Dinner and a Movie

Tonight, I went out with Jas for a movie and dinner. We watched, I am Legend with Will Smith and we didn't know much about the movie but after 15 minutes, we realize it was similar to 28 days later (out in 2000?) and I do not do well with anything scary or horror. But as usual, it was a blockbuster movie and I love Will Smith but at the climax, I didn't even watch the screen cos I knew I would be very squeamish so I was texting my other best bud while the climax was playing. We had decided to have dinner after the movie and headed over to Sala Thai for dinner, it was still Dine Out so we decided to try the Dine Out menu. The dinner wasn't too bad considering this Sala Thai was not as good as the one on Cambie Street. But it was a pretty good price with good portions. It was a really freezing night but nice to be out and about with my best bud!

Zin Restaurant & Lounge

Tonight, I met up with my cousin for dinner as we haven't seen each other in about a year and we thought it was time to catch up on each other's lives. It's amazing how fast time flies when everyone is busy but hopefully, we will not leave our next outing until a year later! We decided to have a "Dine Out" at Zin Restaurant on Robson street, I made reservations for 5:30pm and when I went in, the restaurant was completely empty, I guess no one really starts dinner that early but I'm an early diner! My cousin and I both work downtown so we decided something within downtown would be easier. We ordered off the Dine Out Menu (which wasn't that impressive) and ordered a couple of drinks while we waited for the food. We caught up a bit on what's going on and my little cousin (her little sister) is engaged! Wow, I can't believe how grown up she is! To me, I still remember her being 12. That's exciting news. My cousin and her partner loves to travel so she was telling me about the trips they've made and it sounds like so much fun, altho I'm not much of a traveller. Our appy arrived first, she ordered the salad and I had the soup, the entire meal was not at all impressive, my soup was so small, about 5 tablespoons and her salad was tiny, just a few pieces of leaves and a walnut or two. The soup didn't really taste like apple squash, mostly squash and her salad, just like a salad that you can easily make at home. Our entrees arrived, we both ordered the risotto with halibut. Oh my gosh! Our risotto was uncooked and the halibut was tiny! It wasn't very flavourful and did not taste great. The desert, blah. Overall, it was a terrible Dine Out and I do not ever recommend Zin ever!

Shopping Steals

Gosh, I've got some great deals over the last week or so! Last Friday, I realized I needed a pair of beige pumps cos I was wearing a beige outfit and realized I don't own a pair of beige pumps so I wore my tri-brown coloured pumps which worked okay but not as great if I had beige pumps. At lunch, I headed out with Rhoda to look at some boots cos she needed some and when we arrived at the Aldo Outlet on Granville street, a shiny patent pair of beige pumps were staring right at me! They had my size and they were 50% off!!! These were SO meant to be!! After Aldo, we headed over to Jacob cos they were having a winter clearance sale, 60% off regular priced winter items and I picked up two long sleeve knit tops for under $15 each! One in beige and one in red so I can now wear my 3/4 crop jackets which I purchased in the fall. Today, I picked up a pair of Wilfred (Aritzia's luxe designer) capri pants for work for $39.99 regular price $130! Sheesh, that's such a great deal plus it was awesome to fit into a size 2! Yes a size 2!! I haven't been a size 2 since I was in my early 20s!! Damn, I've lost a lot of weight, hmmm... I wonder if I can fit into my burgundy pants, those are the only pants that I kept cos they were damn expensive! Must go to Richmond and look thru storage to see if I can find them.....

