Tea for Two

Sun Moon Lake Cabin

2012-01-30T10:27:00.013-05:00

Led by Jimmy’s parents, we drove south of Taipei to a cabin near Sun Moon Lake for some sightseeing. By the time we checked in and settled in, it was time for dinner. There was a restaurant on the premises – two in fact (one catering to vegetarians). Among the things we ate that night at the restaurant… Steamed bamboo with a side of a kewpie-like mayonnaise. Stir fried veggies, noodles, and

Stinky Tofu and CoCo Bubble Tea

2012-01-28T15:53:00.005-05:00

This is the iconic Taiwanese night market snack. It’s Jimmy’s favourite and now Andrew’s too. They both couldn't get enough of it, but I don't blame them. One night, we picked up some snacks on the way to a relative's house. The stinky tofu we got was bought at a small stand close to where we were staying. Actually, the stinky tofu actually wasn’t very stinky at all, unlike the pungent version

Seafood Dinner in Taipei, Taiwan

2012-01-26T15:23:00.005-05:00

Our flight landed on a dark and wet runway in Taipei, Taiwan. The clouds were quite low and depressing – much different from the sunny weather in Hong Kong. That night, we had a huge dinner with some family and friends that welcomed us. To be honest, most of the dinner was a blur. I do remember that this sashimi was super fresh. It was so fresh that the fish was still twitching. Seriously.

Breakfast in HK: Tsui Wah Restaurant

2012-01-25T17:06:00.042-05:00

Our flight to Taiwan was scheduled to leave sometime after noon, so we had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast that wasn’t dim sum or smoked salmon – not that there was anything wrong with those two choices. We were brought to the Tsui Wah Restaurant. I hear it's a popular chain. I’ve always seen restaurants offer Hong Kong breakfast fare, but I thought the restaurants just made it up. Take the

Happy Year of the Dragon!

2012-01-22T21:05:00.012-05:00

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year everyone!! Yes... even you. Yeah, I know you're not Chinese.. ... ahem This image was taken in Guilin, China. Read more about the wall here. While Monday is technically the Chinese Lunar New Year, our families celebrated the holiday together during this past weekend. We didn’t have as many dishes this year, cause we noticed that we always had too much

Sportful Garden Restaurant and The Peak Tower

2012-01-20T09:16:00.014-05:00

Our last full day in Hong Kong had arrived. There was one last thing we needed to see. The Peak Tower. Before we headed out to the ride the Peak Tram up, we had baguettes with smoked salmon and smoked cheese for breakfast – again. What an awesome breakfast! We also bought a few baked items from a pastry store that was located in a subway station. They were paid for using our prepaid (Octopus)

Ngong Ping, Tian Tan Buddha, Dai Pai Dong

2012-01-13T10:35:00.020-05:00

Warning: Your computer might implode from all of these photos. Continue at your own risk. ____________________________________________________________________________ It was our second last day in Hong Kong before leaving to Taiwan. We had a few more things we wanted to do before departing. One of them included going to see the Tian Tan Buddha. We luckily bought our cable car tickets ahead of

Hong Kong Harbour Front and Korean BBQ

2012-01-10T17:57:00.002-05:00

Can you guess where this was taken? It’s in Hong Kong somewhere. We spent a leisurely day in HK the day after we arrived from Guilin. There’s no surprise here, but we had dim sum once again. I can’t remember what the restaurant was called. It was in a building where each floor had a different restaurant. That doesn’t help much but that’s fine. We tried the steamed chicken feet with black

#fatlikethat

2012-01-07T20:32:00.002-05:00

Our family is full of trolls. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes our antics are reflected in the food we make. Exhibit A: Instant Ramyun, Reinterpreted We take things further but they’re usually not captured on camera. I thought it would be funny to try and promote my brother’s hashtag: #fatlikethat How about having pancakes, bacon and eggs for a late lunch? #fatlikethat Häagen-Dazs

Last Day in Guilin

2012-01-06T19:07:00.003-05:00

For the first post of the new year, I'll be continuing the Tea in Asia series. I went to Hong Kong, Guilin (China), Taiwan, and Shanghai (China) back in November 2011... Our last day in Guilin was an interesting one. We started our morning just as we’ve done since arriving in Guilin – breakfast at the hotel. The spread was a bit more elaborate, but I stuck to what I was familiar with. Carbs!

Seafood Banquet and Breathtaking Sights in Guilin, China

2011-12-29T18:36:00.008-05:00

Breakfast started with a bowl of spicy noodle soup, steamed BBQ pork buns, and some luo han guo tea. There were more dumplings and stir-fried noodles too. Instead of sweet potatoes we had the previous day, there were taro fingerlings. There was also glutinous rice with corn and red beans wrapped in banana leaves. Everyone enjoyed our breakfast at the hotel. Although it wasn’t the best food

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope you and your loved ones have an amazing holiday with lots and lots of food. Love, Christine and Lucy

Breakfast and Tea Tasting: First Day in Guilin, China

2011-12-16T12:38:00.006-05:00

Breakfast in Guilin, China, was actually enjoyable. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but there were many yummy choices. Starting clockwise from the top: youtiao, vegetable dumplings, stir fried noodles, steamed brown sugar cakes, mantou, and steamed egg. There were veggies, vegetable-pork filled dumplings, and even small sweet potatoes. Being a carb addict, I loaded my first plate with a

