Blinged Out & Exciting Changes!

This morning, Kay had her orthodontist appointment at 9am to get the wires attached or glued to her teeth, I went with her cos I needed to sign the documents and make payment arrangements with the office. Her appointment was slotted for 1 1/2 hours so I was not sticking around to see the finished product but when she arrived home from her shift, I was so excited to see what her teeth looked like! Wow, it's kinda neat and now I'm really wanted to get a set of my own braces!! She said that at first, the brackets and wires did not hurt going on but after a few hours, it really started to hurt and now she's in a bit of discomfort but not in pain. She has a bit of a headache when she arrived home due to the late nite before with only a few hours of sleep, braces in the morning, and training for a few hours after school so I knew she wouldn't feel too good by the end of the day. But in the end she is really happy to FINALLY get them on :)

There are so many changes happening this year that it will be a very exciting year for us. I would also love to get my own set of braces but I think this will have to wait until the end of the year or beginning of next year. With plans to move into HonHon's condo so I can stop paying rent, it will def help relieve some of my outstanding debts and give my fiances a little bit of room. Also, with the upcoming travel plans which I have started a savings account for, it will def be good for me to venture out and see the world. Las Vegas (maybe) to visit Aria the new resort with the huge Louis Vuitton boutique this Spring or Summer, Taipei, Taiwan in the Fall and Maldives next Spring, it will be exciting even tho I do not enjoy flying or sitting on a plane for so many hours. I just can't wait to see what else 2010 will bring for us......

World's Oldest Hotel

Houshi

Wow, this place looks amazing and I think one of these days, HonHon and I should def stop by to enjoy their hot springs, this place looks so romantic, peaceful and relaxing. Apparently this is the world's oldest hotel and has been operated by the same family for 46 generations!

Phnom Penh, True Confections & OWFS Fall 2009

Tonite, we (Jas, Charly & Rosa) headed over to Phnom Penh for dinner. Jas and I had originally planned on making dinner but decided it was a long (altho in reality it's a short week cos of the stat on Monday) work week and it's Friday night which means it's dinner out nite. Plus I was much too tired from the work week to cook dinner for 4 people and I was craving those chicken wings. Phnom Penh was super busy of course and we waited about 15 minutes for a table but it was well worth the wait cos those chicken wings are the best and as always, so delicious! After dinner, we decided to head over to True Confections on Broadway and Alma for dessert cos we didn't get a chance to talk about our trip to the Okanagan during dinner, it was much too loud in the restaurant. During dessert, we accomplished quite an itinerary for the trip in October, we are getting really excited about it! I cannot wait to head over to the Okanagan Wine Festival and do the wine tastings! We discussed and arranged our itinerary, well Rosa and I did while Jas and Charly chatted, both of them wanted to "wing" it but Rosa and I agreed, we need to set up a flexible itinerary for each day. Of course I can be quite an psycho organized freak and I had a draft itinerary set up in excel (thank you microsoft office templates!) with tabs and all. I received some great feedback from everyone and will finalize the itinerary next week. Also, a great excuse to get together again and enjoy some yummy food and wine :) We will also need to make decisions on which tours and events to book as it's getting close to the dates. Hopefully, we will get to do all that we want and booking 2 weeks in advance will not be cause any problems. So EXCITED.

Also, I finally finished Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane and ohmygosh, I am so excited about the movie now!! I can't wait for the release, it will def be a really interesting movie esp since the ending of this novel was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. Dennis Lehane is an excellent novelist and I am def looking forward in picking up a few more of his novels!

Dinner with Charly & Rosa

Tonite, we skipped the Grouse Grind cos we had dinner plans at Charly's as he had a business meeting with his partners for a near future venture and this was the only day they could it. But one of them ended up cancelling last minute which means we could have gone to the Grind :( This is the 2nd Thursday that Charly has cancelled on me, I am not too happy about all these cancellations and I had planned on cancelling our Tuesday's workout (cos there is a local jazz musician singing at Capones in Yaletown on Tues night) but tonite's dinner was a meal for 9 people not for 5! Rosa made a chicken cordon bleu, hearty vegetable soup (one bowl of this soup = 1 meal for me and Kay), nacho chips served with cheese, vegetable platter with sour cream dip and I brought a bottle of red (Malbec) plus Caesar Salad with my own dressing. Gosh, there was so much food and Rosa was shocked by how full we were from the soup, veggie platter and nachos. I told her we do not eat huge portions and we snack a lot during the day so we tend to eat smaller meals. Plus we do not normally eat such heavy meals like chicken cordon bleu (which I knew I wouldn't like but finished it cos I didn't want to be rude). This was her first attempt to make chicken cordon bleu and it wasn't that good, a bit dry plus it looked, tasted and the texture was like meat loaf blah! Well I guess A for effort but F in all other categories? After dinner, we started planning out our trip in October for the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. We are getting excited about this and I am looking forward on getting away from the city, visiting the vineyards and tasting BC wine right from the winery!