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

Tonight, we celebrated Jasmine's birthday at the Aqua Riva for Dine Out Vancouver. Every year, her birthday celebration falls during this time and we have made it a tradition to have dinner at one of the many Dine Out Vancouver restaurants. With such a great price and choices, how could anyone resist not attending at least one Dine Out every year?? This year, West did not participate so we decided to head back over to Aqua Riva which is where we celebrated my birthday last year. As always, the food was super yummy and I opted for New York steak instead of the salmon (had basa on my birthday) and the dessert, cheesecake was to die for. It was such a splendid dinner and so nice to see them all since we do not really get a chance to go out, enjoy good food and each other's company. After dinner, we decided to head over to Vince and Meryl's condo cos we haven't been there in a while as they were redecorating the entire suite. It was almost done with a few odd pieces to pick up but ready to show off. But before heading over there, we decided to stop off at Rogers Video to pick up a movie. They decided on Waitress starring Keri Russell and in the end, we wished we hadn't rented it cos it was a terrible. Although, we all had heard rave reviews on the movie (and RottenTomatoes.com gave it 89%), we didn't really enjoy the movie and to me, the story dragged on and on and on. Before starting the movie, we got a tour of the new place and gosh does it ever look different! They decided to go with a contemporary minimal style and chose a lot of contemporary furniture pieces, spending most of their budget on their beautiful couch (from LivingSpace) at a whooping $15,000!! I almost fell on my @ss when I heard that! But I love their new place, it's gorgeous! The bedroom, a totally different room and the repainted walls, incredible. Looks like a showroom for a loft. Well done! Also love the brand new (upgrade!) TV and he took it off the wall and put it on a TV stand! Vince wanted to show us the game he worked on all year (he works at EA) and gosh, NHL 2008 looks great! The hockey players look so real! Like you are really watching a hockey game, amazing! Meryl being the sweetest hostess ever, made up a veggie platter for us and made up Jas's birthday cake with her candles, the chocolate cake was so delish! I had two pieces which wasn't a good idea cos I was already starting to feel a bit bloated from the dinner / dessert plus more dessert? But it was too good not to have the second piece! After the movie, we chatted a bit longer and decided to call it a night. Jas had a really great time and that's all that mattered! Life is great when you have great friends to share it with! More photos on my flickr account.

Vera's Burger Shack

FINALLY! I have officially tried burgers at Vera's Burger Shack! The burger was nothing spectacular but still very delish esp. since I haven't had red meat or a burger in quite some time! Charly and I were suppose to do our workout but his friend (whom he does meat runs for as a favour) called a bit earlier than expected and we decided to skip the workout (both of us being way too tired) to help deliver the meat. I finally met his friend, Emando, a student or something from Mexico who has stayed with him as a homestay student last year. He wanted to set him up with a mutal friend of ours and even though Emando is very cute and charming, he is not our friend's type whatsoever. Plus he's a starving visitor with no or little money and we know for a fact that money is a must when dating our dearest friend. After the looooong drive to UBC and back, we decided to have burgers at Vera's and boy was it ever yummy esp. when you are hungry! I can say now that I have finally tried it as I have been wanting to try it since last summer, heard good reviews on the place. Next burger stop, Fat Burger on Denman!

Xmas/Kick Off Party

Best Party Ever! What I remember of it ..... More Photos Here

Dinner with a measurement

Tonight, Rhoda and I had dinner plans with Charly cos we are going to help him get back into shape! Over the summer, we all did the Grind together and it really helped us get into shape! But then, Charly went on vacation to Europe for about a month and a bit and those 5 weeks caught up to him! He now needs to lose a bit of weight and get back into shape so his new goal is to fit into his 36" pants. Rhoda, being a fitness freak or fitness trainer as she calls herself, decided to give us each a targeted workout schedule to help us both reach our goals. My goals are to tone up and get my butt back. Charly's is just to get back into shape. Rhoda is also putting him on a strict diet cos he needs it, he doesn't seem to know a whole lot about proportion sizes and calorie counting. Gosh, that man can also eat! Tonight, we were all getting together to discuss the schedule and take measurements.

After discussion and dinner, we watched the hockey game and Rhoda helped Charly install some programs into his brand new laptop. It was a fun and entertaining night, we decided we would get together to workout on Mondays and Wednesday and he should go on his own one more night probably Friday cos Rhoda and I are planning to swim on Fridays. I don't really need to hit the gym more than twice a week cos I've already hit my targeted weight and all I really want to do is tone up. But I think Charly needs to start off with a lot of cardio cos he needs to drop his body fat down. We'll see how it goes!

