Lights out

I wasn't sure about whether to blog about this or not. It's not something I really wanted to remember, or re-live.
It was monday morning and I was riding into work just like I always do. Same route. Same old routine. I was on my way to the gym to shower and change into my work clothes.

I was heading down the road just behind the UofT athletic centre, south of Harbord Street. I heard some scraping coming from my bike. I looked down for five seconds. Then the lights went out. I hit something, I hit something real hard. I heard a crunch and the breaking of glass. The wind was knocked out of me. I didn't know what had happened. I couldn't breathe. I repeatedly kept saying 'oh God.' I thought about my wife and son as I saw blood gushing to the road. It all happened so fast. I thought I had broken my teeth because I spit out some hard fragments, but I think they were pieces of glass from the rear windshield of the vehicle I had just struck. I used my tongue to check if I still had all of my teeth. I did. I was even coherent enough to use my fingers to check if they were loose and they weren't. I then checked my nose. I touched it and felt something jagged. 'Oh God' I thought. My nose was broken. I wanted to shut my eyes and wake up from this bad dream. But someone was shouting to me, to keep my eyes open. People were there right away. I heard voices of people dialing 9-1-1. But I couldn't see any faces. I'm not sure if I blacked out or not. And I'm not sure how much time passed before the ambulance arrived.

I was bleeding a lot. It was pouring out of my nose and I was spitting the overflow out of my mouth. A man had given me some napkins to cover the wound and guided my hand to hold it there. Then someone had brought me an ice pack. And the man told me to put it on my forehead. I looked to my left and my bike was on the ground. I looked to my right and I saw a shattered rear window of a mazda mpv. My head must have shattered the rear windshield. I looked again to my left and then to my right. I saw a "No Parking" sign. How could this be happening. I looked on the ground and saw my oakley frames, I didn't see the lens. Then I saw something that looked like it could be bone fragments. I felt ill and just wanted to close my eyes and lie down. But the same male voice kept telling me to keep them open and kept me sitting sort of upright. I heard him saying the ambulance should be here by now. I couldn't tell how much time was passing. I never did see that guy's face, nor the others who were around me. But to him and the people who helped me on monday morning at around 9:20am - a big thank you.

An EMS car was the first to arrive. His was the first face I actually saw. He asked me if my neck hurt. I pointed to the area between my neck and shoulder. There was a sharp pain there. He put a big piece of gauze on the gash on my nose. I kept the icepack on my forehead. The cold was comforting. I didn't move or react very much. I knew I was in shock at what just happened.

Then the ambulance arrived. I still didn't know how much time was passing. The only thing running through my mind was Tresa and Kieran. Then next thing I knew they strapped a neck brace on me and strapped me to a board and getting ready to put me on a stretcher. Before it was too late, I asked the EMS guy to retrieve my oakley frames. I noticed I could barely speak. He told me that the glasses themselves were smashed to pieces, but he got the frame for me. I couldn't turn my head. They had my head immobilized and I really felt confined like I was in a straight-jacket. I was in an ambulance and heading to the ER. They were going to take me to Toronto Western. I said that my wife worked there, but she was at home on maternity leave. I was thinking about Tresa, and thinking how freaked out she would be once she found out what had just happened. I just wanted to tell her I was going to be alright.

Paddles UP!

Toronto Island Dragonboat races were this weekend and as we made it onto the island Kieran was just waking up, thanks to the boat horn, and he was hungry. What do we do. Make a bee-line to the Wong's tent.

This is what mamma and papa used to enjoy doing and when you get big enough we'll be going back to doing that. At least one of us will. Unless we find a babysitter.

Yep hand him off, lets get him used to other people. We need to find a babysitter.
And as long as no one has had any nuts. Right Gordo. Anyone can hold him. We have a tough enough time changing a diaper and feeding him. We don't know what we'd do if he went into anaphylatic shock. Probably hop in a dragon boat and paddle to the mainland.

Here are some potentials we've scouted for the position.

Hey what's mamma stuffing in her mouth? Is that my food for later.

Hey look that way? I didn't know they were filming a sequel to 'Last of the Mohicans.'

Somebody pinch me and wake me up. Tell me this haircut is just a bad dream. We ran into Jake, he was trying out to be an extra in the movie. Unfortunately, he didn't get the part.



We couldn't leave the island without a group shot. Then it was a matter of fighting the crowd and lining up like cattle to get OFF the island.

Run for the border

Immigrants running from the immigration police.
We went to Bob and Elvie's for a visit and to see how Kieran would like the pool.

