Restaurant: Zeller Family Restaurant

The other day, we went to the Zellers in Coquitlam Centre to try their Zellers Family Restaurant to see if it is any good.

When we arrived there at 10 o'clock in the morning, there were already few tables of seniors eating breakfast.

So, I thought, "oh, they are not that busy."  Another family arrived afterwards and ordered at the same time.

There was only 1 cook apparently and 3 waitresses.  They were standing around talking.

We ordered a Egg "Zenedict" and a Mile High Burger.

The service was slow since the chef somehow cannot handle the 2 tables ordering.
The burger was overcooked.
The Mile High Mushroom burger did come with mushrooms and onion rings but it was only okay.
I would give it a 6 for the price people pay for restaurant burgers.

I don't think we will visit too often....I hope when Target comes to Canada, they bring better food with it.

Target: Lego Cars Set Display

We went to Target last week and they had a good Cars 2 Lego set display set up.

Kids could actually push the button to play with elements of the display.

They are massively producing toys and marketing tools for Cars 2 and I think it would be a record year for all producers:  Disney, Lego, Megablok, toy car producers, and other products like shampoo, toilette paper, etc.

Well, I think if Lego is producing couple of interesting sets, I might buy them for my kids.

IKEA Moonlight Madness Sale: June 24, 2011 On Now!!

IKEA's moonlight madness sale is on in Canada right now!!  Check your store today (June 24th, 2011) for its special sale! 
We wanted a patio set and all patio sets happened to be 50% off today!  We got lucky and bought our set!

It started at 6pm and by 8pm, all the patio popular items are sold out.  We got there right at 6 and there were already tons of customers inside including the restaurant.  (They had the 2 dollar meatball meals tonight.)

We bought couple of items on sale and also the patio set.  It was a great deal!

Kinder Surprise Cars 2 Eggs and Toys: Shu Todoroki

We all know Disney is heavily promoting its new Cars 2 movie and trying to produce as many products and collaborate with as many companies as possible. 

Megablok, Lego, Huggies, you name it, they have it.
They even produced Cars 2 mini toys for Kinder Surprise Chocolate eggs.
We bought some for my son because he likes them (He did not like the movie itself...)

cars 2 japanese racing caar kinder surprise shu todoroki

He likes the different types of cars being produced as toys.
We wanted to collect the Japanese Racing Car and we hit the jackpot by buying just one box of eggs.
I usually don't like the toys in the Kinder eggs but this time I think they did a good job.

cars 2 Japanese racing car Shu Todoroki

We got really lucky! 
Apparently, only 1 out of 4 eggs contains a Cars 2 toy.
The chance of getting a Shu Todoroki is very small. 
Never mind twice in a roll. (We did get it twice in a roll.)

I guess sometimes, parents want their own collections, too. haha!
(There are actually more cars related to Japan in the movie:  Pinion Tanaka, Kingpin Nobunaga and Okuni.)

I need to head to Disney Store to collect those vehicles.

Happy Father's Day: My Father's Day Card

Happy Father's Day!! Everyone!
This year, I received a Father's Day card from my 3 year-old.  I felt very warm and happy receiving that card.

first father's day card

It was my first Father's Day card from my son!
My wife also made great dishes for me, which I felt very grateful for that.

She prepared crackers with caviar, chicken cream macaroni, ketchup macaroni, mahi mahi fish steak and Thai green chicken curry.

caviar on cracker, macaroni, thai green curry

I don't eat caviar often....more like 3rd time in my life eating it, so I enjoyed it.
All other dishes, including the curry was absolutely delicious!
I love mahi mahi fish!

I also went to the Toys R Us event at noon with my kids and built two Lego racing cars.
It is a great free event with kids and I will upload the photos later.

Stanley Cup Riot in Vancouver June 2011: Downtown Under Siege

Vancouver held its Stanley Cup Final yesterday and lost the series' game 7 to Boston.
Boston played extremely well with good team effort and goaltending and deserved to win.

The last time, it was 17 years ago when the riot broke out in Vancouver after Game 7.
This time, the same history happened after the loss.  Thousands of thugs, young drunk, low moral standard punks took over downtown and trashed and burn all the cars they see.  Downtown was like a war zone, all stores were smashed and looters happily emptied all stores and department stores downtown.

I don't know what they were thinking because they were being video taped by spectators with faces showing.
Actually, the spectators should have went home.  Some of them are staying and taking pictures like they were enjoying this.  They are obstructing police operations.  Overall, I think they could not contain so much rioters so there were little they could do to stop it.

