Things seem to always come in spurts. Recently, I’ve been fortunate enough to receive gift certificates for several occasions. While I normally don’t get anything, all of a sudden I’ve been able to enjoy these added perks.

What’s even better is that as of late, my photography skills have been noticed. Just in this past week or so, I’ve received emails from two companies saying that they really like my work. One went as far as offering me a possible future opportunity to work with them. I never actually thought I would work full time doing photography work, but maybe this is not an option I should easily dismiss. While I do not have my own lighting equipment, nor am I very skilled at using one at the moment (hmph?!), I know I can do what it takes to work in a studio environment.

Up until now, I always told myself that I would not likely work as a photographer on a full time basis since it is typically difficult to make a living out of it. It is definitely something of interest in my life, and no doubt people like my style so I suppose if I really wanted to, I could consider this as a source of income. It’s just something foreign that I’ve never thought of. Maybe I’m merely scared to progress into something that I thought I was only an amateur at. Or maybe I’m just afraid that once I start getting paid for my work, things will be a whole lot different than if I were to merely do it for the sake of loving photography.

Maybe it’s time I move on. Try something new. Progress in my life. Make the best of what I’m capable of doing. Be a risk-taker.

Snap. snap.

So I made my way to downtown Toronto today, skipping my weekly Mandarin classes because that is getting too unproductive lately. I strolled around downtown enjoying the cool weather and the crowdedness of Eaton Centre and its surrounding areas. I was finally able to see the new Canadian Tire and Best Buy, which I’ve always been meaning to check out because really, I couldn’t imagine them building a store right on Bay and Dundas. I visited Ryerson’s new building there as well, the Faculty of Business.

That part of the core has grown quite quickly within the last two years. It’s changed so much since I graduated. Part of the things I miss about downtown is the various people you get to meet, see, and observe. You never know what you’ll find if you take just 10 minutes and look around. On the busy corner of Yonge Dundas Square, there was a fairly young girl smiling about as she held her hand-made sign that says, “Free Hugs!” I watched her from afar for about 5 minutes as she smiled at all the passerbys. Finally within a span of 1 minute, she managed to get two hugs in – both from guys. I’m not really sure why she was there doing what she was doing, but this is Toronto afterall.

Later that evening I decided to do an impromptu visit to my friend’s place in the Annex. As I approached their apartment, there was a moving van parked outside blocking the entrance. I phoned them up to see what they were up to. CA answered and said, “oh, we’re right in the middle of moving out right now!” So that moving truck was in fact for them! As luck would have it, my battery ran out of juice as I was talking to her. But with my wicked timing, I met JK who was in the process of clearing out the elevator with all of his boxes. So for about an hour or so, I helped them move their belongings from their place to the truck. They’ve been there for just over a year and a half I believe, and now they are moving down to harbourfront. What a nice place. It was nice to see the both of them though, as I hadn’t seen them in a while.

Afterwards, I went over to the Kensington Market area where I had some fine Portuguese cuisine. It was indeed fine as I ate to my heart’s content. A seafood risotto for two became a seafood risotto for me although it seemed like that dish was more for 4 people. I don’t know what it is but I am quit fond of Portuguese food. There’s are two places near my home which have great Portuguese food. One sit down and one fast food BBQ. I guess their taste suits my palette quite well.

After a loooong day of walking about the city, helping my friends move, and eating heartedly, I can safely say that today was a nice day and I’m quite glad I didn’t go to class. You can bet I’ll have a good night’s sleep tonight!

…the Devil’s Pulpit that is.

So tonight I was fortunate enough to have dinner at The Devil’s Pulpit golf club, of which my father is a member of. On rare occassions we get treated out to a wonderful dinner at this club, of which I always have great memories of. Mind you I’ve never golfed here before… but rather ate to my heart’s content.

Years past they had special events such as Sunday brunches and holiday dinners. To date, I still remember how excited I was at the Sunday Brunch at Devil’s. Tables lined the dining room with more food than anyone can fathom. Overflowing with goodness you had a myriad of choices of everything from fresh shrimp to homemade bread to eggs benedict to roast beef to sausages to salads and fruits galore. It was truly a food lover’s dream.

