SALT and Richmond Pub

Tonite, I met up with Jas and Vince at SALT one of my fave places to have a glass of wine with a tasting plate, or two love it! Jas and I met up first, our reservations were at 6pm so went headed over to the new Sephora at PC (which was crazy busy!!) then over to Holt Renfrew to check out the shoe fall collection, ohmygosh, I loooove the shoe fall collection! I am thinking about investing in another pair of flats, Tory Burch and am a bit shocked at how much a pair of flats can cost! But these are apparently the most comfortable ballet flats on the market so I'm willing to invest in a pair. Altho I am seriously in love with a few pairs of my fave shoe designer, Stuart Weitzman, his fall collection is beautiful... mmmm... the choices! After HR and Sephora, we decided to catch the bus into gastown and walk over to SALT. We were shocked to see Vince on time and it was really nice catching up with him. One of the reasons why we hadn't seen him or the two fo them in such a long time is their work is keeping them both super busy and V and M barely get to see each other. After SALT, we decided to head over to True Confections to have dessert and enjoy the weather on the outdoor patio. We talked about stuff and what was going on in my life, it was good to hear his persepective and as always, he has some really good words of advice. After dessert, Jas was getting tired and we dropped her off before picking up Meryl. Vince and I were thinking about catching a movie but Meryl really need a tall cold glass of beer so we headed over to the Pump House Pub in Richmond. It was nice catching up with Meryl and watching those to interact which can be quite entertaining. After a long nite, it was time to head home cos both had to work over the weekend and I think those two need a little get away! Meryl looks really stressed and overworked! But it was nice catching up and hopefully, we all can get together again on Sunday for dinner. There's a spicy chinese restaurant in Richmond that they are raving about.

Be with You - Wilber Pan Feat Akon

Ohmygosh, it's so weird to see Akon performing with an ABC - Wilber Pan (he's the one who sang and freestyled to this very lovely song called Bu de Bu Ai) but it's a good song altho the video is a bit cheesy esp the fighting part! Or I'm just too old to appreciate the "acting" cos Kay loooooves the video! hahaha... check it out:

Grouse Grind

59 Mins 15 Secs

I love hitting the Grouse Grind in weather like today!! The rain keeps people off the trail and it cools you down as you hike up intensely trying to beat your previous time on the GG. I shaved 5 minutes off my last time and that is awesome! I took 30 second breaks at the 1/4 and 1/2 mark to drink water and catch my breath but blazed through the 3/4 mark. It was pretty slippery on the trail and I was soaking wet and so dirty once I reached the top. I should have worn a water resistant jacket cos my jacket did not dry by the time the boys came up. I had to wait 55 minutes for those boys, luckily I brought a fruit snack and some nuts. But I was sitting there for so long and started to get chills so I had to order a hot chocolate! Oh well, I will eat a salad when I get home =)

Cardio Bootcamp

I think I need to do some intense cardio bootcamp a few days a week. I have been feeling like sh*t these past few days and I cannot shake this negative vibe I've been feeling. I ran a couple of times over the weekend but it didn't seem to help that much altho it did relieve some tensioin. I am thinking about joining either one of these boot camps:

Cardio Core Boot Camp

Precision Boot Camp Vancouver

Nightmarket, Gossip and Ginger 62

Last nite, I headed out with Rhoda, Jess and Fell for a nite out cos a friend from San Fran was visiting Vancouver. First, we headed over to the Richmond nite market cos Jess wanted to eat there and Rhoda had to have her colourful viet dessert drink which I ended up trying cos it looked so pretty and yummy. It really was very yummy! After walking around for a bit, trying to decide on which club they wanted to go to until Fell mentioned that Ferry Corsten was dj'ing at Gossip and Rhoda really wanted to see him so we quickly rushed back to Jess's place to get ready. We were taking our time walking thru the nite market cos we weren't sure where we were going and Fell didn't mention Ferry Corsten or else we would have been out of there much earlier. Once at Jess's condo, I was ready in a few minutes cos I was dressed to go and just had to reapply my make up. The other girls took a bit longer and while I waited, I kept munching on Jess's many snacks. We arrived at Gossip an hour before closing and it cost $40 to get in! Due to the special guest DJ, Ferry Corsten. Inside, Gossip had been completely renovated and it looked really nice. The last time I was in here, PLUSH nite club, it was def. not as nice, not that clean, bathrooms disgusting and the club just looked grungy and in need of a reno. The club was pretty packed, it looked like everyone was high or really drunk and I think you need to be one or the other to groove to trance, I prefer house over trance any day cos I can dance to house - sober. Since Gossip closes at 2am, the girls decided to head over to Ginger 62 cos it was opened for another hour. I have never been to Ginger 62 and it's a pretty nice club altho it feels and looks more like a lounge than club. It was getting pretty late night and I was super tired cos I hadn't been out like that in a long time cos I don't really go out and party at nite clubs. The girls are heading out again tonite but I am def too old and way too tired to do this 2 nites in a row! Besides, I don't enjoy trance music so I wouldn't be doing much dancing which would not be any fun. The SF friend didn't end up coming out cos the girl he was with was either too inconsiderate to bring him out or too drunk to figure out where we were! Oh well, that gives the girls another reason to head out and party!

Happy Canada Day!

HAPPY CANADA DAY, EH!

