J&M got Maui'd!

This weekend was Doors Open Toronto and Maggie and I wanted to do some exploring of certain sites around the city. First up was Havergal College , which we never checked out despite living so close by. We also wanted to check out Casa Loma, even though it was only the Stables and Potting Shed . I wanted to also check out the Spadina Museum and the Toolkeeper's Cottage which were nearby. I also wanted to see the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant and the Portlands Energy Centre . I never knew we had a power plant still running in the city! We were able to check out Havergal College first but our plans went awry when my motorcycle did not start up. I had left the accessories on for a few days (the concierge informed me about my lights being on a while back) but I had not gotten around to checking out the battery, and it was pretty dead. So instead of driving to some of these sites (which required payment for parking) we went to the Portlands Energy Centre instead (it wa...

Maggie and I organized a bike ride down the Lower Don bike path. This was to train a few people for the Ride for Heart that was coming up in a couple of weeks. We met at Sunnybrook Park, we being Maggie, Hoi and I. Everyone else either did not respond, cancelled, or was going to show up at the Evergreen Brick Works . We spent the next hour making our way down the Lower Don bike path, taking pictures, getting lost, and just enjoying the ride. Maggie on the Lower Don Bike Path Since we were taking a little longer than I had planned, I decided that we should skip the mill and waterfall and head straight to the Evergreen Brick Works , but also in so doing, I took the wrong path. Now I had told myself to put the bike maps into the backpack, but for some reason ended up not doing it, so we had no maps to follow, with just Maggie's internet connection guiding us. Fortunately, it was accurate. Unfortunately, my memory is quite terrible so I had to refer to it occasionally e...

Maggie and I spent the afternoon in the Niagara region participating in the Wine and herb weekends in May . It was her friend's birthday and she had invited us along with several of her other common friends to participate. Being a non-drinker, I opted for the designated driver passport, which was a little cheaper, and I was able to try some juice pairings instead of the wine. I took some notes, but not very many - but I've posted what I remembered from the tastings in the order that we traveled. (Please correct me if I made any mistakes.) Lailey Vineyard Food: Chicken Salad with Taragon in a Potato Bun Drink: MADD Non Alcoholic White Wine The drink by itself had a strange taste - it was not sweet, and it had some strong flavours - but complemented the bite sized sandwich very well. The designated drivers before the wine tasting at Lailey. This is probably why we were not allowed to drink. Inniskillin Winery Food: Confit Pork Shoulder with Potato and Bronze F...

We will be posting what happened at our wedding here.

This was our last day in Hawaii and since our flight was leaving late a night, we had the whole day to explore and prepare for our trip home. Due to the timing of our checkout from the resort, we had a small window in the morning to visit Hanauma Bay before we had to return, get cleaned up, and check out. This meant that we had to wake up at around six and make it to the bay just as it opened. Unfortunately, I was feeling awfully tired and figured that it would not take long to get there and that half an hour was more than long enough to explore the bay. Maggie overlookin g Hanauma Bay. What I did not take into account was the fact that one needed to watch an educational documentary for fifteen minutes before you were allowed to enter the park. In addition, it takes ten minutes to walk down to the bay from the parking lot. We ended up spending fifteen minutes on the beach. This is a lesson to all of you folks who think that "just enough time" will be just enough t...

We got up late and headed to Tamashiro Market to pick up some brunch. The fish there was very fresh and tasty, although by now the two of us did not find poke as exotic as we did the first time we tried it. Picking up lunch at the Tamashiro Market. We spent the rest of the day driving out to the east shore to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. We were somehow convinced to upgrade our tickets to VIP status, which made us part of a tour group as well as gave us better seats for the evening's dinner and show. The tour of the center was quite informative. Our guide kept calling all of us "cousins" although I think all of the tour guides were that way. We were able to see shows that showcased the various islands in Polynesia but during the middle of the afternoon, we were hit by a huge downpour and spent some time hiding from the rain. I think all of the rain that was held up for the fantastic weather we had in the prior two weeks all got let out that moment.  ...

We only had one thing planned for the day, and that was to swim the sharks with the North Shore Shark Adventures . We happened to pick the last tour of the day and ended up waiting at the dock for a while with a couple from Australia. We noticed that there quite a number of Aussies in Hawaii, many were there to go shopping on top of the regular vacation activities. Our tour group of twenty some odd people were split up into three groups to dive into the shark cage with our snorkeling equipment and see the sharks. I am glad that we had purchased a waterproof camera as I would not have been able to convey how many sharks we were able to see just from surface photos. It was probably one of the most exciting excursions that we went on during the entire trip. Amazingly enough, we did not recall ever signing a waiver form before, during, or after we got on the ship. Us and the shark cage used by North Shore Shark Adventures . Afterward, we grabbed brunch from Macky's Kahuku...