Restaurant Review: Burger Heaven

Two weeks ago, during a cold summer day, we went to Burger Heaven again in New Westminster, BC.
(Summer arrived really late this year at the end of July.  When I went in late June, it was freezing.)

Burger Heaven usually gives out coupons in the newspaper but not as good as before.
The coupon before is buy 1 get 1 free for entree.  Now, the condition is buy 1 get 1 free with two drinks.
Heck, restaurant drinks are expensive, so that is pure profit, they are not losing money and it is not really discount.
Anyways, we enjoyed the food and the wonderful burgers before, so we went again.
This time, we ordered Teriyaki chicken burger and beef mozzarella mushroom burger.
Their service really depends on the person and time.  If you get a guy to serve you, you can be more polite than the guy.  I remember 4 years ago, we really got friendly service from other waitresses.

Their burger and sauces are absolutely amazing. 

Burger Heaven in New Westminster: Teriyaki burger and beef mushroom

The sauces are better than many other restaurants I tasted including White spot (just bad burgers.)
If we are buying a 10 to 15 dollar burger, we want good burgers, not A&W level burgers.

We went home colder than we began that day because we sat outside and coughing. haha

2011 BC Scandinavian Festival in Burnaby

The Scandinavian Festival this year invited Japan as guest country for 2011.
In this event, 5 Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark) and 1 guest country will display their culture and put on various performances from their culture and country.
For example, Japanese dance group performed a Japanese Taiko dance (It is actually Okinawan.)  Now, don't ask me what is the difference between Okinawan culture and Japanese culture.  It is a long topic.  The difference has historical and geographical reasons.  It is historically heavily influence by Japan, so now it is more like a regional culture within the Japanese culture.
We both love the Okinawan dance music!  It gave very traditional tribal beats and moved our senses.
Okinawa: The History of an Island People

Japanese Okinawan drum dance

They also had a Viking Village section displaying how people lived 1000 years ago in that region.
It is interesting to see but with two small babies, we weren't getting any learning done.
In each nation's section, they had shop vendor which sells food, merchandizes, handcrafts....
They also had kids toys and free flags and pins.

Viking tents scandinavian festival

hand made kids safe paint toy train

I bought a hand made safe dye toy train.  Well, I guess I had to trust the old couple that this is really safe.
They don't have this kind of hand crafted toys, so we were glad that they had them.

viking keychain and pins

I also got some pins and a viking keychain for souvenirs. Just a part of my big junk collections.
Maybe I will go there next year as well...

Toys R Us Canada: 2011 Father's Day Lego Car Event

Toys R Us Canada held a Lego event for Father's Day this year as they held one for the Mother's Day.

This time, fathers get to make Lego racing cars with their sons and daughters at this event.
We went with our kids in June. (this post is late.)
The instructions for this car was very easy as it is a small car and took only 3 minutes to build.
(Unlike the mother's day flower...it was very complex.)

2011 father's day event toys r us Lego racing car

The only special parts you have to obtain are the tires parts...
It is nice that they have this type of free events to promote their stores and products.
Of course, most people would end up buying things for the kids but the kids also take away a small free Lego.

My son could not wait around for the events to start but he did enjoy building this car...

Trader Joe's Calbee Snack Salad Snapea Crisps

Japanese people love "mame", meaning peas and beans.
For breakfast, they have "natto", or "sticky soy beans".
For snack, they have "edamame", a kind of refresh pea, which you just peel the skin and eat what is inside.
They also have all kinds of snack peas.
In the weekend, we found a kind of "mame" in Trader Joe's and we were surprised.
We bought it and tried it at home.  It became one of my wife's favorite snack!!

Trader Joe's Snapea Crisps baked original by Calbee

I think it is like a baked "chips" type of snack that simulate the taste and shape of a "mame" or "peas".
This is a good snack if you like Oriental snacks and peas and Trader Joe's are close by.

2011 Strawberry U-Pick in Richmond, BC

Because of the cold bad weather of the spring in BC, the strawberry crop is 6 weeks late this year and is still ripening.  I saw the news saying that the strawberry might be very sweet this year, so we went to W&A Farm in Richmond, BC right away to see if it is true.

6 pounds of strawberries BC local

It was really true!!  The strawberries were sooooo sweet!  My son and my wife love strawberry and really enjoyed them.  They were indeed sweet and we U-picked them.

The funny thing is that my co-worker went after I went and said the batch was sour.
Strange...maybe the earlier batch were better?  Therefore, my co-workers don't believe me now. haha

I wonder how the blueberries will be this year...

McDonald's Canada: McRib Combo

So, McDonald's is promoting their McRib combo.  Of course, we went to try it.
They taste it not bad with a long, larger size than their usual burger.
The meat also taste a little better, but not sure if it is real "rib meat".

McDonald's McRib Combo

However, is it really worth 8 dollars for this combo....not really.
McDonald's Canada is still over charging us by almost 50 percent comparing to the states.
If I am paying 8 dollars for McDonald's, I might as well go to a restaurant to make sure I get better quality food.

McDonald's USA: Jalapeno Cheddar McChicken and Vanilla Shake

I love the Jalapeno Cheddar McChicken in the States and so we tried it again.

McCafe Vanilla shake, Jalapeno McChicken, Sweet Chili sauce

We also loved their vanilla shake and all the sauces, which are available in america.
Vanilla shake is not as sweet as the chocolate shake and taste refreshing.

We don't have much choices in Canada for sauces,but apparently, they have more than 12 choices in sauces.
(makes me jealous)
The sweet chili is so far my favorite.  I have to try the others as well.

Trader Joe's Blueberry and Pomegranate Green Tea

We tried Trader Joe's new Blueberry and Pomegranate Green Tea.
It is pretty good with a graceful taste of blueberry and pomegranate.
I think it is particularly good if you are not used to the traditional green tea.

blueberry pomegranate green tea and chunky salsa and tapenade

We also bought chunky salsa and their tapenade.
Both of them are fantastic and delicious.

Restaurant: Q4 Ristorante in Vancouver

We went to a nice Italian Restaurant in Vancouver near the Kitsilano area.
It was our first time going to a good Italian restaurant.  It was hard to enjoy the whole meal with a baby because we have to take turns holding the baby.  However, we did enjoy the delicious food!
(This was for Mother's Day dinner for my wife.  I didn't have a chance to upload till now.)

First, we had carpaccio carciofi.
As described on the menu: Shaved beef tenderloin with a lemon and artichoke aioli garnished with asiago chips.  This is an absolutely amazing dish for us.

Then, we had an Italiano Pizza.
As described in the menu:  Parma prosciutto, local arugula and shaved parmigiano reggiano

The ham is just too delicious.  I really enjoyed the pizza.  I would have enjoyed more if the baby wasn't hyper active. haha.

Then, we tried Capellini con Gamberi...Angel hair noodle with shrimp.
As described in the menu:  Angel hair pasta with prawns, wild boar bacon, cherry tomatoes, onions, extra virgin olive oil, fresh thyme and parsley topped with cranberries.

This was the one of the best Italian noodle I have tried.  It was nothing I have tried before.  (of course, I don't dine out for Italian that much.)

At last, we ordered to try their tiramisu cake:

I thought it would be a ordered in or prepared tiramisu cake they have but it wasn't.
It was made and nice decorated by hand.  I had to say I was impressed.

This was a high end restaurant with great service.  I would try again if I had a chance.

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.