Happy October 31st

Ah, it's that time of year again, where fireworks can be heard being set off every night since a week before. As my friend puts it, it's also the time to guess whether the noises are fireworks, or gunfire. I am not a fan of Halloween and all that is associated with it (except the candy, I guess -- but not from strangers!).  I usually hide out at home and watch cartoons.  So, I'll just fill this post of random stuff.

                                     

Poutine burger from Triple O's! I'm not a fan of burgers, but one bite of this was... amazing

Yu Xiang Yuan Restaurant 豫湘園

I love eating out with mom, because she knows good food places that I would have never found on my own.  The most recent one was a trip to Yu Xiang Yuan Restaurant.  Many people would probably just see the red "Handcrafted Noodle" sprawled across their banner.

Westham Island Herb Farm pumpkin patch

Ohohoho... I got the flu shot not so long ago, and now caught the cold.  So I'm staying home from work today.  Since my bed was getting pretty darn boring, I decided to type a new entry :)

Last Saturday the boyfriend and I drove down to Delta to visit the pumpkin farm.  We originally wanted to hit up Richmond farmer's market, since it's a lot closer, but apparently by the time we got there (~11am) the traffic was so bad that we went down a bit further to Westham Island Herb Farm.  We had to drive over this creepy old (but cool) bridge.

Review: Essie All In One 3-Way Glaze pt.2

So I said I would revisit this post after at least three days.  It has been four + a few hours.  To recap, I bought a new "three-in-one" Essie glaze that is used as a base coat, top coat, and on its own.
Its promise (as stated on package):

• stronger looking and feeling nails
• smoother nails instantly
• shiny glossy top coat that lasts for days

As I said before, my nails generally have no problem with breakage, as they're pretty strong, so I cannot comment on the first promise.  Having nail varnish on for the most part makes the nails feel stronger, anyway.  Yes, my nails instantly felt smoother after putting it on, however, it feels that way with any nail varnish I put on, so nothing special there.  The third point is probably the one of interest.   On the third day, I noticed the varnish starting to lift at the tips of my fingers.  I think one of them even lifted during my shower.  That creates this bulge at the tip, where the varnish seems to have lifted and bunched up together.  Also, the bottom part of the nails are starting to show due to varnish shrinkage. Not a pretty look.  I tolerated that, since my nail beds weren't significantly showing.  On the fourth day, bits of the varnish chipped off during shower time.

Free stuff :)

Have you heard of www.trybeforeyoubuysampler.ca?  You provide your mailing address and they send you samples of brands that are part of P&G (Procter & Gamble).  If you sign up for their newsletter, they will notify when samples are available :)

• 2 Sunlight triple clean - laundry single dose pacs
• 1 load Sunlight OXI Action cold water in icy splash - 56 ml detergent + $2 off coupon
• 1 load Snuggle exhilarations in wild orchid & vanilla kiss - 30 ml fabric softener
• 1 sample sized Dove Men +care aqua impact anti-perspirant - 17g
• 2 pieces of Ice Breakers FROST peppermints
• 1 packet Tetley 100% Steamed green tea ginger + $0.75 off coupon
• 1 coupon for a FREE full size Catelli Gluten Free pasta (exp. Dec 31, 2013)
  

Broadway Seafood & Sushi

My co-worker and I wanted a change of scenery for lunch, so we hopped onto the 99 B-line from UBC and got off at Macdonald St to see what's around.  We spotted Broadway Sushi, a hole-in-the-wall type restaurant, and saw that the prices were pretty darn cheap, so we decided to revisit that next time.

That next time was just last week.  They have a 5% off your order if you call in an hour early for pick-up.  We called at 11:45am for 1:00pm pick-up, and ordered Combo 1 and Spicy Combo.  Combo 1 included: a Rainbow roll (described as a California roll with tuna, salmon and shrimp on top), a House roll (think California roll with egg and salmon), and a miso soup.  The Spicy Combo included: spicy salmon roll, spicy tuna roll, spicy scallop roll, and miso soup. This is the first time I've seen "fillers" (i.e. cucumber) in a scallop roll.

Combo 1

Review: Essie All In One 3-Way Glaze pt.1

I was browsing at Shoppers Drug Mart at UBC when I happened upon a deal the store had on Essie varnishes - $7.99 CAD.  The deal lasts from October 19 - 25th, if anyone's interested.  I believe Essie polishes range from $12-14 CAD in stores when no deals are on, so $7.99 is a pretty good deal. Otherwise, I wouldn't normally buy any nail varnish that is over $5.
Anyway, I picked up Essie's All In One 3-Way Glaze, which can be used as a base coat, top coat, or on its on.  The packaging states that this base coat and top coat helps strengthen and leaves nails with a high-gloss finish. My nails generally have no problem with breakage, so I wouldn't be able to say how it works with strengthening nails.  However, nail varnishes rarely last more than four days without chipping.  Actually, after the four days, the whole layer of varnish would peel off.  Does anyone else experience that?  Once I peeled one off and showed a friend.  She freaked out cuz she thought my entire nail came off ^^;; I'm wondering whether that's the base coat problem, or a problem of my nails not liking varnishes...

