Ki Hon Sushi

Went out for dinner yesterday with some of the girls for sushi at Ki Hon Sushi in Coquitlam. The food was good, I order Lunch Special Box B which came with miso soup, ebi sunomono, 1/2 California roll, 1 ebi, assorted tempura, beef teriyaki & a salad. It was a lot of food & for a  very good price 10.95 (+tax & tip)...I was SUPER full. The service on the other hand wasn't that great, nobody came to refill our tea. The interior is ok, the restaurant is small. We got the biggest table which was just enough space for 4 people, if our party was bigger we wouldn't be able to seat together. The restaurant closes at 8:30 which is really early (>_<) but it is in Coquitlam so it is to be expected. I would go back again.

       Food: 5/5             Service: 3.5/5            Ambiance: 4/5             Price: 5/5

I had a good time spending time with my friends, I don't get to see them a lot...so it is good to meet up & catch up. Hopefully I will get to see them more often from now on (^_^)

Le Petit Saigon

Went for dinner yesterday at Le Petit Saigon with a group of friends in Vancouver. Wasn’t really that hungry when I went so I just had a small pho. The food was only ok nothing special. The service was quick, interior was ok. Price was cheap. Don’t think I would go back here myself since the Pho at Pho 99 taste a lot better. 
         
       Food: 3/5             Service: 5/5            Ambiance: 3/5             Price: 5/5

Jugo Juice & Cardero's

In the middle of our walk to see the Terracotta Warriors we stopped once to get a drink at Jugo Juice. My first time ordering a drink there. My BFF ordered the Carrot Apple drink (I didn't like it that much) & I ordered the Watermelon Wiggle which had watermelon, mango & tropical nectar. The Drink was ok not something I would crave though.

       Food: 3/5             Service: 4/5            Ambiance: 4/5             Price: 4/5

After seeing the last Terracotta Warrior we went for dinner at Cardero’s Restaurant which was close by. My BFF & I both had the salmon burger it was really good, melt in your mouth & fresh. The service was good, our waiter was nice he gave us our bill & told us no pressure to leave just sit as long as we want even though we told him that there is probably people waiting for a table, he said it’s ok they can wait ^_^ never had a waiter tell us that before. The Ambiance was nice, we got a table outside in the patio which we had view of the mountains & it was by the water. Price is high but that is what you expect to pay for a gourmet burger downtown. I would go back here again if I am in the area, not too often since it is pricier.

       Food: 5/5             Service: 5/5            Ambiance: 5/5             Price: 4/5

Gem Sushi & Watermelon Candy

Went for sushi at Gem Sushi in Coquitlam on Saturday with Mama Gen & company. This sushi restaurant is owned by Chinese people. The food there was only OK, service was OK, interior wasn’t anything interesting but clean & price was average. Not a place I would intently go to for sushi but maybe if I am in the area.

       Food: 4/5             Service: 4/5            Ambiance: 3/5             Price: 3/5

Mama Gen bought me some Maynards sour watermelon candy…was kind of depressed so I ate the whole box that night but now I am a bit better. Not really my favorite candy, wasn't really sour & didn't have much taste to it but I can't say no to candy unless it is really disgusting...like black licorice.

Housewarming & Ruckus

On Saturday went to my co-workers house warming party. Her place is nice & a very comfortable size for 2 people (my co-worker & her sister). Her family made a lot of food to feed us. I ate 2 plates, I usually don’t eat that much when I am at someone’s house but the food was really good (^_^) that day I didn’t have dinner since over full from lunch. I played a little with my co-workers nephew...little kids have way too much energy. I felt creative & I didn't have any suitable card for house warming so I made one (^_^) & I got her a $30 gift card from Ikea so she can buy whatever she may still need.

In the evening I went over to hang out with Mama Gen, I got to ride on a ruckus as a passenger & by myself. As passenger I was scared in the beginning, thinking I would fall off the bike but after a while I was OK. It was so scary by myself but I was able to do a few turns (^_^) it was fun but still scary. I am not a very daring person even though I did do some crazy things in Hawaii. But I think I would try it again.

Happy Birthday To Me (^_^)

Yesterday was my birthday but it started on the weekend, a few friends joined me to go hiking on Mount Seymour to celebrate. It was a lot of fun, thanks to the awesome people who decided to join in my craziness (^_^) like 2010 there was still a lot of snow but not as warm or sunny as 2010 but still AWESOME. Can’t wait to go back in summer to hike again. It was a good thing we went to Ihop before the hike, gave me energy to survive the hike. After hiking we weren't really that hungry so we just stopped at Safeway to grap some food. I didn't know they had a place for you to order cooked food. I ordered a Tuscan Chicken combo, which was ok & not too of bad of price for the combo. Saw a corgi dog soo cute, I want one (^_^)

On my birthday at work I received a dozen yellow roses from my manger…so sweet & I got to leave an ½ hr early (^_^) I meet up with a few friends for dinner, it was suppose to be at a sushi place but they close at 8 (>_<) way to early so we went to The Golden Boot since it was right next door. I ordered a pizza again, I had left over’s for today’s lunch. After dinner I went to hang out with Mama Gen’s bf & friend for sushi. There was a BIG surprise waiting for me there, Mama Gen had the restaurant staff turn off the lights (which at that time I had no idea what was going on, I thought they lost power or something) and brought me cake with candles…I was sooo surprised & Happy. Mama Gen is the BEST…LOVE U (^_^) & the cake was yummy...

