Happy Canada’s Day to everyone living in Canada - legal or illegal – muahahahha!!   joking!   While only tomorrow is Canada’s Day – the grocery store is packed with people – trying to get their groceries even though they are only closed for a day.  We are the same  - we wanted to get some groceries – that we needed.   Every holiday – you can see our local grocery store grilling hot dogs and selling drinks for a good cause and this year – wasn’t any different either.   Unfortunately, this year – I didn’t get a hot dog – like I did last year – i was up to my eyeball with food – we just had a BBQ at the store before we headed to the grocery store.  Anyhow, we got to talk to the Manager of the grocery store and I have to say that I was impressed he remembered about the udon that I wanted him to get.  You see Chloe eats a lot of udon – and ask for it constantly – I don’t like to cook instant noodles for her too much – so when the udon ran out at the local grocery store – we panic.  So after weeks of waiting – I grabbed the Manager one night and told him about it.  And walah!!  udon came!! woohoo!!  So I’m grateful ! Thank you so much – Sobey’s Manager!  yer the best!  Now if only he can get some of my fish balls and beef balls – that would be perfect eh!  And Happy Canada’s Day to everyone here in Canada!

Sorry ! this is a back-dated post – that happened last month – to be exact – but then my real birthday was in April and we only got to celebrate it in June – because in April – both Chloe and I didn’t feel good to go to the city – so we had to postpone our trip.  But we finally did make it up to the city in June and one of the meal we had was a dim sum meal at the Great Wall Restaurant – right in town.  We had been meaning to come here for the longest time – but we keep going to the one in Bedford thinking that it is the same restaurant.   Now you must all be wondering what else PB got for me for a birthday present right?  a diamond bracelet , maybe?  or a Louis Vuitton handbag?  so what do you think ?  did i get a diamond bracelet?

The outside of the restaurant looks like your typical Chinese restaurant in Canada – but the inside is uniquely furnished and it felt like I had gone to Chinatown in Toronto – but of course – the one in Toronto is a lot more vibrant.

The Great Wall is located in downtown Halifax – off Sackville Street.

I had some Har Gow – and as you can see – the prawns were real prawns and not shrimps.

I also ordered some glutinous rice with chicken in them – they were yummy!

Chloe and PB had shanghai noodles – but they came pretty spicy for them – and we had to get another plate with no spice.  But the restaurant was very gracious and didn’t charge us for it.

Chloe enjoying her noodles

I also ordered some congee – but the next time – I have to remember only to order the one with century eggs and no pork.

We also had some fried squids because they came highly recommended but they were ok – but I won’t order it again because you need to eat it really hot – else it becomes too soggy with oil.  Overall, food was really good – in fact the best I’ve tasted in Canada – as far as dim sum is concerned.   Now come the big surprised – did you forget about it already?  about what PB got me for my birthday?

It wasn’t a diamond bracelet – but close enough – a diamond ring – an eternity ring that I had been eyeing on for a long time – so he did listen eh – hahhaha!!  maybe the next time – he would get me a diamond bracelet?  one can always hope eh?  now if it wasn’t because of car problems we had when we were in the city – it would have been a perfect trip.

So is it ice cream or is it yogurt?  and it’s yogurt not ice cream with granola !  yums! and I fell in love with it and eat it every other day as a snack.    I like that they have granola in it – thus making it much more appetizing and filling as a mid-day snack.

Tell me this don’t look absolutely yummy to you !

I normally can’t eat it all in one sitting – so i keep it for the next day – but as you all know I love fruits – so i would eat all the fruits first.  But being diabetic – one needs to be careful about the sugar content in the fruit and yogurt itself – even the granola tasted sweet.  But it’s definitely better than eating a bar of chocolate or some chips right?

Brown bagging for lunch is the best – and when you already have soup and rice cooked from the night before – it’s even better.  Not only is it healthier to eat home cooked food – it’s definitely a lot yummier.   Rice with beef curry and winter melon soup – slow cooked for 4 hrs.  Cannot ask for a better lunch I’ll have to say – I do try to eat home cook food at least once a day – but for Chloe – she eats them twice a day.  PB and I send her to school first and go home and cook for her and then bring her lunch to school for her and then when she gets out of school – we go home and cook for her again.  I try my darnedest to cook different food everyday for her and it’s no easy feat I tell you  – but like all mothers out there – you and I know that we do our best for our kids no matter what.  What did you make for your kids today?

The downtown Farmer’s Market – is part of the revitalization plan for the downtown of Yarmouth and I have to say – that it’s so vibrant – that I’m proud that they are downtown.  The Farmer’s association and the town should get a pat on their shoulders.  Chloe, PB and I have been to the market every week and buying a few things every time we are there and we loved it and very happy to see so many people loving the downtown Farmer’s Market.  So if you haven’t been there – like our dear friend Lynette (now she is also in love with the Farmer’s market)  – you have to come see, enjoy, eat, drink and be merry with us.  But while you are downtown – come visit all the shops downtown – we have specialty stores and cafes and restaurants all around  – and even a place that sells cigars – the Toots – I wonder if they carry the  hoyo de monterrey cigars that Grampie likes.

