Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader
15 May 2026
HANOI VIETNAM
SATURDAY
I was up at 6:45, my mind abuzz with things to do. First off, I baked some frozen scones for breakfast.
I did do laundry during the week, but didn't stick to having it all done before the weekend. DONE AND PUT AWAY!
I wanted to fill all my spice mixtures for BBQ and tacos. NOT DONE I don't buy packaged mixes.
My plants needed some mothering! DONE
SUNDAY
I completed my passport renewal. It wasn't an easy online process. I ended up using John's laptop as mine wouldn't let me fill it out, go figure. Also some lazy programming that could be improved to help the process. Got a friend's address as a reference, and booked coffee with her next week.
I decided to delay processing the renewal as we booked a 5 day golf trip to PEI at the end of May.
Flights, golf and hotel booked.
I chatted with my cousin. Her job hunting is still ongoing, it is tough going out there. No one wants to hire permanent, everything is AI.
John installed the new shower head, we are in love with it!!
MONDAY
Foto Tunes Forever in Blue Jeans
Once again, I had to tell AI that they were wrong.
I went looking for black pants and got a bargain!! I found a pair listed at $60, tried them on and they were perfect. I tried to find some others, but none in my size. I got to the cash and she says, "final sale", I was surprised but then she said the price $20!! I had $10 in points so I scored them for $11 WOO HOO!
I picked up my items from the tailor.
TUESDAY
Tuesday Treasures Homeless Jesus
We caught the 11:20 bus and walked underground(because it was so cold and windy) to Joey's, which we like, to meet our financial advisor.
John had the steak and crunchy tuna rolls, I had steak and salmon rolls. L had yellowfin tuna salad.
It was all very good.
After lunch, we walked around the corner to Moore's as John wanted some pants. Oh, how I miss The Bay for items like this!! It has been years since we were in Moore's but he found two pairs that he liked. One will arrive later in the week.
We had never been into this store so I was curious about what it had originally been, as it had a very interesting entrance.
It is housed in a building that incorporates the facade of the historic 1919 Fairweather Building. Even more interesting, you can see the name Fairweather's over the entrance. However, I know Fairweather as an average young women's clothing chain.
Founded in 1866 by Scottish immigrant William Fairweather, it initially opened as a dry goods and clothing store in Peterborough, Ontario, before expanding into luxury furs and apparel.
By the early 20th century, the business moved its flagship operations to downtown Toronto. It operated high-profile retail locations on Yonge Street, including a landmark boutique near King Street (the facade now preserved at 100 Yonge Street) and a massive three-storey store near Dundas Street.
For decades, Fairweather was celebrated as a premier destination for high-quality ladies' coats, dresses, and fine furs. In the mid-to-late 20th century, it became iconic for massive, chaotic Boxing Day sales where shoppers lined up for blocks down Yonge Street.
During its peak retail era, the chain was owned by the major Canadian retail conglomerate Dylex Limited
WEDNESDAY
John had his first Wednesday men's golf league game and it was cold out!
I went out with soft plans for my day that turned out like nothing I planned! I had decided to see about selling some gold we had lying around.
I came out of the subway at Queen St.
I went to a place on Yonge St. that I had used for jewelry repair in the past. I knew that it had some gold buyers.
I gave her my biggest piece first and I was shocked at what she offered me (in a very good way)! I dragged out my baggie and we went through the pieces, a lot of old watches that weren't worth anything, a few other pieces she suggested taking to an antique buyer. In the end, I was a happy camper. and walked out with double her first offer and a bunch of stuff gone!!
She paid me in cash, so now I am freaking out, and took it into the Eaton Centre to the branch.
Due to money laundering rules, you have to go to a bank that you have an account with. This branch had awful service. I walked out and went down to my usual branch and deposited it.
Canstruction Toronto is an annual design competition and exhibition held in the Toronto Financial District where architecture and engineering firms build elaborate, large-scale structures using canned foods. These sculptures are displayed in various locations within the financial district, to raise awareness about food insecurity.
I didn't photo all of them!
Turtle - 5,742 cans
THURSDAY
I had a great itinerary for a day out, but it was feeling like 4 C and dull, so that didn't happen.
I did go to Longo's and it was cold out but it meant I didn't have to go tomorrow.
We don't eat much processed food, especially hot dogs, but every once in a while...half price works for me!
FRIDAY
I went to T&T, an Asian grocery store, as we wanted to try making the Japanese curry that John loved last week.
Some food porn photos.
Dragon fruit - not the most flavourful fruit
Lettuce root
Japanese curry
Samples on Front St.
My cactus in bloom.
I walked back to the bus, stopping to pick up John's other pair of pants at Moore's.
AROUND TOWN
I mentioned the demolition of the Planetarium last week and here are some haunting photos.
COOKING
I divided the ham into four pieces. I doubled the colcannon recipe so we would have some on Sunday as well.
We had mushrooms and spinach in the fridge and I came across these great recipes.
Saturday - ham colcannon broccolini
Sunday - meatloaf with spinach and cheese with leftover colcannon. BONUS finished the jar of BBQ sauce, which I will never buy again!
Monday - leftover meatloaf with fresh colcannon and broccolini fried mushrooms
Tuesday - Joey's lunch dumplings
Wednesday - shrimp fajitas
Thursday - salmon, parmesan roasted potatoes
Friday - bulgogi, rice, snow peas, bean sprouts - since John was going to be late.
WATCHING
I found a couple of season 21 Hotel Inspector that I hadn't seen.
I now have 15 episodes of MasterChef Australia downloaded.
I had forgotten that I hadn't seen the last episodes of My Kitchen Rules Australia season 15, so I remedied that.
We finally finished Undercover.
Since we saw A Beautiful Noise last week, it was fitting that we watched Song Sung Blue, a 2025 American biographical musical drama film based on the 2008 documentary film of the same name. The film stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder. The film's cast also includes Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, King Princess, and Mustafa Shakir.
We caught up on our recorded shows.
Legends is a 2026 British crime drama television series. In the early 1990s, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise was losing its battle with illegal drug smuggling across Britain's borders. In a top-secret operation, a small team of Customs employees were sent undercover with new identities and told to infiltrate Britain's most dangerous drug gangs.
Tom Burke is the star.
It also stars Alex Jennings as Home Secretary (Prince Charles in The Queen, and Edward VIII in The Crown).
This is our kind of series.
Berlin and The Lady with an Ermine is a Spanish television series. A prequel to Money Heist, it focuses on the life of Andrés de Fonollosa, aka "Berlin", before the events of the first two seasons of the original series. We loved Money Heist.
Berlin reunites his crew in Seville for an elaborate con targeting a powerful duke and his wife who've made the mistake of trying to blackmail him. Their plan involves faking the theft of a priceless painting as cover.
READING
I read a quarter of Perfect Happiness, most seemed to like it, it just didn't work for me.
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