Jan-chan’s Tidbits

I remember we used to visit the Buddhist Temple on Steveston Highway every year on Chinese New Year’s Eve. We haven’t been doing that due to the huge crowd that seems to grow bigger every year. While Daniel was here, I decided to take him to the temple to look at the interesting architectures. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but I did managed to take one in the garden just outside the main temple.

If you haven’t been to the temple for a while, you should drop by for a visit because a lot have changed. They added some new structures and some are being renovated.

We headed towards Steveston for some fish and chips at Pajo’s after our visit at the temple. I think it took the guys about 15 mins to line up for the order and another 15 mins before the food were ready. We ordered all three kinds of fish to try and I found halibut to be the best and salmon doesn’t taste quite right. It needs some seasoning to bring out the flavor. While the fish were pretty good over all the chips were a bit disappointing. I love fries but I just couldn’t eat the ones from Pajo’s. It’s soft and way too greasy, like someone took them out of the fryer too early. I prefer fries that have some crunch to them.

Fish & Chips from Pajo's.

After our lunch I took the guys in search for waffles for dessert. Al and I went to the Baker’s Market in April and found this place called Damien’s Waffles which is located in Steveston. Their waffles are eggs free and have no preservatives. I also like the fact that they heat up the waffles for you so it’s nice and warm when you eat it. Sorry I was in such a hurry to eat the waffles that I forgot to get photos of them first. I found out they also sell them in bulk. Too bad my wedding favor boxes are too small or I’d use waffles as favors (would probably have to order three times as much since I’d also be snacking on them while I assemble the boxes).

We were all pretty full after lunch and dessert and decided to take a walk around Steveston. The sun was out and lots of people came out to enjoy it. There were some people practicing kite boarding (I think that’s what it’s called) and some were flying kites. I used to come here to fly kites with my family as well when we were younger.

After the trip to Steveston, we headed home and came back to Richmond for the Summer Night Market. More about that in the next post.

Last weekend Al and I went up to Mt. Seymour on a snowshoeing & chocolate fondue tour. I haven’t been to snowshoeing since elementary school so I was really looking forward to it. We got up there well ahead of time so we got to walk around a bit and took some pictures.

Check out his ears *giggles*

Ok fine...I got them too...=p

At 7 our tour guide gathered our group around and lead us into the woods. He has a very cool backpack and special lantern for Valentine’s Day.

The area in the woods were too dark for me to take photos. We walked for about 45 mins into this area surrounded by trees. The area was also dug out to form an oval with a flat slab of snow in the centre like a table. Everyone sat around while our guide took out a number of items from his backpack: hand sanitizers, forks, napkins, plastic wine glasses, 2 bottles of sparkling apple juice, little plastic containers of fruits, equipments for 3 fondue sets and chocolate kept inside a thermos. I can’t believe he was carrying all those stuff while hiking with us the whole time.

We had a lot of fun standing around the eating chocolate fondue while sharing stories and playing games. There were a variety of fruits to dip into the chocolate, such as kiwi, banana, strawberry, pineapple, grapes, oranges….etc. The setting and the effort to set it up make it really special. After we polished off the fruits we each got a heart shape cookie before heading off to the lake for a beautiful view of the sky. Too bad it was cloudy or it would have been much prettier with stars above our heads.

At the lake, the guide told us the two type of birds found in the area: bald eagle and grey owl. He also told us that the grey owl’s mating call is “hoo hoo” (or was it “hoot hoot”?). He was making us try the mating call and to make it easier to remember, he made us say “who hoots for you” (try stretching the “o” sound … lol). We were all cracking up. Then he split the guys and the girls into 2 groups and told us to close our eyes. We then have to find our partners by identifying them from their “mating calls”.

At the end of the journey, when we are back at the lodge to return the snowshoes, each couple were given a little goodie bag with chocolates, a candle with a heart on top and a book of love (filled with coupons for favors). You can see more pictures from the tour on my Picasa Album.

Thanks Al for the trip and the kitty ears toque. Before I end here, let me show you this funny picture I took of us:

I think Al's head looks like the shadow for Cat Woman....

Last Saturday I had dim sum at Golden Swan on Victoria Street with Al, Ken, MH, MK, Ani and WuWu. Now usually I won’t go into details about dim sum because, it’s pretty standard with the shrimp dumplings, spring rolls and bbq pork buns. However, during dim sum this time I had the “honor” of watching someone eat 6 – yes, SIX – egg custard tarts. That was pretty entertaining.

After dim sum, everyone but MK and Ani headed to Metrotown to watch Dark Knight. We started lining up for the movie about 1.5 hours before show time. Our show was at 3:30pm and I can already see a line forming for the next show. The movie was great! It’s one of the better batman movies I think. There were several scenes where I had to cover my face with my hands because I found them really scary. Thank god I wasn’t the only one (right mun mun? hehe).

The movie ended at 6:10ish. WuWu went home and the four of us headed down to Parker Place so Al can pick up some trial contacts to wear for the photoshoot, which is this Thursday. The store was still busy when he got there so we went to walk around Aberdeen for a bit. Guess what I found there. Moofias! It was only $8.95 at Beans Gift & Toys so I got another one of those adorable milk carton and found Soya. Now both Milk and Soya are stationed at my desk in the office to keep me company.

