Before going home, we decided to buy Jamaican patties from MJ's Caribbean Cuisine. The Philippines has a food stall famous for its Jamaican patties. I absolutely love it and am excited to enjoy Jamaican patties again.
I ordered one beef, one chicken, and a vegetarian, and the best one of the three was the chicken. It's definitely the most flavourful.
 |
| Beef Jamaican Patty |
 |
| Chicken Jamaican Patty |
After enjoying the empanada and croissant, I couldn't resist the falafel and baklava from one of the stalls (Super Dishes Egyptian). Even the pita chips looked great, so I picked them too. But, unfortunately, we're too full, so we decided to bring it home.
After paying for our items, the lady offered us a free taste of the dolmas. I took a bite and was blown away. 🤯 I can't believe I haven't heard of or tried the dish before. It's savoury and sour. It's delicious. I was raving about it the whole time during our walk home.
|
|
Dolmas Delicious authentic grapevine leaves stuffed with rice, parsley, onions, tomato sauce, and spices made in Egyptian style. Ready to eat! |
When we got home, I started munching on the pita chips and holy smokes; why is this so good?! It has the crunchiness of chips but is still chewy like pita bread. I can keep eating it all day long.
|
| Pita Chips |
The next item is the falafel, the best one I have tried in Vancouver, replacing the one on West 4th Avenue. The only thing I regret is not buying the hummus. After the first three bites, it becomes dry without any sauce.
|
|
Falafel A traditional family recipe from Alexandria, Egypt, made of chickpea, parsley, onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, and spices. |
|
| Five Falafel |
The last thing we enjoyed was the baklava. It's the best baklava I tried in Vancouver. To be fair, I am not an expert in this Mediterranean dessert, but the ones I have attempted to are overly sweet; while this one has that sweetness, it's the taste of walnuts you will get.
|
|
Baklava Classic Middle Eastern dessert with walnuts, simple syrup, and puff pastry. |
What a delicious booth! I can't wait to try their food again. It's my first time trying Egyptian dishes, and I can't wait to eat more and learn about the culture.
We're planning to walk to Riley Park again to enjoy the offerings from Riley Park Summer Farmers Market and as I am going through the vendor list I discovered "Flavours of Hope." I like the name, so I thought of checking their website and they're a "non-profit social enterprise that supports refugee newcomer women to earn livable income and build social connections in communities through cooking and sharing culinary traditions and stories." Guess what? Super Dishes Egyptian Halal Cuisine is supported by Flavours Hope and I am looking forward to tasting more delicious dishes from Flavours of Hope members.
 |
| Butter Croissant |
 |
| A peek inside the Butter Croissant |
|
| Chocolate Twist |
 |
| Beef Empanada by Empanada Gal |
 |
| 4 pieces of Beef Empanada in one order |
The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver announced PROUDLY PHILIPPINES: Philippine Food and Travel Fair.
|
| Image source: Vancouver PCG |
June 11, 2022, Saturday (A day before Philippine Independence Day)
It's from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
It will be at Robson Square in Downtown Vancouver.
I will update this post once more information becomes available.
June 2, 2022 Update:
There is still no official update from PCG in Vancouver, but the following Filipino brands have shared on Instagram that they will be at the event. So consider this an unofficial update.
I will update this post once an official update becomes
available.
June 3, 2022 Update:
The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver posted this on their Facebook page:The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is pleased to invite everyone to “Proudly Philippines - Philippine Food and Travel Fair" at the Robson Square in downtown Vancouver on Saturday, 11 June 2022
Proudly Philippines was first launched in 2019 to showcase Philippine cuisine and travel destinations to the Canadian and second-generation Filipino-Canadian markets, with the hope of introducing to them a glimpse of Filipino culture and enticing them to visit the many beautiful places in the Philippines. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world, including Canada, however, we had to do virtual iterations of Proudly Philippines in the twO years that followed. This year, as Canada emerges from the throes of the pandemic, we are delighted to bring back to you, in person, our Proudly Philippines event.
Celebrating everything Filipino, Proudly Philippines will feature Philippine food products and cuisine, tour packages to travel destinations in the Philippines, and Filipino non-food businesses in Vancouver, as well as cultural performances, intended to create a Philippine experience" for all. Learn more about our participating vendors and performers in the days leading to the event.
Come and spend the day with us at Proudly Philippines as we celebrate the 124th anniversary of Philippine Independence and Filipino Heritage Month in Canada. The market will open at 10 a.m.
June 3, 2022 Update:
I found this video on YouTube promoting the event.
Based on this, we still don't have a list of vendors or programs for the day.
I will do my best to keep an eye out if additional details will be released by Vancouver PCG before the event and update this post.
June 6, 2022 Update: A Facebook post on the PCG in Vancouver page has been shared with the list of food vendors.
Dramatic. This is how I would describe the days before the Canada Men's National Team match against Curaçao today.
|
| BC Place |
I am one of the excited people who purchased tickets to the Iran friendly scheduled for June 5 and the game today when the tickets were sold last May 14. I chose the section, row, and seats we wanted, and we're good to go.
On May 26, CanMNT announced that the game against Iran had been cancelled and that refunds would be issued within 30 days. Fine. We still have the game today to look forward to. Four days later (May 30), they announced that a friendly match with Panama would be played on June 5 to replace the Iran game. They even offered it at a really affordable price of $30 (plus fees) per person. I got three tickets this time.
