Hi All:

We are now in DC.  It had been a few days already since we logged on to the internet.  It sure felt like foreover!  I wanted to let you all know that we will not be logging in everyday.  This means that some comments left on this site might not show up for a few days (for long time commenters, your comments are approved automatically).  This also means that we will not be able to respond to questions and comments left here — sorry!  Moreover, we will only have a few more days of blog entries left on auto publishing and then it will stop until we get home in early August.

DC is wonderful but is really hot and humid.  There are so many things to see and do here but all the walking is killing our feet.  We will have a lot to share with you when we’re back home.

We have a problem … we had not been eating well!!  Most the places we went to for food so far are so boring.  So, help us here now, Washingtonians!  Can you guys suggest places we should check out … places that are accessible via the Metro.  We are staying 3 minutes from the US Capitol and this place is dead after office hours.  We went to the Chinatown, Metro Center, and Dupont Circle but can’t find anything we really fancy.

Summer is the time to enjoy a cup of iced coffee. My kids’ favourite is Tim Horton’s Iced Capp Supreme. However, I would prefer a McD’s ice coffee simply for the lesser calories. Here is a comparison of nutritional value for a small serving of both of them:

Tim Horton’s Iced Capp Supreme
Calories: 250
Fat: 11g
Saturated fat: 6g
Trans fat: 0.4g
Cholesterol: 45mg
Sodium: 50mg
Sugar: 33g

McDonald’s Iced Coffee
Calories: 110g
Fat: 6g
Saturated fat: 3.5g
Trans fat: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 20mg
Sodium: 35mg
Sugar: 15g

We bought this Kona Mocha Blended Iced Coffee Mix from Costco for about $8. It has become one of Nanzaro’s favourite home made drink in summer.

This is a fairly good iced blended coffee which has the creaminess that resembles Tim Horton’s Iced Capp.

Comparatively, it’s nutritional values is between McD’s Iced Coffee and Tim Horton’s Iced Capp Supreme.  The only thing I’m concerned about this product is the sodium is quite high, not good for people with hyper tension.

Making the Kona Mocha Blended Ice Coffee is simple.  You just need a blender, some ice and milk.

Nanzaro will always volunteer to make it as he always gets a cup for himself and share the other cup with his brother or father and leave the clean up for me :-(.

Here is the finished product, a creamy ice coffee for a hot summer day.  You can make 17 servings of 473ml blender drinks from the tin of 1.36kg (48oz) of Kona Mocha Blended Ice Coffee Mix.  That average to 25cents per cup serving, way much cheaper than Tim Horton’s small Iced Capp ($2.49)or McD’s small Iced Coffee ($1.39).

After the picnic at the Steveston Park, Polly, WB and I proceed to Steveston Village for lunch.  Steveston Village is a historic site where the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, the Britania Heritage Shipyard and the Murakami Visitor Center are located.  It’s a popular visitor destination in Richmond.

One can also purchase the fresh catch from the sea at the Fisherman’s Wharf or go for whale watching adventure.

Sockeye City Grill is just located on the pier of the Fisherman’s Wharf.  There are several fish and chips restaurants here but Polly and WB said Sockeye City is the best.

In this time of the year, the outdoor patio is usually full.

But the little girls prefer to sit inside instead.  The interior is cozy and has a nice view overlooking the pier too.

We had our drinks orders taken first.  Soft drinks cost $2.75.  Kid’s meal comes with a free drink.

Out of the above condiments, ketchup is the most popular among the kids.

Nanzaro insisted not to order from the kid’s menu.  So, I had the kid’s meal instead as I’m not hungry yet after all the snacks at the picnic.  One can choose between fish and chips, burger and chips, chicken and chips, pasta with cheese or grilled cheese and chips for the kid’s meal.  The kid’s meal costs $6.75.

Nanzaro ordered Grilled wild BC Sockeye Salmon which costs $17.95.  The salmon is fire grilled and comes with mango cilantro salsa, grilled seasonal vegetables and basmati rice.   Well, I got to eat all the vegetables though.

WB got this Salmon Sandwich for $12.95.  It’s a crusty bread topped with chunks of grilled salmon, cucumber slices, lettuce, tomato and onions.  The sandwich also comes with a big portion of fries.

