Memories can be funny sometimes.  It gets triggered when you least expect it. 

I was cutting tofu the other day for my soup.  Normally I just put it on a plate or the cutting board and get on with the job.  But the other day, I held it on my hand and diced it with a knife.  The tofu is soft so I knew I wouldn’t cut myself.  In a flash, I was back in my mom’s kitchen in Manila.  She was holding the tofu in one hand and cutting it with the other.  I asked her “Won’t you cut your hands?”  She grinned and said “No, watch carefully.  You just stop when the knife reaches your hand.  Just do it slowly and carefully.”  She lowered her hands and let me watch closely as she sliced the tofu.  I turned my head to make sure I saw the knife reaching her hands.  She slowly retracted the knife from the tofu and continued cutting it cross wise to make small cubes.

I paused and smiled as the memories came back.

My bf called me tonight to watch a show on CBC.  It was a documentary called “Tailor Made”.  I’ve seen parts of this before so it was good to take a break from work and watch the parts I haven’t seen.  It’s a pretty good documentary.  You can also read a bit more about this last tailor (custom made suits) in Vancouver’s Chinatown here. 

While watching it, I remembered the very first suit I got to look for a job.  It was from a small store in my neighborhood.  I knew one of the guys who worked there part time.  I went in and explained to the owner that I was looking for a suit for job interviews and hopefully to wear when I got a job.  I also didn't have a lot of money so I wanted something affordable. 

He spent a lot of time with me and steered me towards a wool navy blue suit.  It wasn’t the most expensive suit – sort of a middle of the line.  But he explained that it was flexible.  He showed me the many different colors of shirts and patterns of shirts that would go well with the suit.  He also picked out a tie for me – burgundy rep tie with stripes running diagonally across.  One of the colors of the stripes was the same blue of the suit.  He walked me to the window and explained that sunlight is the best light to look at colors of clothing.  The artificial lights can sometimes give a different shade of color.  He showed how the color of the tie would complement the suit and how the blue stripe would also pick up (match) color of the suit.  This would help pull it together.  When I came back a week or so afterwards to pick it up, he asked if I knew the proper way to sit down.  I shrugged and just sat down on a chair.  He then told me to watch as he sat down.  He gently pulled his pants up (perhaps an inch or so) as he was sitting down. He explained that by doing so, it reduces a lot of the stress in the fabric by the rear (the bum). 

My brother, sister and I spent most of the day cleaning my dad’s garden.  None of us are gardening types.  Without the steady care and love from my mom, all the weeds now have squatting rights.  My dad has someone to mow the front and the back so from far away, it just looks green.  There are just hints of the vegetable garden that my mom nurtured.  I noticed some garlic sticking out from near the bushes.  The rhubarb is still there.  There’s also a plant called “gow gai” it has red berries and the leaves can be used for soups.    

But the main work was cleaning the eaves trough.  My brother took the brunt of that work.  I did one small side of the house while he did the rest.  I just held on to the ladder while he was up there.  While we were cleaning, we also talked about what to do with the house afterwards.  Almost all the houses in the neighborhood that have been sold have been torn down and rebuilt.  One of the houses in the neighborhood underwent a total rebuilt from basement up.  It's selling for over $1M.  To me this is just sheer lunacy. But we have a lot of thinking to do.

Afterwards, I also did some pruning.  I had no idea what I was doing – I just wanted trimmed a few things back, cut out all the dead branches, suckers etc… I was sweating and the spiders and other insects gave me lots of hugs while I visited their homes.

I should have gotten some sun block - my arms are a bit red from all the sun.  I had originally planned to be done before lunch.  But we worked through lunch and finished everything.  All in all, we have about 8 big garden bags full of "stuff".  All in all, it was just a small dent in the job jar for the house. 

Here are some food pics – which means, this is a lazy entry. 

The beef, zucchini, potatoes were from the local farmer’s market.  The beef is a steak and I just cut it into small pieces and pan fried it.  The oyster mushrooms are organic but were from the supermarket. 

Fresh asparagus – they were picked the day before the market.  I just blanched them in some water and they were very sweet.

Cherries – also from the farmer’s market.

This is a whole wheat and flax – not dry at all, very moist and has a very rich taste – almost like eating beer.  It’s also from the farmer’s market. 

I’ve also picked up muffins, tomato sauce, jams and a bunch of other veggies every week.  It's a small market but it's got a bit of everything.  Some of the vendors are here from last year.  So it's nice to see some familiar faces.

I'm also seeing a lot more young families here too.  I always thought it was just mostly singles and couples in this neighborhood.  

 
Sometimes a picture doesn’t always tell the truth.  This is fried rice but the rice wasn’t cooked properly.  I’ve been trying a different brand of rice and the grains were a bit hard after I fried it.  Oh well...