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Jes & B's Wedding Photos

Check out the link below to view wedding photos taken by my very talented teenager, Kay!

WOW, great shots Kay!! Enjoy!

J&B's Wedding

Grouse Grind

57 M 50 S

Overdue Dinner with Cousin

Tonite Kay and I headed over to my cousin, Nadine's for dinner cos I had not seen her new place and we have been talking about getting together for dinner for 2 years!! Their new home is right by Marine Drive and Elliot, it's in a very nice and hidden complex community setting. Apparently this place has been around for 20 years and it looks amazing! The entire complex is very well taken care of and def does not look or have a feel about being around for 20 years. The traffic noise is actually quite muffed and their unit is above all the larger units so they've got some amazing views (of Richmond, Fraser River and Mount Baker). This place was quite a bargain, 1100 sq feet at $320,000, 2 levels (master suite on the 2nd floor) with 2 balconies and lots of upgrades/renos. This new home is much more spacious and a better fit for both of them. It's good to see they have found such a beautiful home and a bit more permanent. It was really nice spending time with Nadine and Ruth and we hope to see more of them!

Toshiba Laptop

This afternoon, I headed over to Richmond to pick up my new Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop (RT908C) cos we need an upgrade plus I got it at a really GOOD DEAL, $750 my price retail $1899. Our PC had been dead for about a week, my mom's IT guy took a look at it and said it needed a new power supply plus he fixed the noisy fan which is great. The part and labour total cost was $80. But I decided I wanted an upgrade cos my Acer netbook was not that useful for me. I had picked up an Acer netbook thinking it would do what I needed it for which is surfing and email but I realize that I need it my PC for more than that and I wanted a laptop to fit my PC needs. This Toshiba is perfect! Kay is now getting the netbook for surfing and messaging and the desktop is for photo editing, school work or research and music. I think we might need to replace the speakers though cos our speakers are no longer working. Those speakers are about 13 years old so they've lasted quite a long time! Can't wait to use my Toshiba laptop!!!

Brunch by the water

Today, I met up with Jas, Vince, Meryl, Shel and Kitty for brunch at NU restaurant by False Creek. Shel and Kitty could not make my birthday dinner last week and since it's been a while since everyone has gotten together, it was a great idea to gather for brunch. Altho, Charly and Rosa could not make it and I invited Rhoda but it was too early for her, I'm sure we'll do it again real soon. I loved the idea of brunch cos brunch is my fave meal of the day so I was pretty excited to try a new place for brunch. It was a perfect day to sit outside on the patio enjoying the sunshine and the views of False Creek, Granville Island and the water activity. I ordered a dungeness crab benedict and a side sausage, gosh was the crab ever yummy but the egg was too overdone so it wasn't runny. Overall, the meal was pretty good and I really enjoyed the patio seating even with the slight breeze. We have decided we should try to do this every month or other month. It was really nice catching up with everyone even most of us were pretty tired due to our late nites. After brunch, we decided to head into Yaletown for some real coffee cos the coffee served at Nu was crap. I think I had about 10 cups and still felt like I needed a shot of espresso! We chatted a bit more at the coffee shop before calling it a day cos everyone was tired. It was too bad that Rhoda, Charly and Rosa couldn't make it cos it was such a nice day to be in the company of such nice people!!

Drinks with Longtime Friends

Just got back from a really entertaining nite of drinking and chatting! I didn't drink much, only had one small glass of red wine cos I have to be up for brunch the next day and I was driving myself home. It was really nice to spend time with Lina on her last nite in Vancouver. I will def have to get together with her the next time I'm in Hong Kong cos she is good peeps and I am so going to miss the good times!! Just can't believe how quickly time has past, it only seems like she landed a few days ago! Gonna miss Lina xoxo

