Photo Friday: Bunnies

My family celebrates all of the chocolate holidays.

Not only is this a Good Friday, it's great! Sunshine and leisure: that's what we're up to all day. How about you?

Whatever you're celebrating this weekend, enjoy!

Happy Friday!

The Next Chapter

Now that Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary is published, you may be wondering what's next.

You may not be wondering anything of the sort, but allow me to humour myself.

I will be promoting the book—I'm already doing so through Twitter—by organizing readings, and for those of you in Ottawa, I'll let you know of any upcoming dates.

When I started writing Songsaengnim, I originally planned to have the story cover two years, from 1997 to 1999, but as I started putting it together, I realized that the book would be too long, almost 1000 pages. And so I decided to break it up into two books.

The second book, Gyeosunim, started coming together before I finished Songsaengnim. Almost two years ago, I went to Scotland to research the first chapter of the book, and I even started writing out some of the chapter while I sat in a pub in North Berwick. And I published those notes on a new blog.

I'm happy to say that I've finally revisited those notes and have almost finished the rough draft. And on Wednesday, April 11, I will publish the full first chapter of Gyeosunim.

And, as I did with Songsaengnim, I will post the chapters of the book as I write them.

If you're on Twitter, you can follow the status of Songsaengnim and Gyeosunim. Or you can just follow the blog itself.

As with Songsaengnim, I encourage you to provide feedback and comments. As with Songsaengnim, your comments and feedback may help drive the story.

But more than anything, it will drive me.

Wordless Wednesday: Mansion

There Can Be Only One

I was in the GTA region this weekend, hanging out primarily in Ajax but also spending time in Whitby and Oshawa. I never realized there is more than what I usually see as I speed by this area along the 401, heading to or from Toronto or other parts of Southern Ontario.

Once away from one of the busiest highways in North America, this part of the upper shore of Lake Ontario is actually quite nice. Just stay clear of the big Rio-Can box store zones.

On Friday, when I realized that I wasn't going to be in the comfort of my own home in time to try a new beer for my review, I decided to do my review from my hotel room, make notes, and finish it up when I returned to Ottawa. Luckily, I had my Where In Ottawa for Monday, so I also had an extra evening to get this post together.

And I'm glad I had last night to try this week's beer again. My review from my notes on Saturday alone would have produced a very different review.

So let's go:

Highlander Scottish Ale

Highlander Brew Company

South River, ON

LCBO: $3.25, 500 mL; 5% alc/vol

Now, I was a little confused when I tried to find information about this beer. According to the label, this is a Scottish ale. And according to the brewery's temporary Web site, this is a Scottish ale. Yet, the LCBO calls this ale a pale ale under its listings, and the Canadian Beer News, which toured the facilities in South River and interviewed the brewmaster, Brian Wilson, calls it a pale ale. But for this review, I'm sticking with the label. And my eyes, nose, and taste buds.

Because, for the most part, this beer fits my description of a Scottish ale.

Pouring this ale into my glass, my eyes were met with a toffee-coloured ale with a light, lacy head that didn't hold together for long. But the glass maintained a trace of head throughout my drinking.

The nose held wonderful notes of caramel and what I call an almost almond paste, like marzipan. There was a sweet nuttiness that piqued my interest. Some subtle hints of spice, like nutmeg, were also noted.

On the palate, I caught burnt toffee and a bit of citrus, almost like orange rind, and more of the nutmeg. The flavours were nicely balanced, though I would have liked to have them hold on during the finish, which I found a little too short.

This was an enjoyable ale from a brewery that has been around since 2008. I would hope that Brian Wilson will give us more ales to enjoy in the future.

For now, there's only the one, and it's a good one.

Where In Ottawa: The April Edition

It's April and I ain't foolin'. Or maybe I am.

Think you know Ottawa? Prove it!

Once again, here's my Where In Ottawa contest, where I show you a snippet of a location and you tell me where I snipped it... err, snapped it. Be the first one to correctly identify the location, and you win.

Here's April's photo:

Think you know where this photo was taken? Leave a comment on this blog post. Your answer will be time-stamped so that you can fairly say that you were the first to identify the spot. If you are correct, I will reward you with a giveaway. This month, it will be an autographed paperback copy of my novel, Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary.

Starting tomorrow, if the contest hasn't been solved, I will start giving hints. You can find them by going to the top right-hand side of the blog page, directly above the photo of me. And if you follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, I'll post the clue there too.

Good luck!

Update: with the second-fastest time for solving Where In Ottawa, Joe Boughner has correctly identified the building, which is at the corner of Wellington and Carruthers, in Hintonburg.

Congratulations, Joe!