Gosh, it is a beautiful Canada Day! The weather was amazing, it is super hot and there are tons of events happening all over town. Earlier this afternoon, Kay had her hip hop dance performance at Sunset Community Centre on Main Street. She and a few of her BFF's have been taking hip hop classes at the community centre for the past few months and their final dance was held at the centre in part of the Canada Day Festivities. My brother had planned to go if he could get up on time (he had a late nite of partying) and I was suppose to ring him up to see if he could make it out. He was also going to give me a ride since my car insurance is up and I didn't get the chance to renew it and when I did, I didn't realize I needed Air Care!! Before I called my brother, I received a call from Louis Vuitton in Holt Renfrew, Damier Canvas Geronimos pouch had arrived and would be held until tomorrow closing. I had put my name on the list for my brother cos he desperately wanted (and needed as he says...) this but this item sells quickly and is not readily available. I was quite surprised how quickly it came in and realized why it was a very bad idea for me to go with my brother to pick it up. A few new Fall items (and colours) had arrived and in limited quantities in the Vernis line. Last Decemeber, my handbag was stolen and with it one of my newest and fave items, a key and coin purse in the amarante colour. For fall, LV released 2 more new colours in the vernis line, one gray and this beautiful blue called bleu nuit. I had to have it. Only 2 arrived and I was holding onto the last one until the next shipment so I charged it as the one "little" lv item HonHon promised me. So pretty and I love the colour and already thinking about my next purchase in this colour! Beautiful Bleu Nuit (see my flickr account for photos!!). After shopping, we realized we had to get going cos Kay's performance was scheduled for 2.25pm and that meant we only had 20 minutes to get from downtown to Main / 52nd street! Lucky us, we found parking right on the side street of the centre (someone pulling out when we pulled in) and even though we were 5 minutes late, it seems all the performances were a bit behind and Kay's dance didn't start for another 10 minutes. OHMYGOSH, it was so hot standing out there with no covering!! There were a lot of people and a lot of things happening, a great big turn out. I got Kay and her posse on video (see below) and put it on YouTube which I'm sure she will not be too impressed with! But it's nice to be able to show HonHon what he is missing! Kay on video - PRICELESS. After the performance, Kay went with her friends for bubble tea while my brother opted for iced coffee at Starbucks. We headed home to chill out and admire our new Louis Vuitton pieces and after a bit, my brother headed out and I stayed home to relax since tomorrow is a work day! Gosh, I don't like stat holidays landing in the middle of the week!

Blackberry

Ohmygosh, I want a BlackBerry and I cannot believe I am admitting to it. I know once I get one, it'll be like crack which is why they call it CrackBerry. Many of my friends and family own one and it would be nice to stay in touch with everyone so easily. I am just going to wait it out a bit more for the BlackBerry 8900 to drop in price cos right now and unlocked BB is about $500!! BB will be releasing a couple of new ones this year so hopefully, this will drop the 8900. See the specifications for this beauty right here.

Grouse Grind

1 hour 4 minutes 28 seconds

Wow what a great time for my first time in 2 years! I was very surprised and gave myself a time of 1 hour and 15 to finish. Guess all the running has paid off, my cardio is up! I didn't even have to stop at the 1/2 or 3/4 mark altho I did take a 1 minute break at 1/4 mark!! It was awesome and I think I will do this once a week.

Bridal Shower

Today we threw a bridal shower for Jess! It was a surprise but I think she figured it out when she drove down the street and couldn't find any parking! Plus we had decorations all over the front yard and gate. It turned out to be a very warm (hot 21C) and nice day - thank goodness the weather was so nice as Rhoda was throwing a BBQ Bridal Shower. Yesterday we had rain and it was cool this morning but the sun came out and it was super hot! Kay and I headed over there a bit earlier to help Rhoda decorate and set up for the party. Party guests started to arrive by 1pm and most where there before Jess arrived at 1.30. There were games with small gifts, lots of food - thank you Kent for being the only male (not including Nolan) and being a fantastic chef! It was a great day filled with presents, laughter and good times, I think it might have been the best bridal shower ever!!

RIP Michael Jackson, King of Pop

RIP MJ, THE KING OF POP

Welcome Back To Vancity!

After work, Rae and I met up with Karli at Cactus Club on Burrard Street cos she was in town for a couple weeks for work. I didn't get a chance to see her last time so it was really nice to sit down and catch up with her. It seems that she will be coming back into the city more often for work and her company has a Vancouver office. After a couple of drinks and hours later, it was time to call it a night - it's terrible how tired I can get during the work week! But it was nice to see and catch up with Karli!

Cake Tasting & Mexican Dinner

Today, I met up with Jess and Rhoda for a cake tasting for her dream wedding cake! She found a wedding cake in one of the windows of a hotel in Las Vegas and she wanted the cake to be duplicated. It's an extravagant wedding cake which fits the theme of her wedding, feathers and it's also very unique! Many of the cake contacts would not or could not make the cake but Sweet Thea gave her a few options and one of them was to make a fake cake! What a great idea since the wedding cake is on a very grand scale. Plus to bake such a large cake would cost thousands of dollars (I assume)! After discussing the details with Thea, we headed back to the condo before deciding on where to eat and drove into the West End. Denman street was packed with traffic so we decided to exit (thru an alley) and ended up on Robson street. Rhoda mentioned a new Mexican restaurant on Robson so we decided to try it out. Gosh it was so delish! I have never heard or seen this place but it's got good authentic and inexpensive Mexican food, Don Guacamole's on Robson - a must try! (If you can get a table, this place is PACKED!!) After dinner, Jess dropped us off at the skytrain station and took the train back. I can't believe Jess is getting married in 6 weeks!!!

Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Tonite, we took my dad to Hamilton Street Grill in Yaletown for father's day dinner. It's funny how a $12 dinner becomes a $140 dinner!! After ordering wine and add on's plus appetizers, it can quickly add up. The restaurant was pretty busy and almost a full house but it is Father's Day and HSG still had their $12 sirloin steak dinner so I can see why this place would be a popular destination for FD's dinner. After a very scrumptious meal, we headed back over to dad's to chill out before calling it a nite. We didn't get any photos taken so I don't have any to post but my father enjoyed the dinner and spending time with his kids and grand-kid =)

Oakridge Centre

This afternoon, Kay and I met up with Rhoda and Jess at Oakridge Centre cos Jess was going to have her first fitting done on her wedding dress! Wow, it's getting really close now! We met up with Rhoda first and walked thru the shopping centre while we waited for Jess. We headed over to Aritzia first cos I had a private pre-sale invite (20% discount from June 19-24) and I wanted to see if they had my size in a skirt that I have been eyeing for some time. Yes, one size left in my colour so I picked that up and I just love the way the short sleeve blouses fit so I had to have a pink one in my collection as well. After walking through the mall, we ended up at Browns and Kay really wanted a pair of Adidas sneakers (40% off, on sale) so I picked those up for her but she has to pay for half cos this is not a needed item - it's a want item! After Browns, Jess finally arrived and we headed into After Five or actually The Rack at After Five cos that is where she ordered her wedding dress from. With a little effort and once inside, she looked beautiful! I can't believe how grown up she looks and this is the same 14 year old that used to babysit Kayesha! I cried a bit cos I was getting a bit emotional, I am not sure what is going to happen when the actual day arrives! After her fitting and being Wow'D, Kay and I had to leave for my dad's place so we said our good byes. I can't believe how close Jess's wedding day is coming!!!

Estate Sale & BS Project

Today, I woke up early to head over to Port Coquitlam for an estate sale with my mom. Her co-worker knows a person who is holding an estate sale to the public next week and let everyone at the workplace know so they could get first dibs on items in the house before the public sale. The directions we got were not very clear and we are not familiar with PoCo or the tri cities so we got lost, really lost so lost in fact, we were getting a bit pissy with each other! I called a friend who grew up in PoCo and got some directions (she googled it while I was on the phone with her) and found the correct street. Once inside, we were overwhelmed with so much stuff! Items were everywhere and you basically had to go thru the house and ask the curator the price and bargain it down. It smelled quite old and stuffy as there were 2 animals that lived in the house and there wasn't a lot of ventilation in the house. After going thru the entire house a few times (you can miss stuff the first and second time you go around), mom found a couple of oil paintings and a huge wrench for pipes while I grabbed 3 oil paintings, a koi fish print and japanese geisha doll. All items were purchased for less than $50! What a great deal! After the sale, we headed back into Coquitlam for some lunch before heading back into Vancouver. Since we were already on the road, we decided to stop off at PetSmart, Starbucks for a coffee and Dollar Store cos I needed to purchase some items for the bridal shower gifts for Jess's bridal shower. As soon as mom and I were done, I headed over to Rhoda's place so we could discuss the bridal shower and I could start making the bridal gifts. We did pretty good and finished all 22 bottles by the end of the night. As Rhoda was organizing and cleaning her place, I was putting together the bottles and Rhoda's mom made dinner. I finished the bottles and we took a break for dinner before deciding that we need to head over to Superstore to pick up another bag of lavender salts for the shower gifts. We also did a pit stop in Artizia (didn't have the skirt nor the blouse I've been eyeing) and Plenty cos I wanted to show Rhoda the Soi & Kyo jacket I found at Plenty on Robson and it was on sale at 25% off! I ended up buying the jacket cos it's a really good price plus it's on sale and I don't have anything similar to that! After walking around the mall, we headed back to Rhoda's to finish the bath salts (we need to colour it and fill the bottles). It was a long day and night! But we are almost ready for the shower and it's only a week away! Wow, how time flies....

Sony 7" Digital Frame

Tonite, I headed over to Superstore for my weekly run of items and groceries. This week in the weekly ad is a coupon for $25 gift card if you spend $250 or over. I can usually spend up to $150 or so and this week the Sony (DPFD72) 7" digital frame is $30 off making in on sale for $119.99 - that's a great price! I have been eyeing one of these for a long time so I figured why not buy the digital frame and what I normally pick up to see if I could make $250. Yep not a problem, I can't wait to plug it in and upload my photos!! So excited!!