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!

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!

Day in Victoria, BC

Today, mom, sis, and I woke up really early to head over to Victoria for the day! We had booked a day tour with a local chinese travel agency and our bus left Richmond at 7.45am. It seems so wrong to wake up so early on a day off but I had taken the day off to spend it with my sis and mom. This is the first time I've ever been on a ferry and on the island so I was a bit excited altho a bit worried about being on the ferry. The ferry is huge and was not what I expected but I didn't realize we'd be on the ferry for an hour! It really wasn't too bad until the ferry started to make it's turns towards Vancouver Island and I could feel the water and the movement which started making me nauseous! I went out for some air and that helped a bit. I think HonHon would really enjoy being on the ferry and I would def go on again but next time, I'll take some gravol. HonHon is a bit upset that I had gone to Victoria without him but now I'm a bit familiar with downtown Victoria and we won't get too lost when we go together. Our first stop was downtown Victoria, the tour did not include admission to the Royal Wax Museum so we did not go to the museum instead we headed over to The Fairmount Empress as I wanted to pick up some tea from the hotel. I really wanted to have afternoon tea but we did not have enough time (only an hour in downtown) and would be heading over to Chinatown for lunch so it wouldn't be a good idea to be full for our free meal (included with the tour package). We took some photos around downtown, visited the Parliament buildings, and walked around the waterfront before meeting the group at the bus. After downtown, we headed over to Chinatown for lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Chinatown, gosh lunch was not great (or edible IMO) and there was not enough food for everyone at our table cos it was set up for 8 people, the 3 of us made it for 9. We ended up being short on the chicken and soup! I ended up ordering a couple of dim sum plates (shrimp dumplings and spring rolls) and that wasn't very tasty either! Maybe we should have had afternoon tea and walked over to the restaurant! Oh well. After lunch, we had ten minutes to take photos in Chinatown which of course I did, took many shots of the gates in Chinatown but not enough time to explore the rest of Chinatown. I would have liked to visit Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest street in Canada. After Chinatown, we were off to Butchard Gardens for another couple of hours and it is a beautiful garden filled with so many beautiful flowers. My sister really enjoyed this part of the tour as she loves flowers and her fave flower was in full bloom covering most of the garden. Tulips, tulips and more tulips with so many colours and so many types, it was def a great treat! After the garden, it was time to head back to Vancouver. The ferry ride back seemed much longer and probably was since we were up so early and had a very long day. Once in Vancouver, we decided to head over to Mui Garden on Victoria Street for dinner cos we were much too tired to cook dinner. It was a really fun day and I am so glad to have spent it with my sister and mom! (More photos on my flickr account, I had so many photos to go thru, the ones posted are my fave ones! Enjoy!)

Weekend in San Francisco

What a weekend we had in San Francisco! It was so nice to get away for the weekend and spend time with good friends. I wish we had a bit more time though cos it went by so fast! I will def have to go back and visit plus the plane ride wasn't too long, only 2 hours there and 2 hours and 20 back. There was so much but I'll just write the highlights of each day!

Friday

Arrived around 8ish and went straight towards the shuttles to catch a ride directly to our hotel. By the time we arrived and checked into the hotel, Hotel Metropolis (cheapest rate in downtown SF Union Square at CDN $120/night), I was craving for a cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory! I wish we had one in Vancouver but then I would not be able to control myself and would have to eat cheesecake every weekend. That is not good cos these cheesecakes are HUGE and full of fat and sugar and probably a zillion calories! Gosh, the restaurant was super busy and packed, we didn't want to wait so we ordered a cheesecake to go. It was a long night and although we wanted to explore Union Square (super busy kind of like Robson street in Vancouver), we were both really tired and decided to call it a night.

