bubbleness

why hello, long time no see

2011-12-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Almost a year has gone by since I last blogged; I had toyed with the idea of writing a post during the summer, but then I realized that what I wanted to write about did not fit with the original premise of this blog, "Food, Beauty and Everything In Between." And so I had to decide what direction I wanted this blog to go in - focusing on food and testing out products or something else. I know out in the blogosphere, there are many very well written and comprehensive blogs pertaining to the food scene in Vancouver, recipes and make-up and skincare reviews. I realized that although I love to eat, play with make-up and skincare; I don't have the most sensitive palette to discover minute flavourings, I'm not particularly skilled at blending make-up nor can I boost that my skin is at it's best right now. Rather, I want to shift away from focusing solely on the above things and just blog about everything and anything that strikes my fancy, hence the new premise, "a glimpse here, a glimpse there".

So I would like to welcome you to my "new" blog, I hope you enjoy your stay.

happy birthday, ur old

2010-12-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

A belated birthday post -- my birthday is in the beginning of November, but in the spirit of procrastination, I'm writing the post in December.

I'm generally too lazy to plan anything for my birthday, so I had nothing planned, but several of my friends did surprise me with gelato and crossisants. And keeping with tradition, I got a handmade card from B.

Choji also recieved some gifts, some ginormous gifts.

The Toy Story box set! Who else cried during the ending of Toy Story 3? I know I did.

Finally, B recenlty came back from a trip to Taiwan -- retrieving some shaved ice machines! I asked for a pair of shoes for my birthday and he came back with 9.

I can't wait to wear them out. I think I might do some outfit posts ;)

Miss Queenie's 1/2 K Giveaway

2010-12-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Miss Queenie is doing a lovely giveaway for reaching 500 followers on blogger and twitter! So I've decided to participate, albeit a bit late as her giveaway ends on December 24th and it's the 23rd already (eep!)!

Click on the picture below for more details of her giveaway on her blog!

And my fansign for her giveaway:

Congrats on your milestone hun!

chef hung

2010-11-20T02:13:00.000-08:00

So, I need to be a better blogger since I've had these photos for months, that's right, months. Terrible indeed.

So over the summer I went to Chef Hung's in Aberdeen Mall with B. Chef Hung is a Taiwanese Beef Noodle House, touted, by the restaurant, as award winning and we decided that would be fools if we didn't try it.

You can tell that they spent money into the decor. The wooden accents are quite nice.

The display was directly to the left of entrance -- on display are their recommended dishes. And Hai's to my reflection and LOL to B's crossed arms.

A close up of their Champion beef shank with noodle in spicy sauce. I didn't chose this dish for my meal...I don't know what my reasoning was, but in hindsight, I should have chosen their award winning dish.

So B and I first started off with the Marinated Beef in Crispy Pancake. Many Taiwanese places offer this dish on their menu -- marinated beef in a crispy pancake with green onions, possibly cucumber and oyster sauce. Some places do it sub-par others are good but Chef Hung's was different and good. The pancake was crispy and it was not too oily at all! and there just the perfect amount of green onions for the pancake to have a kick. An interesting thing with the beef was that I tasted alcohol and according to B (who is Taiwanese), that is the correct method of marinating it.

Onto our mains; B ordered a rice dish, I believe it was the chicken nuggets on rice and he gave me a bit to try. The dish was good but I went to Chef Hung's to try their noodles, not rice!

Now we go to the pictures that we have all been waiting for, the beef brisket with noodle in tomato soup. It is odd that when I look at their menu online I do not see this dish, but it is what I ordered -- see the tomatoes in the soup?!

The noodles were perfect -- not too soggy or undercooked.

And then the meal was concluded with a series of very unflattering photos of me that I will not post.

Overall, Chef Hung serves as place that serves good Taiwanese noodle house that does not feel like a hang out for the younger crowed (ie. the late night bbt crowd, you know who I'm talking about). The place is clean and there is tons of free parking in the mall. Although one drawback is that their prices are more expensive compared to other Taiwanese noodle houses, around $10 CAD per bowl, but in my opinion, it is worth it.

how ya' doin'?

2010-10-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

Oh Joey, you somehow had the ladies swooning with that phrase -- which to this day I do not understand; just like how I do not understand how Charlie Sheen's character in Two and Half Men is able to be such a womanizer with the outfits that he wears. Ill-fitting bowling shirts, cargo shorts, high white socks and loafers? Really? Anyways, so the title refers to the one of popular chain restaurants that we have in Vancouver, Joey's.

I've been to their Burrard, Lougheed and Coquitlam location and the pictures that I will posting are from when I ate at their Coquitlam location.


Earth & Surf Calamari

The bf and I started off with their Earth & Surf Calamari, which is tempura veggies in addition to calamari and with red pepper aioli as the dipping sauce. The calamari was decent, freshly made, not too greasy, but, the veggies were just okay. I believe asparagus and red pepper were some of the veggies that were fried, but I think the problem with using those ingredients is that there is too much moisture in them to be good when fried.


Lobster Grilled Cheese

The main I ordered was their Lobster Grilled Cheese -- atlantic lobster, brie and cheddar, with fries and cocktail sauce on the side. This is the more dressed up cousin of the grilled cheese sandwich. With the addition of brie, it is more creamy in texture, and the lobster chunks helps make the sandwich much more substantial. But I think with fries, there would be too much grease so instead of fries, I substitued it for their house salad with the dressing on the side. Of course I had to pay extra, but veggies is important in the diet, so it was worth it.


House Salad

Joey's house salad consist of greens, candied pecan and a poppy seed dressing. I have no complaints about the salad, actually, I really liked it because of the candied pecans, and it tasted even better thanks to the ribs from the bf's dish that I stole :) Speaking of the bf's dish, I was such a vain little girl that I completely forgot to take pictures of his meal.

Because I always have to have dessert and I can never say no to chocolate cake, I ordered their Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle (my mouth is watering as I think about that cake).


Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle

This was soooooooooo good! The chocolate spilled out when I poked the spoon in and was it ever rich and warm! A spoonful of the souffle with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream -- I really want some now. And to top if all off, since the bf does not really like chocolate, I had the whole whole souffle to myself! I was a happy girl.

All in all, I enjoyed the food at Joey's, the ambiance is one of a more dark and intimate setting, well for you and whomever you are sitting with. The prices are comparable to other chains like Moxie's, Cactus and Earls. I would most definitely go back, actually I have already been back.

deep fried butter

2010-09-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Another summer gone again and only now am I posting about PNE, why? Because I'm a terrible blogger and as of late, I'm trying to figure what I want my blogging style -- something that has a hint of me. And I'm also trying to revamp the layout too, not to impressed by the templates. I'm trying to figure my place in this world while worrying how I'm suppose to ever afford buying a place in the most expensive real estate based city in Canada. That's partially a reason why I'm dabbling in starting my own business, another is that I miss being creative and who doesn't want to make money from doing something that they enjoy? Might as well right?

Anyways onto the reason for this post, deep fried butter at the PNE. Well that wasn't the reason why I went to the PNE, I had free tickets (I live in the area).


Fischer scones -- not hot, so it wasn't a good as I thought it would be :(

FOOOOOOOD

Trying to win a giant Domokum -- it was ginormous!

It is Lemon Heaven


Attractive, very much so.

And for the grand finale of the night.....

Deep Fried BUTTER


C & B: apprehensive, yet very intrigued

It was deep fried dough on the outside and liquid butter on the inside. A waterfall of liquid butter streamed out of those things when they bit into it -- it was disgusting. I didn't partake in that adventure and my heart thanked me for it. To top things off, we doing this right beside the people that were lining up for the deep fried mars bars, and they were giving us disgusted looks. Really? It's not like your deep friend mars bar is that much better.

I believe B decided to fast for the remainder of the week after the butter -- but then again, the decided this mid-week so I think he only "fasted" for 1 day.

Well, until next year's PNE, where I'm sure something even more disgusting will be deep fried.

- love ya

Puppy Acting Cute

2010-09-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

"Choji Choji Choji!" -- what my neighbour's daughter calls Choji whenever she sees Choji - she's so cute too! Imagining my neighbour's daughter playing with Choji is cuteness overload.

Choji's 3 months now -- she got so much bigger! She's 3 pounds now!

-love ya

bubbleness hearts anime

2010-08-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Self proclaimed anime lover here. If I find an anime that I love, I will watch all of the episodes at once...don't believe me? Shortly after Naruto was released as an anime I was given a dvd of 75 episodes by B, I powered through it in about 3 days. Then I became someone going through withdrawl, I was about to throw a temper tantrum when he was thinking about withholding the remaining episodes that were released. But then he relented, I have powers like that :)

Why tell the world that I'm a total geek? Because I went to an anime convention a couple of weekends ago! Anime Evolution. Nothing big and schmancy like the ones the in states and of course Japan but my first anime convention! And cosplayers!


Domo! I found you!

Grimmjow & Orihime. Best cosplayers that I saw there. Grimmjow <3.


Na Na Na Batman's Arch Nemesis'

Those were the best cosplayers that I saw -- most of them were so disappointing...especially the girls that did not have the body type to wear certain cosplay outfits...so I decided that I will trump them all and cosplay next year. I'm going to have pink hair :)

-love ya

powell street festival

2010-08-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was the Powell Street Festival, aka. the Japanese Festival a couple of weekends ago. The festival is held in Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver -- the area is of a lower socio-economic bracket and only a few blocks from our infamous Downtown Eastside. I believe that they hold the festival there because historically, the Japanese lived there, just like how the Chinese settled in the area we know as Chinatown.

There were demonstrations, food stalls and independent designers selling merchandise -- and my faveourite, was seeing all the people, males and females, dressed up in yukatas.

Wood grilled salmon -- too bad I was too full to enjoy this, but can't you just taste the smokey flavour? Oh yes.

Was too full for the salmon, but not for everything else! Tried the rice cakes -- this one is the one wrapped in seawood with a sweet sauce.

Another serving of rice cakes, except this one is in soup with udon noodles and deep fried things. Despite it being such a hot day, this was delicious -- like "it's disgustingly hot, but I can't stop drinking this hot soup".

What the rice cake looked like from the inside -- chewy, gooeyness -- I'm drooling!

Next was the takoyaki -- OH MY GOODNESS, these were awesome; forget the ones that you eat at the Richmond Night Market, these ones are the bomb! Perfect amount of chewiness, a bit crispy on the outside, but just the perfect softness in the inside. And the octopus and squid fillings were sooo good. Now I have wait another year to have these again :(

After piggy out like I always do, I went for some Japanese shaved ice. I first had Japanese shaved ice when I went to Hawaii last year (how I miss Hawaii) at this famous shaved ice place on the North Shore of Honolulu. I found it disappointing, especially when I compared it to Taiwanese shaved ice. But since it was so hot that day, I decided to try it, especially when I saw their special! The name eludes me, but the toppings were matcha syrup, red bean, mochi and ice cream. And I must admit, it was pretty good, too bad the ice was Taiwanese shaved ice style, or else, it would have eaten 3.

Look at his pink fan!!!!

She was so cute!

I was being such a paparazzo that day.

I spot Super Saiyan Goku!

All handmade and incredibly cute.

A portion of some sort of ceremony...why don't I have the program with me so I can name this properly?!

They went through the park yelling and people were throwing water onto them (I assume to keep them cool); I think the louder the yelling, the more luck that is brought to everyone. And yes, a particular gentleman in this photo is wearing what a sumo wrestler will wear.

And I bought myself a hand-made glass birdie! The person that made this is Minori Takagi and her website is www.mylampwork.com.

That's it for my picture spam! I quite enjoy posting more pictures than actual words, so you might be seeing more of that. Also, I realize that blogger added a caption function when I was done writing this post...why didn't I see it earlier?

ice ice baby

2010-07-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

So I believe it's been the 3rd consecutive week where we've had nothing but sunshine in Vancouver! (I may be exaggerating, but what can I say? When there is sunshine, I forget that I live in a notioursly rainy city.). And what other way is there to enjoy the fantastic weather than by going for some Taiwanese shaved ice/milk ice?