Downtown Vancouver Riot 2011 after Stanley cup

The crowd was too large to be controlled.  100,000 people....more like 150,000 downtown because of game 7...From my place, more than 20 kilometers from downtown Vancouver, I could see thick clouds from downtown from all things burning.

It is amazing to see there are so many uneducated people out there.  North American culture is almost universal now.  Parents don't have the patience to teach kids, they leave all teaching including moral values to school.  Unfortunately, North American school don't teach moral values either.  Therefore, thousands of thugs like we have seen yesterday exists in our societies.  This fact pertains to all cities in North America, not just Vancouver.
Fruit for thoughts.....

10000 Hits For My Little Blog

This week, my blog received its 10000th hits!!
That is amazing because my blog just hit 5000 not too long ago.
It is great because I really don't have time to post with two kids and lots of things to take care of.

I have to thank my wife for giving me ideas for this blog.

Trader Joe's Checkerboard Mousse Cake

This mousse cake from Trader Joe's was surprisingly delicious.
First, I thought this is going to be very sweet as usual just like other supermarkets.
However, it was not.  It has a very subtle, classy taste with an ice cream texture.  (Taste better frozen.)

It has a nice box like below:

Trader Joe's Checkerboard Mousse cake

Here is the mousse cake itself:

Trader Joe's Checkerboard mousse cake 2

I think this is a great product worth every cent of it.  I think it was around 8 dollars US.
Here is a picture of a sliced mousse cake:

 

 

 

 

sliced Trader Joe's mousse cake

Restaurant: Thai Garden Restaurant, Burnaby, Coquitlam Area

Last Friday, I felt like trying something different around our neighborhood.  (and luckily my kids fell asleep in the car...)  I wanted to try the Thai restaurant near my place.  The name is Thai Garden.
I was wondering if it was any good at all because the last Thai food I tried in Lougheed Mall's food court was a total disaster.

So, I went in the restaurant and looked around.  The lighting is dark for some reason...
However, it is somewhat decorated with a Thai feel.

thai garden

I wanted to try some basic Thai dish because we can easily tell if this restaurant is any good.
We ordered Pad Thai (noodle) and green curry and two bowls of rice.
I was surprised that they charged us for rice.  (guess I don't eat out enough....haha)

Pad Thai

Pardon my pictures because they were taken from my cell phone and the resolution and lighting weren't the best.

green curry thai restaurant

You probably can't tell from the blurry pictures but the two dishes were great.
I am not a expert on Thai food but it was a lot better than food court.
(I spent less money than the food court, too...)

Anyways, I would visit the restaurant again.

Trader Joe's Uncooked Chicken Breakfast Sausage

The other day, while I was at Trader Joe's, we bought this pack of "uncooked chicken breakfast sausage".
First, I thought, "oh gee I don't know.  It is uncooked and I wonder how good it can be."
We bought it and tried it next morning.  It was very good and delicious without any unpleasant taste!

trader joe's uncooked chicken breakfast sausage

Another of our food adventure.

Product Review: Kenzen Medicated Cool Pads and Sprays

Medicated cool pads has been a common, must-have products for decades for people in Japan, Taiwan and Korea.  People always use it to treat muscle-aches and joint pain regardless if it is for sports injuries or not.

I have always wondered that if this kind of product will ever come and be popular among the North Americans.  Now, athletes have been using these sprays during the game for years.  North Americans play lots of sports and spend time outdoors.  I am surprised that this kind of products is not popular among the public yet.
The other day, London Drugs in Vancouver area was promoting the medicated cool pads and sprays made by Sato, one of the Japanese pharmaceutical company. (There are many major companies producing these kind of products in Japan.)

Sato's Kenzen medicated cooling pads and sprays

Even though we really don't have many choices in North America, it is a good start.
I bought a few of them while they are on sale.  (Regular 5.00, on sale for 3 dollars plus tax)
http://satocanada.com/satokenzen.html

We tried it and it does the same cooling effects as the ones in Japan.
It works better after you take a bath to put on these for maximum effects.

Money Saving Tip: When is the Best Time to Buy Entertainment Book

Entertainment book is a good way to save money.  It enables users to get deals such as buy one get one free or 50% off while shopping, going to attractions or eating in restaurants.
The new editions usually come out during the Winter months: October or November.  However, the winter is so cold in the northern part of the continent, so people would not go out as much.  (Therefore, not worth it to get it so early.)

The best time is to wait till spring is here and they would lower the price to around half price in March and even lower in March and April!  They would often offer 2 for 20 sales.

