The kids got sick once again, and the timing couldn't have been worse. S started around the 23rd, and baby P felt sick a day or two after. That meant we missed all the holiday parties and did not see any of our extended friends and family. The only good part for me was that S actually took naps willingly.

During one of those naps, we got the grandparents in and snuck out to the 49th Parallel in North Vancouver. 

This was their Yule Log donut, which looked like a long John with some red and white sprinkles on top. I thought it might possibly peppermint candy on top...?

When I bit into the donut, the filling surprised me! 

What is this pink and yellow custard?! I had to focus on my taste buds to figure out that the pink might be a raspberry jam, and the yellow was... something sweet. It didn't have much flavor. The dough was nice and chewy, but didn't taste as fresh as the donuts from Fox and Oak in Squamish. 

Coffee though was nice and strong. Punch me in the face level of strong coffee, which H and I needed because we were drained.

Before I became a parent, I would listen to other people talk about their kids getting sick but nobody ever truly helped me realize how soul sucking and draining it is to take care of sick kids, especially when you're also sick and cannot rest. Maybe they didn't want to scare us from having kids. Or maybe they didn't actually think it was so difficult. Or maybe I'm not parenting correctly...?! 

Time to start work tomorrow.

We visited H-Mart a while ago to grab a quick lunch, after a trip to IKEA, and I picked up the inari from their prepared foods: 

Chopped scallop on the left, tuna on the top right, and crab salad on the bottom. Don't they look delicious? 

These were already waiting in a glass display case for a hungry customer, and for about $4 a piece, they were not all that filling. I don't think I would repurchase at full price, but I do hear they have discounts on day old food. 

The kids were waiting impatiently in the car with H, while I ran around H-Mart like a mad woman. I miss the days when we could take a leisurely stroll around a grocery store, meander through the snack aisles, and not worry about the deafening screams coming from the back seat because we've missed nap time by ten minutes. 

I also miss the days when I didn't have to clean up poop and vomit from the floors, because the entire family was hit with the stomach flu and we were out for almost a week. Yesterday was the worst of it, as H stayed in bed all day, and I ran around trying to keep the kids hydrated, fed, and clean, while fighting off the virus. I could feel my stomach churning, and even though I had lots of layers on, I was getting bone aching chills. Mothers are too busy to get sick. 

I'm just grateful S is potty trained, and did all of her number two's in the potty. Also grateful that my parents could come and help with the kids, so that I could also rest. 

Otherwise, life is looking up. I'm starting to feel more energized to work on other projects after the sh**show of the past few days. It's a good day when I don't have to clean up poop and puke. 

Visited L'Otus by Metrotown with M while the kids were asleep. It was my first time out at night without children, and without husband! I really needed these 3 hours to have adult conversation with a friend and it felt so free... 

L'Otus specialises in crepe cakes, and it tastes disgusting to me. I had the lychee rose flavour, which did not taste fresh at all. It was grossly mushy, squishy, and the lychees on top were not fresh. The expectations are high when it costs $11+ per tiny slice of soggy cake. 

It looks appetising from afar, but up close... No thanks.

There is never enough time. I'm tired as soon as I wake up. 

H and I went to Le Pho while my parents were over on Friday, so that I could get away from the children. 

I was craving beans with shaved ice. This one looks good, but didn't taste sweet enough. The ice also came in a big lump that was a bit difficult to mix. Would not order again.

Their pho was great though!

And the lemongrass chicken on rice combo was spectacular. Very strong lemongrass marinade: 

The restaurant was quite busy, yet the service was quick and efficient. I wouldn't go back though, because it's a bit out of the way for us and it wasn't like the food was particularly extraordinary (a tad salty). 

Somebody recently asked me if I felt a sense of achievement from raising my two children. 

"No, maybe not for another 5 to 10 years," was my response then.

Now that I've had a few minutes to think about it, maybe I'll never feel that way, because why would I want to base my feelings and fulfilment as a person on the success of others? 

