Part 2 of P’s bachelorette started out in the Uber, and a very silent driver. He dropped us off at the Disney port, instead of the Norwegian port, and we walked under the glaring sun for about 10 minutes to get to the right spot. Glad we didn’t get run over. Off to the Bahamas we go!

First thing I noticed was that there were quite a large range of ages in the passengers, lined up to check in and board the Norwegian Sun. There were some families with children, a few bachelor and bachelorette parties, and just a whole bunch of people ready to have a relaxing weekend. First thing we did was eat at the Four Seasons restaurant on the boat. Let’s start with dessert. The rose water blood oranges with blackberry sorbet were my most memorable dish:

The large serving of nachos was pretty impressively made, with lots of cheese and chicken. A dab of guacamole is on top of the whole mess:

I didn’t go around taking photos of all the food that we ate everyday, because it did get somewhat repetitive. All the food was good, and I didn’t get sick from (or of) anything in the 3 days that we were on board. We ate 6 to 7 meals a day, and with the package that we purchased, we had unlimited access to all the beverages! I got pretty tired of pina coladas, and switched to negroni’s and vodka soda by the last day.

The weather was not the best, and we missed one of the ports, where we had booked an excursion. Sadly, I ended up napping most of that day. It’s days like that where I wonder what I’m doing with my life… Sleep more than 8 hours?! What is the meaning of life?! I think I gotta learn to take it easy…

I don't think I'd take this cruise again, but would consider other cruises. Thanks to the very friendly Norwegian Sun crew for showing us a good time!

Click here to go back to P’s bachelorette, part 1.

Last week, I left on a red eye to visit Disney World in Florida for P’s bachelorette, part 1.

We flew with United, who does not have the best reputation for customer service (referring to man who got dragged off the flight a couple of months back), so I was not surprised when one of the staff on the ground checking us in gave us more attitude than an angsty teenage girl who just got dumped. Our layover in Chicago was only about an hour, and the flight was delayed by just over 15 minutes. Considering that we had to go through customs on the Chicago side, United wanted to put us on a later flight for our 2nd flight from Chicago to Orlando. Of course we said no, because we already had tickets to go to the Magic Kingdom right after landing in the morning, and we made the unanimous decision to run from the first gate to our second boarding gate at Chicago. One of the ground crew checking us in was kind enough to offer swapping our seats to the extra leg room seats, right up front, for no extra charge, but when we got to the actual gate and asked about it, another rude United woman bluntly said that it would cost us $60 to upgrade, and that it didn’t matter if those seats stayed empty, the flight attendants might pull out a POS machine and charge us for the seat change. We tried to explain the whole situation to her, of having the short layover, and that it wasn’t our fault the flight was delayed, which might cause us to not make it on the 2nd plane. She would not budge though on the charges. When H tried to ask for her name, she rudely said, with a snide smile, “You don’t need to know my name.”

Luckily, when we went back to the gate a few minutes later, to verify the gate of the 2nd flight, another ground crew member empathized with us enough to switch our seats at no cost, and we arrived at Orlando in time to make our Magic Express bus seat reservation and enter Magic Kingdom by 11AM.

Our schedule was jam packed with rides, seeing shows, and meeting Disney characters. There was some time for snacking:

Mickey pretzel with cheese dip: VERY salty, but once started eating, cannot stop stuffing face with soft pretzel dipped in (VERY SALTY) creamy cheese sauce. Would try to purchase cheese dip separately to take home for mac and cheese.

Dole whip: Refreshing pineapple flavored soft serve, found at all 4 parks (I think). Watch each of the servers at different stands dispense this from their Dole whip machine. Some servers make bigger swirls.

Turkey leg: Flavorful turkey meat, tastes smokey and very tender, falls off the bone. Carrying this around may cause caveman-like behavior. I wanted a 2nd one, but could not find it at the Hollywood park. Apparently only Magic Kingdom and Epcot serve this massive leg of meat now.



Pasta at Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar: We tried to get into Tutto Italia at Epcot, but the hostess told me they were all booked up and that reservations were always required. Not sure if true that they’re all booked, maybe it was because I was dressed in ratty shorts and a tank top, and they had a dress code. We went next door to the more relaxed Tutto Gusto, where luckily, we were seated right away. The server was very friendly and congratulated P on her upcoming marriage. We had the lasagna and the spaghetti and meatballs, shared between the 4 of us. This normally would not have been enough food for me, I admit I’m gluttonous, but after tasting the snacks at each of the different countries around the park all day, I had enough of eating. Despite having very little appetite though, the pasta here was amazing, and we cleaned the plates off.



We also had a bunch of other foods at Disney, but these were some of the most memorable. The Disney standard applies even to their food!

Click here to read about P’s bachelorette, part 2.

Pronounced “Elle Eh”, like Los Angeles, not “LA”, like “DO RE MI” or the French article... This chicken place is a hole in the wall that replaced a burnt down Dairy Queen a few years ago. I’ve had this chicken before, but mostly takeout at potluck dinner parties. This was my first time here!



The dingy and dirty looking seating arrangement makes me wonder what it’s like inside… Probably not much cleaner, especially with the grease from frying all that chicken. The chicken itself was extremely crispy, and BE WARNED, it is hot! Don’t take a full bite when it’s fresh out of the fryer. The fries were really crispy too, but they were starting to get soggy after leaving them out for about 20 minutes (normal for fries, I guess). The gravy was delish. Choose the spicy option, for more flavour and not for a burning mouth feel.



Church’s Chicken is still my favourite.

This was the last weekend before I head out to Orlando, Florida for the 3rd time this year… I thought I wouldn’t want to go again, but I’m actually quite looking forward to it. The last few hours before leaving are tough though, what with trying to wrap things up with some last minute things. Do I really need travel insurance?

