I bet you don’t know what this is – if I didn’t tell you – hehe!   Well, yesterday – the weather was spring like – so we went into the woods with Chloe’s grandparents and Aunt Helena – to collect Maple Syrup.  You see – Chloe’s grandfather owns lots of land outta town and he does this for a hobby.  Tapped the maple trees and collect the sap and then cooked them till they become Maple Syrup.  So instead of checking out for insurance on   wholesaleinsurance.net i decided to hop into the truck with them and went along.

Yes – all the clear liquid you see in these bottle are maple syrup.  Pretty cool eh.

Home made Maple Syrup – compliments of Grammie & Grampie Killam to Kai Mah in Singapore.

Mr R – who was in Halifax this week for some system memory – had gone to Bedford to get me some groceries that the other Asian Grocery store doesn’t have – very  nice indeed of Mr R.  I had called the store and asked them for frozen durian but I guess the Vietnamese woman didn’t quite understand me – so she gave this to Mr R to bring home for me… LOL!  but it’s better getting the whole durian fruit with spikes and all back eh – coz’ i wouldn’t know how to open it .. hahhaha!!

I’m glad the mochi wasn’t the huge big ones that I usually see from home – these small ones are just good for diabetic like myself – so I don’t kill myself with sugar overdose.. hahhahaha!! and it was pretty good.. but not much of durian taste though – but nevertheless I loved it .. but gotta eat them sparingly as 3 pieces of this is 17 grams of sugar.

Airing Date: March 8, 2010
Episodes: 20

In search of the last model for his painting “Nine Pretty Women”, acclaimed scholar TONG PAK FU (Moses Chan) goes on a trip to Hangzhou with his ardent disciple WAT KEI (Lee Sze Chit). While there, he meets a pretty young maid from WAH’s Residence, CHAU HEUNG (Myolie Wu). FU is mesmerized by HEUNG’s beauty and martial agility and falls in love with her right away. In order to approach the girl, he disguises as a servant and assumes the pseudonym WAH ON, seeking to win her affections with his talent and ingenuity. But contrary to his wishes, HEUNG is unmoved and even harbours an intense dislike for him after a series of misunderstandings. Master of the family WAH HUNG SHAN (Ha Yu) knew from the very beginning that FU is not a common man. By the time his true identity is revealed, the scholar has already developed a close bond with the whole of the family, except HEUNG.

In the meantime, Prince LING (Tsang Wai Kuen), who has been attempting to rebel against Emperor CHING TAK (Lai Lok Yi), has managed to involve FU in his conspiracy by stratagem, thus getting the man and the WAHs into big trouble. LING’s daughter CHU TING YUK (Fala Chen) is in love with FU. Desperate to save her dream man, she forces LING to release FU by threatening to kill herself. YUK’s consuming passion for FU seems to have caused a ripple of unease in HEUNG, who is starting to feel a little twinge of jealousy inside.

For password to synopsis – please leave a comment here – I’ll have it up as soon as I see the shows.

Fishballs are not what I can get commonly or often enough – I get them once in a while from the city and this week – Mr R – our friend/long time customer was in the city and had been bringing stuff back home for me.  I’m so grateful because now everyone who goes to the city – they will drop in and ask if I needed anything.  Anyhow, I got this fishballs – although I had asked for fishcake from the chinese grocery store and had them for dinner – since I didn’t know what else to cook or eat.

And what did I have my fishball with ?  Yes – Tom Yum noodles in the cup – but these were from another Asian Grocery Store but Mr R drove over to Bedford for me – since the other store didn’t have what I needed.  Thank you Mr R – my daughter and I are so grateful to you!

This was the laksa I had last week – the ones that were sent by Jen from Toronto – from Passion4food.  It does looked a lot like mee siam eh? hehe!! no it’s not.. my mee siam is all gone .. WaaaW!    but i didn’t have any fish cake this time round.  But nevertheless good! yummy! It was easy to cook – just put the paste into 1000ml of water and add in the coconut powder and leave it to simmer for 15 minutes or so.   thanks again .. Jen!!

