So cold today...A cold November.

Record cold temperature in Vancouver area.  It is cold that I find it difficult to bear when I walk my son to daycare.  I can't imagine living in a colder place. (minus 9 degrees Celsius)

Christmas Decorations: Hello Kitty and Thomas the Tank Engine

Every year, we buy new decorations for our big 7 feet tree.  It is sort of like our couple's collections. 
We are interested in special character and limited edition decorations from cartoons and corporations.
(For example, M&M, Starbucks, coke and other cute snowman and santas.) 

We found Hello Kitty and Thomas the engine on sale, and I immediately wanted them because all my family would love these cute things on our tree!!  My sons would like Thomas as well.  We also found several cute cupcakes and strawberry decorations from Walmart (they actually have cute decorations).

My Second Son Is Born

On November 15th, 2010, my second son is born in Burnaby Hospital at 3:45 pm local time. 
We were so happy and will undergo the same experience as having my first son.  (lots of joy and lots of work)
However, it reminds me of the cuteness of new born.  Yes, they are lacking hair and facial expressions, but they are soooooo cute!!

Halloween Night: Banana man

On the way back from the birthday dinner on Halloween, when we got off the Sky Train on Broadway, we saw a crowd of 40 people dressing as Bananas.  Everyone was rather surprised to see them.  I guessed that they were from the same workplace. 

Every passerby including us were taking pictures of them by cameras or cellphones.  Each Banana man or women will have a boom box, and when they got on the train, they start to hit the music and danced on the train.  It was hilarious.  The police officer watched in awe and radioed the downtown officers, saying "There are 50 men dressed in bananas in the skytrain heading downtown."  I just laughed.

Restaurant: Cafe Pacifica (Italian Buffet)

Recently, I wanted to celebrate my wife's birthday and decided to treat her to a good meal. 
I have heard that Cafe Pacifica in Canada Place (Pan Pacific Hotel) has really good Italian Buffet, so I decided to reserve a spot there for dinner.  We went there in the Holloween weekend, so we saw many people with funny costumes. 
The moment we got to the restaurant floor, I thought the floor was kind of dark.
In front of the restaurant reception, there was a large pond with various pumpkin carvings decorations.

First, I thought the food selection was limited, but it wasn't.
They have 3 sections of buffet to choose from:  Seafood, salad and cheese, cooked food and desserts.

They have a large selection of desert: chocolate cake, fruit cake, tiramisu, mousse, pudding, cheese cake....etc.
I was amazed and wanted to try everything.

They also have live order section of spaghetti, tortellini (or other Italian noodles) where you can order and customize your own noodle.  The chef will cook it right in front of you.  You will get to choose from 20 kinds of ingredients and 4 kinds of sauces.
The Halibut fish, chicken and Lasagna were also delicious (yes, we don't eat good stuff much, so I was easily impressed...haha)

The piano music and opera were provided by professional musicans and were absolutely wonderful.
The Opera songs scares my son because the powerful voices were loud for kids.
However, when the audiences clapped, my son clapped, too.  It was very funny.

We had a very good time....ate too much...too full.......

Mid October's Misty Days

Right in the middle of October, there were couple of misty days around Vancouver. 
From our building, we can see a sea of mist covering the lower ground.
It is beautiful.  It was sunny but the mist was just clearing up in the morning.

Free P&G Sample

We got a box of sample from the P&G sample website and were amazed at the samples included.

It has a Frebreze scent refill, shampoo, liner, mouth wash, deodorant and detergent.
All are very useful and helpful samples that we can use while travelling.

Snail As Our Pet for a Week

Snails and slugs are often found in June and early fall in BC.  Snail are more rare than slugs here.
Interestingly, my wife found one big snail and brought it back home to show my son.

The total length is more than 5 cm including the yellow patterned shell and body and tail. 
We gave it different kind of vegetable snacks and released him in a week to go back to nature.

Indian Butter Chicken

Last year, my co-worker gave me a recipe of authentic Indian Butter Chicken that he uses.
My wife tried to follow the recipe and made the following dish:

It was delicious and not the taste found in normal food courts and restaurants.

Haagen, Giant Pajamas in Target and Cute Wonder Sandwich Box

Continuing with my shopping notes, we went to Haagen in Washington State, and it feels like IGA Plus in BC. 
It has higher grade products and organic foods with higher prices.  Because of the similarity, I would not shop there too much.

We went to Target that day, too, and we saw giant pajamas again.
It is amazing because these are for adult females.  Do people actually wear these?

We saw many cute sandwich boxes in the summer, but we missed the chance to buy them. 
This time, we finally found 1 of Wonder Bread Sandwich Box, the last one in the stores...

Burlington, WA Part 2 Krispy Kreme

We also went to the Krispy Kreme in Burlington.  It has been a while and I still can't believe how cheap it is in America.  24 big doughnuts for 15 dollars? That is amazing consider the size of the doughnut is almost double Time Horton's.

We also bought a very cute and unique cup from the store.  It is about 7 to 12 dollars, so it might be on the expensive side depending on how you look at it.

