We had actually gone over to Auntie Su Lee’s at Lam’s Book Store for some of her spring rolls but instead – she gave us these special spring rolls she bought from Halifax.  You see they had a friend from out of town who is into bird watching and needed a get some binoculars and while the boys were out shopping for  them – she had gone to chat with a friend who owns a grocery store up in Halifax and were selling these special spring rolls.

She had handed over the spring rolls to PB to bring them back to me – and didn’t charge us – so the next time i went over – i had asked her about these special spring rolls with mushrooms in them – but alas, they were not for sale.  The ones that Su Lee made were smaller but more in a packet for $10 – wherelse, this ones were less but bigger.  Both had different taste and I didn’t mind it at all.  So the next time they are up in Halifax – looking for my bird watching equipments – they said they would get some more for me.  So kind right?   So yes!   there are awesome people around us – so for those from home – don’t worry about us here eh.

I don’t usually eat Pizza but if I do – I eat from Greco’s mostly and Pizza Delight as well.  PB on the other hand would eat a slice of pizza every now and then from a local place near our store – a customer from the states  but residents here for the summer, had  joke about needing NC health insurance if they were to  eat from that place .  Fortunately for us  here in Canada – Canada citizens are entitled to free medical service insurance but while I am at it – let me clear this – seeing the doctor is free but medication isn’t eh – still gotta pay!

Love Greco – because they are very accommodating – and pretty quick most days – very rarely do they take more than 15 mins to get your order together.   And since they have the crustless promotion – PB and I decided to try some – and also if you didn’t know this – lately – ive been having a chicken wing craze.

So when i saw this deal for $9.99 – for a 9″ pizza and 6 chicken wings – I had to get it lah!  We ordered mushroom, pepperoni and bacon bits for our pizza topping and look at the cheeseeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!  yummy or what..!!!

My wings with garlic sauce on the side – yummy!!  despite that it was small – but still good lah.   By the way – i saw a customer of ours eating a slice of pizza from Jessy’s the other day – and it was huggggggggeee..!!! and looked really yummy – so not all slice pizzas are like cardboard ok – the ones at Jessy’s seems really yummy – this week alone – i saw 2 persons eating Jessy’s slice pizza .. and they were massive..!!!!   I told PB we would have to give it a try…!! anyone out there tried it..??  in the meantime – the Greco deal came with a can of pop too..!!   Burp!

We may not live in Toronto but our friends/customers who are there always bring back food for us from there or blogging friends from Toronto and Vancouver always send stuff to us – like Jenn and Stephanie.  Su Lee from the book store was in Toronto about a month ago – she had said she wanted to bring back some noodles for chloe but i joked with her that i prefer some fresh durian – hahhahaha!!  Su Lee didn’t bring back durian when she came back because they weren’t in season – but she brought us some mangoes & persimmons  – full of vitamins she said just for dear Chloe.   We are so blessed – friends/customers do take care of us – a lot!  by bringing back food and fruits and even durian – which Su Lee did one year – from Halifax – she is very, very awesome!   Everytime, Chloe goes to the bookstore – she offers a free book for Chloe – they are too sweet to her.

A month and a half ago – we were out shopping at the local supermarket here and to our surprised – pleasant one – of course to find that they are carrying more food from home. Woohoo!!  i was all excited of course – so Jenn, Lina and Barb  – if you are reading this – no need to send me chinese noodles no more – they have it here  – woohoo!!!   I was so excited about it – i stopped reading about how to treat acne when i got home – and called my girlfriend from home to let her know about it too.   You see she misses Chinese food as well but also like me in a remote area for Asian groceries.

I’m also happy that they are carrying so many variety now because the Asian students definitely would love it and I try my best to get them some when i am up in the city.

They also started to carry snacks from home – but this is not the Calbee brand that i’m used to – but beggars can’t be choosers right?   They were pretty good – but not as good as Calbee brand if you asked me – but yes – i would still buy them.

I’m hoping they will carry on bringing more new stuff for the Asian Grocery section – hurray ! for SuperSTore!!  you ROCK!

I never thought i would have so much fun with combos – since we don’t have combos back home – in a real chinese restaurant back home – combos are not in the menu whatsoever.  It is very popular though in the west – not only in Canada but in USA and UK as well. Not so much in UK these days because you can get real authentic Chinese food – just about anywhere in London now and not forgetting their best acne treatment as well.  Girlfriend in London swears by it.

