BBQ in Richmond

Tonite, I went over to a co-worker’s house in Richmond for a BBQ. This is an annual BBQ that he throws for his department but this year, he expanded his invite out to the rest of the division. I have heard many great things about his renovated home so I was very excited to see his place. I have seen photos of all his renos but it’s def not the same as seeing it in person. WOW!! His house is BEAUTIFUL, he did some really great renos esp the master bedroom and bathroom. He built a fireplace for his master and his master bath looks like a spa!! Very talented and very good at what he does cos he reno'd his entire home on his own time during weekends and evenings. He even decorated his place by himself which is amazing for bachelor, I would have thought he hired an interior decorator! He is def a very handy person to know and he gives out advice for FREE! He even rebuilt his classic Porsche as a “project”. I arrived fashionably late and missed out seeing a few people that I wasn’t too keen on spending my sat with so was that luck?!? I did get to speak to many of the guys I work with in a more casual environment and that is very different from seeing them in the office. It was an interesting nite and we didn’t leave empty handed, lotsa leftovers and he had take away containers for people!

Mexican Fiesta!

Tonite, Jas, Kay and I headed over to Charly's house for a Mexican themed dinner cos Rosa and him were cooking a festive meal for their friends. It was nice to see everyone and the meal was very good, the Mexican dinner was almost authentic altho it isn't the same without Ivan :( Susan was in town for a visit for a few days and it was so nice to see her and catch up with her. I haven't seen her in over 2 years cos she lives out in Trail, BC with her hubby (also Charly's BFF). Susan and I had a chance to catch up before other guests starting arriving. It was nice to meet some of Rosa's friends and it was good that there were a few people that had accepted Charly in her life. It was a really nice time and I ended up staying late cos there were some good conversations but Jas and Kay had to leave early for other plans. After it was getting dark, I decided it was def time for me to go cos I was getting tired. It was nice to have the condo to myself since Kay was out til late.

Company BBQ

Wow! What a day! Gawsh, I'm super tired, it takes a lot of work to set up a company BBQ and thankfully, C helped us out this year with the prep work for the BBQ. This year, we had less people at the BBQ but it still took so much work and we still had so much food left over :( We arrived early to help Val with the setting up of the tables and supplies. C and Phil started putting together the chicken and beef skewers for the grill. Kay had a job this year and she was our photographer cos SB couldn't make it this year (she did the photos last year). But Kay didn't show up until 12.30pm!! When she did show up, she did a great job at capturing the moments at our BBQ. After a couple hours of BBQ, we did the raffle draw for the prizes (which we didn't have as many as last year) and once that was over, we started packing up as people were starting to trickle out. It was a fun (but tiring) day and all the kids had a great time plus it was nice to talk to my co-workers outside of the office. Everyone seemed relaxed and enjoyed themselves which made it all worth while. Too bad for the few people who were going to come couldn't make it but overall, I think it was another successful BBQ. But next year, we are def going to have look over the menu and adjust the amounts on the food items being served cos there was way too much again!

Prep work for BBQ

Wow! What a day, I'm soooo tired. It's been a long week and an even longer day. Yesterday, right after work, C and I went straight over to Costco and Superstore to pick up items for the BBQ. Gawsh, we had so much to do! We had to pick up the snacks, drinks, condiments, tomatoes, onions and fruit / veggie trays! But first, I had to move our stuff from mom's and from the storage unit back to the condo which took us about an hour, thank goodness for the 2nd set of hands, I don't know how I would have done it myself since Kay was working until 11pm! After the moving and shopping, we decided to head over to Nando's chicken for dinner cos I didn't defrost any meats or had any veggies in the fridge! Mmmmm, I forgot how yummy Nando's chicken is! I must consider eating there more often when I want to dine out, so yummy! After dinner, we headed back to condo to slice and chop the onions and tomatoes for the BBQ. Thankfully, C did most of the chopping cos I was trying to rearrange the condo back for Kay and I. After the prep work, C headed home and I decided it was time for a rest altho I realize halfway thru the rearranging that I left a few items at my mom's :( I decided to drive back over there to pick up the face wash cos I couldn't leave that behind! Plus I left my netbook over there, it was a nice stay at mom's cos we were "guests" and we got so many yummy dinners!

