Heart Attack Grill

Once upon a time, I ordered the double Big Mac by mistake (used the wrong combo number ) and it was disgusting. I couldn’t finish it at all since there was way too much meat in it. However, that is definitely not the biggest hamburger in the world. My uncle’s friends went to this restaurant called Heart Attack Grill in Arizona. The biggest burger that they serve has at least two pounds of patty in it along with other toppings and condiments. It is literally heart attack on a plate. The waitresses in the restaurant are dressed in nurse uniforms. They are probably ready to do any bypass operations if their customers ever need one. @_@

For more information, feel free to visit their website. Oh, and don’t forget to crank up the speaker, you will love the song. LOL

Win Some Sticks From Coldplay!

A few months ago, I saw Coldplay live at the Air Canada Centre.  I have got to say, I am very impressed by the drummer, Will.  There is something about how he hits the drums and the church bell that I never get tired of watching.  And mind you, I am not exactly a patient person.  You can watch him play in this video taken in a live concert at BBC:

If you are impressed by this brilliant drummer as well, this is your lucky day. They are giving away a pair of Will’s drumsticks, signed by the entire band. To be in with a chance of winning, simply email your name and address to competitions@coldplay.com before Wednesday October 8th. Why would you want his drum sticks? It might help you to play Rock Band better. You never know.

Windows Live Translator

I have finally installed IE8 Beta 2 out of curiosity.  It pretty much looks like IE7 but with a few new functionalities.  Under the page tab, it links to a new service called Windows Live Translator.  After a few tests, I figured it is probably just a more elaborated version of Babel Fish.  I like how it shows the original content on the left while it places the translated web content on the right.  With a widescreen computer, this service is actually very handy.  The only problem is that with most automatic translation services, the translation is not exactly up to par.  I tried to translate one of my blog entries from English to Traditional Chinese and it gave me the following:

去年春天多倫多星建議一種新增長容器內的薰衣草。 所以我從勒妮 ’s 花園網站購買這些種子，我總是有愛該等相當 lavender 的廠房。 我等待到達包時, 我發現出通過論壇薰衣草種子其實很難 germinate。 我發現我可能應購買薰衣草植物從花園中心而。 但由於我已繳付的種子我可能以及它一試。 也許 Beginner ’s 幸運是所有您需要，因為我宗種子 germinated 沒有任何特殊處理一星期內。 但是，幾乎五個月後植物是仍然只 5 英寸高的一半人數什麼它應該，我尚未看到任何花。

The translation is so literal that I can hardly understand a thing. 

The Real Cupcake

Cupcakes have gain immense popularity in recent years.  There are plenty of boutique bakeries that sell nothing but fancily decorated cupcakes with loads of butter cream on top.   Why these little cakes are called cupcakes?  The name of “cupcake” is given to these small cakes that are the size of a teacup.  Before muffin tins were available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups or mounds.  While the cheap paper liners provide us with modern day convenience, they are a far cry from a real cup.  I wonder what is it like to make cupcakes in the olden days.  Well, I found this pottery cup at a tea shop and it comes with a cake mix.  With this kit, a real cupcake is created!  It is literally a cake inside a cup.  The good thing is that it tasted delicious too! 

On the topic of cakes, my co-workers recommended this website called Cake Wrecks.  It is filled with brilliantly hilarious entries about baking projects that have gone horribly wrong.  Of course, there are also a few rare not so funny entries about some very pretty cakes.  However, I am all for some politically incorrect jokes! 

My Lavender Plant’s Identity Crisis

Last spring, the Toronto Star recommended a new kind of lavender that grows well within containers. I have always loved the pretty lavender plants, so I bought these seeds from the Renee’s Garden website. While I was waiting for the package to arrive, I found out through forums that lavender seeds are actually very difficult to germinate. I figured I probably should have bought lavender plants from the garden centre instead. But since I have already paid for the seeds, I might as well give it a try. Maybe beginner’s luck is all you need because in my case, the seeds germinated within a week without any special treatment. However, after almost five months, the plant is still only 5 inches tall which is half the size of what it is supposed to be and I have yet to see any blossoms.

When I saw some lavender plants in the Music Garden, I started to wonder if my lavender plant is in fact rosemary. Since it smells like rosemary and the leaves shape like rosemary. While I am really hoping to have a beautiful lavender bush in my backyard, I guess rosemary is not that bad as well. I can always use it to make the delicious rosemary chicken. But in the mean time, I should bring the pot inside the house so that it won’t be killed by the harsh Canadian winter. Hopefully, it will flower next year and by then, I would be able to identify this mysterious plant.