Anyhow – local Chinese restaurant in town – New Century Restaurant down at Main Street is one of the most authentic Chinese food you can find in this town.   Food is fresh and the owner is very accommodating – and really honest.   I ordered this combo – Combo # 11 – that comes with a freshly made egg roll, some sweet and sour chicken balls, honey spare ribs, chicken chow mein (my favorite – vegggies!) and lots of fried rice.   The fried rice is soft and fluffy and never dry – unlike some i’ve tasted and everything is fresh – you can taste it.   Their take out menu is extensive – check out their website : www.newcenturyrestaurant.com. These people – the staff at the restaurant – treat you with respect and whether your order is small or huge – they are very nice to you.  Plus – if you are not pleased with their food or they got your food wrongly – they would even deliver a new order right up to your doorstep – talk about good service eh – you don’t get very much of those these days.

Haha! i know what you are thinking about    you are all thinking that PB drinks rum eh?  well – no – silly – PB donch drink nothing except water.  Yes ! plain cold water – no coffee and no tea – very little pop and very little juice.  Well, he does drink chocolate milk too occasionally but nope – no beer, no wine nor any hard liquor.   So he doesn’t need any nuphedragen – although someone I know – needs it badly  but i ain’t gonna say nothing – you know whose doctor said she is obese – muahahha!!

The rum is for Chloe’s grampie on Father’s day – yes – he has a small cup whenever he pleases but why buy him something he won’t use or drink right?  gotta buy the man what he wants – he had mentioned it on Mother’s Day – that he could use some rum when he finished his dessert then.  So i made a note to get him some on Father’s Day which was about a month apart.  PB had wanted to get a smaller bottle – but i had insisted on getting a bigger one – hahha!!  that’s how i am – but with myself – when i wanna buy something for myself – i have to think a long time before getting any. Weird or what?  are you like me – cheap on yourself but generous to others?

I have been having a craving for croissant of late and don’t want my regular rye bread nor the walnut and raisin that I have for breakfast.  So when we were out shopping  for a  Panerai with my best friend one day – and saw these incredibly looking delicious croissant – i just had to try/buy them.

Sorry that my mind was more on food than the Panerai – afterall, the croissant is much cheaper – hahhaha! but you see my g/f is crazy about the Panerai and she even have a club for it – I kid you not!   Anyhow, PB sharpen a knife for me just so i can split the croissant nicely and it was awesome – i toasted the croissant and slapped on some chicken salad and tomatoes on it and i had an awesome and filling breakfast.   Some said that eating croissant often isn’t good but it sure tasted good to me.. hahahaha!!  how many of you like croissants?  the other day – they didn’t have the cheese ones no more..   but had the whole wheat type.  So I went over to the bakery and asked them..  “excuse me, do you have the croissants that would make me fat and give me lots of cholesterol ? hhahaha!!”  In which the baker just laughed and replied – “no – sorry – you have to stay healthy for now” hahahahh!!!   I love people with a good sense of humor – don’t you?   Life is too short – be happy!

When we were up in the city in early May – I bought some Frozen Durian – you see they don’t have it all the time – even if i lived up in the city.  So when i saw it at Tian Phat up in Bedford way – i grabbed it.   So i do get to eat durian periodically – and i feel bad that i have to eat it inside the house – because you and I know that even though we love the smelll – the “ang mohs” well, it needs getting used to.

The frozen durian isn’t as good as the real one of course – but beggars cannot be choosers right?  so yes – it was pretty good – but this time – i saved some for Chloe’s grampie because I dare him – hahahahha!!! and he was quite sporting about it and ate some – and liked it.  But it did stink up the whole house – hahhaha!!  and guess what i had to do -  after grampie tasted durian??  i had to touch a CATTTT!!!!!  hahhaha!!!  all in good fun..!  all in good fun!

Guess where I had lunch a few weeks ago – yes, yes..! i’m back logged .. and you know the reason why.  Busy business and lots of work online.  But anyhow – I took pictures to show you what a lovely meal i had.  This was take out – and it only took 15mins for us to pick up our food – super fast and super efficient – the staff were .  They were ready – even before PB came back from picking up some   best prenatal multivitamin for his buddy’s wife.  Why?  our store near the pharmacy mah!