The bad food experiences continue from two weeks ago. 

H was still recovering from his cold (not COVID apparently, but maybe it was and we tested wrong? Or maybe it just wasn't...), and I was barely getting by on lack of sleep and toddler exhaustion.  We felt we needed some fresh air, so we made a trip out to the Farmers Market at Trout Lake, one of my favourite family activities. Food trucks did not appeal to us, and H wanted congee, so we decided to visit East One Seafood Restaurant, where we've had take out before and thought we could trust the quality of their cooking.

Sadly, this was not the case for their baked pork chop on rice. The tomato sauce was extremely tart. Did they forget to add sugar to balance out the tomato sauce? 

The pork chop was not crispy at all. My guess is that they reheated it in the microwave, then threw it on top of the fried rice. The fried rice was actually decent though, lots of wok air!

I think we've finally returned to our baseline energy levels at this house after that bout of illness from two weeks ago. P no longer makes snorting sounds, S is running around again, and H has returned to the office. As for me, I'm getting the laundry done on time again, so that we're not scrambling to throw things into the washing machine and turning up the heat on the dryer. Laundry never ends. 

There really is something peaceful about an empty sink, laundry flapping in the sun, and both kids napping. 

This week was ROUGH. The day after her birthday party, H and S both started to show cold symptoms. She needed extra care and lots more love, just like her father. Baby P and I felt a milder version of their symptoms, and we are both well now, but the other two still a bit of snot. 

Moms barely have time to breathe, let alone get sick, but let me tell you, while my body isn't physically ill, my mind is not the healthiest. There were many tears from exhaustion and frustration. It's not easy taking care of the fam mostly by myself (thankful for grandparents!) The most challenging part was being the only parent who was able to talk (H lost his voice), because it was so draining being the only one to reason with a toddler. H has also been sleeping in a separate room, to avoid waking the baby up when he coughs at night. While it's nice to have the whole bed to myself and sleep diagonally, I miss connecting with him right before he drops off to sleep. 

My mood quickly rebounded though, after a day with grandma taking care of the older child, in addition to not being responsible for cooking dinner, and having an hour of "alone time" to drive and pick up used clothing for S.

Also, going for food adventures with the entire family always brightens up my mood, even if the food is not amazing. We visited Minus Cake Boutique this week:  

I found out about this place from P, who ordered my birthday cake from here earlier this year. I imagine they make most of their money from cake orders, because the cafe was dead when we visited. Their menu at the cafe consists of cake and beverage combos, and it is not possible to split up the cake from the drink, because the cake container is the top of the beverage. You can mix and match different cake and drink flavors, but you can't have them separately.  What if I don't want the drink? What if I don't want the cake? I didn't really understand why I couldn't just buy the top of the drink, and eat the cake? It didn't make sense. Did I misunderstand the man behind the counter because I was so tired, or is this really how it works? 

This was the yuzu matcha mousse with matcha green tea latte, and I actually thought it was quite tasty. Strong matcha flavors, and notes of tangy yuzu.

We also had the strawberry shortcake combo, and the tiramisu combo. The strawberry shortcake was fairly standard - I would've expected the cake base to be fluffier, but S loved it and devoured it without complaint.  I've had much better tiramisu elsewhere, so definitely would not recommend ordering that combo. 

Nice ambience inside the boutique/cafe, and it could be a nice place to hang out, minus the cake. Ha. Ha. 

Actually, minus the drink too, it wasn't that good. 

Actually, I won't come back. Cake in a globe on top of a cup is all gimmicks, and for around $15 per order, I'd rather go for higher quality cakes elsewhere (Trafiq!!!!).

Baby P is here! 

He came out in two pushes, he screeched once, and I had zero stitches. He really isn't much of a crier, which makes me  wonder if there's something wrong. 

There's really no winning here - if he's loud, I'll worry. If he's quiet, I'll worry more. 