I have to admit whenever I went to this buffet (which wasn’t that often), I felt like a little kid at Christmas wanting to play with all his toys. Only this time it was the shear amount and variety of food that I fell in love with. Not just the quantity mind you, but the quailty of it was always up to par.

Tonight was no different as I went to dinner for their Steak and Seafood night. As an added bonus, they had an appetizer and dessert buffet table where for one price of $13, you can have as much as you want on either table. What a steal, especially when the appetizer table had some great tasting mussels that all my family members tried to decipher as to why it tasted so good.

We came to the conclusion that the mussels had been pre-baked in order to rid of the seafood aroma. The mussel itself was a little shrivelled up and charcoaled in some cases, which is a good way to cover up frozen mussel texture and taste, so said my dad. Regardless, the sauce smothering these mussels was quite different than your ordinary white wine sauce. This one had the added bonus of mild Portuguese sausages cut into small chunks. I believe this is what added that slight hint of spice to the overall taste that my brother loved so much. I have to admit, it was quite good although somehow I managed to refrain from having seconds.

After the caesar and potato salads, the main course came. My choice for the evening was a juicy 10oz New York Striploin topped with gorgonzola jus, with a side order of an 8oz lobster tail and drawn butter. Yes! It was Surf ‘n Turf for Taku tonight! And boy was it good!

The steak was prepared just right. Medium rare is the way I prefer it. I chose the gorgonzola jus as I wanted something different than your typical peppercorn or mushroom sauces. It was a heavy choice but I managed. Compared to my brother’s 8oz Tenderloin, I preferred the Striploin’s texture as it was tougher and more like a steak. My dad opted for the 14oz Rib Eye with a salt and pepper garnish. We all agreed that this one was the best tasting. Being the simplest dish of all of our Steaks, it was indeed the best tasting and had the best texture to it. Oh how it was made just right. The texture of the tenderloin was just too tender for my liking. It broke so easily in your mouth and wasn’t all that chewy like I am accustomed to with my steaks.

The lobster tail to my suprise was quite large. It’s been ages since I had lobster and there’s something about it that always draws me back to it. I have to admit it was a bit on the overcooked side as it was slightly hard to the bite. The taste of lobster was evident, while not to its fullest potential. The drawn butter was always a good side garnish as I drenched almost each bite of my lobster in it.

The thinly sliced veggies were a good garnish as well but the specially topped red spiced mashed potatoes where odd and I don’t think any of us finished our two dollops on our plates.

We went all out today and ordered two bottles of wine. A 2005 Pinot Grigio that was quite fruity, but accented our appetizers quite well. Afterwards we got a 1999 Chianti Classico Reserve, which at $72 for the bottle was quite complimentary to our steaks. It dry and crisp, yet had that bitterness to it that made you want to eat some good red meat alongside it. The aroma of this wine was better than its taste however. I recall having better Chianti at home when my dad brought home a bottle. Unfortunately none of us seem to remember which year or winery that one came from. Such a shame. That one instantly took me back to the time when I was drinking in Italy. It was that good.

The dessert buffet had everything from chocolate chip cookies to Pumpkin cheesecake, to apple streudel to rhubarb pie to chocolate moose to some kind of cocounut caramel square, and other sweets that I can’t remember any longer. Naturally I had to try bits of everything… and that’s exactly what I did. That rhubarb pie was the best tasting. The pumpkin cheesecake was very light and actually quite good too. No ice cream nor fruits this time around though.

It was a fabulous dinner tonight where we all were a little on the greedy side. I can’t believe I actually ate all of this. I don’t think I ate this much since high school, and am still quite amazed at how much I was able to handle tonight. I’m still standing… or sitting.

The damage:

• Appetizer and Dessert Buffet: $13
• 10oz NY Striploin: $28
• 8oz Lobster Tail with Drawn Butter: $30
• Wine by the bottle: $31 (white) and $72 (red)

And all this (except the wine) was for my dinner. Oh how good life is! I know I won’t be able to appreciate this lifestyle for much longer so I’m enjoying it while I still can.

The Devil’s Pulpit may be an award-winning golf course, but to me, it’s an award-winning restaurant that never seems to disappoint.