Remember the last time – we went for a sit down on a Sunday – and they didn’t have Tabasco sauce – therefore i didn’t order Spaghetti ?  yes – i’m horrid in that sense – need the burning sensation.  But yes I ordered a Spaghetti Supreme.  What is a Spaghetti supreme..??  It’s oven-baked spaghetti with meat sauce, mushrooms, Italian meatballs and our signature cheese blend.  Yummy or not..??

I ordered a side salad – a Caesar to go with my meal of course and it’s sinful – but absolutely hit the spot.   The side salad was only $2.99 and they did come with a piece of garlic bread – but i prefer the ones from Jessy’s – rich !   The meal cost less than 15 bucks and chloe and I had the ghettis and there were leftovers for another meal – so definitely value for money – huge portion of food and really quick too.

Yums!!

As usual, we debated on what to eat on a Saturday afternoon and admiring some contemporary sofas that my customer had brought a catalogue in for us to see.  Since Chloe was going to her grammie’s – we ended up having a late lunch as per usual – what’s new eh..?? when you run a busy business and work online as much as I do – you kinda gotta eat – when you have time.  So Jessy’s Pizza we picked for the day and we chose to try their lasagna – lunch didn’t take too long – i think only 15 mins after we ordered.  I walked over to pick the food because I haven’t been in before.  It was clean, bright and spacious – too bad i didn’t have my camera with me.

The staff were friendly and the lasagna came with a huge garlic bread that just came out from the oven – it had CHEESEEEEE on it..  yumss!!!   I liked it!!!  the picture i took of the lasagna didn’t do it justice – i really do look better than the picture i tell yer.

So PB and I had this for lunch and dinner.. and we had some left  – it was a lot of food for just $7.99 i think.  Definitely, definitely worth the money!!!  and yummy too!!!   The cheese was a lot and rich food!  i could eat this everyday if i was 20 yrs younger – but when you are my age – we just have to watch our cholesterol eh – but this was really good .. and you bet we are going to Jessy’s Pizza again.

I told you I had sushi at Arby’s right?  see – I kid you not hahahha!  and of course some  weight loss drinks since you’ve seen how much I eat during our trip to the city.   If we could  have woken up early enough – we would have caught “dim sum” in Halifax on our first day there – but alas, we took our time but that was ok – another time – another day.

Ok lets get back to the sushi – the sushi was at $9.99 but worth every penny I paid for it – we do have sushi here at the local grocery store – but tried it once – and the rice was so dry – it was dryer than my mother’s skin – hahaha!!  very disappointing lor – so i never did buy them again.  Quite sad because if sushi done right can be really healthy to eat.  The sushi above was like a day old and it was a little dry – so you can imagine the ones at the local grocery store – so pretty much cannot expect too much – can’t blame them – coz’ i heard they don’t do it locally but it was shipped from the city.

Yes! i’m still on the food we ate on our trip up to the city – Yes! we eat a lot hahahha!   and we always try and hit the Arby’s on our way back from the city – so after I bought some prenatal vitamin that a customer had asked me to get for her – we stopped by just there – afterall it was on the way back – the highway was wrong the corner.

They have a huge carpark at Arby’s – so you can always find a place to park.

Arby’s still had that special deal where you can order 6 things and only pay like $5 – so we ordered a roast beef and a ham sandwich with french fries and onion rings.

It was pretty good value for small eaters like us – the fries was of a good portion but not so much for the onion rings – but that’s alright lah – afterall, only $5  – what else do you want right – hahahah!

Chloe ate the french fries of course – and some ham from the ham sandwich but not the bun.  And I – I had sushi – hahahah!! that i had bought from Halifax Shopping Center Food Court – not the same as the previous one we went to for Sukiyaki.

And a mandatory daddy and daughter’s pose.  You know sometimes – i regret putting up personal pictures of PB & Chloe – why?  because when I write about food – it’s about enjoying the food and to introduce the different food I’ve tried and cooked.  But some people can be so ignorant and shallow – in this small town  (luckily for us – there are only a few – very few) – I almost feel bad for them – for behaving the way they did (like my dead grandmother would say – like an  uneducated loafer).   I write because I enjoy food – I write because I’m entitled to my opinion – if you don’t like what i write – too bad for you  -  see that “X” at the corner of this page – yes! that one – learn how to use it.  By the way – I have very low bullshit tolerance.

