I'm currently craving a burger from The Hive Eatery. Food from hole in the wall places tend to be the most delicious... 

The Hive Eatery is just an order window on one side, and a pick up window around the corner, not more than 300 sq ft inside, so it definitely qualifies for hole in the wall status. Their menu is full of creative burgers, using fresh local ingredients. The Sweet and Sour Pork had a crunchy coleslaw that provided the texture to balance the pork patty, and sweet and sour sauce was just oozing out of the whole burger. The Cornflake Chicken burger was super crispy, just like cornflakes, and super juicy. No dry chicken here! Neither of them gave me that heavy feeling after eating a big greasy burger. 

Definitely pick up a few of these next time.  

Baby S has been sleeping a bit better these days, and her sleep cues are becoming more noticeable (or I'm just more familiar with them now?) She's never fallen asleep when she's around people or while she's playing on her play mat... How come other babies can fall asleep anywhere?!

The other night, as we were leaving the grandparents' home, she was getting fussy from being overtired and not getting her usual naps in. I was holding the car seat in one hand, and baby S in the other arm, because we wanted to reduce the amount of time she would be spending in the carseat, which she currently despises. H was busy packing away other things into the car. I'm trying to lift the heavy carseat into H's raised truck, while baby S is clinging to me, and Grandma tells me to "let the man do it". 

That's an old school thought I haven't heard in a while. Didn't bother me too much because Grandma is a cool progressive dog usually. I wonder what things I'll say to baby S that will make her ears perk up. 

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.

H and I will be heading back to Vancouver soon, and I've been making a list of food around Victoria that I want to have before we leave. Would be nice to get burgers and shakes from Big Wheel Burger again: 

They use fresh local ingredients, which makes for a beautiful burger. Even the brioche buns were fresh from the oven. 

H had the chicken burger, because he doesn't do beef. I had the single patty, with a strawberry milkshake. 

Best burger and shake combo since Shake Shack, and it's unlikely we'll be gorging ourselves on that anytime soon, since the US/Canada border is still closed. 

After two months living on Vancouver Island, I've gotten into the routine of not having a routine. I still have my habits of caffeine every morning, and brushing my teeth twice a day, but we've been travelling so much that there hasn't been time to settle into a schedule. It's hectic, and I'm sure it doesn't help with baby S's erratic sleep patterns.   

The other day, it was rough. 

The morning started off okay and then as I succumbed to what my husband and child wanted to do rather than what I had planned for, I felt more and more drained. H wanted to make waffles at the buffet station, downstairs in the hotel. I didn't want to wait in line for waffles and carry my baby with me to get breakfast. I wanted to be in and out. Black coffee. Toast. Done. I let him convince me that it would be quick, and delicious. We stood for at least 10 minutes that I could have spent doing something else more enjoyable (like sleep). The waffles were bomb though. 

Then, I wanted to spend some time working on this blog, and was expecting my child to be taking her usual morning nap or at least have my husband take care of her so I could have 90 minutes to myself. 90 minutes. Some moms are lucky to have 10 minutes to use the bathroom and to maintain a certain level of personal hygiene. And here I was, having the audacity to expect more than an hour of free time. Of course, baby refused to nap and whined right through the time I had planned for, eventually progressing into a full-blown tantrum. H did not know how to soothe her and put her to sleep, adding fuel on top of this awful four month leap and sleep regression that she's going through. I ended up being too distracted to do anything, and had to nurse her to sleep. Then, I scolded my husband for not paying more attention to baby's needs, because he was just on his phone the whole time as she whined for her soother. 

We went out for a drive after she woke up to see Niagara Falls (not that one... the one in Langford), about 40 minutes away by car. Baby hates the car seat and cries every time we try to put her in the car. No surprise this time that she started screaming right away. Just as we arrived at the park, she fell asleep... great timing! We woke her up, and I was hoping she could be rocked to sleep in the Ergobaby during our walk (she didn't). As we pulled her out of the carseat to transition her to the carrier, we discovered that her back was covered in poo. Got her cleaned up and we were ready to go. The walk was great, the fall foliage was on full display, waterfall was so majestic despite it being a bit dried up. Then we had to put her in the car seat again (nightmare).