Then, two hours before the game, when we started our walk to BC Place (Thank God that we live relatively close to BC Place and can take a 40-minute walk going there), we randomly checked Twitter just in case it got cancelled. True enough, there was a press release that the players have decided to go on strike and won't be playing.
I was upset. After a couple of hours, I calmed down, especially when I received an official email from Ticketmaster that the organizer had cancelled the game and that I should expect my refund within 30 days.
Let's do some computation here. On May 14, I paid $219.50 for two tickets for the Iran match and another $219.50 for two tickets for the Curaçao game. Then on May 30, I paid $110.25 for three tickets to the Panama game.
As of this post, I still haven't received the $329.75 refund I expect from Canada Soccer through Ticketmaster for the two cancelled games.
Do you know the real kicker that makes me feel like crap? On June 7, Canada Soccer sent an email offering a 75% discount for the Curaçao game. So if I purchased the same section and row on June 7 instead of May 14, I would only spend $66.25. That's upsetting. I feel like I "donated" $153.25 to the Canada Soccer Business and the Canada Soccer Association. I don't think I want to do that, given what has happened.
Last June 7, I sent a message to Canada Soccer Association asking for a partial refund for the game today. This is the response I received the following day.
We understand your frustration. Canada Soccer is working towards providing an opportunity for as many fans to attend the Curacao match as possible. Fans can request a refund by logging into your Ticketmaster Account. Once you're in your account, choose your event, scroll down and click the 'Contact Us' button.
I followed the instructions in the email and spoke with a Ticketmaster representative, and this is the response I got on June 8.
Hello my name is Andy I will be assisting you today.
At this time, the event is still scheduled as planned and the Event Organizer is currently not authorizing refunds.
Obviously, one of them is lying, so I forwarded the email I received from Canada Soccer to Ticketmaster and informed Canada Soccer of what Ticketmaster said. The "He said, she said" between organizer and Ticketmaster is exhausting. I still haven't heard from either company, and the game is now over.
It's also discouraging to see supporters of the National Team from other cities shame or call out Vancouver folks for the low attendance.
|
| Walking to BC Place on this rainy afternoon |
1. We're lucky to have two games played at BC Place close to each other on June 5 and 9, but people have a limited budget they can allocate for these activities, and it's evident that people opt to watch the game on the weekend.
2. It's not supporters of BC's fault that both games scheduled on Sunday were cancelled.
3. We haven't received the refund for the Sunday game. If people receive their money back, they will most likely buy again for the Thursday game.
The CanMNT won against Curaçao 4-0. I wasn't fully invested in the match, but it's nice to see Davies back in BC Place. It's like my younger brother is now all grown up. LOL.
Moving forward, I won't be subscribing to One Soccer and will most likely not watch them in person again (unless I get free tickets). The whole experience has been unexpected, exhausting, and emotional. I'll continue to focus my energy on the Whitecaps FC (at least they're consistent, and my expectations could not go any lower), and we will start watching hockey more.
|
| "Thank you, Fans!" on display at BC Place. |
For people saying that CanMNT should not host any more games in Vancouver, I am at the point where I don't care.
As a new supporter who purchased tickets to CanMNT matches this window, watched the CanWNT when they were here in April, and even bought shirts to support the team, I am done. My limited financial resource would instead be spent on a team and fanbase that will appreciate and respect supporters.
Lastly, we're supporting a one Canada team and it's such a turnoff how much some supporters do the "our city is better than yours". If we're fighting over MLS team or CPL team, fine, you can hate each other all you want, but not for the National Team. The only criticism I throw around is for the team I support and the 'Caps are getting a lot of that when they don't play well (which is more frequent than we'd like to see).
I am no longer angry or upset about what happened two weeks ago. It also helped that Canada Soccer refunded $219.50 twice. Meaning, they essentially refunded the full price I paid for the Iran game which has been cancelled and for the Curaçao game which I watched. I am okay with them keeping the payment for the cancelled Panama as payment for the Curaçao match since I purchased that at a discounted price even if I purchased three instead of two. Thanks Canada Soccer for doing the right thing.
Anyway, now let's discuss the food. Today, we ordered from Bombay South Asian Kitchen.
|
| Dinner from Bombay South Asian Kitchen |
It's my fault for having high expectations for delicious South Asian food inside BC Place.
|
|
Lamb Korma Curry Tender lamb shoulder, onion, tomato, garam masala, and coconut milk |
The Lamb Korma Curry lacks flavour. It's like watered down, which is unfortunate. The naan bread feels like something you'll get from nearby Costco, and they don't even attempt to keep it warm to give the impression that it's made in-house.
|
|
Butter Chicken Curry Boneless chicken, fenugreek, garam masala, crushed tomato, and cream |
Thankfully, the Butter Chicken Curry has more flavour. So if ever you want Butter Chicken, it's acceptable. However, if you want a delicious rice bowl, the one from Boom Kitchen is way better.
|
|
Vegetable Samosas (2 pieces) Handmade with peas, carrots, potatoes, and spices |
The samosas were huge. Definitely bigger than expected, but flavour-wise, it's not something I can recommend. There are a lot of delicious Indian restaurants in Vancouver, so my expectation for this kiosk may be unfairly high.
That's it! I'll be back at BC Place on July 2 to watch the Whitecaps FC and continue my quest to buy from all food places inside the stadium.