Got way too hungry after work, and didn’t want to cook, after transiting for an hour, so H met up with me at Menya, which is conveniently located by the Canada Line skytrain:



I gotta say that I was not very satisfied by this miso ramen. It had better broth than Jinya, and I ended up drinking all of it, but my gripe with this bowl was the portion size. I was full for maybe 30 seconds after I slurped up the last drop of the broth. Why don’t they put more noodles in?! I guess rent is expensive, and they need to be conscious of expenses... The ramen also didn’t come with an egg, so we had to order it on the side. Other than that, it was very cozy, clean, and came with great service, despite being very busy with guests at every table.



I’ve been trying to eat at home more often to save money, what with many expenses coming up soon. It sort of freaks me out to think about how much money will be leaving my bank account in the next year or so. Stay open to allow things to flow through, my yoga instructor said today. This could be taken a few different ways, but I’m sure she was referring to life events, like if something horrible happens, be accepting of it, and it will pass. Right now, I keep thinking of my wallet staying open and all the money just flowing in, and then, very quickly out of it.

C and I came here on Friday after work, because we heard they had a good whiskey soda highball:

They use “premium soda” with Suntory whiskey from Japan, which apparently is a big thing over there. This was great for cooling off, after walking around downtown. Maybe it’s just my tastebuds, but I thought they could have added more whiskey.

The server recommended that we order the brussel sprout tempura that they coat with truffle oil. We were pleasantly surprised by what a great match it was with the whiskey. The crispiness was ten out of ten.

I was looking for the traditional miso ramen that most ramen shops offer, but was disappointed that they only had a spicy miso and did not really have the basics… Ended up getting the Tonkotsu Black. I don’t really enjoy this style of ramen, where the soup gets way too thick and greasy. The broth was warm, but not really the right temperature. The egg was included with the overpriced ramen, and we did not need to order it as a side, unlike many other ramen places, but I thought the egg yolk wasn’t quite runny enough. Did I leave it in the lukewarm broth too long? Probably not possible for it to cook more at that temperature. Their ramen just isn’t one of my favourites.



I would go back for the brussel sprouts and the whiskey highball, but I’d order a double. I enjoyed this meal a lot, despite the janky ramen, because I had some one on one time with C, who always patiently listens to me rant on and on… I have a lot of things on my mind lately!

There has also been a lot of good news to celebrate and talk about this week. Hard work from earlier this year might be starting to pay off, and so many announcements! Love is in the air!  J&K got married! New beginnings!

This year started out sort of average, and as the weeks go by, it seems like things are really picking up steam.

Especially the temperature. Tonight might also be the first night of the year that we sleep with the window open, because the temperature is getting up there.

Have a good week everyone.

Rainy weekend, what better thing to do than hang out a coffee shop?


M and I had been talking about visiting Caffe di Beppe for about a month. The photos I had seen on the Internet showed such an aesthetically pleasing spot for coffee, complete with beautiful floor tiles, I could not resist coming to try out the cappuccino and croissant. I chose the fig jam with my croissant, which was very flakey on the outside and soft/chewy on the inside. M had the appolini, and after taking a bite to try, I immediately wished that I had ordered that pastry instead, filled with light, fluffy cream. The coffee was a good match, no regrets there.





We were there around 1030AM on Sunday, and there were plenty of seats. However, it started filling up just after we arrived, and the noise level was rising, so I think it scared a couple of guests, who actually picked up their laptops and left. They also have their main restaurant, which opens up later in the day. That would be another interesting spot to check out.

Maybe I’ll come back next weekend to plan wedding stuff. I don’t even know where to begin! What do we do first – pick a date, pick a venue, set the budget, find my dress/his suit? Does it really matter, as long as we’re happy?

Everybody wanted to hang out when we got back home, most of all H’s mom. We went to Cafe Savoureux, one of her favourite spots in Richmond to relax with a cup of coffee:

We had a piece of the chestnut cake and a blueberry cheesecake. The chestnut cake was average, I wouldn’t go back for it, but the cheesecake was bomb! Would highly recommend. I had it with the Naporitano (an Americano with lemon), which was another first… Not sure if it’s traditionally made that way, but I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me of the time we had espresso and tonic water in Nanaimo. H’s mom had the latte. H had a pourover (not pictured), which he didn’t complain about. Apart from the really great cake, the shop was cozy but not overcrowded on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I think it does get much busier in the evenings, when the cravings for something sweet kick in.



I had only visited this cafe one other time before, and I can’t recall with who, but it was definitely not as good before. This really did make me believe even more that the company is more important than the food. It’s also possible that the cafe staff just picked up the slack and improved over the years. Either way, it was a good place to meet and start talking wedding.

The day after was the annual Sun Run. 1 hour 8 minutes 48 seconds. A bit slower than before, but not bad for a year of not exercising enough.

We had yet another steak dinner while travelling in Kissimee, this time at the Old Hickory Steakhouse at the hotel:



I wasn’t too excited to try this place, because hotel chain restaurants are not typically my favourite places to visit, but this restaurant was conveniently located just underneath our rooms, and they took reservations, so it was very convenient for a good work dinner. It turns out that they do serve pretty good steak here, although the 8 hours of standing and all the manual labor of packing up the trade show probably contributed to my ravenous appetite. We also had a couple of sides, which didn’t quite stand out for me. The dessert selection sounded good, but again, nothing too special. I’d come here mainly out of convenience.



All in all, a trip with many good memories. The food quality tapered off towards the end, because we were mainly stuck in the hotel without too many options, but perhaps I’m just spoiled in my everyday life at home.

I'm back in Orlando in a couple weeks. 3rd time's the charm?

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