Yes! yes..!! i know ..! i know..!! i’m such a slacker and i know you’ve all been waiting to see what i’ve eaten when I was up in the city about 4 weeks ago.  Well, as you all know we always go to Dharma Sushi when we are up in Halifax but this trip – we decided to try everything new – even the hotel that we stayed in this time was a new hotel altogether – but that would be a story for another day.  So we were in Halifax and looking for tea tree oil for acne for a customer’s kid – when we chance upon this sushi restaurant – and i think we struck gold here because not only was the food awesome the service was very friendly.  I’ll explain to you in a bit why i think so.

Sushi Nami has it own webpage as you can see and this restaurant is situated in downtown Halifax in Dresden Row – but they have two other location if you are not in downtown and I’m pretty sure they are as good as this one – if not better.

The restaurant was pretty full even though it was a Sunday in downtown Halifax – which was practically a ghost town on the street – therefore I didn’t take much inside pictures of the restaurant. You can park at the underground carpark next the restaurant or wait like we did and gave up – after 15 mins – and parked underground instead.  Btw – Pete’s Frootique is just beside this restaurant – so you can’t missed it.

We ordered a special udon for Chloe without any greens as you can see in this picture – because you all know how fussy the kid is.

She slurped it up but didn’t finished the plate – we doggie bag the rest back to the hotel.

I had the mandatory miso soup of course!

Followed by a plate of sweet potato tempura – PB’s favorite.

Then my Agedashi tofu came – i had asked the wait staff if the chef can make me some chawanmushi – but alas, the cannot accommodate.  But that’s alright – afterall, they were really busy and they didn’t have it on the menu.   The Agedashi tofu was the only dish that wasn’t quite close to what i had expected but still pretty good.

Followed by teriyaki chicken for PB – he said it was really good.

I was torn in between getting deluxe sushi dinner or the fusion special – and i ended up getting this Sushi Nami House Royale with tuna.  It was yummmmyliicious!!  and when i asked for more ginger – they gave me a whole plateful – so generous.

All the food served were quick and excellent presentation and we just had to have dessert – even though i’m diabetic – i had to have the mochi ice cream.  It was yam, mango and red bean flavor and all of us shared it – even Chloe said that it was awesome!

Sushi Nami is gonna to be one of our regular haunts from now on – because the dinner came to about $50 something dollars – the wait stuff was attentive and when we said it was pretty warm where we were sitting – she turned down the temperature and was absolutely awesome to Chloe.

Dinner was so good, we all didn’t ask for supper – that nite – we were filled up and a doggie bag of fried udon left.  Happy campers we were that nite.

So a few weeks ago – we headed up to the city, bringing my colonix review with me and whenever we do – we try to stop at New Minas for our Burger King fix.  Yes ! sad ! we don’t have a Burger King in this small town and truth be told – i prefer the burger at BK than Mac’s but I prefer the french fries at Mac’s and not BK.  And i’ve gotta remember this burger king does not have an indoor playground but the Macdonald’s at New Minas do have one.

We arrived at 2.30pm and we were very hungry then – our meal came up to about $15 and it was a pretty good meal.  PB had a junior whopper and Chloe had the chicken meal and the Iron Man 2 toy came with it.  She loved her toy for that day.

I had a whopper because i wasn’t thinking straight – hahahah!!  because the burger was huge!!!   I couldn’t have finished it.  But mannnn..!! it was so good..! i finished it.. every last morsel of it.

Yummy or what!!!!  C’mon !!! someone open a burger king already in Yarmouth!!!

This was PB’s plain burger.. because he didn’t want anything with it.

How was the service..?? not bad at all – friendly and pretty young crew – but overall – not bad.

It was pretty crowded at Burger King – so i didn’t stay to look thru’ the menu but took a few pictures – and had forgotten to take one of the outside – next time I will remember.  For those who are not aware of this .. I grew up eating Macdonald’s and Burger King and when Delifrance came to town – i ate Delifrance a lot.

I’m sure I told you – my mom never let us do anything in the kitchen – firstly, she was too busy and secondly, i secretly thinks, she was afraid we might break something in the kitchen.  But having said that – she wouldn’t let us touch anything – from the phone to the tv and even the treadmill in the recreation room when we were kids.  So I told myself – when i was very young, I would never do this to my kids.