The service was quite slow perhaps due to the crowd during lunch time.  If you are visiting Steveston Village, you sure have to try their fries.  There is a take out counter where you can order some simple food for you to enjoy while you leisurely walking the board walk and take in the scenery.

Polly, WB and I brought our kids to the Steveston Park for a picnic. It is the time of the year where kids get to enjoy the outdoor life. Steveston Park had a new water park installed last year. This is the first time I visited this waterpark.

The water park is very popular with young kids.  Of course there are also moms with very young toddlers.  Nanzaro came with us to the park but he decided to spend time in the library as he is a teenager now.  He hates it when people call him a kid.

Besides the water park, there is also the playground for kids to swing, climb, slide and all.  Kids nowadays are very lucky to have such facilities provided free for them.

Polly also brought along some washable paints for the kids to do some painting.  Well, someone forgot the brushes but hand painting seemed to be more fun.

We brought along some snacks to munch because we intended to go out for lunch later.  Here are some of snacks we had.

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Click on the link below for more photos of the snacks.
continue reading "Snacks"

Polly recommended me this Malaysian traditional Prawn Noodle Paste.  Polly told me that when she tasted it, Nanzaro came to her mind as she remembered Nanzaro enjoys spicy food a lot.

Prepackage mixes and paste makes life easier for those who miss their hometown food.  You don’t have to buy individual spices and herbs to grind or pound them yourself.  But using such paste may have short fall like you can’t control the amount of salt in them.

I find that the amount of salt in this paste is very high.  I would not recommend consuming this too often.

The soup tastes pretty good, very rich in prawn flavour.  I had prawns and fried tofu puff to go with the prawn noodle because originally I intended to make curry laksa.  The traditional prawn noodle should have garnishes like poached chicken meat slices or pork slices, choy sum, bean sprout, hard boiled egg and prawns.

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Prawn Noodle Paste"

Well, well, well.  Mary Stacy was quite sharp.  She noticed that we normally tip in the region of 10% when we eat out.  Now that it was brought up, I think it’s a very interesting topic.

We had always thought (and still believe) that Canadians generally tip in the region of 10% to 15%.  That is to say that we generally tip 10% and only 15% or more if the service is good.  Well, that had always been what we normally do.

We do observe and practice tipping more when we are in the US.  I believe the norm is to tip at least 15% and up to 20% and more if the service is good.  So, when Mary Stacy mentioned that 10% was low and that I think she’s from Chicago, I am kind of not surprised she mentioned it.

I could be wrong.

So, here is the question for you all … I mean you ALL readers … I mean not just readers from Canada and the US … can you share with me (1) where you are from and (2) how much do you typically tip?  Just take a few seconds and respond with a comment.

I will collect all responses and summarize them.  It will be very interesting to know, I bet.

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Update 18Jul: FYI, here is what I found on wikipedia about tipping in Canada:

Tipping in Canada is similar to that in the United States due to the close cultural nature of the two countries. For example, while tipping for waiters in the United States is 15-20% for good service, waiters in Canada also receive 10-20% for good service.

Whew!  It’s good to know we were not so cheap after all.  LOL!

Ben picked up this ready to serve Sambal Nasi Lemak from Smart & Save to try out.  We simply love spicy food and nasi lemak (rice cooked with coconut milk) is very simple to prepare.

This package costs around $2 plus and it serves 4 to 6 persons as printed on the package.  All you need to do is to heat up the sauce and it’s ready to eat.  This sauce is great as condiment for curry laksa and prawn noodle.

The nutritional value indicates the sodium is on the high side which I’m always on the look out.  Nowadays, processed food  usually has high fat and sodium that one must be aware of.  It’s not only the calories that we have to watch out for.

I usually don’t serve the sambal on itself.  I will cook the sambal with some caramelize onion which add sweetness and nutrition to the sambal.

The basic condiments for nasi lemak are hard boiled eggs, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts and cucumber slices.  You may also serves the nasi lemak with some curry chicken or sambal prawns or squid.

