Our Journey

Our Trip to XinJiang: Part 14 of 14

Day 18:

We woke up that morning, had breakfast in Hami and were on our way to Turpan. Our goal was to travel ~427 km to Tuyugou Valley to visit the Mazar Village otherwise known as Tuyuq (吐峪溝) at the edge of Turpan, then to the Ancient City of Gaochang (高昌故城), before ending the night in Turpan (吐鲁番).

What's interesting about the Tuyugou Valley is that it sat within the Turpan Depression that is known to be the second or third lowest point on Earth and houses many historic sites easily going back 3000 years. The Mazar Village is one of these historical sites. It is said that there is a holy cave at the Mazar Village that is documented in the Koran.

Legend has it that two missionaries entered XinJiang in hopes of spreading the Islamic faith. However, they were soon hunted by the miliary. The two missionaries came upon a pair of shepherds and their dog. After some conversation with the missionaries, the shepherds decided to help them escape. After several days, maybe even weeks, they were running short on supplies and the shepherds wanted their dog to leave and run to freedom. However, the loyal dog would not stop following. The shepherds got desperate and crippled the dog to leave him behind, but still he would follow. In the end, they hid in a cave with the dog as their guardian; and that was how the holy cave came to be.

The view from up top; we had to climb a steep sandy hill at the edge of the village to get to this photographic point. The descent was rather interesting as the dry sand made it ridiculously slippery even though I was in my sneakers. Annie's descent was most memorable as she was in her sandals, screaming, giggling, and sliding.

Kel crept out to the edge for his photos; I wouldn't dare as I could foresee myself slipping and rolling down every which way.

The other side of the village where the pond is; you can see the Buddha Grottoes in the mountains. However, they are no longer open to the public due to damage done over the years. Another memorable thing about the village is that there's a murky creek that runs through it to this pond; like the water was actually brown. And the villagers actually use this as their drinking water. Our guide told us that the locals would have to let the water sit in their bucket overnight for the sediments to settle before using it.

Did I mention the village is saturated with mulberry trees? We've never had mulberries before; I for one have only read about them in books. Our guide told us to try them and at first we were skeptical, but once we had our first, there was no stopping us! (Or me and Annie that is..) The guide couldn't help but laugh as we ate our way through the village.

We saw a man butcher a goat in his front yard; and by butcher I mean literally empty the goat's intestines as his pet cat watched. On the right is the house the locals has preserved as it is believed the missionaries, shepherds and the dog has stayed there before.

Next, we headed to the Ancient City of Gaochang (高昌故城). This ancient city dates back to 100 BC and used to be an important trading post along the Silk Road. The city was said to have been burnt down in the 14th century.

We had to pay admission to get a mule driven wagon to take us in. There wasn't a whole lot to see, as it was no more spectacular than any of the other ancient ruins we've seen on this trip. If anything, this one was even less maintained. The negative experience we had with this particular site was that the locals there tried to scam us and make us pay double. When we got to the main part, they informed us that what we previously paid was a one way trip and that we needed to pay again to get driven back out. Annie argued with them for a bit and then we just ignored them and walked into the site. They were still there waiting for us afterwards to drive us back out, but nonetheless it left a bad taste in our mouth.

We returned to Turpan that night for our last dinner in Xinjiang. We celebrated our trip with good food, cold beers, in good company.

Day 19:

We woke up in Turpan and had breakfast before driving back to Urumqi, where we were to depart XinJiang in the afternoon. Throughout the drive, we were recalling all that we've seen and experienced in the last three weeks, saying farewell to the camels as we passed by; the mountain; the goats.

After having lunch in Urumqi, Siubo said we still had a little time before our flight and asked if there was anything we wanted to do. For some reason, Starbucks came to mind. There was supposedly one in Urumqi, or so Siubo has heard of. We had tried looking for the location of it online during our trip, as a friend had asked if we can bring back one of their mugs from the World collection, but had no luck. Nonetheless, we figured if there was one, it'd be pretty cool to bring one back for ourselves that said "Urumqi" or even "XinJiang" on it. Siubo called around and located a "Starbucks Cafe and Restaurant". It didn't sound right, but since we had time, we decided to take a detour. Or rather, Siubo insisted on checking it out. (Did I mention he was a wonderful driver? :) Alas, when we got there, it turned out to be a restaurant that used the Starbucks name and since Starbucks never had a location in XinJiang, it wasn't an issue. And that was our last adventure before Siubo dropped us off at the airport.

