Brandon Prust and Karen Belfo

From behind the net /Photo by Karen Belfo

Yesterday after picking up my kids from daycare, I bumped into a friend of mine, Karen Belfo, a talented film director, actress, and photographer: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0067781/. She told us that a famous hockey player was playing hockey outside the Bell Center! My 3 year old son, who is already a great fan of the Canadians, got really excited! So, we had to go and check it out!

Where is the ball? /Photo by Karen Belfo

Amazing, there they were, in the court yard at Windsor station! Many people gathered around watching the game! TVA was even there! Funny, I overheard TVA reporters saying they were having a hard time finding a French speaking player to interview, guess the players were all English. 

Anyway, Brandon Prust was there! One great hockey player! He was playing hockey with his fans! Wow, he's a fast player! My son was speachless cause it was the very first time he ever saw a professional hockey player up close! But our stay was cut short, we had no choice but to leave because my husband forgot his house keys at home while he was at work. Then again, I too forgot something, my cell... Funny! I then asked Karen if she wouldn't mind taking photos and then passing them along once the game was over, she said she wouldn't mind and then we left. As soon as we got home, my son told his daddy everything! You should have seen my son, so excited!

GO Habs GO! (I confirm the spelling of my ZIP code on my cell as people may get confused with my G or Z, because of my pronunciation. I say: G as in "Go Habs Go", this way they could better understand my G !)

So lucky to have seen Brandon Prust playing hockey up close! Thanks to Karen for letting us know about it and for the nice photos!

RUN! /Photo by Karen Belfo

It was a good game! /Photo by Karen Belfo

Brandon Prust and Karen Belfo /Photo by Karen Belfo

Here is a small summary profile of Brandon Prust ( from wikipedia) ------------------------

In the 2010-11 season, Prust was one of only seven players to score at least 10 goals, as well as engage in at least 10 fights.
On April 7, 2011, he was awarded the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, which is given to the Rangers player who "goes above and beyond the call of duty" as voted on by the fans.
During the 2011-12 season, the Rangers faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic, which took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on January 2, 2012. Prust posted two assists in a 3-2 Rangers win. Prust proved to be a valuable member of the Ranger's Penalty Kill during his tenure there.
On July 1, 2012, Prust signed a 4-year deal worth $10 million with the Montreal Canadiens.

A file who got injured by sarin attack

October 20, 0:15am, there was a explosion of a bomb in a Hongo Sanchome subway station on Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line in Tokyo. The fire was from one of 6 cars bound for Ikebukuro  while it was staying at the station. 14 people got injured and at least 3 people were sent to a hospital. They all are safe for life.
It reminds me of Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. I still remembered that I found a file of government workers who got injured from the attack when I opened one of my desk draweres when I started working at the government.

The file was just a list of names but it scared me because it reminded me of the pictuire I saw on TV on that day.

I hope the one today wasn't a beggining of something like that again. Japan is already so much in struggling from disaster, poverty, hateless, etc.

 

Milk Envy

Breast milk is the BEST milk for babies. I read it everywhere.  Naturally, I decided to breastfeed my baby….

The time after my delivery is a blur. The baby was born. I held it against my bare chest and fed it. Not sure what happened after that. I probably slept. My husband tells me they took the baby away for some tests.

It began when I woke up. The baby is crying. I offered him my breasts but nothing comes out. I squeeze them, massage them, let the baby suck and stimulate them.  Despite all of this, not a drop of milk.

The nurses came to check on me and my breastfeeding every 2 hours. I appreciated it but I wasn’t able to sleep. They kept coming back to check on me.

My poor baby kept crying out of hunger. He was a big baby but soon lost more weight than babies are supposed to. He cried, cried and cried. I felt so bad and sad for not to being able to give him my milk.

Three days after giving birth and we’re still at the hospital because my milk hadn’t come in yet. The specialist offered us an electric breast pump and the nurses took the crying baby to their station to let me have a rest during day.  He was famous with the nurses for his crying. My husband took me for a walk around the hospital.  I felt even worse when I saw pictures of mothers breastfeeding their babies on the walls in the hallway. There was even one picture of a mom feeding two babies, one on each breast! The moms were all smiling, tender warm smiles and the babies looked so peaceful sucking with their eyes closed.  

The baby came back and I tried to breastfeed. Nothing. The baby cried out of course. I looked down at my hungry crying baby, tears started flowing instead of milk. I cried and cried. I was so sad, frustrated and exhausted. 

But when I cried out, my baby just stopped crying all a sudden and looked at me for a second. We looked each other. Then he went to sleep.

He understood that his mom was sad and didn’t want to see him crying, I guess. He let me feel better by stopping crying.

After this, the hospital finally let me give him formula. The baby didn’t have to cry from hunger again. He chugged the milk. He smiled. I felt so relieved and was able to sleep with him for a few hours.

We left the next morning, after 5 days at the hospital. My breasts finally started to produce milk. I realized that I was just too tired and needed a good rest.  All I wanted was the BEST for my baby. I couldn’t imagine feeding him anything other than breast milk.  I wish somebody at the hospital had let me know that it was okay to give him a little but of formula.  I’ll never forget the moment when my baby stopped crying and went to sleep.