Burlington, WA's K-Mart and Mickey Mouse Decorations

I haven't got the time to update this blog for a while...
We went to Burlington, WA to the outlet mall and local malls to shop in the beginning of October.
I knew there is a K-Mart there.  I have always wanted to go there because it is the second largest chain retailer in the states.  However, this one in burlington is like a ghost store because there was no good deals and no customers.  The store was huge but somehow it feels very shabby.

There was a bunch of Christmas light and decorations 3 months ahead of Christmas already!!
A bit too early?

They do have cute display balloon with Mickey Mouse and Snoopy.

Restaurant: De Dutch Pannekoek House

De Dutch is a Canadian chain restaurant specialized in dutch pancakes.  They call it "Pannekoek", which I think is the dutch version of the word, "pancake".  I personally like it better than the North American one with just maple syrup and butter.  The Dutch pancake is thinner with but large and round (30 cm or 1 feet round pancake).

It comes with 2 Eggs, Edam Cheese, Ham, Tomatoes and Hollandaise Sauce.
Now, it was my first time and Hollandaise sauce is absolutely delicious because I usually don't like western mayo type things.  It was also the first time I tried the Edam cheese, and it was delicious.

The interior of the restaurant is also nice with dutch windmill and tulip coat rack.
The service is okay....during busy times, but we don't mind going to this place once a while.

Restaurant: Paro's Taverna

The autumn is back, and the rain has returned.  We had to go to an indoor event, and fortunately, there was one.
Paro's Taverna is a popular Greek restaurant in Coquitlam with good reputation for its food.
Every year, they will have a promotional event to provide basic dishes in 1986 prices.
We tried their Kalamaria and Chicken Souvlaki for lunch.  (comes with Pita bread for everyone)
I ordered fries for my son, and it was only for 2 dollars.  Amazing!

The Kalamaria pieces were big, and the bread was delicious.  Even the fries tasted great.
Chicken Souvlaki and all the rice tasted more genuine than all the food court "Greek food".
The salad and potatoes were prepared really well.  (Pardon me for my description.  I am not a professional Greek food eater.)
Overall, it was only 18 dollars for real nice Greek restaurant food.  It was a steal.
I would go back again.

Restaurant: Gyoza King Downtown Vancouver

On the Labour Day weekend, we went to Gyoza King on Robson Street Downtown Vancouver. 
The staff were Japanese and were okay courteous.  However, during the entire time, they did not come over to offer more tea.
The Gyozas were fine but did not offer amazing taste comparing to the price.  It was 6 for 6 pieces.
The pieces were really small.  I think I rather buy some frozen gyozas from the markets and it might taste better.

We ordered 2 bowls of rice for 1.5 dollars each.  At the end, we paid 18 dollars including tips.
It is totally not worth it at all.  We could get ramen set with gyoza and fried rice in Japan for 20 dollars.
You can also get similar deal in other ramen restaurant in Vancouver, so I don't think Gyoza King is anything special.

Slug Around My Apartment and Seastar

The slugs' season is usually around the Spring time, but this one is still around in the Fall.
It is pretty big, but not as big as the one I can find around Deer Lake or Burnaby Lake.

My son loves sea stars, so I thought to just include this picture taken before he was born in 2006. 
Wow...it was 4 years ago?  Time passes too fast.  Where did the last 4 years go?

The slugs I saw around lakes before were huge, sometimes up to 20 centimetres.

USA size Pajama for Children

We all know that everything is big in America, but not this big....
They sell pajamas for children in Target in the States, and they are huge! 
They are taller than me....

McDonald USA: Angus Mushroom Burger

The other day, we went down to Bellingham, WA again to grocery shop and noticed that the McDonald there is not only cheaper but has a different menu.  They have new menu items such as Angus Burger and Angus Wrap.  We tried the Angus Mushroom Burger with Swiss Cheese, and it was absolutely delicious.  

 

I doubt it would come to Canada because Canadian pricing of a McDonald meal is already very expensive.  They would have to sell this combo for 8 dollars or so.

Restaurant: G-Men

We went to a Ramen restaurant in Richmond, BC this weekend because it has good reviews.  G-Men is operated by the same group who owns Gyoza King and Gyo-O, and they hire mostly Japanese staff.  We had a pleasant experience there because we went there at 2:30 to avoid the line-ups.  The staff were courteous and the price is reasonable for the amount of food.  We definitely would not mind going again.

 

We tried the "Assari Shoyu Ramen" and "Negi Teriyaki Chicken Donburi".  The broth was great but it is not as "Assari" as I thought.  It still has quite an amount of oil floating around.  (Assari means light and simple.  For example, not too greasy, not too salty or not too sweet.)  I still think this restaurant offers good value and quality.  However, comparing with Santouka in Downtown Vancouver, something is still different.  Santouka really amazed us the other time.

Pictures of My Smaller Chihuahua

My smaller Chihuahua is very playful but naughty.  She can be like a cat sometimes.  One moment, she can be alone the whole day, and one moment, she is jealous of someone and wants all your attention.  She also likes to compete for toys and food with my other Chihuahua.  She likes to stare at my kid eating food because when the food is dropped, she is ready to eat them off the floor.