Al took about 45 minutes to learn how to put the contacts on (and he still need to go back there today to continue his “lessons”). We head to the night market at around 8:00ish. The place was pretty busy and the food section was super packed. We went around to look at what’s available before deciding what we want to have for dinner. The twins had 2 soups each, MH had one along with a cup of corn. We also got a bunch of skewers to share. There were two food vendors which stood out, one is the Korean pancake. It’s similar to Japanese’s taiyaki, but a bit smaller and chewier. They also sell sweet rice pancake which Ken liked. The other sells Chinese dessert soup such as red bean soup, tapioca with sea coconut and tofu dessert. We each ate one there and the twins also got some to take home. Here are some pictures I managed to take in between fooding.

I was pretty tired when I got home but I really enjoyed spending the day with the guys. I wonder what movie we should watch next. Any suggestions? Oh and last Friday, we tried out Craves on Main Street. I like the place, small, cozy and the service was excellent! I had the baby back ribs, doesn’t that look delicious?

Here’s a follow up from the previous post on the family reunion. This morning, we met up for brunch at the Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar in Yaletown. I haven’t been to the restaurant before and had read some not so great reviews but the menu looked decent so Kally and I decided to host our family brunch there. Originally Kally and Vivian were going to treat everyone to dim sum but I thought we could do something more western (since they can have dim sum in Hong Kong) so the three of us gathered our piggy banks and changed dim sum to brunch.

During last week, I had contacted Glowbal regarding a limited menu (we picked a short list of items for the menu) as well as having a special plate for my grandma. We know grandma isn’t a fan of western food but she will eat pasta so Kally and I had requested for a chicken pasta in white sauce for her. However, they had never confirmed that request prior to our brunch. Also when we arrive, the menu is the standard brunch/lunch menu and not the limited menu we had thought we’d get. So I was a little disappointed.

Everyone arrived around 11am and we all got seated at the back corner where we got a lot of privacy. We can be pretty loud so that location is perfect! I helped everyone order their drinks as well as explained some of the menu items to the aunts and uncles who aren’t familiar with the dishes. The most popular items seemed to be the P.E.I Lobster Benedict and the Woodland Mushroom & Havarti Cheese Omelet. The Lobster Benedict had chunks of lobster between the egg and crispy pancetta with hash and greens on the sides. Grandma’s pasta was really nice. Lots of grape tomatoes, sliced asparagus, and chunks of chicken with spaghetti. She also loved the hash (potatoes) since I caught her taking them from grandpa’s plate a lot. Oh another interesting thing to note is that they gave us mini donuts in a bamboo steamed basket instead of the usual bread and butter.

Here’s the slide show of the family, the food and the baby jar of ketchup:

The food turned out better than I had expected. My experience with one of the restaurant under the same umbrella, Italian Kitchen, wasn’t that great so I was really glad that Glowbal pulled through for the family brunch. Our server, Ben, was excellent! He was very patient with us and had met all our needs, such as getting more baby ketchup bottles (see slideshow). I would definitely recommend Glowbal for brunch/lunch.

With such nice weather over the weekend, I spent both Saturday and Sunday out in downtown shopping with some friends. I guess the stores are welcoming the arrival of Vancouver’s summer too as many of them are having summer sales event.

On Saturday, I went to lunch with the twins and their university friend from Hong Kong. We ate at Griffins then took a stroll through Gastown. From researching interesting spots for my wedding photos, I had came across a place called Blood Alley, so we went to look for it:

It’s definitely an interesting place as I would probably never found it if I didn’t know it was there. There are brick walls and old lamp posts. The only down side is that the place smells really bad. Well, it is an alley and there are garbage disposal areas… We’re considering taking some photos here and I’ll probably practice holding my breath before the photoshoot.

Later in the afternoon, I had the pleasure of joining WuWu in his quest for new clothing. We went to a few places: RW&Co., Mexx, H&M, Banana Republic, Aldo, Feet First…etc. Each visit was pretty long, especially if he needs to try on clothes since he takes forever in the changing room. He said he has to remove too many pieces of clothing and there are too many buttons on the shirts *rolled eyes*. Anyhow, we managed to score a few pieces from Mexx, RW&Co. and Feet First. Here’s a preview of WuWu and his new clothes:

I’m not very use to seeing him dressed that way but I have to admit he does look pretty good in the shirt and dress pants. The shirt has this pink under tone which is kind of … cute. We went to Manzo for dinner. I loved the clam sakemushi we ordered. Yum! We were too busy stuffing our faces so I forgot to take photos. I did remember to take some when we went to Sweet Revenge on Main Street for desserts after. The interior decor is very Victorian. WuWu ordered a tiramisu (we thought it looked like Mickey) and I had a pear creme brulee.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon – after lunch I went to downtown again with the twins and their mom. We got a whole bunch of clothing from RW&Co. (can you tell that’s one of my favourite stores? lol) and Puma. Ken got a couple pairs of John Fluevog shoes which were on sale! Al and I both got a Puma Ferrari jacket. Everything was 30% off at Puma. I had to resist buying a new pair of shoes. Here are some pictures of our loot:

The John Fluevog store on Granville Stree is very different than the one in Gastown. It’s very antique looking. Here’re some pictures I took while Ken was at the cashier:

Two back to back shopping trips were too much for my feet apparently. I stayed in on Monday to rest. We also went to see Wall-e and Wanted over the weekend. Both were really good but if I have to choose, I’d pick Wall-e. How can you resist those big adorable eyes? *lol*