Shu Uemura

I have heard that every Asian woman should own an eyelash curler from Shu Uemura so today at lunch, Rhoda and I headed over to Holt Renfrew's Shu Uemura counter to take a look at it. The SA tried it out on my eyelashes and I couldn't believe the difference! I decided, I def. needed one and used my GC to pick one up for my makeup bag :)

Movie and a burger

I haven't been out for a while nor have I seen a movie in a theatre for quite some time so tonight, Jas and I went to see Juno at Silvercity Metropolis. Gosh, I love this movie! It's such a funny and sweet movie, you must go see it. Ellen Page is a great actor and as I watched her perform on the screen, I realized I had seen her somewhere else before and now I remember! She was the girl in Hard Candy, that movie was excellent and you should def. catch that one too!

After the movie, it was still a bit early and we both had a craving for burger and fries. At one point in the movie, Juno had a huge burger with fries and both of us were starting to feel a bit hungry after that scene. When catching a 7.00pm show, it's too early to eat out and yet after the movie, too late for a full dinner esp. a burger and fries platter! We decided to stop in at TGIF below Silvercity and share a burger platter, just enough to settle our stomachs and cravings but not too much to make us feel guilty and super full! It was super yummy and def. filled our cravings! It was so nice to be out of the house on a Saturday night :)

Shopping Addiction

Today, I was very very bad.... I picked up a new wool crop jacket and cute top from Aritzia. These items were at such a good price, I couldn't resist! I wasn't suppose to go to the mall but Kay and Ty never made it out there and both of them had to return a couple of items at Metrotown. Kay had invited her friends over and they were suppose to head out to the mall but apparently all 2 of them had decided to stay in our tiny basement suite the entire afternoon. That means there was 4 teenagers in our tiny suite, poor Ari, he was so stressed out and very very tired! Since those two had a few things to return, I decided I would drive them to Metro so they didn't have to take the train (it was super cold!) and we would go to The Boss at Metropolis for dinner since I haven't had The Boss in such a long time. While Kay returned her shoes at Stoneridge, I told them I would wait for them at Aritzia to see what they had left in the store. I tried on a few more pairs of R&Rs but the ones that looked really nice on me were no longer on sale :( but I did find a cute wool jacket by Talula Babaton and a top by Wilfred at a really great price! Kay also found a cute TNA bag that she wanted and it was on sale. Ty needed to head over to AE to return a shirt and buy another one, Kay and I picked out a really nice men's shirt (long sleeved, collared and buttons) for Ty. After our shopping, we decided to head over to The Boss for dinner and after dinner, we stopped by London Drugs to pick up a bus pass for Kay and those two headed over to Bubble World for bubble tea. I'm not so sure that was the best way to end the night, bubble tea with tons of sugar in two teenagers!

Joy - the MOST expensive perfume in the world

I just bought my grandma the perfume that she has been obessed with since the day she tried it on! Many many years ago, my aunt gave her a dab of JOY by Jean Patou and my grandma fell in love with the fragance but could not bring herself to buy one for herself. For Christmas, my brother and I picked up a Sennheiser wireless/cordless headphones for her as per my mother's instructions and even though I knew she wouldn't like them, I just figured I'd do what my momma says. Guess what? Grams didn't like them and after trying them out for one night, she discreetly told my mother that she wouldn't use them and I should return them and keep the money. My mom told me this and I realized I should not have listen to her and picked up the perfume in the first place. At first, I was thinking about buying grams the signature fragrance she uses which is Chanel No. 5 but decided my grams deserved to be spoiled. Joy it was and the salesperson at HBC had a heavy accent so at first I thought the 75 ml eau de parfum was priced at a reasonably $119 but once the perfume rang through the register, it came up to $192 plus tax! Sheesh! Def. realized the mistake but went ahead with the purchase. On the savings side, GST went down 1% so I saved myself an extra 1%.............. can't wait to see my grams (re)opening her gift! Priceless!!