It's every immigrant for themselves. Just like back in the chinese circus the tall skinny one jumped through the circle in the gate. He's no longer in the circus because he got too dark.

The northern folks came down for a visit. Finally they got to see Kieran, at least some of them. They look like eskimos, but they don't eat seal. But they do eat ... you know. Burgers, chips, chocolate, ice cream, etc.

Pat and Maddie are so dark because now it's 24hr sunlight up north.

Should the inside of the milk bottle have these spots? Lucy said...once you have your second and third, it's okay. Just like eating popsicles off the patio stones. If it only was on the ground for 5 seconds, it's still clean. Plus the nipple will filter out stuff. And besides milk sort of tastes soured anyways. They won't be able to tell.

Either bbq cereal or rolling it into something to smoke.

Jaedin was looking a little green. Maybe there was something in his milk bottle?

We were getting him ready for a dip. He seems a little over dressed, but you gotta protect baby's skin.

Hey my diaper's wet.
He took to the water really well, no crying, it was a little chilly at first but Tresa brought him in gradually so he wouldn't be afraid of it next time. Tresa's a swimmer so she wants this kid to love water. We're going to see how he likes the lake water, but because things live in it and crap in it and pee in it. The doctor said not to put him in too long and limit the amount of lake water he drinks.

Two! There it is.

Yep, two shots, one in each thigh. He seemed a little agitated. Guess he knew that his vacinations were coming. Seemed okay when the needle went in, but then when the nurse began to inject the serum he wailed away, face turned red, eyes were shut. Then the second needle went in the other leg. More crying.

That is a tweety bird bandaid.
He seemed to sleep a bit more. He was a little grumpy afterwards. He even got a visit from my good friend Amanda. Too bad he was sleepy. But better that than than crying.

Thanks for the cool bib. He loves hand made stuff. It's a little difficult to see, but in the other pic, he was bawling his eyes out.

So I cropped the photo. Really Kieran loves it. He's a drooling machine.
Next time you'll have to see him awake and smiling and talking.

Trying it on for size

We got this in the mail yesterday. Was Tresa ever surprised. I took a quick pic before he drooled on it. So here it is in it's unblemished state. Thanks so much Caroline. Too bad I didn't get to see you in London, UK. Guess only Harry can sleep in his cubicle. Lots of practice from university.

Kieran liked it so much he was curling his toes. He was very impressed with the consistency of the knitting. Tresa and I thought it was awesome! He might be wearing this in time for the fall at the rate this kid is growing.

Nightcrawler

I ran my first race of 2005. The Nightcrawler 5 miler. I got another shirt for you, Jonathan, it's got a bit of drool on it. Hope that's okay.
I ran it because our friend Anne H. was running it. She's doing a race a month. That's how often she runs. Once a month. I thought okay, I'll run it with her to keep her company. I'll just take it easy. But then I thought - I didn't want to be out on the course all evening. The mosquitos are out. But in the end she actually did pretty good. I only had a few gatorade drinks, a banana, half a bagel, and changed a diaper by the time she came in.
So I decided I would do the best my legs could take me. Overall I was pretty happy for hardly running this year. I managed to keep my time under 40 minutes. So that was good! I even finished with a good kick.
I had a strategy that I would try to finish around 40 mins. That's 8 mins per mile.
If I haven't been running that's not bad. It's about 5min per km. I felt a little tense before the race, but that went away after the first mile. And I got more comfortable as the miles went by. I did the first mile in 8-1/2 mins - I felt a little boxed in, I don't like people in my space (and shhh, especially the stinky ones). I wanted to break out and get away from the crowd but I resisted the urge since I wasn't sure how much I'd have in
the tank. I did the second mile in about 8 mins. People were beginning to stretch out now at the halfway point, and I completed the third mile in under 8 mins, the fourth in almost the same time. I was stretching out my stride and picking up the pace a little bit at a time. I was still just below Sunnyside pool trying to keep my pace from going too fast.
The last mile I ran in about 7-1/4 mins - with a half-mile to go I tried stretching out my stride a bit more and then some fobby asian couple wearing head phones got on to the course not realizing that a race was going on (they walk like they drive, ie. they don't look). But I manouvered around them and sprinted to the finish.
I heard Tresa's voice and saw her holding Kieran, I did a quick smile and a wave to my only fans and headed for the finish.

