Ads


rocanini cappuccino

Stopped by Rocanini in Steveston for a cappuccino and to read my National Geographic mag. This was the edition that inspired me to visit the Galapagos.

rocanini cappuccino

Strong start to the weekend! I love hanging out here in this bright airy space with the plants and some of the best espresso in Richmond (not many options to choose from anyways). I’m definitely coming back for more, when I get my next issue of the magazine.

Rocanini Coffee Roasters Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Coffee is one of the things that I do to brighten up my day, whether it’s a toxic person bringing me down or a bad night of rest. Yoga. Food. Nature.

What are some things that turn your bad day into a good one?
H’s birthday this weekend, and we went for some good ol’ birthday brunch at Denny’s:

Denny's - It's always sunny-side up in a diner

He had the Grand Slam, which has pancakes, 2 sausages, 2 bacon, and 2 eggs. I had the one with the cheddar cheese melted into the scrambled eggs, which you can see above. Coffee was a must. Also, milkshake as a birthday treat. I don’t mind Denny’s, they’re a pretty decent chain. Good greasy food for a well rounded diet… Potatos are vegetables, right?

Denny's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

We spent the rest of his birthday doing what he loves best – garage sale shopping and eating more. He surprised me with a record player; I brought out the Lionel Richie records that I’d been hiding from him for a month:

UO Crosley, Red Cats Records

Today was a scorcher.

End of the month hike at Sasamat Lake with P+M and young P, which turned into a much longer adventure to find the views at Buntzen Lake Ridge:

sasamat lake

This was a pretty steep hike, and we weren’t prepared for it as we had not packed enough water and food.  I had Hardbite chips (Jalapeno flavored, $2.50 a bag) and a few cherry tomatoes. In this 31°C weather, we barely made it back down to the car. When we did get back to the vehicle, where we had our cooler stashed, we sat right down on the grass next to the car, and started stuffing our faces with the cheese, pita, hummus, and rice balls we were saving for after the hike. No shame.

hardbite jalapeno

Despite P hitting my car, I think we’re still on good terms. Despite older P leaving, among all other changes, I am still enjoying my time here. I can't help forgiving, forgetting, and moving on, there are more beautiful things out there to enjoy:
:butterfree



H and I were tired and hungry after a long day of work, looking for a place to eat around Metrotown. We were craving some Shanghai food, but Wang’s was closeed. As luck would have it, We drove past this little strip mall, and noticed Preference:

IMG_20170621_212029_514

We had the pig intestine noodle.
IMG_20170621_211718_408

We also had this spicy pork dish.
IMG_20170621_211554_006

Lastly, we had this starchy noodle with chicken and a hoisin/peanut sauce (I’m really not sure what’s in it). This was definitely necessary, as it was a cold dish and helped to cool off our tongues that were burned by the other two dishes.

Preference Noodle House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The atmosphere reminded us of being in Asia – a group of boys were chattering in Chinese and taking photos of their food (one of them yelled at his friends, “WHAT ARE WE? GIRLS?”), and other small groups of Chinese guys were chit chatting about business. I felt a bit out of place, the service was rather awkward because of language barriers, and the menus had horrendous typos and very confusing descriptions.

I think I would still come back to this hidden gem though. Good food and price. We came into this family run restaurant, not expecting much, but that’s why it was so rewarding. This was a real food adventure, without any prior research on food blogs or review sites.

All the unknowns keep life exciting.

H and I went to Santouka along W. Broadway a few days ago:

spicy miso ramen and masago don combo

When did ramen get so expensive? I remember eating at the Robson location for much less. I love the texture of the noodles and the soup just warms my soul. We had this with the rice combo, masago over rice, and spicy miso ramen. The texture of the rice wasn’t as sticky and sweet as I remembered it to be… Overall, still good, but a bit too overpriced for me to justify going regularly.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

I could use some of this comfort food now.

Everytime that I hear that somebody has decided to leave, I get this gut wrenching, heart pounding, eyes blurring dizziness. Then, I hear that somebody very important is resigning, and it just brings me to uncontrollable tears. I don’t think I’m the only girl made of water in this world, as other people were visibly upset. I feel like it’s worse for me though.

Even just thinking about it makes me break down. It’s just like how Carrie kept breaking down in that episode of Sex and the City everytime she remembered Mr. Big had a heart attack, and I think it’s because, like me, she was thinking of a future without this very important person in her life.
It’s going to be tough, but we’ll get through it, for better or worse. Do I really believe that though or am I just lying to myself?

I’ve also said before that if this person leaves, I will go too…

As I mentioned in the last post, when things seem to be going smoothly, shit just happens. When will things go back to “normal”?

When everything seems to be going smoothly, things always seem to flip and start going haywire. This weather isn’t helping right now. SUN, COME BACK.

Tried to brighten up the day with some JJ Bean coffee:
IMG_20170617_202353_545

M had introduced me to their blended ice beverage, the SHIVER, a few weeks ago, and the cravings were real yesterday. I brought H with me, and he really loved how creamy it was too. We also got their chocolate, zucchini muffin to go with it. This thing has a muffin top the size of my face, and it is dense.. My boss had told me before that JJ Bean really listens to the voice of the customer, and hence, the best muffin ever with the biggest muffin top ever was created, baked fresh at all of their locations. The Commercial Drive location is a bit dingier than the Main Street one, but it might also have been the grey weather.