Our 19 day road trip through Xinjiang (and a part of Gansu) covered an approximate distance of 6973 km. That's more than 1000 km above the distance needed to travel across Canada from Victoria, British Columbia to Halifax, Nova Scotia! Below, I've put together a map of the route we took during our trip and yes, it was quite an adventure! So much so, that we've decided to go back next year (which is really this year, since I started this post in October and it's now regrettably January)! Cannot wait for part 2!

A-Urumqi; B-Yuli; C-Korla; D-Kuqa; E-Kezi'erxiang; F-Aksu; G-Kashgar; H-Taxkorgan; I-Khūnjerāb Pass; J-Kashgar;
K-Hotan; L-Minfeng; M-Korla; N-Turpan; O-Dunhuang; P-Jiayuguan; Q-Hami; R-Balikun; S-Turpan; T-Urumqi

Resolutions, resolutions

Happy 2012!

And with the new year of course, comes resolutions. I didn't used to understand the concept when I was younger, but it seems like it adds more weight with age; and usually, the problem is with the carry through. Somewhere down the road, I forget, or I make enough excuses that it gets dropped. One thing I've consistently read about, is if you shared your resolutions/goals with other people then you're more likely to carry through with them since you're more accountable. SO.. here goes..

This year, I vouch to:

sleep earlier (This one is a carry down since... 2010?)
drink more water (another carry down.. for those who knows me, knows I can drink close to nothing a day)
cook and eat more at home
(and therefore) eat less crap
read more
declutter (Kel should be happy with this one..)

This month, I aim to go through my clothes and clear out stuff I keep for the sake of keeping. (Yes, I tend to have issues parting with things.) And put away my summer shoes and take out my winters since the cold weather finally hit. Here's a little something I found with great tips on decluttering:

via www.mimiandmegblog.com

Our Gallery Wall

It's finally up! The idea's been there for a while, but the process has been long. It's really not that hard to do, but the process of selecting pictures and getting cheap frames takes time. In fact, we've had the pictures framed for over a month now, but when Kel realized on which wall and at which height I wanted them, he said "how 'bout later". Well, later's finally here! This wall will be our ongoing project, adding pictures as time goes on.

Dinner at Sushi Kaji

Sushi Kaji has got to be my favourite Japanese restaurant in Toronto. They only do tasting menus and so, is not your everyday type of sushi bar. At the same time, their prices aren't so far out of reach that you'd only go once in your lifetime. They used to have tasting menus at three price points, but have since gotten rid of their $80 menu. We decided to go with their $120 menu this time, since it is my birthday and all.

The menu doesn't say a whole lot about what we'd get, nor does it indicate the amount, but having been here before, we knew it'd be well worth our money.

We reserved seating at the bar as that is where we'd get the most action; watching the chefs at work was quite impressive. They had just renovated the restaurant last month, increasing the space behind the bar by decreasing the tables available in the restaurant. This may seem counter intuitive for some, but it made a lot of sense for us as what they're really doing is expanding the stage for the chefs to perform on.

Our first dish (partially listed as the second item on the menu), the persimmon rolled with egg crepe was found inside the leaf bundle, resting on the two pieces of fish cake stuffed with cod roe. The yellow ball in front is a water chestnut embedded in a white wine jelly, sitting beside a piece of candied lotus root.

Our second dish (actually listed as the first item on the menu), is the daikon radish cake on the left with a bit of kumquat reduction, with the dried barracuda on the right.

Our third dish, which was more like a continuation of the second item on the menu, is the vinegared crab. The yellow swirl on the left was actually an egg yolk, which complemented nicely with the soy sauce on its right, adding a velvety texture whilst lessening the sodium level.

Our fourth dish: the assorted sashimi plate. The two orange pieces on the left resembling salmon is actually fresh trout, which was quite refreshing. The octopus was a nice touch, as it was not chewy at all, contrary to the usual experience. And are you starting to notice the crab theme?

