Kin's

Nor less Andromache, sore grieved to part, / rich raiment fetches, wrought with golden thread, / and Phrygian scarf, and still with bounteous heart / loads him with broideries. "Take these", she said, / "sole image of Astyanax now dead. / Thy kin's last gifts, my handiwork, to show / how Hector's widow loved the son she bred. / Such eyes had he, such very looks as thou, / such hands, and oh! like thine his age were ripening now!"

These some recent days, now being the 14th of August of 2022, I've been perusing vast galactic dreams. I'm currently reading a Spanish-language e-book, Trilogía de la Fundación, by Isaac Asimov. On YouTube, I've been viewing clips of the newest Dune movie (2021), which is also galactic in scope. However, people at Kin's Farm Market, this morning, say, "Yāhǎi!" (鸭海 Duck Ocean).

Whilst drinking my Oat Nog Latte at Starbucks café, this grey-sky morning, I was talking to Afroz, a worker at Kin's Farm Market on Lulu Island, which I frequent to buy exotic things (to others) like lotus roots, Japanese yams, kumquats, dragonfruits, longans, jujubes, Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes, passion fruits, star fruits, etc. Afroz is what he categorizes himself as a "generic Indian Muslim." He was from Uttar Pradesh. His last city was Mumbai, before he left for BC. His daughter has been left with her grandparents in India. Afroz lives with his wife, a caregiver, in Vancouver. Afroz has an MBA from India, but he says that it is difficult to attain his dream job of doing marketing. I told him that my Auntie Vicky from the Philippines was working as a manager for Tupperware (a plastic container company) in India, as she lived in a "palace" with servants. I could not visit her at that time because I was working. (She also worked in Thailand, which I did visit.) It is the 8th of December of 2024, today.

In the cloudy, yet sunny, afternoon was my third walk of the day, here on Lulu Island. I was at Yummy Slice pizzeria to drink a grey-can Diet Coke. I exercised with my hand grip strengthener at my table. Sachet the Gujarati and Navjot the Punjabi were the vendors. There were throngs of parents with their Eurasian kids, eating or ordering pizza. I visited Kin's Farm Market. The radio was playing Xmas songs. Leo, the Cantonese vendor who speaks also Mandarin, exclaimed, "Viktor, bā bái!" The fragrance of baked Japanese sweet potato, "yaki-imo" in Japanese, "rostita batato" in Esperanto, was tempting. There was a metallic rectangular oven with heated stones inside. The colourful fruits enthralled me. The durian was still so dear! Today is the 9th of December of 2024.

These days, at Starbucks café, I have been addicted to Oat Nog Latte, but this morning, I decided to have Iced Gingerbread Oat Chai. I sat in the back, near the restrooms. It is a grey-sky day. I walk practically everyday to get to the café. It was extremely windy, today, though. I stopped at Yummy Slice pizzeria for a Diet Coke and Subway sandwitcheria for a Turkey Ranch "Snackwich" just before the café. Heading home, I then visited Kin's Farm fruteria. Grandma Taiwan was there at the front: "Míng sà la!" she exclaimed. The lotus roots were out of stock. The wind was ferocious, as I walked back home. The neighbourhood Tim Hortons will be opening soon. Today is the 14th of December of 2024.

Happy Zamenhof Day! Today is the birthday of Dr. L.L. Zamenhof, the Jew who invented Esperanto in 1887 in Russian-occupied Poland. I am an Esperantist. It is a sunny blue-sky morning. I walked to Yummy Slice pizzeria. Rose the Filipina vendor was there. I was drinking a red-can Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. (I ought to mention that I ate a slice of green pesto pizza. And I was exercising with my hand grip strengthener at my table.) A Japanese likens my situation to a vast deserted café in Chiangmai, Thailand. But here on Lulu Island, homebound, I stopped by Kin's Farm fruteria. Leo, the Cantonese vendor who speaks also Mandarin, exclaimed, "Dà míng!" There were longans, kumquats, and jujubes in plastic bags at the front. Today is the 15th of December of 2024.

