I was kidnapped by Aliens... and have been away from my body since last I post..

No I am kidding. I have just been crazy BUSY and have just lurked around when I have a free minutes and never sat down long enough to post..

I have a great life.. my many projects allow me to meet so many interesting people.. So Far, I have met two Olympic Gold Medalists, learned some valuable life lessons from a DIVA (and the DIVA is not a woman); created some new business for myself, and help out a few good friends..

Along the way, I learned to weed out negative people and Good people that send me to negative places for my own piece of mind. I was charged with such HAPPY and positive energy for days after just spending one day with a stranger and by the end of the day, we are fast friends..

So many ideas, so many adventures and never enough time to reflect. I just want to put pen to paper (in this case, keyboard to blog) that I am so thankful for the blessings I receive.

Conquering Procrastination.. and trying to declutter

As I stated in my last post, I was going to give up clutter during lent. I did not realize how big a job I have taken on and created.

I was overwhelmed with the amount of clutter I wanted to get rid of..

• Kitchen
• Dressing Room
• Living Room
• Re-organizing all to make it more user friendly and effective
• Office
• Computer Desktop

I didn't know where to start and I created smaller piles of clutter to try to get rid of the bigger piles.

Today, I thought of something that might help me.
I am going to start small.. one step at a time..
This is the shelf on top of my shoes where I usually dump things from my pockets.. and having before and after really help me focus..

Let me know what you think.. (of course this might be the only spot I got to, but its a start)

Fat Tuesday

Today is Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day to get all your party-ing done and by tomorrow (Ash Wednesday) all will be forgiven. So we hope.

Most people I know always talk about Fat Tuesday; do you know what it is? Click on the title and you will get the origin of Fat Tuesday.

I like Fat Tuesday; this is a good reminder for me to be reflective and plan for Ash Wednesday - the start of the 40 days of lent. Lent is giving up (or Sacrifice) something for 40 days before Easter. Last year for lent, I gave up 'SHOPPING' which to me is a big sacrifice. This year, there are so many things I want to do and never seems to have time to do it. I was thinking about giving up technology, but I cannot bear to leave my computer alone, therefore, I am going to give up Clutter. For the next 40 days, I will not collect things, I will not buy things that will clutter up my life and I am going to de-clutter my living space starting with my dressing room and office.

I saw a great episode on Oprah today about people living in small spaces. 'Living Small' is the theme of the show. Do we really need all the space - filled with clutter in our lives?

My Love for Cooking

I have been known to buy cookbooks by the suitcase full [I bought 2 suitcases full back from Taiwan and Hong Kong] so I was so happy when my sister pointed me to this fantastic site. I thought I was dedicated but this woman makes me feel like a kindergartener learning to make a cake in my Easy Bake oven.

I am so inspired to try out some of her recipes. Since I only like to cook and hardly eat all my cooking, my poor husband, who is trying to lose his 'Homer Simpson' belly from our trip to Las Vegas is going to need to buy bigger pants. [evil laugh =.= ]

Day about Love...and friendship

Advertisers spend inordinate amount of money promoting today. I remembered I used to sent Valentines to everyone I know. I sent around a small (I thought) heartfelt message to some friends and surprisingly I got some very negative feedbacks.

I used to hate it when some friends used to introduce me as ' my ex-colleague friend'; or 'my long term friend'. I thought that friends is just FRIENDS and that should be it and there shouldn't be categories to sub-categories based on different locations or years of knowledge.

For the past year or so, I realize I have a difficult time distinguishing acquaintances and friends. To me, I think everyone is a friend regardless of when and where I met them.

I like to help and whenever I hear someone is doing something I have had experience with or if I was asked for help or advice; I usually passed on what I learned based on my past knowledge so that they don't need to waste time making the same mistakes I made.

I thought I was being supportive. Unfortunately, my innate need to help usually turns out to be 'bad actions' on my part. When I was trying to be constructive with negative aspects, I was accused of trying to destroy people's dreams; if I tell them about some possible mishaps then I was being negative; or that I am trying to show off that I know more than them and they feel belittled. My intention to HELP got lost in the mix and usually bad feelings occur. Of course, my injured friend always forgot that they asked me for help and I was always the bad person or bad friend.

I have dropped out of touch with a lot of work (9 to 5) friends since I find that I have less and less in common with them. I find it difficult to chit chat about people I no longer work with and the work load is not something I care about anymore. Whenever I talk about my different projects, I can hear in their voices that they are not interested or that I am 'rubbing in' my freestyle time schedule.

I finally realized that I am getting too old to be trying to have everyone like me. I am simple in what I want and I hate to be involved in a lie since I can't keep all the stories straight.

