Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Milestone Reached: 500 Blog Posts of Our Journey of Life

Here is another small milestone for me and my little blog!
500 posts reached!

I didn't expect myself to blog this much and last this long.
I guess it had become some kind of diary for myself and my family.
Like many people's blogs, it documents our lives and shares them with people along the journey of life.

I will keep writing chapters and hope it gets more interesting...?

Trader Joe's Shortcake Biscuits Plus Strawberry

Here is what I bought last time from Trader Joe's:  Shortcake Biscuit.

We found it at the bakery section in Trader Joe's, and it looked delicious.

Trader Joe's Shortcake Biscuits
My wife made it into a Strawberry Shortcake for my kids, and they loved it!!
It tastes wonderful with the cream inside!

Here is a picture:
Trader Joe's Strawberry Shortcake
Yummy...
We liked Trader Joe's bakery.  They have great Hawaiian Bagels!

Jack in the Box Washington State's 5 Dollar Set

As a Canadian, I found another cool deal from US fast food chains.
Jack in the Box is having a 5 dollar hamburger set.
You get a burger, fries, chicken nuggets and drink!!!!

Jack in the Box Washington State 5 dollar set
I know this is normal for Americans but it is a big deal for Canadians.
We would have to pay 10 dollars plus tax for something like this!
Again, double price.....and we don't make more money either...

Me and my family always enjoy the deals we get while travelling down in the states.

100 Dollar Bag of Rice in Izumiya in Richmond, BC

Here is the "dream" bag of rice I saw in Izumiya.
These are 107.95 each bag...I wonder who is going to buy them?

The name sounds nice, and I bet it tastes wonderful!  (Just can't afford it.)
"Dream Weaver" or "Dream Maker" is the direct translation for the name "Yumetsukushi".


100 dollar bag of rice "yumetsukushi" "Dream Weaver"
I guess there are people buying them so that is why they have so many bags....
Amazing...it is like paying 10 dollars for a loaf of bread...outrageous!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Izumitei in Richmond, BC, Canada

Izumiya Japanese Supermarket in Richmond, BC has expanded to include a new buffet restaurant.

The name is "Izumitei".  For 12 dollars plus tax, you enjoy a great selection of home style Japanese food!

Izumitei in Izumiya in Richmond BC

Now, it does not have much sashimi and nigiri.  However, it has lots of home dishes such as sukiyaki, oden, korokke and takoyaki.

It also has a selection of cooked pork, fish, clams....
They hire Japanese chef, and the food taste great!

Izumitei buffet
We ate till we were soooooo full!
I still wish they had sashimi....but I guess the price is okay...

My Second Chihuahua's Birthday


June 13th was my small dog's birthday.  I can't believe that she is 4 years old now.
Time sure flies by when you have kids.

I did not even feel like it has been 4 years...



My wife cooked a nice hamburger patty for her, and happily, she gobbles it down!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

My Father's Day Gift: Dragonball Soft Drink

For this year's Father's Day, my wife made a wonderful, tasty meal as usual.
On top of that, she bought me a Dragonball Soft Drink from Japan.

I didn't know that Dragonball is still popular and they are still making these products.
I guess the kids back then are adults now, and there is still a market for them!

The world still likes Dragonball right now, I guess the manga artist is having a great retirement right now.
haha...
I like the design of the cans:
There are nine types for series 1, and I know that series 2 has been release in Japan.

It is nice that we can still buy some of these in Canada since we far away.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Swarovski Mickey Mouse and Chinese Zodiac

I saw couple of new series of the Swarovski collections:

This one is the Chinese Zodiac collection:

Swarovski Chinese Zodiac collection
This one is the Mickey Mouse collection:
Mickey Mouse Swarovski collection
I think it is a great idea to use disney characters as a marketing strategy since most people would want to buy them if they can afford them.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Toy Snake Bought from Seattle Zoo

During the trip to Seattle Zoo, I asked my son what he wanted for souvenir.
He said, "toy snake!"

I thought you can get this anywhere, but oh well, he likes it...haha

Toy Snake from Seattle Zoo
We put a ribbon on top of its head to make it cuter and not as scary.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Bellingham, Washington State: Super Buffet

We went to "Super Buffet", a Chinese owned buffet restaurant in Bellingham, Washington last month.

It does has some variety of sushi and sashimi although the quality and freshness is not consistent.
It is not particularly cheap either.  We pay 15 dollars each person plus drink extra, taxes and tips.

I am not sure if it is worth the 15 dollars since you pay the same in Canada with better quality of food.

If you set up a shop in Bellingham, you have to make it cheap...

oyster, Inari sushi, salmon, tuna sashimi
It has the basic sushi but nothing out of ordinary.
It has fresh oysters but some were going bad.  Besides that, they had tuna, salmon, Ika and Inari sushi.
They also had some rolls.

They claim that they have "Alaskan Crab".  However, it only come out once an hour and only for the first 3 or 4 people who can get to it.

They also have quite a few Chinese dishes.  If you like Chinese food, then these should be for you.

We did not try the Chinese food. 
However, there is a Teriyaki section that you can pick your meat and vegetables and they will cook for you.

You have a choice of beef, chicken and pork and several teriyaki type vegetables.
They also barbecue the shrimps in front of you, so this part is kind of neat.

I think they should at least make some drink self serve instead of charging people.

I will not recommend this place because of the high price and inconsistent level of food.
I think this one is to trap the cross border shopping Vancouver visitors....