Wonton Egg Noodle Soup and Dinner at the HK Airport

2011-12-09T10:04:00.001-05:00

Aunty wanted to bring out some Caprice des Dieux cheese that another friend bought her. The cheese came from France this time. She said that it was quite strong and that it had been in the fridge for a few weeks. I was willing to try it. When the lid was taken off, the pungent smell of the soft white cheese poked my nose. It was quite smelly, but I wasn’t deterred. That is, until I took a bite

Dim Sum at Tung Yuen Banquet and Plain Congee

2011-12-07T11:47:00.004-05:00

It was hard to refrain from devouring a large smoked salmon and cheese baguette in the morning. Fortunately for them, we had an early dim sum brunch with my cousin at a fancy restaurant called Tung Yuen Banquet. This is one of the best dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, Aunty said. According to Aunty, the restaurant invested a lot of money in upgrading their dining lounge and private rooms. The

Window Shopping in Macau

2011-12-03T07:52:00.009-05:00

We started our early Friday morning with a little breakfast before heading out to catch our ferry to Macau. Instead of touring Macau ourselves, we joined a day trip tour which included our ferry tickets to (and from) Hong Kong, as well as lunch. They gave us free time too. Most of us enjoyed slices of smoked salmon (which we brought over from Ottawa) and smoked cheese from Holland (which

Shanghai, Wuxi, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou in 20 Pictures

2011-11-30T22:05:00.012-05:00

First off, hello to all my Aussie, Hong Kong, American, and Canadian friends that I met during the Guilin and Shanghai tours! Hai! My month long trip to Asia has come to an end. I'll slowly get my images and thoughts together and gradually write about each day. Until then, visit my Flickr page and flip through the pictures I haven't posted on the blog. Forgive me if your internet is slow and

Taking a Peek at HK and Macau

2011-11-12T12:15:00.004-05:00

The last full day of HK is sadly over. I'll be leaving Hong Kong for Taiwan in a few short hours. I haven't gone through all my pictures yet, but here's a glimpse of what I've done in HK. We also went to Macau! First up, Macau... Instant noodles (Nissin) with marinated pork. The pork tasted like Mom's marinade. Milk custard at the same place Tony Bourdain visited. We also had the noodles

Hello from Hong Kong!

2011-11-04T22:26:00.013-04:00

It's been quite a busy few days. I'll sum up the first three days in this post.. We began our trip with some breakfast from Tim Hortons. Cheese croissant for myself and a muffin for my aunt. A donut and muffin for Mom and Dad. We had to switch planes in Detroit and grabbed a snack at Popeye's. The spicy chicken tender combo was spicy, juicy, and crunchy. It really hit the spot.

Dim Sum, Wontons & Almond Jello

2011-11-01T14:15:00.001-04:00

This past Friday morning was really chilly. I waited in line for the grand opening of the Barrhaven’s Future Shop and picked myself up a portable external hard drive. It was worth it. There was a bonus to going early too. Dim sum! I picked up some dim sum from Sea King and enjoyed it at home. Shrimp siu mai and ha gow. I also asked for hot sauce, soy sauce, and extra cheung fan sauce. They

Shepherd's Pie and Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-31T20:23:00.000-04:00

I love slow food. It’s generally easy to put together and so I figured that shepherd’s pie would be a perfect dish to make at VN’s. VN was eager to make pumpkin pie from scratch. I’ve never made the pie pastry from scratch before, though I’ve watched Mom whip it up hundreds of times. Challenge accepted. As you can see the canned pumpkin in the background, we didn’t make the filling “from

Pho and Egg Rolls on a Game Night

2011-10-30T21:46:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, EU and I went to see the visiting Florida Panthers play against the Ottawa Senators. My uncle offered to take us out for pho before the game since the Scotiabank Place isn’t the best place for food. I couldn’t say no. They hadn’t been to Koi Asia or the former Pho Mi 108, so I suggested that we go there instead of Kanata Centrum. Once we sat down at the empty restaurant, I

Chinese Halloween

2011-10-28T15:04:00.003-04:00

We celebrated the Chinese version of Halloween back in September. Instead of dressing up and passing out candy to kids, or partying the night away, our family took the time pray to our ancestors. The spread was more of the same stir-fried dishes, and BBQ proteins. Snow peas with shrimp and abalone with shiitake mushrooms. Roast pork. BBQ duck and marinated squid. A close up of a piece of

Pork Schnitzel

2011-10-25T18:10:00.002-04:00

Whenever pork tenderloin goes on sale at the grocery stores, Mom stocks up as if they were handing them out free. But in saying that, it seems that we’re always running out. We usually break down the tenderloin in: lean slices of pork (for stir frying, hot pot, and noodle soups), cubed pieces of tougher bits (for stewing and braising), and then minced pork. We tend to be less adventurous with

Homemade Meat Pie

2011-10-21T16:48:00.001-04:00

I’ve always been a fan of slow food. I like spending time in the kitchen and just cook (and sometimes bake). Cooking is like therapy for me. The smells and flavours are always so comforting in the cold weather. We’ve had cold weather floating over Ottawa lately. While it means that I’ve been getting deeper sleeps at night, I have been lacking the motivation to cook. Then, while I was flipping

Quick and Easy Breaded Chicken Dinner

2011-10-06T14:24:00.001-04:00

Our family doesn’t always eat Chinese food. We can make breaded chicken too! I bought the breading mix from Bulk Barn and added some extra salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and a bit of chicken bouillon powder. The breading tasted much better after the little tweak. We sliced a few small onions and lined the bottom of a baking pan. A little drizzle of oil and then the breaded chicken pieces

The Five Guys Have Sweet Buns!