But you see when you grow older and you have responsibilities you then know the real reason why your mothers didn’t want you to do anything in the kitchen.  Why? because at times, i catch myself telling Chloe – that she should just let me cook or wash up quickly – so that i can go and finish my other tasks.  I am very vigilant about this – and make sure I let Chloe cook and wash whenever she wants – so that we can bond – she doesn’t really clean or cook but she is always very happy when she thinks she is helping out and what better way to teach your kids responsibilities and to share your day with her then now.

As you can see – Chloe is darn serious about her “job” – she wants to be a real mama’s helper – and thanks to Auntie CY and Rachel Jeh Jeh from UK who made it possible by sending her a special kid’s apron and cook hat last Christmas.  As you can see here – she just loved her outfit and never fails to put them on – when she is being mama’s helper for the day.

So moms and dads – make time for your kids – they don’t stay this young forever – you don’t want to miss these special moments with them.  And you know what? when Chloe is older – she will learn how to build computers – man the store and do lots of other things with us.

I lived in many different countries for several years – due to school and work – and yes – my work previously brought me many travel opportunities and I’m very blessed because I’ve had some of the best bosses.  And because of my travel experiences in many different countries I get to see different things and appreciate where I grew up in and the kind of support one can get back home where health is concerned.

We’ve  all heard stories about how teenagers do drugs because of stress from school, work or home – but having traveled so much – you and I know,  it’s not only the teenagers who can have problems with drugs.  Is it more in the West than in the East – I don’t think so – because even in conservative Japan – I’ve seen people do drugs there.   Addiction counseling  and  rapid detox for opiates was the most common route I’ve seen people take – when they have a loved one fall prey to this health and emotional problem.

One can feel quite helpless when you see a loved one struggle with an addiction and many years ago, when you hear about detox – you think about cold turkey treatment but with Rapid Detox – you don’t have to suffer the way others used to.   I’ve heard it is also quite safe – in fact, you can phone in and ask any questions you may have of the treatment before signing up for it.  Financing is available, so take action right away and help your loved ones now  or if you have a know someone who has an addiction with Oxycontin, Heroin,Hydrocodone, Methadone, Suboxone, Subutex, Morphine, Fentanyl, Dialudid, Darvon, Demerol, Codeine, Norco, Oxycodone, Percodan, Percocet, Roxicodone, Suboxone, Tramadol, Vicodin, Tylenol 3 and Tylenol 4, and other opiate drugs.

Yes – I know i’m a bit back log on the food that I’ve eaten of late – and this was bought and eaten as a take-out last month 3 weeks ago – to be exact.  As usual – this is from a local place in town – and we were the last one to get the last plate – lucky us – we caught the today’s special just in time.  I didn’t know what a Chicken Shishtawook wrap and Tabouli was – but it sounded interesting and we wanted to try it – this time we didn’t call to ask what the special was – we just called if there was any left – I believed, after all – it was a Cyber Monday for us at our store – and it was extremely busy – we didn’t get lunch till late – late.

So how was the food?  pretty good – but i was expecting a wrap – since it said that it was a chicken shishtawook wrap – but it didn’t deter us – when we saw what it was like.  Chicken and potatoes – and a kinda green salad.  I told PB – it tasted like grass LOL – but it was still good though – i like the tomatoes in it and i did finished it all – afterall – all healthy stuff – does taste different right.   It was a filling lunch – $7.95 – both PB and I had it and didn’t need to even finish up our chicken pita that we had bought to share – plus like i said we were very busy that day.

Anyhow – there will be no more Lebanese food to review – from this cafe anymore – not that the food isn’t good nor is it not value for money – but because they lost me as their customer.  Why????  that’s another story for another day.

