We had a fantastic, productive week, starting with Baby S's first gig as as a flower girl! This took some balancing, as H was at work, and I was by myself with Baby S for the ceremony. J&Z did a beautiful job with the planning, despite all the road blocks of pandemic times. Baby S tried her first lobster. 

Nothing like social isolation to teach you the true value of a party. 

Baby S then developed a slight fever, and was not her best self for a day or two. She got better in time to attend her first baby shower, and had the time of her life, eating fruit, dancing, hanging out with new friends. I think she's an extrovert, because she only started crying when we took her away from the party to go home. 

We visited Oh Carolina, later on in the week: 

To the person responsible for their merchandising, I would like to commend you on your product placement for the baby fruit pouches. Baby S immediately started rifling through the packages at the front of the counter, and we had to get her one: 

 

I had the matcha latte, and a sip of H's cappuccino, which were both decent. Their croissant was super flaky (we left a mess of flakes on the table, on the chairs, all over the ground... thanks for putting up with us Oh Carolina!), buttery, perfection for an early morning with a toddler. I hope to return soon for their other brunch items. Their outdoor seating is calling to me, and I will be here with TWO BABIES once the weather warms up. 

Behind the scenes, Baby S learning the tricks of the trade: 

Maybe because we had so much going on this week, I was extra tired, and noticed how many times I was bending down to pick up baby S or a random assortment of objects that are on the ground. Toys, articles of clothing (socks mostly), food, forks, spoons, what have you... I seem to remember that my back and hips were in a lot of pain last time post partum, but I can't recall whether bending caused any excruciating pain. Life goes on... 

From last week: 

1. Reorganize dining area and move the IKEA LACK shelves (Half way there! Everything has been moved off, and we are slowly reorganizing things)
2. Expand my knowledge of smoothies in Vancouver (this is ongoing, as my smoothie cravings continue to persist throughout my 3rd trimester)
3. Take walks every day for 10 minutes consecutively, not for work (*laughs* this didn't even happen once, and I will have to be more intentional to check this off). 

This week, I'm going to carry over everything from last week's list, and add on more baby prep. 

1. Reorganize dining area and move the IKEA LACK and KALLAX shelves
2. Expand my knowledge of smoothies in Vancouver 
3. Take walks every day for 10 minutes consecutively after breakfast, not for work
4. Pack baby bag 
5. Pack my hospital bag

Continuing the matcha hunt this weekend, we visited FDL Cafe. Although the matcha was not amazing, I would have to say that we were all very satisfied by the flaky, crispy, and absolutely perfect layers of their chocolate croissant. Their other pastries also looked amazing, but I thought this one would be the safest and the least sweet for baby S to try (we removed the chocolate bits). 

She knows what's good - before I got my photo, she was already reaching for it, and she finished almost the whole thing. Look how huge it is: 

 

The start of this year feels awfully similar to 2020: 

-COVID-19, omicron edition, can't go out, no more parties, Christmas, New Years (maybe even Chinese New Year) parties cancelled

-pregnant, no real time gender reveal or baby shower

-i still don't look pregnant enough, with a huge winter jacket. An older lady who looked like maybe she was in her 70s was walking towards me on the sidewalk, and she didn't move over, forced me to trample over the very snow covered grass. Old people versus pregnant woman? 

So many other things happened this week, might do a second post if I have time.  It also snowed again,, and I did not bother to clean my runners, as I said I would in my last post, because they would get dirty again:  

1. Clean shoes 
2. Get IKEA recycling system
3. Declutter! Drop off at least one bag of donations 

This week!

1. Clean shoes
2. Eat somewhere that has ice cream on top of waffles
3. Call certain customers who have multiple locations, until I get a hold of them, so that I can reach my targets at work :) 

Visited Coho Coffee, because I heard they use O5 matcha, which apparently is top notch: 

Wish they put in a bit more matcha, it didn't taste strong enough. I would go back for their coffee and all their delicious baked goods though! They have a large selection to choose from, as there are lots of different bakeries working out of their commissary kitchen, including a DELICIOUS chocolate babka from Leavenly Goods. 

Accomplished 3 out of 5 things from the last To Do of 2021, while I finished 1 book out of 3 (Atomic Habits was pretty good)! 

1. Contact a preschool for baby S
2. Start potty traning
3. Read 3 more books to meet my target of 20 for the year
4. Get a hook for the shower to hang my shower poof
5. Declutter to make space for the new baby - nesting has started! 

And now it's 2022 - new year, new lists, and hopefully set up a few new systems. That's one of the major take aways from Atomic Habits. I'm going to try to set a day and time (Saturdays... or maybe Sundays? at (around) 1:30PM) to write. 

For this week, I'm going to focus on the following: 

1. Clean shoes
2. Get IKEA recycling system
3. Declutter! Drop off at least one bag of donations

This Christmas, I received 3 happy lights. H got me two different models, one of which P had also purchased for me. These are the people who truly know me well - a gift that is both an object and an experience! 