2011-10-03T13:56:00.005-04:00

Lucy and I noshed on some burgers and fries after a dress fitting. Classy, eh? The Five Guys location in Kanata is just over two months old, but they already have customers flocking to their establishment. When we arrived around 4pm, there were a few people happily munching on their burgers. We placed our order and watched them make burgers from putting their hand-formed patties on the

Apple Strudel... Fail

2011-10-01T10:07:00.004-04:00

The cold autumn weather means one thing: apple season! Over the next two weeks, try finding an orchard and pick some apples. What can you do with the apples? Apple pie is only good once in a while. I'm not a huge apple pie fan, but I do like apples and desserts that contain apples in them. Mom suggested we buy some filo pastry and try to make apple strudel. When I think of filo pastry, though, I

Usual Lunch at Marché Kei Phat

2011-09-29T08:07:00.006-04:00

When visiting Montreal, having lunch at Marché Kei Phat has become an enjoyable routine. I can’t believe I only wrote about it twice (here and here)! We’ve been there about half a dozen times – just this summer. While sipping on iced Chinese tea, our family (minus one) looked over the menu to reaffirm our decisions. #3 Phnom Penh noodle soup (with rice noodles or egg noodles), #6 Wonton noodle

Café Orient

2011-09-28T15:58:00.001-04:00

Earlier this year, I was grocery shopping with my parents in Chinatown and got hungry. I was craving beef brisket (egg) noodle soup. The only restaurant that served it -- to my knowledge -- was at the Oriental Café. My parents caved in pretty easily. The beef brisket noodle soup was a bit lacking in flavour. It was there, but just not enough of it. Speaking of which, the soup wasn’t very hot.

Cooking and Eating Marathon with the Girls - French Onion Soup

2011-09-26T22:09:00.007-04:00

Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to teach some of my friends how to cook. I love cooking and eating, as you know, but I also enjoy teaching others how to cook. Although I do most of the cooking, it’s important that they watch how everything is done before they try it themselves. By watching Mom cook and bake, I learned how to cook and bake. I'd like to dedicate this post to my friends,

Gaspé Trip: Day 7

2011-09-22T17:08:00.003-04:00

The family spent most of the day in Quebec City after leaving from Rivière-Ouelle. We drove past the depressingly dark clouds around Rivière-Ouelle and found sunny bright skies in Quebec City. It was a welcome change after the past couple of rainy days. We were all hungry, so we parked in Old Quebec City and searched for lunch. We found a cute bistro along Rue Saint-Jean. It wasn’t as busy as

Gaspé Trip: Day 5 & 6

2011-09-05T07:46:00.008-04:00

The 5th day of our roadie was disappointing. We woke up to the rhythm of raindrops. Since the rain was supposed to last all day, we decided that we should keep driving instead of wasting a day in Percé. Just as we were about to eat breakfast, the rain stopped and waited for us to finish eating and packing up. We drank coffee, hot chocolate, or a mix of both. I have no idea why there’s a

Gaspé Trip: Day 3 & 4

2011-09-04T08:26:00.011-04:00

On the third day of the Gaspé road trip, we had breakfast at our campsite and then drove to Gaspé to do a bit of grocery shopping. While in the grocery store, one of my uncles talked to a local resident and asked him where we should go for lunch. The gentlemen recommended Dixie Lee, a fried chicken restaurant chain. The kids wanted poutine. They just couldn’t wait for the better stuff later on

Gaspé Trip: Day 1 & 2

2011-09-03T07:16:00.019-04:00

It was about 4 years ago when I visited the east coast of Canada. I had a lot of fun and had the chance to try new things, like whale watching and going to Prince Edward Island (aka PEI) for the first time. When I was asked if I wanted to go back to visit Percé, Quebec, and the east coast again, I jumped at the opportunity. There weren’t any concrete plans for the road trip. Yay… … … I’m not a

It's All About Dessert: Ontario Peach Crumble

2011-08-30T23:46:00.004-04:00

The other week, Lucy and Jimmy brought home some local peaches that were perfectly ripe. After we ate two peaches, Lucy had an urge to bake with the peaches. I suggested that we make a peach crumble. Not only is it quick to make, but it’s quite easy too. Lucy sliced the fragrant beauties. After one peach, Lucy began to slice the peaches over the baking pan instead of the cutting board. Look

PC Frozen Desserts Melts My Heart

2011-07-29T23:22:00.020-04:00

I've been pleasantly surprised by the President's Choice branded food items. When PC first started to sell their new products I just assumed they'd be like No Name branded stuff. But that was before I tried their Blue Menu Raspberry Sherbet. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friend Ange for brining this dessert to one of my pho parties a few years back. The smooth raspberry