Super Excited!

Wow, Kay and I had a great day! We spent the afternoon together as she did not have any plans til tonite. First off, we headed over to my 12pm appointment at Monkey King on Kingsway to see Mica, a guest tattoo artist from Japan, - Detroit Diesel Tattoo Works) she's only here for 3 weeks to discuss my back tattoo and to look over her photos. Wow, she is super talented and does amazing work! I am so excited, I'm booked in for Wednesday at noon and I'm hoping to do it all in one sitting! It's possible to break it up to 2 sittings but I want it done all at once, I've been waiting 10 years to get this done! After our tatt appointment, we headed over to Coast Capital Insurance Services on Broadway / Cambie cos my auto insurance was due today!! Yikes, I'm cutting it pretty close! But I didn't want to wait til Monday to renew it cos I mite need to use my car tomorrow! As we sat down to speak to the insurance person, we realized that I only had basic cover and did not renew my liability insurance cos last year, I was suppose to go back to Coast Capital to renew it but I misunderstood and thought the other insurance company had done it for me! Apparently, the other insurance company could not sell me CC's insurance as they are not related to them therefore THIS ENTIRE YEAR, I've been driving around without liability!! How lucky am I that I did NOT cause any accidents! WOW! I am very shocked but not to worry, I made sure I had liability insurance before I left the building! Kay was getting very hungry cos she had not eaten before we left the house so we decided to try this japanese udon restaurant on Broadway. She said Tashna has eaten here before and it was pretty authentic and yummy. Wow, we ordered HOUSE MADE GYOZAS and they were SUPER GOOD, very light and full of flavours! The noodle soup came with a rice ball (japanese style fried rice wrapped with seaweed) and 3 pcs of gyozas! It was a lot of food but luckily I ordered a soba wheat soup noodle dish and it was much smaller than Kay's larger udon soup! Her soup base was pretty yummy and I think I will def have to try that one next time! Once lunch was finished, we decided we should walk off our lunch! Hahahaha.... we decided to check out the lulu store and Change cos I needed to get measured into the correct size bra. Wow, what great service and selection of bras! I've had so many women tell me to go to this store for my next bra plus there is a huge sale so I decided to get measured and to pick up some pretty (and to fit!) bras for myself. Wow, I couldn't believe how well these bras fit me and the very informative SAs were very helpful in explaining why the sizes in other stores did not fit as well as these ones did! I came out with 4 bras and a matching panty for only $110!! I'm set for a while now :) I've never had any "pretty" bras so it'll be nice to wear these under my tops and I know how pretty they are :) After bra shopping, I could tell Kay needed a nap cos she only had 4 hours sleep, chit chatting on the phone all night! We decided to head home so she could nap and mom and I headed out for some errands. After our errands, mom and grams cooked a lovely seafood meal with ling cod and geoduck from Alaska! So yummy! It's not bad staying over at my mom's :)