Next year, I'm purchasing only experiences for people. One of my cousins' kids received three Power Ranger toys, which he'll probably play with for 10 minutes. Baby S now has three baby dolls (one that H bought, one that I bought, and one that my aunt bought), two Baby Shark stuffies, and too many outfits (mostly purchased by me - woops). She actually will not sleep without those 3 baby dolls though, so I guess they are being used. How did she develop this personality?  

Meanwhile, I've been trying to substitute coffee with matcha, which has a slightly milder caffeine content (supposedly). Here's the matcha latte with oat milk at The Garden: 

While I've been to The Garden many times, this was actually the first to try their matcha latte, and their quality is fantastic. Not gritty, not bitter with just a bit of sweetener, and a good amount of that matcha umami brightness. Their chocolate chip cookies continue to be perfect, and I will go back soon, just to look at their plants. 

Time to start using that caffeine kick to plan for next year. On this week's list To Do: 

1. Contact a preschool for baby S
2. Start potty traning
3. Read 3 more books to meet my target of 20 for the year
4. Get a hook for the shower to hang my shower poof
5. Declutter to make space for the new baby - nesting has started! 

In my recent IG poll, I asked for recommendations for the best matcha latte, and multiple friends suggested Whisk Matcha:  

The cafe itself didn't look too spectacular, just a regular counter with an average display case, nondescript decor. I picked up an iced matcha latte with oat milk, and one of their buns with matcha filling, to go. 

Clearly, my friends did not lie to me about their premium matcha quality. Very smooth, not bitter, but has a strong tea flavor. I am craving it as we speak. The bun was fluffy, with a fair amount of matcha custard filling. Probably won't get the bun again, because I am getting enough carbs from work. 

If I keep going out to buy fancy drinks, I'm going to have to work ten times as hard as I am now, especially with the way the month is shaping up. Hopefully, I can still get to my target before end of the month, but it really has been hard with all the holiday festivities, end of year meetings, and unplanned illnesses (NOT pregnancy, although it does feel like a disease sometimes...). 

How do you stay positive when you spend 8 hours of your life working and facing all types of rejections? 

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... 

Needed a long break, and ended up all the way in Richmond, at Machimachi:

I ordered the Mochi Redbean Brulee Matcha Latte/Smoothie, which comes with these mochi balls:  

The bottle is the Black Milk Tea with Panna Cotta, which I left in the fridge and did not try until a few days later. It still tasted fantastic. Together, these beverages cost just about $18... Overpriced? Yes, but I would still go back because it was tasty and the service was super friendly, despite a tad slow. When I asked for "less sweet", the server actually warned me that the matcha might be a bit bitter. It wasn't actually that bitter, and it just tasted like real tea, which I would expect from a drink that costs almost $10! It's still their first month since opening, so I'm sure they'll pick up the pace as they figure out how to do things.

At least I hope they will look into fixing the wait times, otherwise why would I want to come back to wait 30 minutes for a $10 drink? 

Waiting is horrible.

Currently waiting for: 

1 - Next week so that our contractor can start work on the kitchen. We can start fixing our rotting butcher block counter tops, loose back splash tiles, and, as of today, our leaking faucet hose. Good thing we placed a bucket underneath, inside the sink cabinet, because it was full to the brim and just starting to leak out. Also super grateful to be working from home, because otherwise, I would not have been around to hear the drip drip. Lastly, I'm glad we started this kitchen project way ahead of time, because we wanted to fix it before it breaks. 

2 - 1.5 more weeks

3 - 16 weeks for my 2nd COVID-19 shot, and then, reopening the world. Travel (Paris, Korea, Japan, Iceland). Friends, in person, in a small cozy space, sharing food and air.   

  

4 - At least 18 months, for more work changes. Instead of getting slammed by changes, like last time, I want to be the one making the changes. Maybe I am anticipating too much change... The job is pretty great with lots of flexibility, can work from home and catch leaks early. There are annoying things happening that I'd rather not put up with, but for the most part, I still enjoy solving the problems that come up. So... 

5 - Retirement. 

Spent the weekend cleaning out H's old room, and sorting the clutter that's already accumulated in my little apartment. We took a brief bubble tea break at The Oolong Tea Lounge, found just underneath the Aberdeen skytrain station. It's a beautiful cafe, with high ceilings and great lighting, perfect space to get some work done, with a very photogenic bubbletea on the table next to you. 

We had the Sakura Matcha Latte: 

The pearls taste like flowery gummy bears, adding a hint of floral sweetness to the matcha tea latte. I would have preferred a stronger matcha taste, and perhaps a hint more sugar, but I did ask for 50% sweetness so my bad.



The problem is that this small beverage cost $7, and I'm not a big enough tea lover to afford it. They have a few other interesting flavors, like a Purple Yam Milk and a Bitter Melon Pineapple Fruit Tea, which I'll probably try when I'm feeling adventurous.

It's therapeutic to throw stuff out, open up some free space and create more room to grow. Let's see where this next week takes us. My horoscope is telling me that I should start looking for a new job, starting June 3rd, and that I'll likely want to take a position that's similar to what I'm already doing... Do I even need to look anymore, or is change going to just find me, even if I sit right where I am?