BC Dungeness Excrabaganza

Tonite, Jas and I headed out for dinner at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Granville Island for their June Crab Special at the restaurant. For only $38 a person, you can choose an appetizer, an entree and a dessert from the menu above (click to enlarge). The view was beautiful (Granville Bridge and the False Creek) and the restaurant felt somewhat like a cafeteria, it was fine dining on a budget! The overall presentation and taste of the dishes were amazing! The appetizer came out pretty quick, crab cakes were scrumptious! The entree took a bit longer but worth the wait, Crab and Ricotta Cannelloni was amazing and very rich and filling! Of course, dessert, Dark Chocolate Tarte with white choclate and ginger ice cream, divine! Check out photos food shots on my flickr account :)

Allergic Reaction

Poor Kay! She's got a terrible allergic reaction to SOMETHING!! It's pretty bad, it's all over her body and the reaction looks a lot like hives. We are trying to figure out what she had that could cause such a bad reaction but there wasn't anything in her diet that she hasn't had before. There is a medical clinic not too far from our place (on Kingsway and Victoria) but it doesn't open until 9am. She has an exam at noon and I know it's going to be tough for her esp since she did not get any sleep last nite cos she was so uncomfortable from being itchy and scratchy! Poor thing, hopefully she'll get some meds from the clinic!

Update: The clinic by our place does not take WALK INS until after 1pm!! WTF? I gave Kay some money in the morning so I told her to go get some REACTINE to help bring down the reaction. She is terrified of swallowing pills but I told her she could not go to school and take her exam like this. She needs to take something so the allergic reaction will calm down. I am booking her to see my doctor for tomorrow!

Lobster Dinner

Mmmm... tonite, dad took Kay and I to a Chinese restaurant in Richmond Centre called Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine, that serves fresh seafood at good prices and we were going for the prawns cos it costs only $6.88/pound. Altho we went for the prawns, prawns were sold out so we ordered the lobster instead. Gosh was it ever delish! My dad, as always, ordered way too much food but everything was yummy. The prices were a bit pricey but I guess they pull people in for the great priced seafood and then jack up the main entrees. Overall, it was pretty yummy and I would probably go back to dine for a special occasion. After dinner, we headed back to his place and had some more mango cake which was delish (and I had way too many pieces!!) Check out food photos on my flickr account.

Late Lunch with Dad

Today, Kay and I decided to head over to Richmond to visit my dad, we hadn't seen him in over a month and I figured it would be a good idea to go say hello and see how he's doing. Once we arrived, dad suggested we go out for lunch and even tho we weren't really all that hungry, we decided it would be nice to have an iced drink and a snack. We headed over to Boston Steakhouse for lunch cos I wanted an iced lemon tea and Kay/Warren wanted iced milk tea plus Warren isn't feel too well (can't leave the house) and he wanted to eat HK style chicken spaghetti. Since we were at BSH, I had to have a fresh mango cake (mango straight from the Philippines!) and Kay ordered a baked pork chop on rice. While we were catching up with my dad, he mentioned a bakery on Westiminster that makes really good fresh mango cake but is the mango from the Philippines? On our way back, he insisted we stop at the bakey, Wheat Garden Bakery to pick up a 6" cake for us to try but WGB doesn't have any made, you have to order fresh. We have to go back at 4.30 to pick up this cake, I hope it's worth it!

LG TE365 Neon

I am looking into purchasing this LG TE365 Neon mobile phone but debating if I should renew our contract for another 2 years ($65) or if I should purchase the phone at $175. It is time to replace my mobile cos I don't really like it and I had to buy it cos my handbag was stolen with my cell in it! Now if I purchase this phone, I will def be changing my mobile plan with unlimited texting and mobile surfing! I will then be connected to Facebook and Twitter at all times! :)

Update: Rogers Wireless has this phone in PINK but it costs $25 more!! I love it in pink but debating if I should buy it for an extra $25.....

The Time Traveler's Wife

Official Movie Site: Time Traveler's Wife

How exciting! I cannot wait for this movie to be released and I know it's going to be an amazing movie with such amazing actors. I've read the novel several times and every time I read it, I always cry but it's a really well written novel. The story is beautiful so I'm very excited that it's now a movie. August 14th is the release date, I think I'll be one of the first people in line to see this one.

Synopsis (and movie photos) from Rope of Silicon and movie trailer for viewing on Yahoo Movies.

Eric Bana (Munich) and Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers, The Notebook) star in the drama The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on the bestselling novel by Audrey Niffenegger. In the film, Bana portrays a man with a time-traveling gene who manages to appear and re-appear at different times in the life of his one true love (McAdams).

Sala Thai & Baby Jacob

Tonite, we finally meet little Jacob, Tim & Kelly's baby boy! How much has changed in the last 4 months, wow they grow up so quickly. But he is def Tim & Kelly's baby boy! Looks like Tim & Kelly, can't tell who he looks more like. We alll meet at Sala Thai cos for some reason Tim thought that was more central to everyone. I think Basil in Burnaby would have been more central but oh well, it was still nice to head over to the Cambie Village. We order a few dishes to share and dessert of course, ST's coconut ice cream is the best! After a few hours of catching up, it was time to call it a nite! Rhoda and I came back to my place (she drove over and parked her car) and I decided to bake cookies! Tomorrow I'm going to make a cheesecake brownie, mmmm.....

Bran Muffins

I know it's a bit crazy to be baking in this weather but I need my bran muffins in the morning! Mmmm...bran muffins with raisins and chocolate chips!

