Smooch Food. There's so much to eat!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is a non-working holiday, which means sleeping in and waking up later, enjoying Thanksgiving leftover for brunch, and exercising to burn off all the turkey and creamy mashed potatoes. That's precisely what we did today. I woke up later than usual, reheated leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, and exercised (did 45 minutes of aerobics and 15 minutes of standing ab exercises) to feel less guilty about all the mashed potatoes I ate. After all that, I decided to step outside, walk around the neighbourhood and enjoy a cup of Belgian Dark Chocolate Mocha from nearby Waves Coffee. I sat outside the store and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine feeling grateful for all the blessings.  Dark Chocolate Belgian Mocha Fifteen minutes later, hubby arrived from his weekly run. I ordered a Belgian White Chocolate Mocha for him. I can't decide which one I like better, but they're both so delicious. Though, his cup has a lovely message from the barista. White Chocolat

It's one of my favourite times of the month! Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffe changed their seasonal flavour from Peanut Butter to Pumpkin. We had it with Pumpkin Spiced Latte, which doesn't taste like pumpkin spiced at all. Pumpkin Cheesecake The Pumpkin Cheesecake taste like pumpkin (not pumpkin spice). I can actually see shredded pumpkin in the Cheesecake.

After having breakfast and Sunday Mass, we knew we were going to TREES Organics for Pumpkin Cheesecake, so it's a matter of deciding where to have lunch before heading there. We end up having lunch at a nearby Freshii. It's only our second time at Freshii, and we went for two bowls. Mediterranean and Buddha's Satay I had the Mediterranean Bowl with Falafel as protein. The olives are overwhelming as well as the red onions, but I enjoyed the perfectly cooked quinoa. Mediterranean with Falafel Ingredients: Quinoa & field greens, feta cheese, kalamata olives, almonds, red onions, cucumber, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, red pepper sauce Hubby ordered Buddha's Satay, which I prefer to the Mediterranean because I love the peanut sauce. Buddha's Satay with Steak Ingredients: Rice noodles, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, crispy wontons, green onions, spicy peanut sauce I am surprised at how much I enjoyed our lunch. I think I'll be back for more bowls.

Bridges Restaurant in Granville Island will be closing its doors this weekend. Tomorrow is their last day of operation. After renovations, the iconic yellow building will be the new home of Tap and Barrel Bridges. My Bridges Restaurant Memories I moved to Canada in 2015, and my first full-time job was at the building by the entrance of Granville Island. According to my Swarm App, I have been to Bridges Restaurant seven times (before today). First Promotion My first time at Bridges was when I had lunch with our CEO last April 2018. He told me the fantastic news that I will be the new manager of our Vancouver office. I was shaking with excitement, joy, and fear all at the same time. I wanted to cry after our meal as we were walking back into the office. You see, I was underemployed for nine months after I arrived in Canada. I got married in October 2017, and my hubby was unable to work right away until we get his work permit. It was a challenging time financially and emotionally.  The ne

It's a busy Saturday for hubby and me (and my beautiful parents, who helped us with our errands today). We decided (just a week ago) to send a balikbayan box  to my in-laws in the Philippines. It's our first time doing such a thing, and we have no idea what to get and how to do it, but we chugged along. We started the day in Costco, where we purchased many things we think they're going to enjoy - a personal favourite is the box of 40 (10 pieces of 4 different hot chocolates!). Of course, we also got the usual like Spam, body soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste. Then, we head to Superstore. I shopped for our food for the week since I am not getting HelloFresh delivery this week. Hubby also got tea and chips (limited edition Pringles and ketchup flavour chips), which we can include in the box. Before heading to lunch, we stopped by Manila Cargo Express to buy a balikbayan box and ask about the process of sending a package and its costs. Then, we drove all the way to Ironwood for

It's that time of the month when Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee changed their limited-edition cheesecake from Mango to Peanut Butter, and of course, we went there to enjoy a slice. It's much sweeter than I like, but it tastes like peanut butter. I wonder if they can make a PB & J cheesecake. Peanut Butter Cheesecake Happy Saturday!

Happy rainy Saturday in Vancouver! After Mass today, we decided to have dinner somewhere that serves soup (i.e. pho or ramen or anything with noodles). I had a dentist appointment recently, and they just placed a temporary crown, and I am paranoid that it will crack, so I thought noodles would be soft enough not to cause any damage. Also, I am not allowed to eat anything crunchy (like chips), hard (like nuts and candy), and sticky (like gum). So, except for the chips, I don't eat nuts, candy, or gum regularly. We also changed our diet recently, and we don't buy chips anymore. Anyway, as we were walking from the Church to our home, we kept pointing at different restaurants and whether they had noodles and if we had eaten there recently. So that went on until we reached MASA Japanese Restaurant. Volcano Roll (Salmon) Menu Description: Deep fried spicy salmon roll with spicy salad and sauce I love the Volcano Roll; it was spicy good! Though, to be fair, I think I enjoyed all the r