Sunday Food Feast

Wow, what a day we had! Kay and I met up with Ed (my cousin's hubby) for a day of JUST EATING OUT. OHMYGAWD, we had so much food!!! First, we started off at Crystal Mall food fair cos apparently, they had the best Siu Long Bao in all of Vancouver, this place called Wang's Shanghai Cuisine, makes all their dumplings fresh! Three women standing right up the front preparing the fresh dough and meat, it was pretty cool and OHMYGAWD super busy!! But we didn't just order the dumplings, he ordered a whole load of stuff from there!! Plus we had to try the Taiwanese beef noodles which happened to be right next door cos for the price, it was pretty decent for a food fair meal! After finishing off our "lunch", we headed off to Starbucks for a coffee and chit chat. Once we were done coffee and chit chatting, we decided to head over to Metro to see if he could get any gift ideas for his wife's birthday next month. He still had a few weeks to go but his father in law stole his gift idea which was the newly released iPad, my cousin is a huge apple junkie. We didn't see anything she would like at Metro so we decided to head downtown to Pacific Centre but Kay needed to go home first to change cos she was dressed like a bum and she didn't want to risk the chance of seeing anyone dressed like that. Once were in downtown, we went straight to the Apple store and those 2 were there for almost 45 minutes cos they were playing with the iPad. I figured Ed would have taken one home but he didn't want to ruin my cousin's b'day gift but he and Kay tried to convince me to buy one. Yes it's pretty neat but it was not cool enough to spend $500 on it! He is trying to convince me to cross over and to buy an Apple from his friend who is selling a barely used MacBook for $300. I responded politely NO THANK YOU as I am not a huge Apple fan and I have recently purchased an awesome kick@ss Toshiba notebook. Besides, I'm not a MacBook user, if I were to purchase an Apple, it would be the top model of the Mac line like the MacBook Air or MacPro. After 45 minutes, I managed to get them BOTH out of the store (with a bit of annoyed whining) cos I was about to lose my patience with them and once out of the store, we headed straight into Browns. A huge shoe sale to clear out the summer stock, the D&G pumps I've been eyeing were priced down to $199 from $695 but not in the fuchsia :( only in the black and I didn't want another pair of black shoes plus the heart cut outs were not as distinct in the black versus the fuchsia. Over to Holt Renfrew, to my surprise HR was having their end of season sale plus the 2nd mark down was today so many beautiful clothes in my size and at such a great price but the few pieces I did pick out did not fit me too well :( which means I didn't end up purchasing anything :( Over in their shoe selection, a pair of Jimmy Choos in this beautiful turquoise colour and in my size, marked down from $1295 to $495 but I could not justify spending THAT MUCH money on a pair of shoes! Even tho they were so beautiful and looked great on my feet! Also many pairs of beautiful Louboutins on sale again in my size but still at the sale price, not within my shoe budget or maximum price range for me to purchase unless of course I won the Lotto Max then I wouldn't think TWICE! Not surprising, I found my SWs and Coach shoes but even with the 2nd mark down, it was still more expensive than what I had paid for them on sale at Zappos and Coach store! Oh well, nothing for me again! :( After HR, Kay was getting a bit hungry so we headed outside and onto Robson street for a crepe cos Kay was craving for a sweet crepe. I didn't want a crepe cos I was still full from lunch but I could use a drink and since the sun finally came out, we decided to head over to Yaletown to check out the new Keg cos I haven't been. Ed was shocked that I had no idea about all the places that he talked about or haven't been to or heard of it cos I'm such a foodie :P The new Keg in Yaletown had a really cool rooftop patio so we decided it would be a nice place to chill for drinks and appetizers. Wow it's a very different scene from the downstairs restaurant and if I lived closer to Yaletown, I would probably come up here for drinks more often! After a couple glasses of wine and a couple of appy's, I was craving for dessert so he insisted on taking us to Kits for the best banana parfait in Vancouver! OMG, never ending day of eating and drinking! Fuel on West 4th revamped itself and became reFuel, Ed and his eating buddy used to come here all the time for the calamari but they had taken it off the menu so he didn't come in for a while but when we arrived, another disappointment! It seems, the Banana Parfait Ed was talking about was also not on the menu any longer! He was so disappointed and felt so bad that it wasn't available since he had convinced us it was the best dessert in Vancouver! The executive chef suggested the chocolate brownie on the dessert menu cos he guaranteed us that it was the BEST decadent chocolate brownie dessert I'd ever have so I gave it a try since I love chocolate! Gawsh was it ever decadent and delicious! Super rich but so very yummy!! Ed also had another beer and tried pork dried ribs with the executive chef's own homemade BBQ sauce. OMG, the BBQ sauce was amazing and we both agreed that he should def bottle that stuff cos it would fly off the shelves if he did!!!! I will def have to go back there again, yes that's how amazing the BBQ sauce is!!! We were sitting at the bar cos Ed like sitting there so he could chat with the executive chef, Ed found out that this coming Wednesday would be a pig feast which meant for $50 a person, they would have 2 roasted pigs for the eating and 2 kegs of beer for the drinking. Now I would have totally wanted to do this but starting this week (Monday in fact), I'm going on a very strict diet of chicken breast and vegetables cos I could not button a pair of pants last week!! I've had way too much good food and have not done enough cardio or swimming! I have been meaning to hit the Grouse Grind as well but I haven't really been motivated to since I've heard the GG has newly added a staircase up the trail. Also, it now costs $10 to catch the tram back down the mountain! WTF?!?!?!?! Oh well, I will try to do it once or twice with Charly this summer. He's been going to the GG at least once a week I think, good for him! After reFuel, it was getting late and I still had things to do at the condo so we asked Ed if we could call it a nite. The chef convinced him the BEST chicken wings were at Campagnolo Restaurant on Main street and he really wanted to go to try them out, one last stop, but I could not eat anymore and even tho I was stuffed, if we had gone to Campagnolo's, I would not have been able to stop myself from eating the wings!!! So I had to decline :( He was good about it and I'm sure he and his wife will go there sometime this week to try them out :) Gawsh it was such a fun and entertaining day but we were pretty tired and ready to pass out! Wish I could go to the pig feast :( Oh well next time! I def learned a lot about food and the restaurants in Vancouver from Ed. I think he really should blog about his eating adventures!