Early Saturday

It's not even noon yet and I've done so much already, I must say I do enjoy waking up early esp. to sunny warm weather like this (I think it's going to be a hot one today!!)! Surprisingly, I woke up before my alarm went off cos I needed to go for a 30 minute run cos last nite, those mash potatoes were def something I needed to burn off! After my run and 200+ sit ups, I decided it was still early so let's get some chores done like laundry and dishes. I love hanging my laundry outdoors in this weather cos it dries so fast and smells so fresh! I made a nice healthy whole wheat wrap with organic scramble eggs with ham and goat cheese with 2 cups of german coffee (co-worker gave me a package). It's still quite early so I guess I'll prep Kay's dinner and make her lunch (she's going to be awake in a bit, I hear her stirring). Tonite, I'm heading out with my BFF for thai food so excited! I haven't been to Sala Thai on Cambie since Kay and I moved out of the Cambie Village! Must do some baking before I run errands with mom.

$12 Sirloin Steak Dinner in Yaletown

Tonite, Ben and I went to Hamilton Street Grill in Yaletown for a $12 sirloin steak dinner! Yes, TWELVE BUX!!! Wow, what a delicious meal and just enough of everything! The 8 oz sirloin steak came with creamy (and very rich!) mash potatoes and steamed seasonal veggies. HSG also had an add on menu so I added the Spot Prawns for an extra $10 and it was a really good decision cos those prawns were the sweetest prawns I've ever had! These were locally caught and fresh out of the ocean. Mmmm.... I can't wait to go back there on Father's Day! My brother and I are going to take him to HSG for father's day dinner and I'm going to suggest either of them add the lobster or/and king crab to their meal too! Mmm.... seafood and steak.... super delish! As a starter, Ben ordered a plate of yam fries and gosh, the plate was HUGE (only $5!!) and so yummy but I think it wasn't a good idea to start with the yam fries cos by the time our dinner arrived, we were getting a bit stuffed. After dinner, we decided it would be a good idea to walk off some of the meal so we walked around Yaletown for a bit. The walk back to his car was also a nice long walk and then we decided in the car to head over to Metro for some more walk and maybe dessert. After walking thru the mall, we decided it was time for dessert and headed over to Yogen Fruz, so yummy and a great way to end the evening! I had a blast and as always, Ben is always great company! Now it's time to plan our day hike to Squamish Chief, it's such a beautiful hike!

HK PJ's & Undies

OMGosh, these are the cutest PJ's and undies!! I love Winners, I picked up the PJ's for under $15 each and under $3 for the undies!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Happy Birthday Jess!

Today, we celebrated Jess's birthday at Joey's in Coquitlam. Kay and I headed over to Rhoda's place around 6.30 and we all headed down to Joey's together. It was a nice dinner and it was auntie's first time at Joey's. B managed to join us and there was a lot of wedding talk, hopefully, it's not getting too stressful for Jess or Rhoda! We ordered appetizers, a main entree, and dessert of course! I hope Jess liked her birthday gift and it was nice to see her wearing the Tinker Bell necklace cos she can see what a pretty match the earrings are to her necklace. It was a late night and I have an early morning meeting tomorrow but def worth it. It is always so nice to spend time with my "other" family :) (Photos to follow... I didn't take any with mine!)

Happy 50th Birthday Val!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VAL!

Today, I surprised Val with a present, lunch and cake! It took some planning and being a bit sneaky but I manage to do it all last week. Altho I promised I would not make a big fuss on her birthday, keeping it to just me and her (crossing my fingers and toes); I had in fact, arranged a surprise lunch with her closest friends at the office to help celebrate this milestone birthday! I made reservations at Joe Fortes cos they offer a very good lunch selection at reasonable prices and it's something different than the usual Cactus Club or Milestones, I booked a cake for her from Saint Germain's and picked up a pair of beautiful earrings from Swarovski. Over the weekend, our lovely JW came in on Sunday to decorate Val's desk with Happy 50th Birthday banners and balloons. Gosh was Val ever surprised when she came in, altho I think we could have done more and made it bigger, we all know how conservative Val is and the decorations were def not over the top. Once I arrived to the office, I went upstairs to give her the birthday gift right away and I was a bit worried that she might not have liked it or it may not be suitable but she loved the gift and she almost broke into tears! I did warn her that next year, don't be expecting anything this elaborate and I wanted to splurge a bit more this year cos it's a milestone birthday. At noon, I was a bit worried that she was going to cancel as she was having a very busy morning, I could see a look of panic on her face when I went to pick her up for lunch. But she decided to come out cos it's her birthday and it would be a nice break from the busy office. Phew! That's a close call! As we walked towards Robson Street to Tropika (that's where she thought I was taking her), I quickly grabbed her arm and walked her up to Joe Fortes and said, CHANGE OF PLANS!! She was really shocked, surprised and elated to see her friends at the table! Again, she nearly broke into tears and I think this was one of the best 50th birthday parties she's ever been too!

Earls with Moms

Tonite, I headed out for dinner with Kay's BFF's moms as our girls were out celebrating Mhairi's birthday. It is nice getting to know both moms and I see why Kay wants so badly to move back out there. She is constantly looking out for new townhomes and there is a beautiful new one called The Fountainbleau on Birch Street and it is one block away from her BFF's place. The townhouse is beautiful, I would love to live there as we are familiar with the area and love the area but the townhouse Kay wants us to buy is asking over $900K. If I won the lottery, I would not think twice but trying to mortgage that amount plus I can't imagine how much property taxes payments are! Even with the recession and the real estate dropping, it is still such an expensive area to live in. Of course, I've looked online and there are more reasonable condos/townhomes in the area below 600K but that is still quite a bit of money. Oh well, wishful thinking for now. I met up with Jodi and Laurie and we walked down to Earls on Broadway. I love the neighborhood, the architecture of the apartments and condos are so unique and interesting. Maybe in the future, if we can't afford to buy, I will look back into renting in the area. We arrived at Cactus Club first but they did not have any sun on the pation so we decided to walk over to Earls cos Jodi wanted to sit outside on a patio to enjoy the weather. By the time we reached Earls, it was 630ish and it was getting a bit cooler than expected. Luckily, there were heat lamps on the patio and we requested them to be turned on. We enjoyed a meal and a drink before decided to have tea and dessert at Jodi's place. Laurie and I stayed until almost 1030 before calling it a nite. It was a really good nite and I hope Jodi had a good time, she's going thru a lot and I would hope she could call either one of us if she ever needed anything. By the time I got home, I was ready to pass out!