Matcha cafes seem to be popping up all over the place these days, and it's hard to keep up with all the trendy new spots. Luckily, M keeps me posted, and she told me about their opening, so I hopped on it. Right after work on Thursday, I persuaded S to go with me, before we met up with the others for dinner and badminton.

This one is hidden away on the plaza at Saba road, not a lot of space to sit. There was a short line up when we arrived, and the line kept growing! Not the fastest service for the opening day. 

I had the Maiko Special, which is the name for their parfait. It comes with their soft serve, shiratama, a water chestnut, red bean, matcha cake, cornflakes, and at the very bottom, a layer of their kokuto jelly, but...


They ran out of the jelly, and substituted it with something else (I don't remember what they called the replacement...). Either way, it was disappointing that they were running out of ingredients, when they should have prepared for it in advance. Did they not realize the power of social media would bring droves of foodies to their shop on opening day, especially in a city like Vancouver?

My conclusion is that the Maiko Special was not worth the $11. It was interesting to look at, and it tastes great (sorry for the bad photo, because S didn't want to hand model properly for it), but if you're going to charge a premium price, then the overall experience should feel more satisfying and I'd want better ambiance inside the cafe. If you do go, the shiratama and the matcha did compliment each other very well, so I'd suggest just getting the ice cream with shiratama on the side to go.

It feels like a lot of things have been happening around the office lately, but it's been manageable. We get some interesting moments, like how K will become a beauty vlogger, and overhearing some really awkward conversations about presents that my coworkers have purchased in the past for their wives.

It went something like this: 

Coworker 1 - I've purchased lingerie before for my wife, and told her that it's a present for her now, but she can wear it as a gift for me later!
Coworker 2 - Yeah! I've bought it so many times for her though, she just says, "This again?"
Coworker 3 - It's funny sometimes to watch these guys go into lingerie shops to shop. 
Coworker 2 - Oh no, I'm used to it. 

Pretty disgusting to talk about in the open at an office setting, but I just ignored them... One of the 3 coworkers from that conversation just left the company today. I guess this job was not a good matcha for him!

The first few days of this week were painfully busy. I could have really used one of these Matcha Milk Teas with the best pearls from Gong Cha:

H and I went to the one in Richmond, it’s a bit hard to find, because it’s in the middle of a row of shops with a small tucked away sign. This was my first time at Gong Cha, and compared to a lot of other bubble tea places, I’d have to say this is one of the best, probably my favourite for pearls. The pearls were such a good consistency, just the right amount of chewiness and a good diameter. If only it was along my usual routes…

So much shit at work. Literally. J the TAM brought in some plastic pieces of fake shit, as a reminder for C to cut the shit. They were quite realistic looking. I actually cringed and jumped back a bit when I saw it on my desk. It was so gross that I couldn’t bear to take a photo, because I’d know it would be on my phone.

One day, after dinner, PJS and I came to Passion8:

This shaved ice bowl was amazing. Matcha, redbean, cheesecake, and mochi toppings. The ice is sweetened with syrup or some type of sugar (condensed milk maybe?), and goes really well with the matcha. The garnish was a piece of dried orange that looked pretty cute, but we didn’t eat it (were we supposed to?).

Next up was the Multigrain (Injulmi) toast! Topped with a mountain of whipped cream and walnuts, and this..rice flour flakey thing that had the texture of a less buttery croissant. The inside had more mochi/rice cake filling and red bean:

This was OK, not my favourite. I am drooling though, just thinking about that shaved ice in the summer…

Too bad I’m sick right now.

Pragmatic – dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

Dogmatic - inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.

if i were pragmatic, i would know that we cannot possibly eat all this because we will feel sick afterwards. however, i am not pragmatic. if i were dogmatic, i would not eat all of this because it goes against principles of healthy eating. however, i am also not dogmatic. so we ate it all

Did I do this right?

Got bored, went out for a drive and ended up at Choco Coo for some late night dessert. Getting fat will plump out my wrinkles.

From Left: Chocolate Cake, Hazelnut Cake, Tiramisu (in the cup), Matcha Mousse, (the tassel on my bucket bag made a cameo)

  

From left to right, top to bottom: Mint Dark Hot Chocolate; Tiramisu, Hazelnut Cake, Matcha Mousse

The matcha mousse had a waffle layer and was by far the best choice. Don’t bother with the Hazelnut or Chocolate Cakes, they’re not bad but also not that special. I’d come back to get the matcha mousse again if I'm in the hood, and try their other desserts, if I felt like going for a long drive again some day.

Sun Run today and I finished the 10km in 1hr8min. I blame my runners that gave me a HUGE blister for not being able to finish it in under 1 hour. Also, not enough cardio in the past few months. I think I’ll start training or at least doing more cardio.

Bonus picture: cat wants to go out.

Visited Fondway Cafe at Metrotown for the first time with A and P… H was too busy with work and his Scouts. For larger versions of the photos in the grid, please continue reading…