The Time Traveler's Wife

Tonite, I watched The Time Traveler's Wife with Jas at Tinseltown. Wow, it was a beautiful story and when I first read this book in 2003, I wondered if they could turn this into a movie and if so, how and who would play Clare and Henry. The movie was beautiful and I love the chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana as Clare and Henry. The movie did not disappoint and even though the novel is so much better, this movie did a pretty good job within the 2 hour timeline. I also enjoyed how the movie ended, it is def a must see!! After the movie, we decided to hit Joey's for some food, the Joey's on Broadway/Granville was super busy like every other restaurant in Vancouver at that hour, so we sat in the lounge until our table was ready, lucky for us, it only took 10 minutes. The menu didn't seem all that interesting to me and I am kind of tired of their menu plus I didn't like that they did not offer a whole wheat substitute for their sandwiches/burgers (altho they just recently added brown rice as a sub). I will def have to reconsider heading over there the next time we think about Joey's. Of course, I ended up ordering a dessert which I shouldn't have but couldn't help cos Kay was not around to stop me. I didn't eat the entire apple pie saving 1/2 for Kay but since she is not home, it will probably end up in my tummy tomorrow afternoon. After our meal, we headed over to valet to pick up my car cos Jas insisted on valet as it only costs $5 which is pretty cheap plus we didn't want to drive around this busy area looking for parking, it would have been pretty difficult finding parking in this area. Joey's valet offered vacuuming and by gosh, it was awesome. He did a really great job and I told Jas to be sure to tip him good! Apparently, everyone gives that reaction, this is the best $5 we'd spent on cleaning the car!! Next time I need to vacuum the car, I'm def heading over to Joey's for lunch =) It was a great nite and I'm so glad Jas could come out so we could catch up!

Coffee with Kate

Wow, talk about a blast from my past! This afternoon, I met up with Kate (back in the Seattle days....) for coffee in Richmond. Gosh, it's been 5 years since the last time I saw her (her wedding in 2004)! So much has changed like she's become a mom of 2 gorgeous boys and she's moved into Richmond. Wow, it's awesome who you can reconnect with on FaceBook. So many faces from the past. We talked about everything and everyone we knew from the Seattle days, we also agreed that we need to keep in touch and get together more often. Cos it's hard to find good people and friendships that can last over so many years. Hopefully, we all can get together for lunch and it would be so nice to see and catch up with Eliza. Jasmine will be excited to know that we are all going to get together and catch up!

Organic Nite In

Tonite, Ana and I had a lovely organic dinner served with an organic Malbec at her place. I hadn't seen Ana in ages cos she's a world traveller and she could not make it to my birthday dinner last week. It was so great to catch up with her and we had a great time talking about everything! She is such an intelligent and interesting person, full of life and stories with an amazing personality. We talked about her travels and her new career path (wine of course!) and I'm happy to hear she will be back for at least a year before she takes off to another part of the world for another year or as it seems. She has def inspired me to do more travelling so I think next year I will def have to do a trip or two! It's so nice to catch up with Ana, we must do it more often.

Market by Jean-Georges

For my birthday lunch, Val took me to Market by Jean-Georges and it was such an amazing experience and meal. The decor and the food were divine and at $28 / person (3 plates), it was def a great price for lunch downtown. I wish I had brought my camera cos the presentation of the dishes were so beautiful like pieces of art. I had such a lovely time and it is def one of my fave places to go for lunch!

Appetizer: Seared Scallops Caramelized Cauliflower Caper-Raisin Emulsion

Entree: Slowly Cooked Arctic Char Mashed Potatoes Sugar Snap Peas Truffle Vinaigrette

Dessert: Chocolate Pudding Softly Whipped Cream Crystallized Violets

Saturday Nite

Tonite, Kay and I went to my dad's place for dinner, a late birthday dinner, cos we didn't get a chance to celebrate my birthday the day before. Dad decided it would be a good idea to stay in for dinner cos my brother was not home and he wanted to make lasagna for dinner cos he did not have it in a long time. The Safeway lasagna was pretty yummy and for dessert, my dad picked up a fresh fruit birthday cake for me. Mmmm... cake! I didn't get cake yesterday so it is a perfect way to end my birthday. After dinner/cake, we stayed a bit longer before I dropped Kay off at her BFF's place so she could hang out with her and then I met up with my BFF and friends. Earlier in the afternoon, I stopped by the BC liquor store to pick up some white wine for everyone. It was really nice spending time with everyone esp Lina and Andy who are visiting Vancouver for another week. I also love hearing G spin so that was pretty cool. Everyone is so nice and cool to hang out with, I'm going to miss these moments but I'm sure the next time I'm visiting HK, I'll get to party with them again!

My 34th Birthday!

