It's 2AM, and I have been journaling, watching Youtube (currently obsessed with Sarah's Day), researching smoothie shops around Vancouver, listening to H snore in the other room, and craving this soy based ice cream from SoyTalk:

Tried it last Wednesday, while out with the Shark, and while he didn't think it was creamy enough, it completely hit the spot for me. All their delicious treats (cakes, drinks, ice cream) is made with soy, using a Japanese/Taiwanese (I can't recall which) technology. They have their own machine in house to manufacture this, and you can see it from the shop entrance. 

I had the sesame flavour, while the Shark had the oreo. Ice creams were topped with a crispy shaving of soy beans, which looks like meat floss, has very little flavour, but adds on a new dimension of texture to the ice cream. We were sitting there for over 30 minutes, and it had barely melted - great for hot summers, which I'm sure are coming for us with climate change in the air. 

The doctor told me the other day that the baby isn't quite head down yet, and now that I think about it, I haven't had as much discomfort down there as with the first pregnancy. S was head down the whole time, and it was horrible to walk around at all. This time around, I've been walking around more for work, so I was really hoping gravity would do its job properly. 

Hope the baby will come out healthy, and that I'll be able to get a few hours of sleep tonight. 

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.  

On yet another walk with baby S, we picked up pastries from La Roux Patisserie. 

I walk by here frequently, and was not super interested in trying it out, because the decor was so fluffy. Why did it have to look so girly and colourful inside? Were the colourful pastries in the window display just beautiful on the outside? Would they also be yummy in my tummy? The entire package just appeared way too pretty to be true, so I avoided it. 

I first tried the Paris Brest (cream puff). This is the shop's best seller - a buttery cream puff with a hint of salt to balance the creamy Nutella filling. I couldn't stop at one bite! 

The lemon tart was my favourite out of all of three, because I love how the tartness cuts through the sugar and butter. The espresso pistachio tart didn't really have much pistachio flavor, and was quite heavy handed on the butter. 

H's favourite dessert is tiramisu, so I had to get it:

We both thought it was just OK. 

These would be convenient to keep in the fridge for late night snacking too. We kept them refrigerated for a few days, and they were still delicious. Sometimes, after a night feeding for baby S, I can feel my stomach 

growling, but I'm too lazy to get out of bed and just suffer through it until the next morning.

 

Baby S doesn't realize how lucky she is - in the middle of the night, all she has to do is whimper slightly, and her favorite food (milk) shows up in front of her.

Hard to believe it's already June 4th, the day before my baby's estimated due date, but it's very unlikely this date will be accurate.  This is possibly a good thing, and I keep reminding myself that I should enjoy the extra time, and peace and quiet of now before the child. On the other hand, I'd like to start the next volume of my life. Soon enough, it'll happen, I guess... 

Meanwhile, every day is an opportunity to try something new. I recently started following Oh Sweet Day!  on Instagram, and scrolled through multiple photos on their page, admiring their beautiful cheesecakes and pastries. H and I saw their booth at the farmer's market, and I could not resist splurging on a $6.50 single portion of cheesecake, with a diameter similar to that of a pop can. My justification was that in these times of COVID-19, we have to support local small businesses! Also, being pregnant has amplified my sugar addiction and cravings by a scale of 10. 

This was the espresso flavored cheesecake: 

I have to be honest though, this was left in the fridge for maybe 2 or 3 days before I got around to eating it, so it was not the freshest and a bit soggy. Nevertheless, the cheesecake filling to crust ratio was on point (if you dug your fork in from top to bottom, none of that slanted stabbing motion to just get at the top). The espresso flavoring was not overwhelming. Overall, very tasty, but would I go back again for this tiny little cheesecake? 

Probably wouldn't, because I'm not that big of a cheesecake fan. Their other larger cake options look attractive, maybe for the next party or gathering (so in 2021 maybe? ha.)

Other than supporting local, the media has been strongly trending BLM... Today also marks the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Strange how the timing is so similar, 30 years later, and not much has changed.

P ordered me a surprise delivery of Easter desserts from Chez Christophe in North Burnaby: 

Chez Christophe delivers within a small neighborhood, and H and I are lucky to fall within the borders of this small area. Their delivery time frame is quite wide, from 12PM to 3PM, and it would have been nice to have a more precise idea of when they would drop by, just in case we were in the middle of something. H actually got off night shift that morning at 7AM, and woke up at noon to coordinate the pick up and avoid ruining the surprise for me. Chez Christophe probably would have done something if requested ahead of time though, because their customer service in stores is top notch and I imagine they would have made some exceptions if needed. Either way, I was just super excited to see a big bag plastered with their logo coming through my apartment door.