Saturday

In the morning, we woke up super early (not on purpose) cos we could not sleep! Our hotel is on the border of expensive downtown and Hastings Street, Vancouver which meant we had some loud and crazy neighbors. It was so noisy throughout the nite and really strange how different it was in front of our hotel. Walking out the front entrance, you must go left cos left is the high end shopping district and right is Hastings Street. Since we were up early, we decided to do a bit of exploring in our neighborhood, we were thinking about taking the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf but the cost is $5 and we didn't think the walk would be too bad. Gosh, did we ever do a lot of walking! We walked from Union Square, Market street to check out a couple of stores and then up the hill towards Fisherman's Wharf. Not realizing how far and wide downtown SF is, we ended up walking through Chinatown which was pretty cool and the architecture in the city is amazing. So much to see but our goal was to get ourselves to Fisherman's Wharf. It seems that we were walking thru Chinatown for a long time but we finally got directions towards Fisherman's Wharf. But instead, we ended up walking thru another neighborhood, Italy town where we saw more amazing buildings, restaurants and cute little boutiques. Again, we asked for direction and we were close! We ended up walking thru another neighborhood filled with really beautiful homes, heritage homes and we could feel and smell the ocean and knew we were close. The buildings were beautiful, a mix of modern and vintage, keeping the city's heritage. Finally, we arrived at Fisherman's Wharf and it wasn't too busy cos it was still early but the the crowds of tourists were forming. We walked through Pier 39 (Fisherman's Wharf) to check out all the shops and restaurants, we wanted to eat lunch there so we needed to see what suited our tastebuds and within our budget! We ended up a restaurant called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, yes like the movie, Forrest Gump. Mostly known for shrimp, other items are served as well. We split a shrimp platter - which was amazing and both of us ordered a side, Jas ordered a side of veggies while I opted to go with a seafood chowder. After lunch, we decided to figure our way back to Union Square and do some shopping! We managed to figure out a route back to union square by taking a street car back downtown for $1.50 instead of spending $5 on the trolley. Our driver was like a mini tour guide, he gave us a bit of history or story to every stop we took. It was really cool! Once we reached our stop, we got off at Virgin Records cos VR is closing down (all the North American VRs are!) and a 30% off everything sale was going on in the entire store. We did some more shopping and wandering around Union Square ending up at Westfield, a huge shopping mall! Lots of stores and gosh all the damage that could be done! Lucky for us, we did so much walking and not that much shopping, I only ended up picking some souvenirs, gifts for the girls, Pumas for myself and a Hollister top on SALE - woot woot! Hollister in Vancouver had NADA on sale :( After a very long day, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel to rest up before the reception at Freeman's place in Oakland. We figured out how to take the BART to Freeman's place and it wasn't that bad nor too far of a walk but it seems that no one in Oakland walks from the station. We could see why, it wasn't particularly the safest or nicest neighborhood and there was NO ONE out walking! Once we arrived in their neighborhood, we found Freeman's loft and it was amazing! The loft is a huge corner unit with a private roof deck which had some amazing views and there was so much space up there, they even purchased a heat lamp for this occasion. Thank goodness for that cos it can get pretty chilly in the evening. We had a lovely time and meeting all of Freeman's close friends and family. It was a small and intimate gathering and we felt so honoured to be there and be part of this beautiful event.

Sunday

Again, we woke up early to beautiful sunny weather in SF while Vancouver was cold and wet! Atho it was early, we decided to wait until lunch before hitting Jack in the Box for a sourdough jack and curly fries! Last nite, we made lunch plans with Free but in the morning plans had changed, it was decided that we would meet Tanya and friend for brunch and Free would meet us after at their Boba tea house, Tapioca Express in Berkeley. After JB, we headed over to Westfield to exchange the Hollister top (picked out the wrong size!!) and raced back to the hotel cos Tanya had rang us on Jas's cell, she was waiting at the hotel. Once in the car, we were not quite sure where to go cos Tanya and Gene wanted brunch but they also wanted to show us around the Marina. The drive to the Marina was really nice and San Fran is quite a beautiful city, once at the Marina, we noticed how similar it is to the OC or Yaletown with beautiful and snotty people and lots of cute boutiques. Gene found a place for brunch and it was super packed! Good brunch and great company, once we finished our meal, we decided to go for a walk and walk down to the ocean. I took some great scenic photos of the Golden Gate bridge and after the walk, which again was a lot of walking, we decided to head over to Berkeley for Boba tea. At Tapioca Express, we ordered some boba tea and appy's like fried chicken, mmm delish! Free had to drop off his cousins at the SF airport so he left first and we made plans to meet him for dinner. Tanya had a bit of work to do before leaving the tea house so Jas and I wandered down the street to this quaint little bookstore and I picked up a bibliography of Christian Dior by Marie France Pochna for only $10 USD. We decided to head back to Free and Tanya's loft to rest and relax on their couch. We girls chatted and talked and tried to decide where to have dinner, Lake (Free's wife) wanted asian and Tanya was craving hamburgers, we decided to Thai food. Gene had to catch a plane back to Los Angeles so he did not end up joining us for dinner and Free got back late (due to traffic coming back from SFO) so we snacked on nuts while Free took a quick power nap. The Thai restaurant we went to was quite yummy and the dishes were pretty interesting, a good mix of flavours but def not authentic thai, more asian fusion thai but still very yummy. After dinner, Free & Lake insisted on driving us back to the hotel and we got a scenic ride back, stopping by Treasure Island for some beautiful shots of the Oakland Bay bridge. It was really really cold but I did get one good shot! It was a great Sunday and it was so awesome spending it with such great people!