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Tonight, Vince, Meryl, Ari, and I headed over to Jas's place to ring in the new year. I guess as you get older, you don't really want to spend a ton of money to go clubbing or partying. We decided on a nice quiet night with good friends and Jas offered to host us at her place with dinner and some wine. I have to say, it's nice spending quality time with my buds esp. since I don't see Vince and Meryl that often with their busy lives. Our dinner plans were Vince and Meryl bringing over home made curry while I brought over a veggie dip platter and dessert, a chocolate rum cake and Jas supplied the wine, rice and appy's. Vince and Meryl always come late, never early or on time and when they finally arrived, they didn't bring curry (Jas and I were so looking forward to it!) but brought over BBQ pork/duck and a tofu/fish dish from a takeout. Those two had a late night, like every night, and so busy running around with Meryl's little sister, they did not have time to cook. But that's ok, BBQ and tofu dish were pretty yummy!

While waiting for the countdown, we all caught up on each other's lives and shared many laughs! Since time was ticking by slowly, we decided to put together Jas's IKEA shelf which had been sitting in the box in the living room for months! Jas didn't have a toolbox which meant we had to be creative and use a Nine West pump as a hammer! What a hoot! Got some fun photos and it was def. a fun way to ring in the year! After the countdown, we stayed a bit longer to chat and decided to call it an early night. Originally, we had plans to head out for a drink (coffee or something) but the ladies were tired and poor Meryl, super tired from all the shopping and packing.

Hope everyone had a great New Year's!

Shopping in the US

What a long day of shopping! Rhoda, my BFF and I decided to do our "Boxing Day" Shopping in the States even though it had snowed the night before and both of our moms wouldn't let us take one of their cars, we were heading out there anyways! Besides, it wasn't really snowing when we left and we were praying that it would be clear when we got back. Since, I had missed out on Boxing Day yesterday which I heard was super busy and I cannot shop in all the madness, we decided to head down to the states to do some "boxing day" shopping. Wait, ! I did have an early Boxing Day shopping at Aritzia, picked up a pair of Rock and Republics for $175 (normally $235+) cos they started their Boxing Day sale earlier in the week. I still needed to find a pair of denim for my runners and flats cos both my 7s and RRs are 34" inseam which are perfect for my heels not so good with my flats. Our goal was to find a pair of inexpensive designer jeans at Nordstrom Rack in Bellevue! First stop of course was the Seattle Premium Outlet in Tulalip cos Rhoda had to hit a few stores in there, she ended up buying a really beautiful Michael Kors winter coat at a great price plus she's been wanting this jacket for a while and it finally dropped to an affordable price. I didn't find anything in the outlet but that's ok cos I was very focused on what I wanted and needed. We decided to head out after an hour cos we still had a long drive ahead of us. We drove for an hour and decided we should now think about lunch, every time we head to the States, we always lunch at Jack in the Box. We started to head towards {a city where the rich people live, can't remember the name}'s downtown but could not locate the Jack in the Box, after 30 minutes of driving in circles, we decided