The Last Leg

Montevideo, Uruguay exceeded my expectations. I would definitely go back. It is a very charming city. Here the Quatchis are standing outside the Legislative Palace.

And here they're checking out Plaza Independencia. Very close by we saw a Canadian flag. It must have been at the embassy.

There are several monuments and statutes in Montevideo. This one is at Plaza de la Armada. It's right off the Rambla, the avenue along the coast, and provides panoramic views of the city.

In Chile we ate a lot of seafood. In Argentina and Uruguay, we ate a lot of meat. This is what we had for lunch while in Montevideo.

The cruise disembarked in Buenos Aires. We did a quick city tour before heading to the airport. If I could do it again, I would have stayed an extra day or two to explore the Paris of the South. La Boca was a really cool neighbourhood. It's known for its colourful houses, the tango, and football.

We paid our respects to Eva Peron at La Recoleta. Many famous South Americans are buried at this cemetery. It was huge and very well kept.

The Quatchis had a great trip overall exploring another part of the world! Hasta luego!

Penguins!!!

One of the highlights of our trip was seeing penguins up close and personal!

These are King penguins at Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands / Malvinas. They breed here, so we saw lots of baby penguins.

 These are Gentoo penguins, also at Volunteer Point. They swim up to 200 kilometres to get food for their young.

And these are Magellanic penguins at the Punta Tombo Penguin Rookery, just outside of Puerto Madryn, Argentina. It was pretty remarkable to see so many penguins at once. They were literally everywhere!

To the Ends of the Earth

Sailing down the coast of Chile was quite scenic. One morning, we woke up early to view the Amalia Glacier. It's the ice field behind Q's head. 10,000 years ago, it covered pretty much all of southern Chile.

At the edge of the Strait of Magellan is Punta Arenas. It used to be a major port prior to the Panama Canal being built. In this photo, you can see two cruise ships in the distance. Ours is the one on the right.

One of the main attractions in Punta Areans is a cemetery. The groomed Cyprus trees were very unique.  

The city square, Plaza Munoz Gamero, is beautiful. It is surrounded by beautiful mansions. Kissing the foot of this statute will bring you good luck, and will help you return to Punta Arenas one day.

We were hoping to stop in Ushuaia, Argentina, but the port was closed due to low tide and strong winds. We continued to sail to Cape Horn. It's the southernmost tip of South America. Any more south, and you're in Antarctica!

Adventure Is Out There!

The Quatchis and I went on our first cruise with my parents and brother. We started in Santiago, sailed down the coast of Chile, made a pit stop to see the penguins at the Falkland Islands / Malvinas, sailed up the coast of Argentina, spent a day in Montevideo, Uruguay, and finished on a high note in Buenos Aires.

Here's the first of a few posts from our trip!

After flying for 10 hours overnight, it was all systems go in Santiago. The Quatchis quickly looked up some places to check out while at our hotel.

The sun was shining and the temperature was hot - a great improvement from the chilly weather we left behind in Toronto. San Cristobal Hill offered panoramic views of the city. We also visited the Central Market, Plaza de Armas, a cathedral, La Moneda, and the University of Chile.

The next day we went to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso before boarding our cruise ship. We saw lots of archaeological finds from Easter Island at the Fonck Museum. The Moai statue guarding the museum is original!

Our first full day on the cruise was at sea. The Quatchis took full advantage of the ship. I'll post some photos of their shenanigans later on.

We docked at Puerto Montt, the southernmost end of Chile's Lake District. From Puerto Montt, we drove to see Osorno, our first volcano! It looks like a mountain but it's actually one of the most active volcanoes in Chile.

Not far away from the volcano is Chile's oldest national park, Vicente Perez Rosales. It's home to Petrohue Falls. It's hard to make out from this photo, but the water colour was bright turquoise.

A little further away from the volcano and falls was Lake Esmeralda. Here too the water was bright and clear (and basically matched the colour of the Quatchis' earmuffs). The area reminded the Mins of lakes he saw in Banff, Alberta.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Puerto Varas, eating seafood, checking out local goods (I bought handmade earrings), and enjoying the scenic views. So far, so good!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Happy New Year, friends! We hope everyone had a fun time ringing in 2015.