Mom is OK

Thank goodness! My mom is on her way home, she's feeling much better and the diagnose is kidney stones! Ow!! She needs to drink MORE WATER!

VGH Emergency

This morning at 4am, my grams called me on my cell to tell me my mom was not feeling well and I should come upstairs to see her. I went to my gram's bedroom and there she was, looking very very ill and having really bad pains in her lower back. She couldn't move but when she did, she was in so much pain that she wanted to vomit and shivers were hitting her hard. I called for an ambulance and when they arrived, they took her stats and asked many questions. The paramedics thought she might have food poisoning and she would probably be discharged in a few hours. The paramedics were not very helpful in assisting with my mom as she painfully walked down the flight of stairs to get into the ambulance. Obviously with all the discomfort, she had to manage and I could not believe they did not bring the stretcher up to the bedroom. I helped my mom get into her bathrobe and slippers and tried to move and lift her out of bed. It was very painful watching my mom walk down the stairs and into the ambulance. I found out later in the hospital that she had vomited again in the ambulance. The emergency room was busy and my mom had to wait almost 20 minutes (she was in excruciating pain) for a bed and finally when she got in, grams and I had to wait an hour before going in to see my mom. It seems they were not sure what was wrong with her, it could be a number of things and a few tests were being done. The hospital wanted to give her an ultrasound before they could diagnose her. We found out that the emergency doctor hadn't come to see her yet and we weren't sure if she was coming home or staying the night. Finally the doctor came by and told us it would probably be best to go home to rest since the results of the test and ultrasound would not be available until later in the day. We drove home and hopefully, this is not too serious and my mom will be home tomorrow night.

Early Saturday

This morning I woke up early to hit the Grouse Grind with my friend, Ben. He arrived around 845ish and we headed up to GG but as we approached the mountain top, there was a traffic jam! Ohmy! We wondering what the heck was going on and hopefully, not everyone in the crowd was heading up the GG. But we were wrong and we decided to not to fight the crowd up the trail and instead decided to head over to Park Royal Centre to do some banking and walking around. About 1030ish, we were both getting hungry and Ben had a craving for Viet food so we headed back to 1st and Renfrew to this little place he loves to dine at. After an early lunch, we decided to call it a day and decided to make plans for the GG another day. I went home to do some cleaning while waiting for my mom to get up, I had a busy day but first I offered to help my mom with her groceries and errands. But my mom had a really late and tiring nite so we did not end up going out until after 1pm. By the time we finished with our grocery shopping, it was getting late into the afternoon. I had so many things to do and I found out last minute that HonHon's parents are coming into Vancouver on Monday! Great! Now I have to tidy up his condo before his parent's arrival as Kay and I have been using the place after our swims. We have all our girlie stuff in both bathrooms and towels hanging everywhere! I also have plans with Rhoda in helping her with organizing and posting her stuff on craigslist. I def had more than enough things on my plate this afternoon! Once grocery errands were done, I headed over to HonHon's condo to tidy up and pack up our items to store. Then it was off to Rhoda's place, she had planned a spontaneous BBQ but decided not to hold it and probably wise as it turned out to be only the 3 of us. I wouldn't want to take out the BBQ for 3 people - think of all the cleaning we would have to do! The burgers were pretty good, she picked up a box of PC Blue Menu thick and juicy burgers with only 210 calories at Superstore. Hmmm... my mom could have a burger on her diet! I made a homemade Cesar salad with my own dressing to serve with the burgers. After dinner, we did some photo taking (shoes to post), arranging and bridal shower planning. We also shared a yummy dessert, The Decadent Molten Chocolate Cake by PC, and it was super chocolaty! After dessert and more arranging/planning/surfing, we chit chatted over microwaved popcorn before calling it a nite! It is always so nice to spend time with my BFF :)

Freedman & Swarovski

Today at lunch, I headed over to Freedman Shoes to pick up a pair of summer pumps! I need a non-black coloured open toe shoe for my summer and cream/beige colour clothing but it seems that the one pair of pumps (MK patent nude pumps at Browns Shoes) I've had my eye on has not dropped in price! Probably will not drop in price until it gets closer to the end of summer or in a few more weeks so I decided I could not wait and these ones will do! These are not nude but a neutral toned colour shoe with bits of gold detailing and much prettier and summerier than the others. After shoe shopping, I went over to Swarovski boutique to pick up Jess's birthday present, a pair of Tinker Bell earrings to match the Tinker Bell necklace I picked up for her a couple years ago. But the Robson street boutique sold out so the SA ordered them from Park Royal to be delivered on Friday. Hopefully, I'll get them in on time and before Jess's birthday on Tuesday, I hope she likes them!