Today I celebrated my 34th birthday with my bestest buds! Even old friends from Hong Kong visiting Vancouver came out to celebrate with me tonite! I feel so very lucky and special to have such wonderful friends in my life! Dinner reservations were at Irashai Grill on Pender Street, I really wanted to try to this place cos I heard some really great reviews on it. Also, very coincidental that Lina (friend from HK) had gone here for a dinner a few days before cos her friend's friend had opened this restaurant. She also gave it a good review so I was excited to try all the different types of rolls being offered on the menu and not realizing this was Japanese fusion. Loved the decor, very modern and sleek. Presentation of the food was beautiful and def super yummy delish. It was a great dinner with everyone enjoying great conversations with good food and drinks. It was so nice to that G and Lina could make it cos Lina lives in HK and I never get to see her! After a couple of hours at the restaurant, Vince and Meryl invited us all over to their place to enjoy some wine and more chit chat. I appreciated the hospitality and it was a shame that Charly and Rosa couldn't make it cos we all had an awesome time! Andy came by to join us after his dinner and it was so cool to hang out with everyone. It was def one of the best birthdays ever! Thank you Kayesha, Rhoda, Jasmine, G, Lina, Charly, Rosa, Vince, Meryl and Andy!!

Birthday Lunch at Thai House

This morning I was surprised to see a beautiful bouquet of carnations with a pretty birthday card and a Cineplex Odean movie gift card on my desk from my dear friend, Erica!

For lunch, a few of the lovely ladies in the office wanted to go out for lunch and we decided on the Thai House on Robson street. At first, there were no plans for lunch cos Rae and Val had mentioned I was adamant about not celebrating or going out for lunch on my birthday! Even tho, I didn't want to make a big deal about my birthday, I still wanted to go out for lunch and we did! Thai House has some really great lunch specials for under $10 and it comes with a soup and spring roll. The service is efficient and food comes out quickly so after our lunch we still had 20 minutes to spare. We decided to end lunch with a sweet note, picking up a cupcake from Cupcakes by Lori and Heather on Thurlow street. I treated the ladies to a cupcake since they took me out for lunch (actually Erica treated us all to lunch, she is such a sweet lady). It was a nice way to start my birthday!

White Spot Early B'day Dinner

Tonite, Kay was craving for a white spot burger so we (mom, kay and I) headed over to WS after I got back from the Grouse Grind and after a shower! WS had a $9.99 special - burger, fries and a milkshake but to our surprise it was no longer available but they did have another good special, burger, ceasar salad and a fresh BC blueberry pie with real cream! Kay ordered that with fries and mom had it the way it was, both added a slice of real cheddar cheese of course. I decided to go with a chicken chevre pizza which was a thin crust pizza topped with WS house-made Arrabbiata sauce, roasted BC chicken, basil goat cheese, grilled and marinated sweet golden bell peppers and red onions and a special blend of cheeses. It was pretty large and the toppings were pretty yummy altho I still prefer my own pizza crust cos this one was a bit too soggy for my liking. My mom treated this meal cos it is my b'day tomorrow and I won't be home to celebrate with her and grams. A very thoughtful gesture and if I had known, I would have picked a nicer place to eat! =) After our dinner, we dropped Kay at home cos she has a unit test to study for and mom and I headed over to Superstore to pick up some items. Wow Superstore was super quiet so nice to shop there when it's so empty. We picked up a few things and headed home, in time to see my grams. She had won $7 at her mahjong game and was quite happy to have won and not lost another game! Both of them gave me lucky money and they really shouldn't have. My grams told me she was going to give me a big one and that I should buy something nice for myself. My grams is so sweet!!! =)

Grouse Grind

55 M

Main Street Farmer's Market

After work, Kay and I went over to pick up some local organic produce at the the Main Street Farmer's Market and was pleasantly surprised to see so many more farmers and vendors. Such a great selection of veggies and fruits that we wanted to pick up everything but could not carry it all home. We ended up with some sweet corn, romaine lettuce, lemon basil (super yummy and so fragrant), cucumber, strawberries and wow, the all sorts of tomatoes as it is in season. We must have had 6 or 7 kinds of tomatoes and we could not wait to put these in our salad for dinner. Before heading over to the market, Kay and I made a quick stop at Maxim's Bakery in Chinatown to pick up some buns to snack on cos she needs food to refuel. After the market, we headed home with our fresh veggies and I made a lovely salad with the romaine lettuce, different baby tomatoes and a homemade vinaigrette with the lemon basil herb. The vinaigrette was delish and even Kay enjoyed it! Wish I brought my camera to take some photos at the market.