Just like how my mom worries that I'm not eating properly, especially during the first month post partum when nutrition is the most important, followed closely by ginger water baths, and no touching of any unveiled water (BIGGEST EYE ROLL). Little does she know, I've already snuck in some pastries from Livia:

I was craving a chocolate chip cookie with salt on top, so H ventured out with Baby S (can I keep calling her a baby now that she's almost two?!) to pick one up for me and burn off some energy. 

The cookie tasted homemade, I could probably make a similar one following this recipe that I love. It just wasn't the oozy cookie that I was craving. Don't get me wrong, it was still tasty and I devoured it.

The orange danish was quite tart, too much for my liking. The pastry itself was very flaky and crispy, loved it. Baby S had their croissant, which she would not share, a sign that she really loved it. The peach danish we had the next day, and it was not good - would recommend eating fresh to avoid it becoming soggy. Overall, the pastries at Livia weren't mind blowing, but I wouldn't mind going to try their brunch menu, maybe with the kids? 

Worries about his quietness aside, we are making many memorable moments together with baby P. I'll always remember the first time he pooped, startled himself, and burst out crying. 

I've been seeing ads for Nancy Go Yaya everywhere, and scheduled in a visit as soon as I could.  Sorry M and J for ditching our plans, and going without you!

Here's their famous Kaya Toast with poached eggs for dipping:

Soy sauce and white pepper is offered to mix with the egg, to create a dipping sauce for the toast. It had a huge slab of butter in between the two slices of toast. Not bad, but not something that I'd crave.

We also got the laksa noodle, and it was super flavourful and delicious. Kept us warm as we walked around Chinatown afterwards. 

Very Instagram worthy, but not as wallet friendly. Definitely other things I crave more in the area, but it has such a nice atmosphere inside the cafe. Great service, which is what you pay for, I guess. 

WOOOO, it's been a stressful day. One of the most stressful, mainly because I hate making mistakes. It was such a careless thing to do as well, switching up a person's conversation like that. 

Lately, I've found that my concentration is shot, and I can barely remember people's names. I keep losing track of time as well, and if not for technology keeping me on track (Google Calendar and Google Keep are my BFF's), I don't think I would have accomplished even half of my target this month. On top of all that, it's been difficult with lots of emotions. Grateful to those who put up with my outbursts, and keep me well fed with home cooked food... My brain and body need all the energy I can get. 

Stumbled across the quote in today's title, and thought it was wildly appropriate. Does anybody know where this quote comes from? 

I haven't made time to post about it yet, so maybe the hype for these tempura rice bowls from Tendon Kohaku is already over? We spent about 1.5 hours waiting in line for BOGO50% off on their grand opening day, last week. Baby S was not interested in waiting in line, and it was difficult to stay patient with her tantrums. It must've been difficult for her to stay patient with her parents, who refused to listen to her cries for food and entertainment. 

Anyways, I don't think it was worth the wait. The rice was not soft enough, the tempura all tasted the same, and it was too salty (ask for sauce on the side). By the end of the meal, the tempura were no longer crispy.  The portions are average, but I would not pay full price, which would've been about $20 per bowl, including tax and tip.

We also tried their beverages, which come in very aesthetically pleasing plastic pop bottle shapes. I also would not pay for this again, because it didn't really stand out. I had the refresher with yuzu, and expected it to be fizzier with more yuzu flavor. While there were pieces of real yuzu, it was overall just a mouthful of sugar. V and J had the milk teas, and they had similar comments that the beverages weren't that great.

I couldn't resist ordering the chanwanmushi for appetizer:

In contrast to the overly sweet beverage, this was a mouthful of salt. If it's any saving grace, the texture was very smooth and soft, 10/10 for that. 

In this situation, maybe there was a different "right time" to visit this restaurant, and that would've been when the line up was not so long and when my child was not so hungry. The tantrums and the screaming were unreal, and I had to carry her about 80% of the time. However, we would've missed out on the deal. 