I do love the deli counter at Sobeys – our local grocery shop here in town – they not only have the western stuff – like macaroni salad and coleslaw etc – they are pretty adventurous in the recent years because they also have food like Sweet & Sour Pork and Ginger beef and a few order things that even I liked.  One of the many things they have – is the sweet and sour pork deli style, whereby you just tell them how much food you want – and they scooped it up for you and charge you accordingly.  I have always liked the ladies at the deli at Sobeys because not only do they have an awesome deli Manager – Susan – everyone there are very nice – very accommodating and always have a minute to spare – whether we are buying a lot that day or not. Sobeys is where we get most of our groceries – although we do go to other places to get other stuff – like tofu and sesame oil – but i find Sobeys have more comprehensive range to choose from – geez they even have discount diet pills.  Now this is my preference – and i`m not saying other grocery stores are not good – so donch huff and puff  and become one of those puffer fish -  if you are from another store – and think that i`m trashing your business eh – hahahha!!  some people can be funny in this small town.  I have an amusing story to tell – but that will be for another day and another story.

Anyhow – it is great that Sobeys has these deli style food because it sure makes it really convenient for me – as the brat don`t eat any meat except for chicken and fish.   So if i was craving for pork – you know where I am headed and then i have them with my favorite cup noodles and there – satisfied totally!  Simple, awesome & cheap!  and may i add – excellent service from Sobeys !

So how was everyone’s Mother’s Day..?? did you all spend time to tell the women in your lives how much they touched your lives by just being in their lives?  Or did anyone of you spend it over petty stuff and bickering over nothing?   or did you look for  disability insurance like my dear friend, Phoebe.  I had a very meaningful Mother’s Day yesterday – but that will be for another day and another story – but what’s more meaningful to me this Mother’s Day is to be able to adopt a book from the local library in the Loving Memory of PB’s grandmother – Bertha Rose – Killam.  This was a combined effort of the entire family – so please let me thank Richard (PB’s brother), PB’s parents, Garth & Sandra (PB’s uncle and aunt), Ally (PB’s cousin) and Rainy (PB’s aunt) and of course PB & Chloe who each donated to adopt the books.

There were many books to choose from and the librarian was very nice about walking us thru’ and helping us with adopting the books.  Some of you – may be wondering why we are doing it – but it has always been our nature to give back to society and what better way than to adopt these books – to honor PB’s Nana (grandmother ) -  whom we loved dearly.  And yes – I’ve gotten to know and grown fond of Nana when i arrived in Canada – she was the sweetest old lady and even though PB don’t really say much – he never refused to visit his Nana whenever I wanted to.

Chloe still wasn’t feeling too well – we had kept her home – but she wanted to visit the library too – so we brought her along.

This was one of the books we picked – and PB chose to put onto the book – In Loving Memory of Bertha Rose – Killam.

This was another book we adopted – we didn’t write who they were donated from – because there wasn’t a need to – we hoped that when anyone borrow these books – they would think of Nana and not us.

We adopted 4 books altogether – which came up to about $100 and we felt it was definitely something worthwhile to do – but like i said – i cannot take credit for it – because it was a combined effort of some of PB’s family and extended family.

But i’m especially proud of Richard – because Richard is always the quiet and unassuming one – but when i mentioned the idea to him – he didn’t say another word – and handed the money over to PB.   Thank you everyone – you know who you are – for making it possible to honor Nana.   Even though I only knew Nana for a short time – a few years – I felt that this was something we wanna do to remember her by.   Life is too short to always dwell on the bad things and think that everyone is against you or yours – you will be very miserable – if you do that.   When you die – how do you want ppl to remember you by?  Someone like PB’s Nana? who is sweet and loving  or someone is is constantly bitter and petty – think about it eh.

Bak Kut Teh is a common food back home but here in Canada – you’ll have to cook it yourself to be able to get a taste of home.  Anyhow, from the care package of a girlfriend from UK -  a few months ago  – i had found some packages of  Asian Gourmet Spices and that included Bak Kut Teh!! woohoo!!  So I made some to go with the rice that Chloe and I can eat -  as you can see I had some frozen tau pok too this time and i remembered to defrost it in time to put them into the slow cooker with some hard boiled eggs.  The only reason why i don’t cooked Bak Kut Teh as much as I want is because i heard it’s quite “heaty”, therefore the timing had to be right – if there were cold days coming up – i would planned so – the other reason is – i cooked it in a slow cooker – although everyone said it’s safe to leave it overnite while it cooked – i try not to because one never know – so the timing had to be right.  What about you?  do you leave your slow cooker on .. during the night..??  Anyhow, chloe and i had a good meal or two outta this pot of bak kut teh and thank you, Glennis for sending it all the way from London!  with the  chandelier .  But that would be for another day and another story.