sushi garden

mmm, mmm, mmm! after many, many weeks of renovations, sushi garden has finally re-opened! they actually re-opened about a week-and-a-half ago, but coordinating schedules posed a bit of a delay :-)

we got there at 7:45 for dinner, and were immediately awed to see so many ppl waiting in line for a table and/or take-out orders. even now that they've doubled their seating capacity, there are just as many ppl waiting to get seated. it's absolutely ridiculous! a true testimony to how popular (and yummy) they are. the 9 sushi chefs lined up are pretty impressive, but the 3 servers were seriously shorthanded. they had 3 before the expansion, so you think they'd find 3 more to hire. oh well.

we were seated after a 1/2 hour wait, which wasn't too bad. we tried staring at some diners in the hopes it would scare them into eating faster, but to no avail. while waiting, we contemplated what we wanted to eat, and by the time we sat down, we had our orders taken right away. we were starving! chris and i shared the following: spicy tuna roll, alaska roll, gyoza, prawn tempura, dynamite roll and green salad. chris' salad was to help counterbalance all the bad stuff he ate yesterday at the pne :-)

all in all, a very yummy meal! unfortunately not all the diners were happy diners. the table next to us stormed out of the restaurant after the server forgot to place their order. it was a bit dramatic and somewhat unnecessary in my opinion, but whatever, i actually got to eat my food :-)

pne - a sign that summer is ending

so yesterday chris and i spent most of the day at the pne. we both had lunch beforehand, so when we arrived we weren't totally hungry. however, there's always room for "those little donuts"! that was just a prelude for what was to come......i don't think chris stopped eating until we actually left the fair grounds at 10:30. heheheh, i won't advertise everything he ate, but needless to say, he satisfied every one of his cravings :-) i, on the other hand, couldn't find a single thing i wanted to eat......nothing was turning me on. but i kept trying different foods, much to my distaste. oh well. perhaps, i was thinking of the sushi i was going to be eating tonight for dinner......

anyhoo, since chris and i don't do the rides anymore, we just strolled around the pne for a while. we kicked back and checked out dr. strangelove at the beer garden. yes, the same dr. strangelove that performs at the roxy. the only downside was that the keyboardist has changed - it used to be a really hot guy, and now it's an older guy.

we were surprised to see a short line-up for the pne prize home (which will be moved to sechelt), so we went to check it out. needless to say we weren't overly impressed and therefore opted to not buy into the draw. i actually didn't even know where sechelt was until a co-worker told me today :P

after trying our luck at the casino and losing chris' money, we called it a night, and hopped on our bus for home. since i have a monthly bus pass from work, on sundays and holidays i can take another adult and up to 4 kids w/me for free. so we saved ourselves $15-$20 in parking money by going green :-)

all in all, a pretty unsatisfying pne experience. at least i bought our discounted admission passes at safeway, so we saved another $10. whoo-hoo!

skoah - update

visit skoah - they've changed their service menu!

thank goodness i booked my (september) extreme facial a few weeks ago :-) otherwise i'd be S-O-L. well, not exactly true, there's always the facialicious!

do these things bother/disturb you?

ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

• ppl who clip their nails.
• ppl who pick their nose.
• ppl who feel the need to share their life story (very loudly via cell phone).
• ppl who have strollers/luggage and don't feel obligated to move out of the doorway area when you're trying to exit.
• ppl who block the exit/entry when you want to get off, and they desperately want to get on.
• ppl who play their musical instruments.
• ppl who insist on listening to their mp3 phone without earphones.

AT WORK

• ppl who violate the office dress code and don't get busted for it (unlike some of us who get in trouble for inappropriate footwear - seriously, who cares about my, um, other ppl's feet? i think the bigger issue is the perky-nipple lack of bras!).
• ppl who give you work at 4:15 p.m. when you're all packed up and ready to leave for the day.
• ppl who take the last cup from the coffee pot, and don't start brewing a new pot.
• ppl who take the newspaper into the bathroom with them - honestly ppl, this is NOT your home!!
• since i'm not actually at work right now, i can't think of other items for my list :P hmmm, perhaps i'll stop before i point anymore fingers......