Happy Father's Day!

Tonite, we took my father out for Korean BBQ, Jang Mo Jib in Richmond, originally my father wanted us to stay at his place so he could cook dinner cos he didn't want us to spend any money but it doesn't feel right that my father cook on this only day that he doesn't have to! We were going to do take out Japanese but I decided it would not be good to do take out cos Kay and I were planning on heading over there earlier to spend some time with him. I managed to book a last minute reservation for 7.30pm at JMJ Korean Restaurant on Alexandra Road. We have never been there before but Kay gave it good reviews and I noticed that this Korean chain is all over Vancouver! I did some googling and it seems that they have pretty authentic and yummy dishes but the lack of customer service has turned some customers off. Well it was def not the best CS and we were very disappointed that we did not get our side dishes or rice or drinks until after the first dish arrived to our table. We had only ordered 4 dishes, 2 bbq meats (one being top quality ribs with a $15 extra charge for AAA+), a Korean noodle dish and their version of gyozas. Luckily they forgot our gyoza order as we were very full from the other 3 dishes! It was a nice evening with our dad and he looks like his disease isn't progressing too quickly but he still isn't in the best health. Must make an effort to go out and visit him more often. Happy Father's Day!

Farmer's Market & Aritzia

Wow what a great way to end a work day! Kay and I went over to Aritzia on Granville Street before hitting the Farmer's Market at Main Street. I had asked her to pick up the discount postcards that Aritzia sends for their summer sale and since we moved I forgotten to update our address so it has been sitting at my mom's place for almost a week! This year, I got a free towel - FINALLY! I've spent enough money in that store to get a free gift and to get the VIP discounts that start this week :) I didn't find anything at the Granville store so we headed off to the market and boy what a great market! There were so many veggies and I was super excited to head over to Fresh Off The Boat to pick up my spot prawns and sable fish :) I spent a $100 on fish / prawns! I also got a great big basket of local strawberries and a few different kinds of asian veggies which was surprising cos I didn't think I would find asian veggies at the market! After the market, we headed home to make a quick dinner and headed over to Metrotown's Aritzia to check out some of the items I was hoping to find so I could purchase them with my discount!! Wow, the newly renovated Aritzia is so huge and they had every item I wanted!! I found my Community sweater (mix of cashmere & silk), a very cute Community dress and I picked up another silk top by Central Park West in black cos I have one in purple and I love it! All 3 pieces for a total of $260! That's an awesome price since if I purchased all 3 without the discount, it would have costs me over $350! I also bought Kay her black TNA hoodie cos she's been eyeing mine for a while and I didn't want to share mine. After our purchases, we walked around and decided to head home but not without dessert :) We picked up a frozen yogurt each from Qoola :) Mmmm....frogurt! It was a great shopping day!! Now must stay away from Aritzia ......