Noodles Galore! June 24-26, 2011

2011-07-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

Jimmy and I attended a wedding last month in St. Catharines. Since it’s a 7-hour drive from Ottawa, we decided to stop in Toronto on Friday night, and then continue towards St. Catharines on the following day. Lately, we’ve had a tradition of stopping for noodles whenever we’re in Toronto, and this weekend was no exception. We searched for ramen places on Urbanspoon and came up with two

Tim Tams

2011-07-10T21:26:00.002-04:00

I fell in love with these devilish Australian treats the first time I tried them a few years back. My uncle had returned from visiting some of our family in Australia and brought some back. I guess he traded the bacon he brought with boxes of Tim Tams. I bought these Tim Tams at a nearby Metro a few weeks back, but they can be supposedly found in Loblaws and other grocery stores. These few

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T21:54:00.001-04:00

To all of our friends south of the border, Happy Fourth of July! I hope you all had a great time this past weekend!

President's Choice Summer Tour in Ottawa

2011-07-02T21:22:00.005-04:00

Updated: July 3rd, 2011 @ 14:22 Who doesn't like free stuff? President's Choice has been traveling around the country while promoting their new products. They will be setting up at the Real Canadian SuperStore in Westboro on Sunday, July 3rd, 2011. I hear that they'll be handing out free food (sliders, ice cream, etc.). Take a look at their flyer to see some of their new products. What a

Sandwiches on a Hot Day

2011-07-02T17:22:00.006-04:00

There’s a heat wave that will hang over Ottawa for a good chunk of the week. Now, I don’t know about you, but when it’s really hot and humid nobody wants to make dinner (let alone lunch). The weather is screaming for some homemade bún with spring rolls, BBQ pork or chicken, herbs, and cold veggies. But we rarely have (homemade) spring rolls in the freezer. So what is Plan B? Lucy's version of

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T17:13:00.000-04:00

It's Canada's 144th birthday today! Happy Canada Day everyone!!

Koi Asia Takes Over Pho Mi 108

2011-06-27T08:22:00.014-04:00

I heard some rumblings back in April that my favourite pho restaurant was closed. We’ve been going for almost five years! Sadly, Pho Mi 108 is no longer there. It was taken over and the name was changed to Koi Asia. I wanted to try the place out so Andrew and I dropped by the restaurant a few days ago. Koi Asia serves Canadian-Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food. Most of the items on the menu were

Ottawa's Chicken and Ribfest 2011

2011-06-24T00:56:00.012-04:00

Just like many other Ottawa residents, our family had ribs from Ottawa’s 20th Annual Chicken and Rib Cook-Off for dinner. I brought my wallet, a camera, and a re-useable shopping bag (for the ribs) and met Lucy downtown earlier today. Our goal: To bring some delicious ribs back to enjoy at home. But before we met up, I did some scouting. I started from Elgin Street and Sparks Street. Crabby’s

Homemade Ribs

2011-06-21T15:03:00.000-04:00

After lunch last Sunday, Mom and I marinated some fresh pork ribs. We rarely make ribs, but when we do, its usually marinated Chinese-style. I wanted to try a North American version. I’m pretty sure the marinade contains salt, sugar, and an acid. It’s pretty general, right? I made a paste of garlic and brown sugar in our mortar and pestle. I tried to do the same with some onions, but it didn’t

Spring Roll Bún

2011-06-21T11:16:00.000-04:00

I love my mom’s spring rolls. The filling for the spring rolls that she makes is totally different from all the spring rolls I’ve had at other restaurants. Earlier last Sunday, I had the chance to learn from the master herself. And unlike her usual “cooking lessons,” she actually didn’t step in and take over. I guess that means that I didn’t totally mess up. The first step was to shred and cut

Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival 2011

2011-06-17T23:58:00.005-04:00

The 18th annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival officially begins on Saturday! Lucy and I have volunteered for the past three years but have never gotten the chance to fully enjoy the actual dragon boat racing event. I can’t wait until the races begin this year because I’ll be getting the opportunity to ride in the media boat and take photos of the racers. Wahoo! Since this is a food

D'Arcy McGees: Take 2

2011-06-15T08:29:00.006-04:00

Back in April, Vanna and I went to watch the visiting Habs play the Sens in the last home game of the season. Prior to the game, Vanna and I had dinner at D’Arcy McGees. To my surprise, the pub was quite dead for a home game. Anyway, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat. I knew that I was going to stay away from the Yorkshire pudding appetizers. I settled on the chicken pie. It came out piping

Long Weekend @ Toronto: Noodle Roll Salad

2011-06-13T07:19:00.002-04:00

On the last day of our Toronto visit, my cousin prepared a kind of noodle roll salad. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it was pretty simple to make – it was pretty healthy, too! You can find these noodle rolls in the refrigerated noodle and tofu section of your local Chinese grocery store. There are plain rice noodle rolls, but my cousin likes the ones with the dried shrimp more. She quickly