Bernie found this recipe for me on Sunday. He knew I was searching for something to make that's portable to eat for breakfast. These muffins turned out better than I expected. The zucchini makes them extra moist.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffin cups.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Mix egg, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in another bowl. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Christmas Time Is Here!

 

 Wishing you peace, love, and good tidings this holiday season!

Maggie + Colin in HK: Part IV

We spent most our time on Hong Kong Island, so we made sure to dedicate at least one full day to Kowloon. Here's the dynamic duo in front of the historic clock tower in TST.

We braved the long line for breakfast at the Australian Dairy Co. It's very similar to Capital Cafe, but much more crowded. Maggie and Colin couldn't decide which one was their favourite!

We walked around Mong Kok one morning. I know it would have been better to go later on in the day, but time was running out. I'm glad I got to check it out anyway, since the last time I went was easily over 10 years ago.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Maggie and Colin wanted to bring a goldfish home to their friends.

Deal hunting for souvenirs. Don't underestimate their cuteness! These monsters know how to bargain.

We ate ridiculous amounts of Hokkaido milk ice cream. This one was from Milk Top, in the basement of Sogo (Causeway Bay).

Taking the Airport Express on our last day. It was really nice to check-in to our flight downtown, to minimize our time at the airport.

It was a blast, Hong Kong! Thanks for the memories and good food!

Maggie + Colin in HK: Part III

I've been to Hong Kong a few times now, but never to any of the outlying islands (except Lantau). Maggie and Colin thought Cheung Chau would be a cool place to visit. The ferry ride there was less than an hour.

Here's the main drag. There's no cars allowed on Cheung Chau so bikes are plentiful for renting. We decided to explore on foot.

It seems like fishing is very popular here. We ate a lot of seafood (in snack form). Everything was delicious!

It was a little too cold to take a dip at Tung Wan Beach. Plus, Maggie didn't want to get her hair wet.

Late one night, we ventured to a tiny dessert shop under a bridge close to North Point. This black sesame tong yuen was fantastic! Thanks for the recommendation, NK!

Here's Maggie and Colin on the Dragon's Back in Shek O Park. You can't really tell from Maggie's hair, but it was extremely windy at the top!

Following the leader!

We took the Star Ferry as much as we could during our stay. Here's us returning to the island from TST. Again, that view!

One more blog post to go!

Maggie + Colin in HK: Part II

Alrighty, on to the second installment!

Maggie and Colin visited the Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan. After checking out the area, we walked across Hollywood Road until we ended up in Central.

We took the mid-level escalators for majority of the ride. The grandma in front was a bit confused why two monsters were following her.

The pals had a delicious pear pastry at Joel Robuchon's tea salon in the Landmark.

We also met up with friends for dinner at APM - a mall that's open until 2 AM every day. There were Snoopys and Christmas trees everywhere!

Maggie and Colin are posing in front of a local eatery, well known for its milk tea and egg tarts. If you're in Wan Chai, go!

Another day, they had a hearty breakfast at the cha chaan teng, Capital Cafe.

Here's the duo at the World SME Expo. We walked away with bags of free stuff!

We made a dedicated mission to Din Tai Fung for Shanghainese soup dumplings. The restaurant has a Michelin star!

The shopping in Hong Kong is first-rate. Causeway Bay has heaps of malls and boutiques.

What a view from our bedroom! We could see the Symphony of Lights show from both the island and Kowloon.

Even though I was conferencing for the first half of our trip, Maggie and Colin got to explore a decent amount. For such little guys, they covered a lot of ground in a short time!

Maggie + Colin in HK: Part I

Maggie and Colin are excited to share photos from their trip to Hong Kong! It was their first time overseas. On day one...

...they ate pineapple BBQ pork buns - not the easiest thing to find in Toronto.

They had an afternoon nap to help recover from jet lag.

They shopped at swanky department stores, including Harvey Nichols...

...and Lane Crawford (they're like the Holt Renfrews of the UK and Hong Kong).

They occupied Central (really Admiralty, despite what all the news said).

They brushed up on their Chinese reading skills. I think they're better than me!

And they occupied Central some more!

More photos to be posted soon!