My lunch is usually a wanton soup and an egg roll with the Zhu’s because these keeps my blood sugar steady during lunch.  But when I cook lunch for Chloe like the pineapple rice, I will eat this instead.  But since there is no meat in my pineapple rice – I had leftovers from yesterday’s lunch and added them on but for Chloe she had fresh chicken breast that we get from Sobey’s.   What did you have for lunch?  I bet you had a lot better food than I – I sure missed the convenience of home – Singapore – where one can get a bowl of fishball noodles for a few bucks.

Junk food is PB’s favorite food – he can eat cookies, ice cream, ice cream and vivo puffs to keep him going if he cannot find time to get dinner.   I’ve never tried it not because I won’t like it – I know I would but as a diabetic – I don’t even touch this anymore – because I’m saving my sugar for something I know I would enjoy – like noodles…!! or curry noodles.

So Chloe was recommended this today – at first she didn’t want it.. but after much persuading.. now she is hooked onto it.  This Viva Puffs are a treat to her – the puff consist of chocolate, marshmallows and cookie at the bottom and as you can see there are chocolate oozing outta the picture.   Junk food as darn cheap here – this big packet of Viva Puffs cost less than $3.50 and they come on sale so often – plus with airmiles given at times.

So I told my friends on facebook to guess what I had for dinner during the weekend, since i had a bagful of goodies from Jen from Toronto.  Jen is a blogging from who blogs on www.passion4food.ca and she had bought me mee siam from Prima Taste – unfortunately, she only found 1 pack of it  .. so I had to eat sparingly and make the packet last.. hahha!!!  But as you all know by now – I have been gorging myself silly with cuttlefish, laksa and candies from Jen – so you know what I went shopping for today eh..??  Yes..!!! elliptical machines !! if i am gonna finish all the goodies from the bag of food Jen sent thru’ PB’s cousin.

Yummy or not!!!!!  I had fried fish cakes with tau kwa and an egg .. !!!!  it was so good .. i went back for seconds.. and instead of lasting for 3 meals.. this pack of Mee Siam only lasted for 3 .. boohoohoo..!!!  but thanks again Jen..!! i must say .. Mee Siam is my absolute favorite..!

Phoebe’s Cafe located not too far from our store – was recently reopened – they were formerly the home of Maritime Pita who had moved to another location not too far away from its original place.  Anyhow – after having eaten so much wanton soup – and laksa compliments of Jen from Passion4food – I decided to try out the new business – afterall, we have to support our downtown businessmen right..??   Phoebe’s Cafe serves Lebanese food – the Friday’s special was Garlic Chicken & Potatoes.  Don’t be deceived by the plain looking box and uncolorful meal – the food was pretty good.  The today’s special goes for $7.95 + tax and the portion was big enough for 2 person if it was a wee bit more.  But nevertheless, good value for what we paid.

PB had the chicken and I ordered a beef pita – just because I didn’t wanna have the same kinda food.  The beef wasn’t wrapped into the pocket but laid on top of the pita and wrapped together.  Although the food was pretty good – the beef was a bit tough for my liking .. and as expected it all fell apart before i got to the rest of it.   A small pita was at $5.95 + tax – very good value for money because of the size of the pita.  I didn’t finished it of course and only ate half of the whole pita and the ingredients of the second half.

Phoebe’s Cafe is cozily decorated – I didn’t take any pictures because I left the camera since we closed the store to get lunch as it was raining. The inside was very nice indeed and definitely got potential – but the outside building didn’t compliment the inside – I had joked that they should get the landlord to paint the outside only to learn that the landlord’s wife was the one serving us – hahahha!!  but no i didn’t mean it in any disrespect.   Would I go back and try more food ..?? for sure.. !  I hope they continue to bring other dishes for their specials and maybe a wi-fi in the cafe would definitely encourage tourists and passerby to drop in.   A good coffee machine is definitely a plus too.

Jen Cheung from Toronto is someone I met online who became fast friend with myself and Chloe – not only is she talented with her hands  – she is very enterprising.  Jen has 2 blogs : www.charmoflove.ca and www.passion4food.ca – Jen has a charming personality – probably that’s why she chose Charm Of Love for her first blog – hehe!   Anyhow, Jen knew that Chinese New Year was round the corner and had offered to buy some CNY stuff for me and Chloe and as you can see – she bought more than just CNY stuff.