Located at downtown Yarmouth, Hawthorne street – the Farmer’s Market opens at 9am – 1pm every Saturday all year round. Lovely hand-painted Adirondak lawn chairs for sale by Brian and Cynthia Goodwin – locally made from Lower Wedgeport and I hear they deliver too!   For those who wants a contact for Cynthia and Brian – please let me know.

Hand painted stones are so beautiful – Chloe bought a few last week.  She now has a turtle by the name of shelly and an owl that she shares with Grammie.

And Crepes – made one at a time – is my absolute favorite – although the wait is long.

And some home made BBQ sauce and apple salsa!  yums!  lots to buy and lots to eat.  So head down to the downtown farmer’s market every weekend.

So it was Father’s Day yesterday !  did you all had a good time?  here’s wishing all great dads a very happy but belated Father’s day!   We had a BBQ instead of our usual KFC for Father’s day because I had asked Grampie if he wanted KFC or a BBQ and he chose BBQ.  I bet it was because he knew that i loved BBQs.  While we enjoyed it tremendously – i doubt I can say that much for PB who would rather be playing on his xbox 360 console holding his xbox 360 controller without me or Chloe around – so that he can play all day – without disturbance  – hahah!!  now that would have been a treat for him for Father’s day.

We had gone to Emin’s meat market down on the south side of town to get more chicken wings and some Solvaski pork steak.   They were yummy and we had maple sausages and honey garlic ones and of course some hot dogs – after all, what is a bbq without any hot dogs right?

We also went by the beach for Chloe to pick some pebbles and stones to bring home for her rock collection.  Chloe and PB had an ice cream from Dayton on the way home and that was it for the day.  So how did you celebrate Father’s day!

So we had the  250 Commemorative Rum delivered to the store sometime last month and yes ! i’m such a slacker.  We had bought a bottle of it in support of the town’s 250 yrs anniversary for Grampie and we’ve delivered it to him.  He hasn’t opened it yet – because he thought it was too expensive to drink – hahahha!!  yes! this bottle of rum is more expensive than the usual rum that he would have gotten – but it was a nice gesture to get it for Grampie since he had been buying so many books for Chloe.  I’m glad we bought the first batch of rum that were sold – because they are only producing 250 bottles and they were selling so well – that they needed to use a barcode scanner when they first came out for sale.  Everyone was rushing to buy the rum and I’ve yet to go get the commemorative coins from the bank – I hear those are selling like hot cakes too.

A closed up on the bottle of rum that we had paid $70 for – i think but it’s worth it as we are supporting the town in our own little way.

Cranberry juice anyone?  not the ones with sugar at it – but pure – that you need to dilute it in water to drink.  We all know that a cup of cranberry juice is good for the body because they said it can prevent UTI.  I have been drinking this cranberry juice for years now – and Terra Beata has a new packaging recently – i do like it – it’s a lot more easier on the eyes.  Terra Beata is a cranberry farm in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – and even though they are not cheap – it’s worth every penny because diabetic like myself – do not want any sugar in our food or drinks.

Summer fresh pasta Cesar salad is currently one of my favorite kind of salad – it’s rich – you can have it by itself – with just a little meat or you can have it as a side.   This box of salad can be bought at M & M’s meat market or now you can buy smaller boxes of it – for half the price at Sobeys.   So I don’t have to worry about buying such a huge box and wasting it.   The bigger boxes are like $8 and the smaller boxes for $4.   They now have the Phat Thai salad too – the summer fresh brand is not new – in fact I’ve been eating their bruschetta with toasted fresh bread for a long time now.   So try it out if you see them – you will love it like i do.

Rich and creamy.

I’ve received many emails every week from people who wants to know all about my adventure – making money from home and online.  Most people want to know if it is true that one can make money just sitting at home or anywhere – as long as you’ve a computer and wifi/internet access.  Is it a scam ?  do you need to pay an upfront fee to join some club or forum or company?  And yes – all these are legit questions and for those who are interested – you should ask these questions and more.

So what is the secrets of making money from home and online – you asked ?  There is no easy way to explain how one can make money from home and online because it’s a learning experience even for me who have been doing this for almost 4 years now.  But yes! you can make money from home and online – and no it is not a scam (if you know what you are doing) and how much time you need to spend on your blogs and online – very much depends on what you want to do with your blogs and how much money you want to make.  BUT !  I want everyone to know – that this is not a get rich scheme within 7 days – what I’m doing consists a lot of hard work /networking and writing and in some cases negotiating.

Many people asked how much I make working from home/online – lets just say – enough to cover groceries for my entire family and buy whatever I want for pleasure and also save some for rainy days. Most importantly, I get to meet all sorts of good people from my online work and some become life -long friends.  And yes I did play mentor to a lot of new bloggers but at this point of my life – I’m too busy to do it – but do watch out for a book on how I embarked in my journey of working online and making it work for me and how much working from home/online made me a better person and a self -sufficient one.  If you enjoy writing – and sharing what you loved most about life – then you already half way to success.   Good luck to everyone !  do leave a comment – if you need help – and I’m sure I will answer whenever I can.