Wiped out. See that tuft of hair on top of his head. It's always like that. Doesn't seem to wanna go down. And he's grown so much that the blankets aren't big enough to wrap his feet too, so that's why they're sticking out. As long as he's happy that's all that matters.
It was a little warm on the run, but sweating is good for you. Tells you you're working hard. But I enjoyed the run, it was nice to run a race again.
I'm glad the evening was nice and comfortable, especially for Kieran. It was cooling down though, being by the lake. And the mosquitos were beginning to smell the food. All those sweaty bodies. Yummy.

Summertime!

He's 2 months (Or 8-1/2 weeks) today and he's in his summer outfit - his diaper. He can see about 20 ft now and is more and more responsive every day. He coos a lot, if you talk to him he'll respond and carry on a conversation in his own language, ask him how his day went, what he did, the food he ate (which was better the left or right boob), etc. He smiles and laughs, especially when he doesn't have a diaper and poops on the change mat. When he pees, and has no diaper, while he's on the change mat, he just has a concerned look - like "wazzat?"


comb over
He's sort of losing his hair. He's got a ring of bald spots from him rubbing his head all the time, almost like a reverse monk look. But the spots on his body and face are disappearing. They were dry skin. We just moisturize the heck out of him now. His neck still gets cheesey. But it's because he has no neck, his head is just plunked on to his body. We have to make sure we keep him clean otherwise the little rash comes back.

This is his change table. It's our guest bed. Don't worry for anyone that comes and stays over. He hasn't peed on the bed, his pee clears the edge of the bed and hits the floor.

Happy Sukaboy Day

This past Sunday June 19th, was my first Father's Day.

It's actually really easy to become a dad. You just have to get someone pregnant. It's even easy to be a good dad. You just have to do the best that you can and you get to enjoy all the great moments when they happen.
It's a pretty amazing thing when it happens - becoming a father. You don't realize it until the little person's head is sticking out of your wife. And after they're completely out of the mother and go from a cool blue colour to a more normal flesh tone, and start crying. That's when it first hits. Then it hits you some more at about 2AM, 3:30AM, 5AM and so on. After a while you just go numb. Then you coast and forget where you are.

It's sukaboy day
I think my son has more hair now than I do. I cut my hair. I used a guide on my clippers that was way shorter than I had expected. Oh well, it'll grow back. But now my hats and my bike helmet is a little looser than usual. But on the bright side, I'm saving money on hair gel and shampoo and conditioner. Wash and GO!

But really every day has been Fathers day and Mothers day. I enjoy the baths, the diaper changes, the crying fits, getting peed on and spit on, and slept on.



The day wasn't really about me. It's really for him - the little person, who can't even do much. But he actually does do quite a bit, but he just makes you do it. And he doesn't even make you do it, you just do it, because you want to do it.


If it wasn't for these two, Fathers day would just be another day.

So happy Fathers day to all the fathers and mothers, and expecting mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters everywhere.

Did I make anyone puke yet? On this day I'm allowed. :-P

I'm seeing stars

I went to Sporting Life in Sherway yesterday. I try to park in the parking lot next to the service area of Sporting Life. I was picking up a Thule Cascade cargo box that was on sale. It's last years model and discontinued now. It's the last one the company had in stock. So it was a great deal.

I park the car and some film crew dude comes over and says I can't park there. That they've rented the entire parking lot. So I move my car and park it in the next lot. I walk to the entrance of Sporting Life and I see Kiefer Sutherland, and Michael Douglas. The film crew people block me from going in that door. It's starting to rain, and this is the second time I've gone to a Sporting Life store and I'm about to get drenched by a downpour. I headed around the other side to the mall entrance of the store. I see about 30 SWAT officers. I thought they were going to make me turn around and fall on the ground with my hands behind my back. Like in "World's Greatest Police chases". Should I run and get on TV? But I think they were all actors.

So I try to walk in the store. A film crew person stops me and says this entrance is closed. No option or anything. I tell her to move aside and get a real job. Just kidding. I needed to vent there. I said that I had something on hold and needed to pick it up. A police officer said I can take the escalator to the second floor.

I go up there and I can't get to the section of the store where my item was held anyways. No one was allowed to the main floor to shop or anything. Because they were filming a scene. So I got a hold of a store employee and tell him my situation. They bring me the wrong item at first. Then I spoke to the store manager and they bring me down to the main floor. I get to see first hand. Kiefer, Michael and Eva Longoria's (Desperate Housewives) stunt double go through a rehearsal. Then the real stars came in. But before they actually do the scene. Catherine Zeta Jones walks through the store onto the set. Wow! These guys get paid so much to do almost nothing. That's entertainment. And Michael Douglas made a funny remark to us watching in the background - "And you thought it was all sunglasses and autographs."