Remember how B and I have been looking for Taiwanese shaved/milk ice since we came back from Taiwan? Well we finally found it! (Actually, we found it last summer...but I didn't get around to blogging about it until now *ahem*). The place that we found it is called Frappe Bliss in the Aberdeen Food Court.

Hopefully the food this time appeals to Kev (haha)!

So this was my order: Lychee flavoured ice, red bean, fresh mango, grass jelly all topped with condensed milk! Seriously, you cannot have shaved ice without ample amounts of condensed milk, the condensed milk makes the shaved ice.

A close-up of the deliciousness. I'm drooling now. Just great. Must go to Richmond and get some, or better yet, import a machine?! O.o.

On a side note, I'm taking floral arrangement classes because I want to open a floral business with a friend (B). Yes, I'm attempting to be all business savvy -- we even printed out business cards!

And my pinky is crooked :(

puppy!

2010-07-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Things have been hectic because I just got a puppy!

Her name is Choji (an Anime reference, can you guess) and she's a pomchi -- 75% pom and 25% chi. I had always thought that I would be getting a medium size dog, but with the way my house is designed, I don't have a room to house a bigger dog properly when they are in their puppy stage. Also, I think my mom would be more receptive of a small dog, so I ended up getting a pomchi.

Here is Choji and Gucci meeting for the first time -- Gucci was such a wimp, she got scared of Choji.

So if I don't post in a while, you'll know why! I'm trying to housebreak a puppy!

kites, grind & sleepless nights

2010-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Being from Vancouver, we Vancouverites complain when about the weather A LOT. For example, June wasn't too warm and all of Vancouver was complaining about the lack of sun -- but, as it turns out, the rainfall levels for June was actually a lot lower than previous years. We Vancouverites complain about all the rain, but we live in Vancouver, of course it rains! Hahaha.

Oh yes, trying something new, that is having XL pictures, tell me, do you like the XL pictures more or the L pictures?

So on a sunny and hot day somewhere in June, I went kite flying with the bf in Richmond.

Random field in the park, filled with purple flowers -- made me feel like I was in the countryside.

That was our $8.00 kite from Zellers...he looked cute and all, but made a terrible kite. The wings were too small and didn't have enough support, so he kept on kamikaze nosediving into the ground. No unsuspecting bystanders were injured though.

Well the bf was successful in getting the kite in the air...only to have it come crashing down moments later. As you can see, a bunch of other people were also flying their kites, we felt so noob with our sucky kite.

We eventually got bored of being silently laughed at by the other kites and went I went cam-whoring instead. This is an "artisy" shot.

Well then we got hungry, well actually, I got hungry and we went to get some fish and chips! Actually, that was my plan all along. I picked that park to go because I wanted fish and chips from Pajo's. I know, I'm sneaky. The location that I went to is not at Steveson, but it's actually the one in the park beside the docks. Not as quaint as the one on the docks as it's actually a floating building, but the food between the two is no different.

Mmm...paradise (that's what my friend and I called our gr.8 business project!). Halibut fish and chips. Look at that grease...deliciousness. I'm a big fan of deep fried anything, so I was in love with already. And they used fresh oil to deep fry these babies! And in my opinion, compared to salmon and cod, halibut makes the best fish and chips! Great, I'm craving some the fish and chips now. Just great.

Fast forward another weekend in June, a not so sunny one, but perfect for hiking! Got some friends together and went to do the Grouse Grind, a popular hiking spot.

Here's 3 out of the 6 (I'm in the teal). C and B2 were already far off ahead and B was taking pictures -- just realized that I have two friends with names starting with "b"s! So B shall be the friend from Taiwan while B2 shall be one of my token white friends. Note to self, don't wait until 11 am to do the grind, there are way too many people! Must go earlier next time!

After 1.5 hours (I know, I should have done better!), we were hungry and what better thing to do after doing something healthy? Eat some fish and chips of course! That's right, we went for fish and chips after our hike.

Way to negate everything that the hike did eh? (O look! Canadiana!). This time, we drove out to Horseshoe Bay as we were already half way there. We went to Troll's for their fish and chips. Is it just me, or does it seem like every fish and chips place claim that they have the best fish and chips? But I must say, these were pretty good. The batter isn't as greasy as Pajo's.

Afterward, we spotted a playground and we did what any twenty-four year old would do, we ran and started terrorizing! Haha, no, we waited for the kids to be done with the swings then we laid claim to them.

P and I getting ready to swing. I believe we and B2 were going to have a swinging competition. B2 won since hes taller and stronger.

We got tired and sat around on a whale, I think it's supposed to spray water.

With two of my closet friends.

Then on Canada Day (July 1st) we headed down the states to do some shopping and eat at Crab Pot! I know, how patriotic right? But the HST set in and I wanted some tax exempt shopping! (But as it turns out, a county court in the Washington put a temporary halt to the tax exemption for BC residents, but many retailers were giving us sales tax exemption anyways). I dislike the new tax (HST) for BC, in the long run, it will probably be good for us, but not right now -- things are more expensive now!

After a 3 hour line at the border, that's right, 3 hours at the border, we headed over the premium outlet to do a bit of shopping, I didn't really buy much, only a pair of wedges from Nine West and some workout clothes. Then we headed over to Alderwood because B2 needed jeans and then finally to Seattle for some Crab Pot!

We first saw Crab Pot on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives about a seafood place that dumps the seafood on your table and you are given wooden mallets to go at your seafood! Besides the amusement of being to hammer our own food, the seafood looked like it was cooked deliciously, so we decided that we will head for some seafood. Although Vancouver does have tons of seafood, actually, the same type as Seattle, we don't have restaurants like that here.

I love neon signs.

We ordered two Pacific Clambakes and two Alasakans.