Agedashi Tofu - Japanese cuisine receipe

Agedashi Tofu is a very easy to make and is a popular Japanese dish. It is deep fried tofu in a sweet broth. "Veeeery Yummy! " (by my husband and 3years old son)

Ingredients:

 Tofu / Medium firm- cut it into 2 inch squares
            ( I buy packed tofu made in Canada since that happened( see "This tofu is ok. Take it")
 Potato or wheat (or any type of ) flour

 Daikon - shredded

 * Sauce * Put all together in a small pan and boil it quickly.
  1. Dashi soup base 1cup ( You can find Dashi powder or pack at any Asian food store ( see another page for the shops to find Japanese food)
  2. Shoyu (soy sauce) TBSP 2
  3. Mirin  TBSP 2

 Tofu / Medium firm

cut it into 2 inch squares

Cover the tofu with potato or wheat flour

when you don't have time, it is very useful sauce for Tempura, Soba, Udon, etc.

 

 

1/4 cup of this sauce plus 3/4 cup of water

Deep fry them with medium high heat with canola/vegetable oil ( I don't use that much oil and just flip the tofu to cook every surface of the square) 

until it gets light brown colored

 Daikon - shredded

Put the shredded daikon, a small amount of ginger and sliced green leek (if you want) on top

I added slices of Renkon today. Renkon chips

Pour the sauce on it

----------------------------------
1. Cover the tofu with potato or wheat flour

2. Deep fry them until it gets light brown colored with canola/vegetable oil

3. Put them on a plate

4. Put the shredded daikon, a small amount of ginger and sliced green leek (if you want) on top

5. Pour the sauce on it

---------------------------------

Hai, Meshiagare :-) (Bonne appetit)

How YOU doing?

I bought a junior sized bike from a Japanese person who was moving back to Japan. It is a grey bike with red lines and says "CANADA". I loved it and decided to buy it off from him with $30. I named this bike "Snowy" because I like the dog Snowy in TINTIN and also because it was snowy the day I bought it.

It was a sunny day in August, a perfect day for a bike ride.
We went to a gas station on De la Montagne street to put air in the wheels. We headed to the canal bike path from there.

My bike was doing great, I was happy. I was smiling, enjoying the scenery as I pedaled along.
My husband was way ahead of me. I just couldn't keep up with him. My bike was too small. Then there was a group of boys coming up on their bike behind me. They looked around 10 years old. I didn't want to block the way so I moved over to let them by.

They caught up with me. They were very close to me now.

One of the boys came up next to me and said, "How YOU doing?". He was smiling at me. I said" I'm fine thank you. And you?"( this sentence is what I learnd at school and I always answer with it).

He smiled at me and "How old are you?".

I realized then that he thought I was around his age. I couldn't tell him I was three times his age. He might fall off his bike. I just smiled and said nothing.

The three of us soon caught up to my husband who was waiting for me. The boys left.

I wish I was 10 centimeters taller.

Montreal marathon

I'm holding a large red lazyboy, and am running. It's heavy.
I'm carrying it on my shoulders and can't see in front of me. I have to rely on my peripheral vision.

 I'm running on a gravel path bordering a meter high cliff. Stretching from under the cliff is a rice field. I can see the runners moving taking the path through the rice field . I'm only a few meters from the finish line. I can't run as fast as I want/can because of the lazyboy.

I am almost at the finish but the weight of the chair makes it feel far away.
Oh yeah, I think to myself -- why don't I put the chair down and run?
Who said that I had to carry a chair?
I throw the lazyboy off the cliff.
I feel light. Very light! I can run fast! The lightness of my legs makes me feel like I'm flying. I'm only a blink of the eye away from the finish! 
Just a step!

All of a sudden, someone came from behind and passed me right at the finish line. I finished 3rd.
I wasn't too upset, though. It just felt great to run without the chair, light on my feet.
I felt tired but invigorated.


A baby is crying now. Ah, it was a dream.
Good morning.


Outside of the window, the morning sun has turned the sky into a beautiful orange. The beginning of a nice autumn day in Montreal. A perfect day for the Montreal marathon.

Many Japanese people participate every year and do well, apparently.
The joy of running the whole distance regardless of how you finish.
Huffing and puffing in the slightly chilly air.



I used to always finish last in my high school marathon race.

I managed to finish somehow. My gym teacher would help me along, riding behind me on a bike, tapping my hips with a stick. 

I would like to participate in the Montreal marathon someday. I wonder if I'll manage to win "last prize" again ?

This tofu is ok. Take it.

 I wanted to have some tofu for dinner so I went to buy some at a Chinese grocery shop in Cote-des-Neiges.  It was my first time buying tofu in Canada. I was standing in front of the tofu section. There were a few different brands. I had seen the Panda mark brand somewhere before.  Hmmmm, which one I shall choose........

An old Chinese man came up next to me. He started to looking at tofu. He opened the lid of one of the tofu containers, put his finger in the container then tasted it. He repeated this for almost all the containers in the section. I just could not believe it and forgot what I was doing there.

Finally, he looked at me and said, "This one is ok. Take it. ". He handed me a container and smiled. I didn't want it. I didn't feel like tofu anymore. I wanted to go buy meat or something else but before I could leave the tofu section, the kind man said to me, again, "This one is fresh. Don't worry. Take it. Take it". I said "Ok.... Thank you very much". I took the tofu container and gave him a bow.  I was gonna leave it somewhere but I saw him still looking at me so I ended up buying it.

Then when I was paying for tofu, I thought I would have to wash the tofu thoroughly and that I wouldn't tell my husband until about it until we finished eating dinner ( I don't like wasting money or food). :)