In another situation, is there ever a right time to make a life changing decision, like changing your job? 

According to my old boss, I chose the wrong time to resign and start a new job. 

Me: When would be the right time to quit?

Him: Maybe a year and a half from now. We are going through a lot of changes, and we had plans for you to be a key player. 

Me: Yes, it all sounded like a great opportunity, but this other opportunity came up, and on paper, it is a perfect job for me. 

Him: The industry you are going to is unstable, because of the pandemic.  

Me: It might be, but I'm really ready for a change. 

Him: You have a new baby. With your current job, you can do all your work and spend time with the baby, since you are an expert already. 

Me: Yes, but this opportunity is really perfect for me, and I'm ready for a change. 

Him: Also, I am going on vacation next week! 

Me: Oh no! *sarcastically*

Him: You really chose a bad time to quit. I'll let you think about it for a day before I start the process with HR. 

Me: It's okay, I won't change my mind.  

This conversation further validated my feelings that this was the right time to start a new job, instead of waiting around to see how my relationship with my ex-boss would progress... I'm going to miss a lot about this old job, but I won't regret the timing of this choice.

P brought over cheesecake tarts from Castella Cheesecake, Inc.:  

This was really not my jam - the filling was too salty, and the crust was too thick. You know that feeling in your mouth when everything clumps together, and makes your mouth dry? On top of the texture, the flavours didn't blend well together. At first, I thought it's just the way this should be, and it was my own personal preference. Then, H confirmed that my taste buds weren't delusional, and that it was indeed not good. 

There really isn't enough time or energy to spend on bad desserts.

Time is a very limited resource, and I've lately been very focused on being more efficient with my productive time so that I will have more availability to lie around and do nothing at all. Because of this, I've also been wondering about how I spend time with the people in my life. The question that has been on my mind lately is why am I still friends with this or that person, even though most of our values are so different?

I asked this question to one of my best friends. and their answer was that even though people change and values change, we have lots of history with them, and fate brought us together, so now we are stuck together. 

My response to that was, "What about our other friends who we no longer keep in touch with? Fate brought us together, we also have lots of fond memories, and similar interests."

Friend - "We drifted. I think people remain friends if they are happy while spending time together. Also, somebody initiates, so we hang out."

Is it is as simple as one person initiating? What about shared interests, beliefs, mutual benefits, sense of humor, sense of adventure? Sometimes, it just feels so easy, like fate was involved to align all the stars to allow us to meet again and again. 

I'm still left wondering about how I can be more intentional with my time with people, so that I can spend more time with the friends and family I truly want to. Don't even get me started on spending time with coworkers.  

I woke up feeling off balance today. Heart palpitations, difficult breathing, but at the same time, groggy - caffeine induced anxiety, after yesterday's four coffees, including one very strong iced Vietnamese coffee? 

So, to cut down on my caffeine intake, we decided to choose tea instead. We went to Paragon Tea Room, while in the area to sell our old road bikes. H had the hojicha oat misto, and I had the matcha oat mista with pearls, both on ice: 

At 50% sweet, the matcha oat misto was still very sugary. I wish the matcha flavor was stronger, rather than being masked by the sweetness. Not sure if that was the effect of adding the pearls, which by the way, were perfect. They were the best chewy texture of a fresh batch of pearls, not the ones that had been sitting around for hours. 

I actually preferred H's hojicha, which he ordered with 30% sweetness and no pearls. The tea flavor was stronger.  

I probably wouldn't return, for the following reasons: 

1. Expensive - $15 for 2 drinks?! I guess it could be worse. The two drinks from Machimachi came to $18... 

2. Slow service - we had paid for 30 minutes of parking at a spot that was about a 5 minute walk away, which gave us a window of 20 minutes to order and pick up the drinks. H ended up having to run over to the parking spot and driving the car over because our parking was about to run out.