to find the next thing closest place where they serve food and it was Denny's. Boy was that a mistake! Our tummies did not feel good for the rest of the day! After lunch, we headed our way to the first destination which is the mall that we had gone to last time which has Sephora, Forever 21 and Wet Seal. I picked up a cute knit sweater with a hoodie for $10 USD and Too Faced Lash Injection mascara which I have heard can do wonders for Asian eye lashes! After shopping at the mall, we were on our way to Nordstrom Rack in Bellevue. Gosh was it ever super busy!! We headed towards the designer denim rack and I was a bit disappointed to see such a small collection of the smaller sizes. I quickly scanned through it and grabbed an armful of jeans in a few sizes to try on. Right after the jeans, I headed over to the shoe collection. Wow, there were so many designer shoes!! At such low prices!! Marc Jacobs for $120!! But I was focused cos I only brought $150 USD and that is all I'm spending! Luckily I didn't find any shoes that really stood out or maybe I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. I went through the rest of the store and picked up a couple of tops to try on as well. Once inside the changing room, I didn't like the tops but really loved the jeans! I really liked the William Rast pair but they were priced at $80 (normally priced at $240!) and were def. too long which meant I would have to wear them with my heels, the Rich and Skinny pair were perfect but in the wrong size, I needed one size up (which I tried looking for but all of them were gone!!!) and finally ended up buying a really nice pair of Vigoss Studio jeans for $40 USD!! Just within my budget! I really like them too, back pockets are set a bit lower than the usual and very dark denim which is what I love! Feeling a little bit bad about leaving Kay at home, I picked up a really cute Vans purse for her which only cost $10USD! Rhoda ended up with a couple of pairs of shoes but in the end decided against them (not in love with them) but she did find a pair of work shoes for Nel. After the Rack, we headed next door to the DSW and another great place for shoe lovers or not (I have a terrible addiction to shoes), Rhoda picked up a beautiful pair of heels by Michael Kors (her fave. designer) and I picked up a cute pair of brown shoes with pom poms for only $25 USD and a pair of leopard red trimmed slippers for $5!! After our shopping, it was def. time to head back and we thought we were doing great time until we realized we were now stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic! Traffic wasn't too bad all the way but we kept getting stuck in it when there was an exit to another suburban neighborhood. As we were getting close to the border, we had the strangest weather, at some points, it was snowing pretty hard and other parts, it was just rain or clear. Very strange. Finally when we were 5km from the border, we were stuck in the traffic to get into Canada, we had to wait an hour before reaching it and lucky for us, the customs officer decided to wave us through even though we spent over the tax free amount! It was a great day and lots of great shopping finds!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Finally, the day has come and gone (thank goodness!)!! The stress and overdraft in my bank account leading up to this day was insane but worth every bit of it!! Christmas arrived with a white bang, yes a white Christmas! Vancouver got snow on Christmas day which is unheard of since we haven't seen snow in many many years.