This winter has been warmer than usual, so far, without snow, here on Lulu Island. In the morning, this 27th of December of 2024, I walked twice to Tim Hortons: Firstly, I ate two hash browns with an oat milk iced coffee. Secondly, I ate a sausage egg English muffin meal, including a hash brown and oat milk iced coffee. I went to Starbucks for an oat nog latte. I missed Greg, my Filipino friend, who left just before me. Then, I went to Yummy Slice pizzeria for a red-can Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. The Filipina vendor Rose was there, so we said "Happy New Year" to each other. I passed by Kin's Farm fruteria. On my way home, in the park's alleyway, I met and talked with my ufologist friend, Michael J., a Dane-French. He amused himself with the red touque on my head, with orange letters in Tagalog: "MGA AWSTRALYA ANG MGA ESTRELYA" (The stars are Australias). I told him it was about "space colonization." There are the cold and hot deserts of other worlds. Then, I went to the house of my "auntie" neighbour, Tita Zeny, to pick up her homemade "dinuguán" or Filipino pork blood stew to bring home. Lunch at home would include Filipino chicken "adobo."

Today's a rainy cooler spring day, the 16th of May of 2025. The last couple of days have been grey weather. Yesterday, at Tim Hortons café, I ate my first Chili from there. Michael L. J., my Dane-French ufologist friend, visited there. We looked at his videos on his cellphone, about bedroom light activities that he attributes to extraterrestrials. I don't mention the Zoo Hypothesis to him. He believes in the Grey Aliens or other humanoid outworlders. (I opine that outworlders may not necessarily be humanoids.) Michael and I also talked about our different snorkelling experiences in Mexico. I recounted to him about the temples at Tulum, on a cliff, overlooking a white beach and surrounded by jungle. I said that it looked "like a set in Star Trek." Michael said that he only saw it from far away. Today, anyway, I also went to Tim Hortons café, of which the highlight was my Lemon Poppyseed Muffin and later a Fruit Explosion Muffin. I had a Vanilla Oat Milk Cold Brew. I would try their Chili again, another time. I visited the fruteria Kin's Farm Market, where I bought Vietnamese Red Jackfruit the other day. I hesitated to buy big white mushrooms today.

This sunny I-don't-know-if-it's-hot-or-cold day of the 22nd of May of 2025, I went walking several times to Tim Hortons café, from about 5 in the morning till after 10 at night. I enjoyed Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes and Sausage, an Earl Grey Tea with oat milk, an Iced Classic Lemonade, an Iced Coffee with oat milk, a Green Tea with oat milk, a Roast Beef Craveable Sandwich, and an expensive Habanero Chicken Bowl. At Starbucks café, I enjoyed a White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew with oat milk. On the street, I passed by Joanne the Ukrainian-descent star-savvy wife of Rod the camping enthusiast. I saw Stella the regular Greek Starbucks customer come out of Kin's Farm Market with tomatoes and greens for making Greek Salad with feta cheese later. I joked that she might be making "moussaká"! At night, at Tim Hortons café, there was a Filipino family, my ex-neighbours. As for religion, my Syncretic inclination is mainly towards Animism and Buddhism, but I don't discount other belief systems. I visited the Roman Catholic church on St. Albans Road, and it was another confession day for the little boys and girls. The interior of the church is like a big clam! Near Bowcock Road, I gazed at the big Empress Tree, its purple blooms wilting. I visited Halal Meat & BBQ, across the street from Tim Hortons café. I admired the Western Asian, Central Asian, and Southern Asian foods on the shelves there—"fantasy brown country"! I was looking for dried apricots and halva.

After 10 o'clock in the morning, I headed walking to Starbucks café, after I discovered that Tim Hortons café was jam-packed. It's Saturday today, so it's unusual. At Starbucks, I enjoyed a Grande Summer-Berry Lemonade Refresher. It was festively blue and red in colour with raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry flavours embedded with raspberry-flavoured pearls. There were this morning 5 baristas active: 3 Filipinos, 1 Vietnamese, and 1 Mandarin Chinese. I like it at Starbucks, too, due to the dimmer cavern-like ambiance. At the Clam Temple, I like the wide, vast emptiness in the worship salon. At Tim Hortons, I like the sun rays beaming from the bay windows. After Starbucks, I walked to the nearby Kin's Farm Market to buy a bag of 10 Mexican guavas, which were already yellow. I want to take pictures of them sliced and accompanying my tofu fish cuttlefish corn potato tangerine pork rolls from 852 Kitchen food boutique. I might wait until it's sunny on the verandah to photograph there. It's a cloudy day, this 14th of June of 2025.