The scene was probably about 2 minutes. If that. And I waited about 2 hours to find out I couldn't have my cargo box, because it was in the scene and they were coming back the next morning. WTF! #*%#@*%$! Bleep BLEEP! BLEEP.
I actually didn't get angry or upset. But it was fun walking around and security guys going to me - "hey who are you and what are you doing here?" I had every right to be there. Didn't they know who I was? Well I'm nobody, just an average Pedro Garcia (Philippine equivalent of John Smith), but I was there for a reason. And it wasn't for the celebrities.

So in the end I went home empty handed, but the manager was nice enough to let me know that they'd compensate me for being a good customer. Not sure what that will be. But it was a nice gesture.

See it pays to be nice and not a whiner. Although whining and complaining sometimes works. But it could be something cheap and crappy too. So you never know. It's just nice to be appreciated.

BTW, they were filming the movie - The Sentinel. Isn't that a dog flea collar? Maybe it was a commercial.

Over the pond and back again, a Lillywhite’s tale.

We’re off to the airport. I had to leave behind my wife and son. We agreed it'd be pretty tough having a 5 week old abroad. But in the end it was tough not being with the family.
My final destination was Crowton, a village just west of Manchester, UK. But before that point I’ll be visiting Amsterdam and London as well. I’ve never been to Amsterdam, so I was pretty excited about visiting.
I wasn’t planning on going on this trip, but Tresa being the traveler person that she was and is, encouraged me to go.

This is Derrick. He’s pretty manga cake. You know white. He’s a Canadian through and through. This is his first trip off the Canadian Shield. Actually it’s his first venture off North America. We met up with his mom’s cousin while we were in Chester.
That’s when my CSI: New York TV show training came in handy. His cousin didn’t travel either. They live 3 hours north of London and hadn’t visited that city in 30 years. That means there’s a gene for travel. And Derrick doesn’t have it. He’s also missing the gene responsible for style and fashion.

Lillywhites. No not Derrick, the store. It was the cheapest place to buy stuff in London, UK. We were in the middle of Piccadilly Circus. Not much of a circus, just people hanging out by the fountain to get a glimpse of the Lillywhite dude.

We weren’t in the UK vacationing together. Derrick’s got two kids and a wife. Do you see any similarities to Rock Hudson? They're both white.
And we weren’t there to reconnect Derrick with his culture. In an interview video we did in Amsterdam, I pointed out that he has no culture. That’s why he’s so white. Actually we were there to see this guy on the left. That’s FEZ from the New Years Eve photos.
Antonio was getting married. And he picked the farthest spot from Toronto where they spoke English (not Taglish) as the primary language and legally sold pharmaceutical drugs, and most importantly, where they don’t serve dog as a dish (but they do serve cat).

He’s also a professional tour guide. That’s how he funded this wedding and how he avoided deportation. He’s so used to taking photos that he’s got his smile down pat and his hair is gelled so that it can withstand hurricane force winds and it’ll also repel water (great for the UK weather).

This is Manchester. Well it's the shopping district. And we picked up some food from Marks & Spencer. Which used to be in Canada, but has since retreated back to the UK.
It's common in Europe to have pedestrian only areas. Sort of like our outlet malls, except no parking and way older, cooler looking buildings.

A very cultural city from what Antonio tells me. I think we were the only two non-WASP people there.


Can you spot the Asian?

Antonio always gets a kick out of a humped zebra. It gives him ideas for his wedding night.

We hit Liverpool to visit the Beatles museum. And then Derrick wanted to leave his mark. He wanted to let all the dogs know that he was here.

“Okay Antonio, you promised, no peeking. I gotta take a wizz”

This was his way of saying what a good catch he was. I think he's overestimated his value. Don't worry, we were there to bring him back down from the clouds.

Our tour guide dropped us off at Liverpool Int’l airport. And yes they named it after a musician. Why not Tony Blair? I think cuz he's not dead. Send him to Bagdad for a visit.

And we flew with EasyJet. And no the flight attendants weren’t ‘easy’. Derrick tried – by striking up a conversation, trying to impress them by talking about his job. Talking about glaucoma cases on old people - exciting stuff like that. But the male flight attendant was especially nice to him.