Granville Island, DT Shopping, Swimming & Dinner!

Wow, what an awesome day!! Today was the first really warm and beautiful day in Vancouver so I headed over to Granville Island with Jas to pick up some fresh veggies and fruit. I missed the Trout Lake market as I didn't get up in time to make it out there. I forgotten how expensive the produce is at the market on Granville Island! I picked up a few items before we decided to head into downtown so I could look at the Louis Vuitton handbag that HonHon is going to buy for my birthday :) There were only 2 left in the LV boutique, I couldn't help myself, I had to charge it right there and then cos this one is not a displayed model and it was made in France!!! It's a nice casual over the body purse which is what I'm looking for and it will be good for traveling (once I start!) and it wasn't too expensive about $900 including taxes! Before purchasing the handbag, we had walked around downtown Robson street and went to Coach cos Jas got a Coach gift card for her birthday from her co-workers. She hadn't found anything in there and she was hoping she could find something this time but I ended up using her GC on a pair of cute Coach flats! What a great sale, 50% off and the total cost of the shoes? Only $70 and they didn't even look like Coach shoes. We decided after the shopping, it was time to call it a day and I still had to get home to meet Marlo cos she was going to help me with my front crawl. Once she arrived, we decided to swim first and then we would eat dinner since we'd burn off a lot of energy in the pool. Wow, she's an awesome tutor, she really helped me with my swimming and pointed out some things to me like relaxing my shoulder and blowing air out more evenly in the water. The next time we go swimming, we decided it would be very beneficial for Cece to come with us cos she could really help her out with her swimming. After our swimming, gosh were we surprised to be swimming for more than an hour, we decided it was time to head back upstairs for dinner. Dinner menu were sauteed fresh local veggies and steamed sable fish with a little bit of sea salt, black pepper and fresh lemon. Once we finished with dinner, we went off to rent a movie, Valentine's Day and pick up some bubble tea for dessert. We had a long night of chatting and she ended up staying the night since I didn't want her driving home at 3am!! When I woke up this morning, she had already left :( I was a bit saddened that we didn't get to say good bye but I knew she had to get back to her dog, Kanye and she had a date with Mr. D. It was an awesome night and I always have a great time with Marlo! She and I are so much alike it's crazy! She can even sense me when I'm thinking of her!!!

Aqua Riva

A birthday dinner with KD at the Aqua Riva, Jas and I shared the Seafood Trio, omg so delicious! It was a good time for Jas and KD to catch up since they hadn't seen each other in over a year. All in all, the meal was decent altho the dessert was gross! And expensive :( Oh well, next time, no dessert! It was a great way to end the long work week.....

Dinner with Lil Sis :)

Tonite, T came by for dinner cos I haven't seen her in AGES!!! We had lots to catch up on so I suggested I'd make a nice healthy dinner and she can bring a healthy or non healthy dessert! She was going to bake but ended up picking up yummy brownies from Capers :) Dinner was baked wild salmon with fresh organic dill, local organic spinach quickly sauteed with organic garlic and brown basmati brown rice with organic cilantro. So delish! It was great catching up with T! We are going to try to do this more often :)

Happy Birthday Val!

Today we celebrated Val's birthday at Coast Restaurant and it was yummy. I decided to try something different so I went with a mango California roll with real crab and 3 raw oysters. The roll wasn't as good as Irashai Grill on Alberni Street cos they have amazing sushi / rolls but not too bad for lunch and just enough to keep me full til dinner. Besides, I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for Val's birthday but they didn't really turn out so I only brought a few to share esp one for the birthday girl. I hope she had a great birthday!

