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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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....

Spring 2012 Home Renovation

We had been working on home renovations this spring.
We worked on mostly our lighting in our washroom, living room and bedroom.

Here is our old bathroom light...very old panel and looked ugly:

old bathroom light panel

We spent quite some time deciding what light fixtures we wanted to change them to.
However, it was easy to install the new light fixtures.

New light fixture bathroom 2012

The living room light fixture and dimmer switch were not working very well.

Therefore, we decided to change them as well.
Amazingly, it was easy to change the light dimmer to a switch.

Here is the new living room chandelier we installed:

new living room chandelier

I think changing the light fixtures changes the mood of the room a little bit.
I guess it is good to do that once a while to freshen up the atmosphere.

I think we were tired for a couple of weekends...
Every weekend, it seems so busy and time passes by no matter what we do.

Maybe the kids make us busy....I am sure that is what it is.

oh well, such is life.

Morning Glory in Our Place

My wife planted a few Morning Glory in our place.
The flowers are quite elegant and beautiful.

Morning Glory Flower Plant

Our plants flower in purple and blue.

It only flowers in daytime but the flower dies in one day at night.
If the plant is healthy, it flowers everyday.  (different flower everyday)

My wife gave a plant to my mom but it is not doing well.
Canadian weather is too cold for this kind of plant.  It needs to be indoor.
For some reason, my mom does not want to bring it indoor.
(god knows why...)

Portland: Asian Street Bistro by Mexican??

Portland is not known for good Asian foods.  It is known for their street kart food.

In downtown Lloyd Center, I saw this shop selling Asian dumplings and other dishes with people actually buying them!!
The owners are Mexican or Latino American....I wonder how good the food is.

I did not dare to try it...haha.....huge risk....

Tomy Car USA and Toyota Harrier (Lexus RX 350)

During the Oregon Trip, I discovered two little things while buying toys for my kids.

Tomy Car actually make toys for North America as well but it is not as popular.
North Americans are less accepting of "Tomy"'s product because USA has its traditional companies' toys.

Tomy Car gas station and toyota harrier lexus

Not sure why but Asians and Europeans love Tomy's products!

Tomica box USA

Another small thing I found is that Toyota Harrier, included in the box, is actually Lexus RX series.
I guess Lexus is really just a name change for Toyota's higher product line....

Oregon Trip: All American Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt

During the Oregon trip, I went to Lloyd Center and saw this shop:  All American Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt.

I have never bought anything from this store but they have so many varieties of products...
even bubble tea! 
(I would be concern trying the bubble tea there because anything Asian is almost not as good as Vancouver`s)

I ordered a Banana Chocolate Sundae and it was huge and excellent!

All American Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt

Portland Nordstrom: Betsy Johnson Jacket

Here is something my wife got in Portland's Nordstrom: A Betsy Johnson Jacket.

We put it in our luggage so it was a little wrinkled....

Kiplings & Coach Handbag Super Collaboration

We were walking around the mall to shop for grocery last weekend...
We saw something really interesting!!

An old lady had an over-the-shoulder bag that looks like a Coach bag.
However!  When we look again closer, it had a huge Kiplings Trademark in the middle of the bag.

It is either super fake or a SUPER Collaboration...haha

It was shocking and entertaining.  We just laughed and laughed all the way home!

Maybe I can invent something like a Gucci bag with a Prada Logo on it.....hahaha
(Maybe people will just laugh at it...)

New York Fries (Canada): New Spicy Pulled Pork Poutine

New York Fries has another new flavor for its famous poutine!

It is called "Spicy Pulled Pork Poutine".
We tried it this weekend and it was great!

It has a little bit of smokey taste and is only a little bit spicy.
Therefore, it should cater to most of the population.

They are also giving out drink coupons during the promotional period!

Now, it has three great special poutines besides the regular one:
Spicy Pulled Pork, Braised Beef and Butter Chicken!

Not all the malls offer the new tastes (I guess it depends on the store size.)...too bad.

I wonder what comes next?

Macaron Article and Macaron Magic Website

I found this interesting article in the newspaper (Vancouver Sun) about Macaron.

I thought I can just share the article link:

The magic and science of macarons (with recipe as well if you are brave to try.)

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/magic+science+macarons/6542351/story.html

I have heard that it is extremely hard to make good macaron and takes professionals months to perfect.

The following site has beautiful pictures of macarons:
It is called, "Macaron Magic"...

http://macaronmagic.bearandfishcookbook.com/index.php

You have to click "gallery" to see pictures.

Portland Food Cart: Philly Cheese steak

Portland is famous for their food carts.
In downtown, they have lots and lots of food cart vendors all around the same block.
We tried quite a few of them this trip but would want to try more later.

The first one we tried is "Philly Cheese steak".  I have never heard of it before.
After I tried it, I love it!!

The picture does not tell the story.  It was very warm and fresh!
It has cheese, beef, green pepper, different veggies and sauces in there.

All the ingredients mixed in very very well for a nice taste.  It was perfect!
 The taste was calming and not too extreme.

This vendor is here for over 25 years.  I guess it is a safe bet.
This one is outside Pioneer Square near all the department stores.

http://www.foodcartsportland.com/

They have a website for all the food carts... 
Apparently, they have a food cart festival this weekend....