Our foooood. King, snow and dungness crab; mussels, oysters, clams, shrimp, potatoes, sasuages and corn. Before I dove into this pile, I briefly wondered if any of the crab on the table was caught by the people from the Deadliest Catch. Everything was seasoned, some was more heavily seasoned than others. Maybe it's because I'm used to seafood prepared the Chinese way, but after eating this massive amount of seafood, I found that I prefer my seafood prepared steamed with garlic, the garlic seems to make the crab meat a lot sweeter. I also had the same with the clams.

One out of the two pots that held our garbage, with a mallet placed on top for good measure. We got mallet happy and projectiles were flying everywhere. They also give everyone bibs, how awesome is that?

I would post actual pictures (like ones where you can see their faces) but I'm not too sure whether or not they want the pictures to be posted on the interweb, so until I find out, no picture of me wearing a bib (since my friends are the picture too).

Until next time, <3 ya!

what's with the cattitude?

2010-06-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, I was at Aberdeen Mall (quite a big and new Asian mall in Richmond) with few friends and after eating (the food court there is amazing!), we shopped around the mall a bit. Although there aren't a lot of shops (I should take pictures of the mall the next time I go), we stopped by Beauty Court, an Asian beauty store and looked at some O.P.I polishes that they had. They sell their polishes for $8.88 (how Asian!)! So I ended up buying a polish from O.P.I's Shrek Forever After Collection -- What's with the Cattitude?

This colour is basically a sky blue -- but the name really amuses me, just like all of the other O.P.I polishes. I'm a sucker for marketing!

Eeep! I just noticed the terrible painting job I did! Please ignore and just look at how the colour is on the nails and in sunlight! So like I said earlier, on the nails, the shade is like a sky blue -- it took about two coats for the colour to be like this (one coat was too sheer). I must say, as my first O.P.I purchase, I'm only starting to paint my nails more, so I've been investing in the polishes that I buy, I love the application. Compared to my more inexpensive polishes, this one has a smoother application and in my opinion, easier to apply. I will most definitely be buying more O.P.I polishes, but probably only in colours that I really love.

Well short post again today, and I just realized that I went a bit parentheses happy in the post! (hahaha).

And to end today's post, a picture of Gucci sleeping.

Yup, she drooled on her pillow.

i sparkle in the sun

2010-06-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

I know, I haven't been a good blogger. But sometimes, I just get too lazy to upload my pictures from my camera onto my computer. I think companies should install bluetooth onto cameras, that way, there will be wireless upload! Shall I TM this idea and shop it around??

Anyways, today will be a short post, but have no fear! I plan to blog again this week! So a couple of weeks ago, I was in this lipstick craze. I love lippies, but generally don't buy them because I hate having lipstick marks on my mug. And I don't particularly enjoy the thought of eating lipstick; not straight from the tube! (I know what some of you are thinking!) But when it's on my lips, some of the product will get eaten. But since I was on a lippie craze, I went to Sephora to feed the hunger.

Had a SA help me, and lo and behold, she told me, "Oh this color is really nice.....etc etc" So I tried some on my hand, and yea the color was soft and pink with a hint of shine, just how I like my lippies.

So I ended up buying Dior Addict Lipcolor 359, Pink Empress. I was so happy since I satisfied my lippy craving. The next day, I coloured my lips and went upstairs -- the sun was shining and I looked at the closet mirror and it hit me. My first thought was, my lips were sparkling in the sun -- they looked like Edward Cullen's skin when exposed to sunlight. Second thought was, holy shit, must wipe off the sparkle mania happening on my lips! That poor piece of tissue was so saturated with sparkles, it might have choked to death. And so I returned it while silently cursing the poor lighting at Sephora. [Yea, you can see all the sparkles in the picture, but in my defense I took the picture after I sparkled]. Too bad, I really liked the color, not so much the sparkles.

Until next time! Love ya <3!

birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

2010-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of people have their birthdays in May? In May, I've celebrated the birthdays of four people already (just as I typed "four" I realized that it may not be a lot compared to others, and then I just felt like one of those people that say something ridiculous and everyone around goes "okay there, *rolls eyes*"). Anyways, birthdays. Happy occasions. And happy indeed. Had to trick B into thinking that we were getting together for another friend's birthday before he agreed to make an appearance. Haha. But sadly, don't have pictures, only pictures for the bf's birthday which was at the beginning of this month. So random post again today!

Since the bf's birthday fell on mother's day, we celebrated the weekend after. I made reservations at a restaurant called Bridges on Granville Island, and we were so lucky to have such a beautiful weekend because it's all about the view!

This was the view that I had from where I was sitting. The top picture was the view from the windows that I had on my right (multi-millionaire condos that I can't afford!), which is False Creek and to bottom picture is the view I had in front of me, which is the Burrard Street Bridge. And yes, that's the bf in the photo.

After we placed our order, out came the bread. Now, I love my bread and I can get very critical regarding the bread that restaurants give you (my all-time favourite is from Morton's, but they closed down and now I can never eat their bread again!). All I have to say about this bread is that it's better than the bread that I've tried, the crust wasn't too tough and the rest of it was so nice and soft. And it helped that they warmed it up and served it with whipped butter.

I know, "WTF, why is there only a picture of sauce?! Where is the food???" Well, long story short, I got hungry and ate it before I remembered to take a picture. But don't worry, it was disappointing anyways. It was their crab cakes, I forgot what was the sauce (and I can't seem to find the menu that we ordered off from online), but the sauce was so overwhelming that I didn't taste the crab at all.

And this is my half-eaten entree, the sablefish. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit, the sauce was so yummy and the fish was nice and tender. But one thing, it was quite small so it didn't fill my tummy completely :(

And this is the bf's half-eaten entree too. Told you we were hungry. So he had a rack of lamb, done medium rare, with mashed potatoes and Chinese veggies. I always regret what I order when I try my bf's dish because somehow, he always manages to choose to yummier dish, life just isn't fair (drama queen alert!). The lamb just fell off the bone, and the potatoes were delicious (potato lover here!). But the vegetable was so disappointing. Now if you are Chinese, or Asian, you probably will know what I'm talking about -- the dried vegetable that your mom will use in soups? Yea, they used that as their vegetable accompaniment! I tried it, and no matter what sauce was on it, all I could think of was, "soup making vegetable". Bleh.