 

Along the way home, we wanted to stop by Costco. We always do this, push ourselves to the tired tank limit and I really should have said no, because I knew baby was tired. I was drained, let alone the little four month old baby, who was up all night, had skipped a nap, and now would be skipping another. She had just stopped crying from being placed in the carseat earlier, and started whining again, right as we made it inside. H loves Costco and would usually have wandered all the aisles to look for all the deals. This time, even he understood that we should focus only on what we needed, in and out, but it was not fast enough. Baby S was in meltdown mode by the time we were at the checkout. I ended up nursing her in the car, and she ended up falling asleep in the carseat again. Of course, we were just 10 minutes away from "home", so she only had a few minutes of shut eye, and she was furious from having her nap disturbed once again.

Bedtime was only 2 to 3 hours away anyways and the nap schedule was already thrown off, so we decided to let her stay awake if that's what she wanted. Usually, I can just go with the flow, but this meant hours of her whining about being tired and needing to be held. I finally just gave in and nursed her to sleep around 7PM.

I had also decided to call it a night, around 830pm, and had just fallen asleep next to her, when 20 minutes later, she's hungry. So hungry that she spends 40 minutes sucking me dry. I am a human pacifier. 

It'll all be worth it right? We'll get into a more regular pattern soon, right? I'll start feeling a sense of accomplishment soon, RIGHT?!

Lately, baby S and I have been taking morning walks to Bean Around the World. First thing we do is get changed and cleaned up. By 8AM, I'll throw on the ErgoBaby, and head off to Chinatown. 

After trying a few different coffee shops around Victoria, I hate to admit that it's the one from Vancouver that offers the oat milk and espresso combo that I prefer. It's got a full texture to it, and enough caffeine kick. Not too much though, to cause the jitters!

They have lots of outdoor seating right now, but also offer a few tables inside with the appropriate social distancing. Gets pretty busy here, so we've never sat down and usually wait outside. 

Thank goodness the sun has still been shining, so we can still go on these walks, because I'm not sure how else I would burn off some of baby S's energy in the mornings. It seems she's made another developmental leap overnight, and can flip over from her back onto her tummy. She's also changed her mind about sleeping yet again, and will not take any afternoon naps. Great. 

In addition to this latest baby development, it feels like so many other things have happened suddenly in one weekend, after all of these weekends just meandering around Vancouver Island.  Just as we've been celebrating the most recent progress on the homefront this week, my grandma passes away. She was our family treasure, and it took a while for me to figure out what I was feeling, because I was confused by the relief I felt for her. She had been suffering a lot of old age problems with her health, and I'm hoping she's resting in peace now. 

Thanksgiving this year is just with H and I (I guess baby S too), so we just ordered take out. White Spot has a Thanksgiving combo: 

Look at all the food for about $30! 

The turkey wasn't too dry because it's drowned in gravy, and comes with an extra side of gravy in case it needs more drowning. Extra cranberry sauce too. The vegetables were a bit undercooked, so we just zinged it a bit longer in the microwave. The mashed taters and filling were fantastic. 

Skip the pumpkin pie from White Spot, it's not worth the additional cost. Pick up a few mini pumpkin pies from Hey Happy instead.  

So many things to be thankful - lots of sleep inducing turkey, being away from home so that I'm not obliged to attend family gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic and can really indulge the introverted side of my personality... 

Super thankful to have a healthy baby, although I still don't find motherhood super fulfilling. At the end of some days, I'll feel like I've done nothing, super unproductive because the whole day was spent trying to get baby S to take one nap. I'll be so exhausted by the time she does fall sleep that I don't feel like doing anything, and will just waste away my time on social media or watching TV or reading crap. I start feeling extra bad, because I've done nothing!  

Then, I'll message my mom, who insists that I send her photos and videos everyday because she's not around to see her grandchild everyday. She'll tell me I'm doing great, keeping the baby healthy with my hard work, and I'll actually feel a sense of accomplishment. 

Thanks, Mom, we both did a lot of work today. 

Baby S is now four months old, and as mentioned previously, she's going through a sleep regression/4 month leap. She used to just let us put the pacifier in her mouth whenever she was upset.  One day, she realized that if her mouth is too small for the pacifier, we won't be able to do that anymore. She started to keep her mouth smaller instead of wailing with mouth wide open, so that she can still complain and whine but the pacifier won't fit.  Just as easily, she forgot how to sleep for more than two hours at a time, and so I'm swimming in exhaustion for the past few weeks.  

It's just easier to go out and pick up lunch, rather than cook. H found a great little spot for Vietnamese sandwiches, Ba le Deli Victoria.

Fresh bread, excellent meat to veggies to sauce ratio, $7 a sandwich, prepared in less than 5 minutes.  Can't go wrong.

