Faubourg

I remember before all my finals and leaving Vancouver for Christmas, I spent my last "free time" in Kerrisdale and randomly saw a cute, little cafe along 41st Ave., next to Asa Sushi. Maybe because it was new, this small cafe was packed with people eating, drinking, chatting, and, standing waiting for tables.

During one weekend, when I was (always) having a hard time deciding where to go for lunch, my friend, EU, brought "Faubourg" back to my mind.

Faubourg ("fo-boor")?.....What is it?

East Is East visit #2-CHAI N' SPICE!

Middle Eastern. For some reason, I always go for Middle Eastern restaurants when I am not in the mood of having Chinese/Japanese food, which are the most common ones I usually have (especially Japanese, thankyouverymuch ;)). Maybe I like the pungent smell and flavour of the spices they use, and also the curiosity to know more about the cuisine.

Like last night, when I was feeling something "special". The first Middle East restaurant I could think of was East Is East, where I have been there once in the early summer. So, any other choices? Yes of course; however, I didn't have Wi-fi at that time and could not think of any except East Is East. Well, since I did not get to try a lot from their menu...why not?

Meloty-Late-worthy "lunch" ;)

I know I know...it's been a (long) while since my last post. Reason? Very simple-because I have a bunch of tests/exams every week! But how could I waste the one-and-only Halloween sitting in front of a pile of numbers (ahem. calculus, to be precise.)?

So I first started my Halloween with a late lunch. I mean really late, like 2pm. Why so late? It's not because I woke up at 1pm or studied till 1-2am last night, no no no. So...why? I met up with EU and she suggested Meloty in Richmond.

I am no stranger to Meloty. I think it is probably the only "high-tea" place in Richmond. I have tried Secret Garden at Kerrisdale before (posts here and here) and I really like it. Honestly, who doesn't love hightea? ;D It is always great to sit down with friends, enjoying savoury and sweet goodies, and spend almost the whole day at a restaurant. So I have no reason not to give Meloty a try...

Dinesty Chinese Restaurant

Autumn is almost here/is already here, but I can still remember the heat in Vancouver this summer (someone told me the temp went up to 33'C one day!?). The worst thing is there isn't any air-con or fan in my house! So I tried to stay indoor as much as I could; it didn't have to be long, but just long enough for me to cool down a bit. In that case, being here at Dinesty is simple: I live near and it got air-con. But most importantly, it's the food that makes me wanna come back again and again! :)

Buzz Cafe and Espresso Bar-Art + Cofee

I know there are quite a number of cafe posts going on in my blog, especially during the early summer. The reason is simple. It's because I was bored. As a result, I decided to visit the cafes that I have always wanted to visit: Arbutus Coffee, Bojangles Cafe, and Elysian Coffee.
I would go to Urbanspoon and see which cafes I was interested in :P There's one that caught my sight right away due to it's location and name. I know there is a gallery there in the corner but I never noticed there's also a cafe!

So, curious enough, I decided to go there and see what's actually inside this gallery...

Tokyo Thyme

It has been awhile since my summer holiday ended. I know there are various new restaurants opening here and there, and I can't wait to try them! During my two months in Hong Kong, I gotta admit that sometimes...I would miss the food here in Vancouver (i.e. SUSHI!). So when I came back, I just wanted to go to any restaurant, any.

Last weekend, EU and I finally decided to start our food journey together again. For some reason, we both wanted to go to Kerrisdale (maybe this was due to the perfect weather last saturday :P). At first, I thought we're going to the one we have tried before-Asa Sushi. Then when EU suddenly pulled over and parked her car by the roadside, I realized we're going to try something new today woohoo! Well, actually this was EU's second visit, but she was also excited to show me this little restaurant across the road. Aha...Tokyo Thyme...herbs from Tokyo? :P
(all photos are from her blog since I didn't know we're going to try a new restaurant...)

Elysian Coffee

VANCOUVERRR! This is one of the long-lost posts that are "supposed" to be posted this summer. This summer I got to go to a lot of different cafes that I've always to try, or actually I should say I will like to try any cafes that have wifi. Why? Because one of my summer vacay habits was to bring my laptop wherever I go. Aha, good memories, good memories ;)

So here it is, Elysian Coffee. It will definitely be one of my favourite cafes so far.

Hong Kong-Loshan Snow Garden Restaurant

As I've mentioned in the last post, we actually finished celebrating my mom's dinner before heading off to Macau. There is always a "Restaurant List for Celebration" in our family, Snow Garden is one of them; we will have dinner here at least once every year for birthdays, festivals, etc. So, here's my last post on my Hong Kong trip this summer. Enjoy! :)

(photo taken by my sister)

Macau-Restaurante Platao

Before posting my mom's birthday dinner, let me start a new post on our short trip to Macau. Talk about the food, there isn't a Macau-nese or Macau cuisine. Most restaurants in Macau are actually Portuguese/Portuguese fusion because it used to be a colony of Portugal before.

We will normally go to the same restaurants when we go to Macau; in other words, we seldom explore ourselves to new restaurants even though we know they have similar foods. My sister, however, brought us to a new Portuguese restaurant this time...

(Picture from backpackers)

Hong Kong-Lock Cha Tea House

My sister is a good party-planner. No matter its my birthday or her friends' birthday, she just knows how to give them an unforgettable birthday. Because of this reason, my dad and I decided to give not all, but most, responsibility to design a memorable birthday for my mom.

