The food is not the point of visiting the Lake Agnes Tea House.



The chocolate chip cookie was $3.50, and it was just a hard sugary biscuit with chocolate chips. I probably could have made a better cookie. There was tea that cost $7.00 for a small teapot that served 2 cups. The tomato lentil soup came with a few slices of home made bread, and it was quite hearty and filling for a vegetable soup, but it was still $9.







The reasons to stop here for a bite and visit again and again:

• to warm up after the hour of hiking up from Lake Louise
• to enjoy the feeling of dining in the middle of nowhere
• to experience living in the 1900s (this was approximately when the tea house started, and they don’t have electricity at all)
• for the adventure
• for the views!!!

It was bustling when we arrived around 1PM, and the crowds continued to come up, despite the icy trail. If the trail was clear, it would have been a very easy hike. The weather had suddenly turned cold this week, and snow already covered the ground, even though it’s only September. I think the snow actually makes the lake look even more magical, but it does get slippery. I would plan ahead for at least 4 to 5 hours round trip from the trail head, just to make sure there’s enough time to explore and enjoy the whole lake.

Back to the desk job today. Where did summer go?

Visited D&T in Toronto a couple weeks ago (thanks for hosting!), with B, and I’m still recovering from all the food we ate. My favourite meal was at Kiin, which we stumbled upon while looking for a good dinner spot:

To start, we had the shrimp and pomelo salad (on the right in the image below), and the chor lada (the beautiful purple flower shaped dumpling on the left):

The pomelo was super fresh, not sour at all, and all the flavours of the shrimp were enhanced so well by the dressing (I’m sure there was fish sauce). The dumplings were an interesting texture – chewy exterior with bits of peanut inside. It wasn’t my favourite, because I don’t like that texture usually, but I didn’t hate it.

Next, we had the Khao Yum, which comes in a shiny brass bowl filled with the colours of the rainbow:

The server helped us mix all the different ingredients together (jasmine rice, lemongrass, turmeric, edible flowers, sunflower shoots, and more) with a tamarind and soy bean sauce. Although, I wanted to inhale this whole giant bowl of freshness, the best way to taste all the flavours was to really savor each bite. I’m a big fan of lemongrass, and I could keep eating this forever.

The last of the main courses was the sea bream, called Mieng Pla, which came wrapped up in a leaf of sorts:

I don’t have a photo of the little leaf wraps that we were supposed to eat the fish with, but the idea of this dish was to pick up a portion of fish, put it on top of a little piece of lettuce that was already topped off with herbs and vermicelli (at least that’s what I think it was), and eat it all in one bite.

We couldn’t say no to dessert. Our neighbors at the table behind us ordered it first, and who can resist ice cream? We chose the pandan ice cream (instead of the thai iced tea flavor), which was accompanied by 9 different toppings, including the green and red water chestnuts soaked in syrup, grass jelly, jack fruit, coconut shreds, toasted mung bean:

Thai food brings to mind red, green, and yellow curries, and meat grilled on satay sticks, but this place opened my eyes to a different side of this cuisine. If anybody else knows of a good place for khao yum in Vancouver, please tell me about it so that I don’t have to take a plane across the country to eat it again!

I’m trying to find more time to post, but it’s the  end of summer soon. This means that I’m trying to spend as much time as possible outdoors to soak in more vitamin D. It's good for bone density. Be back soon with another post!

Been too busy living life to write about it. Also, too disorganized to make time for this, but hey! I’m back after a month! July has been non stop, 50% of it work. Where has all the time gone?
Spent a good chunk of the month eating too. Here’s an acai bowl from Radical Juice in Mount Pleasant, a perfect way to cool down during this heat wave in Vancouver:



I had the berry bowl, which consists of a blend of acai, coconut water, and banana, over a generous serving of granola, berries, and more bananas. I added the nut butter for extra protein and flavour. H had the Dragonfly smoothie, which contained a good kick of ginger, while B had the Island bowl, which was similar to mine but had pineapple and bee pollen instead of the berries and bananas. It’s been about 3 weeks since we visited this little shop along Main Street, and I’m still craving it because I haven’t had a chance to go back yet.



How do they make their smoothies so refreshing? The consistency if so smooth, and it stays really cold, but there are no extra little chunks of ice, like at other smoothie places (*ahem* Jugo Juice, Buddha-ful *ahem*). Not to put down other places, because these other smoothie joints have their own advantages, but this is a smoothie place I can’t wait to visit again.

It’s been a long month, and I’ve tried to find opportunities to step out of my comfort zone, but it’s been tough. I feel like I want to grow and experience new things, but there isn’t enough space and I’m trapped in this stuffy little room. The end might be near? I might be content with my own air conditioned apartment soon, but it won’t be enough and I’ll want to escape into the mountains, to find waterfalls and glacier fed lakes, and naturally cool down.

Hikes are one of the things I’ll wake up early for. Continuing on from the last post, I thought I’d elaborate on this a bit more (ie, I found photos that I forgot I took, and now I want to write more). We left the house around 7AM, and went for breakfast at a little cafe called BB開心茶座, located near the trail head to get to the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Pavilion (尤德亭):

Classic Hong Kong breakfast of sausage, sunny side up egg, and instant noodle, paired with milk tea:

H had the coffee + milk tea combo (yeen yeurng). His aunt and uncle had similar noodles and drinks. The quality at BB開心茶座 was really acceptable, despite being on the outskirts of Hong Kong. A steady stream of cyclists and motorcyclists stopped on the way up, and the parking lot was packed with expensive looking cars. Don’t forget it was only around 7:30 or 8AM… People in Hong Kong really don’t sleep.