Other than changes with the baby, everything else has remained the same, but it just takes that one phone call to change everything. Hopefully we get that phone call before we return to Vancouver for good. 

Baby S has been going through a pretty bad sleep regression, and although I expected it around the four month mark, I still was not prepared for it. It is harder than usual to soothe her to bed. The only solution that allows both of us to sleep was for me to lie next to her while nursing her to sleep. However, sometimes, I wouldn't fall asleep that easily, and just as I'm dozing off, baby S is ready for another session of milk.  

Wouldn't it be amazing if there was something for adults where they could be soothed back to sleep by sucking on a pacifier? 

K suggested that I ask my husband to soothe me back to sleep, but I think I'll stick with coffee in the mornings. 

Good thing I am in close proximity to Hey Happy. On the days that baby S gets up bright and early despite waking up every two hours throughout the night, their delicious coconut milk iced latte keeps me alive: 

Sometimes, lumps will form from the coconut milk if I'm busy with the baby and leave it sitting for too long. When it's fresh though, it is the smoothest coffee beverage I have ever consumed. They add in just the right amount of cane sugar to mask any bitterness from the coffee (not that I mind the bitterness because I usually have black coffee; it's a nice change). Wish I could figure out their almond milk to coconut milk ratio too, so I can recreate it at home. 

They used to sell 500mL bottles of these, at $16 per bottle. It's pricey, but if I can buy a bottle of happiness for $16, WHY NOT? Sadly, they're listed as "out of stock" on the website now, so I emailed the Hey Happy team. Turns out that they're currently working on a way to make the packaging more sustainable. Well, good for them and the Earth. 

When I'm there, I will usually pick up one of their chocolate chip cookie too. It's got large chunks of chocolate, and they're topped with a sprinkle of salt, just the way I usually make my cookies. I'll save it for a snack in the afternoon, to go with my orange juice and iron pill. 

For the fall season and Canadian Thanksgiving, they also have a mini pumpkin pie as one of their pastries, which I decided to buy purely because I thought it'd look cute in a photo. Turns out that the pumpkin is perfect. The pumpkin filling is super creamy, and has a good blend of spices and sweetness. Wish I got two so that I didn't have to share with H, and will definitely return for more.  

As I finish up this post, I'm typing as fast as I can, because baby S could wake up from her nap anytime. According to the Wonder Weeks app, she has another 10 days remaining for this mental leap of Events. It's this leap that is contributing to her poor sleep. Guess that means 10 more trips to Hey Happy. 

H and I love browsing thrift stores and hunting for treasures, and now that baby S is outgrowing all the clothes we brought along with us to the island, we decided to visit second hand baby stores. Children's fashion is not very sustainable, and if I can reuse something rather than buying new, I definitely will. One of the thrift shops we've visited so far is Sailor Jack Consignment. It's a tiny little place, packed with clothes for the small people, and they have a solid inventory of almost new children's wear in excellent condition.

Right next door is Fry's Bakery:

We couldn't resist stopping in for a few baked goods, especially because we had worked up an appetite from a good session of second hand deal hunting. Not to mention, their beautiful pastries were calling to us through their display window.

We ended up ordering a mutton sausage roll and the breakfast in bed danish, and brought them home for lunch. Check out the large chunks of bacon in the danish. 

Pretty sure they used a whole stick of butter just for these two pastries. The mutton sausage was extraordinarily flavorful, and I might have to back up a few dozen to take home. I wonder if they have any frozen ones that we can store and pop in the oven for later?  

It was a perfect way to spend a rainy morning. 

DISCLAIMER - this has nothing to do with the well loved anime about pocket monsters. 

Recently, I came across an article that reminded me of the benefits of omega 3 for baby's brain development, and that I should be including more fish in my diet. H doesn't like cooked fish, so I went in search of good raw fish nearby. Googling "poke near me" gave two results - Island Poke and Poke Fresh. 

The first contestant, Island Poke!

Their set menu didn't look very appealing to me, because we wanted salmon only. H doesn't like tuna (he doesn't like a lot of things okay!?), and I didn't want to risk the chance of ingesting mercury because I'm still breastfeeding. Luckily, creating our own bowls was not too difficult, and with a few simple clicks, we could do it all from their website.

Pros include large chunks of fresh fish, and a good balance of sauce to toppings ratio. 

My only criticism is that the large portion is not quite enough, and our bowls left us with a craving for more poke. Wish there could be an XXXL size, because it was just so good. 