I serve mine with garlic sausage and stir fried cabbage because I’m trying to clear my fridge of any perishable food as my vacation is just a few days away.

Vancouver’s Chinatown is known as the second largest Chinatowns in North America.  Only the one in San Francisco is larger than Vancouver’s.  Frankly, it had been on a decline for many years now.  We used to go to Chinatown often for food and groceries but no longer.  We could get what we wanted and more just about anywhere in Metro Vancouver these days.

Suanne and I decided to take a drive to Chinatown a weekend a few weeks ago.  The boys were off doing their air cadet stuff and we had time for our own.  We checked out a few places but many of the restaurants really looked very dirty.  The one that seems the cleanest is The Boss.

The Boss Bakery and Restaurant is located at the 500 block of Main St.  I believe they are the same restaurant as The Boss in Metrotown which I used to blog here.  (BTW, the one in Metrotown was closed the last time I pass by a couple of weeks ago … am not sure if they are undergoing renovation).

Don’t be deceived by the picture I took above.  It’s just that the angle shows a quite classy restaurant.  It is not!  It is by no means dirty but rather quite clean for a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

They gave a huge menu which they place under a glass top — just like they do in the Metrotown restaurant.  I know it’s kind of corny but it’s practical if you ask me.  I get seated and there is the menu right in front of me … no need to wait for the server to bring along one.

However, they have a very limited menu for breakfast and I mean very limited.  They only have the breakfast menu you see above and congee.

I had the congee which was quite good and has in it three types of meatballs, fish, shrimp and beef.  What I like most is the raw ginger they put into this.  For $4.75, it’s quite cheap.

Suanne had the Breakfast combo which included quite a lot of dishes … it includes the dinner roll above right down to all the items below!  The Boss is principally a bakery and they make great pastries.  The dinner roll were fresh out of the oven … soft and smell really good.

Next was the pork chop and eggs.  The pork chop was moist and juicy … really nice.

Suanne does not like eggs and so I had hers.  Sunny side up is the best if you ask me.  Now … for those of you who normally have eggs with ketchup, you MUST try it with white pepper and soya sauce.  This beats ketchup 1000 times.

The combo also included a Shredded Chicken with Pasta in Soup.  It was quite bland.  I am not a fan of these type of pasta in soup … it’s pretty tasteless but I guess it is popular because it’s a chockful of carbohidrates.

And … there’s a cup of beverage too for $1 extra.

The bill is only $11.29.  You can’t beat this place for value.  When you’re here, check out their Chinese pastries.

LotusRapper (also goes by the name Saabken) recommended this place to us.  I tell you … this guy is a real foodie and sure knows his food.  The other day, he commented about this place called “The Place” where he claims that they have the best spicy beef noodle soup, we simply had to check it out for ourselves.

The Place is located at about 63rd on Granville in the southern part of Vancouver.  It is such a nondescript place that most people would not have noticed it let alone giving it a second glance.  But I tell you … it’s a gem of a place.

The Place is a no-frill smallish Chinese restaurant.  I don’t know how to categorize it … maybe the best way to describe it is it’s Mainland Chinese restaurant.  They serve both Shanghai and Sichuan dishes.

Service is excellent and I like the sweet and polite server which sometimes I find so wanting in many such restaurants.  She was so helpful in helping us choose the dishes as we could not read Chinese.  Although there were English translations on the menu, it does not do justice to the type of dishes they have.

The Place have very unique dishes and does seem very authentic.  The server recommended the Family Hot Pot (Chien Gar Fook in Cantonese).  It was great.  It is a clear and flavourful broth with lots of stuff in it … fishballs, vermicelli, sliced pork, and suey choy.  They also have stuffed bean curd skin and egg wrapped minced pork.  This is so good and excellent with rice — a real comfort food.

It came in a large pot that is more than enough for the four of us.  Although it’s pricey at $13.25, it is worth it.  You should try this.

The second dish recommended was the Boiled Spicy Fish.  It is a Sichuan style “Sui Gee Yee” — very, very spicy — very, very nice.  It is a big serving of fish filet with bean sprouts.  Suanne said that it is too salty for her.  I can’t say it’s salty for me as I was just dealing with the heat of this really spicy dish.