I get that tea cannot be rushed, and that sometimes, we need to take a minute to slow down and relax. However, watching the baristas hustling and hurrying behind the counter, I did not feel relaxed. They were definitely in a hurry to clear the line forming in the cafe.  

3. I simply prefer caffeine in my beverages. 

Back to our regular programming of coffee... 

Things seem to be looking up! My COVID-19 restrictions are loosening up (I say "my" because other people have different comfort levels with the constantly evolving rules and regulations), because we now have our first vaccine and the case numbers have taken a deep dive, so we had a few friends over for lunch.  P brought over some fried chicken from Chirpyhut Fried Chicken , which just opened up a location in Burnaby, relatively closer than the other locations around the Lower Mainland. You can see a sliver of the Salted Egg Yolk whole chicken in the top corner, and a full box of the black meteorite fried chicken wings:   

The salted egg yolk is not actually infused into the chicken. The flavor comes from a separate container of salted egg yolk dipping sauce, which was brutally underwhelming. Not much flavor in the chicken itself. 

The meteorite chicken looks impressive, but it didn't taste very special, just like regular fried chicken. It didn't taste bad, and it did create a wow moment when we opened up the lid, because it looked like we would be eating lumps of coal. I would probably repurchase this for a future dinner party or potluck, but it's not a staple everyday fried chicken option for me. There are plenty of juicier, crispier, and tastier fried chicken shops around town.  

I had originally hoped PVVJ would come over after the completion of our kitchen reno, but it was right in the middle, when we didn't have a backsplash or working sink. They completely missed the original chartreuse tile backsplash, which was falling apart at the edges:   

They had this view for the afternoon: 

And then they missed the (almost) final product, which came together about 2 weeks after: 

FINALLY! 

From start to finish, it took about 2 months. The backsplash was first removed in mid March, and we had to wait for our contractors to take a special class before they could start working with the original type of stone we had picked out for the backsplash and countertop (Dekton...). We ended up changing our minds, because the print on that man made stone wouldn't look as nice, and by April, we had picked out the quartz style that we currently have installed. Then, we found out that the sink we originally wanted to order from Costco actually has awful reviews, and it was eventually removed from the Costco website before we got around to ordering it. This was the beginning of the hunt for a white sink and faucet set. 

The first sink we picked out was a Blanco white granite material. Because the plumbing for our sink has special slow drainage in order for it to fit into its current configuration, the dimensions of the sink are very specific, and it took a while before we found one that could arrive quickly. Sadly, it cracked in transit, and we were devastated with the delay. We ended up going to Home Depot, picked up a regular sturdy, reliable stainless steel sink, for half the price. 

Then, the old faucet started leaking! We had planned on using the old faucet until the new white one arrived, but now, we would have to replace the whole thing. The previous faucet was made with copper, and it must've been at least a decade old, so it rusted through.  Hopefully, our Brita filter has helped us keep these any old minerals and chemicals out of our body... 

We're going to change out the cabinet handles, maybe swap out the wine bottle holder screwed into the back set of cabinets, and then, I'll be satisfied.  This space no longer looks like this though - we've already cluttered up the countertops with our rice cooker, hot water boiler, and our trusty Brita filter. 

Follow along for more updates of our almost 100 year old house! 

Even though I'm a mom now, I still do things like forget to eat and drink coffee and snack all day. I'll stay in my sweats and hoodie, browse YouTube and sleep late. I always thought responsible moms had to be more mature, but maybe I confused mature with responsible. I make sure she's full, has a clean diaper, and gets enough rest.

 

On the other hand, because I'm too busy feeding her and working and doing other house stuff, I sometimes forget to eat. Then, I end up eating a bag of chips and a whole carton of guacamole, because it's convenient. 

My newest excuse to be too busy for eating is that our kitchen sink is still out of order, and it's a hassle to cook at home, while stuck at home, working from home. Our contractor just called to inform us he won't be able to make it to work on it tomorrow because he had the Moderna vaccine, and now he's running a high fever. Mercury retrograde is real.   

