day 174 - boat

we brought the grandkids to mini-golf camp out in oakville early this morning. one of the attractions at the camp was a half-pirate boat that was made to look like a sunken boat. i thought it was awesome!

day 173 - mural

this is a painting hanging on the wall of a restaurant in downtown toronto.

day 172 - on a clear day

in downtown, when you look up on a bright sunny day, you would see the clear sky and the top of the skyscrapers. these are the Royal Bank Plaza and one of the BCE tower buildings. yes, there is beauty even in the concrete jungle.

day 171 - Nephelium lappaceum

the rambutan, Nephelium lappaceum, is a fruit considered exotic to people outside of its native range. in southeast asia, however, the rambutan is a relatively common fruit like the apple is common to many people in North America. i took this picture today when i went to chinatown for a dimsum lunch when i passed by the fruit stalls.

day 170 - tall and thin and available

yeah! it does look kind of attractive, doesn't it? especially if you're a beer drinker maybe! i just love capturing those ads on the danforth. i know i kind of help advertise the products in a way, but what the heck!

day 169 - chandelier made of shells

this is a staple of filipino business establishments: shells. lampshade made of shells and any lighting fixtures made of shells; handbags made of shells; coasters made of shells, placemats made of shells; statues made of shells; condom made of shells. no, i made up the last one just to see if anyone's paying attention. hahahaha!

day 168 - "out of the blue"

i love this "out of the blue" signs. they're never out of place. and sometimes this commercial can make miracles just...out of the blue, perhaps. i know for certain, because i've been a recipient of one of those miracles from "out of the blue".

day 167 - free parking

only on sundays and holidays. but today, being saturday, you gotta pay to park here.

day 166 - CN tower by day

yes, i've been to the CN tower again this month. this time i brought along my two grandsons, one liked jumping on the glass floor, the other didn't. so i caught this picture of the tower with one of those weird cloud formations. yay!

day 165 - on a clear summer day

on a gorgeous day like today, you can see the moon as the sun sets. 'the moon is like a lovely tune...beware my foolish heart...'

day 164 - under a canopy of summer green

we had dinner at ten feet tall. the sun was shining brightly but there was a decent breeze that made for a perfect day to dine al fresco. and this tree gave us shade. hear the rustling of the leaves and the tweeting of birds.

day 163 - another day, another weird cloud formation

walking along the danforth, the wind is rather coolish as the sun prepares to set. and once again, there there is this hodge podge of clouds in the sky. in the east were just ordinary grayish looking clouds, like threatening rain. then in the west, there is this.

day 162 - a hot monday morning

this morning the hot spell in toronto continues. rain, storm and whatnots are being predicted, none of which ever showed up. but this is the danforth on my way to the subway station, despite the busy traffic, the flowers are blooming and the leaves flutter in the ever so gentle breeze. welcome to the danforth village!

day 161 - knock-off

this is a framed print hanging on the walls of a filipino restaurant in scarborough. it is a knock-off from an original work of one of the Philippines' great painters. the scene depicted here is a post-rice-harvest activity. it used to be like in the picture in the olden days. when tractors and plastics and other "modern" thingies invaded even the rural farms in that country, the scenario had dramatically changed. makes one long for the good old days.

day 160 - silver lining?

the sun may be behind heavy clouds, but it's always there, shining brightly. so let's not lose hope when things are getting us down, for sooner or later, we will win the lottery. hope so!!!

day 159 - caribana!

this costume-cum-float was on display at the Scotia Plaza today. this is one of the simpler costumes that can be seen during the caribana parade slated at the end of july. i was too near the display so that i couldn't get a full shot, plus it was lunchtime and there were a lot of passers-by so it would have been impossible anyway to take a full shot without any human interference, but this is HUGE! sideways and above, there are still tons of materials to be seen. and this is how all the costumes during the parade are going to be: ostentatiously gorgeous!!!!

day 158 - flowers on the danforth

the danforth is brimming with flowers and this is just a sample. every ten or so metres, there are large concrete planters and they were planted with such lush shrubs with colorful annuals and they are just beautiful. come to the danforth and see!

day 157 - stacking for the hot summer days

iced tea was on sale for $2.99. i went in just before midnight on the last day of the sale, got four and my son got four, because it said on the price list that the limit was four for each customer. only one pack was left. we asked the cashier if, since there was just one pack left, we can get it despite the "limit of four" policy. she said yes. son went back to pick it up, then came back with a grin and his arms spread open meaning it was gone. a lady picked it up soon after we picked up the eight. so we went home with only eight packs. nice, huh?

day 156 - pan fried sole with sliced almonds

and served with buttered vegetables and rice. at Fran's on College Street. for $12.95. on my visiting friend and her family's last morning here in toronto, we had a farewell brunch. this dish is my favorite ever on fran's menu and i'm so glad that they had not removed it. it's the best item on the menu. way to go, fran's!!

day 155 - sushi!

all you can eat of it. sashimi, too, and tempura. yay! and all the california rolls that you can eat and your heart desires. just don't forget to drink lots of tea.

day 154 - powder blue

saw this sucker parked at the Tim Horton's in Kingston. i didn't want to be too obvious when taking the shots but the car was gone by the time we got out of timmy's so i didn't get a full-length shot. but it was such an attention-getter, what with it's spotless powder blue color and its chrome trimmings simply sparkled in the bright mid-afternoon summer sun. one word could only describe it, though: WOW!

day 153 - olympic condominiums

on a land-and-water tour of Old Montreal, we passed this structure on the once Olympic village. these condominiums that look like cardboard boxes stacked unevenly atop each other, were used as accommodations for the olympic executives and athletes during the 1976 olympic games. now they are expensive condominiums. yaiks! question: who'd want to live in it? suckers, perchance!

day 152 - a house in Montreal

we passed by this house on our way to our hotel in Montreal this evening. it had been raining all day and there is no sign of letting go even after we came from dinner where we experienced a real heavy downpour. does it always rain in Montreal?

day 151 - CN Tower by night

with the changing light colours, it was a beautiful sight in beautiful toronto and enjoyed it with some of the most important people in my life.

day 150 - dried fish

my dearest friend and her husband and daughter are in town visiting. first stop, dim sum at chinatown then we went to buy fresh tropical fruits. whilst waiting for them, i took picture of these dried fishes. reminiscent of days when we were young children in the old country and those dried fishes were a "staple" during those poverty stricken years. seems like another lifetime.

day 149 - green orchid

the loveliest flower of them all.

day 148 - toronto summer

it's hot, it's smoggy, it's humid. that's toronto summer for you.

day 147 - clouds

the day began with just a few clouds, like this feathery looking one. but it's now mid-afternoon and the temperature's gone to 26 already and the air is so still. but we wished for these days, didn't we?

day 146 - orchids

nothing can brighten anyone's day more than a beautiful arrangement of flowers, orchids in particular. this one's from our office reception area.

day 145 - sailboats

pardon the color of this photograph. i took it from inside our office on the 38th floor of the RBC south tower, the windows of which, as some of you might not know, are covered with 24 karat gold leaf, hence the unnatural colour.

it was a beautiful day today, 25 celcius but a tad breezy to make for a comfortable summer day. and a nice day to go sailing. the sailboats were out in full force at the lake and it was a fantastic sight to behold. i just had to take a picture!

day 144 - 'laugh'

i love the colour of this sign; by far this is the most eye catching of the four signs by astral media. wonder if there are other signs on the theme out there.