I haven’t been eating a lot of muffin of late – because most of them contains lots and lots of sugar.  But I finally found a muffin that I could probably eat everyday ! whoohoo!!!   Found this at our local Farmer’s Market – sold by Natalie Smith of  Hilltop Cottage Farm.  Why do I think that diabetic can eat them?  because it doesn’t contain sugar – and it’s sweetness comes from the banana and blueberries.   A wee bit more ex – and not as sweet – but definitely healthy and good for everyone – even those without diabetes.

So if you want some of it – head down to Hawthorne Street on Saturday 9am – 1pm but go early – because Natalie’s stuff goes really fast.  I only bought one this time – but come next week – you will see me having 4 – muahahah!

I can’t believed that I only bought one of these when I was up in Halifax – what was I thinking *slap forehead* – they were yummy and so easy to heat up.  You can use the microwave or the steamer – but I prefer the steamer – coz’ it’s so much more juicier.

For those who don’t know what this is – this is glutinous rice dumpling – that we are used to eating back home – you can have it for breakfast – you can have it for snacks – you can have it for supper.  It doesn’t taste like rice – it’s a kind of sticky rice – very high cholesterol but so yummy!  If you can’t have the real thing – you have this.

Awesomeness is having fish ball noodles for lunch -  I could eat fish ball noodles anytime truth be told but I know that it’s not good for health – so whenever we do get up to Halifax – we stock up and cook some at home and eat.  And guess what – Chloe has just started to eat more of fish balls now – from 1 fish ball to 3 today. Woohoo!

PS :  The baby bok choy is from Chloe’s grampie.

I haven’t had a burrito from Taco Bell ever since Chloe was born – yes! that long – i used to crave for it – when I was having Chloe – weird eh?  Anyhow – I decided we should eat some Taco Bell one afternoon – since we didn’t know what to order.  So I ordered the Steak Burrito Supreme Fresco – and it was yummy alright.  But wait a minute – let me show you what the burrito looks like.

I usually don’t eat all of the wrap – anything that doesn’t have fillings in them I throw them away.  So I actually end up only eat half of the burrito.  Don’t look so appetizing right?  but it tasted good though.

But wait a minute – where’s the steak in my burrito ? muuahahahahahah!! there wasn’t any – bummer -!!  but it was alright – it still tasted good – the mayo was plenty though – very sinful to eat  – hahha!! better not eat them too much.

I haven’t had a chicken salad croissant for a long time because I’ve been eating chinese almost every day for lunch for the longest time.  So today, I decided I shall have something different and since it is a day that Chloe will be in her after school program  – that means – PB will be having a very late lunch – so I decided to give Tim’s a try after lunch busy hours.

I ordered a chicken salad – since they won’t do half egg salad and half chicken – even though it’s the same price – and just using a different scoop I guess – would be an issue – so I settled for chicken salad.  I did like my croissant even though I had asked for a cheese one.  But eating so much chicken is a little bit too much for me – so I guess I just have to eat them only once in a long time.

Of course, I ordered a soup too – since it’s cheaper with a combo.

An all veggie soup – tomato based – yums!

So we went to the Apple farm yesterday since Grammie suggested that we go see the pink flowers on the apple tree.  And as you can see -  the apple farm has a new sign down – very nice indeed.

The apple farm has been in business for a long, long time.

Here’s Chloe showing off the Apple trees.

Very pretty eh !  reminds me a little of the cherry blossom festival in Japan.

The apples ain’t out yet – we can all see apples and eat them really soon though.

This is a back-dated post – for when we were up in Halifax a few weeks ago.  We arrived in Halifax – and after checking into the hotel – we headed to Halifax Shopping Center and we had Gyoza for a snack as it was late afternoon.  Chloe had an OJ from Orange Julius aka OJ.

I bought the Gyoza from this store and although I would loved to have that soya and vinegar + ginger sauce they have back home – they don’t have it in this store – Darn!

The Gyoza costing about $5 – and it was pretty good – but nothing to shout about.

But the best part of this trip was – chloe tried some of everything – big difference alright!

So you all know that I had spent a few days in the city – and like always bought a couple of boxes of Chinese food from the Asian grocery store up there.   I tried to look for more dim sum stuff – like the ones from Doll Dim Sum – because they are by far the freshest and the shrimp wanton did not disappoint either.

I had this for a midnight snack and wished i wasn’t too hungry and had put in some baby bok choy from Grampie – silly me – but it was good though and quite satisfying I’ll have to say.  Poor me right?  cannot get the real thing – so frozen ones also jadi lah!

We spend so much time at the store and the only way for us to BBQ was to have a portable one at the store – plus I think it’s always nice to offer a hot dog to the customers – so that we can get to know them better and to thank them for supporting our store for so long – it’s almost 12 years in August that PB open his business.

So we finally got our portable BBQ and tested it out on our own first with hot dogs and today chicken wings – from Emins meat market down at South end.  Gotta say they have the best chicken wings – marinated.  Yummy to the max!  so this summer – if you need marinated chicken wings – or sausages – check out Emins Market and look for Fred.  Don’t forget to tell him the crazy chinese woman from Gator Byte’s sent you!