The Number Issue

At the very top of today’s Globe and Mail, there is this huge number at the top: $2,587,427,300,000 (total U.S. consumer debt). How do you actually say that? Hum…two trillion five hundred eighty seven billion four hundred twenty seven million three hundred thousand…or something along that line. But what if it’s bigger than that?

I did a search on the internet and found this useful info:

More can be found here

A U.S. billion is actually different from a billion in other countries. So, if I sign a billion dollar contract, is it $1,000,000,000 or $1,000,000,000,000? A $999,000,000,000 difference is not exactly trivial!

It also mentions that for an arbitrary or unknown large number, we can just call it A zillion. That should prevent us from having a zillion headaches when dealing with these ridiculously large numbers.

I Love Chowder - the Cartoon!

TELETOON is finally showing Chowder, a funny food related cartoon. I am so glad that North America finally shows cartoon that doesn’t involve a high flying super hero. Ever since that I was little, I always like cartoons, especially the ones about food. My childhood favourite is “Ajikko Yoichi” (伙頭智多星-味吉陽一). I still remember the deep fried breaded pork chop in the first episode. Simply thinks about it and it will make you drool. Another more recent show, “Yakitate Japan!”, is also very good. It is a refreshing show about nothing but bread making. Most of the breads shown are feasible in real life but I am still a bit skeptical about the bread that is made using a rice cooker. After all, experimenting with the rice cooker is swimming in dangerous water. If I break my rice cooker, how do I make rice for dinner?

Anyways, the plot of these shows usually revolves around cooking competitions. It is kind of similar to the Iron Chef that we watch on Food Network nowadays but without the food snobs. Instead of using complicated culinary terminologies, the judges show the appreciation of the food by doing hilarious reactions. Not sure what “reaction” am I talking about? You can see it for yourself:

Chowder on the other hand is a more kid friendly show. It is filled with funny imaginary food, like purple nipples, and crazy characters in a magical world. Want to give it a try? You can watch it on TELETOON on Saturday mornings at 11am. However, there’s one tiny problem on this week’s episode of Chowder. How come the Cartoon Network logo is on the TELETOON version of the show? -__-“

Theme Songs for TV Drama

The Chinese TV drama《學警出更》is finally over.  To be honest, I don’t particularly like the theme song but it seems to be stuck in my head ever since I started watching the show.  The lyrics, “Oh can you feel our sweat and tears.  We’ll overcome Hardship and fear~”, seems to be stuck in an endless loop and it keeps on playing in my head.  Can I just click a button to clean the cache or something? It is driving me nuts!

Maybe listening to another catchy theme song will cure this problem.  When I was living in Hong Kong, there is a popular Japanese drama called, “Tokyo Love Story”, and it has a great theme song, “ラブストーリーは突然に”.

When I am watching this clip on youTube, it really strikes me how dated the people look.  Come to think of it, I used to watch this show when I was in grade 8 which is almost 15 years ago.  >__<” However, I still like the song a lot.  I guess a classic never dies.

Affogato

I am never an expert in Italian cuisine.  While I do enjoy pasta and pizza, all the strange terminologies on the menu of “real” Italian restaurants just confuse me.  Mezze-Maniche alla Norma?  Does that mean this is a normal dish?  Tagliatelle Fabietto?  It sounds like the Pokemon, Tangela and Tangela definitely doesn’t look appetizing.  Spaghetti ca’ Muddica?  Spaghetti with mud?  I feel like a western person reading a Chinese menu.  After all, aren’t they just pizza and pasta?  Maybe it’s not that simple.

Usually, I try to stick with familiar dishes, especially when people invite you for dinner.  It would not be polite to leave your dish almost untouched after all.  I guess there are exceptions to every rule.  Even ordering familiar dishes doesn’t seem to work out recently.  For some odd reason, every time that I ordered an affogato, it turned out to be something different.  I tried it the first time at Oliver and Bonacini Cafe and it was a scoop of vanilla gelato in a cup of espresso with a crunchy biscotti on the side.  It was so good that I usually order it when I saw it on the menu.  I ordered the same thing tonight at Terroni and it was just ice-cream in a bowl and the waiter insisted on that’s what we ordered.  I’m definitely confused.  What exactly is affogato?  According to Wikipedia, affogato means “drowned” in Italian.  It is a coffee-based beverage or dessert.  I don’t know about you.  But this ice-cream is definitely “drowning” on dry land.  Should I call in the lifeguard?  Well, at least now I know one more word in Italian and I have to say the drama was actually quite entertaining.  Maybe I should just stick to the good old gelato next time.