Happy Birthday Mhairi!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MHAIRI!!

This evening, we celebrated Mhairi's 15th birthday with the girls and the mums. Jodi, M's mom, invited all of us over for pizza and salad to celebrate Mhairi's birthday and to visit their new apartment. Wow, the apartment is beautiful and the view - spectacular! I arrived a bit earlier than Laurie (Tash's mum) cos I had rushed over to Oakridge to pick up a birthday cake for M from Saint Germain's. Kay didn't tell me that Jodi had picked up a DQ ice cream cake but it's ok, everyone loves dessert and more the better! Jodi and I were getting to know each other, talking about life as we waited for Laurie, the girls (hanging out at the swings), and the pizza while we were enjoying a glass of red wine. Laurie arrived an hour later and the pizza was delivered half an hour after her arrival. We gave the girls a call to let them know it was time to come back to the apartment for dinner. Laurie made a really nice salad with homemade dressing which went perfectly with the warm temperatures we are having, romaine lettuce, cucumbers and strawberries in a light dressing with poppy seeds. Delish! After pizza and a bit of a rest, we brought both cakes out for M cos Kay was impatiently waiting for dessert. After singing HB, blowing out the candles and letting M make her first slice, the mums finished cutting the cakes into little pieces for everyone. Mums slowly savouring the pieces as the girls gobbled theirs down; quickly finishing, the girls wanted to head back outside to hang out at the swings. Laurie and I stayed a bit longer to chat before calling it a night around 10.30ish. After saying our good byes, we headed over to the swings to pick up the girls and Kay needed to go back to Tash's place to pick up her backpack before we headed home. It was a lovely evening and def nice getting to know both mums!

Swimming and Dessert

After work, Rhoda and I headed over to HonHon's condo for a quick swim cos today was the perfect day (24C) to go for a dip in the pool! Originally, we had planned to hike the Grouse Grind but neither of us wanted to drive so we looked into taking transit up there, the time to take to get up there isn't too bad, only about 30+ minutes but coming back would take us an hour or more. I don't really mind but after an hour of hiking the Grind, I think we will be too tired too sweaty and too hungry to have the patience to get home so we decided to go for a swim instead. Also, I haven't gone swimming in a while and my knees are getting a bit sore from all the running, I need to start alternating my runs with swims. After our refereshing swim, we decided to head back to my place for dinner cos we too cheap to eat out. Besides, I have perfected my homemade kick@ss Caesar vinaigrette and I had some pesto chicken leftovers served on a baked mini whole wheat tortilla wrap. After dinner, we edited and updated her CHIC blog (partnered starter-business) and chatted a bit about stuff. Around 8.30pm craving for dessert, we headed over to a little HK style dessert house on Kingsway and Boundary. I choose to try a cold mango bobo served in coconut milk dessert and Rhoda had the same thing with mango juice, ohmy so yummmeeeeee......we deserve the light refreshing dessert after our 30 minute swim! A great way to end our nite!

Dinner and Dessert

Tonite, I headed out for authentic japanese on Main street with Shel and Kitty. Ohmygosh, it was really good and they have the most unique rolls I've seen in a long time! Zipang Sushi on Main street, the cross street is 21st - it's super busy and super small but you can make reservations which I highly suggest. Must take HonHon there, he would def enjoy the fresh and authentic sushi. At dinner, we caught up on life and I can't believe how generous these 2 are! Shel and Kitty bought a birthday gift for Kay and they ended up paying for the entire meal! These 2 are such good peeps! I also got the updates for their next holiday in September and wow, Asia for 3 weeks - how nice! Vancouver to Tokyo (omg, there is a Sanrio Land in Tokyo!) 7 days to Taipei 7 days to Hong Kong 5 days and back to Vancouver. Cost of all flights? Just under $1500! Wow what an awesome deal! Plus they are going to Priceline for hotels and hoping to get some sweet deals there. Wish Jas and I had considered looking for our San Fran hotel on priceline! Oh well, next time, now I know :) I am very interested in going to Sanrio Land in Tokyo and thinking about cancelling my stay at Grand Hi-Lai Hotel in Kaohsiung where they have Hello Kitty rooms - ohmy what is wrong with me? Nah, I can do both! Hahaha... apparently a nite stay is $300 CDN, damn, didn't know that so now I might have to cancel this stay! After dinner, we had an hour before meeting up with Jimmy and his girlfriend at True Confections for dessert. I have known Jimmy since I was 14 and even tho we've lost touch thru out some of those years, we have a few common friends and ended up chatting again. For the last 7 years, he's been working in Taipei and coming back every year to visit. Since, Shel and I drove our own cars to Zipang, he and Kitty headed over to Future Shop while I drove into Kerrisdale to pick up Kay and Tash. After dropping Tash home, we headed over to True Confections on Broadway and Alma. Mmmm... I have been thinking about the Devil's Food Cake with Marshmallow icing since Shel mentioned True Confections earlier in the week. After an hour and half of chatting and catching up, it was time to say good bye cos I had to wake up early the next day. It was really nice to catch up with Jimmy and always a pleasure spending time with Shel and Kitty - they are really great people!

