to do, and it has been a while since we had gone out for dinner at some place fancy with just the two of us, so I was really excited when the weekend came.

It also turned out to be the coldest weekend this winter yet, which posed the problem of whether to dress up for the occasion and freeze to death, or to forgo the semi-formal little black dress to wear something more reasonable with this weather. It made me wonder: what do people wear to formal occasions in the dead of winter?


In the end, I opted for a purple skirt with a ruffled top in the same color underneath a grey sweater with pink and purple stripes paired with grey stockings.  That was the best compromise I could do for looking somewhat presentable while being warm enough at the same time.  Meanwhile, we saw girls hopping off a range rover just outside the hotel wearing nothing more than tank tops and mini skirts.  I guess they didn't have to deal with the dilemma when there were reporters waiting at the door to photograph them.


Before we went downtown, we stopped by the snowboard blow-out sale advertised on Kijiji.  It turned out to be the same place where B picked up his Signal snowboard.  Nothing much to see there, in terms of actual gear - there were some boards from Hummingbird and High Society (both of which I've never heard of) and boots of limited sizes.  We went on-line and found their websites but there weren't many reviews so we didn't want to risk it.  They did have quite a bit of accessories.  B and I picked up some wax and a gummy stone (to get rid of rusts) for 5 bucks a piece, and there were insoles for 3 dollars.  The insoles were only available in size 12 but fitted into B's new boots just fine after trimming.  My backshop boot fitting foam apparently needed to be applied in between the inner shoe and the husk of my boots (?) - while I didn't even know that they could be detached, so I still haven't tried it yet.  They also had Burton locks going for 5 bucks each, which is a great deal because the cheapest one we saw in a regular store was 20 dollars.  We lingered there for a good hour or more, and by the time we got downtown - St. Lawrence Market was already closed!


I had hoped to visit St. Lawrence Market just because I've never been, and I've heard so much about it - mostly about the foods.  And it being downtown, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to check it out because we don't get to go downtown very often.  (B hates the traffic and I can't handle driving downtown with all the streetcar tracts and one-way streets and jaywalkers)  It had actually just closed when we got there just a bit after 5 PM.  The dinner reservation was still 2 hours away, so we decided to find a little coffee shop or something because we've already paid for the parking and it was mighty cold outside.


We found parking just behind the Park Hyatt and didn't have to walk far to get to Annona.  The restaurant was busy but the vibe was drab from the decor to the servers.  We had to wave down a server to get the menu and some water after being seated for 15 minutes. It didn't take long to decide since there were only so many options in the prix-fixe menu.  The smoked salmon on blinis were ordinary, as was the fish and the braised beef ribs.  The desserts were better - but all in all, it was decided that it's not a restaurant we would want to visit again, even if it did offer better value than Winterlicious.

A Day in Oakville: Corbett's and Whole Foods Market

It's been more than 3 weeks and we still haven't managed to get to either Sherway Gardens or Yorkdale - but that's not to say we didn't have a good time spending a day in Oakville this past weekend. After Dim Sum, we took B's set of snowboarding gear to Corbett's to have it fixed up because he was having trouble with his new Flow bindings. Flow was supposed to make it easier and quicker, but B somehow ended up spending more time to get strapped in at the top of the hill, and he was having trouble coming down the slope too because the heels of his boots would come up and away from the base of the binding when he gets on his toe-side, making it difficult to carve. We knew we had to get it fixed but we didn't know how to do it ourselves, so we decided to bring it in to have the pros do it. We got a hold of Scott, who's helped us pick out B's boots and bindings last time we were there, and in one look he could tell it wasn't done right. He said it could be done in an hour, so we dropped it off and went over to Whole Foods.

I was intrigued by the store as we passed by on the way to Corbett's, and boy were we glad we made a stop there. The store was AMAZING. What a shopping experience! Everything was tidy and neatly arranged, and there were samples throughout the store. With the airy wood and stone interior and plasma TVs hanging from the high ceiling, it was like a fancier version of Longo's or Michael Angelo's.

Once we walked in we were greeted by neatly-arranged piles of apples and other fresh fruits - all natural/organic and most locally grown. Then we saw exotic fruits that we've never seen before - tamarillos and other funny looking ones - right next to the tropical fruits like purple mangosteens (yum!) and red bananas that are rarely found in this part of the world. We saw giant leeks and heaps of kale, fingerling potatoes and a yellow monstrous-looking citron that's called the "buddha's hand". We ventured into the seafood and meat section next where we saw really huge fillets of mahi mahi, nice cuts of beef, chicken fillet rolled up with feta and spinach, and fresh sausages in interesting flavors such as blueberries and liver.

We saw a slab of organic butter going for 10 bucks, and milk in glass bottles reminiscent of what we used to get in Hong Kong. We saw organic cleaners and skincare (a whooping 60 dollars for a small tube of rich and aromatic rose hand cream from Jurlique), and tried on some organic water-based nail polish that dried in seconds. Then we saw the wonderful cheese counter, filled with wheels of parmigiano-reggiano, pecorino romano, fancy floral goat cheese, smoked gouda, and it just went on and on all the way around the little work area where the wheels of cheese are cut. I picked up some nice cheeses that I haven't seen in regular grocery stores and had a hard time limiting myself to just a few kinds.

There was a stone/clay oven for fresh pizza, facing a salad bar with 2 aisles of interesting variety, right next to the bakery section smelling like something's just come out of the oven. I could hardly peel myself off the beautiful cake display when B suggested that we try a slice of the taffy apple cheesecake. We paid and found a spot to sit down and enjoy our afternoon treat. It was one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had! The crunchy taffy caramel covering soft cooked apple slices subtly spiced with cinnamon (B couldn't taste it), and the buttery crust that was hard to the fork but melted in our mouths, all enveloping the rich creamy centre that almost tasted like ice cream - it was heaven!! We devoured it and wanted to bring one home for dinner, but they only sold the cake in slices ($5) or as a whole ($30) - the slice would be too little but the whole cake would have been too much for the 5 of us at home.

So instead we brought home the equally tempting tiramisu cake, which we devoured before we remembered to take pictures of. Lined with ladyfinger cookies all the way around, the tiramisu cake was another piece of heaven - despite the cake collapsing and falling apart while cutting. The mascarpone cream was so light and just sweet enough, and the ladyfingers layer was just the right texture - not soggy, not soft, but almost chewy and melted on the palate and provided just the right base for the light and fluffy cream. Even Dad had seconds, which is rare for desserts. I can't wait until the next time we visit the store and pick up some more goodies!

A Day Too Late

Amidst all the holiday festivities, I had somehow convinced B to join in the Boxing Day shopping frenzy - but only limited to snowboarding gears. We had ran around from store to store and finally made it to Corbett's in Oakville yesterday - only to find out that the Burton Feather 2010 (which I had set my eyes on) with bindings was on special for $330 BUT they were all SOLD OUT. It was love at first sight with the board - and honestly, I'm too much of a beginner to know if all the other features of the board were suitable for my skill level. And everywhere we've looked, the lowest price we had seen was $320 (at SportChek, limited quantities). So at $330 it's a steal because it's almost as if they're throwing in the Burton bindings for free!! I was so excited when I heard about the deal that I was crushed by disappointment when he came back saying the package's all sold out. Apparently they were all gone by afternoon on Boxing Day, so we made it there a day too late. B, on the other hand, scored a bunch of stuff and now has a completely new set of gear for our Blue Mountain trip.