On Saturday, I took a walk to find a nursery in order to buy a few plants for our apartment. I realized the place was a bit cold, and I was hoping some greenery would liven and warm the place up a bit. I found a nursery online that was supposed to have a large selection and be nearby in Happy Valley. But, I couldn't find an exact address for it anywhere, only the road it was on. The road itself was the road that circled the entire Happy Valley racetrack, so it's not a short road. I did find a website with a googlemaps drop point, so I decided to look there first. I took to the bus right where the drop mark said, and starting walking in one direction. 10 minutes later, and with not a nursery in site, I assumed it must have been just behind where I started. So, I walked the 10 minutes back, plus 10 mins the other way. Nothing. Hmmm. I call the place on the phone, and they tell me they are nearby the hospital, which happens to be on the exact opposite side of the racetrack, not where I had been looking. So I walk 20 min in the direction I had originally started, which, of course, is the most frustrating part. I see the hospital, and check the near side of it. Nothing. I walk past the hospital and see a cemetery. Right next to the cemetery is the nursery. Finally.
One might say, well Mo, it was really your fault it took you so long to find this place; you should have just called it before you even started. True. But, I have learned that getting lost in a neighborhood is the best way to see it and learn it.
Also, can I just add how weird it is to have a hospital next to a cemetery? The poor patients happen to look out the window, and what do they see? The place they are trying most desperately to avoid! Seems like poor planning to me.
What was even more peculiar was that the nursery was actually using the cemetery to store its outdoor plants. It certainly made the cemetery more beautiful, but it also seemed a bit odd that these people were resting in a store basically. See the pic below. It was also slightly weird for me to walk around to see the plants. I wasn't sure it I was allowed to, or if it was disrespectful....
This nursery did have some amazingly beautiful things. Such as this tree that was covered in white and pink flowers. I've never really seem anything like it.
Anyways, an hour and $300 later, I walk out of there with my own mini-greenhouse. The first thing I got was a tall bushy plant, that looks bambooish. It reaches just to my head, and brightens up the corner by our dining room table.
Next were a few smaller green plants, again to fill up corners and add more life. Two are by the TV stand, and one is in the guest bedroom.
Next was a flowering bush to put on our little porch. This one might be my favorite. The purple flowers are really quite beautiful.
Finally, the piece de resistance, some white orchids!
Now, as many of you know, I do not have the greenest thumb in the family. I think my thumb is actually more of a brown color. My mom gave me a "love oak" or a baby oak tree when Drew and I got engaged, just like how Kate Hudson had her "love fern" in the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Well, I managed to kill that tree in short order. :( So, between myself either overwatering or underwatering, and Trig potentially eating them all, I will be impressed with myself if the poor things last a month.
On Sunday morning, Drew and I meet up with some friends at a renown dim sum restaurant for breakfast. The name is Tim Ho Wan, and it's supposed to have the best priced but incredible dim sum in the city.
We tried to go here at noon last weekend, but there was a wait of about 50 people while the place only sits 30. So we tried again this morning. Dim sum is also traditionally a breakfast food. Anyways, it opens at 9am. I was in line by myself at 8:15. But, the cooks were in the kitchen, hard at work hand prepping all of the dumplings. By around 8:35, others started showing up, and by 8:45, there was this line, waiting for the place to open. But I was first! Ha!
The place is most famous for their baked BBQ pork buns. The outside is sweet and the inside filling is savory. It's heaven on earth. They also have alot of steamed dished like shrimp and pork steamed dumplings.
After 30 mins of stuffing ourselves, this was the mob of people present as we walked out. The volume of dim sum this place must serve every day in unfathomable.
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