Sean & I had a wonderful summer vacation visiting family in New Brunswick. At first, I was a little leery of the legendary heat and the bugs, but as it turned out, the weather was perfect all week. I won't mention the bugs.
We spent 4 days in Fredericton with Sean's sister Jody, her husband Jeff & little cutie Sawyer. Sean & Jeff got little bits of guy time here and there, and Jody even took me out to see the Boyce Farmer's Market in Fredericton. It was the best market I've ever been to, and we had a great time... even if it was 6 in the morning!
We also spent 4 days in Stickney visiting Sean's Mom & Dad. Jody & Sawyer came too, but Jeff couldn't come as he had to work. Boy, did Sawyer keep us busy! Uncle Sean soon became the clear favourite, and slept very well at night from all the exercise he got! We both marvelled at how clever Sawyer is and how much he'd grown since last Christmas. We all relaxed a bit and enjoyed the entertainment.
On the second to last day in Stickney, Don & Susan invited some more family over for a BBQ lunch. I met Susan's sisters Sylvia & Darlene (with husband Dennis), and Don's sister Sadie. I really enjoyed finally meeting them all, matching up the faces with the stories and seeing everyone together.
Our last 2 days in New Brunswick were spent in and around Moncton, Dieppe & Memramcook for a wedding. It was a beautiful and unique ceremony, and Alex & Julie seem like wonderful people. Congratulations to them both!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Who's your Papa?
Today, Sean & I went to Japan, and it only cost us $10 in gas.
Sometime this week, Sean heard about the newest Asian sensation to hit North America; Beard Papa's Creme Puffs. After reading all about them and watching the story of their creation online, we decided to venture into Richmond to snag a couple to try.
The city of Richmond is directly south of Vancouver (and North-West of Surrey, where we live). The demographic is about 85% Asian, mostly from China and Japan, as is demonstrated by everything from an eastern style of architecture, to Chinese signage. The Beard Papa store is located in Aberdeen Centre, a mall neither of us had been to.
As soon as we entered the mall, we felt like we'd been transported thousands of miles away. Everyone there was Asian, and most were speaking languages other than English. The stores were all very unique, selling everything from clothing (where a size 8 is an XL), to pottery & art, to digital 'Lotus' toilet seats (If you need a laugh, you should really watch this educational video promoting Lotus Toilet seats. A picture really is worth a thousand words). On the bottom level (no pun intended) of the mall, there was a large organic foods display with real veggies growing in a portable garden and plastic animals and farm paraphernalia. It was a wonderful exhibit and a great opportunity for little city kids to see how vegetables grow. I was also very glad the animals were of the plastic variety...
Oh, I should also mention there was a store showing/selling Ferraris, Maseratis and accessories. That was pretty sweet.
We bought a box of Beard Papas, (which come in three varieties; original, eclair and the daily special (which was matcha/green tea today) and took them over to my parent's place to share them. They definitely lived up to all the hype! Light and crispy outside, smooth and creamy inside, and not too sweet or heavy. My sister has demanded them for her birthday in September. Yummo.
Sometime this week, Sean heard about the newest Asian sensation to hit North America; Beard Papa's Creme Puffs. After reading all about them and watching the story of their creation online, we decided to venture into Richmond to snag a couple to try.
The city of Richmond is directly south of Vancouver (and North-West of Surrey, where we live). The demographic is about 85% Asian, mostly from China and Japan, as is demonstrated by everything from an eastern style of architecture, to Chinese signage. The Beard Papa store is located in Aberdeen Centre, a mall neither of us had been to.
As soon as we entered the mall, we felt like we'd been transported thousands of miles away. Everyone there was Asian, and most were speaking languages other than English. The stores were all very unique, selling everything from clothing (where a size 8 is an XL), to pottery & art, to digital 'Lotus' toilet seats (If you need a laugh, you should really watch this educational video promoting Lotus Toilet seats. A picture really is worth a thousand words). On the bottom level (no pun intended) of the mall, there was a large organic foods display with real veggies growing in a portable garden and plastic animals and farm paraphernalia. It was a wonderful exhibit and a great opportunity for little city kids to see how vegetables grow. I was also very glad the animals were of the plastic variety...
