Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Mashiko!

CS Friend came for a visit to the west coast to ski and hang out.  So she drove down to meet up to go eat at Mashiko.    Best part was that it wasn't me who suggested it :).  Our menu today:

After dinner, which was pretty late.  CS Friend decides to drive back up.  Soldier she is!

Kumamoto Oysters
Geoduck Sashimi inside lemon
Tako and shinguku with miso paste
Uni on half shell
Rainbow trout sashimi on shiso and ponzu sauce
Sea snail
Coho salmon tartar with poached egg
Poached abalone
Ikura with soft tofu
Tuna poke with seaweed salad and seasame
Sunma, black cod, coon striped shrimp, herring, albacore toro
Lamb curry
Oyster Miso Soup
Knochi

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Almost at work…

So this morning, I find out that my car battery has died.  Which means even though I was back, I was still a couple hours away from work.  So I missed my first couple meetings… and my boss laughed at me. 


This year might be a tough one for the Year of the Pig…

Monday, January 13, 2014

Lift Off!!!

Attempt number 2.. Lift off! 


…Success!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Locked in warm house

Ice quakes and severe wind warnings was the topic of the day.  Good thing the house had heat, so I stayed inside and didn't leave.

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Work from home week

Waking up, I called to rebook my flight.  Luckily I connected right through, but the first flight would be Friday, and it would have to be a connecting flight.  Given that, I decided to just ask for a Sunday direct flight, and be done with it.

I would find out later this was a smart move.  Apparently all flights were grounded on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday the airport was on reduced service, such that Thursday would be their first day of full service.  Then on Saturday, there was a glitch in the system so there were massive delays for Air Canada. 

With the failed attempt to leave Toronto, and basically grounded for a week, I ended up having a working from home week.  Converted all of my meetings to remote meetings.  The phone meetings and conference call meetings we had with SVC for the past few years really made it feel like just another day.


However, the remote 1-1s are not as easy as it looks.  But somehow I managed it.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Attempt to leave Toronto.. FAIL…

So going a bit early to the airport for my flight, I needed up being at Toronto Pearson Airport for 12 hours… from 4pm to  4am.  Only to be in still in Toronto at the end of it all.


Transcript of events:
Got to the airport early, waited at the gate and the plane kept delaying.  We finally boarded, only to be put inside the cabin and sat there for hours as we were grounded.  Then finally at 2am in the morning the captain said this was a failed attempt and we went back out.

Luckily I had my Nexus so I didn’t need to wait in line to clear customs (I felt bad for those who had to wait in that line).  Since I checked in luggage though, it was pretty messed up as there were lines for people trying to understand what is happening with their luggage at baggage claim.  There were easily 1000s of people camped around and luggage was just lying around everywhere - as some folks were able to come back to claim their luggage, some couldn't leave because their luggage would be deemed abandoned, and some were missing their luggage because it got loaded into the plane, and the ground crew didn't take it out.

After waiting half an hour in line, it was realized that the luggage never made it on the plane and so after an hour, it started coming out.  Lucky me I guess…

When I got out of baggage claim, thought I would rebook my ticket - but turns out 1000s of people had that same idea, and seeing a long snake line around the floor, and the Air Canada phone line basically jammed, quickly I gave up on that. 

Sent a mail saying I won't be at work, paid a King's ransom for a taxi ride back home, called it a night.

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Mini Armageddon

Probably the last one.  Just good friends having a blast! :)