Monday

We checked out of the hotel a bit early (11ish) and decided to have a hearty American breakfast at a 50's dinner close to the hotel. Gosh, was it ever greasy but so good and oh so much food! We didn't have any plans so we just did a bit more wandering around Union Square, Free was suppose to meet us earlier but he didn't have a car and realize he had to meet the plumber which meant he wouldn't make it out until after 2pm. He really wanted to see us before we left so he made every effort to meet with us. We decided on having an early dinner so we could catch each other before we left for Vancouver. Our plane was due to leave at 7.55pm and we planned on taking the BART to the airport cos it would only cost us $4 where taking a taxi (at least $45) or a shuttle ($20) was a bit too much. Jas and I walked around Union Square a bit more and explored more shops, we didn't realize how many stores there were! We didn't buy anything of course cos most of these stores are high end designer stores. After shopping and walking, we decided to head over to Macy's and work our way up to the Cheesecake Factory located on the rooftop. I had to have one last cheesecake before we left SF cos we don't have cheesecake THIS GOOD in Vancouver. Free finally called us to say he was heading down by BART to meet up with us, we told him we were at the CF and he could join us there. Thank goodness, we decided to eat a bit before we left even tho we weren't that hungry, I did not realize how late it was going to be by the time we reached home! Of course, I had a cheesecake before we left but the portions (even lunch size) were humongous so thank goodness Free finished my pizza and I took the last 1/3 of my cheesecake to go. I figured I could enjoy it while I was waiting for our flight but I ended up throwing it out before checking in! Oh well, it was probably a good idea not to finish it! It was a lovely weekend and def not long enough! I am very excited for Free and Lake and wish them all the luck, happiness, prosperity and love in the world, I'm so glad he found someone so perfect for him cos he is awesome!!! Will def need to go back and spend more time in San Fran, maybe a family vacation :) Lots of photos but haven't edited them, will try to post them soon!

Going to San Fran, actually Oakland, CA!

How exciting! Jas and I just booked our flights to SFO to visit our dear friend, Freeman who moved to Oakland with his new wife! They eloped in Argentina and decided to throw a reception for their friends in their new loft. Jas and I found cheap tickets to SFO ($95 one way!!) and decided we needed to be there to congratulate them in person. We are so excited, we haven't seen him since the last time he was in Vancouver, a few years ago!!!

Holiday Hightlights

View from the front entrance of the resort

Sand Castle Competition

Minter Gardens (this is done with all flowers so pretty!)

Me in front of the view!

HonHon touching the "actual" hot springs!

What a wonderful holiday I had! It was so nice to have SEVEN working days off which meant I got two (long) weekends in there! It would have been nicer if HonHon could have stayed longer but he booked his flights too late and could not get onto a later flight. His trip was cut short to 7 days this time and he promised he'd make up for it on his next trip back to Vancouver so we'll see. But it was def nice to see him after so many long months of not being with him as part of our family.

There wasn't much that HonHon needed to do this time but he was excepted to pick up a few items for his family. His dinner requests were (as always) items that Kay and I occasionally dine on: Lasagna, BBQ pork (which we didn't have time to make), pasta and baked goodies. There were a few nights were we went out for dinner with my dad and my mom cos he sees dad every time he's in town if my dad is in town. Mom celebrated her birthday on the Friday (Sept 26) which I forgot about even though I should have clued in when she was home from work! But I had a good excuse (actually no excuse is a good excuse!!) as HonHon and I had just gotten back from our mini "holiday" from the Harrison Hot Springs! We had decided on renting a car from Avis instead of driving my VW bug cos HonHon was afraid my car wouldn't make it there or back! We reserved the rental for 2 days and rushed back to Surrey to drop off the car. By the time we arrived home, I was completely unaware of the day as my mind and body were quite relaxed and rested. Since we hadn't seen Kay in a couple of days (and a little bit of guilt that we left her for two days!!), we spent some time downstairs before heading upstairs to see mom and grams. After speaking to my mom and grams, my mom asked us what are plans were for dinner and then I realized OH NO! Mom's BIRTHDAY!!! Of course, we wished her a happy birthday and I even had cake for her! Well, not cake cake but local handmade cheesecake from a farm house in Agassiz! Actually, I had planned on splitting the cheesecake with my mom but I wasn't really gonna share the WHOLE CHEESECAKE....