One of our after-work entertainment is watching Mikey Chen and Strictly Dumplings on YouTube. In the most recent video we watched, he enjoyed a bowl of pho and other Vietnamese dishes. Thus, we decided to go to the closest Vietnamese restaurant to our place: Viet Flavour Restaurant. We used to have Express Pho a couple blocks away, but it has closed down to give way for the new sky train station. Today, we ordered two main dishes, an appetizer, and a dessert. Pho Dac Biet Special beef noodle soup (pho) with rare beef, brisket, beef balls, and tripe Delicious! It's so delicious I want to cry. I tried adding Sriracha to see its flavour, and I am not a fan of adding it to my pho. It adds heat, but that's about it. I love my pho bowl as is. Com Suon, Cha, Cha Gio Grilled lemongrass pork, chicken, and spring roll on rice This is hubby's order. Of course, I would order my favourite beef stew if he ordered pho, but that's just a good reason to come back. Cha Gio Vietnamese dee

It's been 2 years, 5 months, and 5 days since I last saw my former colleagues in the office because we started working from home at the start of the pandemic. We had dinner today because one of them is also leaving the company. As an immigrant, my first friends in Canada are my former colleagues turned friends and I couldn't be happier to see them again after more than two years and catch up. For dinner, I had my absolute favourite from The Wicklow Pub: Yorkshire Pudding Bowl. It's so delicious. I am already planning on when to come back with hubby to try their other items. Yorkshire Pudding Bowl Certified roast angus beef, house gravy, garlic mash potatoes, and horseradish aioli Before dinner view at around 5:30 PM After dinner view of the sunset at around 8:30 PM I can't wait to plan a reunion with them around Christmas time.

Happy Saturday! Hubby and I went shopping today at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport, then for lunch, we decided to enjoy a meal at Japadog. We ordered two Japadog. Ebi Tempura Shrimp tempura, seasoned rice, and seaweed It's so unusual to see rice between hotdog buns. The only reason we ordered this is because we're going through their menu and this is the next one on the list. Love Meat Japadog Arabiki pork, torched cheese, special meat sauce (beef)  The Love Meat Japadog is perfect for those who wants a more familiar American hotdog. It's not as "out of this world" like other flavours. Plain Takoyaki Japanese octopus dumplings Butter & Shoyu (Soy Sauce) Shaked Fries The takoyaki and fries is pretty standard. If you crave for takoyaki or fries, this will hit the spot. Omatcha Parfait We ended our delicious meal with Omatcha Parfait. It has green tea ice cream, red beans paste, Japanese mochi, corn flakes, vanilla ice cream, and Japanese matcha je

Once a quarter, hubby and I do a Costco grocery run with my parent's membership card. We usually buy hand soap, paper towels, toilet paper, tissue boxes, detergents, and other things that usually don't expire quickly. After the trip, we treat them to lunch as our way of saying thank you. My dad loves Redbeef Noodle Kitchen, and we do too. So hence, we had lunch here today. Redbeef is my second favourite restaurant in Vancouver, right after Suika. I also have a dish that I consistently order: Chicken Cutlet Rice and Salt & Pepper Popcorn Chicken.  Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings I prefer the ones from Lin Chinese Cuisine in West Broadway. Fried Spareribs with Rice Well-seasoned and tender. I enjoyed the pieces hubby shared with me. Malay Sponge Cake - if you want not sweet and extremely soft sponge cake, this is it! Chicken Cutlet Rice Salt & Pepper Popcorn Chicken I will always get the chicken cutlet rice and salt & pepper popcorn chicken - so good! Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday! 즐거운 토요일 I got my second dose of vaccine today, and as a celebration that hubby and I are now vaccinated, we walked along Robson Street from Canada Place in search of a place to have lunch. I was thinking of going to Ramen Danbo, but the line is ridiculously long, and I saw a sign for all-you-can-eat (AYCE) Korean BBQ. I was craving for Korean BBQ even though we just had it last Wednesday for dinner . We had Set B, and I ordered one of each meat they have to offer, some of the dishes, and all sides (except rice). Of the dishes, I would recommend the Jumukbab (Rice Balls) and if you like dumplings getting the deep-fried dumplings is a good idea too. Otherwise, focus your attention on getting the meat. From the sides, I enjoyed the kimchi and sweet potato. They're both good palate cleansers when the meat is too much. AYCE Korean BBQ AYCE Korea BBQ Meat on the grill We only did one round because hubby was full already. I wonder if there are other good AYCE Korean BBQ in

Happy birthday, Pa! It's our dad's birthday and to celebrate we had Korean BBQ. We originally wanted Japanese BBQ from Gyu-Kaku, but we're seven people (me and my hubby, my parents, and three siblings), and they couldn't accommodate our big group. As such, we end up in Royal Seoul House Restaurant, which is the closest Korean restaurant to our place. We ordered our usual - Combo B (beef, pork, and chicken), Deep Fried Pork Dumplings, Seafood Pancake, and Japchae. Moreover, my brother and I are feeling adventurous, so we ordered two new dishes that we don't usually order: Ttok-Bokki (it's my first time trying it) and Deopbap. Deopbap Rice topped with assorted veggies in a hot stone bowl with pork. I am not a fan of their Deopbap, but to be fair, I am eating other dishes with a stronger flavour, so I couldn't appreciate it as much. Ttok-Bokki Stir-fried rice cake, veggies, and fish cake with a spicy sauce Ttok-Bokki is something you will frequently see when wa