Long Weekend @ Toronto: Chiuchow Man Chinese Restaurant

2011-06-12T09:26:00.003-04:00

The plan was to go back to Ottawa in the afternoon, but we ended up staying for another night. We spent an unexpected dinner in Missisauga somewhere called the Golden Square Center. We found a place called the Chiuchow Man Chinese Restaurant (most of the website is in Chinese) and tried it out. The small restaurant was packed when we got in. We were lucky and got there just as a small table paid

Long Weekend @ Toronto: Libretto and Thumbs Up

2011-06-11T18:39:00.003-04:00

The next day, I met up with Liz, Sarah and her cousin for lunch at Libretto. I remember reading about Libretto’s goal to get certified by the Vera Pizza Neapolitana a few years ago. It looks like they’ve succeeded! The complimentary bread with a side of olive oil, chili oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping was barely touched. We were all saving our stomachs for the pizza. Just like the last

Long Weekend @ Toronto: Northern Dumpling Kitchen

2011-06-11T16:11:00.003-04:00

I spent the last long weekend in Toronto. My uncle and I drove to Toronto to visit family and to pick up my grandma (who had spent the week there). We were supposed to meet up for dim sum somewhere, but we didn’t get into Toronto until the afternoon. No biggie. We went to one of my favourite restaurant instead. Here are the soup dumplings at the Northern Dumpling Kitchen. I didn’t have enough

Roadie to Kingston: Sima Sushi and Arisu

2011-06-10T23:34:00.004-04:00

A few days ago, Jimmy, Richard and I went to Kingston for Henry’s convocation. Since the convocation didn’t begin until the afternoon, we had lunch at Sima Sushi. This is Lucy and Jimmy's favourite sushi place in Kingston. You can read about their fondness of the restaurant here. Each set included some salad and a bowl of miso soup. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t meant to be. I got the

Tea in Asia: Day 12 - Last Morning in Asia

2011-05-16T01:00:00.009-04:00

Since we flew back to Hong Kong before their breakfast buffet opened, the hotel packed us some breakfast. How thoughtful of them… The lovely LD displayed some of the contents that were in each plastic container. We were given a boiled egg and a stale sandwich of ham. Lovely... They also packed each container with a stale BBQ pork bun and two almond cookies. Oh, I remember that they give us a

Tea in Asia: Day 11 - Beijing, China

2011-05-15T01:00:00.015-04:00

The last two days – if you can even call it that – of my trip to Asia was pretty quick. In the morning, I went back to the first pearl market with CPR and AB. I was unlucky and ended up in the passenger’s seat of the taxi. That was not fun. I swear I had three heart attacks! I didn’t mention the traffic in Taiwan before, but all the drivers were crazy! You know the paint that outlines the lanes

Tea in Asia: Day 10 - Beijing, China

2011-05-14T01:00:00.003-04:00

The tenth day of my trip to Asia was filled with more touristy activities. We began the day with a humbling visit to the Lama Temple. But while walking around, I noticed a few signs around the grounds that were pretty amusing. Exhibit A: You’d probably think that this was the smoking area of the temple, but no, the smoke weren’t coming from cigarettes. They were actually from all the incense

Tea in Asia: Day 9 - Beijing, China

2011-05-13T13:00:00.001-04:00

One year ago today, I went up to the Great Wall of China during my trip to Asia. We left our hotel after another mediocre breakfast at the hotel and saw this crazy guy. I can’t believe this guy was going to drive that toy on the Beijing’s roads. He must’ve had a death wish. It took us about two hours to get to the base of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. We got off the bus and

Tea in Asia: Day 8 - Beijing, China

2011-05-12T01:00:00.061-04:00

My first full day in China (the 8th day of my trip) was a great day for sightseeing. Actually, our whole stay in Beijing was great for tourists who wanted to see some tourist attractions and to buy some cheap things. Our hotel was right around the corner from the Forbidden City, so we just walked over after filling up at the hotel’s mediocre breakfast buffet. There was much less humidity than

Tea in Asia: Day 7 - Beijing, China

2011-05-11T01:00:00.019-04:00

It was another travel day on the 7th day of my 2010 Asia trip. We took a morning turbulent flight to Hong Kong (from Taipei) for a brief stopover and then flew to Beijing, China. We were served lunch on board the small plane. I didn’t get a picture of it, but they gave us dim sum! How sweet is that, huh? Actually, it wasn’t good at all. The haw gow, siu mai and other dumplings weren’t tasty at

Tea in Asia: Day 6 - Taipei, Taiwan

2011-05-10T01:00:00.007-04:00

Day 6 of my trip to Asia was the last day in Taiwan. Our group had a choice of going back to Dante Coffee for breakfast again, or to have a taste of an authentic Taiwanese breakfast. The first thing I thought of, for some reason, was congee. That would definitely settle my stomach. Instead of congee, the nearby stall served radish cakes, a few varieties of breakfast wraps (like youtiao, fried

Tea in Asia: Day 5 - Taiwan

2011-05-09T01:00:00.014-04:00

The 5th day of my trip to Asia was full of food… Our guides, Coco and Denise, brought us to a place for breakfast a few blocks from the Chientan Youth Activity Center (CYAC) called Dante Coffee. We had a few things to choose from, but I can’t remember what they were. The important thing was that I got the ham and cheese with bread and eggs with hot chocolate to drink. I don’t know about you, but

Tea in Asia: Day 4 - Taipei, Taiwan

2011-05-08T01:00:00.005-04:00

Here’s the 4th day of my trip to Asia. It was regrettably our last day in Kaohsiung and the KHC. This photo and the first breakfast pic I posted is like a “spot the difference” game. Let’s see… the dessert looks was strawberry instead of mango, there’s was a pile of mushrooms (that I “shared” with JV), and the plate was missing a baby corn. I was hoping that our breakfast was going to be

Canadian Tulip Festival 2011

2011-05-07T17:25:00.001-04:00

I was around the Dows Lake area earlier today and saw quite a few people taking pictures of/with the tulips. Most of them haven't bloomed yet, but with the sunny weather we're supposed to get, they should be looking pretty by the end of the week.