The kitchen is also my favourite excuse to get take out. We decided to pick up big balls of rice and raw fish from Samurai Sushi near Oakridge Mall a few days ago. I regretted buying sushi from here, because the quality of the fish is extremely low. The main attraction is the volume of the sushi rolls. Each piece is about the size of my fist. If you're going to get sushi take out in that neighborhood, don't save the extra 5-10 minutes to stop by Sushi Mura instead. 

Circling back to being responsible versus mature, I do think I tend to forget I'm supposed to be an adult, and I'll end up playing with the kids. Since COVID19 restrictions lifted a bit in BC, I went to visit my cousin and her kids, let my kid socialize with other humans that are closer to her size. I ended up having a blast, throwing plastic balls (immature!) and playing with yoyo's with my 3 year old nephew. Of course, I was keeping an eye on baby S the entire time, or at least I made sure that one of the great aunts were around to watch her... Responsible! 

Regardless of my maturity level, I feel like I am trying to teach baby S to spread joy and love and lalala, all the sparkly rainbow unicorns. Today, I asked her to go give her grandmother a kiss, and she speed crawled over to grandma, and gave her a big sloppy bite on the face! Her idea of a kiss is with her mouth wide open, so that she can leave as much drool as possible on the other person's face. Grandma's comment at first was, "Aww, that's so sweet!"

A few more slobbery kisses later, grandma's next remark was, "I hope my face doesn't smell like your saliva!"

As if babies have smelly saliva... 

Baby S is at the age where we can leave her for longer than an hour, so we dropped her off at the grandparents' place, and went hunting for food. The Instagram foodies have influenced me to try out the rice noodles at Harmony Bakery: 

Just another hole in the wall with cheap food. It was about $5 for each take out container, comes with a separate small container of just enough soy sauce to add extra flavour to the rice noodles. It's flavourful, but don't let it sit too long. Once it gets cold, the texture becomes too gooey, and it's no longer as delicious as it could be. I also did not add the egg option, which costed another $1. Go for the egg. Overall, not bad, but didn't really hit the spot. 

Speaking of harmony, it's so difficult to find that balance of peace and harmony at a workplace. There's always something irks me, and I don't think it's just my work either. There is no perfect workplace. Recently, I was in a Zoom meeting, and started to wonder if there was a mute button I could hit, even though I wasn't the host. 

"WOOPS, muted you by accident!" 

"WOOPS, can't figure out how to unmute!"

Being in sales, you hear a lot of people talk. I won't say I'm a sales leader and I won't take credit for being a great sales person, but I think I have noticed that there are a few different types of sales people. There are the sales people who are successful because they're actually good and convincing, and then there are those sales people whose customers will buy something just to make them shut up and stop bothering them. 

Can't hit the mute button in a face to face conversation. 

M brought over some pastries from Little Fox Bakehouse before the snow hit:

There's a white rabbit mochi donut, London fog cream puff, black sesame mochi croissant, and a bubble tea croissant. WHAT?! BUBBLE TEA CROISSANT?!

Yes, a bubble tea croissant. Not a typo. It does have tapioca pearls in the filling. 

No, it was not good. Just too gimmicky for me! The sesame was more my taste. 

Actually, my favourite lately is The Bench Bakehouse double baked almond and chocolate croissant. I had to eat it quickly before H could devour it all, and there was no time to take a photo.

Speaking of taking photos, I've been forgetting to take more pictures because this little chubby monster requires a lot of attention and energy: 

 

It snowed in Vancouver the other day and it was a nice surprise to wake up to. It was nice mostly because we could stay indoors and drink hot beverages. Other than the five minutes when we brought baby S for her first snow. Couldn't miss out on the photo opp! Look at her happy grimace!

It was also nice to see photos and videos of friends and family out enjoying the snow. Can't spend time with them, so it's extra nice to see their genuine happiness while sledding down the hills. Do you want to build a snowman?