1st BBQ of the Summer

Late this afternoon, I met up with Rhoda to catch up since we haven't seen each other in 2 weeks. Wow, what a change, she cut 13" off her hair and I was shocked how short it looked. She looks really good though and so much younger! Once she got her nails done, she was getting a manicure and pedicure at Brentwood, we weren't quite hungry yet so we decided to head over to Metrotown Centre to walk around while we decide where to go eat. We wandered through the mall and chatted about what's been going on before deciding that we would eat something close by cos she may have to go out clubbing with some out of town friends who were in town for the weekend. Before heading over to the restaurant, she got a bbm from her god-brother inviting us over for a (very last minute) BBQ and wanted to know if she wanted to swing by for food. Luckily for us, we had not left for the restaurant so we decided to head over there, who would turn down a BBQ?? Altho he was holding the BBQ, he was holding it at someone else's house! Cathy & Benson (old friends from high school) just moved into their newly renovated house and Rhoda missed out on their housewarming party the week before so it was the perfect opportunity to see their new place. Also, we wanted to see how much baby Chase has grown, oh my has he grown so much since the last we saw him! He is soooo cute and so chubby, perfect for kissing and hugging! The BBQ started late as it was a last minute but once the grill was set up and food was cooked, it was a great evening on catching up and visiting old friends. The inside of the house is beautiful and you wouldn't be able to tell from the outside what it looked like on the inside. An amazing job and I can't wait to see what they do on the outside! It's too bad that their neighbors don't take good care of their side (it's a duplex) cos it would be nice if they could repaint the entire house. Also, the next thing to be renovated is their patio, it's a bit old and feels unstable like it's going to fall down, luckily we didn't fall through! Altho he said as long as we didn't put too much weight, it should be ok :) Good times!

Main Street Farmer's Market

YEAH!! The first Main Street market started TODAY! Kay came by my work and we headed to the market together, this is something we do every Wednesday when the summer markets start. It's kinda tradition now and I really enjoy having her shop with me picking out our fruits and veggies plus getting to spend quality time together. I was super happy to see all the fresh local veggies and fruits but slightly disappointed with no berries since we haven't been having the best berry season so there were none :( But I did see familiar faces and fave stands like Kay @ The Other Eden (best handmade soaps ever!), Honey Stand with handmade honey chap stick (for Kay) and Fresh Off The Boat (best freshest frozen fish ever!). I think I spent half of our grocery budget on FISH! But so worth it and I plan on ordering 2 lbs of spot prawns (only in season for 2 months) to be picked up on her next Wednesday market. I am very excited to try those and I know they are going to be so delicious cos Spot Prawns are amazing, I was lucky enough to try some last summer at Hamilton Street Grill. It's also tradition for Kay to pick up a apple cider from the market stand and a sweet item before heading out. There was a new baked goods stand that were selling 2 kinds of yummy cinnamon buns, one with cranberries and one with nuts. Of course Kay picked the one with cranberries. It was an awesome first farmer's market!

EAT Vancouver & Prince of Persia

Today I met up with Jas and we headed over to EAT Vancouver at the new Vancouver Convention Centre. Wow the new convention centre is so nice! Wish I remembered to bring my camera but I did not :( I figured the exhibition would be huge since it was held at the VCC but it was not. We were slightly disappointed with EAT Vancouver and it seemed much smaller than the years before. Maybe cos EPiC had the larger section, I don't know but I didn't know both events would be held the same weekend, maybe I will try to get to EPiC tomorrow. But of course at EAT, I did end up with some good products from EAT, I picked up 12 pairs - yes, 12 pairs of gloves from u-like gloves that have a velvety soft lining and are latex free, also reinforced fingertips which makes these gloves last 6 months or longer! Regular price $3.99/pair but at the exhibit, $1.99 a pair of 12 for $20! I also picked up 3 packs of Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch, 3 for $24! That's a great price and I'm so addicted to these! My project director's wife picked up a few of these bars for me a couple of Xmas's ago and when I googled them, I found out these are made right out of Aldergrove but you can only buy them at their store which made me very sad since I never go out to Aldergrove. I have been craving for these for a while and was so excited they were at EAT. I was so excited that I bought THREE bags to take home. The SA mentioned you can now purchase the butter crunch on their website so happy to hear that cos I'm sure I'll finish these in no time! After EAT, we were going to Robson Street to do some shopping but we ended up watching Prince of Persia instead cos Sex and The City 2 was sold out!! Prince of Persia was full of action and Jake Gyllenhaal was super HOT in the movie but the storyline was blah. After the movie, we decided to call it a day cos the weather was so crappy plus I still had errands to do like clean the washrooms and do the laundry.

