The next few days before travelling to Europe will be busy, and we wanted to meet up at least once before I fly. Being busy productive adults, it’s difficult to make time, but we did it. We ended up going to Hou Cai Lei for bubbletea:



This is the brown sugar jelly milk tea, and boy, is it full of brown sugar. The jelly itself is where most of the sweetness comes from, and even at 50% sugar, I think I ordered wrong. If you’re not ready for diabetes, make sure you order it with 0% sugar. Other than that, the milky team is smooth and creamy, and I would definitely come back. It felt like I had just been transported back to Taiwan, from the moment that we saw the sandwich board with the shop's name, all in Chinese.





We got out drinks to go, and didn't stay for too long because there isn't a lot of space inside. The front sitting area had a low coffee table with a few chairs around it, and while it looked like an attractive spot to hang out, the area was a bit messy. This was possibly due to the previous patrons who had just walked outside for a smoke. I do wish people could clean up after themselves.



How do you read the name of this bubble tea shop anyways?

Things are moving fast! The biggest change of the year is in the works, and hopefully, I’ll be able to write about it here in less than a month.

Once in a lifetime events – birthdays, weddings, bridal showers… Reasons to splurge and have a good time!

Last night, we were at the Homer St. Café for J’s staggette:


The meal was family style, just like at Nightingale for B’s birthday. We started with the appetizers – olives and cheese, salad, a dip of some… fish, hummus:



Gnudi, with oozy stringy cheese:


Beef cheeks, super tender:



A pile of potatos and coleslaw, pitcher of gravy:



We also had the lingcod and chicken, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. The portions look small on the plates, but we were more than stuffed!

I forgot about saving room for dessert – chocolate pudding, peanut butter cookies with nutella cream, and in the photo at the very top, a cheesecake with apple compote. I could eat that nutella cream all day.


The food was good, and I hear the happy hour and brunch meals are delicious too. I don’t think I’ll come back too soon on my own for no reason, just because it was quite pricey (about $100 with drinks and tips). Food was good enough, so find me another excuse to visit again soon and I'll be there.



Great time with some great girls, J has good taste in friends. I think I’m too old now for a “wild night” out though. Sometimes, I just want to stay home, watch Netflix (Kim's Convenience, as recommended by M), and watch my houseplants grow:



Got rid of most if not all of the spider mites on the plant, and after 2 weeks, I see signs of growth! See the little leaves sprouting from the old leaves?

Yes, I'm a real homebody at heart.

Sourced a pineapple floaty, found a clean lake - summer is going strong: 

Went hiking to Wedgemount Lake yesterday, where I first visited in September 2014 (here’s the post from back then). I took a couple of drone shots with Sparkle the Drone (#sparklethedrone), but didn’t get a photo with the same angle of the lake and glacier from 3 years ago, which is really a pity, because I can’t do a direct comparison. There’s enough proof out there of climate change though, we don’t need another photo of the impending doom that is possibly coming.

Having the drone really brings different perspectives to life. There’s a little lake forming at the top of Wedgemount:

I haven’t changed too much from 2014, I guess. I still live for these views and this air:

Although my fitness levels have deteriorated slightly (I was huffing and puffing up the 1100m of elevation as compared to last time when it was a piece of cake climing up), we can hopefully all agree that my photography skills have improved. My excuse for the slow ascent is that I had a fever and my airways were quite congested the day before. Maybe in another 3 years, I’ll come back, and my body will actually work with me. 

Post hike, we went to Hanok in North Vancouver. We got there around 9:30PM, and while they officially close at 10:30PM, they were already pushing us to order, obviously in a rush to close. Their food was not as flavourful as Jang Mo Jib or Haroo, and their service was just average. I might come back, if conveniently in the neighborhood again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit again.

P+M’s rice cakes were not too memorable.

The pork bone hot pot with the instant noodle came in a good portion with lots of meat for $30. We had the mildest version in terms of spicey, so maybe for more flavour next time, get one level up for spicey. There should be other meat and savoury flavours other than spiciness though, and this just didn’t really cut it.

Their seafood pancake was still mushy apparently (I didn’t try it). Maybe they were in a rush to leave, and didn’t keep it on the fryer long enough. They were not very generous with side dishes, refilled once for us after we asked.

Lately, I haven’t had much appetite. Chatting with one of the hikers along the trail during a rest stop, he said, “If you stop eating and drinking, it’s not a good sign.” It’s a very general symptoms of some illness or other, but honestly, I think all the flooding (Hong Kong, Houston, India, Pakistan, China…)and burning around the world (wildfires in California and BC just to begin) has brought me down. Things that I can control, I tend to not stress over, but I can’t help worrying about the unknown and the actions of others. I have this image of the folks at Pompeii, being buried under volcanic dust. How much of this will matter once the rest of the world has all turned into dust, as the wildfires spread and we’re washed away by the floods afterwards?