Jen had taken the trouble to look for stuff for Chloe and I and not only that even took time to meet up with PB’s cousin – Lynn who was on her way back for a short visit – weekend only – to hand over the goodies to Lynn for us – so that she can buy more stuff for us by saving on the postage. Look at how thrilled Chloe was..! that is Chloe’s favorite jello!

There were pork floss – lychee jello – ang pows – laksa, mee siam, candies and even Chinese noodles for Chloe.

A Hello Kitty toy – stickers – BBQ Pork.

Hello Kitty bowl, cup and a plate too – and some Chinese New Year’s couplets for the store and for Chloe’s room.  So thoughtful right?  Thank you .. so much Jen..!!  we don’t know how to repay your kindness..!  You surely outdid yourself here.

My Chloe is a very blessed girl  – not only did she recieved another ang pow all the way from Malaysia from Auntie Barb and Ashley – she also received an Winter Olympic Toque and a Valentine Chocolate from Auntie Macy & William from Vancouver.  This Auntie Barb is so tech savvy and sent her ang pow by paypal some more!  super tokong right ..??  Thank You .. Barb and Macy .. for your thoughtfulness..!

We don’t really get to celebrate Chinese New Year here in Canada but this year – we were not only invited for a get together with some chinese kids and their families, Chloe also received a ang pow mailed all the way from Singapore.  Of course – we all know who it is from – it’s from her Kai Mah !   Chloe’s Kai Mah is really , really thoughtful and you will see why below.

Chloe was very excited and cannot wait to show off her ang pow to everyone – it was already night time by the time we brought it home because it was a registered mail.

Not only was there money in it – they were “new” money – something I haven’t seen nor practice for the longest time since arriving here in Canada.  As much as I would love to keep tradition going for Chloe – it is sometimes hard to do so – because I can’t even find an ang pow without getting it from the city.  But we do try and it is people like her Kai Mah from Singapore that helps with teaching Chloe the culture I grew up in – afterall, she is half Chinese eh.

We rarely eat at our local McDonald’s because they really, really sux!  big time!   but since we were getting some free insurance quotes – we decided to head there first.  But the food is not only mediocre – they get your order wrong – don’t give you the proper condiments to go with your food  – charge you wrong and on top of it – no indoor or outdoor playground for the kids.  While other McDonald’s in the city would have renovated at least a few times since I’ve been in Canada – this one refuses to upgrade to a better environment.  But i can’t blame them – why spend more money when the ppl still come and eat and have their kid’s party there.

But we went anyways – because it was PB’s attempt to try and make my Sunday a good one – coz’ i complain A LOT!  that my Sundays are not fruitful.  And of course – they did all the above – as mentioned – Chloe entertained herself with the very little they had there – we ended up half full after spending like almost $9 on a pancake (no butter given) – 2 hashbrowns (that were not ready) – a sausage Mcmuffin (but turned out to be with eggs when we specifically told them no eggs please) and a large coffee because that was the deal they said (but i ended up paying more by $0.50)

While we were there – an employee was mopping the floor and i can understand why she did it at that time – since that was in between breakfast and lunch.  But boy! i wouldn’t want any old folks to be walking in or out because the floor was so wet – you could probably kill yourself if you slip on it.

We brought Chloe’s own milk as you can see – she finished like half a pancake and a bite of the hashbrown and that was it.  So pretty much a big waste.  No i don’t like going to Mcdonald’s in this town.

During Christmas – Lina – Chloe’s Kai Mah from Singapore – sent me these ingredients for my soup – because she knows that I can’t get some of them here.  So she packed carefully dried oysters and dried scallops and mailed them so generously to me.  I didn’t get a chance to make any soup till this week – because i couldn’t get any lotus roots from this small town.  But Mr R – was so kind – to pick it up for me.. when he was in the city this week – so I hurriedly boiled soup in my slow cooker in the morning and cooked some rice for dinner for Chloe and I.