Grouse Grind

55 M 25 S - best time EVER!!!

Eminem - The Warning

From LaineyGossip.com

Eminem has pictures

Oh Mimi. BIG mistake.Mariah Carey keeps denying that she and Eminem hooked up. So he wrote a song about it on Relapse called Bagpipes from Baghdad and then Nick Cannon posted a rambling blog, challenging Em to a dick duel to defend his wife’s honour and Eminem, surprisingly, scaled back the rhetoric, and explained that his lyrics were misinterpreted – which is unusual for him. Normally you’d expect him to engage, to throw more fire on the feud. He decided to let it slide.But Mimi did not.The video for Obsessed. You’ve seen it right? Dressing up as Eminem, mocking Eminem, f-cking with Eminem.She and Nick weakly denied it had anything to do with Slim Shady.Doesn’t sound like he believes them.And he’s battling back the way he knows best – The Warning was leaked yesterday and this time, Slim isn’t so shy about revealing details about exactly what went down between them.In other words, Mimi got TOLD. I’m not summarising. You’ll just have to listen. It’s wicked.But even though he owned her ass, he’s actually STILL holding back. Em claims to have pictures, and recordings, and The Warning is to warn her to step the f-ck off… or else.You might be tempted to side with her, given the disgusting things he says, the degrading lyrics, and his track record, his history, but please don’t discount Eminem’s ability as a writer. And in this situation, what went down between the two of them, this brilliant line in The Warning pretty much sums it up:"But if I'm embarrassing me, I'm embarrassing you and don't you dare say it isn't true."Please. Mimi needs to answer. Mimi is angry. When she gets angry the butterflies start to glitter. And the animals run for the hills. And the amazingness will continue.

Wedding of the Century

WOW!! What a weekend!!! It was a crazy busy weekend and I can't believe Jess is NOW MARRIED!!

Saturday, the ceremony at Van Dusen went off without any problems and it was a beautiful (thankfully quick) ceremony. It was a really hot day and the guests were melting in the heat but the ceremony didn't take that long. It was a very beautiful event and Jess was gorgeous in her wedding gown. After the ceremony, Felicia and I had to stay behind to make sure everything was picked up or removed, we headed over to Corner 23 for a nice icy boba tea and lunch! Reception 1 at Floata Restaurant - WOW, the decor was gorgeous, it did not look like a chinese restaurant!! The decor was amazing and white fabric covered every corner of the restaurant, you could not see any reference of Floata. I had never been to Floata so I had no idea what the restaurant looked like but did see it at the end of the party, it was like the clock hit midnite (or in this case, 130am) and everything turned back into a pumpkin! The restaurant is UGLY and oh gosh, I can see why Jess had to redecorate the entire restaurant. The dinner party was so much fun and these people know how to party hard and have fun. It was awesome to hear G dj'ing even though he isn't a hip hop dj. After the reception, we headed over to Kingsway / Victoria to an after party cos B's sis, Jenny, had arranged a party after the dinner party! We stayed until about 3am before we all called it a nite.

Sunday - headed over to Metrotown to exchange some tank tops at Old Navy and walk thru the mall as I waited for Rhoda. She was meeting me at Metro cos she was going to give me a ride back to her house so I could pick my car (left it there last nite cos I was too tired to drive home from the after party). We met up at Shoppers Drug Mart but had an hour to walk thru the mall cos her cousin and aunt were enjoying the air conditioning, it was another super hot day in Vancouver. We headed over to Aritzia to see what was on sale and I ended up picking a Community denim jacket for $60!!! Once we were done, we headed back to her house and I picked up my car to go home cos it was too hot to do anything else!

Monday - Reception #2 at Kirin Restaurant on Cambie street, we didn't have to do too much at this restaurant cos it's not an ugly restaurant, we just decorated the signing table up front, the alter at the front of the restaurant, fixed up and place all the center pieces on the tables, decorated the cake table with feathers and made sure every single place had a wedding favour. It was a smooth night and much more relaxed and mellowed out from Saturday's reception. The food was super yummy and it was an early night, dinner finishing around 10pm. Kay and I sat at the table with Rhoda's friends in the back corner and it's too bad we were so far back cos we couldn't see anything that was happening at the head table. But it seemed like they had left a lot of things out cos Jess and B had already done those things like speeches and first dance at their first reception. There wasn't much room in the restaurant to do the first dance tho cos the restaurant was packed with 21 tables! It was a nice reception and good to catch up with everyone and the little boys!

More photos on my flickr account.