Didn't have dessert there because it dessert menu wasn't appealing to me. Now that I look at their bistro and bar menu online, I think I would have been much happier ordering from that menu than the one that I ordered from.

Afterward, went walking around Granville Island since it was still so nice out and took some pictures.

Woot woot for the bf indulging in my camwhore tendencies! There's a lot of pictures, but I'm not going to bore you with them, haha. I'm not that vain yet.

Annnnd outfit of the day! Decided that maybe I will jump on the bandwagon too. So I realize that you don't see my face, but it's all about the outfit right? So the face shouldn't matter! Anyways, cardigan from H&M; grey tank from F21; skirt from F21; shoes from Joneve and bag is from Coach.

Also posting a picture with the bf since I guess it's only fair that he gets his face somewhere in this post since it is about his birthday and whatnot.

Ahh yes, the bday gift that I got him. Finally, before I end this post, I will post a completely non-related and random picture.*warning, picture may gross some out*

Yup, that's what my pinky looked like two weeks ago after I sprained it while playing dodgeball (I play on a dodgeball league, its hardcore, lol). Actually, I don't know if it's sprained or I might have a fracture since the bruising has disappeared but the middle joint in the finger is still pretty swollen. So going to have to take some x-rays to see if its badly swollen or there's a fracture. Haha, even I'm a bit grossed out looking at that purple finger.

gorgeous weather

2010-05-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a boring title eh? But it's the truth! Vancouver's finally gotten it's late spring/early summer temperature mojo back! After weeks of cold and rainy weather, it's finally sunny and warm; warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts combo! And I rejoiced, because frankly as much as I enjoy layering and wearing big sweaters, I was missing the sun.

To celebrate the awesome weather, I went to walk my bf's dog, well I walk her regardless, but I took pictures this time.

obligatory cam-whore picture of myself wearing my sunglasses that makes me look like bug.

the bf's doggy!

My bf's dog is named Gucci and she is the sweetest dog ever, despite the fact that many people thinks shes scary (me included when I first met her). If you see her in person, she acts like is a puppy, but in reality she actually almost 4! And by acting like a puppy, I mean that she has endless energy and is still curious about everything. Too bad I missed her actual puppy stage -- I heard that she resembled a white furball when she was baby. She also does the best puppy dog/pathetic look, so it's impossible for me to say no to her, I need to learn how to harness that power and use it for my own diabolical means, ie. taking over the world!

Well short and random post today, maybe the next one will be about food!

Thanks for reading! <3 ya!

Too Faced Glamour To Go

2010-05-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Mother's Day and Belated Birthday to the BF!

So I finally decided to swatch my Too Faced Glamour To Go Palette after getting it months ago, I know, I know, procrastination! But better late than never right? Hahaha.

This palette combines 8 eye shadows, 4 lip glosses and 1 blush into one adorable and tres chic looking package.

i love the design, it's so girly

eyeshadows

lip glosses and blush

Now onwards towards the swatches!

Lip glosses!

Likes:

Oh so convenient -- eyeshadows, lip glosses and a blush; a face in such a tiny package!
Glosses are not sticky glue sticky
A mirror is included in the package -- really being glamour on the go!
The packaging -- I'm attracted to shiny/pretty packaging, of course the packaging is a like!

Dislikes:

Shadows not as pigmented as I expected them to be (less pigmented that Urban Decay shadows)
The light colours (yellow, pink and peach) look similar once applied
The too sweet smell of the lip glosses (I don't like lip glosses with a strong scent, it makes me nauseous)

Thanks for reading! <3 ya.

random parking lot + 3 food carts = eating like fat kids

2010-05-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about tenku bakudanyaki? Well this one is an expansion on that because they have added two new carts! I have visited these carts a couple of a times already, so this post is really a summary of all the times I've been there thus far. But I did hit up all three places in one day two weeks ago, lol.

Tenku is on the far left and the two new ones are in middle and far right. The middle cart (is it called a cart? Because it is the back of a ice cream truck...) makes creative sushi and is called Fumisen Creative Sushi and the cart at the far right is a noodlehouse called Shoryumen Noodlehouse.

The very first time, I went with my bf and we hit up the Noodlehouse first. It's a small, but cozy cart where you stand to eat. Adds to the awesomeness in my opinion, lol. The menu works as follows, you select a soup base followed by any additional toppings (by default, toppings include seaweed and veggies). I decided to order a miso soup base with three toppings and the bf ordered the ton soup base, it's limited to only 30 each day with pork, egg and fish cake.

miso ramen with toppings

]

ton ramen with toppings

I regretted choosing the miso, not that it wasn't good, but the ton was pure deliciousness. I couldn't stop sticking my soup spoon into my bf's bowl! (The last couple of times that I've been there, I get the ton). Afterwards, I was too full (I blame it on the extra toppings), but I really wanted to try the rice wrap place, so I tried their fruit crepe instead.

What's inside? Well, from what I remember, it was a soy crepe with grapes, whipping cream, mango, apple and chocolate syrup. This yummy thing went into my dessert stomach :)

I went back about two weeks ago and after eating a ton ramen (with no additional toppings!), I got a rice wrap. I didn't select a chef's selection, rather I made my own, and I must say, it was quite delicious (even the chef nodded his head in approval!). It's completely different than cone sushi because the chef doesn't scrimp on toppings and sauce, so you still have toppings by the time you reach the middle of the cone.

Salmon rice, bbq unagi, sweet egg, avocado, chili mayo all wrapped in nori.

They also have jumbo cones where you can get additional toppings and my friend, B, got one. The jumbo cones are huge! Triple the size of the normal ones.

Finally, ended my most recent trip with some more tenku bakudanyaki!