After that great experience, we were excited to dig into the bowls from Fresh Poke:

The portions here were much larger, and they actually use compostable paper bowls, while their competition uses full plastic bowls. However, they're $3 more expensive than Island Poke. The website for ordering was also unfriendly for creating our own bowls, although they did have more appealing set menu options.

Too bad the fish wasn't fresh and tasted like it was recently defrosted. The rice was not flavorful, and the insufficient amount of sauces couldn't save it.  Definitely do not choose the brown rice option, because it was undercooked and seasoned strangely. 

Clearly, Island Poke is the winner in this poke battle. I'm not sure how Poke Fresh even has a 4.4/5 rating on Google, and why Island Poke only has 4.6/5. We're going to go back to Island Poke tonight, so that we can get the mushy texture of the fish from Poke Fresh out of our mouths. 

Not much else has been happening. We're still enjoying the hotel life. 

I'm not huge on Thai food, and out of the all the Asian cuisines, I would normally go for something else. Not sure why, maybe a bad experience previously.  We felt adventurous and wanted to try out something new though, because how many times can we visit Pho Vy in a week? H suggested we expand outside of our comfort zone and give Baan Thai a try. 

 

They have great "wok air". The medium spicy is almost too much for me to handle, but doesn't overpower all the spices and flavors. If you're sensitive to spicy food like me, go for the mild. 

We ordered the lunch specials - red curry with chicken (gaeng pak), pad thai, stiry fry (phad khing), because those seem to be a better deal. Lunch specials come with a crispy freshly fried spring roll, as well, and I can eat these everyday. 

We also ordered one of the fried rice options to try out something off the lunch special menu, and it was pretty good too. Lunch specials are the way to go though (better deal).

I'm extremely happy we tried something new.  

It might be easiest to stick with the same old restaurants, the tried and true routines, walking the same route to the same places, where we can order without even looking at the menu, but it might not yield the best result. Sometimes, you need to dig yourself out of your deep deep rut, just climb out of that ditch, and move all your luggage with you to a new place to for fresh experiences. 

I also think sometimes that it would have been so much easier if we didn't have a baby yet, and if we had waited just a little bit longer to figure out a more ideal living situation. Travelling and moving would be so much easier. Would we have been happier though? 

I imagine not. It's delightful to watch her try to flip over and get stuck.

Splurged on the Lovevery play gym recently. So far, she likes it, but still gets bored after maybe 30 minutes. 

  

Since day 1 of this trip on Vancouver Island, we've been on a mission to find food that would keep our cravings at bay. In other words, we wanted Asian food of the same quality or better than what we can find in Vancouver! 

 

I wouldn't say Victoria BBQ House and Bakery is quite the same quality as some of the best Chinese bakeries back on the Mainland, but they had pineapple buns and BBQ pork buns, fresh out of the oven when we stopped by the other day, before the smoke (BTS? ha.). 

We devoured them right in front of their shop, on the street, so that they would still be warm and fluffy. The BBQ pork bun (on the left) was really stuffed with meat. Please ignore the angle of the photo, which makes it look smaller than the pineapple bun. I'd come back more often if they had a hybrid pineapple BBQ pork bun and served HK milk tea. 

Side note - if you look closely at the photo above, you'll see a sliver of baby S's stroller, where we abandoned her she was napping. 

"You know it's like, I dunno you... you float out... float out at sea then one day you find a port, say, 'I'm gonna stay here a few days'. A few days becomes a few years. Then you forgot where you were going in the first place. Then you realize you don't really give a shit about where you was going, cause you like where you at." - George "Noodles" Stone (Dave Chapelle), A Star is Born

Still watching a lot of HGTV these days, and they talk about "forever homes" a lot. This hotel sure isn't a forever home, but I would have to say it's been a pretty comfortable port for the past few days.  

It's been smokey around the West coast lately, because of all the forest fires in the Northwestern region of the US (really not a good year for our neighbors down South...). Makes it a bit difficult to get outside, but we're good at finding those gaps of fresh air and seizing the moment when the wind blows in the right direction. 

Also, I would starve if I could not get out of the hotel and pick up food.

One of my favourite ways to discover new restaurants to try is from the foodies on Instagram, because sometimes, it's easy to miss a suggestion from Google or Yelp. While browsing through my feed the other day, Foodgressing's pastry post really caught my attention. She was in Victoria recently, and had picked up some delicious looking baked goods from a cafe called Fol Epi. I packed up Baby S in her stroller immediately for a walk to the closest location.   

