Words of Wind

Thornhaven Estates Winery

I thought I would never write this one! It has been a bit over two months when I started writing about my road trip to Kelowna (and around a month since my last entry on this serie). It was a long hiatus. A couple of the previous entries are here:

Road Trip to Kelowna - Highway 3
Road Trip to Kelowna - Downton Kelowna
Road Trip to Kelowna - Dirty Laundry Vineyard

So, now, the last entry, out of all the wineries I visited, the one I liked the most: Thornhaven Estates Winery. Why I liked it so much? Well, first pictures of the place:

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Mooncake

It is almost that time of the year again… Mid-Autumn Festival… And with Mid-Autumn Festival we have… Mooncakes!!!

A box of mixed mooncakes

Before I continue, I have a personal relationship with this celebration. I will not elaborate but, to give you a better idea of the extent, I will only say it is at par with the other biggest Chinese celebration, Chinese New Year.

So, what’s the deal with Mooncakes? Well, just like turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are associated with Thanksgiving Dinner, mooncake is some traditionally eaten during this time of the year. And, oh, boy, I simply can’t wait! OK, that’s not actually true. When I was living with my parents, we would either buy a box (like the one above) or get one from friends. Yes, it is something often given as gifts - in my case, ever since I came to Canada, I have given a box to my friend Chuck, whom I stayed with when I moved here. Back to the box of mooncakes: since it is really heavy and dense, a single mooncake was usually enough as dessert for my family for two days.

Now, just like for pies, where you could have strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry or apple pie, there are different filling for mooncakes as well: lotus seed paste, red bean paste, jujube paste and nuts-and-seed. Out of all these, lotus seed paste (specifically, white lotus paste) is my favourite followed by red bean paste. And, I will confess I have not had any of the new snowy mooncakes.

I haven’t have any yet this year and i am not sure if I will. Again, buying a whole box is overkill, not to mention they are not cheap (the box above was ~$25). But, then again, I could buy a single one instead (~$5, depending on the bakery). However, there are other reasons I should not have any: to dietitians, this could be categorized as one of the worst possible things you could eat - they are usually loaded with fats, oils and sugar. On the other hand, it is a once-a-year treat so I might as well have some!

Have you had mooncakes before? If so, which is your favourite?

Posted in Food | 2 Comments »

Trials and Tribulations of a So-Called Pleasure Trip

I have written a couple of posts about my trip and my issues with flying. But, what if you like to travel and everything is good… Except your travel companion? That’s what happened to my friend Tan, who ran into some really interesting situations (not sure if this would be the correct phrase, though!). This is Tan’s story (slightly edited for space and clarity):
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An afternoon at Niagara Falls

Since I had the day off on Sunday to rest before my work week, LD and I decided to go around. Although we could have theoretically driven back to Toronto for the CNE, instead, we chose to go to Niagara Falls. Here is my photo essay:

We parked our rental car in Cascade Niagara’s parkade and had lunch there. LD wanted to shop something in a nearby Hard Rock Cafe and after that we went to a nearby park to see the falls.

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“No Pictures Allowed”

In my equipment page, I mentioned how I got started in photography. After actively being taking pictures for a bit over a year, I have started to run into situations I was not expecting to run into, namely the “No Pictures Allowed” policy. Now, before I continue, I will highly suggest everybody read this article regarding photography laws in Canada.

Are you still here? OK, good. Here is my take:

1. If there is a note saying “No Pictures”, I will honour the request and not take any pictures. As mentioned in my PNE post, local artist Mei Yu had a note request no pictures to be taken and I honoured that request.
2. If there is no note and I am in a public place, it is fair game.

However, when it comes to semi-public places I have a big pet peeve. Which semi-public places? Well, malls, restaurants, et al. When I was in Hamilton, LD wanted to go to a nearby mall and our colleagues in Hamilton suggested Mapleview in Burlington. I was not really interested in shopping at all but it was all for LD. Why I ended up there too? Well, I was the designated driver for this trip…

Anyway, while LD was shopping, I bring my Nikon with me and started taking pictures, like these two:

Click on pictures above for the large version of the pictures.

After I took these two and walking to the other end of the mall, somebody from the mall told me no pictures were allowed. Now, since it was asked nicely, I put my camera away without even asking why. Of course, I was a bit unhappy. Why? If you read the link above about photography laws in Canada, it tells you not to (when confronted): “Be accusing. There is no reason they should put up a ‘no photography’ sign, this is not their fault. Telling you is just as effective as putting up a sign in the eyes of the law, however, prior to them telling you that photography is not allowed, it was implied that photography was allowed, so legally, you are on solid ground, as long as you don’t take a photo after they tell you not to”. I must make emphasis on this section because of this:

Picture taken with my cell phone

Anyway, putting that aside, that is not the part that bugged me the most. Instead, it was the fact there is a Black’s in the mall… I find it a bit hypocritical the mall allows cameras being sold, yet you are not allowed to use it (please, no buy gun references here) - something that reminds me of this. An even odder situation, after I took the pictures for my post on The Market Buffet, I was told no pictures allowed… In a restaurant?! C’mmon!

Any comments on this? Was I too hypersensitive on this? What is your take on taking pictures in public or semi-public places?

Posted in Comments, Photo Essay | 6 Comments »