From left to right: Curry, Mustard Mayo and Chili Mayo

Last but not least, a giant inukshuk! It's gone now, but as an art installation in the same parking lot, a giant inukshuk built from shipping crates was there (yup, that tiny person standing under there is me).

stamps on nails? what is this sorcery?!

2010-04-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's April in Vancouver, but the temperatures are lower than what we had in February! Shall I be blaming this on Global Warming?! In addition to the colder temperatures, it has been raining day in and day out! (Well I guess we need the rain since there wasn't much snow over the winter, so don't want to be risking a drought). But on the bright side, I've been making use of the light & dark green polka dot rainboots. I know I probably look semi ridiculous in them, but I stick my tongue out to all the haters when I get to stomp through a puddle and you have to walk around it! Muhahaha.

Oh yea, I bought stocks recently, it's my first time buying stocks and I'm so freaked out, yet so excited at the same time! I hope my stocks continue to rise!!!

Anyways, I was planning to blog about the Konad nail stamping plates that I got last year, but my procrastination has not left since I graduated (and I think it never will, lol).

So, nail stamping is where metal plates have inscribed designs and you paint the design with the nail polish colour of choice, transfer the design onto a rubber stamp and then proceed to stamp it onto your nails.

The two pictures are of two different stamps that I have used.

And the "tools" (besides nail polish) that I have used to achieve this?

Clockwise from left: scraper, stamper, Konad design m32, Konad design m60

I love nail stamping because it allows me to have so many different looks on my nails with only a small number of polishes in my collection. But it did take me a couple of tries to get the hang of using the stamps, and which I'm sure others have had/will have the same experience as me. There are several reasons I say this, first of all it's because once you transfer the design from the plate to the stamper, you only have about 5 seconds to stamp it on your nail before it dries. Secondly, you need to roll the stamp. Since your nails have a slight curvature to them, you can't just press the stamper down head on, you need to roooolllll, and that is quite hard when you are using your non-dominant hand to stamp onto your dominant hand. I had so much trouble my first couple of times until I adapted by coming up with a way that worked for me; keeping the stamper stationary and rolling my finger. Finally, it can become quite messy because the instructions do say to clean the plate after every application, so you need to constantly wipe the plate with nail polish remover after stamping each finger, and then that risks removing the polish from your nails! But after a couple of times, I have figured that you do not need to clean it after every application; I have managed to stretch it to after each hand. So that's why I say that you need to a couple of tries before you can become fast and efficient at using the plates, and trust me I'm not there yet :p (it's because I don't have too much patience for waiting polish to dry, so I haven't been able to practice much yet).

I will end this post with a new polish colour that I feel in love with recently.

Rimmel in Camouflage

Actually, I think I will end posts with a random unrelated picture from now on.

So pretty.

<3 ya!

Moar Olympics!

2010-03-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patricks Day! (I'm wearing green today!)

I know it's March 17th, and it's been two weeks since the Olympics ended (and Canada's Mens Hockey Team won GOLD!) but tomorrow is the opening ceremonies of the Para-Olympics and so posting another Olympic related post is not too late :)

I can't believe how fast and popular the Olympic gear was! After thinking about, I decided I also wanted the t-shirt "True North Strong and Free" (it's a line from the National Anthem!) so off I went with a co-worker after work to downtown and the line up to get into The Bay was 45 mins long! 45 mins! (This was during when the Olympics were still going on). When we got in, it was packed! And most of the stuff was gone! (Of course those red mittens were sold out). So I searched for the shirt and I couldn't find one in womens! But then I found a boys 14/16 so of course I snatched it up!

I'm so patriotic!

And of course onto the picture spam!

Torch run through my neighbourhood on the day of the opening ceremonies!

Downtown Vancouver -- The Bay flagship store. And of course in typical Vancouver fashion, it rains on the first weekend.

Granville street all pretty with lanterns made by kids; and if you look really closely, you can see ones form Acer too. Product placement much?

Thankfully, the next weekend was gorgeous. Outside Sochi house or Science World!

Pavel "Russian Rocket" Bure's Russian jersey!

Quebec House and Saskatchewan House behind it.

GM Place, or Canada Hockey Place, where the Canucks play! :)

Athletes Village

I found many Inukshuks! (Yes that is me in the white hoody). This was a rocky beach where people have built/building Inukshuks of varying sizes.

That's all for today! I have tons of pictures I need to upload, and hopefully, I'll blog again before this week ends! :)

2010 winter olympics!

2010-02-14T22:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day and Lunar New Year!

T'was the third day of the Olympics and Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada's first gold medal on home soil!!!!! I'm so happy for him and Canada, even more so because he won it in VANCOUVER, which is where I'm from!!! (Well, technically, he won it in Cypress, but it is called the Vancouver 2010 games...).

So of course Olympics means Olympic gear! And because this year's Olympics are being held in Vancouver, I had to get some stuff to support the athletes (buying Olympic gear helps support athletes through the Own the Podium Program). Besides, the designs this year were actually quite nice and patriotic :) I initially had some reservations when I found out that they The Bay rather than Roots was awarded the rights to design the gear, and it makes me sad that the oldest and most historically significant Canadian company is now owned by Americans :( . So on with my patriotic Olympic gear!

checkered beanie with olympic symbol in the front and the bay symbol in the back

i am a canuck! canadian and for the vancouver canucks hockey team :)

incredibly soft

So the above zip-up deserves its own little explanation of how I managed to get my grubby hands on it. Lets start with one Saturday afternoon I was in downtown Vancouver after a free swordfighting lesson with a few of my friends. P wanted to look at The Bay to see if they have the grey Canada zip-up, so off we went, and she found one and tries it on, and I'm like "wow, that looks cute I wanna try one too now, but I like the white one better" so off I pitter pattered around looking for a small or extra-small in the white, but they only had large or extra-large! So I tried a green one on for fit and it was soooo soft that right then and there I decided I needed the white one. I found a SA and asked, he told me that they might get a new shipment the following week. So on Monday after work, I decided to try The Bay at Metrotown instead because I'm thinking, less tourists in Burnaby so I may have more luck. SkyTrain to Metro, looked at The Bay and Zellers and NOTHING! I was so heartbroken. Called my boyfriend to see what time Pacific Centre closes (because that is where the downtown Bay is located) and he tells me 7:00 pm. I check my phone and its 6:00 pm, so I powerwalk to the Metro station, get to downtown in 20 mins, and make a beeline to the Bay and there it was. NEW STOCK. I grabbed an extra-small and paid and went home. I also did a happy dance in my head and promptly texted my boyfriend. To put things into perspective, I work adjacent to downtown, so getting to The Bay in downtown from my work takes only around 10 mins by transit, but instead I go to the suburbs first.