Quiet

This morning, I woke up at 5am and could not get back to sleep. It must be the quietness and not having my sister with me. Since I could not get back to sleep, I decide to go for an early morning run since I hadn't done any running in over a week. It is really nice to run in the early morning cos the air is so fresh, it's so quiet and no one is around. It felt great running this morning and I should try to get up early every morning to run but I doubt I can do it since I enjoy snoozing every morning for 30 minutes!!

Good Byes

Mom and I woke up early to drop my sister off at the airport today but first, we had one last HK tea and breakfast with her. Her suitcases were so heavy and full, gosh did she have a ton of stuff and hoping she does not go over the limit. Luckily, she did not when we checked her in at 12.30pm, she had an hour before heading through customs so we ordered coffee at Starbucks and sat in the waiting area to spend her last hour in Vancouver. Mom and sister were really really sad and didn't want to leave each other and I think it really hasn't hit me just yet. I'm not terribly upset at the moment but it could also be cos I know I'll see her soon! My plans to HK still remain for February 2010 so it's not that far away before I see her again! After sending her off to customs, we headed over to Kirin Seafood Restaurant in Richmond to meet my grams, yee mah and bui jei for dim sum. After dim sum, mom drove yee mah and bui jei to Costco one last time and I headed home with grams. Gosh, it's going to be quiet in my suite without my sister :(

Saturday with Mom and Sister

Today, mom and I got to spend the entire day with my sister! Luckily, auntie inge came by the house to take my grams, yee mah and bui jei shopping at Holt Renfrew in downtown cos that's one of her fave places to shop and they wanted to shop around HR. Mom and I took my sister back to Superstore for some last minute items, a quick break for HK style tea and mini meal, Dollar store for a few more items, and back home to rest so she could start organizing her luggage before meeting my brother in Richmond for a farewell dinner. Kay and her friend, Tash came with us to dinner cos we decided to take my sister to the Richmond nite market and those two made plans to head down there tonite. We met my brother at Boston Steakhouse and the steak wasn't too bad cos we had a stone grill steak which is the only way I'll eat a steak at a chinese restaurant. The best part of this meal is the dessert, a slice of mango cake - mangoes from the Philippines! The slice of cake alone costs $7.00!! We decided to pick up a piece to go for my grams cos she loves and misses Philippine mangos, you really can't get them here in Vancouver. After my brother and I paid for the delish meal, I got a VIP card for the restaurant for 10% off meals and 20% off whole cakes at the bakery where the mango cake is made. After some photo taking, we parted ways with my brother cos he has an early morning, a charity golf tournament and we headed towards the nite market. We left the girls on their own for the hour while we three browse through the stands. There really isn't much at the night market but I ended up picking 2 Hello Kitty (knock offs) shower caps :) After an hour in the nite market, we decided it was time to go home cos my sister needed to finish packing, gosh she has so much stuff - hopefully, everything will fit in her luggage! It was a great way to end the nite and I am going to miss her so much.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Tonite, we celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday! I can't believe she's 90, she doesn't look or act like 90, people always assume she is much younger and I always tell her she's not a day over 60 :)

In the afternoon, we had to run errands like pick up her fresh mango birthday cake from Michele Cake House in Kerrisdale and pick up 6 bottles of red wine from the liquor store. Grams headed to Red Star Seafood Restaurant earlier cos she had mahjong games starting at 3pm. Dinner was to start at 8pm which gives her a few hours to play mahjong with her friends. After picking up the cake and liquor and dropping it off at the restaurant, most of the afternoon was gone so mom wanted to head home to get ready for the dinner party and she wanted me to drive yee mah and bui jei to Superstore. Mom didn't want to do any more walking or shopping so my sister and I dropped them off at Superstore first and we headed over to a HK style tea house for some tea and a snack, knowing 8pm dinner is not an 8pm start. Finishing our mini meal and tea, 45 minutes later, we headed back to Superstore to pick up my yee mah and bui jei but they weren't done shopping!! After 30 minutes and a buggy full of snacks for humans and dogs, we headed towards the check out so we could get back to the house and get ready for dinner.

Once we arrived home, we all started to get ready and can you believe that 3 of us had to share one small bathroom? Ohmy! We managed cos we were finished first before the rest of them so my sis and I left with the party favours and wine first. At the restaurant, we booked a small room to hold the dinner and I wasn't impressed with the size or the set up of the room. Dinner started at 8 and we arrived a bit earlier to set up and greet people as they came. It wasn't a very large room and there were 3 tables of mahjong and no room to mingle. I def would not go back there to throw a dinner party! Mahjong finishing up, the wait staff started to set up the tables and we started to arrange the seating for everyone. One table for Gram's friends, one table for grams and the elders, and the last table was for us - young'ens! As people settled into their seats, my yee mah and bui jei wanted my grams to make her first slice in the b'day cake (and take photos) before serving dinner as they wanted to include the cake with the dessert at the end. Once photos and cake slicing was done, we started our 10 course meal that's what it felt like anyways! During the meal, we had Kay and my Uncle Alex take photos and boy did my Uncle Alex enjoy taking the photos! I didn't get too many photos on my camera but hopefully, I'll get the ones off Kay's cam. I do not have even one photo of my grandma in my camera, well not a good one anyways. The food being served by the restaurant was not too bad but not the greatest Chinese food I've had. But as long as our grams was happy, we were all happy and boy was she happy. She had a great birthday and she really enjoyed herself. It was the best 90th birthday party ever! Happy 90th birthday Grams! (and we'll do it again in 10 years!)