Happy 91st Birthday Grandma!

Tonite, we celebrated my grandma's 91st birthday at Shanghai River Restaurant in Richmond. The start of the dinner wasn't very good as they pushed our 7:30pm reservation to almost 8pm! We also came to this restaurant cos we wanted to eat crispy duck skin and mom had reserved a plate when she made our resos but apparently, they had sold out and didn't have a dish for us! Gosh, mom was super angry and wanted to leave the restaurant for another place. But we thought it was best to stay since we've already sat down which we had to wait 30 minutes for this table and it's a Saturday which means all the restaurants in the area would be super busy and we'd have to wait another 30 minutes for another table! But it was such a disappointment that we did not have the crispy duck skin since it was a birthday request. The manager seemed to be very apologetic altho mom didn't think so and he offered us a shredded duck dish served with lettuce wrap. This is kinda ironic since we did not want to eat this dish and was only going to go for the crispy skin. We ordered a few of the main dishes to share but we found the dishes very bland and such a disappointment. We will not be coming back to this place and we will try Northern Delicacy in Aberdeen the next time we want to eat Shanghainese cuisine or Xiao Long Baos (steamed pork dumplings). After dinner, we asked for our fresh mango cake to be served and the waitress looked confused. My goodness, the service is not great at all but can't expect much from an asian restaurant. I can't believe a year has past since my sister was here :( Makes me kinda sad but I'm sure I'll see her soon, hopefully next Spring!

Lunch with the Girls!

Today, I met up with C and M for a long over due lunch and to catch up on gossip and girl talk. We haven't seen each other since M left but she has been super busy studying for her mid-term which she took this morning. I know she did kick@ss on this mid term cos she studied every single day for over a month! I can't wait to hear the scores but I am certain she aced the exam! C & M came by to pick me up and we headed over to Oliver Twist Pub on Edmonds street, this seems to be our thing, pub food for lunch :) Burger platters at the pubs are always the best, it's so much better than Milestones or Cactus Club and it costs less plus there's more food! I think this will be our official theme, pub food for lunch and take out for dinner! After our lunch, we headed over to Metrotown for some frozen yogurt and while we ate our yogurt, we sat in a lounge area to chat and people watch. We always have such a good time together and we can talk about EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING. No judgment, no criticism, no funny looks or worried thoughts about what words are coming out of your mouth or thoughts out of your brain. Plus I love how they can relate to my "lunatic" tendencies and even encourage or add to my ideas while others would find them strange. I heart these girls!

Homemade Granola Bars

Oh my goodness! Homemade granola bars, a much yummier and healthier alternative than buying the crap in the supermarket! It's packed with organic oats, raw sugar, honey, butter, plenty of walnuts, dried fruits and seeds! I didn't have the dried apricot cos I didn't realize I ran out. I made these for Rhoda cos she's always going on about how I should pick up a granola bar when I'm hungry (cos I'm constantly needing a snack around 3pm)! I don't buy that crap in the stores so I decided to make some for work! So glad I did!!! Super good :)

Happy Mama's Day!

Lobster Benedict - Mama's Day BrunchMini Muffins

HAPPY MAMA'S DAY!!!!