Each piece of cake was securely positioned on its own gold cardboard. There was the one chocolate mousse in a plastic container, and all of them were taped down to the bottom of a big white cake box to prevent shuffling around during the drive.

The Easter bunny was a seasonal item, so it's no longer available. It's a carrot cake, raspberry confit, dark chocolate cream cheese mousse on a hazelnut crumble base (this description is straight from their Instagram, there's no way I would be able to know this):

This is their Sunny's Matcha, which is a matcha namalaka (a what?), matcha chiffon, lemon yuzu mousse and white chocolate sesame crunch for the base:

This is the Trio de Chocolat, which is made of dark, milk, and white chocolate mousse topped with gluten free chocolate crumble (I think some of this crumble did fall off during the delivery, and some of it got on the dessert in the next photo. The flavors of the desserts were not negatively affected by this): 

The last piece is the Mango Chocolat, which is a 70% dark chocolate mousse, mango confit, passionfruit and mango curd, chocolate sponge and hazelnut crunch:

H's favourite was the carrot cake bunny, and mine was actually the macarons. I don't usually gravitate towards macarons, because they mostly taste like eating pure sugar, and why would I want to stick a spoonful of sugar in my mouth when I could be having a mango chocolate mousse instead? These ones actually had so much individual flavor (a bit fruity I think?) with the lightest, fluffiest texture, so that it didn't feel like eating diabetes. 

I am looking forward to going out to coffee shops and having fresh pastries in the wild outdoors.

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!

H and I went to Crackle Crème over the weekend as a break during our walk from Revolver back to where our vehicle was parked, by Main and Broadway. Their selection of flavours has more than tripled since the first time I went, when they opened about 4 years ago. Here are the sesame (on the left, darker colored) and the Grand Marnier (on the right, more orange):

The sesame is one of the original, and still as good as I remembered it to be. It’s creamy and smooth, not too sweet, but full of sesame flavor. The Grand Marnier was a more adventurous flavor for us, and it was interesting, but not something I’d go back for. I can’t wait to revisit and try out all the other ones on the list.



Best of all, the place was completely empty when we got there, around 5PM on a Saturday. It’s so peaceful along Union Street around that time. Actually, when is Union Street really crowded, except with bikers during rush hour?

Even though I’m really enjoying myself this month, it still feels like time is crawling, slower than a snail. Right now, life feels like it’s on pause, while I’m waiting for Audien, for the completion of the apartment, for vacation, for luck to arrive (this phrase makes sense when translated to Cantonese).

My solution to drown out any anxiety and impatience is to watch lots of movies. We went to see Venom last night, great job Tom Hardy, a good mix of laughs and action. I saw Snowden on Netflix tonight, which I thought was very eye opening as it’s based on the true story of the hacker and ex-CIA agent, Edward Snowden. Please send movie recommendations to me so I can distract myself from real life. I’m thinking Ocean’s 8 next.

This week, I feel like I’ve done a lot, but accomplished nothing. Maybe more coffee will get me through to the next week:



During my last visit to Toronto, D suggested that we walk over to Neo Coffee Bar for a quick breakfast. They make beautiful Asian inspired delicacies, including mochi and cake rolls, with Asian inspired flavours, like matcha and sesame. We had the matcha red bean roll, sesame roll, and the seasonal peach flavor, which were all very good. Really good, filled with cream and paired so well with the latte.



The sesame red bean mochi was the real winner here. It’s a huge ball of soft mochi stuffed to the edges and bursting with sesame and red bean cream filling. So next time, I’m going to get a dozen of these for the plane ride home:



I haven’t found a spot like this in Vancouver yet, with a cozy industrial feel and the same desserts. Maybe La Foret, because they also have roll cake? Let me know if you find any others.

Back to this week… I really haven’t been able to focus very well, my mind keeps drifting. I’ve always been pretty good at prioritizing, but I’m at a point where nothing seems to matter anymore, because everything seems like a big life change. Life changing decisions were made and even more need to be made soon. New apartment, travelling, getting married, career… Where do I put my energy and what’s the next step?