Probably not the healthies mindset, but that’s why I go on these hikes to see the rolling vastness of the PNW mountains and valleys, as a reminder to myself that we’re all just little specks in this world.

Ramblings brought to you by 5 hours of very light sleep after a night of alcohol and heat wave induced turning and tossing in bed.

Sept. 3, 2017

It’s the little things that add up to make a big difference. Here’s a list of “little” things that I thought about today while H is guiding his kids in Nova Scotia and I was hiking (if you have any questions about this bottom of Brandywine Falls hike, email me using contact info on About page):

1. This little plastic squirrel (beaver? whatever.) that I thought was a candy and that I tried to eat because I was hungry, waiting at Milestones on Robson:

I could’ve choked on this little pointy thing. There was also the small portion of popcorn shrimp that was deceptive at first, because of the real popcorn underneath all of it. This really bothered me. I’m paying close to $14 for a handful of POPCORN?! If the whole container was full of shrimp (which were also little), then I wouldn’t be so upset at the price. A’s seafood pasta was oversalted and I’m sure my kidneys are suffering from just one mouthful of the spaghetti that she shared with me. I only came to this place because it was A’s farewell party, and she’s sort of amazing so I had to say bye. Not coming back unless I have to.

2. Little habits and mannerisms add up, and become glaringly obvious to the point that they’re all I notice. Legs shaking, nose twitching, chewing loudly, unnecessary remarks/actions for attention or for whatever reason. Now I know this could be an uncontrollable physical/psychological thing, and I am trying to let it go. BUT SOMETIMES…!!! Tonight for example:

Scene – Soup is done, in the pot on the stove. Everybody is finishing dinner around the table, and to wrap up the meal, like true Asians, we drink soup.

Person1: Let me get you some soup. *starts to get up from the table to get me soup

Person2: OH I’M GOING FIRST. *jumps up quickly and heads to the pot first to get first dibs from a huge pot of soup

Now, I asked questions because I’m trying this new thing. I tried to be kind and understand why Person2 needed to be first to get the soup when there was so much and Person2 had been just sitting there with an empty bowl for at least 5 minutes prior to Person1 getting up from the table. The soup was already done a while before dinner started.

Me: Just wondering... Why did you get up when Person1 decided to get up?

Person2 had no good response other than a scowl and“What’s the problem?” in a very defensive tone.

3. Small acts of kindness, like Person1 getting up to get me soup out of the kindness of their heart. M asking D how his leg was, because she noticed a huge cut there and is a caring person. J planning a party for A. Friends going out of their way to keep showing up and be supportive. Food sharing even though you love what you bought for dinner and the portions are small!

4. Human beings are actually really tiny, adding our mark on the world (see photo above of waterfall). We did the Brandywine Falls hike again. One of the rocks we walked by ended up tumbling into the water. My big picture side makes me wonder... What will that fallen rock do to change the grand scheme of things?

After a long month, I was really looking forward to a good drink. C invited me to Stormcrow:

I’d never been before, and I heard that there were some interesting boardgames there to be played. The place was packed! Stepping into the place, I caught a whiff of body odour The air wasn’t moving very well in there, it was quite stuffy. C and V shared the appie platter (above). Good pile of grease.

I had a good cold beverage – Release the Kraken!

H had this burger (I think it’s the salmon burger):

I had a bite, and the ingredients did not taste very fresh. Maybe it was the cheese and sauce combo, but both H and I were not into it. I had the pork belly caesar salad:


Not really a favourite either. It was like eating salt.

H tried to order a few different dishes before deciding on the burger, as well as a few different types of beer and the mead, and they were ALL out of stock. The server kept coming back to tell us that they didn’t have something after she had taken the order. She didn’t seem to know what they had, and wasn’t very helpful. Let’s not come back again.



Well, that’s the end of June. I’m really looking forward to a peaceful and quiet July. Happy Canada Day.

We also went to see the Blow Holes (teehee):

Magnificent. Powerful. We were impressed for about a minute, took pictures and left so that we could continue the Jerk Chicken Tours.

We ended up going to Di Kit-Chin, where we had the fried snapper fish and of course, jerk chicken. The fish looked really dead. P really enjoyed it, because she loves eating all the fish with bones. As a lazy person, I did not care too much for all the little bones in the fish, but it was not unpalatable. The chicken was great, but I would have to say that it isn’t quite as good or fresh as Sam’s. Not sure if it’s because it was a Sunday and they weren’t expecting much traffic (so thankful they were open on Sunday!).