Tea in Asia: Day 3 - Taiwan

2011-05-07T01:00:00.120-04:00

This is the third part of my trip to Asia. Breakfast was essentially the same as the previous morning; Bacon-wrapped asparagus spears, hot dogs, baby corn and mushrooms. My bacon was under-done. *Sad face* Instead of toast, we received a basket of three steamed Chinese buns. There was a meat bun (shown above), mantou (plain bun), and nai huang bao (sweet custard filling). They tasted fine. Our

Tea in Asia: Day 2 - Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2011-05-06T01:00:00.034-04:00

Here's the second installment of my trip to Asia… After a hectic first day, two Kaohsiung Hospitality College* (KHC) students greeted us with a smile and a welcoming breakfast.*As mentioned in the previous post, the KHC has since been awarded the university title. It is currently called the National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism. I didn’t have an appetite that morning, but I

Tea in Asia: Day 1 - Hong Kong and Taiwan

2011-05-05T01:00:00.047-04:00

Last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Asia last year with Humber College. The trip was organized as part of a study-abroad program as well as a trip for the tourism students. Humber College and the Kaohsiung Hospitality College* have had an exchange program for a few years. Our group was going to their school as representatives of Humber. Although I wanted to eat some amazing things and

Update

2011-05-02T17:37:00.004-04:00

I'm disappointed that I didn't get any blogging done in over a month, but I'm going to make up for it! I'll be blogging about my short trip to Taiwan and Beijing that I took almost a year ago. And since I waited so long to write about it all, I'm just going to be writing (and posting) about each day as if it happened earlier in the day. My journey began on May 3rd, but I didn't land in Hong Kong

Back from Taiwan!

2011-04-03T09:38:00.001-04:00

It's been months since my last post, so here's a quick teaser from our trip to Taiwan. More pics and descriptions to come!

Bacon Fat Fried Maple Glazed Ham

2011-03-25T23:26:00.000-04:00

Our family likes to snack throughout the day, even though we do have large meals here and there. Today was no exception. When Andrew came home from school, he headed into the kitchen and began to rummage through the fridge. He found some ham and cheese but didn’t want to make a ham and grilled cheese sandwich. Andrew needed something less boring so he diced up the ham and

No Luck at D'Arcy McGees

2011-03-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, Lucy and Jimmy had dinner at D’Arcy McGees with some friends. Lucy came back gushing about the food and the prices. I went onto the pub's website and checked out their menu. It looked quite good, but Lucy said they were currently in the process of changing the menu. Lucy had some kind of leek and fish pie (something that wasn’t going to be on the new menu). While looking through

Baked Goods

2011-03-20T13:42:00.005-04:00

Our house was overloaded with desserts last Sunday. It was pretty funny how everything unfolded. Frank’s Catering & Baked Goods was still open when we had an early dinner at the New Hong Shing last Saturday. We usually have a later dinner, so Frank’s was always closed. I’ve always wanted to see how good “Frank’s Famous Tarts” were, so when I had the chance I picked some up. I chose butter tarts,

Random Tidbits: Part 8

2011-03-14T07:43:00.008-04:00

When we were younger, my parents would buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco and we’d have a picnic at the beach. One day while shopping at Costco, my parents noticed that a new batch of rotisserie chickens coming out of the oven. Like an eagle, Mom swiftly snatched a plump bird before anyone else even noticed. I’m drooling just looking at this! Once we got home, Dad quickly began working on some

A Look Back at 2010

2011-03-13T15:28:00.011-04:00

It’s the middle of March and I’m just posting this summary up now. Ah well, better late than never, huh? Over the past year, I've tried to push myself and Lucy to take better images. A few of these were taken with Lucy's point-and-shoot camera. Can you guess which ones? Let’s start with some of my favourite pictures (that were blogged about) in 2010, shall we? I have to start with some kind of

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

2011-02-15T15:49:00.003-05:00

The only hotpot restaurant in Ottawa that I know of is the Little Sheep Hot Pot on Bank Street (a few blocks away from Billings Bridge). We’ve been there before and we’ve also bought their soup bases to make at home. It’s quite the change from the plain broth we normally use. Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is an AYCE establishment. There’s a variety of seafood, veggies, tofu, noodles, beef and