Kay and HonHon took me out for mama's day brunch at Coast restaurant in downtown, Vancouver. It was so yummy and the lobster benedict was sooo good, it was def worth the traffic to get into downtown for this meal! After brunch, we walked around downtown for a bit, stopping into the Louis Vuitton store to look at the LV Monogram Galleria PM as I am still looking for a traveling handbag. I really do like the shape and the roominess of this handbag, it might be a perfect traveling and every day handbag. But I'm not sure as yet cos I don't really like the LV monogram and I prefer the Passy GM in the Epi line but the cost is $1780! Yikes! That's a lot of money so I need to start saving up for it. After Louis Vuitton, we walked over to Pacific Centre to window shop before calling it an afternoon as Kay got a call for a shift this evening. She was going to miss dinner if she took this shift but she hasn't been getting any shifts so I said it would be ok since she's already spent the afternoon with me. Once we arrived home, HonHon needed to take a nap and I decided to walk over to Metrotown to pick up a box of chocolates for my grandma and a starbucks gift card for my mom instead of flowers cos flowers are expensive and they are not edible :) HonHon took a much longer than anticipated nap so we didn't end up visiting too long with my mom. We had dinner reservations at GUU in Aberdeen Centre and we were not at all impressed with the service or the noise levels or the decor of the restaurant! In the end , Kay did end up making it as McD's cut her shift short and it was a nice way to end the day with just my family. Hope everyone had a wonderful mama's day too!! :)

Day trip to Bellingham

"Healthier" Double Down Sandwich (Grilled)

Original Double Down Sandwich

Hello Kitty NERD t-shirt

Tropical Hello Kitty

Today, HonHon and I took a mini road trip to Bellingham, WA cos we needed to pick up his package of K9 discs for his dog that I ordered for him last week and he wanted to eat the Double Down sandwich at KFC. We picked up his package before heading over to Bellis Fair to find the KFC but there is no KFC in the food fair! We walked around the mall a bit before hitting the road to find a KFC. I checked for 7 for all Mankinds at Macy's but this one does not carry the 7s. As we walked pass the Build A Bear, they were featuring a Tropical Hello Kitty which means she's tanned not white! OMG, so cute and I had to have one! There was also one Special Anniversary Hello Kitty left but HonHon would not let me buy that one :(, she looks exactly like my HK but came with a LE necklace, bow and heart patch on her body. I should have bought it and given it to Rhoda or Kay :( Oh well, I have so many Hello Kitty items! After BAB, we walked over to Target to see if they had any HK items cos I know they stock tons of HK stuff but nothing for me :( After that, we decided it was time to look for the closest KFC so he could have his DD sandwich as this was part of the reason we did the road trip. As we walked back to where the car was parked, we passed a store that sold all sorts of t-shirts and body jewelery and it was shocking to see a Hello Kitty stand in the middle of this store! Hello Kitty against body piercing and rock / goth items! Def caught my eye and I ended up with a Hello Kitty NERD shirt, omg, she is so cute! Two HK items in a span of 30 minutes, woohoo! Lucky me :) Since there was no KFC in Bellis Fair, we used my Poynt application on my Crackberry to locate the closest KFC which ended up taking us to a residential area past downtown Bellingham. The KFC was no longer there but it def looked like it once was one as the business that took over the building didn't get rid of the drive thru window! All was not lost, another 20 minutes away was the next KFC and it was pretty neat driving thru downtown Bellingham as I have never been. HonHon was so excited to see the KFC and it was interesting how KFC and A&W were connected! We ordered 2 DD, mine was the "healthier version" a grill DD and a side of A&W onion rings! But the onion rings are not as good as the ones in Vancouver. After our meal, we decided to call it day since I had to head back to Burnaby so I could help Rhoda move the wardrobe from downstairs into the new bedroom upstairs. It was a fun and entertaining day but I don't have any pics cos I didn't bring my camera :( Just the pics of my Crackberry :)