IN GENERAL

• ppl who don't respect the escalator rule - stand right, walk left.
• ppl who can't push the proper button on the elevator, so you make unnecessary stops :P
• ppl who don't clean up after their animals.
• ppl who wash their balcony's above you and allow their dirty water to cascade onto everyone below (which is usually a strata violation).
• ppl (drivers) who can't park within the 2 white lines in a parking stall.
• ppl (drivers) who don't signal BEFORE they turn.

i think that's it for today. i'm in a relatively decent mood, so i can't think of any other annoying things ppl do. perhaps i'll do a part 2 later on.

pads - finally pictures to post!

finally, after much talk.......here are pictures of the PADS puppies!


robo - the youngest yellow lab in the kennel
flip - black lab


flip and paris having a snooze


robo's defending his territory
paris - chilling out


killarney (black lab) and paris
flip sleeps while lille plays


paris (left), lille (middle), robo (right) - fighting over the wishbone
flip w/his toy


paris (left), lille (right)
killarney chewing on his toy


i can't remember if they were sniffing each other, or fighting over a toy

more cooking

i was at coles books last week, and i've been on a book shopping binge lately and i bought a new cookbook.....donna hay - the instant cook. i know sandra enjoys her recipes, as does renee :-) plus i've bought all the "how to cook a meal in less than 30 minutes" books already and they're starting to look the same :P

monday dinner's are a bit awkward because i have my puppies in the evening. so here's the simple meal i whipped together tonight (of course, from donna hay!)......

penne with wilted rocket and prosciutto
400g penne
8 slices prosciutto
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
100g baby rocket (arugula) leaves
sea salt and cracked black pepper

cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. drain and return to the pan. cook the prosciutto for 2-3 minutes under a preheated hot grill (broiler) until crisp. set aside. add the oil, balsamic, rocket, salt and pepper to the pasta and toss to combine. place in bowls nad top with the prosciutto. serve with parmesan cheese if desired. serves 4.

so, as you can tell by the picture i didn't actually use penne because i had a big bag of rotini at home :-) plus, i've tried searching for arugula twice before for different receipes (does anyone in the lower mainland have it?) so to ease the stress, i substituted it with baby spinach. i think it could've used a bit more vinegar as well, otherwise the meal is a bit dry. but other than that, i give it a happy two thumbs up!

so many dogs, so little time......

i made the ultimate sacrifice today and woke up at the ridiculous time of 6:45 a.m. i'm not sure what i was thinking when i signed up to help with the registration set-up for the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society PADS to the Pavement 5 km walk/run and 2 km walk. this year is the 11th year they've been doing it, and it helps to raise money for this important charity. this event also has the distinction of being the only dog-sanctioned run/walk! ppl of all shapes, sizes, colours, ages, abilities/disabilities showed up today - it was really great to see so many ppl participating in this great event.

once i got to the walk/run site at central park and started pitching in, my adrenaline kicked in (sans caffeine!) and it was go, go, go! there was so much to do to get this event organized. there were almost as many volunteers as there were racers! and the dogs! oh, the dogs! small dogs, skinny dogs, big dogs, puppy dogs, gorgeous dogs, not-so-gorgeous dogs, they were all out in force! a lot of the puppies from the kennel that i play with were out in the sunshine today w/their sitters, and the puppyraisers were out volunteering with their faithful companions by their sides. there were easily 60 dogs in the park today. perhaps even closer to 80. unfortunately i was so busy assisting w/registration, that i didn't really have time to take pictures of all the dogs.

after the race started and registration was dismantled, i headed off to the bbq for my well-deserved hot dog lunch. i joined a fellow volunteer, heather, and we got to chatting about PADS. she's not a regular volunteer, but after talking to me, i think she definitely wants to be a puppy cuddler. there's going to be 2 new litters of lab puppies very soon! heather has a golden retriever at home, so being a puppyraiser has some challenges for her so puppy cuddling could be the next best thing. finally, around 11:30 we both called it a day, and headed home.