Shepherd's Pie and Meat Pie

2011-02-04T15:08:00.002-05:00

Our family rarely cooks with ground beef. When we do, two things come to mind: Shepherd’s pie and meat pie. A few weeks ago, we made Shepherd’s pie after picking up some ground beef that was on sale. I couldn’t recall how Mom made it. She had not made it in a while, so I just winged it. I started simmering the ground beef with a bunch of herbs. I just tossed in some bay leaves, herbs Provence,

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-02-03T22:32:00.005-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated the Year of the Rabbit on two separate occasions; once at Grandpa’s house and the other at Grandma’s house. Chinese New Year began today and will be over on Saturday. You’ll probably notice the colours red, green, and orange in the dishes, and that’s because they all have a meaning in the Chinese culture. Red represents good luck and happiness, green is

Winterlude Stew Cook-Off

2011-02-03T20:46:00.002-05:00

I meant to get this out earlier to give you a heads up, but I guess I failed. The ByWard Market will be hosting the 20th Annual Stew Cook-Off tomorrow. The cost is $10 per person and the event runs from at noon to 2 pm. Lucy and I have never been to this event, so we don't know what to expect. Actually, I'm still not sure if we're going. In any case, head downtown for some stew tomorrow!

168 Sushi Buffet

2011-01-27T13:35:00.005-05:00

Don’t you hate it when you get home from work and there’s no dinner? Well I have a solution to that (though it’s not always practical); go out for dinner! Now hear me out before you start using excuses like, “it’s expensive to eat out”, “I’m too tired”, or “I just changed out of my work clothes *sad face*” Just suck it up and treat yourself for once! Where am I going with this? Well, everyone

Chicken Rice - December 12th, 2010

2011-01-18T14:57:00.003-05:00

This is Hainan chicken rice done the Tea Family way. We make plain jasmine rice instead of making rice with the chicken broth. We boil the chicken with some carrots and sliced ginger to make a broth. While the soup is simmering away, we mince ginger, garlic and a bit of green onions. The ginger and garlic are fried in oil with salt and a bit of sugar. Just as the whole thing is finished,

Random Tidbits: Part 7 - Sandwiches

2011-01-14T22:40:00.014-05:00

(Side note: I just noticed that on Firefox, the pictures on my blog are desaturated a bit. I checked other websites, but it seems as though it's only my pictures that get desaturated when I compare Firefox to Safari. The colours on Safari are fine. Is this just my laptop?) Dunn’s: December 7th, 2010 The last time we had a smoked meat sandwich, we visited Bobby’s Table sometime in November. As I

Random Tidbits: Part 6 - Oodles of Noodles (and Pasta)

2011-01-11T15:12:00.015-05:00

(Last updated: Jan. 17th, 2010 @ 14:37) Scroll to the bottom for links to the rest of the Random Tidbits series. ~ I can’t imagine a life without noodles or pasta. The main reason is because I don't like rice. Over the past month, we've had noodles and pasta quite a few times. Homemade Pasta with Chicken and Fish in an Herb Cream Sauce – December 14th Mom altered the recipe a bit, which made

Christmas Dinners

2010-12-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

(Last updated: Feb. 4th, 2011 at 21:47) I love Christmas because of the quality family time. In our family, Christmas means that most of our extended family in Ottawa is all together under one rooftop. Sometimes we even have relatives who visit from Toronto. Although the holiday is always fun, one aspect of the holiday is getting a bit tiresome. Christmas dinner. We make the same dishes every

Pre-Christmas Baking

2010-12-24T01:15:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, we invited our younger cousins over to do some pre-Christmas baking. Lucy had two recipes in her recipe box that I wanted to make/wanted the kids to make (with supervision, of course); shortbread and chocolate chip cookies. Both recipes are simple and quick to make – perfect for kids around the age of 10 to make by themselves. Just be there to make sure they measure

Kimchi Teaser

2010-12-16T15:49:00.005-05:00

A few weeks back, Lucy made kimchi from scratch! Lucy will go into more details later, but for now, here's a glimpse into our (multiple) kimchi dinners. Stay tuned for recipes!

Random Tidbits: Part 5 - Camping at Sandbanks

2010-12-14T17:51:00.006-05:00

Here's part 5. ~ Every year, our family does a camping trip and last year we went to Sandbanks. Now, when our family goes camping it’s not exactly what you think. We don’t backpack and hike to find a campsite, nor do we portage as a family. Nope. We do get a campsite, cook over the campfire, roast marshmallows over the embers, sleep in tents – although some family members do bring along their

Random Tidbits: Part 4 - Great ByWard Market Restaurants

2010-12-12T22:32:00.012-05:00

I'm still cleaning out my external hard drive and found a few more pictures. These two meals were from last summer. Shall we begin? ~ Totoya is located on Dalhousie and Clarence in the ByWard Market. This cute Japanese restaurant is run by a Japanese family and is my favourite Japanese restaurant in Ottawa. I haven’t been there in a while, though, so I’m not sure if the quality is still there.

