With all the changes around the office, it was an excellent time to go for a team lunch. Eating our stress away? YES.

S picked Co'm (means rice in Vietnamese), even though CC didn't want Asian food because she had it too frequently in the last week, and CL does not usually enjoy Vietnamese food at restaurants since he gets it at home all the time. Hey, I'm Chinese, and I still prefer going out for Chinese food. What's the problem? 

I really hoped they wouldn't like it, but other than the AC blasting away too strongly, it turned out to be a very satisfying meal. I had the BBH (bun bo hue! Come on, I've mentioned this before).

Pretty sure I've had better, but I'm not going to complain too much about this. It was still very tasty and flavorful, but maybe just not... dirty enough? For me, BBH should be a bit heavier, and greasier, and the best ones are from restaurants that look a bit dirty on the outside. Just a bit, because if it's too dirty, you might get sick. 

C had the banh xeo, which pulled up my rating of this place. It was lightly crispy, with a soft touch of coconut, and the lettuce was fresh.

We also had great butter garlic chicken wings (not as good as Phnom Penh, but comparable), the pork spring rolls and the salad roll. There weren't enough spring rolls to go around the first time, so we ordered another batch.




Yum. Tastes as good as it looks. Too bad the BBH was lacking a little bit, but I can see them getting lots of business from the inhabitants of the surrounding apartments. Free parking in the side lot too, so it's perfect for these Richmond folk who drive everywhere.

More changes are happening soon, so we should get a a few more pity lunches soon. July should be an interesting time, with Mercury retrograding hard, and the wedding coming up soon. Looking forward to it...

Sometimes, it feels like I’m stuck in a moment and time is not really moving, but looking back, where did all my time go? I think I’m just impatient and I want to get to the end of the story and get results. So much change yet nothing has really happened… Talk faster, people!

Here’s an example of my impatience. I got my new Mavic Air and waited and waited for the cherry blossoms to fully bloom, but the trees blossomed about halfway and a rain warning was issued, so I gave up on waiting and went out for this shot:



Not bad I guess, but could’ve been more blossom-y.

Waiting for food, also not one of my favourite pastimes. Luckily, B understood that, and for a quick lunch today, we went to Viet House, a nearby pho place on Cambie with good service. She had the #18, Spicy Hue Lemongrass Beef Noodle Soup, ie, BBH or Bun Bo Hue:



Why did they rename it to this fully anglicized version? I’m not sure. I had the #17, House Special. Standard soupy noodles that hit the spot and didn’t break the bank. They had beautiful ceramic bowls holding the soup noodle, and I appreciated the cleanliness of the restaurant. If I go back, it would be at night and I would want to try one of their alcoholic cocktails as well.



A Vietnamese restaurant that serves alcohol out in the open with a real liquor license? Awesome.

The rest of this weekend will be dedicated to working on my patience and catching up with friends before flying out to Boston. I might miss a post this coming weekend, because I’ll be hopping over to Florida as well. Sorry.

As my yoga instructor said this week, it’s not always about reaching the destination, enjoy the steps in between too.

After all that coffee, we were in dire need of lunch. Huong Lan was conveniently located close to both Regard Coffee and the Buzz Coffee House:



We found this place to be fresh and delicious, but we would not go back to the “best asian food of the city” because it was too overpriced. Over $11 for a bowl of pho that wasn’t even that filling (see Pho Lan for value comparison). They were also reallly busy, which resulted in slower service. 



I was excited to go home by then, and the ferry ride back seemed so long and tedious. The end of this trip really signified the end of Summer 2017, and seeing the leaves with their orange tinge, I had to accept the fact that fall was on the way.



Go back to:
Cumberland, Day 1, Part 1
Cumberland, Day 1, Part 2
Cumberland, Day 2, Part 1
Cumberland, Day 2, Part 2
Cumberland, Day 2, Part 3

Maybe if I didn’t eat out so much, I’d have more money for clothes. Luckily, I know some generous people, and P’s sister actually treated us to this amazing meal at Dundas Eat + Drink:



It’s another newly renovated place, with a completely new kitchen. They had just finished their soft open, and still working through some kinks, like the menu and the portions, etc. Spring rolls were quite good, the pho that W had really good broth (I didn’t try the noodles), and the grilled pork had all great flavour. P had the beef, and although I had a piece, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember it.



We had 2 orders of the crispiest chicken wings, with the house spicy sauce and… I think garlic butter. Anybody want to come with me for wings tomorrow?

Wait, I better figure out what I’m wearing for the next 4 weddings this summer first…

Shout out to the adorable succulent planter decorations at Dundas.

I always crave pho the end of a rainy day, and this day was no different. I came to Song Huong with my mother for a quick bite:



They’re known more for their beef rolls and their BBH (bun bo hue…), but we both wanted just regular pho. The noodles are OK, the soup is pretty salty, and the portions are average. Their BBH was really good a year or 2 ago, but I haven’t tried it in a while. I still come back once in a while, because it’s fast, clean, and convenient. Parking in the back or residential side streets.



The world feels like it’s slowly dying though, and no amount of pho will stop it. Storms, floods, bombings… When will it all end? There is sunshine behind all those clouds, and things will look up in no time. I think?

Met up with M to do some last minute Christmas shopping and catch up since she’d just come back from Ireland. She’s staying in Surrey right now, and I really would not venture out for very many people, but she’s a special one and brings much joy to my life so I agreed to pick her up to go to Guildford Mall.  The hunger hit us after having only a Nespresso shot earlier on. I mentioned pho to her, and she knew immediately which place to bring me to. It was the same that J, another Surrey native, had recommended earlier on that week. Is it because Pho Tam might be the only safe place for pho in Surrey? I had to find out if it lived up to the hype.

I had the Special A – any large beef noodle with a spring roll for TEN DOLLARS. How can you go wrong?! Look at all the beef. It was steaming hot, and the spring roll was fresh and crispy. Stomach’s growling now, just thinking about it. I’m sort of curious about the rest of Surrey now… What else is in this supposedly dark, dangerous land?

Parking lot in front of the place is teeny tiny. Be careful! (Always be careful in Surrey.)

Steamworks for A and G’s going away dinner afterwards. Breakfast and extremely last minute Christmas shopping/Boxing Day shopping (the sales have started already…) this morning. The schedule for the rest of this week is packed with eating. I’m planning for January to be a recovery month.

Dinner on Friday with one of the J’s, while H was stuck at work. We went to Anh and Chi for some modern Vietnamese food. I had heard of this place through the wonderful world of Instagram, where they did a great job of showcasing their food. Driving by sometimes, they always have a huge line up. Luckily we got there early enough and only waited 15 minutes versus who knows how long the rest of the people waited.

They still had the classic “comfort foods”, but it was plated more esthetically and modernized. There were some twists on some of the dishes, like the satays and a different style of spring roll. They offer vegetarian options, which is always popular in Vancouver. We also had a couple drinks, and the bill came to just under $70. Don’t know if I’d come back at night… Maybe for lunch one day.

Bun bo hue, meat on a stick satay, drinks.

Spring roll was sticky and sweet.

Old Asian Lady drink, and behind it, the Dragonball. Both were good. Better than the food.

Decided we weren’t ready to go home yet! More drinks after, at the Metropole, met up with the other J and her gal p als. Really enjoyed my first time there, I’m coming back for the cheap drinks ($3.50 shots) and pinball!

Sometimes, when you add in one little detail, the change will throw you off completely and you might freeze, forget everything you were able to do before. Go back to the basics of what you were doing, and get back to what you know to reset... - Yoga Instructor Jibber Jabber.