Well, the first surprise she gave my mom was flawless. She secretly booked a restaurant for lunch without telling my mom (and me) the location. Then in a sunny Saturday afternoon, she brought us to the...Hong Kong Park. What? A Park? Yes indeed, that was exactly my reaction. We would have our lunch in a park......with a restaurant hidden inside ;)

(photo from Openrice)

Hong Kong-Yung Kee Restaurant

August is a "big month" in my family, probably because it's the last month of my summer holiday so I need to play hard, but the main reason is because there are a lot of celebrations this month. For example, my sister and mom's birthdays; my sister's is on the 20th and my mom is on the 21st. How nice isn't it?
Okay, so here comes the downside. I need time to digest all the stuff I had in my sister birthday dinner before having another feast for my mom's birthday!

For my sister's birthday, we went to a well-known restaurant in Central (near Lan Kwai Fong)...ready to have another feast in August.

(photo taken by my sister, with her new camera)

Japan trip-星岡茶寮

I remember this was the last day of our Japan trip. My dad decided to end the trip with a wonderful, perfect, filling meal.

We did not really plan for the last day, so my mom (and ahem, my sister) chose to make a last minute shopping at Isetan. We, well at least I, were totally exhausted after spending the entire day walking and walking around Shinjuku. My dad and I were too tired to bother finding a fancy restaurant for our last meal. At last, we went to Isetan for dinner again (To see the first dinner I had at Isetan, please read here), and we saw this Japanese restaurant that was hidden inside an alley.

Japan trip-うまい鮨勘(Umai Sushi Kan)

A sashimi lover, one of the must-go tourist spots is the Tsukiji Market. We went there in the afternoon and were planning to have lunch there. However, when we arrived, almost all the restaurants we saw were already packed with people! Disappointed enough, we then decided to go to somewhere else for lunch. While we were planning to leave, a small but quiet restaurant appeared in a aisle that nobody had noticed yet.

Without thinking, we entered this small restaurant and could not wait to try some fresh fish! (Sorry dad!) :P

(Picture from gourmet.livedoor.com)

Japan trip-雷門滿留賀(まるか)

Our plan that day was to go to Asakusa, the place where you will see that big red lantern hanging. I remembered the weather was brutal that day; we were all wet after taking the subway. So before we continued our journey, we decided to find a place to restore our energy first. The one restaurant that we were facing was Marukan, an old-style soba restaurant.

Japan Trip-Oto Oto: Desserts

Of course, we need some desserts to end our wonderful meal at Oto Oto right? ;) (Not to mention that we were already very full at that time)


My dad was already so full that he could not stuff anything more into his stomach. So the rest of us each ordered a dessert...
Greentea Ice-cream

• Decorated with a cracker.
• I didn't try this though...

Greentea and Vanilla Ice-cream with Brown Syrup

• It also came with some red bean paste with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
• If you look clearly, there are also mochi and some fruits with the ice-cream.
• Again, I didn't try this but my sister did enjoy this a lot (She loves desserts anyway).

Tofu Pudding with Pieces of Fruits, Served with Syrup

• The pudding was smooth and yummy. I enjoyed it a lot.
• It actually reminded me of their Soften Tofu I just had for dinner.

If you like to know more about Oto Oto or their other branches, please visit their website here.

Japan Trip-Oto Oto

Oto Oto is probably the nearest restaurant where you can find all kinds of Japanese food, which means it has both cooked and raw food that can satisfy those who don't eat sashimi, and also some/most of the sushis. My dad is the only person in the family who does not-or even cannot-accept raw fish. So, Oto Oto is the best choice for us.

We went there on the first night we arrived. It was about 8:30pm and this restaurant was already full; we had to wait for 20-30mins at least. We went to somewhere else of course, but before we left, we made a reservation for next day's dinner. There we go: this fancy, busy restaurant.

Japan trip-Isetan Dining

It's very common to find a lot of restaurants on the top levels (normally) of every shopping malls/centres in Japan. One of the must-go shopping places in Japan is Isetan. We went there one night, already exhausted after spending almost the whole day shopping in the same district. Then my dad suggested let's find a nearby restaurant for dinner. So we went to the top level, walked around to see what restaurants there were...lastly, we decided Isetan Dining because it has the most variety of food, which can satisfy my mom and dad.

Japan trip-Coffee Negishi

Underground restaurants are very common in Japan, almost every department store has a basement where you can find small shops, restaurants, bakeries, etc.

Since we lived near Shinjuku, the basement of Odakyu (one of the big department stores in Tokyo Japan) was the most familier to us. Most restaurants there are cafes. So when we decided to have breakfast one morning, the first coffee shop that appeared to us immediately became our first choice.

Japan trip-Cha-Cafe

My dad was constantly thirsty because he kept sweating and sweating and sweating like crazy (yea he sweat A LOT). Also because he did not feel too well in the beginning of the trip, so when we knew he really need to rest, we stopped and would find a place to get a drink, took a rest and recovered a little bit...

The same case happened when we were in Shibuya (Omotesando to be precise) one day. A cafe caught out sight immediately when we looked up a random building :D

Japan trip-Roku-Maru Gogenton

After staying in Hong Kong for about a week, I had to pack my stuff again and readied for another trip to Tokyo Japan.

I did not spend much time taking photos of the tourist attractions; instead, almost all the photos I took this time were all about the food! So, here is our first meal in Japan! :)