Krop Knao aka Med Kanoon - Dec. 24, 2009

2010-12-09T18:44:00.008-05:00

I found this while cleaning out my external hard drive. I totally forgot that we didn't blog about this, even though we blogged about the hot pot dinner. So continuing with the random tidbits, here's the third one. ~ Krop Knao is a Thai dessert, made of mung beans, sugar, coconut milk and egg yolk. In Thai, the dessert is called med kanoon, whereas the Cambodians call it krop knao. It doesn't

Black Bean Spareribs - Nov. 8th, 2010

2010-12-08T08:47:00.005-05:00

Leftovers. I don’t mind them – especially when we get to take home leftovers from dim sum. But for some reason, there are certain dishes that is never left over at the end of the meal. For myself, one of the dishes is the black bean spare ribs. Our family rarely orders steamed black bean spareribs (aka pai gwat), which is sad because I really like the dish. The main reason we rarely order the

Random Tidbits: Part 2 - Quick and Easy Meals

2010-12-06T18:31:00.010-05:00

When you don’t have bread to make sandwiches, crackers to eat with the cheese in the fridge, and instant noodles other quick snack/meal options, what would you do – other then ordering pizza or going out to eat? The solution? Pancakes! Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are other answers but I was craving pancakes that day. Lucy can whip up batches of pancakes in her sleep. She’s always been able

Random Tidbits: Part 1 - Two Sweet

2010-12-04T22:37:00.011-05:00

There are a bunch of random meals that we haven’t written about yet, so I’ll write about them all in a few parts called Random Tidbits. ~ A few weeks ago, most of our extended family gathered at my aunt’s house for a dinner of steamed crabs. What I want to focus on, though, is what we had for dessert. Firstly, we had sesame balls filled with red bean paste. Yup, the same stuff you can find

Bobby's Table

2010-12-02T17:45:00.005-05:00

The last time I went to Dunn's, I enjoyed it. My parents were not impressed, though. After doing some research, I found Bobby's Table. Based on some articles written, it sounds like Bobby's Table is a reincarnation of Nate's. Anyway, on our way back from Blueberry Lake Resort, Andrew and I convinced my parents to try it out. Their location is past the Emerald Buffet (formerly known as Du Barry

Blueberry Lake Resort: Family Outing

2010-12-02T16:34:00.002-05:00

The last time I went to Blueberry Lake Resort was during the Thanksgiving weekend. Last weekend, a bunch of our family went out to one of the cottages there. Most of the family went ahead on Friday and although I wanted to go with them, I had prior commitments. Instead of leaving with them, my uncle, my cousin and I went up Saturday afternoon. At first, we were going to pick some snacks up at

Blueberry Lake Resort: Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-30T15:47:00.005-05:00

I've been to the Blueberry Lake Resort twice in the past month. The first time was with some friends during Canada's Thanksgiving (the weekend of Oct. 30th). While I went away during the holiday weekend with some friends, the family had an unusually quiet Thanksgiving. We arrived at the beautiful cottage on Friday and had a pasta dinner. The next morning, we made bacon, scrambled eggs,

Bok La Hong a.k.a Cambodian Papaya Salad - Nov. 17th

2010-11-30T14:44:00.000-05:00

We don't post nearly enough Cambodian dishes, which is weird, because I swear I've taken a lot of pictures of them. Anyway, this will be a short post about the Cambodian style papaya salad called bok l'hong or bok la hong. The papaya used for this salad isn't soft and sweet, but rather crunchy and sour. The papaya is first peeled and then shredded. Fish sauce, rehydrated dried shrimp, lime

Buttercup Squash Custard aka Sankya Lapov

2010-11-22T17:50:00.012-05:00

Buttercup squash has been on sale quite a few times this fall, so we bought some and made dessert with it. I did some research and found out that this is a Cambodian dish, sankya lapov. I always thought it was something my mom picked up while working at Kardish Deli or something. My mom wrote this recipe down: 2 buttercup squash 2 cups of coconut milk5 eggs1 cup granulated sugar½ teaspoon

Kare Raisu, Revisited – October 23, 2010

2010-11-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

So how do you go from this: To this? It takes at least 20 minutes of prep, less than 10 minutes of real cooking, and hours of simmering. I’ve noticed that every time I make Japanese curry (also known as “kare raisu”), I end up exhausted in a messy kitchen and with absolutely no appetite for the meal. Lucky for me, there are always hungry mouths in the house, so this dish didn’t go to

Kare Raisu Recipe

2010-11-14T18:26:00.005-05:00

I'm getting ready to write a new post about Japanese curry (kare raisu), which has drawn a lot of interest in our blog in the past. I'm surprised my original post was so popular, so I hope this new post will be written a little better and have better accompanying photos. *Update: Read the new post here.

An Unusual Thanksgiving – October 11, 2010

2010-11-14T18:19:00.002-05:00

This year, we didn’t have a big Thanksgiving feast. No one wanted to spend all day trapped in the kitchen, so our annual Thanksgiving blowout was cancelled. It was also unusual because Christine went away with friends that weekend and my brother was overseas for school. In the end, it was a very low-key day. We had an abundance of vegetables in the fridge, so my mum made a quiche for lunch.

Steak, Biscuits and a Parisian Snack - Aug. 12th

2010-11-14T17:55:00.004-05:00

Beef was on sale that week, and my parents stocked up. We ended up having steak for dinner. For the sides, we were planning to make biscuits, steamed beans, sauteed onions, and baked potatoes. Since biscuits take the longest to make, my mom started on it. She didn't have a recipe while making this. She just made it by feel. Once they were baked, they looked like this. Unfortunately, these