All from the comfort of my couch. 

Get it?!? Thai-erd. Haha!

We ordered from Thai Cafe tonight, because we had spent enough time in our kitchen for one day. Our sink clogged up and would not drain, so we spent a good 4 hours trying to clear it. The thought of that smelly gray water is enough to make me lose my appetite. I needed some aromatic Thai spices to perk up my taste buds!

Got the pad thai (above), and a red curry with chicken and rice. The flavours were strong enough, but just lacking a bit in texture. Dry chicken overall. Curry was too runny and had way too many bamboo shoots and basil leaves, and not enough chicken. 

Does anybody have a good Thai place in Vancouver to recommend to me please?

Sometimes, you get to that point where you're making mistake after mistake. For me, it's usually when I'm too stressed out and anxious, and I become unaware of what is happening around me. Not that I made any mistakes, it's mostly H dropping things, misplacing things, or pouring things into other things that he shouldn't (but he didn't know, so now he knows not to pour grease down an old slow draining kitchen sink). Pretty sure he's way tired out from the move. 

I do also know that I get to the point of being too tired to control my emotions sometimes, and I should communicate this better and make sure I don't let myself throw tantrums. 

Thank goodness for grandparents. 

I'm so sleep deprived right now, because baby S has decided she doesn't like to sleep at night. Maybe it's become a habit now to wake up every 2 hours for milk? Maybe it's part of her Events leap, which is estimated to end in 14 days? I was actually afraid to travel this past weekend with her during this long leap, because it would be so exhausting. For a 2 night trip, we would have to transport more of her things (change pad, bathtub, extra diapers) than the last time, when we did a day trip to Sooke. Everything was booked already, so we just had to grit our teeth and do it. 

Day 1 was spent entirely in the car, racing against the clock to arrive at Tofino before it got too dark. We checked into the hotel, and went to bed right away.

Our actual first day in Tofino started with a visit to Rhino Coffee House, for donuts and coffee (of course. you know me by now, donuts and coffee are the reason I get out of bed at all).

 

We had their maple bacon donut (above) and their bronut sandwich (below), which is an egg and ham/sausage/bacon sandwich. I chose the sausage option:  

It doesn't look that good, and it didn't taste that good. It was all just so-so. 

I also had an oat milk latte, which was again, so-so. 

The line up to order and the wait for the food was also quite long. All the staff wore masks, so I couldn't tell if the person taking my order was actually as unenthusiastic about working there as her eyes and tone of voice suggested. It seems there are line ups for food everywhere in Tofino. I'm not a fan.   

We visited the Caravan Beach Shop and loved their collection of books, stickers, clothes:  

We went for a short hike to Tonquin Beach: 

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Tried to take Starla for a walk on her stroller at Tonquin Beach but came across stairs. Good thing we had our @ergobaby! Made it to the beach and had burgers from @shedtofino for lunch. . . #walkswithstarla

A post shared by louisa (@luwesa) on Oct 3, 2020 at 3:34pm PDT

We visited Chesterman beach as well. Sand got into my shoes, and it was too cloudy to catch a nice sunset. 

Dinner was takeout from the Wildside Grill, because we had to try their gumbo. The food was great, the wait was not. We must've waited for at least 30 minutes, and baby S was throwing a fit by the time we returned to the hotel, because we were out way past her bedtime. H and I were tuckered out too.  

But surprise, surprise! I ended up sleeping better at the MAQ hotel than at home! Their bed and all their linens and towels are so soft, their peppermint hand soap smells so refreshing, and all the art placed around their lounge created a very interesting space to hang out.

I suppose being out all day, traipsing around the little town and beach hopping, contributed to filling up our tired tanks as well.  Baby S still woke up every couple of hours, but we both slept more soundly than usual.