Next up, the butternut squash cake stuffed with chicken. The pool its sitting in was actually a consommé, just thick enough yet not too overpowering. Erica decided after her meal that this was her most memorable dish.

The assorted tempura was up next. What we've always been interested in, is how these are fried, yet served dry. We watched them do it this time, and it looks so simple. Must try this at home. :)

Snow crab grilled in cellophane. They weren't kidding about the cellophane.

Inside, we found mushroom and chicken on a bed of onions with the reminisce of egg. This was done quite nicely as the egg absorbed all the flavours of the crab and neither the chicken, mushroom or onions took away from that. Kel loved how this was presented and the skill involved for everything to be cooked to perfection. And of course, I loved how all the crab legs seen thus far has been pre-cracked for our dining pleasure. However, Erica thought it was a little oily for her liking.

This next dish wasn't written on the menu and was by far my favourite dish of the night. Here we have a bit of crab "innards" (for lack of a better word) on hand shredded crab meat on rice. The portioning was perfect; not too much as to over indulge, but just enough to taste the sweetness of the crab.

Our next course, the littleneck clam miso soup. We thought the miso in the soup was stronger than we were used to.

And this brings us to the beginning of our assorted sushi platter. The great thing about sitting at the bar is, we'd get the pieces as they're made and won't have to wait a minute longer.

Barbecued eel was the first sushi we got. Their special sauce was unique, driven by a citrus note of kumquat; not too sweet like the store bought type.

Next up: maguro.

And what do we have here? Wild trout covered with roe. I think one of the dramatic highlights about sitting at the bar is the anticipation as we watched them pour roe on top of our sushi. We're not usually huge on roe, but these were the good ones. We could taste the freshness of the fish and none of the salt. One of the chefs cooking by us saw us trying to pick up the leftover roe with chopsticks and decided to lend us a hand by dropping off a small spoon on our plate. :P

Sea bream sushi wrapped in mint leaves. I'm personally not big on mint, but this was actually pretty good.

Fresh crab sushi. And yes, that would be Chef Kaji. He purposely knocked over a piece because he knew we were taking pictures. Chef Kaji is quite the joker posing for our photo.

Scallop sushi. Its interesting how I dislike cooked scallops, but fresh raw scallop is quite the yum in my book.

Chef Kaji made us cucumber hand rolls to help clean our palates. Note that Kel's on the right is much larger than mine.

The finale: uni sushi, fried prawn, and toro. Need I say more?

And to finish the night, our desserts. The girls got a red bean paste with mixed fruits on top of jelly, accompanied with a green tea macaron. Kel got a pear sorbet with his macaron.

The Toronto Underground Market - Nov 2011 Event

I first heard of the Toronto Underground Market (TUM) through a co-worker of mine. Whilst trying to decide how many tickets to get for the October event over lunch, it sold out! We regretted not jumping on it sooner and decided we need to regroup for their next event in November. Over the course of the month, we gathered interest in our respective groups of friends, waiting anxiously for the tickets to go on sale and jumped on them as soon as we were aware. Alas, the November event proved to be worth the wait as we lined up stall after stall and filled our tummies with yummy goodness. We were a little wary of the weather as it was held at the Evergreen Brickworks, but the heat lamps and atmosphere proved it quite enjoyable.

Kel and I started out our TUM adventure by tasting the various samosas from Mama Nashi's Indian Gourmet Fare. They offered three kinds: chicken, beef, and vegetarian. They were de-lish and served their role well as our first course.

After savouring the samosas, we spotted the line for La Carnita. They are famous for their fish tacos and the line was already mega long! We decided at this point to divide and conquer; station Kel at the La Carnita line, where we went and hunted down other good eats and of course bring some back for him as well.

Flora and I ventured out and assessed what the other stalls had to offer and settled in at a line for grilled cheese. Rather, Flora lined up for grilled cheese while I went and got sandwiches from Fidel Gastro. They offered two types of sandwiches; the "Havana Club", a beer pulled pork with ham, caramelized onions, havarti and chili aioli; and "La Senorita", mozzarella stuffed jalapeno, turkey chilli and radicchio slaw. Of course, I picked up one of each and shared them with Flora and Kel. The guys at Fidel Gastro created a fun atmosphere where they cried "OLE!" every chance they got.