I like spending time at home with my significant other, I like what I do, I like my lifestyle, I like spending time alone doing things I like, I like to shop, I like to learn and I like to know how things work and I like to help people when I can. I care about what happens to people. You can count on me to back you up when you are in trouble; you can count on me to listen to you and you can count on me to be always on your side.

It finally occurred to me, my 'true' friends know where I am coming from even though they like to categorize our friendship and those that don't know me, I APOLOGIZE, I am too old to try to make you all happy.

Dine Out Vancouver - Restaurant 9 and 10 - Ocean 6 Seventeen

This restaurant is SOOOO GOOD we came here twice within the same week!

Restaurant - Ocean 6 Seventeen
Sitting - 6:30pm
Price - $25 and $35
Ambiance - Cozy, Romantic, Waterview
Service - Fantastic and Personable without being pushy
Food we had - Slices of various home made bread with spread [I forgot to write down what it was but it tasted great]

They have both a $25 and $35 menu and both have fantastic food.

Appy:

• Scallop with Squash soup, spruce tip syrup [hot soup with grilled Scallop, very flavorful and good on a cold night]
• Surf and Turf - Thinly sliced Capaccio Rolled with Crab Meat and Pomme Frit [this was very nicely presented, the capaccio was nice and fresh and the pomme frit was as thin as thread, great chew factor with the soft meat and crunchy pomme frit]
• Blue Cheese Tart Salad with Quince [this is my first taste with quince and it takes some getting used to; the cheese tart was huge for an appy]

Entree:

• Trout - Pan seared fillet, crab risotto, lemon brown butter [very nice and light and the risotto was rich, full of crab and very flavorful]
• Venison - with mushroom mashed potatoes [grilled to order; medium rare; very rich and decadent mashed potatoes with various mushrooms mixed in]
• Halibut - Pan seared fillet, herb butter and season medley of squashes [meaty tasting fillet with layers of flavorful squashes]

Dessert:

• Warm Ginger Poached Pear and home made Ginger snaps [very lightly poached and not over sweet]
• Molten Chocolate Cake served with a scoop of white chocolate ice cream and shavings of white chocolate inside each bite and small slices of apple [decadent, rich but not overly sweet, the cake is a cross between warm chocolate pudding and chocolate syrup]

Additional Comments - with highly competitive restaurants around town, this one stands out with its beautiful food and excellent customer service. Lori - our server/hostess was friendly but not overly pushy. She is very knowledgeable about the menu and how its prepared and answered all our questions patiently. The friends we brought to this restaurant were all impressed.

Dine Out Vancouver - Restaurant 8 - Chartwell at Four Seasons Hotel

This is what fine dining is all about.

Restaurant - Chartwell
Sitting - 7:30pm
Price - $35
Amibance - Colonial Woodwork, real fire place and lots of wood paneling and oil scenic paintings
Service - Impeccable
Food we had - Dinner rolls with lots of bread sticks [very good, light and crunchy bread sticks]
Appy:

• Steak Tartare, Moroccan Spice, Hummus [very fresh, greatly seasoned and presented]
• Lobster Bisque, Cappuccino [rich, with tidbits of lobster meat, cream foam on top]

Entree:

• Duck Breast, Salsify, Polenta, Carrot Sauce [there was 5 nicely medium slices of duck on a bed of polenta, the duck was tender and the polenta was seasoned and delicious]
• Halibut, Mushroom Sauce, Brussel Sprouts, Celery Root [this was nicely pan fried; not overdone and have a crispy side, presented nicely, one of the better fish dish I have tried throughout this Dine Out]

Dessert:

• Hazelnut Pistachio Dome - upside down pudding cake with delicious pistachio centre [tastes great and looked very interesting]
• Grand Marnier Souffle (add on $6) [perfectly risen souffle with creme anglais on the side and a spoonful of orange sorbet]
• We were also presented with small brownies and a white chocolate shell hand made candy with a soft white chocolate centre

Additional Comments - other than a very noisy diner next to us (thank goodness they were gone by the first course), this was a perfect meal - great appys, fantastic entree and great dessert. We always walked right by when we are at Pacific Centre, now we will stop and consider dinner here. After Dine Out, they also have a $35 Dine and Dash dinner with similar set up but more choices, and the only rule is you have to be seated by 6:30pm. Not bad if you work downtown and want to have a nice bite.