Everybody wanted to hang out when we got back home, most of all H’s mom. We went to Cafe Savoureux, one of her favourite spots in Richmond to relax with a cup of coffee:

We had a piece of the chestnut cake and a blueberry cheesecake. The chestnut cake was average, I wouldn’t go back for it, but the cheesecake was bomb! Would highly recommend. I had it with the Naporitano (an Americano with lemon), which was another first… Not sure if it’s traditionally made that way, but I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me of the time we had espresso and tonic water in Nanaimo. H’s mom had the latte. H had a pourover (not pictured), which he didn’t complain about. Apart from the really great cake, the shop was cozy but not overcrowded on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I think it does get much busier in the evenings, when the cravings for something sweet kick in.



I had only visited this cafe one other time before, and I can’t recall with who, but it was definitely not as good before. This really did make me believe even more that the company is more important than the food. It’s also possible that the cafe staff just picked up the slack and improved over the years. Either way, it was a good place to meet and start talking wedding.

The day after was the annual Sun Run. 1 hour 8 minutes 48 seconds. A bit slower than before, but not bad for a year of not exercising enough.

For B’s birthday, her husband flew her sister from Toronto back home, planned a surprise dinner for her, and treated about 20 of us to dinner at Nightingale:



Dinner was served family style, starting with 3 different salads – a watercress (almost all eaten in the photo above), a kale, and an apple salad. The apple salad topped with a bit of cheese was probably my favourite, followed closely by the very crispy watercress salad. We had salmon (also in photo above), and beef (see photos below) as the mains.



The pizzas were for the few people who didn’t eat fish or beef – super thin crust!


LA PIECE DE RESISTANCE… (excuse my poor French):



The entire meal, everybody patiently waited for me to snap some quick photos of the food, but once desserts were laid out on the table, it was all “yo, the ice cream is melting” and “hurry up” and “come on, are you done?”… Interesting what fresh apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, panna cotta, and brownie topped with peanut butter and a side of perfectly scooped espresso ice cream can do to “friends and family”. I guess it was pretty delicious though.



The service was also 5/5. Reasons:
-server picked up the napkin and refolded it
-didn’t reach in to refill waters but always knew when to step in
-super friendly
-well dressed and groomed (this really affects the whole impression of the restaurant, I don’t want somebody who looked like they needed a shower serving me food)

Happy birthday, B. Family is so important. I’m so glad I have a good one.

After dinner, we were craving something sweet, so we decided to go to Snackshot for some classic Hong Kong style dessert:

 

This was their glutinous rice balls with sesame paste, in a ginger soup. Pretty good ratio of sesame paste filling to exterior:



We also had the hot almond paste dessert (top bowl with white substance), and a hot ginger tea (bottom glass of orange substance):



The almond was average, and the ginger was not something I’d get again.

While I really enjoyed the cute decor and Supreme cutlery, I wouldn’t come out of my way for this again. There are better places in  Richmond and Burnaby for Chinese dessert, but if I were in the neighborhood, I wouldn’t mind stopping in again to get their dessert set.



We went up to Joffre Lake the other weekend, and I think we stayed just long enough to feel pleasantly tired out. We were even there at the right moment to catch a game of ice hockey:



We had our work Christmas party this Friday, and I think we stayed just long enough to leave an impression, but not too long before all the taxis were taken. Then, on Saturday, we had a fabulous pot luck with some high school/university pals, and today (Sunday), I had a gathering with some girl friends. It’s a busy time of the year, and I think this year, I’ve learned when I have to leave and not stay a minute longer, because if I do, I’ll be exhausted and drained for weeks and months afterwards.

Have you found that balance of just enough?

5 more work days before Christmas holidays! I feel like a kid, counting down to sleeping in, and no (home)work.

Came here for waffles with J and K, to casually catch up. We had the berry and mascarpone waffle (on the right), as well as a special pumpkin spice flavored one (I think it was pumpkin… on the left).



I was way too full to eat, so I just ordered the Earl Grey Latte (ie, London Fog). Everything was just OK… J and K didn’t seem too impressed by the waffle quality. I had a bite of the berry one, which was fairly fresh. The London Fog was a tad sweet.   



The whole thing was also a bit overpriced, as usual with anything in Vancouver. The two had just returned from Calgary, where they could have afforded an actual house with land. Instead, here they were, renting a little box in Vancouver. They were just settling in to their new Vancouver home now, and I am assuming they’re really enjoying being closer to family, but what about owning their own front lawn?