And of course, I got the mittens!

It's so cute when someone is wearing them and waving at you because the maple leaf is so eye-catching!

Probably another Olympic post soon, because I'm having Olympic fever! (So cheesy)

shopping!

2010-02-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Originally posted on October, 7, 2009

Woot! The first fashion/beauty post! So it took a while to get to this post and I’ve been hoarding all of these pictures like the pack rat that I am. LOL. First of all, I guess I should give a bit of an intro about my shopping habits/what I like to buy. First of all, I’m a lazy shopper, especially when it is winter. Now don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean I don’t like going shopping, on the contrary, I LOVE to shop (my mom is like this too) but I get lazy to try on clothes because I’m too lazy to always take on and off my clothes. Hence, if I know I’m going to be trying on clothes, I tend to dress in clothing that is easy to take on/off and always wear a cami. I tend to be more of a casual clothing shopper but will go through phases of going for very girly clothes. Since I’ve started working full time, I’ve been trying to buy more office appropriate attire, right now loving Club Monaco, but I don’t make enough to spend to my heart’s content there =(. I also love F21 because of their cheap but at times decent quality clothing, something I can wear for a season or two and not be heartbroken when it breaks down on me. I realize that I can’t but all of my shopping habits into one paragraph, or else it might become a 5 page essay, but I also heart shoes greatly. I used to work for Champs Sports, and I’ve amassed about 14 pairs of sneakers. But nowadays, I’m all about the heels and flats! Anyways, I think I should just start posting pictures instead of boring you to death with a hugeass paragraph!

My lovely heels

These heels are from Aldo, they have criss-crossing leather straps with a white snake skin pattern on the heel. They are 4 inches high (yikes!), but despite their sky-highness, they are quite comfortable. All in all, I love these heels.

Booooooots

Pair of brown boots from Joneve Shoes, their brand is Roberto Vianni. There is a 1 inch wedge and they aren’t fitted around the calf, thus, perfect for Fall!

These are Emus and not Uggs, but they share the same ugliness, I agree. BUT, they are comfy and keep my feet warm! So these were quite the impulse buy because as I was shopping with my co-worker in the brown Roberto Vianni boots after work one day, by toes began to rub against the top of the boots and started to form blisters. Painful to say the least. And I was always curious to why people wore Uggs/similar things to Uggs, I decided to try a pair on, WHOA, comfy! But WTF?! $250 CAD? Tried on the $100 CAD Emus, “hey, they are just as comfy! WTH?” So I decided to ask the SA at One Step Ahead, such a lovely ma and pa owned shoe store, and they told me that UGGs were pricer because of it’s name and because they killed the sheep for their sheepskin while Emus only sheared the wool off. Well, that explains a lot, so I decided to go against the sheepskin (and the $250) and went for the cheaper Emus instead, and guess what?! They were having 20% off all shoes except for UGGs! +1 for me! So just shoved the boots I was wearing into the box and wore my Emus home instead .

Boyfriend jacket from Zara courtesy of the BF. This jacket is quite the nice compromise between trendy and office wear no?

I also decided to get some new skincare as I was feeling that my current skincare wasn’t doing anything for my skin anymore. So I decided to try out Clarins. I got Clarins Protective Brightening Day Lotion with SPF 20 and Clarins Pure and Radiant Mask with Pink Clay. I will give a review of these two products in a month’s time.
I did buy more things, but I think this post is long enough already. LOL.

mid-autumn festival

2010-01-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

*Originally posted on Oct 4, 2009*

So I have come to the realization that I am terrible at updating. I think this comes from the fact that I generally don’t bring my camera with me when I go out to eat (something that I have to change). No pictures = no update, because frankly, who would want to read a post about food or anything for that matter without a picture? But I have been on a picture taking spree, so wait for another post on a sushi place I tried out today and my very first fashion/beauty post!

Anyways, back onto the topic of this post, Mid-Autumn Festival, when eating moon cake is mandatory. For this meal, I did not go out to eat, but my parents made dinner at home (I helped with a salad) and grandparents and cousins were invited.

The feast!

My mom made two plates of Chinese zucchini with wood ear fungus and shrimp, a plate of a form of Chinese melon with chicken, honey ribs, baked Japanese squash and 2 lbs worth of fresh shrimp. She also bought a Chinese style free range chicken, BBQ pork and roasted pork. And of course, what you see in the green bowl is the salad that I made. =)

This was a simple tomato and yellow pepper salad with a dressing that P’s mom taught me. P is a good friend whose house we use all the time for our potluck feasts. To dress my salad, olive oil, sesame oil, white vinegar and salt was used. There were no particular measurements, but I made sure to add only one tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1/2 tablespoon of white vinegar to begin with and then added more of whatever I felt was necessary to satisfy my tastebuds (I prefer things to be on more of the of sour side, so I added a lot more vinegar). This dressing is aromatic and tangy but no heavy. It doesn’t smother the natural taste of the veggies, rather, it enhances their tastes. I imagine that this dressing can be used as a base and additional ingredients may be added to add more dimension to it.

I’m such in love with the above dressing that this morning, I made myself a quick salad bring to work!

the fair at the PNE!