Interesting conversation there too:

Man we met at Di Kit-Chin (DKC): Where you guys from?
Me: Canada! Have you been?
DKC: No, I haven’t. Have you been to Jamaica?
Me: No, should I?
DKC: Yes! Good weed there, you can walk around with it!

Is this what people usually talk to Canadians about?

In conclusion of the tours, Sam’s really won. There might be other places. Recommendations welcome, in case I ever go back (fat chance).

CLICK HERE FOR JERK CHICKEN TOURS PART ONE.

Not sure why I’m so sleepy today, maybe it’s the cumulative stress of city life or the island life withdrawal. Or Mercury in retrograde. Here’s another delicious meal we had, post Stingray tours, at Over The Edge on the Grand Cayman Island:

H and I shared some fried conch fritters and the shrimp (Calypso Grill still wins best shrimp).

Pina coladas were refreshing.

Their local fruit, ackee, fried up with cod, served with rice and beans, plantains, and vegetables. And an extra side of nice views:

This was a very slow meal, following a long morning of boat riding, getting soaked in sudden rain storms, swimming in the Caribbean sea with the fish and stingrays. The service was slow, possibly because we had almost 20 people, and the food was just OK. Price was again overpriced. The other guys all wanted to go home and nap. If you know me though, you’ll already know that I don’t love the idea of napping, and I dragged H, P, and V to find more views…

Continue the Jerk Chicken Tour...

Hornblower Niagara Cruises

Journey Behind the Falls

We greatly enjoyed getting wet and exploring the waterfalls area, but let’s talk about the food. The Groupon previously mentioned includes $15 off for breakfast at IHOP at the Best Western. Perfectly poached egg, with teeny tiny pieces of bacon and sausage. I always get the blueberry pancakes at IHOP, and these did not disappoint. The perfectly poached eggs did take a bit longer to make and we had to wait for maybe 5 minutes more, but they were poached to a perfect medium. I still wouldn’t come back, not for the life of me, not for how much they charge at this location.

Back to the present – I planted my first aloe plant baby, separated from a huge plant that my father has been growing for 4 years. Let’s see how long it survives!

We arrived at the Greyhound station close by Niagara Falls, and walked straight to the closest attraction from the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass package:

It was a chilly day, and the White Water Walk that we wanted to do first didn’t seem that busy. After taking an elevator down to the wooden boardwalk, we could explore the path along the Class 6 rapids. It was frustrating waiting for some of our fellow tourists to take their photos. How many different poses and angles of yourself do you really need? This was a nice 30 minute walk, with lots of breaks for photos and waiting for our turn to take photos.

We then went to the Aero Car that goes over the whirlpool at the end of the rapids: 

Usually, the Adventure Pass Classic that we got wouldn’t include the Aero Car, but because one of the other ones on the list were closed, they added this one for us instead. Score. Pretty sweet views.

We were pretty pooped by then, and thank goodness the pass includes bus fares for the WEGO bus. 

Hopped on the bus to the stop closes to the Best Western that we had purchased Groupons for to check in and rest before dinner. The Groupon included discount coupons for a few different restaurants in the neighborhood, and we ended up picking TGI Friday’s to use the $20 off coupon, because we thought there would be potential for a good plate of wings. Here, you can see the bone remnants of the 6 wings we ordered, and the alfredo chicken fettuccini + side of house salad:

Would you believe that this all came to $40 after the $20 coupon?! It wasn't even good, and the cup for the hot water I wanted was very dirty:

Tourist attractions bring together a lot of people of different cultures.

I try to stay open minded, but sometimes, people really confuse me. We saw a group of tourists of middle to elderly age, possibly doing a self-guided tour, because they had their own Toyota Sienna. Their hazard lights were blinking, while pulled over by the side of the main road, overlooking the White Water Walk. I don’t remember if it was a no parking or no stopping zone, but no other cars were stopped and there were almost no other vehicles driving along the road. The 6-7 tourists got out of their car, and were walking briskly to a clearing where they could see the rapids. They originally caught my attention because they were the only other people there, and they were talking loudly and seemed so excited, but then, they left a deeper impression as I walked by their van, and noticed that they had the car still running, with AC, doors wide open. It did not seem like they would be there for just a few seconds or even minutes.

Is it really that difficult to turn off the car and start it back up again, rather than spewing out unnecessary carbon dioxide and wasting fuel? Somebody explain this mindset to me please.