Chloe loves the soup and ate 2 dinners with the soup.  I usually put in rice and soup for her and fried some luncheon meat to entice her to eat.  I was heavy handed with my dried oysters this time.. so was afraid she won’t drink it.  The day that i boiled the soup was a very, very cold day – we had so much snow.. PB and I spent hours shoveling ourselves outtta the driveway that morning.  School were closed and we only opened store at 1pm, therefore it was quite comforting .. to come home to a boil of soup from home.  Thanks again .. Lina..! your generosity warms not only our heart but our tummy.

I took pictures of the baked Alfredo Chicken Bites and thought I should show you how they looked like after they are baked for 20 mins.  I usually leave them in the oven for another 5 mins .. but i turn off the oven – to let it cool down.  Like i said in my previous post – the bites are pretty good and can be eaten as a snack – good for an appetizer  or finger food if you are having a party.

So Mr R was up in the city and so generously offered to go pick up some Chinese food from the Asian Grocery store for us at Queen Street.  We ordered a box of food and miscellaneous and we had fish cake with Wanton noodles.  I haven’t had wanton noodles for a few months now – so it was really good.  Chloe loves it but she had hers with chicken – because she refuses to eat fish cake therefore I have to go to www.supplementreviews.org to read all about the stuff i have to give to chloe for an alternative.

Chloe is so fussy with her food – it really makes it hard for me to cook anything for her – so i try to slip in the good stuff for her – even though it’s little..  i feel it is better than none.  She loves her wanton noodles and luncheon meat though – you can offer it to her everyday .. and she will have no problems with it.

Gong Hei Fatt Choy ! to everyone !  I’m sorry it took me so long to write up a post for you all.  This year’s Chinese New Year had been a really busy one – and i’m sure you already know that.  We had our first Chinese gathering with friends who have adopted Chinese kids from China and this was arranged by good friends Adele and Gerald who came to pick us up for the gathering and dinner and sent us home as well.  So even though I had to do a quick trim fast cleanse reviews I had to make sure i find time for them.

We also managed to do up a basket of oranges for the Zhu’s from the Chinese restaurant – sent out some gifts for Chloe’s Kai Mah – in Singapore and give our a few ang pows while we were at it.

I missed all the goodies from home but I know – blogging friend Jen from www.charmsoflove.ca will be sending some stuff to us from Toronto – so I’m not so homesick now.  How about all of you ..?? how did you make out this Chinese New Year ..?? did you win a lot on the mahjong tables..??  did you Low Hei yet..??

It was Chloe’s grampie’s birthday a few weeks ago – but as you all can see, we had been so busy that we didn’t have a chance to get him a cake till yesterday.  We had Mr B’s sister – Crystal – she is so talented do us a boobie cake for Grampie.  I had wanted Crystal to write “Happy Birthday, Old Fart” on the cake but she must have forgotten .. muahahah!!!  I had also wanted to get him some wrinkle creams but PB said he won’t use it – so i bought some for myself instead.  The cake tasted really good – according to Chloe’s grampie – even better than Sobey’s he said – so i’m really happy about it.  What do you think..?? like the boobie cake..??

It’s chocolate and white cake inside.

I’m not really a cheese person but I do take them because of the calcium i need .. but like Chloe, I too, am attracted to anything pink although not as crazy as Chloe.  So this cheese is cheddar and come with vintage port too.   Very pretty looking if you asked me – and am so tempted to buy.  But alas, PB only takes cheddar plain – he is not into the arty farty things, he said cheese is cheese.

They are not very expensive either – about $5 a block – anyone tried it, please let me know what you think of it.  I prefer the creamy cheese but not too rich please.  What type do you take..??  I know, I know – to the cheese lovers it’s like asking them if the Ferrari parts are good for a Ferrari owners.

Not quite Valentine’s Day yet but since we were out getting a  doorbell button , the ang moh cannot helped but get a Valentine’s Day cake – not for me .. mind you .. but for himself – for you all know that i don’t fancy cake, plus being a diabetic it’s rather hard to get to like it that much.

Cakes are cheap here – and the ones you get from Sobey’s they are pretty good and it wouldn’t break your bank even if you get them for your friends and family.  The thing is this – this cake is gonna end up in the store because we are not gonna be able to finish it and it would go to waste if we don’t share it with our customers.   So why do the man still buy cakes..?? like i said..  it was cheap.