2010-01-25T22:49:00.000-08:00

*This post was originally posted on Sept 14, 2009*

Yes, it has been seven days since the Fair officially ended but I will still do a post of my two favourite foods from the Fair anyways because I took pictures. For Vancouverites, towards the end of summer, the Fair comes to the PNE. That means, more rides at Playland, people selling ShamWows, performances, and of course food. Many food stands at the PNE are ones that have been there for decades and bring a sense of nostalgia of childhood memories when going to the PNE was THE THING that I look forward to each summer. My most favourite is of course, the famous, Those Little Donuts followed closely by Wiggle Chips.

The above are what are inside each bag. Little warm and soft donuts, covered in sugar. When fresh, they literally melt in your mouth.
Wiggle Chips are my second favourite food at the PNE. Potatoes are cut into a spiral shape and then deep fried when ordered, resulting in warm, soft and crunchy chips at the same time. You can eat them as is, or flavour them with white cheddar powder, BBQ powder, salt or vinegar.

Wiggle chips flavoured with White Cheddar and BBQ powder.

Such greasy but utterly delicious food that I don't mind eating once a year. I can't wait for 2010's fair!

yuen yuen cafe

2010-01-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

During the summer of 2008, two friends and I went to Korea and Taiwan (or Formosa as one of my friends like to call it) for two weeks, and ever since we have been back, we have been on the search for shaved ice a la Formosa style. Why? Well, shaved ice in Formosa is no where like the shaved ice commonly found in Canada. Instead of the ice being crushed, the ice is sliced into wafer thin slices. The slices are also flavoured, for example, green tea and mango. My favourite was the green tea flavoured ice with read bean and condensed milk slathered all for it for $1.50 CAD! (My mouth waters thinking about it...).

Look at the deliciousness

Once I came back to Vancouver, the two friends and I would always reminisce about the shaved ice we had in Formosa. And finally, this summer we took our search seriously. And one of my friends, B (who was one of two that I went to Formosa with), heard from one of his friends that a place by 41st and Cambie served pretty good shaved ice. And so off we went, and to my surprise, it was a bubbletea house that I always see whenever I go to Samurai Sushi! Located right beside Samurai, this bubble tea house is called Yuen Yuen Cafe. This cafe is designed like any Taiwanese style cafe, and their menu is full of drinks and pretty inexpensive looking dishes. There is the option of sit down, but it’s more of a coffee shop where you can sit where you find seating. It took B and I a while to find the shaved ice portion of menu because it was placed right beside the cash register instead of being on the big hanging menu and also, instead of calling it shaved ice, they were calling it ice flakes. Each plate of ice flakes comes with three toppings of your choosing for $3.50, however, I was quite disappointed in their lack of selection. And so I decided to order grass jelly, red bean and condensed milk as my toppings and I waited eagerly to see what the ice portion of my ice flakes would look like. When I got my order I was a bit disappointed, the ice was crushed, not shaved but their servings were huge!

My order at yuen yuen cafe

Surprisingly, the ice was actually crushed quite finely, so there were not huge chunks of ice left floating. Sadly, I didn’t finish this whole plate since the day that I went wasn’t that hot, and I was starting to shiver. Haha. Well I would say I would come to this place when I crave for decent shaved ice that comes in huge portions.

And so the hunt continues.

Yuen Yuen Cafe

5890 Cambie St, Van, BC

teku bakudanyaki

2009-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

So I decided to try out Tenku Bakudanyaki after my friend, B, sent a link to their website. I knew I couldn't resist trying out this place because the bakudanyakis reminded me of big takoyakis and I love takoyakis -- they are my must-haves when I go to Guu and the Richmond Night Market. So off I went over the weekend to what was one of the most random places that I have ever gone for food, a stand in a parking lot across the street from Rona and behind ICBC in Richmond?! But once the car was parked and I saw the cute little cart, all I could go was, "Awwwww....it looks so cute!"

The menu is not a big one, there is original, curry, mustard mayo, chili mayo, pizza and mystery mayo. Within each bakudanyaki is an egg (I believe it's an quail egg), shrimp, squid, mochi and lots of cabbage. After a quick deliberation in front of the menu, I decided to try the mustard mayo (since I have developed a recent liking to mustard) while the boyfriend decided to try the chili mayo.

These are generally made to order, so after about 10 mins, the bakudanyakis were in my hands! My first thought when I saw the packaging was "Wow, this is so damn cute!".

Placed in a Chinese takeout box with a sticker of it's name, flavour and a napkin and pair of chopsticks tucked inside one of the flaps.

Of course they serve it to you with the flaps up, but I wanted to raise the level of suspense by not showing you guys the glory of the bakudanyakis right away. But my first reaction when I saw the the bakudanyakis were "These are bigger than my fists!" And I managed to snap some pictures with the boyfriend's cellphone camera before I dug into them and I was in takoyaki heaven. And for the unveiling!

Mustard Mayo

Chili Mayo

As you can see, the bakudanyankis are covered in the respective sauces and the dried fish flakes that dance around in the heat of the food. I really enjoyed the mustard mayo, the mustard gave the filling this mustardy spice that I really enjoyed. As for the chili mayo, my boyfriend found it to be a bit too spicy and the same goes for me when I tried it. Although I do enjoy eating spicy food, the spiciness made it hard to appreciate the flavours of the other ingredients. Maybe if I ever decide to order this one, I'll make sure to have a cold drink with me too :). All in all the filling was not overcooked or undercooked. The filling was abundant, especially the cabbage. And for me, a pretty big eater, eating one of these felt like eating a meal, making me feel full and satisfied.

Although the menu isn't a big one, I want to try the other flavours, especially the mystery special, which means I will be back. This review was a product of my very first time trying tenku bakdanyaki over this past summer. Since then, I've been back twice already...but always getting the mustard mayo. I really need to order something different next time!

First Post (not really)!

2009-11-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first post! Well actually, my first post in by new blogspot blog. I have decided to move over from wordpress, but the premise of this blog will not change. It will still be about food, beauty, fashion and ramblings from a Vancouver girl :)

I will be reposting posts that are in my wordpress blog first before I start blogging about things that I was supposed to blog about *ahem* nail stamping kit, Hakone Sushi and new skincare regime.

Until then, have an awesome day where ever you may be!