JJ Bean Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato




Alex and Ani still sells the bracelet that I’m wearing in the picture! I think I bought it 4 years ago, still love how easy it is to slip on/off and match with most outfits:
Also got a new Swiffer. It’s life changing. My standards of living have just gone through the roof.
Visited Aperture Coffee Bar for their beautiful affogatos:

IMG_20170614_215046_855

I had the ginger, matcha, and the lemon (top to bottom). I knew I wanted the matcha flavor going into the shop, and lemon was recommended by the dude at the bar. Ginger affogato just sounded wack, and it was actually not too weird. I tend to like ginger and sugar together, so I enjoyed it. The lemon was not my favourite, but I could see how others might like the tanginess of the syrup. The ginger was also just a syrup. I think the matcha could’ve been stirred up a bit better as I had chunks of it melt in my mouth.

Aperture Coffee Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - ZomatoIMG_20170614_215153_611



I wouldn't get the same flavours again, but I do want to try all of them. I think they have seasonal flavours too... Overall, a pretty good pre-game for dinner.

Little things are stressing me out today. Don’t let the little things in life creep into the cracks and split up the foundation.

Visited Platform 7 for coffee with S before going to Closet Raid this weekend:

IMG_20170611_101039_642

The ambience here is fantastic, especially the little garden outside where we chilled for a bit. Other than coffee, I’ve lately been obsessed with plants, so this was a perfect environment for me. Fantastic cappuccino, energized me enough to battle the other girls looking for deals at the sale.

Platform 7 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

S had the mocha (top):
IMG_20170612_234135_893

On Sunday, I went to Twin Falls with Mom: 

IMG_20170611_130351_816

This was such an easy view to get to, not more than 15 minutes from the parking lot at Lynn Canyon. Going back up the stairs was a bit more work for my mother. She also yelled at me to not go down into the trees, off the sturdy wooden path, to get this shot, but I knew it was safe enough. There was a good system of roots to form a bit of a staircase. Listen to your mother, but not when she hikes less than you.

Today, I spent an extra 30 to 45 minutes, schooling somebody to do a task the right way. It was tough, they fought back hard because they believed that there are lots of different paths to get to the same destination. I knew I was right though, and I didn’t even bother to say it in my usual passive aggresive way. I was too tired for that today. How do some people have such faith in their believes, thinking with their heads up their ass, that they don’t bother trying to understand the other side? 

If I’m not happy, it’s not the end yet.

lamesa filipino kitchen

One of the meals we had with D&T were at Lamesa Filipino Kitchen:

lamesa filipino kitchen

Lamesa means table, so the full name means… table filipino kitchen? Anyways. They served some pretty tasty food with romantic lighting, moody ambiance. We had this coconut fried polenta as a garnish for their fish (above, the polenta is that rectangular prism supporting the fish), and I fell in love with the restaurant then. I wish we could’ve just ordered that on its own.

lamesa filipino kitchen

Lamesa Filipino Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - ZomatoWe also had this pork (above), and it was just OK. Chinese pork siu yok is better, just because it’s oiler and juicier. We ended the meal with the ube dessert at the top of the page, which was quite refreshing.

I miss traveling, and it’s only been a week and a half since Sunshine Coast. November will be Hong Kong and Taiwan! If only I had more time and money to travel. I’m already maximizing as much as possible on my measly 15 vacation days, and buying only the essentials to keep me presentable in public. I’ve cut down on the alcohol, the eating out… Can’t cut down on coffee though. How do I travel more, like this guy says we should:


The air in the office makes us dizzy.

Just another weekend. Tried to make it count. I try to make every meal count now, too, because I'm no spring chicken. We came to Shanghai River Restaurant for a pretty satisfying dinner:



We had some (old) pea shoots, fried yee meen noodles, the pork with the sweet sauce, and chose 3 appetizers to start. We tried their drunken chicken, because I still had cravings for the ones at Asian Legend in Toronto. I wouldn’t come back for this drunken chicken.


Shanghai River Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato



One of my favourite foods, which was wrapped fresh and not bad here. XLB:

xlb

That’s it for May, I guess. This year so far has been pretty good. Lots of food, new experiences, more laughter than tears. Hope the 2nd half of the year will be as good.

I also just want to document that today, I was almost run over by an N driver while biking home. Where was I? Richmond. Surprise surprise.

IMG_20170603_062520_272

Before exploring the Steveston neighborhood a few weeks ago, we went for brunch at Davood’s:

  IMG_20170603_062142_866

The portions are large, and service is quick. I had a great cappuccino, and the waffles with bacon and eggs (I don’t remember the name of this…). There was a pile of maybe half the pack of bacon on top of the waffle. I can’t wait to come back, but there are surprisingly a lot of other places to check out in Steveston.

Davood's Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Am I too nice? I’ve been passively trying to convince people to do things my way. I just don’t understand why people would say or do or not do certain things… Is it because you don’t like me? Is it because you’re just a miserable soul? Is it because you think your degree makes you more privileged? When somebody is really aggressive about getting something that they want, and it disrupts everybody else around them, I start wondering… why?

Time for another coffee.
Throw back to this snack we had at Poke Guy after our Greyhound ride from the Niagara Falls back to D’s house:
IMG_20170510_180333_011

It’s slightly overpriced for what it is… Rice, fish, vegetables, and sauce, with not much in terms of service. I do like watching them compile my food in this very plastic disposable bowl (maybe one day we’ll see the end of all disposable takeout containers and utensils? I’m still guilty of using them, but I did bring my own Tupperware to a restaurant tonight for leftovers). Anyways, this was split between H and I, before we headed to a real dinner with D and T. The hunger made it taste much better than it really was, but I felt like I'd come back or at least try other poké places.

Poké Guys Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Grandma’s back in the hospital, and I’m again wondering the meaning of all her obsessions… She’s afraid of taking Tylenols because she’s worried she’ll get addicted to them. She doesn’t want to eat any fatty foods because of high cholesterol. She doesn’t want to go out in the sun because she might get skin cancer. At what age should you stop worrying about the consequences of indulging?

I had some greasy pizza today for lunch. Guess I'm lucky to be able to have all these experiences.