Oh, I should also mention there was a store showing/selling Ferraris, Maseratis and accessories. That was pretty sweet.
We bought a box of Beard Papas, (which come in three varieties; original, eclair and the daily special (which was matcha/green tea today) and took them over to my parent's place to share them. They definitely lived up to all the hype! Light and crispy outside, smooth and creamy inside, and not too sweet or heavy. My sister has demanded them for her birthday in September. Yummo.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Today was one big foodgasm
What a day.
After 2 weeks of strict diet eating (NO CAFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEIIIIIINNNNNNE!), Sean & I took my folks along to Eat Vancouver. Ooooh baby, what a cheat day.
Basically, EV is a great big food fest/trade show with dozens of exhibitors, vendors, and demos. We went last year and discovered some great things (the worlds' best BBQ sauce for one... which turned out to be unavailable west of Ontario), sampled some wonderful food, and marvelled at the cook-off contestants. This year was much of the same, but we kicked off the day at the celebrity chef stage to watch Food Network's Bob Blumer. He made pizza on the BBQ which we are definitely going to have to try very soon.
We came home with tons of freebies (Yay!), a case of the coveted 'Canadian Club BBQ Sauce', and strangely enough, some all natural Kitty litter. We also brought home some Dog treats seeing as how the cats (or at least Leo) think they're dogs anyway.
For lunch (we actually didn't eat much at the fest- been there, done that.) we went to Kaplan's Deli. Located in the heart of Vancouver's Jewish community, Kaplan's has been a landmark of good eats for over 40 years. Man, can they make a sandwich. I had a Chicago-Style hot dog (beef, of course) with kosher pickles, relish, mustard, peppers and who knows what else. It was bigger than my face. I will gladly admit, that despite all my yuppie-west coast tastes, my all time favourite food, in the entire universe, bar none, is the glorious hot dog! And that was the best one I've ever had.
We wrapped up the day at the pub, with my work friends from the library (Sean likes to come because apparently we're amusing). It was nice having so many spouses/partners there. It was also great seeing everybody, since currently I am working elsewhere (a quaint community library on the wrong side of Hell).
All in all, a wonderful day- and sunny too!
After 2 weeks of strict diet eating (NO CAFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEIIIIIINNNNNNE!), Sean & I took my folks along to Eat Vancouver. Ooooh baby, what a cheat day.
Basically, EV is a great big food fest/trade show with dozens of exhibitors, vendors, and demos. We went last year and discovered some great things (the worlds' best BBQ sauce for one... which turned out to be unavailable west of Ontario), sampled some wonderful food, and marvelled at the cook-off contestants. This year was much of the same, but we kicked off the day at the celebrity chef stage to watch Food Network's Bob Blumer. He made pizza on the BBQ which we are definitely going to have to try very soon.
We came home with tons of freebies (Yay!), a case of the coveted 'Canadian Club BBQ Sauce', and strangely enough, some all natural Kitty litter. We also brought home some Dog treats seeing as how the cats (or at least Leo) think they're dogs anyway.
For lunch (we actually didn't eat much at the fest- been there, done that.) we went to Kaplan's Deli. Located in the heart of Vancouver's Jewish community, Kaplan's has been a landmark of good eats for over 40 years. Man, can they make a sandwich. I had a Chicago-Style hot dog (beef, of course) with kosher pickles, relish, mustard, peppers and who knows what else. It was bigger than my face. I will gladly admit, that despite all my yuppie-west coast tastes, my all time favourite food, in the entire universe, bar none, is the glorious hot dog! And that was the best one I've ever had.
We wrapped up the day at the pub, with my work friends from the library (Sean likes to come because apparently we're amusing). It was nice having so many spouses/partners there. It was also great seeing everybody, since currently I am working elsewhere (a quaint community library on the wrong side of Hell).
All in all, a wonderful day- and sunny too!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)