From the monthly archives: September 2010
The rainy weather is upon us and I am really starting to feel Summer drifting away. With this gloomy weather I will be hibernating indoors mostly, aside from the fact that I will be walking my baby doggie twice a day=)
What to do to keep my spirits up during rainy days……of course Eating, Shopping, Watching and Playing games!
Pigging out at Bellis Fair Food Court!=)
Went shopping down in the States for a day and couldn`t decide on one particular place..sooo brought a bunch of randoms. Oh I LOVE Clam Chowder from Ivars! Why don`t they come to Canada!
Taco Del Mar! Platter style
A couple hours after lunch I was hungry again, so I refueled with 2 tacos, rice, beans and all the good fixings=) So much cheaper in the states!
Dutch Blitz: Best Game Ever!!
I was introduced to this game recently and fell in love ever since. I was lucky enough to borrow this card game and I have been playing lots! It can get competitive, so be aware! One of my dear friends said “its a card game on crack“ Yes it is..Yes it is!
Shanghai River— Recently went to a birthday dinner at Shanghai River. It was a busy Sunday night and all of the tables were full. I’ve been to this restaurant before but couldn’t recall exactly what I had eaten. Consequently I knew not to expect too much since it didn’t make an impression the first time around.
The overall ambiance of the restaurant is great. The decor and furnishings are classy and they manage to keep the place quite clean for being so busy (even the bathroom! And you know how bathrooms at Chinese places are).
There were only 3 dishes that stood out to me the whole night….
Xiao Long Bao
The skin had good texture but the filling was a little too salty for me. It was good but I definitely have had better.
My fav as always: Peking Duck
The duck skin was nice and crispy and had a little meat which is something that I like! You can’t really go wrong with Peking Duck!
Deep Fried Fish with Sweet and Sour Fruit Sauce!
This Fish is something to talk about. It was my first time having fish prepared this way but I really liked it. The sauce wasn’t too overwhelming. It had the right amount of sweetness and the fruits were a plus! Even though the fish was fried, it was still moist and soft on the inside!
Overall, Shanghai River is good but not the most traditional Shanghai restaurant. For the atmosphere and general quality of the food it is worth going.
During the trip the boys decided on doing an Iron Chef Night where all the boys would make a particular dish. I was a little worried at first, thinking that we wouldn’t end up with anything edible. However, it turned out to be Yummy-O! To keep it competitive the girls decided on an ingredient that had to be incorporated with each dish. Tomatoes it was!
Cream Tomato Pasta!
Tomatoes with Beef and Cheese!
This dish was actually made by one of the girls but we’ll give the boys credit!
BBQ-ing in the dark was indeed hard!
Great job marinating boys! Delicious!
Photos: Courtesy of Mable Lo
I love Tapioca, so I decided that I would give the Coconut Tapioca recipe a try. It actually turned out pretty good.
Tapioca Pearls in Coconut Cream
(Dan.D.Pak Tapioca Pearls, Aroy-D Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar)
Recipe for 3 servings:
Tapioca Pearls 1 Cup
Water 5 Cups
Palm Sugar 3/4 Cup
Salt 1 teaspoon
Coconut Milk 1 bowl
1) Bring water to a boil and add the Tapioca Pearls.
2) Leave the lid off and cook the Tapioca Pearls for 1/2 hour at minimum heat (Stir often).
3) Add palm sugar and salt.
4) Add Coconut Milk and mix.
I personally added more than 1 bowl of Coconut Milk because I wanted it to be more runny and love Coconut Milk!
Final Product!
Went to Whistler for the long weekend and did the Monkido Tree Course. There were 7 of us who participated and we all managed to finish the whole course. The Monkido course consists of different obstacles from climbing, zip-lining, swinging logs and even suspended bridges. This aerial tree course is suspended from 10-80 feet of the ground. So if you are afraid of heights than I wouldn’t recommend this activity. However, you are strapped to a life line.
The suggested course time was 1.5 – 2 hours. But it took our group close to 4 hours to complete the full course, including waiting time. It starts off with easier obstacles and becomes increasingly difficult. There were definitely a few obstacles that needed endurance and strong upper body strength. I certainly had to conquer some fears and I’m glad I did!
For only $50, it was definitely worth it!
Gingeri–We decided to grab a nice Chinese dinner before sending my mother off to the airport for her nice long trip. We couldn’t really think of any particular places and stumbled across Gingeri at Lansdowne Shopping Center in Richmond. There was a really good special going on that night for 4 people ($150 set menu) [...]
Gingeri–We decided to grab a nice Chinese dinner before sending my mother off to the airport for her nice long trip. We couldn’t really think of any particular places and stumbled across Gingeri at Lansdowne Shopping Center in Richmond.
There was a really good special going on that night for 4 people ($150 set menu) and this is what we got:
Lobster Fruit Salad
It was surprisingly delicious. The fruits tasted fresh and the pieces of lobster were big. Very refreshing on a hot summer day.
Shark Fin Soup
I’ve had shark fin soup on many occasions but never ever had a whole slab! I was very impressed.
Eggplant Minced Pork Stir-fried Crab
This is one of their specialties and it was indeed tasty. It wasn’t too spicy and it had just the right amount of eggplants. Very unique and prefer this over ginger onion crab!
Superior Soy Sauce Fish
For this dish they used superior soy sauce to cook the fish instead of regular soy sauce. The waiter emphasized this fact but I couldn’t really taste the difference.
The set also came with Special Curd Ham Fried Rice and Chinese dessert.
Happy Socks!