The day started off with me driving out to Richmond to pick up my brother in my grandma's car cos my car and the tires cannot handle the snow. Gosh, I forget how far my brother lives! His car is out of commission and therefore, I had to go and get him. Before heading home, we decided to hit the local Starbucks for a coffee to go boy, was that a mistake! It took forever to order and get my Americano! I guess everyone was getting a bit edgy cos nothing is opened on Christmas day except Starbucks and 7-11!

Once we got home, I helped mom prep for dinner, we were having a very Asian dinner, sirloin steaks wrapped in bacon, steamed King Crab with butter dipping sauce, veggies and dip (mine of course), buttered corn, ceasar salad (didn't have that cos I don't like Caesars, that's why I brought up the veggies and dip), and of course, butter seasoned roasted baby white potatoes (my grams' specialty). Gosh, there was so much food and leftovers! We were totally stuffed! Kay was getting a bit anxious cos the new rule is no Christmas presents until after dinner! She didn't even get to open one this morning cos she opened all her gifts from Rhoda et all last night! After dinner and clearing the dishes, we decided to rest a bit and have coffee with dessert, mom made a chocolate kahlua and vodka cake with a rum glaze (that was my idea). Delish!

Finally, after all that waiting, Kay was able to open gifts around 9pm! What a sight! All those gifts under the tree were really for her!! She got so spoiled!! Every year my mom gets really creative in trying to trick my brother when opening his gifts and this year, she got him good. She put a bottle of Coke in a big box with lots of tissue and when he went through every tissue, that was all. Boy was he ever disappointed although he tried to hide it but of course, taped to the bottom of the box was a lucky red envelope! Christmas with the family is always very entertaining! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas (Eve) Dinner

Tonight, Kay and I headed over to Rhoda's house for Christmas dinner. This is our very first Christmas dinner together since we've been reconnected. Rhoda made a delish meal, all home cooked and she started early in the afternoon! We most def. appreciated everything she made, it was super yummy! It was also nice to see Jess and Mom since they've just got back from Hong Kong. It was a great night with lots of yummy food and great company. We decided to open our presents since this will be the only time we will see each other until after Xmas and since Kay and I, well mostly I, started a new tradition of opening Xmas presents after Xmas dinner on Xmas day, I thought it would be nice for Kay to open a couple of presents tonight. Kay got some great gifts from Rhoda and Jess! I can't believe Nel and Rhoda bought me something cos she was not suppose to!! They had already gotten us an early Xmas gift! Ari!! It was a great night and we really appreciate having such good people in our lives! Wish you were here HonHon!

Brunch at Crave

Today, Jas and I woke up early (on a freaking Sunday!!) to have brunch with Vince and Meryl at Crave on Main street. Apparently, they have a really great brunch and I agree, brunch was delish! But boy was it super busy today!! Lucky for us that Jas and I headed out early to get ourselves a table cos Vince said he was going to be there early, no reservations for brunch - first come first serve basis but me knowing Vince a little too well knew he wouldn't be there early if on time (which he wasn't by the way) and we got a table for us, 10 minutes after they arrived! The restaurant is really contemporary and I wish I could have taken more photos but my camera died before I got the chance. I, of course had pancakes but the next time I'm there, I'm def. gonna try the eggs benedict cos that's what Vince had and it looked delish! What a treat when Vince and Meryl took care of the bill as a Xmas present for Jas and I. Those two are super sweet and it was so nice to finally catch up with them! It's been too long!

Midnite Shopping!

OMG, I could not believe how busy Metrotown and Walmart were! It was madness!! Guess all those last minute shoppers were doing their last minute shopping! Kay and I headed over to Metrotown to pick up a few more gifts and then over to Walmart cos they were open 24 hours until Xmas eve! We just had to go and check it out, it was crazy how long the line ups were!! We waited in line for almost 35 minutes!! But now I can say, I've done the 24 hour Walmart!

Cute Ari!

Olive Garden

Tonight, Rhoda and I had dinner plans with Travis, Grace and family. We headed over to La la land (Langley), a party of town that is very far far away when you are from Vancity, for dinner at the Olive Garden. I had no idea there was an Olive Garden in the lower mainland. What a great dinner deal they have, every entree comes with unlimited amount of soup or salad and bread sticks! I ate too many bread sticks with soup and couldn't even finish half of my pasta! Lots of leftovers to take home which means I don't have to worry about the next lunch or dinner!

It was so nice to see Travis, Lisa, Grace and the babies. Rhoda and them were meeting up to exchange gifts and Travis and Grace felt bad that there was nothing for me but I reassured them I was only there to see the kids and I didn't pick anything up for any of them either. I had given them both a Christmas card with a lucky red envelope for the babies. The food was pretty yummy and as always the company was great. They are really really genuinely nice people and so good to be around with. I can't wait until Lisa is due, she's expecting another little boy and they've picked out the name already! Can't wait! I am def. not ready to have any more babies of my own but so happy and excited about Lisa's newbie!

Xmas Lunch

Today we had our division's Xmas lunch at the Renaissance Hotel in the Coal Harbour Bar which is a rotating rooftop restaurant. The view was spectacular but I didn't feel so good sitting or standing at our table. I could feel the restaurant moving and even though it wasn't moving that fast, my tummy and head def. knew it was moving. I had to leave the restaurant a few times to be on solid and still ground. But the buffet was very yummy (what I could swallow down) and I didn't let a little queasiness stop my tummy from sampling the dessert table! All you can eat dessert, mmmmm......A nice treat (besides the dessert table) was an award that was given to one of our draft person who has been with the company for 35 years! Wow, what an achievement or is it??? Kidding! Good Job Scottie!