This dish costs $13.25.  You should order this if you like spicy Sichuan food.  It has a thick film of oil which may put some people off.

The Braised Pork Hand came served in a wooden bucket.  This is a Shanghainese dish, I believe.  The sauce at the bottom of the bucket is sweet and one must never waste this … it is very good with plain rice.  It’s so good I could just eat rice with the sweet sauce alone as a meal.

Again, this is not exactly very healthy food.  The best part of the meat is the thick fat layer of skin.  Yummy.

For $47, including taxes and tips, I find this value for money.  There were so much food left over we had them to go — we have enough left over for lunch the next day.  BTW, they only accepts cash.

I like The Place and will definitely go back again to check out their other dishes.  I know they are not very healthy food but they are really delish.  I highly recommend this place.  You MUST go.

We are beginning to run out of a place to eat in Richmond.  Since the boys wanted AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) Sushi, we took a long drive to Burnaby.  There are lots of cheap and decent sushi places along Kingsway at around the Metrotown section.  We decided to go to Fish on Rice.

There are actually two Fish On Rice with the other one along Broadway in Vancouver.  The Fish On Rice on Kingsway is located on the second floor of 4381 Kingsway.  When I suggested Fish On Rice, Nanzaro thought I was pulling his legs.  He simply could not believe there’s a sushi place with that name.  He expected more Japanese sounding names like Akasuka, Ningkasu, Yokohama, Toyota, Mitsubishi.  LOL!

Frankly, I knew of the bad reviews of Fish On Rice particularly the fact that they have bad service.  I sort of understand that because they have one of the cheapest AYCE Sushi around town.

The Lunch AYCE is $12 but is $1 extra for weekends.  Between the four of us, it costs $60 including tips.  We went at about 1PM and knew that there would be a crowd — we just did not know how big the crowd was.

We put in our name to the waiting list and was informed that the wait is 1.5 hours and that we were given at most only 1 hour to eat because they closes lunch at 3PM!!  Take it or leave it, they said … no negotiation.  I wanted to go for another place but the boys wanted this so much and did not mind waiting.  It was easy for them to say — they have their iPods while Suanne and I only have each other to talk to.

We did not have to wait for 1.5 hours really.  We got shown our tables only after 30 minutes.  I guess a lot of people left their names and then left without waiting.

The interior look quite authentic but I do suspect this is not Japanese owned.  Seating were cramped and tables were divided into booths of various size.  We wanted so much to get seated by the windows with sunken floors but it was not possible because they are meant for bigger parties.

There are rules here … all AYCEs have rules.  Here, you could have either AYCE or ala carte but not on the same table.  There is also a 2 hour time limit.

Service was indeed bad.  The waitresses walked around with their eyes looking at the floor all the time.  They were so afraid of eye contact.  We had to literally block their path to get their attention.

Mum, as usual being kiasu one, over ordered.  Her reasoning that we only have 1 hour to eat but I know she wants maximum value for the money!  For those who don’t know the meaning of the word kiasu, see here.  I kid you not … kiasu is a word recognized by Oxford Dictionary.

We all regretted … BIG TIME!  There were so much food all that we wanted to puke!  I mean, why go through the agony of stuffing yourself silly just because it is AYCE right?  Not to mention too … the guilt the next day when we step on the scales and found that we just gained 1 KG in 1 day.  We never learn.  LOL!

The food was not stellar but was quite OK.  Some of them had lots of MSG.  We, of course, maximized on our order of sashimi.  We were not surprised that they are sliced so thin (they are supposed to be chunkier).

Salmon head and salmon cheek.  Suanne digs this stuff.  She enjoys picking up the flesh pieces.  Too much work for me … too much work for the boys too.

I think the above is the Crispy Chicken Skin … it was some skin but not 101% sure if it was chicken.  Nice … we like it.  Not healthy, I know but they are absolutely delish.

Oyster Motoyaki is another of Suanne’s favourite.  It has too much mayo and too rich for me.  Suanne makes this at home and has the recipe here.  It’s easy to make … check that out.

There are lots of other pictures we took … click on the link below to see more.

continue reading "Fish On Rice on Kingsway, Burnaby"