Christmas 2010 - Week 2 January 7, 2011 In the second week of Christmas, Toronto gave to me... a rainbow and Korean kimchi. View fullsize The extremely classy holiday decoration we brought from afar. Goes well with the granite. View fullsize Ta-daa. Her fancy new Maxwell House coffee-making coffee maker. View fullsize (Re)found the elaborately-decorated house on Clinton that we first spotted over a decade ago. View fullsize Looking through the past week's photos... and boy, are there many. View fullsize At long last! North American Chinese food! And it's even vegetarian. View fullsize A sad reunion and final farewell with the tacky trophies of my high school years. (Amazingly, all the weapons were still attached to the men!) View fullsize Another stylish knick-knack from my room on Jefferson. View fullsize Afternoon tea with another set of familiar faces. View fullsize And a reunion over Tim Horton's -- how appropriate. View fullsize Spot the poodle! View fullsize She pretends not to remember me. View fullsize Back on Bloor, dinner's taking place at the famous neighborhood all-you-can-eat Sushi parlor. View fullsize The late-comers are relegated to the end. View fullsize It's darn-well about time! Can't believe we went 10 days without a dozen Tims. View fullsize Sprinkles. Can't be beat! View fullsize Sunday brunch (not a funeral) in High Park. View fullsize A plateful of vegetarian cheeses. How rare! View fullsize Nothing strange here. View fullsize But something seems to be contagious. View fullsize Culinary master Jasmine prepares a pasta salad for 8 hungry Tomczaks. View fullsize You remember what mom always said -- no dinner until you finish the chips. View fullsize This family has apparently abandoned dining tables. View fullsize Monday morning trip to the Royal Ontario Museum. Time to take out another membership. View fullsize This museum, too, has recently undergone a modern renovation/ expansion ... this one by Daniel Libeskind. View fullsize Don't they warn against playing with polar bears, despite how cuddly they may seem? View fullsize Famous mosaic ceiling of the rotunda. View fullsize Peek-a-boo. View fullsize Although the most famous terracotta warriors had already left the museum, some less well-known ones still remained. View fullsize Old meets new -- a trend on the Toronto museum scene. View fullsize An interesting donation by someone who finally ran out of space in his house. View fullsize Wow! Look at all the dinosaurs! View fullsize Giant inner atrium houses a mix of artifacts and many comfy couches. View fullsize Curious contrast continues outside, too. View fullsize Meeting for lunch with old friends, the Wongs. That it was a Chinese restaurant is a coincidence, honest. View fullsize Talk about extreme opulence. View fullsize King and Queen sit and wait for the table to be prepared. View fullsize Only after all the food's disappeared is the photo taken. View fullsize We get to cook Thai. We get to cook Thai! Such a rare opportunity comes but once a year. View fullsize Enough garlic for your tastes? View fullsize Extremely spicy green curry, red curry and bitter melon find their way to the table tonight. View fullsize Pouring the champagne that no one had the will-power to stay up for on New Years Eve. View fullsize How rouge! View fullsize Cheers to the ability to cook on a stove! View fullsize Looks... authentic? At least the rice is. View fullsize Finally, a dusting of snow! But will it last? View fullsize Again, trying to blend in with his surroundings. Will he ever learn that it's okay to be unique? View fullsize Taking a trip downtown, to see what Western shopping malls have to offer. View fullsize OMG. MUFFINS. WITH BIG TOPS. View fullsize And real ice cream. We're on a roll! View fullsize The famous Brookfield Place, known for its Allen Lambert Galleria. View fullsize Also, coincidentally, the home of BCG Toronto. View fullsize They just love to mesh old and new in this city. View fullsize The atrium provides great, comfortable natural light throughout all 4 seasons. View fullsize Nonchalantly blending in with the locals on the trip home. View fullsize Finally having the opportunity to try the most hopping Korean joint in town! View fullsize Doesn't that look just scrumptious? View fullsize The food was so steamy, it turned mum's hair grey. View fullsize The restaurant draws crowds at all hours of the day. This is 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon. View fullsize MUFFIN! View fullsize Impulse trip to Niagra Falls! View fullsize Group shot, from the warmth of the tourist center overlooking the falls. View fullsize Double-rainbows and beautiful blue skies greet us as we near. View fullsize It couldn't have been more picturesque for the middle of the winter. View fullsize Too many photo ops make for too many photos! View fullsize How many permutations can we achieve? View fullsize The railings were icy and slick. Dangerous? View fullsize The north pole is actually at the base of Niagra Falls. Don't believe what the cartographers tell you. View fullsize Winter wonderland. Just don't get swept up by its beauty. View fullsize His first trip! We'll return when the falls have moved back another kilometer. View fullsize Just a little chilly. View fullsize Ice on a post, in front of a backdrop of Falls. View fullsize Cold, but not too cold. View fullsize The town is now super-developed... and filled with super-similar-looking buildings. View fullsize Rainbow's still there, but still not too many people. View fullsize Rainbow's still there; weather's still good. View fullsize Dangers, made worse when icy. View fullsize The cold weather demanded becoming a Pats fan. View fullsize Another shot of the North Pole. Eerily picturesque. View fullsize Very resilient plants, to be living right next to the Falls in winter. View fullsize Qu'est-ce que c'est? View fullsize The icy mist still rises quite high. View fullsize And the American falls. They leave something to be desired. View fullsize Heading over to Ontario's second-most-famous tower. View fullsize Tourist prices! View fullsize The view from the top is worth it. At least on a good day like this. View fullsize Question of the year: will the falls turn this corner, or will they start eating away at the town? View fullsize Too cold to smile. View fullsize Being a little daring with that Canon, isn't he. View fullsize Look at the US right there. So close, but yet so far. View fullsize Look, Dad's got a purse. View fullsize A shadow towers over the quiet town. View fullsize Riverside Drive. And long shadows already. View fullsize Ears started to get sore from the wind after a while. View fullsize Debate about whether the ferris wheel was actually operating, or being blown by the wind. Thoughts? View fullsize One colorful street, in a town of drab buildings. View fullsize Requisite group shot! On top of the world. Kind of. View fullsize Riding back down. We didn't succumb to the all-you-can-eat dinner. View fullsize I do love those 0% off sales. View fullsize In these conditions, the ice provides extra traction. View fullsize In Niagra-on-the-Lake, where the river meets Lake Ontario! View fullsize Stripping in the middle of the quaint Main Street. View fullsize Window shopping. View fullsize We felt badly for the ice cream shop -- it was clearly struggling. So we had to help them out. View fullsize Two happy, weather-oblivious customers. View fullsize How quaint. View fullsize Driving back to Toronto through the Niagra wineries. View fullsize Now he's officially invited to celebrate Christmas with the rest of us. View fullsize Dumplings, anyone? View fullsize Anyone feeling a little naked? View fullsize Looks like some more snow might be coming! View fullsize Skål! View fullsize Chillin' in Grandpa's new bachelor pad. View fullsize And then the aliens came and sucked some more information out of his head. View fullsize Tea time at Grandma's! View fullsize Does this scene look familiar? View fullsize Ooh, looks like the snow's kept at it. View fullsize Look at what a difference half a day makes. View fullsize Marching out to The Last Supper, down on Bloor. View fullsize Better late than never. The annual snow, that is. View fullsize Some kind of Korean walnut donut? We'll have to try it next time. View fullsize The easy way to make a blueberry smoothie! View fullsize Oh man, looks delicious! View fullsize Ain't got nothing to complain about... great Last Supper. View fullsize Snowy final night on Euclid. See you in a finished state next December! View fullsize Why are they so happy to see us leave?