We finally arrived in Amsterdam. We had been traveling for about 20+ hours. We think. After the Red-Light district we couldn't remember.
This was a falafel house. It was either this or McDonald’s. Derrick just wanted something cheap.


We still ended up at McD’s. You want frites sauce with your meal? By the way, ketchup was extra. Mucho de-Euro man.
I don’t really have too many photos from Amsterdam, we were only there a day. We saw the red light district the evening we arrived. The next day we woke up a little late in the day since we were jet lagged.

We hit whatever sights we could. The Van Gogh museum was great.

This was Derrick attempt at trying to get a little more culture in his life. There was another interesting exhibit attached in a really cool building, called Egon Schiele, named after the artist who pioneered it. Modern art I suppose.

There was another museum that was close by as well, but the Rijks Museum was partially closed for renovations.

But the restrooms were also closed for upgrades. And well, Hong couldn't take it anymore.
RELEASE!

I would've liked to have seen more of Amsterdam, but maybe when Kieran is a little older and we have more moola.
So we were off to London. Not by train, but the train goes to the airport. Hey how come Toronto doesn’t have a train going to the airport? All other major international cities do.

This was our hotel. It was newly renovated and was on special at Hotels.com. I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be alright. It even included free all you can eat continental breakfast.

These guys were so happy they were doing the chicken dance and jumping for joy.

The next day we went to see London. We got up earlier than yesterday to hit the sights.

First it was Madame Tussauds wax museum. Well we didn’t go in. The line up was humongous.

Picadilly Circus, then Trafalgar square, where Hong was taking pics in Macro mode. Big Ben, Carnaby (the shopping area), London Eye - that's the big ferris wheel beside the London Aquarium. There was a McDonald's there too that we visited.

This monument behind us is called the wedding cake, just in front of Buckingham palace. Hong was scared of it. Sort of like how a vampire is afraid of a cross or sunlight. I think it has to do with a fear of commitment and losing closet space.

Outside of Buckingham Palace.

This is my good buddy from university, Harry. Too bad Caroline couldn't come out too. They're living in London now, along with all the other non-UK and expats from all over the world. We were trying to get to Covenant Gardens, but for some reason we got out at Oxford Circus (that's where Carnaby is). But Harry came and got us, running down Oxford Circus ave (when the bus didn't stop where he expected), but the pubs closed at midnight. We got there a little late so we spent the evening walking around Picadilly and then we hit the first thing that was open.


Yep it's McDonald’s. Everything else was closed.
Seems like we're doing a Golden Arches Euro Tour.


Then we were off to Crowton, 3 or 4 hours north of London. We took the Virgin trains to Crewe. These trains were amazing, traveling at over 200km/h and they tilt into the turns. We got to Crewe quicker than if we’d hired a car and drove on the wrong side of the road.
Of course we had to get to the train station on time. It was like being in the Amazing Race.

We were running to get to Euston station. That’s Hong and Derrick at the teller window. If you can read the clock it’s 3:01pm. Our train leaves at 3:15pm.
We just made it. We weren’t eliminated from the race.

We made it to the next leg of the journey. Crewe, from here we take a short commuter train to Hartford.

It was amazing when we got off the train, Antonio was there. Not two hours later. He’s growing up man. I was so proud. It brought a tear to my eye. Someone must have set his watch a few hours ahead. Bless that person. I bet you it was Anne.

And this was why we came. To participate in our good friends' wedding. We were their ushers. Or what they call in the UK - hired help. Anne had given us a whole step by step instruction on our duties. See that look on her face - deviate from this and you will all go to hell.
Antonio was prepared. He even brought some lady right off the rice fields in the Philippines just in case we ran out of rice.

The next day there was a luncheon. We waited around for the newly wed couple to arrive after their first night as Mr. and Mrs. They were late and this was why.

Hey, I didn’t realize it was Halloween already? And funny thing was Antonio was walking oddly, like something was not right with his trousers.
Trick AND treat, eh.
Actually they weren't late, just missing all the time. But then I started hearing animals in the nearby bushes.

My little canon powershot A510 stopped working on the morning of the wedding, but I managed to borrow Larry's camera (Antonio's brother) and I used my card to snap a few wedding pics. Then my SD card was full. Hong is going to send me pics from his camera once he figures out how to download it off his camera and burn a disk. I could be waiting a while. I've uploaded more photos here. And once I get the CD from Hong from Antonio and Anne's wedding I'll put them up too.

click for more Eurotrip photos

I was happy to be heading home I was missing my wife and kid.

Welcome home, papa.