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Another walk with Starla! This time we visited @fol.epi on Yates. I was glad the smokey air had cleared up so we could enjoy the sunshine with her new shades from @babiators, and I could get my pastry fix. . . #walkswithstarla #babyfashion #baby #momlife #3months #cartersbaby #babyclothes #pegperego #instababy #instababygirl #foodielife #babiators #canadiangirl #tourismvictoria @tourismvictoriabc

A post shared by louisa (@luwesa) on Sep 10, 2020 at 5:33pm PDT

We had to wait in line for a few minutes before ordering, but it was worth it to stand around in the sun! I picked up a nectarine danish, a blueberry danish, and a pain au chocolat, and the total came to just under $16. A tad expensive, but no regrets, because the blueberry danish was delicious. Crispy and buttery, with just enough tartness in the berry jam to cut through the sugar. Will go back for sure to get more berry danishes.

Nectarines were too sour. Pain au chocolat was not flaky. 

Smokey air, smokey future. Will we really be happier when we own more property? Will the solution to our problems be a more costly renovation? Or would we enjoy each other's company more while on the road, exploring new paths? I'm trying to not let the smoke dictate how much I enjoy this trip, because we're only here for a few more days, but please, help me be patient during this Mars retrograde.  

We're still in Victoria, and after the first coffee adventure to Habit and too many days staying indoors watching television, I've ventured outside of my bubble to try to find more interesting coffee joints.  The coffee scene is actually flourishing here in Victoria!  

Discovery Coffee, one of the local coffee chains, appears to be more popular than Starbucks. The one close to our hotel has had line ups every single time that we walk past. Is this because they are that popular, or their service has slowed down due to extra COVID-19 precautions? 

I've had the oat milk latte three times now. The first time, I did not like the burnt taste of their espresso. I also felt that their oat milk was missing something (not enough oats? how is oat milk made anyways?)   

The second time, it still tasted burnt, and the oat milk was still not flavorful.

The third time... Well, they're consistent if nothing else. 

Why do I keep going back? It's just so convenient for a short walk, and the quality is not horrendous. It's just not the same as the more flavorful oat milks and coffees in Vancouver... 

I do like that they've partnered with Yonni's Donuts, offering fresh baked goods that are large, dense, and photogenic (straight up my alley!). Their selection changes fairly frequently, so we won't be bored on our frequent visits. Baby S loved the blueberry twist that they had a few weeks ago: 

Today's apricot donut could have used more apricot flavor, because it basically tasted like a regular donut with a thick coat of frosting on top: 

Expect more posts about my Vancouver Island coffee experiences in the future, because we'll be here for a couple more weeks. After 3 weeks of island life, and no progress on the home front, I'm starting to feel the monotony of the same daily routine.  H has been more patient than I have been with all of this, especially as he also has to put up with my postpartum moods. I do appreciate when he brings home the bacon, cooks the bacon, and then washes away the bacon grease from the pan afterwards. 

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. 

So much take out this month! I feel really bad for all the containers that we have been throwing away, and have been trying to rinse out and recycle as many of the plastic ones as possible.

Unfortunately, we could not do that with the food from Pho Vy:

H went to pick this up by himself, and when he came home, he was beyond excited to dig in. 

"I could smell the herbs and flavors from outside the restaurant! It must be good!"

The round container in the middle was the pho, containing many, many pieces of thick brisket and flank. The soup came in a separate container, to be poured on top of the noodles.  I did not feel super thirsty after devouring all the noods and meat, usually a good indication that they don't use a lot of MSG. I did notice there was a deep layer of fat floating on top of the leftover soup that I did not drink.  

Oh well, I took a longer walk the next day to try to unclog my arteries. 

Don't get the spring rolls, they're not very crispy, possibly because they are meant to be eaten in the restaurant. Salad rolls are safe though, as they still tasted fresh.  

H had the rice with the lemon grass chicken. It was so good that he wanted it again the next night. 

Other than lots of take out and wearing masks in public, baby S is adding to my new normal. The other night, I checked in on her after about 30 minutes of putting her down in bed, and saw from the doorway that she had snuck an arm out of her swaddle. She was just gurgling to herself, clearly pleased with herself for being able to escape the swaddle. As I stepped closer and turned on the bedside light, she tilted her head over to see who it was. Noticing it's her mom, she smiled an adorable, guilty little grin. 

I couldn't help laughing, because this seems like something I would do.