If you can wait a long time, till June or July, then summer sale will start.
The price will lower to 2 books for 10 dollars, which means you get two coupon books for the summer for 5 dollars each! 
Now, that is a deal!!

Hand Made Dog Sleeping Bag

Here is something my wife made that is so practical for my chihuahua, which I think is brilliant.

In Japan, they started selling fancy sleeping bags for dogs who like to snug in blankets.
My wife thought: why not save money to make something practical and utilizing unwanted blankets at home?
Using thick fleece blanket not used at home and wires bought at local dollar stores, she made the sleeping bag shown below.

sleeping bag for dogs....hand made

Both of my chihuahuas enjoy the doggie sleeping bags very much these days.

They are so cute when they snug in there.

Boston Pizza to Rename to "Vancouver Pizza" During Stanley Cup

Boston Pizza is a Canadian pizza chain restaurant popular among the locals.
The headquarters is now located in BC even though it originated in Edmonton, Alberta.
(I am not sure why the owner came up with the name Boston Pizza.)

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoff finalists are Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins.
Boston Pizza thought of a brilliant promotion of changing all store front names to "Vancouver Pizza" during the Stanley Cup Playoff to support the local team.

Maybe they should change their name to Vancouver Pizza permanently...

See the big Boston Pizza link here:
http://www.bostonpizza.com/en/Default.aspx

Macaron from T&T Supermarket in Canada

I love Macarons, and I love to eat the macarons around the world.

Locally in Canada, T&T Supermarket has been making and selling macarons for couple of years.
Recently, they even started selling it in singles just like Europe.  You can pick them one by one.
Because they are expensive, it might be a good idea.

They are one dollar a piece.  Pretty much standard pricing because macaron is not cheap anywhere.
They are tasty indeed but I think they should price them a little lower than 1 dollar in order to gain more customers.

Taiwanese Pastry: Pineapple Cake

If you are familiar with Asian food and pastries, you know there are lots of famous Taiwanese food and snacks.  All kinds of Taiwanese noodles, all dishes in the night markets and all the famous pastries.
Two famous examples are the Pineapple cake and "sun cake".  (of course, there are lots more that is only available locally.  The most famous one is "Pineapple cake". 

Taiwanese Pineapple cake and Japanese Youkan

My parents came back from Taiwan and brought back the Pineapple cake from Chia Te.
They said it is one of the best brand to produce pineapple cake and will taste different than other brands.
Indeed, the packaging was great and the taste was exceptional.  The cake itself does not crumble after taken out of package.

In recent years, there are other variations other than the traditional kind.  Fruits like cherry, berries or even jellies are being added in the pineapple cakes.  I prefer the traditional kind.
We certainly can't get this in a supermarket in North America.
This taste a lot better than what is available here in Canada and US.

Well, there is no market for it and people will not appreciate the difference I guess...

Happy Mother's Day from My Chihuahua

Okay, I know this is very late for Mother's Day for 2011.
However, we took this picture of our chihuahua boy earlier this month, and he wishes all moms a "Happy Mother's Day"!!

My chihuahua happy mother's day

Late greetings from my chihuahua with a sexy pose.  haha

Nintendo DS: Momotaro Dentetsu (Japanese Railway Monopoly)

In Vancouver, we also have "Book Off", a discount used bookstore, which sells books, magazine, games and dvds.  They are not as cheap as Japan, but they offer some deals and selections that we don't get anywhere else in Canada.

I bought the game, "Momotaro Dentetsu" for Nintendo DS.  It is a game similar to monopoly where a gamer will travel all through Japan or Tokyo by railway and buying its properties, using strategies and cards to out-compete other players.

Momotaro Dentetsu Nintendo DS

It is good to use this kind of game to pass time on the bus if one has a long commute.
I am not sure if it has a English edition of the game but it is a good source for Japanese geographical knowledge.

Dollar Store: 1 Dollar Wii Mario Kart Wheel

Sometimes, I don't understand why brand name products have to be costly.
Brand name = high profit margins....
I found these 1 dollar Mario Kart Wii in a local dollar store.

The plastic is not as thick as the "real" wheel but it works okay with my wii controller so far...

Dollar store Wii Mario Kart Wheel

Starbucks Petites and Cupcake Part 2

This is my second time trying the Starbucks Petites.
This time, I tried the Strawberry colored Petite for the first time.  (doesn't actually have fruits in it.)
The server suggested that it is the best out of the Petites.
I do agree with him very much.  The strawberry one is the best taste so far and chocolate one is very good, too.
  We also tried the cupcake, and it was great!!

starbucks petite and cupcake