It was good timing, too, because by the time I got back to Flora, we were next in line at Comida Del Pueblo for their awesome grilled cheese! And yes, I say awesome because it was a jalapeno cornbread grilled cheese topped with guacamole and creme fresca! This was definitely one of the highlights of the night.

After sharing the grilled cheese with Kel, I got us a beer from Hogtown Brewers. Can't say it was the greatest, a little hoppy for our taste. At this time, I met up with Flora and Norm again, and we decided to try the eats from Element. While lining up, Keith came over with some cupcakes from Sullivan & Bleeker. I couldn't resist and had their mint Aero cupcake.

At Element, Flora and Norm shared the pork and crab meat soup vermicelli, as well as the lobster yaki. I just got the lobster yaki and brought it back to Kel, which was just as well since he was finally nearing the front of the La Carnita line! We got two of each of their voltron fish tacos and their Mexican chorizo tacos. The chorizo tacos delivered quite a kick! We looked around for Flora to share this yummy goodness, but to no avail. We ended up eating her share as well. :P

Later in the night, we ventured out to the Chimney courtyard to scope out their wood oven pizzas and found that they offered cedar smoked marshmallows, as well. However, at a dollar a piece, we weren't quite sure. At this time, it started raining and we headed back into the major venue. Before the night was over, I had a hot cider with whiskey from Proof, which was quite yummy by the way, and the duck confit hash from Elle cuisine. Can't say the duck was all that great as we found the meat quite dry, but all in all, it was a terrific night.

Staging Project

I apologize for the lack of blog posts last month, but October turned out to be quite busy! I picked up a staging project for a town home the weekend before it was to list through a referral. He assured me the timeline isn't usually this aggressive, but the client really wanted to list soon and have the open house by the next weekend!

So this is what happened:

I went to assess the place with Kel on Saturday morning.
Proceeded to acquire the things I had in mind for the project that same day.
Went back to the house on Sunday to further discuss with the client what we needed her to do.
Went in on Monday with all the things we needed and proceeded to stage her home.
The photographer came in Monday afternoon to take pictures of the finished product for the listing.

By Thursday, the house was on the market. The real estate agent informed me he already had multiple showings that night, as well as on Friday. The open house that weekend was also a success with more than twenty interested parties attending. By Tuesday, a bidding war had begun and the place was sold later that night! I couldn't believe how fast it all unfolded. Although the agent had told me the week before that this was his plan and the ideal situation, I had doubts on whether it would actually happen.

Below is a glimpse of what the main floor looked like when we first went in to assess the place. I apologize for the poor picture quality, as my mind was already spinning with ideas and for some reason I thought the agent had took the "before" pictures already. This was actually taken on my phone and served as my personal reference for the project.

Since the client was still going to be living there while her home was up for sale, we decided to do what we can to minimize the impact the staging would have on her life. Afterall, you never know how long these things would take. Below is the main floor after we staged it. If you take a closer look at the before and after, you'll see that we did a lot of rearranging of what she already had, plus a few accent pieces to bring it all out.

And here, is the bedroom after we rearranged a few things. Bringing her recliner upstairs not only gave the main floor more room, but shows that her master bedroom is big enough to serve two functions.

We were all quite happy with how much the new layout was able to open up the main floor and the quick sale was a good measurement of that!

Foodstock: Stop the Mega Quarry

Last month, Kel and I went with a few friends up north to the Foodstock event. It was the first of its kind with the intention of this event being to raise awareness and money to stop an American company called Highland Companies from turning prime, fertile agricultural land into a limestone quarry spanning 2,300 acres. It was dubbed as a "pay-what-you-can public food event" and was wildly successful. A hundred chefs across the nation banded together to serve up local produce, setting up stalls out in an open field and throughout the forest to the public. Thousands showed up despite the cold and rain in support of the movement. It was definitely a different experience! We had a good laugh at supporters, both kids and adults, losing their boots in the muddy field, while lining up for the next food stall. Looking back, I wish I had taken more pictures of all the great food we had, especially since Norm, Kel, and I all managed to forget to bring our own plates and used a lettuce leaf as a substitute.

Supporters at the event, both young and old.