Mama Gen's Spaghetti alla Carbonara & My Pizza Capricciosa

I got so many awesome gifts from my friends. One of my friends got me a gift card from Metrotown…shopping time (^_^)  another friend got me a pair of sandals at AE (^_^) My BFF got me a beautiful pair of flats from Aldo. Another friend got me a lovely bouquet of flower. I got a lot of birthday wishes from friends, which I am really happy to receive. I have AWESOME friends…I LOVE them all.

My Addiction: More Candy & Swiss Rolls

Bought a big bag of candy from Price Smart & a box of Swiss Rolls from Wal-mart (>_<) I'm bad...I divided the candy into mini container so I can eat it slowly but didn't work out (>_<) need to learn more restraint...fight my addictions....so hard....

Random - Big Orange, T&T & Rice Noodle

Was at Coquitlam Centre Mall & thirsty so went to Big Orange for some bubble tea. Mama Gen ordered strawberry watermelon with pearls and I ordered the watermelon with coconut jelly. There watermelon bubble tea is OK, it is very hit & miss depending if they have good watermelons or not. This time it was good. The price is regular not cheap but not expensive either.

       Food: 4/5             Service: 4/5            Ambiance: 3/5             Price: 4/5

Did some grocery shopping at T&T. I like the T&T at Coquitlam Centre because they have a area where you can scoop your own assorted fish balls. They brought back the Korean one (^_^) They are good for putting into soup. Also ginger was on sale 3 packs for $1.99...ginger is soo yummy. Also got a bag of instant cereal for work.

Random pic of miffy & ralphie...cute cute (^_^) also my breakfast scrambled egg with spinach & green onion with side of strawberries, baby tomato's, baby carrots & avocado.

My third attempt at making Rice Noodle with Beef using thin sliced beef this time. It does taste a lot better then the bigger chucks of beef but still not the right taste.

Ralphie

Yesterday I spend time at Mama Gen's place with Ralphie...he is soo cute & fluffy (^_^) we had lasagna & take out chow mien & spare rips for dinner. 

Java Hut Cafe

Yesterday my boss treated us to sandwiches at the Java Hut Cafe for Administration Appreciation Day. I ordered a turkey, bacon sandwich but I didn't eat my sandwich until dinner since I already brought a lunch. The sandwich was good but not worth the price. The service is good, the ladies are friendly. Ambiance was nothing special. They only accept cash here. Overall I don't know if I would ever go back here again since the price doesn't really appeal to me.

       Food: 4/5             Service: 4/5            Ambiance: 3/5             Price: 3/5

Bling & Cupcakes

I got my 720 pink white Rhinestone Crystal Stickers that I ordered from eBay. I was disappointed 720 wasn't enought to cover my mini-mirror. For $5.99 so not worth it.

My Addiction right now is cupcakes. I had a craving for cupcakes after watching the show the ”Cupcake Girls” during my lunch break (TV in lunchroom). It is a reality shows that follows the life of 2 women who own “Cupcakes by Heather & Lori” in BC. Personally I don’t like there cupcakes, I think they are overly priced & nothing really special. I like the cupcakes at the supermarket better. So that is where I got mines, next time I wouldn’t get it at Extra Foods though. I got the Berry Blast mini cupcakes they were very sour. Since I was there I picked up another pumpkin pie (finish the last one I bought over the weekend) it was on sale for $5 & a box of cookies Chip Ahoy! MiddleS which is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with a chocolate middle, it was on sale for $2. I didn’t like it that much there was too much chocolate, I wanted the regular chocolate chip cookies but they were sold out. Next time I have to try the cupcakes at Safeway or Price Smart, I heard they are good. Soo much sugar right now, hopefully I wouldn't break out like crazy because of this (>_<)

Healthy Meals

I have been trying to eat better, in the morning I eat 2 eggs either by themselves or mixed with some vegetable. And also try to eat a lot of fruits & vegetables throughout the day. Many fruits & vegetables are not only good for your health but also for your skin. "20 Good Foods That Are Great For Your Skin" list the foods & how they are beneficial to your skin ^_^

Busy Friday

Friday was a busy day with picking up my brother...the right date this time (^_^) & eating out the whole day. I ate lunch out that day because I didn't want to carry to much stuff with me. I went with one of my co-workers to Cheers Restaurant & Catering which I read some good reviews on for it's cheap good food. I ordered the lamb Slovakia which came with potatoes, rice, bread & a salad for $7.99. The lamb & the bread were good, everything else didn't taste good not Greek at all but for the cheap price you can't really expect that much. My co-worker ordered the cheeseburger which came with fries, onion rings & bottomless coffee or pop for only $6.99. She said the cheeseburger was only OK. The service was only OK, a bit slow but then again that could be because we were in a rush to get back to work and we didn't tell them to put a rush on our food. The interior was nothing special, kind of disorganized & mix-matched. If I ever go back I would like to try there breakfast next time. They have some breakfast deal for $5.

