October 3, 2012

  • Pleasant surprises

    Yesterday after work I went over to Granville island's sandbar lounge to meet up with cousin Carmen. Carmen wanted to celebrate my belated birthday with me and suggested that we grab a quick snack and drink from there. Little did I know that she and Jonathon were planning a big feast for me :)

    I arrived late and when I got in I realized I had no idea where the lounge area was and had to ask the front desk for help. Believe it or not it was my first time being inside the restaurant so I wasn't familiar and probably looked a bit frantic since I was rushed to head out of work.

    Carmen sat at a window seat so we got a very good view with wonderful food. I basically ordered the berry quench while Carmen ordered a beer and we shared a pot of mussels with fries. The sauce was Thai and on first bite, I couldn't help but smile because the taste was so flavorful and mouth watering that I had to almost cover up my mouth from laughing (yup I'm serious about that!) the mussels were soft and tender so I needn't worry about anything sticking between my teeth, and the fries were really awesome too since they were thin and tasted like hickory sticks.

    After the quick one hour bite in which we got to catch up with each other through conversation, we drove over to her place and met up with Jon and Sherman for some chef cooking hahaha. Basically Carmen and Jon cooked the whole dinner while Sherman and I looked through their photobooks, including their Amsterdam trip, Hong Kong, as well as their wedding photos. I'm amazed how quick time passes by because it didn't seem too long ago that I was sitting on those white chairs looking intently at their exchange of vows. I'm hoping that this day will come for me someday too.

    Food was incredibly dabbling with a lobster risotto served fresh, using a boiled lobster with a lobster soup base for steaming the rice. Jon loves to decorate his plates so every plate looks almost as good as top restaurants...or should I say, even better? But I guess you can't really go wrong after having learned a few lessons of cooking from Italy ;) .

    Main course was steak in red wine mushroom sauce. Sides were mini potatoes, sukinis, and red carrots. I've never had such small potatoes before so that was a bit fun and the steak was just so sweet, tender, juicy, and cooked just right that once again, just recalling how it tastes like makes my taste bud want to burst.

    Lastly, dessert was served by Carmen who made crisp crepe with pear fillings inside. According to Sherman, who rarely gives out good compliments, the crepes were rated "very good", a standard that is equivalent to Michelin 3 stars in Carmen and Jon's eyes. Hahaha. Seriously, I really enjoyed last night. It was a lot of fun just laughing and eating together.

    Before I left Carmen gave me a small present which was a Marc Jacob keychain holder. It was very pretty and I like the red colour on it. I can't wait to use it once I have the time to put everything together.

    I'm just so blessed to have such wonderful cousins around me who care and love me for who I am :)

    Today work was pretty nice as I got to meet more employees in the company and make myself stand out a bit more. I think I'm getting more used to the environment now so hopefully the rest of the two months will go by quickly! It's already been a month!

    I also received my package from shutterfly containing my photobook that I ordered three weeks ago, and I'm happy to say that I'm quite satisfied by the quality overall. Now I finally have something that is hard copy to keep for my reference of Europe trip....simply AWESOME!!!!