Overall, it was an average trip with a grumpy baby, and parents who don't actually enjoy the beach life. I think H and I were so determined to get the most out of this trip and see as much as possible that we just forced ourselves to go. We just won't let small things like sleep deprivation and the gritty feeling of sand in our shoes get in the way, because we are the grit! 

Who goes to a beach vacation town in October anyways? 

Been feeling a bit low energy lately. The only way to get me out of the hotel is to entice me with beautiful pastries:  

We visited Crust Bakery on an early morning walk to pick up pastries for breakfast.  Because of the COVID-19 restrictions and the small square footage of their store, customers were lining up outside and a small crowd had formed. The line moved quickly enough, and most people were civil, other than the couple who snuck in quietly and wanted to use their bathroom ("If you don't let him use the bathroom, he's going to go right now on your floor" - some woman).  

We ordered the berry tart, a raspberry jelly donut, a chocolate cronut, a blueberry danish, and a zucchini dill quiche.  

The berry tart had a really delicious custard, and I loved the quiche, mainly because dill is one of my favourite herbs.

The cronut was just so-so, nothing too special: 

I would not repurchase the jelly donut, because there wasn't enough jelly inside, it cost $4, and I could get a better one for less at Duffin's.  

 

Overall a good experience, but I won't be returning on this trip, because it's a tad overpriced for the quality.  Everything looked better than they tasted. Not that they taste bad, but they just look really really pretty. If I want to look at food though, I'll just stand outside and admire their display, or scroll through my Instagram feed.

My back has started to hurt because of lifting baby S using the wrong posture, and because of the uncomfortable hotel bed. Not to mention, it's the first day of September tomorrow! Why haven't we seen more progress with our properties (renovations, sales, etc.)? Will buying a larger house with a backyard help us feel happier? Would I prefer to travel to travel? Will it even be safe to travel in the near future? 

Need a fast forward button to skip to the ending. 

H, baby S, and I are now living the island life! We hopped onto the ferry last Thursday right after baby S's first shots, and we're now in Victoria. People kept telling me that it'll be a nice vacation getaway, but they clearly don't understand that taking care of a 2 month old is a full time job with over time every night. 

Luckily, Victoria and the surrounding areas have become more populated, and there are now more options for dining out compared to many years ago when it was just a sleepy retirement town. UNLUCKILY, we chose La Taqueria for the first night, and it was not the best experience.   

Maybe it was because we ordered take out, instead of eating in the restaurant, but I don't think food could become so mushy after just a 15 minute walk to get it home. We had the nachos, three tacos (atun, pastor, and mole), two burritos (baja and carnitas), and added a side of guacamole (photo is our hotel room coffee table with all the food in takeout containers - we'll be ordering take out for a while, because COVID). The beers are from a different liquor store, because we didn't want to pay restaurant price for liquor.  

The baja burrito was just a mouthful of chipotle sauce and mayo. Is that really a piece of deep fried fish, or is it just sauce disguised as fish?

Not the best start to our tour of Vancouver Island, but I am hopeful for better reviews to come! 

 

A few days before leaving Vancouver, H convinced me to start sleep training and try the cry it out method with baby S. He had learned about this from various friends, who told him that after a week of leaving their babies in their cribs and letting them cry themselves to sleep, their babies could now sleep on their own for a straight 12 hours, which would be magical. 

So that evening, as she was munching on her pacifier and dozing off in my arms, I popped her into bed, and walked away. Immediately, she started bawling. 

She would take breathing breaks once in a while, and we'd think, "OH SHE'S FIGURED IT OUT." But no, there was no end to her tears and screams. 

One hour later, I went to pick her up, and she was completely drenched in sweat, soaking through her cute little polka dot onesie. Crying is a heavy workout. I was actually worried that she had lost the weight that we worked so hard to put on her fragile body this week! 

After that experience, I came to the conclusion that 2 months is too early for sleep training, and went back to the three fundamentals of baby sleep - white noise, sleep sack, and pacifier. 

    

So far so good.