         Food: 3/5           Service: 4/5           Ambiance: 3/5          Price: 5/5

Vancouver International airport or YVR has been ranked best airport in North America for the third time this year (^_^)

For dinner I went with my brother, his GF & our cousins to sushiholic for sushi. My brothers GF wanted sushi, so I tried to find a place close by. We ordered a Rainbow roll $9.95, 12 pcs of assorted tempura $10.95 & sushiholic tray which is 54 pcs of sushi for only $23.95. The food was OK, I thought the batter used on the tempura was really good but the sushi was nothing really special. The price was really good for the tray but the other stuff were just standard price. The service was good but very busy so most of the time you will need to call them over to refill tea. The interior was nice. I would go back to this sushi place if I am in the area.

          Food: 4/5           Service: 4/5          Ambiance: 5/5          Price: 4/5

After sushi we decided to go for dessert downtown to Thierry again. This time the desserts weren't that great. We ordered fruit tart which was OK but nothing really special about it. This time they had the passion fruit mousse that I wanted to try, it was OK but really sour. And the chocolate tart was way too rich in flavor. So Thierry is very hit or miss.

My brother & his GF got me some gifts (^_^) from there trip. Some beautiful scarves, a nice hair brush, bling doggie, hanging sky lantern from Taiwan & dried guava which didn't taste good (>_<)

It was nice seeing my brother & his GF again, there are many times when I do miss having my family around. I hope they can come back to visit longer next time.

Cooking - Rice Noodle Soup 2

So I called my mom & she told me how she makes Rice Noodle with Beef. I tried it, it was ok but it still doesn’t taste the same (>_<) don’t know what I am doing wrong. I think I will have to wait to see my mom make it in front of me to get what I am doing wrong but that wouldn’t be for awhile (>_<) Will have to settle for this for now.

What you will need:

-Rice Noodles

-Beef (thinly sliced works best but I don’t know how to slice Beef thin >_<)

-green onion

-cilantro

-water

-chicken bouillon powder

-white pepper

-sugar

-salt

-light & dark soya sauce

1. Soak the rice noodles over night in cold water.

2. boil water add noodles and cook until tender then drain in strainer and place under cold water and set aside

3. on high heat in a saucepan  bring to a boil water, chicken bouillon powder, white pepper, sugar, salt, light & dark soya sauce to taste.

4. when soup is to your taste add in the beef, cook until done

5. add green onion cook for a bit then turn off stove and add in the cilantro and stir it in

6. place the amount of noodles you want in a bowl then pour soup on top

Recent Purchase & My Addiction

Had a craving for Reeses peanut better cups so I purchased some Reese Mini ‘s. Also think I am getting a little bit sick again so got some NeoCitran just in case.

Thinking about my childhood and one type of food popped into my head Fried Dace with salted black beans. I found it at T&T but expensive now, it cost under $1 before but now it is over $3. I purchased one, still taste the same as before (^_^) good good. It taste good with rice but I ate some of it just as is…was too lazy to make rice.

I purchased NYX NP 32 South Sea nail polish on sale for $1.99 at Price Smart Foods. The color is very opaque so you will need a few coats. I have not used it on its own yet, I have used it on top of another color to add some shine to it and it looks nice.

After going to The Golden Boot the first time I have been wanting to go back, so last Friday I went back with my BFF. My BFF ordered the Pizza Imola - mozzarella, chicken, brie & onion which I had for lunch the next day, it was ok but I prefer the one I ordered last time. I ordered the Lasagna alla Bolognese which was good but I should have just eaten half of it instead of the whole thing because it was way too much eating the whole thing. And we couldn’t leave without having the Tiramisu..yummy. I LOVE this place (^_^)

Mama Gen Cooking

A few Sundays ago mama Gen’s made us dinner after watching the Hunger Games...it was an OK movie but not something I want to watch again or interested in following since I believe there will be more parts to it. Mama Gen made use 2 different types of pasta one with bacon & another with sausages tomato sauce both soo good. My Mama Gen knows how to cook (^_^)

some random stuff at mama Gen's place, some fishies, lucky 3 legged piggies. I got to see the best Slurpee machine & more of mama Gen's cooking (^_^)

Baking: Cookies

Purchased baking set for around $23 on sale at Extra Foods. Baked a few batch's of cookie with the sheets and loving it, non-stick and cleans easily. My 2nd attempt at making cookies I used the Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies II recipe. The cookies turned out really bad, this batch ended up in the garbage (>_<)

My 3rd attempt I used the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe. This one was a lot better but still not there yet.

My last attempt for now (all baked out for now) I used the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe again but this time instead of just adding chocolate chips I also added the baker's chocolate squares, did taste a bit better. Thanks to my BFF for the suggestion. But still haven't found a recipe that I love just yet but wouldn't be baking any more cookies for awhile.