Highlights at Harrison Hot Springs

• The Spa at the resort is amazing! If you have never been and you've stayed at the resort, you must go again and book an appointment at the spa! But book the appointment when you are booking your hotel reservation as the appointments fill up quick. We didn't book our appointments until we arrived and since they were full with a couple of openings, we didn't get to book a couples package. HonHon did want me to try something and he wanted me to pick any treatment I wanted so I chose a facial. It is the best facial I have ever had (and I've done quite a few in my time) and it really did make a difference to my face and I felt so refreshed and exfoliated! Absolutely heaven, this is def the BEST PLACE on earth! I can't wait to do it again!! If you are wondering which treatment I did, it is called the "Purifying Skin Care Treatment"

• Minter Gardens - with our vacation package, we received free passes and lunch at the gardens. It is a beautiful garden and although the weather hadn't been so great (rain rain and more rain), the temperatures were quite mild. The garden was huge and there were a lot of different kinds of flowers in the garden, I know my mom and grams would love it here, esp my grams since they had a section of the garden dedicated to roses which is my grams fave flower! The rose garden smelled lovely and spent quite some time in there. I also got to see a lot of different types of flowers and considered using them in my wedding bouquet (one day when I decide to get married!) so it's kinda neat to capture the flowers I would love to have part in my future wedding :) Also, it would be a lovely place to have a garden wedding and your wedding bouquet and flowers would come right from the garden. Also, I am sure it would be nice for the guests stay at the resort or drive back to Vancouver (not too far away) but I am sure all the ladies would love to stay a night or two at the resort!!!


• Local farms in Agassiz - wow, did we get a lot of good stuff while we were out there! Esp. local items like hazelnuts, blueberries (the bestest!), blackberries, freshly picked corn (at a corn shack right off the freeway!), and cheese, ohmygosh, all the yummy cheese we brought back to share! Kay and HonHon are HUGE CHEESE FANATICS. They LOVE (I mean seriously LOVE cheese) and we got some local fresh handmade cheese at The Farm House Natural Cheese. Ok I am not a cheese addict like those two but seriously, my mouth was watering after I tried the cheeses that we bought! It is the BEST cheese I have ever had! We bought, cheddar cheese curds (for bruschetta and home made poutine), fromage frais (roasted red pepper and garlic) which you use as a spread on crackers or bread, creme fraiche for the berries (which is rich but not too heavy like it can be sometimes!) and their Voluptuous Vanilla cheesecake which is light and not super rich (a local suggested that we pick one up cos it is the best cheesecake you'll ever have and I agree!). The flavour of this cheesecake is indescribable so you will have to try it out yourself! The bottom layer had a very light and thin graham base with local hazelnuts and it was perfect! I would def consider using their cheesecakes as my wedding cake! I will have to see if I can outsource this here in Vancouver.


• Trying to find "local but not too touristy" gifts for co-workers and ended picking up some really nice natural bath products from Rocky Mountain Soap Company. I love the smells and the ingredients of these items and I ended up picking up an Eczema unscented body butter for myself cos of the customer comments on the display next to this product. I have really really bad eczema and I will try anything once so hopefully this is as good as it says and will help get rid of my terrible eczema pathes all over my legs!!!

We had a wonderful time in the Hot Springs and we loved being up there so much that we have decided this will have to be an annual trip to the Springs every Sept. Next time, we are going to book a couples spa treatment so we can enjoy the spa together.

It was lovely to have HonHon spend some time with us and even though it was a short visit, 7 days only not including the evening he landed cos it was later in the evening, he promised he'd be back really soon maybe even at Christmas time! Wow, we haven't had a Xmas together in years!! But the airline tickets are quite expensive during the high season but on the other hand, I will have almost 2 weeks off this year!! We might even go away to the island or Seattle the next time he's in town, only for a couple of days! We are going to miss him tons!!!

Enjoy the photos on my flickr page (even tho we didn't take that many! mostly photos from Minter Gardens!).