I’ve been worrying for most of last week about getting and paying off a mortgage, starting next year, but I think I’ve come to terms with it. I should probably figure out what Christmas gifts to get for people first… We’ll see where life takes us.

While waiting to pick up my father the other day, I had a few minutes for a coffee break. Where to go in Richmond for coffee?! It’s always a dilemma. I ended up at Zenstone Coffee:



I had their sesame latte, and a sesame waffle, and hung out with the ducks. Such an adorable little shop, with amazing latte art. The desserts are just sweet enough, but not too sugary. I’ll be back, I’ve seen some new pastries and drinks on their Instagram.

TWO MORE DAYS! I’ll be outta here, and into the storm. Apparently, it will be raining lots. What essentials should I pack? Glossier, probably.

Ice cream cravings are real. H and I went to Glenburn for dessert on what one might consider a “date night”. We had the Fall Spice, which consisted of 2 scoops of their pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, graham crackers crumbled into butterscotch, and cinnamon whipped cream. This is the perfect way to end the night. I wonder what will be on their menu for winter and Christmas.

Before that, we visited the thrift shop, where I got a $10 pair of 7 for All Mankind. Date nights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Another life update… I’ve been trying these products from Glossier:

Inspired by these ladies:

I don’t know why this brand is so fascinating to me. I could watch videos about these producs over and over… The cloud paints especially are irresistible. Pat pat pat, smudge smudge – blend that cream blush in a few seconds, and it looks perfectly natural. I’m excited to try out all the other colours, I’ve only purchased Dusk and Puff so far. Puff has more colour, Dusk blends in too much and I like it better as an eye shadow.

The day started off with toxic glowing skies – smoke is back and so are my allergies. I haven’t slept properly in 3 days, but I knew that the best way to fix that lack of sleep was to do something fun. What is more fun than eating with a couple friends?

We went for sushi and then came to the Welcome Parlour:

There were a few creative ice cream flavours (peanut butter and jelly, baileys pecan, blueberry and raspberry TOGETHER). I had the apple pie (see photo above), which was a tad too sweet. However, there’s something about the bright cheery store front, with the 130 year old cash register at the counter that actually worked. Shiny and clean, great place to hang out with ice cream made fresh everyday. The store owner serves the ice cream, with his son helping in the shop, and he’s a whole other reason to visit again. I’ll come back to try some other flavours when I’m in the area.

I think my Instagram is broken, the world is drowning or burning, and I am choking on the wildfire smoke. On a brighter note, I’m going to Vancouver Island at the end of the month to find Nymph Falls.

PS, another bright note, Claire Marshall is doing a Vlogtember series!

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.

Met up with M after almost 7 months of not seeing each other. We used to hang out every week, but life catches up with you. We went over to Coco along Marine Drive. I’ve been to a different CoCo location before, but I didn’t like it that time and never gave it another chance. Here I was, waiting for M to get home so he could give me his official wedding invitation, so I had to get a drink:



I had the milk tea with pearls and red bean and grass jelly, which cost about $6… I had to have all those toppings though, because I was craving all of them. I actually really loved it this time – the grass jelly had lots of flavor, and the pearls were just chewy enough. I got 50% sweet, but might go for less next time, especially if I add the red bean.



Back to the whole thing of giving the official wedding invitation… why do we have such weird traditions?

Today, I hung out with H’s mom and her friends, because they wanted to try Tatsu. It’s a bit strange seeing them without H. Only 2 more days until he’s back…

Visited Aperture Coffee Bar for their beautiful affogatos:

I had the ginger, matcha, and the lemon (top to bottom). I knew I wanted the matcha flavor going into the shop, and lemon was recommended by the dude at the bar. Ginger affogato just sounded wack, and it was actually not too weird. I tend to like ginger and sugar together, so I enjoyed it. The lemon was not my favourite, but I could see how others might like the tanginess of the syrup. The ginger was also just a syrup. I think the matcha could’ve been stirred up a bit better as I had chunks of it melt in my mouth.

I wouldn't get the same flavours again, but I do want to try all of them. I think they have seasonal flavours too... Overall, a pretty good pre-game for dinner.

Little things are stressing me out today. Don’t let the little things in life creep into the cracks and split up the foundation.