i have to admit that despite the early alarm, it was a great morning and i thoroughly enjoyed spending more time around the dogs and actually seeing some of the dogs that have been placed with recipients. it's all very heart-warming :-)

i'll take a picture of the puppies tomorrow when i go cuddle. i can't wait to see them again!

argh, so blah!

today started out great! i was on the skytrain, and i saw lira, one of the PADS puppies who's out and about being trained as an assistance dog. then i got to starbucks, and bought 2 mugs that were on sale! whoo-hoo!

then i got to work, and it all went somewhat downhill from there. a person was laid-off first thing this a.m. (it wasn't anything personal), and then an e-mail went out in the afternoon about one of our senior leaders also leaving the company. we've also had some not-so-appealing press coverage recently about other senior leaders jumping ship. all-in-all a somewhat unsettling day at work. i haven't been very productive at all. i've let everything pile up today, i figured most of it can wait until tomorrow.

at least i can go home soon.

this brightened up my weekend :-)

so i was surfing the 'net, and i stumbled upon this happy announcement on skoah.com......

what's new? - skoah moves east
Skoah's personal training for your skin will soon be available at two new locations. The brand spankin' new location at Metropolis at Metrotown (next to lululemon) is gearing up to open it doors in late-August. Skoah Metropolis will feature our full line of hi-perfomance products, customized skin care workouts (facials), and expert skin care trainers.

Later this fall, Calgary's Chinook Centre location will open to a bated-breath crowd of Alberta online shoppers, whose ongoing quest for hydrated skin and skoah facials can now be fullfilled, without the plane ride.

so exciting, i can hardly wait!

food, food, more food!

so much for healthy eating......


so last week i actually cooked a yummy dinner, and of course i have no idea where i got the recipe, but here's a picture of our chicken on a bed of spinach.....






and then i made a cottage pie (it's the south african term for sheperd's pie). i didn't exactly follow a recipe for it.....i knew the gist of it, and kind of went from there. it turned out all right. we had it with a vegetable soup made from chicken bones. yum!













then today, chris' dad hosted a bbq at the shop. we had to move stuff around, so i got a chance to drive the forklift. i didn't realize it was just like driving a standard vehicle, so i was a bit nervous. the last (and only) time i drove a stick-shift was in chris' old red jeep tj - the only reason he let me drive his "baby" was because the lease was up and they were getting rid of it, so any "damage" i caused wouldn't be the end of the world :) even w/that "comfort zone", i still couldn't get the hang of it, and gave up after 1/2 an hour. anyhoo, today i did a decent job and tooled around the parking lot for a bit. (i'm not actually driving in the picture, because that would've been too much for my multi-tasking abilities.....)

anyways, back to the bbq......my father-in-law actually bought an ENTIRE lamb to roast on a spit, along with various other dead animals :) if you have a sensitive stomach, or don't wish to see the lamb pictures, perhaps closing your browser now would be a really good idea.......

we bbq'd lamb (including really yummy chops!), marinated chicken wings (courtesy of me & chris), steaks, maui ribs and salmon. i didn't feel the need to eat any vegetables, so i completely bypassed the salads. however, i did eat lots of yummy fruit, and some chinese baking.

my version of a "health kick"

in the past 8 days, i have gone to the gym 4 times. day 1 - i only spent 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, since i didn't want to kill myself. day 2 - another 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer plus 30 minutes on the treadmill. day 3 - 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes of free weights. day 4 - see day 2. i'm slowly making it a habit to go every other day, and so far it's been working out really well - hopefully i can maintain this routine! our gym has decent hours (5 a.m. to 11 p.m.) so it pretty much covers everyone's needs.

i'm really gung-ho about exercising right now, i'm not sure why. perhaps because i have good music to listen to, or perhaps because i'm just tired of being a couch potato, or perhaps it was the fact that i tried on every single dress in the lower mainland and none of them were looking good on me :P i haven't really changed my diet because i HATE everything healthy and LOVE everything greasy and salty. i've cut out some of the unnecessary in-between snacks, and i try to eat more vegetables and drink more water. i've also cooked a few decent meals at home, and i have a picture to post later. this week has been a bit of an anomoly though......i haven't cooked at all, and i probably won't until friday night. i think the term "everything in moderation" applies to me :)