Dine Out Vancouver - Restaurant 7 - Blue Water Cafe

Restaurant - Blue Water Cafe
Sitting - 7:30pm
Price - $35
Ambiance - Open Kitchen; Modern Layout
Service - Friendly
Food we had - cold dinner rolls with roasted red pepper and chic peas hummus [we would have prefer warm bread and some oil and balsamic vinegar or even butter]
Appy:

• Maguro Mizore An Kake - albacore tuna tataki with ponzu sauce, daikon & green onions [nice serving (5 large pieces of tuna) and beautifully presented; simple and tasty; one of our favorite appy so far]
• Cannelini Bean Veloute - clams, chorizo sausage, poached organic egg [this is luke warm soup with beans and sausage and not something we normally try; it was good]

Entree:
Arctic Char a la Plancha - organic millet fritter, peashoots, red onions, zucchini, saffron-tomato sauce [this tasted like Salmon with a crispy skin, the millet fritter and the veggies tasted better than the char]

Dessert:
Cinnamon Chocolate Mouse - coconut wafer, Linzer kalamansi cake, Bailey's caramel ice cream [the Linzer cake was very hard and dry; the rest was good but all were bite sized]

Additional Comments - we always run into someone at this restaurant. This time, my friend and her husband who had tried both the Char and the Beef, told us to ordered the Char since the other entree Braised Beef Ragout - carrots, pearl onions, celery, mushrooms, black truffle tagliatelle, was just a few slices of beef on top of pasta. For the restaurant's price point, I think this is a reasonable price for a meal here but from all the different restaurants we have been to, the value was not there.

Dine Out Vancouver - Restaurant 6 - Global Grill and Satay Bar

This is one of my favourite place for lunch. They have a daily Global Express 45 lunch menu that is very reasonable.

Restaurant - Global Grill and Satay Bar
Sitting - Early - 6:00pm
Price $35
Ambiance - Chic, Modern and Comfortable; they provide lap blankets and heat lamps if you want to sit outside
Service - Very friendly
Food we had - Crusty bread with soft centre served with Hummus, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, and Herbed Butter

Appy: Duo of Gravlax and BC Dungeness Crab Cake avocado and tomato relish, sweet mustard sauce [Very nicely presented appetizer; bite sized]

Entree: This was in addition to the online menu from the Dine Out site; Surf and Turf - Nice Beef Medallion with herb butter cook to order stacked on top of smooth lump free mashed potatoe and two Giant finger size grilled Prawns [Beautifully plated and the prawns were the largest we had in a long time; the meat was palm size and nicely cooked, everything tasted great]

Dessert - Bittersweet Chocolate Hazelnut Torte; crème chantilly with vanilla bean on Raspberry Coulis [this was surprisingly good since I am not a big fan of bitter chocolate; every bite in the torte has a hazelnut]

Additional Comments - we both ordered the same thing so we didn't try any other items; the food is well prepared and plated and the waiter was very friendly. They were good at informing us that there will be a $2 Hot Water Charge so we weren't surprised at the end when the bill came as we were at Hermitage.

The owners also own Sanafir so the follow up customer service was excellent.

Dine Out Vancouver - Restaurant 5 - Gyu Japanese Teppanaki

The address for this restaurant says Burrard, but the actual entrance is on Alberni Street.

Restaurant - Gyu Japanese Teppanaki Restaurant
Seating - 7:00pm
Price - $25
Ambiance - Nicely separated rooms with flat Teppanaki Grill in front of 6 - 8 people
Service - friendly Teppanaki Chef and efficient wait staff
Food we had -
Appy: Seasonal Greens with Dressing & Lobster Miso Soup [typical fare at most Japanese Restaurant; no lobster in the soup; might have been stewed in Lobster Shells since it smells like lobster]

Entree: Half Live Crab, Shrimp, Squid, Scallop, Filet of Chicken, Thinly Sliced Alberta Ribeye, Assorted Vegetables & Steamed Rice [the chef cooked everything in front of you; he paced it while cooking for others that share the cooktop so that you are not rushed]

Dessert: Green Tea Ice Cream

Additional Comments - the chef makes the meal and ours was quite entertaining. The thinly sliced Alberta Ribeye was cooked to our specification (rare) and wrapped with green onion and toasted garlic chips. The chef also gave us some XO Sauce (spicy hot sauce with heated dried scallop); and introduce us to the various sauce to dip our meat (Ponzu Citrus Sauce, Apple Sesame Sauce, and Tomato Sauce) The value of the meal was very reasonable. The party that was sharing our table and chef opted to choose the regular menu (Dinner Menu A) and it was about 5 dollars more and they had no crab but have some small steak pieces.

Downside - since you are sitting right up to the stove where the chef is cooking, even though the vent was going, you still smell like you have been cooking in an industrial kitchen and you smell oily.

Meet expectation: Yes, good value for food.