Review: Dermal Green Tea; My Beauty Diary Bird's Nest face masks

I spotted some Dermal collagen essence masks on sale for 2 for $1.00 CAD at our local Japanese convenient store Konbiniya. So I picked up a few to try:

• Red ginseng: mild; firming; refining
• Snail: regeneration; moisturizing; nutrition (sounds a bit gross, right? extracts from snail slime...)
• Pearl: moisturizng; convergence; brightening

Dermal Green Tea Collagen Essence Mask
Claims: firming; moisturizing; health
Leave on for 15-20 minutes

It contains Green Tea extract which restores your sensitive skin caused by ultraviolet rays effectively and it keeps skin clean and smooth.
Vitamin E and collage - it provides your tired skin nutrition and makes your skin healthy and bright.

30-session Exercise Pass - Team Fitness TF360/Total body workout

After the yoga, my sister and I signed up for Crossfit for beginners at Tactix Gym.  Unfortunately, we were 3 minutes late, and we had to sign a waiver form.  The ladies told us to come back again through wellnessliving.com.  After that, the crossfit beginner's session never showed up on the website.  So sad...

Finally caved, and decided to venture out farther... in North Van - Team Fitness Vancouver (TFV). The TF 360 was sectioned under bootcamp.  My sister and I pictured running through tires and crawling in the mud in an obstacle course of some sort.  It did not take long to find the place; 7-minute bus ride from Lonsdale Quay.   TFV was a pretty small gym (compared to the Steve Nash gyms downtown), however it houses quite a variety of gym equipment, and the trainers make full use of the space, even the staircases.  It has a very clean bathroom and shower (<- very important ;) )

30-session Exercise Pass - Yoga

It started with my sister coercing me to join her in her journey into a healthier lifestyle.  Just kidding.  The fact that she brought up the topic of buying the Groupon was a miracle.  She isn't what I would call an active person.  She used to take hip hop in school, but nowadays, the closest thing to exercising that she does is Just Dance on the Wii. Mmmhmm.  So anyway, there was a Groupon for a 30-session pass at various gyms for $20.  It expires in 4 months.  I only agreed because the participating gyms were mostly fairly close to home, including one that was a block away.  So I bought one for both of us.

How it works is that I search for and book sessions in advance on www.wellnessliving.com, and I get a confirmation e-mail which I show at the gym. It turns out, the one that was a block away closed down for unknown reasons. Dang. I tried going to a 1.5 hour yoga session Vinyasa Power Flow Yoga at Yoga At Mainspace a couple of weeks ago.  I have tried Bikram yoga before, and did not like it.  I've tried beginner's yoga and I fell asleep during it.  I thought I would try it once more.  The place seemed like a converted condo space.  The instructor was a nice man, who claimed that yoga was his hobby and passion, not a job.  There was a lot of talking about spirituality which I did not care for, however, the poses were pretty challenging, which I liked.  Stayed 20 minutes past the 1.5 hour mark listening to more spiritual stuff.  I could see that the guy had passion in what he does, but it was way too intense for one who paid money just to increase her chances of being alive for a few more years.

Man, all the interesting sessions occur during work hours... Gonna try bootcamp next I guess...

First time making homemade pho

So for Thanksgiving, I decided to try to do the cooking.  Last year I did the turkey thing, and then we had turkey everything for the next four weeks.  I guess we just don't eat a lot. This year, I decided to make homemade pho from scratch.  The recipe is not that difficult, however, it is very time-consuming.  As it was my first time, I spent a lot of time adding things to adjust the taste.

What I used for the stock:

• 2 lbs beef bones
• 2 lbs ox tail

Final update on Yes to Blueberries Line Reducing Lip Treatment

Remember this post? It's been nearly a month of trying out the lip balm. I tried really hard to use it up since I do not like wasting things, but this stick had to go.  When freshly applied, the lip balm's smooth consistency and sweet, fruity scent entices one to keep reapplying.  However, over time the lips get drier and drier, peeling, flaking, and burning.  Religiously applying Vaseline every night to the chapped lips was what saved them.  If you plan to try this lip balm out anyway... well best of luck to you.  After this, I'm not sure if I want to venture out to try new products haha...

A MUCH better lip balm that is super moisturizing is the Jack Black Lip Balm.  The one I am currently using is the Grapefruit & Ginger scent.