I didn’t have to figure out how to get to the trail myself, because of our hosts (H’s aunt and uncle). They also took us to this waterfall/swimming hole, where there wasn’t much water at the time, because it hadn’t rained in a while. The trail was really easy to navigate, and not gnarly at all.

Go up past the houses in the photo above, and you will eventually get here: 

Two hours to get back to the car.

I know. Horrible directions, and not very informational, but hey, I was jet lagged. Easiest thing to do is just go eat at the cafe and ask around, if you really want to go!

Although I didn’t blog these past 2 weeks, I was still eating and hiking and coffee-ing - my weekend rituals. I flew with Hong Kong Airlines, which is a fairly new company for flights from Vancouver to Asia. The tickets were so cheap at just over $650 to go to Hong Kong and Taipei!

First thing after landing – EAT.

Well, actually, first thing was try to get on a bus to make it to the city to meet up with H and his family for dinner. My bus pass did not have enough money for the ride (like the Compass, HK uses the Octopus card that can be refilled with funds so that you just tap on and off the bus to pay), and I had no HK cash yet, because I was going to get some later on… Some kind lady with a baby actually paid for me, which was sort of nice.

Here’s the first coffee I had at Halfway Coffee:

Absolutely adore the decor in here. The owner collected all the Chinese style antique-like mugs and cups that they use, which is impressive because there was a large selection. They also had takeaway cups that cost about $10CAD for a full set, custom printed to look like antique cups:

Before the first cup of coffee, we actually woke up around 630AM for an early morning hike with H’s aunt and uncle:

They’re pretty cool folks, and pretty successful. I mean, being able to afford to live comfortably in Hong Kong and drive around in a Tesla is no easy task. More about this hike in this post.

Then, we went to visit my cousin and her 1 year old baby for lunch, shopped, and ate some more. Boring Hong Kong life?

Luckily, I’m not jet lagged now, but work is really sucking the life out of me. The first day back from vacation is always the most work. Tomorrow is another day… The rest of Hong Kong was still more eating, as you’ll see in later posts.

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

From the top of the mountain, I’m still looking for ways to go higher. That’s why I got a drone.

Disclaimer: A took this photo

After our exhilarating hike up to Brunswick Mountain, we went to Hoang Yen for some of their infamous fish cake soup:

Found a post back from 2014 on the Chowtime website (I used to love reading the food adventures of Ben and Suanne from Chowtimes back in university!) that mentioned the line ups in front of this place. Even now, 2017, the same line ups and crowds. I quite liked their noodles, and it wasn’t just because I was starving. I think it would actually have been better if I weren’t just coming off a hike, dehydrated and too tired to eat. The soup was slightly sweet, with a strong dill flavour. If you don’t like dill, don’t order this. I will be back to try more of their dishes. For around $10, this was a satisfying meal for both my tummy and my wallet.

Speaking of going back, I know  I said I wouldn’t go back to Brunswick Mountain for another 3 or 4 years, but now, looking at the pictures… WOW.



This was a painfully steep hike, with a perilous ledge to cross in order to arrive at the summit, which is just a ledge. Very glad it wasn’t windy last Sunday when we went. This was a real test of cardio, because 85% of the way up was at least a 45 degree angle. Then there was the loose rock and scree to scramble up and over. I really regretted not bringing more water and less drone, but hey, B, A, and I made it and we're looking for our next adventure...

Keep climbing!

Yesterday was the wedding of C and J at the Four Seasons downtown. Their menu was provided by the YEW Bar, I believe:

I had the beef option, and it came with scalloped potatos and carrots that were so delicious and fresh.

H had the halibut, which I thought was a bit overdone, but again very delicious veggies.

We actually started the meal off with this cream of mushroom soup with pastry puff. It was very filling and probably helped to soak up a tremendous amount of alcohol. The event had an open bar.

The second appetizer in this FOUR course meal was the smoked salmon:

Finally, the dessert, with the hazelnut chocolate base and shortbread, with mango compote. Everybody at the table just had to make space for it. HAD TO. How could you let this masterpiece go to waste?

Congrats C&J. Very well done. C looked like the happiest girl on earth, and J was just drunk... with love?  

Today is the birthday party of L and S at Rogue downtown. How’s a girl to save money?

I guess I could’ve just not bought the drone, but then I’d miss out on shots like this:

 
Mystery Lake, an easy hike to a great swimming hole. Lots of families and children were already here, taking a dip in the cool water.
More info on this hike here:
https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/mystery-lake/
https://www.outdoorvancouver.ca/mystery-lake-hike-mount-seymour/

H is back! I missed the weekend post, because we were busy catching up, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t do things. H and I visited Hugo’s Churros on Sunday:

I was disappointed by how small the churros looked, and how dinky the scoops of ice cream were. Can you even see it in the photo? What did I pay almost $8 for?! There was no way I could’ve made this look pretty, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. The ic ecream churro combo was also too sweet (I had vanilla and pistachio ice cream in the cup). Let’s not come back.

Back to hanging out with my teddy bear boyfriend (girlfriend?), who doesn’t love hiking as much as I’d like him to. Luckily, we snuck in this hike to Eagle Bluffs:

It was an easy hike, except for the first 45 minutes or so when I almost fainted going uphill. This is one I’d like to come back with my drone and the floaty that I’ll be ordering after I pay off the drone.

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?